Uh...Why EXACTLY is there anything wrong with demanding the coding be down don in Pascal vs C vs C# vs ADA or some new fangled language like D, Perl or JavaScript? A technological decision was made to use PASCAL - probably a business one was well as, I suspect, a large portion of the code base was already written in PASCAL. So, ask yourself why those decisions were made.
BTW, I believe that ADA is the choice of interoperable software in the US - assuming you are dealing with a a US company. There are a lot of rules about making this interoperable software work.
The bigger problem sounds like the management of the project as a whole - not on the language used to code the project. How do you bring that level incompetence to the light short? Sorry...no answer for that that as leaving doesn't solve the problem, does it?
The problem with gov't agencies is that it's not the people in the agency who are likely at fault - it't the bureaucracy that is formed by Congress (or other governing body) so that pockets get lined and elections / re-eelections won. Doesn't matter if you could have done the job in 2 days - somebody wouldn't have gotten their perks if you had.
How about we make Experian liable for clearing ANY AND ALL debt incurred whose credit info was divulged by them?
Once upon a time, the SSN was to be used for Social Security Purposes only - not for ID. Then, they started asked asking for it in college (as my ID)... now, they ask for it at the local grocery store. Seems the law was changed. Why?
At one point, when someone wrote a letter (remember those?) in the 1980's to a service member, they gave the name, rank, SSN and Fleet or APO post office number. In retrospect...WTF where they thinking? Prior to that, a service number was issued and it was NOT your SSN.
Perhaps, hiring people who have a vested interest in the ACA succeeding, let's say the American people, to do the work might have made some sense. Outsourcing the work, using, obsolete, 12 year old technology and having people who don't give a damn if it works so long as they get paid is a sure recipe for disaster.
If Obama wanted an opportunity to create jobs - especially, in an industry where the average IT worker has seen a 4% wage increase over the past 10 years, he should have found all the out of work IT workers whose jobs have been sent overseas and and hired them - at least to design the systems. Coding can be be done by any competent code monkey (domestic or foreign) if the specs are right and QA is implemented and followed.
We wouldn't see the issues we are seeing now had this been done. Oh wait....who hired the contractors????? Anybody know?
So, we all get to stand up like sardines? Fit a few more in the overhead bins....like right out of M.A.D. magazine's "No Frills Airlines" series.
I still remember taking a flight home on Icelandic Air in the late 1980's....it was a tight fit...but, the food was amazing and the manner they treated us went way beyond exemplary. British Airways was the same way when I flew business class and, in one case, flying home sick (really bad sinus infection (non-infectious, btw)). They did everything they could to make my flight as comfortable as possible including giving me drinks so I would be able to sleep.
No, I blame individuals like you who have opposed the man from the moment he was elected for most of the problems we are now facing. It doesn't matter if he does good or bad, it's people such as yourself who find the bad in everything - there must be a hidden agenda. You elect people to represent you who hold the country hostage because they don't like legislation that is, Constitutionally, law of the land. As a result, many are out of work and services cut.
You say we should just pull out of the countries we have been fighting in. Lovely. Except out of the mess comes a bigger one. Now, we can't even see it coming because our intel methods have been exposed and people laud Snowden as a hero.
You blame THIS president because he is the one in office when it was exposed. Surprise - these programs go back before 1966. Each administration has just added to it a little more.
You have yet to show where he violated the Constitutiion. Yet, it's very clear that Congress is nearly about to violate the 14th.
Do I think the man is he messiah? No. But, I think the demonizing the far right has done has shown their character. Obama has not been permitted, from day one, with carrying forth his promised agenda because of the allegiance the right has made, not to this country, but to the Koch brothers and their election money.
If many republicans voted their conscience vs their wallets, things would be a lot better off. Same goes for democrats who vote to the left because there is nothing in the middle. And, if things were exposed while non-partisanship ran the gov't, the problems would be solved without bickering - even if that meant impeachment. Right now, that can't happen .
When you have to deal with people who work for you and claim to be on your side and who you feel you should be able to trust only to find leaked confidential documents and conversations online and in the press...can you blame the administration for tightening their safeguards and access by the media? This isn't what he wanted. He believed in his mission of "Hope and Change".
