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Comment You can see the data yourself (Score 1) 64

You can easily view the data, parsed out, using an app like Boarding Pass Scanner (iOS). You can use a generic barcode scanner as well, but it won't parse the fields properly. The standard allows for a cryptographic signature, which can be validated so that you know the data isn't modified, but indeed, the data is not encrypted.

Comment Re:Small Airports Have Advantages (Score 3, Informative) 203

I would love to see these large airports replaced with multiple smaller airports. A larger percentage of the population would have an airport nearby, and average travel times would be reduced significantly. It seems to me that planners are optimizing for everything except your personal experience when they design and advocate for mega-airports.

There is a challenge with replacing all large airports with smaller ones, when using a hub and spoke model. If you have smaller airports, you have fewer destinations, and fewer connecting flight options. NYC (DC, LA, SFO, Boston) as a gateway to the US from overseas makes some sense - lots of O/D traffic, and for those that want to continue onward, they can. I fly from my local smaller airport, which I love. And whenever I can, I use my smaller regional airport. But it doesn't always reduce travel time - it often increases it due to the need to connect for most destinations. In fact, it'll be faster for me to drive to JFK (two+ hours) for an upcoming trip to eliminate a nearly three hour flight and one hour connection - in the "wrong" direction.

Comment V2I and V2V (Score 1) 481

From the summary:

self-driving cars using vehicle-to-vehicle (V2I) crash-avoidance technologies

I only have a passing knowledge of the space, but my understanding is that V2I is vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, and V2V is vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

Comment Re:Still use Crashplan (Score 1) 285

You can also install the Crashplan client on a device like a ReadyNAS - which would run 24x7 and not require their computer to be on. Offer to host one for your neighbor in your basement as well.

Bonus points for figuring out how to route between your house and your neighbor's without going to the Internet provider and back - point-point WiFi and a nice router?

I have a three-way backup scheme going, with our home computer and my parents' and in-laws'. We live close enough that if a catastrophic data loss occurred on one machine, it would be fairly easy to sneakernet over one of the backups, but far enough away that it would take a very significant event to affect all our backups.

Comment Re:Tried in California in the 1980s. (Score 1) 245

Disney uses induction charging in (at least) three attractions - Ellen's Energy Adventure (formerly Universe of Energy) at Epcot, and two at Disney's Hollywood Studios - Great Movie Ride and Tower of Terror. (I imagine other Towers of Terror use the same technology, but I'm not familiar with them)

Ref: http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2010/10/universe_of_energy_1.html

For power, each vehicle carries eight automotive batteries. Of course, these batteries need to be recharged frequently so within the attraction’s two turntables are “charging plates” that contain electromagnets. The magnets work in conjunction with onboard magnets that create an electric current that is transferred to the vehicle’s batteries. No actual physical connection is made between the charging plates in the floor and the onboard magnets. This technology, although improved, can also be seen on the Great Movie Ride and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Comment 180,000 more pax a day? (Score 3, Interesting) 134

TFA:

The backscatter machines were pulled three weeks ago from New York's LaGuardia and JFK, Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, Boston, Charlotte and Orlando airports. The move was designed to speed up security lines at checkpoints there.

Sanders said it's worked and that lines at those airports are now moving 180,000 more passengers each day.

I find this confusing. Were the TSA lines the gating factor in keeping 180,000 passengers from flying each day? According to A4A, 2.4 Million Passengers will fly on 11/25/2012. 180,000 passengers is 7.5% of that figure. An average travel day in the US looks to be roughly 1.8 million passengers. 180,000 is 10% of that figure.

What did those 180,000 people do? Wait in line until it closed/they missed their flight, then try again another day? Decide not to fly?

Comment U-Verse - your guess is as good as mine (Score 2) 250

I subscribe to U-Verse and so I went to see how far off they were with my usage.

The U-verse data measurement report is currently under construction. When completed, you will be notified if your usage exceeds the allowance. Until that time, U-verse customers should not be concerned about their usage patterns for billing purposes.

Wouldn't it be nice to get enough notice to evaluate if AT&T's product meets my needs? Alas, my router tells me I've used 230 GB over the last month; that's pretty close to their 250GB limit, and if the numbers are 'fuzzy' then all bets are off.

Because U-Verse TV service is IP-delivered, I'd like assurances that they're not including this traffic in any metering - I'm already paying for this content and its delivery on the 'TV' portion of my bill.

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