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Comment Re:So what? (Score 1) 437

What in Trump's background makes you think that he's honest with his platform?

It's pretty obvious that if he gets elected, he's going to run the country the same way he's run all of his businesses: He makes a bunch of unrealistic promises, siphons money from the investors/customers into his own pockets, and then declares bankruptcy. I mean, seriously, do you think he's telling the truth when he says he's going to build an impenetrable wall along the whole southern US border? His plan is to pocket the estimated cost of the wall, and that'll be the last anybody ever hears of it.

You're right that Hillary Clinton lies about as much as the average politician, so we need to look at her history as well. Based on her past record: If she's elected, she'll probably try to move things a bit towards the left but mostly keep the status quo in place. Of course a lot of this depends on what kind of Congress she winds up with. But if Trump wins, he'll be guaranteed a Republican Congress that won't have the courage to provide any meaningful resistance to his schemes.

Comment Re:"Social scientist" (Score 1) 116

There's a lot to unpack here but I think I understand what you're saying.

The toxically rigid gender roles you're describing didn't get invented in the 1950's. They've existed with minor variations for centuries. The reason the 1950's look especially bad is because they were at the end of a long static period, just before the 1960's-70's when things started to get dramatically better. (Which isn't to say that there isn't still room for improvement, even today.)

Now, there were some phony social scientists claiming that these rigid gender roles were the natural order of things, just like there were phony medical researchers claiming that smoking was good for you. And they got a lot of publicity from monied interests who wanted to preserve the status quo. People who were actually doing real social science were able to figure out the problems that rigid gender roles were causing. They didn't get as much publicity as they deserved, but that's not because they were using bad methodology.

Stephen J. Gould's "The Mismeasure of Man" is a good book on the subject. He talks more about racism than sexism, but it'll still give you a good picture of the kind of dynamic that was in play.

Comment Re:Basically nothing new (Score 5, Insightful) 262

It's not worthless in the sense that you can't find a sucker to sell it to today. It's worthless in the sense that eventually the supply of suckers will run out, and you're running the risk of getting stuck with bitcoins that have no other value. (Of course the same thing can happen with national currencies...but if it does, it means that the nation that issued the currency has collapsed, and if you're a resident of that country then you've got bigger things to worry about. Even a solid gold-based currency might not be tradeable for food or medicine or weapons.)

It helps if you notice that it's like every other pump-and-dump scheme:

Con Artist 1: I'll buy a bitcoin from you for $1.
Con Artist 2: OK, here it is. Actually, I think I'll buy it back from you for $2!
Con Artist 1: OK, here it is. Will you sell it back to me for $4?
Con Artist 2: Absolutely!
Victim: Wow, the value of bitcoins has quadrupled in the past few minutes! They seem like a wise investment! Can I get in on the action?
Con Artist 1: Sure! In fact, I'll sell you as many bitcoins as you want for only $3.50 each. That's below the market rate.
Victim: What a bargain! I'll take a thousand!
Con Artist 1: Done!
Victim: So, who wants to buy bitcoins? The bidding starts at $8 each!
Con Artists 1 & 2: My, my, look at the time! We must be going!

Image

Slashdot's Disagree Mail 188

Since we covered people who wanted out of Slashdot last week, I thought we'd look at some people who wanted back in. These users found that living without Slashdot was a lot harder than they thought. Maybe you've just been married and are finding out your wife is less interesting than Slashdot or maybe you were bad and want to make amends. These people found out it's hard to make it without your favorite website. Keep reading to find out what they'll do to get back.
Education

Jedi Knights Course Offered By Queen's University Belfast 180

Starting in November, Queen's University Belfast will offer a course that will use the psychology of the Star Wars Jedi Knights to teach students communication skills and personal development. The university's publicity material reads 'the course "Feel the Force: How to Train in the Jedi Way" teaches the "real-life psychological techniques behind Jedi mind tricks"' and promises to explore 'wider issues behind the Star Wars universe, like balance, destiny, dualism, fatherhood and fascism.' The course is very affordable but the droid fees are outrageous.
Classic Games (Games)

Will Modern Games Stand the Test of Time? 210

The Multiplayer blog spoke with Tadashi Iguchi, one of the developers for the recent Pac-man and Galaga remakes, about the decision to bring new life to old classics and whether today's games will receive similar treatment twenty years down the road. "'I think more than half of the games you see today with huge budgets and such a "realistic" focus will be either stale or forgotten in 20 years,' he said. 'On the other hand, the masterpieces of the '80s will definitely be enjoyed far into the future. The reason for this is simple — many of these classic titles have unique and fascinating mechanics that can't be diminished by the advancement of technology.'"
Image

