Slashdot Mirror


User: jmcharry

jmcharry's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
148
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 148

  1. Re:Just ignore it? on California Law Banning Paper Receipts Clears First Hurdle In State Legislature (latimes.com) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why not just tax the receipt paper?

  2. Outside Audit on Boeing Unveils 737 Max Software Fixes (cnbc.com) · · Score: 1

    That new software needs to be audited, source code and all, by outside experts. The first thing that was drilled into me in basic instrument flight training was never to fixate on one gauge. Boeing seems to have committed a transport category aircraft to just that.

  3. Not the First Time on After Wells Fargo Outage, Customers Say Direct Deposits Aren't Showing Up (cbsnews.com) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In the 1980s I worked for a company that ran its payroll through Wells Fargo almost entirely through direct deposit since we were a branch on the east coast. One time they botched the ACH transfers so that money showed up in employees' accounts as expected then disappeared, resulting in bounced checks and ATM withdrawals. Without notifying anyone they printed paper checks and sent them to the companies involved (supposedly all with paydays that day). This resulted in numerous employees being hit with overdraft and bounced check charges, which we covered, but it probably tarnished their credit scores. I don't know if Wells Fargo ever reimbursed us, but I know we fired them.

  4. What is seldom mentioned is that the British sent the design for the Bombe to the US where hundreds were built and did the bulk of the decrypting work. This is nicely presented at the NSA museum at Ft. Meade, which also has several Enigma machines, including a pre-war commercial version, and a section of a Bombe on display.

  5. Re: Nobel while jailed on North Korea Announces Plans To Dismantle Nuclear Test Site (npr.org) · · Score: 1

    You are referring to Arlington National Cemetery.

  6. The top end turntable motors were induction rather than synchronous. A synchronous motor changes its phase angle relative to the power source due to load variations much more, leading to excessive wow. I think there were hybrids that melded the advantages of both, but it has been too long, and I was never really into motors.

  7. Also they have been around since well before crystal oscillator based clocks were economically viable for consumer use. Power companies would tune the frequency to keep them within several seconds. This is going back 50, maybe 60 or more, years. They had an advantage over crystal based clocks in that long term drift was eliminated by the tuning.

  8. These studies always make me wonder whether they are taking into account that techies graduate into management and other higher paying jobs. It may be that the higher earners are getting sorted out of the studies by that age.

  9. Civil Seizure on Equifax Breach Included 10 Million US Driving Licenses (engadget.com) · · Score: 1

    Why are they not subjected to civil seizure? I think we all know.

  10. Re:Crime not Advertizing on Idaho Wants To Establish America's First 'Dark Sky Preserve' (idahostatesman.com) · · Score: 1

    Might have something to do with the high age adjusted suicide rate.

  11. Re:They need true bridge mode!! on AT&T Uverse Modems Found To Have Several Serious Security Vulnerabilities (threatpost.com) · · Score: 2

    Their older DSL modems used to operate purely as a modem if you connected using PPPoE. I don't know whether that is still an option. Of course then you have to provide your own firewall, NAT, and DHCP.

  12. Re:You know what they say... on Top VPN Provider Accused of Sharing Customer Traffic With Online Advertisers (bleepingcomputer.com) · · Score: 2

    They charge for the service.

  13. Re:this seems wrong-premised on Ends, Means, and Antitrust (stratechery.com) · · Score: 1

    I think the case was started under President Carter and the resolution proposed by AT&T itself, but the comment is insightful. As I recall, and I'm that old, it had become clear that the monopoly was holding up progress, keeping prices high in the face of face of falling costs, and restraining technical advances. The Carterfone (no known relationship) case comes to mind.

  14. Quite a number of years ago I worked for a British Telecom joint venture. The old BT hands like to laugh about sabotaging the connections of their then sole competitor, Mercury Communications.

    My take after working for a number of telecom companies is that there is a pervasive culture of impunity.

  15. Fill the fields with plausible garbage. If the data has no legitimate usage, poison it.

  16. Body Fine; Head No Good on The Story of the First Human Head Transplant Won't Die (theoutline.com) · · Score: 1

    Can he do something for me?

  17. I don't think of gold as a hedge. It is more of a speculation. Like other precious metals its value is pretty volatile.

  18. DaVinci Robot on Tiny New Robots Perform Eye Surgery (technologyreview.com) · · Score: 1

    The "robot" is used for a lot more than heart valve surgery. I think it is currently the gold standard for radical prostatectomy.

  19. Re:Here's a crazy idea on US Military Seeks Biodegradable Bullets That Sprout Plants (newatlas.com) · · Score: 1

    Are you trying to Hatch a plot?

  20. Re:The author of this software needs education. on Koolova Ransomware Decrypts For Free If You Read Two Articles About Ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com) · · Score: 1

    That sounds like pure ethical relativism, which isn't sound. If someone thinks it ethical, nay a duty, to exterminate all the left handed, it is OK to push my opinion on him. There may be hard problems and the answers may depend on details, including social circumstances, but there is a difference between right and wrong.

  21. Re:Expry date on Hacker Leaks Michelle Obama's Passport (nypost.com) · · Score: 1

    That is a type P passport, not a diplomatic or official passport. It is probably a fake.

  22. Re:Terminals in the 1950s? on Ready CEO: Coding Snobs Are Not Helping Our Children Prepare For The Future (qz.com) · · Score: 2

    Yes. This is a glaring anachronism. Terminals didn't take over until some time in the 70s. Even in the late 60s multi terminal computers weren't really stable. The predominant model was batch processing. Programs were written by hand, often onto specially ruled coding sheets, and carefully reviewed before being punched into cards, which were ultimately fed into computers. The results would be printed out to be reviewed hours later.

  23. Da Vinci is not a Robot on Robots May Soon Put Surgery Into the Hands of Non-Surgeons (computerworld.com) · · Score: 1

    The system does nothing autonomously. I've also read that it takes a lot of training to learn it well.

  24. Re:The hydrogen economy is a scam on German Automakers Working On Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tech (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    Also, hydrogen is an intermediate in the Haber process for producing ammonia for fertilizer. You are essentially burning food.

  25. BlueTEC? on The Dirty Truth About 'Clean Diesel' (nytimes.com) · · Score: 1

    The article centers on problems with Volkswagen's system, but how well does Daimler's BlueTEC system perform?