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User: rpstrong

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  1. And don't call me serious.

  2. As an american, I've had deliveries from non-UPS entities left in my mailbox.

    ...which is generally a violation of US Code Title 18, section 1725.

    However, mail slots in your door are excluded from that restriction.

  3. Re:Honeypot is illegal in California? on California May Ban Terrible Default Passwords On Connected Devices (engadget.com) · · Score: 1

    The intent of the law is to make your device more secure, and the initial password change (or any p/w change) is an ideal time to enforce strong p/w security rules.

    How long before that happens?

          User name: SLIPPERY
          Password: SLOPE

  4. Simply do not connect to the internet until the password is changed.

    Was that so tough?

  5. Many cell phones never get a single update after they are sold and cheaper consumer devices get even fewer updates if any.

    How does a cheaper device get fewer than zero updates? Do they revert to an earlier version?

  6. Re:Gas station out of power? on How Tech Companies Responded To Hurricane Florence (qz.com) · · Score: 1

    I was in IT for a company that was upgrading to an IBM AS/400 mini-computer, with a brand new computer room. Our boss believed in doings things right, and we had a UPS which was specced out for more power than we'd need, with plenty of time for either an orderly shutdown, or for the length of the blackout.

    Fortunately, the first blackout only lasted about twenty minutes. This was a short enough time that we kept running, but long enough to realize that the system console terminal - necessary to shut the computer down - was one of the few things in the room that hadn't been plugged into the UPS.

  7. Then how do they sniff?

  8. Re:Another judge legislating from the bench on Federal Judge Rules Against Trump Administration on 3-D Gun Blueprint Case (latimes.com) · · Score: 1

    That makes it new technology, not new territory. The 'territory' in question involves whether you can legally manufacture your own guns or not - and that has been settled.

    Whether you use a drill press, or a numerically controlled mill, or a 3-D printer is immaterial - the effort required on your part to build it does not dictate whether or not you should have that right .

  9. Re: Never understood the admiration on Tesla Short Sellers Actually Made Over $1 Billion After Musk's Taking-Private Tweet (fortune.com) · · Score: 1

    It was in the early 70s that the Honda 600 became the first car ever that Consumer Reports rated as "Not Acceptable".

  10. Re:Just like Watson on Science Confirms That Women's Pockets Suck For Smartphones (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    The players see a signal light that goes on shortly after the question is exposed, which means that their clickers are active. Clicking before the light goes on does nothing.

    But how does this relate to pockets?

  11. Re:To be fair, he did pretty well... on Flight-Simulator Enthusiasts Confident of Real-World Skills (wsj.com) · · Score: 1

    An aileron roll is a negative-G maneuver, and I'm not so sure the plane was capable of such. The video that I saw showed only positive-G maneuvers.

  12. Re: That "Space Suit" ... on SpaceX Reveals the Controls of Its Dragon Spacecraft For the First Time (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    So nothing exists until I have personally experienced it?

    Nonsense - why should I trust you to say it exists?

  13. The giphy isn't even of the same setup - it has three vertical panels, the ars technica shows them as horizontal.

  14. No, the chicken came first. The egg was only faking it.

  15. Re:About time to say fuck off on Tesla Will Open Its Security Code To Other Car Manufacturers (engadget.com) · · Score: 1

    'Latest', dammit, not 'last' - I'm not holding a short position!

  16. Re:About time to say fuck off on Tesla Will Open Its Security Code To Other Car Manufacturers (engadget.com) · · Score: 1

    Because we all know that auto assembly factories can just be wished into existence, and cost absolutely nothing to build

    Doesn't that more or less describe the planning and investment that went into their last assembly line?

  17. Re:Stop the Moral Panic on Facebook Bans Sites That Host Blueprints of 3D-Printed Guns (cbsnews.com) · · Score: 1

    The four ounce chunk of metal doesn't matter - the entire gun will show up on the x-ray. This article specifically shows the infamous "invisible" Glock 7 in a conventional x-ray; this page shows how to detect metal, plastic, and organic (e.g., explosives) items in a color coded airport x-ray device.

