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  1. Re:What do people print? on Tesco: 3D Printing Will Come To Supermarkets 'Within a Few Years' · · Score: 1

    Maybe, but if they're cheap enough you can just buy them in bulk and not worry about it. Though it would be cool if they then gave me the cad file so I could have it printed out of metal or whatever I wanted.

    On the store's side, a razor blade model isn't a bad one. I mean, people keep buying those crappy inkjet printers, instead of investing in a good color laser.

  2. Re:Better hurry on Tesco: 3D Printing Will Come To Supermarkets 'Within a Few Years' · · Score: 1

    And I for one welcome these strange new Kinko's locations with industrial three phase power and 3,000lb metal laser sintering printers.
    I'm sure there will be consumers lining up at the doors, Solidworks 3D models in hand...ignoring the long print times and that your average consumer has never even heard of CAD before.

    If they had there models in hand wouldn't that defeat the purpose? :D

    More seriously, I expect people to hit print on a website, then drive down to the store to pick it up. They could run it like Etsy or Amazon, where Kinko's takes a percentage of the profits. Instead of shipping, the item is automatically printed at the nearest store. It would actually be pretty efficient for low sales volumes.

  3. Re:Let's just hope on Tech In the Hot Seat For Oct. 1st Obamacare Launch · · Score: 2, Interesting

    . . . the same wonks that gave us so many failed DMV systems haven't found work in this sector too.

    You're joking right? It's the exact same people.

    SAIC is already in on the action.
    That's the company that scammed New York out of all that money.

  4. Re:Second announcement on Valve Announces Hardware Beta Test For 'Steam Machine' · · Score: 1

    I heard that in Cave Johnson's voice.

    Things like that are the reason why I can't wait for Voice Synthesizers that can mimic anyone's voice.

    Well, that and the modding. It would be awesome to not have to worry about voice acting when modding Skyrim.

  5. Re:Better hurry on Tesco: 3D Printing Will Come To Supermarkets 'Within a Few Years' · · Score: 1

    Expect Kinko's to be ready very soon. But then all the corner store offerings will go the way of photo printing outlets once the ability moves into the home.

    Most homes own a printer, but Kinko's is still in business. They fill a rather large niche. I expect in store 3d printing to go the same way.

  6. Re:What do people print? on Tesco: 3D Printing Will Come To Supermarkets 'Within a Few Years' · · Score: 1

    So I think 3D printing is cool and all that, and there's lots of value for some people, but as a 46-year old dad of two kids who is frequently at the supermarket, I struggle to figure out what I would need to 3D print.

    I'm Canadian, so not interested in printing a gun, what else is there? What does a typical family need to 3D print these days?

    Those dinky little plastic parts that break all the time. If you have kids, especially younger ones, then you know just how weak some plastic things are.

    There are a couple things keeping 3d printers from being used much more extensively. First, the cost of the printer itself. Second, the accuracy of the cheaper printers. Third, the cost of printing materials. Fourth, the slowness of most 3d printers. Finally, the time required to learn and use the software.

    Stores offering 3d printing can buy more expensive accurate 3d printers that use cheaper material. They can print multiple things at once, and the customer doesn't have to babysit the printer, so slowness is less of an issue. The idea is for the consumer to just upload whatever file they want to the stores website. The consumer doesn't even need to know how to work the actual modeling software. Just like people don't need to know Photoshop to print a picture.

    Here's an example. My speakers have detachable plastic stands. If I lose one of them, then my speakers are much less useful. The cost to get it replaced in the traditional way is more than the speakers are worth. So, I can take the other one into a store that does 3d printing. They'll scan it, then print an exact duplicate of it. Two hours, and $10 later I'm in business.

  7. Re:Or it could be someone who doesnt want to be kn on Phantom Authors Publish Real Research Paper · · Score: 1

    Nah, pissed off grad students and research assistants who weren't going to get any credit. :-P

    Yeah, a lot of assistants don't even get mentioned in the paper. When they are, it's a small byline of with assistance with.... Many times it's not even on the abstract.

    It's like working for a company where you know your boss is going to take all the credit for your hard work. It's perfectly legal and your boss might be a nice person, but it doesn't really encourage the underlings to care.

    In this case, someone stole the researcher's thunder. The results are still valid and he might get some face time, but this will forever haunt his research on this particular topic.

  8. Re:Sour grapes on Popular Science Is Getting Rid of Comments · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe captchas should be supplemented with logic puzzles to ensure commenters are actually capable of rational thought as well as pattern recognition.

    If we did that, we'd lose half the comments.

  9. Re:toleration violation on Trans-Pacific Cable Plans Mired In US-China Geopolitical Rivalry · · Score: 1
  10. Re:NSA on Trans-Pacific Cable Plans Mired In US-China Geopolitical Rivalry · · Score: 1

    While the NSA might have taps. Huawei certainly does. Here's the relevent part of a Defcon 20 presentation: DEF CON 20 - Hacking Redacted Routers.

