Slight ammendment to that. Factoring is not necessarily "Hard". Factoring has, so far, been rather difficult. Nobody has publicly proven factoring to be hard. There may yet be a log(N) time algorithm to factor N. For all we know, the NSA might have such an algorithm. Factoring most numbers is really quite easy, and algorithms like Pollard's, ECM, and quadratic field sieves tackle harder ones pretty handily. The space of tractably-factorable integers is growing very rapidly. It was once thought that 56 bits should be strong enough for anybody...
I generate huge datasets on a fairly regular basis for my research. It is often very hard to find / prove an explicit formula, but for me, if data looks random, it's probably because of a bug. Furthermore, to justify future funding, every dataset comes with a clear and documented source, and most often the code that I used to generate it.
I'd venture to guess that it is very rare that you find huge blocks of noise in an unfamiliar format on a hard drive, unless the researcher specializes in crypto, data compression, or RNG.
Depends on the jurisdiction, depends on the crime. The case in question is in the UK, so the lady's basically fucked. In the US, you can locked away for interfering with federal investigation.
That's almost a good idea. This is a well-known technique which is vulnerable to simple filesize arithmetic. In other words, TrueCrypt won't save you unless the investigator is an idiot.
1) IANAL.
2) I am not familiar with the details of this case.
That said, I believe that there *is* a time and place where this sort of activity counts as reasonable search & seizure. Say the cops get a warrant to search your house, and you have a safe, and you say, "gee, officer, I have *no* idea how that safe got mounted behind that picture," nobody will believe you and you'll get subpoena'd for the combo. Encryption keys shouldn't be treated any differently from a combination to a safe. If there's a reasonable suspicion for evidence to be hidden somewhere, the cops have a duty to search it.
Until your boss's boss emails you, for the first time, because there's a catastrophic emergency that only you can fix. And it goes down to the bottom of the pile, with the spam. Whoops.
That, and an explosively pumped flux compression generator. The right antenna, and enough power, you could do some serious damage to pretty much any circuit within line of sight. Of course... if you can make one of these, you've probably got the skill to make a nuke. And if you have the dedication and the know-how, finding the fissible material wouldn't be that big a deal either.
Of course, YMMV. It's a contract -- both parties have to agree. You don't agree with your potential employer, and you don't get employed. It worked for me, though, and there's rarely harm in asking.
Yup. I saw that in a contract, told my soon-to-be boss that there was no way in hell that I'd ever sign such a thing, he talked to his lawyer, and we got it stricken from the contract. That easy.
Oh, there's still a meme to be had -- go around saying "bibbidy blib blib ip bibbib...". You'll be cool. 'Cause it's the latest internet meme. Which are cool.
Muscle mass is heavier than fat mass. If you're going to correct people on their inaccuracies, you should check yourself first. Mass is mass, regardless. Muscle has higher density than fat. That is true, and probably what you meant. But mass is mass, no matter the substance.
Unions brought us the 40-hour work week, you insensitive clod. Ever wonder why programmers are strong-armed into working 60+ hours a week, and this is standard in few other professions? It's because they don't belong to a union.
You have to accept that many moderators are biased. No single post is going to be a "significant hit" to your karma. Excellent is something like +50 or so, IIRC. Two or three friggin points is a drop in the bucket.
I don't understand why people think this is offtopic. However: don't be such a pansy about your karma. I've found that if you participate in the discussions and aren't consistently a jackass, the net karma flow is positive. If it drops below excellent once and a while, so what? You still get your precious +1. I don't really like the karma bonus, myself. I only use it when I know I'm gonna get modded down -- that way, the post stays afloat for a while longer, and has to possibility to get some replies.
I disagree. A significant amount of it will be good. Some of it will be bad, but probably not very much. If the prof is teaching the course this quarter, she'll probably be teaching it next year at the same time. If she doesn't cull / correct the bad articles, she can re-assign students to fix 'em. Great thing about Wikipedia -- once there's an article, it gets seen and edited by a handful, to dozens of people, depending on the subject matter. So even a crappy article can be made awesome. This is definately a good thing.
Read the Declaration of Independence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. The people have zero reason to trust the government. The government exists to secure our rights, and it is the duty of the citizens of any democracy to keep an ever-watchful eye on the government. Damn right we don't trust the government. Love your country, love your fellow man, but for shit's sake, watch your back.
Slashdot Mirror
Slight ammendment to that. Factoring is not necessarily "Hard". Factoring has, so far, been rather difficult. Nobody has publicly proven factoring to be hard. There may yet be a log(N) time algorithm to factor N. For all we know, the NSA might have such an algorithm. Factoring most numbers is really quite easy, and algorithms like Pollard's, ECM, and quadratic field sieves tackle harder ones pretty handily. The space of tractably-factorable integers is growing very rapidly. It was once thought that 56 bits should be strong enough for anybody...
