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User: gavron

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  1. The NSA has uncovered Satoshi... so the FOIA request should have gone to them.
    Why send it to an unrelated agency?

    E

  2. SlashdotLazy on Inventor Says Google Is Patenting His Public Domain Work (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    If you have nothing original to say you look up an article on Reddit or Arstechnicha or Techdirt and post to Slashdot.

    Slashdot editors aren't pros. They are people like all of us and they say "Oh wow this is of interest" and publish it. Except that's not publishing. It's rehashing what someone else actually researched.

    Lazy ass slashdot contributors -- if all you can do is rehash Reddit, Arstechnica, and Techdirt posts... please don't.
    Lasdhot editors (lol) - if the "author" adds NOTHING ORIGINAL and is merely reposting, stop rewarding that.

    I really love reading new stuff in Slashdot. This rehash stuff is not.

    E

  3. Right now in the United States there are two CDMA carriers (VZW, Sprint) and two GSM carriers (AT&T, TMO) and the various MVNOs that resell their services.

    Allowing TMO and Sprint to merge would create a new company that has the infrastructure and means to offer both GSM and CDMA. Such an achievement is literally beyond the ability of either VZW or AT&T to fund on their own, and would be in contrast to their goals to fund an eventual 5G (once there is a 5G standard...). So in terms of "creating competition" it would create a super-wireless company that offers all-band services that none of its competitors can match.

    Now some might argue that AT&T and VZW could merge, except that not only are the two organizations not suited for that in terms of infrastructure or corporate governance, but it's highly unlikely DoJ/FCC/FTC would approve going from three carriers to two. So that leaves TMO+Sprint as the winner in such a scenario.

    I'm not a fan of government regulation, but at times when the government has created the rules (spectrum auctions) allowing only the elite few to rise up and win, it is incumbent on the government to protect us consumers from mega-monopolies and duopolies and market devouring beasts.

    E

  4. When you say "Russia has only been able to disrupt Telegram's operations in the country by 15 to 30 percent." the numbers in there are off by 100%. That makes it difficult, at the very least, to identify how accurate the numbers were.

    For example, when the polls say "Trump is loved by 50% of the people. Poll has a margin of error of 4.6%." we know that somewhere between roughly 45% and 55% of the people love him and vice versa. It is vital to quantify the value of the numbers.

    Being told "by 15 to 30 percent" means we have a margin of error as big as our initial data. In both directions that means 0-30%. If something is 0-30% disruptive it's impossible to tell how disruptive it is... if at all.

    If the news media continues to allow organizations to give it wildly-varying ranges, that's fine, but don't publish them. The disservice to us (the readers) is obvious. Sure, we read the article. Sure, we think this could be disruptive. Up to 30%. Or not at all. Maybe just half of that...

    E

  5. Routers, firewalls, and IPS oh my on Ask Slashdot: Which Is the Safest Router? · · Score: 3, Informative

    If all you need is a router there are plenty and they're mostly safe because they don't do much.
    If you need a NAT gateway, Intrusion Protection System, etc. Now you're talking firewalls.
    Firewalls are MUCH more difficult to get right.

    Even Cisco just got dinged today (2018-05-17) for having a fixed-password backdoor in some
    enterprise-level hardware.

    If your goal is to spend less than $200 then you will not be getting anything worth describing
    as "secure". Go to your nearest Walmart, Safeway, ACE, or whatever, and buy the feature
    set you want, knowing you'll need to do regular firmware upgrades and these will always be
    BEHIND the hacker curve. The companies selling "commodity" or "small business" products
    don't do research to break their stuff. They just sell as cheaply as possible.

    If your budget allows some latitude, check out the Juniper SRX series. They'll do what you
    want and thus far are considered great.

    If your budget is limitless, Palo Alto Networks or Fortigate.

    Again - router just moves IP packets and this can be done by a cellphone running Android.
    Firewall, however, includes inner/outer networks, NAT, forwarding rules, possibly packet inspection, and a higher layer of security.

    Good luck! This is a quest LOTS of people are on!!

    Ehud
    Tucson AZ

  6. Well, not so smart... on US Cell Carriers Are Selling Access To Your Real-Time Phone Location Data (zdnet.com) · · Score: 1

    I tried it using my personal cellphone. It told me I was in an area that is 10 miles (16km) from where I actually am.

