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User: robot256

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Comments · 1,137

  1. Re:But how many of those 700,000 are alive? on Ham Radio Licenses Top 700,000, An All-Time High · · Score: 1

    You make a valid point. The only thing I'll add is that I did not intend the re-registering exam to be the same as the original license exam, which I did not make clear in my post. It could be something as simple as submitting some QSL confirmations to show that you are active. It was just an idea to combat what the GP seemed to think of as "frivolous" renewals, a problem which I think is overstated to begin with.

    Slightly off-topic, I do find it irritating is that we can't have proper roundabouts in the States because nobody can be bothered to remember how to use them. If people had some--any--driving training after the age of 17 (when *nothing* seems worth remembering) it would go a long way toward improving civility on the roads. I know some insurance companies support periodic "defensive driving" classes with rate reductions, but I cannot fathom why they are not mandatory. It's like we *enjoy* watching 380,000 people die on our streets every year.

  2. Re:But how many of those 700,000 are alive? on Ham Radio Licenses Top 700,000, An All-Time High · · Score: 1

    I see your anecdote and raise you mine...I know several people with lapsed licenses because they were not interested enough to even find out when it expired or what form to fill out. A decade or two later, they get interested again, and then have to reapply.

    The solution to the problem you describe is to have "maintenance" tests, maybe filled out online, that everyone has to complete to get a renewal. I know people balk at more tests, but aren't you supposed to know this stuff cold anyways? Of course, I support the same thing for driver's and gun licenses, but you can see how far those have got with the public (not sure about gun licenses, but I don't know of a state with any significant barrier to driver's license renewal).

  3. Re:First self-driving crash - who to blame, or sue on Toyota To Let People Ride In Self-Driving Prius · · Score: 1

    Some things are made cheaply these days, yes, but what about your air bags and anti-lock brakes? This hardware and software would have to have the same reliability as those. Malfunctioning sensors can be handled gracefully with the right software--slow down enough that other sensors will do, or just stop and request the human driver to take control. But if one of your stereo cameras dies, you can still get most of the required information from the remaining camera and your radar, for example. Or if the front facing radar fails, just drive backwards :-D

  4. Re:You have to do /something/ with all these dooda on How Technology Is Shaping Language · · Score: 1

    James D. Nicoll...awesome quote. And I expect he is right--I can't think of any at the moment, but I'm sure that the usage of a borrowed word in English has managed to change its meaning in its original language, which would seem to be the literal equivalent of what he is talking about.

  5. Re:Texting on How Technology Is Shaping Language · · Score: 3, Funny

    Had you lived 150 years ago, you would have said the same about telegraphese

    *dot* *dash* *dot* *dot*
    *dash* *dash* *dash*
    *dot* *dash* *dot* *dot*

    You've totally misunderstood him. Full stop.

    *dot* *dash* *dot* *dot* = L
    *dash* *dash* *dash* = O
    *dot* *dash* *dot* *dot* = L

    Not that I've heard of it being used in Morse much. But it's funny when my (older) ham radio friends send text messages to their kids asking"QTH? QRX 1 HR" and get "????" in response.

  6. Re:and why... on SCADA Hacker: Water District Used 3-Character Password · · Score: 1

    You are assuming that the SCADA system has the hardware capability to swap TX and RX. It would be extremely easy for the hardware designers to leave that feature out by using an ethernet controller with it disabled via hardware config pins or completely absent. Plus I reckon that most of the systems already deployed use humble 10Mbps ports designed before autoswitching was even a standard.

  7. Re:mahna-mahna on Hybrids Safer In Crashes — Except For Pedestrians · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because when I think "manly", "make my penis bigger", and "attract women" I think of a little rinky dink eco-friendly compact car....

    It just depends on what kind of women you want to attract. If you want to attract shallow, vain women who flock after rich men with fancy cars, then no, you don't want a hybrid. If, on the other hand, you want to attract shallow, vain women who flock after trendy urbanites up on the latest fads, then yes, you do want a hybrid. If you want to attract women who aren't shallow or vain, try finding ones that don't care what kind of car you drive.

  8. Re:Reality on Research Promises Drastically Increased LiOn Capacity · · Score: 2

    Democracies are already a reality. They're just expensive and inefficient.

    FTFY.

  9. Re:data protection and guns (was: wayback machine on Upcoming EU Data Law Will Make Europe Tricky For Social Networks · · Score: 1

    At least the "rude kid" bit is the same between the two...

  10. Re:If it was me on Two New Fed GPS Trackers Found On SUV · · Score: 1

    But it wasn't an investigation! If it was, they would have a warrant. The tracker just "happened" to be on his car the same way the BATF agent just "happened" to be following around berashith in his story above. I still don't get how they can blame you if their device just "happened" to fall into a river on your way over a bridge.

  11. Re:OK, but on Gecko-Inspired Tape Can Be Reused Thousands of Times · · Score: 2

    "Van der Waals" force will stick you "on der walls". Easy mistake to make,

  12. Re:I'll give them something to mine for on The CIA's Social Mining Department · · Score: 2

    How about instead of spying on the little guy, you go after the people that wrecked america, economically, socially, politically and intellectually.

    They already spend too much time looking in the mirror, and you want them to do it more?

  13. Re:The first App! on NASA Plans App Store For Scientists · · Score: 2

    NASA's first app in the store will be an imperial to metric conversion tool.

