Re:Article needs a course in experimental design
on
The Data-Driven Life
·
· Score: 1
When researchers doing a double-blind study of the efficacy of a drug notice that half the subjects appear to have been cured of the target disease by the end of the first week they do not declare the study a failure. The point is to have no a priori knowledge as to which is placebo and which is real.
> I'm running out of places to hide the bodies of the people that deliver the > mail.
They're ok: computers are their enemies too. Just make sure all your mail is hand-written and hand-addressed. As soon as you receive anything machine printed you have to move (and don't give a forwarding address: they use computers for that).
> In this glorious future, they can collect a bunch of data about all aspects > of their life, and someone will tell them what they're doing right/wrong, > and what they should change.
No. They won't collect the data. They'll "outsource" that to: they'll buy a dohicky from Apple (or Google will give them one). It will upload the data to "the cloud"[1] and they will get back "suggestions"
[1] "The cloud" is going to become the popular term for any sort of off-site processing or storage regardless of whether it involves Amazon's EC2 or a mainframe in a basement in Chicago.
Re:Article needs a course in experimental design
on
The Data-Driven Life
·
· Score: 2, Informative
> So if you wanted to know the effect of coffee intake on your productivity -- > not the population in general, but you personally; remember that caffeine is > a drug to which many people react idiosyncratically -- how would you suggest > designing the experiment?
Buy a can of decaf, a can of regular, and two containers. Label one container "A" and one "B". Have an assistant put the decaf in one and the regular in the other out of your sight and record which is which without letting you see the record. Toss a coin and swap the labels if it comes up heads without letting the assitant see whether you do so or not. Record this, without letting the assistant see. Now no one knows which container has the regular. Drink coffee from "A" for six weeks, recording whatever objective measures you are interested in. Switch to "B" and repeat. Do this three or four times. Analyze your data for systematic differences between "A" and "B". Now compare your assitant's record of which container she put the regular in with your record of whether or not you swapped the labels to determine which data pertains to regular and which to decaf.
> In the data-driven future I plan to be Blank Reg (look it up).
But you had a FaceSpace account, which you admit cannot be undone. You probably have a Google account as well. Too late for you.
BTW unsurprisingly the concept is not original with Max Headroom. You should be saying "My Name Is Legion", but, as I noted, it's too late for you. It may be too late for me as well, but I'm closer than you are.
I didn't say there could be no consequences. I said that no HIPAA penalties apply. He could be fired, sued, perhaps even prosecuted for computer fraud and abuse. He cannot. however, be subjected to any HIPAA penalties because HIPAA does not apply to him.
Point out to them that their encryption software is not working well when installed on employee-owned machines and therefor may not be making those machines secure. Try to do this without implying that they are incompetent or that the software is crap, even though both are probably true. Also point out that some employees may be tempted to remove the software without telling them. Suggest that a better solution would be to ban private computers entirely and provide laptops to those who need off-site access. Explain to your boss that because of your concerns about the stability of the encryption software and the risks to you and to the hospital of having sensitive information on your computer that you intend to cease using your personal machines for work. Emphasize your concern about the risks to the hospital.
...gopher was a menu-driven text-only precursor to the Web...
What do you mean, "was"? Gopher still works fine. There are dozens of servers out there. See quux.org or just install your Linux distribution's gopher package and fire it up.
The city of San Francisco has cops, jails, and prosecutors. If the mayor gets mad at you, one of his employees, he can arrest you, throw you in jail, and prosecute you as he did Childs. A private company has to convince a disinterested prosecutor to go after you. While not impossible, that's much harder. I suspect that if the circumstances had been exactly the same except that Childs had been working for a private company he might have been sued but almost certainly not prosecuted.
>...a bunch of crooks who care so little about the common good that if > regulators aren't going Big Brother on them every nanosecond they'll steal > everything that isn't nailed down and cheat everyone who isn't paying 110% > attention to every detail of their lives.
That pretty much describes the entire human race. Including the "regulators".
> Should I just silently accept them screwing with me and not voice my > concerns?
No. You are supposed to rant selfrightously about evil, greedy corporations and demand that the government "regulate" them into forcing whatever it is that you want on all their customers whether they want it or not, but never make any attempt to communicate your concerns to the company in question. That's the Slashdot way.
> I love how the general slashdot public has this "I should be able to do what > I want with my property" attitude with things like file sharing. But when an > ISP decides to use that same logic (since you are using their lines to access > the Internet) you get pissed off.
I see no contradiction in this specific case. They can do what they want with their property and he can take his business elsewhere if he doesn't like it. He did them the courtesy of telling them what they were doing that he didn't like so that they could consider changing it.
Slashdot Mirror
It's missing the irritating cutesy "humor".
When researchers doing a double-blind study of the efficacy of a drug notice that half the subjects appear to have been cured of the target disease by the end of the first week they do not declare the study a failure. The point is to have no a priori knowledge as to which is placebo and which is real.
> The worst is when someone finds out you exist.
It only counts if they tell the computers.
> I'm running out of places to hide the bodies of the people that deliver the
> mail.
They're ok: computers are their enemies too. Just make sure all your mail is hand-written and hand-addressed. As soon as you receive anything machine printed you have to move (and don't give a forwarding address: they use computers for that).
> In this glorious future, they can collect a bunch of data about all aspects
> of their life, and someone will tell them what they're doing right/wrong,
> and what they should change.
