What does an irrational fear of solar panels have to do with a dislike (or even fear, and not an irrational one either) of islam? And why would it be equally stupid to demonstrate against the increasing influence of islam in Europe?
Don't be too scared of that intern leaving either. Just find someone else to support and maintain it. Do plan a little bit ahead, have some redundancy, and before you deploy such a solution to production, make sure the IT hygiene stuff is in place like backups that work, infosec, and some documentation. I've worked with a fair few systems that way, and it absolutely is possible to run them on a shoestring budget, even in a large corporation. One objection I keep hearing is: "How can we rely on a system with no support process and no SLA?" Answer: SLAs are cover-your-ass metrics for PHBs but they have very little to do with actual service. If you get the right tinkerers and interns, in my experience support from these guys is invariably better and faster than from the typical big outsourcing ITIL partners with CMM level 5000. Think about how much you really need that system and match that with appropriate safeguards and redundancy. And if a key guy does leave after a year, you'll have to scramble a bit to keep things going. That's when you'll often hear "How the hell can you manage a system like this, look at the mess we are in". Instead, think of the many, many thousands of dollars saved by keeping your support lean and using inexpensive, fit for purpose open source software.
Of course this requires involvement and support from managers who actually understand a thing or two about how IT works.
Not just that: a wet road after a mild shower doesn't have to be a problem in spring or fall, but the exact same shower in summer after a long dry spell can turn the road into a slippery slide, when the rubber and other crap that's been accumulating on the surface gets wet.
I was afraid of that at one time, but it hasn't happened. There are plenty of places where you can get chunky parts, resistors, transistors, ICs in regular DIL packages, etc. Even the old 7400s and what have you haven't gone the way of the dodo with the rise of affordable PLC and Arduino boards. Apparently hobbyists and the need for prototyping on a breadboard constitute a large enough market for these components. What has disappeared are the brick and mortar stores selling them, but I suspect it had a lot to do with cost. A shop servicing a smallish geographical area cannot hope to compete with large online shops. Especially with improved logistics and stock: these online stores sell a lot of good stuff, and some offer next day delivery if I order before 22:00
It's a nice idea: commercial space exploration. But what are commercial, for-profit companies supposed to do in LEO? Space tourism, maybe some very specific R&D that requires freefall, but other than that?
Damn straight. "We're not in the fuelling / finance / IT / transport / insurance / refining business". Words uttered by MBAs who are afraid to be held accountable for taking a risky (but calculated) step into unknown territory. Just as no one "ever got fired for hiring IBM", no one gets fired these days for sticking to the company's core business. Never mind the fact that the stuff that isn't your core business can still give you a competitive advantage, but that obtaining such from external service providers will likely never yield that advantage. A few companies like Tesla get this. And that's the kind of company and management I'd like to work for. I'm still looking...
Pretty? Looks pretty horrible to me. And I bet Porsche fans won't be impressed; remember their cries of outrage at the 996 and its non-oval headlights? (Which suits me just fine, it kept 2nd hand prices within my budget).
That's one thing I like about Tesla: they make electric cars that actually look good unlike the horrible abortion that is the Prius (sure sure, that's a hybrid). They showed that electric cars can be sexy rather than boring. This Porsche? I am sure it'll be an impressive car to drive, but I seriously hope they will adjust the styling a little bit before going to production.
There is a huge difference between naming an shaming someone on a bulletin board in a small local store, and doing so online for the whole world to see until the end of time. In terms of more traditional punishments, it's the difference between a thief being put in the stocks for a day, or being branded.
I've worked with a few large corporations that had a pretty clear policy on this: if you suspect that sensitive data has been exposed, you must tell your boss or the infosec guys. They can then investigate whether any data was actually stolen, and take mitigating actions before having to read about the leak in the press. This makes sense. Dealing with screw ups is part of your job, but exposure of sensitive data is usually something that goes waaaay over your head or your pay grade. Not informing others about this breach certainly seems like something that warrants disciplinary action.
Not that silly; some people will find them useful and they are a lot easier to ride than the Solowheel, without adding the bulk of a full Segway. With that said, it makes sense to ban them if they explode and cause fire when charging. Over here (NL) they have just been banned, not because of fire hazards, but because they constitute a "motorized transport" and thus do not fit in our century old definition of traffic. Never mind the fact that these things are safer than roller skates. Of course at some point they will be made legal, as soon as the state makes a law to extract their 30 pieces of silver from riders: mandatory lights, license plates, taxes, and insurance.
