Nor my milk, nor my "entire life". Not ever, unless I'm either imprisoned or forced to live in some Orwellian dystopia.
Why is society so hell-bent on extending childhood to the point where the average person never really grows up? The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised by an offer from a 'digital assistant' to help shake off the last drop.
That's my thinking too - how in hell could a patent ever be granted for this, given such obvious prior art? The fact that a company would even be bothered to apply for such a patent is proof positive that the patent system is horribly broken. But then, everybody here already knew that.
Apparently, it does), at least for drinking water. Oh, but you were talking about the consumer side of the transaction? Well, some people think that competition is happening there as well.)
But, yes, I'd like to see a transition of water-supply (and other "natural" monopolies) from governments to competing businesses.
Great - even more shared-infrastructure disputes, and more wasteful duplication of infrastructure. And no, von Mises' nuance-challenged Randian 'either / or' arguments don't impress me.
Then, maybe, we'll finally see some 21-st century innovation in those markets too.
Oh... you mean like the modern tracking and advertising innovations we're now enjoying at the hands of Google, Facebook, et al? Or do you mean the IOT innovations that render things like thermostats remotely hackable? Again, no thanks. Innovation is neither inherently bad nor inherently good; I promise to remember the latter and take it into account, so long as you promise the same about the former.
When doing serious writing or reading (a high resolution screen is pivotal when reading long, especially with technical documentation) its important to have a decent resolution screen.
I disagree. I suspect that you still possess good eyesight in spite of the middle-aged-plus status suggested by your low user ID. I'm not so lucky. I have a 32" monitor with some godawful-high native resolution that makes most things tiny even on that big a screen. I run it at less than its native res, so it's not as sharp as it could be. Lower resolution would be better for me, and I'm far from being the only one in that position. And if you ARE as young as your apparently good vision would indicate, then kindly get off my lawn!
Google gives away ChromeOS and Android. Chromebooks are sold below their true cost because they are selling YOU.
And it's nice that for once I'm the one on the receiving end of a subsidy. I own an Acer C720, and I'm running Xubuntu on it, so all of those Chrome users who bought one are responsible for the sweet deal I got on it.:-)
I wonder how long it will take for somebody to jailbreak this latest Acer so even more Linux users can be subsidzed by Chrome users...
If we as a civilization have figured out how to dock spacecraft, and refuel planes in flight, surely we can figure out how to connect an autonomous car to a contact charger. It could be a port at bumper height and the car drives very slowly into it. It could be simple robots at the station itself. I'm not saying wireless charging doesn't have its place, but it is not a requirement for an autonomous vehicle infrastructure.
^^This, exactly! With the sophistication level of the robotics we already have in daily use, having cars either plug in or be plugged in would be a relatively trivial task. Granted, things like snow, ice, and dirt buildup, (among others), would cause problems - but they will also cause problems with wireless charging schemes. Not to mention the cost of repair. What's going to be more expensive - hiring a guy to fix or replace an above-ground piece of automation, or hiring a construction crew to dig up the asphalt and/or concrete before the tech or electrician can effect a repair?
The only 'obvious' thing here is that you shouldn't lie to, trick, and deceive your customers. Why you had to 'learn' this is not obvious at all; in fact, it would be a total fucking mystery if not for the fact that Microsoft has demonstrably corrupt and psychopathic leadership. This 'we learned our lesson' shit just doesn't fly - all you've learned is that you need to be less heavy-handed if you want to continue to screw people over without suffering a massive backlash from your customers and getting bitch-slapped in the tech press.
They'd be better off completely rebranding themselves so no one knows they're RIM/Blackberry. If I knew a car I was about to buy had Blackberry software in it, I wouldnt buy it, because I know it'd be unsupported very soon.
I'm sure that however it's branded, it will have the enthusiasticsupport of LEO's everywhere. Yes, governments would just love it if the software in self-driving vehicles came from a company with a proven track record of literally 'handing over the keys' to authorities.
one by one, these "social media" companies should be drained -- of their dollars -- by responsible individuals who refuse to use (be used) by their service
The problem here is that "responsible individuals" of the type to which you refer, are in the minority. Although social media companies would be ecstatic if 100% of the population would bend over for them, they seem pretty satisfied with the 78% -and-growing market penetration they currently enjoy.
Google's yanking the leash on phone vendors because they want to create a more consistent and uniform product experience.
In this case I suspect Google is "yanking the leash" because they want to mine as much data as possible from Google Assistant, and not having Samsung on board would put a noticeable dent in that data.