    The last time I was in that area was Friday, four days ago.

    My phone has been communicating with cell towers over here on the "far side" of town for four days solid,
    great reception, incoming and outgoing SMS and calls, so clearly their data is... um... wrong.

    Not so smart after all.

    Ehud Gavron
    Tucson AZ
    Motorola Moto G4 / LineageOS

  7. Re:What, how could this be? on Russia Is Attacking US Forces With Electronic Weapons In Syria, General Says (yahoo.com) · · Score: 2

    Well now, they're also jamming ENCRYPTED communication!
    That doesn't just piss off Trump... it also pisses off all the sex traffickers that weren't on backpage.

    Seriously, sometimes the press releases the military puts out are so stupid.

    "We had a really good supply caravan. With hidden stuff under blankets. And then the Russians blew it all up,
    even the stuff under blankets!!!!!"

    Encryption is of no value when the underlying medium is sufficiently attacked.

    E

  8. Re:The MPAA did it on Senate Passes Controversial Online Sex Trafficking Bill (thehill.com) · · Score: 1

    You haven't read that expression about "slippery slope", have you?
    It doesn't specify any exact topic whatsoever, but it applies to everything where policy is influenced by money.

    E

  9. The MPAA did it on Senate Passes Controversial Online Sex Trafficking Bill (thehill.com) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This isn't about sex trafficking. This is about US representatives paid off by the MPAA to remove CDA Sec 230 protections so that they can go after people who share content, require ISPs to censor or block postings, and enforce permanent takedown ("staydown") instead of merely providing a notice that ISPs may or may not send the end-users.

    It's a dark day for the Internet. It's a dark day for freedom of expression. It's a dark day for open discourse and discussion. ...and it will make things worse for sex trafficking victims...

    Everybody loses. Except congress reelection campaign donation funds.

    Ehud

  10. I'm hearing more and more people... on President Trump: 'We Have To Do Something' About Violent Video Games, Movies (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 2

    "I'm hearing more and more people say Trump is an idiot."
    "We should do something about that."

    Politifact has a rating for Presidents' lies. It's been around since about 2000 also.

  11. Linux not vulnerable on Skype Can't Fix a Nasty Security Bug Without a Massive Code Rewrite (zdnet.com) · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article indicates that the Updater is the problem, not Skype. The Updater runs in a privileged environment, and is susceptible to loading non-system DLLs. The article says the same can happen on Macs and on Linux except that neither platform uses DLLs nor allows sourcing libraries from local (no-system) directories.

    E

  12. "In line with the rest of the industry" on Verizon is Locking Its Phones Down To Combat Theft (cnet.com) · · Score: 1

    If the "industry" is "Verizon Wireless" then yes, locked phones are the norm.

    The rest of the wireless service providers around the world and in the US provide unlocked phones
    and are required to unlock a phone once a service contract is complete.

    Verizon has ZERO interest in preventing phone theft. They could care less. This is just a protectionist move to lock in customers.

    E

  13. Ditto. What I don't get is why it then lists a bunch of IP addresses
    "You are not a human
    like these:

            86.190.60.XXX
            81.102.128.XXX ..."
    (XXX mine for obfuscation)

    E

  14. LWN was great for a while, then got greedy on LWN.Net Celebrates Its 20th Birthday (lwn.net) · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Before they created a paywall, LWN was the primary source of news for Linux related news.

    Then they paywalled SOME articles for a week but everythng else (LKML, other discussions) were live.
    That was still good. NEWS is timely factual information. This should be free. LWN feels differently.

    Then they paywalled EVERYTHING so if you want anything current you can go elsewhere, and a month
    later, when they're no longer relevant, timely, or useful, you can read what LWN thought about it last month.
    Elsewhere has that info just as nicely, just not put together for the linux world. That's ok, because elsewhere
    doesn't CHARGE for FACTS. (LWN has op-eds and summaries, not reporters and a news network.)

    That LWN survived 20 years is BECAUSE FOR YEARS THEY DIDN'T PAYWALL.
    I don't expect to see them around in 2 more years.

    E
    P.S. I pay for a lot of content; I'm a patron on patreon; I support many Kickstarters. Paywalls on facts is not something I support. Do you?

