It's theoretically possible if the phone's firmware is modified to add those capabilities. That does not mean that a stock cell phone can be used as a bug or locater beacon when it is turned off. For the vast majority of cell phones, off means off. It uses a tiny amount of power to periodically scan the keyboard for key presses. All non-essential circuits, like the RF circuits, are powered down.
That doesn't do a damn thing to protect people from zero-day exploits and compromised web sites that try to take advantage of vulnerabilities in user's systems. Part of not getting infected is education and keeping systems updated, but part of it is dumb luck. You can do everything right and still get infected.
I would like to see operating systems that offer the option of only executing code that has been digitally signed. Banks should give their customers authentication devices. This can be as simple as a sheet of paper with a table of authentication codes.
Why not just put a "Turing Machine!!!" sticker on the computer, saying that it can theoretically run any software, via emulation, if you are willing to wait long enough.
You would probably have to go to small claims court to force the merchant to accept a return or pay damages. Otherwise, they will just point to the sign that says "no returns after N days".
The marginal cost of the B2 bomber is substantially less than $1.2B. The problem is that if you only buy 20 aircraft, the cost per aircraft is inflated by the huge development cost of the aircraft. The original plan was to build 135 aircraft.
Sometimes I wonder how much it would cost to build some more B52s. It's an ancient aircraft, but it does the job.
Sometimes they are about investors, at least the large ones. Without the possibility of lawsuits, you increase the risk that the company's executives will treat the company like their own private piggy bank and golf club. I've been through takeovers where the incumbent management was far more interested in keeping their cushy jobs than the interests of the employees, stockholders and customers.
Some crypto hardware is designed with anti-tamper switches that will erase all keying data if the case is opened. There is often a front-panel switch (zeroize switch) to do the same thing upon operator command.
Does Canada have any strict regime prisons? It certainly has the geography for it. Why not ship the script kiddies off to a work camp in the middle of nowhere for a few years.
Being a cynic, I would argue that the Big Dig has met its primary objective, filling the pockets of the politically well-connected with large amounts of other people's money.
They usually have a gang of useful idiots, that pretend to be legitimate and operate a front organization. See PETA and ALF/ELF, Sinn Fein and the IRA., and many so-called charities that fund Islamic terrorism.
The Kármán line. I was just reading about it last week. The air is so thin at 100 km than an airplane would have to travel at a speed greater than orbital velocity in order to generate sufficient lift, and if it's traveling that fast, it doesn't need lift.
The problem is that some big companies will steal your invention, and laugh at you if you threaten them with legal action. This happened to one of my relatives. He couldn't afford the legal fees to fight them in court.
There is a lot of interesting materials science done with lasers that produce very short and very intense pulses of light. This laser might be useful for something like that. There is also the possibility of using it for long distance communication or ranging. Radar systems get decent range by transmitting short pulses of RF at very high power levels. The average power is low enough to keep power consumption and heat dissipation at manageable levels.
You can often get the same effect by playing "uncool" music.
As to the original device, maybe the little bastards will understand how I feel every time they drive by in their car or park outside, playing the latest example of what passes for music these days, with the bass level set at "stun small mammals".
Pedophilia is a disorder involving sexual attraction to children. It may be limited to sexual fantasies or result in the sexual abuse of children, depending on the person.
Even though the legal system may disagree, the last time I checked, there wasn't a "thought crime" exception to the Bill of Rights.
Pedophilia is not a crime. Sexually molesting children is a crime.
Pedophiles are the modern equivalent of witches, used to rile up the mob. Even if they never touch a child, they are often treated like depraved criminals and imprisoned or murdered.
The Government's interest in preventing the entry of unwanted persons and effects is at its zenith at the international border. Time and again, we have stated that "searches made at the border, pursuant to the longstanding right of the sovereign to protect itself by stopping and examining persons and property crossing into this country, are reasonable simply by virtue of the fact that they occur at the border." United States v. Ramsey, 431 U.S. 606, 616 (1977). Congress, since the beginning of our Government, "has granted the Executive plenary authority to conduct routine searches and seizures at the border, without probable cause or a warrant, in order to regulate the collection of duties and to prevent the introduction of contraband into this country." Montoya de Hernandez, supra, at 537 (citing Ramsey, supra, at 616--617 (citing Act of July 31, 1789, ch. 5, 1 Stat. 29)). The modern statute that authorized the search in this case, 46 Stat. 747, 19 U.S.C. 1581(a),1 derived from a statute passed by the First Congress, the Act of Aug. 4, 1790, ch. 35, 31, 1 Stat. 164, see United States v. VillamonteMarquez, 462 U.S. 579, 584 (1983), and reflects the "impressive historical pedigree" of the Government's power and interest, id., at 585. It is axiomatic that the United States, as sovereign, has the inherent authority to protect, and a paramount interest in protecting, its territorial integrity.