People want and demand transparency. But, it's these very same people who also want to screw him over every chance they get.
If they let him do his job and not worry about him trying to explain his every move in explicit detail when he takes a shit, he might be more forthcoming. Think about all the "scandals" he's had to contend with - starting with the "birther" movement, racist comments about a "black man (oh..wait a B/W milkshake) in the "WHITE house" to WikiLeaks to screw ups by the intel community and the DOJ and extreme conservatives who have made it their solemn promise that he wouldn't get elected (well, he can't again..so, I guess they win) to those shutting down the gov't....yeah...he's going to insist that things be reviewed and and withheld....we all created this situation.
We asked him to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring troops home. We then bitch about him using drones and violating sovereign turf of those nations who claim to be our "allies" so he can cut down on the number of needed body bags for brining our people home. Sadly, we can't have it both ways...especially, when there wasn't an exit strategy in place and harder when the situation keeps evolving. Sticking our heads in the sand doesn't work wither.
We tell the guy to find a way to create jobs in this country. Then, we bitch when he tries to stop large corporations from outsourcing our jobs to those overseas by raising taxes. We tell the guy that we can't afford healthcare. Then, we bitch that his plan is going to destroy America. See the previous bitch about sending our jobs overseas as to why we can't afford healthcare.
Am I thrilled by the lack of transparency? No. But, this is our doing by not supporting the person elected into the office to do a job and second guessing everything he does rather than coming together to help solve the problems. Partisan politics be damned.
I, personally, received an interesting phone call the other night - an obscene phone call from someone I didn't know.. Turns out, caller id was my friend. Referencing the name of the business with a LinkedIn profile, it came from from the owner (or someone in his employ) of a staffing agency that "specializes" in outsourcing tech jobs overseas. Worst part of it? If it was him, he was the head of our school board for 10 years and lead the change in curriculum that eliminated most science, music/arts programs but increased spending on sports. A little self-serving? You think? It's crap like this that is the very reason the administration is more opaque than transparent.
I am certainly NOT a proponent of out-sourcing (I will not debate my reasons here). However, let's put the blame squarely where it belongs - on the accepted process of hiring the lowest bidder with no vested interest in getting it right vs one where getting it right would have great impact on the users.
If this work was being done by Americans who actually need to rely on the ACA for their health care coverage, you can bet your ass that it would have been done right - the first time. And, those who are involved can say it was an American success story. Instead, we now have another reason for it's opponents to call the whole program a failure.
Or, perhaps we middle-aged men are leaving the profession as a guaranteed living in the field is no longer a given.
Yesterday, I received an email from an offshore "provider" who offers services at $10/hr. Most of us can't raise a family, pay a mortgage, let alone survive at that rate. The rate I have been billed out was $120-$160/hr. If people are just looking at the bottom per/hour line vs what a local agency or provider can give them for the added cost, it's pretty hard to compete.
The new IT "normal" is that IT departments are manned by "disposable or transit" workers. This is not how we "grew up" in the industry - we were valued for what we brought not only to a "project" but to the company as a whole. Companies felt their employees were assets - there was a sense of "belonging" that made people proud to for their employer. Now, it's just a paycheck.
While not exactly relics - those of us who have been around for a while are:
1) Migrating into management roles. 2) Becoming consultants (either independent or with an agency that pays benefits) 3) Running our own companies.
Younger individuals, with not as many responsibilities are moving into the developer ranks and cutting their teeth there. And, women, well many are finding that this field needn't be male dominated. Many see having this knowledge as a stepping stone to moving into project management or pre-sales. Rather smart, if you ask me.
It isn't spying if the data and records are an almogmation of publicly available data or data which can be bought from corporations.
Listening in on phone conversations or opening your mail is spying. Why do you think the closed phone booth went away starting in the 1970's? They allowed conversations to be considered private. If you are using a public phone today, you side of the conversation is public. If the volume is loud enough, so is the other side. This was started in a crack down against organized crime.
So, end result, if you like to walk around with your phone on speaker, you have given up your privacy. If you use a phone that is connected to your car stereo for sound...I can probably hear your conversation -both sides-often several cars back.
