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MH17 Report 11 years ago

Have you looked at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe? They have a few groups in Ukraine and post updates online, though I don't know how much it would be like a news organization's reporting. I was checking it some last year but haven't really looked since. Worth a look.

http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. Here's the SMM's mandate:

    The monitors are mandated to contribute to reducing tensions and to help
    foster peace, stability and security. The Mission engages with
    authorities at all levels, as well as civil society, ethnic and
    religious groups and local communities to facilitate dialogue on the
    ground. The Mission will gather information and report on the security
    situation, establish and report facts in response to specific incidents,
    including those concerning alleged violations of fundamental OSCE
    principles.
http://www.osce.org/om OSCE Observer Mission at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk

http://www.osce.org/ukraine OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine

And here are the daily updates from the Special Monitoring Mission: http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/daily-updates

http://www.osce.org/who And to help you judge the OCSE for yourself, here's their about page. (There are 57 particpating states, including Russia, USA and Ukraine)

    All-cause mortality was 5.85 per 10,000 person–years among people 
    with ADHD, compared with 2.21 per 10,000 person–years in people without ADHD. The risk of death 
    among people with ADHD was more than double that in the general population (adjusted mortality rate 
    ratio [MRR]=2.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.70 to 2.50, p<0.0001).
They then give the mortality rates for those diagnosed with ADHD another disorder or substance misuse issues:
    Age at diagnosis of ADHD was associated with mortality, with the risk of death highest among people 
    diagnosed in adulthood (adjusted MRR=4.25, 95% CI 3.03 to 5.78). Mortality among people with ADHD 
    was also affected by comorbid oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder (adjusted MRR=2.17, 
    95% CI 1.33 to 3.31) and by coexisting substance misuse (adjusted MMR=5.63, 95% CI 3.69 to 8.16). 
    Among people without these comorbid conditions, mortality was higher in girls and women with ADHD 
    (adjusted MRR=2.85, 95% CI 1.56 to 4.71) than in boys and men (MRR=1.27, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.76). 
The part I found interesting here, that they don't seem to mention elsewhere in this article, is that the mortality rate for males with ADHD but without the other disorders is actually lower than their general population numbers (2.07 general population vs 1.27 for males without one of those issues). They actually seem to completely ignore it:
    “Even if these complications did not develop, ADHD was still a risk factor for mortality. This could well be 
    because the core problem of impulsiveness is a cause of accidents, and accidents were the major cause 
    of death.
I'm going by the adjusted mortality rate ratio number. If I'm reading this wrong, please let me know.

Take a look at the URL slug:

    nytimes.com/2015/09/20/opinion/is-big-tech-too-powerful-ask-google.html
It looks like they changed the headline on the website. The slug usually reflects the original headline and they don't want to change it later to keep links working. (I'm assuming this is the case here since I didn't personally see the original headline).

News sites are much too fond playing with their headlines to drum up hits, and with New York Times in particular I can't help but think of this quote from one of their editors:

    I often hear from readers that they would prefer a straight, neutral
    treatment — just the facts. But The Times has moved away from that,
    reflecting editors’ reasonable belief that the basics can be found in
    many news outlets, every minute of the day. They want to provide
    “value-added” coverage.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/sunday-review/did-reddit-b...

Honduras tried (is trying?) a libertarian city in special development regions. The article I remember reading is actually from December 2011; I didn't think it was that long ago and I haven't read anything new. Here's the article that might be a good starting point for you though:

http://www.economist.com/node/21541391

And here's an article on seasteading (basically huge platforms/ships that sit in international waters) from around the same time:

http://www.economist.com/node/21540395

Outside of a few test markets Comcast doesn't currently have a(n enforced) usage cap, and hasn't since ~May 2012. Prior to suspending the 250 GB/month cap they would warn you if you went over it (I believe they only actually warned a certain percentage of the highest usage users. I had gone over it before and never received a warning.) and if you continued to exceed the cap then they would suspend your account.