    NO! It will be a metric to imperial conversion tool.

    ^^^ This. The scientists all work in metric, it is just the engineers that do half and half.

  14. Not really that surprising on No Windows 8 Plot To Lock Out Linux · · Score: 2

    After all, when you're simply pushing commodity hardware with no particular value added, adding "can run non-Windows OS" is just another bullet-point feature you can add to your list, and one that even normal people will look for "just in case" they want to try out this Linux thing or whatever. What's the point in locking yourself in if there isn't anything special about the hardware in the first place? Even Apple doesn't limit what its hardware can run, only what its OS will run on.

    Besides, there are plenty of enterprise customers running Linux servers and workstations, so making that an option would just add uncertainty to the supply chain and make those customers uncomfortable.

  15. Re:Privacy? on Google Starts Indexing Facebook Comments · · Score: 2

    I certainly wouldn't expect my conversation in a crowd at the mall to be recorded and searchable, but if I spray paint a message somewhere that I know the StreetView car drives by regularly, and sign my name on it, I don't think the same expectation exists. When you post on Facebook, privately or publicly, you are both recording it in writing and signing your name to it--I don't think you can argue that it deserves the same ephemeral presence as spoken words lost on the wind, regardless of the inanity of the contents. In essence, they are just announcing a new route for the StreetView car, so you better put up some curtains if you don't want your naked bum to show up on the Internet, since apparently you were fine letting it hang out for the neighbors as long as it wasn't recorded for posterity (pun intended).

  16. Re:Funny Summary! on Google Starts Indexing Facebook Comments · · Score: 2

    Forget TFA, I stopped reading the summary after "Users of Facebook Connect have previously enjoyed extra privacy..."

    As far as Facebook is concerned, ALL privacy is "extra", meaning unnecessary.

  17. All in the name of science on Dutch Psychologist Faked Data In At Least 30 Scientific Papers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sounds like it was all just one big meta-study--now that he's got thirty fake papers to use as data he can write a paper on the psychological factors involved in publishing fake papers. Could be an interesting treatise on the nature of trust, the peer review process, ulterior motives and such, but it's too bad because everyone would dismiss it as fake.

  18. Re:Where Have We Come in 70 Years? on Belgium To Give Up Nuclear Power · · Score: 2

    I'll agree on the bombs part, but "boiling water" seems a mite simplified for "powering whatever the hell we want with electricity". Or were you expecting us to have proton beams and fusion factories by now? Just what else can you do with decaying plutonium?

  19. Re:Seen this article everywhere now. on Re-evaluating the Benefits of Cancer Screening · · Score: 1

    That sounds like a pretty nice arrangement. I can see how it would work well for a young/healthy workforce, keeping them in good shape. Do they fire you if you get a terminal illness, like diabetes or cancer or a disabled child? What if you have to quit because of it? If you have to go buy insurance yourself after that, you have a preexisting condition so you're basically screwed. I'm curious because I hear so many people say they can do just fine without insurance but it seems like a giant gamble to me.

  20. Re: I am not sure why this keeps coming up on Multi-Target Photo-Radar System To Make Speeding Riskier · · Score: 1

    Your point is entirely valid, but I'd just like to point out that by the time Google Cars are available they will be able to read every street sign about as well as a human could (if they can't already), so sudden signage changes won't be an issue.

    I think it would be interesting if self-driving cars were required to have some sort of black-box data recorder so that you could prove in court after an accident whether the software was at fault and what type of error occurred. If the thing blue-screened in the middle of an intersection, that could easily be pinned on the manufacturer, but if it was something like failing to obey the instructions of an officer, that would pretty clearly be the person's fault for not taking control in an unusual situation.

  21. Re:Seen this article everywhere now. on Re-evaluating the Benefits of Cancer Screening · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What people always forget when talking about the "government takeover of health care" is that there are already bureaucrats sitting between you and your doctor--the private insurance companies--and you already have limited mobility between providers, due to limited open seasons and pre-existing conditions and whatever else your employer stipulates. But instead of being handled by a government agency overseen by elected officials, you are beholden to a for-profit organization who wants everyone to pay in more than they draw out. While I'm sure there are arguments to be made that efficiency gains can be produced in a properly regulated market versus a single-payer system, I don't think the market we have meets that criteria at the moment. It will be a little better after Obamacare goes into effect, but a lot of the health insurance system is still not working in the best interests of the patients.

  22. Re:Coincidence? Maybe not... on The White House Responds To We the People Petition · · Score: 1

    Guess it was just slashdotted. Works fine for me now.

  23. Coincidence? Maybe not... on The White House Responds To We the People Petition · · Score: 1

    Now that half the open petitions say "give us better answers to last week's petitions", the site's login process is fubarred for me. Is it just slashdotted, or has it been disabled intentionally?

  24. Re:Avoiding the USA on TSA's VIPR Bites Rail, Bus, and Ferry Passengers · · Score: 1

    And the employee uniform is significantly more attractive...

  25. But does it actually make a difference? on Smarter Thread Scheduling Improves AMD Bulldozer Performance · · Score: 2

    Sure, the scheduling change improves performance by 10-20% for certain tasks, but that still makes it 30-50% slower than an i7, and with more power consumption.

    I can't fault AMD for not having full third-party support for their custom features, since Intel had a head-start with hyperthreading, but if it will still be an inferior product even after support is added then I'm not going to buy it.