DemonCat - Slashdot User

Comment Re:a better system (Score 1) 551

by DemonCat on Monday January 02, 2012 @05:58PM (#38566468) Attached to: In New Zealand, a System To Watch for Disabled Parking Violators

"b) if a valid handicap parking-user shows up and there are no spots available, anyone parked in them gets tagged and fined."
If the space is improperly occupied when it's needed, the system has failed and you have a handicapped person who may be unable to attend the business or event they're trying to park at. The fine is only a deterrent to parking there. It does nothing to help a handicapped driver who can't buy groceries because someone was insensitive enough to take their parking space.

I've seen a lot of grousing here that handicapped spaces are usually empty. That how they're supposed to work. The idea is to have enough handicapped parking that the few who need it will always have a space open for them, so they don't have to circle the block 50 times, wait forever, or just come back later. When your mobility is impaired simple errands become arduous chores that don't need any further impediments. Making parking marginally less convenient for able-bodies persons makes it dramatically more accessible for who people who face severe challenges at basic daily tasks.

Comment Re:Please (Score 1) 735

by DemonCat on Tuesday November 01, 2011 @10:20PM (#37915422) Attached to: US Defunds UNESCO After Palestine Vote

"Please grant Palestine full membership in WIPO, preferably yesterday."

Why is the parent modded 5, Insightful? The statement is not an insight or observation at all, just a request. Are people just modding this up because they happen to agree with the politics behind the statement?

High Fructose Corn Syrup To Get a Makeover 646

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 15, 2010 @07:55PM from the same-great-taste dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With its sweetener linked to obesity, some cancers and diabetes, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) doesn't want you to think 'fructose' when you see high fructose corn syrup in your soda, ketchup or pickles. Instead, the AP reports, the CRA submitted an application to the FDA, hoping to change the name of their top-selling product to 'corn sugar.'"

Whisky Made From Diabetics' Urine 226

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday August 31, 2010 @05:03PM from the I've-tasted-this-before dept.

It's doubtful that any other distillery will come up with a whisky that tastes like Gilpin Family Whisky because of its secret ingredient: urine. Researcher and designer James Gilpin uses the sugar rich urine of elderly diabetics to make his high-end single malt whisky. From the article: "The source material is acquired from elderly volunteers, including Gilpin's own grandmother, Patricia. The urine is purified in the same way as mains water is purified, with the sugar molecules removed and added to the mash stock to accelerate the whisky's fermentation process. Traditionally, that sugar would be made from the starches in the mash."

Comment Re:To Answer Logistic Questions (Score 1) 911

by DemonCat on Tuesday August 17, 2010 @01:00AM (#33272510) Attached to: Convicted NY Drunk Drivers Need Ignition Interlocks

I know there's a lot of people out there that have been negatively affected by drunk drivers but in most states the punishment really can be life destroying.

Being hit by a drunk driver can also be life destroying, and in some cases life ending.

I'm not against these things being used in serious cases. But your first offense with a DUI ... where do we draw the line?

Driving with with a 0.08 BAC is a serious case. This isn't just some inconsequential traffic ticket for a reason. Just because the drunk driver was lucky enough not to hit anyone doesn't make them any less guilty of recklessly endangering people's lives.

Publishing Company Puts Warning Label on Constitution 676

Posted by samzenpus on Friday June 11, 2010 @02:11PM from the inappropriate-founding-fathers dept.

Wilder Publication is under fire for putting warning labels on copies of historical US documents, including the Constitution. The label warns "This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today." From the article: "The disclaimer goes on to tell parents that they 'might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.'"

Doctors Seeing a Rise In "Google-itis" 368

Posted by samzenpus on Monday May 17, 2010 @02:29PM from the sounds-like-rickets-to-me dept.

It's one of the fastest-growing health issues that doctors now face: "Google-itis." Everyone from concerned mothers to businessmen on their lunch break are typing in symptoms and coming up with rare diseases or just plain wrong information. Many doctors are bringing computers into examination rooms now so they can search along with patients to alleviate their fears. "I'm not looking for a relationship where the patient accepts my word as the gospel truth," says Dr. James Valek. "I just feel the Internet brings so much misinformation to the (exam) room that we have to fight through all that before we can get to the problem at hand."

One Year Later, USPS Looks Into Gamefly Complaint 183

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday May 05, 2010 @01:03AM from the good-luck-answering-in-less-than-a-year dept.

Last April, we discussed news that video game rental service GameFly had complained to the USPS that a large quantity of their game discs were broken in transit, accusing the postal service of giving preferential treatment to more traditional DVD rental companies like Netflix. Now, just over a year later, an anonymous reader sends word that the USPS has responded with a detailed inquiry into GameFly's situation (PDF). The inquiry's 46 questions (many of which are multi-part) cover just about everything you could imagine concerning GameFly's distribution methods. Most of them are simple, yet painstaking, in a way only government agencies can manage. Here are a few of them: "What threshold does GameFly consider to be an acceptable loss/theft rate? Please provide the research that determined this rate. ... What is the transportation cost incurred by GameFly to transport its mail from each GameFly distribution center to the postal facility used by that distribution center? ... Please describe the total cost that GameFly would incur if it expanded its distribution network to sixty or one hundred twenty locations. In your answer, please itemize costs separately. ... Does the age of a gaming DVD or the number of times played have more effect on the average life cycle of a gaming DVD?"

