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davepageon Corporations are refrigerators

The water represents corporate resources and the hand represents the employee. When the employee is removed, other resources back fill to compensate. No need to delude oneself into thinking one is indispensable. The world moves forward whether one is at work or on vacation -- the only question is: what is the benefit and for whom?

davepageon Google offering $1M prize for a much smaller power inverter

Oh, that is completely not true for commercial AC power transmission -- just look up at a big power pylon and see the multiple power conductors per phase.

See the pretty blue picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect

Skin effect in copper is about 9mm at 60Hz

davepageon Google offering $1M prize for a much smaller power inverter

If we're talking off-line power supplies, it most definitely _is_ AC for the simple reason non-ideal transformers will pass no DC. And, further, inductors and capacitors (LC) are all merely losses to DC signals. These components only have a meaningful function for AC waveforms (even though, in the case of a buck converter, a DC signal is superimposed).

davepageon MH370: A different point of view

No, previous experience with fires has taught the best policy is to land as quickly as possible. Standard procedure would be to put out all available drag and descend for the nearest aerodrome with all possible haste. Ditching is preferable to cruise in the case of a serious fire. The turning maneuvers west of the peninsula are not consistent with a rational fire response by the crew.

davepageon Did Malaysian Airlines 370 disappear using SIA68/SQ68 (another 777)?

Wishful thinking. Aircraft are designed to be operated by professional crews -- not ex-convicts on work release. So, there are accessible circuit breakers to turn various things off.

davepageon How do you track a plane?

If you have a look at the FAA AIM, there is controller phraseology "squalk standby" which means to disable the transponder. This is to be used when the transponder is seen by the controller to be emitting unreliable or incorrect information. Keep in mind the transponder system design originated in WW2 and is quite crude. The crew and controllers are the main form of error detection and correction.

davepageon How do you track a plane?

It is worth mentioning that transport aircraft carry Mode S [0] transponders which emit a unique ICAO 24 bit address assigned by aircraft registration. This data is available regardless the pilot-entered 4 octal digit Mode A transponder code. The transponder can still be turned off, however.

This contrasts to small aircraft which typically have Mode A/C only (no mode S).

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_transponder_interrogat...

davepageon Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

There is a funny bump on the side of your toy called a power button. Perhaps you could too could learn the joy of silence?

davepageon GCHQ intercepted webcam images of millions of Yahoo users worldwide

Yes, because for political purposes, a compromising photo has far better blackmail value than other data.

davepageon Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List

OP is an Australian national buying parts locally in Sydney, Australia and getting a watch list flag purportedly from the US.

Seems to me the chicken has already flown the coop, and this sort of thing is purely belligerent and abusive behavior on the part of the US government (their specialty, e.g. FATCA).

davepageon Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List

Totally agree. Their packing process appears to be designed for $10k orders, so when the optimism fails, the box leaves nearly empty. Perhaps they're trying to send a subtle message: 'don't waste this box, buy more stuff.'

One time I ordered from them some XAM3359ZCZs (a Texas Instruments ARM CPU which is about half a cell phone or double an Rπ) -- out of stock in US, but available from UK. I was in a hurry, so I spring for the extra shipping. Weeks later, no parts and no word. Called, them and 'oops' it is stuck in UK and I need to make a customs declaration to re-import to the US this US part from the UK. Very annoying on several levels.

davepageon DEA redacts tactic that's more secret than parallel construction

Your theory does not coincide with my anecdote. This name confusion scenario was familiar to the driver.

Warrants are issued by a court. Courts are imperfect and may not have correct date of birth or other identifying information beyond a name.

davepageon DEA redacts tactic that's more secret than parallel construction

Personal anecdote: riding as passenger in friend's vehicle, LEO pulls over, friend says 'oh, not again.' LEO advises '... license plate lamp out ...' Friend says, 'no it isn't,' exits vehicle, examines lamp -- in good working order. LEO says, 'must have made a mistake'. Friend says, 'no, I have a name similar to someone with an active warrant', cop says 'uh, huh'. Runs license. Free to go.

Lawful stop? No. Remedy? No.

The core issue is that the judiciary's (and your) presumption of reliable and trustworthy law enforcement behavior is not valid. This is a LEO 'company culture' problem which has always existed (formerly a racial problem, but now everyone's problem now that we're not doing that any more).

I'm not sure what the answer is, other than people need to learn what has happened in the ghetto for the last 200 years, then accept that they're next.

davepageon Issue 62938 – Barometer driver hangs and kills accelerometer on its way

Sometimes the slave's state machine will get 'lost' emitting a zero. It is possible that simply toggling SCL until SDA goes high (followed by a STOP) can resolve these issues without a separate reset line. Implementing this may require temporarily putting the I2C pins into GPIO mode and bit banging.

davepageon Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished

OP is saying NSA wants "terrorist" programs expanded.

davepageon NSA Coworker Remembers Edward Snowden: "A Genius Among Geniuses"

I see your point, but I think you may be making too coarse a distinction. There is a difference between gathering intelligence on certain high-value foreign targets and en-mass foreign surveillance of the nominally innocent. Further, I am not convinced that the agency has made a proportional contribution to counter-terrorism in proportion to its budget. Stopping a few questionable donations cannot ever justify building such a dangerous infrastructure -- which will inevitably be abused for political purposes.

davepageon With new USB connector, no more wrong-way-up cables

A physical connector has an electro-mechanical function, and the PHY layer has an electronic function. Regardless the technology, both are always required.

