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User: hany

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  1. Re:What's the point on Device Security: How Border Searches Are Really Used · · Score: 1

    0) to obtain nude or otherwise entertaining photos ... to amuse themselves with and share with colleagues etc.

    Yup, I'm being extremely sarcastic here but if my memory serves me sufficiently well, there were cases proving that this indeed occurs from time to time.

  2. Re:Code monkey see, code monkey do on Nationwide Snooping System Launched In India · · Score: 1

    ... yet.

    Time will tell.

  3. they mix terms "placebo" and "unproven treatment" on Most UK GPs Have Prescribed Placebos · · Score: 1

    They mix terms "placebo" and "unproven treatment" which is not good because:

    1. placebo is "simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment" (quoting Wikipedia) i.e. it is supposed to NOT have any effect
    2. unproven treatment might be anything and thus might have effect, even quite substantial one (even if unrelated to the treated condition)

    So in the end, it seems like they are comparing apples and oranges thus mooting the point.

    Hopefully, that's just bad reporting. Not bad research.

  4. more leisure time? on Recession, Tech Kill Middle-Class Jobs · · Score: 1

    companies in the S&P 500 have expanded their business and increased profits, but reduced staffing, thanks to tech ...

    Which means we might finally be able to work less while still having plenty to eat. That should be good, as we can simply spent more time enjoying life. :)

    The only question is, how are those increased profits distributed.

  5. proposition for new right on The Privacy Illusion · · Score: 1

    OK, based on what you wrote I propose following formulation:

    Everybody has a right not to participate in some "progress". All progress needs to be done only with those people, and only to those people, who agree to it.

    So, if you do NOT want a cell phone, nobody will force you to use it. If you do NOT to be a borg, nobody will force you to become part of it. Plus, for the borg case: to maintain the social contract, others will try to protect you in cases when borg will try to integrate you against your will.

    Would that be OK?

  6. Honest Answer on Alan Cox to NVIDIA: You Can't Use DMA-BUF · · Score: 1

    Practical honest answer from one Linux user which puts some emphasis on the "free stuff" (as in Freedom):

    I've stopped buying NVidia gear years ago precisely because the only workable drivers were (and still are) closed source. It goes against what I consider important. Plus it made a maintenance of my PC harder (even with lots of effort spent on this by NVidia and RPM Forge).

    From that time on I'm buying Intel or ATI - they might not have the best 3D performance, but FOSS drivers DO work (I've played say UFO Aftermath using Wine with ATI card and FOSS driver which is part of Fedora distribution, 1080p video playback on some Intel chipset works too). The only "sad" part was spending 12â on the game or on DVDs. :)

    Thus, thanks to Intel and ATI and FOSS volunteers I do have options other than NVidia. So I think by not providing decent FOSS drivers, NVidia is hurting only themself.

  7. Re:Good to keep in mind on How the Critics of the Apollo Program Were Proven Wrong · · Score: 1

    The direct, immediate cost of the war in Afghanistan to date is on the order of $600 billion, with essentially zero tangible benefit to anyone ...

    Maybe except this:

    preservation of the petrodollar

    But it might be just a rumor.

  8. company structure will kill any medium on Europe's Largest IT Company To Ban Internal Email · · Score: 1

    I guess that such state of the email can be attributed to the structure of that company (and all large organizations in general), not to the email itself.

    In my opinion it is down to policies and tactics like CYI (Cover Your Ass), micromanagement, dictatorship, "I know it better than techies", ... and plain old bureaucracy to name a few. They lower the quality/usefulness of any communication medium.

    If those are not addressed, nothing will be solved. And any new communication medium which will be chosen to replace email will be killed in short future too.

    Maybe we can also look at "paperless office" to learn the same. :)

  9. Re:Copyright on The Linux 3.1 Kernel May Have A New Logo · · Score: 1

    Too late. Image is on the Internet now so nobody will ever take it down now.

    And now my high hopes for Linux are all ruined.

    :)

  10. Re:Locked Bootloaders on FSF Uses Android FUD To Push GPLv3 · · Score: 1

    Well, Ericsson seems to be either helfull or bowed to some pressure but they offer to unlock the bootloader for some (newest I presume) phones: Unlocking the bootlader. Thus, unlocked bootloader does not seems to prevent the adoption of Linux/Android. Locking migt be simply seens as a needed step from childhoot to maturity. :)

    And quoting LWN's Android, forking, and control:

    The Android developers, beyond forking the kernel, also took the position that the GPL is bad for business. The project's original goal was to avoid GPL-licensed code altogether; the plan was to write a new kernel as well. In the end, a certain amount of reason prevailed, and the (GPL-licensed) Linux kernel was adopted; there are a few other GPL-licensed components as well. So, James said, we can thank Andy Rubin - from whom the dislike of the GPL originates - for conclusively demonstrating that a handset containing GPL-licensed code can be successful in the market. It turns out that downstream vendors really don't care about the licensing of the code in their devices; they only care that it's clear and compliant.

    it seems that also the GPL is not that great block to the Linux/Android adoption either. Again, companies simply needs some time to understand it properly, get comfortable and than move along to doing the actual business instead of fighting petty wars.

    IMHO

  11. Re:He's right on Rushkoff Proposes We Fork the Internet · · Score: 1

    IIRC, In Slovakia, we already do have such a law. It states something along the lines: if you have/operate a network which connect more than X users (X is around 100 or so) you need to do some stuff (some stuff meaning notifying telecommunication authority). You fail to do that, you are operating in legally risky waters.

