It is in Canada evidently.... Although it also is in the US, UK, AUS, and a fair few other places thanks to insanely broad anti-terrorism laws. If you talk to a "terrorist" even if you don't know they're a terrorist and have no intention of conducting terrorism you can be breaking the law.
But then again owning a standard middle school science book is also technically illegal depending on how you read the anti-terrorism act(s). So really it is just a thought crime. If they associate you with it they will nab you for it with or without evidence.
It is the same in this case... They want to make paedophilia a thought crime and thus if you are associated with it by anyone then you are breaking a law...
I remember that story a few weeks ago... Someone found a shotgun in their back garden (this is the UK) and called the local police station to tell them he is bringing it in. Well anyway long story short because it was loaded and the box also had ammo he ended up getting a minimum of I believe three years.
Yet another story, this time from the US.... Someone finds Meth, attempts to turn it into the police... Gets hit with possession of drugs. This anecdote was on a cops-like show no less.
So too bad for us that common sense fails so often even in a legal system that is designed to have "common sense" designed into it at at least three levels (Police, Prosecutors Office, and Judge). They love to use the excuse that they enforce the laws as written (when in reality laws are meant to be interpreted so exactly this kind of thing doesn't happen!).
The big principle difference is that in the physical world we can discover new things and invent better ways to do existing things. I am yet to see a single software patent that I feel is really a new invention that requires protection. If someone can link me a software patent that they feel was a new invention and that others might benefit from then by all means, I am happy to be proved wrong...
I like the subtle derogatory typecasting for "those people on the internet" (who disagree with widely held science). You do realise that if they provide mathematical proofs that they're providing a scientific and intellectual argument and thus should be given the same fair shake as anyone publishing from a Western University.
It is attitudes like this that drive people away from science.
I see a HUGE hole in this plan... So we can take DNA and build an incomplete profile of it. They want to use these limited profiles to match people for dating.
But what metric are they going to use to match people?
If they plan to match similar DNA then I question that since studies have shown that we're attracted to people with different immune systems.
If they plan to match people with very different DNA then I question that because there might be a huge culture clash.
If they plan to match people with very similar but slightly different DNA then how is that better than hobbies and or interests?
The short answer is "no." But by the very nature of asking if there is a stigma attached to something you're suggesting that there is.
Like - "Do you find that there is a stigma about work ethic attached to young men with mohawks?" I have just implied I believe there is and are asking for corroboration.
I don't care what experience someone has as long as they can write great code. Google on the other hand however won't hire you unless you have a Masters or PhD.
I love how ignorant of technology the legal profession is.
Take this case for example, nobody stopped to consider that he might have setup a HTTP proxy, VPN tunnel, or some other routing service? Why? Because neither the defence nor prosecution understand what they're talking about.
I would really like to see legal reforms that create new "specialist" branches of experts who exist only to explain the significance of particular areas to the court without actually taking sides in cases (e.g. Technology, Science, High-End Accounting, etc).
It is kind of funny, the lawyers spend TONS of time worrying that the jury won't understand the law. But they never stop to consider that the lawyers won't understand the evidence.
Ten years ago wasn't there talk about using renewable power to pump water up to higher ground and then release the water to generate electricity at a known rate with a known duration, etc. Turns unreliable power into highly reliable power with a little waste added into the process....
What does someone in the "security field" know about a digital forensics tool?
Very few people are actually in the security field and most who claim to be have posted a bug on a mailing list and setup a site talking about how to "hack" with Visual Basic.
Radar Guns aren't completely accurate all of the time. But a 40% increase is far beyond what you might expect from an incurrently calibrated radar guns. The only realistic alternative is hitting a car travelling in the other direction but since police are trained to only use a radar gun on a straight road and at a certain angle that might be unlikely too.
So in this case I would side with the police. Unless they're just flat out lying which I cannot discount.
I always liked that I got redirected to PayPal.com to enter my PayPal details. Allowing me to check the SSL certificate and avoiding certain kinds of phishing fraud. Plus keeping my login details out of the hands of third parties who might enjoy looking at my payment history (which I agreed to in line 9999 subsection 5, amendment 3 of the T&C).
Ironically while PayPal moves away from a redirection systems the big credit card companies (VISA, Mastercard, etc) are moving into one. Now often bringing up a password page operated by your CC company in order to verify that you haven't stolen card details.
In order to get one of those top bankers jobs you need to have:
- Perfect credit rating
- Clean criminal record
- At least a degree (although a masters is more realistic)
- Private school and or brand university
If you don't then forget it. You would never make it past the interview stage. Which in turn results in every banker being a white male with fairly rich parents and a bunch of peers they fit in well with. The entire system is set to allow people "like them" in and to keep "those other people" out.
It isn't just about sexism or racism, it is about class. They don't want poor people into their club.