At least now it's out in the open. I have to wonder about the deals Trump will make and the policies he will enact in order to give his own businesses an advantage. I think he's going to make out like a bandit during his presidency.
... will regularly meet with the soon-president to advise on business issues...
I'd prefer it if most of Trump's Policy Forum members could "meet with the late-president to advise on business issues". Then both they and Trump would be in the afterlife and out of our hair. Bonus points for taking Pence along as well.
It's not encryption. They need a sim card and a good antenna that can let them either stream data out live or immediately push data to DropBox or Google Drive.
In the meantime they can use a USB MicroSD adapter and an OTG adapter on an Android phone to get their files into the Cloud. It's a bit cumbersome, it won't work in all locations / jurisdictions, and it requires sending a bunch of files at once rather than sending each picture as it's taken. But it's better than nothing.
On a different note, I wouldn't trust the camera manufacturers to not backdoor their encryption and provide access any government that asks. A better solution would be a memory card that contains a micro running Open Source encryption software. This would be tough to do in a MicroSD footprint, especially given the access speed necessary for high-res photos and video. But it might be possible, at the cost of lower data capacity. I'm not saying that I expect to see this happen - I'm just tossing the idea out there.
The real problem is it places a legal status on your memory.
Next on the horizon - a script that wipes specific data, (including itself and any log files that indicate it ever existed), when more than a specified amount of time passes after the last successful login.
Next after that - making root access to a personal device illegal.
I'm bad at Math. I'm pretty good with English... I can understand the context without trouble, but when it comes time to turn the problem into an equation beyond the most basic, I founder...
I'm pretty much the same, which is slightly ironic given my chosen, (and some might say pre-destined), career in electronics. When it comes to math, I'm good at arithmetic, and even mental arithmetic. I can do trig - scored a perfect final exam in Grade 12 - but the knowledge didn't stick, and when I looked at it again several tears later I felt a bit lost. I can barely handle differential calculus with lots of hard work; forget about even basic integral calculus. I've understood and memorised a few basic formulae for things like reactance and impedance, but not much beyond that.
I had always thought I just wasn't wired for mathematics, but a friend sent me a link to an article suggesting that I may have been wrong. I suspect that when I was young I got into the habit of focussing on the things I was inherently and automatically good at, (specifically English), to the detriment of other areas of study that I might have been very good at had I applied effort and discipline.
At this stage of my life it's unlikely that I'll become a math whiz, but at least I now believe that I could become one if I was willing to put in the effort and the hours.
- 2 weeks later, advisory is released - not seeing 3 months in this timeframe?
Looks like both sides are assholes!
It seems that PWC said nothing about actually fixing the flaw. In fact, their immediately adversarial stance could be construed as an indication that they might not fix the problem in good time, and perhaps not at all. In this case, early disclosure by the security researchers could be viewed as a mitigative strategy, since there was a good chance that criminal hackers would have discovered the flaw and taken advantage of it before PWC did anything about it.
A runaway chain reaction involving methane is black swan kind of bad.
One of the reports linked in TFS says that "the recent methane surge into the atmosphere" has been caused "an unexpected surge in microbial sources". Why was this "unexpected"? It isn't news that temperature rise favours both the growth of microbes, and the release of various compounds from melting ice.
I've always been under the impression that in vast and complex systems with many causal interdependencies, runaway positive feedback mechanisms are the rule rather than the exception. And it strikes me that for scientists who think about and investigate this stuff every day, predicting 'bootstrapped' methane emissions as at least a potential problem should have been a no-brainer.
I really enjoyed this, especially the conversation getting steered back into well-rounded Outer Geekdom. Thanks.
Yes, it has been fun! I'm a little in awe of your accomplishments though - you've had a much more varied life and successful career than I have had; mine seem entirely provincial by comparison. But it's always fun to talk to a fellow generalist, (or 'eclecticist', as I sometimes call myself) - especially an analog electronics aficionado. My favourite part of electronics was RF, and I still find magic in it.
"- old tube AM radio.........my first soldering iron)"
Geez, are you my Invisible Twin? Although I do have to say that possibly my favorite Geeky Gift was a little plastic "Projector Microscope"...
I'd forgotten about the microscope. It wasn't a projector 'scope like yours, but it was made by Tasco, like your telescope. I used to collect water out of puddles, ponds, and ditches, and look at the life wriggling around in it. Gave me a hell of an appreciation for our municipal water supply. Sadly, I never got the telescope I was Jonesing for; then again, I was never interested in astronomy anyway. I think I just wanted to spy on people.
