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User: michelcolman

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  1. Re:Republicans want the death penalty... on Robotic Lawn Mower Gets Regulatory Approval · · Score: 1

    Except if it's one of these.

  2. You can't seriously qualify a blanket grep for "pixels" as "good faith belief". It's reckless at the very least, and I can't see a judge actually agreeing with the "good faith belief" defense. Hey, I'll just start killing all americans because I have good faith belief one of them is going to try and kill me!

  3. Re:Good riddance, Tesla on Tesla Suffering Cash Flow Issues; Every Model S Means a $4,000 Loss · · Score: 1

    According to this site, it takes more electricity (yes, actual electricity, not "energy" in general) to produce gasoline for a regular car than it does to drive an electric car. So when you've finished filling up your gas tank, you've already used the same amount of electricity and you haven't even started burning the stuff yet.

    It's gas cars that need to die soon. Stop polluting in the middle of the city, in front of schools, etc.

    Imagine for a minute living in a world where all cars were electric already. Now imagine someone having the great idea of introducing a new car that burns fossil fuels and just throws out its carcinogenic exhaust fumes wherever it's driving. You would smell it whenever one passed by (you can't now because you're so used to it). People would say it's scandalous that those things were allowed anywhere near population centers. So why are we still accepting this as normal?

  4. Re:What's the big deal on The Man Who's Kept His Face Off the Internet for 20 Years · · Score: 1

    You're sure you're not on someone's vacation pictures or something? Maybe if you stay away from big cities, landmarks, events etc, or wear a balaclava full time, it might be possible but I think it's kind of unlikely.

  5. Re:I can assure you my face isn't one the net eith on The Man Who's Kept His Face Off the Internet for 20 Years · · Score: 1

    You never go on vacation? Because if you do, your picture is bound to be on someone's vacation pictures online. But even close to home, you have to stay away from anything anyone might find remotely interesting. Live in a big city? Better stay away from the cathedral, library, train station, etc...

  6. Re:Challenge accepted on The Man Who's Kept His Face Off the Internet for 20 Years · · Score: 1

    Make that 16777216^10000 instead of the other way around. Not quite as much, but still quite a lot.

  7. Re:Or just use the key on Latest Samy Kamkar Hack Unlocks Most Cars · · Score: 1

    The attacker doesn't have to open the car right away. The car can drive around for days, being opened and closed multiple times by the owner. The device remains attached to the car. Whenever the owner presses the button, the device plays the previous code and stores the latest one, so it always has a usable code ready for the attacker to use.

  8. Re:Or just use the key on Latest Samy Kamkar Hack Unlocks Most Cars · · Score: 1

    That's exactly how it works. Just leave it under the car, and it will always have a code ready for you to use. Every time the owner unlocks the car, it replays the previous code and stores the latest one.

  9. Re:Right on Researcher Exploits 18-Year-Old Design Flaw To Compromise X86 Chips · · Score: 0

    In that case it did sound right, didn't it?

  10. Re:Nice headline on MH370: Fragment Is From Missing Flight · · Score: 2

    Oh, yeah, airplanes lose flaperons all the time, no big deal, flight controls are hardly a critical part of the airplane, the mechanics just glue on a new one with duct tape and the plane's good to go again.

  11. Re: Looking more and more likely all the time... on German Scientists Confirm NASA's Controversial EM Drive · · Score: 1

    What I don't understand, is why they even bother with microwaves at all. Just fill up the container with gas molecules and keep them warm. More molecules will bounce against the wide end than against the narrow end, so the device will produce thrust! Right?

    (Obviously I know that's wrong, but why exactly would the EM drive produce thrust while my enclosed gas molecules won't?)

  12. Re:It's a Limited Threat Model Definition, not DRM on Gmail Messages Can Now Self-Destruct · · Score: 1

    their threat model was to let cooperating people have some guarantee that their email would go away when they wanted it to, not to keep uncooperative people from doing that because you just can't stop screenshots / cameras / sender saving a copy /

    (...)

    If you wanted to do a "no forwarding" version, you'd do it by setting rules on who could access it, whether by IP address or some ID in the reader plugin or delete-after-one-read or whatever.

    The problem with no-forwarding is that people who want to forward the message anyway, by definition turn into non-cooperating people. You might as well just add a text "please don't forward".

  13. Re:potentially on Remote Control of a Car, With No Phone Or Network Connection Required · · Score: 1

    I'm personally more worried about bugs in cars than security holes.

    And rodents, they can be pretty bad too.

  14. Re:360 degrees is not what you think it is on Apple Patents Bank Account Balance Snooping Tech · · Score: 1

    Well, if you enter a roundabout, go all the way around (360 degrees) and exit again, you are going back to where you came from.

    Just being an idiot's advocate here ;-)

  15. Re:I see theyre using the Step 2 profit model on Most Comprehensive Study Yet On Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles · · Score: 1

    Well, if people are complaining about electricity being dirty because in many places it's still produced using coal, and you say that extracting petroleum is so much easier than extracting coal, a logical conclusion would be that we should ditch coal and just burn petroleum to make electricity. OK, you didn't actual "say" that, but it would be a logical conclusion. And if it was a wrong conclusion (which I think it is), there must be something wrong with one of the premises.

