That's because they use new switching regulators which bump up the frequency to a couple of kilohertz anyway and are pretty indifferent to input voltage as long as it isn't so high it physically fries the equipment. Transformers and AC motors need to be tuned to a specific frequency/voltage. cheap switching supplies are great, but rather limited. In general they can reduce the voltage and handle a few hundred watts. If you need a couple dozen kilovolts (like your old tv) or a few kilowatts of power (like your microwave) or have a strong AC motor (like your plug-in power drill) then transformers tuned to your specific frequency are needed.

certainly inexpensive switching supplies have been great for reducing the dependence on specific voltages and frequencies, but there are hundreds of millions (billions?) of microwaves, refrigerators, washing machines, power tools, electric razors, high power amplifiers, magnetic ballasts and whatnot out there.

And moving them to DC power isn't a good idea, there are big inefficiencies in power supplies, economical solid state high power ones especially so. a 1500 watt microwave with an unreasonably high 90% efficient power supply would still have to radiate 150watts(!!) from its power circuitry. A lot easier with a metal core transformer the weight of a brick than a silicon mosfet the size of a fingernail. (though, the CPU overclockers have some experience with that :))

That said, eastern japan is in a particularly odd spot, being 100V 50Hz. Matching neither US nor european standards.

Accessing the source code wouldn't be helpful, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOTP

What would be dangerous is if they stole the serial# secret initializer mapping, or the key to decode the mapping if it is algorithmic. Then you can reproduce any key with just its public serial #.

A 401k or IRA? You should have at least that much by your mid-thirties if you are on track to retire. And no one really notices when you take it out with the right forms until the IRS sends you a huge bill.

Nope, works perfectly on linux, android, and my google tv. Anything with flash.

There is a particularly relevant quote:

"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim."
      - Edsger Dijkstra

Watson is incredibly impressive. Natural language processing is an extremely complex task. like absurdly. It took 750 8 cpu systems and 16 terrabytes of RAM to implement watson and that was stretched to the limit.

A limited quantity is a very bad thing for a currency. The value is _supposed_ to drop over time. That is the entire reason it works as currency. The only point of currency is to encourage and enable trade. So you can trade your extra sheep for ducks without having to hunt down someone who needs sheep and has extra ducks and can make the exchange right now. In order to do that, currency needs to actually be used and traded. Currency that is under someones bed rather than in circulation is not doing its job. If currency increased in value over time, people would hoard it rather than use it.. Note that I am talking about actually hoarding the paper bills or treasury notes (or electronic tokens) not holding wealth in investments or a bank account. money stored in a bank account is being used, as are investments.

Think about it this way, if there were a finite amount of currency, and the world population doubled then everyone would have half as much money in general. Now, things would also end up costing half as much because it still takes the same amount of human effort to create the same goods, but there just isn't enough money to go around to keep everyones pay at the same numerical level it was before. However, this introduces a perverse incentive to hold onto money rather than using it since the buying power of money will double every time the population does, it will outperform many investments, so rather than starting a company, or lending the money to someone that can use it, people will hoard it. It will no longer fufill its function as a currency.

And, while your currency devalues over time, that doesn't mean your worth does. If they redefined the gallon to be smaller you wouldn't suddenly have more milk in your fridge. A dollar is a unit to measure wealth, not wealth in and of itself.

No they can't do a man in the middle attack. The authenticator app is completely offline, if you were able to link your WOW account to the authenticator, it wouldn't allow google too access your account any more than keeping your keys in the same pocket as your phone would allow them to get into your house.

And there is a standard protocol that keyfobs and most OTP systems use. http://www.openauthentication.org/specifications

It's a standard, you can use any app/device that supports it. or even roll your own. The HOTP algorithm is darn simple to implement.

http://www.openauthentication.org/specifications

Yup, I had an original IBM PC and one of the coolest things was the manual came with the complete schematics and source code of the BIOS in the manual. I even used them to track down and replace a chip on the board. I am sure that helped jumpstart the early PC clone market :).

_Make the trains and buses run past midnight_.
At least in many parts of Los Angeles this is an issue.

Even if they come every half hour or 45 minutes instead of every 10, it will be drastically better than having no option at all. I love taking public transport, but it is just too easy to become stranded when using them late at night. And there are a lot of areas of LA where cabs literally won't go at night, not even particularly dangerous ones, just places off the beaten path. Not that a cab is a good solution in general, what is a $1.25 train ride before midnight will easily turn into a ~$120 cab ride after midnight here.

Compared to the cost of installing breathalyzers in every car which is what MADD advocates, spending the money on better public transport, in particular, public transport that is available after last call seems like a much bigger win. (of course, it actually has the effect of only reducing drunk driving and not drinking in general, which MADD always had trouble deciding between as their main goal. The temperance faction seems to be actively fighting the lets stop drunk driving faction when it comes to policy decisions it seems)

Obligatory Simpsons Quote:

Homer to Apu: "Morning, Apu. Still in hot water with the squaw?"

wrong on multiple levels...
 

For instance, have you ever played online poker, even somewhere that it was legal?

If you happen to be driving through Oregon then "Possession of gambling records" showing 5 bets totalling over $500 is a Class C felony. Better be sure to purge those confirmation emails!

Do you live in a state with lax laws about ordering prescription drugs overseas? better not happen to have the money transfer go through while you are in another state.

Have you ever used a random open wifi network? You phone probably remembered the MAC and that can be considered criminal.

Ever help a friend move for cash? is it mentioned in a text? did you report it to the IRS?
 

The study is meaningless without more data. You can't derive the correlation between pot and fatal accidents with only the percentage of people involved in fatal accidents that were high. You would need to know how many people at a given time are high in general. As in, if one out of every ten person smoked (10%), then this study actually shows that smoking decreases your chance of a fatal accident. Without that data, we can't know what effect it is actually portraying.

I am not saying there is or isn't a correlation, but I just hate studies that make unfounded conclusions via bad logic. Bad logic in general actually.

for reference, here is a job listing for people needed at McMurdo station in Antarctica, which probably has the most similar needs to a mars colony as anywhere on earth. Mechanics, medical personal, a dentist, physical therapist, sysadmins. Of course, they probably call the "squegee the radio dish" guy a "communications technician" for the purposes of recruiting.

http://www.rayjobs.com/index.cfm?navID=119

Casinos don't care about counting cards nowadays. Look in the gift shop of casinos in vegas, they sell booklets and "cheat sheets" on how to count cards right there at the counter with standard (not subtly flawed or anything) techniques. I think they realized that a lot more people _think_ they can count cards effectively than actually are effective at it so it is a net win. People bet more, not realizing the multi-deck combined with lots of booze pretty much ruins their chance at counting cards to their advantage.