I am pretty sure the real issue is file size and standards, not doctoring. As manufacturers keep ridiculously upping sensor MP size, photo sizes continue to balloon to larger and larger sizes. RAW files are notoriously huge and non-standard. The extra processing they are referring to is probably just the need to convert those various RAW files back to JPEG, which takes/wastes time/energy by their staff.
You would have to be a pretty big idiot to think that JPEG files are harder to doctor than RAW files. Any photo format can be used when exporting a doctored image... has nothing to do with how it is saved.
>"Google Car Pulled Over For Driving Too Slow, Doesn't Get a Ticket "
I think you mean "slowly" (echos of my HS English teacher are in my mind).
I can think of many times I am driving I wish others would get pulled over for driving too slowly:)
I do not look forward to the day of mixed autonomous vs. non-autonomous conflict on the road! At least I hope the autonomous vehicles are predictable..... somehow I doubt my motorcycle will be self-driving.
>"In the benchmarks, the new Skylake-U mobile chip is about 5 - 10 faster than Intel's previous generation Broadwell platform in CPU-intensive tasks"
That is 5 to 10 *PERCENT* faster. Not a huge whoop. Of course, any improvement is an improvement. (At first I was reading it as "5 to 10 times faster")
>Google has been stepping up its efforts to build higher quality Android phones
Then they shouldn't have ruined the Nexus 5X by giving it 4-year-old storage options and 4-year-old memory options and removing the wireless charging.
Just because some of us don't want a huge phone, doesn't mean we want weak specs. I was very disappointed because I have loved the Nexus 5 for two years and wanted to upgrade. Now, what is the point?
>" Nowadays OSX [MacOS] and [MS-]Windows caught up in these areas"
Oh really? Perhaps quite a bit in just THOSE few areas which you listed, but in nowhere NEAR all the areas for which many of us continue to choose Linux. It is nice that Linux forced other operating systems to suck less than they used to, however:)
>"and mainstream distros like Ubuntu dumbed down in default configuration."
So then use one of the other [superior and yet excellent] Linux distros. I, for one, have never selected to use Ubuntu on any of my systems (beyond testing).
>Internet speeds in Europe were all ahead of U.S. average speeds, and at lower prices.
But is that based on a simple exchange rate or as compared to average disposable income? Comparing prices from different economies/countries is not simple.
Answer (maybe): First they only considered prices in CA, NY, and CO. With the former two being likely some of the (if not the) highest pricing in the whole HUGE USA.
Then, they supposedly used a percentage of income instead of just "price", but it was TOTAL income, not "disposable" and presumably not post-taxed income. And there is no mention of if they included taxes on these services or not.
>"halt the rise of adblocking services by addressing common reader annoyances such as autoplay video, overly complex and slow-loading content, and excessive tracking."
Too late now, the damage is already done. Besides, more and more web sites are now just as annoying as the ads were with stupid an pointless moving/animated/scrolling content, overuse of numerous overlapping huge backgrounds and usually with transparency, pop-up everything, mouse-overs hidden over the whole page blocking the view of what you want to see, slide-ins, slide-outs, fadein/out on every object, etc, etc. I swear- in just one year the majority of sites are just FLOCKING to this stuff and even my fast machines are coming to a crawl loading and displaying these sites. It is a shame. I try to go places to research or buy things and find nothing but endlessly long pages full of nothing but marketing fluff and eye candy. There is barely any content anymore... the idea of adding ads back into that mix would be enough to push anyone over the edge.
>"Kashmir Hill reports at Fusion that DNA results from companies like 23andMe are being requested by law enforcement agencies"
Like this is a surprise to anyone???? Give me a break! Information shared with a third party can never really be secure, regardless of what is in their "privacy" policies. Even if they delete the results after transmitting them to the customer, the "dark side" can intercept the communications, plant bugs or malware, or put in redirectors WITH the company knowing it but with a gag order. And that is even assuming the company DOES comply with their own privacy policies (which I doubt they all do). And if the company does comply and there is no "dark side" involvement, customers still miss what is being done with their data in a sea of unreadable legalize policies.
