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User: cdrudge

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  1. Re:income data? on US Health Insurer Anthem Suffers Massive Data Breach · · Score: 1

    Marketing demographic information most liklely. It doesn't say how accurate or what the source of that portion of the data is.

    Like many companies, my company has various different methods that we obtain leads. We automatically run every lead through a service to obtain demographic information about the email address that can tell us household size, residence value, own or rent, income, education level, field of employment, interests, age, etc. All those go towards scoring the lead as it relates to our target market.

    While a data breach is a data breach, if it's somewhat public information or otherwise readily available from any number of other sources it's not like the damage from having income information is catastrophic.

  2. Re:Why don't they know? on Novel Fluorinated Compounds Discovered In Firefighters' Blood · · Score: 1

    why are we even building flammable houses?

    I don't know, maybe to save a human life?

  3. Re:What a great idea on Samsung Set To Launch Mobile Payment System With Galaxy S6 At MWC · · Score: 1

    I kept with all the bloated Samsung crap on my S4 before I switched to a Google Edition-based rom and haven't looked back. I don't think there's a single feature that the Samsung software gave me that the Google Edition software doesn't do better, or that I just didn't care about the gimmicks of TouchWiz.

  4. Re:good grief, over-entitled twit on If a Financial Institution Mishandles My Data, What Recourse Do I Have? · · Score: 2

    Email? Not sure about. How do you verify who you are with many people having unsecured email accounts on home computers, cell phones, etc.

    My doctor has a secure portal where I can ask questions, read replies, see what my recent prescriptions were for and dosage, find out results of lab work if the doctor has released them, etc. Quite handy. More inconvenient than just email, but a lot better than nothing.

  5. Re:Oh God, not again on New Jersey Gov. Christie: Parents Should Have Choice In Vaccinations · · Score: 1

    With modern tech, private toll roads would work even better than they have in the past.

    Yeah. It's worked out really well for selling (actually leasing) the Indiana Toll Road. The current owners of the lease filed for bankruptcy last year after operating the road for 8 years. The tolls on the road hadn't increased for 20 years prior to the lease being signed in 2006, but nearly doubled coinciding the beginning of the lease, with yearly guaranteed rate increases every year since. The road's condition is horrible, and one major interchange near Chicago where I80/I-90/I94 intersect has been closed because they don't know what the hell to do with it since they don't have any money.

    Privatization rules, since Indiana made $3.8b off of the deal. Except when the private company can't operate what they paid for and live up to their end of the bargain.

  6. Re:Allied on RadioShack Near Deal To Sell Half of Its Stores, Close the Rest · · Score: 1

    Raises hand. At least when I need a specific resistor NOW. Those resistors you speak of that cost .001 each only cost that amount when you buy a reel of 1000 of them.

    I get most of my components through Digikey, and if I only needed five 10k ohm 1/4 watt resistors resistors, it'd cost me $.50, plus $3.22 for shipping and I'd have to wait 2-3 days. If I order on Thursday or Friday, there's probably an extra day or two for the weekend.

    Or, I could go down to RadioShack and buy a 5-pack for $1.19, have it in about 10 minutes round trip, and work on my project.

    RS sucks if you plan ahead, can order in a large enough quantity, and package a bunch of items together to spread out (or eliminate) the cost of shipping. It's convenient if you only need one or two of something, you need it NOW, or you otherwise can justify paying considerably more per-item, but still relatively a small amount.

  7. and what MakerBot is doing to try to salvage its open-source cred

    Yeah. Good luck with that salvage job.

  8. Re:How is maintenance performed? on Former NATO Nuclear Bunker Now an 'Airless' Unmanned Data Center · · Score: 1

    Other than fire suppression, is there any other practical advantage to locating a datacenter underground?

    Surface natural disasters wouldn't have an impact. So you don't need to worry about storms, wind, hurricanes, tornados, etc. Terrorism, explosions, etc also are minimized, at least from outside sources. Physical security is also improved. Cooling may be easier depending on how it's constructed to utilize more consistent temperatures...but that could also work against you if you don't have enough cooling as you can't just run another refrigerant line through a wall to outside.

  9. Re:Slow news day on Georgia Institute of Technology Researchers Bridge the Airgap · · Score: 1

    Last I checked, cameras don't work from the adjacent office. Or floor above or below. Or any other place that would block optical spying but not from picking up EM radiation.

  10. Re:Add noise on Georgia Institute of Technology Researchers Bridge the Airgap · · Score: 0

    I was working at a defense contractor in the '80's when the whole "Tempest" program started.

    Really it's amazing how easy it is for people to forget things like Van Eck phreaking have been around for going on three decades now

    No, I don't thing people are forgetting things have been going on for three decades...

  11. Re:Amateurs... on Why ATM Bombs May Be Coming Soon To the United States · · Score: 1

    They're probably going to leave behind stained money, as it is of no use to them. The bank, on the other hand, of course will re-deposit their own stained money....

    No, they'll do the same thing that banks in the US do when they have a dye pack that goes off. They ship it back to the fed reserve and it gets replaced.

    But what if they would find out that there is MORE stained money found in the debris than there was inside?

    In what way would that benefit a thief to leave money, stained or not, at a crime scene?

    Sounds to me like either a source for lulz or a way to wash (somehow literally) dirty money. (with a little inside help of course)

    Nevermind. I didn't realize you were the actors in Office Space that had to look up the dictionary definition of money laundering.

    Money laundering only works if you get the "clean" money back after it's been "laundered". If you have a guy on the inside that would get the money after it's been replaced, whether it's extra or not, it's not money laundering. It's just plain theft. And you wouldn't even need to go through hassle of laundering it, they would just steal it to begin with.

