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User: Korbeau

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  1. Re:ELI5 -- why are blockchains relevant here? on Microsoft: We're Developing Blockchain ID System Starting With Our Authenticator App (zdnet.com) · · Score: 1

    > Who validates the new data that comes in?

    I'm basically wondering if anyone can create junk identities and junk providers and can associate any type of data to them, or if there are some kind of central authority around that. Nothing in the blockchain technology enforces the ledger to be fully public or the quorum to be fully open, and that any type of entry becomes valid. I find the article scarce on the topic.

    As for my other questions, they are rhetorical and express my concerns.

  2. Re:ELI5 -- why are blockchains relevant here? on Microsoft: We're Developing Blockchain ID System Starting With Our Authenticator App (zdnet.com) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From TFA: "Microsoft reckons the technology holds promise as a superior alternative to people granting consent to dozens of apps [...]"

    I believe the intend is more related to authorization (knowing the user has given or been granted access to X resource) than authentication (identifying the user) in this case. Instead of querying some local database or black box API, a public ledger is shared and can be queried by anyone.

    Storing identity information in a blockchain seems to be the hype in many sectors ... I find it kind of scary. Who validates the new data that comes in? Does past records every get erased? If entries prove to be erroneous after a few weeks after being added to the chain, how easily can you fix the mistake? How fast and reliably can you update data (revoke access for instance)?

    Also, I think most implementation of such blockhain protocols do not store data directly in the public ledger but simply store hashes to external data entries, for which it's not clear who has the ownership and if they are publicly available or not.

  3. Needed all that endorphin to sleep tight tonight.

  4. Re:News-speak at 11. on Montreal Police Monitored iPhone of La Presse Journalist Patrick Lagace (www.cbc.ca) · · Score: 1

    | OMG! If Snowden wiped his ass then it makes it REAL!

    I think there are enough evidences to make this a real event. Now I didn't bring Snowden to give any ethical bias, just to highlight it is in fact very current and news-worthy.

    The debate seems twofold: first of all why the chief of police gave orders to hunt on police sources / leaks in the media (on this topic it seems the mayor was putting a lot of pressure on the head of police), and then why municipal judges don't challenge such requests (on this it seems such judges are mostly municipal stamp pushers and underpaid 50% relative to their colleagues, and may have work-history related bias towards law enforcement).

    The fact that a well-known journalist backed by its journal is involved makes it maybe a little more sensational than it seems. But for example, the first thing LaPresse did when learning about it was request a court order to censor all phone numbers in any documents from this operation, because if any of this is used in any kind of process, it could unintentionally unveil other hidden journalistic sources non-related to the affair.

    We can be pretty much sure this guy won't have any more exclusive news for a while as confidential sources will no longer trust contacting him.

  5. Re:News-speak at 11. on Montreal Police Monitored iPhone of La Presse Journalist Patrick Lagace (www.cbc.ca) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am not sure if your comment is aimed at minimizing the impact of police spying over journalists (business as usual?), but you should note that this snippet from the article is completely unrelated to the main case with the Montreal police.

    About the main case with the Montreal police, it is currently considered a big enough thing that it is monopolizing the news in Quebec and all government levels are actively seeking answers and solutions to this unprecedented abuse of power against freedom of press.

    It now appears that Montreal police has started mass spying over journalists last spring in order to find whistle-blowers inside their organization (http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/montreal/201611/01/01-5036642-le-spvm-avait-lance-une-chasse-aux-sources-journalistiques-au-printemps.php).

    Edward Snowden even twitted on the topic yesterday: https://twitter.com/Snowden/st...

  6. Re:Would prefer a seperate app on Microsoft Announces Paint 3D, the Biggest Update Ever To the Classic App (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    > outside of some really non-professional home stuff

    Who do you think Paint target audience is?

    I think paint is quite effective for most Windows "household tasks" (converting images, cropping, resizing, writing annotations, combining, saving screenshots etc.)

    I've used GIMP and Photoshop enough to know my way around but I've never been an expert. And opening GIMP for most of the tasks listed above is just troublesome (very long load time, bloated UI).

    > MS Paint falls way, way, way short for illustration

    Of course! That I will not deny.

