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Hmmmmm... Could this be where your obsession with sockpuppets comes from?

And here's more evidence to support my theory that whatever you accuse others of doing to you always turns out to be something you started doing first.

The Internet never forgets, AlexAndy. The Internet never forgets.

I find it amusing that a post suggesting that Yahoo should basically just "close up shop and go home" was posted anonymously. It makes me wonder if perhaps the hands behind this particular post belong to someone at Google... who doesn't want Yahoo to succeed at it's various rumored "come back" plans, such as trying to swipe the default iOS search engine crown, and trying to build a YouTube competitor.

Remaining 5% trolls aparently: http://arstechnica.com/science...

And this is different from what Google is doing with Android....how exactly? In case you missed the memo Google has been taking bog standard X86 laptops and locking them down worse than cellphones and as far as EEE? Google is already moved into the third phase by making more and more apps simply not work without GooglePlay API.

I find it hilarious how many are cheering because "Android has gots teh Linux" when in reality Google is about to make them its bitch. Have fun with that laptop that won't run 90% of the distros on distrowatch thanks to DRM or that latest version of AOSP that won't run half the apps in the playstore because its all tied to Google APIs, but "its teh Linux" so it can't be locked right?....oh wait

APK, your *only* reputation is that of a spammer, troll, crapflooder, liar, and bully.

Itching for another trip down Memory Lane, eh? Well, then, here's what some folks at ArsTechnica thought of you ca. 2000-2001:

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=324090429

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=779092009

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=508099016

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=666096306

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=583094285

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=901092665

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=112093523

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=106095103

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=723095213

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=624098213

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=570092603

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=302095503

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=937096103

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=796095503

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=749092603

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=757093113

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=769092603

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=451098103

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=969090603

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=420096503

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=165093103

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=50009562&f=12009443&m=437097503

Andy, perhaps you've forgotten about this, so here's a little reminder. You're pulling exactly the same shit here now as you did on Ars 13 years ago...

Alexander, ... I see you using yet another persona (for at least the 4th time) and bringing total mayhem to the forum.

You lost your creds a long time ago and made quite a name for yourself, I don't see how you can get it back here.

I think it's clear you have to go.

Looks like you were banned for the 4th time a couple days afterwards.

When you get caught in a lie, you make up a bigger one to try to distract from it. Your pattern never changes in any appreciable way.

And I'm pretty sure you don't have a degree in anything.

BTW, you never answered my question about whether or not I've really been trolling Slashdot for the last 10,000 years.

Was that a few too many zeroes for you to deal with?

That Ars convo with GOD and MWHN wraps up the first page of results for you on Google. I'm ready to move on to the second page any time now, just let me know when you'd like to take another stroll down Memory Lane.

Speaking of my work as a writer... I was going to ask you whether maybe you used the VB6 book I co-wrote back in 1999, but apparently you never made it quite that far... So... I guess that question's been answered.

Please choose an alternative to Intuit products. Our tax system should have been reformed to make filing easier long ago (e.g. the IRS already has most of the information you enter into your tax forms). Intuit is one of the few companies consistently lobbying against making individual tax filing easier:

Ars article on Intuit astroturfing campaign

It's not a rumor, they showed a start menu + live tiles demo at BUILD this year.

As defined by the World Meteorological Organization the classical climate period is 30 years, long enough for the short term variations to average out but short enough for longer term variations to be discerned. So a reasonable judgement would be how well the model output matches the 30 year running mean of global temperature. You'll have to wait 15 years to see how well they match 2014.

Better yet you can learn a bit more about how climate models work by reading these FAQs written by Gavin Schmidt, one of the principles for the NASA/GISS Model E, one of the worlds major climate models:

FAQ on climate models
FAQ on climate models: Part II

He also wrote a post On mismatches between models and observations that is very interesting. It shows that he understands very well the issues involved in models and data collection.

And finally here is an Ars Technica article on Why trust climate models? It's a matter of simple science.

http://www.thorschrock.com/200...
http://arstechnica.com/civis/v...
http://arstechnica.com/civis/v...
And that's just the first 3 hits on Google.

Jeeeeezus! You really are a basket-case, aren't you?

http://www.thorschrock.com/200...
http://arstechnica.com/civis/v...
http://arstechnica.com/civis/v...
And that's just the first 3 hits on Google.

Jeeeeezus! You really are a basket-case, aren't you?