And then you wake up with one of those little TSA notices pinned to your chest: "For security reasons we have had to open your pod and examine your various orifices. Have a nice day!"
In many cases, legalising prostitution has increased human trafficking. Legalising prostitution increases the market and increases demand, hence the increase in human trafficking. Not just theory, there are statistics to back this up. [No citation given, do your own homework]
I believe prostitution should be legal. It's a moral issue: as someone else pointed out, there is no reason to forbid two or more consenting adults to enter into such a transaction. That there are others being forced into it without consent is irrelevant to the morality of the matter: forbidding prostitution on this ground is like forbidding everyone to have sex because rapes do take place. With that said, there may be practical reasons to penalise prostitution: when the vast majority of cases is not consensual, for instance.
With that said, legalising prostitution also gives law enforcement an opportunity to better police the market. If they take that opportunity, human trafficking can be reduced quite effectively. One way that seems to work well is to make soliciting an unwilling prostitute a punishable offence. Another thing they have done in my country is to change labour and tax laws a bit to make legal prostitution a lot easier and safer, for the johns, the women, and operators of establishments where this takes place. With plenty legal venues and prostitutes on the market and severe penalties for human trafficking, it's no longer very attractive to hire, exploit or solicit an illegal prostitute.
I love MST3K, but I can see it isn't for everyone. I've recommended it to all of my friends, and strangely the ones who enjoy it are almost all people who I thought wouldn't get the show.
Some people are just not that into old movies. I loved the Rifftrax versions that the crew did of contemporary blockbusters, and I really wish they'd do more of them. My guess is they stopped them because most people don't want to go through the hassle of mixing the soundtrack with the commentary (I've done it and it's a chore), and ended up pirating a pre-mixed copy instead.
No licensing required... but how about making them liable? I'm not a big fan of a litigious society of ambulance chasers (or lawyers in general), and I don't think IT or "security" firms should pay damages for every single thing that can possibly go wrong, but in a case of gross negligence like leaving default passwords or having no encryption whatsoever on links, they should be at least held liable for damages suffered.
Meh. Keep the 3.5mm connector, shrink the rest of the phone down,and fill the remaining space with extra battery. Seriously, how much thinner do phones need to be? I'd prefer some extra battery life, thanks.
Our local retailer is pretty good at building. They offer a number of preconfigured builds, for gaming, business, media, etc, and at different price points. If you ask them, they'll provide a manifest of exactly what goes into these builds, and you can tweak the build at no extra charge (other than any extra cost of the parts). They are happy to provide a different CPU, different case, a specific type and brand of memory sticks, more or less SSD space, different fans, even water cooling if you want it. Oh, and they'll leave out Windows if you want.
I have always built my machines until recently, but my current gaming rig is one of their standard builds with a few changes. I wanted this box to be whisper quiet, and they suggested a few different fans and coolers at a slightly higher price. I'm rather happy with the result. The staff seem quite knowledgable about what works well together, and they know what they are selling. The nice thing about letting them put it together is that they'll give full warrantly on the complete config. When you buy separate parts, the warranty is a lot more limited.
Is it even legal? Not sure how this works in the US, but over here, information can not be shared with 3rd parties without prior consent, and can not be used for anything other than the purpose (as stated in the terms & conditions) for which is was collected. In this case, unless the newspaper's explicitly states that your real name may be published at a later date, they are in violation. And if they required a real name but offered the use of pseudonyms, a judge might well argue that this implicitly denies permission to publish the real name.
I thought we would have learned by now that carpet bombing terrorists is not going to take care of them. It may be necessary (and in case of IS it'll certainly help weaken), but it's not a solution. And nationalism, or being proud of your country, is fine, however Putin is a great example of the kind of leader that sentiment tends to attract. With every thing that Putin does, from bombing ISIS to messing in the Crimea to signing a bill to protect the spotted puking buzzard, you have to look first at how it helps him and keep him in power, because that's his motivation. Ruling Russia has always been about spear-rattling to fuel their pride, petty oppression to fuel their fear, and for the rest doing whatever the hell you want without pissing the general populace off too much. I'm sure someone will want to point out that this could be said for many western governments these days, but read a little history to see that there really is no comparison. It's not for nothing that someone (can't remember who it was) called Russia a "nation of moral masochists"
It's more like: "we rent rooms but not if you're having a drunken blowout with wall to wall vomiting in them". Can a hotel refuse service to people because of their beliefs? They can if those people are for example preaching in the lobby, but otherwise no. Can a christian hotel refuse service to an unmarried couple if they belief that couple will have sex at the hotel? Kind of a borderline case... I'd say no because by accepting the couple the hotel is not forced to speak in a voice they find objectionable (they may still gain a reputation they don't like but that's a separate issue). But if they make it clear in their policy that they do not allow unmarried couples to occupy a single room, then that's their business.
