It's interesting how people in power assume that they are immune to the negative consequences of the same mechanisms they create or force to subdue others. It will be interested to see what happens when all these backdoor backfire on Putin's regime and how they try to downplay it when it happens.
China's practices for using data are being used in large tech companies already and by our governments as well. These tools are basically the "all seeing eye" from Tolken and of course Orwell (other writers I'm sure). But this was also predicted by many movies and few noticed. Check out The Matrix, The Dark Night, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Circle talked about this more directly but less realistically. (The western government would never allow this monitoring on themselves anymore than the Russian or Chinese governments do). And China is not only tracking everyone through facial recognition glasses worn by police, not only are they keeping database with behavior scores to evaluate who is "disloyal" based on patterns (and past actions of course), but next month they are implementing a "Social Points" system to restrict access to travel for anyone who is considered disloyal based on that database and facial recognition. You are already required to show your ID card for virtually ANY transaction there now. (And is integrated in the WeChat Pay apps of course which is used widely).
If you are interested in stopping this abuse of data power, stop handing your data to them. Remove apps that are not open source (you can get open source apps for Android from F-Droid http://www.f-droid.org/ ). Install a firewall on your phone that can help manage what apps access (Droid Firewall is pretty good). Don't use default Google Android OS (you can't stop it from sending GPS data to them even if you turn it off...Google admitted this late last year, promising to stop using this hard wired phone home feature..sure..). LinageOS works on most Android phones. https://download.lineageos.org...)
Stop using MS Windows, especially Windows 8-10 because not only are data transmitters for every file header and website you visit, but every update Microsoft seems to take more control of the OS away from you (an idea probably borrowed from the iOS updates which did this years ago). You can't stop the auto updates unless you take extreme measures and even they don't work all the time and recently Microsoft is going to force your email links to be opened using Edge rather than your default browser selection. had enough being rammed with a broomstick handle yet by MS? Perhaps you noticed al this Xbox nonsense preinsstalled as well. Have fun reading this summary (see the data separately on other tech sites but this is a nice summary): https://itvision.altervista.or... . You can still buy Windows 7 legal licenses including from http://nerdsforless.com./ But better to just get off MS Windows. Linux can do virtually all the non-gaming things that MS Windows does (and MacOS as well). Linux Mint ( http://www.linuxmint.com/ ) is the easiest version of Linux for MS windows only users to get into. I've had kids as young as 7 years old run this with no assistance, and they all liked it MORE than MS Windows. "No crashes" I kept hearing. Using LibreOffice you can do all your office needs, (I've been on it for for 5 years and it keeps getting better), your favorite browsers (minus Edge but who uses that voluntarily these days) are all there, your email is easy peasy and will play all your videos and stuff. With no tracking from MS or the evil Cortana (that thing is horrible)
Keep any social media apps off your phone. Just...don't install them. You don't need them. Truth is anything that shares data over the web can be made as a mobile friendly website. The only reasons for an app is to take advantage of the data tracking tools on your phone and possibly install a local database there, generally for sending to a 3rd party later. That includes, GPS (in the vast majority of cases) and possibly accessing your contacts, browsing history, and let's not forget possibly your
Unfortunately the current presidential administration is likely to gives these sobs a medal for innovate business practices. (see latest tax bill for reference). We are coming just short of "let them eat cake"....
Password are terrible if they are used badly, like most things. Passwords are bad if one has say a 5 letter password out of the dictionary. (all too easy). Passwords without rotation, or are less then, say 12 characters, using at least 1 upper case, 1 lower case, 1 number and one special characters. Smart cards can be copied, stolen or hacked. (Perhaps in bypassed). Much harder to hack someone's memory and login limits, especially with 2-factor authentication are harder to break.
Okay, it's not the first time simple ways have been found to circumvent so-called "biometrics" especially the poor man's version of these tools. The Windows 10 version is mostly likely a low end version with very limited pixel resolution recognition on the camera (to be compatible with the low end cameras that come in most laptops and cameras), plus an routine to distinguish a live face (with facial movements/ticks as supposed to a 100% static picture) was probably never even considered because it would add to cost and time to development. So when you think about it, it's really a TERRIBLE idea. even with that taken into account, a camera with a high enough resolution to recognize a video would add costs too.
We tried finger print recognition which is also terrible because it is too easy to lift a fingerprint from a victim (or even bypass the finger print scanner in many cases). Anything that is easy to lift/take from the user is inherently insecure: Finger prints (scotch tape/talcum powder will get that from any surface including keyboards and coffee cups), facial recognition (just lift a picture from facebook or any social media site where people often publish high resolution photos, even easier than getting a finger print). Voice print is a LITTLE better but voice patterns have been successfully simulated/recorded from everyday conversation or even YouTube lectures. (techies often love to give these).
