Slashdot Mirror


User: boaworm

boaworm's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
448
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 448

  1. Re:If it's just for gaming... on Ask Slashdot: What Should A Mac User Know Before Buying a Windows Laptop? · · Score: 1

    Or buy a cheap boring laptop for moving around, and a fancy gaming PC at home. That may keep the kid home every now and then.

  2. Re:Umm on Boarding Pass Barcodes Can Reveal Personal Data, Future Flights · · Score: 1

    Maybe it is easier to automatically read large numbers of boarding passes if they have bar codes, rather than just text..

    But I agree, there seems to be ways to get the name, FQTV and RLOC also from the plain text on the boarding pass...

  3. Re:But they help also on Uber Shut Down In Multiple Countries Following Raids · · Score: 1

    Totally agree. I started using Uber in Dallas a while ago, and it is vastly superior to normal Taxis there.

    It may be different in other cities in the U.S though. And in European cities like London, Berlin where the normal taxi service actually works it is also a different story. So if Uber is doing something unfair, fix that. If they are really exploiting their drivers, people would stop driving, right? Which coincidentally is going to be a lot easier than stopping to drive a normal taxi.

  4. Re:Last night on 3 Recent Flights Make Unscheduled Landings, After Disputes Over Knee Room · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I travel frequently across the north sea, between Scandinavia and Iceland. This is a 3 hour flight I generally do in coach. A while ago i started thinking of the good old days, when the vikings travelled this distance as well. Lets compare

    Option 1: Longboat
    Duration: Several weeks
    Onboard meal service: Dried fish, mead, old water
    Comfort level: Cold, freezing, wet, damp, salty and sea sickness.
    Entertainment: Rowing!
    Restroom: "Overboard"
    Risks: Likely to die from sickness, fall overboard, freeze to death or get beaten up by a fellow traveller (everyone is armed!)
    On-time arrival: Not applicable

    Option 2: 757-200 in Coach
    Duration: 3 hours
    Onboard meal service: Light snacks and drinks complimentary. Warm dishes for purchase
    Comfort level: Leather seats, personal cooling available, good temperature.
    Entertainment: Loads of videos
    Restroom: Complimentary
    Risks: Extremely unlikely to plummet into the ocean. Unlikely to get beaten up by a fellow traveller (noone is armed)
    On-time arrival: 90%+. Sporadic 1 day delays due to Eyjafjallajökull

    I thought of this for a moment, then sat down and enjoyed my private leather seat and in-flight entertainment in "coach".

  5. Re:Today's business class is the 70s' economy clas on 3 Recent Flights Make Unscheduled Landings, After Disputes Over Knee Room · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well put. Prices have gone down drastically because of a number of factors.
    * Less space per pax
    * Better aircraft and engine
    * Better utilization of aircraft
    * Reduced service (drinks+meals moved to paid ancillaries)

    Todays "coach" class really is no more than a bus. If you want comfort, upgrade. Else, suffer in silence :-)

  6. Hekla is harly a major issue. She has erupted 5 or so times in the last 60 years with small amounts of ash and lava. She has no glacier on top of her.

  7. Re:No they cant. on Planes Can Be Hacked Via Inflight Wi-fi, Says Researcher · · Score: 1

    Or "Snakes on a Plane". Which for some strange reason never made it to the inflight entertainment systems :-(

  8. Re:No they cant. on Planes Can Be Hacked Via Inflight Wi-fi, Says Researcher · · Score: 1

    They did not get into the aircraft avionics.

    They got into the satellite communications for the Infotainment system.

    NONE of the systems like that have any interconnection to avionics or telemetry.

    The article isn't very clear on exactly what they managed to do, but it is quite possible that there is a shared satellite data communication system shared for infotainment systems and aircraft system status/updates/notifications alike. Hopefully with a robust QoS in place. So _if_ someone could break into the message routing, they could intercept and possibly create their own messages to send along the channel.

    If you check TFA's quote:

    In theory, a hacker could use a plane's onboard WiFi signal or inflight entertainment system to hack into its avionics equipment, potentially disrupting or modifying satellite communications, which could interfere with the aircraft's navigation and safety systems, Santamarta said.

