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User: DickBreath

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Comments · 3,815

  1. Because it's mine! on Ask Slashdot: What Makes Some Code Particularly Good? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Doesn't every self important developer think that their own code is the best?


    How many managers does it take to reach a decision to begin a study to determine whether a light bulb should be replaced?

  2. A Question That Almost Answers Itself on GAO Denied Access To Webb Telescope Workers By Northrop Grumman · · Score: 1

    > If the project was "back on track" as the agency and Northrop Grumman claim,
    > then why has the budget suddenly increased by another billion?

    The project is back on track to be able to stick around for another fiscal year in order to ask for another budget increase.

    See? How difficult was that? Simple actually.

  3. Tell a story of progress on Ask Slashdot: Terminally Ill - What Wisdom Should I Pass On To My Geek Daughter? · · Score: 1

    Among the stories of your life, family and other things, also tell a story of progress. Tell of things that we enjoy today that didn't exist when you were a child. How did those things come to be?

    I am very sorry to hear of your impending death and the pain it will bring to your family.

    Maybe also tell a cautionary tale for when she is an adult. The world has had dark episodes of history before. And it could again, but on a much larger scale. What lessons can be learned from the past to prevent it happening again?

  4. Re:Ummmm.... on Java Vs. Node.js: Epic Battle For Dev Mindshare · · Score: 1

    To get the best of both worlds, use each tool where it works best.
    1. Use Java Applets in the browser to get Java's famously good start up times and the kind of Security that comes with complex interactions between JavaScript and a Java Applet that has elevated permissions
    2. Use interpreted JavaScript on the server (not Node.js)

    Use Windows as the Server OS, in order to get the kind of security, robustness and stability you've come to expect from Microsoft
    Use Linux on the Desktop to get it's legendary ease of use*


    (* however Linux ease of use is great in the last few years)
    (I hope I do not need to add a humor tag)

  5. Re:Nobody gets to use the surprise face on US May Sell Armed Drones · · Score: 1

    I am not complaining about the 2nd amendment. Only that crazy people can get weapons. And not just ordinary weapons.

  6. Re:And I'm sure on US May Sell Armed Drones · · Score: 1

    > They have put a kill switch in them somewhere

    Um, isn't the TRIGGER a kill switch?

  7. Re:What happens when ISIS and al-Qaeda get drones? on US May Sell Armed Drones · · Score: 2

    The US won't let al-Qaeda or ISIS get armed drones any more than the US would let them get US made weapons.

    I hope that answers your question.

    :-)

  8. Re:Nobody gets to use the surprise face on US May Sell Armed Drones · · Score: 1

    I sure hope it was not necessary for me to use the SARCASM tag in the above post.

  9. Re:Nobody gets to use the surprise face on US May Sell Armed Drones · · Score: 1

    Um, I am going to be very surprised if they forbid citizens to buy unlimited numbers of armed drones. Or if they regulate ownership, or require background checks or registration. After all, when the 2nd amendment was written, it envisioned every citizen having enough firepower to start a world war.

    Please remember this holiday season that firearms make excellent gifts for the entire family. Family packs available at participating retailers. Check out the new Starter Guns sized just right for the little ones. Please use firearms responsibly when drinking. The NRA offers discounts to those who can show proof of mental impairment or illness.

  10. Re:A good tragedy on Algorithmic Patenting · · Score: 2

    This is a strategy for demonstrating the absurdity of the current patent regime, right?

    I think you may have meant this is a tragedy for demonstrating the absurdity of the current patent regime. Just a typo, I'm sure.

  11. Bad article title on Algorithmic Patenting · · Score: 2

    Shouldn't it be called: Algorithmic Patent Trolling

  12. Re:Hopefully the applicants had a relevent backrou on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 1

    If you trust the document's own encryption mechanism, then you are still left with a problem. How do you communicate the password? PKI is a good answer.

  13. Re:Hopefully the applicants had a relevent backrou on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 1

    That is my point. A basic understanding should be expected. Now a detailed expertise. I agree completely with what you are saying, and I say similar things elsewhere here.

  14. Re:Relevant Expertise on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 1

    Just to add: if you did what I described, you would quickly discover that the actual secret you should send using PKI is the key to some other more efficient symmetric algorithm.

  15. Re:Excel file on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your question demonstrates that you don't understand the problem. How do I securely send you a file? If I use Excel's encryption, then we have a new problem: how do I send you the password to open it?

    Furthermore, it is a legitimate question to consider whether you should trust Excel's security. (And I'm not picking on Microsoft. At least not this time.) You don't have access to Excel's source code. You can't know it is secure. You could sleep a lot better if you simply assume the Excel is just like any file, and like any other file, you encrypt it and sign it with PKI so that the person on the other end can decrypt it and verify it is from you. (Actually encrypt and sign a small key to a more efficient symmetric algorithm.)

