Also hoping for a Mac version... :o)

Looks like I'm late to the party - all I get is a 404 from the link. :o(

Uh, www.gelaskinz.com seems to have vanished... :o(

"Uh, I dunno 'is name , gov'nor, 'e was jus' some ass I was haulin' about..."

:o)

" "

Even having been an engineer and manager in the old Bell System (USA) for a quarter century, that sort of attitude rankles.

I, too, hope the CRTC hangs them out to dry - after a sound beating. :o)

Why not?

Those colors make as much sense and are ans obvious and understandable as the current ones. I never can remember if moving from orange to yellow is good or bad. :o(

At least in the days I was in the military the threat levels (DEFense CONdition - DEFCON) were easily understood. DEFCON 5 was absolute peacetime, DEFCON 1 we were essentially at war.

Why stupid colors instead of understandable numbers or letters? (1-5 or A-E) Who's brilliant idea was it to say we are at condition orange, and who quickly understands how much better or worse blue is compared to green?

Bah!

Since it wouldn't hurt ANY of us to get in a little more physical activity than we currently do, how 'bout a light switch with built in timer that beeps a couple minutes before it automatically shuts off.

When the switch beeps, get up off one's butt and reset it for another time period.

Different lights could have different preset times to fit with the activity usually taking place in that space. (Or just make 'em all one hour and figure that if you can't get off your butt once an hour, you don't need lights.)

THEN put a key switch in parallel with the timed switch to lock the light on if it is needed for an extended time for some reason.

I currently have a timer just like that, except for the "two minute warning" on my bathroom fan. It's a programmable digital switch. Should be a simple matter for a manufacturer to include a beeper...

The second video (the one from two years ago) is in a newscast video HERE: http://www.abc2news.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=8229@wmar.dayport.com

...and Sal was riding 'round in the same clowncar, and wearing the same clownsuit, while acting like an idiot and actually giving an unlawful order (telling the artist to leave the public space for no reason than Sal didn't like the little remote control car he purposely kicked).

The two vids together tend to show just how petty a bully Sal is. He should not be in a position of power.

Failing to follow "orders" from a police officer is not always mandatory under the law - on only needs to follow LAWFUL orders, and much of what an officer insist's one complies with are not lawful orders.

Of course if you don't follow their orders, lawful or not, there is a really good chance they will use force.

Personally, I'm a handicapped individual, and I dread the day some * with a badge demands I do something I cannot do (like "step out of the car" being bellowed over a loudspeaker), then either Tases me or shoots me for being "uncoperative."

Yes, these days the very real possibility of just such a thing happening terrifies me.

The only terrorists I've ever encountered in my 61 years are those whose wages I pay to protect me. *sigh*

(And no, I don't have a police record - heck, my last traffic ticket was for 5MPH over in 1978... on an interstate freeway.)

Unless the person in the original story would have been SHOT if the taser was unavailable, there was no legitimate reason for using it. It is an alternative to lethal force, not a "fits all conditions" way to gain compliance.

University Place, WA

A year ago I needed to visit relatives in Florida (I live in Washington state). I had neither the time nor money to drive that 5000 mile round trip, stay in a dozen motels, eat an untold number of overpriced, oversalted, fatty meals, so I flew down and back.

Not all needed trips are local, not all needed trips are "time no object" and not everyone has an essentially unlimited budget to make the trips.

Oh, a sailing ship would not have helped, either.

====

Back to the topic -- I would hope that the "no fly lists" would at LEAST say something like "Smith, John; Age:40-50" or "Jones, Jane; Age:adult" if they couldn't get any closer. If such were the case, looking at Matthew Gardner, age 5 and looking at the list of a potential suspect "Gardner, Matthew; Age:30-50" a minimally intelligent Homeland Security Trooper could simply check him off as wish him a good day.

We need to get as many politicians names on the list as possible - maybe that would help. "Pardon me, uh, Senator Jones, would you step this way please? No, you can leave your carry-on where it is, they will be inspecting it separately. Excuse me..." [to radio] "Ann, would you get me a fresh box of rubber gloves, please - security room 16."

====

BTW, does anyone know how many actual terrorists the several million man-hours of security searches have actually found? Were any of them on "The List?"

Didn't think so...

I'll bet Xeni would have a difficult time eating Cheerios without snickering... :o)

Tom

Should some "bailiff" come snooping 'round my place looking for things of value to nick, there'd be some breaking of kneecaps, there would...

(Does sound as though some irregulars need to make midnight visits to those cameras, and render them inoperative. Expensively inoperative.)

Tomas

One word: Prions.

Remember that word.

Pigs are uncomfortably close to to humans in their biology.

All known prion diseases affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissue, and all are currently untreatable and fatal. (Think "Mad Cow Disease.")

You saw it here first.

"But once he asks the guy out of the car, he clearly means to arrest him."

That is where I disagree.

The officer refuses to explain anything and not until well after he has used a Taser on an un-resisting civilian does he even bother to indicate IN ANY WAY that the person is under arrest.

