Slashdot Mirror


User: It+doesn't+come+easy

It+doesn't+come+easy's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
783
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 783

  1. The Fifth Amendment is a law like any other.

    Hardly. In the first place, the fifth amendment isn't a law at all. It is a declaration of one of the rights enjoyed by all people as believed by the founders. The inclusion of the Bill of Rights into the Constitution was done to EXPLICITLY remind the Federal Government that the people had certain rights that could never be abridged by any law created by the government (the writers of the Bill of Rights did not think the Constitution was clear enough on the rights held by the people, and withheld from the Federal Government, hence their insistence on including the Bill of Rights). So the Bill of Rights are a list of rights that cannot be abridged by any law.

    I understand that over the years as a society we have agreed on some very narrow lawful exceptions to the Bill of Rights, but the Bill of Rights amendments are not laws, they are reminders to the Federal Government of the limits to the government's powers.

    In addition, one would do well to remember that the Constitution itself is a document that spells out the LIMITS of the powers granted to the Federal Government by the CITIZENS, and not something that governs the citizen. Congress crafts laws, but those laws MUST be allowed by the Constitution, else they are declared unconstitutional. The job of the US Supreme Court is to do just that -- make sure that the government does not exceed it's limited powers.

  2. Re:What other bases does this hold for? on Mathematicians Discover Prime Conspiracy (quantamagazine.org) · · Score: 1

    Probably. The conjecture needs to be stated more generally and then tested...

    Conjecture: For any prime ending in the largest odd digit for the base system, there is a 65% chance that the next prime will end in the first non-zero whole digit for the base (e.g. the number 1).

    In other words....
    What is the chance that the following holds true?
    Base 2: Last prime ends in 1, next prime ends in 1
    Base 3: Last prime ends in 2, next prime ends in 1
    Base 4: Last prime ends in 3, next prime ends in 1
    Base 5: Last prime ends in 4, next prime ends in 1
    Base 6: Last prime ends in 5, next prime ends in 1
    Base 7: Last prime ends in 6, next prime ends in 1
    Base 8: Last prime ends in 7, next prime ends in 1
    Base 9: Last prime ends in 8, next prime ends in 1
    Base 10: Last prime ends in 9, next prime ends in 1
    Base 11: Last prime ends in A, next prime ends in 1
    Base 12: Last prime ends in B, next prime ends in 1
    Base 13: Last prime ends in C, next prime ends in 1

    And so on.

    I would not be surprised that the percentage is related to the number of unique symbols used to represent a number in the particular base.

  3. Still waiting for 1080p content on LG Announces "Super UHD" TV Lineup (digitaltrends.com) · · Score: 1

    Most (easily better than 50%, more probably more than 75%) of the shows I get from Netflix or the Internet or even from Dish Network is transmitted at no more than 720p. While it might be nice to have a 4K screen, there's no reason to have one at the moment. First step is to get rid of the data caps so the higher quality can be enjoyed for longer than a few hours per month. Then we actually need content provided in 4K resolution. Then we need internet speeds that can deliver 4K resolution. Maybe in a year or two.

  4. East Berlin, really? on Cold War Nuclear Target Lists Declassified For First Time (gwu.edu) · · Score: 2

    And the US military posts in West Berlin were OK with that?

  5. Guilty until proven innocent? on TSA Body Scanner Opt-out No Longer Guaranteed (slashgear.com) · · Score: 2

    Not at all. Guilty, period. Whether or not you prove your innocence.

  6. The issue is transparency on New Software Puts License Plate Scanners Into Citizens' Hands (arstechnica.com) · · Score: 1

    To make this an effective counter to intrusive government surveillance, all of the scanned license plate data by private citizens would need to be uploaded to a central, publicly accessible, database. Then the average citizen could assess where their elected representatives were at at given time. Same goes for where law enforcement individuals are.

    If we do this enough, maybe "they" will understand why this technology is such a privacy violation.

  7. There are accounts with unlimited access on No Such Thing As 'Unlimited' Data (wired.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Example, calls within the US. I have not paid "long distance" charges in years. On the other hand, everyone accepts the idea of paying for electricity at different tiers of usage. Of course, (at least where I live) there is a lot of competition between middle men (the actual producers are still heavily regulated). I would predict that there would be a lot less resistance to tiered internet usage IF we had true competition.

  8. The concept of money... on Can Star Trek's World With No Money Work In Real life? (cnn.com) · · Score: 0

    ...cannot survive once people live forever.

  9. Obviously on Windows 10 the Last Version of Windows? Not So Fast. · · Score: 5, Funny

    After all, Microsoft has been working on Windows for 30+ years. By now it must be as good as it gets. A "Perfect 10", so to speak. All problems fixed, all security issues resolved, time to move on to bigger and better things.

  10. Re:And probably infinite on Shape of the Universe Determined To Be Really, Really Flat · · Score: 1

    Actually...

    My experience with predominately three dimensional entities tells me that when they say that the universe is infinite in size, they are referring to the length, breath, and width of the "normal" dimensions they are used to dealing with. It is quite possible to have a multidimensional universe that is infinite in a few of the dimensions without being infinite in all of them.

