"...CPU tester modules in a semiconductor manufacturing line at the plant were retrofitted with sensors. They then sent data to Mitsubishi Electric C Controller gateway devices powered by Intel Atom chips. After some filtering, the data were then processed using software from Revolution Analytics. Putting the data results into practice resulted in a reduction in component failures, increased equipment uptime and productivity, according to Intel....."

Could someone who actually knows something about what they did write the fucking article please? I have no idea what was improved using this technique by reading these sentences which are the only concrete part of the entire story linked.

It is rather pathetic that in the first year of operation, 1967, the shinkansen achieved speeds of 137 mph while here in the US 45+ years later, we have yet to approach this average speed on our fastest line (Northeast corridor).

Admittedly, Japan benefited from a dedicated, grade-separated track, and new-build greenfield infrastructure that made efficiency and continuous improvement possible. As well as concentrated population centers with good local feeder public transport systems that could support expensive high speed rail. And ownership of the rails that allowed them to route and sequence traffic in a predictable and orderly way.

Ok, I admit that's a lot of favorable conditions that helped.

But still, you come back home to the US and wonder how we are still #1 with such shitty, shitty public transport systems, and public policymakers who care so little / are clueless about what it takes.

You take the shinkansen in Japan, or even a suburban line in Munich for that matter, and you have such a fast, quiet, vibration-free ride that you come back embarrassed about USA infrastructure. Try to take public transport to your flight at La Guardia, or the Amtrak Coast Starlight (SFO-LAX, which sometimes involves a bus), or the Boston Green Line squealing like a pig under Park Street like it's being tortured, or run away from the Chicago CTA crashing into O'Hare, and you get a sense of what it's like to be in last place among first world countries. Or for that matter, Chicago selling off it's public street parking infrastructure for 99 fucking years to the highest bidder. What moron was in charge of that one? I would hardly bet on what 5 years from now looks like, and they sold it off for 99 years.

It makes you disappointed in how dim is our current shadow of the earlier greatness that built this country.

I didn't think it was. Interisland/commuter terminal has similar levels of security, despite the fact that the planes couldn't do damage to anything of importance if they wanted to...

Are you willing to pay $15 on your ticket to fund the small airport screening process then that has to be staffed and trained fully, just for 4-5 flights per day?

I will say though, that I credit Australia for having some rational procedures regarding security.

For example, there are some regional flights that arrive into Sydney from airports that cannot support full security screening. (on regional jets or turboprops) Instead of causing US-style security craziness and cost, after arrival they dump those passengers directly out into the non-sterile terminal public area (and then make them go back through security if connections are needed).

This in contrast to US security, which cannot be compartmentalized, and forces everyone in every small podunk airport to be screened, at huge cost and bureaucracy / apparatus / unionized idiot workforce creation.

Of course, this is partly because Australia has a few international / regional airports versus the US which has airports and connections galore. But still, you would think that in a place like Hawaii, for example, the US could try this approach and be more sane about applying various levels of rules.

Can we stop quoting articles by Computerworld's idiot writer, Lucas Mearian, and rewarding such a shitty journalist with more airtime?

Gems like this shouldn't be allowed to see the light of day: "For the SW Utility, the all in average retail rate at 10% PV penetration is 23 cents/kWh (1.8%) higher over the first 10 years of the analysis period (i.e., from 2013 to 2022) than it is without PV."

$0.23 is the rate, not the difference in rate. For fuck's sake.

This is the same "journalist" that just the other day was posted here, talking about "The system is capable of producing up to 1,600 cubic liters of water per day"... http://hardware.slashdot.org/s...

If I saw that cloud erupting, I would basically mentally prep myself for death -- that cloud had the look of one of those fast moving steaming hot pyroclastic flows. So lucky for them it wasn't...

My head is about to explode with the level of pure units stupidity by this article's author. He should be banned from the profession of writing...

Good for Tesla. And justly bad for entrenched sleazy car dealer interests.

The auto dealer protection laws were put in place to prevent local dealerships / franchisees from being screwed by automotive manufacturers at one time in history. Now they themselves wield that law to screw automotive manufacturers and the consumer.

Let them be screwed by a more innovative company again, and the tables be turned to the side of the consumer for once...

Well, not that it won't have some of the same pitfalls (and I think this is dangerous territory for them to be getting into), but most delivery companies start by trying to build the infrastructure for a delivery service with no other business to support / justify such an infrastructure.

Here, Uber already has a significant infrastructure that serves a somewhat profitable business, that it's trying to increase the utilization of. Like taxi services offering package delivery (but which you rarely hear about anyone using).

HP is a drowning man, desperately grasping for any lead, imaginary or not, that might save them. The leadership bankrupted and hollowed out a solid line of printer products and other devices, in order to prop up stupid, non-distinctive hardware whose design was phoned in to imagine grabbing some market share with no other purpose. Their PCs, laptops, tablets are a joke. The major purchaser of their equipment are corporations who buy because they extract big discounts from a struggling company with little direction on where to make the important investments.

Buying a position in the cloud will be a small hiccup on the way to significant slashing of their portfolio, whether they do it voluntarily or because they're forced to soon. HP is too late to the cloud game, where others have already rolled out products and services that customers actually want. They would have to bring a rockstar team to make this a piece of their business that sets them apart, and invest enough to catch up and turn helpful levels of profit. Otherwise, they just bought a huge commodity business that lets them say that they're "getting into cloud in a big way", which will turn into a quiet side pursuit within 2 years...

Yeah, sure. But most of the people in the military are hardly putting their lives on the line. They're working in warehouses, changing tires, sitting at a desk doing analysis.

I find it amusing / annoying / ignorant when random people go up to someone in uniform and "thank you for your sacrifice". That's part of the brainwashing of the public to believe that military = heroes. For every 1 hero there are 100 normal unremarkable people. Just like in regular life. Why do we treat all the military like they're the 1% ?

Does patriotism today only count if you're in the military?

The way we glorify military service over all types of contribution / sacrifice for the national interest is pretty amazing these days. It's like the movies have brainwashed us into believing that soldiers are the only national heroes around.

The thing about government checks is that they will take whatever you give them and examine it to death. Just deprive them of information -- by not volunteering things that are not verifiable -- and you will generally avoid getting into these situations. Not that it's reasonable to hold certain things against you, but just save yourself the trouble. Sometimes I think people are a little too honest for their own good.

I for one, am very uncomfortable with all this technology being suddenly rammed down our throats. I need to be eased into it, so I propose: the Apple Pocketwatch. For the 19th century styled gentleman. When you want to find out what time it is or read your messages, you pull out the Apple Pocketwatch, so you don't have to pull out the iPhone.