Slashdot Mirror


User: alostpacket

alostpacket's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
371
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 371

  1. Re:Killer 'Do Not Track' App? on Do Not Track Ineffective and Dangerous, Says Researcher · · Score: 1

    It sets a cookie with an ID of 0 (or -1, or the like) -- As far as I understand it this is the only way they can "know" not to track you.

  2. Re:Killer 'Do Not Track' App? on Do Not Track Ineffective and Dangerous, Says Researcher · · Score: 3, Informative

    Interesting, but I am pretty sure DNT was Mozilla's Idea. And frankly, it always seemed like a waste of time. Given all the ways that one can be tracked though, a technical solution seems difficult as well.

    - Cookies
    - JavaScript
    - tracking pixels
    - HTML local DBs
    - Flash objects
    - fonts
    - screen size/colors
    - plugin config/versions
    - User agent
    - IP address
    - and now.... "DNT" toggle...

    It almost seems as the only way to keep from being tracked is via the TOR browser incognito mode in a freshly wiped VM or something. I honestly wonder if the 'net need to move more towards mesh/tor/ad-hoc networking. Basically if the "darknet" should be the "mainnet".

    Anyways, some info:

    EFF tool to see how well you can be tracked (fingerprinted)
    https://panopticlick.eff.org/index.php?action=log

    NAI (Network Advertising Initiative)
    Tracking opt out of 99 of some of the largest ad networks, including Google and MS (but guess who isn't there?)
    http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/

    Apple iAd opt out
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4228

  3. erm... on Ask Slashdot: What Features Belong In a 'Smartwatch'? · · Score: 1

    I think he was referring to jailbreaking / walled garden / etc.

  4. Gov't Response on Feds Offer $20M For Critical Open Source Energy Network Cybersecurity Tools · · Score: 4, Funny

    1) Interoperable
    2) Scalable
    2a) Cost-effective
    2b) Advanced
    2c) Does not impeded critical energy functions
    2d) Innovative
    2e) I.) Easily commercialized
    2e) II.) Or, made available through open source
    2d) No cost.

    Per your request ID (#42865935), we have met your requirements and expect work to implement the product to commence immediately.

    Cordially ruling in your best interest,
    - The Government

    (at least now we know what "step 2) ????" is)

  5. Re:Sun, vs sunlight on Fox News: US Solar Energy Investment Less Than Germany Because US Has Less Sun · · Score: 1

    Indeed, he should now have a sunny disposition.

  6. Re:Single point of failure on Facebook Breaks Major Websites With Redirection Bug · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately it sounds like this bug would have hit users such as yourself also. I think when leaving FB to visit another site it is best to log out.

    Multi-instance/multi-profile browsers would also be something nice. Especially those that limit what they report about the machine they are on (less fingerprint via installed fonts/cookies/html5 dbs/flash objects/etc)

  7. Re:Details: Logging in from 3rd party sites? on Facebook Breaks Major Websites With Redirection Bug · · Score: 1

    sdk=joey?

    function getJoey()
    {
            return "Doh";
    }

  8. Re:Here Endeth The Lesson. on Facebook Breaks Major Websites With Redirection Bug · · Score: 1

    Thanks teach! I have learned that people rarely learn the lesson. I think. Will this be on the final exam?

  9. Re:I Got It! on Deloitte: Use a Longer Password In 2013. Seriously. · · Score: 1

    But the real question is: how many batteries can a correct horse typically staple?

  10. Re:Who will recycle the sensors? on Parcel Sensor Knows When Your Delivery Has Been Dropped · · Score: 1

    This is an excellent point. If I had mod points, they would be yours.

    I keep trying to imagine a situation in which these things could be bulk-recycled but don't know enough about the materials/science.

  11. Re:Android already does this...Not quite... on US Wants Apple, Google, and Microsoft To Get a Grip On Mobile Privacy · · Score: 1

    Android may need finer grained controls but I am not sure how an email app is supposed to function without connecting to the internet and reading your contacts.

    I do like the idea of turning off permissions at will/runtime though. Though, even that concept is not without problems. It would increase user confusion and support requests, cause some increase to development time, potentially break a lot of apps and decrease to the value generated to app devs/publishers. Still, I think it's a good idea overall -- these problems are not really that big (IMHO).

  12. Re:For home use, LIBREoffice is more than good eno on Office 2013: Microsoft Cloud Era Begins In Earnest · · Score: 1

    except are split by rigid computer-geek philosophical divides

    Except that a lot of those rigid philosophical geeks are the former developers of OpenOffice, and the ones who forked it to LibreOffice. Granted, now that OO is under Apache's stewardship (as opposed to Oracle) it might be nice if they pooled resources. Not sure if they already do this or not.

  13. Re:The Chinese or Uncle Sam ?? on 58,000 Security Camera Systems Critically Vulnerable To Attackers · · Score: 1

    Uncle Samurai?

  14. Re:It's the stigma on Unemployed Chinese Graduates Say No Thanks To Factory Jobs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    True, but you also dont spend years educating yourself in order to work on a factory line. Even bad office work is a start to an employment history and could lead to better opportunities down the road. Factory jobs just lead to more of the same.*

    *That said I can't even pretend I have any full grasp of how employment works in China.

  15. Re:attention span on Twitter's Vine App Ready To Bomb Internet With GIF-Like Videos · · Score: 2

    I have a long, detailed reply to this -- hang on

  16. oblig on Twitter's Vine App Ready To Bomb Internet With GIF-Like Videos · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ah the Internet -- where the men are boys, the women are men, and the teenage girls are FBI agents.