Bottom of The Barrel Book Reviews-Confessions of a Recovering Preppie 228

An anonymous reader writes "Michael de Mare's, Confessions of a Recovering Preppie, has been sitting on my desk a long time, for good reason. They say you can't always judge a book by it's cover but in this case, the unintentionally embarrassing front is perfect. Confessions is a painfully ordinary collection of college stories. Michael seems to have a different definition for the word preppie than the good people at Webster or I do. Even though the author specializes in cryptography, he seems unable to decipher any social situation, himself or the code to writing a book worth reading. Click below to see how confusing it gets.
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Slashdot's Disagree Mail 264

In this week's Disagree Mail, I try to show the range of messages I get. It's not all angry or insane, sometimes it's sent to us for no apparent reason. We start off a little mad, slip into a whole bunch of crazy and finish with someone who has a complaint about racism at his favorite restaurant. Read below to get started.
Mars

Mars Lander's Robot Arm Shuts Down To Save Itself 214

Cowards Anonymous passes along a PCWorld article that begins, "The robotic arm on the Mars Lander found itself in a tough position over the weekend. After receiving instructions for a movement that would have damaged its wrist, the robotic arm recognized the problem, tried to rectify it and then shut down before it could damage itself, according to Ray Arvidson, a co-investigator for the Mars Lander's robotic arm team and a professor at Washington University in St. Louis."
Microsoft

First Looks at Microsoft's New "Live Mesh" Platform 208

technirvana writes "Microsoft's Live Mesh service launched today as an invite-only 'technology preview.' It is Microsoft's attempt to tie all of our data together. Live Mesh synchronizes data across multiple devices (currently just Windows computers, but theoretically it will extend to mobile and other devices in the future) as well as to a web desktop that exists in the cloud. It can sync data across devices used by a single users, as well as create shared spaces for multiple users." And since it's run by Microsoft, you know you can trust it.
Science

Scientists Create Room Temperature Superconductor 380

StarEmperor writes "A team of Canadian and German scientists have fabricated a room-temperature superconductor, using a highly compressed silicon-hydrogen compound. According to the article,"The researchers claim that the new material could sidestep the cooling requirement, thereby enabling superconducting wires that work at room temperature.""
Medicine

Identical Twins Not Identical After All 159

Hugh Pickens writes "Contrary to previous beliefs, identical twins are not genetically identical. Researchers studied 19 pairs of monozygotic, or identical, twins and found differences in copy number variation in DNA which occurs when a set of coding letters in DNA are missing, or when extra copies of segments of DNA are produced. In most cases, variation in the number of copies likely has no impact on health or development but in others, it may be one factor in the likelihood of developing a disease (pdf). "Those differences may point the way to better understanding of genetic diseases when we study so-called discordant monozygotic twins....a pair of twins where one twin has a disorder and the other does not," says Carl Bruder, Ph.D. "If twin A develops Parkinson's and twin B does not, the region of their genome where they show differences is a target for further investigation to discover the basic genetic underpinnings of the disease.""

Microsoft Disses Windows to Sell More Windows 407

mjasay writes "I stumbled across this fascinating Microsoft tutorial entitled "How to Justify a Desktop Upgrade." It's an attempt to coach IT professionals on how to sell Windows desktop upgrades internally. Apparently the value of Vista is not readily apparent, requiring detailed instructions on how to connive and cajole into an upgrade from XP. The most intriguing thing about the tutorial is its implicit rejection of Microsoft's older technology. Just a few years ago Microsoft was pitching the world on how secure and cool XP was. Now it's telling us largely the opposite, implying that XP is a security threat, costs too much to run, and so on. With Microsoft marketing against itself, perhaps the Mac and Linux camps can simply wait for Microsoft to self-destruct?"
The Courts

Oregon AG Seeks to Investigate RIAA Tactics 114

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Turning the tables on the RIAA's attempt to subpoena information from the University of Oregon, that state's Attorney General has now filed additional papers to conduct immediate discovery into the RIAA's 'data mining' techniques. These techniques include the use of unlicensed investigators, the turning over of subpoenaed information to collection agencies, and the obtaining of personal information from computers. The AG pointed out (pdf) that 'Because Plaintiffs routinely obtain ex parte discovery in their John Doe infringement suits ... their factual assertions supporting their good cause argument are never challenged by an adverse party and their investigative methods remain free of scrutiny. They often settle their cases quickly before defendants obtain legal representation and begin to conduct discovery.'"

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