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Age does not mean the judge doesn't know technology.

I love the way that Judge Alsup understood the proceedings in his trial. This article states,

Mastery of the courtroom wasn't all that the 67-year-old Alsup brought to the trial. He also demonstrated mastery of the complicated subject matter ...

Alsup acknowledged during the trial that he had learned about Java coding to better prepare for the case, and it showed. On a daily basis, he would deftly query the lawyers and expert witnesses on the structure, sequence, and organizations of APIs ...

http://www.cnet.com/forums/dis...

http://9to5mac.com/2014/12/03/...

http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/0...

It appears they have in several iterations over the years. The GP is likely conflating several instances but i cannot find fault with it. I am somewhat concerned about your strict denial without even a simple Google search that brought up the links i posted and more.

A desktop version still doesn't help me. I own a PC, an Audiovox 8610 flip phone, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab A tablet running Android "Lollipop". I can't install it on my PC because according to the download page, "WhatsApp must be installed on your phone." I can't install it on my phone because an Audiovox 8610 is not listed as a compatible phone on FAQ #20951556. I can't install it on my tablet because according to FAQ #20951556, "We currently do not support tablets or Wi-Fi only devices, and do not plan to do so in the foreseeable future."

While the main vessel isn't going to be named Boaty, the attached research submersible will be

I suggest you look again.

                                        http://www.cnet.com/news/judge...

And there was also this case, of people at a Senator's pigeon shoot. There was apparently no prosecution.

                                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

That FAA policy you're citing has not been tested in court. These cases while they may not have set binding precedent, certainly provided useful legal reasoning for other judges to use.

It didn't start there either, this exact scenario came up 4-years ago in a mortgage scam case - http://www.cnet.com/news/judge...

The DRM was asked by the music industry at the very beginning. It was a condition so that Apple could sell music files. But soon after, Steve Jobs fought against the DRM

Oh yes, I am sure he fought quite valiantly against Apple's position of profitable vendor lock in. That letter is not new to me, only that somebody believed it.

People believed it way before it was written. http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-unveils-music-store/

Jobs has been an outspoken opponent of so-called digital rights management (DRM) in the past, arguing that limitations on digital music will undermine the market for legitimate content.

Stock buybacks are a red flag for me, indicating that the company may be out of investment ideas.

http://www.cnet.com/news/google-plans-first-ever-share-buyback/ - And that was in 2009.

Ernie Ball

Already got me a pair of these http://www.cnet.com/au/news/ha... I'm fine with it but it makes my 8yr old nephew want to throw up so finally I have a piece of tech kit that he doesn't want to borrow every time he's around :D

I remember a lot of people making googly-eyes at the Microsoft Courier After half a decade of ipads and android tablets, I doubt it could make any kind of comeback, especially not with the Surface occupying the "Microsoft Tablet" niche.

At the end of the day, whatever strange foreign country I land in I get this sweet text message informing me that while roaming overseas I have free unlimited texts, free unlimited (3G or 2G) Internet and that all my calls will be at a fixed rate of $0.20 per minute.

Besides which when back in the US I can also use my mobile phone as a wireless modem to tether my laptop to it, and quite a few other ingenious things like being able to get calls over third-party wi-fi networks while roaming anywhere.

Last I checked, as far as I know none of the other three carriers mentioned offer anything remotely as convenient and reasonably-priced as this for international travelers who roam a lot and live in major urban centers. Some of this might explain recent statistics pointing to the fact that T-Mobile has been accruing customers and poaching them from competing networks at a faster rate than anyone else. Coincidentally, they're starting to bite on the heels of the one ranked #3 (what a surprise!) Sprint!

Of course Sprint will be mad and start the mud-slinging. Is anyone surprised? Corporations are people too (in the US, according the the SCOTUS) and have feelings too, yano?

Similar tactic to Trump saying something really gross to make his point to the base, and then later retracting it. I'd wager there's a lot of customers responding regardless, and what better way to reinforce stereotypes than to use language like this?

everyday facebook becomes more an more like AOL circa 95-99

I hear their next project involves simulating a busy signal for 80% of the customer base when they try to log in.

Yes, they would attack the low hanging fruit first, because the vendors are enabling the individuals, but if enough individuals start rolling their own, the same rules will be imposed on them. And yes, ultimately all indecipherable communications will give probable cause for arrest and seizure. That is already happening You are perfectly welcome to use the bank's government approved "encryption" in their back-doored app.

