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Re: "Community Wireless Networks for All" anon submission

Posted by takyon on Saturday August 15 2015, @04:03AM (#1381)
1 Comment
Techonomics

https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=8941

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/metamesh/meta-mesh-community-wireless-networks-for-all

Funding Canceled

Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator 1 day ago.

http://www.metamesh.org/blog/2015/08/14/ks-closure

Today we decided to halt our Kickstarter campaign. In the past few weeks, Meta Mesh and its volunteers have had to face a lot of challenges, both in the business and personal realms. We received wide support from many of those we directly asked. For that, we are terrifically grateful.

We have decided to change the direction our company is headed. In no way are we finished. In fact, this Kickstarter experience revealed a lot to us about who we want to be and how to be it.

In the upcoming months we will be expanding PittMesh, launching a webstore where pre-configured routers can be purchased, and will be building a dedicated PittMesh Working Group where people who want to contribute to building a Community Wireless Network can learn about new technology, can gain new skills, and can network with inspired people.

Definitely stay tuned to our website and our social media feeds. In fact, mere moments after closing our Kickstarter campaign something occurred which we will announce shortly that has been months in the making and we are incredibly excited about.

We’re not done. No way. As they say, it’s hard to keep a good man down. We’ll be in touch with you all again shortly.

California Fights Drought with 96 Million 'Shade Balls'

Posted by Papas Fritas on Thursday August 13 2015, @12:43AM (#1375)
0 Comments
News
Katie Rogers writes in the NY Times that the city of Los Angeles is releasing 96 million plastic "shade balls" into the 175-acre Los Angeles Reservoir to help block sunlight and UV rays that promote algae growth, which would help keep the city’s drinking water safe. Officials also say the balls will help slow the rate of evaporation, which drains the water supply of about 300 million gallons a year. The balls cost $0.36 each and are part of a $34.5 million initiative to protect the water supply. Shade balls are the brainchild of Brian White, a biologist with the utility who based the idea on “bird balls” that he observed in waterways near airport runways to prevent airfield bird strikes. The Los Angeles Reservoir, which holds 3.3 billion gallons, or enough water to supply the city for up to three weeks, joins three other reservoirs already covered in the shade balls. “In the midst of California’s historic drought, it takes bold ingenuity to maximize my goals for water conservation," says Mayor Eric Garcetti who was at the Los Angeles Reservoir to mark the addition of 20,000 of the small balls to the lake. "This effort by LADWP is emblematic of the kind of the creative thinking we need to meet those challenges."

Will Ad Blockers Kill the Digital Media Industry?

Posted by Papas Fritas on Wednesday August 12 2015, @07:09PM (#1374)
0 Comments
News
Michael Rosenwald writes at the Columbia Journalism Review that global online ad revenue continues to rise, reaching nearly $180 billion last year. But analysts say the rise of ad blocking threatens the entire industry—the free sites that rely exclusively on ads, as well as the paywalled outlets that rely on ads to compensate for the vast majority of internet users who refuse to pay for news. A new report from Adobe and one of several startups helping publishers fight ad blocking shows that 198 million people globally are now blocking ads, up 41 percent from 2014. In the US, ad blocking grew 48 percent from last year, to 45 million users. "Taken together, ad blockers are hitting publishers in their digital guts," writes Rosenwald. "Adobe says that $21.8 billion in global ad revenue will be blocked this year."

Publishers have been banking on the growth of mobile, where the ad blocking plugins either don’t work or are cumbersome to install. A Wells Fargo analyst wrote in a report on ad blocking that “the mobile migration should thwart some of the growth” of ad blockers. But Apple recently revealed that its new operating system scheduled for release this fall will allow ad blocking on Safari. Apple is trying to pull iPhone and iPad users off the web. It wants you to read, watch, search, and listen in its Apple-certified walled gardens known as apps. It makes apps, it approves apps, and it profits from apps. But, for its plan to work, the company will need those entertainers and publishers to funnel their content to where Apple wants it to be. As the company makes strategic moves to devalue the web in favor of apps, those content creators dependent on ads to stay afloat may be forced to play along with Apple. Adblock Plus has released a browser for mobile Android devices that blocks ads, and it’s planning to release a similar product for Apple devices. “The desire to figure out how to bring ad blocking to mobile consumers is a worldwide phenomenon,” says Roi Carthy. Ad blocking, he says, “is an inalienable right.”