There is absolutely NO substitute for a good old fashion typed passwords (even better, in combination with typing sampling for speed/patterns). Even voice passwords are potentially easy to copy with a long or even short range microphone The password is proven most secure because it requires you to look into someone's memory or stand over them and watch them type it, unless of course they use the same password across but that requires more time/research than getting a facial picture or even a fingerprint if you know or work with the victim. Perhaps these could be used IN ADDITION to a password, but should NEVER be a substitute. The key to secure is the remember this old axiom: Security comes at the price of convenience. Without exception. Of course common sense rules like password rotation on a regular basis are essential. It is possible to lift a password I imagine using the amount of body oil on each key or even thermal patterns on a keyboard to lift a password, but look at all the effort/equipment required to do that. It feels like every new biometric security toy is less secure than the last.
in the long tradition of long reaching poor ideas like VBA (which had to be disabled in IE for security issues which finally happened in IE7), IIS with insecure settings on be default (for convenience), now comes DDE. Things that had to be changed or disabled because of things anyone thinking it through would realize, is a bad idea. Of course Windows defender is a bit of a joke in the security world as well. The fact the update was done for Word 2007 probably means this vulnerability was so bad they included it to avoid repercussions from lawsuits of the government worried about foreign exploitation. Windows 10 in general (or at least the spyware components) will probably be on this list before long because people will finally wake up and realize what is happening, or some foreign country will exploit it to collect data and we'll be like, "how could MS do this?" answer: because we sat back, and let them. Security comes at the price of convenience, and MS has historically been poor at finding this balance, making things that are neither convenient or secure (at least in comparison to MacOS and Linux) . I specifically say "foreign power" because governments love backdoors, and "telemetry data" to spy on it's entire population. But..they seem to be of the illusion that you can make a door that only one specific group can use and other cannot find and use themselves.
People buy early and low, speculation drives demand high with no real assets backing up the worth save pure speculation. people early sell to people buying later. More people later than earlier. People at the upper end of the pyramid make crazy profits, people who buy are left holding the bag (the larger number of masses at the base supporting the profits of the top) when this balloon pops. once upon a time we had the gold standard.
When we didn't have enough gold to back it up, so...we abandoned it for speculative currency. The one definite thing about technology, is enables us to accelerate what we normally do, making the flaws in our systems more visible. Samuel Clemens write about the stock market in Huckleberry Finn, and Sir Conan Doyle mentioned it in his writings of Sherlock Holmes as well. neither gave a pretty picture. If they could only see this...
To the person making the comment about the cell phone burning a hole in your pocket in your pocket if it was always recording, not at ALL true. Oh, and bandwidth allowance may not be an issue either if there was an understanding between, say, google/apple and ISPs, plus government monitors. There is a reason why many new phones are designed in such away it is surgery to remove the battery which is the only sure way to be sure it isn't monitoring. There was a reason Snowden had cell phones put into a microwave when the reporters were meeting him: he knew they can always be listening/watching, regardless of settings by the user. The limitations people HOPE there are on a cell phone in regards to limitations are an illusion. Don't believe me? Try using apps like WeChat for awhile. your battery would not be dead either (certainly not on the new phones with the non-removable battery). I know because I've had conversations using apps that have gone one for hours which barely put a dint in the charge and my phone did not require a recharge for several days after. But I digress.
Any device that can listen and has access to the Internet is probably listening. There is a project that claims to plug this hole called Purism ( https://puri.sm/products/ ) with a hardware shutoff switch for the "holes" that are on by default on. And don't forget, Google was recently caught with their hand in the cookie jar, taking user location data even if you turn it "off" on your phone. The Cell phone, like these vocal response devices, are in essence trojan horses. No one should be having devices that listen 24/7 in their home. If we don't fight to protect our privacy, government and private business will assume permissions has been given. It used to be one had to break into your home, plant bugs, and monitor close by to do the kind of intrusive monitoring that can be done just by putting out devices people think are "cool" or convenient. It's like Mark Twain's whitewashing chapter in Tom Sawyer: We pay to let people into our home and take our data.
Need a more solid base of developing community. windows 8-10 still has trojan "telemetry" data collectors (header data from files accessed will certainly identify you folks sooner or later), but for those who have trouble getting Windows 7 (available from http://nerdsforless.com/softwa... ) for some reason, this was a god send for many. I recommended it to many people who hated the "tile" theme (which most people I know do, not a fun interface). Developers out there, let's take up the mantle. This was a quality tool. Sorry to hear that he's leaving us, but he certainly did his bit. Now it's time for the rest of us to do ours.
