I remain unimpressed by the whole load of bullshit.

It doesn't need to compare the file contents bytewise. Each end of the rsync connection generates hashes of blocks of the file, and the hashes that do not match indicate underlying file differences. If a 1MB chunk in the middle of a 100MB database file generates different hashes, then only that 1MB chunk is transferred. That's how bandwidth savings are guaranteed.

I forget which software exposed their assembly environment, but it was the third language I used on the 99/4a. First was Logo, second was their Basic & Extended Basic, and third was assembler. The poster a few parents up from here may not have known that TI's extended basic included poke, peek like other systems. TI's built-in Basic did not have those calls.

How many of you 99/4a owners had the disk drive (180KB single-sided awesomeness) AND learned to punch holes in floppy sleeves to use the other side?

- in automotive service departments to print trim pieces in the right colour

A friend of mine has a ferrari of some kind, and I asked about maintenance costs since I was curious how it was. Overall, he said it was certainly more than a ford, but his car had been well maintained and hadn't had any big problems. But recently, a plastic clip inside the door broke, and it rendered the outside handle useless.

To fix it, the shop got a replacement part to the tune of US$1200, plus labor to install it.

It's parts like these that I would look to print on a 3d printer. Not every part can be satisfactorily printed, however, but it's worth checking.

I offered to only charge my friend $500 for the part, what a deal! He was not amused.

Re: the comment about "$5 per cubic inch". I just calculated the material cost of a calibration object of volume 4cm^3, with a fairly moderate infill. On my printer it consumed 3g of plastic, which costs $40/kg. This object cost $0.12 in plastic, or about $0.03/cm^3. Continuing.... 1 cubic inch is 16.4 cm^3, or an equivalent cost of about $0.49. Five dollars is a bit high for a personal machine cost, even including the electricity.

Printing services will double or triple the material cost to account for waste & setup and include machine time in the price. With triple material charges, the above object would be $1.50, and it would take about 10 minutes at $0.15/min ($1.50). This is a total cost of $3.00 for an object of this size, in plastic.

No, it's a separate system. The parking/emergency brake is an entirely separate brake system that uses a mechanical linkage instead of the main hydraulic system. Even if your car has 4-wheel disc brakes, the rear rotors have a small drum brake designed into them, actuated by the parking brake pedal, lever, etc. A loss of brake fluid or other outright failure in the primary system does not affect this mechanical backup.

The bad part is that so many cars are FWD, and the parking brake is on the rear wheels. This is a testament to it doubling as an emergency brake (you do not want e-brake on the front, steering wheels), yet being nearly useless in FWD cars. That is, instead of fighting directly the output torque of the engine at the wheels, e-brakes in FWD cars can only add slight drag to the car. A runaway throttle in a FWD car can't be directly fought with the e-brake like RWD cars.

Well, like they say, "when all you have is a battery-powered drill from Home Depot, make lemons." Or something like that.

But it's *Salon* magazine. There is plenty more to say.

I don't have a horse in this race, but before everybody gets all excited and accusatory about which tech megacorp is gaming the marketing (oops, too late!), let's see those sales numbers. There's a *big* difference in a company selling tens of millions of units and running out of stock, and a company selling, I don't know, tens of thousands of units and running out. Apple and Samsung both sell millions of devices rapidly because they have demand for their excellent devices. The fact is, there has simply not been that demand for Microsoft's devices (Kin, WP7, WP8, Surface). So again, it would be interesting to see what the actual sales numbers are.

I've been in the industry long enough to realize that when a company says "This was a proof of concept, we aren't going after big sales figures" that that actually means they are disappointed with sales. But again, hearing actual sales numbers would be interesting.

Lay off the 'roids, brah. You seem a little tense.

The Kin was a neat, small device, but I think what killed it was their marketing. The theme was "small, concealable cell phone for stalkers" as the commercials showed some languished dude following and snapping pictures of ... His ex? His annoyed current-SO? A total stranger? Whoever she is, her sassy fuck-off smirk is classic in those ads. Overall, a very annoying marketing theme, but I suppose it would sell to a few people. If the internet has taught us anything, it's that there's a market for everything.

I know some of the folks who worked on the Kin. They really pulled things together to make that device.

As if a "solution" for unwanted mobile calls could be solved by an *android* app pushed by *anonymous coward*. Forgive me if I remain a bit skeptical.

I want a >30' E-Ink picture frame with...

Yep, e-ink billboards...

Did you keep your US citizenship?

The Fibonacci sequence has the uncanny ability to appear in fairly random places. For those not interested where the Fibonacci sequence occurs, I'll keep the list short so you can get back to the episode of Family Guy you were watching: Look at bone size relationships, or google "fibonacci sequence in ferns".

TL;DR - google "fibonacci sequence in plants". Interesting or not?

This is just basic scientific interest, and yes, trivia for those not practicing in the fields where the Fibonacci sequence so frequently appears. But, I value a basic scientific curiosity in candidates, especially if they studied Computer Science, or call themselves Computer Scientists. Computer Science being, at its core, the mathematics of computation. More is revealed about a candidate through "useless" trivia than you may realize.

Curiosity is an immensely important trait in engineering positions. It forces people to ask questions, to look for better solutions, and it allows them to debug code issues faster. Uncurious people tend to be rather boring; their conversations certainly are, because they never ask questions.

All the questions and conversation between an interviewer and candidate combine to form an opinion of that candidate's ability to perform the job. I'd never disqualify someone automatically if they were to blow off a question/conversation about fibonacci sequence appearances, or a recent medical story, or the latest Mars probe discovery, but it definitely reveals something about a candidate in a technical field.