Free speech must extend to organisations such as ad agencies, cinemas, and newspapers. As an organisation they must be free to speak in the voice they want, and not be forced to publish material they find objectionable. Or should a conservative newspaper be forced to run liberal articles.
The fact that you are free to say what you want does not mean that I am under any obligation to offer you a platform to speak from. I support the right of these cinemas to not run ads they think might cause trouble, even if I agree with Dawkins that it is wrong to pander to the perennially indignant in this way. Thankfully people or businesses are still free to make their own wrong decisions.
A big problem with free speech issues is that a lot of people seem not to understand the difference between allowing something, tolerating someting, agreeing with something, and endorsing something.
So buy a connected fridge from a reputable vendor whom you can trust to at least understand the important issues and risks of having an appliance connected to the LAN or Internet. Don't buy a connected fridge at all if you're too worried about this, or feel you can't trust any manufacturer. Make these manufacturers aware of your concern. Donate to the EFF or whatever so they can inform the public and influence regulators to safeguard our privacy and safety (and make manufacturers liable for such issues).
It is fine to be cautious, just don't call anyone who disagrees an idiot, or claim that the introduction of IoT-capable appliances is somehow violating your rights. That's the vibe I am getting from a lot of opponents to HA. The IoT is not evil for the reasons you state; "IoT doesn't steal data, peope do".
No. My thermostat has no "off" switch, and a minimum temperature setting that is high enough not to let the pipes freeze. The electronic TRVs likewise have a safeguard against freezing.
Sure, it's still electronics, and someone could have messed with the firmware, or even exploit a weakness in the thermostat by sending weird packets over the Z-Wave network (a wireless network used for home automation) to make it turn the heating off completely. That's far, far less likely to happen than the heater itself breaking down. And because I can monitor things remotely, it is extremely unlikely to happen without me noticing the problem.
Slashdot Mirror
What does an irrational fear of solar panels have to do with a dislike (or even fear, and not an irrational one either) of islam? And why would it be equally stupid to demonstrate against the increasing influence of islam in Europe?
I don't miss the overly optimistic predictions, but I really do miss the optimism of those days...
Don't be too scared of that intern leaving either. Just find someone else to support and maintain it. Do plan a little bit ahead, have some redundancy, and before you deploy such a solution to production, make sure the IT hygiene stuff is in place like backups that work, infosec, and some documentation. I've worked with a fair few systems that way, and it absolutely is possible to run them on a shoestring budget, even in a large corporation. One objection I keep hearing is: "How can we rely on a system with no support process and no SLA?" Answer: SLAs are cover-your-ass metrics for PHBs but they have very little to do with actual service. If you get the right tinkerers and interns, in my experience support from these guys is invariably better and faster than from the typical big outsourcing ITIL partners with CMM level 5000. Think about how much you really need that system and match that with appropriate safeguards and redundancy. And if a key guy does leave after a year, you'll have to scramble a bit to keep things going. That's when you'll often hear "How the hell can you manage a system like this, look at the mess we are in". Instead, think of the many, many thousands of dollars saved by keeping your support lean and using inexpensive, fit for purpose open source software.
Of course this requires involvement and support from managers who actually understand a thing or two about how IT works.
Not just that: a wet road after a mild shower doesn't have to be a problem in spring or fall, but the exact same shower in summer after a long dry spell can turn the road into a slippery slide, when the rubber and other crap that's been accumulating on the surface gets wet.
I was afraid of that at one time, but it hasn't happened. There are plenty of places where you can get chunky parts, resistors, transistors, ICs in regular DIL packages, etc. Even the old 7400s and what have you haven't gone the way of the dodo with the rise of affordable PLC and Arduino boards. Apparently hobbyists and the need for prototyping on a breadboard constitute a large enough market for these components. What has disappeared are the brick and mortar stores selling them, but I suspect it had a lot to do with cost. A shop servicing a smallish geographical area cannot hope to compete with large online shops. Especially with improved logistics and stock: these online stores sell a lot of good stuff, and some offer next day delivery if I order before 22:00
That's satellites. What are they going to do on the space station?
It's a nice idea: commercial space exploration. But what are commercial, for-profit companies supposed to do in LEO? Space tourism, maybe some very specific R&D that requires freefall, but other than that?