August 6th, 2015 Republican Primary Debates

Posted by takyon on Thursday August 06 2015, @10:15AM (#1366)
11 Comments
Reviews

The first Republican primary debates will be "legally" available online only to Fox News cable subscribers. Assuming you don't have TV access to the debate and are bored/interested/depraved enough to want to watch live, look for and post streams in the comments. They are sure to be clamping down on livestreaming services like Periscope, but others might escape notice. Twitter real time search is a great way to find these kinds of links and generally a good source of entertainment during these sorts of live events. Here's the Fox News schedule:

  • 5pm ET: First (kiddy pool candidates) Debate
  • 6pm ET: Online Pre-Show
  • 9pm ET: Primetime Debate
  • 11pm ET: Online Post-Debate Show

Jon Stewart's last episode of the Daily Show will start at 11pm ET and will last 52 minutes.

The candidates making the cut for the main debate were Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and John Kasich. Seven candidates who did not qualify were invited to participate in the 5:00 PM forum; these were Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Jim Gilmore. Because of a rule-change announced by FOX one week before the debate-invitations went out, Graham, Pataki, and Gilmore will participate at 5pm despite averaging below 1% in the five selected polls. (Former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson was excluded from the 5pm tier, along with other relatively-unknown candidates who did not meet the updated invitation-criteria of "consistently being offered to respondents in major national polls as recognized by Fox News.") The five selected polls were conducted by Fox News, Bloomberg, CBS News, Monmouth University, and Quinnipiac University.

I made this as a journal because I didn't want to subject all of Soylent to it, especially since Fox News is not making it easy to watch the debates.

Keep in mind: Republican debate drinking games are dangerous.

Rangers Warn: Don't Take a Selfie with a Bison

Posted by Papas Fritas on Monday August 03 2015, @12:10PM (#1363)
1 Comment
News
Katie Rogers reports at the NYT that officials at Yellowstone National Park are warning visitors not to fraternize with wildlife after a woman was injured while trying to take a selfie near a bison — but that hasn’t stopped some visitors from posting their close encounters on social media. A notice released by the National Park Service details how a 43-year-old and her child turned their backs to a bison while trying to take a selfie while the animal was 6 yards away. The visitors tried to get away when they heard the bison approach, but the animal lifted the woman up and tossed her with its head. She is the fifth person to be injured in an encounter with one of the park’s bison this summer. The park’s warnings are not subtle: Upon entering, visitors receive a bright yellow flier that depicts a person getting gored by a bison.According to Julena Campbell, summer, which is breeding season, is the most dangerous time to be near the animals. "The family said they read the warnings in both the park literature and the signage, but saw other people close to the bison, so they thought it would be OK," says Colleen Rawlings, a ranger in the park's Old Faithful District. "People need to recognize that Yellowstone wildlife is wild, even though they seem docile. This woman was lucky that her injuries were not more severe."

Arch linux continued

Posted by Gaaark on Sunday August 02 2015, @05:05PM (#1361)
0 Comments
Code

Working with arch (through the antergos installer) is pretty nice so far (and learning the i3wm is nice: educating with cool, lol)(actually, it's reminding me of the days of installing macmillan red hat 5.2, where i had to mess extensively with config files, especially to get X working).

Got my i3status bar to correctly show that my VPN is working (had to do some googling, as well as finally seeing i'd left off double quotes, to make it work).
Pacman is quick (VERY quick) and easy, and pamac-manager makes it easy to include AUR packages without adding it into your config file.

So far, really enjoying i3, but have included plasma (for k3b) and the default gnome just as fall-backs in case i need to do something that i don't know the command for (yet).
Am pleased with my set up, and with deja-dup to backup, i may keep this setup as my stable, and use my other partition to play with distro-hopping.

Currently watching Black Sails (episode 1, so far) while playing minecraft... (sad that it was bought by Microsoft, though). Will not be installing windows 10 to try my 'free' minecraft win10, lol. That kind of free is too expensive! :)

Soylent Upgrade Greasemonkey/Tampermonkey extension v10

Posted by takyon on Friday July 31 2015, @11:18PM (#1357)
9 Comments
Code

// ==UserScript==
// @name Soylent Upgrade
// @match http://soylentnews.org/*article.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*article.pl*
// @match http://soylentnews.org/*submit.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*submit.pl*
// @match http://soylentnews.org/*admin.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*admin.pl*
// @match http://soylentnews.org/*comments.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*comments.pl*
// @match http://soylentnews.org/*journal.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*journal.pl*
// ==/UserScript==

// User Options:

var simplifyChars = true; // Change to false if you don't want stylized quotation marks, ellipses, etc. to be replaced
var stripEmail = false; // Remove auto-filled email from submission

