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User: JeffOwl

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Comments · 459

  1. Re:Would We Even Want That? on Poverty May Affect the Growth of Children's Brains · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We could do that. We could take all children away from the parents as soon as they are born and make them wards of the state. That way they would all get the same amount of attention and stimulation at an early age, the same nutrition, the same access to the same government schools, etc...

  2. Re:So What on Poverty May Affect the Growth of Children's Brains · · Score: 1

    Well, it is feasible. It is just easier to do it the other way, that is to set a minimum baseline and reduce the larger brains down to the baseline. That would be much easier than grafting on to smaller brains.

  3. Re:Let me guess on $1B TSA Behavioral Screening Program Slammed As "Junk Science" · · Score: 4, Informative

    Deluded, uneducated, and stupid are separate concepts.

  4. Re:Skype should not be able to connect to 911 on Online "Swatting" Becomes a Hazard For Gamers Who Play Live On the Internet · · Score: 1

    Many people do not have home telephones. Cell phones can have dead batteries and/or poor coverage. What is a better alternative?

  5. Defeating the purpose on NVIDIA To Install Computers In Cars To Teach Them How To Drive · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What are they going to learn? How to not pay attention; how to not allow other vehicles to merge; how to force their way in when not allowed to merge; how to tailgate; how to brake check when others are tailgating; how to not use turn signals; what type of actions from other vehicles should cause them to rage; how to rage properly; how to ignore all the signs leading up to your exit and then cut across three lanes to take it at the last second; how to drive slow in the fast lane; how to pass when there isn't really room; how close they can get to a bicycle without actually hitting it; or hitting it, either way; ... etc..

  6. Re:But people want to know how it works on Lawsuit Claims Major Automakers Have Failed To Guard Against Hackers · · Score: 1

    DMCA. That's how the auto makers reconcile it. If you are not an "authorized" service center then any attempts to read or modify data on the bus, or add unauthorized equipment, will constitute "circumvention." I'm sure authorization can be had for small fee.

  7. Re:There are! on Obama Administration Claims There Are 545,000 IT Job Openings · · Score: 1

    Hey, those people coming in on H1Bs are just doing the work that American's aren't willing to do.

  8. Re:Boston, in the winter? on Self-Driving Cars Will Be In 30 US Cities By the End of Next Year · · Score: 1

    I guess I didn't do a good job of separating the two issues. 1st issue from the GP: avoiding kids crossing the street - Car should be able to do it. 2. Police officer, regardless of where he or she is standing at a given instant, gets to direct traffic. I would hope the car wouldn't run over them no matter where they are standing (see issue 1) but the real question was more to whether the car, when self driving, would be able to understand what the officer was telling traffic to do. And further, how to deal with other less common traffic situations, like double parked cars, broken down cars, construction areas, etc.. The car may be smart enough to avoid running into things, but will it be able to negotiate its way around the anomaly?

  9. Re:Boston, in the winter? on Self-Driving Cars Will Be In 30 US Cities By the End of Next Year · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The cars should be smart enough to stop for any object blocking the road or moving predicted to be blocking the road when the car gets there. The question of the police officer is interesting though. And what if it isn't a police officer? What if there is simply a car or truck stopped blocking your lane, loading or unloading or just double parked. Will the car know when it is safe to cross into the other lane and go around?

    Do the cars have an alarm or something that alerts the occupant (back-up driver) in the event it gets confused?

  10. Re:This is all that needed to be said on A Critical Look At CSI: Cyber · · Score: 2

    Maybe, but it can't be worse than Scorpion, can it?

  11. Change of venue on Snowden Reportedly In Talks To Return To US To Face Trial · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hold the trial in a neutral location outside the US like Switzerland. It can be based on US law, but under the control of an independent third party. Get agreement that any prison time is spent somewhere with a humane prison system, like Norway.

  12. Missing the obvious on Statistical Mechanics Finds Best Places To Hide During Zombie Apocalypse · · Score: 1

    Statistically speaking, you are more likely to end up on the zombie side than you are the survivor side. To that end I think we should start stocking up on brains to keep us fed during our long trek to Glacier National Park.

