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Comment One of two things will happen (Score 4, Insightful) 128

"Americans' constitutional rights shouldn't disappear at the border,"

One of two things will happen:

1. Customs inspection will be moved from US soil to foreign soil if it wasn't already there. There. Problem solved. Your constitutional right never disappeared at the border because you never crossed it.

2. You'll be asked to consent to search your device/property. Those that consent will be searched and allowed to go on their merry way if nothing is found. Those that don't consent will be redirected to holding pen where at minimum a lengthy process will commence to obtain a warrant. Best case, you lose a few hours, miss your connecting flight, and are now on a watch list for suspected activity which will increasingly delay future entrances. Worst case, you're never heard from again.

Comment Re:Nope, I'll use he, she, they, there, their etc. (Score 1) 301

You could avoid the issue at hand, and just refer back to the noun ("What is the queen wearing"). Maybe that's the best answer?

I find this is the correct answer to a lot of grammatical questions I come across. If I'm proofreading something and it just doesn't sound right, or I can't figure out which exact words to use due to an unusual set of circumstances, just rewording the phrase or sentence usually solves the issue.

Comment Re:Why the focus on communication tech? (Score 1) 360

certain number of bits for each key (let's say, half the length in bits) could be placed in escrow and could be obtained by the government under court order.

And who is going to keep that escrow secure? And not provide a convenient back door for the intelligence community when that court ordered warranty is just too inconvenient of a process to go through?

Comment Re:Why the focus on communication tech? (Score 1) 360

Maybe if some wacko Eagle Eye supercomputer were monitoring and evaluating all communications at all times in real-time,

Aren't we attempting to nearly be there with locations like NSA's Utah Data Center, Fort Meade, and similar places? And isn't data already being collected at a faster rate than we have resources to process it in real time?

Comment Re:Sounds a lot like USB-Câ power delivery (Score 1) 76

I haven't been keeping up with the latest USB spec but this direction of power flow sounds like it would have been in breach of earlier USB specs for everything except USB-OTG which turning a device into a host necessitates the reverse of the normal power flow.

I believe USB-C and USB Power Delivery (USB PD) specs had this specifically in mind. They changed the fixed concept of one device being the host/master and one being the guest/slave in lieu of the devices being able to negotiate roles as needed.

Comment Re:three reasons: (Score 1) 226

A large portion of the 18-24 demographic may be on their parents plan or split among multiple people lowering the average cost. And I don't think any of the major carriers charge $100 for their "unlimited" plan currently. I know I have 4 lines on Tmobile for $100 (+ taxes) and while not unlimited, with our home internet none of us go over the 3 or 3.5GB/month bucket.

18-24 years ago the previous generation also probably had a $40 phone bill, $20+ internet bill for dialup, and $40+ cable bill...all replaced by that now <$100 cell phone bill.

Comment Re:Use Mahindra & Mahindra (Score 2, Informative) 500

That will be followed by 'buy American' legislation, and foreign tractors will be shut out of the US market.

What does "buy American" mean though? Mahindra is an Indian brand, but makes most of their US-sold tractors in the United States. John Deere is a US brand, but manufacturers tractors and parts all over the world.

Same thing goes with automobiles. Is that US brand vehicle made in Mexico American? Or is the Japanese brand made in the US?

Or is your American-based Apple iPhone that's made in China by a Taiwan company with parts from many other countries "American"?

Comment Re:Card Skimmers? (Score 1) 71

Train bank employees that service the ATM to look for and recognize card skimmers...

ATMs are refilled at most daily? How many cards can a skimmer get if they install it right after an ATM is reloaded. A busy location may be dozens and the skimmer could easily be pulled off prior to the next reload time if it's a normal routine.

Also most of the credit union locations I'm a member of have an ATM mounted on the side of the building. All the reloading is done from the inside of the bank. No employee would need to look at the outside on a regular basis.

Install software on the ATM itself that scans Bluetooth for card skimmers, and SHUT DOWN if it detects one.

This implies the skimmer uses bluetooth. It could just as easily use a non-standard wireless protocol or even not wireless at all. It could just record the stripe data for retrieval later via a cable.

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