(commenting here since previous discussion is now archived...)
It looks like you may have predicted the latest FBI maneuver here. The FBI is now claiming to have paid a professional hacker group for the technique, not Cellebrite. Maybe they realized the possible legal exposure after reading your comments? The FBI is looking awfully incompetent when armchair lawyers are a step ahead of them.
From the paper, it looks like this technique requires significant cooperation from the client. The client must put the wifi card in monitor mode and use a proprietary protocol to blast across the spectrum for 28ms (which pauses all traffic on the AP also). Also, the client needs to have 3 antennas spaced 12-30cm apart. Maybe some laptops and tablets have such a builtin antenna array but definitely not mobile phones or watches.
I doubt this will begin tracking people without their knowledge. It's still very interesting and I hope to use it on some robotics projects but it won't ever become a passive consumer monitoring system. If we start to see 6 antenna APs and big 3-antenna phone cases, then I'll become suspicious...
"This is all part of the move away from legacy single-user design crap..."
Part of the reason that Windows is still buggy and a pain to administrate is because multi-user requirements are continually being shoehorned into a single-user OS. The NT team had some fundamental assertions: single user, graphics drivers in user space. Most of today's problems are because those assertions have been grossly violated by subsequent versions of Windows.
It also ignores reflexes and experience. A twitchy teenager has a much better chance of beating grandma to the draw. An experienced gunman beats a novice in a stressful situation.
A fully armed society doesn't level the force playing field, it just changes the skill sets involved.
>The media have been at best negligent in reporting on the economic issues at hand. At worst, they have been complicit.
>...
>Why does the news media consistently accept the bald lies of the people responsible? Why don't they bother telling people the truth?
Listen carefully:
The goal of the mass media is to SELL ADVERTISING. They are not interested in truth, journalism, insight, or any other ideal. Stop expecting it of them. Find other sources of information.
>The polls are so variable it's hard to know which are accurate.
Which is why looking at a weekly average that discounts subjective outliers is better: http://www.electoral-vote.com/. This model (created by Mr. Tanenbaum for you Comp. Sci. people) shows Obama up by ~7% in the popular vote. If you don't like his model, try intrade.com where money talks. The media and political machines can spin it however they want but the smart models say that this election is over. Even Karl Rove's Consulting Services (tm) predict an Obama victory.
I contend the source of the problem is the constant stream of interruptive advertising people are forced to endure these days. We're conditioned by advertisers that interruptions aren't just acceptable, they're EXCITING! and FUN! - go forth and interrupt your friends! I think the solution is to fix the problem at the source, the advertising, rather than trying to rehabilitate people from an advertising-soaked life.
Please don't radically change the Economist. It's one of the few print publications that I still read.
The high signal-to-noise ratio of the articles and "better than grade school English" standards are rare anywhere, let alone in print. Don't change over to a sensational headlines + ads rag in the search for higher revenues.
Lockyer is just making headlines so that you will remember his name come election day. First the HP investigation headline, now the sue the automakers headline. When it comes time to vote, vote Lockyer!
All hail David Cutler. One of the most underrated achievements in modern commercial software history is the NT 3.1 design by him and his crew. It's typically forgotten due to anti-Microsoft hatred and that's a shame.
What is causing students to major in something other than engineering? Is it the threat of outsourcing or, in the case of the USA, the anti-intellectualism of the Bush administration? Or maybe engineering is too old school for gen X. It really irks me to see how much the sciences have gone downhill in only the past 3-4 years
Maybe it's that there aren't many true engineering jobs available anymore and maybe there'll be even less in the future? The "engineering" jobs advertisted these days end up being sales and customer service positions. I think more and more people are figuring that out.
Colleges are becoming more about profit/loss than education. As long as Johnny undergraduate can pay the tuition or qualify for a student loan, he's in.
The undergraduates are profit centers (tuition). The staff, subcontractors (construction/maintenance/IT), and graduate students are cost centers. The graduate departments are really marketing and adversting departments that bring in more undergraduates. It's a nice little growth industry if you think about it. Mommy and Daddy OldMoney love sending Johnny off to college. It'll continue on for a while. I wish I could invest in it. Unfortunately, "boards of regents" hold the "stock" and won't let me in on it.
You'll know it's true when Universities start trading on the NYSE and NASDAQ.
The goal of mainstream media is to sell advertising, not to inform.
Please repeat the above mantra to yourself while feeding from the mainstream media trough.
Slashdot Mirror
(commenting here since previous discussion is now archived...)
