The point is for you to use Google Voice and have only a voice plan as a backup.
That only worked on T-Mo if you had MyFaves. You would put your assigned Google Voice number and the outgoing number that GV calls when you dial through it into MyFaves. Then your calls would be free. Against your TOS, though, and I believe that T-Mobile has since gotten rid of the MyFaves option. Not sure about that. I still have MyFaves on my contract (it runs out in about 18 months) so until then I'll enjoy free calling. Although, oddly enough, while I only have the 300 minutes/month voice plan, I've never gone over since I started using my G1. Between Google Voice voice mail transcripts and IMAP email, I don't actually make or take that many calls anymore.
I don't quite see the relevance in your comment. Oh, sure, I grok that you are saying that the U.S. strongarms other nations into compliance with our laws... but, you know, your comment doesn't apply just to the U.S. I mean, that's what the big boys do. It's what China does, it's what Russia does, it's what all the major powers do if they can get away with it, so I see no reason to bother bringing that up. It's especially irrelevant given that we're talking about China, which has never made a habit of kow-towing to any other country's laws. Cripes. If you want to America-bash find something more interesting to talk about. I'm an American and I could offer you a few pointers in that regard, there's plenty to go around.
as far as I know, China isn't obligated to follow what the US Constitution says.
And you'd be wrong, so far as China doing business in the United States is concerned. Any interests they have over here are very much subject to U.S. law, as ours are subject to Chinese law when we do business in China (remember the whole debacle over Google and Yahoo caving into the Chinese government over search requests.) And even though this case is being filed in the U.S., should the Chinese government lose the case (and there's a damn good chance they will) there are probably substantial Chinese assets in the U.S. that could be seized to provide redress. Time will tell. Of course, whether our Federal Government will even allow the case to proceed and risk pissing off our economic "partner" is another story entirely.
A lot of copyright laws are international, and China is a signatory.
They could, however, say "We're the fifth of the Earth's population, fucker", and make their own rules. A country of a billion does not automatically have to accept the rules of 300 million.
Nor do we have to accept any rules they make, unless they want to send some of that billion over here to occupy us. Not saying that couldn't happen, but it's not going to happen over a copyright case.
Besides, nobody is trying to say that U.S. law should apply anywhere but in the United States. But China has made a number of trade agreements, signed some treaties, and it's going to be interesting to see if they're willing to live up to those obligations. My guess is they won't.
Using innocent and unsuspecting members of the public to do it though seems like a pretty fucked up thing to be doing and I hope whoevers idea this was gets punished appropriately.
They're damn lucky nobody got killed. You get a bunch of nervous cops around suspected explosives-wielding terrorists (even if they're just dupes) and there's a good chance somebody might get shot. This was irresponsibility at a level that indicates mental illness on somebody's part.
No, more correctly put, that's what it is to be not obviously Muslim in America. I've seen black people, Oriental people, people from all kinds of countries not normally associated with terrorism pass similar situations with equal ease. But if you have a Middle Eastern look about you (even if you're a true-blue dyed-in-the-wool Honest-to-God AMERICAN) you will likely be hassled with extreme prejudice. And that's the way the majority want it, because everyone knows that you can pick out the terrorists just by looking.
d what he conveniently doesn't mention is that lesser-known artists get some benefit from the increased exposure by having their songs available to millions.
True, but when you get right down to it, "lesser-known" artists don't get squat from the record companies, unless some exec decides that said artists music happens to fit in with whatever marketing plans are in force. Even then, they're generally robbed blind by the one-sided contracts they have to sign to even get the chance for some exposure.
The Internet and live performance are about the only ways that "lesser-known" artists get any exposure at all, much less derive any revenue from their work. Furthermore, the roadblock that record companies put between the creative elements of society and those who enjoy their work explains why so many lesser-known artists are eschewing the traditional route and going online at the earliest opportunity.
The music industry has never served the interests of its suppliers (the artists themselves) and has not served the needs of the buying public for a long time.
Re:This is the epitome of security through obscuri
on
GSM Decryption Published
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
If that's not security through obscurity, I don't know what is.
So? What has that to do with whether or not he actually did what he says he did? It's not even worth mentioning. A good encryption system should not depend upon the presumed illegality of breaking it.
says Claire Cranton, a GSM spokeswoman, noting that no one else had broken the code since its adoption.