The ability to link records of named associates was standard in law enforcement records management and case analysis tools. After 9/11/2001, an initiative was strted where those records were then shared using data sharing systems. In some cases, directed graphs could be constructed showing the relationships. Cops collected info regarding criminal incidents and ALL parties were in the names database.
This information helped LE crack many cases as it provided a computerized way to link all those records - something that had to be done by hand and making phone calls. It improved LE capabilities tremendously. Yes, I worked on such systems.
What is new is the linkage to other repositories of information. Sort of like the Bourne Trilogy, I guess. That's the scary part.
This is similar to many phone recording scenarios as well. In some states, only one party in the conversation needs to be aware a conversation is being record. In others, both parties must consent - that's why there is the "beep" you hear when a call is being recorded. The exception are wiretaps under warrant.
We kicked and screamed about our gov't collecting "meta-data". Yet, this is precisely what's happening by a corporate entitiy - they are extracting meta-data and acting upon it.
And, as someone else pointed out, this type of scanning is a lot different than scanning a message for viruses or malware. The only potential problem comes up when an email address is blacklisted based off one of these scans. At that point, it becomes akin to extracting meta-data as an action is taken against the sender without their consent.
Really? Had to delete an entire section of my response because, I used a word or phrase that triggered the "lameness filter - even it was releveant and germain to the conversation. Wow.
Thank you for stating this - in the early days, getting on the internet was an act of intellectual pursuit. This resulted, very often, in high quality intellectual discussions - many of which have resulted in the evolution of the internet and greater flowing of thought. Sadly, much of that thought isn't coherent or based on sound reasoning.
In the days of printed magazines, troll letters to the editor would not be published unless they made a valid point. In the printed days of of "Popular Science", comments were accepted and posted the following month. The comments were often interesting and relevant, having been reviewed by someone in the field. The editors would often comment back with a clarification if necessary. The comments might have been counter to the article, but they were, usually, well thought out and expressed. Today, many people post before actually giving something any thought simply because they "can".
Someone else here on/. noted that to avoid the "moderators"...wait a day or two and then post. At least you won't get slammed as a troll (and, likely not promoted either). Another suggested delaying the publishing of submitted posts until a certain threshold have been moderated to set the tone.
I, personally, like those ideas. But, unless someone is vulgar, bigoted or filled with hatred, or just writing for "first post" or wasting virtual space, marking them as "troll" often hides opinions that don't go along with the "group" herd mentality even if they might actually have merit.
Actually, its much easier and safer for the cop to nail someone at a traffic light than to pull a suspected driver over and approach the vehicle not knowing what's actually going on inside. The texter is usually unaware the cop is there until it's too late. By then, the cop can determine if they are threat and have them dead to rights. Smart policing if you ask me.
Now, the rule on using a phone as a GPS and writing tickets for that? In NJ, it is illegal to operate ANY hand-held electronics while driving...that includes hands free phone use unless the phone is physically mounted in the vehicle. Somebody pointed out that apps like the new Google Maps or Waze are often superior to the in-car alternatives...offer turn by turn directions...and don't require the driver to fumble with it while driving.
Why are these laws in place? Ask the governor whose driver (a trooper) had an accident while operating a mobile device while driving.
I, personally, know of an electric utility that, in the 1990's let their IT staff go for an outsourced firm. Then, then hired local talent to replace the outsourced work. The local talent was hired at a rate 1/2 that which they used to pay their IT staff.
So, in the end, they got local talent at half the price but nobody left to tell them how it all worked. Brilliant.
Eventually, they were required to bring back many of the IT staff... as consultants...at more than double what they originally paid in salary. Yup...Brilliant.
They are still in business today....all talent is homegrown and the old timers have since retired.
And,until it is reproduced and shown to be a plausible exploit, one can make the claim than an Android fan-boy is behind a disinformation campaign.
If you don't like Apple products or the company, why do you care what they do? You really don't see Apple fans trolling Android stories, do you? Exactly. So, why all the hate?
Now, let's see if this hack is verifiable and reproducible before spouting off that which we have no basis to speak, shall we?