    Since a modern airline has lots of avionics communicating with the ground, it could be that some of those messages may be edited/interrupted/faked. That's not to say that you could rlogin to the FMS and alter flightplans, or alter the flight path in any way.

  9. Re:So, which is it? on Planes Can Be Hacked Via Inflight Wi-fi, Says Researcher · · Score: 3, Informative

    For the "navigation" systems, he's not talking about GPS (even if he were it wouldn't be a big deal, airplanes can navigate just fine without GPS), but the communication system does send the GPS location, altitude, and speed back home. If that goes down, not a big deal because that's not what air traffic control relies on.

    More and more aircraft and ATC centers support ADS-B transponders and data, which include a GPS-derived position (altitude + position) messages as a part of System Tracking (you can check out Eurocontrols Asterix cat62 protocol and ADS-B applications). Older MSSR radars will provide you with a rough estimate of the position and an assumed altitude based on the aircrafts built-in systems, which is being tracked using for example Kalman filters to predict the current and future position. Switching over to GPS as the primary source of positioning data is allowing tighter packing of aircraft (reduced horizontal and vertical separation rules), which is becoming critical for congested airports to reduce the time between takeoffs/landings, as well as to keep aircraft in holding patters packed tighter together.

    Also, ADS-B can be sent as frequently as 1 message/second due to signals going down towards earth rather than in all directions. Current MSSR radars usually have a scan time of 5-12 seconds.

    So interruptions with these data links (say someone hacks into it and manages to shut it down) would lead to the ATC center having to fall back on MSSR Tracking, meaning you will be violating horizontal and vertical separation rules until the controller can create more space around the aircraft again.

  10. Re:So, which is it? on Planes Can Be Hacked Via Inflight Wi-fi, Says Researcher · · Score: 2

    The pilot can use these data link communication channels to make his/her life easier. As an example, when asking for a new flight level clearance, they can (given up2date Flight Management System computers) dispatch a digital message to ATC (Air Traffic Control) rather than using the radio. A bit like sending a text message. This can be far more reliable than long-range radio where the audio quality isn't great. Similarly, the ATC can confirm the flight level clearance (climb or descent) via a data message, rather than over radio. The FMS display will confirm, reject or propose alternatives.

    I can imagine a couple of not so scary scenarios:
    * Overloading the data link, causing other messages to be delayed and/or dropped. This means the pilot will have to fall back to radio and/or resend the message.
    * Read in-flight reporting/confirmation data
    * Read load manifests, fuel status updates, passenger manifests etc.
    * Access what other passengers are watching on their inflight entertainment system
    * Eavesdrop on other passengers' facebook chats

    And some more scary ones (if the break-in allows access to flight data messages):
    * Send/request ATC communication, clearance requests etc
    * Flooding ATC stations/comms systems with bogus data, preventing efficient communication between aircraft (this, and others) and ATC

    One would assume the fly-by-wire system is entirely isolated from this.

  11. Re:Graph is search results, not speed measurements on Do Apple and Google Sabotage Older Phones? What the Graphs Don't Show · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is a bit strange they did not correlate to iOS releases, but iPhone releases.

    I find it much more likely that when you upgrade to iOS+1, the new features slow your phone down. I've experienced that several times, my 3GS became "much slower" after upgrading it. The new iOS had more eye candy etc.

    But that's not the same as saying the old hardware is slower.

  12. Re:New improved formula! Radiation Free! on Fujitsu Is Growing Radiation-Free Lettuce In Japan's Fukushima Prefecture · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here is a good summary of many excellent products with Radium added for extra marketability.

    http://io9.com/seriously-scary...

  13. Re:New improved formula! Radiation Free! on Fujitsu Is Growing Radiation-Free Lettuce In Japan's Fukushima Prefecture · · Score: 2

    Actually it used to be the other way around. Radiation was a great additive :-) Toothpaste, Underwear. Mineral water. Watches (the arms glows nicely in the dark).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  14. Re:One word against this idea: gloves ... in winte on House Bill Would Mandate Smart Gun Tech By U.S. Manufacturers · · Score: 1

    Cops in Minnesota in the dead of a winter snowstorm are just gonna LOVE this tech.