  15. Phones for the 1% on Ask Slashdot: Are There Any Alternatives To Android Or iOS? · · Score: 2

    You're a rare breed, using your smartphone primarily as a phone (!!!) and secondarily for other things.
    [quote]1. Phone calls (loads of conference calls, for which I use a wired headset with a microphone)
    2. SMS Messaging (unlimited on my plan)
    3. Navigation (very important, and is probably the most-used app on my phone)
    4. Occasional internet browsing[/quote]

    GIven you're not using Signal, #1 and #2 can be handled by any cheap handset.
    Navigation is a function of whose data you want to use. The most accurate data is provided by the companies that have spent the money to build the data and now want you in their ecosystem consuming it. That's Goole, Apple, and Microsoft. As an avid supporter of open source I would also bring up OpenStreetMap, but alas, it cannot compete with big money and complete datasets.
    Internet browsing can be done on cheap handsets as well.

    You say you work in the car with a wired headset. Use your car's nav system and get a cheap (aka Nokia) handset. It will remind you of how you used to do things back in the 1960s, and you won't be disappointed with all the modern features that scare you about IOS and Android.

    Ehud

  16. To Table something - US vs Brits on Comcast Tries To Derail Fort Collins Community Broadband (dslreports.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    " Fort Collins, Colorado will be the latest to try and table a petition..."

    US English - to table something means to put it away without further discussion. "Let's table this motion till next week."
    British English - to table something means to place it on the table for discussion. "Let's table this ISP motion and vote on it."

    I always thought DSLReports was US based and used US English... who knew?

    E
    P.S. WAY TO GO FT COLLINS and the other 100 CO cities that have fingered "you're number one" to Comcast and the telcos.

  17. It's all stolen BUT GO AHEAD & TRUST IT ANYWAY on 'Significant' Number of Equifax Victims Already Had Info Stolen, Says IRS (thehill.com) · · Score: 1

    The IRS knows that half that US taxpayers just got hacked, and 1/3 were already hacked. What are they doing to avoid giving refunds to the wrong parties? What are they doing to establish a new secure authentication/identification system that hasn't been hacked? What are they doing in any way, shape, or form?

    The answer to all these is NOTHING.

    The IRS has the responsibility of collecting operating funds for the largest most affluent government in the world... and instead of securing their clients, securing their procedures, or securing their systems... all they do is say "Don't worry - you were already hacked."

    This is not surprising seeing as the IRS is part of the Administration of He Who Shall Not Be Named Responsible.

    Is there any part of this Administration that can sink any lower?

    E

  18. It's people like that... on IT Admin Trashes Railroad Company's Network Before He Leaves (bleepingcomputer.com) · · Score: 1

    ...that give Canadians a bad name. Now we don't think they're all Dudley Dorights.

    E

  19. DO NOT ENTER A YOUNG BIRTHDATE!!! on Microsoft Releases 'Next Generation' Preview of Skype For Linux (skype.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I fired up the preview and it insisted it wanted my date of birth.

    I entered 1/1/2017.

    It told me I had to get my parents' permission, and they had to go sign up on account.microsoft.com for that.

    Exiting the preview and restarting makes no difference. Skype/Microsoft now "knows" the Skype account
    I've had for 17 years belongs to someone who is 10 months old tomorrow. Wow.

    I won't be using Skype anytime ever again, I guess, or maybe in 18 years?

    Thanks for sucking as usual, Microsoft. Nothing weird about having a broken software lock me out of something I've been using for ages.

    E

  20. Apple Is Awesome!!! (Ignore science!!!) on Apple's A11 Bionic Chip In iPhone 8 and iPhone X Smokes Android Handsets In Early Benchmarks (hothardware.com) · · Score: 1

    That's so great! A closed-source product will outperform an open-source one and the reviewer is so so smart he can limit it to one chip.
    WITH ZERO EVIDENCE.
    WITH ZERO DOCUMENTATION.
    I mean yes one is faster than the other overall in specific tasks... but nothing in the way of science.

    Wow. That is one smart reviewer. Not. Or maybe supersmart and paid by Apple.

    No credible science based reviewer would dare risk his reputation by making such an absurd proof-free claim.
    Unless Apple paid for it.

