Comment YouTube (Score 1) 46
I find YouTube to have a video on almost anything technical and I even use it to, for example, learn how to play the intro to a song on guitar.
Comment The new normal (Score 4, Interesting) 396
I am a professor at a college about an hour each way. I am used to filling my tank every week. We went online in early March and I doubt I have used 20 gallons of gas since then. That may change in the fall. This virus has demonstrated that not all interactions have to be face-to-face. I'm sure businesses have enjoyed the drop in that expense. And Zoom has enjoyed the new subscriptions. Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea.
Submission + - Linux team approves new terminology, bans terms like 'blacklist' and 'slave' (zdnet.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Linus Torvalds approved on Friday a new and more inclusive terminology for the Linux kernel code and documentation. Going forward, Linux developers have been asked to use new terms for the master/slave and blacklist/whitelist terminologies. Proposed alternatives for master/slave include:
- primary/secondary
- main/replica or subordinate
- initiator/target
- requester/responder
- controller/device
- host/worker or proxy
- leader/follower
- director/performer
Proposed alternatives for blacklist/whitelist include:
- denylist/allowlist
- blocklist/passlist
Submission + - The F-16's Replacement Won't Have a Pilot at All (aviationweek.com)
schwit1 writes: The U.S. Air Force is planning to field an operational combat drone by 2023. The service says Skyborg will replace older weapon-slinging drones and even early models of the F-16. Skyborg will be reusable but could be sacrificed in combat if necessary.
Submission + - Facebook Considers Political-Ad Blackout Ahead of US Election (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Facebook is considering imposing a ban on political ads on its social network in the days leading up to the U.S. election in November, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. The potential ban is still only being discussed and hasn’t yet been finalized, said the people, who asked not to be named talking about internal policies. A halt on ads could serve as a defense against misleading election-related content spreading widely right as people prepare to vote. Still, there are also concerns that an ad blackout could hurt “get out the vote” campaigns, or limit a candidate’s ability to respond widely to breaking news or new information.
Facebook doesn’t fact-check ads from politicians or their campaigns, a point of contention for many lawmakers and advocates, who say the policy means ads on the platform could be used to spread lies and misinformation. The social-media giant has been criticized in recent weeks by civil rights groups that say it doesn’t do enough to remove efforts to limit voter participation, and a recent audit of the company found Facebook failed to enforce its own voter suppression policies when it comes to posts from U.S. President Donald Trump. Hundreds of advertisers are currently boycotting Facebook’s advertising products as part of a protest against its policies.
Facebook doesn’t fact-check ads from politicians or their campaigns, a point of contention for many lawmakers and advocates, who say the policy means ads on the platform could be used to spread lies and misinformation. The social-media giant has been criticized in recent weeks by civil rights groups that say it doesn’t do enough to remove efforts to limit voter participation, and a recent audit of the company found Facebook failed to enforce its own voter suppression policies when it comes to posts from U.S. President Donald Trump. Hundreds of advertisers are currently boycotting Facebook’s advertising products as part of a protest against its policies.
Submission + - Portland Approves 10% Cap On Fees That Food Delivery Apps Can Charge Restuarants (oregonlive.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Portland City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to make it illegal for third-party food delivery services like DoorDash and Grubhub to collect more than 10% in commission fees from city restaurants amid the coronavirus pandemic. Portland joins other cities, including Seattle, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, that have instituted similar caps in recent months. Those cities have limits at 15%. New Jersey last week put a 10% service fee cap that applies to all restaurants in the state. Food delivery company fees can be as high as 30%.
The new rule also makes it illegal for DoorDash, Uber Eats and other companies to decrease payments to delivery workers in order to make up lost money from restaurant fees, the ordinance said. The city council approved an amendment to the order Wednesday to also include a 5% limit if the delivery service allows a restaurant to transport their own food or if a customer orders through the app and picks up their items at the business. The restrictions would end 90 days after Portland’s state of emergency order lifts. No date has been set to lift the order, which has been in place since March 12. Delivery app companies would be liable for up to $500 in civil penalties if the order is violated and the fine would accrue every day and for every restaurant overcharged. The restaurant would have to sue the company involved if they aren’t given refunds.
