Domain: wired.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to wired.com.
Comments · 12,699
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Secret Backdoor in Encryption Standard?
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But they did it
Here's an article about the new encryption standard and its back door - master key. The facts are as follows:
1) There exists a set of numbers that could be used as a master key to the system that has since been published as a standard.
2) NSA created the system.
3) You can't prove they don't have this skeleton key.
4) It's their job to do stuff like this.
Now re-read #1 again. Mathematically there IS a back door. The question is weather anyone knows the key. -
Re:Well that validates the 'weasel word' disclaime
Google et al. said something, IIRC, like 'we do not collect and pass on any info to the NSA'. Technically true, but also completely irrelevant to whether or not the NSA was actually collecting data.
They didn't mention the NSA: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/what.html That post is unequivocal, and is in direct contradiction to statements by the post like:
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court does not review any individual collection request.
and
The FBI uses government equipment on private company property to retrieve matching information from a participating company
Which directly contradicts a statement here: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/google-uses-secure-ftp-to-feds/ Unfortunately, all such statements in the Post's article aren't on the slides; they are the Post's annotations on the slides, and the author doesn't provide any evidence to support them. Take from that what you will.
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Re:What *are* the implications?
While I am not a parent myself,
You could have saved us a lot of reading if you had started with that line.
You are clearly out of touch with what happens (legally) in Public schools, including tagging and computer access.
Raising a kid to be ignorant of the wealth of information on the internet is probably a from of child abuse.
State curriculum mandates many things that the parents do not have control of.
And the idea that your children are your property is quickly vanishing from western civilization (and not a moment too soon). -
postgres
Salesforce just hired Tom Lane (top PostgreSQL developer) away from Redhat.
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Re:NSA Use
Yes US seems right up on all the tech average people use and how to track them:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/petraeus-tv-remote/
Become a domestic “person of interest” and they will use every connected device you have.
Welcome to a world where you have to change your notions of secrecy and enjoy every connected device been backdoor ready by design. -
Long history
Wasn't SalesForce.com started by ex-Oracle folks? And wasn't Larry Ellison one of their initial investors? http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2005/10/69420
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Re:the way I see it
Let's consolidate this so people aren't confused.
Cool, so when does the President go on trial for authorizing the murder of civilians using WMDs?
Sorry, that is BS. Apparently you didn't read my post carefully. Hellfire missiles are not WMDs in the military context even if they are for US domestic criminal law. So, suggesting that the President is using WMDs is nonsense. It would also be nonsense domestically in the US since government has the legal authority to use lethal force with weapons not available to civilians. Second, the US isn't deliberately attacking innocent civilian populations. The terrorists do, as did the Boston bomber. Launching a Hellfire missile at a SUV of senior al Qaida or Taliban members traveling down a road isn't going to kill many people other than the intended targets. So third, the 50:1 casualty rate is fiction. If it were true, you would need to find 50,000 dead civilians in the drone attack areas of Pakistan - there would be no way to cover that up. That is obviously nonsense as noted by the Pakistani government spokesman below. That doesn't mean that attacks are never made in error, or that innocent people are never killed. But that is a different question from deliberately targeting them.
Pakistani General: Actually, The Drones Are Awesome
“Myths and rumours about US predator strikes and the casualty figures are many,” Mehmood said, according to Dawn, “but it’s a reality that many of those being killed in these strikes are hardcore elements, a sizeable number of them foreigners.”
He even brought stats. According to the general, “about 164 drone strikes have occurred since 2007 — the New America Foundation tallies 226 since 2004 — have killed “over 964 terrorists.” Of those, 793 were Pakistanis and 171 were foreigners, “including Arabs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Filipinos and Moroccans.” (Filipinos? Huh.) Only “a few civilians” have been killed, he said.
From a wider angle, taking Afghanistan into account, it is the Taliban causing most of the casualties. And you would expect that since one of their key means of attack is bombs and mines placed along roads that kill whomever comes along, as well as bombings in market places, and attacks on institutions like schools. Those are mainly going to kill civilians.