Now that it's become the norm for getting people fired for holding opposing views to yerself, how about organising a boycott of the following individuals: Chloe Valerlidi, Chris McAvoy, Christie Koehler, Jessica Klein, Jess Klein, John Bevan, Sydney Moyer (ref) or failing that having them locked in a room and made listen to Alex Jones for ever.

But then GNOME 2 became really popular, when GNOME 3 came out, people said the same thing. What drives change is that technology doesn't stop. New hardware creates new ways to interact with it. You change, or you die. KDE, GNOME and others are all doing that because they have to. Every design has an end life. If you kept designing for XP, then all those people who grew up with tablets and touch interfaces are going to completely skip your desktop and move on to something else. If you want the mission to survive, Free Software then let at least one project continue to evolve with the times and build and design a user interface on par with direct competition with the big boys. We might do it slower and with more turbulence, but we are doing it. I know Apple is watching as is Microsoft.

http://www.google.com/intl/en/...

It turns out they are not that much cheaper though, so I don't really see the value proposition in practice implied by Phil Shapiro since they are not yet $100 and screens still cost money:
"Review: Asus crafts a tiny $179 Chromebox out of cheap, low-power parts"
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets...

I'm surprised Roblimo could miss pointing the Chromebox out, just mentioning the Raspberry Pi. Although he was right to point out the SSD speedup is significant for any small computer.

Another big miss is that for US$50 you can buy an Android Smartphone and use it only with Wi-Fi. Example of what we paid $50 for a few months ago, but now is $31?
http://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-...
"The Kyocera Hydro is sophistication and style in a mainstream Android smartphone that can work for everyone. Plus it offers water-resistance, giving consumers the âoeno-fearâ durability and security they demand. With a 3.5 inch HVGA touchscreen, 3.2 MP camera and video, and Android 4.0, you get the best of all worlds."

Although I would much rather use the Chromebook with a keyboard for making content than trying to use an Android phone. But $30 to be connected with the global internet? That is an amazing realization of many educational technologist's dreams (e.g. Alan Kay Dynabook or OLPC XO-1). And perhaps also some nightmares... See also the 1950s short story by Theodore Sturgeon called "The Skills of Xanadu" on where that all could lead.

My own hopes and predictions from 2000 based in part on seeing the "Cybiko":
"[unrev-II] The DKR hardware I'd like to make..."
http://www.dougengelbart.org/c...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Also, I don't see why a teacher or librarian is so keen to limit people's mobility (although it doesn't surprise me, going with the "school is prison" meme).

A big value to my $250 Samsung Chromebook is how light and portable it is. I still use my Quad Core Mac Pro Desktop with three big screens for work and running VirtualBox VMs (and the Chromebook could not replace that, especially the screens) -- used to run Debian for about five years until we (my wife especially) got tired of all the random breakage with every "apt-get dist-upgrade" around 2008 (probably much better now). But I use my Chromebook (with Linux under the covers) for just noodling around or surfing the web and posting on Slashdot sitting in our living room, or doing some light for-fun development work. As I said in another post, I wrote this JavaScript-based information manager tool bootstrapping system entirely on the Chromebook:
https://github.com/pdfernhout/...

Why do I use the Chromebook instead of my desktop (treadmill workstation actually) Mac Pro? Psychological and social, mostly. I gain some distance from my daily paying work by using a different computer in a different place. I also have done it partially as an experiment in learning about the next generation of computing. It's true that our two-year old Macbook Pro is still a much better computer as far as keyboard and screen and CPU and what it can do -- but it is often otherwise in use these days. My wife would always complain about me leaving a lot of tabs open in Firefox. And so on. The Chromebook is more a personal computer just for me. And it was cheap enough that I could justify it as an experiment compared to another $1000-$2500 Macbook.

We did however buy a $1000 Win 8 ASUS laptop a few months ago anyway. What a disappointment as a laptop. Even with a bigger screen and much faster pr

(Link heavy...) I think you got the wrong end of the stick, there.

Some studies have been done that show a minimum 30% penetration is possible for *any* region (and this one stopped their modeling at 30%, so its likely higher)...
http://www.renewableenergyworl...

An earlier study from Europe (no link at moment) put the figure around 40%.

Another US study comes in around 45%...
http://arstechnica.com/science...

UK study comes in at >90%...
http://www.gizmag.com/uk-natio...

German study comes in at 100%...
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com...
More on this...
http://www.renewablesinternati...

Some of these show cost savings from adding renewables, another one showed costs rising about 10-15%.

