Non-IT News Thread
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The best films, with and without superheroes, of 2018
Documentaries, superheroes, giant monsters, tiny desktop windows: Here are our picks.
Agree or disagree all you want, but our list of favorite 2018 films already has a ton of quality fare without those big-ticket entries. Like last year, we're mostly skipping the numbered list, especially since we are not a comprehensive film-review site. Our list, like our usual coverage, blends Ars' love of science, tech, data, research, huge beasts, faithful comic adaptations, and lasers. Let's dig in. (Thanks to Ars' Nathan Mattise for contributing to this list.)
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Evidence continues to mount about how bad Denuvo is for PC gaming performance
Analysis series began earlier in 2018, has grown as more publishers patch DRM out.
One of the biggest arguments against anti-piracy checks built into video games (commonly known as "digital rights management," or DRM) is that they punish paying customers with stuttering, loading times, and other detractive gameplay issues. While leading DRM vendor Denuvo has long claimed that its tools don't hamper video games, the stats keep piling up to suggest otherwise
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BBC News - Richard Overton, US oldest veteran and oldest man, dies aged 112
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46699175 -
Urban farms could be incredibly efficient—but aren’t yet
Casual farmers overwork, buy fertilizer, and use municipal water.
The green revolution that transformed modern agriculture has generally increased its scale. There's tremendous potential for efficiencies in the large-scale application of mechanization, fertilization, and pesticide use. But operating at that level requires large tracts of land, which means sources of food have grown increasingly distant from the people in urban centers who will ultimately eat most of it.
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Why does flat Earth belief still exist?
Our latest video looks at what can motivate people to believe the impossible.
There's no shortage of strange beliefs out there, and not all of them involve having a firm grip on reality. But it's truly bizarre to see one from the latter camp have a sudden surge in popularity and attention millennia after we knew it was wrong. But when it comes to the idea that the Earth is flat, centuries of:thu accumulating evidence don't make much of a difference—its adherents have centuries of history of ignoring it, along with at least one not-nearly-as-famous-as-it-should-be instance of threatening a prominent scientist along the way.
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New Horizons set for humanity’s first ever Kuiper Belt rendezvous
Closest flyby will come just after midnight in its operators' time zone.
If you want your New Year celebrations to be truly out of this world, then you might consider stopping by the New Horizons website. Following on from its phenomenally successful flyby of Pluto, the spacecraft will perform its closest flyby of a small Kuiper Belt object at just after midnight in the US Eastern time zone—the one where the operations center of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is located.
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BBC News - Cyber-attack disrupts distribution of multiple US newspapers
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The NHS says, 'Binge drinking usually refers to drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking to get drunk.'
Um.... drinking to get drunk is binge drinking? I don't think the British have any idea what American drinking is like. Or European drinking.
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@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
Why not - they can make almost as much (new teachers at least) at McDonalds with little to no responsibility.
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@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
Why not - they can make almost as much (new teachers at least) at McDonalds with little to no responsibility.
Yup, exactly. Although in reality they can't. McD's doesn't pay nearly as much. Teachers get typically at least $40K for part time work. And most make way more. Teachers work around 72% of the year for wages normally above local averages, and even on the days that they work, most teachers have shorter days than many jobs. Most work something like 7-3, which is eight hours, but that's typically the max average. But the professional day is ten hours in the US.
So if they work 72% of the year, at 80% of the hours. That's only 58% of a professional working year. Even if a teacher gets only $35K. Per hour, that's like making $65K in a normal profession.
Teachers are underpaid, but not to the degree that people say at all. And certain make way, way more per hour than McDonald's workers.
Normal McDonald's jobs are under $9/hr. Typical teachers are around double that or more, for work that is drastically less demanding, and way harder to get fired from. The McD's jobs are the more stressful, one trivial mistake and you are fired. Teachers don't live that way.
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Even McDonald's STORE managers, which are about three levels above the normal workers and have way more stress, earn only slightly above what average teachers make, but have to work in tough conditions year round to do it.
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A starting teacher around here makes $21K/yr. I think it might hit $30K at 5-10 years, not sure exactl when.
My wife was making $60K after getting a masters and working several additional duties on top of the regular teach gig at near 20 years in.
Teachers here are 7-3:30 min, and most work until at least 4 or later.
When you say professionals work 10 hours, are you including their lunch time in that? i.e. they actually work more like 11 or 12 hours? (can't count those that work from home - the dynamic is so different).
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@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
A starting teacher around here makes $21K/yr. I think it might hit $30K at 5-10 years, not sure exactl when.
That's INSANELY low. Are you sure that that is how low it is? That's still way above McDonald's at $18K to start for full time, no benefits, vs. part time with lots of benefits, but still super lower. No state has an average that low, and any city should be higher than the state averages.
https://www.nsea.org/compensation
Nebraska State salary schedule looks like starting at $36,400?
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@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
When you say professionals work 10 hours, are you including their lunch time in that? i.e. they actually work more like 11 or 12 hours? (can't count those that work from home - the dynamic is so different).
A "Professional Day" means ten hours. Professionals eat lunch, but don't get "time off" for lunch. Teachers get lunch in their day, too. Many get breakfast, too.
Most professionals work more than a professional day. PD is a minimum, not an average. Blue Collar full time is considered 40+. Professional full time is considered 50+.
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@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
A starting teacher around here makes $21K/yr. I think it might hit $30K at 5-10 years, not sure exactl when.
That's INSANELY low. Are you sure that that is how low it is? That's still way above McDonald's at $18K to start for full time, no benefits, vs. part time with lots of benefits, but still super lower. No state has an average that low, and any city should be higher than the state averages.
https://www.nsea.org/compensation
Nebraska State salary schedule looks like starting at $36,400?
OK it's been a while since I've seen the numbers, I guess they have raised it considerably.
McD's advertises around here at $11/hr starting.
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@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:
A starting teacher around here makes $21K/yr. I think it might hit $30K at 5-10 years, not sure exactl when.
That's INSANELY low. Are you sure that that is how low it is? That's still way above McDonald's at $18K to start for full time, no benefits, vs. part time with lots of benefits, but still super lower. No state has an average that low, and any city should be higher than the state averages.
https://www.nsea.org/compensation
Nebraska State salary schedule looks like starting at $36,400?
OK it's been a while since I've seen the numbers, I guess they have raised it considerably.
McD's advertises around here at $11/hr starting.
Nationwide, according to sites I've seen, starting average is from $9 something, up to $10. In markets where it is hard to hire they raise it, but not much.
And you have to look at total comp, not just hourly. McD's typically doesn't have vacations or benefits or anything like that, at least not to start. But a teacher gets benefits on day one. That's a big deal.
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BBC News - New Horizons: Nasa probe survives flyby of Ultima Thule
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46729898 -
New Year's Eve beach bonfire sparks 'firenados' in the Netherlands
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46727838 -
June postscript: 5 unusual things you can make in an Internet-connected oven
The June helps you push toaster oven boundaries... with more and less success.
Earlier this month, Ars reviewed the June Oven, an Internet-connected, seven-in-one device that pushes the boundaries of the traditional toaster oven. Overall, I felt pretty positive about the June, especially the internal camera that allows you to watch your food cook (and share that view with others if you so desire).