Taliban Causes Most Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan, U.N. Says
Before you respond with any of that , "at war blah blah blah" nonsense, keep in mind that Congress has not declared war on Pakistan.
The SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. is not limited to geographic area. The US government and Pakistan have had an arrangement.
Ex-Pakistani President Musharraf admits secret deal with U.S. on drone strikes
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Ex-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf acknowledged his government secretly signed off on U.S. drone strikes, the first time a top past or present Pakistani official has admitted publicly to such a deal.
Pakistani leaders long have openly challenged the drone program and insisted they had no part in it. Musharraf's admission, though, suggests he and others did play some role, even if they didn't oversee the program or approve every attack.
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Re:Oh, Canada...
But high speed internet is a basic human right. You can't take away someones right to the internet, just their right to free speech on said internet.
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Re:the way I see it
My apologies, I should have looked at your first link and I didn't. So now I will address it: you need better sources of information.
Pakistani General: Actually, The Drones Are Awesome
“Myths and rumours about US predator strikes and the casualty figures are many,” Mehmood said, according to Dawn, “but it’s a reality that many of those being killed in these strikes are hardcore elements, a sizeable number of them foreigners.”
He even brought stats. According to the general, “about 164 drone strikes have occurred since 2007 — the New America Foundation tallies 226 since 2004 — have killed “over 964 terrorists.” Of those, 793 were Pakistanis and 171 were foreigners, “including Arabs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Filipinos and Moroccans.” (Filipinos? Huh.) Only “a few civilians” have been killed, he said.
Since this conflict is likely to continue for at least another 10, maybe as many as 40 years, eventually the US will have to face jihadis that have taken up arms against the West (including the US) that weren't born before 9/11/2001. If it hasn't happened yet, it probably will within another 4-5 years. It makes no difference, the qualifier is taking up arms against the US and the West, not birthdate. If we were to stop defending ourselves doesn't mean they would stop attacking. Al Qaida's goal is to restore the Islamic Caliphate that was dissolved in 1923 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, replace the national government in Muslim countries with strict Islamist governments, conquer the world for Islam to rule, convert the people to Islam, and governments to Sharia law. The fact that it might seem to be nonsense to us doesn't mean that isn't an important goal to them. Keep your eyes on Europe - there is a good chance that in 30 years time it will be facing civil war.
Personally I would like to see the size and scope of the federal government reduced. However national defense is the responsibility of the national government.
I like you sig, but your ideas and understanding of the issue could use some work. I understand you mean well.
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Old Links
I remember first reading about this guy, his daughter, and his DIY genomics in Make and Wired magazines back in 2009. I'm glad to see that, several years on, they at least have a likely culprit identified. It's still a long ways from describing the actual mechanism, effects, and potential treatments, but you have to start somewhere. I am also pleased to see that he has been able to get collaborators in industry and academia, who can put greater resources to it than just his own.
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Under who's jurisdiction?
data store maintained by a third party
What domain privacy rules would be applicable?
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Re:Internet Explorer
If you're using HTTP instead of HTTPS, then the NSA has all your traffic already.
See: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/snowden-powerpoint/#slideid-57990
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Re:you can walk over it with illegally ripped medi
It was several years ago, and I don't know the current state of their bullshit legal theories
... they certainly made claims that ripping is in fact illegal.If they could outlaw it, they would. Because in their mind, anything other than how they envision things should be illegal.
The MAFIAA may be entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts. And the fact of this matter is plain and simply, "Fuck you, MAFIAA."
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Re:New Hampshire License Plate
To save anyone else the trouble of googling it, copy here: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/10/origins-of-geek-plates/
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Re:you can walk over it with illegally ripped medi
What was that about no recognition of format shifting? I didn't even have to do the shifting, Amazon did it for me.
