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  1. Re:It seems clear to me why on Why Won't T-Mobile Let Us Binge On All Of It? · · Score: 1

    Except T-Mobile doesn't charge for this. They just provide a (human and machine) protocol by which content providers can opt in to what amounts to dynamic traffic control. What it is is giving the consumer an incentive (not counting toward caps) for conserving a limited resource (T-Mobile radio spectrum.)

    Now, if T-Mobile *were* charging content providers for this service it would be a very, very different matter.

  2. This is fine... on Why Won't T-Mobile Let Us Binge On All Of It? · · Score: 1

    What they are targeting, without kickbacks or other backroom deals, is a service by which users on mobile devices get a downgraded version of a particular service which most likely accounts for 80% or more of their traffic. As long as any provider can opt in without T-Mobile charging them anything more than a reasonable one-time administrative fee I don't see any problem.

    I, as a T-Mobile customer, have the ability to opt out which is critical. If I lived somewhere where I could only get slow DSL or no wired Internet at all I might want to be able to stream via the mobile network onto a large screen. Then I pay for the privilege, and that is okay, but as of right now I have Binge On enabled because I don't need high resolution video on my 6" cell phone screen.

    Also, consider the number of people who pull up Youtube videos just to listen to music...

  3. Re:Ze drem vil finali kum tru on Ask Slashdot: What Would a Constructed Language Have To Be To Replace English? · · Score: 1

    A number of languages have successfully enacted spelling reforms, so this is nowhere as ridiculous as they make it sound. However, the vast spread of English makes it harder.

  4. Re:D6? on Generate Memorizable Passphrases That Even the NSA Can't Guess · · Score: 1

    With D20s you'd only need three rolls per word (20^3 = 8000).

  5. And in other news... on ARIN Is Down To the Last /8 of IPv4 Addresses · · Score: 1

    A large number of companies from all over the world set up shell companies in Africa.

  6. Re:To Clarify on Tesla Model S Has Hidden Ethernet Port, User Runs Firefox On the 17" Screen · · Score: 1

    10Base-T and 100Base-TX can optionally have "Auto MDI/MDI-X" widely known as auto-crossover. Because GigE doesn't make the distinction between MDI and MDI-X, it is not applicable, although most if not all gigE hardware has mismatched pair detection just in case someone plugs in a crossover cable.

  7. Are they going to tap phones, too? on Bell Canada To Collect User Data For Advertising · · Score: 1

    "In other news, Bell Canada has started tapping phone lines to improve advertising..."

  8. A sign of the times on Swiss War Game Envisages Invasion By Bankrupt French · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is a good sign of the times how far things have advanced that a country in Western Europe cannot come up with any military exercise scenario which can be considered credible. This hasn't exactly been the norm, to put it mildly. At this point in time, the risk of a war in Europe is largely confined to the Balkans, and even there is looking increasingly unlikely that we'll have a full-scale return to fighting.

  9. From the NEWS file... on GNU Hurd 0.5, GNU Mach 1.4, GNU MIG 1.4 Released · · Score: 1

    IPv6 support in pfinet, based on Linux 2.2.14.

  10. Faith and Republicanism... on Why Are Some Hell-Bent On Teaching Intelligent Design? · · Score: 0

    If people start believing in evolution, they might start believing in global warming and in the failure of trickle-down economics, too...

  11. Re:Linus is just a mean old asshole... on Kernel Dev Tells Linus Torvalds To Stop Using Abusive Language · · Score: 5, Informative

    From one of the more recent things he engaged his primary flame-cannon over, the person he aimed it at did screw up pretty badly and for no apparent reason (I mean, seriously, submitting code that you don't know if it works and you admit is probably not necessary? Don't do that).

    So no, I don't think he's a dick for the sake of being a dick - he's a dick because people shouldn't be submitting things that are broken and that kind of person deserves to be told off.

    As the main target for said outburst, it was definitely an epic f*ckup on my part. When I got the email, I pretty much chuckled and then said I need to do some damage control. I was not in any way offended. Linus later said:

    For example, my latest cursing explosion was for the x86 maintainers, and it comes from the fact that I *know* they know to do better. The x86 tip pulls have generally been through way more testing than most other pulls I get (not just compiling, but even booting randconfigs etc). So when an x86 pull request comes in that clearly missed that expected level of quality, I go to town.

