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User: Goetterdaemmerung

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  1. Re:Swiss here... on Why the Swiss Still Love Cash (bbc.com) · · Score: 1

    Swiss here. I typically carry cash for small purchases - why mess with anything else to buy your lunch? Cash is simpler.

    Simpler than debit? Stick a card in, type a number code? Vs. fumble with bills and coins, and getting bills and coins back as change?

    Cash has many benefits and I don't want to see it go away, but "simpler" at the point of purchase is not one of them.

    What is simpler?
    1) You keep some cash coin in your pocket and provide it in exchange for your goods. Required items to do this transaction are printed paper or stamped coins and possibly a lock box for the merchant.
    2) You have plastic card (or phone) in your pocket and swipe it through a card reader, wait for system to provide authorization. Required items are computer, supported smartphone, card/phone reader, customer bank account, merchant bank account, merchant agreement with 3rd party processor (VISA/MC/etc), data connection, electronic records and secure record storage, electricity. Meanwhile the merchant pays a transactional cost and many of these dependencies are subject to recurring maintenance, support and/or upgrade costs. If any of these things are not present or incompatible... goto option #1.

    I think you are confusing simplicity with convenience.

  2. Re:10 years in prison is excessive... on Student Used 'USB Killer' Device To Destroy $58,000 Worth of College Computers (theverge.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    And shows how fucked up the US "justice" system is. Average sentence for murder is something like seven years. He should be given a psych evaluation and made to pay restitution via wage garnishment in the future.

    He is unlikely to get 10 years. That's the maximum sentence when they add up the maximum for each charge and it makes it more newsworthy. The maximum for murder is life without parole or death, and as you say the average may be closer to 7 years. In this case since he admitted fault and agreed to pay for the damages he will get some smaller sentence, possibly time already served or a few months. It is likely his visa will be revoked.

  3. Re: Potential conflict of interest? on WeWork's CEO Makes Millions as Landlord To WeWork (wsj.com) · · Score: 1

    Fair enough - let me rephrase: it's not necessarily a conflict at all. It's not like the Wolf of Wall Street scenario where there is a client relationship. For example, sure - he could be buying the buildings with his other entities in order to siphon money away from the other owners of WeWork. Alternately, he could be using the capital in his other entities to protect WeWork from rent increases.

    It's a private company. If this were a public company, this kind of thing would be highly unusual and probably inappropriate.

    Like the relationship of Eddie Lampert and Sears, perhaps?

  4. Re:Single responsibility priniciple on USB Type-C Headphones Were Nowhere in Sight at CES 2019 (androidauthority.com) · · Score: 1

    USB-C is bidirectional and digital -- should be no problem including a mic and playback controls that are BETTER than current 3.5mm headphones. If manufacturers don't, that just means they're being assholes who want you to buy a $100 set of Bluetooth headphones instead.

    The quality of the audio is all about the quality of the digital-analog-converters and the construction of the speaker. There are companies that are very good at one or the other. Apple iPod used to be known for having some of the best quality DACs in a handheld device. They aren't as well known for selling world-class headphones. Sennheiser makes great headphones, some of the best. They aren't as well known for their digital decoders inside their headphones.

    What company produces a digital headphone that pairs an excellent DAC with crystal sound?

  5. Re:No jack, no sale on USB Type-C Headphones Were Nowhere in Sight at CES 2019 (androidauthority.com) · · Score: 1

    I refuse to buy a phone without a 3.5mm jack and SD card slot

    I don't think there's ever been a phone with both 3.5mm jack AND SD card slot. Probably could find an old landline phone that supports patching in 3.5mm, but it wouldn't have an SD card

    I hope you are joking. Samsung S9 is one that has 3.5mm headphone jack and 512GB microSD card slot. https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s9-8966.php

  6. Re:Nobody texts anymore, gramps on California Considers Text Messaging Tax To Fund Cell Service For Low-Income Residents (thehill.com) · · Score: 1

    In Australia we pay A$10 (us$7)/month for unlimited calls and 1-2 GB of data. UK is similar. Even homeless people have cellphones. What does a basic service cost in the US?

    My plan in the USA with with unlimited calls, unlimited texts and 2GB of data is $55/month. I don't know of any plan that would cost much less except perhaps a pre-paid type that would charge by the minute. Family plans are closer to $100/month or more.

  7. Nice theory but where I live the law says otherwise. Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way.

    No, that's not what the law says. It's just that milions of ignoramuses believe that that's what it says because multiple generations of driving instructors have been misleading them. Go look through the traffic laws; you won't find anything like that.

