If it's possible to distinguish when someone is home from when they are not home based on their electricity usage, a countermeasure would be to install a device inside the home that draws electricity according to a pattern that is indistinguishable from the "at home" usage pattern. Then when you'll be away from home for an extended period, turn on this device. With the noise generated by this device, it will always appear that someone is at home based on real-time electricity meter readings. The device would not need to use much electricity to make the difference between "at home" and "not at home" indistinguishable. If the device serves the purpose of charging a large battery in your basement, you could recover most of the device's small electrical draw.
The implication is that exploits will be released based on the source code. When software source code is first released, there are many potential errors to be exploited. If the software were available for various eyes to see from the beginning, most of the exploitable bugs would have been patched long ago. Now, the user base is much larger than for newly released code. Therefore, the potential impact of a hypothetical resulting exploit is greater than if the software's source code had been publicly available from the start.
Somewhat off-topic, but you mean that it "suggests a question". "Begging the question" is proving what is not self-evident by means of itself. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
Furthermore, why are electric cars marketed in terms of "miles per gallon"? "Miles per kilowatt hour" is a more useful measure for a truly electric car. Even for hybrids, "miles per gallon" alone does not provide an accurate measure of energy usage.
Slashdot Mirror
If it's possible to distinguish when someone is home from when they are not home based on their electricity usage, a countermeasure would be to install a device inside the home that draws electricity according to a pattern that is indistinguishable from the "at home" usage pattern. Then when you'll be away from home for an extended period, turn on this device. With the noise generated by this device, it will always appear that someone is at home based on real-time electricity meter readings. The device would not need to use much electricity to make the difference between "at home" and "not at home" indistinguishable. If the device serves the purpose of charging a large battery in your basement, you could recover most of the device's small electrical draw.
This type of do-it-yourself story is what we like to see on slashdot. Inspiring, nerdy, and a bit over the top.
The implication is that exploits will be released based on the source code. When software source code is first released, there are many potential errors to be exploited. If the software were available for various eyes to see from the beginning, most of the exploitable bugs would have been patched long ago. Now, the user base is much larger than for newly released code. Therefore, the potential impact of a hypothetical resulting exploit is greater than if the software's source code had been publicly available from the start.
This is yet another reason why reliance on closed-source security software is risky.
I expect $3.50 will show up in mysterious voodoo charges now.
And then they can offer a $3.50 discount for switching to auto-pay. It's all a matter of positively marketing the fee increase.
Somewhat off-topic, but you mean that it "suggests a question". "Begging the question" is proving what is not self-evident by means of itself. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
Furthermore, why are electric cars marketed in terms of "miles per gallon"? "Miles per kilowatt hour" is a more useful measure for a truly electric car. Even for hybrids, "miles per gallon" alone does not provide an accurate measure of energy usage.