"sales associates at Office Depot or Wells Fargo aren't exactly MIT material. They can't retrain and become doctors or aerospace engineers. "
Even if they were that smart, that isn't something you can do overnight. It can take 4-10 years to "become doctors or aerospace engineers" even for the MIT crowd. They still have to eat in the meantime, and not everyone has mommy and daddy to cover the bills.
This is due to finance cheaping out and not allowing the purchase of an exact "test" system to work on. Also, the rush to production is often more important than checking to be sure it all works.
That said, its all a risk/reward thing. Maybe its often better to screw up production here and there than to spend tons of money and time on testing. It all depends if you're building software for a web site or a Mars mission. What is the impact of a failure, and is it recoverable?
"we STILL haven't figured out how to get along on a planet without money when animals have done this for millions of years"
We got along fine without money up until the last few thousand years. And last I saw, animals kill and eat each other all the time. We only do it some of the time.
"Nothing wrong with getting location data from a suspect, or even looking over phone logs for data, but turning everyone in the area into a witness/suspect is just so inefficient that you might as well just drag everyone in a square mile of a crime in for questioning."
Isn't this what happens when the police reach out to the local news and asks for help? They are potentially asking hundreds of thousands of people if they witnessed the crime and to provide information.
Or perhaps they are trying to be more efficient. Are they also lazy to use cars instead of walking everywhere? Would you rather pay MORE taxes so there are enough police to knock on every door when a crime takes place?
Balance is the key here. Privacy is important, but so is the efficient use of taxpayer money.
Have you ever used AirBNB? I've used it a few times and didn't have a party. Hotel rooms aren't usually used for parties either. In general, I just need a place to leave my stuff and sleep when traveling for work or fun. When I've used AirBNB, I suspect the neighbors don't even have a clue that I'm there, and I believe thats true for 99% of their users.
I think the term "unlimited" should never be used. The laws of physics always limits a person to a finite amount of bandwidth. Also, customers are always throttled to some degree. No system allows a customer to download 500 exabytes a day. That sounds like there is a limit.
And its "dishonest" to call piracy theft because they are as similar to each other as murder or rape?
While some may not agree, many people do find "copyright infringement" and theft to be very similar. The biggest argument I've seen on Slashdot to use the term "copyright infringement" is to make that behavior seem more palatable to non-technical folk. We were all taught stealing was wrong when we were little and we all know theft is stealing. The use of "copyright infringement" murkys the waters a little bit. Now that's being honest.
Whether its "theft" or "copyright infringement" or "something else"; its illegal, Maybe it should or shouldn't be illegal, but it currently is in pretty much every country on the planet.
Since one idiot on the ground can potentially blind a pilot with a cheap laser pointer, I wonder if the military has so sort of laser pointer weapon that they can track and aim at aircraft and disable pilots.
If they aggregate millions of identical phones and ship them by the pallet load to India/China/CheapLaborVille, I suspect it can become economical to recycle most of the goods. This is especially true if the people doing it aren't concerned with pesky OSHA type regulations from an overbearing government concerned with foolish things like employee health.
"because stealing, even something small, many (most??) people wouldn't do"
I'd argue if I offered the average person a million dollars to steal a pen from someone, they would do it. Or better yet, a million for something not as small like a mailbox. They may say they would buy their victim a new mailbox after they were paid, but they would be stealing (taking property that wasn't their without permission) nonetheless.
Slashdot Mirror
"sales associates at Office Depot or Wells Fargo aren't exactly MIT material. They can't retrain and become doctors or aerospace engineers. "
Even if they were that smart, that isn't something you can do overnight. It can take 4-10 years to "become doctors or aerospace engineers" even for the MIT crowd. They still have to eat in the meantime, and not everyone has mommy and daddy to cover the bills.
So those deemed by the masses as ugly will always be relegated to being poor?
This is due to finance cheaping out and not allowing the purchase of an exact "test" system to work on. Also, the rush to production is often more important than checking to be sure it all works.
That said, its all a risk/reward thing. Maybe its often better to screw up production here and there than to spend tons of money and time on testing. It all depends if you're building software for a web site or a Mars mission. What is the impact of a failure, and is it recoverable?
