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owenmarshall commented on Show HN: New search engine and free-FOIA-by-fax-via-web for US veteran records   birls.org... · Posted by u/Asparagirl
ldoughty · a year ago
Neat, Submitted a request for my grandfather's records. Some comments:

1) May want to auto-magically handle input for things like apostrophes. E.g. "O'Hare"... It looks like somewhere in the process this data was not preserved/saved/sent, but people will probably try to search with it. Might also want to handle the accent marks and what not too

2) The terms & conditions for Step 3, the checkbox at the bottom doesn't have enough contrast when checked. I do not have a disability, and I still found it very faint. Someone with a disability would likely have a lot of trouble (not to mention, it requires scrolling to the bottom to check it in the first place, which isn't awesome for accessibility)

3) I appreciate the warning on the terms and conditions about seeing things you might not want to see. A good reminder for those that might not want to tarnish a memory of someone... Reminds me of the DNA tests for Christmas, or learning about Punnett Squares and genetics, sometimes you might not want to go looking :-)

owenmarshall · a year ago
> 3) I appreciate the warning on the terms and conditions about seeing things you might not want to see.

I'd echo this. I found that to be exceptionally well-written and helped me understand the records I'd receive were unlikely to be the records I was interested in, so I cancelled at that point.

Your abandon rate at that step could make for interesting reading!

Deleted Comment

owenmarshall commented on 'I grew up with it': readers on the enduring appeal of Microsoft Excel   theguardian.com/technolog... · Posted by u/iechoz6H
thibautg · a year ago
I don't understand either, but I would be genuinely interested in what "mailing a payment" means in practice. Is it like sending a check by mail or some kind of paper bank transfer?
owenmarshall · a year ago
Sending a check via mail is infrequently done, but it happens. I just paid my annual property taxes that way. My options were:

* mailing a check

* paying via credit card over the phone for a hefty surcharge

* cash in person

In my case, I used my online banking to send the amount to the mailing address on the bill. In some cases - for large companies, typically - my bank can send the remittance electronically. In others, though, they fill out a paper check on my behalf and send it via the postal system. This service is fee free to me, or else I’d have sent the letter myself.

owenmarshall commented on 'I grew up with it': readers on the enduring appeal of Microsoft Excel   theguardian.com/technolog... · Posted by u/iechoz6H
lostlogin · a year ago
> I balance my checking account

Assuming that this relates to checks/cheques, are they going away in the US?

owenmarshall · a year ago
“Balancing a checking account” in American vernacular is typically used to mean reconciling the transactions your bank has posted to the spend you’ve tracked.

This used to be more important when you wrote paper checks and received a monthly paper statement from your bank. Most people who “balance” their accounts today seem primarily concerned that they are adhering to their personal budget. But the term remains.

owenmarshall commented on How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah   reuters.com/graphics/ISRA... · Posted by u/nabla9
krisoft · a year ago
> spying would make more sense to me..

Probably they did. The problem with pager like communication is that it is very easy to employ codewords. Something like "if we send orange, bring your weapon and meet us at the market, if we send pear pack a week worth of stuff and meet us at the pumping station, if we send melon disappear to the countryside for two days". Monitoring that can give you a sense that "something is happening" but it won't tell you exactly what. So all in all it is not terribly valuable.

But if I would be working for Hez I would assume that all communication over the pagers have been completely compromised.

owenmarshall · a year ago
Of important note, none of that requires any modification to the pager. Paging protocols are ancient and unencrypted: a little SDR stick and you can run your own sigint on your local pager network.
owenmarshall commented on How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah   reuters.com/graphics/ISRA... · Posted by u/nabla9
throw32i3ii · a year ago
Key components are 6 grams of white pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and "highly flammable material" as a detonator. PETN was developed in 1906, and is accessible to more advanced hobby chemists.

So we have explosive device that passes through airport security scanner. And can be made at home by dedicated individuals... What are the implications for air travel?

owenmarshall · a year ago
Airlines are already banning pagers and walkie talkies.

I wonder how many duds are currently being processed by Hezbollah right now.

(0): https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/world/middleeast/emirates...

owenmarshall commented on How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah   reuters.com/graphics/ISRA... · Posted by u/nabla9
wiz21c · a year ago
So did Mossad listen to the pagers ? I mean, instead of putting a bomb inside, spying would make more sense to me...
owenmarshall · a year ago
Technically speaking that would be much harder: pagers don’t have microphones, and most don’t transmit - and those that do send very small messages.

You’d have to add significant new capabilities to pull off surveillance, which would increase the risk of detection.

owenmarshall commented on Sextortion scams now include photos of your home   krebsonsecurity.com/2024/... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti
pintxo · a year ago
Also, you want your scam to not be too sophisticated as that would make your live harder. A less sophisticated scam will auto-filter those with critical thinking skills upfront, so you don't even have to try to convince them. Which gives you more time to focus on those you can convince.
owenmarshall · a year ago
See the classic Cormac Herley research: “Why do Nigerian scammers say they’re from Nigeria?”

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-...

> Far-fetched tales of West African riches strike most as comical. Our analysis suggests that is an advantage to the attacker, not a disadvantage. Since his attack has a low density of victims the Nigerian scammer has an over-riding need to reduce false positives. By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his favor.

owenmarshall commented on Blitzortung – real time lightning strikes around the world   blitzortung.org/en/live_l... · Posted by u/thunderbong
owenmarshall · a year ago
I’ve had a Blitzortung Blue sitting in a box just waiting to be soldered up - maybe this post kicks me into finally believing in my soldering iron skills and doing it.
owenmarshall commented on Designing my own watch (2020)   willem.com/blog/2020-11-3... · Posted by u/handfuloflight
nvarsj · a year ago
I'd say that's how you're supposed to wear a watch, even a luxury watch. Babying it defeats the point completely. I wear my Rolex or Omega every day :). Scratches add character and history! I'll be giving my watches to my kids when I die, scratches and all.
owenmarshall · a year ago
Agreed entirely. My grandfather’s 5513 desk diver was passed down to me. It had scuffs and scratches and the lume had long since stopped glowing and turned to a mustard color.

And while I never planned to have any of that changed because I thought it added to the cool factor, the appraisal guaranteed that decision. I was recommended a local watchmaker who could service the movement only and ensure the seals were all intact. Or I could send it back to Rolex for servicing where they’d polish the case, relume the numbers, and swap the acrylic dome for sapphire - and by doing so chop ~50% off the value of the watch.

It turns out collectors love patinas and scratches and for a 60 year old watch to look its age.

u/owenmarshall

KarmaCake day3465April 21, 2011View Original