It's because the apps are paid for with marketing money instead of operations money. Businesses don't feel the need to offer you better service unless you pay them for it. Here you are selling your PPI in return for the ability to see when you flight is arriving. A little off base in my book.

I believe that certified medical x-ray devices are required to be operated in lead-lined rooms. So very little if no back scatter should be escaping. You'd probably receive a higher dose of radiation if you have windows that allow sunlight.

True, but what if we thought about lighter-than-aircraft. The power to weight ratio is much different as lift is accomplished by differentials in gas density. Also they may be able to carry batteries that would allow for flight at night or low light.

Then there's the issue of speed. Non are very fast.

Exactly my point. Thanks WindBourne.

That may be true, but based on past events, like when counterfeit Cisco routers were produced in China and sold world wide, even to US military institutions, the fear is very real. Besides the attempt to maximize profit by selling falsely produced patented and copyrighted digital equipment, there is the nefarious aspect that these systems could have any sort of direct back-door, data rewriting, or side channel attacks built-in.

The question comes down to this: Do you purchase digital computing products constructed in a Communist country that is actively engaged with you in digital warfare? This is the cyber equivalent to smallpox blankets.

No. Yes. In that order.

Now I know this is crazy! Next well be all told we are 175 centimeters tall and it's a 15 km trip into work! SI units, in Canada maybe! Viva British Imperial Measure!

Couldn't agree with you more.

Rock-star Engineers produce designs, implementations and tests that are easy to comprehend and extend. They don't produce Golden Code that will never be put in to use. Also they have a more than effective knowledge of the technology and the problem being solved. They are able to lead-by example, and true rock-stars are able to realize when they need to follow and/or team lead when they are are on a larger project.

I'll admit I'm wrong. Very wrong. But it was a ironic statement, crashing is very bad, and pretty darned special.

You're right! It's exactly in these moments that the flight-attendants are supposed to want your full attention, at least since 9-11 when their primary job has become flight "safety". In earlier days, when they were called stewards, it was more about comfort in a cramped environment, and the job focused on service. If you remember back, there was a time when the door on the aircraft had to be shut for 30 minutes before the flight, and passengers had to remain in their seats for 30 minutes prior to landing. Airlines didn't like those TSA rules much. Besides increasing the average 60 minute flight by 50%, passengers started to complain.

But service is still a virtue with some air-carriers outside the US. The makeup of US air crews is very different. At least they were three weeks ago when I flew Lufthansa to Munich, then had to return on a United flight. It seemed that a pension was much more important to US air crews, than the twenty-somethings working for the German airline.

Hey, couldn't these be used as a catalyst to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells and/or internal combustion engines?

Because the reason they are banned isn't because of electromagnetic emissions, but rather because it is a crowd control technique. There's nothing special about the first 10 and last 10 minutes of a flight, other than it's the most likely time for a plane to crash land. The regulation is all about causing passengers to pay attention to flight attendants and nothing to do with avionics.

Interesting point, but I don't thin creationists are the ones who fear RF radiation. I think those tend to be the secular humanist, grow your own food group, who also fear hormones and ahem deodorant.

The question should be, whether these moles will lead to skin cancer, and if Microsoft should limit's exposure to the sun to counter balance them.

My county in Nebraska passed a referendum to cap property taxes at 2.5% of the assessed real estate value. That next year everyone's valuations jumped up, and aren't far off from actual sale values. The county decides what their budget will be and then plays with housing assessments. Interesting thing is that my property taxes have been _decreasing_ year over year, as more wealth is added to the county through new construction.

OK so here's the stats. 2,400 ft^2 home; 15,000 ft^2 lot; $4.3K/y property tax. Property valuation by county assessor ~ $220K.

Our property taxes fund the local schools, sheriff, fire & rescue, and if I lived inside the city limits, the local police department.