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User: bughunter

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Comments · 1,815

  1. Re:It's true, it was in 1984 on In 1984, Jobs and Wozniak Talk About Apple's Earliest Days · · Score: 1

    Dammit, man. I was eating lunch.

    [puts away carnitas and rice bowl]

  2. Re:Interesting topic... on Ask Slashdot: After We're Gone, the Last Electrical Device Still Working? · · Score: 1

    I still use a "solar" powered calculator, although most of the time the light comes from an electric lamp.

    Yes, I have several smartphone calculator apps. But only physical keys are suitable for fast, repeated, accurate calculations.

  3. Re:Laws that need to be made in secret on Extreme Secrecy Eroding Support For Trans-Pacific Partnership · · Score: 1

    People tend to react poorly when they think they're being offended.

    Yes, well people tend to react even worse when they think they're being screwed by secret deals made in back rooms by people who they feel have screwed them before.

    So the question becomes, whose reactions are more important? Up to this point, it's clear no one involved has given half a nanofuck about average citizens or workers.

    The way this treaty is being negotiated and ratified just does not pass the smell test. It stinks from two kilometers away.

    In other words, if you want people to trust you not to screw them, then you have to stop acting like Milburn fucking Drysdale and Thurston goddamn Howell the Third.

  4. Re:What? Wait ... on Smart Headlights Adjust To Aid Drivers In Difficult Conditions · · Score: 5, Informative

    The bit you're apparently not grasping is something called a spatial light modulator.

    You've probably encountered one as a digital cinema projector, or possibly even own one for PowerPoint presentations.

    Couple it with a microwave radar or ultrasound sonar, and you can track individual raindrops and then cast shadows on them.

    Sounds unnecessarily expensive for consumer automotive, but might be nice for buses/locomotives, emergency vehicles or passenger aircraft.

  5. Patent Trafficking on Google Launches a Marketplace To Buy Patents From Interested Sellers · · Score: 1

    I need more coffee. I read this title as "Google Launches a Marketplace To Buy Parents... " and was in the act of clicking on it before realizing my error.

  6. As my grandpa would say, when he gave me a quarter:

    "Try not to spend it all in one place."

    He thought it was hilarious.

    (This was circa 1975, admittedly. Back when a quarter could still buy something of value.)

  7. Re:And when capped internet comes then people will on German Court Rules Adblock Plus Is Legal · · Score: 1

    That's how the internet was started and visualized.

    Yeah. I know. I was there.

    That has nothing to do with a moral right.

    Try explaining that to some of my contemporaries...

  8. Re:And when capped internet comes then people will on German Court Rules Adblock Plus Is Legal · · Score: 2

    I need control over what comes down the pipe.

    I don't need a court ruling to justify that. It's my browser, my computer, my request. You're not *entitled* to send me extra shit I don't want. And I'm not *obligated* to load anything you might put on your page.

    Sorry. Deal with it advertisers and click sellers. As long as I pay for an ISP subscription, that's my right: Flat rate or metered; capped or unlimited; dial-up trickle or Tier 3 deluge. It's *my* option and I'm going to exercise it.

    If you want to make money or defer your costs, charge a fee or request a donation. That's your option.

  9. Joystick Joystick on MIT Researchers Develop Wireless Trackpad For Your Thumbnail · · Score: 2

    Next up: the sensor that attaches to your willy so you don't need to take your hand off of your joystick to control the mouse.

  10. Re:Dark matter doesn't exist. on Hubble and the VLT Uncover Evidence For Self-Interacting Dark Matter · · Score: 1

    May the schwartz be with you!

  11. Re:Self-Interacting Dark Matter on Hubble and the VLT Uncover Evidence For Self-Interacting Dark Matter · · Score: 1

    That's because the existence of other universes is purely hypothetical, just like an AC's girlfriend.

  12. Pilots will always be needed on GAO Warns FAA of Hacking Threat To Airliners · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is why the idea of remote overrides of pilot controls is a particularly BAD idea.

    A trained, qualified pilot must always have last resort authority, over any automated system and preferably even over any "assisted" system, whether it be fly by wire, hydraulic, etc. If control can be taken out of his or her hands remotely, because someone (or something) on the ground doesn't agree with the pilot's judgement, I guarantee we'll see more disasters, not fewer.

    The instances where intentional pilot misconduct or hijacking occur are few, but notorious. But the instances where human pilots in the cockpit handle minor emergencies that could easily have turned into deadly ones occur regularly and we seldom hear about most of them.

    Case in point: Do you think an autopilot on the ground could have heard a stowaway baggage handler?

  13. Kudos for Musk on SpaceX Dragon Launches Successfully, But No Rocket Recovery · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is an achievement. Take it from an old rocket grognard, a veteran of Amroc, Orbital, and others: just getting this far is an accomplishment.

