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User: H3lldr0p

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  1. That's a nice technical solution you have there on NYU Group Says Its Scheme Makes Cracking Individual Passwords Impossible · · Score: 2

    The problem is a human one, however.

    Yes, this makes it harder should someone get to your stored hashes. But it doesn't make it any more secure if people continue to use "123ABC" as a password. Which they will do since that's an easy thing to remember.

  2. Re:Physical Stores on Why Movie Streaming Services Are Unsatisfying — and Will Stay That Way · · Score: 2

    Because it doesn't make the right people enough money for them to set that up.

    Notice, this isn't about making money. Businesses can make money doing what you have asked for.

    This is about making enough money. Greed.

  3. Re:Net Neutrality laws? on ISP Fights Causing Netflix Packet Drops · · Score: 1

    Except there has never been anything close to a 1:1 relationship. There couldn't have been because even since the IDSN days the up/down ratio of what we could get was always in favor of the down. So there's never been enough traffic coming from the ISPs to even approach parity.

    In fact, it's been the stupid ISPs have been using this as a club against the other players. It's of their own making, and now they're choking on it. In fact, Nexflix is even willing to give ISPs servers to take the congestion away from that part of the network, something that's been consistently rejected. The ISPs are the problem. In specific their greedy, overly Wall Street focused, stupid management is the problem.

    So, no. They don't get any sympathy from me in this. They aren't being held accountable by their customers, they aren't being held accountable by what little law is in place, and they certainly aren't being held accountable by the market. If they were, they'd be out of business by now.

  4. Not going to happen on Sony's Favorite Gadget Is Kinect · · Score: 3

    Microsoft is going to hold on to that thing for as long as they can. It's not going away for several different reasons.

    The first and largest is that the Kinect is a product differentiater. It makes the XBone different from the PS4. There really isn't that much a difference between the two boxes otherwise. Fine, you can go on with the technical differences between the types of RAM and the custom silicon for the XBone's APU but those are not large concerns for Mom and Dad buying little Sally's birthday present.

    Until MS comes up with something besides the software that makes their product different, the Kinect is going to hang on. But the second that happens, it'll be tossed. They know they've screwed the pooch here. They know exactly what it cost them in terms of customer relations and in terms of developers.

  5. Re:"Search giant" on Chinese Search Giant Baidu Launches International Sites · · Score: 1

    Well that's easy. They'll work to help the government turn into one of those. They have experience in maintaining one, how much harder to could it be to offer up the same "services" to those in power and sit back to watch the results?

  6. Re:Who chose to pursue this case? on Court Says Craigslist Sperm Donor Must Pay Child Support · · Score: 1

    Does your wife know you're trolling slashdot with this account these days? :)

  7. Re:Cost? on Linksys Resurrects WRT54G In a New Router · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And it is almost to guaranteed to drop over time.

    Don't forget you're getting: The A/C radio standard , a huge amount of space to store/program in, and support. Yes, support. So if you brick the thing with your endless tweaking of it, they'll try to get it back to working condition.

    That stuff is going to cost early adopters. Like it always does. So chill out, have a cool beverage of your choice, and wait awhile. Let the other people absorb the early costs. Wait some for others to figure out the traps.

    But for heaven's sake, shove the whining about the price right up your ass.

  8. Re:Rah! Rah! NSA! on CBS 60 Minutes: NSA Speaks Out On Snowden, Spying · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And they can do this without resorting to channels that are known first and primarily as propaganda machines.

    Because, and let us be honest here, part of the reason why we are in this position is that the media in the US are not there to provide the informational bulwark so that we may function as close to an ideal republic as we can. They currently exist to sell us things and to make us feel better out said purchases. This extends to the government at all levels. Who better to give an interview to than the very apparatus that is there to appease and not investigate?

  9. Re:360 and PS3 emulators. on The Quest To Build Xbox One and PS4 Emulators · · Score: 4, Informative

    Since the original Xbox was running mostly off the shelf hardware, I'm not sure it needs an emulator (aside from whatever security/copy protection hardware).

    But the 360/PS3 is going to be tough. Tougher than average, I'd say since those were both custom CPUs. Yes, there is some papers out there covering how they did their execution but that doesn't cover some of the weird stuff. Stuff like with the PS2 and original PS that took years to sort out.

    Those of you who don't remember the Bleem! saga and the fact that Sony not only lawsuited them to death, but also make emulation even harder by changing the way their compilers did certain undocumented graphic blits and other memory tricks. This was why Bleem! had a specific target list of compatible games.