Article would have more credibility if the author new that vaporization is the process of converting liquid to gas. What they discribe - breaking a molecule into its atoms is call 'dissasociation'.
When I received my EZ-Pass, I also received a bag (like those used to protect electronic chips) that I could put my EZ-Pass in when I don't want it to be read. It's my choice.
People were so up and arms of the UUID in iPhones and iPads being used to track their activity...but, the ability to collect this type of UUID in EZ-Pass has been available for years and nobody gave a rat's ass. The difference over license plate numbers (readable via OCR) is that these are easier to read....AEI tags, the tags used on railcars (EZ-Pass on steroids) were designed to be read as trains passed at over 90 MPH.
If you run a GPS such as Waze or another with real-time traffic analysis....it's, likely, reporting your position, speed, direction and...an identifier (maybe just your Waze account ID). All modern cell phones are E911 capable - they know where you are... if they care. Do you turn your phone off when you drive your the car or go about your daily business? Unlikely.
There are far bigger things to worry about.
That being said, it would be interesting to know how this data was actually being used, stored and shared.
Do we really expect to read pro-iPhone comments on a site pretty much dedicated to anything non-Apple? Yeah...that's what I thought....Unbiased news...just like FOX (or, CNN).
The situation described in the article is one where the witness did not commit a crime.
If they had committed a crime and could face prosecution by revealing the information, then they are entitled to invoke the 5th. But, in cases where testifying does not incriminate the individual doing the testifying, they can be compelled by law to testify or face contempt of court charges.
The 5th is very clear about when it is applicable. And, it is why an individual is read their Miranda rights when arrested - to ensure they know their rights.
Former Drexel Student? I had the original 128K. Upgraded to 512K and finally to 1MB. It travelled the world in my navy stateroom for 4 years. Sold it at a garage sale in 1998 for $50. Still worked. Had all the disks.
People kick and scream that Apple isn't an innovator - that they "steal" ideas. Well, if you have legal access to those ideas and improve upon them (like taking Xerox tech into the Lisa and then Mac), you end up with a better mouse trap (yeah..pun intended). What is so wrong with that? Jobs knew how to market and he was relentless in seeking perfection and protecting Apple's IP. Can they survive without him? Absolutely. It may just take a little while to find someone with the same soft of vision that fits Apple's mindset before they find that next, undiscovered, niche market.
The iPhone took a lot of ideas...some in the original iPhone worked...others didn't. Apple adapted and provide the features their customers desired and made it look good. The only people complaining about Apple's success are Android users. Android is "okay" and designed for the more technically inclined. It might not be you.\ I doubt my mother (now 82) would be comfortable with an Android phone....she was confused with my Droid Incredible. She has an Jitterbug. But, she also finds it easy to use an iPhone...just can't justify the price on a fixed income.
Developers are comfortable developing for iOS devices - we have 3 form factors to contend with. Those 3 form factors maintain, what...41% of the market share from a single device provider. They are unified in their use of iOS. Android is an iOS with how many different variants... something like one per device per device manufacturer running Android on their devices. Lots of variability. Yes, some new features are in those devices....but, are they REALLY necessary or just cool to say you have? Who really is using NFC to "bump" videos?
The only real downside to iOS development is Objective C. Yes, other tools exist...some native compiles as well as hybrid tools such as PhoneGap. But, still, first-run apps are brought to iOS first...then Android. Ask yourself why. Businesses like the closed architecture - it makes it easier to achieve regulation compliance. And, the AppStore works well for monetization of an app.
No...I think Apple may have seen it's heyday in terms of stock price. But, they will continue to adapt and, dare say, innovate in a manner that their customers (who Android users call FanBoys) will appreciate. As long as that market is there...they will not only exist but do just fine.
The day of the develop an iPhone app and get rich are, essentially, over. The market is saturated. The money is now in enterprise apps or public facing corporate apps.
Slashdot Mirror
Uh...Why EXACTLY is there anything wrong with demanding the coding be down don in Pascal vs C vs C# vs ADA or some new fangled language like D, Perl or JavaScript? A technological decision was made to use PASCAL - probably a business one was well as, I suspect, a large portion of the code base was already written in PASCAL. So, ask yourself why those decisions were made.
