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Comment Re:And make video available when asked (Score 1) 170

Some automated tools could be applied. For example, the audio could be scanned for gun shots, or other loud noises (signs of a struggle), which triggers an automatic hold on that video. The real trick is going to be dealing with the FOIA requests. I could see where the police would want to review and possibly redact sensitive video, such as a conversation with a confidential informant. That means if I make a request for all the video from an officer for the last 90 days, or all officers on duty during a 6 hour time, someone needs to review it all.

Comment Re:tests and coverage? (Score 1) 312

I have never used Uber, but I suspect that in an accident situation you start with the person driving the car you were in, regardless of who is at-fault, then let the insurance companies sort it all out. Your driver could be is a heap of trouble if they are involved in an at-fault accident while driving for one of these services, and it is found that they do not have a policy that covers for-hire services (most home/auto policies don't). You as the passenger could be left cover your own costs, since the drivers policy will likely refuse coverage. The upside for you is that your personal health insurance would pay your costs, then attempt to recover their costs from the driver (or his insurance, and possibly Uber) through subrogation. Your costs would likely be limited to the co-pays and deductibles of your health policy.

Comment Re:94%, really? (Score 1) 710

I am suspicious of this number too. There were a lot of facts and figures in the article, but I am not sure I found the direct link between vacation, sleep and the overall health of the economy. By some measures the European economies are still struggling, while the US has mostly recovered (technically speaking). I too want to see the US population get more rest, but if vacation and sleep are such a big benefit, why does Europe still lag?

Comment Re:Ask a Lawyer (Score 1) 208

Second this. There are a lot of state and federal laws to navigate here. It may not be necessary or appropriate for someone to use your passwords to access your financial information. You could land yourself in a heap of trouble if you access someones account after they die, even if you are entitled to the money.

Comment Re:Safety Deposit Box (Score 4, Informative) 208

Safe deposit boxes can get funny depending on state law. First don't ever put the will in the box. The executor will need that access the box later. Furthermore, it could take several day or weeks to get the authority to open the box after the person has died, so don't put anything in there that is time critical.

Comment Re:Well, of course. (Score 1) 437

You have a good point about trusting strangers (I did not mean to imply danger on every corner), however I believe that the whole point of the article is whether we/society should permit children under the legal driving age to ride alone in one of these vehicles? It is fine to say "trust the parents judgement" to a point, but there will be stupid parents, and we need rules that permit us to hold them accountable. Think of the parents who wants some time to relax, and rather than hire a babysitter, puts the child in the car and programs it for a three hour tour of the area. This would be OK for a child at 16, dubious (at best) at 8, and criminal at 4. I suspect that there are laws are already in place. In my state, you are not permitted to leave a child under the age of 10 unsupervised for any length of time, and then only for a few hours until 12.

Comment Re:Well, of course. (Score 1) 437

I think there is a difference between letting a 6yo walk to school, and take a long trip alone in an autonomous car. In one case there are familiar sights and people all around. The child likely knows where to go for help, and whom to trust. In the other case they possibly don't, and trusting strangers for help becomes more dangerous.

Comment Re:I dont understand (Score 1) 483

Not all doctors actually practice medicine and may not be licensed by a governing body. Since most states seem to keep the names of the individuals who participate in the process a secret, we cannot state with certainty that ALL those with a Doctor of Medicine degree (or equivalent) refuse to support the application of the death penalty.

Comment Re:I dont understand (Score 2) 483

This has become a problem because doctors are generally refusing to involve themselves in the process. From what I have heard from professionals, it can be difficult to properly insert a needle into a person. It becomes easier with practice, but the people administering this are only doing this a few times per year so there is little experience with the technique. Plus some drug companies are refusing to provide the tried and true cocktails, so states are having to find different drugs, again with little or no help from medical professionals.

Comment Re:So what...? (Score 1) 626

So law enforcement budgets will be lower, but the need for law enforcement will also be lower because you won't have to pay as many cops to run around patrolling the roads and writing tickets.

I thought the same thing. I would love to see more analysis on that $300k figure of annual revenue per officer. Is that uniform across the country, or are there a small number of communities with aggressive enforcement? How many police hours are dedicated to ticket enforcement vs. other duties, and how does that change in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the country? My guess is that urban police don't spend as much time enforcing speeding laws as their suburban and rural counterparts. However something else to consider is parking tickets, which do generate a lot of revenue for many urban areas. Since my driver-less car can drop me off at the curb, and find parking anywhere, or just drive around until needed, there will far fewer tickets written here too.

Comment Re:They have email, but no books? (Score 1) 249

I am going to guess that the workstations that allow sailors to use email are difficult to remove and carry off the ship. I believe that the intent of these e-readers is for them to be mobile, possibly allowing them to go ashore. Since they are read only, their value if stolen is low. They contain no information about the ship/sailor, and have little resale value since they have limited capabilities.

Comment Re:OK... so the devil is in the details (Score 1) 297

I don't know much about this subject, but why does the FAA need dominion over all thing above the ground? If I am flying a device under a certain altitude (250 ft?) under a certain mass, at less than a certain speed, more than a certain distance from an airport, why does the FAA care? Are they worried that there will be too many drones in the air? Seems a bit far fetched for the near future, and you can begin to regulate when there is a problem. Are they worried that my toy drone will fail, and fall on a house? I would be just as liable if I threw a rock at the same house, and as long as the drone is not too massive, the potential for serious harm is not all that great.

Comment Re:Myopia (Score 1) 482

I agree that they have become that over time, but that is not how they started out. The first mobile phones were dumb and were tightly linked to the network technology. So it made sense for the network operator to provide the phone. Then an arms race to pack features into those phones started among the network operators. Now they are mostly interoperable among the networks, and can even operate independent of them, however the network operators are entrenched, and rely on the revenue the phones produce for the company. It is a hard model to break.

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