That you know of, lady. If this guy really has cracked it, odds are someone else has sometime in the past two decades, but wasn't kind enough to so inform you.
Theres nothing funny about racist jokes. Leave that junk on 4chan and Digg.
I disagree. And let me point out that, as someone of Greek extraction, I personally have been the butt of many jokes over the years ("... so the Jew bent over, and the Greek disappeared", yeah I know, that's an oldie, but it manages to slam Jews, Italians and Greeks simultaneously.) I'm also part Irish, and if you have any awareness of ethnic humor at all you'd know how much ribbing I've taken from that part of my typically American polycultural background. "What do Irish do on their first date? Get drunk and have sex. What do the Irish do on their second date? Get drunk and have sex", etc., etc. Etc. Still, I accept them with good humor and in the spirit in which they were told. That's because I've found that people with high horses often fall off of them.
The way I look at this, if you're so goddamn proud of your heritage that you just can't stand to see anyone poke fun at it, well, you are the one with issues. In fact, maybe you aren't so proud of your background as you want other people to believe. Yes, it's true sometimes such "jokes" are told with mean-spirited intent: the best response then is to laugh uproariously and say to the teller, "Good one!", and file it away for future use. I've picked up quite a few that way.
Heck, I've got a fine collection of Greek and Irish jokes somewhere on my network here, and some of them are truly hysterical. My family and friends have all told them and laughed at them (and each other.) I'm also part German and if any of you have some good German jokes I'd appreciate your passing them along.
So it simply is not true that "racist" jokes are never funny. They're just not funny to certain people, and I feel sorry for them, because if you can't laugh at yourself then you have something wrong with you. Humor, racist or otherwise, is a powerful binding force that crosses racial boundaries like nothing else, if we let it.
Also, it's worth pointing out that the bulk of what human beings find "funny" is at someone else's expense, whether race is involved or not. That's just the way it is. Don't believe me? Just ask Moe, Larry or Curly (or Shemp, if you prefer.) Maybe the whole human race is mentally ill at some level, but trying to pretend that we don't find the discomfiture of others humorous at times is just denying what is. Such denial makes some individuals feel superior, I've noticed, but in reality they're just insecure and uptight.
The world is, and always will be, full of things that will offend us all at different times and different places. Learning to handle such affronts with grace and dignity is a major part of growing up.
So IQ is measured by the number of obscure insults you know?
To most people in my country (you know, where we have Native Americans, who at one point were known as "Indians") the term "Indian Giver" is not remotely obscure. And yes, it is a minor insult but one which was perfectly in line with the original poster's remark (he gave in good faith and then took the gift back.) Nor do I feel the need to concern myself as to whether those who are not familiar with colloquialisms common to American English understand those references. Besides, I'd have been happy to explain it to you if you'd bothered to ask. Instead, you chose to be an ass.
Fortunately most Slashdotters have more understanding of basic etiquette or this place would be intolerable.
Does the "fresh air" resulting from my publishing that you like to wear women's clothing and are having an affair with a male cubicle mate make you less inclined to indulge that behaviour?
Yes, actually, it probably would. But I agree: for the average citizen that information should remain private. However, public figures have to play by different rules, at least under U.S. law, and if those public figures happen to be people who make decisions that affect me... you're damn right I want to know about it. I may want to vote against them next time.
Yours takes the form of a zero-tolerance policy that, by definition, precludes any such requirements, or any thinking generally.
The only zero-tolerance around here I see is yours. I made no such statement, and quite deliberately limited my remarks to governments and corporations that do bad things to people. And yes, if a corporation has dirty laundry it should be aired: they have way too much power in most societies as it is, and coverups rarely do any long-term good. The more the business world gets away with murder (in many cases, literally) the more comfortable they're going to feel in continuing their bad behavior. And as for government... well, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish but the same arguments apply. The disease of unaccountability is infecting more and more levels of government and corporate leadership, and there's only one way to put a stop to that.
So feel free to disagree... but don't make shit up. That's just irritating.
Theres nothing funny about racist jokes. Leave that junk on 4chan and Digg.