Today, far too much emphasis is placed, especially here, on Programming as part of STEM Education. Computer Programming is Drudgery, and the self-absorbed Linux Fans are the worst drudges.
I think you're being too hard on programming, and Linux and its fans. I'm not a computer geek per se, I just play one for friends and family who don't know any better. But I have done some programming, and enjoyed it. I see strong parallels between the way I program and the way I design the (predominantly analog) hardware I love. I DO use Linux, and I don't think I'm a drudge. I have friends who are Linux whizzes, (with programmers among them), who are also fun, well-rounded people with significant non-tech interests. Besides, if you're encouraging kids to take stuff apart and examine the innards, Linux is WAY better than Window or Mac for that purpose.
I'm glad you mentioned books. My early favourites were the "How and Why Wonder Books". That reminds me - do libraries still have 'children's sections'? I was totally done with that level of our local library by the time I was in Grade 1. My mother lent me her library card so I could get books from the Adult section, (the phrase didn't have the same connotations back then), and I never looked back.
Thanks - that was fun! I never had "the knack" in quite that way though. It took me quite a few years to learn how to put stuff back together after I had taken it apart, and longer still to acquire significant troubleshooting skill. (And I'm still just OK at troubleshooting - I'd rather design and build). But I was always fascinated with electricity. When I was being wheeled through the five-and-dime at the age of 2 or 3, I usually wasn't much interested in the toys. But electrical connectors and adapters, batteries, and the like - they all seemed to be calling my name. I had a 6-quart fruit basket filled electrical bits - plugs, light-bulb 'Y' adapters, cube taps, adapters to turn light sockets into outlets, etc. I played with them A LOT, and I even had a dummy outlet in my playroom. Apparently, even then I had sense enough not to play with live outlets. Not that that stopped me from getting some nice shocks when I was older - I was as immortal and oblivious as any kid most of the time.
They employ a 2-prong AC plug (not a modern 3-prong plug) and since polarized sockets were not used at the time, the plug is unpolarized (can be inserted either way). This type of construction is cheaper and is therefore quite commonly found.
Thanks - that's a good point. IIRC, my parents had cut the plug off. It would probably be two or three years before I would have had the ability to reverse that...
This type of construction is cheaper and is therefore quite commonly found.
Back then it was the ONLY type of construction to be found. Grounded outlets weren't at all common then, (at least in the houses I lived in or visited), nor were polarized plugs and outlets. I was probably 10 or 12 when I saw my first 3-prong plug. Even our all-metal drill only had a two-prong plug - and it wasn't "double insulated" either.
- old tube AM radio to take apart (I was 5 years old and had already been passionate about electricity and electronics for the previous 3 years or so)
- crystal radio kit
- build-it-yourself motor kit (very cool - I had to wind the armature myself)
- countless ignition cells and lantern batteries
- 100-in-1 electronics educational kit
- walkie talkies
- wood burning kit (never did any wood burning 'art' with it, but it was my first soldering iron)
Along with new geek gifts for kids, consider old 'junk' that they can take apart, experiment with, and learn from; it won't cost much, and they won't be worried about breaking some new bit of shiny and pissing off Mom and Dad. And remember that the greatest gifts a parent can give to a geek child are TIME and COMPANIONSHIP. Take them to places that they'll love, but that they wouldn't normally go to or wouldn't discover on their own. When I was a kid my father took me to a local hydro-electric generating station. (I grew up in Niagara Falls Canada). And this was no tourist visit; he had a friend who worked there, and we were up on a narrow, high catwalk above the generators - a place where only employees were supposed to go. I'll remember that 'til the day I die.
The above ideas aren't specific to Christmas - but this is a good time to remind ourselves of the gifts we can and should be giving kids all year to feed their passions and build their confidence.
They help arrange the meeting via their app, which creates some amount of legal liability.
They don't 'help arrange the meeting' - that implies intention. Their app and their infrastructure are being used for other than their intended purpose - that is, to arrange dates. Arguably, the telephone, a bulletin board, and a newspaper can be used in the same way - and I'm unaware of any liability ever having been assigned to any of those because people used them to hook up.
Slashdot Mirror
Nor my milk, nor my "entire life". Not ever, unless I'm either imprisoned or forced to live in some Orwellian dystopia.
Why is society so hell-bent on extending childhood to the point where the average person never really grows up? The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised by an offer from a 'digital assistant' to help shake off the last drop.