    You have to look at the big picture (so to speak).

  11. Re:Nothing? on Mathematical Proof That the Universe Could Come From Nothing · · Score: 1

    And to add ...

    At the heart of their thinking is Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This allows a small empty space to come into existence probabilistically due to fluctuations in what physicists call the metastable false vacuum. When this happens, there are two possibilities. If this bubble of space does not expand rapidly, it disappears again almost instantly.

    So, along with quantum fluctuations of "nothing", we also have to include time with this explanation. But, according to Einstein time is an integral part of the space-time continuum...you know, that stuff that was created by the big bang...

    Note to theorists, the cart goes in the back...

  12. Re:Random observation, on Google vs. Apple payment on Apple Pay Competitor CurrentC Breached · · Score: 1

    Not to defend CurrentC (I'm not), but I read that in order to be a part of the MCX consortium a retailer had to sign a three year contract not to use any other mobile pay system. I wouldn't be surprised if this played some part in turning off Apple Pay functionality.

    Not to say that would also explain why Google Wallet was accepted up until Apple Pay went live...because it doesn't...

  13. Re:This is good on Speed Cameras In Chicago Earn $50M Less Than Expected · · Score: 1

    Exactly. The fact that this is a problem for the City of Chicago actually points out that the cameras were never about safety, they have always been about money.

  14. Enough already on The Subtle Developer Exodus From the Mac App Store · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How many apps are in the Mac app store? Over a million? Who needs a million apps? They can't all be doing something different.

    And who needs yet another free app to mine your personal data and sell it to someone? We already have Google for that.

    Seems to me that the market is a bit saturated...

  15. Re:Until we have independent testing... on Users Report Warping of Apple's iPhone 6 Plus · · Score: 1

    Turn it over to the marketing department...

    The Iphone 6 Plus, also known as "The Wave"...

  16. Re:The Air Force is also making an effort to repla on Nuclear Missile Command Drops Grades From Tests To Discourage Cheating · · Score: 1

    ...the officers...

  17. Yet another possibility is that a comet may have hit the Earth, dumping the extra carbon-14 in the atmosphere. But astronomers have ruled that out on the basis that a comet carrying enough carbon-14 must have been over 100 km in diameter and would surely have left other evidence such as an impact crater.

    Not to mention completely obliterating all higher forms of life on the planet, you know, like astronomers...

  18. Good news on Chinese Search Giant Baidu Launches International Sites · · Score: 1

    Google needs competition. That being said, tried all three sites with the same results: "The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading". Damn you, Slashdot effect...

  19. Re:Even friends and allies do it among each other on Edward Snowden Says NSA Engages In Industrial Espionage · · Score: 2

    One has to wonder how much of the world's technological advances was (is?) actually dependent on IP theft? I can imagine a great deal during the cold war for sure. What about now?

  20. Subscriptions... on You Might Rent Features & Options On Cars In the Future · · Score: 1

    ...always prove to be more expensive than an outright purchase. In addition, why include something you don't use and then have to pay the gas to lug it around? No thanks.

  21. Assume the worst... on Senator Dianne Feinstein: NSA Metadata Program Here To Stay · · Score: 1

    ...and take the control out of their hands.

    It's obvious that no one in power can be trusted to NOT collect as much as they can collect. It doesn't matter whether that is a government or a business. There is only one REAL solution. Encrypt everything. And since one cannot trust proprietary solutions to NOT include a back door into the encryption scheme, the only solution is to use open source software AND for such software to be routinely audited by knowledgeable people. And for all of us to be vigilant concerning other ways to circumvent the encryption.

    It seems to me that this is a declaration of an arms race between those in power and the average user. But of course, hasn't it always been that way?

  22. Re:Name? on Ask Slashdot: What To Do With Misdirected Email? · · Score: 1

    Heh. Obviously some email names would be inappropriate for certain situations. That's why I have no less than 400 separate email addresses. It also makes it harder for various TLA groups to positively connect one email to another...not that I'm paranoid or anything...

  23. Re:No problems on Ask Slashdot: What To Do With Misdirected Email? · · Score: 1

    Hmmm. It is actually interesting. Email addresses are unique to the world. No one else can create the same value @ domain unless the domain gets sold to another entity (which has not happened to @gmail.com as far as I know). If you have an email address assigned to you from a reputable source, anyone else who sets up an account with that email is already doing something wrong.

    I wonder what the legal implications of this is...

  24. Name? on Ask Slashdot: What To Do With Misdirected Email? · · Score: -1

    Sorry, no one in their right mind would use their real name as their email address.

  25. What happened to "networks are overloaded"? on AT&T Introduces "Sponsored Data" Allowing Services to Bypass 4G Data Caps · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, the original reason for data caps were that a few unscrupulous users were hogging all of the bandwidth and making everyone else suffer through a poor network experience...

    I guess either that wasn't the real reason or AT&T doesn't mind if you have a poor network experience as long as they get more money...