They are charging $10 per 50GB blocks in some of the test markets, with the base cap now at 300 GB. Details: http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/data-u...

For my own curiosity I completed the gasoline end of the math above. Hopefully I didn't botch any of it. If so, please correct me:

According to Wikipedia¹ the energy of gasoline is ≈11.8 kWh/kg at a density of ≈0.74 kg/l, giving us 8.7 kWh/l. For California, using the $0.85/l price, we get $0.10/kWh (rounded from $0.09770) for gasoline. Norway, at $2.45/l, gives us $0.28/kWh.

¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline#Energy_content

And on most carrier locked Android phones, you have to find an exploit to root your device before they let you sideload apps.

This is wrong.

Allowing this is built in to Android and it's a user togglable setting.

Verizon explicitly mentions sideloading and how to enable it:

http://mobile.vzw.com/LocationAgent

    For Android devices, please confirm the device's Location Services
    setting GPS and Verizon Location Services (if present) are set to
    on and the device's Settings > Security > Unknown sources is checked.
http://cache.vzw.com/multimedia/mim/mot_droid_razr_hd/razrHD... PDF Page 15:
    To let your smartphone install apps that are not from 
    Google Play, tap Apps  >Settings >Security & Screen Lock
     and check Unknown sources
Ditto AT&T:

https://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/en_US/pdf/att-to... PDF Page 3:

    In order to install these apps, you must ensure the 'Unknown Sources'
    box is checked [...] Follow the instructions on your phone to enable
    this feature and continue with AT&T Toggle installation.
http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB410684&cv=820
    Before you begin, you'll need to set your Android smartphone
    to allow downloads from non-Market sources by selecting Unknown sources
    in the Settings menu on your device.
Ditto Sprint:

http://eguides.sprint.com/support/eguides/htcone/content/htc...

    Go to Settings > Security, and then select the Unknown sources
    option to allow the download and installation of the tool
    through your Web browser.
http://eguides.sprint.com/support/eguides/sprintvital/conten...
    If you want to install apps from sources other than the Google
    Play Store app, you must allow the installation of apps from
    unknown sources first.
Coin 13 years ago

Comments on their FAQ like "Should last"

They quite clearly state the usage pattern for the 2 year figure. From said FAQ site (https://onlycoin.com/support/faq/)

    Q. How do you figure that a Coin will last 2 years? What constitutes
    normal usage?

    A. Here’s how we modeled typical usage. On a daily basis, we assume
    you’ll toggle which card you want to use and swipe your Coin 10-20 times
    a day. In addition, you may adjust which cards you want to store on your
    Coin a few times a week. Initially when you’re getting to know your Coin
    you will likely be syncing often. Over time we find that most people
    sync much less frequently once his or her cards are on a Coin. If you
    swipe and sync more frequently on a consistent basis, your Coin’s
    battery will drain more quickly.

You could buy a second copy of the software for the child. You saw enough value in it to consider letting them use it and you saw enough value to buy it for yourself. Either you consider the asking price fair for what it delivers or you don't. If you don't think it's a fair price then you can either write something yourself for them or spend your own time helping them learn.

There's no dilemma preventing you from helping the child.

Al Jazeera also did a series on modern slavery (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/slaverya21stcenturyevil/). The Bonded Slaves episode covers Pakistan and the use of slaves in brick kiln factories. If you're outside the U.S. you can watch it online (from their site or on their YouTube channel). If anyone inside the U.S. wants to watch it, then I'm afraid you're out of luck since we lost online access when Al Jazeera America launched.

Room Temperature Magnetic Refrigeration [pdf] http://www.ameslab.gov/files/MagFridge_Foundation.pdf

A friend and I stumbled on to this last night. I've never heard about this effect before and thought it was interesting.