Iowa already got over 25% of power from renewables in 2013; not sure about the mix but I don't recall hydro being a big player there. The state has set a 40% target for 2015!

As for diverse power generation, that is a good rule of thumb, however the non-renewable generators cannot continue to operate in the long-term and nuclear in particular is even worse than variable renewables as the latter has a large correlation with demand curves. Anyone scanning the field for the past few years, however, is getting the idea that a diversity of storage will be at least as important. And there are a LOT of different options. The state of the art in this field has moved completely beyond the 1990s consensus that your post is predicated on.

Hydropower operating permits are up: http://grist.org/news/america-...

In Germany, they have closed a deal with Norway which has vast hydropower resources.

Batteries are considered the least economic storage solution, but I suggest you google "flow batteries". Here are some examples other storage types:

Zynth batteries
http://www.eosenergystorage.co...

Battery EV storage pilot in US
http://www.latimes.com/busines...

Ice bears (cold storage for hot nights)
http://www.renewgridmag.com/e1...

Undersea pumped hydro (you read that right)
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/...

Power-to-gas
http://www.nasdaq.com/press-re...

Molten salt
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energ...

The next time your mail goes down, should we know the name of the guy whose code flaw may have caused that?"

Why not let software engineers take responsibility for their work just like "real" engineers do when they sign off on a project?

The developer responsible for the Heartbleed bug that put the privacy of millions of users at risk stood up and took responsibility for his mistake.

If you know that the world is going to hear about it if you screw up, then maybe you'll take a little more time to vet your work before you sign off on it.

(And there are proof-of-concept worms that can jump the air gap via audio once the initial infection is accomplished.)

De Raadt's record is as unclean as his wordings.

2010: arstechnica.com/information-technology/2010/12/openbsd-code-audit-uncovers-bugs-but-no-evidence-of-backdoor

OpenBSD project leader Theo de Raadt disclosed an e-mail earlier this month in which former NETSEC CTO Gregory Perry claimed that his company was paid by the FBI to plant a "backdoor" in the OpenBSD IPSEC stack. The allegations led to a thorough code review and historical analysis of the relevant code. In a follow-up e-mail published this week, de Raadt outlined his current perspective on the controversy and his interpretation of the findings that have emerged from the ongoing code audit. Reviews are being conducted on the history and provenance of code in the IPSEC stack as well as the current implementation. Reviewers have uncovered several bugs that could have security implications, but the nature of the bugs suggests that they were not intentional, nor were they intended to facilitate a backdoor. The most serious revelation so far is the discovery of a bad conditional expression in older versions of the Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) code. This hole was quietly closed in 2002 without the usual vulnerability disclosure process. As such, the bug is not present in modern-day OpenBSD, but has remained unknown to users due to the lack of a public advisory.

2006: kindsoftware.com/documents/proposals/bugs_in_openbsd

The OpenBSD source code has been and continues to be relentlessly trawled for bugs. The cause of a bug could be for example due to a misunderstanding of an API, an incorrect assumption on the part of the programmer, or a simple typo. From time to time, a bug is discovered which really represents a whole new class of mistake. Once such a class is discovered, the entire source tree is scoured for further instances of this error - thus one bug fix may lead to many more, often solving problems in other unrelated places before they are even noticed. [...] A relatively crude proof-of-concept implementation was successfully employed during the course of this project, revealing many bugs in portions of the OpenBSD source tree.

Why does he bark at other developers? Money?

Forgot to write the source for the images: http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/04/critical-crypto-bug-exposes-yahoo-mail-passwords-russian-roulette-style/

Sadly, this is not the case. The evidence is that bad actors had this exploit for months: http://arstechnica.com/securit...

One of the two sites cited as evidence have since taken a step back,

Important update (10th April 2014): Original content of this blog entry stated that one of our SeaCat server detected Heartbleed bug attack prior its actual disclosure. EFF correctly pointed out that there are other tools, that can produce the same pattern in the SeaCat server log (see http://blog.erratasec.com/2014... ). I don't have any hard data evidence to support or reject this statement. Since there is a risk that our finding is false positive, I have modified this entry to neutral tone, removing any conclusions. There are real honeypots in the Internet that should provide final evidence when Heartbleed has been broadly exploited for a first time.

Sadly, this is not the case. The evidence is that bad actors had this exploit for months: http://arstechnica.com/securit...

Read about it here

Ars Technica - News for Nerds, Slashdot is dying.

I would normally agree, but if "on the Internet" is considered innovative, then I am guessing that "on a computer" is innovative as well.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...

