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User: Assembler

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Comments · 88

  1. Re:Not at all on Chrome 56 Quietly Added Bluetooth Snitch API (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    You're assuming that the attacker either 1) controls Chrome's sourcecode so fully that they can modify it and nobody else will review the change and/or 2) this new api will introduce a security bug.

    #1 is a possibility for every single piece of hardware and software that we interact with. There is nothing that makes Chrome more vulnerable, other than being a higher profile target. That's countered by higher levels of scrutiny from the whitehat community and Google themselves.

    #2 applies to any feature that they add. There is nothing special about a Bluetooth API. We're already trusting browsers to handle stuff far more sensitive than this. Chrome is one of the most thoroughly tested, hardened, and sandboxed pieces of software there is. If it's not provided by the browser (which has essentially replaced the OS these days in terms of running 3rd party code) then we have to trust some 3rd party extension to do the device interaction, and to do it with the level of security that Chrome would. Sorry, but I don't see that as any better or likely. Whether it's the Chrome app on a mobile phone, or Chrome on the desktop, this will make working with Bluetooth much easier, while keeping things as safe as can be reasonably expected.

  2. Re: Not at all on Chrome 56 Quietly Added Bluetooth Snitch API (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry, but it sounds like you realize your whole comment is a slippery slope argument, but not that that is a logical fallacy. The permission request is there -- just like there's a request in every browser before for sharing your location -- because it isn't always appropriate to share personal data with untrusted sites.

  3. Re: Not at all on Chrome 56 Quietly Added Bluetooth Snitch API (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 1

    I don't understand this literacy laziness. It feels like most of the people here are willfully blind. In the very same section you're referring to, it says: "Google Chrome will prompt user with a device chooser where they can pick one device or simply cancel the request." That's the browser doing that. The website you're on doesn't suddenly now trivially have permission to scan all available devices. It's the browser -- the app you're already trusting with the passwords for all the sites you access -- doing the scan.

  4. Not at all on Chrome 56 Quietly Added Bluetooth Snitch API (theregister.co.uk) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Is this even a tech blog anymore? These assumptions about privacy loss only make sense if you haven't done even the most trivial reading of the spec. The docs are here: https://developers.google.com/... A site can request to connect to a bluetooth device. Chrome prompts the user for which one (or none), and the website can then interact with the selected device. I did less than a minute's worth of research. It's even mentioned in the article, but then the article just goes on to assume that the user has granted permission to the page to access every device they have somehow. Maybe I've missed something, but nobody seems to be talking about the actual implementation.

  5. Android apps on Yahoo Killing Maps, Pipes & More · · Score: 1

    I recently discovered the nice work they did on their Android apps (finance & weather). I had completely written Yahoo! off before then. If they keep that up, they might get some traction from them. (It even got me to sign in to my old account)

  6. Re:Yes on Should I Learn To Program iOS Or Android Devices? · · Score: 1

    citation?

  7. Re:bilksi due soon; I'm optimistic on Is the Tide Turning On Patents? · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't the C to C++ rewrite be considered a derivative work, and thus be covered by copyright?

  8. Re:Here's an oldie... on Google and NSA Teaming Up · · Score: 2, Informative

    You can also turn on the tinyurl preview feature. http://tinyurl.com/preview.php

  9. Re:Great work! on Fedora 12 Released · · Score: 1

    Does the shim actually get around the requirements of the GPLv2? To my knowledge that hasn't been officially determined.

  10. Re:new york times on Verizon Doubles Early Termination Fee and More · · Score: 1

    The hobbling of the phone OS is optional:

    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/verizon-wireless-says-bring-your-own-device/

    (Article from 2 years ago)

  11. Re:Ext4 makes me nervous as Hell. on openSUSE 11.2 Released · · Score: 1

    I remember reading something about this a while ago, but I forgot: what did KDE do wrong?

  12. Re:Perhaps on Road To Riches Doesn't Run Through the App Store · · Score: 1

    Re: You probably meant 0.25 ^ 5.