The days of true privacy are OVER (unfortunately).
Yep, and you know, it was so necessary for that easily changed and security irrelevant information to be recorded and saved on their servers FOR YEARS.
I love my Nexus 5.1 except I really wanted some additional storage and some additional battery life. Otherwise it has been a fantastic phone, best I have ever used. Price was amazing. Great quality. Perfect size. Decent camera. Fast processor. Good signaling.
I have been excited to see what comes next... last year they decided all people suddenly want only large phones (6). Now the next Nexus 5 (5x) comes out and it is 16 or 32GB storage still? Two years later- it is almost 2016 and they offer only 16 or 32??? And same 2GB of memory? That for me is bad enough, but NO WIRELESS CHARGING???? That is a feature I absolutely love and use every day. Are they out of their minds?
Meanwhile the Nexus 6p has 64 and even 128GB storage and 3GB RAM? Why is it there is still this belief by most manufacturers that a smaller phone has to be lobotomized? WHY?
And yet we don't know if any particular device is only ever storing a hash (and only ever will). That is the primary issue. I simply have what I believe is a "healthy" paranoia based on observation and past experience regarding sensitive things outside our control and ability to examine.
What an enlightened response. You were probably posting the same thing when people like me were warning that the government was domestic spying. But yeah, we were just paranoid, the government would never do that....
It only ends if you give up your right to non-spyable cash. Unless, of course, you just want to carry cash in your pocket instead...
Besides, that not only doesn't address the "battery is dead" issue, it now further complicates things because I don't know about you, but I would never hand my PHONE to an officer!
That is my point, exactly. I am not voluntarily giving my prints and certainly not with my ID together. And that is the main reason why fingerprints are a horrible biometric.
>"Touch ID doesn't store any images of your fingerprint. It stores only a mathematical representation of your fingerprint. "
Yep, that is what they claim.
But the device *is* scanning your finger. And you don't REALLY know what the closed-source software is actually doing. And not all devices even claim to be storing only the "representation". And even the representation CAN be used to identify latent prints. I prefer to be 100% sure by not using such a thing; EVER. Fingerprints are lousy biometrics that have huge abuse potential. The only biometric I will submit to is deep vein scan. I don't go leaving my veins all over the place, and copying those is way beyond difficult.
Rarely do I ever hand my card to anyone (like maybe 1 in 100 transactions, when the card reader just doesn't work). And you are correct that I have not used mobile payments, but I have OBSERVED them, and I understand the process pretty well... at least as it was implemented in Google Wallet. And there is NO WAY I am voluntarily giving my finger print image to ANY entity, EVER.
I am all for having more options, but I think it is silly how many people think this is going to "totally change" everything or that it is revolutionary.
What SHOULD have happened a long time ago for card transactions was to simply place a PIN code restriction on purchases with credit cards (like we ALREADY do for debit/check/ATM cards). That would be just as easy for users as signing BUT it would have added some real security to the process. Alas....
I will happily take out my credit card from my wallet, which I have to carry ANYWAY (cash, driver's license, insurance cards, etc). To me it is no less accessible than my phone and far easier to use (find phone, unlock it, launch some stupid app, wait, make selections, whatever.... vs. swipe, click on OK, and perhaps sign). And my credit card, itself, is not always connected to a network, subject to remote hack, it also doesn't run out of battery. I really don't want yet another third party tracking what I do in addition to the credit company either.
1) Not allow all those ancillary apps to be a part of the OS image on the system partition. If they want them pre-installed, that is fine. But the user should be able to completely remove any app they want (not just "disable" them).
2) Allow as much 3rd party replacement as possible. And on this, Google already does a good job- it is easy in Android to use the launcher, browser, camera, app store, file manager, etc, of your choice.