BTW, I believe that ADA is the choice of interoperable software in the US - assuming you are dealing with a a US company. There are a lot of rules about making this interoperable software work.
The bigger problem sounds like the management of the project as a whole - not on the language used to code the project. How do you bring that level incompetence to the light short? Sorry...no answer for that that as leaving doesn't solve the problem, does it?
The problem with gov't agencies is that it's not the people in the agency who are likely at fault - it't the bureaucracy that is formed by Congress (or other governing body) so that pockets get lined and elections / re-eelections won. Doesn't matter if you could have done the job in 2 days - somebody wouldn't have gotten their perks if you had.
How about we make Experian liable for clearing ANY AND ALL debt incurred whose credit info was divulged by them?
Once upon a time, the SSN was to be used for Social Security Purposes only - not for ID. Then, they started asked asking for it in college (as my ID) ... now, they ask for it at the local grocery store. Seems the law was changed. Why?
At one point, when someone wrote a letter (remember those?) in the 1980's to a service member, they gave the name, rank, SSN and Fleet or APO post office number. In retrospect...WTF where they thinking? Prior to that, a service number was issued and it was NOT your SSN.
And, this is bad why?
Perhaps, hiring people who have a vested interest in the ACA succeeding, let's say the American people, to do the work might have made some sense. Outsourcing the work, using, obsolete, 12 year old technology and having people who don't give a damn if it works so long as they get paid is a sure recipe for disaster.
If Obama wanted an opportunity to create jobs - especially, in an industry where the average IT worker has seen a 4% wage increase over the past 10 years, he should have found all the out of work IT workers whose jobs have been sent overseas and and hired them - at least to design the systems. Coding can be be done by any competent code monkey (domestic or foreign) if the specs are right and QA is implemented and followed.
We wouldn't see the issues we are seeing now had this been done. Oh wait....who hired the contractors????? Anybody know?
So, we all get to stand up like sardines? Fit a few more in the overhead bins....like right out of M.A.D. magazine's "No Frills Airlines" series.
I still remember taking a flight home on Icelandic Air in the late 1980's....it was a tight fit...but, the food was amazing and the manner they treated us went way beyond exemplary. British Airways was the same way when I flew business class and, in one case, flying home sick (really bad sinus infection (non-infectious, btw)). They did everything they could to make my flight as comfortable as possible including giving me drinks so I would be able to sleep.
No, I blame individuals like you who have opposed the man from the moment he was elected for most of the problems we are now facing. It doesn't matter if he does good or bad, it's people such as yourself who find the bad in everything - there must be a hidden agenda.
You elect people to represent you who hold the country hostage because they don't like legislation that is, Constitutionally, law of the land. As a result, many are out of work and services cut.
You say we should just pull out of the countries we have been fighting in. Lovely. Except out of the mess comes a bigger one. Now, we can't even see it coming because our intel methods have been exposed and people laud Snowden as a hero.
You blame THIS president because he is the one in office when it was exposed. Surprise - these programs go back before 1966. Each administration has just added to it a little more.
You have yet to show where he violated the Constitutiion. Yet, it's very clear that Congress is nearly about to violate the 14th.
Do I think the man is he messiah? No. But, I think the demonizing the far right has done has shown their character. Obama has not been permitted, from day one, with carrying forth his promised agenda because of the allegiance the right has made, not to this country, but to the Koch brothers and their election money.
If many republicans voted their conscience vs their wallets, things would be a lot better off. Same goes for democrats who vote to the left because there is nothing in the middle. And, if things were exposed while non-partisanship ran the gov't, the problems would be solved without bickering - even if that meant impeachment. Right now, that can't happen .
When you have to deal with people who work for you and claim to be on your side and who you feel you should be able to trust only to find leaked confidential documents and conversations online and in the press ...can you blame the administration for tightening their safeguards and access by the media? This isn't what he wanted. He believed in his mission of "Hope and Change".
People want and demand transparency. But, it's these very same people who also want to screw him over every chance they get.