No. They won't collect the data. They'll "outsource" that to: they'll buy a dohicky from Apple (or Google will give them one). It will upload the data to "the cloud"[1] and they will get back "suggestions"
[1] "The cloud" is going to become the popular term for any sort of off-site processing or storage regardless of whether it involves Amazon's EC2 or a mainframe in a basement in Chicago.
n/t
> So if you wanted to know the effect of coffee intake on your productivity --
> not the population in general, but you personally; remember that caffeine is
> a drug to which many people react idiosyncratically -- how would you suggest
> designing the experiment?
Buy a can of decaf, a can of regular, and two containers. Label one container "A" and one "B". Have an assistant put the decaf in one and the regular in the other out of your sight and record which is which without letting you see the record. Toss a coin and swap the labels if it comes up heads without letting the assitant see whether you do so or not. Record this, without letting the assistant see. Now no one knows which container has the regular. Drink coffee from "A" for six weeks, recording whatever objective measures you are interested in. Switch to "B" and repeat. Do this three or four times. Analyze your data for systematic differences between "A" and "B". Now compare your assitant's record of which container she put the regular in with your record of whether or not you swapped the labels to determine which data pertains to regular and which to decaf.
> In the data-driven future I plan to be Blank Reg (look it up).
But you had a FaceSpace account, which you admit cannot be undone. You probably have a Google account as well. Too late for you.
BTW unsurprisingly the concept is not original with Max Headroom. You should be saying "My Name Is Legion", but, as I noted, it's too late for you. It may be too late for me as well, but I'm closer than you are.
I didn't say there could be no consequences. I said that no HIPAA penalties apply. He could be fired, sued, perhaps even prosecuted for computer fraud and abuse. He cannot. however, be subjected to any HIPAA penalties because HIPAA does not apply to him.
> ...plus whatever penalties HIPPA can be used to bring to bear.
Which is none. HIPAA applies to health care providers, not their employees.
> Lying, therefore would be stupid, the act of a total moron.
So we can expect at least half a dozen of his cow-orkers to do it.
Point out to them that their encryption software is not working well when installed on employee-owned machines and therefor may not be making those machines secure. Try to do this without implying that they are incompetent or that the software is crap, even though both are probably true. Also point out that some employees may be tempted to remove the software without telling them. Suggest that a better solution would be to ban private computers entirely and provide laptops to those who need off-site access. Explain to your boss that because of your concerns about the stability of the encryption software and the risks to you and to the hospital of having sensitive information on your computer that you intend to cease using your personal machines for work. Emphasize your concern about the risks to the hospital.
> What universe do you live in?
One where involuntary servitude is illegal. He doesn't have to continue working there.
What do you mean, "was"? Gopher still works fine. There are dozens of servers out there. See quux.org or just install your Linux distribution's gopher package and fire it up.
> Have you ever seen someone try to take a wheeled vehicle on one of the
> hiking trails in the Grand Canyon?
Have you ever seen someone try to take a humanoid robot on one of the
hiking trails in the Grand Canyon?
I agree that the guy screwed up and deserved to be fired and maybe even sued, but sending him to prison is ludicrous.
The lesson I see here is never take a job with government (or at least not with the city of San Francisco).
The city of San Francisco has cops, jails, and prosecutors. If the mayor gets mad at you, one of his employees, he can arrest you, throw you in jail, and prosecute you as he did Childs. A private company has to convince a disinterested prosecutor to go after you. While not impossible, that's much harder. I suspect that if the circumstances had been exactly the same except that Childs had been working for a private company he might have been sued but almost certainly not prosecuted.
> Hey, you want the password? yeah its p@ssw0rd. Tell your friends!
Violating policy by giving passwords to people who are not authorized to have them? Obviously computer fraud and abuse. Off to prison you go.
That is what jury nullification is for. Unfortunately, most jurors don't know about it and the judges refuse to tell them. Thus the FIJA .
> ... which is precisely why there is regulation in every civilised society on
> the planet, and no such thing as a 100% capitalist society.
People do not become superhuman when they become part of government. They merely acquire power over other people.
> ...a bunch of crooks who care so little about the common good that if
> regulators aren't going Big Brother on them every nanosecond they'll steal
> everything that isn't nailed down and cheat everyone who isn't paying 110%
> attention to every detail of their lives.
That pretty much describes the entire human race. Including the "regulators".
> Should I just silently accept them screwing with me and not voice my
> concerns?
No. You are supposed to rant selfrightously about evil, greedy corporations and demand that the government "regulate" them into forcing whatever it is that you want on all their customers whether they want it or not, but never make any attempt to communicate your concerns to the company in question. That's the Slashdot way.
> I love how the general slashdot public has this "I should be able to do what
> I want with my property" attitude with things like file sharing. But when an
> ISP decides to use that same logic (since you are using their lines to access
> the Internet) you get pissed off.
I see no contradiction in this specific case. They can do what they want with their property and he can take his business elsewhere if he doesn't like it. He did them the courtesy of telling them what they were doing that he didn't like so that they could consider changing it.
> . . .they really need to read the last 40 years of Science [sciencemag.org].
NPR is a news organization. They don't employ anyone capable of comprehending it.
+5 troll.
> And they wonder why some of us are so skeptical.
"They" being the hippies, I assume? Perhaps you should quit listening to hippies and start paying attention to science.
And run it on high-sulfur fuel. Sure it smells a bit, but it's Green! Really!