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Comment Re:Easy fix? (Score 3, Interesting) 465

2. You say that radiation dose is miniscule. TSA says that radiation dose is miniscule. Others say that due to improper calibration (how many of TSA employees are qualified to calibrate a medlical-like device?) or due to other factors the radiation received may be 10X or 100X higher than the "optimal". TSA had refused to do a health study, so even assuming I trust everyone equally, that's a 50-50 risk that TSA assertion is wrong.

In addition there's a concern that the radiation dose bounces back out from somewhere shallow below the surface of the skin, with unknown implications for damage to the skin.

Comment Re:"Collateral damage" will rise (Score 1) 782

Aren't you ignoring the greatly reduced latency of using these weapons versus mortars. I'm (obviously) not an expert on warfare but wouldn't the fact that these are the "guns" soldiers can be used at a latency of around 1/60 of what it takes to call in a mortar round (from the article) significantly change how often and under what circumstances fragmentary rounds are used?

Comment Both points are valid (Score 1) 1007

You are right - Untrusted plugins are a core issue. However, users need to understand that Master Password does not add any protection to passwords, to avoid the illusion that it makes them safer. In fact it makes passwords less safe by storing them on the machine, and very easy to hack into if the machine is stolen, say. So (I think) users should neither use untrusted plugins nor store passwords to sensitive sites under the Master Password.

Comment Re:User also needs to take some responsibility (Score 1) 1007

Of course you shouldn't install plugins that you don't trust, but the problem is it isn't at all obvious to many users that plugins can access the passwords held under the Master Password. You need fairly deep technical knowledge of how things work to "take responsibility" hence my guidance not to use Master Password for sensitive sites.

Comment Re:Even Adobe can't explain Shockwave properly. (Score 1) 130

It's a bit more than that... Shockwave dates back to the pre-web days when lots of interactive material was developed for CD-ROM and kiosks. Macromedia Director was the pre-eminent authoring tool for those kinds of content, and Shockwave is an embeddable Director player. But Director/Shockwave never transitioned successfully to the web, partly because of the "Loading..." problem, but also because much interesting Director content depended on a huge variety of valuable client-side plugins called XCommands and XObjects that (as I recall) weren't available in Shockwave, for security reasons. Director remains a great authoring tool for content that runs locally, and more so for all kinds of interactive prototyping that needs to connect with client-side extensions of any kind.
The Courts

Wife of Harried Pirate Bay Witness Gets Buried in Internet Love 470

treqie writes "During the trial of pirate bay yesterday, a professor (Roger Wallis) took the witness stand. He told the court things that the prosecutors did not want to hear. The prosecutors then tried to discredit both him and his team's work in the area, as well as his title, it was a real spectacle. In the end, the judge asked if he wanted compensation for being there — he replied that he did not want anything, but they could send flowers to his wife. Many listening online heard, and began sending her flowers, from all over the world. As of this submission, the sum is over 40,000 SEK worth of flowers. There's even a Facebook group for it."

Comment Re:BMW on fuel efficient driving (Score 1) 1114

I've been carefully observing fuel consumption in my car (VW Passat 1.8T 5-speed automatic) for several years based on the MPG display on the dash. The following are best practices for my particular car: - Speed up gently and slow down gently. - Use the gentlest accelerator pressure necessary to keep you in the highest gear (5th = highest) as your safe speed permits. - Use engine braking as much as possible (anticipate stops and minimize wasted energy from approaching too fast). - Avoid unnecessary stops. They cost a lot of fuel. For this reason, avoiding peak rush hour can make a big difference to your overall fuel consumption. - Speeds above 65 (in my car) significantly increase fuel consumption. - Keep your tires inflated correctly. - Don't use a roof-rack unless you actually need it. Fuel consumption isn't linear because petrol engines are most efficient within a narrow band, and because lower speeds lead to lower gears which deliver less distance per rotation of the engine. Because of these factors, you need to learn your optimum speed to minimize fuel for a given scenario. If you have a regular commute, you can learn an optimum cruising speed as you approach a hill, for example, that will get you over the hill with a gentle slow-down and minimum down-shifting. Air temperature also significantly affects efficiency. In New England, I get a variance of about +/-2mpg from winter to summer. 65-70 degrees seems to be optimal. Colder weather requires more time for the engine to warm up, which is the least efficient period. Hotter weather seems to reduce efficiency somewhat. A/C uses significant fuel. My car has a Tiptronic transmission which gives me the option of manually shifting if I want to. Only very rarely do I find I can improve my MPG by manual shifting. The automatic carries a small (maybe 1MPG?) fuel "overhead" but because it adapts to more or less aggressive driving, it tends to do the right thing for good fuel economy if I drive driving sensibly.
Operating Systems

Journal Journal: Test

Test entry

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