Since my laptop was stolen about five months ago I can appreciate the qualities of a system which could be used to at least cripple hardware which was stolen or otherwise suspect.
Why bother? Laptops are easily replaceable. It's the data that you have to worry about. Encrypt it and keep the keys on a device that's kept seperate from the laptop (USB key?) unless it's in use. Combine that with fingerprint scanning or other biometrics if you're really paranoid. And don't encrypt the partition or directories containing the OS and software with the same key! Having known files in encrypted *and* decrypted forms to work from will only simplify a cracker's job.
even if Putin has ordered his execution it's not necessarily illegal
Not under Russian law maybe, but British law tends to frown upon murder on British soil. If whoever did it is caught, they'll be spending a long stretch in a small dark hotel room...
He was an ex-KGB defector and therefore more likely to have the contacts to get Polonium-210 that most people. On the other hand, the suggestion that that may have happened does seem pretty wild.
Interesting question - what if he's found to have some other terminal disease at the autopsy? What if he knew he was going to die within a few months anyway and decided to suicide in a rather spectacular manner that would embarrass the fuck out of the Russian government? Wild speculation here of course.
Wrong answer. This may be intended as a very public warning to other possible defectors and traitors not to follow in Litvinenko's footsteps. The same deal as the (apocryphal?) story Oleg Penkovsky (GRU double agent in the 60ies) being burnt alive and a film of the execution being shown to all new KGB recruits to discourage disloyalty.
What if this guy blaming Putin is a red herring and that ACTUALLY he managed to get his hands on radioactive material and managed to smuggle it and sell it to someone...
If he was dying, don't you think he'd have dropped a hint so that doctors might be able to treat him? If he was truly a self-serving criminal, he'd likely value his life over protecting his "associates."
Perhaps this man was so convinced of Putin's evil that he poisoned himself and insisted very loudly that Moscow/Putin was responsible in order to put pressure on Putin.
You can't exactly buy Polonium-210 at every corner drugstore... (but you will be able to in 1985).
This is a man murdered, probably by agents of a totalitarian state. With the level of freedom-consciousness that's usually evident on Slashdot, I'm surprised you all are joking about it and not up in arms. It's not only the US and "Western" countries that do Bad Things to people whom they dislike! Sadly, most of the same people that were running Russia during the Communist dictatorship era are still running the show.
Silver Nitrate lo and behold - this stuff kills neurons) that affect fine motor coordination, night vision, taste. It can also cause seizures, and respiratory paralysis.
Not saying that colloidal silver is safe, but AFAIK, colloidal silver is small particles of elemental silver suspended in water. Silver nitrate is an ionic compound containing silver (Ag) that dissociates to form Ag+ and NO3- ions in water. Saying that silver is toxic because silver nitrate is would be like saying that hydrogen is toxic because HCN (hydrogen cyanide) is extremely toxic.
Overuse of cleaners and germicidals may actually be a problem, and not in the way that you'd think. The more pathogens we kill, the less we're exposed to on a regular basis. And our immune system needs regular exposure to bugs to stay "in shape" and also to develop antibodies that may be useful against stronger bugs. Unless you're HIV+ or otherwise immunocompromised, you don't need all surfaces in your home or even in your kitchen to be perfectly germ-free.
Nevertheless, the whole concept of a web-site blacklist seems atavistic and quaint in an age of bot-nets, p2p networks, darknets, rapidshare and other potential contraband distribution mechanisms that, by their very nature, render any bureaucratic solutions laughably ineffective.
You can say whatever you want in the privacy of your own home, or in the discourse of your own publications/blogs/conversational comments. When you take that speech to a public place and in a conspicuous and impromptu manner (yelling on the street, etc.; in other words, not in public events for which you have a permit), you're disturbing the peace. You're also interfering with other people and creating cause for them to feel uncomfortable, when they have every right not to be attacked, verbally or otherwise, when they leave their homes.
But in no way can a Web site be compared to shouting abuse on the street. The viewers of a Web site *choose* to view it. If they don't like it, there's always that little "Back" button at the top of the browser window! If the Web site "incites" other people to harass (or worse) members of a certain group in public, then prosecute *those* people, not the site owners.
I've been to plenty of bars in NJ, and I've never seen them "swiping" IDs. (My license, of course, is old and not swipable, but no bar I've been to has had the equipment.) Not down the shore, not in Hoboken, not in North Jersey. The most I have seen anyone do is to hold the license under some sort of UV light to check for a watermark. Is this different in the bigger clubs - which I don't frequent because the crowds really piss me off...
I actually like the natural granola munching hippie chicks better than the tarted-up club girl types. At least they're "real" and you can usually talk to them without falling asleep or laughing hysterically.
True, but they do tend to clot more in some places than in others...
That's just the *stupid* good-looking bints for the most part. Y'know, the type whose face you want to spit in after hearing 10 seconds of their inane pathetic attempts at "conversation."
GAH! I've never understood this attitude. In San Francisco, we don't really have this "hot club" phenomenon.
