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Comment Stupid scenario (Score 1) 154

FTFA: "Stocco said years from now the technology could be used, for example, by someone on the ground to help a flight attendant or passenger land an airplane if the pilot becomes incapacitated."

Or, you know, use fly-by-wire. A normal computer-to-computer interface is sufficient here, and already exists and is in widespread use.

Comment Re:ah, HDMI (Score 1) 399

>Enlighten me. What is the right way?
This is HDMI, the thing that connects the box that renders a picture to the display. By this point, any closed captioning will already be put into the picture as it will be displayed. VGA doesn't have a text channel, why should HDMI?

Comment Re:Down (Score 1) 1027

Not being able to use Hulu when my connection is down IS annoying, but quite understandable. Having a single-player game that I bought on a disc and installed to my hard disk, which have ZERO online component, not work when I'm offline is also annoying. But it isn't so understandable and therefore more annoying.

It's like finding out your TV doesn't work during a power outage, vs. finding out your board games don't work when the power's out.

Comment Re:So security through wishful thinking is better? (Score 1) 342

With closed source software, you're at the mercy of the manufacturer when it comes to even getting an acknowledgment of security issues, let alone receiving fixes in a timely fashion or before damage is already done.

This argument endlessly amuses me. Do you really think the exact same thing is not true of OSS-based browsers such as Firefox and Chrome?

Hint #1: If you have not personally evaluated the source code of the browser you are using, nor employed a skilled specialist to do so for you, then you are just as dependent on other parties over whom you have no direct control to identify and patch security issues before the bad guys exploit them. The theoretical possibility that you can examine the source code is just security theatre unless you actually spend the time and resources to do it.

Very true. However, I tend to have more faith in a large community of security-conscious geeks than I do in the Ballmer Bunch.

Comment Re:*cough* HIPAA (Score 1) 553

it just adds inconvenience when I want to do simple things like having a family member pick up one of my prescriptions ("Oh my god! We could never allow that, even if we had written authorization on file! Think of your privacy!").

That's DEFINITELY store policy rather than regulation. The Rite-Aid stores near Boston allow family members to pick up prescriptions.

Comment Re:make users adapt to hardware (Score 1) 287

No, he's saying it reduces the chance your finger will overlap 2 keys, which is true. By adding triangular dead space between keys (and by staggering the rows of keys), the design does this. However, as far as software is concerned (on most devices), your finger IS an single pixel, placed at the point where the touchscreen thinks the pressure is greatest.

Now, considering that the error in one's ability to aim tends to be circular (it's equally easy to miss by 1cm in any direction), these keys ought to be round and staggered.

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