There are a lot of 'false positives' in the DNA testing industry. Human error, stupidity, desire to please the authorities, or for whatever reason it might be, it happens. A few years back in the USA someone (I think it was a reporter) decided to test the accuracy of the DNA testing companies. They sent in samples as if from a criminal investigation that would NOT match. Almost all the companies returned 'matches'. That really throws into question the results of the companies, even though the science is solid.
The accused should get a 'second opinion' from a reputable testing facility that has been independently verified for accuracy. And by the way, it's many many times for likely that a false result will be a positive than a negative. (An inconclusive is yet another and different result from positive or negative.)
Of course, you don't want to sabotage a trial you think you'll win, if you think you'll lose, you can bet you'll probably loose on appeal. The only way you try to sabotage a trial (if you are the unethical scum that does that kind of illegal thing) is if it's iffy and a you think a change of judge or venue will clinch it for you. But even in that case, you don't sabotage it before it's clear which way the chips are falling, unless you are only stalling for time since something is coming up that will invalidate the whole mess in the first place. It's not intentional sabotage by Samsung, unless you assume they are dumber than the Three Stooges.
Blizzard already claims to do this at cost. That would mean no profit. Wonder where he's getting his $26 million profit statement from. It might be a cost instead of profit, but either way, his lawsuit is b.s. as the security fob is an optional and non required item, and the software version is free, that guy is an idiot trying to get a payday from Blizzard settling rather than paying to take it to court. I hope Blizzard takes the high road and fights him all the way.
Let's accept that even if you hate all the candidates, you still find one slightly less deplorable than the other. Not everyone agrees with your analysis. It's possible either candidate could win, even the worst of a bad lot, they just need more supporters in key locations.
If you don't vote, you make their votes MORE powerful/valuable. If you do vote, you dilute the impact of their choice, and may be enough to sway the course away from the worst choice.
There are serious issues with our current political system, but it you don't participate, you are making yourself the minion of those who win.
During Desert Storm, the amount of munitions we could ship to the front was greatly limited because the base commander refused to close the golf course, despite the fact that virtually nobody on base had any time to golf. (12+ hour shifts, 7 days a week, for months on end doesn't leave time for golf.)
I do, when politicians start shooting their only real allies and get away with it, how long until they start shooting their detractors, ie - you and me.
The company that is gouging you for the sales tax is California. Amazon fought the sales tax for online purchases for years, it's over, by law they have to charge you. Sucks, doesn't it, but don't worry, there are other reasons you can still use to complain about Amazon with.:)
When I was in the military, there were 3 very incompetent people (among several bases) that they couldn't get rid of. When they'd done the final straw and court marshal was being called for (in one case he was caught in a no smoking, explosives storage area sitting on a stack of bombs smoking a cigarette) and they'd run to Social Actions screaming, "I'm a minority, they're discriminating against me." and Social Actions would deny the prosecution. Hell, they wouldn't even let the losers be transferred.
The point is, just because someone claims they are being unfairly persecuted, it may just be their imagination or lowlife attempt to justify their improper actions. (It sounds like this guy was one of those types, but we only know what has been posted/printed.)
They can cheat on paper votes, it's been done for centuries. Elections aren't about making money, if the government wants the machines, it will get the machines.
Last year I saw an article based on an interview with him. (No idea when it was done.) He doesn't think rational arguments work on faith-based thinkers, but then again, reason is his tool of choice and he has no intentions of lying to people, so it's not like he has anything else to use.
Sci-fi has been talking about this exact type of thing for at least 20 years, so it's not a new idea. Second, and far more important, only a complete F-N moron would even try to release such a thing. The reason is very simple, it's called MUTATION. Yes, viruses mutate, even the engineered ones. That targeting mechanism is either going to cease to function, get bypassed, or widen it's range of targets, and there is no way to predict which it will do or when it will happen. Here's another thing to think about. Without including a massive amount of targeting info in the virus, you won't be able to discern between related targets or just random individuals with similar dna. Because of that, you will be unintentionally targeting unwanted subjects. If that's not bad enough, if you really do put in enough info for the virus to target 1 individual in the human populace, that huge amount of info is going to be a drain on the resources of the virus. You know what many microbes like to do with massive useless genes like that? They throw them away. Yes, that's right, it might not even take one replication in release before they chuck all your precious targeting info. And then what happens? Do they no longer have their deadly payload, or do they use it on everyone?