If they let him do his job and not worry about him trying to explain his every move in explicit detail when he takes a shit, he might be more forthcoming. Think about all the "scandals" he's had to contend with - starting with the "birther" movement, racist comments about a "black man (oh..wait a B/W milkshake) in the "WHITE house" to WikiLeaks to screw ups by the intel community and the DOJ and extreme conservatives who have made it their solemn promise that he wouldn't get elected (well, he can't again..so, I guess they win) to those shutting down the gov't....yeah...he's going to insist that things be reviewed and and withheld....we all created this situation.
We asked him to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring troops home. We then bitch about him using drones and violating sovereign turf of those nations who claim to be our "allies" so he can cut down on the number of needed body bags for brining our people home. Sadly, we can't have it both ways...especially, when there wasn't an exit strategy in place and harder when the situation keeps evolving. Sticking our heads in the sand doesn't work wither.
We tell the guy to find a way to create jobs in this country. Then, we bitch when he tries to stop large corporations from outsourcing our jobs to those overseas by raising taxes. We tell the guy that we can't afford healthcare. Then, we bitch that his plan is going to destroy America. See the previous bitch about sending our jobs overseas as to why we can't afford healthcare.
Am I thrilled by the lack of transparency? No. But, this is our doing by not supporting the person elected into the office to do a job and second guessing everything he does rather than coming together to help solve the problems. Partisan politics be damned.
I, personally, received an interesting phone call the other night - an obscene phone call from someone I didn't know.. Turns out, caller id was my friend. Referencing the name of the business with a LinkedIn profile, it came from from the owner (or someone in his employ) of a staffing agency that "specializes" in outsourcing tech jobs overseas. Worst part of it? If it was him, he was the head of our school board for 10 years and lead the change in curriculum that eliminated most science, music/arts programs but increased spending on sports. A little self-serving? You think? It's crap like this that is the very reason the administration is more opaque than transparent.
I am certainly NOT a proponent of out-sourcing (I will not debate my reasons here). However, let's put the blame squarely where it belongs - on the accepted process of hiring the lowest bidder with no vested interest in getting it right vs one where getting it right would have great impact on the users.
If this work was being done by Americans who actually need to rely on the ACA for their health care coverage, you can bet your ass that it would have been done right - the first time. And, those who are involved can say it was an American success story. Instead, we now have another reason for it's opponents to call the whole program a failure.
Brilliant.
Or, perhaps we middle-aged men are leaving the profession as a guaranteed living in the field is no longer a given.
Yesterday, I received an email from an offshore "provider" who offers services at $10/hr. Most of us can't raise a family, pay a mortgage, let alone survive at that rate. The rate I have been billed out was $120-$160/hr. If people are just looking at the bottom per/hour line vs what a local agency or provider can give them for the added cost, it's pretty hard to compete.
The new IT "normal" is that IT departments are manned by "disposable or transit" workers. This is not how we "grew up" in the industry - we were valued for what we brought not only to a "project" but to the company as a whole. Companies felt their employees were assets - there was a sense of "belonging" that made people proud to for their employer. Now, it's just a paycheck.
While not exactly relics - those of us who have been around for a while are:
1) Migrating into management roles.
2) Becoming consultants (either independent or with an agency that pays benefits)
3) Running our own companies.
Younger individuals, with not as many responsibilities are moving into the developer ranks and cutting their teeth there. And, women, well many are finding that this field needn't be male dominated. Many see having this knowledge as a stepping stone to moving into project management or pre-sales. Rather smart, if you ask me.
Compromise
Moderate
Tolerance
Ethics
It isn't spying if the data and records are an almogmation of publicly available data or data which can be bought from corporations.
Listening in on phone conversations or opening your mail is spying. Why do you think the closed phone booth went away starting in the 1970's? They allowed conversations to be considered private. If you are using a public phone today, you side of the conversation is public. If the volume is loud enough, so is the other side. This was started in a crack down against organized crime.
So, end result, if you like to walk around with your phone on speaker, you have given up your privacy. If you use a phone that is connected to your car stereo for sound...I can probably hear your conversation -both sides-often several cars back.
Something to keep in mind.
Funny about that, isn't it?