Ever heard the term "Indian giver"? I guess your subtlety threshold is cranked way too high this evening. Instead, I get lectures on racism and have to explain a simple joke that was apparently over your head.
Some things have no business being leaked or their leaking can lead to unintended consequences.
Perhaps. On the other hand, stuff that should get leaked but doesn't can also have negative consequences. It cuts both ways, my friend, and the problem is that government, for one, too often uses the mantra of "national security" to hide its nastier activities. The private sector is rarely any better, mainly because in both cases they know the odds are they'll get away with it. Me, I think it's better to err on the side of caution, and let a little fresh air in now and then. If those whose deeds need covering-up know that a very public exposure is just a mouse-click away... maybe they'll be less inclined to perform those deeds in the future. Maybe that qualifies as an unintended consequence, but if so, I'm all for it.
I post this in the expectation group-think will mark the comment down as a "troll"
The common backup around here seems to be a simple venturi, driven with tapwater. It's wasteful, since water pressure is a fairly expensive way to produce work, but it'll generally work until the power comes back on (however long that takes). Not quite as good as a battery system, I suppose, since it can't run in total isolation...but it's a lot simpler, with a lot fewer things to go wrong.
Everything you said is perfectly true, but this was a lot more fun to put together.
While I will admit that my case is not typical, I think it's foolish of you to dismiss this technology out of hand.
I'm not... but then again, it all depends upon your particular situation. Where I live, power happens to be very reliable so an investment of this sort wouldn't be worth it for me. On the other hand, as I mentioned in another post, my girlfriend's family is north African, and their power is horribly unreliable (you get outages every couple of weeks, they may only get power for a day or two at a time if they're lucky and it may go on and off several times a day) and the power company personnel are corrupt and often try to extort money in order to get the power back on. So in their situation, a battery system would be extremely beneficial (they have a diesel generator, but as you say that has issues as well.) We've been discussing the possibility of installing a battery system there for some time now.
Even so, a good diesel generator would be a good thing to have when your outage lasts beyond your battery capacity.
while doing very little to help in catastrophic outages that stretch beyond its backup time.
True, but on the other hand, if you were in the middle of such a catastrophic outage you might be able to reduce your power demand quite a bit. Crank the fridge and freezer up a few degrees, forget the air conditioner in the summer and turn the furnace down a few degrees in the winter. Don't use the big projection TV, turn off all the computers that aren't being used, let your hair air dry instead of the 1500 watt blow dryer... basically, act like you're living in 1965 and you'd stretch that battery a long ways.
Even so, I'd still like a nice 20 kW diesel in reserve.
Power companies are like record companies: they don't want anything to interfere with the way they distribute their wares, even if those changes might prove highly beneficial and profitable.
I appreciate the input, but I'm not drawing anywhere near 2.4 Kw from that inverter. When it runs (and it hasn't for the past three years) I'm only running a sump pump with it, rated at maybe 700 watts (I don't know what the starting surge current is though.) I know the inverter is overrated for the job, but then again I got it pretty cheap on EBay (it was a Navy design, actually.) I have an ammeter and a voltmeter on the battery, and I've never drawn it down below about 80% charge, and that was only when I let it run for a while when I originally put it together. Mostly it just sits there on float. There are 200A block fuses at the battery (for short-circuit protection, Hawker's have very low internal resistance and can dump a lot of charge very quickly) and the inverter has it's own fusing.
I'm using an industrial float charger (a smart design supposedly, has several different charge profiles that it uses based upon battery state) but it'll never put 30A into that battery. That's just the maximum rating. I have it on the lowest setting (max eight amps, if I remember right.) I don't mind if it takes a long time to recharge, this is just a sump pump backup, and like I said, it doesn't run very often.
I did look into the idea of a DC-powered pump, but I couldn't find anything that was remotely affordable at the time.
Slashdot Mirror
The point is for you to use Google Voice and have only a voice plan as a backup.
That only worked on T-Mo if you had MyFaves. You would put your assigned Google Voice number and the outgoing number that GV calls when you dial through it into MyFaves. Then your calls would be free. Against your TOS, though, and I believe that T-Mobile has since gotten rid of the MyFaves option. Not sure about that. I still have MyFaves on my contract (it runs out in about 18 months) so until then I'll enjoy free calling. Although, oddly enough, while I only have the 300 minutes/month voice plan, I've never gone over since I started using my G1. Between Google Voice voice mail transcripts and IMAP email, I don't actually make or take that many calls anymore.
