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User: big_e_1977

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  1. Re:Cashless can't happen, here is why ... on Predicting a Future Free of Dollar Bills · · Score: 5, Informative

    Its already happening. See Operation Chokepoint. If the government doesn't like your line of work, you won't have a bank account.

  2. Here's a better article with actual photos on Scientists Have Developed a Material So Dark That You Can't See It · · Score: 5, Informative
  3. Headline should have read... on After a Long wait, GNU Screen Gets Refreshed · · Score: 4, Funny

    After a Long wait, GNU Screen Gets ^L

  4. Re:Nationality on White House Worried About Discrimination Through Analytics · · Score: 1

    No, such distinctions are as old as time. There will always be the in groups and the out groups. You can't even call it human nature as many animals form hierarchical groups that collectively lay claim to territory and compete with one another for resources.

  5. I hope USB A ports stick around on new computers on USB Reversable Cable Images Emerge · · Score: 1

    Micro B can die. That connector design sucks that bad. However, I really hope that USB A still sticks around and the new laptops/desktops continue to come with those ports. I've got tons of keyboards, mice, joysticks lying around and I don't want to have to stock tons of A to C adapters to continue to use them with new computers. USB A is also pretty sturdy and can take tons of abuse.

    The USB A connector is also highly ubiquitous. Now we are going to have 2 physically incompatible USB ports present on computers. That would be a first for the USB spec. Previously the connector only varied on the peripheral device, not the host. If you have an USB thumb drive or want to charge your phone off of some random computer you may have to take into consideration whether or not it has any type A or type C ports on them. I'm not looking forward to that problem.

  6. Re:Cell phoe reliability on The Dismantling of POTS: Bold Move Or Grave Error? · · Score: 1

    Funny. I'd say the exact opposite about POTS long distance. Cell phones almost completely removed the notion of long distance being different from local calls. POTS still has you chained to a 100 year old business model where calling outside a small local area will cost you extra money. 10+ cents per minute to go 30 miles is absolutely ridiculous considering that I can do the same with a cell phone it won't likely impact my bill. AT&T used to charge a minimum monthly fee for the very option of being able to call long distance. There is a also a hefty tax attached to being able to make interstate phone calls. Cheap long distance is not what people remember about POTS. What people remember about POTS having a cost advantage on is unlimited local calling

    Most people don't completely deplete their monthly minutes and AT&T + Verizon are pretty much forcing unlimited calling plans on every new contract anyways, so most people will not save money on long distance via POTS

  7. Re:Cell phone reliability on The Dismantling of POTS: Bold Move Or Grave Error? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Over what wiring, DSL? Those copper phone lines are going to be scrapped and DSL will be gone too. No, Fiber will not replace them because it isn't profitable enough. Verizon considers FIOS to be a mistake. This is all about AT&T and Verizon completely abandoning wireline and replacing it with wireless. Unlike wireline POTS, wireless is completely regulated and comes with zero quality of service guarantees. There are zero requirements that a cell phone site stay up during a power outage. The government tried to require that each cell site have 8 hours worth of backup power available, but the wireless industry fought it and won. There are zero guarantees about the signal strength being adequate in the entirety of the wireline markets being abandoned. When it is all said and done there are going to be many homes with zero telecommunications at all. Don't count on the FCC to provide consumer protections either. The FCC chairman is a former cable company lobbyist. Might as well ask a former CEO of BP to oversee offshore oil drilling safety and disaster mitigation.

    Wireless is also more lucrative because they can charge many times more for data. Why provide 100s of gigabytes on a wireline when at the same price you can offer single digits worth of gigabytes and charge up the wazoo with overages. This reform is more about the Verizon and AT&T raping and pillaging of the consumer via overpriced wireless data in areas without cable internet and allowing cable companies to become the monopoly for all wireline based communications than it is about promoting technical innovation. Replacing wireline with wireless is much like the power company deciding that providing wired electricity is too expensive and selling batteries to their customers is a suitable replacement.

  8. Re:Best Buy on How Blockbuster Could Have Owned Netflix · · Score: 1

    When it comes to buying TVs, there an insidious thing called the "panel lottery". That samsung TV you bought may have an el cheapo Chi mei LCD panel in it, or it could a genuine Samsung built LCD panel. The model number is the same, but a cryptic code on the serial number will let you tell the difference. The manufacturers believe that they can substitute a inferior panel within the same model number and nobody would be the wiser. In some cases the difference is as drastic as an IPS vs a VA panel.