  7. Re:It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia did it first! on Gas Delivery Startups Want to Fill Up Your Car Anywhere, But It Might Not Be Legal (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    Combination of The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis + Charlie Catches a Leprechaun: Gas Delivery 2.0!

  8. Re:what are they doing the rest of the year? on Survey: Average Successful Hack Nets Less Than $15,000 (csoonline.com) · · Score: 1

    That means that they work 40 hours a year, for an average salary of 29k$, or around 800$/hr. Not bad al all :)

    I would expect that the rest of the year they keep updated with research and systems, code their tools, search for vulnerabilities, find targets etc.

    It's probably comparable to other fields where you spend 80% of your time finding clients and pitching projects to fill the 20% of the time you are actually getting paid.

    Of course, at least they don't have to worry about PR, branding, cocktails and such :)

  9. Re:Microsoft Office on AMD Rips 'Biased and Unreliable' Intel-Optimized SYSmark Benchmark (hothardware.com) · · Score: 5, Funny

    The real outrage should be that operations in Microsoft Office are measured in seconds and minutes instead of nanoseconds and milliseconds.

    Well every time you type a key it must send it online for anonymous data collection, match it against a dictionary for instant grammar correction, save a copy of your modified file to your OneDrive online free storage space, run a few ticks into Clippy's neural network, send your typing statistics to Cortana, pass through 10 layers of automation & scripting support interfaces & abstractions ...

    Ah and yes, eventually also update the output buffer with actual letter symbol to be displayed on the screen!

  10. First time I heard of VR filmmaking on Nokia's $60,000 Virtual Reality Camera Goes On a Drone Test Flight (roadtovr.com) · · Score: 1

    I imagine that actors will be talking a lot to the camera like in the British sitcom Peep Show so it looks they are talking to us.
    No more need for slopes in movies theaters.
    No more annoying tall people in the front row or bright cellphone lights.
    With binaural/HRTF audio and headphones, you no longer hear peoples making comments from the row behind you.
    Looks a lot like a scene I remember from the Matrix ...

    Only 75$ for the 2 hours experience.
    (we promise not to harvest extra energy from your body without your consent, but if you want to we will provide complimentary popcorn!)

    TV edit is done directly from the director's head.

  11. In other news on Hackers Publish Cheating Site's Stolen Data · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ashley Madison rebrands itself as "Cheating Liar" dot com, reality show on the way.

  12. Engineer Solution on Most Doctors Work While Sick, Despite Knowing It's Bad For Patients · · Score: 1

    Prioritize the patient queue based on similar symptoms.

  13. Depends on medium and content of the test on Ask Slashdot: Are Timed Coding Tests Valuable? · · Score: 1

    I would be nice to have more insights as to the content of the test and the medium used.

    If it is a complex algorithm (for instance I don't know, writing a compression method, an digital filter etc.) these kind of questions are better suited for pen&paper where the candidate will mostly spill out pseudo code, ideas and comments. As others said, in such a test I would not expect the candidate to write flawless code, but it will give me an idea as to whether he knows basic concepts of programming, possibly of a particular language, and most importantly if he knows how to think.

    On the other hand, if you are given 45 minutes in front of a computer, I would expect it to be a very very simple task. This could be for instance writing a form where the user inputs some values that get serialized on disk. I would more be interested to know if the candidate is as fluent as he says with the tools provided. I would expect him to finish on time and evaluate the real quality of the code. Or if he had problems this would be a base of discussion as to what happened. Of course, in such a context I don't see why this test would not be "open books" with access to the Internet and any reference documentation needed.

    Both tests are valid enough I think. But mixing them (doing a pen&paper test for code that is meant to compile flawlessly or doing a seated test with a complex algorithm) is just malicious! Maybe that is what your friend encountered.

  14. 1313 ... PG-13? on Star Wars: 1313, a 'Darker, Grittier' Star Wars Game · · Score: 3, Funny

    Please show me some hardcore 18+ Star Wars with Nathalie Por ... heu, Chewbacca kinky X-mas explosions and stuff.