    That is part of why I don't get offended when Linus curses at me.

  12. Re:Why not build a new Gen3 plant at the site? on Decommissioning San Onofre Nuclear Plant May Take Decades · · Score: 1

    Why not build a new Gen3 plant at the same site? Because we now know the site is seismically unsuitable. Otherwise it would have been a good idea.

  13. Re:Performance per Watt on Intel Haswell CPUs Debut, Put To the Test · · Score: 2

    I do kernel hacking on airplanes. 'nuff said.

  14. SELinux on the host on Ask Slashdot: Safe Learning Environment For VMs? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Make sure you have SELinux enabled (and enforcing!) on the VM host, and keep the VMM software updated... there sometimes are security holes in VMM software which can be exploited. SELinux can help contain a breached VMM.

  15. Re:Sheesh on FBI Considers CALEA II: Mandatory Wiretapping On Every Device · · Score: 2

    It turns out the frequencies used in the US for certain types of cordless phones are used, in Switzerland, by the Swiss military

    I guess it was a Swiss Army phone?

  16. Travelling in the flesh... on Why We'll Never Meet Aliens · · Score: 1

    I have seen a lot of bits about why interstellar travel may never be practical. All of them seem to assume not only travel in the flesh, but round-trip travel. Realistically, by the time we can build something that can travel to the stars, it seems quite likely that we also can download conciousness into a robot. Send a robotic (one-way) mission to build bodies and transmission equipment, then have the real travellers download themselves, or copies of themselves, via radio. No need for life support or suffer through the boredom of even relativistic travel.

  17. Re:in joules. please on Scientists May Have Detected Neutrinos From Another Galaxy · · Score: 1

    1 PeV is approximately 160 microjoule.

  18. Re:To be fair... on Internet Sales Tax Vote This Week In US Senate · · Score: 1

    Use taxes are definitely enforced for big-ticket items where use can be established, such as automobiles or airplanes.

  19. Poorer countries on ITU Aims At 20Mbps Broadband For All By 2020 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    20 Mbps for $20? Easier said than done in the United States of Monopolies.

  20. Re:Nope. on The Pirate Bay Claims It Is Now Hosting From North Korea · · Score: 1

    KH is Cambodia, not North Korea (KP).

  21. Re:upside down keypads? on John E. Karlin, Who Led the Way To All-Digit Dialing, Dies At 94 · · Score: 2

    The fail was that the analysis was done in a time when calculating machines were a speciality item few people were familiar with. 15 years later, they were not. It is worth nothing that some countries went with the AT&T scheme and others stayed with the 7-8-9 layout on their phones. Unfortunately the proliferation of letters on keypads (a lot of countries did not have them) in recent years have made 1-2-3 more prevalent.

  22. Re:How about the US-Canadian/US-Mexico border? on DHS Can Seize Your Electronics Within 100 Mi.of US Border, Says DHS · · Score: 1

    Given that the standard definition of space (the Kármán Line) is 100 km above mean sea level, *everyone* lives within 100 miles (160 km) of space...

  23. Not a new concept on Moving the Linux Kernel Console To User-Space · · Score: 1

    The feature set of the Linux VT console has been intentionally limited from nearly the start, and the line has always been: if you need more than this, do it in userspace. There has been several projects which have, for example kon2 which provided CJK functionality -- not something that one can sanely do in the kernel because of font size; similarly, Arabic/Indic font shaping is just plain too painful. For most people, the solution has simply been to bootstrap out of the console as quickly as possible, most of the time never even showing the console. What you find pretty quickly is that if you want something that is fully featured you end up with something that is as complex as X or Wayland anyway, and then you might as well go straight there. The in-kernel console will remain, of course, as an ultimate fallback. If someone wants to give users more options, more power to them.

  24. Not just Turing... on New Call For Turing Pardon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... but everyone ever convicted under this barbaric law should have their convictions expunged. Keep in mind there are probably some that are still alive, which makes it even more important.

  25. Re:The Alleged Decoded Message on WW2 Pigeon Code Decrypted By Canadian? · · Score: 2

    It seems a bit odd that the groups would be exactly five characters long *except* PABLIZ (which looks more like PABUZ to me.) At the same time, the repetition of the group AOAKN would be consistent with the message *not* being encrypted with a one-time pad.