And another tibit: I was interviewed by a mobile app company that will remain nameless, but my primary job would have been to organize and analytic database so the company could find data trends to sell. They had so much raw data they didn't know how to use it yet. Company rep said: "People have idea how much data they are giving".
This isn't scare mongering, this is reality, until we start saying "no thanks". There are ways.
Some of knew that virtually every app made by a commercial enterprise had trackers to extract data. This is why so much money has been spent on creating apps for phones instead of Phone friendly websites: you can get a LOT more data and have viewer options to block it. Otherwise it would be cheaper in development and maintenance to do a mobile friendly website. Data mining is the biggest business in the world right now and google is one of the leaders of this charge. Now, for those who WANT to get rid of this you can start by using an OS that doens't have google #$% apps preinstalled. LinageOS ( https://www.lineageos.org/ ) or Replicant OS (https://www.replicant.us/) as well as a phone that you can lock down microphones, cameras, and wireless that is linux based (https://puri.sm/) with no google spyware nonsense. If you have a more trusted on your Android compatible phone using LinageOS, CyanogenMod (old) or Replicant, you can get apps more trustworthy from FOSS using the F-Droid app (https://f-droid.org/). At least the apps are less likely to track you. Most don't ask for weird permissions like most commercial apps from, say the Google store tend to do. Hope that helps everyone remove the chains from their phones.
Only half truth. it is "based on" windows 10 enterprise but apparent they STILL had to change it. That indicates there is probably other stuff you can't turn off no matter what you pay them. China banned Windows 8 (because they knew what people here should have known and kept it out of their networks in North America and round the world) so Microsoft realized then China was dead serious. See this article.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/...
Debate is fine, as long as it is supported with complete facts.
Then the companies creating the boxes decided it was more profitable to sell out the customers to advertisers for a "preferred" fee to push advertisements to them. MythTV does this for free so I'd sooner recommend that as there is no potential conflict of interest.
Okay, working with a few groups that have to keep confidential data and medical data secure I can say that Windows 10 sends out data routinely that you cannot shut off that people working with such data can't afford to have leaving the organizations part of whose mandate is to protect that data. Moving to windows will probably introduce problems, is unlikely to fix any, and with Windows 10 (they can get Windows 7) they are sending out citizen data to a foreign power. (The USA loves this). This was recognized by China who told Microsoft point blank they were required to make a special China version of Windows 10 that would not send data to a foreign power. Microsoft of course said "yes" to this. If it got out that private public data was being sent directly to a foreign power, the German people would be up in arms. Germany's privacy laws are more strict than most countries. If they insist on this experiment (which will be a death march, just watch), they should at least use Widows 7.
Expensive solutions for simple financial data is just exploitation by less honest consulting companies. As you say, Excel/libreoffice Calc and others can LINK to a real database instead of keeping the raw numbers there. But it is also very easy these days to setup a MariaDB database and do a quick web. A few solutions can be found with just 5 minutes of looking:
I've had so many requests and interviews for projects to consolidate excel files made by managers for years. Worst case was a multi-branch bank where EVERY branch and a different version of excel records and they needed to import the data into an Oracle database. Which proves the statement, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing". Give people the impression they can do more than they in fact can effectively, and you have a mess on your hands. Excel was never designed to be a database, never claimed to be in fairness to MS and other spreadsheet makers, but unfortunately that is what people primarily used excel for in small-medium offices. But hey, it keeps development consulting firms flush with cash to fix it afterwards. A significant portion of the IT industry would probably have to change their business model if people in the SMB group finally wise up and start using read databases instead of cheating with excel. And since industrial level database can be obtained for free, there is really no excuse, except lack of due diligence. That said you can LINK an excel spreadsheet (and LibreOffice Calc) to a real database or even MS Access (but why in god's name would you use MS Access when you can use MariaDB or even Sqlite) and an Excel or (even better) a basic web interface. So many tools have been made to help set these up, it's much easier/faster than it used to be.
Just an interesting FYI, was recently told that prices of labor in China are going up. At least in renovating condos, which are typically sold to first buyers unrenovated (meaning bare concrete floors and walls), probably to lower initial purchase cost, but not really liveable unless you like living in a high altitude cave. It's pushing people who were waiting for renovation labor costs to drop, to move forward as they costs are currently going up instead. If that trend continues in other labor sectors, maybe these companies will move to Vietnam. (have to build plants but it's been happening with clothing and footwear, why not tech...)
Sorry, you are correct. But I think it's generally accepted that Trump has a few loose screws, is highly susceptible to flattery (and pledges of allegiance to himself), and a number of people have literally said (remember once fellow on MSNBC) he has a few screws loose. Not that any of this is news. I remember when at the beginning of Trump's term he was putting on a "tough front" with Xi Jinping, and quickly did a 180 on that after a single phone call which the media said wasn't a strong indicator on Trump's negotiating skills. I wonder what Xi jinping said to him to get him to drop his tough talk about China to fast.