Girl Claims Price Scanner Gave Her Tourette's Syndrome 558

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday April 14, 2010 @07:56PM from the it's-$4.99-you-f*#@ing-co^&%#@!er dept.

Attorneys for Dominica Juliano claim that she was burned and developed psychological problems after a store clerk aimed a hand-held price scanner at her face. Store attorneys say their scanners uses a harmless LED light and that the girl had serious health problems before she was scanned. From the article: "Dominica Juliano was 12 when she and her grandmother entered the Country Fair store in Erie in June 2004. A clerk allegedly called the girl 'grumpy' before flashing his hand-held bar code scanner over her face and telling her to smile. Attorneys for Ms. Juliano and her guardian say the girl was sensitive to light and burned, and later developed post-traumatic stress and Tourette's syndrome."

Ubisoft DRM Causing More Problems 279

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday April 03, 2010 @01:52PM from the there's-a-lesson-here-that-nobody-will-learn dept.

Joe Helfrich writes "Ubisoft's Settlers 7 servers have been causing problems for over a week for users worldwide, and Australian gamers are hardly able to connect at all. 'The problem reportedly strikes after the game has already confirmed an active Internet connection, and prevents the user from playing even the single-player campaign, returning the error "server not available." But they are available, because other people are logged into them and merrily playing away.' Wonder how they're going to describe this one as an attack."

Japanese Turning To "Therapeutic Ringtones" 75

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday March 16, 2010 @05:39PM from the take-two-calls-and-see-me-in-the-morning dept.

indiavision writes "A host of young Japanese are drawn to the allure of 'therapeutic ringtones' — a genre of melodies that promises to ease a range of day-to-day gripes, from chronic insomnia to a rotten hangover. Developed by Matsumi Suzuki, the head of the Japan Ringing Tone Laboratory, an eight-year-old subsidiary of the Japan Acoustic Laboratory, the tones are a hit with housewives as well as teenagers."

Microsoft Demos Three Platforms Running the Same Game 196

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday March 07, 2010 @01:24PM from the pick-up-and-play dept.

suraj.sun writes with this excerpt from Engadget: "Microsoft's Eric Rudder, speaking at TechEd Middle East, showed off a game developed in Visual Studio as a singular project (with 90% shared code) that plays on Windows with a keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up."

Officials Sue Couple Who Removed Their Lawn 819

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday March 03, 2010 @01:39AM from the revenge-of-the-lawn dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The LA Times reports that Orange County officials are locked in a legal battle with a couple accused of violating city ordinances for replacing the grass on their lawn with wood chips and drought-tolerant plants, reducing their water usage from 299,221 gallons in 2007 to 58,348 gallons in 2009. The dispute began two years ago, when Quan and Angelina Ha tore out the grass in their front yard. In drought-plagued Southern California, the couple said, the lush grass had been soaking up tens of thousands of gallons of water — and hundreds of dollars — each year. 'We've got a newborn, so we want to start worrying about her future,' said Quan Ha, an information technology manager for Kelley Blue Book. But city officials told the Has they were violating several city laws that require that 40% of residential yards to be landscaped predominantly with live plants. Last summer, the couple tried to appease the city by building a fence around the yard and planting drought-tolerant greenery — lavender, rosemary, horsetail, and pittosporum, among others. But according to the city, their landscaping still did not comply with city standards. At the end of January, the Has received a letter saying they had been charged with a misdemeanor violation and must appear in court. The couple could face a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for their grass-free, eco-friendly landscaping scheme. 'It's just funny that we pay our taxes to the city and the city is now prosecuting us with our own money,' says Quan Ha."

After Learning Java Syntax, What Next? 293

Posted by timothy on Sunday February 21, 2010 @09:31AM from the nice-hot-bath dept.

Niris writes "I'm currently taking a course called Advanced Java Programming, which is using the text book Absolute Java, 4th edition, by Walter Savitch. As I work at night as a security guard in the middle of nowhere, I've had enough time to read through the entire course part of the book, finish all eleven chapter quizzes, and do all of the assignments within a month, so all that's left is a group assignment that won't be ready until late April. I'm trying to figure out what else to read that's Java related aside from the usual 'This is how to create a tree. This is recursion. This is how to implement an interface and make an anonymous object,' and wanted to see what Slashdotters have to suggest. So far I'm looking at reading Beginning Algorithms, by Simon Harris and James Ross."

Why Time Flies By As You Get Older 252

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 02, 2010 @11:03PM from the like-a-banana dept.

Ant notes a piece up on WBUR Boston addressing theories to explain the universal human experience that time seems to pass faster as you get older. Here's the 9-minute audio (MP3). Several explanations are tried out: that brains lay down more information for novel experiences; that the "clock" for nerve impulses in aging brains runs slower; and that each interval of time represents a diminishing fraction of life as we age.

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