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Comment Irony (Score 1) 336

I left Detroit for San Diego around 1985. I wrote software for various auto-related stuff (CNC, gauging, factory automation, SQC, Variation Analysis...) when I was there, and the experience was invaluable.

The irony is that the percentage of tech works now is likely many times what it was when I was there. The job loss has been in blue-collor factory jobs, support jobs for the closed factories, service and retail to support all those workers, etc. etc. etc.

Yea, my old high school (Cass Tech) got gutted by a scrapper fire. (They built a new school, and the old one was to be turned into Condos...)

Comment If the NSA were actually about National Security.. (Score 2) 134

If the "primary directive" of the NSA were actually National Security (rather than spying) what they should do would be obvious.

In the interest of national security, should the NSA discover such an exploit, they should quietly work with public and private organizations to get as much of the infrastructure fixed before the exploit becomes generally known.

Instead, though, what we have is that the NSA has likely had free access. Along with the rest of the world's spy agencies. And hackers and crime networks. That doesn't foster national security, IMO.

Comment Ewwwww.... (Score -1, Troll) 62

.... the grunge that is going to collect between the modules!

It's really about the stupidest idea I've seen from Google.

Every pluggable/removable part multiplies the opportunity for failure. It's why so many consumer devices now have embedded non-user-removable batteries. (No, *not* to rip-off consumers when they have to pay for service to have the battery replaced. Most of these devices are discarded or removed from service before the battery might need replacement.)

Comment We are becoming Third World (Score 3, Informative) 66

Great. Now we have a bunch of under-insured, illegal jitney drivers, just like any third-world nation...

Read the tales of woe of Uber-X drivers who have lost their personal insurance. Yes, riders and the other driver in an accident are covered by Uber-X, up to an inadequate $100,000.

California Livery law requires $1,000,000 insurance, though, and specific licensing to drive passengers for hire.

These drivers typically have neither of these, though. And personal policies generally specifically exclude driving for hire. So, driver gets in an accident, Uber pays, and driver is now out of a job (or side job) and is uninsurable.

Comment 1980 called... (Score 1) 314

I worked on this:

http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/...

It was a hacked GM X-car with batteries in what was the transmission tunnel, and most of the rest of the underside of the car. And, in fact, it had a full under-pan.

I don't recall it being touted as a safety feature, but instead, it was there to help reduce wind resistance.

I think the major hazard was the potential for chlorine leaks. It leaked on The Today Show. "Oh, that? It's just chlorine, just like in your swimming pool..."

Tell that to the Madison Height, Mi. fire department! (We had them out a few times...)

Comment Two monopolies (Score 1) 125

I avoid Luxottica eyewear, because they have monopolized the industry and hurt small producers. They are on a constant buying binge to buy-up any producer that might gain some traction in showrooms, and make monopolistic demands on retailers.

They make (IMO) poor-quality eyewear at inflated prices. Most of the "designer" labels they make agreements with seem to be OK with this. BTW, you should be able to get any Luxottica products on line for at least half off of retail, because the prices are so inflated. You can get actual quality eyewear for the same price.

Retailers and professionals hate them, but have no choice.

Good one, Google. You really showed us how you do no evil.

Comment Beta testing! (Score 1) 235

Ah, it appears Harris is doing beta testing, and handing these out to police departments to test. So, they don't want the cops blabbing to their competitors.

1. Does Harris have the proper permissions to do this in the wild like this?

2. It'd be an interesting question whether a civil contract like this can trump disclosure requirements. Seems to me there's no way the cops can make use of the results of testing. Maybe they can test, but if they act on it, they have to violate either the NDA or the law.

Comment Legality? (Score 1) 235

Are these devices even legal? What country?

I know know that FCC regulations in the U.S. are regularly flouted by the use of similar "range booster" devices that you can get at Fry's, etc. but they are illegally imported and sold.

I'd imagine there are exceptions for law enforcement, but I'd also imagine that the law enforcement agency has to at least do some sort of registration with the FCC.

I'm guessing that the manufacturer just doesn't want to get in trouble with the FCC...

Comment Re:Huh? (Score 1) 137

- "I don't understand. How is Google supposed to fix every wrong map listing?"

By relying primarily on official and/or reliable sources.

- Business licenses
- Property tax rolls
- yellow pages listings

Yea, I get it. Google wants to make things more up-to-date by crowd-sourcing data. But you can't trust the "crowd". They need to make sure that new/changed listings are confirmed by multiple independent reports. And it would't hurt to at least glance at Street View to confirm...

"Here comes the Google van! Quick, put up the "FBI" sign!"

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