So, lightning located some (small) part of the PHY in the connector rather than in the client or host (where it would likely be cheaper). Apple could have merely cross-wired the pins on each side of the connector to achieve a reversible design and thus eliminated this excess complexity.

I suspect the design is motivated by IP/counterfeit protection. I do not believe any of that benefits the end user at all.

davepageon Schoolchildren ordered indoors as air pollution cloaks Shanghai

No first hand experience, but from what I can tell, children of legitimate Z visa holders can send their kids to local schools for a reasonable fee. See shanghaiexpat.

It is also legal for expats to home school their kids (not legal for the locals).

There is a strong sense of entitlement present in American culture which leads to unrealistic expectations when living abroad. This manifests as the so-called 'ugly American'. China is a place where 'zero-tolerance' is literally a foreign concept, and anything is possible with persistence (and good connections). Which also implies the downside -- nothing is permanent or guaranteed, either.

davepageon Schoolchildren ordered indoors as air pollution cloaks Shanghai

Well, food contamination is an issue with even the nominal food supply, so one must be very careful. The culture is more fluid with the truth then some other places. Lots of vegetable markets, though, so you could buy and prepare your own food.

davepageon Schoolchildren ordered indoors as air pollution cloaks Shanghai

Business visa Requirements: 1. One completely filled out “Visa Application Form, which you can down load from my attached PDF file. It needs to type with computer then print out. Don’t leave any blank, write “N/A” in any item which not suit for you. 2. One recently taken 2X2 in. photo showing entire face and without a hat on. Please affix the photo to the application form. Photo should be light background, and taken within 6 months. 3. Original passport with at least 2 blank visa pages and valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of application. 4. Invitation letter from the company or university in China 5. Your company or college in US's letter for proof. 6. Fee: Embassy: $140/per person for single, double & multiple entry in one year Service fee: $35.00 Postage: $22.00 for local people pick up by themselves, +$7.40 for others Total: $197.00 for local/ $204.40 for others.

Make your check paid to: Chinese Service Center .

Lucy Chinese Service Center of Greater Albany, LLC. 2394 Parkville Place Schenectady, NY 12309 Tel:(518)346-0555 Email:CSCAlbany@yahoo.com

EDIT: formatting

davepageon Schoolchildren ordered indoors as air pollution cloaks Shanghai

$1000! Crazy laowai. As a data point, my current F visa is 2 years, multi-entry, 90 days and cost the nominal fee plus about $100 for the visa company to drop it off at the consulate. Apparently, the F visa has been re-purposed and there is a new M business visa. Any practical experience with that?

[of course, China habitually hassles journalists (Bloomberg) over visas]

davepageon Schoolchildren ordered indoors as air pollution cloaks Shanghai

If cost is a primary concern, the kids can go to local school (just like Chinese kids who come to the US). The expat continuum goes from 'bubble' to 'going native'. Bubble is most expensive. Might as well stay home, no?

davepageon With new USB connector, no more wrong-way-up cables

USB (a relatively novel rectangular connector) is physically identical to PS/2 (a historically standard round mini DIN connector)? This sort of reasoning is completely alien to me, which is probably why I'll never be as rich as Jobs.

davepageon With new USB connector, no more wrong-way-up cables

Perhaps offering a host connector specification, more speed, higher power capability, industry standardization, non-proprietary implementation, and lower cost are some advantages.

davepageon Ask HN: Best current model routers for OpenWRT, DD-WRT, Tomato, etc.?

I have three of these -- they've all experienced range or stability failures.

davepageon Friends don't let friends use Eclipse

Then, design in an Atmel part and enter the odd world of Visual Studio Shell

davepageon Email exchange between Edward Snowden and former GOP Senator Gordon Humphrey

No: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/13/reuters-...

davepageon Heathrow shut after Boeing Dreamliner 787 fire

This incident is clearly not directly related to the previous electronics bay battery issue. It could be indirectly related -- an electrical short in the cabin, for example, which would be fed by the batteries.

davepageon Explanation of the Asiana SF crash by a former UAL captain

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-clu...

It is very easy to sue under UK libel law, and pprune has been compelled to identify OPs before.

davepageon Estimated Cost to Store All US Phone Calls Made in a Year

It is not unreasonable to assume, however, that a facility such as this would include a custom-designed media management system which could hold cartridges at a higher density than COTS (perhaps with an access latency tradeoff).

1M sq ft of total area, and 100k in the data center may not preclude another 100k sq ft of 'warehouse' containing millions of carts in shoe boxes with GS5s running around in sneakers.