It was several years ago, and I don't know the current state of their bullshit legal theories
... they certainly made claims that ripping is in fact illegal.If they could outlaw it, they would. Because in their mind, anything other than how they envision things should be illegal.
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Re:Half right
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/06/afghanistan-iraq-wars-killed-132000-civilians-report-says/
Hmm... so that's 132000 civilians... not counting all the indirect death's caused by starvation and other things that war brings with it... You could probably triple that number and still be a bit low... Wikipedia has a number of 600000 from direct *and* indirect death's between 2004 and 2009..
All this for you to prevent a small part (most terrorist attacks don't happen in the US) of 11k killed and 44k injured people...
All in the name of "War on terrorism" or "We know there are WMD there" while knowing it was false IMO...
Playing world-police is not good for USA, and "we, the rest of the world" don't want you to.
For reduce the military spending by 0.5 trillion per year you could have 10000000 people, with $50000 per year chasing terrorist and other criminals in your country... (that's about one K*B agent per 40 people).. All this and still having about the same military budget as all countries in Europe combined...
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Re:Catch-22
Going after Mt. Gox or other exchanges certainly would be something to consider, but even that is likely to be futile.
The regulators have already have gone after Mt. Gox, so I don't know what your point is...
As the other poster mentioned, you seem to be conflating attempts to regulate with attempts to undermine the legitimacy of bitcoin. The regulators have no need to undermine bitcoin legitimacy, but just bring most of the users into the fold where they can be monitored for tax and other legal compliance by the government (paypal and major banks are in the fold). Of course many users of bitcoin resent this and will attempt to hide in the shadow economy, but as long as only a few remain in the shadow and the mainstream users are in the fold, the regulators have essentially won as the shadow transactions will stick out like sore thumbs in the logs...
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CubeSat / Skybox Imaging satellites
Looks like this format of satellite is finding a good few uses http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/startup-skybox/ aswell as smallish satellites from Guildford University UK http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc/activity/phd_projects/small_satellite_sar.htm.
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We Will Spy On Americans Through Electrical Applia
CIA Head: We Will Spy On Americans Through Electrical Appliances
Global information surveillance grid being constructed; willing Americans embrace gadgets used to spy on them
Steve Watson | Prisonplanet.com | March 16, 2012
http://www.prisonplanet.com/cia-head-we-will-spy-on-americans-through-electrical-appliances.html
"CIA director David Petraeus has said that the rise of new "smart" gadgets means that Americans are effectively bugging their own homes, saving US spy agencies a job when it identifies any "persons of interest".
Speaking at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA's technology investment operation, Petraeus made the comments when discussing new technologies which aim to add processors and web connections to previously 'dumb' home appliances such as fridges, ovens and lighting systems.
Wired reports the details via its Danger Room Blog[1]:
"'Transformational' is an overused word, but I do believe it properly applies to these technologies," Petraeus enthused, "particularly to their effect on clandestine tradecraft."
"Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters - all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing," Petraeus said.
"the latter now going to cloud computing, in many areas greater and greater supercomputing, and, ultimately, heading to quantum computing." the CIA head added.
Petraeus also stated that such devices within the home "change our notions of secrecy".
Petraeus' comments come in the same week that one of the biggest microchip companies in the world, ARM, unveiled new processors that are designed to give practically every household appliance an internet connection[2], in order that they can be remote controlled and operate in tandem with applications.
ARM describes the concept as an "internet of things".
Where will all the information from such devices be sent and analyzed? It can be no coincidence that the NSA is currently building a monolithic heavily fortified $2 billion facility[3] deep in the Utah desert and surrounded by mountains. The facility is set to go fully live in September 2013.
"The Utah data center is the centerpiece of the Global Information Grid, a military project that will handle yottabytes of data, an amount so huge that there is no other data unit after it." reports Gizmodo.
"This center-with every listening post, spy satellite and NSA datacenter connected to it, will make the NSA the most powerful spy agency in the world."