3) Reduce dependencies- Don't require app or service X for app or service Y to work. This is a little complex and in some ways it is already pretty good in Android and in other ways not so much. I personally think Google went overboard with the Google+ crap. And they certainly are with Google NOW (which in some ways is the ultimate spyware). For example, I was recently being spammed by several Google apps about not having "NOW" turned on... to the point I actually had to block notifications from Google Play Services or something.
4) Don't have any agreements that prevent vendors from preinstalling whatever apps they want (as long as they are easily uninstallable). (Note- I detest bloatware, but understand why it exists).
>"Any biometric signature that has been digitized can then be used as an attack on a secure system, granted not by the same input system."
Yes, but unlike fingerprints, you can't use the vein data to create a fake palm or arm to trick physical scanners. At least, not without a tremendous amount of effort and complexity...
>"OPM Says 5.6 million Fingerprints Stolen In Cyberattack"
Which is why fingerprints and DNA should *NEVER* be given, taken, or stored as biometrics.
Deep vein scan. THAT is the only reasonable biometric. It is of almost no value if stolen, can't be misused easily, isn't left all over the place like fingerprints and DNA, is quite unique, contains no sensitive information about the person, is very difficult to fake, can't be easily collected or read without the user's knowledge, is fast and easy to collect and also to use.
>"What's your approach to detecting and dealing with Android malware"
Um, not turning on "allow unknown sources" and then installing a bunch of stolen/sketchy/unknown crap from shady/strange/random/unknown places. It mostly really is that simple. I have never had malware on any of my many Android devices.
Slashdot Mirror
I am pretty sure the real issue is file size and standards, not doctoring. As manufacturers keep ridiculously upping sensor MP size, photo sizes continue to balloon to larger and larger sizes. RAW files are notoriously huge and non-standard. The extra processing they are referring to is probably just the need to convert those various RAW files back to JPEG, which takes/wastes time/energy by their staff.
You would have to be a pretty big idiot to think that JPEG files are harder to doctor than RAW files. Any photo format can be used when exporting a doctored image... has nothing to do with how it is saved.
>"NASCAR is probably the most science/engineering oriented sport out there."
No, you are thinking of real racing, like Formula One :)
>"Google Car Pulled Over For Driving Too Slow, Doesn't Get a Ticket "
I think you mean "slowly" (echos of my HS English teacher are in my mind).
I can think of many times I am driving I wish others would get pulled over for driving too slowly :)
I do not look forward to the day of mixed autonomous vs. non-autonomous conflict on the road! At least I hope the autonomous vehicles are predictable..... somehow I doubt my motorcycle will be self-driving.
>"Nobel Prizes are given for making important â" preferably fundamental â" breakthroughs in the realm of ideas"
Um, not always. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
http://www.cracked.com/article...
Sometimes the Nobel prize is a joke.
>"In the benchmarks, the new Skylake-U mobile chip is about 5 - 10 faster than Intel's previous generation Broadwell platform in CPU-intensive tasks"
That is 5 to 10 *PERCENT* faster. Not a huge whoop. Of course, any improvement is an improvement. (At first I was reading it as "5 to 10 times faster")
>Google has been stepping up its efforts to build higher quality Android phones
Then they shouldn't have ruined the Nexus 5X by giving it 4-year-old storage options and 4-year-old memory options and removing the wireless charging.
Just because some of us don't want a huge phone, doesn't mean we want weak specs. I was very disappointed because I have loved the Nexus 5 for two years and wanted to upgrade. Now, what is the point?
>" Nowadays OSX [MacOS] and [MS-]Windows caught up in these areas"
Oh really? Perhaps quite a bit in just THOSE few areas which you listed, but in nowhere NEAR all the areas for which many of us continue to choose Linux. It is nice that Linux forced other operating systems to suck less than they used to, however :)
>"and mainstream distros like Ubuntu dumbed down in default configuration."
