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User: Andy+Dodd

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  1. Re:Do that for the laptops as well on Fujitsu Could Help Smartphone Chips Run Cooler · · Score: 1

    They DO have space restrictions, just not as severe as those in a smartphone.

    Interestingly, heatpipes in a laptop are a way to deal with the space restrictions - they allow a laptop to dissipate MUCH more heat in a smaller space.

    With smartphones, they simply had to "dissipate less heat".

    Although I question how much of a benefit this will really be. As it is, even without heatpipes, smartphone thermal throttles are usually set WELL below the CPU's junction temperature limit - the reason is that it's to prevent other components from getting too hot (like the battery). I remember talking to some Sony engineers, and IIRC, the CPU thermal throttle in most Xperia Z family units is not set to protect any of the internal components, but to protect the user's hand. Fujitsu's tricks might actually reduce the junction temperature at which a CPU can operate without burning the user.

  2. Re:Or, it could be unrelated to actually extending on Elon Musk Pledges To End "Range Anxiety" For Tesla Model S · · Score: 1

    Maybe the stations are already active but not advertised, and the OTA is for a database of them?

  3. Re:It's all crap. on A Critical Look At CSI: Cyber · · Score: 1

    "but since CSI Miami more or less gave up any pretense that it was meant to be and instead was 45 minutes of Horatio being awesome, saving women and children and shooting very heavily armed but remarkably inaccurare bad guys it was actually far more entertaining." - or, why I actually LIKE watching Scorpion. :) It's so bad, it's good!

  4. Re:Try and try again. on Microsoft Convinced That Windows 10 Will Be Its Smartphone Breakthrough · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I am currently an avid Android user.

    I used to be an avid Windows Mobile user. WM5/6 were actually, when they existed, the MOST power-user/business-friendly mobile OSes out there. They were more geek-friendly than any of the horrifically locked-down "Linux-based" mobile OSes.

    Then Microsoft dropped WP7 on the world - an OS which was unusable for nearly 100% of the core WM5/WM6 user base. At the same time, Android was coming onto the scene, which had everything that WM5/WM6's core user base wanted. MS never recovered, they utterly screwed up. NEVER alienate the majority of your core user base, even if it's trying to reach a "new" audience - especially when the "new" audience you're targeting is already drooling over a competitor (Apple).

  5. Photos being separated on Google+ Divided Into Photos and Streams, With New Boss · · Score: 2

    YAY!

    It would be nice to post my vacation Photospheres without all of the Google+ overhead.

    (I'm a pretty avid G+ user, but it's an utterly shit platform for sharing photos with friends that aren't G+ users. I wish I could just put Photospheres on SmugMug.)

  6. Re:Let me be the first... on Only Twice Have Nations Banned a Weapon Before It Was Used; They May Do It Again · · Score: 2

    He's old based on his UID???

  7. Re:someone explain for the ignorant on Credit Card Fraud Could Peak In 2015 As the US Moves To EMV · · Score: 1

    Many of VeriFone's units now implement contactless EMV with a reader that is below the screen... So you tap your payment device to the screen itself, and it is also frequently NOT obvious that the unit is contactless-capable. When Wegmans first deployed them I was really disappointed they eliminated contactless, until I noticed the contactless payment logo appear briefly at the end of the checkout process.

    I've seen these VeriFone units at:
    Wegmans
    Firehouse Subs
    Target (contactless is currently disabled though due to the CurrentC mess)
    Hershey's Chocolate World (these units were lower-end/smaller than the three above, but still had contactless-under-the-screen support)

    Unfortunately, it seems like VeriFone gives retailers a LOT of flexibility as to the UI/UX of these new readers, and every single one of them has an utterly shitty workflow for contactless.
    For example, Wegmans allows you to scan a barcode for their loyalty card or swipe the card via magstripe. If you swipe via magstripe, it will prompt you for desired payment method. If you scan the barcode, there's a beep and no other indication that anything happened. The contactless reader is not activated until you select "Credit" after a Shopper's Club magstripe swipe... So you can't use contactless payment without mag-swiping your loyalty card!

  8. Re:someone explain for the ignorant on Credit Card Fraud Could Peak In 2015 As the US Moves To EMV · · Score: 2

    "EMV is going to render a lot of crappy, insecure technologies obsolete (things like Coin, LoopPay, NFC, and many of the smartphone based "wallet" apps.)"
    WAT? Yes, LoopPay and maybe Coin will be rendered obsolete, since I know LoopPay is magstripe based and hence it's going obsolete in October.

    But for the rest, "EMV is going to render itself obsolete" - makes NO sense whatsoever. Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and all other known NFC payment methods ARE EMV!!!! In fact many of them are more secure than the "plastic card" based EMV since both Apple Pay and Google Wallet use time-limited/geographically-limited or one-time-use transaction tokens, wherease "plastic card" EMV can fundamentally not be limited in time to anything other than the expiration date and can't be geographically limited.

