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Comment: Re:No unicomp ? (Score 1) 93

by JanneM (#48683833) Attached to: Know Your Type: Five Mechanical Keyboards Compared

And no Happy Hacking Pro. That's my go-to keyboard for any stationary use.

I do like the feel of the new chicklet Lenovo Thinkpads as well; I don't know why many people don't like them. Whoever decided on the layout, though (PrtSc between right-alt and ctrl?!) should be sent to the unemployment line as fast as possible.

Comment: No, this is dumb. It should be shorter. (Score 1) 149

by aussersterne (#48682609) Attached to: Boston Elementary, Middle Schools To Get a Longer Day

Very little useful learning goes on in school. And the top students need time outside of school to visit libraries, pursue intellectual hobbies, do independent reading, and generally do all the academic stuff that will actually matter in their lives later on (and matter to society later on).

By continually extending the school day and the school year, we increasingly ensure that we lock our best and brightest into mediocrity by tying up all of their time in institutionally managed busywork designed to ensure they don't deviate from the mean, which is pretty piss-poor.

Comment: Re: FFS just keep the Warthog (Score 1) 241

Who the fuck cares about the hypothetical performance of the plane in some scenario that didn't come to be? What we have is a track record of A-10 performing a stellar job in the wars that have actually happened, from Iraq in 1991 onward. And with ISIS it looks like there will be more of that kind of thing in the future. Retiring a highly successful piece of military hardware when there's clear need for it now and in the future, and no suitable replacement, is just retarded.

Comment: Re:Nobel? (Score 4, Interesting) 237

by MillionthMonkey (#48681799) Attached to: The Interview Bombs In US, Kills In China, Threatens N. Korea
I think Seth Rogen and James Franco should make dictator-mocking their shtick- they're way more likely to succeed with that strategy than anything they'll dream up by themselves. The jokes practically write themselves; in fact KJU is the only interesting character in this movie. So here are some ideas for sequels:
  • Benjamin Netanyahu: While on a trip to congratulate Netanyahu for winning a beauty pageant, Rogen and Franco realize that he won by launching missiles at all the other contestants.
  • Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Rogen and Franco are held hostage by the ISIS leader until he realizes that nobody in the U.S. cares if their heads get chopped off.
  • Vladimir Putin: Rogen and Franco score an interview with the shirtless ruthless dictator. Unfortunately Franco enters the country with a dollar bill in his pocket and inadvertently causes a currency crisis. Then one day Rogen drinks tea laced with polonium 210 and things get wild.

Comment: Re:Wrong assumption (Score 1) 509

by shutdown -p now (#48681645) Attached to: Paul Graham: Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In

What about western Europe?

They don't really rely on skilled immigration to a significant extent. And for what they do, they have states in EU itself to cover it (Poland, Romania etc).

The US is the most populous developed country therefore in absolute terms will always have more jobs and more immigrants.

Even if you look at per capita numbers, US does beat Canada, which I would argue to be the most skilled immigration-friendly country.

However the quality of life is really debatable. Many people would prefer the quality of life of Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia. Personally I think oil rich Norway seems to offer the best quality of life.

The mistake that is often made when estimating said quality is looking at the averaged stats. Thing is, if you're immigrating for the sake of a good job, you need to look at what that job (and others like it) will give you, as opposed to the average or the median. In US, the average is indeed lower than most other western countries because of the wealth gap and piss-poor welfare policies. But people coming here for high-paid jobs (like IT) are getting a deal that's much better than average. And with enough money, you can absolutely have a great experience in US - a good house safe low-crime neighborhood, a great school for your kids in the same neighborhood, solid healthcare, and a private pension fund for retirement. And plenty of jobs to pick from.

Comment: Re: This is MY suggestion on how to start to fix (Score 1) 133

by causality (#48681541) Attached to: 13,000 Passwords, Usernames Leaked For Major Commerce, Porn Sites

Instead of passing harsher laws, maybe we should require that you (and people like you) should be only allowed to use the internet under the supervision of a caretaker.

Of course, if you seriously advocate that people take responsibility for their networks, their equipment, and their decisions and realize the part they play in enabling the problems they complain about, you'll be accused of "blaming the victim".

Still, unlike the harsher laws that vary by jurisdiction (of which some have no extradition treaties), this actually stands a chance of working. On a hostile network like the Internet, nothing other than hardening the targets is going to actually improve security. It would also be nice for the rest of us not to have to contend with botnets and other problems made possible entirely by the clueless who want all the benefits of a general-purpose global network but don't want to put forth the effort to learn how it works and how to use it responsibly.

They strongly resemble the child who wants a pet cat but doesn't want to feed it and change its litter box because that part isn't fun.