In many cases, copyright infringement has been criminalized. If the intellectual property leeches had their way, any copyright infringement, except when they do it, would be a federal felony offense.
BTW, from what I had heard they were only allowed to do this to non-citizens are ports of entry/exit. If you're a citizen or travelling on a domestic flight you should be OK, right?
Customs agents can do just about anything to anyone, citizen or not. And it isn't just the USA. Legally, they can behave like psychotic assholes and there is nothing you can do about it. You have no rights when crossing a border.
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It's theoretically possible if the phone's firmware is modified to add those capabilities. That does not mean that a stock cell phone can be used as a bug or locater beacon when it is turned off. For the vast majority of cell phones, off means off. It uses a tiny amount of power to periodically scan the keyboard for key presses. All non-essential circuits, like the RF circuits, are powered down.
It could be worse.
I would like to see operating systems that offer the option of only executing code that has been digitally signed. Banks should give their customers authentication devices. This can be as simple as a sheet of paper with a table of authentication codes.
Why not just put a "Turing Machine!!!" sticker on the computer, saying that it can theoretically run any software, via emulation, if you are willing to wait long enough.
They can just not bother showing up, receive a default judgment, and not pay. How are you going to collect on your judgment?
You would probably have to go to small claims court to force the merchant to accept a return or pay damages. Otherwise, they will just point to the sign that says "no returns after N days".
Sometimes I wonder how much it would cost to build some more B52s. It's an ancient aircraft, but it does the job.
Sometimes they are about investors, at least the large ones. Without the possibility of lawsuits, you increase the risk that the company's executives will treat the company like their own private piggy bank and golf club. I've been through takeovers where the incumbent management was far more interested in keeping their cushy jobs than the interests of the employees, stockholders and customers.
Some crypto hardware is designed with anti-tamper switches that will erase all keying data if the case is opened. There is often a front-panel switch (zeroize switch) to do the same thing upon operator command.
Does Canada have any strict regime prisons? It certainly has the geography for it. Why not ship the script kiddies off to a work camp in the middle of nowhere for a few years.
Being a cynic, I would argue that the Big Dig has met its primary objective, filling the pockets of the politically well-connected with large amounts of other people's money.
They usually have a gang of useful idiots, that pretend to be legitimate and operate a front organization. See PETA and ALF/ELF, Sinn Fein and the IRA., and many so-called charities that fund Islamic terrorism.
You have a short memory. Microsoft has charged money for their SDKs in the past, sometimes quite a bit of money.
The problem is that the Moon has a "lumpy" gravitational field, which makes it difficult to keep satellites in stable lunar orbits.
The Kármán line. I was just reading about it last week. The air is so thin at 100 km than an airplane would have to travel at a speed greater than orbital velocity in order to generate sufficient lift, and if it's traveling that fast, it doesn't need lift.
The problem is that some big companies will steal your invention, and laugh at you if you threaten them with legal action. This happened to one of my relatives. He couldn't afford the legal fees to fight them in court.
There is a lot of interesting materials science done with lasers that produce very short and very intense pulses of light. This laser might be useful for something like that. There is also the possibility of using it for long distance communication or ranging. Radar systems get decent range by transmitting short pulses of RF at very high power levels. The average power is low enough to keep power consumption and heat dissipation at manageable levels.
As to the original device, maybe the little bastards will understand how I feel every time they drive by in their car or park outside, playing the latest example of what passes for music these days, with the bass level set at "stun small mammals".
An education is no excuse for willful ignorance.
Even though the legal system may disagree, the last time I checked, there wasn't a "thought crime" exception to the Bill of Rights.
Pedophiles are the modern equivalent of witches, used to rile up the mob. Even if they never touch a child, they are often treated like depraved criminals and imprisoned or murdered.
In many cases, copyright infringement has been criminalized. If the intellectual property leeches had their way, any copyright infringement, except when they do it, would be a federal felony offense.
Customs agents can do just about anything to anyone, citizen or not. And it isn't just the USA. Legally, they can behave like psychotic assholes and there is nothing you can do about it. You have no rights when crossing a border.
What about sharks? I saw a documentary that said that sharks are attracted by the stray electrical fields emitted by submarine cables.