And really, you can save your breath on the *court orders*. They are too easy to get to be of any significant impediment to a tap. Sure, you can win on appeal, after many dollars and many hours. Time and money you never get back. The state is no longer the protector, it is the adversary. I don't believe in allowing it any advantage.

Helmets aren't especially useful and at least some research say, they increase risk to the bicyclist's health.

Given how much more fun it is to ride without one, you may want to reconsider — unless you wear it all the time, even when walking. Just in case a car hits you...

Dunno about jetpacks, but bicycles just aren't fast enough for helmets to perceptibly increase one's chances in a rare accident to justify constantly incurring costs in comfort and situation-awareness during the rest of your riding. Yes, there are statistics showing correlation between fatalities and riding without helmet, but that does not prove causation.

Surely, everyone is entitled to making their own choices, and I'm not going to force anyone to ride without the protection they want. I just want the same freedom for myself.

Except you've already willingly allowed the government to define acceptable standards for software, and also gleefully put your entire personal computing infrastructure in couple large baskets. I'd be scared if I wasnt enjoying so much the last 3 decades of horrible decisions coming crashing down on all these morons.

It depends, can you convince a judge that there is enough evidence of a crime to write out a search warrant, as exists in every case where law enforcement has asked Apple (Google, MS, etc) for help. In MANY of the cases, Apple was more than happy to help, but oh my god, that guy who shot up a work party, he totally deserves more privacy than any other case.

http://www.cnet.com/news/how-a...

Laws are what created this problem. The government needs to stop pretending they know what's best for people, and probably so do you, and so does Apple. This might be semantically different from a classic search warrant, but when applied to digital media with a kill switch it fits perfectly. I could envision a similar warrant with a physical device that nobody would have a problem with. Ie. Security company makes device that self destructs the contents, device is used in a crime, law enforcement petitions company that made device to help them get access. The vast amount of anger around this issue is due to an organised misinformation campaign by Apple and their internet lackies. The FBI isn't asking for anything extraordinary. Apple is behaving very oddly. You should ask yourself what their motives are. If you conclude they have your best interests in mind, at all, start over.

They literally repost months-old stories as if they're brand new. This one was posted on CNET in October.

Not only is it garbage, their own "about" page talks about a different news organization that doesn't appear to exist. I am pretty sure this is just a Facebook clickbait news generator. http://www.albanydailystar.com...

They literally repost months-old stories as if they're brand new. This one was posted on CNET in October.

Apple is arguing that writing software constitutes free speech. Therefore, forcing them to write software to help solve a crime would be infringing on their free speech. Except, the problem the FBI is encountering was created by Apple complying with a law that required them to write anti-theft software into their OS. Ironic, to say the least.
 

Apple isn't arguing that writing software is speech. Apple is repeating the declaration by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that source code is speech. This may have also gone to the Supreme Court; I can't find a current reference to it, although not being American, I may not be looking in the right place.....
Your claim that Apple has already implemented code in response to California's legal requirements doesn't hold water, either. Yes, Apple implemented anti-theft code that was compatible with California anti-theft regulations. This does not mean that the government now has carte blanche to require any "features" they feel should be implemented in Apple's software.
Apple could very well have thought that anti-theft code was a good idea, and implemented it anyway, even without California's regulations. I think it's a good idea, too. Does that mean I have to give up all my free speech rights, or I'll be a hypocrite? Of course not. Don't be an idiot.

The kill switch in all Apple phones is mandated by the California government. It seems Apple has a bit of a split personality when enforcing it's right to free speech. Either that or they're a bunch of scumbags playing politics with phone software. I'll let you decide.

I think the FBI had a warrant, and Apple has a shitty argument.

Apple is arguing that writing software constitutes free speech. Therefore, forcing them to write software to help solve a crime would be infringing on their free speech. Except, the problem the FBI is encountering was created by Apple complying with a law that required them to write anti-theft software into their OS. Ironic, to say the least.

Also, Apple has no problem cooperating with governments when there's a net benefit to them. And there's tons of precedence that free speech rights can be revoked, within reason, by a court of law, when required by society.

I think there's plenty of evidence that the culture at Apple cares very very little about user freedom. I think, rather, that in the wake of the Snowden revelations Apple has identified an opportunity to run a PR campaign and has taken advantage of it. I think this is a horrible, but not surprising, thing for Apple to do.

One more point (I wish you could edit slashdot comments). Another precedent for forcing software companies to comply with governments would be the California government requiring anti-theft measures be part of mobile phone software. Of course this is highly ironic considering it's this regulation that is responsible for locking up the phone in question. So it seems Apple is fine with having their "rights" revoked to create this problem, but not to circumvent it. Interesting.