Thus it results in exactly what the article is talking about. Bankers have no real life experience. They never make mistakes or are down on their luck. I mean, heck, they likely complain if their pent house is a rental... So are we really surprised when they lack understanding of what might happen if they lose their gambling?
But truth be known a lot of bankers didn't understand the level of risk. They left it up to third parties to literally invent ways to measure risk and sell it back to them. Then they could turn around and blame these third parties if what was a "low risk" investment wasn't (which is a false self-reassurance).
I've read suggestions to make people (kids in particular) get vaccinations before but frankly I have never been comfortable with the concept. When you start telling people that they must put something foreign into their bodies at what point exactly does it stop?
Plus what happens if this vaccine turns out to have nasty side effects? Is the state who mandated it responsible or will they just wash their hands and say - "You had a choice!" That's what they tried to do after all the medication they made soliders take in the first gulf war turned out to have serious long term side effects.
Going into crazy paranoia zone here now, but how long until RFID chips (which have already been linked to cancer) will be mandatory for government employees for "security reasons?"
Without knowing exactly how this so called "Pirate Flag" works we cannot say that it is recording correct data. Frankly an 80% piracy rate seems a little difficult to believe given how most iPhone users I know use their phones (most use stock firmware, since they're still on warranty, and people have spent up to £800 and don't want to 'brick' it).
Most iPhones owners are happy to use the App' Store and iTunes. That is one of the reasons they purchased the device, to give them access to a huge array of high quality applications.
The article seems to gloss over this BIG question.... Did they get the patients permission before they scan in their DNA and link it into their medical records?
If they didn't or aren't, then that is a big privacy violation with perhaps huge negative ramifications for those individuals (if any diseases are identified that aren't treatable but will impact their ability to get insurance).
Also breaks the doctor/patient trust entirely since your doctor is more or less stealing from you...
This seems a rather silly point to make. I know this is Slashdot and we have to suggest Open Source alternatives but throwing out random file systems as a suggestion to fix poor management and HARDWARE issues is some place between ignorant and silly.
Perhaps they should have had at least mirrored or stripped raid, with an off-site backup every week or so?
While I myself enjoy playing the MMO economy micro-game, they are far too simple to really map anything close to the real world. Or at least I should say WoW's is. Some of the less popular MMO's have very realistic economies involving business entities, more niche goods, and even a kind of country proxy.
The examples of what the researchers have discovered also strike me as academically uninteresting (even obvious) and make me wonder if this is an excuse to play some games at work....
Why is Vista "stupid?" Why do you think XP is better? Why didn't you buy a Mac if you wanted a Mac?
A lot of Vista's original criticisms revolved around drivers (since the entire driver architecture got re-invented). After a lot of the driver issues got resolved (*cough* Nvidia and Creative *cough*) the OS became no better but no worse than XP.
If I purchased a laptop today I'd rather have Vista than XP since I lose nothing but owning Vista but I lose a few things by owning XP (low privileged IE, UAC, et al).
A lot of people who continue to bash Vista are just sheep that have no real clue why exactly Vista was bad or why Windows 7 is better (hint: Vista paved the road for 7).
Really? I'm yet to see a single advert for it. In fact I was in PC World the other day and they still have Vista adverts up all over the place. Although some of the Laptops do have a "Free Windows 7 Upgrade!" sticker on them.
I think we all deserve better TVs frankly and I think it is fair to say that the TV industry as a whole has failed to step up. We still have brand new TVs which draw almost as much power "off" as they do turned on with the sound blazing... Hopefully California will encourage more TVs to be produced with these kind of energy saving features by default around the world.
Yes, I too hate the "nanny state" and government intervention but when an industry or consumers fail to act in a responsible fashion at points a government has to step in... I mean lead paint in kid's toys, god knows what in our food, labelling on products to give the consumer more information, sometimes the nanny policies are good for society.
So what? Linux vendors would do exactly the same thing. Who is to say which OS is safer for example? It entirely depends on what metric you use to measure it. If for example you look at number of "hacker" style compromises then Linux is the worse but if we're looking at automatic spyware infection then obviously Windows is almost the only OS in that category.
I don't blame Microsoft for selling their products. That is what a software company SHOULD do. The only reason these are "stories" is because people [incorrectly] feel Linux is a community effort and that any attack on Linux is an attack on this community. But when you look at the people who donate MOST Linux code you'll quickly discover that Linux is about as community as Windows is...
So really this is just a slam at the Linux Vendors who have the cash to answer it...
I can buy a mopehead ("scooter") for less than £1000 which can go over 30 MpH. Why would I buy this? You cannot use it on roads OR on footpaths in a lot of locations and it is too small to really work as a carry-around and too big to park up.
Slashdot Mirror
It is in Canada evidently....
