Comment Too Late (Score 0) 45
It always was.
Comment When they came for me (Score 0) 89
There was no one left to speak out.
Comment Re: Just like sports and music.. (Score 0) 310
That is actually exactly how I got started learning to code. Not those games, specifically, but the BASIC games that came printed in the back of the 3-2-1-Contact! magazines from PBS in the 80s. We had a PC, but not even dial-up, so if I wanted to play them, I had to type them in, line by line.
Submission + - The end of handshakes as a gesture (cnbc.com) 1
jmcbain writes: In many societies, handshakes are a gesture of friendliness. How many times have you shaken hands when meeting new engineering professionals? Probably quite a lot. However, given what we've seen with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, it's time for a new way to greet people. According to a CNBC article, Anthony Fauci, the head advisor of the USA's task force on the coronavirus, says "I don’t think we should ever shake hands ever again, to be honest with you. Not only would it be good to prevent coronavirus disease, it probably would decrease instances of influenza dramatically in this country." Other scientists agree with Fauci. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group has been trying to put an end to handshakes for nearly three decades. He suggests tilting or bowing your head to greet another person like people did many decades ago. “When men greeted other people [back in the day], they raised tor tipped their hat,” he says.
Submission + - COBOL Programmers Sought (cnn.com)
puddingebola writes: State governors are calling for the help of the COBOL programmers with their aged databases. Jobless claims in many states are processed on computer systems using the programming language.
Submission + - 'Scared to Death' by Arbitration: Companies Drowning in Their Own System (nytimes.com)
PalmAndy writes: Saw this mentioned on Solyent News: Lawyers and a Silicon Valley start-up have found ways to flood the system with claims, so companies are looking to thwart a process they created.
Teel Lidow couldn’t quite believe the numbers. Over the past few years, the nation’s largest telecom companies, like Comcast and AT&T, have had a combined 330 million customers. Yet annually an average of just 30 people took the companies to arbitration, the forum where millions of Americans are forced to hash out legal disputes with corporations.
Mr. Lidow, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a law degree, figured there had to be more people upset with their cable companies. He was right. Within a few months, Mr. Lidow found more than 1,000 people interested in filing arbitration claims against the industry.
About the same time last year, Travis Lenkner and his law partners at the firm Keller Lenkner had a similar realization. Arbitration clauses bar employees at many companies from joining together to mount class-action lawsuits. But what would happen, the lawyers wondered, if those workers started filing tens of thousands of arbitration claims all at once? Many companies, it turns out, can’t handle the caseload.
Hit with about 2,250 claims in one day last summer, for example, the delivery company DoorDash was “scared to death” by the onslaught, according to internal documents unsealed in February in federal court in California.
[ . . . . ]
But a federal judge in San Francisco wasn’t willing to go along with it. The judge, William Alsup, ordered DoorDash in February to proceed with the American Arbitration Association cases and pay the fees.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for DoorDash said the company “believes that arbitration is an efficient and fair way to resolve disputes.”
But in a hearing, Judge Alsup questioned whether the company and its lawyers really believed that.
“Your law firm and all the defense law firms have tried for 30 years to keep plaintiffs out of court,” the judge told lawyers for Gibson Dunn late last year. “And so finally someone says, ‘OK, we’ll take you to arbitration,’ and suddenly it’s not in your interest anymore. Now you’re wiggling around, trying to find some way to squirm out of your agreement.”
“There is a lot of poetic justice here,” the judge added.
Teel Lidow couldn’t quite believe the numbers. Over the past few years, the nation’s largest telecom companies, like Comcast and AT&T, have had a combined 330 million customers. Yet annually an average of just 30 people took the companies to arbitration, the forum where millions of Americans are forced to hash out legal disputes with corporations.
Mr. Lidow, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a law degree, figured there had to be more people upset with their cable companies. He was right. Within a few months, Mr. Lidow found more than 1,000 people interested in filing arbitration claims against the industry.
About the same time last year, Travis Lenkner and his law partners at the firm Keller Lenkner had a similar realization. Arbitration clauses bar employees at many companies from joining together to mount class-action lawsuits. But what would happen, the lawyers wondered, if those workers started filing tens of thousands of arbitration claims all at once? Many companies, it turns out, can’t handle the caseload.
Hit with about 2,250 claims in one day last summer, for example, the delivery company DoorDash was “scared to death” by the onslaught, according to internal documents unsealed in February in federal court in California.
[ . . . . ]
But a federal judge in San Francisco wasn’t willing to go along with it. The judge, William Alsup, ordered DoorDash in February to proceed with the American Arbitration Association cases and pay the fees.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for DoorDash said the company “believes that arbitration is an efficient and fair way to resolve disputes.”
But in a hearing, Judge Alsup questioned whether the company and its lawyers really believed that.