I generate huge datasets on a fairly regular basis for my research. It is often very hard to find / prove an explicit formula, but for me, if data looks random, it's probably because of a bug. Furthermore, to justify future funding, every dataset comes with a clear and documented source, and most often the code that I used to generate it.
I'd venture to guess that it is very rare that you find huge blocks of noise in an unfamiliar format on a hard drive, unless the researcher specializes in crypto, data compression, or RNG.
Depends on the jurisdiction, depends on the crime. The case in question is in the UK, so the lady's basically fucked. In the US, you can locked away for interfering with federal investigation.
Parallelization *always* helps brute-force attacks. Bet your ass I'd use VM.
You keep big files of random numbers on your machine, and you're calling the *cop* stupid?
What decade are you in? A VM environment takes almost ZERO work:
Setup: dump disk to file
Iterate: make copy of file, boot VM, try passwords until success / disk wipe
That's almost a good idea. This is a well-known technique which is vulnerable to simple filesize arithmetic. In other words, TrueCrypt won't save you unless the investigator is an idiot.
1) IANAL.
2) I am not familiar with the details of this case.
That said, I believe that there *is* a time and place where this sort of activity counts as reasonable search & seizure. Say the cops get a warrant to search your house, and you have a safe, and you say, "gee, officer, I have *no* idea how that safe got mounted behind that picture," nobody will believe you and you'll get subpoena'd for the combo. Encryption keys shouldn't be treated any differently from a combination to a safe. If there's a reasonable suspicion for evidence to be hidden somewhere, the cops have a duty to search it.
Until your boss's boss emails you, for the first time, because there's a catastrophic emergency that only you can fix. And it goes down to the bottom of the pile, with the spam. Whoops.
WW2 comes to Web 2.0 in... Google Concentration Camp Simulator!
Oops. Godwin's law.
That, and an explosively pumped flux compression generator. The right antenna, and enough power, you could do some serious damage to pretty much any circuit within line of sight. Of course... if you can make one of these, you've probably got the skill to make a nuke. And if you have the dedication and the know-how, finding the fissible material wouldn't be that big a deal either.
Of course, YMMV. It's a contract -- both parties have to agree. You don't agree with your potential employer, and you don't get employed. It worked for me, though, and there's rarely harm in asking.
Yup. I saw that in a contract, told my soon-to-be boss that there was no way in hell that I'd ever sign such a thing, he talked to his lawyer, and we got it stricken from the contract. That easy.
Oh, there's still a meme to be had -- go around saying "bibbidy blib blib ip bibbib...". You'll be cool. 'Cause it's the latest internet meme. Which are cool.
Mass is mass, regardless. Muscle has higher density than fat. That is true, and probably what you meant. But mass is mass, no matter the substance.
Flash variety: http://www.teagames.com. I prefer motocross. Their games are generally pretty well done, and look nice.
Adventure-like: http://www.kingdomofloathing.com. I can't play this any more. It's too addictive. I get nothing else done in life.
Unions brought us the 40-hour work week, you insensitive clod. Ever wonder why programmers are strong-armed into working 60+ hours a week, and this is standard in few other professions? It's because they don't belong to a union.
Uzi Nissan will get old, and die. Chances are, his children will not care nearly so much. Nissan Auto will win.
An entropy in the hand, is better than two in the bush.
You have to accept that many moderators are biased. No single post is going to be a "significant hit" to your karma. Excellent is something like +50 or so, IIRC. Two or three friggin points is a drop in the bucket.
I don't understand why people think this is offtopic. However: don't be such a pansy about your karma. I've found that if you participate in the discussions and aren't consistently a jackass, the net karma flow is positive. If it drops below excellent once and a while, so what? You still get your precious +1. I don't really like the karma bonus, myself. I only use it when I know I'm gonna get modded down -- that way, the post stays afloat for a while longer, and has to possibility to get some replies.
I disagree. A significant amount of it will be good. Some of it will be bad, but probably not very much. If the prof is teaching the course this quarter, she'll probably be teaching it next year at the same time. If she doesn't cull / correct the bad articles, she can re-assign students to fix 'em. Great thing about Wikipedia -- once there's an article, it gets seen and edited by a handful, to dozens of people, depending on the subject matter. So even a crappy article can be made awesome. This is definately a good thing.
And Woz misses the apple hacking community. So sad. Strange, isn't it, that Apple hates their most hardcore fans?