Although it also is in the US, UK, AUS, and a fair few other places thanks to insanely broad anti-terrorism laws. If you talk to a "terrorist" even if you don't know they're a terrorist and have no intention of conducting terrorism you can be breaking the law.
But then again owning a standard middle school science book is also technically illegal depending on how you read the anti-terrorism act(s). So really it is just a thought crime. If they associate you with it they will nab you for it with or without evidence.
It is the same in this case... They want to make paedophilia a thought crime and thus if you are associated with it by anyone then you are breaking a law...
Lookup table?
I was thinking the same thing.
I remember that story a few weeks ago... Someone found a shotgun in their back garden (this is the UK) and called the local police station to tell them he is bringing it in. Well anyway long story short because it was loaded and the box also had ammo he ended up getting a minimum of I believe three years.
Yet another story, this time from the US.... Someone finds Meth, attempts to turn it into the police... Gets hit with possession of drugs. This anecdote was on a cops-like show no less.
So too bad for us that common sense fails so often even in a legal system that is designed to have "common sense" designed into it at at least three levels (Police, Prosecutors Office, and Judge). They love to use the excuse that they enforce the laws as written (when in reality laws are meant to be interpreted so exactly this kind of thing doesn't happen!).
The big principle difference is that in the physical world we can discover new things and invent better ways to do existing things. I am yet to see a single software patent that I feel is really a new invention that requires protection. If someone can link me a software patent that they feel was a new invention and that others might benefit from then by all means, I am happy to be proved wrong...
I like the subtle derogatory typecasting for "those people on the internet" (who disagree with widely held science). You do realise that if they provide mathematical proofs that they're providing a scientific and intellectual argument and thus should be given the same fair shake as anyone publishing from a Western University.
It is attitudes like this that drive people away from science.
I see a HUGE hole in this plan... So we can take DNA and build an incomplete profile of it. They want to use these limited profiles to match people for dating.
But what metric are they going to use to match people?
If they plan to match similar DNA then I question that since studies have shown that we're attracted to people with different immune systems.
If they plan to match people with very different DNA then I question that because there might be a huge culture clash.
If they plan to match people with very similar but slightly different DNA then how is that better than hobbies and or interests?
The short answer is "no." But by the very nature of asking if there is a stigma attached to something you're suggesting that there is.
Like - "Do you find that there is a stigma about work ethic attached to young men with mohawks?" I have just implied I believe there is and are asking for corroboration.
I don't care what experience someone has as long as they can write great code. Google on the other hand however won't hire you unless you have a Masters or PhD.
You must be new to /. if you think people read the articles before responding...
I love how ignorant of technology the legal profession is.
Take this case for example, nobody stopped to consider that he might have setup a HTTP proxy, VPN tunnel, or some other routing service? Why? Because neither the defence nor prosecution understand what they're talking about.
I would really like to see legal reforms that create new "specialist" branches of experts who exist only to explain the significance of particular areas to the court without actually taking sides in cases (e.g. Technology, Science, High-End Accounting, etc).
It is kind of funny, the lawyers spend TONS of time worrying that the jury won't understand the law. But they never stop to consider that the lawyers won't understand the evidence.
Ten years ago wasn't there talk about using renewable power to pump water up to higher ground and then release the water to generate electricity at a known rate with a known duration, etc. Turns unreliable power into highly reliable power with a little waste added into the process....
What does someone in the "security field" know about a digital forensics tool?
Very few people are actually in the security field and most who claim to be have posted a bug on a mailing list and setup a site talking about how to "hack" with Visual Basic.
Radar Guns aren't completely accurate all of the time. But a 40% increase is far beyond what you might expect from an incurrently calibrated radar guns. The only realistic alternative is hitting a car travelling in the other direction but since police are trained to only use a radar gun on a straight road and at a certain angle that might be unlikely too.
So in this case I would side with the police. Unless they're just flat out lying which I cannot discount.
This is sad news for me personally.
I always liked that I got redirected to PayPal.com to enter my PayPal details. Allowing me to check the SSL certificate and avoiding certain kinds of phishing fraud. Plus keeping my login details out of the hands of third parties who might enjoy looking at my payment history (which I agreed to in line 9999 subsection 5, amendment 3 of the T&C).
Ironically while PayPal moves away from a redirection systems the big credit card companies (VISA, Mastercard, etc) are moving into one. Now often bringing up a password page operated by your CC company in order to verify that you haven't stolen card details.
In order to get one of those top bankers jobs you need to have:
- Perfect credit rating
- Clean criminal record
- At least a degree (although a masters is more realistic)
- Private school and or brand university
If you don't then forget it. You would never make it past the interview stage. Which in turn results in every banker being a white male with fairly rich parents and a bunch of peers they fit in well with. The entire system is set to allow people "like them" in and to keep "those other people" out.
It isn't just about sexism or racism, it is about class. They don't want poor people into their club.