    Huawei security is so bad that almost anybody could hack the things. Hell, the NSA probably uses these as the "easy" test when hiring hackers.

  11. Re:As a citizen of this planet... on DARPA Launches Military Spaceplane Project · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Dude, do you know anything about DARPA? They fund the far out there project. Some of them work, and some of them don't. They are directly responsible for the current research into self driving cars. A big success, though I'd imagine you're freaking out about that too. News flash, any new technology has military applications.

    Spaceplanes aren't even a new idea. Hell, the Pegasus Rocket is able to lift nearly a thousand pounds into orbit. What they really seem to be pushing is scramjet technology. The demonstrators so far flew for a few minutes or less before being crashed into the ocean. Even worse, they used solid rockets to get it up to speed before the scramjet could start working. It's like Chuck Yeager's first flight all over again. First they started with solid rockets to get it up to speed, now they're working on doing it using an air breathing engine.

  12. Re:no thanks on Sailfish OS Gains Two-Way Android Compatibility · · Score: 4, Informative

    Google Play Store is just another Android app. The only reason that some Android phones don't have it is because the manufacturers choose not to put it on them, but Play Store is able to run on any phone running Android. Is there any technical reason why you can't install Google Play Store on Sailfish OS?

    No, just legal ones. Though the play store has so many permissions you might as well grant Google, and by extension the NSA, root access when you install the thing.

    Copyright means Google can set whatever terms they want when it comes to companies installing or people using the play store.

  13. Re:Definition of 'scary' on DoD Declassifies Flu Pandemic Plan Containing Sobering Assumptions · · Score: 1

    Whoops, forgot the sarcasm tag on that first sentence. Remember that in a dystopian future like Deus Ex, dissidents dying is a bonus, not a bad thing. It actually looks worse when a crowd is fired upon vs quietly rounding up dissidents, and then them dying of "natural causes." <-- Not actually advocating this (more snark)

    As for everything else you said. I see that we are on the opposite side of things like the Snowden leaks and yelling back and forth will not solve anything. Though, I'm more likely to believe that 8% of people are trolls or were mismarked answers, rather than them actually believe in lizard men.

  14. Re:Definition of 'scary' on DoD Declassifies Flu Pandemic Plan Containing Sobering Assumptions · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yeah, I'll bet it's "Put dissidents in FEMA internment camps." Just like in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

    More seriously. While you're probably correct, classifying things for political reasons is almost always a bad thing. This kind of mindset, that normal people can't handle the truth, is what leads to an unaccountable government. Government accountability can only happen with transparency.

  15. Re:PCI Compliance on NSA Spies On International Payments · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does this mean that the NSA is PCI Compliant?

    No, they haven't had the required audit.
    Which, given the revelations about how bad their data security is, they would have failed anyways.

    They still don't know what Snowden took. Forget secrets or blackmailing politicians, if he wanted to Snowden could just use the data to steal a ridiculous amount of money. Thank goodness he seems to be a good person. The scary thing is somebody else might have done just that, and no one knows about it.

  16. Re:Statistical fallicies on At Current Rates, Tesla Could Soon Suck Up Worldwide Supply of Li-Ion Cells · · Score: 1
  17. Re:Lovin' my Linux 3.8... on Linux 3.11 Released · · Score: 1

    Please tell us what distro you're using so we can start a flame war. :D

    On a more serious note, How do you know it's a kernel panic? Is it in the logs? Does it drop to a terminal saying it? Except for the kernel panic part, I'd say that most of these things seem to be GUI and sound related. Have you checked the nice values for those systems. It could be that their "process priority" is the same as everything else. Most distros try to make sure that essential user mode processes and drivers are running with high priority, and background tasks run with low priority. Though apparently systemd uses cgroups to do that stuff, instead of process ids.

    Just some food for thought. In a nutshell it sounds like X11 is a piece of crap.

  18. Re:WTF??? on AT&T Maintains Call Database For the DEA Going Back To 1987 · · Score: 2

    Circumstantial. He was a local drug dealer and bookie. All I did was make illegal bets. I swear!

    Hmm, DEA or IRS. That choice entirely depends on how much money you have to throw at the problem. The IRS will often just take a check, and it's all nice and legal. The DEA on the other hand will tell you just how much you're going to spend on the half way house. You really thought the government paid for those? All the while, they'll be mentioning how much cheaper it is for you to just cooperate with them. Pay a "fine" right then and there. Cash only, no lawyers.

  19. Re:WTF??? on AT&T Maintains Call Database For the DEA Going Back To 1987 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's great, except that all of our phone calls are still being recorded. This is something the Stasi could only DREAM of.

