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Comment Steam is a publisher (Score 1) 109

I have no problem with Steam. Steam is both a publisher and a retailer. When you're talking books, the publisher and retailer between them keep north of 80% of the sale price with the authors getting less than 20%. And that's fine. It's competitive, and if you hate all the publishers you can even self-publish.

The difference between Apple and Steam is that Apple is a monopoly. If you don't want to use the apple store, there's no other legitimate process to sell your app to iPhone users. They can set any rates they want, they can refuse any apps they don't like and they routinely do so.

Comment Re:I had one of these. (Score 1) 69

Your parents look at your owlish eyes -- and your slipping grades -- and ask if you're "on drugs".

You bought an Apple II series machine in 1991. The answer must have been: yes.

The Apple IIgs was a fine machine... in 1986. By 1989 the whole Apple II series was on its way out, and it wasn't even a little bit ambiguous.

Comment Re:Job Application (Score 1) 38

Then I guess I'm glad I refused the Thomas test and walked away.

I have a theory: if a company is arbitrarily rigid about something that's completely in their control, they'll be arbitrarily rigid about many things. That rigidity makes for an unpleasant workplace. So, during the application process it's worth identifying one thing about which they express rigidity and challenging them to modify it.

Before the pandemic, my test was usually to ask for a private office. Four walls and a door. They don't have to say yes, but the ones who offer a hell no have failed my test. I didn't even have to get that far with Canonical. They handed me a rigidity test on a silver platter.

This method has failed me only once in my career. In that case, the company simply lied to me: they made a promise that they never fulfilled.

Comment Job Application (Score 2) 38

I once applied to work for Canonical. Prior to offering an interview, they insisted I take the computer version of something called the Thomas International General Intelligence Assessment.

The problem with the computer version of the test is that they show you an image of something for a few moments, then they remove it from the screen and ask you questions about what you saw. If you're Aphantasic, as I am, the test is essentially impossible. I don't have a visual memory. My brain isn't wired that way. Remove something from my sight and the only questions I can answer about it are the things I happened to notice at the time.

I asked for an ADA accommodation. Maybe take the paper version test which doesn't have this problem. Not a chance. You take the test which every applicant takes or you don't get an interview. Period. Full stop. Goodbye.

Comment Re:Tire was Boeing's fault? (Score 1) 132

Nothing in these stories alludes to this being a Boeing problem.

Exactly right. Falling off the runway is almost always pilot error. Engines are a distinct part that is neither engineered nor built by Boeing. Tire problems are almost always a maintenance issue.

Correlation is not causation. Absent additional evidence, none of these issues should be attributed to Boeing.

Comment Re:Correct quote (Score 1) 5

What makes that the "correct" version?

Well, for one thing it leaves out words that warp the meaning. As you point out, correlation means causation is -plausible- while a lack of correlation makes causation unlikely. If you pinch "imply" hard enough you can make it mean "infer" or "deduce," but it actually means, "strongly suggest." Correlation doesn't suggest any particular causal relationship but it does suggest that one exists.

Comment ddwrt (Score 1) 2

For what you describe, your best bet is to buy one of the generic home wifi routers that are supported by ddwrt of openwrt. It's not uncommon to find something used for $10-$20. And then install one or the other, giving a linux box with full control. Add a USB stick so you have enough space for all the utilities.

I just went through the search for mini-PCs for a project at work. The main problem is that almost all of them cool poorly, and that significantly impairs their life span.I finally found a few at the $100 price point that cooled acceptably... and they disappeared from the market shortly after I bought the test units, replaced with newer models in the $250 ballpark.

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