The ability to link records of named associates was standard in law enforcement records management and case analysis tools. After 9/11/2001, an initiative was strted where those records were then shared using data sharing systems. In some cases, directed graphs could be constructed showing the relationships. Cops collected info regarding criminal incidents and ALL parties were in the names database.
This information helped LE crack many cases as it provided a computerized way to link all those records - something that had to be done by hand and making phone calls. It improved LE capabilities tremendously. Yes, I worked on such systems.
What is new is the linkage to other repositories of information. Sort of like the Bourne Trilogy, I guess. That's the scary part.
Welcome to SkyNet.
This is similar to many phone recording scenarios as well. In some states, only one party in the conversation needs to be aware a conversation is being record. In others, both parties must consent - that's why there is the "beep" you hear when a call is being recorded. The exception are wiretaps under warrant.
We kicked and screamed about our gov't collecting "meta-data". Yet, this is precisely what's happening by a corporate entitiy - they are extracting meta-data and acting upon it.
And, as someone else pointed out, this type of scanning is a lot different than scanning a message for viruses or malware. The only potential problem comes up when an email address is blacklisted based off one of these scans. At that point, it becomes akin to extracting meta-data as an action is taken against the sender without their consent.
Really? Had to delete an entire section of my response because, I used a word or phrase that triggered the "lameness filter - even it was releveant and germain to the conversation. Wow.
Thank you for stating this - in the early days, getting on the internet was an act of intellectual pursuit. This resulted, very often, in high quality intellectual discussions - many of which have resulted in the evolution of the internet and greater flowing of thought. Sadly, much of that thought isn't coherent or based on sound reasoning.
In the days of printed magazines, troll letters to the editor would not be published unless they made a valid point. In the printed days of of "Popular Science", comments were accepted and posted the following month. The comments were often interesting and relevant, having been reviewed by someone in the field. The editors would often comment back with a clarification if necessary. The comments might have been counter to the article, but they were, usually, well thought out and expressed. Today, many people post before actually giving something any thought simply because they "can".
Someone else here on /. noted that to avoid the "moderators"...wait a day or two and then post. At least you won't get slammed as a troll (and, likely not promoted either). Another suggested delaying the publishing of submitted posts until a certain threshold have been moderated to set the tone.
I, personally, like those ideas. But, unless someone is vulgar, bigoted or filled with hatred, or just writing for "first post" or wasting virtual space, marking them as "troll" often hides opinions that don't go along with the "group" herd mentality even if they might actually have merit.
Actually, its much easier and safer for the cop to nail someone at a traffic light than to pull a suspected driver over and approach the vehicle not knowing what's actually going on inside. The texter is usually unaware the cop is there until it's too late. By then, the cop can determine if they are threat and have them dead to rights. Smart policing if you ask me.
Now, the rule on using a phone as a GPS and writing tickets for that? In NJ, it is illegal to operate ANY hand-held electronics while driving...that includes hands free phone use unless the phone is physically mounted in the vehicle. Somebody pointed out that apps like the new Google Maps or Waze are often superior to the in-car alternatives...offer turn by turn directions...and don't require the driver to fumble with it while driving.
Why are these laws in place? Ask the governor whose driver (a trooper) had an accident while operating a mobile device while driving.
I, personally, know of an electric utility that, in the 1990's let their IT staff go for an outsourced firm. Then, then hired local talent to replace the outsourced work. The local talent was hired at a rate 1/2 that which they used to pay their IT staff.
So, in the end, they got local talent at half the price but nobody left to tell them how it all worked. Brilliant.
Eventually, they were required to bring back many of the IT staff ... as consultants...at more than double what they originally paid in salary. Yup...Brilliant.
They are still in business today....all talent is homegrown and the old timers have since retired.
And,until it is reproduced and shown to be a plausible exploit, one can make the claim than an Android fan-boy is behind a disinformation campaign.
If you don't like Apple products or the company, why do you care what they do? You really don't see Apple fans trolling Android stories, do you? Exactly. So, why all the hate?
Now, let's see if this hack is verifiable and reproducible before spouting off that which we have no basis to speak, shall we?
And, that would have the nearly guarantee that Texans would stop evolving. Man...blew it again.
