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User: Overzeetop

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  1. FAA could only *limit* US launched rockets on FAA Could Extend Property Rights On the Moon Through Regulation · · Score: 5, Interesting

    FAA can do anything they fucking want; nobody else in the world will give a shit. Do you really think if the Russian, Indian, or Chinese equivalent of the FAA pulled this that the US would take it in stride? Of course not. We'd claim they still don't have any right to reserve property on the moon.

    And it would come down to who had the guns and is willing to use them. Which, to be honest, is all property rights really is anyway.

  2. Re:Big bucks? on What Happens When the "Sharing Economy" Meets Higher Education · · Score: 1

    $20k a day, or $20k, once, on sales for a particularly timely topic?

    $20k a day sounds great, $20k, once every 2-4 months, less costs and overhead, sounds pretty pedestrian.

  3. Can only identify you...if they know who you are! on 'Anonymized' Credit Card Data Not So Anonymous, MIT Study Shows · · Score: 2

    They did NOT show that, from 3-4 transactions, they could provide your name, address and phone number, or even that if you have 3-4 transactions in a million transaction anonymized data set they can find out anything about you personally *unless they know you first*.

    What they did is show that if they know that you, personally, had 3 to 4 types of transactions on specific dates (you went to a grocery store and a gas station today, and a restaurant yesterday), they could identify which anonymized data set you belong to. Their discovery requires specific outside knowledge not contained in the data.

    This only matters if, say, a third party could identify specific purchases and dates - they could then comb the records and find the rest of your transactions on that specific card. IOW, someone has to be looking for you, and know at least something about you, to even start the search.

  4. Re:Can someone explainn on Drone Maker Enforces No-Fly Zone Over DC, Hijacking Malware Demonstrated · · Score: 1

    That's kind of the issue. There are people on the roof with significant firepower to take something like that down. Most of the incursions onto the lawn have been at night, when nobody of value is in the vicinity.

    You'd be better off with a mortar mounted to the truck bed and lobbing a shell onto the lawn. It will be moving a lot faster and be harder to hit when incoming, and could deliver a larger payload. 50mph really isn't that fast.

  5. Are you sure that includes all of DC and some of the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs*?

    *25km is 15+ miles. DC proper is 10mi x 10mi, minus the part across the river that VA took back.

  6. Re:Weather is unpredictable on "Mammoth Snow Storm" Underwhelms · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I would agree, but only if we can let all the people who get stuck in a predictable storm die of hypothermia on the roads. Except, of course, nobody will let that happen. We'll spend millions of dollars and possibly endanger rescuer's lives to save them.

    "Charge them the cost," I hear you cry? Yeah, that's not really going to go over well, and the lawyer's fees will dwarf anything we might recoup - not to mention pretty much guaranteeing whomever is in charge will never be elected to office again.

    No - you (and I mean both you, personally, AC, as well as most of humanity) is too fucking stupid to stay safe, so the government is doing it for you. If you weren't so stupid in every. single. disaster. it might not be necessary. But utterly braindead humans show up every time. So stop blaming the evil gubmint - blame yourself and the dumb bitch next door. You're the reason these bans are put into place.

  7. Re:Time to riot on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade · · Score: 2

    You're quoting the mouth diarrhea of Pete Pachal, a Mashable "reporter" who can't discern between facts presented and his own, flawed interpretation of a slide show line.

    Here's the actual quote from MS "Once a device is upgraded to Windows 10, we'll be keeping it current for the supported lifetime of the device," said Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Operating Systems Group

  8. Re:Pete Pachal is an idiot on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade · · Score: 2

    Well, if the lifetime of the supported device ends after a year, then you would have to buy a license/subscription for an unsupported device.

    As I speculated, it's probably like Apple. My Gen 1 iPad, bought in early 2011, is no longer supported by Apple. None of the OS updates since 5.1.1 have been available on the device, despite it being less than 4 years old. My daughter's iPod Touch (4th gen) was bought in December of 2011, and won't run anything past iOS6.1.6, and it's barely 3 years old.

    Will MS EOL devices so quickly? Hard to tell. Possibly for tablets and handsets. They have less control over hardware so there could be processor cut-offs or minimum installed requirements checks (proc type/speed, installed memory) instead of model number limits.

  9. Re:Still will cost around $100 for an OEM license on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade · · Score: 1

    As is true with every piece of hardware out there. OEMs don't get to install 10 for free, they pay a per-box fee. Even Apple has a value for the OS they install with each Mac, and when you buy a new Mac you get to pay that engineering fee all over again.

    If you own a W7 or W8 license (i.e. you bought their software) and you build a new machine in within a year of the new W10 release, you get to upgrade for free, too.

  10. Pete Pachal is an idiot on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade · · Score: 5, Informative

    The linked article has Pete Pachal's unfounded speculation that Windows 10 will be an annual subscription, touting it as fact.

