MountainLogic - Slashdot User

Submission + - Would a Post Office Bankruptcy Kill e-Commerce (cnn.com)

Submitted by MountainLogic on Monday April 13, 2020 @01:22PM

MountainLogic writes: WIth the US Postal Service slated to run out of money this summer, a congressional bailout has become embroiled in the usual, critical and unusual political fights. Every day letter carriers deliver some of our web orders, there are many other functions the post office performs including providing an address validation API that is the core of many shipping systems. Would the collapse of this service mean a major disruption of e-commerce? What other impacts to technology would we face with the collapse of this constitutionally guaranteed service (Article I, Section 8, Clause 7).

Are there other services that the post office could perform to gain revenue? For example, the post office is where many Americans who live outside of major metro areas go to get a passport. A US passport is the gold standard of ID. Could the post office become the ultimate place to go to validate ID and act as a signing authority? If you forget your password, go in to your local post office, show ID and reset your password. Seems like financial institutions would happily pay a few cents per reset to prevent billions in identity theft. Is there any other institution in America that could perform such a service on this scale. How else can the post office become more relevant and more solvent? Is profitability even a reasonable standard as we do not hold DoD to such a standard?

Submission + - Lattice Semi Sale to China Blocked (cnn.com)

Submitted by MountainLogic on Thursday September 14, 2017 @07:51PM

MountainLogic writes: From a CNN story about Portland, Oregon based programmable chip maker Lattice Semi : President Trump has stopped the takeover of an American chip maker by a private equity firm with ties to China.
The deal, which would have seen China-backed Canyon Bridge Capital Partners acquire Lattice Semiconductors, was blocked over national security concerns. "Today, consistent with the administration's commitment to take all actions necessary to ensure the protection of U.S. national security, the president issued an order prohibiting the acquisition," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement Wednesday.
The national security risk included "the potential transfer of intellectual property" to the Chinese-backed company and the "Chinese government's role in supporting this transaction," according to Mnuchin's statement.
Those are sensitive matters: the Trump administration launched an investigation last month into whether China is unfairly getting hold of American technology and intellectual property. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which reviews deals that could result in a foreign entity taking control of an American company, had previously recommended halting the deal."

Submission + - Windmill Blade Molds 3D Printed by National Labs (energy.gov)

Submitted by MountainLogic on Tuesday February 09, 2016 @12:56PM

MountainLogic writes: Last year ORNL produced a 3D printed Shelby. This year, the National Labs are using the mother of all 3D printers to make windmill molds cheaper and faster to produce in the US. The size of the current 150 foot utility scale blades are being extended with these techniques. US DOE is providing a leading role to advance US manufacturing technology and competitiveness. Welcome back rust belt, we missed you.

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