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Comment Re:What it will be used for... (Score 1) 178

ANPR has several problems - you need cameras on every street corner, it lets the government know everywhere you go, people can put false plates on their cars, etc.

(No, the government probably won't see any of those as a problem, but their opposition will...)

A GPS system could just measure distance traveled, not locations or any other data. The car could refuse to work if it doesn't receive a GPS signal that makes sense. If it's in a tamper-proof box then hacking it could be difficult enough that most people wouldn't bother.

So you don't trust plate readers, as the government can track you, but you believe that a GPS system will be used to ONLY measure "distance traveled, not locations or other data."

Do you have any basic understanding on how GPS type systems work?

Comment Re:Red light / green light (Score 1) 1440

They invented a wonderful device for people like you, it's called a HORN. You wait 1-2 seconds for them to move, then you utilize your HORN ACTIVATION circuit in your automobile, and it emits a "tootling" noise to alert the person in front of you to direct their attention to the petroleum distillate input foot lever, which in turn will allow their automobile to resume it's joyful progress.

A whole light cycle, really? >.>

Comment Re:Which is why I always put my car in [P]ark (Score 1) 1440

Where I live (Alberta) you are considered "operating" your vehicle if you are in it and you have your keys on your person.

That's right, you can be in the back seat, asleep, and you can be ticketed for DUI or whatever else they decide to stick you with. When our distracted driving law came in about 18 months ago, they specifically highlighted that pulling over to the side of the road and parking was NOT sufficient.

The funny part was when someone mentioned that the cops had put up, not 6 months before, signs saying that if you see a drunk driver, you should call them and trail them while the 911 operator coordinates a cop to nab the drunk. So they specifically made an exception for calling to report a drunk driver on a non-handsfree phone.... So I guess being distracted while following a drunk is for the greater good, or something....

Comment Re:Amazon's own fault (Score 1) 207

"And now Kobo is HUGE in Canada."

You sound like my boss. Full disclosure, I work at the largest independent publisher in Canada (if you cook in Canada, you probably have one of our titles)- and we went with Kobo exclusively for our ePubs. As a six million dollar paper publisher we sold... ... $15k in ePubs last year via Kobo, "the #2 ebookstore in the world, with 48% of the market!!"

I've also noticed that when I travel, or talk to people about ePubs, eBooks, etc, I see iPhones/iPads (quite possibly running iBooks, Kindle App, or Kobo apps), Kindles, Nooks, etc.... I have seen exactly ONE Kobo actually owned by an end-user. I know that anecdotes are not data, but....

Comment Re:Kill it (Score 1) 646

How the hell does changing the clock help more in Northern locales? I'm over 54 degrees north, and I can tell you DST simply is moving the goalposts. In the winter I go to work in the dark, I go home in the dark. 1h of oscillation in the clock does nothing* to help that. In the summer, the sun is up at 4 am, and goes down at about 10:30pm (right when I really* want more light, just when I'm trying to sleep).

DST is moronic, and gives absolutely no benefit except for a very narrow band of locations and a very few people whose schedules happen to match the changes. But the rest of us get to come along for the stupid pretend time changes. In an earlier post in this thread, someone mentioned that DST doubles* the time that many of us spend driving directly into the setting/rising sun, and I know that is my #1 problem with the stupid time dance every year.

Comment Re:DSL (Score 1) 353

My workplace is smack in the (south) center of the city (of over a million people), but due to it being in an "industrial" area, there is absolutely NO high speed available. We're stuck with a $1200/month 5/5 wireless solution.

The local telcos and cable providers will gladly service us for about $50/month, after we spend $60,000-$80,000 to trench to the area (after which everyone else* in the neighbourhood will get to piggyback). Oddly enough, we're not jumping at this...

Comment Re:Question for NYCountryLawyer re illegal downloa (Score 1) 146

If this were the case, they would have simply looked at what her ratio was set at (most people have it at about 2, if I recall correctly). Therefore Jamie should be on the hook for 48 tracks, worth approximately $50. Instead, the RIAA folks want to punish her for every* illicit download of those tracks, making her an example. I would argue that this is still unconstitutionally excessive.

Comment Re:Med School (Score 1) 454

After working for a couple years in the aeronautics industry, with a sister who is a nurse and therefore in the healthcare industry, I have concluded that the maximum allowable work hours per (unit of time, ie, hours/day, hours/week, days scheduled in a row) is directly proportional to the likelihood of killing someone.

I was appalled to realize that you could be scheduled for 33 days in a row as a helicopter pilot, after which the regs stated that you are required to give 4 days off. Not counting travel time- often pilots are at least a day's travel out from home/civilization, which would eat up 2 of those 4 days off. My sister used to be required to work 24h shifts with astonishing regularity, and as far as I know that is still the norm.

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