I agree, security wise the whole android process is completely broken. Release fast release often only works if the releases actually get out into the field, and because of vendor customization and lock-in they don't. This situation was perfectly predictable, and it could have been avoided in a few different ways.
That being said, as an OS android is pretty amazing. Sure there are bugs, but I think it also has more capabilities and more potential than any of the competitors. WP7 has some interesting features, but it certainly does not have a decent browser, and that's probably the most important app on a smartphone.
> This isn't about other OS, it is about blocking people like you who don't think that they should have to pay for games. Freeloading pirate.
There seems to be absolutely no evidence to support this statement. The position of Sony on illegal games has not changed, but the position on other OS has. And the whole thing started just weeks after other OS was disabled - is that a coincidence? I don't think so.
> I read the headline and it said 6 or so cups a day of coffee are NORMAL?!?!?! Geez.....I'd be climbing the walls.
Agreed. When I found myself up to 6 cups of coffee a day, I decided I need to change that. I am sticking to 3 or 4 now, and that works much better with me.
Unless of course they mean the cups that a coffee maker measures. A "12 cup" reservoir - more like 12 sips.
> I find it very unlikely that it'll ever be efficient to lug solar cells around on a plane - not to say that there won't be airliners run from solar power, just that generating that power onboard, in real time, seems ridiculously wasteful.
I used to think so, but I have kind of changed my mind. There are a number of points in favour of adding solar cells:
a) If you can integrate them into the wing surface, the impact should be minimal.
b) Planes fly above the clouds, so you get more sunshine hours and higher energy than on the ground.
c) Fuel is heavy, too, and a significant amount of fuel is required just to get the rest of the fuel off the ground.
d) Planes last a long time - so you should be able to amortise quite nicely.
So overall there seems to be a case for it, especially as additional power on long distance flights. It may not be there yet, but the time will come.
Maybe, but I think the EU should have done this long ago. The "safe harbour" regulation, where companies in the US promise to stick to EU law, is not worth the paper it is written on. Of course the NSA, FBI, DHS and some other three letter agencies have access, and maybe even more people.
The only way to keep data safe is to keep it under one jurisdiction. It is a sad state of affairs, but it is an accurate description of reality.
> If Windows, by his definition, is torture, then Linux is doubly so.
I don't think so. Linux has is problems, but most distributions have a pretty sound "no none-sense" concept when it comes to PC maintenance. Automatic updates actually work, cover all applications (not just the OS), do not fail because of locked files, and reboots are rarely required. Linux viruses are very rare, even on Joe's and Jane's default Ubuntu installation round the corner.
MacOS is also doing much better, making this mostly a Windows problem.
For now, you don't. It has been said for years that browsers need to mark pop-out windows without decoration for exactly this reason. But I don't think any of the major browsers does it.
Of course all the plugins have exactly the same issue: Flash, Java, maybe even QuickTime can display a window just the way you ask them to.
> That is NOT a lost sale, if it was impossible to copy, they'd simply do without because they haven't the money.
That is the key statement: pirated copies do not equal lost sales. People who really use the software usually require support, and they will by the product and the support. Pirated copies are often just used to mess around, or to impress. So the numbers are hugely inflated.
It is a bit like calling everybody who didn't buy you product a potential customer. Yes, that may be true for some definition of potential, but there is no point in calculating the number, because it ain't gonna happy.
> IMHO, the biggest problem that we've had with nuclear is that the technology is so big and costly that we've frozen engineering way long ago and really aren't doing a whole lot of basic development.
The real problem is that we have increased safety standard to insane levels, while at the same time grandfathering the old designs. That is a well known way how not to increase safety levels, because creating new designs to the new standards is prohibitively expensive, and therefore the old (much less save) designs are reused forever.
> but I'm fairly certain VISA would have notified people if there was a pattern
Notify 10 million customers and upset them? I envy your trust in large companies, but I really wonder where you got it from. It can't be recent history...
Anyway, VISA is just a clearance house nowadays. The risk is mainly with the banks issuing the cards...
That, and never assume that the payload is harmless. Just because you do not understand it does not mean it does not affect you.
So why did they have to analyse the code? It is a nice exercise, but for the threat assessment I think it is sufficient to state that the virus is uploading code to your SPS. It's like having an intruder on your premises - you do not need to understand his motives, but you do need to improve security.
Fraud on who's side? I am pretty sure you are not allowed to (illegally) distribute copyrighted material on Dropbox, using dropship or otherwise.
While I think that dropship is a neat hack, the main use for it seems to be a fast and "free" warez server. And obviously Dropbox cannot support that, for so many reasons. Dropbox offers a great service, for free, and I would like it to stay that way. You use their servers, you play by their rules... simple.
> 4. Manufacturing brightens up - though the factory owner is no longer a British company.
And you notice a common theme there: management is not longer British either. All the successful automotive companies in the UK are run and controlled from outside of the UK - either from Japan or from Germany. I am not sure whether the famous thoroughness of the Germans and the Japanese has anything to do with it, but it seems as good a reason as any.