    Now, yes, it does not outlaw private networks. But it for sure is a road block for the growth of private networks. At minimum, it is an increased operational cost thus making it less appealing to operate "bigger" networks for common citizens or small companies. And I guess there might be more to that: as soon as you notify the authority, then some "officers" will arrive latter on when they found your network of interest and demand something (user info, snoop access, ...) citing some other law as excuse. And that again means more operational costs and ... less free network.

  12. Re:Slashdot in 2010 on Facebook the Most Dangerous Social Tool For Businesses · · Score: 1

    Did we get there by getting older?

  13. I'm a long time user ... sort of on Firefox Is Lagging Behind, Its Co-Founder Says · · Score: 1

    I'm a long time user of Mozilla, later on Firefox. Sort of. Because I've been using it mostly as Galeon - lightweight browser which uses Mozilla's renderer.

    That being said it does not matter to me that much how many features Firefox has or does not have. Galeon feature set (and Feirefox renderer abilities) matters most to me. And while Galeon is something like "dead" for few years (no new features, only minor maintenance tweaks to get it running with newer Firefox releases), I have to say that my browsing needs seems to be stable for now and I'm satisfied.

    But there is one big concern growing: library bundling by Firefox. It's against Fedora packaging policies, it's against what I consider good software engineering. Coupled with slower "inivation", why would I want to destabilize my whole desktop just to get slowly evolving Firefox?

    So, either Firefox goes to its roots or I have to look for another browser.

    Chrome is bundling forked libraries too, so out of question for me. That leave WebKit based browsers.

    So, we'll see.

  14. seems quite logical ... on In AU, Court Rules Downloaded Software Is Not "Goods" · · Score: 1

    That seems quite logical and, consequently, should drive people to buying over the counter.

    Or negotiate and demand same rights for the downloaded software in the EULA (or something) and do not buy downloads without those same right granted "in writing".

  15. ussual? on Microsoft .Net Libraries Not Acting "Open Source" · · Score: 1

    So it's same like almost every FOSS project on Source Forge? :)

  16. Re:I wonder how long until it "accidentally" leaks on South Park's Episode 201 — the Expurgated Version · · Score: 1

    You mean Gingers or Barbara Streisand?

  17. future of science on Evolution, Big Bang Polls Omitted From NSF Report · · Score: 1

    So, will Science become some kind of secret, underground guild in the US?

    How then they plan to maintain their position of global bully and thus their standard of living?

    Because with a lot of manufacturing (and more recently also some R&D) being moved out of US, what else can they use to maintain their status?

  18. Re:Logical on Obama Backs MPAA, RIAA, and ACTA · · Score: 1

    To protect "ideas", they (US) still need physical power.

    And if they do have physical power to enforce their "ideas" world-wide, they can lower the costs and improve earnings by simply dropping the "creative business" altogether. Replacing it by simple "protection service": you pay us and we do not beat you up.

    So ... I guess the future of US is to become a protection racket (if it is not already).

  19. are Novel problems caused by their "friendship"? on Why Microsoft Can't Afford To Let Novell Die · · Score: 1

    Is there any relation between Novel's problems and Novel's "friendship" with Microsoft?

    Something like ... maybe ... "Novel is loosing customers because they are friendly towards Microsoft"?

  20. Re:Tell us your project? on Write Bits Directly Onto a Hard Drive Platter? · · Score: 1

    patent pending, copyright, TM, ... :)

  21. Peter F. Hamilton: Commonwealth Universe on Triumph of the Cyborg Composer · · Score: 1

    IIRC in some book from Peter F. Hamilton, set in Commonwealth Universe, there is a composer from alien world visiting an artificial human habitat controlled by powerful A.I.

    Essentially same question has been raised in this post has been asked in the book by the composer character when talking with the A.I., something like:

    - it took me few month to compose this, can you compose something like that too?
    - yes
    - can you do it quicker?
    - yes
    - then why you wanted me to do it if you can do it as good as I and much quicker?

    Well, I recommend finding that book and read it - much better than me trying to remember and reproduce the argument.

  22. Re:Forget bit torrent. on FCC's Net Neutrality Plan Blocks BitTorrent · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If I understand and remember correctly, regulation is the culprit of your current local monopolies. So you want more regulation to solve that?

    If you want "customers" to be able to "go somewhere else", you need to create some competition. I think you can get that if you allow anybody to put fiber in the ground with only regulation being "do not destroy our property" and "the net gain for us - customers - have to be positive too".

  23. Re:Pretty much anything from linkedin is spam. on Fake "Bill Gates" Message Dupes Top Tools · · Score: 1

    I assume those people got better deal from you so I guess it was not bad for them that your competitor shared his contact list. :)

  24. Re:Skepticism requires more than just questioning on The Science Credibility Bubble · · Score: 1

    Well, people who do not understand the issue might not be involved intellectually, but they are involved physically.

    Certainly true for global climate which is affecting everyone not taking into account how much any of us understand the issue.

  25. Re:If you want privacy then don't use on Facebook Masks Worse Privacy With New Interface · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    They should have set-up their own web server and post the content there. And set the authentication, limits, controls, ... as they see fit. And give or take accounts to/from people as they see fit.

    At least that was the original idea of The Web and that's why the Mosaic browser contained also a web page editor included by default.

    But then ... "commercial Internet" choose to "outsource" and people are hosting their stuff on machines belonging to "strangers", in foreign countries, ...

    Well, they've got what they paid for. :)