> The aircraft used to knock down flames and survey burn areas have to cease operations when there is a drone in the air.

Or, just shoot the drone down. You probably wouldn't even need firearms -- maybe some kind of EMP pulse and let the drone fall into the fire. Or a non-lethal shotgun round designed to take out propellers. (Say, a big tangle if nylon fishing line.)

The thing is, as a drone pilot, if I see a fire, the last thing I want to do is get in the way of firefighters and/or emergency services. That's inexcusable. But to the extent it doesn't interfere, I'd sure love to get some footage. It might even be useful later. I wonder if there's some kind of compromise. Like, drones can scout out the situation until aircraft are deployed, and then must leave the area or risk destruction and/or heavy fines.

Yesterday, as it happens.

Mice with friggin lasers on... their... heads...

Oh, never mind.

(I wanted sharks....)

My interactions tend to be shorter.

"Hello. I am from The Microsoft and we have noticed that your computer is infested with the viruses."

"Hello. Does your mother know that you steal money from people for a living? How does she feel about that?"

(click.)

I like it too. There's something satisfying about preserving monotonically increasing time.

My concern with allowing a second to happen twice is that time-scheduled events that just happen to coincide with that second might execute twice. Depending on the circumstances, the results could vary from unnoticeable to completely bizarre and damaging.

> would you be willing to sacrifice some performance (and pay a significant premium) for a phone that's repairable, moddable, and ethical?

To a certain extent, yes. I tend to buy more than I really need and then keep it until it doesn't work anymore. I have the special tools necessary to take apart phones that don't have user replaceable batteries, because I have a fundamental issue with tossing an otherwise functional phone just because the battery won't take a charge anymore. (You can usually find step by step instructions online, and most cell batteries are available on amazon.) Similarly, screens are not that difficult to replace. I chafe at this "disposable" mindset perpetuated by manufacturer "incremental improvement" release cycles and aided by carriers hiding the true cost of the phone in the monthly fee.

All that said, for a repairable, moddable, ethical phone, I won't pay thousands of dollars, and I won't put up with 2004 level performance. For instance. So the question becomes, what is a balance that works? Second question might be, why would I have to sacrifice performance if I'm already resigned to paying a premium?

....because Feinstein doesn't think much past the title of the bill.

.... to "simple" drones, that don't have altitude sensors or gps? Both of my daughter's drones have simple leveling sensors and that's pretty much it. Would unsophisticated drones be illegal by this bill?

> From helping with education and job hunting, to allowing for home working,

....catching up on soaps, binge-watching Breaking Bad... ...lightning-fast pr0n...

Specifically for error messages, put double quotes around the string for more accurate results. Adjust to avoid including local information. Example: (a made up) error message "An application on your machine rudolph process number 28433 for user barbie_doll has caused an inexcusable memory management error." would be searched as:

"An application on your machine" "process number" "for user" "has caused an inexcusable memory management error".

As someone else said, if it's a linux machine, make the first word "linux". Or the flavor of linux, or if windows, include that and the version, or if appropriate the name of the application.

"Windows 2008" IIS "401 unauthorized" "access list"

I used to do tech support as a business. I still do tech support for friends and family and a few legacy customers. I've asked all of them to let me know if they get any cold calls regarding PC support, and to not do anything to their equipment unless they've talked to me first. (This being easier for some people to understand than the concept that *all* cold tech support calls are bogus. No, really, "The Microsoft" does not call you when your computer is "infested with the viruses", and there are no tech support people who are "from The Internet".) From my admittedly small sampling of 20-30 people, I have noticed a tendency for fake support calls to specifically target people over 55. This has been such a positive match that it's made me wonder if maybe AARP had their membership list scooped. (Or maybe Denny's?)

What do you do for cell phone robocalls?

I think I heard from this guy. I got an email the other day that started "Greetings and blessings to you. I am the right honorable Alfred Depiero, attorney at law for the honorable Mark Shuttleworth. You seem being a person of good moral standing, and such we need your help to move R250m out the country of South Africa. Your fee for performing such service will be $US 5M American dollars payable directly to you." All they wanted was my banking information.

John Hammond: All major theme parks have delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked!

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but, John, if The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists.

Give it time....