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Comment Re:what? (Score 1) 42

Could be. Apple lets you turn theirs off. But "commercially available location data" usually refers to cell company tracking data, and you can't turn off your IMEI and still use your phone. Sometimes it refers to Strava runs, and what's the point of posting your run if it's not attached to your username?

Comment Re:what? (Score 1) 42

If you're going to use a standard cell phone it's going to be tracked by at least one private company. Or maybe a government organization, depending on the country you're in. That's how they work.

Is soldiers having cell phones stupid? Maybe. I wouldn't be surprised if someone has pretty carefully worked out the benefits and risks. I also wouldn't be surprised if someone just assumed it would be fine.

Comment Re:"Average" bomber. (Score 3, Interesting) 142

I was just reading this comment on another social site:

"Any statement that starts with "No one would be stupid enough to..." is false."

There's probably too much metal between the cargo hold and the passenger compartment for Bluetooth to work anyway. I think all actual bombs on aircraft (other than the failed shoe bomber) have been triggered by pressure switches at altitude or timers.

So it's not just that they wouldn't be stupid enough, but also that it probably wouldn't be successful even if they were.

Comment Re:Weird (Score 1) 112

They probably were. Every single thing cranks say isn't necessarily wrong, especially with enough retrospective eye squinting. The very best cranks take a grain of truth, inflate it out of proportion and use it to sell you their expensive vitamin C pills and blueberry powder.

Comment Re: Grundfos? (Score 1) 60

What is "very large"? How far is the faucet from the water heater? Couple hundred feet? I've never seen anything take *minutes* to get hot water out. Hell, I can turn my boiler on and heat the whole tank from cold faster than that.

My house is a relatively normal size (1800 square feet), and it still takes more than three full minutes for water in my shower to reach full temperature when I run it straight hot. If I also turn on both faucets in my bathroom, I can get that down to about twenty or thirty seconds, which is barely tolerable.

At my mom's house in Tennessee, the distance the water has to travel is comparable, but it takes only ten seconds or so.

It's a huge downside to all the water-saving showerheads and faucets that were forced upon us here in California decades ago. We waste a lot of time and energy to make up for a water shortage that exists only because of decades of politicians being short-sighted and kicking the desalination can down the road over and over so that the money doesn't get spent on their watch.

Comment Re:Supremacy Clause of Constitution says otherwise (Score 1) 50

Trump Loses More Control Over AI Regulation As Illinois Passes Landmark Law

Not really

The headline you disputed is that Trump, the president of the United States, has lost more control over AI regultation. Your evidence was that federal law supercedes the state law the article is talking about. Since the president doesn't make federal law, your objection is irrelevant.

You may wish to refresh your knowledge of what a straw man is, review your own argument, or stop and think for more than thirty nanoseconds before replying.

Comment Re:But wait ... (Score 1) 82

It is.

https://www.nasa.gov/history/n...

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958:

DECLARATION OF POLICY AND PURPOSE
Sec. 102. (a) The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind.

(c) The aeronautical and space activities of the United States shall be conducted so as to contribute materially to one or more of the following objectives:

(7) Cooperation by the United States with other nations and groups of nations in work done pursuant to this Act and in the peaceful application of the results, thereof; and

Comment Re:Lithium isn't rare, and it is important (Score 2) 51

It does seem like a contradiction, but Sodium batteries are safer than Lithium.

Neither sodium nor lithium batteries have elemental sodium or lithium in them. The flammable part is the electrolyte, which is usually an organic oil. Lithium batteries today are much safer than they used to be because electrolytes evolved to be less flammable.

One of the reasons sodium batteries are generally less flammable is because they can't discharge as fast. That's not necessarily a good thing.

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