The case is based on false assumptions.
Microsoft still provide support for Windows XP to those who are willig to pay for it: http://arstechnica.com/informa...
Case closed.

That truly is interesting. One use case would be functioning as a router/firewall, and I wonder to what extent the Open Switch folks will support this level of hardware. I have no real background in that area, but it seems to me it would not be too much extra effort to add support for this level. Then the /. folks could replace their Open/DD-WRTs & Tomatos, while adding neat features like IDS.

What with the Anonymous/NSA nonsense and all, I'd prefer more frequent updates than the DD-WRTs & Tomatos provide, (I can't speak about OpenWRT, and maybe they are more frequent).

I have a suspicion that the whole "Prop 8 support" thing is a smokescreen for the real reason he stepped down. It makes a great bone to support to the LGBT crowd and let's them have a "win."

However, three members the Mozilla board quit after Eich was named CEO - and they did that before the OKCupid stuff and have said it was entirely unrelated to his support for Prop 8. (Apparently one was planning on quitting after the CEO selection anyway, but the reasons for the other two leaving aren't known.)

So it's entirely possible that Eich left less over the Prop 8 stuff and more over internal politics. Apparently there was a group inside Mozilla that wanted an outside CEO to be named in order to better monetize Mozilla. (And if that's the case, losing Eich may be the worst thing that's ever happened to Mozilla.)

The fact that Apple fanatics are clinging to past glories is not news. Show me a value phone...or even a watch. Otherwise just watch your market share continue to shrink.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets...

Sure, not only will they be giving away the OS, but they'll be missing out on all the patent royalties that they extort from manufacturers of Android devices. I guess they are hoping that the benefits from possible future market share will outweigh current profits.

How much Microsoft receives from Android? I keep that for reference myself, just what I printed out as a PDF is now a 404

"In April of 2010 HTC settled with Microsoft and would pay the company a license fee for every Android device it makes. Speculation has it that Microsoft gets about $5 for every Android device HTC makes. But evidence points that Microsoft is aiming at milking HTC for $7.5 - $12.50 per Android device."

Links from the PDF
Microsoft collects license fees on 50% of Android devices, tells Google to “wake up”
http://arstechnica.com/informa...

The Microsoft/Android war: Which patents are at stake?
http://ineedinfonow.wordpress....

The see into the future article: why-microsoft-will-dominate-the-smartphone-space-its-android-os-cash-cow
http://seekingalpha.com/articl...
Pay to read site (second page)

Another relevant article
HTC Is Paying Microsoft $5 For Every Android Phone
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...

Yes in the end Microsoft will be a patent troll.

His $1000 donation did not deny anyone anything, it did however assist an organization which could be seen to try to 'deny rights'... that group and it's side lost.

You know Prop 8 passed, right? Plunging thousands of gay and lesbian couples who had already married into years of legal limbo? Which was part of an ongoing movement to continue denying gay and lesbian couples legal recognition forever? And you're aware that that movement springs directly from millennia of unjustified prejudice and violent persecution that still lingers today, right? And that all of this deeply affects the lives of many Mozilla employees and Firefox developers? There's a larger context here, and none of that disappears just because a federal court throws out a law.

Eich had every right to be CEO of the foundation

Nobody has a right to a specific job. Especially a job that makes them the public face of an organization that relies on a large and diverse group of outside developers. Eich chose to be an oppressive bigot, and chooses not to apologize for it. That's his choice, but he doesn't get to dodge the consequences just because he's a good coder or manager.

The Mozilla Foundation board should have known better. This isn't a new criticism.

to better clarify what I wrote and am replying to, stats say you better not buy Seagate drives.

http://arstechnica.com/informa...

Samsung before Apple released the iPhone was simply a Blackberry copierthen the iPhone hit: http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...

Ars also has an article saying Yahoo maybe poaching Youtube "Stars" like Jenna Marbles.
http://arstechnica.com/busines...

Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and later attended Boston University for her Masters of Education in Sport Psychology and Counseling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J... she's no slouch, and a sense of humor that's just enjoyable.

I first came across her in the video "How to trick people into thinking you're good looking" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... and it surprised me how decent it was (as opposed to most videos).

The bigger surprise? She's making ton's of money from Youtube ($4.3 million at least) - good for her. http://www.celebritynetworth.c...

Youtube has a video they put together "Rewind YouTube Style 2012" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... done to the video of PSY - Gangnam Style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... (working on 2 Billion views , mucho dinero). And where I came across FreddieW ($1.8 million) another good sense of humor.

