Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Re: I think the current president (Score 5, Informative) 281

Unfortunately not as simple as that. You need a full-on 60 clear votes in the Senate to stop the filibuster -- which is a requirement for ANY kind of controversial (e.g., one-sided) legislation.

This is why when either party has a majority in the Senate, they usually still can't get all the things done they want, because it's rare for either party to have that full 60 number. (Also, Dems have 2 Senators right now that vote along conservative lines more often than their own party.)

Comment Many small businesses will fail too (Score 4, Insightful) 237

I'm not sure I'm on board with the argument that ALL airlines are a vital industry.

I think what is far more vital are all the small businesses -- 23 million sole proprietorships out of 30 million small businesses -- that really can't afford to just take a few months off from doing business. Hair salons, local restaurants, small stores, daycare, your doctor's office, plumbers, electricians, you name it, basically anything that's not a chain in your local town.

If they implement more restrictions about going out, many of these businesses simply won't make it. An entire town's worth of business could be wiped out because everybody is practicing (good!) social distancing and staying at home.

Small business is just as vital to the vitality and growth of the American economy. Without them, the economy will be in for a long period of recession.

So by all means, throw more money at large corporations who should be required to have their own insurance fund for emergencies like this. But you also better have a plan on how to help the millions of ordinary Americans who are either employed by or rely on a small business in their community. Because if you don't, you'll be seen as just helping another corrupt industry relying on government handouts in order to make their business plan work.

Comment Re:Geek culture is based on merit, not diversity (Score 1) 288

Right, because white males never put any of their biases or beliefs into the code they write, or the algorithms they work on.

That's why AI and machine learning code is always, 100 percent unbiased and doesn't take into account race or gender or anything....

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Farticl...

Oooops!

So if it's true that having a white male workplace is not ideal for companies writing code, then yes, you have to change the workplace to accommodate others who don't like working in an environment where every other joke is about a woman's body or sexuality.

Or you can continue putting your head in the sand and pretend it doesn't happen. I hear that works out real well...

Comment Re:It avoids violating their terms of service (Score 3, Interesting) 258

No judge is going to issue a gag order after something has already been published. There's no reason to alert the companies ahead of publication with the exact details of your investigation. In fact, there's no need to even tell the companies ahead of publication. The only reason this is done to some degree is to get the BS public-relations comment that tries to explain away the discrepancy.

Who is the reader going to believe? The DNA experts from Yale or some other university, or the for-profit company trying to defend their reputation?

Comment Re:Thank God (Score 1) 116

Most people going north or south on I95 never took the route that went through Philly (unless you had a need to go to Philly). Growing up in Delaware, I never understood why I95 even went to Philly, since it basically dead-ends once you get north of the city. It should be called something else, like I-895 or something as it's really just a spur up to Philly and the PA turnpike.

If you want to go north I95, you go over the Del. Mem. Bridge and take either I295 (free) or the NJ turnpike (toll, and still only a 4-lane divided highway for the first 4 exits in NJ). I-295 then has a cutover around Mount Holly that allows you to get back onto the NJ turnpike to continue to your travels north.

Sadly for America, we've let these great infrastructures rot right after we built them with continually deferred maintenance. Highway bridges that could easily last 100+ years if well-maintained instead need replacing after 30 or 40 years. Heaven forbid we raise gas taxes to help pay for fixing America's crumbling infrastructure. The current president campaigned on this, yet haven't seen a damn thing done to help undo the backlog of deferred projects...

Comment Horrible, just horrible. (Score 1) 246

I'm not sure why /. is posting the ramblings of a non-researcher, non-statistician as though he knew what he was talking about.

Has it gotten to this? Really?

Bennett took 1,800+ words to describe what a normal research would take under 100 to say. This is what happens when someone thinks they know what they're talking about, and need to rationalize the heck out of it in order to make sense.

Comment Re:A reason to really like Google Voice (Score 1) 166

Indeed. We have used multiple OBI 110 boxes, connected to different Google Voice numbers, and it works like a charm for landlines. Free landlines. As many as you need. For free calling, with a regular telephone.

I'm sorry, but anybody who knocks a service that allows you to deploy free regular telephones (after the cost of OBI 110, $47 on Amazon) to anyone with an Internet connection isn't seeing the forest through the trees. Not everybody has or needs a mobile phone. (And especially the cheap phones many people buy as emergency phones for their senior parents are absolutely crap to talk on.)

As long as Google doesn't do anything to screw up the use of an OBI, it's gold.