Wired reports[4] that the incoming data is being mined by plugging into telecommunications companies' switches, essentially the same method the NSA infamously uses for warrantless wiretapping of domestic communications[5], as exposed six years ago.
Former intelligence analyst turned best selling author James Bamford, has penned a lengthy piece[6] on the NSA facility and warns "It is, in some measure, the realization of the 'total information awareness' program created during the first term of the Bush administration-an effort that was killed by Congress in 2003 after it caused an outcry over its potential for invading Americans' privacy."
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Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones' Infowars.net[7], and Prisonplanet.com[8]. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
(C) 2012 PrisonPlanet.com is a Free Speech Systems, LLC company. All rights reserved.
[1] http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/petraeus-tv-remote/
[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17345934
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Bite the Hand that Feeds You?
The CIA is one of Amazon's biggest customers.
After what they did to the CEO of Qwest for refusing to cooperate I doubt Bezos is going to put those big contracts and his personal freedom at risk.
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CIA Head: We Will Spy On Americans Through........
CIA Head: We Will Spy On Americans Through Electrical Appliances
Global information surveillance grid being constructed; willing Americans embrace gadgets used to spy on them
Steve Watson | Prisonplanet.com | March 16, 2012
http://www.prisonplanet.com/cia-head-we-will-spy-on-americans-through-electrical-appliances.html
"CIA director David Petraeus has said that the rise of new "smart" gadgets means that Americans are effectively bugging their own homes, saving US spy agencies a job when it identifies any "persons of interest".
Speaking at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA's technology investment operation, Petraeus made the comments when discussing new technologies which aim to add processors and web connections to previously 'dumb' home appliances such as fridges, ovens and lighting systems.
Wired reports the details via its Danger Room Blog[1]:
"'Transformational' is an overused word, but I do believe it properly applies to these technologies," Petraeus enthused, "particularly to their effect on clandestine tradecraft."
"Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters - all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing," Petraeus said.
"the latter now going to cloud computing, in many areas greater and greater supercomputing, and, ultimately, heading to quantum computing." the CIA head added.
Petraeus also stated that such devices within the home "change our notions of secrecy".
Petraeus' comments come in the same week that one of the biggest microchip companies in the world, ARM, unveiled new processors that are designed to give practically every household appliance an internet connection[2], in order that they can be remote controlled and operate in tandem with applications.
ARM describes the concept as an "internet of things".
Where will all the information from such devices be sent and analyzed? It can be no coincidence that the NSA is currently building a monolithic heavily fortified $2 billion facility[3] deep in the Utah desert and surrounded by mountains. The facility is set to go fully live in September 2013.
"The Utah data center is the centerpiece of the Global Information Grid, a military project that will handle yottabytes of data, an amount so huge that there is no other data unit after it." reports Gizmodo.
"This center-with every listening post, spy satellite and NSA datacenter connected to it, will make the NSA the most powerful spy agency in the world."
Wired reports[4] that the incoming data is being mined by plugging into telecommunications companies' switches, essentially the same method the NSA infamously uses for warrantless wiretapping of domestic communications[5], as exposed six years ago.
Former intelligence analyst turned best selling author James Bamford, has penned a lengthy piece[6] on the NSA facility and warns "It is, in some measure, the realization of the 'total information awareness' program created during the first term of the Bush administration-an effort that was killed by Congress in 2003 after it caused an outcry over its potential for invading Americans' privacy."
--
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones' Infowars.net[7], and Prisonplanet.com[8]. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
(C) 2012 PrisonPlanet.com is a Free Speech Systems, LLC company. All rights reserved.
[1] http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/petraeus-tv-remote/
[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17345934
[3] -
Re:Finally
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Re:state dmv records mined by policeAnd...combine that with the photo app, biometric database they want to add in for EVERY US Citizen for implementing the immigration reform bills, and now you have a national ID biometric database that will be the one database to 'bind them all'.
From an earlier
/. article: link -
It's protection... from NSA
Here is the post on the Wired about protecting from NSA's eyes with Onion Pi.