Uh...you do realize that China is anything but communist and the party is communist in name only right? China is in many respects more capitalist than the USA. Go check out places like Shanghai or Guangzhou. Free speech is not directly tied to any specific economic model so we are confusing issues here. If anything, i'd say China is a combination of protectionist/capitalist economic system. Capitalist within it's own borders, protectionist outside (at least under the current government). Oh, and companies have special favors (like I suspect TenCent, makers of WeChat do) to extremely well and allowed to have virtual monopolies. But in general it's literally dog-eat-dog over there.
In Canada you are required to pay 1.5 times the standard pay (if worker makes a claim) if you work more than 44 hours/week in the province in Ontario and a max of 48 hours per week.
I'm a "fanboy" of freedom, privacy and choice. And the reasons I specifically mentioned android VARIANTS and not Android is because I KNOW android has spy hooks in the OS (and in iOS as well). Yes most do have issues, but we do the best we can with the best knowledge we have, which I try to add on Slashdot. I'm sceptical in general and to my sadness have been proven invariably right.
If you are actually interested in a phone that is supposedly made for public benefit (rather than government/corporate interests) as this company claims to be one. (time will tell)
It's supposedly an open source PHONE, not just an OS. It's the same price as a new iPhone or Android upper end phone but hopefully will empower YOU, the one who pays for it. Your welcome.
This was true in Japan (it was voluntary meaning, if you didn't do the "voluntary" overtime, you were unofficially blacklisted with virtually every other major corporation in Japan), at least until the public scandals got so bad, it was an embarrassment that the Japanese government decided maybe it wasn't such a good idea. (there was hospital footage on news media that wasn't helping Japan's image). Are you saying, government's should allow results like these? It can be very expensive in countries that have effective national health care.
Okay, Foxconn, had a rep for inhumane human labor practices, including making people stand for 12 hours assembling iphones. Foxconn doesn't change it's stripes because of a little embarrassment, and Apple know it. Much like the Gap, Joe Fresh, Blue Navy (owned by the Gap), continue to use manufacturers that quietly hire child labor no matter how many times similar scandals come up. If Apple really cared, they would stop using Foxconn whose reputation for what we consider basic human decency let alone laws relating to it, is very poor. If WE really cared about any of these issues, we would stop buying iphones (we can always get used ones if it MUST be an iphone), or better yet get a phone with an open source android derivative (Replicant, Cyanogen, LinageOS), but as people with eager faces prepare to sign either a free phone for a 3 year contract or plot $700 USD for the newest iphone, it seems pretty clear where our priorities are. And no matter how many times we see stories like this, we'll keep buying iphones. So Apple will keep using Foxconnm, who will repeat profitable inhuman labor practices.
He's been on a very aggressive campaign to stop the flow of in information to/from foreign countries since 2 years ago, and with a fair amount of success. Shutting out any media service that contains any information critical of major government policies (Facebook, Google) as well as any search engines using search engines from those companies (startpage iquick also will not function in China) as well as apps/service that encrypt the data from the Chinese government (WhatsApp and likely many others). Last March policy was implement to limit the influence of foreign books on "young minds".
Another relatively new policy is requiring passpost information for virtually any telecommunications service. That includes buying simcards for phones, trading currency, and even getting a VOIP number in China. (making it the most expensive place to get a local VOIP line). I say "successful" because I've seen in China virtually everyone on Wechat (made by one of the 2 big software companies in China, TenCent). Not only to people keep their entire social lives, have virtually all chat conversations and probably 1/2 of vocal calls going through this app, but virtually 50% of all small-medium retail store transactions are conducted using predeposited money to Wechat accounts. Even taxi drivers are often paid through WeChat. It's so wide spread many people are keeping less cash on their persons in favor of WeChat pay. Ironically, companies collecting this information often do it through the most insecure means. On paper forms, that are sent two and frow, as well as taking pictures of your passpost to register your ID for a sim card on another cell phone. (yikes).
The direction of the current Chairman is clear: Keep data from leaving, keep all transmissions of data (including cultural) monitored and strictly controlled), and reduce/remove sources of data exchange that are not Chinese owned/controlled (meaning the government has complete control). TenCent has probably made increasing financial gains from all this. They have a virtual monopoly on social media in China. People I knew on Skype no longer use skype in favor of WeChat even though skype is not blocked there.
Slashdot Mirror
It's interesting how people in power assume that they are immune to the negative consequences of the same mechanisms they create or force to subdue others. It will be interested to see what happens when all these backdoor backfire on Putin's regime and how they try to downplay it when it happens.
