Comment Re:Did I imagine this ... (Score 2) 115
IANAL. Source code is the copyrightable creative expression of a software engineer that may infringe on process patents once compiled and run on a computer.
Comment Re:Gallium = Sticky (Score 2) 115
Well, then this is a feature, not a bug. The patient already set up for another contrast exam.
And can never pass through a metal detector unmolested...
Comment Marigolds! (Score 1) 92
Why would you not send Marigolds if you had a chance for such an experiment? Besides, we will need bees on the moon; so we're going to need flowers. Plants don't pollinate themselves.
Comment Re:Easy answer -- FAIL (Score 1) 383
Q: How do I convince management to hire more IT staff?
A: Quit.
Fail!
Let me explain how this works in management-land.
"We're not going to back fill."
A good manager will take the raise and accolades for cutting costs. And then leave for greener pastures while the references are still positive.
It's all Win-Win. The company saves money, the manager gets a raise and a better job. Everyone wins.
Tesla Faces Off Against Car Dealers In Another State: Ohio 214
cartechboy writes "We've seen Tesla run into regulatory issues in Texas. And North Carolina. This time, it's Ohio, where car dealers are playing an entertainingly brazen brand of hardball. The Ohio Dealers Association is backing an anti-Tesla amendment to Ohio Senate Bill 137--which turns out to be an unrelated, uncontroversial proposal about drivers moving left when they see emergency vehicles (The bill is headed for adoption.) The sudden and subtle amendment would ban Tesla from selling its electric cars directly to customers, who place their orders online with the company after learning about the Model S in company-owned stores. A hearing on the amendment was suddenly scheduled for today; Tesla is fighting back by outlining the economic benefits to Ohio--after taking some legislators for a ride in the Model S (a Tesla tactic that has worked before)."
Disabled Woman Denied Entrance To US Due To Private Medical Records 784
Jah-Wren Ryel writes "In 2012, Canadian Ellen Richardson was hospitalized for clinical depression. This past Monday she tried to board a plane to New York for a $6,000 Caribbean cruise. DHS denied her entry, citing supposedly private medical records listing her hospitalization. From the story: '“I was turned away, I was told, because I had a hospitalization in the summer of 2012 for clinical depression,’’ said Richardson, who is a paraplegic and set up her cruise in collaboration with a March of Dimes group of about 12 others.'"
Submission + - NSA Spied On Porn Habits As Part Of Plan To Discredit 'Radicalizers' (huffingtonpost.com)
Jah-Wren Ryel writes: The National Security Agency has been gathering records of online sexual activity and evidence of visits to pornographic websites as part of a proposed plan to harm the reputations of those whom the agency believes are radicalizing others through incendiary speeches, according to a top-secret NSA document.
This plan is remarkably similar to the way the FBI tried to blackmail Martin Luther King, aka "the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation," with an audiotape they got by bugging his bedroom.
This plan is remarkably similar to the way the FBI tried to blackmail Martin Luther King, aka "the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation," with an audiotape they got by bugging his bedroom.
Submission + - Chicago transit system fooled by federal ID cards
johnslater writes: The Chicago Transit Authority's new "Ventra" stored-value fare card system has another big problem. It had a difficult birth, with troubles earlier this fall when legitimate cards failed to allow passage, or sometimes double-billed the holders. Last week a server failure disabled a large portion of the system at rush hour. Now it is reported that some federal government employee ID cards allow free rides on the system. The system is being implemented by Cubic Transportation Systems for the bargain price of $454 million.
Comment Re:This is such great news for son (Score 0) 270
My son is 13 years old and has been training to be a pilot since he was 11. He has taken off and landed a small airplane (with the PIC in the airplane with him, of course) quite a few times.
Really?!? You're kid is flying a plane with a PIC? So, he's essentially being trained to fly by a drone. Is there anything a robot can't do anymore?
Comment Re:Where the guilt is (Score 3, Insightful) 239
Yeah, and if you use the word "stealing" instead of "make infringing copies", that makes the latter sound a lot worse. But here on Slashdot, you're not allowed to do that, yet it's A-OK to redefine other words for our own feel-good* purposes, apparently?
MAFIAA bribery (or "lobbying") resulted in corporations "stealing from the public domain". And they have managed to re-defined "fair use" as "DMCA violations". But you keep using whatever terms makes you feel good about that.
Comment Re:Charge them as felons! (Score 1) 186
SCOTUS says that corporations are people??? Why not carry that stupid decision to its logical conclutions. Prosucute them as people under this law!
It may drive some people question their opposition to the death penalty.
Software Patent Reform Stalls Thanks To IBM and Microsoft Lobbying 239
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington post reports on the progress of a piece of legislation many hoped would address the glut of meaningless software patents used as weapons by patent trolls. Unfortunately, the provision that would have helped the USPTO nix these patents has been nixed itself. The article credits IBM, Microsoft, and other companies with huge patent portfolios for the change, citing an 'aggressive lobbying campaign' that apparently succeeded. Quoting: 'A September letter signed by IBM, Microsoft and several dozen other firms made the case against expanding the program. The proposal, they wrote, "could harm U.S. innovators by unnecessarily undermining the rights of patent holders. Subjecting data processing patents to the CBM program would create uncertainty and risk that discourage investment in any number of fields where we should be trying to spur continued innovation." ... Last week, IBM escalated its campaign against expanding the CBM program. An IBM spokesman told Politico, "While we support what Mr. Goodlatte's trying to do on trolls, if the CBM is included, we'd be forced to oppose the bill." Insiders say the campaign against the CBM provisions of the Goodlatte bill has succeeded. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a markup of the legislation Wednesday, and Goodlatte will introduce a "manager's amendment" to remove the CBM language from his own bill. IBM hailed that change in a Monday letter to Goodlatte.'"
Comment Change Permissions (Score 4, Informative) 243
I uninstall apps when they change permissions to grab my identity, contacts, camera, etc. There's only one reason for that and it ain't good.
Comment Re:So where to teach this? (Score 1) 250
I say in religion class.
A field trip to Somalia.
The NSA Is Looking For a Few Good Geeks 388
itwbennett writes "Dan Tynan noticed something curious when he was reading a TechCrunch story (about Google's mystery barges, as it happens). There was a banner ad promoting careers at the NSA — and this was no ad-serving network fluke. Tynan visited the TechCrunch site on three different machines, and saw an NSA ad every time. In one version of the ad, a male voice says, 'There are activities that I've worked on that make, you know, front page headlines. And I can say, I know all about that, I had a hand in that. The things that happen here at NSA really have national and world ramifications.'"
