Opera is totally a huge memory hog. As bad as Firfox. And it's JavaScript implimentation is buggy, it crashes on me about 3-4 times a week on one of my various computers because it can't handle the horrible JavaScript code many sites have, that causes more crashes than anything else. In my experience (and I'm always using the up-to-date version), it's far less stable than Safari or even IE.
And it is by far my first choice in a web browser. When it crashes, I just re-start it. ALL the pages I had up come right back up. Tab switching is way better than Firfox or Safari. IE.... well, its IE.
Cycle in reciently used order. The way it reloads your browsing session after a quit or a crash. The find functionality. An intelligently designed user interface. Browsing shortcuts. Mouse gestures. That's just a couple of reasons why Opera is better. And I don't want to hear it about extensions. You can make Opera do anything Firefox can do, with a user interface that doesn't suck.
Firefox is excellent. Safari is excellent. Even Camino. But Opera is better. And it runs on every computer I have.
"The idea that all of them could miss something that was a backdoor is a little hard to swallow."
Sure, but at the same time, such a 'backdoor' does not necessaraly need be a huge part of the code base. There could very well be a very small, controlled group working on that specific piece of code and no one else ever needs to see it in order to write their own part of the code. You don't have hundreds of people looking at ALL the code, you have hundreds of people looking at hundreds of pieces of the code. And Microsoft is NEVER going to licence all of the code to educational/insertgrouphere/whoever. They won't ever release any so called 'backdoor' code.
"And even if there were a backdoor in the code, what does that even mean?"
It could mean just about anything. It could simply mean that the encryption algorithm simply returns true when the backdoor/decryption key is used instead of false. Or returns the user's key. Or whatever. It doesn't have to be complicated. The best conspiracy is a simple one.
Here's my take on the whole thing. All it's going to take to make the telecoms see a little reality is for one of the many ISPs out there to take full advantage of this phenomenal blunder with an advertising campaign and open access.
Imagine what would happen if Comcast for example were to widely advertise that ISPs X, Y and Z plan to implement service speed restrictions (especially during a time where ALL of them are screaming at us how much faster/better/whatever their service is) and that Comcast promises to continue to provide unrestricted access to their customers. Joe Blow would quickly become aware of this sneaky plan to attempt to control "his" access to "his" content reinforcing the general malaise the public already feels towards these companies, and he would be informed of a very attractive (in this light) unrestricted higher-speed (in that speeds wouldnt intentionally be reduced by the ISP) alternative. I bet hed be willing to pay whatever service fees were necessary for unfettered access.
With a well structured advertising campaign, how long do you really think it would take a company like Comcast to seriously injure or bankrupt these monopolistic entities (I know Comcast isnt exempt from that definition but they have their own infrastructure so I think it's a good example)?
This article and thread is just so much E! T.V. drivel. I can't believe that this entire thread has been about defining two (until now apparently) slanderous names (among hundreds) given to the socially inept by immature children in order to boost their own egos back in fucking high school (for those of you still in high/middle/elementary school, you are hereby exempt from my rant). Geek and nerd are/were derogatory terms. Made up names. Childish one-upmanship transmogrified here into personal ego-boosting. Anyone who buys into the 'Nerds and geeks are two different things' bs is a fucking tard for giving it a second thought in the first place. It's just name calling. Weather main-stream culture shifts their meanings from the negative to the positive is irrelevant. They're made up words and you're all juvenile for entertaining this discussion in the first place. Get over yourselves.
When you 'stream' the video, you are actually downloading it to 'C:\Documents and Settings\\My Documents\My Videos\Google Videos'. You can save and watch it anytime.
I worked in the market research industry for a data collection company for a number of years. The fact is that everything about you is WIDELY available to anyone willing to pay for it. I can take your cell phone number and get your name, address and social security number for $0.40 (if I buy 10,000 or more and have a reasonable sounding excuse for needing your social), it's not heavily regulated unless it's medical, legal or government information. Most companies who collect information about you (particularly demographic information, most other information is too specific for the general market) are looking to immediately sell it to whoever will buy it, in addition to using it for their own marketing. When it comes to the acronyms (FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.), you can be sure that if it's on a server somewhere or if it was transmitted over the internet they have it already.
Privacy is not a crime, but it's starting to seem like one... A little paranoia is healthy, but in this information age the individual is powerless to controll any of this so paranoia is just more stress in this case. Until there's some sort of privacy revolution in this country the paranoid will have no choice but to behaive like the man is always standing behind them watching (which he is). He knows when you've been sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake. Merry Christmas.