I'm sure you do, you just ignore the "hot clubs" cos they're for suburbanites and tourons. Same goes for NYC - no one who's been there for over a year drinks at the touristy expensive places.
Am I really too drunk to drive if I drink an 8-ounce beer at my local restaurant?
I thought it takes 3 to 4 drinks to put you over the limit, depending on your body weight. Also, alcohol does get metabolized over time, so if you drank the beer 1/2 hour or an hour ago, your blood alcohol content will drop quite a bit. Personally, I think there should be 2 classes of drunk driving..08-.11 should get you a warning and a tow the first time, no other penalty..12 and above should get the usual penalties. The second time around,.08+ should get the usual penalties. This would take into account that everyone handles alcohol differently and rules of thumb re drunkenness don't always apply. But the second time you should know better.
MADD went off the deep end ages ago.
Agreed, what with the bullshit with raising the drinking age to 21. I have no problem with 18-21s drinking as long at they don't drive at once. So the penalty for getting caught driving say above.04 under 20 should be not being able to drive until 21 and a stiff fine. None of that "reeducation" shit, just get them the fuck off the road if they drive drunk once.
I figure for the amount I am going to pay on the ticket he can at least enter my info in by hand.
"Going to pay?" You know, you can go to court and fight it. You might even win if the cop happens not to show or you have a valid case. In some states, you can even request a jury trial.
Right now, you can do this (sorta) with Flickr; if you set up your phone right, you can have it automatically send the photos, via email, to a special address that posts them automatically to your Flickr photostream. It's pretty slick, if you don't use a carrier that charges you $0.25 or $0.50 a hit for the privilege of sending an attachment.
Most cell carriers offer unlimited data plans for ~$50/mo (at least for web access and email). No reason why video segments can't be uploaded to a server via HTTP.
The other feature that I think it would be neat to build into a cellphone would be a "prerecord buffer." They have this on some high-end ENG cameras. Basically, it's a FIFO buffer that sits between the CCD and the tape (or memory, or whatever) that captures the last 30 s. of footage that the camera saw.
Maybe combined with a light sensor or something. Afterall, it wouldn't be too useful to waste power on recording (and hence reduce battery life) when the thing is sitting in your pocket! Also a turn-off feature to maximize battery life. But - yeah - good idea.
I'm as paranoid as the next nerd, and I don't trust government to do the right thing with the information they collect from us, but I believe that we need to be able to positively ID people in order to maintain a civilized society.
This is fine, as long as the "crimes" that people can be arrested for are directly and specifically limited to actions that have a great likelihood of harming persons or property. None of that "war on drugs" crap where adults can be arrested for using substances in the privacy of their own homes. As it is, our justice system is terminally fucked up, and it's just as well that some people can get away with running from the law.
Blair is an evil controlling fucker. But don't slam him for being "Laissez Faire" - in so doing, you're implying that he's for *less* regulation not more.
Basically, the British government is corrupt to the core and bordering on fascist. But.. what government isn't these days?
Plenty of places they many people would dismiss as "third world" or "unindustrialized". Parts of Africa. Latin America. Even some parts of Eastern Europe. Granted, the cops may rough you up or you might have a problem with armed thugs, but those governments don't have the resources (nor, really, the desire) to engage in organized eavesdropping on their citizens.
or law enforcement can take another angle and simply integrate this technology into existing DUI check points
Actually, I've been through drunk driving checkpoints in the US (down the shore after the 4th of July). Believe it or not, they don't even check your license and registration - they just ask you to roll down your window and ask "have you been drinking tonight?" Presumably if they smell alcohol they'll give you a breathalyzer test and/or make you "walk the line." And then they give you a propaganda brochure outlining the dangers of drunk driving.
This was well after 9/11 (2005 and 2006). I think they were being very careful not to do anything that may be viewed as an illegal search.
Slashdot Mirror
-b.
Interesting, that lends support to the "smuggling of radioisotopes" theory advanced by another poster.
-b.
Why bother? Laptops are easily replaceable. It's the data that you have to worry about. Encrypt it and keep the keys on a device that's kept seperate from the laptop (USB key?) unless it's in use. Combine that with fingerprint scanning or other biometrics if you're really paranoid. And don't encrypt the partition or directories containing the OS and software with the same key! Having known files in encrypted *and* decrypted forms to work from will only simplify a cracker's job.
-b.
Same thing. Only difference is that in a totalitarian state the criminals generally operate under color of law.
-b.
Not under Russian law maybe, but British law tends to frown upon murder on British soil. If whoever did it is caught, they'll be spending a long stretch in a small dark hotel room...
-b.
Interesting question - what if he's found to have some other terminal disease at the autopsy? What if he knew he was going to die within a few months anyway and decided to suicide in a rather spectacular manner that would embarrass the fuck out of the Russian government? Wild speculation here of course.
-b.