    Although nobody has gone through the statistics to prove it, I am willing to bet that the walmart/sams club production run is more likely to contain the lower grade panels.

  9. Re:start with kicking out Ballmer on Steve Ballmer Reorganizing Microsoft · · Score: 1

    And the rumor is, their Mice division is quite profitable, unlike the Xbox division.

    Microsoft finds selling mice highly profitable, yet it is attempting to switch their customers to a desktop interface that is no longer designed for mice. Classic Ballmer move!

  10. Undocumented bits in the data format. on British Airways Set To Bring Luggage Tags Into the 21st Century · · Score: 2

    $LOSE_LUGGAGE -- When this flag is set, the luggage sorting machinery will automatically send the luggage to the wrong aircraft, airport, or baggage claim.
    $MANGLE -- When this flag is set, the luggage sorting machinery is instructed to cut, gouge, or crush the luggage
    $HAS_VALUABLES -- When this flag is set, airport baggage handlers will be automatically be alerted that there is a high value item in the luggage for them to steal.
    $BOMBSCARE -- When this flag is set, the alarm clock and tube of toothpaste in the luggage will be interpreted by X Ray scanners as a bomb. Customer's luggage is to be detonated by the bomb squad.
    $ADD_BOGUS_BAGGAGE_FEE -- This flag is to be always set to true.

  11. Re:reclaim their original battery? on Tesla To Build Its Own Battery-Swap Stations · · Score: 2

    First off, nobody is going to pull 60 amps at 120v. In north america, households are fed off a center tapped transformer, with 2 hot leads and a neutral. Between a hot lead and neutral the voltage is 120v, between the two hot leads the voltage is 240v. Most large loads such as central AC, electric water heaters, electric ranges, electric dryers and well pumps use 240v circuits. A rapid charge electric car will be no different and should be able use 240v as well.

    At 240v, the circuit requirements will only be 30 amps. An electric dryer, central AC, or electric water heater requires roughly the same ampacity. Most houses built within the last 40 years where the service is adequately sized to the home should be able to handle this one extra circuit. It has been estimated that when it comes to sizing distribution transformers, that adding an electric car, would be the same as upsizing your house by 1/3rd. Not a critical increase. During nighttime hours this should not be a major problem.

  12. Dog breading? on BitCoin Mining, Other Virtual Activity Taxable Under US Law · · Score: 1

    If you are into dog breading, I'd say that your particular tax situation is more comparable to that of a typical Chinese Restaurant.

  13. Make internet privacy an environmental issue. on Internet's Energy Needs Growing Faster Than Efficiency Gains · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Government monitoring and storage of all communications of its citizenry has got to have a tremendous carbon footprint. As does all the extra electricity used by Facebook, Google, Double Click et all to track my every move on the internet. How much energy could be saved by simply serving web requests, and not data mining it for government and corporate interests?

  14. So this is how slavery returns to America on You Don't 'Own' Your Own Genes · · Score: 1

    The act of conception produces a baby that is considered to be unlicensed derivative work of companies in the biotech industry. The parents must either pay between $200 - $150,000 dollars for each infringement. If the parents cannot pay the fine, the corporations can gain legal guardianship of the child and either use the child for their own medical research purposes, or sell the child to a sweatshop and place a lien on the child's earnings for their lifetime until the debt is repaid.

  15. They tried it before and failed. on Why Can't Intel Kill x86? · · Score: 2

    The reason has something to do with the billions of x86 chips currently in operation in the server/desktop/laptop market and the massive amount legacy software written for x86. Intel tried to implement a new non backwards compatible CPU architecture before, IA-64, and it failed to catch and the backwards compatible AMD 64 bit x86 variation winning out.

  16. As seen in Maniac Mansion on NASA's Basement Nuclear Reactor · · Score: 1

    Having a nuclear reactor in your basement is dangerous. Just think... A group of teenagers might break into your house, drain your source of cooling water (also doubles as a heated swimming pool), tamper with your fuse box, push a red button, and inadvertently cause a nuclear meltdown.