// End User Options

/* ! http://mths.be/fromcodepoint v0.1.0 by @mathias */

if (!String.fromCodePoint) { (function() { var defineProperty = (function() { try { var object = {}; var $defineProperty = Object.defineProperty; var result = $defineProperty(object, object, object) && $defineProperty; } catch(error) {} return result; }()); var stringFromCharCode = String.fromCharCode; var floor = Math.floor; var fromCodePoint = function() { var MAX_SIZE = 0x4000; var codeUnits = []; var highSurrogate; var lowSurrogate; var index = -1; var length = arguments.length; if (!length) { return ''; } var result = ''; while (++index < length) { var codePoint = Number(arguments[index]); if ( !isFinite(codePoint) || codePoint < 0 || codePoint > 0x10FFFF || floor(codePoint) != codePoint ) { throw RangeError('Invalid code point: ' + codePoint); } if (codePoint <= 0xFFFF) { codeUnits.push(codePoint); } else { codePoint -= 0x10000; highSurrogate = (codePoint >> 10) + 0xD800; lowSurrogate = (codePoint % 0x400) + 0xDC00; codeUnits.push(highSurrogate, lowSurrogate); } if (index + 1 == length || codeUnits.length > MAX_SIZE) { result += stringFromCharCode.apply(null, codeUnits); codeUnits.length = 0; } } return result; }; if (defineProperty) { defineProperty(String, 'fromCodePoint', { 'value': fromCodePoint, 'configurable': true, 'writable': true }); } else { String.fromCodePoint = fromCodePoint; } }()); }

// Add "Quote This" buttons to all initially visible comments

var spans = document.getElementsByTagName("span");
for (var x=0; x<spans.length; x++)
{
    if (spans[x].id.indexOf("reply_link_")==0)
    {
        var button = document.createElement("span");
        button.setAttribute("class","nbutton");
        var p = document.createElement("p");
        var b = document.createElement("b");
        var a = document.createElement("a");
        // Set the href of the "Quote This" button to the href of the "Reply to This" button, with the escaped contents of the post added to URL and any [domain.names] following links in the post cut out:
        a.setAttribute("href",spans[x].getElementsByTagName("a")[0].href.replace("#post_comment","&postercomment="+escape("<blockquote>"+document.getElementById("comment_body_"+spans[x].id.replace("reply_link_","")).innerHTML.replace(/<\/a>\s\[.*?\..*?\]/g,"<\/a>")+"<\/blockquote>\n\n")+"#post_comment"));
        // To Do: Shorten URLs longer than 2000 characters
        a.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Quote This"));
        b.appendChild(a);
        p.appendChild(b);
        button.appendChild(p);
        spans[x].parentNode.insertBefore(button, spans[x].nextSibling);
        spans[x].parentNode.insertBefore(document.createTextNode(" "), spans[x].nextSibling); // Divider
    }
}

if (stripEmail && window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/soylentnews\.org.*?\/submit\.pl/)!=-1) // Empty email input area, but only on submission page
{
    var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("input");
    for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
    {
        if (boxes[x].name == "email")
        {
            boxes[x].value = "";
        }
    }
}

// Add title case button next to title/subj field on Story Submissions, Submission Preview, and Story Preview
if (window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/soylentnews\.org.*?\/(submit|admin)\.pl/)!=-1)
{
    var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("input");
    for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
    {
        if (boxes[x].name == "title" || boxes[x].name == "subj")
        {
            boxes[x].id = "storyTitle";
            var button = document.createElement("input");
            button.setAttribute("type","button");
            button.setAttribute("value","Title Case");
            button.setAttribute("title","Convert title to title case.");
            button.setAttribute("onclick","document.getElementById('storyTitle').value=document.getElementById('storyTitle').value.replace(/^\\s/gi,'').replace(/\\b([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1){return p1.toUpperCase();}).replace(/\\b(at|of|is|and|to|in|by|as|its|be|the|on|a|an|but|or|for)\\b/gi,function(m, p1){return p1.toLowerCase();}).replace(/^([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1){return p1.toUpperCase();}).replace(/:\\s([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1){return ': '+p1.toUpperCase();}).replace(/([a-z])'([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1, p2){return p1+'\\''+p2.toLowerCase();}).replace(/\\bx(86|64)\\b/gi,'x$1').replace(/\\s$/gi,'');");
            boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(button, boxes[x].nextSibling);
            if (window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/soylentnews\.org.*?\/admin\.pl/)!=-1 || boxes[x].name == "subj")
            {
                boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(document.createElement("br"), boxes[x].nextSibling);
            }
            else
            {
                boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(document.createTextNode(" "), boxes[x].nextSibling);
            }
        }
    }
}

