"I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work – for example a lawnmower."
The Kalashnikov Lawnmower. The very best there is. When you absolutely, positively got to cut every motherf***ing blade of grass in the garden, accept no substitutes.
I've obscured the name of the company so as to avoid a messy copyright battle, but this is the photo selected for the "Security Threats" chapter of my networking class: http://goo.gl/R67PWF
Takeaway message: be wary of inter-dimensional black guys in dungarees...
You don't need to reach for SF to get a great project management lesson, just look at the Apollo program.
A triumph of the human spirit, of technology, of ingenuity, sure - but mainly, an overwhelming triumph of project management. Who says the government can't handle any big jobs, eh? (well, anyone who's been watching for the last 40 years maybe...)
The files are stored on the ISS, and can only be unlocked by a direct laser link communication channel.
Isn't that obvious?
I have to wonder, did you leave the U.S. because you had no friends?
I moved to Australia 7 years ago and I still have friends back in America. Although I can get a lot more things here now than I used to, I still occasionally have a friend help forward things to me. There's no reason to go with a service, just Paypal them the postage.
Maybe you can send them things they might enjoy too - my friend's wife developed a taste for Tim Tams (cookies) and so we have a regular exchange going, as my Aussie wife misses the "graham crackers" she could get in the U.S. which are unheard-of here...
FWIW I can confirm, having experienced hospitalization in the U.S. - with top-tier Blue Cross coverage - and later in Australia as well - the ordinary everyday Medicare system - there is no real difference in the quality of care.
The equipment, the people, and the access are all very good in both countries - assuming you have insurance in the U.S., and I'm comparing major cities to major cities here of course.
What's dramatically different is the cost, and the level of paperwork. In America we were snowed under for years with insurance company statements and bills from a dozen providers - we ended up just sorting them by color and then weighing them... and we had to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket after Blue Cross was finished.
In Australia, you pay maybe $80 for a doctor visit, and get some of it back from the government Prescriptions average $10-$20. If you go to the ER and get admitted to a room, you have to pay $6 a day if you want the TV to work. And I think you sign like one form on your way out. You never hear from them again.
Whoops - I misread the post - they're not asking for your private KEY, just private data... ah well, most of the suggested sentence structure still holds.
If you don't have the social skills to phrase a polite question, Slashdot is perhaps not the ideal place to go looking for advice...
Technical issues with giving anyone your private key aside (I can't think of any reason to give it out to someone no matter how much you trust them) just explaining things clearly should work for any reasonable person:
"I have no problem with you having my personal key, but I am concerned about the integrity of the data while in transit. I would appreciate it if you can supply me with a public key for your organization, then I will be able to encode my key so that only you can decode it. This will ensure that our mutual privacy won't be at risk due to using an insecure communication system such as Email. Thanks very much!" etc
I wrote about the CSER last year at http://www.thisiswhyweredoomed.com/2012/12/europeans-will-doom-us-all.html - if you take this and combine it with the news that the EU is building the world's most powerful laser, you'll wonder why the movie version of Skynet even bothered with a time machine in the first place...
(oh yeah, they already HAVE a Skynet - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(satellite)
Bring back a mammoth.
* figuratively, not literally, please.
Two people turned up - we just had a bit of trouble finding each other. I wonder what happened to PuZZleDucK. Going by the turnout in this one and attendance in meet ups in other states, I guess the slashdot community in Australia is getting smaller.
By the way bscott, the SSID idea didn't work that well - probably due to limited range and/or interference inside the pub. Next time lets try either a big sign or waking around with the Vucan salute to see who responds.
Oh and hey - that picture was taken BEFORE I turned ugly!
Never said I was coming, sorry if I misled anyone... it's too long of a drive for me now that I no longer live in the city, and too much time taken away from the family now that I have one.
I do know what it's like to be the only one showing up at a gathering, though - usually it's me!
Great to hear you're coming bscott.
The "Slashdot" SSID is a good idea. Or you could just keep an eye out for any of these ugly people from the last gathering
By the way Cryacin, I hope you are bringing the t-shirts!
If you're the first to arrive, set your phone's SSID to something relevant and let people triangulate on it.
Those who can, do; those who can't, write. Those who can't write work for the Bell Labs Record.
