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Comment How do you know this isn't already the case? (Score 1) 170

And on that day, yes, we will learn that the world is a simulation running on Linux. So the year of the Linux desktop will be the year that we're all running Linux in a universe running on Linux.

The source is open, but you may need more advanced theory to understand how compilation works...

Comment Fashionable Fire Extinguishers? (Score 2) 170

Can someone tell me if I'm smoking crack or are there three separate fire extinguishers in this picture [1]? Why are there fire extinguishers in a bathroom?

The whole "open space car garage" seems way outlandish, and the use of glass is pretty atrocious, but the views and decor seem pretty awesome. I wonder if the cost to upkeep and maintain such a home might exceed my mortgage costs.

[1] http://images.prd.mris.com/ima...

Comment Re:The "T"'s have been doing this forever (Score 1) 51

T-Mobile's big mama, the Deutsche Telekom AG (DTAG) has been doing
this for years in Germany.

Got a cite for that? I can't find anyone complaining about DT and slamming or inapprporiate charges on their account. If you do find such an example (assuming such an example exists), would you be so kind as to update Wikipedia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Comment Re:Nice! I was one of the ones hit by these charge (Score 1) 51

I called my Senator and told his staff about it. They intervened and T-Mobile contacted me and gave me a full refund. The Senator's staff contacted me again and asked if I minded if my case data was used in their investigation and I told them not at all. Looks like it has all finally bore fruit.

I salute you sir for your efforts. May I kindly ask who your Senator was at the time?

Comment Re:Fire all the officers? (Score 1) 515

Despite their dirty reputation, I don't think most of the cops in our neighborhood were rough, or corrupt. The cops I knew personally were OK, some of them unsung heroes even. I think there was a combination of a boys will be boys attitude and an us-vs-them climate that empowered a small minority of sociopathic cops to set the tone of community/police relations. And that, apparently, hasn't changed much.

So essentially this (normally human) behavior combined with a lack of consequences (or perverse incentives a al drug war) has led to a nationwide milgram experiment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

Comment Re:Fire all the officers? (Score 1) 515

I was pointing this out to a niece who married a police officer the other day. About 3% of the population are sociopaths. That means that if police have just their fair share of sociopaths, a department like Baltimore would have 120 individuals on the payroll with a marked tendency toward criminal and anti-social behavior.

Why is the case that the police brutality is so much more widespread these days? Is it a case of "well it was happening but now we know about it because Internet"? or is it that the job is actually changing due to it being relatively consequence-free? We employ more police per-captia than many other countries now, and that number has increased as well.

Comment Re:Magic Pill - Self Discipline (Score 2) 153

Use self discipline, eat less, eat better, be more active, and accept that discomfort and struggle may be required maintain a healthy body.

Of course, at some point with enough white fat cells, you can't do that efficiently without a system shock approach. Perhaps this pill could be coupled with a healthier lifestyle to reverse morbid obesity. Similar to how SSRIs are recommended as best combined with therapy to treat depression.

Also as others mention, there are times where "being more active" simply isn't possible.

Comment Re:Warrant? (Score 1) 207

This seems to be a way to get your cell phone out of your hand and into the hands of the police, without a warrant, and your permission.

SCOTUS recently ruled that the police can't search your phone without your permission, absent a warrant. Now you get pulled over, and you have to hand your unlocked cell phone to the nice police officer, while he leaves your site and goes to his car for 5 minutes or so.

Now he has the opportunity to see what else you might have on your phone.

As a bonus, since he has your phone, you can't use it to record your interaction with him.

What is wrong with the piece of plastic in my wallet? It has worked well for a long time. If my State offered it, I might add it to my phone for fun, but I would still have the wallet card to give to a police officer.

Nothing in the article claims this app wouldn't work on an iPod Touch - you can get an older one for less than $100 now - keep it in your car, charged and hidden. If you don't have your license card, you show them your iPod touch. If this app doesn't work on offline devices, I'd say it's not worth installing.

Don't install the app on the device that contains your digital life.