So then use one of the other [superior and yet excellent] Linux distros. I, for one, have never selected to use Ubuntu on any of my systems (beyond testing).
>Internet speeds in Europe were all ahead of U.S. average speeds, and at lower prices.
But is that based on a simple exchange rate or as compared to average disposable income? Comparing prices from different economies/countries is not simple.
Answer (maybe): First they only considered prices in CA, NY, and CO. With the former two being likely some of the (if not the) highest pricing in the whole HUGE USA.
Then, they supposedly used a percentage of income instead of just "price", but it was TOTAL income, not "disposable" and presumably not post-taxed income. And there is no mention of if they included taxes on these services or not.
>"halt the rise of adblocking services by addressing common reader annoyances such as autoplay video, overly complex and slow-loading content, and excessive tracking."
Too late now, the damage is already done. Besides, more and more web sites are now just as annoying as the ads were with stupid an pointless moving/animated/scrolling content, overuse of numerous overlapping huge backgrounds and usually with transparency, pop-up everything, mouse-overs hidden over the whole page blocking the view of what you want to see, slide-ins, slide-outs, fadein/out on every object, etc, etc. I swear- in just one year the majority of sites are just FLOCKING to this stuff and even my fast machines are coming to a crawl loading and displaying these sites. It is a shame. I try to go places to research or buy things and find nothing but endlessly long pages full of nothing but marketing fluff and eye candy. There is barely any content anymore... the idea of adding ads back into that mix would be enough to push anyone over the edge.
>"Kashmir Hill reports at Fusion that DNA results from companies like 23andMe are being requested by law enforcement agencies"
Like this is a surprise to anyone???? Give me a break! Information shared with a third party can never really be secure, regardless of what is in their "privacy" policies. Even if they delete the results after transmitting them to the customer, the "dark side" can intercept the communications, plant bugs or malware, or put in redirectors WITH the company knowing it but with a gag order. And that is even assuming the company DOES comply with their own privacy policies (which I doubt they all do). And if the company does comply and there is no "dark side" involvement, customers still miss what is being done with their data in a sea of unreadable legalize policies.
The days of true privacy are OVER (unfortunately).
>"Browser Tests Show Edge Fastest, But Weak On Standards"
And single platform. Doesn't run on Linux, MacOS, Android.
Yep, and you know, it was so necessary for that easily changed and security irrelevant information to be recorded and saved on their servers FOR YEARS.
I love my Nexus 5.1 except I really wanted some additional storage and some additional battery life. Otherwise it has been a fantastic phone, best I have ever used. Price was amazing. Great quality. Perfect size. Decent camera. Fast processor. Good signaling.
I have been excited to see what comes next... last year they decided all people suddenly want only large phones (6). Now the next Nexus 5 (5x) comes out and it is 16 or 32GB storage still? Two years later- it is almost 2016 and they offer only 16 or 32??? And same 2GB of memory? That for me is bad enough, but NO WIRELESS CHARGING???? That is a feature I absolutely love and use every day. Are they out of their minds?
Meanwhile the Nexus 6p has 64 and even 128GB storage and 3GB RAM? Why is it there is still this belief by most manufacturers that a smaller phone has to be lobotomized? WHY?
I am INCREDIBLY disappointed :( FAIL.
And yet we don't know if any particular device is only ever storing a hash (and only ever will). That is the primary issue. I simply have what I believe is a "healthy" paranoia based on observation and past experience regarding sensitive things outside our control and ability to examine.
What an enlightened response. You were probably posting the same thing when people like me were warning that the government was domestic spying. But yeah, we were just paranoid, the government would never do that....
So you want to carry TWO phones and a wallet. No thanks. Plastic card works just fine!
It only ends if you give up your right to non-spyable cash. Unless, of course, you just want to carry cash in your pocket instead...