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The Placebo effect and beyond -- the mind amazes
"Or you keep throwing things at it until it gets better by itself and the psychiatrist takes credit for it."
Yeah, it is ironic how homeopaths are villified but psychiatrists are celebrated, when the placebo effect is strong in both... Must have a better PR firm?
http://www.pdfernhout.net/to-james-randi-on-skepticism-about-mainstream-science.html#Some_quotes_on_social_problems_in_science
Quoting Marcia Angell:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/jan/15/drug-companies-doctorsa-story-of-corruption/
"The problems I've discussed are not limited to psychiatry, although they reach their most florid form there. Similar conflicts of interest and biases exist in virtually every field of medicine, particularly those that rely heavily on drugs or devices. It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. (Marcia Angell)Bruce Levine's book goes into detail on this:
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Americas-Depression-Epidemic-Community/dp/1933392711Also:
"Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why."
http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all
"Now, after 15 years of experimentation, he has succeeded in mapping many of the biochemical reactions responsible for the placebo effect, uncovering a broad repertoire of self-healing responses. Placebo-activated opioids, for example, not only relieve pain; they also modulate heart rate and respiration. The neurotransmitter dopamine, when released by placebo treatment, helps improve motor function in Parkinson's patients. Mechanisms like these can elevate mood, sharpen cognitive ability, alleviate digestive disorders, relieve insomnia, and limit the secretion of stress-related hormones like insulin and cortisol."The mind/brain/body/spirit/etc. indeed is amazing...
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Re:not a bicycle
Well, sure, they could design it so you could pedal it like a bike.
But they'd have a tough time finding a human that could pedal hard enough to get it off the ground. The Gamera and AeroVelo Atlas teams have been trying to get a human powered helicopter to stay in the air for more than 60 seconds, using a seriously athletic team member. Their designs are far more efficient than this one and even then they're depending heavily on ground effect.
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Re:Of Course..
Other news articles cite that he demanded the Washington Post and The Guardian publish the whole thing.
At this point Snowden should have been implementing a plan to publish the whole document.
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Re:Wanna earn $200K+? Two words...
But what complex models do you really need with HFT? You're basically doing programs battling programs.
And winning that war seems more like a job for a hacker mindset.
Or are the HFT apps actually pretending to have a basis in the "real world"? If so then the hackers have an even better edge: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/09/six-year-old-st/
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Re: mostly some small private planes left
Those emissions are going to be concentrated around airports, not distributed evenly amongst the population. Also, a tiny amount of lead can lead to drops in IQ and long-term problems.
The question you need to answer is whether the amount of lead being released is safe or not; the proportions don't matter:
According to one 2003 estimate, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, blood lead levels below the supposedly âoesafeâ limit of 10 micrograms per deciliter still produced a reduction in IQ of around 7 points. (Approximately 1 in 50 American children has lead levels above that threshold.)
Others are saying the same thing:
After taking account of factors likely to influence the results, they found that blood lead levels at 30 months showed significant associations with educational achievement, antisocial behaviour and hyperactivity scores five years later.
With lead levels up to five microgrammes per decilitre, there was no obvious effect.
But lead levels between five and 10 microgrammes per decilitre were associated with significantly poorer scores for reading ( 49% lower) and writing (51% lower). A doubling in lead blood levels to 10 microgrammes per decilitre was associated with a drop of a third of a grade in their Scholastic Assessment Tests (SATs).5 mcg/dl is 50 ppb, if I'm not mistaken. Intuitively, do you think that the people working around airports who are exposed to aircraft exhaust would get levels above that? Remember, too, that lead persists in the environment, collects in dirt, is kicked up in dust, etc.
And the effects are truly felt throughout life. Indeed, there is convincing evidence that the crime wave of the 80s was due to lead in cars:
We now have studies at the international level, the national level, the state level, the city level, and even the individual level. Groups of children have been followed from the womb to adulthood, and higher childhood blood lead levels are consistently associated with higher adult arrest rates for violent crimes [19]. All of these studies tell the same story: Gasoline lead is responsible for a good share of the rise and fall of violent crime over the past half century.