Contractual freedom. You agreed to it, they agreed to it. Granted, trying to get them to agree to a modified version may be difficult, but then again did you try? Our university managed to negotiate better terms&conditions from Google...
> What they're saying is that they will share your information with random third parties whether or not theirs any good reason to do so
No, what they are saying is that they have the right to share your information with any party providing location based services. Thinking about the definition of location based services, this seems quite obvious. You may or may not assume that the information is only used to provide the location based services, but I am not sure it actually says that.
> However, if your primary objective is control, rather than failure tolerance, reducing the number of things that your device is good for when severed from the mothership is entirely sensible.
You mean it makes it easier to take features away after the sale?:-)
> we haven't even moved to a base 10 timing metric yet,
The French tried it, but the 10 day week is just too longer for humans. They were even quite progressive, with a 2 day weekend out of 10, instead of the 1 out of 7 before... no wonder that part got adopted:-)
> Sure, there is an attractiveness to consolidation.
That is a mild world. After having bought a piece of equipment from Canada (and I thought the use metric?), I found out what it costs to get a replacement screw here with an imperial thread. It wasn't the standard taper either, a fine version or something.
I am sorry, but using anything but metric threads is just ridiculous. I know plumbing is the last fort of the desperate ones longing for yesterday, but even there commercial buildings are using metric threads now.
> You can NAT6to4 but your really can't go the other way around.
You can, and it is called NAT46. The problem is that it is not stateless - but that is becoming less of a problem. Your NAT box isn't stateless either, so this it quite feasible.
The failure of the IPv6 working group to provide a smooth transition such as NAT46 has delayed IPv6 adoption by at least a decade.
Slashdot Mirror
> And as well all know, you can still have OtherOS if you want, you just won't be able to access PSN. It's your choice either way.
I'll cut of one of your arms, and you tell me which one. It is your choice, and therefore your fault if you lose the right arm (or the left).
Even the strongest Sony fanboy should see the flaw in the argument.
I agree, security wise the whole android process is completely broken. Release fast release often only works if the releases actually get out into the field, and because of vendor customization and lock-in they don't. This situation was perfectly predictable, and it could have been avoided in a few different ways.
That being said, as an OS android is pretty amazing. Sure there are bugs, but I think it also has more capabilities and more potential than any of the competitors. WP7 has some interesting features, but it certainly does not have a decent browser, and that's probably the most important app on a smartphone.
> This isn't about other OS, it is about blocking people like you who don't think that they should have to pay for games. Freeloading pirate.
There seems to be absolutely no evidence to support this statement. The position of Sony on illegal games has not changed, but the position on other OS has. And the whole thing started just weeks after other OS was disabled - is that a coincidence? I don't think so.
> I read the headline and it said 6 or so cups a day of coffee are NORMAL?!?!?! Geez.....I'd be climbing the walls.
Agreed. When I found myself up to 6 cups of coffee a day, I decided I need to change that. I am sticking to 3 or 4 now, and that works much better with me.
Unless of course they mean the cups that a coffee maker measures. A "12 cup" reservoir - more like 12 sips.
> Barrett Brown was NEVER a member of Anoymous.
> We know who he is.
> Therefore, by definition, he is not part of Anonymous.
You logic is undeniable - but flawed. You know who he is fine - but you didn't know that he was part of Anonymous. At that point he could have been.
But once somebody openly claims to be part of Anonymous, he certainly seizes to be just that.
> I find it very unlikely that it'll ever be efficient to lug solar cells around on a plane - not to say that there won't be airliners run from solar power, just that generating that power onboard, in real time, seems ridiculously wasteful.
I used to think so, but I have kind of changed my mind. There are a number of points in favour of adding solar cells:
a) If you can integrate them into the wing surface, the impact should be minimal.
b) Planes fly above the clouds, so you get more sunshine hours and higher energy than on the ground.
c) Fuel is heavy, too, and a significant amount of fuel is required just to get the rest of the fuel off the ground.
d) Planes last a long time - so you should be able to amortise quite nicely.
So overall there seems to be a case for it, especially as additional power on long distance flights. It may not be there yet, but the time will come.
Maybe, but I think the EU should have done this long ago. The "safe harbour" regulation, where companies in the US promise to stick to EU law, is not worth the paper it is written on. Of course the NSA, FBI, DHS and some other three letter agencies have access, and maybe even more people.
The only way to keep data safe is to keep it under one jurisdiction. It is a sad state of affairs, but it is an accurate description of reality.
> If Windows, by his definition, is torture, then Linux is doubly so.
I don't think so. Linux has is problems, but most distributions have a pretty sound "no none-sense" concept when it comes to PC maintenance. Automatic updates actually work, cover all applications (not just the OS), do not fail because of locked files, and reboots are rarely required. Linux viruses are very rare, even on Joe's and Jane's default Ubuntu installation round the corner.