Besides, that not only doesn't address the "battery is dead" issue, it now further complicates things because I don't know about you, but I would never hand my PHONE to an officer!
>Touched anything with your bare hands recently?
That is my point, exactly. I am not voluntarily giving my prints and certainly not with my ID together. And that is the main reason why fingerprints are a horrible biometric.
>"Touch ID doesn't store any images of your fingerprint. It stores only a mathematical representation of your fingerprint. "
Yep, that is what they claim.
But the device *is* scanning your finger. And you don't REALLY know what the closed-source software is actually doing. And not all devices even claim to be storing only the "representation". And even the representation CAN be used to identify latent prints. I prefer to be 100% sure by not using such a thing; EVER. Fingerprints are lousy biometrics that have huge abuse potential. The only biometric I will submit to is deep vein scan. I don't go leaving my veins all over the place, and copying those is way beyond difficult.
Rarely do I ever hand my card to anyone (like maybe 1 in 100 transactions, when the card reader just doesn't work). And you are correct that I have not used mobile payments, but I have OBSERVED them, and I understand the process pretty well... at least as it was implemented in Google Wallet. And there is NO WAY I am voluntarily giving my finger print image to ANY entity, EVER.
I am all for having more options, but I think it is silly how many people think this is going to "totally change" everything or that it is revolutionary.
What SHOULD have happened a long time ago for card transactions was to simply place a PIN code restriction on purchases with credit cards (like we ALREADY do for debit/check/ATM cards). That would be just as easy for users as signing BUT it would have added some real security to the process. Alas....
I will happily take out my credit card from my wallet, which I have to carry ANYWAY (cash, driver's license, insurance cards, etc). To me it is no less accessible than my phone and far easier to use (find phone, unlock it, launch some stupid app, wait, make selections, whatever.... vs. swipe, click on OK, and perhaps sign). And my credit card, itself, is not always connected to a network, subject to remote hack, it also doesn't run out of battery. I really don't want yet another third party tracking what I do in addition to the credit company either.
I just don't see the big whoop.
To me, a reasonable solution is to:
1) Not allow all those ancillary apps to be a part of the OS image on the system partition. If they want them pre-installed, that is fine. But the user should be able to completely remove any app they want (not just "disable" them).
2) Allow as much 3rd party replacement as possible. And on this, Google already does a good job- it is easy in Android to use the launcher, browser, camera, app store, file manager, etc, of your choice.
3) Reduce dependencies- Don't require app or service X for app or service Y to work. This is a little complex and in some ways it is already pretty good in Android and in other ways not so much. I personally think Google went overboard with the Google+ crap. And they certainly are with Google NOW (which in some ways is the ultimate spyware). For example, I was recently being spammed by several Google apps about not having "NOW" turned on... to the point I actually had to block notifications from Google Play Services or something.
4) Don't have any agreements that prevent vendors from preinstalling whatever apps they want (as long as they are easily uninstallable). (Note- I detest bloatware, but understand why it exists).
>"Any biometric signature that has been digitized can then be used as an attack on a secure system, granted not by the same input system."
Yes, but unlike fingerprints, you can't use the vein data to create a fake palm or arm to trick physical scanners. At least, not without a tremendous amount of effort and complexity...
>"OPM Says 5.6 million Fingerprints Stolen In Cyberattack"
Which is why fingerprints and DNA should *NEVER* be given, taken, or stored as biometrics.
Deep vein scan. THAT is the only reasonable biometric. It is of almost no value if stolen, can't be misused easily, isn't left all over the place like fingerprints and DNA, is quite unique, contains no sensitive information about the person, is very difficult to fake, can't be easily collected or read without the user's knowledge, is fast and easy to collect and also to use.
>"What's your approach to detecting and dealing with Android malware"
Um, not turning on "allow unknown sources" and then installing a bunch of stolen/sketchy/unknown crap from shady/strange/random/unknown places. It mostly really is that simple. I have never had malware on any of my many Android devices.