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Comment Re:Do we really want this? (Score 1) 55

Very true. The law in Louisiana reads such that Highway patrol has to be able to accept it. I think though this is to give it some validity.

However, I think it's mostly intended to be helpful in verifying who you are to someone else.

I.E. I have the option to turn on/off items which are available to whomever scans the QR code: My Portrait, License Status (valid vs not), Age, Name, License Number.

So imagine you're a female entering a club with a bouncer at the door. You can have it show him your face and whether you're over 21, without him getting access to your name etc if you don't want him to know that. All his phone sees is that the QR with your face on it resembles you, and that you are indeed over 21. Looks like the QR code changes on the screen about every 1-2 secs so just a screenshot of the QR will turn up invalid.

Comment Re:Do we really want this? (Score 3, Interesting) 55

Actually you don't. We've had digital drivers licenses in Louisiana for more than a year. https://lawallet.com/ You just unlock the license, and the officer can use his phone to scan a changing QR that checks against the database to give him all your info. No handing over of the phone needed.

Comment Re:Bad Link (Score 1) 70

When I send an email or text, I expect the recipient will get back to me when they have time.

I know right? The whole point of email/text is that it's asynchronous communications. My kids would rather have a toenail pulled than call one of their friends. It's considered _rude_ as it's essentially demanding that the friend respond to you immediately by answering the phone. The underlying context is that the other party will get back to you when they're next able to do so. HOWEVER, I've seen it become warped over the years that I've watched them... they've become slaves to their phones worrying that they're making someone wait on them to return a text. Sooo, so much for asynchronous communications, heh. I turn it down some on my Android phone with "hey google, turn on do not disturb." Only my wife/kids can immediately get through that. Those that matter, know that calling me twice from same number also gets through, or two closely spaced texts also gets through. Occasionally annoying as I work nights/sleep days and stuff sneaks through the "Do Not Disturb". I wake up, and go through my call list / text message list. Proof people now treat texts as only SYNCHRONOUS communication? Finding every other idiot out there texting while driving. People! The whole point of the text is that you can look at your phone and answer it after you get where you're going, not while waiting for the cop to get there to look at the car you just rear-ended. (sorry for the slightly off topic jaunt there) Now to re-teach the kids what asynchronous communication was supposed to originally be.

Comment Re:(rolls eyes) (Score 2) 204

EXACTLY! Just yesterday was an article on how those in rural areas often felt broadband options were lacking. Well I'm one of those. Phantom update downloads happen at our house across the numerous computers we have throughout the family. Often exactly when someone wants to watch something or can't figure out where the lag is coming from while playing games. Now MS want's to start using my precious bandwidth to move my files offsite? It would be one thing if I was sitting on a 100MB connection and didn't notice MS doing it's thing in the background. But multiple users sharing a 2.5MB ADSL connection and it's just too much. (yes, we're barely on the edge of DSL even being possible, hence that's the fastest we can even get).

Comment Re:Can't wait (Score 2) 194

This is all laughable to those of us "last milers". We're out in the country at the edge of DSL. We're lucky to get 2.6 down / 0.3 up. My wife can saturate one line easily so if Dad (me) wants to game, I have to have my own DSL line, hence we have two DSL lines into our house. It's still just barely liveable. A new neighbor down the street can't even get DSL (he's actually closer to the DSL access point than I am). AT&T told him they're not installing them anymore because they're not profitable. He's left with NO access.

Comment Re:Why is this a problem? (Score 3, Insightful) 395

Ever been driving down the road and you get a message pop up about a 12 minute delay just ahead? Google saw everyone else's phones come to a stop/near-stop on the road ahead and is busy trying to help you route around it. Is that good? Bad? I don't know the answer but I find it convenient more than I find it obtrusive as I generally don't care if Google knows where I am.

Comment Valid for some website ideas (Score 1) 312

What if someone wanted a forum for say, Huntington's disease (just to pick a random genetic problem). What if they wanted a section where only people who truly have Huntington's can share their experiences without getting trolled by just any person? (duh, people with Huntington's could troll too, but you get what I mean). Just to say, not everything having to do with someone's genetic code is "racist". Almost makes me think the OP is just trolling too.

Comment They forget where most of their money comes from (Score 2) 183

The average newspaper "subscription fee" barely covers the cost of paper and distribution. Newspapers make their real money selling ads. Now those same local newspapers to me want me to buy a subscription to their online versions that cost nothing in paper and almost nothing to distribute? Their online money comes from me clicking through relevant advertisements I find while reading. Make me pay for the _privilege_ to read your news and I'll go elsewhere. Getting listed in an aggregator like news.google.com drives people to news sites so they can sell ads. Wonder how long it'll take before the news sites in Spain see their traffic dwindle to the point they're loosing appreciable revenue.

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