    E

  21. Oracle has no interest in doing "the right thing" on Why Oracle Should Cede Control of Java SE (infoworld.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Public corporations tend to do things to benefit themselves. Oracle fought to get APIs covered by copyright -- and won. That's a step backward in the US software world in an amazing amount. Yes, the court didn't make Google pay because fair-use, but fair-user is judged on a case-by-case basis _at trial_. So going forward, because of Oracle's greed and unbending desire to control all of Java everything (and Android) all software developers in the US have this API pitfall to watch out for.

    Second, even if there is no direct benefit, there's no indirect benefit to Oracle to open-source Java (or anything). So long as they can extract complex licensing and other fees from everyone wanting to use Java (EE) or the JDK or the API... that's exactly how they work.

    Oracle wants to dominate The Market, All Markets, and Larry Ellison has an ego to rival anyone. Unfortunately people with large egos are unable to make decisions that benefit anyone other than themselves.

    E

  22. Keyboard ... without a clue on Palm Devices Are Coming In 2018 Without WebOS, Says Report (slashgear.com) · · Score: 2

    What made Palm great was a usable keyboard. Love them, hate them, defend them to death, but their OS was primitive even by Windows Mobile 2002 standards; their hardware was obsolete even by Pocket PC standards; they truly had the pulse of the dead user down.

    Their keyboard was another matter. It was ergonomic. It was fast. It felt good. You could use it with two hands.

    If Palm wants success... give us the keyboard. Android, IOS, whatever. The keyboard.

    If Palm wants to be a failure, keep giving us phones. It didn't work for Nokia (Microsoft put its shil in to kill it) and it didn't work for Microsoft (microsoft mobile phone is dead). It won't work for Palm.

    E

  23. Not a jet. Not practical. Great investor fodder. on German Company Building An Electric 'Air Taxi' Makes Key Hires From Gett, Airbus and Tesla (techcrunch.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    This will never fly. It's not a jet. It has no power-off life savings. It won't work within the national airspace systems.

    Lillium calls it a jet. One of the quotes in the original article says it's a jet. It's not. There are four kinds of "jet" motors - turbojet (turbine heats gasses and expels them to provide thrust, like a fighter jet), turbo shaft (turbine heats gasses which drive another turbine that powers a shaft for a helicopter or tank, like an M-1 Abrams or a UH-01 "Huey" helicopter), turboprop (turbine powers propeller, like a regional jet), and turbofan (turbine powers a ducted fan to provide high-bypass - 747 - or low bypass - F14 - ducted fan thrust). Lillium uses no turbine, no jet exhaust, just DJI-like electric fans.

    Lillium has no strategy for emergency power-off failure. Fixed-wing planes can glide to landing. Helicopters can autorotate. Autogyros are already in permanent autorotations. There is NO PASSENGER-CARRYING AIRCRAFT certified anywhere in the world that hasn't been proven to survive a power off (lost engines, get to ground safely) landing. Lillium can barely make weight lifting its own shell. Lifting its own shell plus cargo or humans is not yet possible. To add to that the ability to do power-off landings is beyond what is feasible.

    The US National Airspace System (NAS) and the equivalent in Europe, Japan, Australia, and other countries do not allow aircraft to function in Visual Flight Rules (VFR) areas without constant verbal communication with Air Traffic Control. That means unlicensed "pilots" wouldn't be able to take off or land anywhere in these countries without lots of training... but more importantly they'd have to be in control of the aircraft, which Lillium says would be an automatic self-flying device.

    For these reasons (and more, including that no insurer would ever insure it because you can't hold an autonomous vehicle responsible for anything...) this will never fly.

    Ehud Gavron
    US FAA commercial helicopter pilot

  24. Sites "failed Dashlane's tests." Good for them. Recent analysis by real cryptographers shows that password rules are worse than no rules.

    And now we have "Dashlane", a nobody who wants to "grade" sites on their "password creation policies."

    https://xkcd.com/936/

    Bye Dashlane and stop it with your self-serving PR memos. You are a disservice to oxygen-breathing password-users.

    E

  25. All about you, is it... on Can Primordial Black Holes Alone Account For Dark Matter? · · Score: 0

    "What interests me..."
    "I..."
    "I..."

    Thanks for letting us know in an entirely opinionated piece you lack the science background, but this fascinates you.
    My dog feels the same way about asphalt and rabbits.

    E