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User: cstacy

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  1. It may seem strange to the Slashdot crowd... on Ask Slashdot: Why Isn't There More Public Outrage About NSA Revelations? · · Score: 1

    Most people I know (outside of the technology sector) don't quite understand what these news stories mean, and they figure it's probably some kind of partisan or outlier hype. And in any event, it's just another thing that seems like it might be wrong, but they trust the government, and they are resigned to the fact that they can't do anything about it in any event. Surely it will all blow over soon.

  2. Accuracy Of Assumptions on Extreme Complexity of Scientific Data Driving New Math Techniques · · Score: 1

    If you love trusting these kinds of compression algorithms, I have a Xerox machine I'd like to introduce you to...

  3. Movie Coming Out about Space Camp on Space Camp: Not Just For Kids Any More · · Score: 1

    I believe it is called "Ender's Game".

  4. Gentlemen, We Can Rebuild It on Boston Dynamics Wildcat Can Gallop — No Strings Attached · · Score: 1

    This clip totally needs the Six Million Dollar Men theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chPanW0QWhA#t=52

  5. it's not the clunk you need to worry about on Boston Dynamics Wildcat Can Gallop — No Strings Attached · · Score: 1

    It's the onboard shield generators!

  6. Prior Art from about thirty four years ago on Apple Receives Patent For Accessing Sets of Apps With Different Passcodes · · Score: 1

    @enaBLE (capability) wHEEL
    Password: ******

    There are other (and even older) examples; that is just the one that occurred to me first...
    Some versions of Unix support capabilities, of course. Here we are using the word "capability" in a more abstract sense like the non-technical word "permission"; the system need not be capability-based. So it seems to me that all that Apple has patented is the use of the lock screen and PIN as the UI to enable the capability: the password determines which capabilities will be unlocked. And lock screens and PINs are nothing new. And inputting different passwords to cause different effects is not new, either. A good modern example of such security-through-obscurity is TrueCrypt hidden volumes. I haven't read the patent, but it seems like every element is old hat, and the combination seems pretty much "...on a mobile device".

  7. no smiling on Pastafarian Wins Battle To Wear Colander In License Photo · · Score: 1

    My experience in Virginia, and at most DMVs I've heard of in recent years, is that you are not allowed to smile in your photo. They instituted this rule because apparently it throws off the facial recognition algorithms. Because your "driver's license" is actually your ID for most things, and because it is also the means by which the government collects biometric data on everyone for the massive shared databases. Currently used when you go to a major sporting event, for one example (everyone entering is face scanned and matched). I don't think the facial recognition is used by the police in driver stops, though (yet).

  8. Re:Fit to drive? on Pastafarian Wins Battle To Wear Colander In License Photo · · Score: 1

    try to look up what a burka is, it is probably not what you think

    And I doubt those who wear burka intend to drive [...]

    I live in Falls Church, VA, a couple miles outside of D.C. down the street from the 9/11 Mosque, and there is a large Muslim population here. In a five mile radius, every day, I see hundreds of women in burkas (there are hundreds just in my apartment building alone) and a lot of them are driving.

  9. Guess what day it is? on Camels May Transmit New Middle Eastern Virus · · Score: 1

    Guess what DAY it is !!

  10. dangerous and illegal on College Students Hijack $80 Million Yacht With GPS Signal Spoofing · · Score: -1

    Difficult to believe they committed so many dangerous crimes and are bragging about it; "permission from the owner" (who apparently was not even aboard) does nothing to mitigate this. Therefore difficult to believe the story is true. Even though people are idiots....

  11. Re: Why the doctor? on Wi-Fi-Enabled Tooth Sensor Rats You Out When You Smoke Or Overeat · · Score: 1
  12. It is the year 2133 on Colorado Company Says It Plans To Test Hyperloop Transport System · · Score: 1

    The earth is honeycombed with subshuttle tubes for high speed transit between settlements, a remnant of the 1990s technology before the nuclear armageddon. Only the scientists from the Pax settlement retain the technology and knowledge of using the subshuttle network... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmwl3-D62XE

  13. Re:It did say Episode IV originally! on Disney's Titling Problem With Its Star Wars Movies · · Score: 1

    what? nothing about Stay Puft? what an epic WHOOSH!

  14. It did say Episode IV originally! on Disney's Titling Problem With Its Star Wars Movies · · Score: 1

    I remember very clearly that the original release said "Episode IV"; I was enjoying Stay Puft marshmallow treats while watching the movie. Always loved those as a kid growing up in the 70s. (And wasn't JFK assassinated that week? I remember the trauma of watching that on TV a couple days after Star Wars.) Pretty sure.

  15. not for the benefit of postal customers, though on Ask Slashdot: Permanent Preservation of Human Knowledge? · · Score: 1

    What's funny about this is that postal employees steal mail and packages all the time. I've lost a number of things (credit cards, electronics) this way. And no, the USPS and the IG don't do anything. Even though their trace logs show the package arriving at the local facility and then disappearing.

  16. Re:Star cloning controversy on Mouse Cloned From Drop of Blood · · Score: 1

    Try Abdul ben Hassan. He make this snake.

  17. Already have this app on Android on Echolocation For Your Cell Phone · · Score: 1

    It doesn't use echolocation to show you the room, though; it provides a direct visual map of the room, selective details about its contents (such as items sitting on shelves), and it works instantly. I think the app is called "Assistive Light" but I have also seen versions called "Flashlight". I always assumed iPhone had this, too....

  18. What We Really Want on Arnold Schwarzenegger Will Be Back As the Terminator · · Score: 4, Funny

    Summer Glau

  19. Re:Great feature - File versions on HP Discontinue OpenVMS · · Score: 1

    The file "versions" feature originated on ITS (the PDP-10 operating system at MIT).

  20. Re:what on Temporal Cloak Erases Data From History · · Score: 1

    So, imagine the beam is..... Route 1 in Saugus MA. One of my favorite roads. Its not just 6 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic, that traffic is bumper to bumper at full speed.

    Like most beams of light, you have fuck all chance of passing through it without casting a shadow (this is the detected event being "hidden"). But imagine if all the cars were in communication by computer. A mile down the road about haldf the cars speed up, and bunch together, and the other half all slow down, then all resume normal speed, creating a traveling gap.

    I am in the car that is stopping at Kelly's!

  21. Maybe a company in some other country will implement Pretty Good Payload.

  22. Re:Vagrant and Jenkins and Virtual Box on Ask slashdot: Which 100+ User Virtualization Solution Should I Use? · · Score: 4, Funny

    Take a look at using Jenkins which is a continuous integration builder but can be customized to just bring up VMS as needed.

    VMS? Cool!!

    $ DEFINE/SYSTEM LNK$LIBRARY $DISK1:[PLAYGROUND]STARTER_EXAMPLES

  23. TFA comes from too much Star Trek movie hype on Why the 'Star Trek Computer' Will Be Open Source and Apache Licensed · · Score: 2

    WARNING: Fatal exposure in 69 minutes!

  24. Space Food Sticks! on 3-D Printable Food Gets Funding From NASA · · Score: 1
  25. Re:At Google Conference, Cameras Even in the Bathr on Congress Demands Answers From Google Over Google Glass Privacy Concerns · · Score: 2

    How would people feel if the guy or gal coming into the bathroom has a camera mounted to their head which is recording?

    That is already illegal. The question is: How do you feel, knowing that you can no longer tell if someone is packing a cam?