I believe that is "I thinks"
Me thinks therefore me are.
No, it's "Ah tinks, derefore, ah is."
Do try to keep up.
I don't quite see the relevance in your comment. Oh, sure, I grok that you are saying that the U.S. strongarms other nations into compliance with our laws ... but, you know, your comment doesn't apply just to the U.S. I mean, that's what the big boys do. It's what China does, it's what Russia does, it's what all the major powers do if they can get away with it, so I see no reason to bother bringing that up. It's especially irrelevant given that we're talking about China, which has never made a habit of kow-towing to any other country's laws. Cripes. If you want to America-bash find something more interesting to talk about. I'm an American and I could offer you a few pointers in that regard, there's plenty to go around.
as far as I know, China isn't obligated to follow what the US Constitution says.
And you'd be wrong, so far as China doing business in the United States is concerned. Any interests they have over here are very much subject to U.S. law, as ours are subject to Chinese law when we do business in China (remember the whole debacle over Google and Yahoo caving into the Chinese government over search requests.) And even though this case is being filed in the U.S., should the Chinese government lose the case (and there's a damn good chance they will) there are probably substantial Chinese assets in the U.S. that could be seized to provide redress. Time will tell. Of course, whether our Federal Government will even allow the case to proceed and risk pissing off our economic "partner" is another story entirely.
A lot of copyright laws are international, and China is a signatory.
They could, however, say "We're the fifth of the Earth's population, fucker", and make their own rules. A country of a billion does not automatically have to accept the rules of 300 million.
Nor do we have to accept any rules they make, unless they want to send some of that billion over here to occupy us. Not saying that couldn't happen, but it's not going to happen over a copyright case.
Besides, nobody is trying to say that U.S. law should apply anywhere but in the United States. But China has made a number of trade agreements, signed some treaties, and it's going to be interesting to see if they're willing to live up to those obligations. My guess is they won't.
Using innocent and unsuspecting members of the public to do it though seems like a pretty fucked up thing to be doing and I hope whoevers idea this was gets punished appropriately.
They're damn lucky nobody got killed. You get a bunch of nervous cops around suspected explosives-wielding terrorists (even if they're just dupes) and there's a good chance somebody might get shot. This was irresponsibility at a level that indicates mental illness on somebody's part.
This is what it is to be white in America.
No, more correctly put, that's what it is to be not obviously Muslim in America. I've seen black people, Oriental people, people from all kinds of countries not normally associated with terrorism pass similar situations with equal ease. But if you have a Middle Eastern look about you (even if you're a true-blue dyed-in-the-wool Honest-to-God AMERICAN) you will likely be hassled with extreme prejudice. And that's the way the majority want it, because everyone knows that you can pick out the terrorists just by looking.
That is the stupidest thing I think I have ever heard.
You must be new to Slashdot. Believe me, that was far from the stupidest thing I've read around here.
d what he conveniently doesn't mention is that lesser-known artists get some benefit from the increased exposure by having their songs available to millions.
True, but when you get right down to it, "lesser-known" artists don't get squat from the record companies, unless some exec decides that said artists music happens to fit in with whatever marketing plans are in force. Even then, they're generally robbed blind by the one-sided contracts they have to sign to even get the chance for some exposure.
The Internet and live performance are about the only ways that "lesser-known" artists get any exposure at all, much less derive any revenue from their work. Furthermore, the roadblock that record companies put between the creative elements of society and those who enjoy their work explains why so many lesser-known artists are eschewing the traditional route and going online at the earliest opportunity.
The music industry has never served the interests of its suppliers (the artists themselves) and has not served the needs of the buying public for a long time.
If that's not security through obscurity, I don't know what is.
Technically, it's insecurity through stupidity.
called Mr. Nohl's efforts illegal
So? What has that to do with whether or not he actually did what he says he did? It's not even worth mentioning. A good encryption system should not depend upon the presumed illegality of breaking it.
says Claire Cranton, a GSM spokeswoman, noting that no one else had broken the code since its adoption.
That you know of, lady. If this guy really has cracked it, odds are someone else has sometime in the past two decades, but wasn't kind enough to so inform you.