From the PDF:

    While Gschneidner and Pecharsky’s prototype was a landmark event in 
    the field of magnetic refrigeration, it would likely remain nothing more than a 
    curiosity were it not for the fact that the team’s device is more energy efficient 
    and environmentally friendly than virtually any conventional refrigerator on 
    the market today. Because the relatively inexpensive permanent magnet 
    handles the cooling without the need for additional energy input, electricity 
    is only needed to turn the wheel and circulate the streams of water. For its 
    part, water, even when combined with an environmentally friendly antifreeze, is 
    more benign than the chemical coolants presently in use.
 
And from one of the researchers last year, found at the bottom of https://www.external.ameslab.gov/news/inquiry/2012-2-karl-gs...
    Gschneidner was instrumental in development of refrigerators that
    harnessed this phenomenon in place of traditional gas-compression-driven
    cooling.

    "The biggest stumbling block we now face is coming up with a GMCE
    material that doesn't progressively break down into smaller pieces over
    the billions of magnetization/demagnetization cycles required for a
    15-20-year appliance life," he says. "We also need to reduce the time
    dependence of the transformation."

    Based on the current pace of research and the growing number of working
    prototypes around the world, Gschneidner expects magnetic refrigeration
    to become commercially viable by 2016 or so, a fruition he plans to
    witness.
More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_refrigeration

If you have RAM free, Windows shouldn't be using your page file

http://serverfault.com/questions/23621/any-benefit-or-detrim...

    Many people seem to assume that Windows pushes data into the pagefile on
    demand. EG: something wants a lot of memory, and there is not enough RAM to
    fill the need, so Windows begins madly writing data from RAM to disk at this
    last minute, so that it can free up RAM for the new demands.

    This is incorrect. There's more going on under the hood. Generally speaking,
    Windows maintains a backing store, meaning that it wants to see everything
    that's in memory also on the disk somewhere. Now, when something comes along
    and demands a lot of memory, Windows can clear RAM very quickly, because
    that data is already on disk, ready to be paged back into RAM if it is
    called for. So it can be said that much of what's in pagefile is also in
    RAM; the data was preemptively placed in pagefile to speed up new memory
    allocation demands.
And this is another good reason to have at least a token pagefile. Without any virtual memory all the memory a program requests gets allocated right away.
    Removing pagefile entirely can cause more disk thrashing. Imagine a simple
    scenario where some app launches and demands 80% of existing RAM. This would
    force current executable code out of RAM - possibly even OS code.
There are references for more detailed reading listed in the provided link.

edit: I also do the same thing as yareally with my pagefile, though I have much less RAM than him.

NSA.gov is down 13 years ago

NASA is also configured this way. It drives me nuts because half the time when I want to visit NASA's site I type `nasa.gov` and get nothing until I remember they need the `www.`. It might just be common to how some government sites are configured.

Clickable links:

http://nasa.gov/

http://www.nasa.gov/

This does not seem to be encouraged behaviour.

via http://support.humblebundle.com/customer/portal/articles/243...

        If I already have a game(s) in the bundle do I have the ability to
    gift the extra copy in the bundle?

    Unfortunately, if you already have a game in the bundle you will
    not be able to gift the extra games to a friend.

    Please consider your bundle a "unit", and not to share copies of the
    games or Steam keys from it.

    If you'd like to give a copy of the games away, we have a system in
    place that allows you to buy a gift key from www.humblebundle.com so
    your friends can have access to direct downloads as well as any Steam
    or other keys we have included.

This professor's attitude is great. I think it's a perfect example of hacker mentality. Some quotes:

""" Some people, when they hear a grand-scale idea involving months of hard work for a couple hours of transcendent glory — like "Pong on the side of a 29-story building," in this case — immediately say, "Oh hell yeah!" Just as many people, though, if not more, respond, "…What? Why?" People of the first type rarely convince people of the second to hand over the keys to one of their building's computer systems on the argument "Because it will be awesome."

[...]