  17. The Bell Curve Redux on Nature Vs. Nurture: Waging War Over the Soul of Science · · Score: 1

    This is the same argument that IQ is tied to race. The IQ to race connection has been debunked as it is largely the availability of resources that effect learning and systemic racial biases in the tests that have been producing the effect. Also the IQ tests have been regularly readjusted as intelligence of the global population has risen to bring the middle of the bell curve back down to 100.

    When China overtakes the USA as the world's largest economic power, does that mean that the White man is now the inferior group and Asians are the superior? What would happen if nuclear war breaks out and Africa escapes unscathed? Then they would have a chance of becoming the dominate world power. Economic success is more about about which countries happens to hold most of the world's wealth and resources.

  18. Re: I wanted a smartphone but not a data plan on AT&T: Don't Want a Data Plan for That Smartphone? Too Bad. · · Score: 1

    The GoPhone does have data. It's 1 cent per 5 KB. In other words, it has data, but its completely uneconomical to use.

  19. Re:The Smartphone Bubble on AT&T: Don't Want a Data Plan for That Smartphone? Too Bad. · · Score: 1

    No, he only blamed the government, the Fed specifically.

  20. Re:Non story here. on AT&T: Don't Want a Data Plan for That Smartphone? Too Bad. · · Score: 1

    Did you know that in many states your insurance rates are based on your credit score? You might feel like you are sticking it to the man by not paying that 200 dollars, but you are going to incur more than 200 dollars worth of losses due to higher rates on everything from insurance, credit cards, to new loans over the 7 years it will take for that item to roll off your credit report.

  21. Re:It ought to be illegal on AT&T: Don't Want a Data Plan for That Smartphone? Too Bad. · · Score: 1

    Bad argument. The lack of sanitary water and sewer services are responsible for countless deaths in the developing world. You have to have a flushing toilet because you simply can't take a crap into pot and throw it into the street because that will spread filth and disease. If too many people throw their feces in the streets we will start having cholera outbreaks in the United States again. Same deal with an outhouse, the water runoff from your property will be contaminated. For those anti government types that say "people don't need government regulated utilities, I've got a well and a septic tank", think again. In most areas, you must get a permit for your well and septic tank to ensure that you are not polluting the groundwater, nor are you drinking polluted groundwater.

  22. Re:It ought to be illegal on AT&T: Don't Want a Data Plan for That Smartphone? Too Bad. · · Score: 3, Informative

    Buy a yourself a used cell phone. Don't activate it. You still will be able to call 911 due to a federal law that forbids cell phone companies from blocking 911 calls from inactivated cell phones. If you have to call friends and family instead of 911, then it is not life or death matter and nor truly an emergency.

  23. We stand on the shoulders of giants on Are There Any Real Inventors Left? · · Score: 1

    Gone are the days when a sole inventor working in a garage could come up with a revolutionary new design that will change the world. All the low hanging fruit is gone. Now it is about slow incremental changes over time. One analogy is wikipedia. At the very beginning, you could easily come up with an article about a topic that nobody else there had written about. Nowadays, not so much... Your new article on wikipedia is likely to be a very obscure topic, or one created by a current event. You are more likely now to edit existing articles than to create new ones.

  24. X10 is even less secure on Turning the Belkin WeMo Into a Deathtrap · · Score: 1

    X10 is the most popular home automation technology on the market and its even less secure. If you use the wireless remote, anyone with another X10 remote can go through all the house and device codes until they find the ones that control the lights in your house. Even if you use the wired protocol only, a thief could easily plug in a controller to an exterior electrical outlet and control the devices through that.

    Despite all this, I have had zero problems over the past 10 years with someone else controlling my devices.

  25. Re:space heater have temp and tip over switches on Turning the Belkin WeMo Into a Deathtrap · · Score: 3, Informative

    Modern heaters can only draw 12 amps maximum. It's an electrical code/UL requirement that plug and cord connected appliance only be capable of drawing 80% continuous load of the ampere rating the plug is capable of handling. The standard american electrical outlet is only rated at 15 amps, even if it's on a 20 amp circuit. Although 20 amp electrical outlets do exist, I have never seen an an appliance sold to ordinary consumers with a 120v 20 amp plug. If one were to exist, the maximum continuous amp draw would be limited to 16 amps.