Theres nothing funny about racist jokes. Leave that junk on 4chan and Digg.
I disagree. And let me point out that, as someone of Greek extraction, I personally have been the butt of many jokes over the years ("... so the Jew bent over, and the Greek disappeared", yeah I know, that's an oldie, but it manages to slam Jews, Italians and Greeks simultaneously.) I'm also part Irish, and if you have any awareness of ethnic humor at all you'd know how much ribbing I've taken from that part of my typically American polycultural background. "What do Irish do on their first date? Get drunk and have sex. What do the Irish do on their second date? Get drunk and have sex", etc., etc. Etc. Still, I accept them with good humor and in the spirit in which they were told. That's because I've found that people with high horses often fall off of them.
The way I look at this, if you're so goddamn proud of your heritage that you just can't stand to see anyone poke fun at it, well, you are the one with issues. In fact, maybe you aren't so proud of your background as you want other people to believe. Yes, it's true sometimes such "jokes" are told with mean-spirited intent: the best response then is to laugh uproariously and say to the teller, "Good one!", and file it away for future use. I've picked up quite a few that way.
Heck, I've got a fine collection of Greek and Irish jokes somewhere on my network here, and some of them are truly hysterical. My family and friends have all told them and laughed at them (and each other.) I'm also part German and if any of you have some good German jokes I'd appreciate your passing them along.
So it simply is not true that "racist" jokes are never funny. They're just not funny to certain people, and I feel sorry for them, because if you can't laugh at yourself then you have something wrong with you. Humor, racist or otherwise, is a powerful binding force that crosses racial boundaries like nothing else, if we let it.
Also, it's worth pointing out that the bulk of what human beings find "funny" is at someone else's expense, whether race is involved or not. That's just the way it is. Don't believe me? Just ask Moe, Larry or Curly (or Shemp, if you prefer.) Maybe the whole human race is mentally ill at some level, but trying to pretend that we don't find the discomfiture of others humorous at times is just denying what is. Such denial makes some individuals feel superior, I've noticed, but in reality they're just insecure and uptight.
The world is, and always will be, full of things that will offend us all at different times and different places. Learning to handle such affronts with grace and dignity is a major part of growing up.
So IQ is measured by the number of obscure insults you know?
To most people in my country (you know, where we have Native Americans, who at one point were known as "Indians") the term "Indian Giver" is not remotely obscure. And yes, it is a minor insult but one which was perfectly in line with the original poster's remark (he gave in good faith and then took the gift back.) Nor do I feel the need to concern myself as to whether those who are not familiar with colloquialisms common to American English understand those references. Besides, I'd have been happy to explain it to you if you'd bothered to ask. Instead, you chose to be an ass.
Fortunately most Slashdotters have more understanding of basic etiquette or this place would be intolerable.
Does the "fresh air" resulting from my publishing that you like to wear women's clothing and are having an affair with a male cubicle mate make you less inclined to indulge that behaviour?
Yes, actually, it probably would. But I agree: for the average citizen that information should remain private. However, public figures have to play by different rules, at least under U.S. law, and if those public figures happen to be people who make decisions that affect me ... you're damn right I want to know about it. I may want to vote against them next time.
Yours takes the form of a zero-tolerance policy that, by definition, precludes any such requirements, or any thinking generally.
The only zero-tolerance around here I see is yours. I made no such statement, and quite deliberately limited my remarks to governments and corporations that do bad things to people. And yes, if a corporation has dirty laundry it should be aired: they have way too much power in most societies as it is, and coverups rarely do any long-term good. The more the business world gets away with murder (in many cases, literally) the more comfortable they're going to feel in continuing their bad behavior. And as for government ... well, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish but the same arguments apply. The disease of unaccountability is infecting more and more levels of government and corporate leadership, and there's only one way to put a stop to that.
... but don't make shit up. That's just irritating.
So feel free to disagree
Theres nothing funny about racist jokes. Leave that junk on 4chan and Digg.
Ever heard the term "Indian giver"? I guess your subtlety threshold is cranked way too high this evening. Instead, I get lectures on racism and have to explain a simple joke that was apparently over your head.
it was just a nonsensical statement with something about Native Americans.
Ever heard of the term "indian giver"?