    I found a reference that summarizes the various laws by state. Some states are more restrictive than others. http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/pedestrian-crossing-50-state-summary.aspx

  8. Online Voter Registration? on To Deter Foreign Hackers, Some States May Also Be Deterring Voters (npr.org) · · Score: 1

    Is this a thing? My state has no online voter registration. To register I needed to visit the town clerk in person and fill out the registration form. This is a one-time activity.

    I found that 38 states have online voter registration. https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voter-registration-modernization-states I would support the automatic voter registration referred in this link, however that is unlikely to happen where I live for some time given the various databases are unlinked.

  9. Re: Why no "Idiots" tag? on How WIRED lost $100,000 in Bitcoin (wired.com) · · Score: 1

    Keeping multiple paper copies in sync is a nightmare.

    A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.

    Naturally you need five watches. Take the standard deviation and throw out any outliers. Average the remainder and tell everyone how dumb they are to only carry one or two watches.

  10. Re:How the fuck was that ever legal? on Uber Drops Arbitration Requirement For Sexual Assault Victims (npr.org) · · Score: 2

    Arbitration generally results in much more reasonable judgements.

    For the businesses that have contracts with the arbiters, of course. What's wrong with impartial judges?

  11. First Steps on Uber Drops Arbitration Requirement For Sexual Assault Victims (npr.org) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm thankful Uber, out of an abundance of caution concerning the potential PR blowup, revised their contracts. These arbitration agreements are going too far and it's time for some common sense regulations.

    It should not be legal to sign away your right to sue simply for a common exchange of goods or services.

  12. Re:Yes, if not more on Comcast Charges $90 Install Fee At Homes That Already Have Comcast Installed (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, we charged the same whether the customer installed it or we did. We installed using very well-defined procedure, mostly handled by a Perl script in the end, which always did it right - it never forgot a step. Customers trying to install it themselves fucked it all up more often than not, frequently causing damage we would have to clean up later. Customers doing it themselves wasn't good for them or us.

    This is not a case of "customers installed themselves". This is a case of home transfer of pre-installed cables where the customer was essentially unplugging and plugging in their equipment. Unless that is actually what you mean, in which case that is outrageous that a customer can't even plug in a device without professional doing it for them.

  13. Re:I can't even imagine... on Apple Scraps $1 Billion Irish Data Center Over Planning Delays (reuters.com) · · Score: 1

    Indeed. It would no doubt have been built on farmland with the local farmers - of thich there will be many - having their land compulsory purchased. All they'd see out of it is reduced income and more traffic.

    It was to have been built in this forest area adjacent to the golf club. https://www.google.com/maps/@53.28715,-8.8337841,2827m/data=!3m1!1e3

  14. Re:stopped reading after this on Trump Administration Plans To Freeze Obama-Era Fuel Standards (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    can you link to that study? Whats it in? Fossil fuel monthly?

    An electrician knows more than you do about circuit load and NEC has many complex requirements about loading conditions. He is correct that dedicated circuits have no derating requirements. Don't be an asshole.

  15. Re:and GDPR is? on Will GDPR Kill WHOIS? (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    GDPR doesn't prohibit courts from issuing subpoenas ordering registrars to identify domain owners.

    There is no court subpoena if you can't identify a defendant.

  16. Comments Fail on All Apple Operations Now Run Off 100 Percent Renewable Energy (9to5mac.com) · · Score: 2

    What the hell /.! After 30 comments maybe one would be novel or interesting.

    This is an impressive feat to run the datacenters entirely off renewable energy.

  17. Re:Stop abandoning the working class on Wage Growth Slows Across the Country (axios.com) · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't that be Collage for those that can pass the entrance exams and technological school for any who wants it? Lots of people like my brother where a collage education would have helped him less then the 2 years he spent learning how to be a glazier did. Plumbers, electricians, welders etc are usually in demand, especially for fixing the infrastructure, the trades pay decently and for some are a better career path then collage.

    I completely agree with you. I'd mod you up if I had points. Not everyone needs to go to College to go into the various trades that pay very well.

  18. Start imposing steep fines for false 911 calls after the first 10 per month ought to stop it.

  19. Re:Come on, who would have no hit her? on Self-Driving Uber Car Kills Arizona Woman in First Fatal Crash Involving Pedestrian (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    Questionable whether the human was REALLY at the ready. They may have had surveillance fatigue, for example, because the autonomous vehicle is usually safe, and the speed with which a pedestrian made an illegal entry into the roadway did not allow enough reaction time for the human.

    Was her entry onto the roadway actually "illegal"? Even if it was, how does it matter as generally pedestrians are common obstacles whom in most areas share the road?

    As to the condition of the backup human driver, I agree. It is not reasonable to expect someone to be on instant full alert when placed in an otherwise boring and disengaged situation.