Just to keep people informed, note that Bernie Sanders and Marco Rubio voted to increase H1B visas last round (2013).

Ted Cruz voted against, and (of course) neither Clinton nor Trump could vote.

Here's a quote from [Facebook VP] Joel Kaplan:

"This is a big step forward for jobs, innovation, and the American economy," Facebook's vice president of U.S. policy Joel Kaplan said in a statement e-mailed to CNET. "We've been talking with members for months about what the technology industry needs to remain competitive and this bill shows that they listened and they get it."

I know... do they really expect the system to last forever?

The B-52 bomber is still going strong after 60 years. It will probably serve another 40 years if the Pentagon R&D department can't figure out how to build a replacement bomber that works.

http://www.cnet.com/news/sixty-years-on-the-b-52-is-still-going-strong/

Re '"analyze and profitize the spoken text data too?"
Pics, text, sound and any other environmental sensor data found networked will feed the ads ... :)
Google looks to patent tech that listens to calls to promote ads (23 March 2012)
http://www.cnet.com/news/googl... "..the patent application also looks into placing onto people's computers online ads that are influenced by data from environmental sensors--such as temperature, humidity, light, and sound. "

Of course, stealing big chunks of Alpha processor technology from DEC made it a lot easier to make that business shift.

                  http://www.cnet.com/news/intel...

Between David Cutler lifting VMS technologies to create NT over at Microsoft, and Intel stealing Alpha technologies to create the Pentium chip, DEC didn't have anything left to fund new technologies with and nothing left worth stealing.

The 1984 issue was the test event.
Amazon recalls (and embodies) Orwell's '1984' (July 17, 2009) http://www.cnet.com/news/amazo...!

A young engineer by the name of Steven Sasson created the first digital camera in 1975 while working for Kodak. It was a completely functional self contained prototype, with batteries, and a cassette recorder to store the images on, and a separate system to load and display the image onto a television screen. He demonstrated what he had made to executives at Kodak, several times. The executives could not imagine why anyone would want to view their images on a television screen, and they had a monopoly on the processed film market anyway, so why would they want to compromise that. That didn't stop them from patenting the technology in 1978.

Steven Sasson took the technology a step further in 1989, creating the first SLR camera, with a 1.2 megapixel sensor and a memory card. Again, Kodak would have none of it. They wanted to sell consumables. The rest is history.

Ironically Kodak still earned billions from digital photography, thanks to royalties earned on the patent granted in 1978. That patent expired in 2007. Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Life's a bitch.

I would say Kodak had THE expertise, they had the first move advantage, they tried their hardest NOT to convert to digital, they refused to compete, and they could have saved themselves every single day since 1975. Kodak fucked up. If the automakers think they can ignore this technology then they will fuck themselves up too.

Sources here, and here.

Oh, wait...

http://www.cnet.com/news/donal...

And what are the power requirements for those 4TB drives again?

There is not a substantial change in power consumption relative to capacity of a 2.5" disk drive. Power consumption is mainly affected by what RPM rate the platter is driven at.

The Seagate Momentus ST4000LM016 2.5" Laptop HDD 4TB is reported to have datasheet Power consumption values: 0.85 Watt (Idle), 1.9 Watt (Read), 2.1 Watt (Write)

I think that's a datasheet power consumption for a 4TB disk less than the PiDrive what other Slashdot posters have listed as the WDPI Power Specs:
- low power (5VDC @ 0.55A = 2.75 watts)

Also, if you are really concerned about power consumption, and don't need all that capacity then consider a SSD such as $40 SSD, which should have more than 100GB.

Actually..... I doubt if the PI has sufficient CPU power to fill up 100GB very quickly with simple data logging.

http://www.cnet.com/news/man-p...

A single person making small talk on their phone annoys everyone.

The 28th amendment, the right not to be annoyed?
People are such precious snowflakes. It's almost like someone needs to create a product for these people

http://www.cnet.com/news/study...

If you don't want to click through, the key point is in the URL.

The chances are pretty good actually. And that's just the first page of Google hits (ignore the one fake video).

The near misses are happening frequently enough that there will eventually be a hit, likely several. Do you really want to stick your head in the sand and pretend there's no problem until there's loss of life? Aviation regulatory agencies like the FAA are frequently criticized for being too reactionary - not addressing problems until after there's been loss of life. They are attempting to be proactive in this case, and they're getting criticized for that too.