    Still not sure that all of that was documented.

    Bad memories.

  10. Microsoft is still doing certifications? on Microsoft Certifications For High School Credits In Australia · · Score: 1

    I thought we'd put that behind us finally. That everyone, including the HR drones and PHBs, understood that those things were meaningless.

    Or am I getting another chance to play my favorite interviewing game again?

  11. Well, duh! on Texas School District Drops Embattled RFID Student IDs; Opts For Cameras · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You mean, what the entire tech community said was going to happen, happened? Kids found ways around their stupid requirements and made them look like fools while some contractor got away with tons of public money?

    It's like we need to establish the "If an average 5 year old can find holes in it" rule from the evil overlord list for public institutions.

  12. Re:A $15 dollar SD car gives me more. on Why Your New Car's Technology Is Four Years Old · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The problem here is that you will loose a lot of the things which make the engines smaller (better managing of head-gasket displacement, so smaller bore and stroke to get the same amount of power), more efficient (direct fuel injection and stroke cycles), less polluting (no need for a leaded fuel to get burn and temperatures necessary for combustion not to mention the catalytic converters), quieter (see the previous reasons), and generally more pleasant to be around as I am not choking on the smog created by the engine when it is started up.

    I, for one, like to have all of those things in my car and any future cars I wish to purchase. Of course those things will require special tools. Working on engines have always required special tools.

    There is a certain amount of missing the forest for the trees in your statement, I feel.

  13. Re:That's great and all on Internet Sales Tax Vote This Week In US Senate · · Score: 1

    Not really... many states have forms of 'use tax'es which kick in when you purchase something out of state and then bringing it into state... and depending on how much tax you paid out of state.

    Which is what I was saying. It's a well defined legal area that's been administrated by the states for a very long time now. For the Feds to step in with a new law, they'd have to show (to whatever court this gets taken to) some sort of legal authority over it where none existed before both as in the US Constitution as through well settled and aged legal precedence.

    It's not as easy as saying "Interstate Commerce lets us" as it's never before been defined as such. Doesn't mean that it won't get upheld on that ground, but it will have to be shown that such legal ground exists within the framework of the current laws.

  14. That's great and all on Internet Sales Tax Vote This Week In US Senate · · Score: 1

    but I hardly think that an amendment to a provisioning bill passes sufficient legal muster for it be enforced. First of all, I am already required to pay local and state sales taxes for entities operating out of my state. So no change there.

    But for extra-state sales, this will have to survive a 10th Amendment challenge and well settled legal precedence dating back to the 18th century. Not saying that it can't but a short blurb in a different, unrelated law doesn't seem sufficient on its face.

    For an "internet sales" (whatever that means) tax to work, it would have to be established as something the feds collected and redistributed. The legal authority is already there in the 16th amendment, and it could easily function as interstate funding for roads and schools do currently.

    Likewise, if two states wanted to enter into a compact to collect and remit as some currently do with income taxes, then that could also work.

    I guess this is just some more busywork for the congress-critters to say that they've been doing something rather than nothing.

  15. Wait a moment on New Process For Nanoscale Filtration Holds Promise of Cheap, Clean Water · · Score: 2

    I thought part of the problem with current desalination techniques was that it removed all of the salts making us have to go back and re-add a bunch of phosphates and whatnot that are found in fresh water sources and are somewhat expected/required by our and plant's biological functions. That is, we were making the water too pure to be used without additional processing. This sounds like that taken the next level, so how much more efficient can it really be if the process requires even more post-processing to make it usable?

  16. Re:Unintended Consequences on Tech Firms Keep Piles of 'Foreign Cash' In US · · Score: 2

    It's only a waste of money (remember folks, cash is not capital!) if there's nothing else to invest in that would generate a better return than the base interest rate.

    Given that the tax on such investments are zero then any interest rate is going to be pure profit. For a business that's a pretty good deal, especially since this is a guaranteed profit at that. The money is not at risk and the bonds can be sold for face value if they need the liquidity at any given moment. For a business this is a great situation.

    For an economy, it's not. The money, as you said, isn't being maximally invested. A tax on these sorts of savings might be something to get businesses to take a greater risk. But that's the real issue here. The risk. And I don't know how to get around that one.

  17. That's not the entire point on Comptroller Accuses HP of Overcharging NYC $163m On 911 System · · Score: 1, Insightful

    In a purely practical and objective standpoint, you are correct. It would make more sense to have employees of the city to do it.

