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Comment In other words (Score 1) 98

"Representative Lamar Smith (R - TX), chairman at the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, got involved today, expressing grave concern over the incident in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. NIST is part of the Commerce Department. 'I am troubled by the allegations that such dangerous and illicit activity went undetected at a federal research facility. It is essential that we determine exactly where the breakdown in protocol occurred and whether similar activities could be ongoing at other federal facilities,' wrote Smith in an accompanying press release. He has requested a briefing with NIST no later than 29 July."

Meaning: 'I want all this privatized and sold to my asshole buddies for pennies on the dollar.'

Comment Long term goal (Score 2) 157

I think the goal of governments both authoritarian and democratic (but I repeat myself) is to set the wheels in motion (pun intended) to remove even the option of quasi-anonymous large-scale movements of their citizens; a mobile Panopticon, if you will.

When I think of autos, I frequently think of the folks in the Great Depression that drove out of the Dust Bowl and headed to California to start a new life. I suspect more than a few of them left behind mortgages and land payments in their wake. Starting from scratch somewhere else will never be allowed again by the Powers that Be.

A variation of the speech from Inherit the Wind: "You sir, will be allowed your self-driving car, but before you leave town for good, it will drive you to the bank to make sure your financial affairs are in order."

Comment EMP (Score 2) 49

Is there seriously no EMP-style weapons for these increasingly hostile machines? As in the case of them interfering with fire-fighting planes resulting in the insane scene on Highway 15 in Nevada over the weekend, I've have less and less regard for the dronebros who place their footage above others lives. A nice, devastating EMP burst (where you only have to get close) is what they so richly deserve.

Comment Re:It's a Good Idea.... somewhat (Score 1) 628

That same issue is shared at my work, where we already have this system of forced updates. I'll be working and notice the computer progressively getting slower, and slower..... to the point where I can't open documents, pull something from the network drive, or read email. Why? Because it's updating in the background while I'm trying to work.

Only absolutely rank amateurs would inflict this on their users; professionals run these overnight when no one will be bothered (AFTER verifying each update won't break things). It might be time to find a better job.

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