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Opera is totally a huge memory hog. As bad as Firfox. And it's JavaScript implimentation is buggy, it crashes on me about 3-4 times a week on one of my various computers because it can't handle the horrible JavaScript code many sites have, that causes more crashes than anything else. In my experience (and I'm always using the up-to-date version), it's far less stable than Safari or even IE.
And it is by far my first choice in a web browser. When it crashes, I just re-start it. ALL the pages I had up come right back up. Tab switching is way better than Firfox or Safari. IE.... well, its IE.
Cycle in reciently used order. The way it reloads your browsing session after a quit or a crash. The find functionality. An intelligently designed user interface. Browsing shortcuts. Mouse gestures. That's just a couple of reasons why Opera is better. And I don't want to hear it about extensions. You can make Opera do anything Firefox can do, with a user interface that doesn't suck.
Firefox is excellent. Safari is excellent. Even Camino. But Opera is better. And it runs on every computer I have.
"The idea that all of them could miss something that was a backdoor is a little hard to swallow."
Sure, but at the same time, such a 'backdoor' does not necessaraly need be a huge part of the code base. There could very well be a very small, controlled group working on that specific piece of code and no one else ever needs to see it in order to write their own part of the code. You don't have hundreds of people looking at ALL the code, you have hundreds of people looking at hundreds of pieces of the code. And Microsoft is NEVER going to licence all of the code to educational/insertgrouphere/whoever. They won't ever release any so called 'backdoor' code.
"And even if there were a backdoor in the code, what does that even mean?"
It could mean just about anything. It could simply mean that the encryption algorithm simply returns true when the backdoor/decryption key is used instead of false. Or returns the user's key. Or whatever. It doesn't have to be complicated. The best conspiracy is a simple one.
</devilsadvocate>
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
-Benjamin FranklinHere's my take on the whole thing. All it's going to take to make the telecoms see a little reality is for one of the many ISPs out there to take full advantage of this phenomenal blunder with an advertising campaign and open access.
Imagine what would happen if Comcast for example were to widely advertise that ISPs X, Y and Z plan to implement service speed restrictions (especially during a time where ALL of them are screaming at us how much faster/better/whatever their service is) and that Comcast promises to continue to provide unrestricted access to their customers. Joe Blow would quickly become aware of this sneaky plan to attempt to control "his" access to "his" content reinforcing the general malaise the public already feels towards these companies, and he would be informed of a very attractive (in this light) unrestricted higher-speed (in that speeds wouldnt intentionally be reduced by the ISP) alternative. I bet hed be willing to pay whatever service fees were necessary for unfettered access.
With a well structured advertising campaign, how long do you really think it would take a company like Comcast to seriously injure or bankrupt these monopolistic entities (I know Comcast isnt exempt from that definition but they have their own infrastructure so I think it's a good example)?
This article and thread is just so much E! T.V. drivel. I can't believe that this entire thread has been about defining two (until now apparently) slanderous names (among hundreds) given to the socially inept by immature children in order to boost their own egos back in fucking high school (for those of you still in high/middle/elementary school, you are hereby exempt from my rant). Geek and nerd are/were derogatory terms. Made up names. Childish one-upmanship transmogrified here into personal ego-boosting. Anyone who buys into the 'Nerds and geeks are two different things' bs is a fucking tard for giving it a second thought in the first place. It's just name calling. Weather main-stream culture shifts their meanings from the negative to the positive is irrelevant. They're made up words and you're all juvenile for entertaining this discussion in the first place. Get over yourselves.
When you 'stream' the video, you are actually downloading it to 'C:\Documents and Settings\\My Documents\My Videos\Google Videos'. You can save and watch it anytime.
I worked in the market research industry for a data collection company for a number of years. The fact is that everything about you is WIDELY available to anyone willing to pay for it. I can take your cell phone number and get your name, address and social security number for $0.40 (if I buy 10,000 or more and have a reasonable sounding excuse for needing your social), it's not heavily regulated unless it's medical, legal or government information. Most companies who collect information about you (particularly demographic information, most other information is too specific for the general market) are looking to immediately sell it to whoever will buy it, in addition to using it for their own marketing. When it comes to the acronyms (FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.), you can be sure that if it's on a server somewhere or if it was transmitted over the internet they have it already.
Privacy is not a crime, but it's starting to seem like one... A little paranoia is healthy, but in this information age the individual is powerless to controll any of this so paranoia is just more stress in this case. Until there's some sort of privacy revolution in this country the paranoid will have no choice but to behaive like the man is always standing behind them watching (which he is). He knows when you've been sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake. Merry Christmas.