Comment Re:In Canada, they already have it covered (Score 1) 207

refusal to hand over your licence and registration for inspection is an arrestable offence in a lot of places. Including Canada. Not so much implied consent, but black and white, right there in ther terms of issue, that the documents in question must always be carried and must be produced to a competent authority* on request.

Thank you, come again.

*Competent authority: a police officer who has probable cause or even mere articulated suspicion grounds to stop you in your vehicle.

So give them the paper documentation and keep your smartphone (if you have one) locked, preferably turned off. Does the recent decision allow them to force you to turn it on?

Comment Can Candian cops force you to unlock your phone? (Score 1) 207

Reportage of the decision here:
http://www.thestar.com/news/ca...

The real question to me is whether this means that a Canadian cop, once (s)he's arrested me, for some whatever infraction (running a burnt out light) could then force me to unlock my phone so (s)he can rife through it.

If so, the Canadian police state is more fully formed than in the US.

Comment Re:Not to sound too paranoid (Score 1) 207

The article you are linking to is many years old. You can't extract anything from a modern iPhone if it is locked.

Yes, with iOS8 and a non-simple passcode, you're correct. Recommendation is simply to shut down the phone if you get pulled over, that way they can't coerce you to touch-unlock your iOS device using TouchID either (first boot requires typed passcode to unlock).

Any criminal or person who wants to hide their stuff will likely also have a decoy phone, turned on so the police can work on "something".

Comment Re:Uh huh (Score 2) 207

First of all, I would suggest that handing your phone to an officer would be the stupidest idea ever. However, there is a way to transfer the ID information to the police without handing the phone over, simply employ the NFC available on many (most??) smart phones. The officer would simply BUMP the phone and the record would be retrieved from DMV.

There is no need to hand your phone over. Period.

If you're rich enough to have a smartphone, you can likely buy a older phone just as your ID display unit.

Personally, it's a good idea to simply shut down your phone if you ever have to deal with law enforcement in an official capacity (i.e., pulled over or border checkpoint). On iOS it forces password to unlock the first time (no TouchID), and assuming your password is not "simple" it can't be brute-forced easily. Even if it's part of a forfeiture at the very least they can't rife through your personal data.

Comment Re:But does it report artificially low ink levels? (Score 1) 270

Because the ability to make a single serving of exactly the coffee one wants and to then have someone else do the exact same thing for their particular tastes is worth something.

US Airways private lounges have these things. Friends of mine have one. Honestly, if there wasn't DRM, I'd be tempted to get one for work, so that I don't have to brew a lot of coffee when I only want one cup.

Go cold brew - the coffee lasts weeks in the fridge, and doesn't cause me to get jittery nearly as much. Lastly, I don't have to cold-brew myself - it's easily available in large quantities at a store (TJs) so, like UHT milk, I can buy weeks of supply at a time and even buy online.

Comment Re:Holy Fuck! (Score 2) 270

Holy fuck! These pirated K-Cups are going to hurt the whole industry!

As evil as imported prescription drugs. I feel for those poor customers who buy something that's claims to be a K-Cup when in reality they're getting scammed.

</snark>

In other news, cold brew coffee has removed any desire for me to brew my own. I only drink 1-2 cups a day, and since I've switched to cold-brew, my jittery feelings are all gone, and my productivity remains unimpaired (well, aside from /. ). At 8 cups per bottle, that's about $1/day, with no mess, 30s prep time to combine the milk, coffee and syrup, and no cleanup.

Comment Re:One of the few games with incredible imaginatio (Score 1) 186

Funny how the wizard is one of the weakest characters at the beginning of the game, but becomes almost unstoppable at experience level 30.

This pattern isn't unique to Nethack, for better or worse, it's endemic to most Fantasy RPGs, in my experience. I think it's a game-balance issue - either the wizard is the specialist at *magic* which is a powerful force, or *magic* is simply a skill tree where other classes have their own powerful skills (i.e., Diablo).

Part of the problem is modeling a wizard after Gandalf or other archetypal figures - those characters meant to be support NPCs - actually playing Gandalf would mean you're playing a completely different game than a protagonist like Frodo or Aragorn.

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