    The actual quote from a MS executive is, "Once a device is upgraded to Windows 10, we'll be keeping it current for the supported lifetime of the device," said Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Operating Systems Group.

    So, no, you won't be losing your upgrade after a year. Like Apple, once your device has reached it's supported lifetime MS isn't guaranteeing that you'll be able to upgrade anymore and you'll be stuck with an OS that has basically been EOL'd as far as support is concerned. This is really a way to (1) get you on the hardware upgrade train (2) reduce version fragmentation in the Windows sphere and (3) reduce legacy OS support for the vast majority of MS users.

  11. Re:Upgrade path on US Army Wants Weapon To Destroy Drone Swarms · · Score: 1

    So, something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  12. This is a shame, really on Moscow To Track Cell-phone Users In 2015 For Traffic Analysis · · Score: 1

    A shame that we fully expect this data to be used to track us personally (because, let's face it, it probably will). This kind of data would be a huge value to civil engineers and planners who design the roads and target maintenance, improvements, and new routes. It would cost in the tens of millions of dollars to collect just a fraction of this using traditional methods, and yet the data could be had for less than a 1/10 of that and be far, far more complete.

  13. But I thought... on Drug Company CEO Blames Drug Industry For Increased Drug Resistance · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Corporations said they would always act in the best interest because they're held accountable by stockholders and consumers? Is he saying that unregulated corporations are doing things which may be harming the population in general because of a short-term profit motive? Say it isn't so!

  14. Re:No one 3D printed a house on Shanghai Company 3D Prints 6-Story Apartment Building and Villa · · Score: 3, Informative

    You've never seen manufactured housing (aka mobile homes)? That do that all the time, and delivery it right to your site ready to be hooked into the power grid and water/sewer.

    Don't like mobile homes? Try a modular home. Built in a factory with all the bits complete but in shipable-size pieces, assembled on site.

    Still too much? there are a dozen different panelization technologies that will send you prefabricated parts you just screw or connect together.

  15. You're just not rich enough on Google Glass Is Dead, Long Live Google Glass · · Score: 1

    Lots of people pay outrageous prices for stuff. People with lots of disposable income. If you were pulling in solid 7 figures (or higher), the cost of Google glass would be insignificant, less than the cost of a lunch out to someone with an average salary. Buying a private jet vs flying international first class seems like not that much of an upgrade, considering you get to the same place either way, and you get a comfortable ride regardless, but jet ownership and usage is increasing, even through you'll probably never buy one.

  16. Re:Anyone else concerned? on Man Saves Wife's Sight By 3D Printing Her Tumor · · Score: 1

    That's just it. Nearly 200,000 people die every. single. day. Doctors have patients die all the time because some things can't be fixed, or can't be fixed within the constraints of "regular" medicine. One of those constraints is money. I didn't see where he took her to a clinic and offered the best surgeon in the world $10,000,000 to attempt the surgery. (And, remember, all medical procedures are just probabilities of repair not guarantees.) Because he probably would have gotten a different answer.

    And, yes, it's intensely frustrating. In fact, I'm often glad that I'm not a doctor. I've run into cases where someone's home will cost more to fix than the home is worth. Often, for those people, it costs more than their life savings. It's the death sentence for the structure, and a pretty dire condition for the owner. Imaging that your only shelter is falling apart around you, and may collapse, but not only don't you have the money to fix it but if you found the money and did fix it, it would still be worth less than the money you spent.

    As for the misdiagnosis, doctors are still humans and they still make mistakes.

  17. Re:The correction on Bitcoin Volatility Puts Miners Under Pressure · · Score: 1

    Every fiat currency in the world is backed by the guns and ammo the country can bring to bear in the event of war, because might implies stability.

    Fiat currencies are backed by nothing more tangable that that which underlies bitcoin. It's all a matter of confidence. The biggest problem with bitcoin is psychological. Humans, on the whole, have been duped into believing that inflation is good, and that more money means more value (ignore the fallacy there, most people will never understand it). Bitcoin is a (nominally) fixed supply, which means that it's value related to other fixed supply goods, in a perfect market, will never change. To someone who has used fiat currency all their lives, that's a bad thing.

    In fact, as bit coin value goes up relative to fiat currencies, the payments in bitcoins (how much you "make" on a transaction) goes DOWN, which is the worst thing you can show any average Joe. The flip side doesn't help - if the value of bitcoin goes down, then the public sees it as a commodity which has lost value and is therefore a bad investment.

    IMHO bitcoin can't win.