The officer - sorry, "Trooper" (I don't want to get Tazed) did not communicate that failure to sign would result in arrest, he did not tell the person he was under arrest, he simply pulled was could EASILY be mistaken for a gun by a mere civilian and essentially shot him in the back with no warning.

This particular Trooper should be reprimanded and not allowed on the street, interacting with civilians, until after he is re-trained and proves that he understands he MUST comply with the law himself.

Tom

P.S. Please remember, citizens are ONLY required to follow the LEGAL orders of any law enforcement officer. Blind obedience to just ANY order is not required, and never has been.

Tom

I suspect we might lose entire states without all that much of an increase in sea level. Last time I was in Florida it struck me that it doesn't have all that much freeboard...

Tom

Premise: You are owner of a computer-based product.

You don't like some of the features of the product's firmware so you take it upon yourself to modify that firmware.

Later, an update for the manufacturer's original firmware comes out, but contains clear warnings that it will ONLY work correctly if the original firmware was not modified.

You decide to apply the update to the modified firmware anyway.

Your attempt to update your modified firmware fails.

What part of the warning did you fail to understand?

How is this the fault of the manufacturer?

DID YOU MAKE THE CHOICE TO MODIFY THE FIRMWARE?

DID YOU MAKE THE CHOICE TO IGNORE THE WARNINGS?

I'm not impressed by a person making those sorts of decisions, then bringing suit.

Tom

Actually, Apple is not preventing anyone from "doing what they want to" with the iPhone - they can hack and modify it all they want, and Apple won't stop them.

Thing is, once you hack the firmware, DO NOT try to further update it with Apple firmware updates because those Apple firmware updates are expecting stock OEM firmware. If various bits and pieces are no longer there or are different, the firmware update will quite legitimately fail partway through when it runs off the rails.

Instant shiny, high-tech, lighted paperweight.

Welcome to the iBrick! It is not the Apple firmware that makes the iPhone a brick, but the hacks that make the update fail.

Glenn and Adam put out some very good electronic books. I have a few of them and they are well worth their usual price.

This one should be good as a reference, especially for those not feeling all that sure about some parts of WiFi setups. Can't beat the price. :o)

Thanks guys!

All I can do is sit here, mouth hanging open, shaking my head.

I've spent a lot of time in Canada, and they always seemed like such nice, friendly, RATIONAL folks.

I guess you just never know.

Tom

Got it from 'a friend of a friend,' eh?

I can only assume that law enforcement in the area will be talking to some folks with great interest. :o)

I hope BB will continue tracking this (and also that the police in BC realize that the world is watching).

I look forward to seeing more on this!!! :o)

Sorry to hear about the burglary, happy to see the pics.

Good luck on getting the Macs back!

Tomas

I had a stroke in 2000 and spent three years in a wheelchair. These days I manage to walk slowly and for reasonably short distances with a cane.

At the Philadelphia airport, on the way to a Continental flight bound for Houston, after struggling out of my shoes and handing off my cane, I carefully made it through the metal detector arch in only two tries.

When I asked for my shoes and cane, I also asked for assistance - I needed the only seating in sight for me to put my shoes back on cleared.

TSA refused. :o(

I haven't run into a freeze, but If I do, I WILL end up on the floor, and probably need assistance to regain my feet.

This sort of random BS is NOT what I risked my life to protect while in the military.

Tom

@#124

Thanks, Jason, for posting Fred von Lohmann's well written scolding of Andrew Burt. :o)

Dr. Burt (and SFWA) is now very clearly on notice that any further poorly researched, non-compliant, or purely unlawful "notices" will NOT be accepted.

They are also on notice that swearing to untruthful statements will get action - just not the action they might want...

Tomas

Content of SFWA statement on scribd action:

******************************************************** SFWA Statement regarding removal of works from scribd ********************************************************

I want to respond to the flurry of activity that has resulted from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) mistakenly identifying several works as infringing copyright. First, some background. There have been discussions within SFWA for several months regarding websites that allow users to upload documents of all sorts for other users to download and share. Many hundreds of copyrighted texts have been put online at these sites, and the number is growing quickly. Some SFWA members complained about the pirating of their works to SFWA's e-Piracy Committee and authorized the committee to do something about it. SFWA contacted scribd.com, one of these sites, about removing these authors' works and generated a list of infringing works to be removed.

Unfortunately, this list was flawed and the results were not checked. At least three works tagged as copyright infringements were nothing of the sort. I have personally apologized to the writers and editors of those works. If you are a creator who has had material removed and has not yet been contacted, please email me at president@sfwa.org.

SFWA's intention was to remove from scribd.com only works copyrighted by SFWA members who had authorized SFWA to act on their behalf. This kind of error will not happen again.

Michael Capobianco
President, SFWA

Posted August 31, 2007

SFWA has issued a statement on this issue:

http://www.sfwa.org/news/2007/sfwascribd.htm

Tomas