Now consumers have mostly rejected it

You say that as if it were, in fact, actually true. I really respect your willingness to demonstrate such a high level of "flexibility." ;)

Vizio announces its first consumer 4K TVs, kills all 3D support
Sky drops 3D channel
BBC drops 3D programmes due to lack of interest
The End Of 3D? ESPN Drops 3D Channel
DirecTV scales back 3D content due to lack of demand
Poll: Is 3D TV dead? Do you care?

A quote from the last one:

3D's biggest issue has always been lack of 3D movies and TV shows, however, and they're only getting more scarce. ESPN's highly hyped 3D channel quietly got put to rest two years ago. Many other 3D-only channels, like 3net, Xfinity 3D, Foxtel 3D, Sky 3D and more, are also gone.

Some download services, like Vudu, still offer 3D, but the total number of 3D Blu-ray movies has dropped off significantly. They peaked in 2013 at 77, up from 66 and 68 the two years previous. Last year? 44, and only 22 so far this year. There will certainly be more in the second half, but I doubt we'll break 40.

Maybe you liked it, I'm not to argue with personal taste. But it's barely been mentioned as a feature for a couple years now, there's no plans for 4K in 3D in the new Bluray standard and nobody really seems to care. It works for most people at the cinema for a few hours every now and then, but at home it's been a dud.

There are literally dozens of articles on the topic if you bothered to look for yourself. Here is one of many. I don't know if they will ditch their OS completely but I suspect they will.

http://www.cnet.com/news/black... One of many announcements.

Not sure if it's the story you were thinking of, but there was a little bit of discussion in the tech press/blogs in 2005 in response to someone noticing that Google had put out a job posting for a "strategic negotiator" with experience in "identification, selection, and negotiation of dark fiber contracts both in metropolitan areas and over long distances as part of development of a global backbone network". That led to a lot of speculation over what precisely Google was planning to do.

Yea, Samsung. Let's involve an entity who likes to record conversations via their IoT TVs whilst telling customers "don't say anything you don't want transmitted to a third party" into a consortium to define the security of IoT... oh, and there's no way to shut it off. How about not? (And their not alone, LG does something similar) http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/sa... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/tech...

Gotcha. Now I know to ignore anything posted by "Billy Gates".

If you had read your own link, you would see that Foxit merely installs a toolbar. Anyone who posts on /., yet doesn't have the sense to Custom install every app so they can unselect toolbars is a techie wannabe.

A toolbar is not malware. Some users actually like them. CNet has reviewed the Conduit toolbar: http://www.cnet.com/news/go-to...!

http://www.cnet.com/news/how-a...!

http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/...

http://www.cnet.com/news/iphon...

http://www.cnet.com/news/iphon...

http://www.cnet.com/news/how-a...!

http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/...

http://www.cnet.com/news/iphon...

http://www.cnet.com/news/iphon...

http://www.cnet.com/news/how-a...!

http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/...

http://www.cnet.com/news/iphon...

http://www.cnet.com/news/iphon...

Constitution - pish!

http://www.cnet.com/news/senat...

Last month, it announced GSP agreements with Russia, NATO and the United Kingdom. Microsoft is in discussions with more than 30 countries, territories and organizations regarding the program.

That too was more than a decade ago. This is old news.

If the phone is for sale and network use in the USA, it has to be Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) like ready.
The need to tell the press that its still so difficult is about the optics of global sales and the US big brand gov encryption disclosures.
If this access was the normal for cell tech a few years ago, "FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool" (December 4, 2006)
http://www.cnet.com/news/fbi-t...!
what has changed in the US cell network access for any other gov data or network requests?
A cell phone as sold for US network access has to be open to law enforcement as sold and designed.
Stories like this keeps the cell phone faith and signals intelligence flowing as users still think their generations devices have "special" encryption or safe storage.
No 5 eye nation would let the majority of public walk around secure communications for voice, data, storage or video.

http://www.cnet.com/news/hp-re...

It was cuting edge at the time (1998), but the HP Sojourn should be prior art for this. It was a laptop with a dock (well, multiple docks). The base laptop was thin and light, and didn't have much I/O. You put on the I/O slice, and you have a CD drive, video ports, serial and more. And you can then put on another slice, and expanded battery slice. The ultrabook was expandable to a full desktop replacement (almost).

And there have been other computers to do the same, just with everything in a chassis, not external slices. So this is an incremental change, and an obvious one at that. But that's how patents work in the US.

Lenovo did the same thing last year http://www.cnet.com/uk/product...