If only someone else had thought of a way to use magnets to attach things to your ear! This is courage taken to a new level, we're talking iCourage levels here...
That's my thinking too - how in hell could a patent ever be granted for this, given such obvious prior art? The fact that a company would even be bothered to apply for such a patent is proof positive that the patent system is horribly broken. But then, everybody here already knew that.
Bottled water does not compete with pipes.
Apparently, it does), at least for drinking water. Oh, but you were talking about the consumer side of the transaction? Well, some people think that competition is happening there as well.)
But, yes, I'd like to see a transition of water-supply (and other "natural" monopolies) from governments to competing businesses.
Great - even more shared-infrastructure disputes, and more wasteful duplication of infrastructure. And no, von Mises' nuance-challenged Randian 'either / or' arguments don't impress me.
Then, maybe, we'll finally see some 21-st century innovation in those markets too.
Oh... you mean like the modern tracking and advertising innovations we're now enjoying at the hands of Google, Facebook, et al? Or do you mean the IOT innovations that render things like thermostats remotely hackable? Again, no thanks. Innovation is neither inherently bad nor inherently good; I promise to remember the latter and take it into account, so long as you promise the same about the former.
When doing serious writing or reading (a high resolution screen is pivotal when reading long, especially with technical documentation) its important to have a decent resolution screen.
I disagree. I suspect that you still possess good eyesight in spite of the middle-aged-plus status suggested by your low user ID. I'm not so lucky. I have a 32" monitor with some godawful-high native resolution that makes most things tiny even on that big a screen. I run it at less than its native res, so it's not as sharp as it could be. Lower resolution would be better for me, and I'm far from being the only one in that position. And if you ARE as young as your apparently good vision would indicate, then kindly get off my lawn!
Google gives away ChromeOS and Android. Chromebooks are sold below their true cost because they are selling YOU.
And it's nice that for once I'm the one on the receiving end of a subsidy. I own an Acer C720, and I'm running Xubuntu on it, so all of those Chrome users who bought one are responsible for the sweet deal I got on it. :-)
I wonder how long it will take for somebody to jailbreak this latest Acer so even more Linux users can be subsidzed by Chrome users...
If we as a civilization have figured out how to dock spacecraft, and refuel planes in flight, surely we can figure out how to connect an autonomous car to a contact charger. It could be a port at bumper height and the car drives very slowly into it. It could be simple robots at the station itself. I'm not saying wireless charging doesn't have its place, but it is not a requirement for an autonomous vehicle infrastructure.
^^This, exactly! With the sophistication level of the robotics we already have in daily use, having cars either plug in or be plugged in would be a relatively trivial task. Granted, things like snow, ice, and dirt buildup, (among others), would cause problems - but they will also cause problems with wireless charging schemes. Not to mention the cost of repair. What's going to be more expensive - hiring a guy to fix or replace an above-ground piece of automation, or hiring a construction crew to dig up the asphalt and/or concrete before the tech or electrician can effect a repair?
The only 'obvious' thing here is that you shouldn't lie to, trick, and deceive your customers. Why you had to 'learn' this is not obvious at all; in fact, it would be a total fucking mystery if not for the fact that Microsoft has demonstrably corrupt and psychopathic leadership. This 'we learned our lesson' shit just doesn't fly - all you've learned is that you need to be less heavy-handed if you want to continue to screw people over without suffering a massive backlash from your customers and getting bitch-slapped in the tech press.
They'd be better off completely rebranding themselves so no one knows they're RIM/Blackberry. If I knew a car I was about to buy had Blackberry software in it, I wouldnt buy it, because I know it'd be unsupported very soon.
I'm sure that however it's branded, it will have the enthusiastic support of LEO's everywhere. Yes, governments would just love it if the software in self-driving vehicles came from a company with a proven track record of literally 'handing over the keys' to authorities.
one by one, these "social media" companies should be drained -- of their dollars -- by responsible individuals who refuse to use (be used) by their service
The problem here is that "responsible individuals" of the type to which you refer, are in the minority. Although social media companies would be ecstatic if 100% of the population would bend over for them, they seem pretty satisfied with the 78% -and-growing market penetration they currently enjoy.
Google's yanking the leash on phone vendors because they want to create a more consistent and uniform product experience.
In this case I suspect Google is "yanking the leash" because they want to mine as much data as possible from Google Assistant, and not having Samsung on board would put a noticeable dent in that data.
where Apple got the "courage" to eliminate the headphone jack. It wasn't courage at all - just greed. Not that anybody's surprised at that, I guess.