// Add warning for creating a story in the past

if (window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/soylentnews\.org.*?\/admin\.pl/)!=-1)
{
    var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("input");
    for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
    {
        if (boxes[x].name == "op" && (boxes[x].value == "save" || boxes[x].value == "update"))
        {
            // New onclick extracts the post date, compares to the current date, and only submits if the post date is in the future or the user overrides the warning:
            boxes[x].setAttribute("onclick","var d = new Date(document.getElementById('slashstoryform').elements['time'].value.replace(/\\s/,'T')); var a = true; if (d < Date.now()){a = confirm('Are you sure you want to post a story '+(Math.round((Date.now()-d)/60000))+' minutes in the past?');} if (a) {st_submit(this);}");
        }
    }
}

var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("textarea");
for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
{
    if (boxes[x].name == "introtext" || boxes[x].name == "bodytext" || boxes[x].name == "story")
    {
        var temp = boxes[x].value; // Retrieve textarea contents
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/p><p>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<p>"); // Add newlines between paragraphs
        temp = temp.replace(/<br>\s?<br>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<p>"); // Convert double break tags to paragraph tags
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/blockquote><p>/g,"<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>"); // Add newlines after blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/p><blockquote>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<blockquote>"); // Add newlines before blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<blockquote><div><p>/g,"<blockquote><div>\n\n<p>"); // Add newlines within start of blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/blockquote>"); // Add newlines within end of blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/blockquote><blockquote>/g,"<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote>"); // Add newlines between two blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<p class="byline">\s/i,"<p class=\"byline\">"); // Remove extra space from byline
        temp = temp.replace(/<p>\s/g,"<p>"); // Remove extra space from start of paragraph
        temp = temp.replace(/\s<\/p>/g,"<\/p>"); // Remove extra space from end of paragraph
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/li><li>/g,"<\/li>\n<li>"); // Add newlines between list items
        temp = temp.replace(/(<\/li>)(<\/[u|o]l>)/g,'$1\n$2'); // Add newline after last list item
        temp = temp.replace(/(<\/p>)(<[u|o]l>)/g,'$1\n$2'); // Add newlines before lists
        temp = temp.replace(/<p>\[...\]/g,"<p>[...] "); // Add space within beginning of foreshortened paragraph
        while (temp.indexOf("  ")!=-1)
        {
            temp = temp.replace(/  /g," "); // Replace double spaces with single spaces
        }
        if (simplifyChars)
        {
            temp = temp.replace(/\u2018/g,"'"); // 'LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+2018) to (U+0027)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u2019/g,"'"); // 'RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+2019) to (U+0027)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u201C/g,"\""); // 'LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+201C) to (U+0022)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u201D/g,"\""); // 'RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+201D) to (U+0022)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u2026/g,"..."); // 'HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS' (U+2026) to (U+002E) x3
        }
        boxes[x].value = temp;
        boxes[x].rows = 32; // Expand textarea height to 32 rows
    }
    var toolbar = document.createElement("div");

    // Blockquote button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Blockquote");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Cblockquote\u003E tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addBlockquote(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Paragraph and Line break buttons
    var tempspan = document.createElement("span");
    tempspan.setAttribute("id","htmlFormatButtons");
    if (document.getElementById("posttype") && document.getElementById("posttype").selectedIndex == 0)
    {
        tempspan.setAttribute("style","display:none;"); // Hide if initial post type option is "Plain Old Text"
    }
    if (document.getElementById("posttype"))
    {
        document.getElementById("posttype").addEventListener("change", function() {if (document.getElementById('posttype').selectedIndex == 0) {document.getElementById('htmlFormatButtons').style.display = 'none'} else {document.getElementById('htmlFormatButtons').style.display = 'inline'}}); // Change visibility of these buttons based on value of post type
    }
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","P");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Cp\u003E tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addPara(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    tempspan.appendChild(tempbutton);
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","BR");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert a line break.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addBreak(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    tempspan.appendChild(tempbutton);
    toolbar.appendChild(tempspan);

    // HR button, if editing a story
    if (boxes[x].name == "introtext" || boxes[x].name == "bodytext" || boxes[x].name == "story")
    {
        var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("value","HR");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert a horizontal rule.");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("style","text-decoration:underline overline;");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addHRule(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
        tempspan.appendChild(tempbutton);
        toolbar.appendChild(tempspan);
    }

