Comment Re:When I multitask... (Score 1) 386
I'll be sure to watch that video tomorrow morning.
It should complement my breakfast, which I always eat while driving to work, and I've been itching to test the video capabilities of my new smartphone.
Comment Re:You can shoot people, son, but don't blog! (Score 4, Insightful) 202
Does your employer frequently take you to foreign countries for extended periods of time? Where there are no computers other than those owned by the company? Where there is no internet access other than what's provided by the company?
I didn't think so.
When someone is deployed to a combat zone (Iraq, Afghanistan) they should be able to keep in touch with their friends and family. It's a mental health issue. Twenty years ago soldiers/sailors/marines would write letters (delivered by the Post Office) and make an infrequent phonecall to their parents, spouse, or significant other. Those days are gone.
People now expect to be updated via blogs, social-networks, and to a lesser extent email. That's the world we live in and those expectations (social needs) don't go away just because someone's deployed.
Comment Re:Ideal time to make it use open standards (Score 2, Informative) 282
Can open-source solutions maintain Skype's level of security?
Skype Encryption Stumps German Police
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSL21173920071122
Expert: Skype calls nearly impossible for NSA to intercept
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=919
Comment Is Apple borrowing the "logic" of gun control? (Score 1) 495
The only people who care whether a particular action is legal or not are the people who (generally) follow the law. If someone's prone to ignore the law they're prone to ignore the law. If someone's prone to follow the law they're prone to follow the law.
Changing the legality of owning a cracked iPhone doesn't change the legality of crashing a cell tower.
Submission + - Social Networking Sites Must Improve Security (net-security.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Sophos has called upon social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook to do more to protect their millions of users, as new research is published examining the first six months of cybercrime in 2009. The report reveals that IT teams are worried that employees share too much personal information via social networking sites, putting their corporate infrastructure — and the sensitive data stored on it — at risk. The findings also indicate that a quarter of organizations have been exposed to spam, phishing or malware attacks via sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace.
Submission + - OnStar 'ignition block' to disable stolen vehicles (autoweek.com)
suraj.sun writes: AutoWeek : http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090721/CARNEWS/907219996
OnStar, General Motors' in-vehicle safety and communications system, has launched a service to keep car thieves from starting a vehicle that has been reported stolen.
As of July 20, three stolen cars had been disabled by the technology, called "remote ignition block."
The feature is available on select 2009 and 2010 GM models. Subscribers must report their vehicles stolen to police officials and request assistance from OnStar, which then sends a signal that prevents the car from restarting.
The block adds to a suite of stolen-vehicle products, ranging from tracking by global positioning systems to a service designed to curtail high-speed police chases by conveying a signal that idles a stolen vehicle.
OnStar Press Release : http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/new_at_onstar/remote_ignition_block.jsp
The process for deployment:
* An OnStar subscriber reports their vehicle stolen to authorities and requests stolen vehicle assistance from OnStar.
* Law enforcement provides confirmation to the OnStar Advisor that the vehicle is in fact stolen.
* The OnStar Advisor pinpoints the vehicle's exact GPS location and sends a remote signal to prevent stolen vehicle from starting the next time someone attempts to start it.
* On select models, authorities can also request Stolen Vehicle Slowdown if they have a clear line of sight of the stolen vehicle and confirm that conditions are safe to slow down the vehicle.
OnStar, General Motors' in-vehicle safety and communications system, has launched a service to keep car thieves from starting a vehicle that has been reported stolen.
As of July 20, three stolen cars had been disabled by the technology, called "remote ignition block."
The feature is available on select 2009 and 2010 GM models. Subscribers must report their vehicles stolen to police officials and request assistance from OnStar, which then sends a signal that prevents the car from restarting.
The block adds to a suite of stolen-vehicle products, ranging from tracking by global positioning systems to a service designed to curtail high-speed police chases by conveying a signal that idles a stolen vehicle.
OnStar Press Release : http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/new_at_onstar/remote_ignition_block.jsp
The process for deployment:
* An OnStar subscriber reports their vehicle stolen to authorities and requests stolen vehicle assistance from OnStar.
* Law enforcement provides confirmation to the OnStar Advisor that the vehicle is in fact stolen.
* The OnStar Advisor pinpoints the vehicle's exact GPS location and sends a remote signal to prevent stolen vehicle from starting the next time someone attempts to start it.
* On select models, authorities can also request Stolen Vehicle Slowdown if they have a clear line of sight of the stolen vehicle and confirm that conditions are safe to slow down the vehicle.
Comment Re:40 Years After the Wright Brothers... (Score 1) 220
I think he's speaking in metaphor and playing fast and loose with the dates.
40 years after we sent a man to another planet, we're trying to recreate sending a man to another planet (either back to the Moon or Mars). And maybe ~40 years after that we'll send someone to yet another planet.
Then again, maybe I'm misunderstanding the original comment.
Comment Young engineers working on Apollo (Score 1) 220
My father was a young electrical engineer working on Apollo.
I remember watching Apollo 13 with him (the movie, not the actual mission). It was a long stream of, "I remember him..." and "this is what they didn't include in the movie..."
Comment It's a wash. (Score 5, Funny) 445
Wells Fargo better make sure the loser reimburses the winner's legal expenses!
Comment Re:Too late. I already switched my default. (Score 1) 389
I suppose you also believe Transformers 2 is the best movie, second only to Dark Knight.
Sometimes there's truth in popularity being an indicator of quality. Other times it's just an indicator of popularity.
Comment Re:Too late. I already switched my default. (Score 1) 389
No. I conduct my own tests and make my own decisions. Did I say I use Bing exclusively? Did I say I've completely abandoned Google? No.
I changed a default. That doesn't limit my options. It only changes the default.
Comment Too late. I already switched my default. (Score 4, Insightful) 389
There are some things Google does very well. Others, not so well.
I'm using Bing now to see if I like it. It's like UNIX. It's like non-Apple MP3 players. I'll give the underdog a try so I don't have to be part of the herd. Besides, most popular doesn't always mean best.
Comment Re:Security Theater (Score 1) 171
Not at all. I was only making a different point. Many complaints about security procedures (which resulted in CLEAR's business model) are merely personal complaints. They aren't systemic problems.
Complain if you want, but don't be surprised when other people don't sympathize.
Comment Re:Security Theater (Score 4, Informative) 171
All the people who complain about having to buy water make me laugh.
The prohibition is on the liquid, not the container. If you want to have a bottle of water on the plane then carry an empty bottle through security. I've carried reused plastic bottles, Nalgene hiking-type bottles, and even a metal Kleen Kanteen through security without any problems. Once you're through security, find a water fountain and fill up!
Just remember to vent the bottle once on the plane. The pressure changes can leave you with a leaking bottle.
Comment Re:$4,700 doesn't even require a CMIR (Score 1) 460
If he was carrying over $10,000 they could have reminded him of his legal obligation to file a CMIR. (...) from or to a place outside the United States
It was a domestic flight.
That just makes the TSA doubly wrong. I pointed out the CMIR regulation because IF he was traveling internationally and IF he was carrying over $10,000 the TSA might have a reason to get involved. Neither condition existed.
