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User: MisterBlue

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  1. It's the reason why taxi licenses happened on The Fiercest Rivalry In Tech: Uber vs. Lyft · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is why taxi licenses were created originally: there were taxi wars. People were getting shot for picking someone up in someone else's 'turf'. Taxi companies fought over turf and drivers and with guns and billy clubs. Add to that a few passengers getting cheated and robbed and eventually a city would step in and bring it under control with licensing and regulations. That the licenses eventually became a valuable item and an industry in themselves is a different story.

    Uber and Lyft are re-doing what the original drive-for-hire people did that got them regulated in the first place.

  2. Re:Times have changed on NSA Infiltrated RSA Deeper Than Imagined · · Score: 2

    I think this is the basis of Snowden's disagreement with the NSA -- the NSA could have taken a defensive mode and worked to make the country and its people more secure but it instead took an offensive mode and made crypto-weaker and found software bugs and used them to break in rather than working to have them fixed. The long term effect if this choice is a less secure country and a country with a shit reputation.

  3. Re:Not surprising on Highway Safety Agency Silences Engineers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Should government run differently than business? That is a fundamental question. The current trend is to hire CEOs into government (current pres and VP as examples) and they expect to run the government like they run businesses -- direction and commands from the top, no two other branches to get in the way and a marketing department to present and manage the information that goes in and out.

    This restriction is just what a department head would do in a business.

    The general discourse should be on how we want our government to be different than just a business. There are different goals, interests and reasons for existence. Structurally and procedurally they should be very different.

  4. Re:Pot? Kettle? on Gamers Divorced From Reality? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is ironic for someone on television to be accusing computer people of being divorced from reality.

    This exact same complaint has been made about people who watch television -- people separated from their community and life by sitting in front of the tube.

    These days, though, our tube has a network connection out the back.

  5. Re:Typical Response without knowing the facts on RFID-Reading Passport Scanners Installed · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Most of the the comments in this forum are uninformed...

    The passport case already has protection so the RFID cannot be read when the passport is closed. No need for tin-foil cases. (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/70433.htm)

    The contents of the RFID is your identifying information signed by a government key. The encryption has already been broken, but until the signing keys are compromised, new contents cannot be put into the RFID (refer to the many docuements on hashing and signing technologies).

    There has been a lot of complaining about the RFID and after all the hearings, things were done to make the implementation better. My complaint is why they chose RFID -- if you have to open the passport, wouldn't an optical reader do just as well?

  6. Re:Schneier says "rewew NOW" on RFID-Reading Passport Scanners Installed · · Score: 1

    My whole family just renewed passports and the new passports we received in the mail last week were "electronic passports".

    It's too late.

  7. Re:Before the consensus ... on String Theory a Disaster for Physics? · · Score: 1

    There is a reason why Nobel didn't think there should be a prize in mathematics -- it's just a tool until it does something useful.

  8. Re:I 3 VIM on Vim 7 Released · · Score: 1

    I am a big fan of Eclipse for development but couldn't live without vi for editting (always grabbing for the mouse is a total drag).

    Then I found Michael Barti's vi plugin for Eclipse (http://www.satokar.com/viplugin/). Now I can use most of the basic vi commands for editting while also getting the power of the language plugins in Eclipse.

  9. Re:DRM in the 1900s on 5000 Cylinder Recordings Placed Online · · Score: 1

    Actually, Edison was a big enforcer of copyrights and patents -- it is said that Hollywood started in California because people hated paying the Edison license fees for movie equipment. The cases for the Edison audio cylinders have great enforcement verbage.

    2198
    Love Has Done Wonders for Me (Alfred Soloman)
    Contralto and Tenor
    Helen Clark and Emory B. Randolph
    Edison Blue Amberol Record
    Patented in he United States, July 12, 1910. Other patents pending.
    Notice: no license whatever is granted to use this patented record for making duplicates nor for any other purpose except the reproduction of sound upon and Edison phonograph by means of an Edison reproducer. Edison records are supplied by us to jobbers and dealers who are our licensees under written license agreements. All jobbers license agreements provide that they shall not sell or supply this patented record for less than 50 cents in the United States. No license is granted to the public to use this patented record except upon payment of the above specified amount to a licensed dealer. Until such payment has been made, no license is granted for the use of this patented record except by licensed jobbers and dealers for the purposes of demonstration. Nor for its sale at a less price except that licensed jobbers my give authorized discounts to licensed dealers. Nor for any dealings by persons not holding our written license. Any violation thereof or of the license agreement of our licencees is an infringement of our patent rights for which every person therein is liable.

