jamesmcn

10 ms·

31.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Good point, though I think the NSA can accomplish all the domestic spying they wish without any help from the TSA.
32.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
The TSA does two things successfully: * It is a large-scale jobs program * The more intrusive security theater is, the better a CYA effect it provides. Up until the next terrorist attack is conducted by some sufficiently determined group. N
33.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Can someone explain the whole frozen jeans thing? That sounds weirdly awesome. Particularly in the summer.
34.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
I agree that the nav interface is a bit wonky, but it is a good start!
35.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
They actually do - by the volt - amp offerings for residential consumers. Also, a big dream of the utilities is to be able to reach in and "hint" to your appliances when they should sleep. Power companies really don't want many people to bu
36.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Vancouver, WA is going to be an interesting place.
37.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
How, specifically, is it unfair? The brick phones were revolutionary, but they were far from capable of displacing landlines. There were special cases where the early mobile phones were superior, just like the Teslas are superior in some
38.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
> One way to think about this is that electric vehicles (EVs) are at the iPhone 1 stage, with the Tesla S being the first to demonstrate to a lot of people that it can all be put together in a compelling, yet expensive and not quite per
39.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
The reason why Caller ID can be forged is that the calling device announces its CallerID number. The easiest way to get into spoofing CallerID is by using a SIP-driven POTS gateway (very common 6 years ago, telecom moves very slowly, so I s
40.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
A decent software shop is more constrained by headcount than funds to pay them.
41.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
I have a stack of notebooks that goes back over two decades. Anything worth writing down goes in the notebook. No postits, scraps of paper or backs of envelopes unless I'm willing to throw the note away immediately. One of the things I lear
42.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
What happened to Kenya and Lithuania? Did some American backpackers do something horribly insensitive?
43.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
> the only thing that comes to mind as an effective use of 3D printing is to pirate children's toys. That is as solid an argument as suggesting that the only use for a camera is to pirate artwork. Or the only point of digital media is t
44.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
I read this in the voice of an IBM mainframe sales person in about 1980, when confronted with an Apple II. More seriously, today's 3D printers are mere toys compared to what a future atom-scale assembler could do. But they are clearly use
45.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
There are eInk specific things that a graphics controller needs to know about, like flashing the screen (or a region) after an update to eliminate ghosting. So it would probably make more sense for the communication between the host and the
46.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
If anyone reading this is interested in throwing caution to the wind and doing a hardware startup: I'd love a 24" eInk display or two, connected via USB. Ideally usable in either portrait or landscape orientation. Sure, the refresh rate w
47.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Whatever idiosyncratic stuff you do that helps you get into the zone for a long coding session is perfectly fine. Shortly after landing my first job out of college, I picked up Orbital's first two albums and listened to them nonstop with a
48.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Easy - Windows RT = Windows Restricted Tablet; you can only use apps from Microsoft's app store. Windows 8 is the real deal - you can still use apps from outside the app store.
49.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Advertising is where they make their money. It is nice that they do cool things, but few of those things have anything to do with their core business. My point was that they do a lot of fun things that aren't core to their business. Properl
50.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Google is advertising company which enjoys masquerading as a computer science R&D lab. They build self-driving cars. They launched a satellite. I suspect that they will start making their own SEC filings soon.
51.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Nice try, analyst.
52.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
This is very true. But this stunt seems to be better for meeting people than getting work done.
53.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
This is such an obtuse way to meet girls that it might actually work!
54.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
I've got to agree with this. I had a small collection of classical and jazz CDs until I arrived at college in the mid '90s where I encountered physical and later digital music sharing. My musical horizons expanded dramatically then, and the
55.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
I've done MSF which is incidentally GREAT as general driver's training. I've also got a US Sailing Basic Keelboat cert somewhere. Sailing has also had a big impact on how I think - learning to deal with forces much greater than you is very
56.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
You make an interesting and compelling point. I often write brief notes about the various creative projects I'm working on or half-formed ideas. I'll try to do some longer-form writing on my next project.
57.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
Thanks! I'm pretty erratic about blog posting. I'm sure I'll get to writing eventually, but I need to come up with a unifying theme to write about. Then I should be able to put out regular installments.
58.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
This is a special case of a more general rule: Do things. I'm going to try to write more. I already have learned a lot by: * photography. If you spend time thinking about the photographs you take, and use what you discover in that process t
59.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
I agree with the author that you don't want to "protect" women or other minorities, you need to make a general effort to make your work environment suitable for everyone. That said, I can't think of an instance in the ~13 years I've been wo
60.
by jamesmcn 14y ago
After some further digging, it appears that insurance was at a low back in March. The article discusses the danger of a major failure, such as an Ariane 5 which could be covered at $750 million or a Proton which can carry $400 million worth

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