    Read a little closer. This is the metadata that everyone is so worried about. It's not the actual conversation that's recorded, but the number called, call duration, and locations the cell phone was in for the duration of the call. The only new thing added to this list since the last half century is location data.

    The scary thing about this is AT&T never deletes your call data. EVER. There's a reason why some EU privacy directives have a retention limit. Which is ironically in direct contrast to the mandatory retention policies for law enforcement use in those very same countries.

  20. Re:Failed technology on US Uncorks $16M For 17 Projects To Capture Wave Energy · · Score: 1

    "Remember that the free surface is neither ocean nor air and that man cannot walk upon it nor will equipments remain stable in its presence. So design your equipments that they tarry not long and that they need neither servicing nor repair at this unseemly interface." - MIT/U.S. Navy ocean engineering expert.

    Are you sure that wasn't said by a wizard?

    In the US, it seems like most people can't tell the difference between Engineers, Scientists, and Wizards. So as far as most people are concerned, he might as well be.

  21. Re:Here's hoping... on Microsoft and Google Challenge US Government Gag Orders · · Score: 5, Informative

    You haven't been keeping up with all the news have you. It's understandable, considering how much is out there.

    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130805/10035024070/dea-not-only-gets-intelligence-data-then-is-instructed-to-cover-up-where-it-gets-info.shtml

    Short summary: The NSA gives DEA agents "anonymous tips" on which vehicles to "randomly" stop. This is never mentioned in court.

    Here's another one.

    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130829/16135324356/court-says-feds-dont-have-to-reveal-secret-evidence-it-gathered-against-terror-suspect-using-fisa.shtml

    This time it's the courts saying that they don't have to show the evidence to the defendant or his lawyers. Not exactly the justice they taught in high school civics.

  22. Re:I love news without a use on Quantum Cryptography Is Safe Again · · Score: 1

    No, no. Banks have secure passwords of at least 12 characters, with mix of upper and lower case, symbols, and numbers, and completely hidden from view on a sticky note on the back of the keyboard.

    My favorite password policy prevented you from using any letter in your username, and only 3 letters from your real name. Or something like that. Plus everything you said. It made it nearly impossible to remember the password. If I didn't have LastPass I would have had to write it down.

    At least the University didn't follow up with the rest of the policy. Can't reuse the last ten passwords, and have to change the password relatively frequently.

    See here for my rant about it. NOTE: Just realized the server's down. I'm going to have to re image that thing.

  23. Re:Question on Mexican Village Creates Its Own Mobile Phone Service · · Score: 2

    Where did they get the frequency allocation? If it was here in the USA, all available channels would have been put out for bid by the FCC and snapped up by the incumbents. Running a system on "their" channels would be frowned upon.

    The US doesn't care about negative publicity, plus cell companies/The FCC actually does give certain licenses for special events. See OpenBTS at Burning Man.

    This isn't the US, so the rules are different. I would love it if the US had a rule along the lines of "You have first choice to this spectrum, but if you aren't servicing the area then anyone can be granted a license for that locale. If you want to use that frequency there, then you have 6 months to set up towers."

    First come first served has disadvantages, but it's much more fair than the current auction system. Right now, the largest cause of the small number of cell providers is government regulation. For example, despite what I said in the first paragraph, this would never work in the US.

  24. Re:A Very American Solution? on The Golden Gate Barrage: New Ideas To Counter Sea Level Rise · · Score: 1

    Hey, that sounds awesome. Except for the nuclear part. Haven't you heard, nuclear is out and natural gas is in. Other than that, write it up and send it. The fossil fuel companies can pretend their helping and politicians stop looking stupid for denying the obvious.

    We can even call the project "Panchaea."

  25. Re:Not seeing a problem with that. on Indian Government To Ban Use of US Email Services For Official Communications · · Score: 2

    Precisely. The other thing is "perfect forward secrecy." It's not perfect, but what it means is the key used to encrypt the traffic is randomly generated. Man in the middle attacks are still an issue, especially if people are dumb enough to use as US based cert authority, but the NSA can never decrypt the traffic after the fact. That still relies on the protocol being secure, and given the amount of money and talent the NSA is throwing at breaking it.... Well, there's a reason why even the US government uses a completely different network for classified info.

    Keeping private information in house is almost always a good practice. The always is because it's possible to shift liability to third parties. I sure don't trust my security enough to handle storing Credit Card numbers, and it's cheaper to outsource it. That company even has insurance if they ever has a security breach.

    Still, this isn't going to be a popular move in India. The number one reason why people use Gmail is how good it is. Unfortunately, nothing else has the capability that Gmail's labels do. Neither is their web interface as easy to use. Especially in search and creating filters. Seriously, try using Thunderbird and easily edit an E-Mail in multiple folders without it creating completely separate copies for each folder. It also beat the pants off the 7MB E-Mail limit my university had before letting Google handle E-Mail for them.