    // URL button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","URL");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Create a hyperlink around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","text-decoration:underline;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addHyperlink(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));

    // Bold button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","B");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Bold");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-weight:bold;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addBold(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Italic button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","I");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Italic");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-style:italic;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addItalic(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Strike button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","S");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Strikethrough");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","text-decoration:line-through;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addStrike(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" ")); // Divider

    // Code button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Code");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Cecode\u003E tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addEcode(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Teletype button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","TT");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Ctt\u003E (teletype, i.e. monospace) tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addTT(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Small button, if editing a story
    if (boxes[x].name == "introtext" || boxes[x].name == "bodytext" || boxes[x].name == "story")
    {
        var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("value","\u0073\u1D0D\u1D00\u029F\u029F");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Csmall\u003E tags around the selected text.");
        // tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-size:75%;");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addSmall(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
        toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    }

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" ")); // Divider

    // Superscript button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","x\u00B2");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Superscript");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addSuper(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Subscript button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","x\u2082");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Subscript");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addSubsc(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" ")); // Divider

    // Ordered list button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","1. List");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert an ordered list or convert newline-separated text into an ordered list.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addOrdlist(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Unordered list button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","\u2022 List");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert an unordered list or convert newline-separated text into an unordered list.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addUnordlist(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createElement("br")); // Divider

    // Create 7 macro buttons
    for (var i=1; i<=7; i++)
    {
        // Create macros if they don't exist
        if(!localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))
        {
            localStorage.setItem("soymacro"+i,JSON.stringify(["M"+i,"string","Sample Text"]));
            //localStorage.setItem("soymacro"+i,JSON.stringify(["M"+i,"regexp","/a/gi","b"]));
        }
        var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"button"+i);
        tempbutton.setAttribute("value",JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[0]);
        if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[1]=="string")
        {
            if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2].length < 40)
            {
                tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert or replace selected text with: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2]);
            }
            else
            {
                tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert or replace selected text with: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2].substring(0,40)+"...");
            }
            tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","macroChoose(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"],"+i+");");
        }
        else
        {
            tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Replace text matched by the regular expression: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2] + " with: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[3]);
            tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","macroChoose(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"],"+i+");");
        }
        toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    }
    // Create macros edit button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Edit");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Configure user macros or discard changes.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","if (document.getElementById('macrobar"+x+"').style.display == 'none') {document.getElementById('macrobar"+x+"').style.display = 'block'; macrobarInit("+x+");} else {document.getElementById('macrobar"+x+"').style.display = 'none'; if (p = document.getElementById('postercomment')) { var x = p.offsetTop; while (p = p.offsetParent) {x += p.offsetLeft;} window.scrollTo(0,x-75);}}");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createElement("br")); // Divider

    // Despace button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Despace");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Delete newlines within the selection.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","despace(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Symbol button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value",":-)");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert a symbol.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","if (document.getElementById('smilebar"+x+"').style.display == 'none') {document.getElementById('smilebar"+x+"').style.display = 'block'} else {document.getElementById('smilebar"+x+"').style.display = 'none'; if (p = document.getElementById('postercomment')) { var x = p.offsetTop; while (p = p.offsetParent) {x += p.offsetLeft;} window.scrollTo(0,x-75); } }");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(toolbar, boxes[x].nextSibling);

    // Symbol list
    var smilebar = document.createElement("div");
    smilebar.setAttribute("style","-moz-user-select:none; -webkit-user-select:none; display:none; font-size:16pt; max-height:240px; overflow:auto; padding:0.5em;");
    smilebar.setAttribute("id","smilebar"+x);
    var smiles = ["\u0026amp;","\u0026lt;","\u0026gt;"];