MacOS is also doing much better, making this mostly a Windows problem.
> "How do I know if it is real?"
For now, you don't. It has been said for years that browsers need to mark pop-out windows without decoration for exactly this reason. But I don't think any of the major browsers does it.
Of course all the plugins have exactly the same issue: Flash, Java, maybe even QuickTime can display a window just the way you ask them to.
> That is NOT a lost sale, if it was impossible to copy, they'd simply do without because they haven't the money.
That is the key statement: pirated copies do not equal lost sales. People who really use the software usually require support, and they will by the product and the support. Pirated copies are often just used to mess around, or to impress. So the numbers are hugely inflated.
It is a bit like calling everybody who didn't buy you product a potential customer. Yes, that may be true for some definition of potential, but there is no point in calculating the number, because it ain't gonna happy.
> IMHO, the biggest problem that we've had with nuclear is that the technology is so big and costly that we've frozen engineering way long ago and really aren't doing a whole lot of basic development.
The real problem is that we have increased safety standard to insane levels, while at the same time grandfathering the old designs. That is a well known way how not to increase safety levels, because creating new designs to the new standards is prohibitively expensive, and therefore the old (much less save) designs are reused forever.
> but I'm fairly certain VISA would have notified people if there was a pattern
Notify 10 million customers and upset them? I envy your trust in large companies, but I really wonder where you got it from. It can't be recent history...
Anyway, VISA is just a clearance house nowadays. The risk is mainly with the banks issuing the cards...
> You can literally lie your way through, with fabricated evidence.
Of course you can. You can also earn money with credit card fraud. Neither is honest work.
Indeed - clever and cunning would be a much better description - something you rarely hear being said about "professionals".
But I find it funny that SONY can blame an anonymous person just by capitalising. They should admit that they have no clue who it was.
That, and never assume that the payload is harmless. Just because you do not understand it does not mean it does not affect you.
So why did they have to analyse the code? It is a nice exercise, but for the threat assessment I think it is sufficient to state that the virus is uploading code to your SPS. It's like having an intruder on your premises - you do not need to understand his motives, but you do need to improve security.
> The hash is the key and invites and sharing are not even checked.
Yes, so? Encryption works the same way, except that the key is the key. Once you give someone the key or the hash, you may leak your data.
Fraud on who's side? I am pretty sure you are not allowed to (illegally) distribute copyrighted material on Dropbox, using dropship or otherwise.
While I think that dropship is a neat hack, the main use for it seems to be a fast and "free" warez server. And obviously Dropbox cannot support that, for so many reasons. Dropbox offers a great service, for free, and I would like it to stay that way. You use their servers, you play by their rules... simple.
> 4. Manufacturing brightens up - though the factory owner is no longer a British company.
And you notice a common theme there: management is not longer British either. All the successful automotive companies in the UK are run and controlled from outside of the UK - either from Japan or from Germany. I am not sure whether the famous thoroughness of the Germans and the Japanese has anything to do with it, but it seems as good a reason as any.
> Why is that even legal?
Contractual freedom. You agreed to it, they agreed to it. Granted, trying to get them to agree to a modified version may be difficult, but then again did you try? Our university managed to negotiate better terms&conditions from Google...
> What they're saying is that they will share your information with random third parties whether or not theirs any good reason to do so
No, what they are saying is that they have the right to share your information with any party providing location based services. Thinking about the definition of location based services, this seems quite obvious. You may or may not assume that the information is only used to provide the location based services, but I am not sure it actually says that.
> However, if your primary objective is control, rather than failure tolerance, reducing the number of things that your device is good for when severed from the mothership is entirely sensible.
You mean it makes it easier to take features away after the sale? :-)
> unless you're boiling water on a daily basis
Of course I am boiling water every day, how else would I get a nice cup a'?
> we haven't even moved to a base 10 timing metric yet,
The French tried it, but the 10 day week is just too longer for humans. They were even quite progressive, with a 2 day weekend out of 10, instead of the 1 out of 7 before... no wonder that part got adopted :-)
> Sure, there is an attractiveness to consolidation.
That is a mild world. After having bought a piece of equipment from Canada (and I thought the use metric?), I found out what it costs to get a replacement screw here with an imperial thread. It wasn't the standard taper either, a fine version or something.
I am sorry, but using anything but metric threads is just ridiculous. I know plumbing is the last fort of the desperate ones longing for yesterday, but even there commercial buildings are using metric threads now.
> a centimeter is the same as 0.54 inches
You have either weird centimeters or weird inches where you live.
> You can NAT6to4 but your really can't go the other way around.
You can, and it is called NAT46. The problem is that it is not stateless - but that is becoming less of a problem. Your NAT box isn't stateless either, so this it quite feasible.
The failure of the IPv6 working group to provide a smooth transition such as NAT46 has delayed IPv6 adoption by at least a decade.