At least now it's out in the open. I have to wonder about the deals Trump will make and the policies he will enact in order to give his own businesses an advantage. I think he's going to make out like a bandit during his presidency.
... will regularly meet with the soon-president to advise on business issues ...
I'd prefer it if most of Trump's Policy Forum members could "meet with the late-president to advise on business issues". Then both they and Trump would be in the afterlife and out of our hair. Bonus points for taking Pence along as well.
It's not encryption. They need a sim card and a good antenna that can let them either stream data out live or immediately push data to DropBox or Google Drive.
In the meantime they can use a USB MicroSD adapter and an OTG adapter on an Android phone to get their files into the Cloud. It's a bit cumbersome, it won't work in all locations / jurisdictions, and it requires sending a bunch of files at once rather than sending each picture as it's taken. But it's better than nothing.
On a different note, I wouldn't trust the camera manufacturers to not backdoor their encryption and provide access any government that asks. A better solution would be a memory card that contains a micro running Open Source encryption software. This would be tough to do in a MicroSD footprint, especially given the access speed necessary for high-res photos and video. But it might be possible, at the cost of lower data capacity. I'm not saying that I expect to see this happen - I'm just tossing the idea out there.
The real problem is it places a legal status on your memory.
Next on the horizon - a script that wipes specific data, (including itself and any log files that indicate it ever existed), when more than a specified amount of time passes after the last successful login.
Next after that - making root access to a personal device illegal.
I'm bad at Math. I'm pretty good with English... I can understand the context without trouble, but when it comes time to turn the problem into an equation beyond the most basic, I founder...
I'm pretty much the same, which is slightly ironic given my chosen, (and some might say pre-destined), career in electronics. When it comes to math, I'm good at arithmetic, and even mental arithmetic. I can do trig - scored a perfect final exam in Grade 12 - but the knowledge didn't stick, and when I looked at it again several tears later I felt a bit lost. I can barely handle differential calculus with lots of hard work; forget about even basic integral calculus. I've understood and memorised a few basic formulae for things like reactance and impedance, but not much beyond that.
I had always thought I just wasn't wired for mathematics, but a friend sent me a link to an article suggesting that I may have been wrong. I suspect that when I was young I got into the habit of focussing on the things I was inherently and automatically good at, (specifically English), to the detriment of other areas of study that I might have been very good at had I applied effort and discipline.
At this stage of my life it's unlikely that I'll become a math whiz, but at least I now believe that I could become one if I was willing to put in the effort and the hours.
- 2 weeks later, advisory is released - not seeing 3 months in this timeframe?
Looks like both sides are assholes!
It seems that PWC said nothing about actually fixing the flaw. In fact, their immediately adversarial stance could be construed as an indication that they might not fix the problem in good time, and perhaps not at all. In this case, early disclosure by the security researchers could be viewed as a mitigative strategy, since there was a good chance that criminal hackers would have discovered the flaw and taken advantage of it before PWC did anything about it.
A runaway chain reaction involving methane is black swan kind of bad.
One of the reports linked in TFS says that "the recent methane surge into the atmosphere" has been caused "an unexpected surge in microbial sources". Why was this "unexpected"? It isn't news that temperature rise favours both the growth of microbes, and the release of various compounds from melting ice.
I've always been under the impression that in vast and complex systems with many causal interdependencies, runaway positive feedback mechanisms are the rule rather than the exception. And it strikes me that for scientists who think about and investigate this stuff every day, predicting 'bootstrapped' methane emissions as at least a potential problem should have been a no-brainer.
I really enjoyed this, especially the conversation getting steered back into well-rounded Outer Geekdom. Thanks.
Yes, it has been fun! I'm a little in awe of your accomplishments though - you've had a much more varied life and successful career than I have had; mine seem entirely provincial by comparison. But it's always fun to talk to a fellow generalist, (or 'eclecticist', as I sometimes call myself) - especially an analog electronics aficionado. My favourite part of electronics was RF, and I still find magic in it.
Cheers!
"- old tube AM radio ... ... ...my first soldering iron)"
Geez, are you my Invisible Twin? Although I do have to say that possibly my favorite Geeky Gift was a little plastic "Projector Microscope"...
I'd forgotten about the microscope. It wasn't a projector 'scope like yours, but it was made by Tasco, like your telescope. I used to collect water out of puddles, ponds, and ditches, and look at the life wriggling around in it. Gave me a hell of an appreciation for our municipal water supply. Sadly, I never got the telescope I was Jonesing for; then again, I was never interested in astronomy anyway. I think I just wanted to spy on people.