So leave this stuff to sci-fi writers, because reality is that viruses make HORRIBLE targeted weapons, though they aren't bad for indiscriminant killing and terror, even if they are a lot slower than bombs, guns, knives, poisons, and all other weapons in existence.
True, but then again it has always been generally accepted for tens of thousands of years that the rules of any nation only apply within it's borders as well as to it's populace.
Considering the number of American businessmen and American toddlers that they have on their lists basically means the criteria for being on those same lists is incredibly easy and is itself suspect. Just do some googles, you find a number of reports of disrupted travel plans because some moron thinks a 2-6 year old is a suspected terrorist. They keep adding names at an insane rate to those lists, and getting off of it is almost impossible.
These days, having a dossier, being pulled off and questioned, or being on a no-fly list these days means absolutely nothing other than someone has been a stupid asshole and wants to F with you. Let's just say the signal to noise ratio on a questionable system has gone way past any expectation of remaining functionality.
Hey, if people keep moving things the direction they are currently going, China will be the bastion of freedom in comparison to the USA. People who believe in the American Ideals don't want that to happen and take steps to try and prevent it. Those steps may be activism, protests, letters to the editor, or even whining online. Slashdot tends to attract the whiners, a group you and I are apparently members of.:)
Yeah, I'm just glad the guys on my bases knew me and knew about my eye color. I'm one of those rare people who's eyes change color. Blue, Green, Gray, and on rare occasions Yellow, or Brown, it's been lots of stuff, though they are usually blue or greenish. They've threatened to jack me up a few times as a joke when my eyes weren't blue (the color on my id since they don't have an entry for changes), but never did. I'm damn glad they knew me and that peculiarity of mine. (I actually think one of them was taking bets on my eye color.)
Did you know they are trying to get permission to start using those scanners at train & bus stations, national parks, and sports stadiums? Worse, they want to do it secretly. Good luck avoiding those. The best thing to do is ban, or at least regulate the hell out of them.
There have been many terrorist attacks in the history of the USA, most of them were domestic terrorists. Sure, it's no where near the number of someplace like Israel, but our neighbors are two oceans, Mexico, and Canada. We are our own worst enemy.
I agree, and I have worked around special weapons, and those have high security, but even that will fail if the human element is stupid, lazy, or poorly trained. As to the guys that guard that stuff, let's just say they find the TSA B.S. a joke and wouldn't let them guard their coffee.
Yeah, but you have to remember that guy is either lying or failed kindergarten science. (Ok, they don't teach science in kindergarten, but you know what I mean. I'd bet that TSA person also things bats use radar.)
It's supposed to, but they apparently haven't been testing the actual outputs which can be much higher. They also don't let people walk through with testing gear either. Though there have been reports (I don't know if they've been substantiated or were a publicity scam) that some independent and unwanted testing has come up with several machines being much higher than they were supposed to be.
Of course, any doctor will tell you to avoid any exposure to additional radiation sources any time you can, it all adds up. I wonder how they'd (over)react if you wore rad-resistant clothing. For that matter, where could you get, or how could you make such an outfit?
Had a cubemate in techsupport that actually took a call back in the days of floppies with a customer that kept putting more disks in the drive (5.25" floppy) without taking out the previous ones. She could actually fit in 3 of them. Since they were single sided disks, and she was putting the new one on top, it was actually able to read the new disk.
I hate to say it, but most of those urban legends of stupid users, are based in actual events. Including the people that don't understand why scheduled events don't happen if the computer is turned off, try to fax documents by holding them up to the monitor, and are afraid of catching airborne computer viruses. I've dealt with all of those and more. (I'll never forget the pc user, I'd forgive a mac user for this, who thought that to 'right click' on an icon, he had to type r i g h t c l i c k into his keyboard.)
Slashdot Mirror
It's more of a maze-like randomized pattern as there may or may not be a path through, though it is definitely labyrinthine.
