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User: akgooseman

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Comments · 119

  1. Re:It's tinfoil time! on Fugitive Child Sex Abuser Caught By Face-Recognition Technology · · Score: 1

    Most of us don't have a problem with checking the wanted list against passport photos. The problem is they won't stop there. TFS says this was a test of the system. Obviously, there are bigger plans.

  2. Re:It's tinfoil time! on Fugitive Child Sex Abuser Caught By Face-Recognition Technology · · Score: 1

    Our government doesn't yet have enough political power to safely brutalize its general population (though it's doing an increasingly good job on minorities), but it can control most of us never-the-less. Their current interest is in ensuring we don't upset the current balance of power. Thorough surveillance is critical to knowing who, when and in which direction to nudge or blast opposition leaders to the sidelines. Subtle manipulation of current and potential opposition leadership is likely far more successful to entrenched interests' goals than more direct, physical options.

  3. Re:Well, I've got a suggestion for next time at le on Ask Slashdot: Can Tech Help Monitor or Mitigate a Mine-Flooded Ecosystem? · · Score: 1

    As someone towards the beginning of the comments said, sometimes stuff happens. Maybe there was and maybe there wasn't corner cutting and/or poor engineering in this tragic situation. The take-away here for me is that we simply should not put these big mines in ecologically sensitive areas. Stuff will happen without regard to the best laid plans and intentions of mine developers. The Fraser river salmon may take a terrible hit from this pond breach. The proposed Pebble Mine is threatening the Bristol Bay area of Alaska, home to the worlds largest red salmon run, with a 700+ foot tall earthen dam upstream from major rivers, holding back a 4 mile long tailings and leach pond.

  4. Re:Municipal elections are *more* important on Ask Slashdot: Should I Fight Against Online Voting In Our Municipality? · · Score: 1

    This! Most of our voices are lost in the noise of state-wide and federal elections. Local elected representatives are likely to listen to and act upon your input regarding fire, police, sewer, water, garbage collection, schools, zoning and platting, property assessing and taxation, sales tax, libraries, swimming pools, parks, street lamps, road maintenance and a host of other items that directly affect you and your daily life. Added bonus: they can amplify your message to elected/appointed/employed people in "higher" levels of government.

  5. Re:Road to Hana on Google Using Self-Driving Car Data To Make Cars Smarter · · Score: 1

    The only challenge on that road, from either the north or the south, is the rented Mustang convertibles plugging it.

  6. Re:It's all fun and games until the NSA gets invol on Cameras On Cops: Coming To a Town Near You · · Score: 1

    It's not a bad thing until they find _you_ interesting.

  7. Re:Can't wait on 43,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth Remains Offer Strong Chance of Cloning · · Score: 1

    Pu-leeze ... this bad boy's gonna be on the endangered species list for the rest of our lives.

  8. Re:WTF on Apple's Messages Offers Free Texting With a Side of iPhone Lock-In · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, you won't get those messages. As an former iPhone user who recently switched to Android I will attest to the fact messages from your friends who use iOS go into a black iMessage hole. The messages are not forwarded out of iMessage to a traditional text message. The iPhone must be reconfigured to opt out of iMessage before text messages will be delivered to a non-iOS phone.

    iMessage fails over to text ONLY if you're using an iOS device. It doesn't fail over, as you might expect, if your mobile number moves to a non-iOS platform. It's a total pain in the ass. I can only believe it's designed this way to promote vendor lock-in.

  9. Re:and the TSA exists because... on Confessions Of an Ex-TSA Agent: Secrets Of the I.O. Room · · Score: 1

    The draft ended. The requirement for 18 year old men to register for a draft that might exist in the future did not end.

  10. Re:ahh we're all going to die on Heat Waves In Australia Are Getting More Frequent, and Hotter · · Score: 1

    Um, HAARP has been shut down. It may open again. Maybe. Someday.

  11. Re:Um.... on Police Pull Over More Drivers For DNA Tests · · Score: 2

    There is a huge amount of information to collect based on subjects' reactions to these requests for DNA. At the very least, the cops must be compiling a naughty/nice list indexed to license plate based on who accepts a cheek swab. Making the link from license plate to individual is pretty easy, especially if they're also taking video of their proceedings. People are forced to play the game and there's no way to win.

  12. Re:I doubt it on Court: Homeland Security Must Disclose 'Internet Kill Switch' · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm still trying to figure out why we even have a need for a kill switch.