China's practices for using data are being used in large tech companies already and by our governments as well. These tools are basically the "all seeing eye" from Tolken and of course Orwell (other writers I'm sure). But this was also predicted by many movies and few noticed. Check out The Matrix, The Dark Night, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Circle talked about this more directly but less realistically. (The western government would never allow this monitoring on themselves anymore than the Russian or Chinese governments do). And China is not only tracking everyone through facial recognition glasses worn by police, not only are they keeping database with behavior scores to evaluate who is "disloyal" based on patterns (and past actions of course), but next month they are implementing a "Social Points" system to restrict access to travel for anyone who is considered disloyal based on that database and facial recognition. You are already required to show your ID card for virtually ANY transaction there now. (And is integrated in the WeChat Pay apps of course which is used widely).
If you are interested in stopping this abuse of data power, stop handing your data to them. Remove apps that are not open source (you can get open source apps for Android from F-Droid http://www.f-droid.org/ ). Install a firewall on your phone that can help manage what apps access (Droid Firewall is pretty good). Don't use default Google Android OS (you can't stop it from sending GPS data to them even if you turn it off...Google admitted this late last year, promising to stop using this hard wired phone home feature..sure..). LinageOS works on most Android phones. https://download.lineageos.org...)
Stop using MS Windows, especially Windows 8-10 because not only are data transmitters for every file header and website you visit, but every update Microsoft seems to take more control of the OS away from you (an idea probably borrowed from the iOS updates which did this years ago). You can't stop the auto updates unless you take extreme measures and even they don't work all the time and recently Microsoft is going to force your email links to be opened using Edge rather than your default browser selection. had enough being rammed with a broomstick handle yet by MS? Perhaps you noticed al this Xbox nonsense preinsstalled as well. Have fun reading this summary (see the data separately on other tech sites but this is a nice summary): https://itvision.altervista.or... . You can still buy Windows 7 legal licenses including from http://nerdsforless.com./ But better to just get off MS Windows. Linux can do virtually all the non-gaming things that MS Windows does (and MacOS as well). Linux Mint ( http://www.linuxmint.com/ ) is the easiest version of Linux for MS windows only users to get into. I've had kids as young as 7 years old run this with no assistance, and they all liked it MORE than MS Windows. "No crashes" I kept hearing. Using LibreOffice you can do all your office needs, (I've been on it for for 5 years and it keeps getting better), your favorite browsers (minus Edge but who uses that voluntarily these days) are all there, your email is easy peasy and will play all your videos and stuff. With no tracking from MS or the evil Cortana (that thing is horrible)
Keep any social media apps off your phone. Just...don't install them. You don't need them. Truth is anything that shares data over the web can be made as a mobile friendly website. The only reasons for an app is to take advantage of the data tracking tools on your phone and possibly install a local database there, generally for sending to a 3rd party later. That includes, GPS (in the vast majority of cases) and possibly accessing your contacts, browsing history, and let's not forget possibly your
Unfortunately the current presidential administration is likely to gives these sobs a medal for innovate business practices. (see latest tax bill for reference). We are coming just short of "let them eat cake"....
Password are terrible if they are used badly, like most things. Passwords are bad if one has say a 5 letter password out of the dictionary. (all too easy). Passwords without rotation, or are less then, say 12 characters, using at least 1 upper case, 1 lower case, 1 number and one special characters. Smart cards can be copied, stolen or hacked. (Perhaps in bypassed). Much harder to hack someone's memory and login limits, especially with 2-factor authentication are harder to break.
Okay, it's not the first time simple ways have been found to circumvent so-called "biometrics" especially the poor man's version of these tools. The Windows 10 version is mostly likely a low end version with very limited pixel resolution recognition on the camera (to be compatible with the low end cameras that come in most laptops and cameras), plus an routine to distinguish a live face (with facial movements/ticks as supposed to a 100% static picture) was probably never even considered because it would add to cost and time to development. So when you think about it, it's really a TERRIBLE idea. even with that taken into account, a camera with a high enough resolution to recognize a video would add costs too.
We tried finger print recognition which is also terrible because it is too easy to lift a fingerprint from a victim (or even bypass the finger print scanner in many cases). Anything that is easy to lift/take from the user is inherently insecure: Finger prints (scotch tape/talcum powder will get that from any surface including keyboards and coffee cups), facial recognition (just lift a picture from facebook or any social media site where people often publish high resolution photos, even easier than getting a finger print). Voice print is a LITTLE better but voice patterns have been successfully simulated/recorded from everyday conversation or even YouTube lectures. (techies often love to give these).
