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User: chgros

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  1. Re:Obligatory XKCD on Generate Memorizable Passphrases That Even the NSA Can't Guess · · Score: 1

    I think this xkcd is even more relevant:
    https://xkcd.com/936/

  2. Re:Political science on Ferguson No-Fly Zone Revealed As Anti-Media Tactic · · Score: 1

    Horses, maybe?
    Sure, if they're Houyhnhnms.

  3. Re:Am I paranoid? on Vulnerabilities Found (and Sought) In More Command-Line Tools · · Score: 1

    In case you're not feeling paranoid enough yet:
    Reflections on Trusting Trust

  4. Re:Make the salts non-trivial on Passwords: Too Much and Not Enough · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure you really understand how salting a password works.
    There's never any point in "trivial" salt.
    Salt is a public random value (randomly generated for each password), the same size as the hash. It's stored in plaintext alongside the hash.
    To check the password, you hash <salt><password>. It's effectively impossible for <salt><password> to be in a table no matter what <password> is. It doesn't prevent brute-forcing the password in other ways of course.
    I'm not sure what your deep-deep-dark secret password would enable.

  5. Re:Mono Lake on Aral Sea Basin Almost Completely Dry · · Score: 2

    Actually Mono Lake has been protected and its water level is currently going up.

  6. Re:A lock on the door? on Secret Service Critics Pounce After White House Breach · · Score: 1

    Unless he needs some time to finish reading "the pet goat"

  7. Re:Wait, these are for real? on Astronomers Find Star-Within-a-Star, 40 Years After First Theorized · · Score: 2

    I think it should have been multiple times more massive then the sun.

  8. Re:Expose limits as unnecessary? on US Wireless Carriers Shifting To Voice Over LTE · · Score: 1

    But the current state of things is that we pay more for data than for voice.

  9. Re:Many polite people on Traffic Optimization: Cyclists Should Roll Past Stop Signs, Pause At Red Lights · · Score: 1

    I agree.
    I wish more cyclists were like that, too. It's really annoying, as a cyclist, to stop at a red light, to be passed (often on the right, and very close) by another, slower cyclist.

  10. Re:And he's the only one? on Steve Jobs Defied Convention, and Perhaps the Law · · Score: 1

    What's the difference actually? I'm not an expert in contract law.

  11. Re:And he's the only one? on Steve Jobs Defied Convention, and Perhaps the Law · · Score: 1

    Non-compete agreements are typically illegal in California.

  12. Re:100 pounds? on Declassified Papers Hint US Uranium May Have Ended Up In Israeli Arms · · Score: 2

    100 pounds of enriched uranium is a lot.
    https://xkcd.com/1162/

  13. Re:No updates in 6 years? on FLAC Gets First Update In 6 Years · · Score: 1
  14. Re:HIgher defect density indicates BETTER code on 450 Million Lines of Code Can't Be Wrong: How Open Source Stacks Up · · Score: 1

    while (source[i] != '\0')
    {
            dest[i] = source[i];
            i++;
        }

    So one error in that code would be 1 defect per five lines or so.

    Here's all the code you need, what a better programmer would write:
    while (*dest++ = *src++);

    Your "better code" is actually not equivalent (the first loop doesn't copy the nul terminator). Even if it was equivalent, I don't think I would necessarily call it "better". This particular piece happens to be fairly idiomatic and many would understand it, but cramming as much semantics in one line as possible is usually not a good idea. I agree that in general less code is better for equivalent behavior, but usually that means better factoring, not putting more code in one line.

  15. Re:Boggle on USMA: Going the Extra Kilometer For Metrication · · Score: 1

    > something that predated the definition of units in the metric
    > system in physical units by almost 200 years.
    That definition depends on gravity at the point of measure (I think. I'm not sure what's "a pendulum at 38 degrees"). How is it more a "defined in physical units" than 1/10,000,000 the distance from the equator to the North pole (original definition of the meter), of the mass of a given volume of water (original definition of the kilogram)?

  16. Re:Can someone explain... on Solid State Quantum Computer Finds 15=3x5 — 48% of the Time · · Score: 1

    Most NPC problems fall into this category.

    Actually, by definition, *all* NP-complete problems fall into this category (unless P = NP)

  17. Re:What's the hurry? on Boeing's X-51 WaveRider Jet Crashes In Mach 6 Attempt · · Score: 1

    Last I heard, jets were going as fast as possible (despite the large increase in fuel consumption from near top speed to top speed) because of the savings in staff costs. So, fuel savings wouldn't necessarily hep that much.

  18. Re:The NYSE shouldn't reverse trades. on Knight Trading Losses Attributed To Old, Dormant Software · · Score: 1

    For everyone that loses money, some one else would gain it.
    The market is not a zero-sum game.

  19. Re:One good reason... on What's To Love About C? · · Score: 1

    Well, if you can add a field at run-time then by definition you can't check its presence at compile-time.

  20. Re:One good reason... on What's To Love About C? · · Score: 1

    More importantly, it is runtime-resolved.
    I personally would consider this a disadvantage.
    I like my type-checking at compile-time thank you.

  21. Re:Rots your brain on Nearly Half of American Adults Are Smartphone Owners · · Score: 1

    Other than the "convenience" of being able to get at your email, a crutch for a stunted sense of direction, and a safety net for poor before-hand planning
    These are all excellent reasons for using a smartphone (and you don't need a stunted sense of direction to find maps useful). Anything after that is bonus.

  22. Re:Not sure I'd want an engineer/politician on Are Engineers Natural Libertarians Or Technocrats? · · Score: 1

    > besides intercourse
    What makes this one more logical than any other, especially since you claim that having children is illogical? I'm curious.
    Also, you seem to assume that being logical means maximizing productivity. Personally, my goal in life is not to be the most productive. Entertainment is actually closer to it.

  23. Re:Another functional programming fan on OCaml For the Masses · · Score: 1

    But don't think that Lisp is always the right language for scripting your text editor (dodges blow from Emacs partisan).
    Lisp is functional, but not statically typed. Loses most of the benefit IMO.

  24. Re:It seems more fission than fusion on Fusion Thrusters For Space Travel · · Score: 2

    12C -> 4He + 4He + 4He is exothermic. (The reverse reaction is an energy source for stars under some circumstances.)
    You meant endothermic then.

  25. Re:How about on Forget Space Travel, It's Just a Dream · · Score: 2

    You mean like a solar sail?