    So according to you, if he makes 25% over 5 years, then he makes 0.09765625%... and then when he keeps the same pace up for 5 more years, he makes 0.25^10, which is 0.000095367431640625%.. riiiight

  13. Re:Incompatibility Problems on Google Brings SVG Support To IE · · Score: 1

    One solution that's becoming popular is to send IE6 users to the mobile version of the page, optionally with a screenshot of what the site would look like in a better browser.

  14. Re:Hmmm on FCC Commissioner Urges, Don't Regulate the Internet · · Score: 2, Informative

    I thought it was clear from my comment that I was not talking about the Constitution. I was talking about the parent comment's apparent fixed idea of what a right is.

  15. Re:Hmmm on FCC Commissioner Urges, Don't Regulate the Internet · · Score: 1

    hah.. enjoyed the 1st and 2nd parts of your response even if the moderators didn't :)

    I think the difference is that taxpayers were fine with subsidizing large parts of the development internet in exchange for having a better internet to use, while they subsidize large parts of the development of the F-22 so that they can be better defended by the military. They don't expect to use a F-22 without enlisting, but they do expect to use the internet without being censored.

  16. Re:Hmmm on FCC Commissioner Urges, Don't Regulate the Internet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is neither right, nor privilege. It is a network of computers.

    I believe you were referring to access to the internet, which is also not a right, nor is it a privilege. Access to the internet is a service.

    1st: Taxpayers paid for large parts of the internet's development and infrastructure. Denying them access would be stealing if we're going to seriously consider adopting a free market.

    2nd: The startup costs are too high for an ISP right now. The only option in a free market would be to string their own cables on their own telephone poles. Government forcing the current monopolies to lease lines at cost is a good thing. The startup costs (and oligarchic competition) are the real reason why there are regional monopolies.

    Also: You think new rights can't be added? More restrictions certainly can. Why is it a one way street? Access to an unrestricted internet today is just as important as free speech was yesterday because it is the modern day equivalent.

  17. Re:They now charge for the Internet Channel on Twilight Hack Defeats Wii Menu Update 3.3 · · Score: 2, Informative

    My gf and I bought a pair of handcuffs last week and I have to say that they are much more fun than my PC. ... a very different form of lockdown than what Nintendo is providing
  18. Re:obviously thought through on Verizon Cutting Access To Entire Alt.* Usenet Hierarchy · · Score: 1

    I was just browsing usenet from Verizon's servers.. strange that I didn't see those newsgroups

  19. Survival of the fittest on Washingtonpost.com Wants Identities of Posters · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why don't they just have two forums: one anonymous, and one that requires a dna sample. Let people use whichever they prefer.

  20. Re:Pay per use. on Who Pays for Rebuilding the Internet? · · Score: 1

    FYI: The up/down split is changing now that people are uploading more pictures / videos / libraries of congress. For example, Verizon in the New York City area is advertising how FiOS has the same up/down speed.

  21. Re:where are the ponies? on The Original mcom.com Revived · · Score: 1

    I was thinking the same thing

  22. Re:Daily Show "Archive" on South Park To Be Available Online Free and Legal · · Score: 1

    Add all the clips up

  23. Do more than captcha on Gmail CAPTCHA Cracked · · Score: 1

    Why doesn't Google turn their own algorithms against the spammers? Google already can categorize different nouns. "George W. Bush" is a "President" for example. Why not just have a captcha like that? It could be multiple choice: "A fork is a: 1) utensil 2) cow 3) website" but that might make it easier for the bots to guess. "What is Britney Spears' gender?" _____

  24. Re:What, what? on Preload Drastically Boosts Linux Performance · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OS X had prebinding before Vista had SuperFetch. FYI: Prebinding != Preloading
  25. Re:back to the kernel, Linus. on Torvalds Says Microsoft is Bluffing on Patents · · Score: 1

    I won't go to some random open source zealot site for my information on the patents. I think you're missing the point. Linus is asking MS to put up or shut up. The time for "Linux violates our patents, but we can't tell you which ones" is over. MS must specify which (if any) patents are being violated. If they don't, we know that they were just talking tough but had nothing to back it up.