There is absolutely NO substitute for a good old fashion typed passwords (even better, in combination with typing sampling for speed/patterns). Even voice passwords are potentially easy to copy with a long or even short range microphone The password is proven most secure because it requires you to look into someone's memory or stand over them and watch them type it, unless of course they use the same password across but that requires more time/research than getting a facial picture or even a fingerprint if you know or work with the victim. Perhaps these could be used IN ADDITION to a password, but should NEVER be a substitute. The key to secure is the remember this old axiom: Security comes at the price of convenience. Without exception. Of course common sense rules like password rotation on a regular basis are essential. It is possible to lift a password I imagine using the amount of body oil on each key or even thermal patterns on a keyboard to lift a password, but look at all the effort/equipment required to do that. It feels like every new biometric security toy is less secure than the last.
in the long tradition of long reaching poor ideas like VBA (which had to be disabled in IE for security issues which finally happened in IE7), IIS with insecure settings on be default (for convenience), now comes DDE. Things that had to be changed or disabled because of things anyone thinking it through would realize, is a bad idea. Of course Windows defender is a bit of a joke in the security world as well. The fact the update was done for Word 2007 probably means this vulnerability was so bad they included it to avoid repercussions from lawsuits of the government worried about foreign exploitation. Windows 10 in general (or at least the spyware components) will probably be on this list before long because people will finally wake up and realize what is happening, or some foreign country will exploit it to collect data and we'll be like, "how could MS do this?" answer: because we sat back, and let them. Security comes at the price of convenience, and MS has historically been poor at finding this balance, making things that are neither convenient or secure (at least in comparison to MacOS and Linux) . I specifically say "foreign power" because governments love backdoors, and "telemetry data" to spy on it's entire population. But..they seem to be of the illusion that you can make a door that only one specific group can use and other cannot find and use themselves.
People buy early and low, speculation drives demand high with no real assets backing up the worth save pure speculation. people early sell to people buying later. More people later than earlier. People at the upper end of the pyramid make crazy profits, people who buy are left holding the bag (the larger number of masses at the base supporting the profits of the top) when this balloon pops. once upon a time we had the gold standard.
When we didn't have enough gold to back it up, so...we abandoned it for speculative currency. The one definite thing about technology, is enables us to accelerate what we normally do, making the flaws in our systems more visible. Samuel Clemens write about the stock market in Huckleberry Finn, and Sir Conan Doyle mentioned it in his writings of Sherlock Holmes as well. neither gave a pretty picture. If they could only see this...
To the person making the comment about the cell phone burning a hole in your pocket in your pocket if it was always recording, not at ALL true. Oh, and bandwidth allowance may not be an issue either if there was an understanding between, say, google/apple and ISPs, plus government monitors. There is a reason why many new phones are designed in such away it is surgery to remove the battery which is the only sure way to be sure it isn't monitoring. There was a reason Snowden had cell phones put into a microwave when the reporters were meeting him: he knew they can always be listening/watching, regardless of settings by the user. The limitations people HOPE there are on a cell phone in regards to limitations are an illusion. Don't believe me? Try using apps like WeChat for awhile. your battery would not be dead either (certainly not on the new phones with the non-removable battery). I know because I've had conversations using apps that have gone one for hours which barely put a dint in the charge and my phone did not require a recharge for several days after. But I digress.
Any device that can listen and has access to the Internet is probably listening. There is a project that claims to plug this hole called Purism ( https://puri.sm/products/ ) with a hardware shutoff switch for the "holes" that are on by default on. And don't forget, Google was recently caught with their hand in the cookie jar, taking user location data even if you turn it "off" on your phone. The Cell phone, like these vocal response devices, are in essence trojan horses. No one should be having devices that listen 24/7 in their home. If we don't fight to protect our privacy, government and private business will assume permissions has been given. It used to be one had to break into your home, plant bugs, and monitor close by to do the kind of intrusive monitoring that can be done just by putting out devices people think are "cool" or convenient. It's like Mark Twain's whitewashing chapter in Tom Sawyer: We pay to let people into our home and take our data.
Need a more solid base of developing community. windows 8-10 still has trojan "telemetry" data collectors (header data from files accessed will certainly identify you folks sooner or later), but for those who have trouble getting Windows 7 (available from http://nerdsforless.com/softwa... ) for some reason, this was a god send for many. I recommended it to many people who hated the "tile" theme (which most people I know do, not a fun interface). Developers out there, let's take up the mantle. This was a quality tool. Sorry to hear that he's leaving us, but he certainly did his bit. Now it's time for the rest of us to do ours.
Really, how about this:
http://mashable.com/2017/11/15...
And another tibit: I was interviewed by a mobile app company that will remain nameless, but my primary job would have been to organize and analytic database so the company could find data trends to sell. They had so much raw data they didn't know how to use it yet. Company rep said: "People have idea how much data they are giving".
This isn't scare mongering, this is reality, until we start saying "no thanks". There are ways.