    And it's smart of Musk to append a test operation onto a paying mission. The launch fee for the ISS delivery offsets a major portion of the cost of the test.

    And in a test sequence, close does count, because all data gathered is useful. And often, data from a failure is more useful than data from a success.

    "Success is a lousy teacher; it seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." —Bill Gates

  14. Does it work in reverse? on Denver TSA Screeners Manipulated System In Order To Grope Men's Genitals · · Score: 2

    I wonder if anyone tried designating attractive female passengers as male...

    "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you'll please need to step behind this screen and remove your blouse..."

  15. Human In The Loop Abort on Killer Robots In Plato's Cave · · Score: 5, Informative

    I once worked on the camera portion of a semi-autonomous weapon which, once a target was designated, would continually analyze the live image to maintain, track and intercept that target. A key part of the system was a human in the loop abort, which would cause the system to veer off target before impact should the operator see something he or she didn't like: not the intended target, high probability of collateral damage, etc.

    The point is, all judgements about selecting the target and aborting the mission or changing targets were in the hands of a human. The automated parts were vehicle operations, corrections for terrain and weather, tracking an operator-designated object, etc. — all things that required no risk assessment, moral judgment, ethical considerations, etc.

    That's the difference between autonomous and semi-autonomous: A human identifies the target, and monitors the system to issue a stand down order as new information becomes available.

    (It's also the only weapon system I ever worked on, and it caused me great conflict. Though the intended use had merit, the possible unintended uses made me very uncomfortable. No, I can't be more specific.)

  16. Re:Ridiculous article title on Florida Teen Charged With Felony Hacking For Changing Desktop Wallpaper · · Score: 1

    This is like charging someone with felony burglary for watching a neighbor hide his key under his doormat, then using it to gain entry and re-arrange the potted plants.

  17. Re:Well, yeah... on Florida Teen Charged With Felony Hacking For Changing Desktop Wallpaper · · Score: 1

    Considering all the possibilities of what he *could* have changed it to, I think he showed admirable restraint...

  18. Re:Be careful making stuff cheap and easy. on Radar That Sees Through Walls Built In Garage · · Score: 1

    I doubt a home-built phased array radar will ever be considered "in general public use."

    Besides, these devices only see thru walls built inside a garage, which would generally require a search warrant to see either side of...

  19. Re:in the fine print ... on Radar That Sees Through Walls Built In Garage · · Score: 1

    Yes, it can cause ionization by bumping electrons around

    No. Any electrons that can be "bumped" around by EM radiation with wavelengths longer than UV are already in the conduction band. In other words, the ionization already happened and any induced current occurs in "loose" electrons... or, more likely, existing ions in solution.

    It's called non-ionizing radiation for a reason.

  20. I'll be taking a dump in two minutes on It's Time To Open Your Eyes · · Score: 1

    And I don't answer my phone in the toilet.

    Leave a fucking message — I'll get back to you when my download completes.

    PS: That's not my chair that's squeaking.

  21. Contrary to personal experience on Massive Power Outage Paralyzes Turkey · · Score: 1

    I've found that you generally need massive amounts of power to paralyze a turkey.

    At least a few hundred Watts.

    More if you want the center at an edible 160F by dinnertime.

  22. Nobody likes range checking? on Ask Slashdot: What Makes Some Code Particularly Good? · · Score: 1

    Yanno, it's been years since I've coded (beyond looking thru code to tweak a definition here or there anyway). Decades, even.

    But I was taught on the job that range checking of inputs and boundary conditions was essential to reliable code.

    Obligatory XKCD reference.

  23. Re:Pilots must remain in control on Modern Cockpits: Harder To Invade But Easier To Lock Up · · Score: 1

    I agree with that. I suspect that if there had been another pilot in the cockpit at all times, Lubitz would have reconsidered his decision rather than engage in a brawl.

    Punching a fatal command into a FMS s a different kind of act entirely than physically incapacitating another human, especially a colleague.

    It's entirely possible that his decision was spur of the moment (2nd degree) rather than something he had been planning, or else he had been waiting for an opportunity as you describe. But without a letter or other statement intent from Lubitz, all we can do is speculate.

  24. Re:Pilot range extender on Modern Cockpits: Harder To Invade But Easier To Lock Up · · Score: 1

    What if the call is for Bodily Function #2?

    Regular doses of Imodium combined with a "low residue diet" will take care of that. You won't have to go for days.

    But when you do go, you're in for a heck of a ride!

  25. Re:Easy fix on Modern Cockpits: Harder To Invade But Easier To Lock Up · · Score: 1

    Hell, ask any long-haul trucker: a gallon milk jug does the trick.

    Wear a "Texas Catheter" if you're modest.