    In the case of Wallet, IIRC the method used since Google Wallet moved to HCE with KitKat is to generate a time/geography limited credential when you unlock Wallet with your PIN (which is why HCE-based Wallet needs a network connection for unlock, while the previous SE-based Wallet did not).

  9. Re:Apple Pay = One time card numbers on Credit Card Fraud Could Peak In 2015 As the US Moves To EMV · · Score: 1

    Yup, and even the units that can't do that (since they're a standalone chip in the card) have, at a minimum, a monotonically increasing transaction counter that is incremented every time the chip is read.

    Skips in the counter are allowed (failed reads, accidental reads, etc.), but any "out of order" transactions will trigger an instant fraud alert.

    For example:
    Your card is at transaction counter 1000
    A thief reads your card. He gets 1000, your card increases to 1001
    Thief chooses a transaction counter of 1005 and makes a purchase
    You try to use the card, payment processor sees transaction counter drop from 1005 to 1001 - instant fraud alert trigger

    Most importantly here is that you can easily prove it was fraud and will not be liable for the charges. You can't prove this with magstripes, which is why credit card companies are shifting fraud liability for magstripe transactions from them to the retailer (who is likely to pass the pain on to you) in October.

  10. Re:someone explain for the ignorant on Credit Card Fraud Could Peak In 2015 As the US Moves To EMV · · Score: 1

    Actually, EMV can be either. There are standards for both. Both methods meed the credit card company requirements for avoiding the fraud liability shift in October.

    IIRC, it's ISO 7816 for contact-based EMV, and 14443 for contactless

    Also, I'm surprised that ArmoredDragon hasn't seen vendors with an ISO7816 reader, considering that most of the retailers involved in MCX have installed those and not contactless readers as a way of starting to prep for the liability shift without encouraging contactless-based payment systems (Google Wallet, Apple Pay) that compete with CurrentC.

    For example, every Walmart I've been to in the past 3-4+ months has had ISO7816 readers, and in fact refused stripe-swipes from my father's card that supported 7816 back in September. (but the 7816 reader was broken, so he had to use a different card... nice one Walmart...) I believe Target's card readers also do 7816. They've also got 14443 capability built in (it's under the screen on that model of VeriFone terminal) but it's not enabled due to MCX/CurrentC.

  11. Re:A precaution when done ahead of time. on Nuclear Plant Taken Down In Anticipation of Snowstorm · · Score: 1

    Yeah but the first day or two is the most critical. Decay heat declines exponentially.

    Get through the first day or two and you have MUCH more time to respond to any subsequent issues.

  12. Re: The new power supplies may be sensitve to EMP on Xenon Flashes Can Make New Raspberry Pi 2 Freeze and Reboot · · Score: 1

    IIRC the GSM frame repetition rate was around 400-440 Hz.

    Many electronics will, when exposed to RF like this, behave exactly like the legacy "crystal" radios did - these were nothing more than a basic envelope detector (diode + low pass filter) combined with a tuned resonator.

    Hit a crystal radio with a lot of local RF (1/R^2 remember?) and it'll receive a "station" it's not tuned to.

  13. Re:The new power supplies may be sensitve to EMP on Xenon Flashes Can Make New Raspberry Pi 2 Freeze and Reboot · · Score: 1

    Are you sure the meter was registering the fish reacting to the flash unit, as opposed to simply registering whatever crap the flash was emitting as it was charging?

  14. Re:You're not supposed to ask that on Ask Slashdot: Gaining Control of My Mobile Browser? · · Score: 2

    Don't log into a Google account?

    Pretty damned easy...

  15. Re:Don't trust any of them ... on Samsung Set To Launch Mobile Payment System With Galaxy S6 At MWC · · Score: 1

    Even if Apple has the card number - credit cards have built-in fraud protection.

    I trust Google with my credit card info, and in the event that they screw up (as of yet, they're one of the few people who HASN'T screwed up at this point with a major breach a la Target and TJ Maxx), the card still has fraud protection.

    Wanna bet Samsung's crap is ACH-backed like CurrentC? If it is - STAY THE HELL AWAY.

  16. Goodbye Samsung on Samsung Set To Launch Mobile Payment System With Galaxy S6 At MWC · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Samsung can't afford to give away its position in the smartphone market, and a payments system tailored to customers is a key factor."

    Samsung has been losing marketshare because customers HATE being assaulted with Samsung's crappy substandard "me-too" crapware.

    This is just more of the same. They just don't get it.

  17. Re:Perhaps the metrics are screwed up... on Music Doesn't Feature In the Pirate Bay's Top 100 Biggest Torrents · · Score: 1

    Or to track the total number of completions, not an instantaneous snapshot.