Damn straight. "We're not in the fuelling / finance / IT / transport / insurance / refining business". Words uttered by MBAs who are afraid to be held accountable for taking a risky (but calculated) step into unknown territory. Just as no one "ever got fired for hiring IBM", no one gets fired these days for sticking to the company's core business. Never mind the fact that the stuff that isn't your core business can still give you a competitive advantage, but that obtaining such from external service providers will likely never yield that advantage. A few companies like Tesla get this. And that's the kind of company and management I'd like to work for. I'm still looking...
Pretty? Looks pretty horrible to me. And I bet Porsche fans won't be impressed; remember their cries of outrage at the 996 and its non-oval headlights? (Which suits me just fine, it kept 2nd hand prices within my budget).
That's one thing I like about Tesla: they make electric cars that actually look good unlike the horrible abortion that is the Prius (sure sure, that's a hybrid). They showed that electric cars can be sexy rather than boring. This Porsche? I am sure it'll be an impressive car to drive, but I seriously hope they will adjust the styling a little bit before going to production.
There is a huge difference between naming an shaming someone on a bulletin board in a small local store, and doing so online for the whole world to see until the end of time. In terms of more traditional punishments, it's the difference between a thief being put in the stocks for a day, or being branded.
I've worked with a few large corporations that had a pretty clear policy on this: if you suspect that sensitive data has been exposed, you must tell your boss or the infosec guys. They can then investigate whether any data was actually stolen, and take mitigating actions before having to read about the leak in the press. This makes sense. Dealing with screw ups is part of your job, but exposure of sensitive data is usually something that goes waaaay over your head or your pay grade. Not informing others about this breach certainly seems like something that warrants disciplinary action.
Not that silly; some people will find them useful and they are a lot easier to ride than the Solowheel, without adding the bulk of a full Segway. With that said, it makes sense to ban them if they explode and cause fire when charging. Over here (NL) they have just been banned, not because of fire hazards, but because they constitute a "motorized transport" and thus do not fit in our century old definition of traffic. Never mind the fact that these things are safer than roller skates. Of course at some point they will be made legal, as soon as the state makes a law to extract their 30 pieces of silver from riders: mandatory lights, license plates, taxes, and insurance.
And then you wake up with one of those little TSA notices pinned to your chest: "For security reasons we have had to open your pod and examine your various orifices. Have a nice day!"
In many cases, legalising prostitution has increased human trafficking. Legalising prostitution increases the market and increases demand, hence the increase in human trafficking. Not just theory, there are statistics to back this up. [No citation given, do your own homework]
I believe prostitution should be legal. It's a moral issue: as someone else pointed out, there is no reason to forbid two or more consenting adults to enter into such a transaction. That there are others being forced into it without consent is irrelevant to the morality of the matter: forbidding prostitution on this ground is like forbidding everyone to have sex because rapes do take place. With that said, there may be practical reasons to penalise prostitution: when the vast majority of cases is not consensual, for instance.
With that said, legalising prostitution also gives law enforcement an opportunity to better police the market. If they take that opportunity, human trafficking can be reduced quite effectively. One way that seems to work well is to make soliciting an unwilling prostitute a punishable offence. Another thing they have done in my country is to change labour and tax laws a bit to make legal prostitution a lot easier and safer, for the johns, the women, and operators of establishments where this takes place. With plenty legal venues and prostitutes on the market and severe penalties for human trafficking, it's no longer very attractive to hire, exploit or solicit an illegal prostitute.
I love MST3K, but I can see it isn't for everyone. I've recommended it to all of my friends, and strangely the ones who enjoy it are almost all people who I thought wouldn't get the show.
Some people are just not that into old movies. I loved the Rifftrax versions that the crew did of contemporary blockbusters, and I really wish they'd do more of them. My guess is they stopped them because most people don't want to go through the hassle of mixing the soundtrack with the commentary (I've done it and it's a chore), and ended up pirating a pre-mixed copy instead.
No licensing required... but how about making them liable? I'm not a big fan of a litigious society of ambulance chasers (or lawyers in general), and I don't think IT or "security" firms should pay damages for every single thing that can possibly go wrong, but in a case of gross negligence like leaving default passwords or having no encryption whatsoever on links, they should be at least held liable for damages suffered.
Meh. Keep the 3.5mm connector, shrink the rest of the phone down,and fill the remaining space with extra battery. Seriously, how much thinner do phones need to be? I'd prefer some extra battery life, thanks.