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Re: mostly some small private planes left
Those emissions are going to be concentrated around airports, not distributed evenly amongst the population. Also, a tiny amount of lead can lead to drops in IQ and long-term problems.
The question you need to answer is whether the amount of lead being released is safe or not; the proportions don't matter:
According to one 2003 estimate, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, blood lead levels below the supposedly âoesafeâ limit of 10 micrograms per deciliter still produced a reduction in IQ of around 7 points. (Approximately 1 in 50 American children has lead levels above that threshold.)
Others are saying the same thing:
After taking account of factors likely to influence the results, they found that blood lead levels at 30 months showed significant associations with educational achievement, antisocial behaviour and hyperactivity scores five years later.
With lead levels up to five microgrammes per decilitre, there was no obvious effect.
But lead levels between five and 10 microgrammes per decilitre were associated with significantly poorer scores for reading ( 49% lower) and writing (51% lower). A doubling in lead blood levels to 10 microgrammes per decilitre was associated with a drop of a third of a grade in their Scholastic Assessment Tests (SATs).5 mcg/dl is 50 ppb, if I'm not mistaken. Intuitively, do you think that the people working around airports who are exposed to aircraft exhaust would get levels above that? Remember, too, that lead persists in the environment, collects in dirt, is kicked up in dust, etc.
And the effects are truly felt throughout life. Indeed, there is convincing evidence that the crime wave of the 80s was due to lead in cars:
We now have studies at the international level, the national level, the state level, the city level, and even the individual level. Groups of children have been followed from the womb to adulthood, and higher childhood blood lead levels are consistently associated with higher adult arrest rates for violent crimes [19]. All of these studies tell the same story: Gasoline lead is responsible for a good share of the rise and fall of violent crime over the past half century.
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Re:Good
Example of strikes outside Afghanistan/Pakistan: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/08/somalia-drones/all/
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Re:This story hit the news in 2006 ! - It's old ne
Why is it suddenly a big deal now?
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
Updated 5/11/2006 10:38 AM ET
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY
I'm just glad it's out at all. This is the same guy who, during his 1st presidential campaign, spoke of opposition to warrantless wiretaps, yet three days into his presidency decides it's ok after all. Obama Sides With Bush in Spy Case
Action in violation of the oath of office, and inaction to stop ongoing violations of the oath of office, is impeachable.
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Re:Insurance?
I assume you are referencing the HL2 leak. Where valve got the guy to come to the states for a job interview at which point the FBI arrested him. And the same trick was used by valve years before.
Did you even read the article you linked in your own post? It says that Valve failed to get the guy to come to the states for a job interview, and that the FBI did not arrest him; he was ultimately charged in Germany.
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Re:Insurance?
I assume you are referencing the HL2 leak. Where valve got the guy to come to the states for a job interview at which point the FBI arrested him. And the same trick was used by valve years before.
So this guy should be skeptical of any job offers he gets from valve, rather than hold an insurance file. -
FISC did not deny a single application in 2012.
I did some research, and these are the facts.
In 2012, of the 1,789 requests made by the government to monitor electronic communications, one was withdrawn by the government. Of the remaining 1,788 applications which came up before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), not a single one was denied. Yes, all 1,788 applications to monitor electronic communications were approved.
In case you question the source, we know this from a 30 April 2013 letter from the Department of Justice to Senator Harry Reid. The source article is here.
With a track record of 1,788 out of 1,788, thats an amazing homerun for the DoJ. Im forced to conclude that you are right, it is a fig leaf and a mighty flimsy one at that.
Incidentally, Reggie Walton, presiding judge of the FISC has denied being a rubber stamp court. In his own words
:-"There is a rigorous review process of applications submitted by the executive branch, spearheaded initially by five judicial branch lawyers who are national security experts and then by the judges, to ensure that the court's authorizations comport with what the applicable statutes authorize."