The new rule also makes it illegal for DoorDash, Uber Eats and other companies to decrease payments to delivery workers in order to make up lost money from restaurant fees, the ordinance said. The city council approved an amendment to the order Wednesday to also include a 5% limit if the delivery service allows a restaurant to transport their own food or if a customer orders through the app and picks up their items at the business. The restrictions would end 90 days after Portland’s state of emergency order lifts. No date has been set to lift the order, which has been in place since March 12. Delivery app companies would be liable for up to $500 in civil penalties if the order is violated and the fine would accrue every day and for every restaurant overcharged. The restaurant would have to sue the company involved if they aren’t given refunds.
Submission + - New Study Detects Ringing of the Global Atmosphere (phys.org)
An anonymous reader writes: A ringing bell vibrates simultaneously at a low-pitched fundamental tone and at many higher-pitched overtones, producing a pleasant musical sound. A recent study, just published in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences by scientists at Kyoto University and the University of Hawai'i at Mnoa, shows that the Earth's entire atmosphere vibrates in an analogous manner, in a striking confirmation of theories developed by physicists over the last two centuries. In the case of the atmosphere, the "music" comes not as a sound we could hear, but in the form of large-scale waves of atmospheric pressure spanning the globe and traveling around the equator, some moving east-to-west and others west-to-east. Each of these waves is a resonant vibration of the global atmosphere, analogous to one of the resonant pitches of a bell.
Now in a new study by Takatoshi Sakazaki, an assistant professor at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Science, and Kevin Hamilton, an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences and the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Mnoa, the authors present a detailed analysis of observed atmospheric pressure over the globe every hour for 38 years. The results clearly revealed the presence of dozens of the predicted wave modes. The study focused particularly on waves with periods between 2 hours and 33 hours which travel horizontally through the atmosphere, moving around the globe at great speeds (exceeding 700 miles per hour). This sets up a characteristic "chequerboard" pattern of high and low pressure associated with these waves as they propagate.
Now in a new study by Takatoshi Sakazaki, an assistant professor at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Science, and Kevin Hamilton, an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences and the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Mnoa, the authors present a detailed analysis of observed atmospheric pressure over the globe every hour for 38 years. The results clearly revealed the presence of dozens of the predicted wave modes. The study focused particularly on waves with periods between 2 hours and 33 hours which travel horizontally through the atmosphere, moving around the globe at great speeds (exceeding 700 miles per hour). This sets up a characteristic "chequerboard" pattern of high and low pressure associated with these waves as they propagate.
Comment Re:Really? (Score 1) 154
I am guessing that the next Kindle will be a lot more like the Nexus than the current version of the Kindle. Amazon really rushed that first version out but I think that they can, and will, do better this go 'round.
Comment Reasonable Question (Score 1, Interesting) 134
Come on, folks. It's a reasonable question. He is going to two large states and is asking about coverage. There is no need to ridicule him for his request. If you can't answer it or are not interested than move on. I doubt SlashDot would have posted it had they thought it wasn't a reasonable request.
Comment Re:Maybe (Score 0) 502
Good explanation. Wish I could mod you up but you'll be at 5 in a few minutes anyway.
Comment Re:An agenda (Score 2) 420
I am a weather enthusiast and even have a fairly popular (though local) website. I've read a great deal about how warming/cooling works and I cannot come to a conclusion that any warming/cooling is any more than a cyclical climate change but I also cannot say that's it's not at least partly anthropogenic. I wish I could find more dispassionate reporting about how any current, global, climate change is occurring. A lot of what I read is very one-sided. Both sides of this argument cherry pick scientific data/evidence to support their opinion.
Comment Fantastic! (Score 1) 93
I have been waiting for this for some time. I want to be able to use any machine I am at to teach basic electronics and this makes the circuit simulator portable.
Comment Would like to hear the other side. (Score 2) 312
I am not an Apple fan, and, actually, dislike the company. However, I wonder if they are truly making claims that are not true or if their claims are simply carefully worded to convey, well, nothing. Apple seems to big and way too self-important to risk the scandal of an outright lie. It reminds me of how they handled the antennae problem with the iPhone. It would be interesting to hear Apple's response but my guess is that they will simply not respond and their fans will be fine with that.
Comment Re:I agree (Score 1) 72
When I get more moderator posts I will come back and mod this up. Well written. Thank you.
Comment Sex sells (Score 0) 157
Sex does sell and it sells well. But, it's painful to watch a company that was once so very great, reducing itself to offering porn & gambling to garner some market share. It might even work - but it would be the kind of success that makes you want to take a shower to get the ugly off.
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Mathematics is the only science where one never knows what one is talking about nor whether what is said is true. -- Russell