    var codes = [[161,169],[171,172],[174],[176,177],[180,183],[187,191],[215],[224,255],[402],[629],[632],[916],[920],[931],[934],[937],[945,946],[956],[960],[963],[8216,8221],[8226],[8230],[8251],[8364],[8478],[8482],[8528,8542],[8585],[8592,8652],[8712,8716],[8721],[8730],[8733,8734],[8736],[8743,8749],[8756,8757],[8773],[8776],[8800,8805],[8834,8837],[8984],[9760],[9762,9765],[9770],[9773,9775],[9784,9794],[9812,9831],[9833,9842],[9850],[9855,9861],[9874,9877],[9882,9885],[9888,9893],[9913],[9940],[9962],[9971],[9981],[9992,10087],[65533],[127744,127756],[127759],[127775,127776],[127797],[127801],[127804,127812],[127817],[127820,127822],[127828,127831],[127838,127839],[127843],[127849],[127855],[127860,127867],[127891],[127904,127911],[127918],[127939],[127942],[127977],[128025],[128074,128078],[128123,128131],[128137,128142],[128148,128150],[128152],[128158],[128161,128164],[128168,128170],[128172],[128176,128177],[128187],[128189,128190],[128193,128194],[128197],[128203,128204],[128206],[128214],[128225,128227],[128231,128233],[128241],[128244],[128246],[128250,128252],[128259],[128266,128270],[128273,128276],[128278,128280],[128286],[128293,128299],[128302,128303],[128509,128510],[128659],[128684,128685]];

    for (var i=0; i<codes.length; i++) { if (codes[i].length > 1) { for (var j=codes[i][0]; j<=codes[i][1]; j++) { smiles[smiles.length] = String.fromCodePoint(j); } } else { smiles[smiles.length] = String.fromCodePoint(codes[i][0]); } } // Populate smiles array with code ranges converted to individual characters

    smiles = smiles.concat(["xD",":-)",":^)","(^_^;)","\u0028\u00A0\u0361\u00B0\u00A0\u035C\u0296\u00A0\u0361\u00B0\u0029","\u0028\u00A0\u0361\u007E\u00A0\u035C\u0296\u00A0\u0361\u00B0\u0029\uFEFF","\u00AF\u005C\u005F\u0028\u30C4\u0029\u005F\u002F\u00AF","\u0028\u256F\u00B0\u25A1\u00B0\uFF09\u256F\uFE35\u00A0\u253B\u2501\u253B","\u0028\u30CE\u0CA0\u76CA\u0CA0\u0029\u30CE\u5F61\u253B\u2501\u253B","\u0028\u0060\uFF65\u03C9\uFF65\u00B4\u0029","\u0CA0_\u0CA0","\u0295\u2022\u1D25\u2022\u0294","\u0028\u3065\uFFE3\u00A0\u00B3\uFFE3\u0029\u3065","\u0669\u0028\u204E\u275B\u1D17\u275B\u204E\u0029\u06F6","\u30FD\u0F3C\u0E88\u0644\u035C\u0E88\u0F3D\uFF89"]); // Add in arbitrary emoticons

    for (var i=0; i<smiles.length; i++)
    {
        var smile = document.createElement("span");
        smile.setAttribute("style","cursor:pointer; padding:2px; white-space:nowrap;");
        smile.setAttribute("onclick","addSmile(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"],'"+smiles[i].replace("\u005C","\u005C\u005C")+"');");
        smile.appendChild(document.createTextNode(smiles[i]));
        smilebar.appendChild(smile);
        if (i+1<smiles.length)
        {
            smilebar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
        }
    }
    toolbar.parentNode.insertBefore(smilebar, toolbar.nextSibling);

    // Create macro configuration interface
    var macrobar = document.createElement("div");
    macrobar.setAttribute("style","display:none; padding:0.5em;");
    macrobar.setAttribute("id","macrobar"+x);
    var table = document.createElement("table");
    var tr = document.createElement("tr");
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Name"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Type"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("String | Expression"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.setAttribute("title","Only used with expressions. Parenthesized substring matches (e.g. '$1') can be used.");
    th.setAttribute("style","cursor:help;");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Expression Replace"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    table.appendChild(tr);
    for (var i=1; i<=7; i++)
    {
        var tr = document.createElement("tr");

        // Macro name
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var name = document.createElement("input");
        name.setAttribute("type","text");
        name.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"name"+i);
        td.appendChild(name);
        tr.appendChild(td);

        // Macro type
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var rad = document.createElement("input");
        rad.setAttribute("type","radio");
        rad.setAttribute("name","soymacros"+x+"type"+i);
        rad.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"type"+i+"S");
        td.appendChild(rad);
        td.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" String "));
        var rad = document.createElement("input");
        rad.setAttribute("type","radio");
        rad.setAttribute("name","soymacros"+x+"type"+i);
        rad.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"type"+i+"E");
        td.appendChild(rad);
        td.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" Expression "));
        tr.appendChild(td);

        // Field A
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var f1 = document.createElement("input");
        f1.setAttribute("type","text");
        f1.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"fieldA"+i);
        td.appendChild(f1);
        tr.appendChild(td);