  18. Re:Which is kind of a shame on Radio Shack Reported To Be Ready for Bankruptcy Filing · · Score: 1

    Oh, they do. Mine has a little section with breadboards and wire and arduinos and shields. And they're about 2x-3x what Amazon will deliver to me for free in 2 days (yes, I have prime), and 3x-10x what the parts go for on the open/global market. So, yes, I'll spend $20 on that SD shield if I absolutely need it today, but if I don't I can guarantee I'm going to order it for $10 at Amazon or for $4 the next time I order from DX.

    Being local means something, and I prefer to buy locally, but not when I get raped at the checkout. I understand the 1000% markup on a pack of 5 resistors or a single LED I need that might cost $2 - there's a minimum cost to package, stock, and sell something. But the bigger stuff really needs to be more in line with what other vendors are selling it for on line. That means better/more efficient distribution and smarter inventorying, and clearly they're not interested. Lowes seems to be able to stock copper parts at $0.15-0.40 a piece, and you can buy a whole range of bolts, screws, and nuts for as little as $0.05 a piece. If they offered me a hammer for $40 that I can buy online for $15-20, I can pretty much guarantee they wouldn't be making many in-store sales, which is why they sell a hammer for $17-22, because for $2 extra I'll happily get it right now, but for $20 extra I can buy two on line and always have a spare.

  19. There should be a law on Pirate Activist Shows Politicians What Digital Surveillance Looks Like · · Score: 1

    There should be a law against doing this that applies to anyone not in law enforcement. Or government. Or corporations. Those are the minds which will be affected, and they won't stop until something is made illegal.

  20. Collateral damage on Marriot Back-Pedals On Wireless Blocking · · Score: 1

    Those people are just collateral damage in the war to maximum revenue. They say you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs, and you can't make yacht-buying CxO salaries without breaking a few laws. So a few people get bad wifi. They should just be richer so they can buy better service.

  21. Which is kind of a shame on Radio Shack Reported To Be Ready for Bankruptcy Filing · · Score: 5, Interesting

    With the resurgence in the maker movement, RS might have been in the right position to take advantage of it, but instead had tacked towards a mobile phone mall storefront with some overpriced toys, horrifically overpriced, low end consumer electronics, and batteries.

    Sadly, there's probably not enough volume in the maker niche to keep all of the stores afloat at competitive pricing (i.e., not $35 for an Uno board that can be had from Amazon for $18 and from foreign shippers at $12), but it would be awfully cool to have racks of parts and components in at least one store in every town.

  22. Re:throwing punches on Pope Francis: There Are Limits To Freedom of Expression · · Score: 1

    To add to the "bad example" text of a sibling post, it's also Buzz Aldrin. Famous, good looking, tall, white, and well spoken - those are all unwritten and unspoken mitigating factors in American law. It would have been the same for any high profile CEO or member of nearly any state or federal legislature.

    FWIW, a punch is actually a battery charge. Assault is the threat of bodily harm (and that may also be used as a mitigating factor if you are accused of battery following an assault).

  23. But does it swim? on Google Aims To Be Your Universal Translator · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's less creepy than having this damned fish in my ear all the time.

  24. Re:Anyone else concerned? on Man Saves Wife's Sight By 3D Printing Her Tumor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not at all. A technically minded person who's entire career is solving problems throws several hundred hours at solving a problem vs a doctor who is allotted 2-6 hours to solve the same problem and has a hundred other patients who are clamoring for his time. Which do you think would solve a complex problem?

    I encounter it every day as a professional engineer who designs buildings. I get $600 (about 4 hours of time) to solve the entire wind and seismic resisting system on a small building and if you decide the entire first floor will be all glass I'll tell you you can't do it. If you're an engineer (but not necessarily a structural one) and decide to design a system yourself and you spend 400 hours on it there's a good chance you'll come up with a solution. For $40,000 in your time, you've solved problem worth $600 on the open market.

    And, FWIW, I can solve that kind of problem in under 40 hours - maybe $6000 - but if you offer me $600 to solve the problem, I'm going to tell you that it can't be done [for that money].

  25. Re:Is it just me... on Ted Cruz To Oversee NASA and US Science Programs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Space flight happens because we want to study things from space. NASA is the "host" for principal investigators who often work outside of NASA. In fact, a major NOAA installation was constructed right across the street from NASA - Goddard (in Greenbelt, MD) to allow closer interaction between the two because their missions are so closely aligned.

    The aeronautical and aerospace research NASA does isn't in a vacuum; it's meant to ultimately serve a useful cause, and that includes studying the planet. It does do wind tunnel research; it does explore other planets; it does advance optics, and thermal management, and fluid flow, and all the myriad pieces which go into spaceflight and airborne hardware requirements. And much of it happens to flow down to terrestrial uses.

    And this is more about Ted Cruz, who doesn't believe that they do anything useful, in charge of their mission. Imagine if they put Aunt Jemima in charge of the Canadian strategic maple syrup reserve. Yeah, it's that crazy.