  15. Well, as I imagine it on German Kindergartens Ordered To Pay Copyright For Songs · · Score: 1

    German children probably listen to Kraftwerk to learn all about radioactivity, vitamins, telephones, computers, autobahn, neon lights and such. In fact, in the summary's picture I believe they are dancing to The Robots. Seems fair for the band to receive some kind of royalties.

  16. A canvas to paint custom objects? on What 2D GUI Foundation Do You Use? · · Score: 1

    I was about to reply some pros&cons and that in the end all frameworks have their limits and how if you try something else than asking for a birthdate in a textbox and outputing the age in another when the user hits a button you'll spend hours and hours tweaking little details (why won't it let me put an icon here! Why won't it align correctly!)

    But I re-read you question and you talk about re-writing all the GUI yourself, so I don't really understand why you need a UI toolkit to start with. But you probably have not phrased your needs completely.

    Anyway, the obvious answer is to try WPF for Windows if your app is for Windows.

  17. ISP Welcome Kits on ISPs Lie About Broadband "Up To" Speeds · · Score: 2, Funny

    Up to 7Mbps! Improved flavor, now without trans fat!

  18. Not much left! on R In a Nutshell · · Score: 2, Funny

    Based on Wikipedia, only G, H, N, O, P, U, V, W one-letter programming language names are left! Time to invent a new language :)

  19. What to do with a hammer? on What To Do With Old 802.11b Equipment? · · Score: 1

    I've come across a hammer in my toolbox. Any idea what I could do with it? Is it worth any time putting it to use, or should I just leave it in my toolbox?

    (PS: aside from being cynical, this post also answers the OP question - using 802.11b equipment along with a hammer can be a whole-lotta fun ;)

  20. Re:Wait... on Subscription-Based 'Hulu Plus' Is Now Official · · Score: 1

    Do you prefer paying 29.99$ without ads?

  21. Hmm ... on China Restricts Minors From Using Virtual Currency · · Score: 1

    I also think that it is a good thing to prevent minors to do online transactions, particularly of "virtual currency" stuff, without some kind of monitoring or parental consent etc. This sounds perfectly reasonable.

    And to put the "unwholesome" comment into context which seems to annoy everyone, imagine a US politician saying vague words like "it is morally irresponsible to do X" or "it is to protect the rights our fathers gave us" etc. I mean, it's a speech.

    So China makes what seem a sensible law ... can someone explain to me why it is that bad?

  22. Re:Thanks god. on Google Introduces, Then Scraps, Bing-Style Background Images · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My guess about this one is that they don't want you to notice that you are almost always "logged in" into Google search if, for instance, you have a Youtube or Gmail account. With the fade-in, you don't really notice the "log out" option in the top-right corner.

    I remember being very surprised to see that I was always searching in "authenticated" mode because I told Gmail to keep me logged in (btw, the option is checked by default so probably most users are).

    I find it very frustrating that they decided to link all the accounts like this. I want to keep my search separated from my Youtube views/comments separated from my mail.

    (of course: they can still deduce who you are without being officially authenticated, but that's another story)

  23. Re:"Washington" is a US State on Washington Wants 10,000 Web Surfers · · Score: 1

    Argh! for the 8^56th time!

    - "Washington" is a US State founded in 1889.
    - "Washington D.C." is the Capital of the United States.

    This article was obviously not written by anyone on the west coast.

    West coast? Which one? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast

  24. Re:Qualifications on How To Take a Big Vendor To Small Claims and Win · · Score: 1

    Imagine 8 and 20 years... it would have been.. like... 3000$!!

  25. FCC vs Canada's CRTC on Net Neutrality Suffers Major Setback · · Score: 1

    Did the FCC at least force ISP to give the users the exact throttling rules like Canada CRTC ruled last autumn?
    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/10/21/2223229/

    I would have loved to see slashdotters' reaction to the CRTC announcement after this news came it, would have put things in perspective. It's good to be pro-net-neutrality (CRTC also is pro-net-neutrality), but even with limited power it tried and succeeded to at least get some basic ruling done so we are not (the users) completely screwed.

    In the end though, I guess both organizations will reach the same kind of decision (Canadian politicians being what they are) and Big Industry will flourish.