Some of knew that virtually every app made by a commercial enterprise had trackers to extract data. This is why so much money has been spent on creating apps for phones instead of Phone friendly websites: you can get a LOT more data and have viewer options to block it. Otherwise it would be cheaper in development and maintenance to do a mobile friendly website. Data mining is the biggest business in the world right now and google is one of the leaders of this charge. Now, for those who WANT to get rid of this you can start by using an OS that doens't have google #$% apps preinstalled. LinageOS ( https://www.lineageos.org/ ) or Replicant OS (https://www.replicant.us/) as well as a phone that you can lock down microphones, cameras, and wireless that is linux based (https://puri.sm/) with no google spyware nonsense. If you have a more trusted on your Android compatible phone using LinageOS, CyanogenMod (old) or Replicant, you can get apps more trustworthy from FOSS using the F-Droid app (https://f-droid.org/). At least the apps are less likely to track you. Most don't ask for weird permissions like most commercial apps from, say the Google store tend to do. Hope that helps everyone remove the chains from their phones.
Only half truth. it is "based on" windows 10 enterprise but apparent they STILL had to change it. That indicates there is probably other stuff you can't turn off no matter what you pay them. China banned Windows 8 (because they knew what people here should have known and kept it out of their networks in North America and round the world) so Microsoft realized then China was dead serious. See this article. https://www.engadget.com/2017/... Debate is fine, as long as it is supported with complete facts.
Then the companies creating the boxes decided it was more profitable to sell out the customers to advertisers for a "preferred" fee to push advertisements to them. MythTV does this for free so I'd sooner recommend that as there is no potential conflict of interest.
Okay, working with a few groups that have to keep confidential data and medical data secure I can say that Windows 10 sends out data routinely that you cannot shut off that people working with such data can't afford to have leaving the organizations part of whose mandate is to protect that data. Moving to windows will probably introduce problems, is unlikely to fix any, and with Windows 10 (they can get Windows 7) they are sending out citizen data to a foreign power. (The USA loves this). This was recognized by China who told Microsoft point blank they were required to make a special China version of Windows 10 that would not send data to a foreign power. Microsoft of course said "yes" to this. If it got out that private public data was being sent directly to a foreign power, the German people would be up in arms. Germany's privacy laws are more strict than most countries. If they insist on this experiment (which will be a death march, just watch), they should at least use Widows 7.
Expensive solutions for simple financial data is just exploitation by less honest consulting companies. As you say, Excel/libreoffice Calc and others can LINK to a real database instead of keeping the raw numbers there. But it is also very easy these days to setup a MariaDB database and do a quick web. A few solutions can be found with just 5 minutes of looking:
http://www.vfront.org/demo.php
https://dadabik.com/ (not open source, paid solution)
https://formtools.org/
http://phpformgen.sourceforge....
There are others. The learning curve is much easier than it's ever been.
I've had so many requests and interviews for projects to consolidate excel files made by managers for years. Worst case was a multi-branch bank where EVERY branch and a different version of excel records and they needed to import the data into an Oracle database. Which proves the statement, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing". Give people the impression they can do more than they in fact can effectively, and you have a mess on your hands. Excel was never designed to be a database, never claimed to be in fairness to MS and other spreadsheet makers, but unfortunately that is what people primarily used excel for in small-medium offices. But hey, it keeps development consulting firms flush with cash to fix it afterwards. A significant portion of the IT industry would probably have to change their business model if people in the SMB group finally wise up and start using read databases instead of cheating with excel. And since industrial level database can be obtained for free, there is really no excuse, except lack of due diligence. That said you can LINK an excel spreadsheet (and LibreOffice Calc) to a real database or even MS Access (but why in god's name would you use MS Access when you can use MariaDB or even Sqlite) and an Excel or (even better) a basic web interface. So many tools have been made to help set these up, it's much easier/faster than it used to be.
Imagine...phones with better quality release cycles, at least from reports I'm reading on the iPhone X release.
https://www.macworld.co.uk/new...
http://www.techradar.com/news/...
https://www.engadget.com/2017/...
Just an interesting FYI, was recently told that prices of labor in China are going up. At least in renovating condos, which are typically sold to first buyers unrenovated (meaning bare concrete floors and walls), probably to lower initial purchase cost, but not really liveable unless you like living in a high altitude cave. It's pushing people who were waiting for renovation labor costs to drop, to move forward as they costs are currently going up instead. If that trend continues in other labor sectors, maybe these companies will move to Vietnam. (have to build plants but it's been happening with clothing and footwear, why not tech...)
