"+screwdriver for the baseplate"
Phillips.
"the star screwdriver for the hard drive pegs"
Torx.
Really, we're all geeks here. We can handle the proper names for things.
1208 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Sep 2007
"The DoT said that mandating V2V communications could add $300 to the cost of making each vehicle, but that it would save up to $71 billion as a result of lowering the number of vehicle collisions."
So is that a savings or not? How many billions per year is $300/vehicle, or how much per vehicle is $71 billion? The figures sound impressive but they're in completely different frames of reference, so can't be directly compared.
Also, dollar figures are fine, but presumably one of the costs of collisions is lives lost. How many lives saved are we talking about? How many permanent disabilities?
For that matter, there may be other costs associated with the addition of the new system, some of which have been enumerated by my fellow commenters. Who will be paying for attack mitigation? How many people will be late to important meetings because of some script kiddies?
The mind boggles!
Extended warranties and such are a form of gambling. There's a chance the product will fail during the lifetime of the plan.
When you buy the plan, you're betting the device will fail during that period, and that it will cost at least the price of the plan to fix.
When they sell you the plan, they're betting the device will NOT fail, or will cost less than the plan's price to fix.
The house gets to set the terms and the price. You've only got Hobson's choice. In the meantime, they have your money to collect interest on, you do not, if you buy.
In the long run, the house always wins.
To win the game, take the price of each plan you're offered and put it into savings or other investment (instead of buying the plan). You get to collect interest, and you have money set aside for repairs that should, statistically, exceed the cost of the repairs. There are some assumptions baked into that but you should come out ahead in any case.
"I had to give my Harmony Hub a static IP address as well. This was last month so they've apparently not fixed it yet."
Oh, is that what happened? After I tried restarting a couple times I reconfigured it into the bin. Was more fiddly than doing things by hand. Lucky I got it at a discount.
That was months ago, though. You say this was last month? Hmmm. Maybe my kit just died.
Been streaming Netflix on my Windows laptop for a while. It has a Hell of a time; losing sync, or slipping into HSP mode even with the mic disabled.
Got a Nexus tablet, started watching on that and haven't had a single glitch. Not one.
I'd guess that many problems are implementation-dependent.
"...I knew a Jewish girl who'd go completely bursar if someone mentioned Hitler, yet failed to realise that but for him, she probably wouldn't have existed..."
And I know a Jewish girl who feels survivor guilt because if her mother's first husband hadn't been murdered in the Camps, she wouldn't have existed either. But thanks for cherry picking the data.
...Unless, of course, vc calls the police and gives them temporary access. Just because you're not allowed in my house without invitation doesn't mean I can't invite you.
Contrariwise, if it's a public beach, as long as the beachgoers don't trespass on his private land, the police can tell him to go pound sand. Metaphorically, of course.
"I'd also like to see venues insisting that only the original purchaser can use the ticket. If you can't go, you return the ticket to the venue for resale."
Because people never buy tickets as gifts.
Because if I can't go due to a last-minute emergency, it's better to refund the tickets and have those seats unsold.
Or, since it's more likely I won't have the leisure to return the tickets in time, it's better the seats remain empty and I pay for useless tickets than for a friend to use them instead. Or an acquaintance. Or a total stranger. I'd rather give them away than throw them away... but I'll have to throw them away anyway. That will show those dirty scalpers!
"Well "living in a house with three men", her two older brothers and Dad?"
Didn't say "living in a house with". Said "alone and unsafe with".
As for your hypothetical dad and two brothers, abusers are usually family members, so dad and two brothers doesn't automatically make one safe. Doesn't automatically make one unsafe either, but if you're going to ignore context, hey, you can twist it any way you like.
Awww. And I just got this Nexus 7... Happens it doesn't do what I got it for, but turns out it's nicer for reading tech web sites and e-books than my phone and more portable than my laptop for Netflix. These ageing eyes appreciate the larger screen.
I can live without it but I'm glad I got it anyway.
(2nd generation, so I get updates through Marshmallow without having to root it. Which was the original point.)
I just tell them the truth: I write firmware for a airplane simulator company. Most think that's cool enough to stop there. If they ask what that entails, the explanation leaves them glassy-eyed enough to never want to ask me a question ever again ever.
OTOH if they know what firmware is it often means a pleasant techie conversation will follow. Win-win.
"If all of these patents were shot down by the USPTO, why in the hell were they issued in the first place?"
The U.S. patent system is pretty broken right now, starting with the office. They were issued due to said office having collective rectal-cranial inversion.
Reform desperately needed.
A critical part of doing proper backups is redundancy. One way to provide it is individual users doing their own. There are drawbacks, to be sure. But if IT are botching the job, whom else can you depend on?
And vague reassurances are useless. I like Lee D.'s soapbox speech. Be explicit, be willing to demonstrate, be transparent. Be willing to listen.
Redundancy, and layers.
I had no idea who David Hemmings was, but I immediately recognized the scene you described. (the movie showed up a few times on HBO during the few years I subscribed.) Unfortunately I couldn't remember the name of the movie, either, though I did remember Omar Sharif being the captain.
I looked up "David Hemmings" on IMDB and started scanning titles backwards until I encountered one that had absolutely nothing to do with exploding boats -- I did remember THAT much about the title -- and sure enough, "Juggernaut" turned out to be the movie I remembered, and presumably the one you referenced. High fives!
You sound pretty much like I'd expect. Only when I'm reading your articles, the voice in my head insists on speaking with an American accent. But then, most of the voices in my head speak with an American accent, even when I know better. Oddly enough, it's the same accent I speak with. (I'm sure it's a coincidence.) Now I've actually heard you speak, perhaps I can convince my brain to at least read your words with something other than "bland Midwestern US with a dash of New England but grew up in semi-rural PA". As I write this we (at work) have a guy visiting from Australia, maybe I'll get confused and you'll end up with an Aussie accent in my head.
Come to think, I'm already confused, that part's a no-brainer. Speaking of which... back to work!
"I may be stupid, but I'm not BLOODY stupid!"