Today, far too much emphasis is placed, especially here, on Programming as part of STEM Education. Computer Programming is Drudgery, and the self-absorbed Linux Fans are the worst drudges.
I think you're being too hard on programming, and Linux and its fans. I'm not a computer geek per se, I just play one for friends and family who don't know any better. But I have done some programming, and enjoyed it. I see strong parallels between the way I program and the way I design the (predominantly analog) hardware I love. I DO use Linux, and I don't think I'm a drudge. I have friends who are Linux whizzes, (with programmers among them), who are also fun, well-rounded people with significant non-tech interests. Besides, if you're encouraging kids to take stuff apart and examine the innards, Linux is WAY better than Window or Mac for that purpose.
I'm glad you mentioned books. My early favourites were the "How and Why Wonder Books". That reminds me - do libraries still have 'children's sections'? I was totally done with that level of our local library by the time I was in Grade 1. My mother lent me her library card so I could get books from the Adult section, (the phrase didn't have the same connotations back then), and I never looked back.
Dilbert, is that you?
Thanks - that was fun! I never had "the knack" in quite that way though. It took me quite a few years to learn how to put stuff back together after I had taken it apart, and longer still to acquire significant troubleshooting skill. (And I'm still just OK at troubleshooting - I'd rather design and build). But I was always fascinated with electricity. When I was being wheeled through the five-and-dime at the age of 2 or 3, I usually wasn't much interested in the toys. But electrical connectors and adapters, batteries, and the like - they all seemed to be calling my name. I had a 6-quart fruit basket filled electrical bits - plugs, light-bulb 'Y' adapters, cube taps, adapters to turn light sockets into outlets, etc. I played with them A LOT, and I even had a dummy outlet in my playroom. Apparently, even then I had sense enough not to play with live outlets. Not that that stopped me from getting some nice shocks when I was older - I was as immortal and oblivious as any kid most of the time.
They employ a 2-prong AC plug (not a modern 3-prong plug) and since polarized sockets were not used at the time, the plug is unpolarized (can be inserted either way). This type of construction is cheaper and is therefore quite commonly found.
Thanks - that's a good point. IIRC, my parents had cut the plug off. It would probably be two or three years before I would have had the ability to reverse that...
This type of construction is cheaper and is therefore quite commonly found.
Back then it was the ONLY type of construction to be found. Grounded outlets weren't at all common then, (at least in the houses I lived in or visited), nor were polarized plugs and outlets. I was probably 10 or 12 when I saw my first 3-prong plug. Even our all-metal drill only had a two-prong plug - and it wasn't "double insulated" either.
- old tube AM radio to take apart (I was 5 years old and had already been passionate about electricity and electronics for the previous 3 years or so)
- crystal radio kit
- build-it-yourself motor kit (very cool - I had to wind the armature myself)
- countless ignition cells and lantern batteries
- 100-in-1 electronics educational kit
- walkie talkies
- wood burning kit (never did any wood burning 'art' with it, but it was my first soldering iron)
Along with new geek gifts for kids, consider old 'junk' that they can take apart, experiment with, and learn from; it won't cost much, and they won't be worried about breaking some new bit of shiny and pissing off Mom and Dad. And remember that the greatest gifts a parent can give to a geek child are TIME and COMPANIONSHIP. Take them to places that they'll love, but that they wouldn't normally go to or wouldn't discover on their own. When I was a kid my father took me to a local hydro-electric generating station. (I grew up in Niagara Falls Canada). And this was no tourist visit; he had a friend who worked there, and we were up on a narrow, high catwalk above the generators - a place where only employees were supposed to go. I'll remember that 'til the day I die.
The above ideas aren't specific to Christmas - but this is a good time to remind ourselves of the gifts we can and should be giving kids all year to feed their passions and build their confidence.
You can also use them as controllable noise cancelling [sic] wireless headphones for your music or calls or just for quiet.
"Cancelling" is a perfectly acceptable spelling: http://grammarist.com/spelling...
I applaud BeauHD's efforts though - it's good to see an editor here paying attention to spelling and grammar.
They help arrange the meeting via their app, which creates some amount of legal liability.
They don't 'help arrange the meeting' - that implies intention. Their app and their infrastructure are being used for other than their intended purpose - that is, to arrange dates. Arguably, the telephone, a bulletin board, and a newspaper can be used in the same way - and I'm unaware of any liability ever having been assigned to any of those because people used them to hook up.