If that candy bar was poisoned, I suspect someone would be suing Nestle and the grocery store.
Maybe he is having sex with 14 different women daily.
"Sex is an act with a defined purpose"
Yeah. Defined by YOU.
"we STILL haven't figured out how to get along on a planet without money when animals have done this for millions of years"
We got along fine without money up until the last few thousand years. And last I saw, animals kill and eat each other all the time. We only do it some of the time.
"THAT seems like illegal and unwarranted tracking of private individuals"
What law prohibits a company from keep records of its customers?
"Nothing wrong with getting location data from a suspect, or even looking over phone logs for data, but turning everyone in the area into a witness/suspect is just so inefficient that you might as well just drag everyone in a square mile of a crime in for questioning."
Isn't this what happens when the police reach out to the local news and asks for help? They are potentially asking hundreds of thousands of people if they witnessed the crime and to provide information.
"The police are just fucking lazy."
Or perhaps they are trying to be more efficient. Are they also lazy to use cars instead of walking everywhere? Would you rather pay MORE taxes so there are enough police to knock on every door when a crime takes place?
Balance is the key here. Privacy is important, but so is the efficient use of taxpayer money.
"Which is why people should be vetted and subject to background checks prior to working for a company."
This guy retired. He may have started there 30 years ago. Vetting and background checks aren't the solution.
" it's 24x7 party next door"
Have you ever used AirBNB? I've used it a few times and didn't have a party. Hotel rooms aren't usually used for parties either. In general, I just need a place to leave my stuff and sleep when traveling for work or fun. When I've used AirBNB, I suspect the neighbors don't even have a clue that I'm there, and I believe thats true for 99% of their users.
"One good fully-loaded Asian server"
But could a 'merican server pull those numbers?
"an IP Address is like a physical address on a house: it does not identify a person"
Would you be ok with any business giving away your home address however they saw fit?
"what they're selling is not in fact unlimited"
I think the term "unlimited" should never be used. The laws of physics always limits a person to a finite amount of bandwidth. Also, customers are always throttled to some degree. No system allows a customer to download 500 exabytes a day. That sounds like there is a limit.
You know, over half of the US debt is to itself in its own retirement funds.
https://www.thebalance.com/who...
And its "dishonest" to call piracy theft because they are as similar to each other as murder or rape?
While some may not agree, many people do find "copyright infringement" and theft to be very similar. The biggest argument I've seen on Slashdot to use the term "copyright infringement" is to make that behavior seem more palatable to non-technical folk. We were all taught stealing was wrong when we were little and we all know theft is stealing. The use of "copyright infringement" murkys the waters a little bit. Now that's being honest.
"So what happens if the passenger or the driver has a medical emergency"
Perhaps they should require all drivers to be doctors in case a passenger unexpectedly needs a baby delivered.
What value does all this semantics bring?
Whether its "theft" or "copyright infringement" or "something else"; its illegal, Maybe it should or shouldn't be illegal, but it currently is in pretty much every country on the planet.
"Since when does the paid employee,... tell the employer ... what to do with their property?"
Unions?
"You can blind a pilot."
Since one idiot on the ground can potentially blind a pilot with a cheap laser pointer, I wonder if the military has so sort of laser pointer weapon that they can track and aim at aircraft and disable pilots.
"when it seems that poor engineering must have been in place"
Should every system be engineered so that it is impossible to game?
If they aggregate millions of identical phones and ship them by the pallet load to India/China/CheapLaborVille, I suspect it can become economical to recycle most of the goods. This is especially true if the people doing it aren't concerned with pesky OSHA type regulations from an overbearing government concerned with foolish things like employee health.
"because stealing, even something small, many (most??) people wouldn't do"
I'd argue if I offered the average person a million dollars to steal a pen from someone, they would do it. Or better yet, a million for something not as small like a mailbox. They may say they would buy their victim a new mailbox after they were paid, but they would be stealing (taking property that wasn't their without permission) nonetheless.
"criminal negligence"
You throw the word criminal around like it is candy. Just because something isn't up to your standards doesn't mean it is criminal.