    But this is not a practical or objective world. There are politics to be played; Backs to be scratched and palms to be greased. For those in that sort of position of authority, there is a game to be played. Who can they trade this favor of a contract (with the possibility of over-payment) for some future consideration or contribution?

    This is not the world of high-school civics that we were taught. These people are not there out of a sense of service to their fellow citizen or because they have good ideas that might make the world a better place.

    This is the world where people have ambitions, who want to get ahead and further up the ladder of power. This is the world where people can and do get addicted to the feeling of power that their authority gives them and want only to increase it.

    This is also the world where other people, further up the chain of authority tell the lower levels to who and how a contract should be presented. And because it is their boss or their boss's boss or their boss's boss's boss doing this, they fear for their jobs and livelihood and do what they're told instead of going out and shouting to the world of the corruption they've seen.

  18. Re:Tech Version Of The Cold War on Facebook Purchases 650 AOL Patents From Microsoft · · Score: 2

    This isn't the first time this has happened.

    It also happened way back when with the start of the airline industry. Back in 1903, the Wright Brothers started one over the way one controlled a plane. Long story short, WWI started and seeing as how planes were a cool new war toy, the US government stepped in and made them make peace or else no one would get the patent money.

    I have to wonder what's it going to take to get that to happen this time around.

  19. Re:5-4 decision on Supreme Court Rules Warrants Needed for GPS Monitoring · · Score: 0

    No it wasn't. It was 9-0 decision. There were two opinions handed down which was the split --- Alito wrote the second and was joined by Ginsberg, Beyer, and Kagan. Alito wanted to go further and say that the length of time required a second, separate warrant to cover it.

    See Wired's coverage for more details.

  20. Re:You didn't read TFA did you? on Police Investigate Offensive Wi-Fi Network Name · · Score: 1

    Nothing. You seem to fear the police's ability to investigate. If they find it was a child then they can hand the evidence of such to the parents and DA and let them sort it out. If it was an adult then they can had the same evidence to the DA and let see where the speech may fall. Either way, an investigation as to what happened is called for. The police are the most obvious way to see that done. It doesn't have to be a priority, it doesn't have to take away from any other duties. What exactly are you opposed to in that sense?

  21. Re:You didn't read TFA did you? on Police Investigate Offensive Wi-Fi Network Name · · Score: 1

    At the very least it is a display of ignorance which needs to be dealt with in a way that does not let it grow into something worse. If this was a teen or a child playing (to what in their mind was) a prank, then it definitely needs some sort of correction. If this was an adult then surely they are aware of the consequences of their words and how a society will and often can punish them for such ignorance.

  22. Re:Google IS being demonized... on Google Fiber Work Hung Up In Kansas City · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Re #2: The sad fact of the matter is that (as someone living in the county) that it's well known that the BPU is very corrupt. As in former board members have resigned over rigging the pay of friends and family. There's a good reason that the county government ignored them and are trying to ram this through. See this for further reading.

    Re #3: The incumbents did this to themselves. Before it was popular everywhere else, Kansas fucked its own ass by giving the cable and telcos state wide franchises and removing all of the local oversight boards. There might have been a chance to stop Google, but their greed got the best of them years ago.

  23. Re:Nuremburg Defense on Warrantless Wiretapping Decisions Issued By Ninth Circuit Court · · Score: 2

    No one was ever charged with a crime as a result of these wiretaps, so there's no remedy to grant.

    Are we certain about that? I thought that part of the problem was the circular logic used in this case. ie, The government will not let you know if you were spied upon because they might be building a terrorism case against you. As far as I can recall, that was the whole of the initial justification and why congress had to act to pass the law.

    So how do we know?

    The obvious and easy remedy would be to declare the law null and let the public see for themselves what was done on their behalf. That is the only way to be certain that there was no cause for concern and that there is no other remedy needed in this and every other case brought up by such actions or laws passed by Congress.

  24. Re:Great! on Fracking Disclosure Rules Approved In CO · · Score: 1

    Poor science and a century and a half of water rights wars with California.

    See this fine article.

  25. Re:Said it before and I'll say it again ... on Google, Facebook Upset By Ad-Injecting Apps · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not that I want to hide the ads. What I want is to hide the annoyance of the ads. Keep the ads subtle and out of the flow of what I'm on a site for, and I won't want to block them.

    What the marketers don't understand is that the more annoying they get, the less eyeballs they receive because of more and more people use ad-ons like Adblock to avoid the annoyance. All they seem to understand is the lazy approach. Be loud! Be garish! Be anything but smart and honest!