The idea came to Lee while driving down I-76 in 2008. Before long he was calling people he knew who might know someone connected to Cira Centre owner Brandywine Realty Trust. "Because I figure once they hear the idea, I'll get a call the next day, right?" Lee laughs, as his students battle it out nearby. "It's so obviously great! You don't even need to describe it: world's biggest Pong!" """

>(although I don't know where to find the actual text of the amendments).

This¹ site lists the amendments and has a PDF for each. I'm not sure if it's all of them or contains the ones you mention. The PDFs are dated and some are Feb-April 2013. This PDF² seems to be the current bill with the amendments accounted for in the text ("H.R. 624 as Amended").

edit: I just noticed that ² has a date of Feb. 2013 while some of the amendments have April 2013 dates, so I don't think it's the most current version.

¹ http://intelligence.house.gov/hr-624-bill-and-amendments

² http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/f...

I used to run a local server as well until I saw a recommendation to use 0.0.0.0. Requests now fail instantly and I don't have to run a local server just for blocked domains.

There is one thing I do miss: being able to log requests and seeing which domains were accessed the most.

I have the 8 GB Nexus 7 and I bought it at launch. I just checked and the total price I paid (device + shipping + tax) came to $230.03. I don't remember which delivery method I chose, perhaps you chose an expedited shipping option?

If anyone would like to see another example, here's one I just did. The original photo was taken with a Galaxy Nexus and no flash. It's a grainy shot and not the best starting point, but I was curious how it would do with a lower quality starting point.

Original: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24903613/hn/blur.jpg

Using the program I was able to get: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24903613/hn/blur-edited.jpg with the following parameters:

    Defect type: Out of Focus Blur
    Radius: 17.4
    Smooth: 72%
    Correction Strength: 23%
    Edge Feather: 34%
It's by no means a perfect end result, but you are able to make out a decent amount. Here's a clear shot of the insert for comparison: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24903613/hn/blur-clear_shot.jpg

Interesting. The difference could be A/B testing or serving up different scripts to different browsers.

At a quick glance you can definitely see some differences between the different scripts we were served. For instance, in the one you were served there are some unminified portions that include the license notice for some of the code (easyXDM). In the script served to me there are no unminified portions, with everything being served on a single line.

Android 4.1 in AOSP 14 years ago

Hadn't thought of that, thanks. My friend compiled and installed AOSP Jelly Bean and you are indeed correct; global search works without limitation.

Android 4.1 in AOSP 14 years ago

Does anyone know which commit covers the reduction in functionality for the global search (related to the sales ban on the Nexus)? My friend is trying to find the commit so he can compile Jelly Bean (for the Galaxy Nexus) with the global search restored but neither of has been able to find where the change was made.

We were thinking it might be in the QuickSearchBox ( https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/Quic... ) but there don't seem to be any recent commits here. I'm thinking now it might be in some place specific for the Nexus, but I'm not familiar enough with the Android source to know where to look.

Thanks for the information about reporting spam text messages, I had never heard about it. I just received some spam text the other day and ended up reporting it through the FCC, but reporting straight to your mobile operator on the phone is much nicer.

ceejayoz is right about Verizon also supporting this feature (I just reported the spam message I had from the other day). Via https://community.verizonwireless.com/message/696743#696743 :

    From MikeS1_VZW

    We have heard our customers on this, and we have launched a new program
    to help with SPAM. Take one (or several) of the SPAM messages and
    forward it to 7726 (which spells SPAM). This is a new process. Once you
    forward the message to 7726, you will get a reply text message asking
    the identity of the SPAM sender (the "From" address in the SPAM message
    you received). Once received, you will get a "Thank-you" message from
    the 7726 number. We will investigate on the back end.

    The messages you send to and receive from the 7726 number are free of
    charge. This is a brand new program we are testing, and it just started
    on 09/1/11. Please make this common practice when receiving SPAM
    messages. This is not to be confused with alerts though. If you get
    alerts (something you signed up for), you should reply STOP to the
    message received before going the whole 7726 route.