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Doing the sums, 1,788 applications in 365 days (assuming they work over over Christmas and weekeneds etc) means they process almost 5 applications per day. One wonders how rigorous the review process can be under such deadlines.
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Make like the Easter Bunny
Won't help your current situation, but in the future consider routinely dropping some standard personal easter eggs into your code. You need to invent your own obscure bag of tricks, but some silly examples would be that stringing together the 3rd letter of each of the first 10 variable names spells your name, or trivially encrypted words in numeric constants or variable names. It's been done in literature for years, for example http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-05/pl_print
Yeah, I know you can supposedly hear "Paul is dead" if you play a certain Beatles track backwards. This isn't the kind of "proof" that would send someone to prison, but being able to demonstrate a few such little flourishes should be plenty enough to buy you the benefit of the doubt and likely constitute probable cause for an investigation.
Most importantly, SHUT UP and don't tell ANYBODY what your secrets are unless you're up against the wall. Even then, don't spill all of 'em. This is security by obscurity -- not an opportunity to show your friends how clever your little treasures are. People talk.
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The real Google is more like Mad Men
It would have been a better movie if the guys ended up in the ad sales side of Google. Most Google employees are ad sales reps. That side of the company is more like Mad Men.
Read "Drugstore Cowboy", which has more of the story about how an FBI sting operation caught Google accepting ads from drug dealers. Google paid $500 million (yes, half a billion dollars) to avoid criminal prosecution for that. It wasn't about Canadian pharmacies. It was about a Mexican drug dealer selling steroids (sometimes fake steroids) using Google ads. The FBI caught the dealer. Then they put him to work as an informant, getting Google ad sales reps to accept more and more outrageously illegal ads. An IRS agent designed a site intended to look as sketchy as possible. "Whitaker recorded a phone conversation with his California Google rep, walking them through the website in real time while explaining how the scam worked. He deliberately showed how PVD was a conduit for the rogue online pharmacies, confirming that his rep was following him every step of the way. At one point, the rep asked if the rogue sites had been approved by PharmacyChecker. Of course Whitaker admitted that they hadnâ(TM)t been, but it didnâ(TM)t matter; PVD never lost its approval, and the illegal sites were allowed to continue to operate."
Now that would be a cool movie.
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Re:Second amandment
You just don't get it. This isn't the president. It is the out-of-control intelligence community and predates the current administration.
Wow. So you're claiming this is all Bush's fault? Hmmm...and I'm the one who doesn't get it. From:
In the process--and for the first time since Watergate and the other scandals of the Nixon administration--the NSA has turned its surveillance apparatus on the US and its citizens. It has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls, whether they originate within the country or overseas. It has created a supercomputer of almost unimaginable speed to look for patterns and unscramble codes. Finally, the agency has begun building a place to store all the trillions of words and thoughts and whispers captured in its electronic net. And, of course, it's all being done in secret. To those on the inside, the old adage that NSA stands for Never Say Anything applies more than ever.
You should really read the whole article. And Obama knows nothing about any of this. Yeah, right. Note the herculean effort he's making to stop it all now that it's been brought to light.
I could post dozens of more links of Obama denying and lying about what's later leaked to be true. And Obama adds the bit where he attempts to prosecute anyone who leaks as a spy to a level no other president before him has.
Don't get me wrong. I am in no way defending Bush or the Republicans or congress. They got all this rolling after 9/11. The Obama administration has taken it to a far worse level than anything Bush perpetrated.
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Re:Are you serious?
Yes, San Francisco would love an industry-wide cell phone kill-switch.
The next time, there is Bart cop shooting a person in the back while that person he's laying face-down on the floor, witnesses won't be able to upload the video on youtube before their phone gets confiscated.