  13. Re:This couldn't have anything to do with... on That U2 Apple Stunt Wasn't the Disaster You Might Think It Was · · Score: 1

    Or that U2 was free and they would have had to pay for Taylor Swift?

  14. Why are you hiding? on AVG Announces Invisibility Glasses · · Score: 1

    This will end up being considered suspicious behavior and you will be stopped and ID'd, doesn't matter that you haven't done anything wrong. Not only that but now you have made it EASIER for the network of cameras to track your movement because unless significant numbers of people are wearing these you are going to stand out like a full moon, at night, with clear skies, viewed from somewhere at high altitude away from light pollution.

  15. Re:The big thing that is missing on FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules · · Score: 1

    Had this on DSL 15 years ago. It was great. I had a choice of at least half a dozen ISPs. Never happen today with the politicians in the pockets of Big Tubes. (Yes I just made that up).

  16. Re:Gonna see a Net Neutrality Fee on FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules · · Score: 2

    The fee you are going to get is the "Universal Internet Access Fund" whereby you and everyone that has broadband internet access today will subsidize access for poor people and people in the sticks. Is that good or bad? Discuss...

  17. Re:Actually, ADM Rogers doesn't "want" that at all on NSA Director Wants Legal Right To Snoop On Encrypted Data · · Score: 1

    They have proved themselves untrustworthy. If they have the technical capability to do it, they WILL abuse it.

  18. Not new on New Android Trojan Fakes Device Shut Down, Spies On Users · · Score: 2

    This capability predates Android and was used against feature phones quite a number of years ago. The countermeasure then, as it is now, leave your phone elsewhere or pull the battery if you really need to be sure you aren't being monitored.

  19. Re:Not quite comparable on Japan Now Has More Car Charging Points Than Gas Stations · · Score: 1

    The difference is that in NJ and OR the customer is not allowed to directly use the pump, they have to wait for someone to come over and start pumping the gas for them. That is what I thought we were discussing here. In most other states they just have to be in sight of the pumps. BTW: I have used member only refueling stations that were completely unattended.

  20. Re:Not quite comparable on Japan Now Has More Car Charging Points Than Gas Stations · · Score: 1

    Attendants at gas stations are not there to prevent people from stealing gas, they are there for safety.

    And here I thought it was a jobs program. Or are the people in NJ and OR really more prone to setting themselves on fire than they are everywhere else?

  21. Re:only ancient encryption not breakable by fast c on Vint Cerf Warns Against 'Digital Dark Age' · · Score: 1

    I think what parent is referring to is the analysis that said breaking some modern encryption methods by brute force would literally take more energy than the sun will put out in it's lifetime. This is assuming some extremely small amount of energy to change the state of a bit represented by a single electron or some such thing. What the parent seems to be ignoring are things like quantum computing and whatever may be the next big thing that shortcuts brute force.

  22. Re:Do they have any authority to do that? on NoFlyZone.org Aims To Keep the Airspace Above Your Home Drone-Free · · Score: 1

    which will work because all people are "rational actors" who will see that their self-interest is served by it. Or something.

    Yep, only in this case only hopes, dreams, and fairy sprinkles make adding burdensome GPS + dynamically updating blacklisting (is that even technically feasible?) sound good for the self-interests of a rationally-acting drone manufacturer.

    In this context the only reason they would have to comply is to avoid more stringent regulation by the government.

  23. Re:IXV ? on ESA's Experimental Wingless Space Plane IXV Ready For a Test Flight · · Score: 1

    Um, 95?

    so you're saying it is in RNCD (Roman Numeral Coded Decimal)?

  24. Re:Change in Leadership on MPAA Considers Major Changes After Sony Hack · · Score: 1

    Lucifer, called the Lord of Light

    The how come he had to cast magic missile?

  25. Re:"...other than the child's health" on British MPs Approve 3-Parent Babies · · Score: 1

    Don't know about custody, but this could lead to the donor being held financially responsible for the child should the other parents need to use public benefits. Stranger things have happened, such as men who are not biological parents and haven't been a part of the child's upbringing being held financially responsible. Or sperm donors being held responsible in spite of a written contract absolving them of such responsibility.