    Yea.. i thought the same. Where I grew up, hunters use gloves when waiting for the game, it's simply too cold not to.

    But maybe if you fill in a form of some sort, you can get an exemption from the requirement. That would solve the problem...

  15. Re:A Better Idea on House Bill Would Mandate Smart Gun Tech By U.S. Manufacturers · · Score: 1

    How about we actually fucking teach kids about guns, how they work, and what they're used for? That would do a hell of a lot more to curtail gun-related deaths, and without the (un)intended side effect of rendering personal protection weapons useless by legislative fiat.

    I hit my brother with a baseball bat when I was 10. I was fully aware how a baseball bat worked at the time. I was simply very angry.

    Looking back, I'm very happy it was a baseball bat and not a handgun.

  16. No tilt.. so lets move it over the ocean? on Transporting a 15-Meter-Wide, 600-Ton Magnet Cross Country · · Score: 4, Interesting

    >> The trip will be tense, because the ring’s massive electromagnet cannot tilt or twist more than a few degrees, or the wiring inside will be irreparably damaged. It will float from New York Harbor in June, down the East Coast, around Florida, up the Gulf Coast and up the Mississippi River by July.

    That seems rather risky. Most ships would at one point or another tilt more than a few degrees to either side due to .. waves. No mention on if this is a gyro-stabilized barge perhaps...

  17. Re:Sexist on So What If Yahoo's New Dads Get Less Leave Than Moms? · · Score: 1

    How would that work for surrogate mothers? Since they are the one who "gestates a fetus", they would get the 16 weeks. But I somehow doubt they will.

  18. Re:Hrmmm on "Dark Lightning" Could Expose Airline Passengers To Radiation · · Score: 1

    I always wear my tinfoil hat for this reason. It is a bit of a hazzle to get through security, but after that it's great!

  19. Re:Curious on Ask Slashdot: What To Do About Patent Trolls Seeking Wi-fi License Fees? · · Score: 2
  20. Re:Huffington Post on Sandy Sinks HMS Bounty, Knocks Off Gawker Websites · · Score: 1

    ... the markets will not be able to function properly if people can't get to their jobs in the financial district.

    These people being at work seems to be the biggest problem with the market these days...

  21. Re:Redbull on Felix Baumgartner's Supersonic Skydive Attempt · · Score: 2

    the operator at the control center has a little bit of unfocused goofiness.

    I don't give much for the "control center"... If you look at the youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrIxH6DToXQ) (7 hours 53 minutes long), at 4:52:12, they will state the following:

    Altitude: 127861 ft/ 38972 meters
    Temperature outside: 19.1F / -6.1C

    Wtf?...

  22. Re:Really? on FTC To Recommend Antitrust Case Against Google · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No but they sell ads. And people want to put their ads where people will see them. So it isn't much of a stretch to claim that they sell search.

    They also sell sponsored results in their search results.

  23. Re:What Cox is saying... on Alan Cox to NVIDIA: You Can't Use DMA-BUF · · Score: 1

    Which requires that everything *else* in the driver be compatible with the GPL. Which...they aren't. So they can't.

    It is almost like it spreads.. like Cancer....

  24. Re:It's even worse on Booted From Airplane For Wearing Anti-TSA T-shirt · · Score: 1

    Time to write a sequel to this old song:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

  25. Re:And now, the long wait on Ecuador Grants Asylum To Julian Assange · · Score: 1

    It doesn't violate the Vienna convention to dissolve the embassy or even expel all the diplomatic staff. Go read it. It's quite clear that the UK can do that "at any time, and for any reason".

    The swedish diplomatic staff was expelled from Belarus just a few days ago after a couple of swedes "bombed" the Belarus capital Minsk with 800 teddy bears from a small single-engined air plane. So the "at any time, and for any reason" is quite true :-)