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Comment Re:Dark, clear, skies are beautiful (Score 2) 136

Real life is outside, not in any electrified box. Choose your poison; TV, laptop, smartphone. Great idea Idaho ! How can we help make this happen? Here in central Texas, the Milky Way has faded from view. When I talk to kids about the beauty of the night sky, their faces express disbelief and confusion of what this old man speaks. Our neighborhood street is illuminated well by lamps at each corner, but neighbors still leave their intensely bright drive way lights on all night. Unfortunately, most people seem to be inside ... camped by the electric firelight of the TV, laptop, or smartphone ... and gobbling down advertising and fake news. If people go outside and look up, they might see some real magic. They might even converse with their family. They might even save money since they avoid the nonstop onslaught of advertising temptation to consume, consume, consume.

Comment Re:So... (Score 1) 117

Exactly ! ..."So by embedding messages in light the researchers were able to transmit this message without ever directly sending a particle." Reminds me of ... A sentinel in a lighthouse with a oil lamp; 'One if by land, two if by sea'. (You old guys add '...and 76 if by electric jet.') That message was sent via light and no particles were harmed in the making of that event. Interesting science ... however ... humanity has used light for signaling since the beginning of our time.

Comment Re:So, a large-scale WISP? (Score 1) 74

Google Access may implement their own 3.5 GHz wireless internet service -or- they might partner with an existing wireless internet service provider (WISP). This approach leverages Google's end user presence and strengthens the WISP serving rural areas, small towns & cities, or the outskirts of a large metro area. It all fits. Google finances the deployment of the fiber backbone (this is the backhaul to an internet), a tower is erected (or leased or shared with a partner WISP), point to point links connect towers, and 3.5 GHz or 5 GHz radios link a tower to the end user business or residence. The end user bandwidth will be better than many end users receive now at a reasonable price. My AT&T dsl line is 5 MB down / 1.5 up for $58 a month for ONLY internet. A speed of 10MB to 50MB meets all my needs; VOIP, video streaming, and gaming. Yes, more speed is great, but for home use, I don't need more. Time Warner offers 300 MB to my location, but not at a price I'm willing to accept. For those that have 1 GB for under $100 a month, consider yourself blessed. Clearwire had the right idea but deployed the wrong technology. Many customers in their homes or business often complained of poor signal quality. Wireless radio designs are far better than 10 years ago. Ubiquiti Networks is on the right path. https://www.ubnt.com/ They may, or may not, have the right mojo, ... but they are working on a piece of the problem. Read more here: http://www.wispa.org/ ...or here: http://www.wirelesscowboys.com...

Comment bureaucrats don't understand tough love (Score 1) 41

They have everything they need to secure their networks. All the federal infrastructure I worked with owned adequate technology equipment. Their networks & servers would be more secure if they used what they have now. However, many of those federal government agencies MUST hold their people accountable for poor unsatisfactory job performance. Until managers display the courage ( integrity & ethics) to 'do the right thing' by objectively enforcing policy, the deadwood eventually rots an organizations' behavior. The problem is not technology. It is people, the enemy is us.

Comment cancel your Facebook account (Score 2) 441

As others here have already posted, I call BULLSHIT of this quote by Joe Green. This is nothing more than political propaganda. I worked in the computer industry over 35 years for DEC, EDS, HP, Loral Aerospace, and others. My roles ranged from component repair at customer location (soldering iron & oscilloscope), customer service manager, system engineering project manager, database admin, sales support, system admin, and virtualization work. As also stated by an early poster, I don't know of a single colleague that would agree with the sentiment expressed in the Joe Green quote. I worked with many software people holding visas. Many are very competent and motivated. Others not so much. If Mr Green thinks the 'best' are outside the United States, then perhaps Facebook, Zuckerberg, and Mr Green should relocate to become permanent expatriates.

Comment Re:Regional/cultural issue? (Score 1) 924

We see this rude behavior in central Texas too. Typical of those feeling entitled and self absorbed, demonstrating a complete lack of respect for others and no evidence of civil manners. At the very beginning of the movie, before the advertising, many of the theaters clearly set expectations that cell phones will be powered off and no talking. One regional chain (maybe more) has zero tolerance of disturbing the audience as the offending parties will be escorted OUT, usually to delight of the other movie goers. Prior to movie start, one theater chain ... name reminds me of the Alamo ... airs a telephone recording of a disgruntled X customer that was publicly escorted out. .... actually quite humorous recording ... better than the cartoons! Oh, and for those inquiring minds, on second offense ... well you know, BANG ! ...yes we do ... it is Texas.

Comment go old school (Score 1) 622

For the secret stuff ... go old school ... Write on paper ... with CIA approved invisible ink (make it at home). Use you own chosen encryption algorithm ... then place in envelope and deliver to United States Postal Service.. Congress and corporations are trying to put them out of business anyway, so the popular thought is why would anyone use the USPS? Or invite someone else to function as a personal courier. Yes, it is slow, but it works well for the Mafia and other organizations, e.g Al Qaida. Delivery will be a rental box instead of residential address. Box is changed every 2 to 3 months and paid in cash or prepaid debit card which is not linked to you. These days ... few would suspect this slow but reliable communication. Even if the NSA intercepts and 'attempts' to read ... it will be too late ... as you will have had plenty of time to change to the next previously arranged encryption key.

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