Slashdot Mirror


User: maxwell+demon

maxwell+demon's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
12,279
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 12,279

  1. Re:Privacy laws on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    An open window to your house isn't projecting it's contents into the world. It's a passive open access.

    An open wifi network in your house is broadcasting it's presence and contents. It's an active open access.

    What if it's dark outside and the lights are on in the room?

  2. Re:Privacy laws on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    They didn't take a survey of car models. They noted the license plates and made photos of the car's interior.

  3. Re:StreetView on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    That's as irrelevant to the question of Google recording wifi data as the quality of the music on Sony's CD was to the fact that they put a rootkit on it.

  4. Re:Privacy laws on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    Wrong analogy. Open WiFi is like opening your windows and then walking naked in front of it (or do anything else that you want to keep private) and then be mad at somebody else when they see you.

    s/see you/photograph you/

    Remember, it's not about seeing the data, it's about recording it.

  5. Re:Privacy laws on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So this implies that listening is ok?

    In Germany, it isn't. But more importantly, recording isn't OK. Recording is different than listening, and it's sometimes OK to listen but not to record. For example, if someone has sex in a room with the window open, and you can see it from the street without problems (and without any technical aid), AFAIK you can watch as much as you want (at least as far as the law is concerned). However as soon as you use your cam to record it, you're in trouble.

  6. Re:A few things. on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    an unsecured network is by very definition PUBLIC. and in case you didnt realize PUBLIC is the opposite of PRIVATE.

    Where do you get your definitions from? Do you also think an open door means the house is public?

  7. Re:Google isn't evil on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    Actually it's apples which tend to rot, not huge numbers.

  8. Re:Getting punished for "doing the right thing" on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    It's sad, because it's exactly this sort of persecution which creates a culture where companies never admit anything, ever.

    Yeah, too bad we persecute violations of the law. If we wouldn't do it, maybe more people would admit violating the law.

  9. Re:reading between the lines on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    Surely that must be the reason why they only want one hard drive ...

  10. Re:Great News! on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    Besides, there's the obligatory troll, you know who *else* was a German government? Someone's gonna go there...

    And in the past, America had racial discrimination laws. Therefore the American government must consist of racists ...

  11. Re:Privacy laws on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    All you know is that the cop wants a little bit of the drug. Anything else is your induction. If he wanted to sell it himself, why would he settle with a small probe, instead of demanding all of it? Most likely he wants it to be analyzed, so he can tell what exactly the drug dealer was actually selling.

  12. Re:A few things. on Germany Demands Google Forfeit Citizens' Wi-Fi Data · · Score: 1

    accidental code reuse?

    Error reading post #32256070.
    (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)gnore, (F)ail?

  13. Re:this is the part that blew my mind: on Is Diaspora the Future of Free Software Funding? · · Score: 1

    Enough so that these individuals are willing to put cash up front, even before there is a single line of code.

    They should pay me instead. I already have some code:

    int main()
    {
    /* TODO: Finish this program. */
      return 0;
    }

  14. Re:XP + 3 TB?? on Seagate Confirms 3TB Hard Drive · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Perhaps you missed his comment "for newer machines"?

    Because there's no way anyone would attach old peripherals to newer machines ...

  15. Re:Great, now Google knows on Google Android Interface For the Chevy Volt · · Score: 1

    Well, now you can find it with a Google search.

  16. Re:Newtons Cradle on Quantum Entanglement and Photosynthesis · · Score: 1

    And where's the entanglement in Newton's cradle?
    OK, if we put it in a box and only release the first steel ball if a radioactive atom decays ... :-)

  17. Re:Gives new meaning to green computing. on Quantum Entanglement and Photosynthesis · · Score: 1

    "Where are your results?" - "A rabbit ate my computer."

  18. Re:Yet another nail in the coffin of vegetarianism on Quantum Entanglement and Photosynthesis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually you can also eat fruits: While the fruits are from plants, they are explicitly produced by the plants to be eaten (because that way they spread). Just don't eat or destroy the seed. Throw them on earth, so they have a chance to grow.

  19. Re:Biodiversity Is Priceless on Quantum Entanglement and Photosynthesis · · Score: 1, Troll

    Who's Shrodinger? I mean, I can understand dropping the dots of the ö, but I don't see a reason to drop the c.

  20. Re:Biodiversity Is Priceless on Quantum Entanglement and Photosynthesis · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And given that it's the only source of biological power (except for some exotic life forms in the deep sea), if it goes before we do, it will not be long before we go, too.

  21. Re:I Just Wrote an Open Source Book! on Trailer For Blender Open Movie Sintel Ready · · Score: 1

    I wrote it in Open Office, atop Linux, with a stuffed penguin on my desk.

    Sorry. I can't accept any open source books which are not written in LaTeX. :-)

  22. Re:Looking great on Trailer For Blender Open Movie Sintel Ready · · Score: 1

    If you do it early enough, your name may end up in the film credit scroll for everyone to see (see the section "DVD sponsors"). How many people are willing to pay for some ego boost?

  23. Re:How would they notice? on Google Says It Mistakenly Collected Wi-Fi Data While Mapping · · Score: 1

    Achieving 99% blunder-free system belongs to undergrad projects and a parallel universe from your dreams.

    No, you got it backwards. In the real universe, all software is perfect. You are just currently in a nightmare. But don't worry, in a few minutes your perfect alarm clock will wake you up (in a perfect way which doesn't in any way disturb you, but you'll get awake in a happy state), and you can tell your nightmare to the digital psychiatrist (which of course is better than a human psychiatrist could ever be).

  24. Re:Ob on NIST Releases Updated Handbook of Math Functions · · Score: 1

    Corrolary 1.2:

    The score function is not strictly positive on the set of posts.

  25. Re:It has external dependancies on Beautifully Rendered Music Notation With HTML5 · · Score: 1

    Oops, sorry, I noticed too late that it's for JavaScript ... forget that post.