Thus it results in exactly what the article is talking about. Bankers have no real life experience. They never make mistakes or are down on their luck. I mean, heck, they likely complain if their pent house is a rental... So are we really surprised when they lack understanding of what might happen if they lose their gambling?
But truth be known a lot of bankers didn't understand the level of risk. They left it up to third parties to literally invent ways to measure risk and sell it back to them. Then they could turn around and blame these third parties if what was a "low risk" investment wasn't (which is a false self-reassurance).
I've read suggestions to make people (kids in particular) get vaccinations before but frankly I have never been comfortable with the concept. When you start telling people that they must put something foreign into their bodies at what point exactly does it stop?
Plus what happens if this vaccine turns out to have nasty side effects? Is the state who mandated it responsible or will they just wash their hands and say - "You had a choice!" That's what they tried to do after all the medication they made soliders take in the first gulf war turned out to have serious long term side effects.
Going into crazy paranoia zone here now, but how long until RFID chips (which have already been linked to cancer) will be mandatory for government employees for "security reasons?"
Without knowing exactly how this so called "Pirate Flag" works we cannot say that it is recording correct data. Frankly an 80% piracy rate seems a little difficult to believe given how most iPhone users I know use their phones (most use stock firmware, since they're still on warranty, and people have spent up to £800 and don't want to 'brick' it).
Most iPhones owners are happy to use the App' Store and iTunes. That is one of the reasons they purchased the device, to give them access to a huge array of high quality applications.
The article seems to gloss over this BIG question.... Did they get the patients permission before they scan in their DNA and link it into their medical records?
If they didn't or aren't, then that is a big privacy violation with perhaps huge negative ramifications for those individuals (if any diseases are identified that aren't treatable but will impact their ability to get insurance).
Also breaks the doctor/patient trust entirely since your doctor is more or less stealing from you...
This seems a rather silly point to make. I know this is Slashdot and we have to suggest Open Source alternatives but throwing out random file systems as a suggestion to fix poor management and HARDWARE issues is some place between ignorant and silly.
Perhaps they should have had at least mirrored or stripped raid, with an off-site backup every week or so?
While I myself enjoy playing the MMO economy micro-game, they are far too simple to really map anything close to the real world. Or at least I should say WoW's is. Some of the less popular MMO's have very realistic economies involving business entities, more niche goods, and even a kind of country proxy.
The examples of what the researchers have discovered also strike me as academically uninteresting (even obvious) and make me wonder if this is an excuse to play some games at work....
Why is Vista "stupid?" Why do you think XP is better? Why didn't you buy a Mac if you wanted a Mac?
A lot of Vista's original criticisms revolved around drivers (since the entire driver architecture got re-invented). After a lot of the driver issues got resolved (*cough* Nvidia and Creative *cough*) the OS became no better but no worse than XP.
If I purchased a laptop today I'd rather have Vista than XP since I lose nothing but owning Vista but I lose a few things by owning XP (low privileged IE, UAC, et al).
A lot of people who continue to bash Vista are just sheep that have no real clue why exactly Vista was bad or why Windows 7 is better (hint: Vista paved the road for 7).
Really? I'm yet to see a single advert for it. In fact I was in PC World the other day and they still have Vista adverts up all over the place. Although some of the Laptops do have a "Free Windows 7 Upgrade!" sticker on them.
Where are you seeing Windows 7 advertised?
If that is ALL the Japanese boarder security agents do then I need to visit Japan more. You get all that stuff entering the US too and more....
I think we all deserve better TVs frankly and I think it is fair to say that the TV industry as a whole has failed to step up. We still have brand new TVs which draw almost as much power "off" as they do turned on with the sound blazing... Hopefully California will encourage more TVs to be produced with these kind of energy saving features by default around the world.
Yes, I too hate the "nanny state" and government intervention but when an industry or consumers fail to act in a responsible fashion at points a government has to step in... I mean lead paint in kid's toys, god knows what in our food, labelling on products to give the consumer more information, sometimes the nanny policies are good for society.
So what?
Linux vendors would do exactly the same thing. Who is to say which OS is safer for example? It entirely depends on what metric you use to measure it. If for example you look at number of "hacker" style compromises then Linux is the worse but if we're looking at automatic spyware infection then obviously Windows is almost the only OS in that category.
I don't blame Microsoft for selling their products. That is what a software company SHOULD do. The only reason these are "stories" is because people [incorrectly] feel Linux is a community effort and that any attack on Linux is an attack on this community. But when you look at the people who donate MOST Linux code you'll quickly discover that Linux is about as community as Windows is...
So really this is just a slam at the Linux Vendors who have the cash to answer it...
I can buy a mopehead ("scooter") for less than £1000 which can go over 30 MpH. Why would I buy this? You cannot use it on roads OR on footpaths in a lot of locations and it is too small to really work as a carry-around and too big to park up.