It looks like you may have predicted the latest FBI maneuver here. The FBI is now claiming to have paid a professional hacker group for the technique, not Cellebrite. Maybe they realized the possible legal exposure after reading your comments? The FBI is looking awfully incompetent when armchair lawyers are a step ahead of them.
From the paper, it looks like this technique requires significant cooperation from the client. The client must put the wifi card in monitor mode and use a proprietary protocol to blast across the spectrum for 28ms (which pauses all traffic on the AP also). Also, the client needs to have 3 antennas spaced 12-30cm apart. Maybe some laptops and tablets have such a builtin antenna array but definitely not mobile phones or watches.
I doubt this will begin tracking people without their knowledge. It's still very interesting and I hope to use it on some robotics projects but it won't ever become a passive consumer monitoring system. If we start to see 6 antenna APs and big 3-antenna phone cases, then I'll become suspicious...
"This is all part of the move away from legacy single-user design crap..."
Part of the reason that Windows is still buggy and a pain to administrate is because multi-user requirements are continually being shoehorned into a single-user OS. The NT team had some fundamental assertions: single user, graphics drivers in user space. Most of today's problems are because those assertions have been grossly violated by subsequent versions of Windows.
It also ignores reflexes and experience. A twitchy teenager has a much better chance of beating grandma to the draw. An experienced gunman beats a novice in a stressful situation.
A fully armed society doesn't level the force playing field, it just changes the skill sets involved.
>The media have been at best negligent in reporting on the economic issues at hand. At worst, they have been complicit.
>...
>Why does the news media consistently accept the bald lies of the people responsible? Why don't they bother telling people the truth?
Listen carefully:
The goal of the mass media is to SELL ADVERTISING. They are not interested in truth, journalism, insight, or any other ideal. Stop expecting it of them. Find other sources of information.
>The polls are so variable it's hard to know which are accurate.
Which is why looking at a weekly average that discounts subjective outliers is better: http://www.electoral-vote.com/. This model (created by Mr. Tanenbaum for you Comp. Sci. people) shows Obama up by ~7% in the popular vote. If you don't like his model, try intrade.com where money talks. The media and political machines can spin it however they want but the smart models say that this election is over. Even Karl Rove's Consulting Services (tm) predict an Obama victory.
I contend the source of the problem is the constant stream of interruptive advertising people are forced to endure these days. We're conditioned by advertisers that interruptions aren't just acceptable, they're EXCITING! and FUN! - go forth and interrupt your friends! I think the solution is to fix the problem at the source, the advertising, rather than trying to rehabilitate people from an advertising-soaked life.
Yes, for sure.
Unemployment, driving less, stronger dollar, etc. had been going on long before talk of drilling.
I hate to break it to you, but most stock and commodity pricing behavior these days is driven by perception, emotion and irrational pack mentality.
Please don't radically change the Economist. It's one of the few print publications that I still read.
The high signal-to-noise ratio of the articles and "better than grade school English" standards are rare anywhere, let alone in print. Don't change over to a sensational headlines + ads rag in the search for higher revenues.
Lockyer is just making headlines so that you will remember his name come election day. First the HP investigation headline, now the sue the automakers headline. When it comes time to vote, vote Lockyer!
"NASA is important, really! See, we're making the news! Look at those buzzwords like 'Neil Armstrong' and 'Moon'. Give us more funding!"
All hail David Cutler. One of the most underrated achievements in modern commercial software history is the NT 3.1 design by him and his crew. It's typically forgotten due to anti-Microsoft hatred and that's a shame.
What is causing students to major in something other than engineering? Is it the threat of outsourcing or, in the case of the USA, the anti-intellectualism of the Bush administration? Or maybe engineering is too old school for gen X. It really irks me to see how much the sciences have gone downhill in only the past 3-4 years
Maybe it's that there aren't many true engineering jobs available anymore and maybe there'll be even less in the future? The "engineering" jobs advertisted these days end up being sales and customer service positions. I think more and more people are figuring that out.
Colleges are becoming more about profit/loss than education. As long as Johnny undergraduate can pay the tuition or qualify for a student loan, he's in.
The undergraduates are profit centers (tuition). The staff, subcontractors (construction/maintenance/IT), and graduate students are cost centers. The graduate departments are really marketing and adversting departments that bring in more undergraduates. It's a nice little growth industry if you think about it. Mommy and Daddy OldMoney love sending Johnny off to college. It'll continue on for a while. I wish I could invest in it. Unfortunately, "boards of regents" hold the "stock" and won't let me in on it.
You'll know it's true when Universities start trading on the NYSE and NASDAQ.
The goal of mainstream media is to sell advertising, not to inform. Please repeat the above mantra to yourself while feeding from the mainstream media trough.