    [Other sources do indicate that it is possible to crank the power up and/or modify the sensitivity enough to ignore plastics, but did not supply comparison images. Also, the minimal detection law specifically requires that airport type scanners be used.]

  18. Re:Stop the Moral Panic on Facebook Bans Sites That Host Blueprints of 3D-Printed Guns (cbsnews.com) · · Score: 1

    EDIT: The Liberator can't quite be entirely made of plastic; it needs a nail for a firing pin. But the nail is too small to make the gun legally detectable.

  19. Re:Stop the Moral Panic on Facebook Bans Sites That Host Blueprints of 3D-Printed Guns (cbsnews.com) · · Score: 1

    The gun needs to be detectable, not made of metal. A fully functional Liberator can be made entirely from plastic, but to keep it legal an utterly non-functional metal plate is epoxied into a slot on the frame. The metal has enough mass to trigger the metal detector.

  20. Re: How about any map projection on Google Maps Now Zooms Out To a Globe Instead of a Flat Earth (venturebeat.com) · · Score: 1

    To you there may be no logic in the flat-earth theory, but to a believer, there is.

    But I wasn't arguing logic, I was arguing logistics. And where is there 'logic' in suggesting that a person "just" do something that is well beyond the means of the average person?

  21. Re:How about any map projection on Google Maps Now Zooms Out To a Globe Instead of a Flat Earth (venturebeat.com) · · Score: 1

    The problem with google maps is they don't use an actual projection, but a hack which assumes that the earth is a perfect SPHERE, which is just as pretentiously ignorant as assuming the earth is flat, only less funny.

    Why is this a problem (for the vast majority of their users), and how is it "pretentiously ignorant"? As you pointed out, the decision to go with the spherical projection was made to simplify coding - not because they weren't aware of the sphere/ellipsoid distinction.

  22. Re: How about any map projection on Google Maps Now Zooms Out To a Globe Instead of a Flat Earth (venturebeat.com) · · Score: 1

    Even if they did go through the non-trivial process of getting a pilot's license, how would flying in a straight line for a few hours prove anything? You would see nothing but virtually flat, featureless ocean until you ran out of fuel and had to turn back.

    [And you'd spend the rest of your life sitting back in the armchair at your club, sipping your brandy, and claiming that you were only minutes away from seeing the edge.]

    No, you'd want to go with a rocket, not a plane - which flat earther/rocketeer Mike Hughes is bound and determined to do.

  23. Re:Well sort of, but you're missing a key point on Can Hoover Dam Become a Giant $3B Battery? (cleantechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    It defies what I know about most dams and ecological controls, and its is hard to imagine letting the upper section of the river go dry on a regular basis.

    Agreed.

    This is interesting;

    "Water is released from Lake Mead only to meet downstream municipal and agricultural demands. Consequently, power demands in California, Arizona and Nevada do not impact its elevation."
    https://www.nps.gov/lake/learn...

    That seems to imply that average release amounts are determined more by downstream need that power demand. Not entirely what I would have expected.

    Interesting indeed, and I don't recall them talking about that during the tour, which seemed to focus more on the power generating aspects. Or maybe that's just what caught my interest. Anyway, thanks for the link.

  24. You can legally buy the rest of the parts mail order.

    Yup, you too can own a personally made AK-47, fully automatic, with only one simple to make part not obtained mail order.

    Let's slow down a step. Yes, you can legally (under Federal law) build your own gun, but building it as full auto is just as illegal as using that same 'simple part' to convert a commercial version.

  25. Re:No parts for you on The Rogue Tesla Mechanic Resurrecting Salvaged Cars (vice.com) · · Score: 1

    It might, if you're trying to reboot your crashed laptop while you drive.