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Comment It will only get worse (Score 0) 182

With the current obesity rates in the US around 42% and expected to rise to 50% in a decade or so, the problem will get much worse. Given the long timeframes for making new law regulating the seat sizes, and the even longer timeframe for implementation, I am not optimistic that we will get relief anytime soon.

Comment What took so long? (Score 1) 159

Seriously, given how easy it is to get to the car's ECM, the lack of security, availability of information, and the technology, it is not surprising. A half-decent coder could probably put together the software that runs adequately on a raspberry pi, let alone a laptop -- and it would be much less conspicuous.

Government

Secret Service Runs At "Six Sixes" Availability 248

PCM2 writes "ABC News is reporting that the US Secret Service is in dire need of server upgrades. 'Currently, 42 mission-oriented applications run on a 1980s IBM mainframe with a 68 percent performance reliability rating,' says one leaked memo. That finding was the result of an NSA study commissioned by the Secret Service to evaluate the severity of their computer problems. Curiously, upgrades to the Service's computers are being championed by Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who says he's had 'concern for a while' about the issue."
Math

7 of the Best Free Linux Calculators 289

An anonymous reader writes "One of the basic utilities supplied with any operating system is a desktop calculator. These are often simple utilities that are perfectly adequate for basic use. They typically include trigonometric functions, logarithms, factorials, parentheses and a memory function. However, the calculators featured in this article are significantly more sophisticated with the ability to process difficult mathematical functions, to plot graphs in 2D and 3D, and much more. Occasionally, the calculator tool provided with an operating system did not engender any confidence. The classic example being the calculator shipped with Windows 3.1 which could not even reliably subtract two numbers. Rest assured, the calculators listed below are of precision quality."

Comment Re:Why is public transport still living in stone a (Score 0) 177

There are a number of good reasons why public agencies hesitate to upgrade. First, there are so many of them (agencies and radio systems) around. Yes, the systems are antiquated, and easy to listen or interject into, but given the many millions that are deployed out there, you will incur a huge cost for replacing the existing system. This is complicated by the fact that you often have to use a different frequency band altogether, which could require the use of new base stations, cabling, antennas, etc. If the frequencies are too far apart, you also have to replan your network to account for the gains from technology (channel planning, capacity considerations, network planning, other services you may want to add, etc.) and the losses from possibly moving to a higher frequency.

Second, you cannot compromise public safety during the transition period. This not only applies to the agency that is doing the upgrading, but also to all the others who rely on that agency to provide services. Finally, you have to contend with the chaos during the transition period, when you either have two, probably incompatible, systems in operation. There is also the problem of finding available spectrum and relocating existing users from that band you want to move into (This happened when cellular services were introduced in the US in early 90's and the existing terrestrial microwave links had to be relocated from the 2GHz band to the 6 GHz band).

Yes, many public systems live in the stone age, but it is not because they like living there. There are often very few paths available to modernize cleanly and efficiently without spending a lot of time and money and not risking public safety.

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