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Comment: It's more than that (Score 5, Insightful) 158

by Phroggy (#48231853) Attached to: The Problem With Positive Thinking

Positive people are dangerous. Because they assume everything is going to be fine, they fail to plan for things to go wrong, and then after you're stuck cleaning up the mess they caused, they sweep it all under the rug and act like everything went smoothly - so not only do you get no recognition for your heroic efforts to fix everything, but they're fully confident in their ability to handle the next situation just as well as the last.

But nobody wants to listen to the pessimists, because they're so negative.

Comment: UNIX certification (Score 1, Offtopic) 13

by Phroggy (#48217587) Attached to: SMART Begins Live Public Robocar Tests In Singapore

The article makes a big deal of Mac OS X's UNIX certification. Although it didn't hurt, the certification really had nothing to do with the rise in popularity of the Mac. Using open source code certainly allowed Apple to take advantage of (and then build upon) the cool stuff we've enjoyed on Linux for years, but what broke Microsoft's stranglehold on the consumer mindset was really the iPod, and later the iPhone. That's what made people think that buying a Mac might be a viable alternative to Windows. Of course once they made the switch, users were able to see that the technology really works, but without the iPod, most people would never have considered the Mac as an option.

There were other factors at work too:

  • Poor support for Vista when it launched made people desperate for an alternative
  • The rising popularity of Firefox made web developers stop building sites that only worked in IE on Windows

Comment: Re:Janitors and landscapers next? (Score 1) 134

by Phroggy (#48080229) Attached to: Google's Security Guards Are Now Officially Google Employees

Not sure, but I think Google does hire its chefs directly. I thought I saw a job posting for one once on Google's careers website, but I could be wrong.

I once met a guy (at OSCON) who said he was on the hiring committee for Google's chefs. I certainly got the impression they are employees.


Satya Nadella At Six Months: Grading Microsoft's New CEO 151

Posted by samzenpus
from the making-the-grade dept.
snydeq writes The future emerging for Microsoft under Nadella is a mixed bag of hope and turmoil, writes Woody Leonhard in his review of Nadella's first fix months at the helm of Microsoft. "When Nadella took over, Microsoft was mired in the aftermath of a lengthy and ultimately unpopular reign by longtime CEO — and Microsoft majority shareholder — Steve Ballmer. Given the constraint of that checkered past, some might argue that Nadella hasn't had enough time to make his imprint on every aspect of Microsoft. Yet there have been many changes already under Nadella's watch, and patterns are certainly emerging as to the kind of company Microsoft will be in the years ahead." Leadership, product lines, financials — Nadella's scorecard shows strong strategic leadership, particularly around the cloud, but Windows and devices are murky at best, with Microsoft employees "taking it in the shorts, and not only in Finland."

Comment: Re:same as vote by mail (Score 1) 190

by Phroggy (#47587707) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Should I Fight Against Online Voting In Our Municipality?

What bullshit. That lady was high and basically doodling if your read the follow ups. It was not some high level fraud perpetrated on the masses by the Illuminati.

I live in Clackamas County. She wasn't doodling, she was tampering. On ballots where the voter had not voted for any candidate, this woman marked the ballot for the Republican candidate. She acted alone, she didn't affect the outcome of anything, and she was caught. However, she should never have had an opportunity to tamper with the ballots, so while this was not a high level fraud, there was some high level incompetence going on.

Somebody screwed up and should at a minimum be fired for allowing this to happen, but even with an incident like this, vote by mail is still completely awesome. There are enough checks in place that even when people working at the elections office try to tamper with ballots, they're still not able to affect the outcome of the election. This incident is NOT just one more example of a widespread problem; this incident is the ONLY example of a problem with the system that I've heard of (although I admit there may have been other minor incidents of which I remain blissfully ignorant). Basically, voter fraud in Oregon just doesn't happen.

Comment: Re:Appre (Score 1) 225

by Phroggy (#47520429) Attached to: VP Biden Briefs US Governors On H-1B Visas, IT, and Coding

"Highly skilled" does not necessarily mean "highly in demand". Given that there are highly skilled Americans that can't find work, yes I will argue they're bad for America.

This hasn't been my experience. It's hard to find qualified people - they've all got decent jobs already. It's the unskilled workers that are struggling with unemployment (and underemployment).

Comment: Re:Does Size Matter? (Score 1) 211

by Phroggy (#47145193) Attached to: Study Finds Porn Exposure Associated With Smaller Brain Region

Your girlfriend or wife will say no, it's how you use it, but that's only a half truth.

Someone with a smaller striatum who knows how to use it is likely going to give more pleasure than someone with a large striatum who is clueless about how the female brain works, but women prefer someone with a large striatum who knows how to use it over either.

Of course, your striatum can be too large - and despite what you see in the movies, women do not like having their hippocampus jostled by some monster brainpart.


Comment: Re:Once again the FSF does not understand (Score 5, Insightful) 403

The fact that a web browser that I use includes things that legitimize DRM is certainly not a win for me. The only possible "win" for me is when someone creates a Firefox-based web browser that doesn't include this garbage.

I have principles I am not willing to surrender. I can see that you may not have such things. Even the mere existence of DRM is a disgrace.

Except that RIGHT NOW, TODAY, Firefox supports a plug-in architecture which allows Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight to run and play DRM-encumbered content. Just like every other major browser we've been using for the last two decades. Now they want to make a better, safer, way to do it, and people are upset?