  12. Re:In other words. on Comcast Pays Overdue Fees, Offers Freebies For TWC Merger Approval · · Score: 2

    "Thirty Minneapolis city buildings will get free basic cable for the next seven years"

    I wonder why thirty Minneapolis city buildings need basic cable to begin with, let alone for 7 years. Maybe the city employees could, you know, do their jobs instead of watching basic cable?

  13. Re:Implement locally? on How One Small Company Blocked 15.1 Million Robocalls Last Year · · Score: 1

    No, there's no reason for them to withhold their number.

    Medical privacy? Perhaps a patient doesn't want others to see "Midwest Cancer Services" on the caller id. Or "Planned Parenthood". Or any other possibly recognizable number/name.

  14. Re:Only for the first year on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade · · Score: 2

    You don't need Windows to play games or browse the web either.

  15. Re:No on Microsoft Reveals Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade · · Score: 1

    ... Windows 10 license [costs] eleventy bajillion dollars...

    Thanks for the quote I'm using with my trade magazine article...

  16. Re:It's about time on Illinois Students Suspected of Cyberbullying Must Provide Social Media Passwords · · Score: 1

    Well, presumably they need the account information to determine if the accusation is valid or not, although as many others have pointed out, why can't they use the alleged victim's account. Regardless, any action shouldn't come until the accused has had their due process. If all it took was an accusation and refusal to share their credentials to be "sentenced" to a year of no social media access and/or public service, the system would be guaranteed to be abused.

  17. Re:You gotta be kidding me... on FDA Approves Implantable Vagus Nerve Disruptor For Weight Loss · · Score: 1

    A quick google just brings up lots of bullshit.

    There's a reason for that...

  18. Re:Perhaps at last an affordable mini PC? on Tiny Fanless Mini-PC Runs Linux Or Windows On Quad-core AMD SoC · · Score: 2

    You still need a case - and the mini ITX cases generally come without power supplies. You could likely get this with case and power supply for under $200 but not by a lot.

    A M350 mini-ITX case runs $37 on Amazon. Presuming the power supply isn't some stupid proprietary design, $5-10 for a power supply. I did exactly this for a Intel miniITX HTPC that used a laptop charger as the power supply.

  19. Re:This could be fun.... on Man Saves Wife's Sight By 3D Printing Her Tumor · · Score: 1

    To which I would have said that it's up to you, the manufacturer or it's representative, to prove that the use of an "unauthorized" hard drive caused the NIC to fail. It's just like using non-OEM parts or fluids in a car for a repair, it doesn't void the warranty if the non-OEM part didn't contribute to the failure that otherwise would have been covered.

    All this presumes that you're in the US jurisdiction and that it was an actual warranty and not just a service contract people thing are warranty. FTC information as it pertains to auto repair, but the same applies for other types of warranties.

  20. Re:Jesus Christ on PHP vs. Node.js: the Battle For Developer Mind Share · · Score: 1

    I don't know. It sounds slightly more interesting than a movie about a font.

  21. Re:Just hire a CPA on Intuit Charges More For Previously Offered TurboTax Features, Users Livid · · Score: 1

    If they only make $350 in the side-gig why the hell would you report it?

    Because some people are honest. Because while you may not report it, it may show up on someone else's taxes as a deduction/business expense. Because some people do many sub-$350 side jobs. Because some people don't want to take the risk if/when they do get audited that $350 makes a difference.

    If a professional tax preparer told clients that if it's sub-$600 to just sweep it under the rug, I'd find a new professional tax preparer.

  22. Re:WTF on Several European Countries Lay Groundwork For Heavier Internet Censorhip · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, freedom of speech is the freedom to offend (or rather, "criticize") your government.

    No. Freedom of speech is your right to communicate your ideas and opinions to others that wish to hear it without government interference from doing so. Typically it comes with a restriction that such communication does not cause harm to others. Causing hurt feelings because your prophet was satirized in a cartoon is not generally causing harm to others.

  23. Re:Troll bidders on Rare Recalled NES Game Stadium Events On Ebay For $99,000 · · Score: 1

    It's about as good as all the articles that proclaim all the crappy toys from your childhood are now worth thousands. And by "worth" mean that is what someone very unrealistically put the starting or buy it now price on ebay before it never sold.

  24. Re:Lobby = Corruption on Tesla vs. Car Dealers: the Lobbyist Went Down To Georgia · · Score: 2

    You're presuming that all 725k people in the district want to lobby their critter. We can barely muster 1/2 of eligible voters to vote in a presidential election. The last midterm election had just over 1/3 the people voting. If you consider that it's likely that households would have a similar or common voice, then the numbers get even smaller. Factor in apathy and you can calculate the number of constituents that actually have a need, want to talk to, and eventually follow through with talking to their congress critters at 10 people. Maybe. That might be higher than actual though.

  25. Re:Don't confuse power production and nuclear weap on Nuclear Waste Accident Costs Los Alamos Contractor $57 Million · · Score: 1

    As for a plutonium contaminated waste facility, I should point out that Los Alamos had quite the plutonium problem. They solved it by painting the walls coral - bright bleedin' orange - and then painting over with white paint. The rule was simple - if you see orange, call the safety people. It was (and is) not a perfect solution, but it was (and is) a workable one.

    Is this a metaphorical solution that I'm not understanding, or an actual solution to a problem that I don't understand. I'm presuming the problem is radiation contamination, but I'm not understanding how deteriorating white paint that shows orange paint underneath is a viable detection solution.