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Comment Re:Cities are just legalized mobsters (Score 1) 111

In any case, I'm guessing that the problem is that the fees were tied to TV service - and now that lots of people are using the same cables for internet-only service, the revenue stream is drying up. If so, cities should be tying their access fees to the cables, not the service. Then again, maybe they're just getting greedy and trying to get extra revenues from streaming services - on top of the street access for the physical networks...

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, they can't.
The FCC ruled in 2018 that local franchise authority's have no authority over non-video (i.e. Internet) services. That would seem to include the authority to impose franchise fees.
About the rule

Comment Re: Wait, what? (Score 1) 51

by Passman (#59827188) Attached to: AT&T Suspends Broadband Data Caps During Coronavirus Crisis

Sorry AC, but the courts agree with Graham.
EBay vs. Newmark.

And even though the Supreme's may have adjusted that recently, but Maximizing Shareholder Value was the law of the land for decades. Even if it no longer enforced by the courts, there are generations of corporate executives that just except MSV as gospel.

Comment Re:60 k for a secure tight app not feasible (Score 1) 269

by Passman (#59693168) Attached to: How a Bad App Plunged Iowa Into Chaos

I do not know the validity of the 60k claim for the app but it seems outrageously low. If this was done with profit in mind probably 15-20k would be an average margin. That leaves 40-45k on the table for the actual development of the app. Taking out operational and administrative costs that leaves around 25-30k on the table for the actual team for two months.

It doesn't sound like that's what happened. So far Iowa has admitted to spending $60,000 on this app and Nevada paid $58,000 to Shadow, Inc. last year, for apparently the same or a similar app. We don't know, yet, how many other states with caucuses also paid this company for their "work". Also, this company has been in business for about a year and appears to have some pretty impressive outside funding. So your $60k budget may be off by an order of magnitude or more.

Link between Nevada and Shadow.

Investors rush to distance themselves from Shadow, Inc

Comment Re:Give it up (Score 1) 66

by Passman (#59671678) Attached to: SpaceX Launches 60 New Starlink Satellites, Sticks Rocket Landing At Sea

I almost wonder if you couldn't piggy-back on this network to get the images back down.

For far less than the cost of Webb astronomers could do what SpaceX is doing right now. Launch a giant pile of small telescopes, and make a network out of them.

Why not do both?
If someone could figure out a telescope "module" that could be mounted on the back (outward facing) side of the StarLink satellites, you could probably get them launched by Musk himself for free.

Comment Re:Don't be so fast to blame Grubhub (Score 1) 179

by Passman (#59661574) Attached to: Seamless, Grubhub Deliver Confusion With Mistaken Restaurant Listings

From TFA:

The company recently started adding other restaurants to its sites without such a partnership, when it finds restaurants that are in high demand, it said. In those cases, someone from the company orders the food ahead or at the restaurant, and a driver is sent to pick it up, it added.

So yes, it was Grubhub who did it.

Right. But the posters above were saying this was a "fake" listing. This may be a completely different but legitimate restaurant with a similar name. As the article said, they don't serve the same kind of food. If you want to take advantage of brand confusion and steal their business, then what's the point in serving completely different things than what the ripped off place is known for?

People here are reaching hard for nefarious intent in the face of other more plausible explanations.

I can sort of understand not reading TFA. But the /. summary even said
The delivery sites listed her restaurant and its address with a menu that she does not serve...

Submission + - Protein Source Made From Air (huffpost.com)

Submitted by SysEngineer
SysEngineer writes: A new protein made from air, water and renewable electricity could revolutionize our food system within the next decade.
Developed by the Finnish company Solar Foods in a lab just outside Helsinki, the protein called Solein is made using living microbes that are then grown in a fermenter in a process similar to brewing beer. The microbes are fed with carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen all taken from the air.
This fermentation process, which takes place in huge vats, produces a liquid that is removed and dried to give the final product a yellow flour-like powder with multiple food uses.

Submission + - Maximizing shareholder value can no longer be a company's main purpose (cnbc.com)

Submitted by gollum123
gollum123 writes: Shareholder value is no longer the main focus of some of America’s top business leaders. The Business Roundtable, a group of chief executive officers from major U.S. corporations, issued a statement Monday with a new definition of the “purpose of a corporation.” The reimagined idea of a corporation drops the age-old notion that corporations function first and foremost to serve their shareholders and maximize profits. Rather, investing in employees, delivering value to customers, dealing ethically with suppliers and supporting outside communities are now at the forefront of American business goals, according to the statement. Along with Dimon, the statement received signatures from chiefs including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, Dennis A. Muilenburg of Boeing and GM’s Mary Barra.

Comment Re:Liability? (Score 1) 116

by Passman (#56432729) Attached to: Some Android Device Makers Are Lying About Security Patch Updates

If a phone that falsely indicated patches were installed were taken over by malware because of the lack of patches, would that phone manufacturer be liable because of the lies?

That depends.
If they released an update with notes that said "This patch is for exploits X, Y & Z" and then you got infected via Y, you would probably have a case.

If they did the Microsoft thing and the notes just said "This patch fixes a number of issues that could affect your phone." Well then, you're out of luck.

Comment Re:And? (Score 1) 205

by Passman (#56221633) Attached to: FBI Paid Geek Squad Repair Staff As Informants

Easy. Mens rea does not apply to possession of child pornography. Simply possessing it is a crime, whether you knew about it or not, whether someone planted the evidence or not. If the technician will testify that he found it on the computer owned by the defendant, then that person is going to jail for a long time and will be a sex offender for life even if that child pornography was not on his computer until he handed it to Geek Squad.

This is what you get when Congress passes "think of the children" laws. Who is going to complain about tightening the screws on people who have child porn? Nobody - even if there is collateral legal damage.

And how in the FUCK do you define this scenario as "easy" for the accused? If simply possessing child porn is a crime, then it is EASY to plant shit like that on someone's computer and fuck their life over. Even trying to prove your innocence would be VERY costly.

Idiot.

Considering this, I'm actually rather surprised that some purveyor or consumer of kiddie porn hasn't preemptively hired a bot net or two already to spread kiddie porn far and wide.

Submission + - Emotion recognition systems may be used in job interviews (techtarget.com)

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes: Emotion recognition software identifies micro-expressions through video analysis. These are expressions that may be as fast as 1/25 of a second and invisible to the human eye, but a close analysis of video can detect them. These systems are being used in marketing research, but some employers may be interested in using them to assess job candidates. Vendors claim these systems can be used to develop a personality profile and discover a good cultural fit. The technology raises concerns, illustrated earlier this year who showed that face-reading technology could use photographs to determine sexual orientation with a high degree of accuracy.

Comment Own, sorta (Score 1) 221

by Passman (#55650063) Attached to: Do you own Bitcoin?
Yes, if by own you mean currently residing on a hard drive that crashed several years back. I'm patiently waiting for the market to hit a price point where it's economically feasible to send it to one of the data recovery companies.

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