If that is what they did (and we don't know that) then that is a security flaw. Tesla should not have allowed the PIN to be brute forced. The PIN should be stored by the car, not by the app, and it should have a 30 second lock-out after 3 wrong attempts, and then double the lock-out time for each additional wrong attempt. This is Security 101.

The "Not to be used for identification" refers to the card, not the number. It is just saying that a Social Security card is not an identification card.

There is nothing wrong with using SSNs for identification. The government does it. The government also requires businesses and financial institutions to use SSNs to identify their employees and customers. The problem is the idiotic notion that SSNs can be both widely known (used for identification) and secret (used for authentication). Mere knowledge of my SSN should not, in any way, "prove" that I am me.

Nor should they, because useful private data should never be stored on them in the first place. My name, address, and phone number are not private. Anyone can get them from the phone book or other public sources. So the only "private" information mentioned is the SSN. So the real solution is to get rid of the idiotic notion that SSNs are a "secret", and to ban their use as authentication keys. Then they can be published in the phone book, along side the name, so you know you are dialing the right "John Smith". Problem solved.

Nonsense. Intelligence is the ability to formulate an effective initial response to a novel situation. Not everyone would agree on the exact wording, but most people would generally agree on what intelligence means. Most people would also agree that a dog is more intelligent than a chicken, a monkey is more intelligent than a dog, and that (most) people are more intelligent than monkeys. "General intelligence" means an ability to solve general problems, but intelligence can also exist in domains. For instance, in the domain of playing chess, computers are more intelligent than people, even though their general intelligence is lower than an insect.

Not true. There are plenty of repeatable tests for intelligence. There is not universal agreement on every aspect of that, but some people can clearly demonstrate a superior ability to solve a broad range of problems, in a measurable, quantifiable, and reapeatable way.

No. This is what VC money is for. The program described in TFA is just a way to funnel taxpayer dollars to the bad ideas that the VCs have rejected. Governments are horrible at picking winners, and tend to do so based on physical location (the right congressional district) and political connections, rather than merit. Government funding of basic research is sensible. Government welfare for corporations is not.

Go ask the same question in Donetsk or Sevastopol, and you are likely to get a different answer.

... to replace the democratically elected pro-Russian president, who was overthrown by military force. This new election was held in full knowledge that the eastern (pro-Russian) regions were in turmoil and could not meaningfully participate.

I am glad that Ukraine is turning toward the West, but I think it is very disturbing how it has all happened. The Russians are not the only ones with dirty hands.

There is also no reason to believe it is true. "Consciousness" is a mostly meaningless word. There is no consensus definition, and no testable or falsifiable phenomenon associated with it. Is a monkey conscious? What about an amoeba? What about the guy in the next cubicle? How is consciousness different from "free will" or having a soul? Intelligence is about observed behavior. Consciousness is about internal state. If an entity behaves intelligently, then it is intelligent, regardless of the internal state or mechanism.

Your optimism is misplaced. Photos of the crash are on Reuters website, and reports of debris and body parts are coming in. The big question now is who shot it down. Most fingers are pointing at the pro-Russian rebels.

Many feminists believe that casual and pervasive use of profanity contributes to a hostile and sexist work environment, and some court rulings have agreed with them. So you may not be as enlightened as you think you are.

Yes, because I, for one, don't see the point. Sexual harassment occurs whenever men and women are together. Unless there is some evidence that it is specifically more prevalent during scientific field work, just reporting that "it occurs" is meaningless. I occurs everywhere. It is always inexcusable, and as a society and as individuals we need to do more to prevent it, and be more supportive of the victims. But I see no reason that these efforts should specifically focus on "scientific field work".

In 1987, the average time-served for 2nd degree murder in Florida was 6.8 years. That is more than five, but that is the average, so many murders served less time. Sentences are much more than that, but "time served" is, on average, only 60% of the original sentence, and in many cases, less than half. Plenty of other states have a reputation for more lenient sentencing than Florida, and more lenient parole boards.

Indeed. These numbers would be much more meaningful if it was per mile rather than per driver. Are older people safer drivers, or do they just drive less? Most people 65 to 74 are no longer commuting to work everyday.

Many murderers spend less than 5 years in jail. If we start jailing managers for bad decisions, you would hear a giant sucking sound as company HQs headed overseas, taking all the management and administrative jobs with them. There is always someone advocating the "iron fist" version of justice, but history shows that it really doesn't work well. We used to execute people for stealing bread, but people still stole bread. Punishment should be fair and proportionate.

Other infrastructure, such as bridges and sewers, are taxed because THE GOVERNMENT BUILT THEM. So they are taxed to pay off the bonds that financed their construction, and to pay for ongoing maintenance. The Internet runs on fibers, cables, and routers financed by private companies. It is a different situation.

No problem. They can all get jobs with the FBI, and work in the Scare Mongering Department. They are really busy.