“Your law firm and all the defense law firms have tried for 30 years to keep plaintiffs out of court,” the judge told lawyers for Gibson Dunn late last year. “And so finally someone says, ‘OK, we’ll take you to arbitration,’ and suddenly it’s not in your interest anymore. Now you’re wiggling around, trying to find some way to squirm out of your agreement.”
“There is a lot of poetic justice here,” the judge added.
Submission + - Attackers Can Bypass Fingerprint Authentication With An 80 Percent Success Rate (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A study published on Wednesday by Cisco’s Talos security group makes clear that the alternative isn’t suitable for everyone—namely those who may be targeted by nation-sponsored hackers or other skilled, well-financed, and determined attack groups. The researchers spent about $2,000 over several months testing fingerprint authentication offered by Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Huawei, and three lock makers. The result: on average, fake fingerprints were able to bypass sensors at least once roughly 80 percent of the time.
The percentages are based on 20 attempts for each device with the best fake fingerprint the researchers were able to create. While Apple Apple products limit users to five attempts before asking for the PIN or password, the researchers subjected the devices to 20 attempts (that is, multiple groups of from one or more attempts). Of the 20 attempts, 17 were successful. Other products tested permitted significantly more or even an unlimited number of unsuccessful tries. Tuesday’s report was quick to point out that the results required several months of painstaking work, with more than 50 fingerprint molds created before getting one to work. The study also noted that the demands of the attack—which involved obtaining a clean image of a target’s fingerprint and then getting physical access to the target’s device—meant that only the most determined and capable adversaries would succeed.
The percentages are based on 20 attempts for each device with the best fake fingerprint the researchers were able to create. While Apple Apple products limit users to five attempts before asking for the PIN or password, the researchers subjected the devices to 20 attempts (that is, multiple groups of from one or more attempts). Of the 20 attempts, 17 were successful. Other products tested permitted significantly more or even an unlimited number of unsuccessful tries. Tuesday’s report was quick to point out that the results required several months of painstaking work, with more than 50 fingerprint molds created before getting one to work. The study also noted that the demands of the attack—which involved obtaining a clean image of a target’s fingerprint and then getting physical access to the target’s device—meant that only the most determined and capable adversaries would succeed.
Comment Re: Retirement (Score 0) 130
1) and 2) can and have already been easily addressed even though they could be answered by a simple google search. 3) is a non-sequitur, but has been answered anyway. 4) I know several renters who own electric cars, they trickle-charge them from a standard outlet while they sleep, it makes very little impact on their monthly electric bill and their landlords don't even notice. Do you have any actual information or are you just making stuff up?
5) Your sig. You are an electric car bigot. Please rm -rf yourself.
Comment whytheluckystiff (Score 0) 244
"why's (poignant) guide to Ruby" is still the best manual for a programming language that I have ever read.
Comment Re:Joyent unfit to lead them? (Score 1) 254
The best part about this post is the disclaimer at the end, followed up by your sig.
Comment Re:Linked? (Score 0) 338
Wrong. Definitions of terms can change over time. What were once considered high-level languages may now be termed as low-level languages, with the introduction of even higher-level languages. It's not the GP's fault that you failed to pay attention while you got old.
Submission + - MIT's Cheetah Robot Runs Untethered (mit.edu)
An anonymous reader writes: It's easy to make a robot walk, but hard to keep it from falling over. We've seen a number of crazy robot prototypes, but they're usually tethered and stuck on a treadmill. Now, researchers from MIT have developed an algorithm that allows their giant robot cheetah to run around outdoors at up to 10mph. They expect the robot to eventually hit speeds of 30mph. "The key to the bounding algorithm is in programming each of the robot’s legs to exert a certain amount of force in the split second during which it hits the ground, in order to maintain a given speed: In general, the faster the desired speed, the more force must be applied to propel the robot forward. ... Kim says that by adapting a force-based approach, the cheetah-bot is able to handle rougher terrain, such as bounding across a grassy field." The MIT cheetah-bot also runs on a custom electric motor, which makes it significantly quieter than gas-powered robots. "Our robot can be silent and as efficient as animals. The only things you hear are the feet hitting the ground."
Comment Re:Addon: Classic Theme Restorer (Score 0) 688
Dude, this machine doesn't even have 2.2GB of memory available (2GB total) and I've got like 50 tabs open. WTF are those 4 sites you are looking at?!
Comment Re:Unless you change it (Score 0) 688
I wish that this is sarcasm, but in my heart know that it is truth.
Comment Re:Submarines (Score 0) 496
Yes, they have. At least in the new Virginia-class.
From http://www.public.navy.mil/sub...
"The Virginias incorporate several innovations. Instead of periscopes, the subs have a pair of extendable "photonics masts" outside the pressure hull. Each contains several high-resolution cameras with light-intensification and infrared sensors, an infrared laser rangefinder, and an integrated Electronic Support Measures (ESM) array. Signals from the masts' sensors are transmitted through fiber optic data lines through signal processors to the control center. "
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