Our local retailer is pretty good at building. They offer a number of preconfigured builds, for gaming, business, media, etc, and at different price points. If you ask them, they'll provide a manifest of exactly what goes into these builds, and you can tweak the build at no extra charge (other than any extra cost of the parts). They are happy to provide a different CPU, different case, a specific type and brand of memory sticks, more or less SSD space, different fans, even water cooling if you want it. Oh, and they'll leave out Windows if you want.
I have always built my machines until recently, but my current gaming rig is one of their standard builds with a few changes. I wanted this box to be whisper quiet, and they suggested a few different fans and coolers at a slightly higher price. I'm rather happy with the result. The staff seem quite knowledgable about what works well together, and they know what they are selling. The nice thing about letting them put it together is that they'll give full warrantly on the complete config. When you buy separate parts, the warranty is a lot more limited.
Is it even legal? Not sure how this works in the US, but over here, information can not be shared with 3rd parties without prior consent, and can not be used for anything other than the purpose (as stated in the terms & conditions) for which is was collected. In this case, unless the newspaper's explicitly states that your real name may be published at a later date, they are in violation. And if they required a real name but offered the use of pseudonyms, a judge might well argue that this implicitly denies permission to publish the real name.
I thought we would have learned by now that carpet bombing terrorists is not going to take care of them. It may be necessary (and in case of IS it'll certainly help weaken), but it's not a solution. And nationalism, or being proud of your country, is fine, however Putin is a great example of the kind of leader that sentiment tends to attract. With every thing that Putin does, from bombing ISIS to messing in the Crimea to signing a bill to protect the spotted puking buzzard, you have to look first at how it helps him and keep him in power, because that's his motivation. Ruling Russia has always been about spear-rattling to fuel their pride, petty oppression to fuel their fear, and for the rest doing whatever the hell you want without pissing the general populace off too much. I'm sure someone will want to point out that this could be said for many western governments these days, but read a little history to see that there really is no comparison. It's not for nothing that someone (can't remember who it was) called Russia a "nation of moral masochists"
It's more like: "we rent rooms but not if you're having a drunken blowout with wall to wall vomiting in them". Can a hotel refuse service to people because of their beliefs? They can if those people are for example preaching in the lobby, but otherwise no. Can a christian hotel refuse service to an unmarried couple if they belief that couple will have sex at the hotel? Kind of a borderline case... I'd say no because by accepting the couple the hotel is not forced to speak in a voice they find objectionable (they may still gain a reputation they don't like but that's a separate issue). But if they make it clear in their policy that they do not allow unmarried couples to occupy a single room, then that's their business.
Free speech must extend to organisations such as ad agencies, cinemas, and newspapers. As an organisation they must be free to speak in the voice they want, and not be forced to publish material they find objectionable. Or should a conservative newspaper be forced to run liberal articles.
The fact that you are free to say what you want does not mean that I am under any obligation to offer you a platform to speak from. I support the right of these cinemas to not run ads they think might cause trouble, even if I agree with Dawkins that it is wrong to pander to the perennially indignant in this way. Thankfully people or businesses are still free to make their own wrong decisions.
A big problem with free speech issues is that a lot of people seem not to understand the difference between allowing something, tolerating someting, agreeing with something, and endorsing something.
So buy a connected fridge from a reputable vendor whom you can trust to at least understand the important issues and risks of having an appliance connected to the LAN or Internet. Don't buy a connected fridge at all if you're too worried about this, or feel you can't trust any manufacturer. Make these manufacturers aware of your concern. Donate to the EFF or whatever so they can inform the public and influence regulators to safeguard our privacy and safety (and make manufacturers liable for such issues).
It is fine to be cautious, just don't call anyone who disagrees an idiot, or claim that the introduction of IoT-capable appliances is somehow violating your rights. That's the vibe I am getting from a lot of opponents to HA. The IoT is not evil for the reasons you state; "IoT doesn't steal data, peope do".
No. My thermostat has no "off" switch, and a minimum temperature setting that is high enough not to let the pipes freeze. The electronic TRVs likewise have a safeguard against freezing.
Sure, it's still electronics, and someone could have messed with the firmware, or even exploit a weakness in the thermostat by sending weird packets over the Z-Wave network (a wireless network used for home automation) to make it turn the heating off completely. That's far, far less likely to happen than the heater itself breaking down. And because I can monitor things remotely, it is extremely unlikely to happen without me noticing the problem.
Just admit it: students of the social sciences are just better people... /sarcasm