    Anyway, we've got plenty of clean energy in Europe and getting more and more, so at least over here in the developed world the choice for electric cars should be clear.

  16. Re:I see theyre using the Step 2 profit model on Most Comprehensive Study Yet On Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles · · Score: 1

    FWIW, extracting petroleum is much easier per BTU than extracting coal, so I actually am more skeptical of the conclusions of the reporter you reference.

    Are you saying they should use gasoline rather than coal to produce electricity?

  17. Re:I see theyre using the Step 2 profit model on Most Comprehensive Study Yet On Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, just a few weeks ago an article was posted here on Slashdot saying that the amount of electricity needed to pump up, refine and transport gasoline is about the same as that consumed by an electric vehicle for the same distance. So when you have finished filling up your gas tank, you have already used the same amount of electricity as the electric car and you haven't even started burning the fuel yet. Did this "study" take that into account?

    Add to that the fact that pollution for electricity generation normally happens outside population centers. You should see the smog produced by cars in front of my kids' school on a foggy morning. I can't wait for all cars to be electric.

  18. Re:The math on "Ludicrous Speed" For Tesla's Model S Means 0-60 MPH In 2.8 Seconds · · Score: 1

    The Veyron has special tires that cost $30000 and last 4000 km (2500 miles). I think I'd rather have the P90D with normal tires.

  19. Re:With stock tires on my local road? on "Ludicrous Speed" For Tesla's Model S Means 0-60 MPH In 2.8 Seconds · · Score: 1

    Nothing to do with traction or downforce. The old insane mode was limited by amps above 30 mph, so acceleration started tapering off. The new ludicrous mode can pull more amps so, while acceleration is the same up to 30 mph, it will keep that high acceleration up a bit longer. That doesn't require any extra traction.

  20. Re: Also on CNN on "Ludicrous Speed" For Tesla's Model S Means 0-60 MPH In 2.8 Seconds · · Score: 1

    Yep

  21. Re: Not even a link to the article on "Ludicrous Speed" For Tesla's Model S Means 0-60 MPH In 2.8 Seconds · · Score: 1

    It's not a download, they have to replace some wiring and put in a new fuse (the old thermal fuse was not precise enough, looks like they're really close to the limits for max amps)

  22. Re:Crash Mitigation on Google Self-Driving Car Rear-Ended In First Injury Accident · · Score: 1

    And releasing the brakes before impact may well be a bad idea. It reduces damage to the car, but actually increases the impact on the occupants. And makes you more likely to hit someone in front, as well. Keeping max brakes lets the car move as little as possible, which is best for the occupants even though it may mean more damage to the rear of the car.

    So there, a pefect example where your instinct human reaction may actually turn out to be worse than what some engineers with plenty of time can come up with.

  23. Re:Crash Mitigation on Google Self-Driving Car Rear-Ended In First Injury Accident · · Score: 1

    I do get that impression from some of the crash descriptions. The cars are extremely cautious and will often brake in situations where normal drivers wouldn't. There was one, for example, where a Google car was rear-ended while very slowly passing an accident site with emergency vehicles on the emergency lane (they were not on the road itself). Many drivers wouldn't even slow down, or only slow down a little bit, while the Google car did slow to a crawl. Other drivers simply don't expect this, they are passing the site at normal speed, probably getting a peek of the accident, and all of a sudden there's this "idiot" (in their eyes) Google car in the way. There was also one where a Google car was crossing an intersection, with right of way, a car from the other street rolled through a stop sign, the Google car braked because it judged that there would be a "near" collision, and the other car hit the rear end of the Google car. Quite possibly, the other car's driver had judged that he could pass behind the Google car and did not expect it to suddenly brake. The near collision turned into a real one.

    There were several examples like that. And yes, I know what a lot of people will say, driving slowly is safer, you should always slow down when there's an emergency vehicly anywhere in sight, you should never roll through a stop sign, etc... Fact is, though, that most human drivers have certain expectations about other drivers, and the Google car often behaves differently. Sudden braking "just in case" is not always a good idea. You may say afterwards "yes, the human reacted too late, he wasn't paying attention, not keeping enough distance, going too fast, etc...". But if it does indeed turn out that Google cars are in more accidents (even though they are never at fault), that may mean that some adjustments in its logic are in order. Simply to accomodate the mistakes and bad behaviour of humans.

  24. Re:Blame, Recriminations and new Taxes on What Will Happen When Cascadia Subduction Zone Slips · · Score: 1

    Now that will be Bush's fault.

  25. Re:spectrum on Study Details What Happens When Galaxies Collide · · Score: 1

    Yes, I know who Hubble is. And Hubble's law says that, for objects observed in deep space (more than 10 megaparsecs away), doppler-shift-measured velocity is approximately proportional to their distance to earth. It does not apply to our local neighbourhood.