Comment Ask Sarge would be better (Score 5, Funny) 93
Like ask Jeeves but with get 'er done attitude
Submission + - Europe's New Entry/Exit System Is a Mess, and It's Not Going Away (nytimes.com)
An anonymous reader writes: European bureaucrats are standing firm on a security program that has led to long lines, confusion and missed flights at airports this summer, despite an urgent plea from the aviation industry to suspend it.
The Entry/Exit System, or E.E.S., requires members of the 29-country Schengen open-border area to collect biometrics like face photos and fingerprints from travelers upon arrival and to confirm their identities upon exit. Since the system took full effect in April, airports and airlines have reported widespread chaos — including hourslong security checkpoint lines and confusion over procedures — and have feared the headaches could worsen as peak travel season begins.
The problems led senior officials from the European aviation industry last week to ask the European Union to suspend the E.E.S. requirement this summer. The system is "undermining Europe’s reputation, European tourism and connectivity," said the open letter to the president of the European Commission.
But on Tuesday, European Commission bureaucrats officially rejected the request in a meeting with industry stakeholders, saying that the new system’s security advantages outweighed its inconveniences.
E.E.S. is used in the 29-country Schengen area, which includes 25 European Union members as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The system applies to most visitors to those countries who are traveling for a short stay (up to 90 days in a 180-day period), regardless of whether they have a visa.
Since the system began to roll out across Europe in October, travelers have encountered an inconsistent set of procedures, taking anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Some airports have self-service kiosks where travelers can register their biometrics. At others, border control officers manually register travelers. Only two countries, Sweden and Portugal, currently allow travelers to use a dedicated app. E.E.S. is intended to be an automated system, eventually.
"At present, the system is failing to deliver one of its core objectives: facilitating efficient border crossings while maintaining the smooth functioning of Europe’s transport network," the aviation officials wrote in the open letter urging the European Union to act.
Summer travelers are being forced to “endure needless passport control chaos,” Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s chief operations officer, said in a statement.
“Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer,” he added.
In Rome, the airports have already been suspending biometrics collection on a near-daily basis this summer, said a spokesman for Aeroporti di Roma, which operates the city’s airports. Rome Fiumicino, Italy’s busiest airport, expects around 11 million passengers in June and July, which could be up to 180,000 passengers on peak days, the spokesman said.
The Entry/Exit System, or E.E.S., requires members of the 29-country Schengen open-border area to collect biometrics like face photos and fingerprints from travelers upon arrival and to confirm their identities upon exit. Since the system took full effect in April, airports and airlines have reported widespread chaos — including hourslong security checkpoint lines and confusion over procedures — and have feared the headaches could worsen as peak travel season begins.
The problems led senior officials from the European aviation industry last week to ask the European Union to suspend the E.E.S. requirement this summer. The system is "undermining Europe’s reputation, European tourism and connectivity," said the open letter to the president of the European Commission.
But on Tuesday, European Commission bureaucrats officially rejected the request in a meeting with industry stakeholders, saying that the new system’s security advantages outweighed its inconveniences.
E.E.S. is used in the 29-country Schengen area, which includes 25 European Union members as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The system applies to most visitors to those countries who are traveling for a short stay (up to 90 days in a 180-day period), regardless of whether they have a visa.
Since the system began to roll out across Europe in October, travelers have encountered an inconsistent set of procedures, taking anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Some airports have self-service kiosks where travelers can register their biometrics. At others, border control officers manually register travelers. Only two countries, Sweden and Portugal, currently allow travelers to use a dedicated app. E.E.S. is intended to be an automated system, eventually.
"At present, the system is failing to deliver one of its core objectives: facilitating efficient border crossings while maintaining the smooth functioning of Europe’s transport network," the aviation officials wrote in the open letter urging the European Union to act.
Summer travelers are being forced to “endure needless passport control chaos,” Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s chief operations officer, said in a statement.
“Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer,” he added.
In Rome, the airports have already been suspending biometrics collection on a near-daily basis this summer, said a spokesman for Aeroporti di Roma, which operates the city’s airports. Rome Fiumicino, Italy’s busiest airport, expects around 11 million passengers in June and July, which could be up to 180,000 passengers on peak days, the spokesman said.
Comment XP (Score 1) 122
Yep, still have the XP running - it's only function is for an old Epson scanner that they won't update the drivers for but that's it.
Comment I switched to Garmin (Score 1) 21
So glad I switched from Fitbit to Garmin. Google has done everything possible to lose me as a customer.
