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I also installed Windows 10 through the early adopter / developer program thing, and have not seen any of that crap (though the start tiles sure show enough other garbage that I don't care about). It's presumably an OEM load thing? /logging in for the first time in months just to avoid the anon post

Comment Re: open source 2 factor authentication? (Score 3, Interesting) 71

Google Authenticator is an open source, easy to use TOTP (and HOTP) implementation which is not bad at all. The pam module is decent, and the smart phone (androit, ios, and blackberry support) client's QR Code enrollment is very convenient. Because [TH]OTP are standards, it's compatible with any other implementation of those standards, such as and the Yubikey tokens.

Personally, I use the Google Auth client with pam_krb5 / mit kerberos using a custom preauth plugin with totp keys generated by oath and stored in an LDAP backend. It's pretty neat. I mostly went with TOTP because that allows me to more easily pre-generate keys for automation jobs, btw.

Comment Re: YES !! (Score 1) 241

Everyone hates Clear Case, except for the joker above who clearly works for them. If the mvfs implementation which implements a recursive loop (don't ever blindly use find on an mvfs volume) isn't bad enough to convince someone, the lack of granular access control and the incredibly clunky interface should be.

Comment Re: Live in a cave (Score 2) 664

Weird. The stock brakes on both the '95 Caprice and '96 Impala SS sitting in my driveway can hold the car in place. That was true when the engine was stock, and is still true after adding a shift kit, PCM tune, cat-back, intake, and valve train upgrades. It's been true on both the factory tires and the substantially wider aftermarket tires. It might be time for you to replace your brake material; you're seemingly endangering the other cars on the road.

When you're trying to power brake, BTW, you'll want to let up on the brakes just a little, and mash the gas. Don't ease in to it. ;)

Comment Re: Live in a cave (Score 2) 664

Well, if it was in article comments on the Internet, that's a whole new story... ;)

No one sells a car in the US with exclusive brake-by-wire, because nearly every state mandates the existence of a second braking system independent of the primary braking system. That's often the thing people call the "emergency brake," as compared to the "service brake." For IL, look at Article III at They must be separated such that a failure in any one part does not leave the vehicle without brakes. IL also prescribes a maximum stopping distance from a couple of speeds.

Comment Re:They probably don't want to burn affiliates (Score 2) 169

It's not really "free" to watch OTA - you have the show interrupted every few minutes by commercials, which cost you time. The problem here is that OTA broadcasting costs pretty much the same whether it goes to one TV or one million. All they pay to do is vibrate the air[1]. Cable's not that different. With Internet streaming, however, each individual connection typically costs more.

The solution is to fix the medium, IMHO. Big networks and content producers should be pushing for less expensive bandwidth or, even better, for working multicasting. :)

[1] yeah, I know how radio actually works, but I'm trying to make a point here.

Comment Re:Ethanol is a crock nobody wants (Score 1) 330

Here in the US, most new cars have fuel systems which are just fine with E85 (or more) as well. They just lack the appropriate sensors to identify the varying ethanol mix, and like the parent noted, lack adequate injector flow to handle the increased volume needed - 'cause that stuff costs money. :)

Comment Re:And in the process .... drop 10mpg (Score 4, Informative) 330

So, by replacing 10% of the gasoline with ethanol, you lose 20% of the energy? Man, ethanol really sucks! Does E85 reduce a flex fuel vehicle's mileage by 170%, then?

Since "anonymous coward" clearly doesn't know the answer, I'll help. People typically report losing about 20% of the mileage with E85 v/s gasoline, assuming no other changes (it's actually closer to 34%, but E85 is only 85% max, and then only in the summer; it's way less in cold weather, so that's probably why people see an average of 20-ish percent). Running E10 costs around 3% of your mileage, which is 1MPG in a 30 MPG car - or about the difference you'd see if you accelerate briskly from a couple more stoplights than usual.

Comment Re:List of alternatives to facebook? (Score 1) 216

Anything big enough to be a relevant general-use competitor will have a difficult time resisting the "suggestions" made by the NSA that "it would be for the best" if the data were made available to the government. You could easily set up a restricted access Word Press blog on your own server and give your friends author access, though. Then you can all write about your days on your own site, get emails when new posts are made, and generally keep in touch without everything being logged.

Or set up Majordomo and email each other. Or whatever else. ...Assuming you can set up good enough encryption, anyway. Otherwise, Prism has your number anyway. :)

Comment Re:What The Fuck? (Score 2) 216

So, the article at the top there is about selling advertising, which is a way to facilitate business people to communicate with their customers via Facebook. And you're suggesting that the idea of doctors communicating with their customers via Facebook is a ridiculous proposition which would have no application in the real world? Please come back when you're put a tad more thought into this, Anonymous Coward.

PS: I personally know at least two doctors treating chronically ill patients with whom they regularly communicate via Facebook. I might know more, but this is not a topic that I discuss with everyone I know. :) Normally, anecdote is not the sigular of data, but in this case I'm pretty sure that there has been "protected health information" recorded in Facebook's data centers.

Which bring up the question as to whether they're doing enough to comply with HIPAA laws. And PCI laws, as some bone head has probably sent credit card numbers through "private messages" at some point. With sufficient creativity, it'd probably be possible to shut Facebook down through regulatory compliance audits, unless their TOS is equally creative. ;)