    The answer to that seems fairly apparent: To prevent or stifle a popular uprising against those in charge. Our government no longer works for us. In many ways, it works against us.

  13. Re:How is this a surprise? on Journalists Banned From Using Smartphones At 2014 Sochi Olympics? · · Score: 1

    It's far from the financial whirlwind everyone wants to believe it is.

    Oh, it's a whirlwind alright. The big organizers, promoters and builders whirl in, scoop up all the money and whirl back out of town. Leaving the locals within some hundreds of kilometer radius holding out empty bags if not outright saddled with debt.

  14. Re:Reset? on Withhold Passwords From Your Employer, Go To Jail? · · Score: 1

    If I recall, the system configs hadn't been saved to non-volatile memory. Reloading the routers as part of a standard Cisco password recovery/reset would have resulted in empty configs. As much as SF city government hated Terry Childs, they apparently loved his network equipment configs.

  15. Re:So many people just don't get it. on Snowden Seeks International Help Against US Espionage Charges · · Score: 1

    Yeah, we've all seen how effective Congress, as a group, is. And how interested they are in ensuring our rights to privacy.

    I'm sure they would have gotten right to the bottom of this mess and straightened things out ASAP. </sarcasm>

  16. Re:The real question is on Apple Maps Flaw Sends Drivers Across Airport Runway · · Score: 1

    Condor flies 767s from Frankfurt to and from Fairbanks. We see 747s every time Anchorage is shut down for weather. And Alaska Airlines is poised to drop 737 service in favor of the Bombers.

  17. Re:Is he stupid or a liar? on Former DHS Official Blames Privacy Advocates For TSA's Aggressive Procedures · · Score: 1

    statistically next to 0% of planes were hijacked, exploded, or crashed into big buildings until fairly recently.

    Statistically, 0% of airline flights have been hijacked, exploded or crashed into big buildings ... EVER!

  18. Re:A drone is just a light aircraft with a camera on FBI Admits To Domestic Surveillance Drone Use · · Score: 1

    I'm not too worried about individuals seeing me. I care deeply about how the government seeing and tracking me, particularly in real-time. They have to power to blatantly or subtly do me harm. They can trump up charges, because everyone eventually breaks a law, and throw me in jail. If I'm driving to a protest, they can arrange for my credit card to not work at the gas pumps. Deny fuel to enough people and the protest fizzles. Strategically block one or two opposition leaders this way and stall whole movements. If this hasn't already been done, it will be.

  19. Re:And water is wet on Snowden's Big Truth: We Are All Less Free · · Score: 1

    Harder still to stand beside him when he is locked up, unable to communicate with any but his jailers.

  20. Re:Here's the difference on Explosions at the Boston Marathon · · Score: 1

    If these bombers are Afghani, Iraqi, Iranian, etc and pissed off at the US (not difficult to imagine, but that's not currently supported by any publicly available evidence), I'm sure they would much rather have blown up the Pentagon or Air Force One. Even if they were well funded, what are the chances of success attacking a hardened military target vs the Boston Marathon finish line? Only an idiot would would attempt a face-to-face attack on the US military. One's chances of survival are much higher against a soft target.

  21. Re:A couple of classics: on DMVs Across the Country Learning Textspeak · · Score: 1

    R8J (pretent you're a cop reading the plate with phonetic alphabet)

  22. Re:US has done it longer on Is It Time For the US To Ditch the Dollar Bill? · · Score: 1

    The US may have done it longer, but we've sucked at it.

  23. Re:Hey I did that on Young Students Hiding Academic Talent To Avoid Bullying · · Score: 1

    I have no memory of attending 1st or 2nd grade. Evidence from my parents suggests that is exactly because of the teachers. Thankfully, they moved me to private school for 3rd-8th.

  24. Re:three words, one hyphen: on Why Can't Industry Design an Affordable Hearing Aid? · · Score: 1

    A battleground medic fresh back from the sand wouldn't be my first choice of healthcare provider if I were having a heart attack. Not only do they not have the certifications, they don't have the training to provide care in a non-trauma civilian situation. Bring-em-on if I get shot, but that's not going to provide enough employment for returning Army medics unless gang wars really heat up.

  25. Re:Moore's law in decline? Or Arduino? on New Arduino Due Brings More Power To the Table · · Score: 1

    I'd be curious to know why they've all got Italian names

    My guess is because it started as a project in Italy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino#History