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User: orev

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  1. I see we have found one of the aforementioned idealists. It's extremely naive to think that any ad company whose entire business model is suck up as much data as possible is going to honor the user's preference to "please don't track me". It's like asking a hungry bear "please don't eat me". This approach was doomed to failure from the beginning without some very heavy handed regulation and penalties enforced by governments (like DMCA), which of course was never going to happen. As usual in a tech discussion, the focus here is on some completely irrelevant technical detail of some software setting, instead of the actually real causes of the issue, which are the market forces and business realities. Whatever Microsoft set the default to is completely irrelevant; their browser market share is tiny anyway.

  2. It was always a naive solution put forth by idealistic technologists. Did we really expect the ad companies who are already abusing data collection to the fullest extent possible to stop doing it (and go out of business) simply because you asked them nicely using an obscure setting in the browser?

  3. Telcos don't care on Americans Got 26.3 Billion Robocalls Last Year, Up 46 Percent From 2017 (washingtonpost.com) · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Telcos have 0 incentive to resolve this issue. They get paid every time a call traverses their lines, and they desperately want the wireline phone system to die so they can get out of regulatory obligations, maintenance costs, and union obligations. The only chance they have to allow this to happen is if customers get so annoyed with the service that they cancel, and when enough people cancel they can make the case to shut it down.

  4. Re:Ex-USPS execs? on AT&T, Dish, Comcast All Raising Cable TV Rates To Counter Cord-Cutting (dallasnews.com) · · Score: 4, Informative

    Uhm, what? USPS First Class mail prices are regulated by the government. They cannot raise prices without regulatory approval. And last time I checked, most Post Offices are falling apart, yet you make it sound like they're a bunch of fat cats living the sweet postage life.

  5. It seems like the inevitable fate of any successful product. Wall St demands higher and higher profits, so there is no choice but to keep adding and pushing, even beyond what makes sense. Then the product inevitably becomes so bloated that people only tolerate it until a simpler alternative comes along. Then that becomes successful and the cycle continues...

  6. 94% of billions is not "very few" sites remaining.

  7. Why have nocotine at all? on FDA Chief Considers Ban of All Flavored E-Cigarettes (wsj.com) · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It's really baffling that these e-cigarettes have nicotine in the first place. Isn't it obvious that including that ingredient is specifically done to create addiction? With tobacco at least one could argue that it's a natural part of the product, but by adding it to e-cigs CLEARLY shows the intention of the manufacturers to get people addicted. If you want e-cigs to help smokers stop smoking, that's one thing, but to have it generally available to everyone is just crazy.

  8. It doesn't really matter unless there is data on whether the system works or not. Nothing in the article seems to mention this.

  9. Re:(sic)?? on Python Language Founder Steps Down (zdnet.com) · · Score: 1

    No, it is not used that way. It means the editor is indicating the preceeding word or phrase is either spelled incorrectly or has incorrect grammar. It's usually used in a quotation that is reproduced verbatim and copies the incorrect spelling/grammar, to let the reader know it is intentional.

  10. Ignorance of the law? on Copying Photos Found on Internet is Fair Use, Virginia Federal Court Rules (petapixel.com) · · Score: 5, Informative

    found the photo online and saw no indication that it was copyrighted

    Uh, what? The basis of copyright law is that everything is automatically copyrighted by the owner. You can't just go around saying that you didn't know and just assume you can use things.

  11. Yes, but on Facebook Faces New Accusation of Data Leak Via Quiz App (politico.eu) · · Score: 1

    Yes, Facebook is bad, but this is on some PARTNER web site. Is Facebook (and every other Internet company) supposed to constantly pen test the sites of all their partners? They should probably have contracts in place, but legally the risk lies with Nametests, not Facebook. Facebook can only do so much to enforce the practices on their partners.

  12. Always the same arguments on Should Facial Recognition Cameras Be In Schools? (nyclu.org) · · Score: 4, Informative

    The arguments are always the same: We need to implement a persistent and total invasion of privacy that applies to everyone at every minute of the day, "just in case" some very unlikely thing might happen in the future. The more likely scenario is the school superintendent got a nice kickback for some percentage of the cost.