Article would have more credibility if the author new that vaporization is the process of converting liquid to gas. What they discribe - breaking a molecule into its atoms is call 'dissasociation'.
When I received my EZ-Pass, I also received a bag (like those used to protect electronic chips) that I could put my EZ-Pass in when I don't want it to be read. It's my choice.
People were so up and arms of the UUID in iPhones and iPads being used to track their activity...but, the ability to collect this type of UUID in EZ-Pass has been available for years and nobody gave a rat's ass. The difference over license plate numbers (readable via OCR) is that these are easier to read....AEI tags, the tags used on railcars (EZ-Pass on steroids) were designed to be read as trains passed at over 90 MPH.
If you run a GPS such as Waze or another with real-time traffic analysis....it's, likely, reporting your position, speed, direction and...an identifier (maybe just your Waze account ID). All modern cell phones are E911 capable - they know where you are ... if they care. Do you turn your phone off when you drive your the car or go about your daily business? Unlikely.
There are far bigger things to worry about.
That being said, it would be interesting to know how this data was actually being used, stored and shared.
Do we really expect to read pro-iPhone comments on a site pretty much dedicated to anything non-Apple? Yeah...that's what I thought....Unbiased news...just like FOX (or, CNN).
The situation described in the article is one where the witness did not commit a crime.
If they had committed a crime and could face prosecution by revealing the information, then they are entitled to invoke the 5th. But, in cases where testifying does not incriminate the individual doing the testifying, they can be compelled by law to testify or face contempt of court charges.
The 5th is very clear about when it is applicable. And, it is why an individual is read their Miranda rights when arrested - to ensure they know their rights.
Former Drexel Student? I had the original 128K. Upgraded to 512K and finally to 1MB. It travelled the world in my navy stateroom for 4 years. Sold it at a garage sale in 1998 for $50. Still worked. Had all the disks.
People kick and scream that Apple isn't an innovator - that they "steal" ideas. Well, if you have legal access to those ideas and improve upon them (like taking Xerox tech into the Lisa and then Mac), you end up with a better mouse trap (yeah..pun intended). What is so wrong with that? Jobs knew how to market and he was relentless in seeking perfection and protecting Apple's IP. Can they survive without him? Absolutely. It may just take a little while to find someone with the same soft of vision that fits Apple's mindset before they find that next, undiscovered, niche market.
The iPhone took a lot of ideas...some in the original iPhone worked...others didn't. Apple adapted and provide the features their customers desired and made it look good. The only people complaining about Apple's success are Android users. Android is "okay" and designed for the more technically inclined. It might not be you.\ I doubt my mother (now 82) would be comfortable with an Android phone....she was confused with my Droid Incredible. She has an Jitterbug. But, she also finds it easy to use an iPhone...just can't justify the price on a fixed income.
Developers are comfortable developing for iOS devices - we have 3 form factors to contend with. Those 3 form factors maintain, what...41% of the market share from a single device provider. They are unified in their use of iOS. Android is an iOS with how many different variants ... something like one per device per device manufacturer running Android on their devices. Lots of variability. Yes, some new features are in those devices....but, are they REALLY necessary or just cool to say you have? Who really is using NFC to "bump" videos?
The only real downside to iOS development is Objective C. Yes, other tools exist...some native compiles as well as hybrid tools such as PhoneGap. But, still, first-run apps are brought to iOS first...then Android. Ask yourself why. Businesses like the closed architecture - it makes it easier to achieve regulation compliance. And, the AppStore works well for monetization of an app.
No...I think Apple may have seen it's heyday in terms of stock price. But, they will continue to adapt and, dare say, innovate in a manner that their customers (who Android users call FanBoys) will appreciate. As long as that market is there...they will not only exist but do just fine.
The day of the develop an iPhone app and get rich are, essentially, over. The market is saturated. The money is now in enterprise apps or public facing corporate apps.
If I had the means, I could build a starship and flew to some other galaxy. But, it doesn't mean because I had the means that I actually did it.
The NSA has the means to collect a lot of information. Does it mean they built an illegal gun registry?
I suspect this case will be thrown out due to no proof such a thing actually exists and is just theoretical.