  16. Re:Relevant Expertise on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 1

    It depends on what you mean by 'know how it works'. If they are using it in the project, then I expect them to 'know how it works'. I don't expect them to be able to write their own from scratch. Just a basic understanding. Not an explanation that you sprinkle magic encryption sauce on the data.

    Generate a pair of keys. Make one public. Ask the guy at the other end to do the same. Now we can read each other's public keys (and so can anyone else). I encrypt the PDF with your public key and then with my private key. The guy at the other end can verify that it came from me, and he is the only one who can decrypt it. I don't need to know all the detailed math. I don't have to write my own BigInteger code. Just a basic understanding.

    Why is this more to ask than that someone knows the language that a shop uses. Knows how to use the framework we use. Etc?

  17. Re:Did they ask if they could look it up? on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 1

    Life Long Learners is also a plus.

    Whew! Now that I've got a diploma, or certificate or whatever, I don't ever have to learn anything ever again!

    I would place much greater value on a developer who prefers to constantly learn.

  18. Re:Not Developers on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 1

    I beg to differ! Plenty of developers are exceedingly competent at finding code on the intarwebs and pasting it in to the project.

  19. Re:Your company is probably shit on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't expect every developer to be an expert in cryptography. I do expect every developer to have a basic understanding of cryptography, which would include the type of understanding that the poster was asking for. What is PKI? How would I use it? I don't expect you to develop a secure cryptographic library and I don't expect you to develop the microprocessor in your computer. But I expect you to have a basic understanding of how a microprocessor works.

  20. Re:Hopefully the applicants had a relevent backrou on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 2

    I am not an expert on cryptography. But I know which algorithms I would use. I know how PKI works. I understand how to use PKI either to encrypt, or to authenticate. I understand what a certificate and certificate chain are. I understand the basic principles.

    I would not write home grown code. I would definitely select mature, well tested libraries. But I understand what to use and how to use it.

    I've been working since the days of the Apple II. It seems pretty basic to understand the basics of cryptography. Asking whether the document is PDF or Excel demonstrates a lack of understanding. The document type is irrelevant. It is a file of bytes. You want to send those bytes securely. (And you may want the receiver to be able to verify that it actually came from you.)

  21. Smart TVs are Telescreens on Ask Slashdot: Affordable Large HD/UHD/4K "Stupid" Screens? · · Score: 1

    Please let's start calling them what they are.

    A Telescreen.

    Please stop calling them a Smart TV. That implies something positive about them over ordinary TVs. Also don't qualify dumb TVs as dumb. It is actually smart to prefer an ordinary TV. Let's put the negative focus on Smart TVs, or rather Telescreens, as it should be.

    I'll take the "smart" part in a separate box thank you. This allows competition from any vendor. The 'smart' box becomes obsolete much sooner than the TV and can be easily and cheaply replaced. I can have more than one smart box rather than the preselected one built in to a Telescreen. (Amazon, Google, Roku, etc) If I don't like the EULA for one vendor's smart box, it doesn't stop me from buying an outstanding TV.

    The public needs to become more aware of this issue so that Telescreens have negative market value.

  22. Re:Vizio P Series on Ask Slashdot: Affordable Large HD/UHD/4K "Stupid" Screens? · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The link you pointed to says . . .

    A revolutionary V6 Processor features a quad-core GPU and dual-core CPU for maximum speed and performance. Enjoy faster usability, quicker TV start-up time and menu navigation, increased image rendering speed and a better Smart TV experience.

    Oh, God, please save us from having a Smart TV 'experience'. Otherwise known as a Telescreen.

  23. Re:Fantastic! A warrant is required on Bipartisan Bill Would Mandate Warrant To Search Emails · · Score: 2

    After a secret conviction you may end up in a secret prison.

  24. Fantastic! A warrant is required on Bipartisan Bill Would Mandate Warrant To Search Emails · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A secret warrant.
    From a secret court.
    Under authority of secret laws.
    Or alternately secret interpretations of secret laws.
    The secret warrant has a secrecy requirement to gag anyone from telling of the warrant's existence.
    Breaching the secrecy can result in secret arrests in the middle of the night by secret agents of agencies that must remain secret.
    Any secret trials may use secret evidence and secret testimony that the defense is not allowed to see or refute.


    But at least a warrant will be required. Whew! I feel safer already.

  25. Re:What about if the customer is giving theirs awa on FCC Prohibits Blocking of Personal Wi-Fi Hotspots · · Score: 1

    I would feel guilty about giving it away and taking advantage of their generous 'unlimited' offer. My point is that there are people who would abuse it. There always have been. Always will be. But that is not a reason to gouge WiFi prices or prevent customers providing their own WiFi devices.