Wrong answer. This may be intended as a very public warning to other possible defectors and traitors not to follow in Litvinenko's footsteps. The same deal as the (apocryphal?) story Oleg Penkovsky (GRU double agent in the 60ies) being burnt alive and a film of the execution being shown to all new KGB recruits to discourage disloyalty.
-b.
If he was dying, don't you think he'd have dropped a hint so that doctors might be able to treat him? If he was truly a self-serving criminal, he'd likely value his life over protecting his "associates."
-b.
You can't exactly buy Polonium-210 at every corner drugstore ... (but you will be able to in 1985).
-b.
This is a man murdered, probably by agents of a totalitarian state. With the level of freedom-consciousness that's usually evident on Slashdot, I'm surprised you all are joking about it and not up in arms. It's not only the US and "Western" countries that do Bad Things to people whom they dislike! Sadly, most of the same people that were running Russia during the Communist dictatorship era are still running the show.
-b.
Not saying that colloidal silver is safe, but AFAIK, colloidal silver is small particles of elemental silver suspended in water. Silver nitrate is an ionic compound containing silver (Ag) that dissociates to form Ag+ and NO3- ions in water. Saying that silver is toxic because silver nitrate is would be like saying that hydrogen is toxic because HCN (hydrogen cyanide) is extremely toxic.
-b.
-b.
Not to mention anonymout web proxies...
-b.
But in no way can a Web site be compared to shouting abuse on the street. The viewers of a Web site *choose* to view it. If they don't like it, there's always that little "Back" button at the top of the browser window! If the Web site "incites" other people to harass (or worse) members of a certain group in public, then prosecute *those* people, not the site owners.
-b.
-b.
I actually like the natural granola munching hippie chicks better than the tarted-up club girl types. At least they're "real" and you can usually talk to them without falling asleep or laughing hysterically.
-b.
That's just the *stupid* good-looking bints for the most part. Y'know, the type whose face you want to spit in after hearing 10 seconds of their inane pathetic attempts at "conversation."
-b.
I'm sure you do, you just ignore the "hot clubs" cos they're for suburbanites and tourons. Same goes for NYC - no one who's been there for over a year drinks at the touristy expensive places.
-b.
I thought it takes 3 to 4 drinks to put you over the limit, depending on your body weight. Also, alcohol does get metabolized over time, so if you drank the beer 1/2 hour or an hour ago, your blood alcohol content will drop quite a bit. Personally, I think there should be 2 classes of drunk driving. .08-.11 should get you a warning and a tow the first time, no other penalty. .12 and above should get the usual penalties. The second time around, .08+ should get the usual penalties. This would take into account that everyone handles alcohol differently and rules of thumb re drunkenness don't always apply. But the second time you should know better.
MADD went off the deep end ages ago.
Agreed, what with the bullshit with raising the drinking age to 21. I have no problem with 18-21s drinking as long at they don't drive at once. So the penalty for getting caught driving say above .04 under 20 should be not being able to drive until 21 and a stiff fine. None of that "reeducation" shit, just get them the fuck off the road if they drive drunk once.
-b.
"Going to pay?" You know, you can go to court and fight it. You might even win if the cop happens not to show or you have a valid case. In some states, you can even request a jury trial.
-b.
Most cell carriers offer unlimited data plans for ~$50/mo (at least for web access and email). No reason why video segments can't be uploaded to a server via HTTP.
The other feature that I think it would be neat to build into a cellphone would be a "prerecord buffer." They have this on some high-end ENG cameras. Basically, it's a FIFO buffer that sits between the CCD and the tape (or memory, or whatever) that captures the last 30 s. of footage that the camera saw.
Maybe combined with a light sensor or something. Afterall, it wouldn't be too useful to waste power on recording (and hence reduce battery life) when the thing is sitting in your pocket! Also a turn-off feature to maximize battery life. But - yeah - good idea.
-b.
This is fine, as long as the "crimes" that people can be arrested for are directly and specifically limited to actions that have a great likelihood of harming persons or property. None of that "war on drugs" crap where adults can be arrested for using substances in the privacy of their own homes. As it is, our justice system is terminally fucked up, and it's just as well that some people can get away with running from the law.
-b.
Blair is an evil controlling fucker. But don't slam him for being "Laissez Faire" - in so doing, you're implying that he's for *less* regulation not more.
-b.
Plenty of places they many people would dismiss as "third world" or "unindustrialized". Parts of Africa. Latin America. Even some parts of Eastern Europe. Granted, the cops may rough you up or you might have a problem with armed thugs, but those governments don't have the resources (nor, really, the desire) to engage in organized eavesdropping on their citizens.
-b.
Actually, I've been through drunk driving checkpoints in the US (down the shore after the 4th of July). Believe it or not, they don't even check your license and registration - they just ask you to roll down your window and ask "have you been drinking tonight?" Presumably if they smell alcohol they'll give you a breathalyzer test and/or make you "walk the line." And then they give you a propaganda brochure outlining the dangers of drunk driving.
This was well after 9/11 (2005 and 2006). I think they were being very careful not to do anything that may be viewed as an illegal search.
-b.