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Comment Yeah, no. (Score 1) 602

This seems like a subtle way to discourage automatic cars from making it to the roadways. The current crop of primative driverless cars uses lane markers as an easy-to-parse guide to finding the road edges and lane, and staying in them.

It will also make driving on wet roads, at night, much more exciting!

Anyone who thinks people will slow down has never actually driven to work in the morning.

Comment Not properly dishonest (Score 1, Insightful) 185

You know, the fact that companies are expected to release their earnings numbers AFTER the market closes just smacks of how stupid the entire market system has become these days. In years gone by, such behavior would have been considered shady, as it's basically concealing the numbers until people can't take action upon them.

Sure, you can argue how it protects the market from knee-jerk reactions and panic... but do you want a free enterprise system or not? Freedom includes the ability to do stupid and impulsive things. Investing in the market should be risky, as it should only be done with "extra" money anyways. Too many people want the market to be a higher-return savings account to put their retirement and life's savings into.

Comment Come and see the violence inherent in the system! (Score 1) 150

This is why we can never have nice things under capitalism. I'm sure the contractor noticed this early in the construction process, and they took the gamble that maybe nobody would notice and saved some dollars. They got caught, and so it cost them... But if you think this is an isolated incident, you're sadly delusional. Pretty much every company out there pulls stunts like this, and most of them don't get caught. That's why they do it. Worship the all mighty ROI.

Comment How much do you share data with other offices? (Score 2) 452

The only downside to using Linux in the workplace doesn't become apparent unless you regularly exchange documents with people in other locations, be they coworkers, clients, or what have you. At that point, you will discover that people outside your office will send you Microsoft format documents and not only expect you to be able to read them, but that you will be able to modify them and send them back.

While a pure linux shop can just use "Libre Office" and whatever other tools work well for a given circumstance, that idea just flat out fails when you're collaborating with folks who are using current Microsoft tools. The people in the home office don't like being told their document doesn't look right because they used a feature that's standard in Microsoft Office 2013, but that LIbre Office doesn't implement or doesn't get quite right. They *REALLY* don't like it when they send you a document and you send them back something forced down to Word 98 compatibility format.

So, that's the headache you're setting yourself (and your boss) up for if you switch the office (or part of it) to Linux. If you're all internal, it's easier to work around, but will still become an issue from time to time. If you don't share documents often, then it's a moot point.

Comment Switch? (Score 1) 769

Yeah, it'll convince people to switch alright... to switch the the clone version of the coffee maker so they can continue to use their favorite coffee pods. You can argue about the quality all day, but the fact is... being able to get a cup of coffee in the morning without all the fuss of making more than you need, or having to clean everything up is worth something.

Comment Re:What is the best way to buy some in bulk? (Score 1) 944

The fact that LED bulbs get gradually dimmer over time is a huge failure point in their design. With incandescent or CFL bulbs, people buy the brightness they want, and when a bulb goes out, they replace it. No harm, other than a bit of cost in the replacement. On the other hand, do you REALLY want people to wonder why their having trouble reading, even with all the lights on? Having bulbs get gradually dimmer over time is a great way to make people visit the eye doctor, wasting hundreds of dollars on insurance, and even more if they end up getting new glasses more often than they might really need to.

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