There are a lot of 'false positives' in the DNA testing industry. Human error, stupidity, desire to please the authorities, or for whatever reason it might be, it happens.
A few years back in the USA someone (I think it was a reporter) decided to test the accuracy of the DNA testing companies. They sent in samples as if from a criminal investigation that would NOT match. Almost all the companies returned 'matches'. That really throws into question the results of the companies, even though the science is solid.
The accused should get a 'second opinion' from a reputable testing facility that has been independently verified for accuracy. And by the way, it's many many times for likely that a false result will be a positive than a negative. (An inconclusive is yet another and different result from positive or negative.)
Fastest extinction ever
Of course, you don't want to sabotage a trial you think you'll win, if you think you'll lose, you can bet you'll probably loose on appeal. The only way you try to sabotage a trial (if you are the unethical scum that does that kind of illegal thing) is if it's iffy and a you think a change of judge or venue will clinch it for you. But even in that case, you don't sabotage it before it's clear which way the chips are falling, unless you are only stalling for time since something is coming up that will invalidate the whole mess in the first place.
It's not intentional sabotage by Samsung, unless you assume they are dumber than the Three Stooges.
Naw, they still have weight in space, it's just that our scales don't work so well out there :)
Blizzard already claims to do this at cost. That would mean no profit. Wonder where he's getting his $26 million profit statement from. It might be a cost instead of profit, but either way, his lawsuit is b.s. as the security fob is an optional and non required item, and the software version is free, that guy is an idiot trying to get a payday from Blizzard settling rather than paying to take it to court. I hope Blizzard takes the high road and fights him all the way.
Let's accept that even if you hate all the candidates, you still find one slightly less deplorable than the other.
Not everyone agrees with your analysis.
It's possible either candidate could win, even the worst of a bad lot, they just need more supporters in key locations.
If you don't vote, you make their votes MORE powerful/valuable.
If you do vote, you dilute the impact of their choice, and may be enough to sway the course away from the worst choice.
There are serious issues with our current political system, but it you don't participate, you are making yourself the minion of those who win.
During Desert Storm, the amount of munitions we could ship to the front was greatly limited because the base commander refused to close the golf course, despite the fact that virtually nobody on base had any time to golf. (12+ hour shifts, 7 days a week, for months on end doesn't leave time for golf.)
I do, when politicians start shooting their only real allies and get away with it, how long until they start shooting their detractors, ie - you and me.
The company that is gouging you for the sales tax is California. Amazon fought the sales tax for online purchases for years, it's over, by law they have to charge you. Sucks, doesn't it, but don't worry, there are other reasons you can still use to complain about Amazon with. :)
When I was in the military, there were 3 very incompetent people (among several bases) that they couldn't get rid of. When they'd done the final straw and court marshal was being called for (in one case he was caught in a no smoking, explosives storage area sitting on a stack of bombs smoking a cigarette) and they'd run to Social Actions screaming, "I'm a minority, they're discriminating against me." and Social Actions would deny the prosecution. Hell, they wouldn't even let the losers be transferred.
The point is, just because someone claims they are being unfairly persecuted, it may just be their imagination or lowlife attempt to justify their improper actions.
(It sounds like this guy was one of those types, but we only know what has been posted/printed.)
They can cheat on paper votes, it's been done for centuries.
Elections aren't about making money, if the government wants the machines, it will get the machines.
Last year I saw an article based on an interview with him. (No idea when it was done.) He doesn't think rational arguments work on faith-based thinkers, but then again, reason is his tool of choice and he has no intentions of lying to people, so it's not like he has anything else to use.
Sci-fi has been talking about this exact type of thing for at least 20 years, so it's not a new idea.
Second, and far more important, only a complete F-N moron would even try to release such a thing.
The reason is very simple, it's called MUTATION. Yes, viruses mutate, even the engineered ones. That targeting mechanism is either going to cease to function, get bypassed, or widen it's range of targets, and there is no way to predict which it will do or when it will happen.