Comment Another Sloppy Journalism Article (Score 1) 89

Too bad the article is just plain sloppy journalism, written from the company's press release. The first inpatient Internet addiction treatment program opened up back in 2008:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/09/08/treating-internet-addiction-is-new/

And in 2009, another inpatient treatment center also claimed to be 'the first' inpatient treatment program... for a disorder that doesn't even officially exist!

Ah, it's Fox News... Nevermind.

--
Psych Central
http://psychcentral.com/

Submission + - NY Times' Broder Responds to Tesla's Elon Musk (nytimes.com)

DocJohn writes: "NY Times' John Broder responded to Elon Musk's blog entry, responding to accusations with deft and reasonable replies. Accused of driving around a parking lot for no reason, for instance, Broder notes he was simply looking for the poorly marked charging station. Worse of all, much of Broder's behavior can be attributed directly to advice he received from Tesla representatives — something Musk fails to mention."

Comment Wordpress is what you need (Score 2) 161

Download a copy of Wordpress to an outsourced web server hosting account (many secure options available for ~$100/year). It takes 3 minutes to setup.

Wordpress's backend interface is the easiest to use and understand for folks who just need to share information and documents with others. There isn't the level of complexity (out of the box, but it's available if needed) that other CMSs have (like Drupal). Drupal is not recommended if you're not already familiar with Drupal.

Then pick one of the attractive themes from the thousands available, load in a few helpful plugins, and give accounts to folks who may be responsible for different areas of content.

Wordpress can easily grow if your needs grow. But out-of-the-box, it's so easy to use and manage, it's the no-brainer choice.

--
Psych Central
http://psychcentral.com/

United Kingdom

Julian Assange Served With Extradition Notice By British Police 612

An anonymous reader writes "London's Metropolitan Police have delivered an 'Extradition Notice' to Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, who sought refuge and political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London last week. Scotland Yard have said in a brief statement that 'the notice requires Julian Assange to attend a police station of our choosing at a set time.' SY also said, 'This is standard procedure in extradition cases and is the first step in the removal process. He remains in breach of his bail conditions and failure to surrender would be a further breach of those conditions and he is liable to arrest.' However, under international diplomatic arrangements, the British Metropolitan Police cannot actually go into the Ecuadorian embassy to arrest Mr Assange. Assange would have to leave the embassy to be lawfully arrested. This raises the following question of course: Is this the 'endgame' for Julian Assange as far as extradition is concerned? If the Ecuadorians fail to grant Assange political asylum, which is a possibility, will he be arrested by Metropolitan Police, and sent to Sweden to stand trial for two alleged counts of 'rape?' Will Sweden then hand Assange over to the United States, where many well known and quite senior politicians have publicly stated that they think 'Assange should be punished severely' for publishing confidential U.S. diplomatic cables on Wikileaks?"

Comment Re:This is a terrible idea (Score 4, Insightful) 339

It's an example of a person over-thinking the problem, considering the multiple solutions already available --

- Netbook or Air
- Tablet or iPad
- Smartphone
- Small and light laptop

Seriously, once you add in all the miscellaneous nonsense you'll need to deal with in getting such a homebrew solution to work, it just isn't worth it. Because, after all, isn't your time worth something? Great, take your hourly rate and times it by how much you're spending researching homebrew solutions and then actually getting something to work to your satisfaction.

Any business traveler who doesn't know how to pack light should instead invest in some time learning how to pack light. I carry a netbook and carry-on internationally and it's never been a problem, weight-wise or otherwise.

Comment Re:multitasking (Score 1) 1003

Unfortunately, that website has it completely wrong. If you go and look at the NHTSA study they're quoting, those are the statistics for ANY distraction while driving (not just eating).

Eating is a distraction, contributing up to 2.15 percent of the risk in crashes and near-crashes according to the study. Nowhere near what that web page is claiming.

That's why a critical eye is needed when reading stuff online. You can't just find something that agrees with your point of view and take it face value without digging a little deeper.

--
Psych Central - Get your psychology on!
http://psychcentral.com/

Comment Re:The sorry state of science reporting (Score 1) 103

And worse, it's not even a particularly new finding from this research team. They reported on something similar 3 YEARS ago:

http://pinktentacle.com/2008/12/scientists-extract-images-directly-from-brain/

Last, neurofeedback -- a technique that's been around and well-understood for 2 decades now -- isn't likely to teach anyone a skill like juggling. It can help guide you to better understand your bodily responses and reflexes, but it's not like you can imprint one fMRI image onto another person. Neurofeedback takes time and practice, so it's nothing like the Matrix.

--
Psych Central - Get your psychology on.
http://psychcentral.com/

Slashdot Top Deals

No skis take rocks like rental skis!

Working...