    Edison was not alone. One sleeve I have for a Columbia Gold Molded Indistructable Cylinder Record reads:

    The Columbia Phonograph Company, Gen'l sells this record upon the express condition that it will not be sole to any unathorized dealer, nor used in making duplicates, and that it shall not be sold or offered for sale by any purchaser thereof for less than 35 cents (except by an authorized jobber to and authorized dealer.) Any breach of this condition terminates the licence to use and vend this record implied from the sale thereof.
  10. corrupting Google searches on 100,000 Domains Sold for $164 Million · · Score: 1

    This made a light go off for me -- the other day I did a Google search and the first several pages of results were to 'regular' domain names but they all want to an ad site.

    I think the other use for collecting expired domain names is to fill Google with ad links.

  11. Re:Can't overturn the decision on Sen. Hatch to Introduce Wide-ranging Copyright Bill · · Score: 1

    But congress is trying to fix the 'oversight' with HR3820, the "Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act of 2004" which would grant Congress the right to overturn the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court "to the extent that [they concern] the constitutionality of an Act of Congress." A two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress would be required to overturn such a decision; this is the same condition applied to overturning a Presidential veto of legislation. The bill is currently in committee.

  12. Re:Compare the costs to those in cafes on NYT: Making Free Wireless Wi-Fi Internet Pay · · Score: 1

    More people should be mentioning the price. Here in the US, commercial wireless access is 10+ dollars to get any access. That is way above my threshold if I just need to check my email in a coffee shop, airport, or whereever.

    If the providers would reduce the price to just a few dollars for an hour of access, they'd get piles of customers.

  13. Re:Interview with Patrick Michaels this morning. on Pentagon Climate Change Author Interviewed · · Score: 1

    But that does not preclude that this is part of a long term cycle: fresh water stops the "conveyer belt" and England, Greenland, Sibera freeze and grow glaciers; freezing fresh water stops flowing and the belt starts again; warming up north starts melting accumulated ice sending fresh water south; belt stops again; repeat. Could take hundreds of years. Ice ages come and go.

  14. love the size, hate the ... on Sony Vaio C1MW PictureBook Review · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This notebook has been out for over a year and I've been looking at it and looking at it thinking that maybe it's size, weight and portability we make it ideal. But then, I notice it's price, I notice it's processor, I notice that no updated models have ever been made (is it an orphan?) and I walk away and wait for something better.

    I think there is a place for laptops of this form factor but only Sony seems to make one. And the one they make is expensive and not part of their main product line. Is something wrong since no one else is making laptops like this?

  15. Re:AUDIOTRON ROCKS!!!! on Component MP3/OGG Players? · · Score: 1

    As another happy Audiotron user, I will also point out that it is not only controllable from it's ethernet connection (both web interface and a programatic interface) but it has an IR remote. It's a nice device that integrates well into an audio rack.

    Sadly, no ogg yet -- they too are wrestling with the shoe horning of ogg into an ARM processor.

  16. Re:I just did this on Wiring A New House? · · Score: 1

    A few years ago I crawled through attics and basements and ran multiple CAT5s to various rooms. One thing I learned was: hubs are good.
    That is, if I had to do it over again, I'd run two CAT5 to a drop and if more things need to be plugged in, add a hub. Two CAT5's -- one for phone, one for network.

  17. Training the readers to be filterers on The Hypermedia Hazard · · Score: 1

    Having been brought up on USENET news, I learned a long time ago to sift through many voices and opinions on any topic, watch a concensus form and build by own opinion for all that was said.
    I see the world learning to do the same thing -- hear all the voices and drawing their own conclusions.
    I don't see a need for more centralized control of the media or any self moderation on their part. I don't need a parent deciding what us children need to hear. We are learning to live in the firehose of information and, yes it's hard and yes it's uncomfortable, but we will be better for it. I want to hear the pros and cons so I can decide instead of having someone else edit and decide for me.