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Comment Re:That's how today's voice recognition WORKS. (Score 1) 309

These firms can "retain" that information in the sense that it trains their voice-recognition algorithms, but they probably aren't building a huge dossier of your private conversations.

The cost of storage is under $0.03/gig/month(*). If the probable value of the data is greater than that, they would be making a bad business decision -- possibly violating their fiduciary responsibility -- if they are not storing it.

* Amazon S3 charges $0.03 for short-term, retail, on-demand storage, with value added

Comment Violent Response Is Islamic State's Objective (Score 1, Insightful) 645

"Does posting this video advance the aims of this terror group or hinder its progress by laying bare its depravity?" writes Wemple. "Islamic State leaders may indeed delight in the distribution of the video -- which could be helpful in converting extremists to its cause..."

Well said, I'm totally with you so far.

"... -- but they may be mis-calibrating its impact. If the terrorists expected to intimidate the world with their display of barbarity, they may be disappointed with the reaction of Jordan, which is vowing 'strong, earth-shaking and decisive' retaliation."

They were not aiming to intimidate Jordan. A violent response is exactly what Islamic State wants. They want the opposition to take the gloves off. Islamic State gets its power from blood debts. They want more blood on the hands of the opposition, just like Fox wants Islamic State to engage in brutality to push more people into the fire-breathing anti-Muslim camp.

Comment Re:Hello, the 1980s are calling, they caught your (Score 1) 224

So you're saying you have no basis for your belief that algal microbiofuel is energy efficient. Pretty much what I figured. Lots of semi-literate technobabble about the components, but you don't know shit about the efficiency, which is the entire focus of this article.

I haven't looked at any of the research since 2009, when I looked into setting up an algae system with a friend who ran his family's vehicles on biodiesel and was buying from a company 20 miles away. We figured we could take all the hipster business on the South end of San Jose. We decided not to do it because it was only cost effective with government subsidies, because the energy conversion was so awful. Which is to say; I don't have any of the materials anymore and don't really care if you want to keep being ignorant, so I'm not going to go find them for you. If you want to not be wrong, you should do the research.

Comment Re:Hello, the 1980s are calling, they caught your (Score 2) 224

They are not saying it is impossible to convert biomass to diesel, or even that we shouldn't grow biomass. They are saying that with current technology it is better to use biomass for carbon sequestration and food, and use more technological approaches to capturing solar as energy.

The core issue is the energy cost of conversion to a useful form. Converting biomass to biodiesel, right now, costs more energy than turning solar into charged batteries through PV, wind, or solar furnaces. That may change and we should still be doing research, and batteries still have ground to cover relative to diesel for energy density and refuel speed, but right now it looks like biomass fuel is going to be the losing horse.

We should be putting a larger share of our research budget on non-biomass solar capture than on biomass. We have that flipped right now because biomass looked like it was the better path ten years ago. It hasn't panned out, which doesn't mean we should give up, but we should continuously adjust our bets in favor of the stronger contender.

Comment Re:A quote (Score 1) 431

I'm sure that he would allow Americans to do bad things to each other as well. I will bet you, however, that he's against TERROR and TERRORISM.

So you're saying that Rumsfeld would oppose the most common use of our terror laws, which is DEA enforcement of victimless, consensual, domestic marijuana crimes?

Comment New Guidelines? (Score 1) 236

"With the discovery of an unauthorized drone on the White House lawn, the eagle has crash-landed in Washington," says Senator Charles Schumer. "There is no stronger sign that clear FAA guidelines for drones are needed."

Umm, Chuck, quick heads up: "Don't fly over the White House" is already a rule. And you can tell the operator knew, because he or she didn't ask for it back. You are a despicable opportunist.

Comment Re:Inequality's Mossad? (Score 1) 339

Not at all. More that the hypothesis of the Davos escapist concept is that the super-rich will fend off change as long as possible, then flee. As a result of the extreme measures necessary to resist change to the point where torches and pitchforks become a realistic threat, when that pressure is released, it will snap like a rubber band, causing severe damage to the political and socioeconomic structure. The backlash will be directed at those who won and walked out, much as it was at the brokerages in 1929, at the S&Ls in 1987, and at the mortgage funds in 2008. The difference being that if they really are fleeing from pitchforks and torches -- as the Davos escapist scenario posits -- it would imply a much more severe situation than 1929, 1987, or 2008.

And I'm not saying I think that will happen; I think that the pressure will vent sooner. I am saying that if the Davos escapist hypothesis comes to pass, there will be no place on Earth where such a person can hide and enjoy luxury. As such, it is an intrinsically flawed notion; either the escape will be unnecessary, or it will be ineffective.

Comment Inequality's Mossad? (Score 4, Interesting) 339

With growing inequality and the civil unrest from Ferguson and the Occupy protests fresh in people's mind, the world's super rich are already preparing for the consequences. At a packed session, former hedge fund director Robert Johnson revealed that worried hedge fund managers were already planning their escapes.

If I recall correctly, Mossad was formed by Israel with one of its primary missions being to go around the world hunting down and assassinating former Nazi officers who had gone into hiding.

If the world gets to the point where the underprivileged gather their pitchforks and torches, and the ultra-rich flee from mob justice, why wouldn't those who remain take over their nations' governments and form Inequality's Mossad? If the super wealthy really do check out, the people left behind will gain all the authoritarian powers that are being built up right now to suppress change for as long as possible. They'll also get all the resources and production of the biggest powerhouse nations on the planet, because that's where the rich will be fleeing from. And they will be very angry.

The 99.9% who would still be in their home nations, having just seen the banks get cleaned out, will have the muscle of the G20, the influence of the G20, and the rage of Ferguson. Yeah, super-rich guy, go hide in New Zealand. See how that works out for you.

Comment Re:Not a fan (Score 1) 304

Your car is broken. And that's a piss-poor reason to be against automated driving aids.

It came from the dealership that way. It is not a good reason to be against the theory, which I am not. It is, however, an excellent reason to be against their ubiquitous deployment as currently practiced. A point made exceedingly clear in the last paragraph of my post.

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