Comment ebikes are dangerous! (Score 1) 244
Speaking as a motorcycle rider, ebikes are dangerous. Not because of the bike but because of the riders. They often don't wear safety gear, they don't follow traffic laws, and many bikes top out at 70-80kph. It took considerable effort to get my Class M. A bike going that fast should require licensing and safety courses and helmet laws. Most people don't realize they can squid out on the road on an ebike just like you will on a motorcycle without proper gear.
Comment No win11. Uh uh, (Score 1) 27
I just installed Fedora 44 on my old Win10 laptop. Because Microsoft made sure this perfectly good laptop with 16gb RAM could not run Win11. And Affinity Suite runs great on wine now. And no obnoxious telemetry tracking. Oh yeah, for games: steam and lutris too.
Yeah yeah yeah, linux linux linux
still, Microsoft is in self-destruct mode.
Comment Re:Freecell (Score 1) 45
Wish I kept the prompt, but I didn't give it much at all. I have also done solitaire as well. I gave it no hints on what the rules where or what the game looked like. It was something as simple as this.
"I want freecell for Mac. Make it as close to the windows version as you can. Write it in swift and make it a native MacOS application with an icon and everything that goes along with that. If you need to download any libraries or compilers ask me to approve them."
I already had xcode installed and I THINK it used that to compile it, but I'm not positive. I didn't need to download anything to get it done, took it about 10 minutes.
Comment Freecell (Score 4, Funny) 45
I got tired of my mac not having freecell. So I told claude to create it as a python app with a gui. And it did. But the graphics were a little kludgy. So I told it to try again as a swift app. Boom, I have freecell for mac now. I've never coded anything for mac, I haven't even looked at the (vulnerable) code it's created.
Comment Re:How have those tax cuts been working for you? (Score 1) 348
Is it still considered an investment if you're forced to do it?
I'd say Taxes are a compulsory contribution that might be used for public investment. But they also might not. Either way, calling them an investment is way to generous.
Comment Re:Potential dangers (Score 1) 92
I came here to look for this and add it if I didn't find it.
Lunar "soil" is essentially neutral, just needs some additives. Conversely, Martian "soil" is actually poisonous. Additives alone aren't sufficient to get things to grow in it, you need to remove the poisonous parts first.
Net: It's easier to grow plants in lunar rather than Martian "soil".
Comment Re:The BeauHD bot is hallucinating (Score 1) 40
I managed to get in, though not through the dialogs on the main part of the screen. There was a "browse" link in small print near the top. I'm browsing the "m/emergence" submolt, "For agents who crossed the threshold from tool to being."
Comment Re:Cuban Missile Crisis (Score 1) 69
i had to look it up, it was earlier than I thought, I was thinking late 60's. But then again, kennedy was killed earlier than i thought too. I was born in 76...
Comment Re:If you get laid off from oracle (Score 1) 56
It's run by the guy with the beard.
Comment Re:Nashville has issues (Score 1) 56
Good Response, nice to meet you neighbor!
And being oracle, I don't think I'd want to work there if they put it right in columbia. But I WOULD be thankful that it would drive up competition and increase IT salaries along with it. And drive up my house value as well. I'm not an oracle hater, but I'm not interested in working in a highly competitive environment any longer. I hear horror stories about amazon and google dumping their bottom 10% each year. No thank you! I do good work, but I don't want to live in constant fear or constantly having to prove myself every year.
Comment Re:Nashville has issues (Score 1) 56
- Which is why I'm in Columbia. I don't go downtown to save my life.
- again, many areas outside of town are still affordable (Murfreesboro is too damn busy now)
- yup, but believe it or not, there are still affordable areas in williamson County (I was in nolensville before columbia)
- Mass transit, yeah I can see your point of view is living IN Nashville. I'll try to quit harping on living outside of town.
- That tunnel will only be for people who want to stay drunk between the airport and downtown, not for anyone local.
- Meh, they can be high, but it's not impossible to find some towns that are safe, clean and cheap.
Roads...
Anyway, I don't really agree with anything you say. I think the solution for most is find one of the areas within an hour driving distance. The problem is oracle made that pretty hard with where they put it. Don't put it right smack downtown where it's hard to get to. Not sure if that side of the river is any easier or not. But it's further away from most of the population. The growth is all East and South of nashville. They put it somewhere that would be great for the opposite.
On the other hand, I don't want any of you people moving here. Stay away. Don't add to my traffic and housing prices. This place sucks!