Here's another thing to think about. Without including a massive amount of targeting info in the virus, you won't be able to discern between related targets or just random individuals with similar dna. Because of that, you will be unintentionally targeting unwanted subjects. If that's not bad enough, if you really do put in enough info for the virus to target 1 individual in the human populace, that huge amount of info is going to be a drain on the resources of the virus. You know what many microbes like to do with massive useless genes like that? They throw them away. Yes, that's right, it might not even take one replication in release before they chuck all your precious targeting info. And then what happens? Do they no longer have their deadly payload, or do they use it on everyone?
So leave this stuff to sci-fi writers, because reality is that viruses make HORRIBLE targeted weapons, though they aren't bad for indiscriminant killing and terror, even if they are a lot slower than bombs, guns, knives, poisons, and all other weapons in existence.
True, but then again it has always been generally accepted for tens of thousands of years that the rules of any nation only apply within it's borders as well as to it's populace.
Considering the number of American businessmen and American toddlers that they have on their lists basically means the criteria for being on those same lists is incredibly easy and is itself suspect. Just do some googles, you find a number of reports of disrupted travel plans because some moron thinks a 2-6 year old is a suspected terrorist. They keep adding names at an insane rate to those lists, and getting off of it is almost impossible.
These days, having a dossier, being pulled off and questioned, or being on a no-fly list these days means absolutely nothing other than someone has been a stupid asshole and wants to F with you. Let's just say the signal to noise ratio on a questionable system has gone way past any expectation of remaining functionality.
Hey, if people keep moving things the direction they are currently going, China will be the bastion of freedom in comparison to the USA. People who believe in the American Ideals don't want that to happen and take steps to try and prevent it. Those steps may be activism, protests, letters to the editor, or even whining online. :)
Slashdot tends to attract the whiners, a group you and I are apparently members of.
Yeah, I'm just glad the guys on my bases knew me and knew about my eye color. I'm one of those rare people who's eyes change color. Blue, Green, Gray, and on rare occasions Yellow, or Brown, it's been lots of stuff, though they are usually blue or greenish. They've threatened to jack me up a few times as a joke when my eyes weren't blue (the color on my id since they don't have an entry for changes), but never did. I'm damn glad they knew me and that peculiarity of mine. (I actually think one of them was taking bets on my eye color.)
Did you know they are trying to get permission to start using those scanners at train & bus stations, national parks, and sports stadiums?
Worse, they want to do it secretly.
Good luck avoiding those.
The best thing to do is ban, or at least regulate the hell out of them.
There have been many terrorist attacks in the history of the USA, most of them were domestic terrorists. Sure, it's no where near the number of someplace like Israel, but our neighbors are two oceans, Mexico, and Canada. We are our own worst enemy.
I agree, and I have worked around special weapons, and those have high security, but even that will fail if the human element is stupid, lazy, or poorly trained.
As to the guys that guard that stuff, let's just say they find the TSA B.S. a joke and wouldn't let them guard their coffee.
They won't let you, if they notice it. Give it a try and see. Others have.
Yeah, but you have to remember that guy is either lying or failed kindergarten science.
(Ok, they don't teach science in kindergarten, but you know what I mean. I'd bet that TSA person also things bats use radar.)
It's supposed to, but they apparently haven't been testing the actual outputs which can be much higher. They also don't let people walk through with testing gear either. Though there have been reports (I don't know if they've been substantiated or were a publicity scam) that some independent and unwanted testing has come up with several machines being much higher than they were supposed to be.
Of course, any doctor will tell you to avoid any exposure to additional radiation sources any time you can, it all adds up.
I wonder how they'd (over)react if you wore rad-resistant clothing. For that matter, where could you get, or how could you make such an outfit?
Had a cubemate in techsupport that actually took a call back in the days of floppies with a customer that kept putting more disks in the drive (5.25" floppy) without taking out the previous ones. She could actually fit in 3 of them. Since they were single sided disks, and she was putting the new one on top, it was actually able to read the new disk.
I hate to say it, but most of those urban legends of stupid users, are based in actual events. Including the people that don't understand why scheduled events don't happen if the computer is turned off, try to fax documents by holding them up to the monitor, and are afraid of catching airborne computer viruses. I've dealt with all of those and more. (I'll never forget the pc user, I'd forgive a mac user for this, who thought that to 'right click' on an icon, he had to type r i g h t c l i c k into his keyboard.)