Sorry, you are correct. But I think it's generally accepted that Trump has a few loose screws, is highly susceptible to flattery (and pledges of allegiance to himself), and a number of people have literally said (remember once fellow on MSNBC) he has a few screws loose. Not that any of this is news. I remember when at the beginning of Trump's term he was putting on a "tough front" with Xi Jinping, and quickly did a 180 on that after a single phone call which the media said wasn't a strong indicator on Trump's negotiating skills. I wonder what Xi jinping said to him to get him to drop his tough talk about China to fast.
Uh...you do realize that China is anything but communist and the party is communist in name only right? China is in many respects more capitalist than the USA. Go check out places like Shanghai or Guangzhou. Free speech is not directly tied to any specific economic model so we are confusing issues here. If anything, i'd say China is a combination of protectionist/capitalist economic system. Capitalist within it's own borders, protectionist outside (at least under the current government). Oh, and companies have special favors (like I suspect TenCent, makers of WeChat do) to extremely well and allowed to have virtual monopolies. But in general it's literally dog-eat-dog over there.
In Canada you are required to pay 1.5 times the standard pay (if worker makes a claim) if you work more than 44 hours/week in the province in Ontario and a max of 48 hours per week.
http://quickbooks.intuit.ca/r/...
I'm a "fanboy" of freedom, privacy and choice. And the reasons I specifically mentioned android VARIANTS and not Android is because I KNOW android has spy hooks in the OS (and in iOS as well). Yes most do have issues, but we do the best we can with the best knowledge we have, which I try to add on Slashdot. I'm sceptical in general and to my sadness have been proven invariably right.
If you are actually interested in a phone that is supposedly made for public benefit (rather than government/corporate interests) as this company claims to be one. (time will tell)
https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
It's supposedly an open source PHONE, not just an OS. It's the same price as a new iPhone or Android upper end phone but hopefully will empower YOU, the one who pays for it. Your welcome.
This was true in Japan (it was voluntary meaning, if you didn't do the "voluntary" overtime, you were unofficially blacklisted with virtually every other major corporation in Japan), at least until the public scandals got so bad, it was an embarrassment that the Japanese government decided maybe it wasn't such a good idea. (there was hospital footage on news media that wasn't helping Japan's image). Are you saying, government's should allow results like these? It can be very expensive in countries that have effective national health care.
Okay, Foxconn, had a rep for inhumane human labor practices, including making people stand for 12 hours assembling iphones. Foxconn doesn't change it's stripes because of a little embarrassment, and Apple know it. Much like the Gap, Joe Fresh, Blue Navy (owned by the Gap), continue to use manufacturers that quietly hire child labor no matter how many times similar scandals come up. If Apple really cared, they would stop using Foxconn whose reputation for what we consider basic human decency let alone laws relating to it, is very poor. If WE really cared about any of these issues, we would stop buying iphones (we can always get used ones if it MUST be an iphone), or better yet get a phone with an open source android derivative (Replicant, Cyanogen, LinageOS), but as people with eager faces prepare to sign either a free phone for a 3 year contract or plot $700 USD for the newest iphone, it seems pretty clear where our priorities are. And no matter how many times we see stories like this, we'll keep buying iphones. So Apple will keep using Foxconnm, who will repeat profitable inhuman labor practices.
He's been on a very aggressive campaign to stop the flow of in information to/from foreign countries since 2 years ago, and with a fair amount of success. Shutting out any media service that contains any information critical of major government policies (Facebook, Google) as well as any search engines using search engines from those companies (startpage iquick also will not function in China) as well as apps/service that encrypt the data from the Chinese government (WhatsApp and likely many others). Last March policy was implement to limit the influence of foreign books on "young minds".
https://www.theguardian.com/wo...
Another relatively new policy is requiring passpost information for virtually any telecommunications service. That includes buying simcards for phones, trading currency, and even getting a VOIP number in China. (making it the most expensive place to get a local VOIP line). I say "successful" because I've seen in China virtually everyone on Wechat (made by one of the 2 big software companies in China, TenCent). Not only to people keep their entire social lives, have virtually all chat conversations and probably 1/2 of vocal calls going through this app, but virtually 50% of all small-medium retail store transactions are conducted using predeposited money to Wechat accounts. Even taxi drivers are often paid through WeChat. It's so wide spread many people are keeping less cash on their persons in favor of WeChat pay. Ironically, companies collecting this information often do it through the most insecure means. On paper forms, that are sent two and frow, as well as taking pictures of your passpost to register your ID for a sim card on another cell phone. (yikes).
The direction of the current Chairman is clear: Keep data from leaving, keep all transmissions of data (including cultural) monitored and strictly controlled), and reduce/remove sources of data exchange that are not Chinese owned/controlled (meaning the government has complete control). TenCent has probably made increasing financial gains from all this. They have a virtual monopoly on social media in China. People I knew on Skype no longer use skype in favor of WeChat even though skype is not blocked there.