        // Field B
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var f1 = document.createElement("input");
        f1.setAttribute("type","text");
        f1.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"fieldB"+i);
        td.appendChild(f1);
        tr.appendChild(td);

        table.appendChild(tr);
    }
    macrobar.appendChild(table);

    var p = document.createElement("p");
    var save = document.createElement("input");
    save.setAttribute("type","button");
    save.setAttribute("value","Save");
    save.setAttribute("title","Save any edits to the macro configuration.");
    save.setAttribute("onclick","macrobarSave("+x+");");
    p.appendChild(save);
    p.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
    var guide = document.createElement("a");
    guide.setAttribute("href","https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions");
    guide.setAttribute("target","_blank");
    guide.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Regexp Guide"));
    p.appendChild(guide);
    macrobar.appendChild(p);

    toolbar.parentNode.insertBefore(macrobar, toolbar.nextSibling);
}

var temp = document.createElement("script");

// Add selection handling function
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function getSelection(textarea) { if ('selectionStart' in textarea) { if (textarea.selectionStart != textarea.selectionEnd) { return [textarea.selectionStart,textarea.selectionEnd]; } } } "));

// Add comment formatting buttons
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function addBlockquote(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<blockquote>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/blockquote>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addPara(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<p>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/p>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addBreak(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<br>' + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+4,pos+4) } } function addHRule(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<hr>' + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+4,pos+4) } } function addHyperlink(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { url = prompt('URL:', 'https://'); area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<a href=\"'+url+'\">'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/a>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addBold(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<b>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/b>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addItalic(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<em>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/em>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addStrike(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<strike>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/strike>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addEcode(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<ecode>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/ecode>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addTT(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<tt>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/tt>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addSmall(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<small>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/small>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addSuper(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<sup>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/sup>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addSubsc(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<sub>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/sub>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } "));

// Add list creation functions
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function addOrdlist(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { if (area.selectionStart != area.selectionEnd) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<ol><li>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart,area.selectionEnd).replace(/\\n/g,'<\/li>\\n<li>').replace(/\\n<li><\\/li>/g,'') + '<\/li><\/ol>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionEnd); } else { temp = '<ol>'; while(listitem = prompt('Enter a list item. Leave the box empty or press Cancel to complete the list:', '')) { temp += '<li>' + listitem + '<\/li>\\n'; } area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + temp.substring(0,temp.length-1) + '<\/ol>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart); } } } function addUnordlist(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { if (area.selectionStart != area.selectionEnd) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<ul><li>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart,area.selectionEnd).replace(/\\n/g,'<\/li>\\n<li>').replace(/\\n<li><\\/li>/g,'') + '<\/li><\/ul>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionEnd); } else { temp = '<ul>'; while(listitem = prompt('Enter a list item. Leave the box empty or press Cancel to complete the list:', '')) { temp += '<li>' + listitem + '<\/li>\\n'; } area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + temp.substring(0,temp.length-1) + '<\/ul>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart); } } }"));

// Add macro functions
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macroChoose(area,x) { if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[1]=='string') { macroString(area,x); } else { macroRegexp(area,x); } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macroString(area,x) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (sel && sel[0] != sel[1]) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2] + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } else if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2] + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2].length,pos+JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2].length); } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macroRegexp(area,x) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (sel && sel[0] != sel[1]) { var reg = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2]; area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1]).replace(new RegExp(reg.substring(reg.indexOf('/')+1,reg.lastIndexOf('/')), reg.substring(reg.lastIndexOf('/')+1)),JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[3]) + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macrobarInit(x) { for (var y=1; y<=7; y++) { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'name'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[0]; if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[1]=='string') { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'type'+y+'S').checked = true; } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'type'+y+'E').checked = true; } document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldA'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2]; if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[1]!='string') { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldB'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[3]; } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldB'+y).value = ''; } } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macrobarSave(x) { for (var y=1; y<=7; y++) { if (document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'type'+y+'S').checked == true) { localStorage.setItem('soymacro'+y,JSON.stringify([document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'name'+y).value,'string',document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldA'+y).value])); } else { localStorage.setItem('soymacro'+y,JSON.stringify([document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'name'+y).value,'regexp',document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldA'+y).value,document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldB'+y).value])); } } document.getElementById('macrobar'+x).style.display = 'none'; var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName('textarea'); for (var z=0; z<boxes.length; z++) { for (var y=1; y<=7; y++) { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[0]; if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[1]=='string') { if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2].length < 40) { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).title = 'Insert or replace selected text with: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2]; } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).title = 'Insert or replace selected text with: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2].substring(0,40)+'...'; } } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).title = 'Replace text matched by the regular expression: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2] + ' with: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[3]; } } } }"));

