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Comment Re:15 years in the embassy (Score 1) 262

He's avoiding imprisonment in Sweden because Sweden has an extradition Treaty with the US, and once he walks out the front door of that embassy and walks on that plane to sweden, it's about 50/50 odds he ends up in US custody.
 
That said, thanks for the tip on Jozsef Mindszenty, I am going to have to read up on that.

Comment If you want better support... (Score 1) 479

... buy a commercial/business connection. Yes, it is more expensive. Yes, you get what you pay for, and nothing more.

If you're an IT pro, you'll appreciate the US-based support, static IP address, absence of blocked ports, and other services that typically come with business internet connections.

Software

Missing Files Blamed For Deadly A400M Crash 253

An anonymous reader writes: Think you had a bad day when your software drivers go missing? Rejoice, you get to live! A fatal A400M crash was linked to data-wipe mistake during an engine software update. A military plane crash in Spain was probably caused by computer files being accidentally wiped from three of its engines, according to investigators. Plane-maker Airbus discovered anomalies in the A400M's data logs after the crash, suggesting a software fault. And it has now emerged that Spanish investigators suspect files needed to interpret its engine readings had been deleted by mistake.This would have caused the affected propellers to spin too slowly causing loss of power and eventually, a crash.
Java

Ask Toolbar Now Considered Malware By Microsoft 212

AmiMoJo writes: Last month Microsoft changed its policy on protecting search settings to include any software that attempts to hijack searches as malware. As a result, this month the Ask Toolbar, which most people will probably recognize as being unwanted crapware bundled with Java, was marked as malware and will now be removed by Microsoft's security software built in to Windows 7 and above.

Comment Re:Better get those lobbyists ready, Comcast (Score 3, Insightful) 98

The latency would be ridiculous for most use cases.

Are you sure? A round-trip latency of 13ms to the base station(s) seems fairly reasonable to me. These are Low Earth Orbit satellites with an altitude between 99 and 1,200 miles, not geostationary ones at 22,236 miles; that's 1/18th the distance, and thus latency, of existing satellite Internet providers like WildBlue or HughesNet. At the minimum LEO altitude the latency would be another order of magnitude lower still (around 1ms). Even the high-LEO delay is significantly less than the 20-40ms time to the first router reported by traceroute for my Qwest DSL connection.

The trade-offs of LEO include a requirement for many more satellites for the same coverage, the necessity of hand-offs as the satellites pass overhead, and lower orbital lifetimes / higher fuel consumption due to increased atmospheric drag.

Comment Re: Hiding behind anonymity (Score 1) 183

If you are being interrogated in court you're forced to swear to tell the truth. You're FORCED to do it. And it carries a LOT of weight.

Legal weight, perhaps, under an unjust legal system, but not moral weight; an oath given only under duress is no oath at all. For an oath to be morally binding there must be consent, and there cannot be consent when the oath is coerced. Of course, even worse than the prospect of being punished for violating an oath extracted under duress is that fact that you're being compelled to testify against your will in the first place. Without compulsory testimony, the oath would be voluntary and thus actually mean something.

Comment Re:Hiding behind anonymity (Score 2) 183

Ultimately, the act of nullification requires one to go against the juror's oath.

Serious question: what if you refuse to take the juror's oath? If you'd be punished for refusing then the oath is given under duress and carries no moral weight. If not, then either you can serve on a jury without taking the oath (and thus with no qualms regarding nullification), or else refusing the oath would make a perfect "get out of jury duty free" card.

Comment Re:Completely irrelevant (Score 1) 298

Wind and Solar are already lightyears cheaper than fossil fuels in remote areas like islands and the third world. Remember how we skipped providing land lines to Africa, and everyone there got cell phones instead? How Facebook has a mobile app specifically directed towards those mobile users in Africa? Solar and Wind will come from the bottom up (Africa, SE Asia) and from the top down (Germany, Netherlands, Sweden). As capacity increases and price decreases you'll start seeing middle-tier economies like the United States and Canada finally adopt them. Taking a train through the countryside you'll see hundreds of houses with solar panels on their roofs already. While the legislative push isn't needed, it will help move other countries in that direction, as the G7 acts as a leader and weathervane for countries worldwide.
 
TL;DR Solar and Wind will drive the price of fossil fuels in to the ground in 20 years, anyways.

Comment Re:Don't try this at home (Score 1) 1032

The rates on your loans are set under the premise that some people will be eligible to discharge in bankruptcy. You've already paid for the privilege so not using it is just a waste. It isn't a moral issue.

On the contrary, it is a moral issue. Quite apart from the basic personal morality of honoring one's word, those who default become part of the statistics used to set the interest rates, so they're still raising the rates for everyone else. Worse, since you can't sign away the ability to discharge the loan in bankruptcy, those who would not attempt to evade repayment of a loan they voluntarily agreed to are penalized along with the rest.

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