  20. Re:28,000 CDs?!?! on Electronics-Recycling Innovator Faces Prison For Extending Computers' Lives · · Score: 1

    for trying to help people restore computers that they legally acquired and are entitled to use.

    Seriously, no one has claimed he was fined and threatened with jail time for "trying to help people restore computers" - he tried to sell 28,000 restore CDs.

    Microsoft has a program for selling licensed copies of Windows on refurbished computers.

    Have you tried to restore a licensed version of Windows on an older PC? You can't just use a retail copy of Windows and enter the license key on the sticker. That won't work. You need the original OEM software from the vendor, which is nearly impossible to obtain. Perhaps your Vista PC's hard drive failed. You already have a valid license. How do you obtain the install media?

  21. Re:Best possible failure on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Center Booster Lacked Ignition Fluid To Light Engines and Land On Platform (latimes.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Of the possible failures that could have occurred, this seems like the best one. This was the newest part on the whole 'kit' so it wouldn't surprise me if it was an issue in calculations or some minor mechanical issue that resulted in this. In the end this was still an 80% success and were this a commercial launch, the buyer wouldn't have been overly disappointed since the payload made it into orbit. I have no doubt the next launch will be a complete success with all 3 rockets landing without problem

    Don't skimp on the metrics! The mission was 100% success given it launched successfully and put the payload into high orbit. All buyers would be perfectly satisfied with the result. The landings of 2/3 boosters is extra, and the reignition of the second stage to achieve Mars trajectory was extra - although the angle was slightly off. I'd grant these an additional 50% bonus so 150% successful mission far beyond anyone's expectations. Even Musk said he'd be happy if it blew up far enough from the launch pad to not cause damage.

  22. Re:Protecting Profit on Verizon is Locking Its Phones Down To Combat Theft (cnet.com) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This isn't about "protecting consumers". It's about killing off the secondary phone market. After you upgrade, you're stuck with a brick you can't sell. All those people who buy used phones will be forced to purchase new - or rooted ones.

    They are going back to the bad old days of locked phones requiring permission to use another carrier in violation of their agreement with the FCC. Of course the FCC chairman is a Verizon stooge, so nothing will come of it.

    Verizon is taking an extra step to protect its phones.

    These are not Verizon's phones.

  23. Re:Summary of the debate - what Oxford comma is on Maine Dairy Company Settles Lawsuit Over Oxford Comma (bostonmagazine.com) · · Score: 1

    And your examples make it abundantly clear that in law you should turn lists into actual lists not run-on sentences.

    "The acitivites

    a) canning
    b) processing
    c) preserving
    d) freezing
    e) drying
    f) marketing
    g) storing
    h) packaging for shipment
    i) distribution

    of the product groups

    a) agricultural produce
    b) meat and fish products
    c) perishable foods

    are exempt."

    What if the law intended to also include packaging for distribution as distinct activity separate from packaging for shipping? I'm thinking along the lines of packing a product and selling it at the place of manufacture without any shipping activity.

    It is entirely possible that "packaging for shipment or distribution" is exactly what the law intended to exclude from overtime pay, and not the truck drivers at all.

  24. Re:mission: disambiguation on Maine Dairy Company Settles Lawsuit Over Oxford Comma (bostonmagazine.com) · · Score: 1

    It took less than five minutes to type this.

    Nine specific activities are exempted from mandatory overtime pay for each of the following three items:

    1) meat
    2) fish products
    and
    3) perishable foods

    The nine (9) activities are:
    1) canning
    2) processing
    3) preserving
    4) freezing
    5) drying
    6) marketing
    7) storing
    8) packing for shipment or distribution

    Fixed it for you, as it is written in the law. Packing doesn't require it to be shipped. These items may be packed for distribution other than shipping.

  25. Re:If you believe in lies, then you become extremi on Fake News Sharing In US Is a Rightwing Thing, Says Oxford Study (theguardian.com) · · Score: 1

    The closest thing to "RUSSIANS hacked US power grid" that the WAPO appears to have ever tweeted is this: https://twitter.com/washington...

    Breaking: Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid through a utility in Vermont

    Which is true. Where is this inaccurate tweet you speak of?

    I'm not interested in supporting WAPO here, I'm just suspicious when people frequently claim that tweets and articles exist but don't bother linking to them.

    This is a FALSE statement that should be deleted by WaPo. Come on, do some research at least. Snopes says Mostly False and an article here http://fortune.com/2017/01/06/vermont-utility-burlington-electric-manager/ which says the electric grid was not penetrated and WaPo posted the story without even contacting the utility first.

    False news is not limited to the right.