  17. Re:There needs to be a cyber law class on Student Expelled From Montreal College For Finding "Sloppy Coding" · · Score: 1

    It was a website in French when it was still up :)

  18. Re:Ridiculous on Student Expelled From Montreal College For Finding "Sloppy Coding" · · Score: 1

    Well both ideas are speculation on our part, but I think the kid not telling the news the whole story is still more likely than 14 people failed to take their responsibilities seriously because they are overworked. Would you vote to expel someone based on the kind of evidence you are imagining?

    If you are right, I find it very sad that these individuals were given the power of expulsion and did not treat that power with respect.

    Also I don't see how it is in the company's interest to have him expelled when they already had an NDA. In order to fault the company and the college, we have to presume too many facts. Now they are overworked, coerced, irresponsible, etc etc. Occam's Razor does not like this theory :)

    From NicBenjamin's cbc link

    Dawson College spokeswoman Donna Varrica sent CBC a statement saying the college stands by its original decision to expel Al-Khabaz.

    Varrica clarified the process that leads to expulsion. She said the process includes a step in which a student is issued an advisory to cease and desist the activities for which he or she is being sanctioned.

    "When this directive is contravened by the student by engaging in additional activities of the same sort, the College has no recourse but to take appropriate measures to sanction the student," Varrica stated.

    Apparently the school told him not to do this and he persisted? Also they stand by the decision and the software company offered him a scholarship and part time job now that the new broke.

    So what's really going on here? I know everyone wants to root for the underdog, but perhaps the kid is just not telling the whole truth.

  19. Re:Terrible summary -_- on Student Expelled From Montreal College For Finding "Sloppy Coding" · · Score: 1

    Ideally a professor on a committee with expulsion power is tenured. (No idea if that is true here)

    However, it sounds like you think it's more likely that 14 people were coerced than a 20 year old would omit part of his story. Have you found large scale coercion more common than lies of omission?

  20. Re:Ridiculous on Student Expelled From Montreal College For Finding "Sloppy Coding" · · Score: 1

    So....deceived rather than conspired? I find this also difficult to believe. The professors are (presumably) experts in computer science and had this kid's entire future in their hands. Do you think they would be easily duped?

    I wouldn't blame the kid for curiosity either. But I wouldn't vote to kick a kid out of school without compelling evidence of intent *beyond* curiosity (in this case).

    So I have a hard time imagining how they could skew evidence so well as to convince so many professors to take this severe an action. Again though, it's hard to imagine since we don't have the logs, nor do we have info on the original vulnerability. What we do have though, is 14 professors who felt there was sufficient evidence to expel him.

  21. Re:There needs to be a cyber law class on Student Expelled From Montreal College For Finding "Sloppy Coding" · · Score: 1

    http://www.skytech.com/

    Care to hazard another guess?

    Not that I dispute your assertion of corporations, however the NDA was the corporate threat, getting him expelled would be a dangerous PR move. And none of it is unique to the USA.

  22. Re:Ridiculous on Student Expelled From Montreal College For Finding "Sloppy Coding" · · Score: 2

    14 out of 15 professors choose to expel this student

    Indeed this is the part I find the most telling that there is more to the story. Would all these professors really have conspired to avoid embarrassment for the college? Or, is there something these professors knew that isn't in TFA?

    He found a flaw, waited two days, and then proceeded to use a general purpose tool. While this is most likely naivety on his part, it could also be something else we're not aware of.

    But we don't have the logs, nor do we have info on the original vulnerability. If I were a professor given the info in TFA, I would not have expelled him. And that is what doesn't add up. If a professor had evidence that his intent was more than to just verify a fix, then the 14/15 vote begins to make much more sense.

  23. It wasn't the college... on Student Expelled From Montreal College For Finding "Sloppy Coding" · · Score: 2

    That made him sign the NDA

  24. Re:Great investigative reporting, there... on French Telecom Claims To Have Forced Google To Pay For Traffic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If I were Google, I'd prefer to pull the plug on all of France rather than agreeing to push the first rock which would be almost certain to start a landslide that even I wouldn't survive...

    I was wondering this as well. I would imagine the ISP would reverse course in a matter of nanoseconds if their users started seeing a page like

    "Your ISP has blocked Google from providing you Gmail. They are demanding we pay for your use of the internet, something which you already pay for. Here's their contact info:...."

    It always strikes me as funny too since Cable is the other way around. I'm pretty sure Cable providers pay television stations. And even if a station doesn't have enough clout there is a law (in the US) they can use called "must carry" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Must-carry

    I'm surprised this analogy isn't used much.

  25. Re:... for which they paid heavily on JSTOR an Entitlement For US DoJ's Ortiz & Holder · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is it? Or is this article an attempt to paint and shame the prosecutors as privileged? I suspect it's the latter.

    JSTOR is a not-for-profit and dropped the charges against him. They offer some articles to individuals for free, and now have opened more articles via the Alumni Access program. What they do isn't evil. Rather, they could do more, provide more access. So why are we sitting debating about what access the prosecutors had to JSTOR? It's irrelevant to the larger conversation.

    The discussion we should be having:

    1) Should all scientific studies be public domain?

    2) If so, how should access be provided? Who pays to maintain upkeep?

    3) Should all publicly funded science be made public? (probably and obvious yes here)

    4) If so, how should access be provided? Who pays to maintain upkeep?

    I'd like to think Scwartz's goal was bigger than these small-minded, egotistical prosecutors. Lets talk about how we can open up the data, not how to engage in a witch hunt. Prosecutorial overreach, to me, is a separate conversation.