Also, think of the ramifications the next time there is a mass protest. It would be great if you could kill cell phones from thousands protesters, all from only one switch. That would be a Mayor's wet dream!
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Order suspended
The order was suspended on June 4.
"Federal judge suspends order that child porn suspect decrypt own computer files or face contempt" http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/deadline-is-today-for-west-allis-man-to-decrypt-suspected-porn-files-b9926078z1-210121531.html
"Earlier court order requiring a Wisconsin suspect in underage porn case to decrypt his hard drives for the FBI by the end of the day Tuesday -- or face contempt of court -- has been lifted." http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57587670-38/judge-child-porn-suspect-doesnt-need-to-decrypt-files/
Ruling: http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2013/06/Decision-Order-DOC-8-re-Motion-to-Stay.pdf
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Hella Old News
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Re:It was predicted 20 years ago
Strangely, the scenarios presented were placed 20 years in the future. Posted in 1993, then-revolutionary Wired Magazine got it exactly, dead on.
Actually, in 1990 then-science-fiction-author and some-time Wired Magazine contributor David Brin got it exactly, dead on. He just kept on writing about it for several years after that.
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Re:It was predicted 20 years ago
Strangely, the scenarios presented were placed 20 years in the future. Posted in 1993, then-revolutionary Wired Magazine got it exactly, dead on. It's almost strange how they were so dead-on as far as the time scale.
Notice all the dash cam footage coming out of the Soviet Union...
I've been "dash-caming" for over a decade. What does the recent Russian fixation of the last two years have anything to do with predictions? Clue: When cameras are small enough, many more people will use them.
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It was predicted 20 years ago
Strangely, the scenarios presented were placed 20 years in the future. Posted in 1993, then-revolutionary Wired Magazine got it exactly, dead on. It's almost strange how they were so dead-on as far as the time scale.
Notice all the dash cam footage coming out of the Soviet Union...
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Re:Good News / Bad News
>>âoeThis is true four years after the initial test, and regardless of the type of autism treatment the children received,â she said. > In other words, the autism treatments don't work.
This is incorrect thinking. Autism is NOT something to be "cured."
It is a DIFFERENT way of THINKING. See the movie "Temple Grandin" if you want to understand how Asperger's / Austistic children see the world.
Didn't we just see something like this on
/. recently? http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/05/silicon-valley-coders-and-autism-and-asperbergers-maybe-its-a-new-kind-of-design-thinking/Temple Grandin doesn't know how severely autistic people see the world. She is on the extremely high-functioning end of what's loosely called "autistic." We don't even know if her condition is related to severe autism.
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Re:Postapocoliptic Nightmare
Already happened. In 2004.
While not the pinnacle of investigative journalism, Wired magazine had an article about cocaine growers in Columbia selecting and nurturing those coca plants that survived the DEA's widespread aerial spraying of Roundup.
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Re:Iranian IT Correspondence
I am trying to install your router system here in order to oppress my population
... the welcome message says "America, Fuck Yeah!"Um, no, it's Cisco.
"We'll send you an invoice."
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Re:Good News / Bad News
>>âoeThis is true four years after the initial test, and regardless of the type of autism treatment the children received,â she said.
> In other words, the autism treatments don't work.This is incorrect thinking. Autism is NOT something to be "cured."
It is a DIFFERENT way of THINKING. See the movie "Temple Grandin" if you want to understand how Asperger's / Austistic children see the world.
Didn't we just see something like this on
/. recently?
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/05/silicon-valley-coders-and-autism-and-asperbergers-maybe-its-a-new-kind-of-design-thinking/ -
Re:"constitutes" child pornography.
Here is what they have found so far. It includes file names from eMule logs they've managed to recover (item #25) - I assume that the files themselves are actually on those encrypted drives. Does "Tara 7yro girl eat cum pthc.avi" sound like manga to you?
The guy is a sick fuck, there's no doubt about it. Whether they can actually convict him or not within the constitutional framework is another question, but he doesn't deserve any personal sympathy whatsoever.