Disqus - Latest Comments for Echelon

Re: Every Picture Tells A Story: Pills, Profits, and Ploys, The Economics of Medicare Part D

Andy M — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 11:52:28 -0000

You are funding a well-oiled machine on an uneven playing field where they have all the information, and you bear the costs.

This is the most frustrating part of the Insurance complex - they write all of the rules that you are then beholden to, whether by Medicare or private insurer, in which you also have only the illusion of choice, as it is tied to your employer, which is a high barrier to change.

When you are inevitably getting screwed by insurance, as so often happens when you deal with billing, prior authorization, medical necessity, or any of the other outrageous barriers to care, the refrain is always "I'm so sorry, those are just the rules..." They always fail to include the second part of that message "... that we personally designed, specifically to ensure you get less care, at a higher cost to you, over a longer period of time."

Everyone knows these truths, yet the machine hums on.

Re: The Good and Bad News on Uber's Fatal Crash

Andy M — Wed, 30 May 2018 10:22:45 -0000

Couple of ambiguous statements in here, that are likely in the full report if I just read the damn thing, but was hoping maybe you could clarify:

"The autonomous driving system [has] enabled, engaged and disabled [modes,] much as we would initiate cruise control." - Is this just stating capabilities? What mode was the vehicle in at time of crash? Ars Technica reported the Volvo modules were disabled, and the Uber-autonomous tech was enabled, but Uber did not develop a driver-warning system. Despite the autonomous algorithm determining and logging the need for emergency braking, no actions were taken (enabled but disengaged?). Your note about the conflict between systems was not in Ars' article, but provides very good insight into why the Volvo fail-safe was disabled.

This last bullet is really the crux of the debate.
"The pedestrian was identified 380 feet (6 seconds) before impact and emergency braking to mitigate the crash was determined 283 feet (4.5) seconds later" -
I was confused by this. Said another way -
"The pedestrian was identified with 6 seconds (380 ft) until impact. The autonomous driving algorithm determined and logged the need for emergency braking when impact was 1.5 seconds (94 ft) away, or 4.5 seconds after initial ID, but was not programmed to initiate any maneuvers or alert the driver."

Re: Salt Fork State Park

Andy M — Fri, 23 May 2014 13:50:37 -0000

The Camelopardalis meteor shower may or may not be spectacular tonight. Are the campgrounds heavily wooded? Are there any open fields with acceptable stargazing clearance in the park? I don't have a telescope or anything, but I'd love to see some shooting stars. Based on the dark sky finder map at jshine.net, this park looks to be pretty decent seeing!

Re: Random

Andy M — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:15:17 -0000

Excellent. This is exactly what this site needed.

Re: sexyjack

Andy M — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:53:57 -0000

This looks shopped.

Re: sexyjack - Theme #3 - Headphones

Andy M — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:00:08 -0000

This is a cool theme. Much better than backs IMO.

Re: sexyjack

Andy M — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:39:51 -0000

That chick is thiiin.