  18. Re:Backpedalled? on New Jersey Gov. Christie: Parents Should Have Choice In Vaccinations · · Score: 1

    Sadly, thanks to schools such as Kermit, TX - many homeschoolers are trying to avoid just exposure to just such ideas at school.

    One of my exes was homeschooled. Primarily because the schools in her area SUCKED. Public schools in the USA have serious issues these days.

  19. Perhaps the metrics are screwed up... on Music Doesn't Feature In the Pirate Bay's Top 100 Biggest Torrents · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "With 1828 ‘seeders’ and just 76 ‘leechers’, True is a fair distance behind the 100th most popular torrent overall: PC game Far Cry 4, which has 1604 ‘seeders’ plus 1260 ‘leechers’."

    Keep in mind that:
    1) Once a "leecher" finishes downloading, they become a "seeder"
    2) Nearly all clients will stop being a "seeder" once a predetermined share ratio is reached

    Considering a typical music album is FAR smaller than a game (probably 100-200MB at most, depending on bitrate for encoding, vs. multiple gigabytes for a game - FC4 is over 10GB I'd guess, I can't view TPB to check from my current location), "leechers" become "seeders" far faster, and "seeders" disconnect from the torrent due to hitting the share ratio cap of the client (kTorrent defaults to 1.30 for example) far faster.

  20. Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" on Texas Boy Suspended For "Threatening" Classmate With the One Ring · · Score: 1

    If you read the article, the kid already has a suspension on file for daring to bring http://www.amazon.com/The-Book... to school.

    Apparently because it had an illustration of a pregnant lady (I'm assuming, since it's a children's book, an appropriately clothed one...)

  21. Re:Coal kills people in different ways on Nuclear Safety Push To Be Softened After US Objections · · Score: 1

    "Nobody has EVER found that radioactive fly ash despite looking since the 1970s."

    http://www.world-nuclear-news....

    Nobody has EVER found what the Chinese are developing the capability to MINE?

  22. Re:*cough* bullshit *cough* on The "Cool Brick" Can Cool Off an Entire Room Using Nothing But Water · · Score: 2

    Possibilities I see are:
    1) The media itself is able to withstand many "purge cycles" using acid to dissolve the calcification. I've had good results with citric acid to remove humidifier scale - the problem is that at least with my humidifier, the acid also attacks the wick so eventually the wick falls apart. A plastic mesh wick might be able to withstand this abuse.
    2) The vastly increased surface area of this approach might significantly reduce the airflow needed, and especially reduce the backpressure encountered by any air circulation mechanism.

    That said, it's still just a glorified swamp cooler so it won't work in many areas. In most of the areas it WOULD work, water is a precious resource.

  23. Re:"Rogue"? on Microsoft To Invest In Rogue Android Startup Cyanogen · · Score: 1

    Yeah. That's why I said that Google did things right as far as I can tell with Keyboard. From talking to various people, the AOSP keyboard gains the nifty "Google" features if you add a few native libraries. So rather than clone-and-own with the original version being left to rot, there's a "plugin" architecture for the Google integration.

    If Google had done the same with the other apps that have been left to rot, I don't think you'd be seeing people as concerned about the future of AOSP. But when multiple components of AOSP appear to have been abandoned, and the quality control of GMS-free AOSP has clearly gone way downhill along with that, people start getting nervous.

    That said, Kirt McMaster's ranting about the "tyranny of Google" is going way overboard. The truth is, so far Cyngn has done no better than Google in this regard. First they attempted to obtain commercial dual-licensing rights to Focal forcefully using their CLA (fortunately, the CLA doesn't allow them to do that for a GPL app), then they responded to Google moving Gallery and Camera towards a closed-source approach by... Creating their own closed-source Gallery and Camera! Kirt (and the rest of cyngn leadership) are seriously delusional...

  24. Re:Does It Matter? on VirtualBox Development At a Standstill · · Score: 2

    The only thing I use Vbox for is to perform firmware updates of devices where the manufacturer decided to only allow updating from Windows

    Pretty much:
    DJI Phantom 2 Vision+
    Sony digital cameras

    As long as USB passthrough works I'm golden.

  25. Re:Competition is good on Microsoft To Invest In Rogue Android Startup Cyanogen · · Score: 1

    International or USA GS3?

    FYI, most of the maintainers for the International version (I9300) want to see Cyngn fail because the leadership screwed one of them (I avoid using the term "us" in this particular instance since while I did Exynos4 work, I never did I9300 work) royally with the Focal relicensing fiasco.

    Leadership did make us look like fools by marking N7000 and I9100 as "stable" to inflate the "stable" user counts for CM10.1 to make themselves look better to investors. (Prior to that, a device only got a "stable" build if the maintainers signed off on it, so if a device was mistakenly declared "stable" it was the maintainer who screwed up.)