// Add despace function
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function despace(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1]).replace(/\\r/g,' ').replace(/\\n/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ') + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } }"));

// Add unicode insertion function
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function addSmile(area, smile) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,pos) + smile + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+smile.length,pos+smile.length) } }"));

document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(temp); // Add script to page

Silicon Valley's Big Lie

Posted by Papas Fritas on Friday July 31 2015, @05:45PM (#1356)
0 Comments
News
Danny Crichton writes at TechCrunch that startups in Silicon Valley run on an alchemy of ignorance and amnesia and that lying is a requisite and daily part of being a founder, the grease that keeps the startup flywheel running. Most startups fail. The vast, vast majority of startup employees will never exercise their options, let alone become millionaires while doing it. But founders have little choice as they sell their company to everyone, whether investors, employees, potential employees, or clients. "Founders have to tell the lie – that everything is fine, that a feature is going to launch even though the engineer for that feature hasn’t been hired yet, that payroll will run even though the VC dollars are still nowhere on the horizon," writes Crichton. "For one of the most hyper-rational populations in the world, Silicon Valley runs off a myth about startup success, of the lowly founder conquering the world."

Crichton says that Silicon Valley needs a new transparent approach toward information, but also need to understand that startups are inherently risky – and accept the lies that come with them. Founders can’t expect to hide the term sheets and their liquidation preferences from employees who ask and informed employees have a right to know what they are getting into. "We still need that Big Lie to function. We still need to dream about the possibility of success in order to realize it," concludes Chrichton. "With greater transparency comes a responsibility on the part of everyone in the startup ecosystem to understand and empathize with the plight of founders trying to build their companies."

Are We Reaching the Electric Car Tipping Point?

Posted by Papas Fritas on Thursday July 30 2015, @03:10PM (#1353)
1 Comment
Code
Geoff Ralston has an interesting essay explaining why is likely that electric car penetration in the US will take off at an exponential rate over the next 5-10 years rendering laughable the paltry predictions of future electric car sales being made today. Present projections assume that electric car sales will slowly increase as the technology gets marginally better, and as more and more customers choose to forsake a better product (the gasoline car) for a worse, yet “greener” version. According to Ralston this view of the future is, simply, wrong. - electric cars will take over our roads because consumers will demand them. "Electric cars will be better than any alternative, including the loud, inconvenient, gas-powered jalopy," says Ralston. "The Tesla Model S has demonstrated that a well made, well designed electric car is far superior to anything else on the road. This has changed everything."

The Tesla Model S has sold so well because, compared to old-fashioned gasoline cars it is more fun to drive, quieter, always “full” every morning, more roomy, and it continuously gets better with automatic updates and software improvements. According to Ralston the tipping point will come when gas stations, not a massively profitable business, start to go out of business as many more electric cars are sold, making gasoline powered vehicles even more inconvenient. When that happens even more gasoline car owners will be convinced to switch. Rapidly a tipping point will be reached, at which point finding a convenient gas station will be nearly impossible and owning a gasoline powered car will positively suck. "Elon Musk has ushered in the age of the electric car, and whether or not it, too, was inevitable, it has certainly begun," concludes Ralston. "The future of automotive transportation is an electric one and you can expect that future to be here soon."

The Intelligence Implications of the Chinese Hack

Posted by Papas Fritas on Wednesday July 29 2015, @04:13PM (#1352)
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Lisa Rein writes in the Washington Post that a new government review of what the Chinese hack of sensitive security clearance files of 21 million people means for national security is in — and some of the implications are quite grave. According to the Congressional Research Service, covert intelligence officers and their operations could be exposed and high-resolution fingerprints could be copied by criminals. Some suspect that the Chinese government may build a database of U.S. government employees that could help identify U.S. officials and their roles or that could help target individuals to gain access to additional systems or information. National security concerns include whether hackers could have obtained information that could help them identify clandestine and covert officers and operations (PDF).

CRS says that if the fingerprints in the background investigation files are of high enough quality, “depending on whose hands the fingerprints come into, they could be used for criminal or counterintelligence purposes.” Fingerprints also could be trafficked on the black market for profit — or used to blow the covers of spies and other covert and clandestine officers, the research service found. And if they’re compromised, fingerprints can’t be reissued like a new credit card, the report says, making “recovery from the breach more challenging for some.”