Yahoo has a long climb to even become seen as a video source, It went from the next big thing to unnoticed over night. Youtube has become huge and an unexpected source of income to many. Me? I still won't allow ads on my videos, that any aren't being being viewed is irrelevant :}

disclaimer
I don't subscribe to any youtube channels, apparently that's a good thing, reading the comments on the Ars article you can't view Youtube, or comment to a video without first going through Google +, I can (it can't be that hard).

And more importantly, I expect kick backs from all mentioned above.

I take it you wouldn't have any beef with Brendan Eich, then

Of course, an air gap isn't enough to defeat all malware:

http://arstechnica.com/securit...

I guess if they have no speakers and the internal beeper is disabled, the black hats will have to find another covert channel, though. Watch out for steganographic TCP/IP-over-Osciloscope.

This has been debunked in several places.

http://arstechnica.com/securit...

I guess if they have no speakers and the internal beeper is disabled, the black hats will have to find another covert channel, though. Watch out for steganographic TCP/IP-over-Osciloscope.

Leave it be. Amazingly enough, Microsoft's patching system is insanely inefficient and having it require 100% of the CPU for an hour or more to determine which patches to install is normal. It's apparently a flaw in the way the patches work that makes it take an amount of time equivalent to the exponent of the number of patches installed. Since there are a lot of patches now, that can be a very long time. Microsoft has a fix for this, but you'll have to wait through at least one incredibly slow patch cycle for it to get installed.

reference

Google, these days, is interested in making as much of the Android ecosystem closed source as possible in order to exert control over it and manufacturers. So I don't see them wanting to open source something important like the baseband firmware. Source: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets...

You know, like you get a higher electric bill if you use more electricity, a higher water bill if you use more water, like you used to get a higher phone bill if you would make more phone calls, and like the ISPs have higher costs if their customers consume more bandwidth.

Let's see the equivalent of the public utility commissions, or FERC, and then we calk talk about metering. I don't trust AT&T to play straight with metered billing.

AT&T is the same company that was alleged to have randomly pushed data usage on iPhones that were off [1]. My wife who was until recently on AT&T had several months where her account would get slapped with a data charge late due to unexplained usage late in the cycle. After a year or so of this abuse and a couple of hundred dollars later we finally all switched to TMobile non-contract, and strangely (hmm) have never seen the data usage with the same pattern (not that it would matter now - at worst she'd be bumped to 2G speeds, not billed for an extra allotment of data). Couldn't be happier since the switch. TMobile is great, and compared either ATT or VZ, has much better service and aren't jerks. If you get decent TMO signal where you are, I highly recommend the switch.

To this day, AT&T still won't explain to you the data specifics - it's hard to correlate what's on the bill detail vs. what's on the phone log.

[1] http://arstechnica.com/apple/2...

That's going to happen with or without Glass. Data aggregators already exist and already do this with other media (Hint: it's the credit bureaus, among other shady businesses). The only difference is the Glass user will have access to the data they record and Google's use of the data (advertising targeting) is a lot less nefarious than the credit bureaus (rating you as a person and selling that data to anyone who will pay).

And where do you think credit bureaus are also getting data from? They just pay Google some money and they'll get at the same data you find creepy that they have, but not Google.

Google Glass is a perfect opportunity to get even more information about you so they can rate you better.

You know there is an LED that flashes during recording and when taking photos, right? Did you even read TFA? This was one of the concerns addressed, and it makes the rather obvious point that if someone wanted to take pictures of you without consent there are much better ways to do it.

Except it's not a LED. It's just a lightpipe to a part of the display. Heck, there are spyware apps that take advantage of it - they do one thing but snap a photo every 10 seconds without indication. Hidden rooting works, as well.

It's no LED. It's just a clever spot on the screen that's piped out, and there are apps that simply either display black, or just not highlight the spot.

Yes, in the effort to save a buck...

That's going to happen with or without Glass. Data aggregators already exist and already do this with other media (Hint: it's the credit bureaus, among other shady businesses). The only difference is the Glass user will have access to the data they record and Google's use of the data (advertising targeting) is a lot less nefarious than the credit bureaus (rating you as a person and selling that data to anyone who will pay).

And where do you think credit bureaus are also getting data from? They just pay Google some money and they'll get at the same data you find creepy that they have, but not Google.

Google Glass is a perfect opportunity to get even more information about you so they can rate you better.