  13. Re:Capitalists no more? on Trump Orders a Lifeline For Struggling Coal and Nuclear Plants (nytimes.com) · · Score: 1

    Why are you saying the exact same thing I just said but presenting it in a way that you are arguing against it? This is really the problem with the Internet these days -- people just argue for the sake of arguing, even when in agreement.

  14. Capitalists no more? on Trump Orders a Lifeline For Struggling Coal and Nuclear Plants (nytimes.com) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't the point of capitalism to allow failing companies to die? At least during the financial crisis there was a national interest reason (collapse of the economy and banks runs are bad), but coal mines?

  15. Re:Any version of 10 is a dead end for enterprise on Windows 10 Pro Is a Dead End For the Enterprise, Gartner Says (computerworld.com) · · Score: 2

    LTSB is only suitable for ATMs, kiosks, etc...

  16. If all the ads and other junk on the start menu, etc... was not enough evidence of this already. Enterprise Edition is the only way (not LTSB), and you even need to battle them on there too.

  17. Re: Should be simple enough to try it on animals f on States Turn To an Unproven Method of Execution: Nitrogen Gas (nytimes.com) · · Score: 1

    And how long, exactly, does that process take to work? We're mining millions of years worth of trapped Helium in a very short period of time. Maybe it will replenish on a cosmic timeline, but that's useless to humans.

  18. Re:Why is this a problem? on US Congressmen Reveal Thousands of Facebook Ads Bought By Russian Trolls (mercurynews.com) · · Score: 2

    You made it half way there but then tanked the conclusion. Spam and likes is a dumb goal to have, and the Russians certainly do not have that goal. Do you really think Putin is just concerned about how many likes he gets on Facebook? No, the REAL goal is to SOW DIVISION AND DISTRUST in our system of government. These are well-known information warfare tactics -- push people, on both sides, to more and more extreme views to destabilize the country and the government.

    You're right, the ads didn't stop at the election, because we are STILL UNDER ATTACK. This is an information war against the very foundation of the United States system of government and way of life, the election just happened to be one battle in that war.

  19. Re: Should be simple enough to try it on animals f on States Turn To an Unproven Method of Execution: Nitrogen Gas (nytimes.com) · · Score: 1

    I really can't believe people say stuff like this. Well, I can, mainly because people are unbelievably self-centered. Just because it won't run out in your lifetime doesn't mean anything. Helium NEVER gets replenished. When it's released, it goes out into space and is gone FOREVER. Forever is much longer than your lifetime. If you don't care about things just because they don't affect you personally, or within your lifetime, you have NO RIGHT to participant in any conversation regarding the future. Use of resources is fundamentally a discussion about the future.

  20. Tapes are still one of the most economically efficient and reliable mediums available, in 2012 and even in 2018. Obviously the one drawback is they can be easily transported and lost...

  21. Think Like a Dinosaur (The Outer Limits) on Ask Slashdot: Is Beaming Down In Star Trek a Death Sentence? · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Outer Limits did an interesting episode on this topic: s07 e08 Think Like a Dinosaur.

  22. Miracast on Ask Slashdot: Are There Any USB-C Wireless Video Solutions? · · Score: 2

    Miracast seems to be taking over this space. Almost everything has WiFi already, and old stuff that doesn't is old. Companies would rather you buy new stuff, so making something for older systems isn't worth it and sort of a niche market, so very small market with low returns. For anything else you can easily by a dongle like the MS display adapter and convert the receiving device.

  23. Re:Apple has already denied it on Apple Reduced Face ID Accuracy To Ease Production, Bloomberg Reports (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    Maybe they changed some manufacturing tolerance or something, or test procedures, and they could compensate in software some other way. Not the same as reducing accuracy.

  24. Apple has already denied it on Apple Reduced Face ID Accuracy To Ease Production, Bloomberg Reports (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apple has already denied it: https://techcrunch.com/2017/10...

  25. Ctrl-[ 4 eva