Comment: Re:Cards are safer than cash. (Score 2) 133

by causality (#48681451) Attached to: 13,000 Passwords, Usernames Leaked For Major Commerce, Porn Sites

Dependency: Of course the people who can't afford to keep their CC balance at zero end up paying for my peace of mind via increased interest rates. Ultimately CC's are an unfair burden on the "working poor" and become "just another bill" when they inevitably hit their limit (been there, done that). The sad fact is that if everyone at every point in their life could afford to keep the balance at zero nobody would pay interest and CCs would not exist.

That last sentence is false and shows you don't fully understand what you're discussing. The merchant is charged a fee, usually a small percentage of the transaction, each time you use your credit card. Even if you never personally pay interest because you pay in full each month, the bank issuing the credit card is making money from your use of that card.

Incidentally, this is also why some small, local, mom-and-pop stores won't accept a credit card unless your total purchase exceeds a certain amount. The fee they must pay isn't worthwhile to them if the transaction is too small. Larger stores are better able to absorb it and just consider it a cost of doing business.

Comment: Re:Didn't they announce it? (Score 1) 194

Once the Trans Pacific Partnership goes through, the North Korean government can be sued by Comcast for failing to honor the company's right to throttle bandwidth across the North Korean border. There will be a "fast lane", but also an "extra fast lane" which will allow Kim Jong Un to watch The Interview through a gateway that uses TWO 56K modems instead of just one. If North Korea does opt for a fast lane, the NSA will have only half the time to flag his tweets as Inappropriate before they finish uploading.

Comment: Re:why not have an impact in their own countries? (Score 1) 509

by shutdown -p now (#48678987) Attached to: Paul Graham: Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In

I can assure you that even the most pessimistic prognoses that I hear here in US are still way better off than where my home country is, much less where it's heading with all the recent events.

Unless you're into the whole TEOTWAKI stuff. But even taken that for granted, the consequences of such a thing would be just as severe everywhere else. In fact, I would dare say that US (well, at least some parts of it) would be more likely to survive pretty much any conceivable doomsday scenario with something resembling a functional society.

Comment: Re:Visas, or Green Cards? (Score 1) 509

by shutdown -p now (#48678983) Attached to: Paul Graham: Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In

The point is that US effectively does have a program to bring high tech workers into the country as immigrants. It's just that it's not actually designed as such, and so the end results are much worse (for everyone) than a properly designed and managed program like that.

I don't see the point of comparing with most of those other 160 countries. Unlike US, they don't have a history of relying on immigration to maintain population and workforce growth. OTOH, the countries that I have named do. But unlike US, they're smart about how they do it.

Comment: Re:Visas, or Green Cards? (Score 2) 509

by shutdown -p now (#48678383) Attached to: Paul Graham: Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In

What you and a lot of other people don't understand is that for many of us, H1B visas are the only viable path to a green card. US immigration policy is rather ridiculous in that respect in that it doesn't have a properly designed, dedicated skilled immigration track, the way e.g. Canada, Australia or New Zealand do. So in practice that role is subsumed by the "dual-intent" H1B, where you come into the country on that as a "temp worker", and then get your employer to sponsor you for a green card.

Thus, H1B has two kinds of people lumped together into it: the true temp workers, usually paid low wages, and kicked out as soon as their visa expires; and people who are trying to actually immigrate and using it as a stepping stone. In most other countries, the two pools are separated much earlier on.


by shutdown -p now (#48678359) Attached to: Paul Graham: Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In

Why not stay in whatever country they currently reside and try to have an impact there?

As an H1-B from Russia, let me give you the answer:

Because I get paid waaaay more in US (even accounting for cost of living and cost of property). Because this is a more stable and prospering society with crime levels several times less. Because I can actually get into politics here on any level from local to national without risking my neck.

Basically, because the grass is greener on this side of the fence.

Comment: Re:Wrong assumption (Score 1) 509

by shutdown -p now (#48678349) Attached to: Paul Graham: Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In

TFS assumes that all great programmers actually want to live in the US.

It doesn't. It assumes that there is a sufficient number of great programmers who don't want to live where they currently live, and for whom a country like US that is easy for them to move into and that would offer great career opportunities would be very attractive. That is certainly true for pretty much anyone from a third world shithole somewhere in Africa or Asia, and even for many from relatively well off middle class families in Eastern Europe or Latin America.

Now it's true that US is not the only one offering this deal. The main players in the market today are US, Canada and Australia. Of these, US is the hardest to immigrate to and has the most associated red tape and the least clarity; Canada is arguably the easiest. OTOH, US generally offers the best career prospects, and the highest quality of life in terms of how much to earn vs cost of living, so it's still the #1 destination for skilled immigration.