You know there is an LED that flashes during recording and when taking photos, right? Did you even read TFA? This was one of the concerns addressed, and it makes the rather obvious point that if someone wanted to take pictures of you without consent there are much better ways to do it.

Except it's not a LED. It's just a lightpipe to a part of the display. Heck, there are spyware apps that take advantage of it - they do one thing but snap a photo every 10 seconds without indication. Hidden rooting works, as well.

It's no LED. It's just a clever spot on the screen that's piped out, and there are apps that simply either display black, or just not highlight the spot.

Yes, in the effort to save a buck...

A combination of dictionary words can be a strong password.

Not any more: http://arstechnica.com/securit...

Combinator attacks will chew through any random combination of dictionary words pretty quickly. Length is irrelevant, only the number of words matters and typically it is quite low. In the XKCD example you linked to it is just four. For once XKCD gave out shockingly bad advice.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...

That there's no relationship AT ALL between the OS's?

While OS X is based heavily on NeXTSTEP (and most developer API class names on the Mac are prefixed "NS"), I wouldn't go so far as to say there is no relationship between the "classic" Mac OS and OS X. OS X's standard filesystem is HFS+, which was released in 1998 with Mac OS 8.1, and which shares the same format as its predecessor, HFS. And decisions and limitations from those days still unfortunately put their marks on OS X. For instance, the Labels feature from Mac OS which was bolted back onto OS X (after much public outcry) are still stored in the same place on the filesystem, and in the same format (bit fields), as they were in 1988! And the new tagging feature introduced in Mavericks, for the sake of backwards compatibility with Labels, uses this same area and format to record Tag information! And of that, only three bits are available for storing color information on HFS+. This is why Labels-cum-Tags are limited to the same seven damn colors Mac OS had when Ronald Reagan was still president of the USA.

4) Passwords are short, intended to be remembered and typed. Asymmetric keys are long, meant to be transported as files (or certificate blobs). The former is vastly easier to brute force (an extremely strong password might take weeks on typical commodity hardware but most would only take minutes)

This bit is false, an extremely strong password still cannot be brute forced (once you get over ~10 characters long, even an Amazon E3 instance starts taking unrealistic times to brute force it). Most password cracking, even GPU powered, relies on passwords being either short or sufficiently non-random.

Yeah, I hear you. Interesting story about censorship in Oklahoma: http://arstechnica.com/science...

is required...

Not according to this Ars comparison of OneNote on Windows and Mac, where they said that unlike the Windows version, the OS X version requires a Microsoft account. So it seems the Windows version can use local *.ONE files.

There is zero counterfeit bitcoin. You can't say the same about paper currency.

Technically correct, since bitcoin does not exist in physical form and therefore cannot be counterfeited in physical form.

But can transactions involving bitcoins be counterfeited? Most certainly!

Mt. Gox, Bitstamp, and other Bitcoin exchanges have temporarily suspended withdrawal transactions after coming under a form of a denial-of-service attack that abuses weaknesses in the way they keep track of fund balances, a security expert said.

Andreas M. Antonopoulos, chief security officer of digital wallet developer Blockchain, said the attacks work by flooding exchanges with a large number of malformed transactions that are similar, but not identical, to legitimate transactions that were already made. Exchanges that trust one or more of the fake records instead of the entries in the official Bitcoin blockchain quickly fall out of sync with the rest of the network and must recalculate their fund balances once the mistakes become apparent.

The net effect is the same. Counterfeit paper currency deprives its holders of the value of that currency. Counterfeit bitcoin transactions deprive the owners of the bitcoins involved in that transaction of the value of those bitcoins.

It isn't just that.

Snowden documents and news reports do the affiliation they need. They proudly proclaim that they use IBM's cloud-based processing systems for processing.

If IBM really wants to distance themselves, they should cancel these contracts.

Posting AC, as have modded in this thread.

It's precisely this keeping of things that is allowing a new generation of rocket scientists to uncover the design and operation of the Saturn V F1 engine. See http://arstechnica.com/science.... Understand that back in the day those things were designed, not much was known about why they worked. Sure there was good theoretical understanding, but knowledge lags vastly behind theory, especially with those monsters.

Because they were kept as display pieces, the F1 engine is now better understood than when it was flying. For example (from the article), the early engines had a tendency to blow up. This was tracked to turbulence in the ignition chamber so fins were added and they stopped blowing up. Being the space "race", with the problem solved the designers moved on to the next problem without really getting to the bottom of why this happened in the first place.