It's even on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_giver
Thank you. I was starting to think that Slashdot's collective IQ had suddenly dropped while I was away, but you've restored my faith.
Some things have no business being leaked or their leaking can lead to unintended consequences.
Perhaps. On the other hand, stuff that should get leaked but doesn't can also have negative consequences. It cuts both ways, my friend, and the problem is that government, for one, too often uses the mantra of "national security" to hide its nastier activities. The private sector is rarely any better, mainly because in both cases they know the odds are they'll get away with it. Me, I think it's better to err on the side of caution, and let a little fresh air in now and then. If those whose deeds need covering-up know that a very public exposure is just a mouse-click away ... maybe they'll be less inclined to perform those deeds in the future. Maybe that qualifies as an unintended consequence, but if so, I'm all for it.
I post this in the expectation group-think will mark the comment down as a "troll"
Yep.
He's probably native American.
Spare me from stupid mods that can't get a JOKE.
He's probably native American.
The common backup around here seems to be a simple venturi, driven with tapwater. It's wasteful, since water pressure is a fairly expensive way to produce work, but it'll generally work until the power comes back on (however long that takes). Not quite as good as a battery system, I suppose, since it can't run in total isolation...but it's a lot simpler, with a lot fewer things to go wrong.
Everything you said is perfectly true, but this was a lot more fun to put together.
While I will admit that my case is not typical, I think it's foolish of you to dismiss this technology out of hand.
I'm not ... but then again, it all depends upon your particular situation. Where I live, power happens to be very reliable so an investment of this sort wouldn't be worth it for me. On the other hand, as I mentioned in another post, my girlfriend's family is north African, and their power is horribly unreliable (you get outages every couple of weeks, they may only get power for a day or two at a time if they're lucky and it may go on and off several times a day) and the power company personnel are corrupt and often try to extort money in order to get the power back on. So in their situation, a battery system would be extremely beneficial (they have a diesel generator, but as you say that has issues as well.) We've been discussing the possibility of installing a battery system there for some time now.
Even so, a good diesel generator would be a good thing to have when your outage lasts beyond your battery capacity.
while doing very little to help in catastrophic outages that stretch beyond its backup time.
True, but on the other hand, if you were in the middle of such a catastrophic outage you might be able to reduce your power demand quite a bit. Crank the fridge and freezer up a few degrees, forget the air conditioner in the summer and turn the furnace down a few degrees in the winter. Don't use the big projection TV, turn off all the computers that aren't being used, let your hair air dry instead of the 1500 watt blow dryer ... basically, act like you're living in 1965 and you'd stretch that battery a long ways.
Even so, I'd still like a nice 20 kW diesel in reserve.
Power companies are like record companies: they don't want anything to interfere with the way they distribute their wares, even if those changes might prove highly beneficial and profitable.
Really? All power companies?
http://www.aps.com/main/green/choice/solar/default.html?source=hme
All? No ... I suppose not. But then again not all record companies are dicks.
Just most of them.
I appreciate the input, but I'm not drawing anywhere near 2.4 Kw from that inverter. When it runs (and it hasn't for the past three years) I'm only running a sump pump with it, rated at maybe 700 watts (I don't know what the starting surge current is though.) I know the inverter is overrated for the job, but then again I got it pretty cheap on EBay (it was a Navy design, actually.) I have an ammeter and a voltmeter on the battery, and I've never drawn it down below about 80% charge, and that was only when I let it run for a while when I originally put it together. Mostly it just sits there on float. There are 200A block fuses at the battery (for short-circuit protection, Hawker's have very low internal resistance and can dump a lot of charge very quickly) and the inverter has it's own fusing.
I'm using an industrial float charger (a smart design supposedly, has several different charge profiles that it uses based upon battery state) but it'll never put 30A into that battery. That's just the maximum rating. I have it on the lowest setting (max eight amps, if I remember right.) I don't mind if it takes a long time to recharge, this is just a sump pump backup, and like I said, it doesn't run very often.
I did look into the idea of a DC-powered pump, but I couldn't find anything that was remotely affordable at the time.
I don't trust lithium-ion technology enough to want something with that much capacity in my basement.
So, you keep it in a shed. What's the problem?
-jcr
I don't have a big enough shed.