Think of it as ROT-n encryption of random data, where n is the key
If you choose the wrong n, you'll still get blob of random data back, just not the correct one.
Now, the tricky part is in making sure the incorrect keys returns data that's hard to distinguish (meaning it can't be done automatically and/or quickly) from the correct plain text, when the plain text ISN'T random looking, but something like passwords, SSN, credit card numbers.
The money you pay in this kind of insurance is ALWAYS more than the expected cost for an individual (ie. the chance they actually have to pay you times the average cost of a canceled holiday)
That's how insurance companies make money. If it was any different, they'd go broke.
So, the payout is basically your own money, and on average, you'd have more money if you had just saved it.
If one has the ability to back up that risk, (...) it is on average better to not get insurance.
I don't get why this concept is so hard for people to understand.
Like people taking out insurance for canceling a holiday trip. If you have paid up front for your vacation, then pretty much by definition you can afford to lose that money without ill effects worse than "I won't get to go on holiday this time"
I'm not sure about other countries, but in the Netherlands only liability insurance is mandatory for car owners, and those will not pay for any damage to your own car in any case.
JoeMerchant was implying his crypto method was perfectly safe against cryptanalysis because it's a one-time pad. However, in the same post he tells us he's not using a one-time pad at all, but a stream cipher.
You just told all of us your method, and we didn't even need to use a wrench.
One time pads are only unbreakable when they're generated with a true random source. What you described is a stream cipher, and as long as you know the key to initialize the keystream, it can be forced from you.
Of course, if you do have a true one-time pad, the location of your copy of it can be extracted just as easily. I'd say the only way to protect against that is to make sure no-one knows you use crypto at all.
They're exactly the same as the casino owner: the house always gets its cut.
Not quite. The casino sets the rules of the game, making sure they know EXACTLY what the odds are, thereby turning long-term profit into a statistical certainty. The insurer has to guess the odds, and can actually guess wrong, so there's a lot less certainty. That's why there are reinsurers, who insure the insurers against unexpectedly large payouts.
The code should be separate from the HTML, not mixed.
That's why you use a framework, or at least a templating engine like Smarty. There's no reason not to do MVC with PHP other than ignorance or (short term) lazyness.
The later versions of PHP (from 5.2 or so) support pretty much anything you'd expect from a modern scripting language. The only problem is, because most of these features were bolted on later, with backward compatibility an important factor, the syntax is less than ideal. In the same way, the standard library is an insane (but reasonably complete) mess in terms of naming conventions, etc.
If you can look at the first table here without wincing you've been doing PHP for too long:P
Are you saying we would have nicer things if people believed anything they read in slashdot summaries as long as it fits in their pre-existing beliefs?
Re:The next new airplane to get axed...
on
The F-35 Story
·
· Score: 1
In the case of Greece, it's more like "Oh my god, we've been discussing a solution for our problems for months, and now it turns out you can't really speak for your people because you have zero support from them?"
Re:The next new airplane to get axed...
on
The F-35 Story
·
· Score: 1
The US obligated itself to its allies to produce this aircraft for mutual use, and not delivering it would cause a lot more international face loss than cancelling F-22
It's funny you should say that, because in The Netherlands, the opinion is that we only chose to join/support the development of the F35 to suck up to the US.
Slashdot Mirror
Think of it as ROT-n encryption of random data, where n is the key
If you choose the wrong n, you'll still get blob of random data back, just not the correct one.
Now, the tricky part is in making sure the incorrect keys returns data that's hard to distinguish (meaning it can't be done automatically and/or quickly) from the correct plain text, when the plain text ISN'T random looking, but something like passwords, SSN, credit card numbers.
The money you pay in this kind of insurance is ALWAYS more than the expected cost for an individual (ie. the chance they actually have to pay you times the average cost of a canceled holiday)
That's how insurance companies make money. If it was any different, they'd go broke.
So, the payout is basically your own money, and on average, you'd have more money if you had just saved it.
I don't get why this concept is so hard for people to understand.
Like people taking out insurance for canceling a holiday trip. If you have paid up front for your vacation, then pretty much by definition you can afford to lose that money without ill effects worse than "I won't get to go on holiday this time"
I'm not sure about other countries, but in the Netherlands only liability insurance is mandatory for car owners, and those will not pay for any damage to your own car in any case.
There exist people less smart than me that can kill me. Yet I don't go around solving that problem by killing them.
Why would the AI be different?
I'm pretty sure he is. Note how he stands still to aim...
Seriously, which one would that be?
bees are not cute and cuddly, so no.
probably a misspelling of iniquity:
in-iq-ui-ty
Noun: Immoral or grossly unfair behavior.
sounds about right
That was not my point at all.
JoeMerchant was implying his crypto method was perfectly safe against cryptanalysis because it's a one-time pad. However, in the same post he tells us he's not using a one-time pad at all, but a stream cipher.
You just told all of us your method, and we didn't even need to use a wrench.
One time pads are only unbreakable when they're generated with a true random source. What you described is a stream cipher, and as long as you know the key to initialize the keystream, it can be forced from you.
Of course, if you do have a true one-time pad, the location of your copy of it can be extracted just as easily. I'd say the only way to protect against that is to make sure no-one knows you use crypto at all.
I recall that the NULL pointer is not numerically 0 on some systems.
No idea which systems those were tho.
Pascal's wager is bullshit. What if you happen to believe in the wrong god, and the true god happens to be a vindictive psychopath?
Somalia does this, except they use git.
Not quite. The casino sets the rules of the game, making sure they know EXACTLY what the odds are, thereby turning long-term profit into a statistical certainty. The insurer has to guess the odds, and can actually guess wrong, so there's a lot less certainty. That's why there are reinsurers, who insure the insurers against unexpectedly large payouts.
If Iceland's economy is fucked, I'd like to know where I can sign up my country's economy for a proper rogering.
That's why you use a framework, or at least a templating engine like Smarty. There's no reason not to do MVC with PHP other than ignorance or (short term) lazyness.
Yes
The later versions of PHP (from 5.2 or so) support pretty much anything you'd expect from a modern scripting language. The only problem is, because most of these features were bolted on later, with backward compatibility an important factor, the syntax is less than ideal. In the same way, the standard library is an insane (but reasonably complete) mess in terms of naming conventions, etc.
If you can look at the first table here without wincing you've been doing PHP for too long :P
Perhaps not, but you can stop acting on the impulse.
Indeed. A civilisation on a tidally locked planet would probably think life couldn't possibly start on a planet with day and night, or seasons.
Is Slashdot actually required by law to save ip addresses with each comment?
Which law would that be?
I'd expect the Chinese to use bignums.
Are you saying we would have nicer things if people believed anything they read in slashdot summaries as long as it fits in their pre-existing beliefs?
In the case of Greece, it's more like "Oh my god, we've been discussing a solution for our problems for months, and now it turns out you can't really speak for your people because you have zero support from them?"
It's funny you should say that, because in The Netherlands, the opinion is that we only chose to join/support the development of the F35 to suck up to the US.
Why not? (as long as the patient is aware of the risks)