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User: louzerr

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  1. Re:No, google admits to collecting wifi packet dat on Google Admits To Collecting Emails and Passwords · · Score: 1

    If you're broadcasting unencrypted data, YOU'RE the one tossing your privacy away. Sorry.

  2. Re:Don't wait for Google policy. on Google Admits To Collecting Emails and Passwords · · Score: 1

    Agreed! Don't encrypt your radio broadcasts, don't expect any privacy.

  3. don't get it on TSA Worker Jailed In Body Scan Rage Incident · · Score: 1

    If you don't make fun of people's genitals, you won't get your ass-kicked. What's wrong with our court system, when your supervisor can pull this kind of crap, and you can't retaliate?

    Personally, a sexual harassment suite probably would have served this guy better ... but seriously - if you make fun of someone, you shouldn't be surprised when they kick your ass.

    That TSA sup is a pussy!

  4. Are you sure? on Research Suggests Brain Has a 2-Task Limit for Multitasking · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm not sure if I ... hang on, that's my phone ... I'm not sure if I ... hold on, I've got an IM. But the study ... dammit! I give up!

  5. The biggest subversive group ... on Subversive Groups Must Now Register In South Carolina · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't this mean that ANY politician or political strategist would need to register?

  6. Re:Anonymous Coward on Keep SSH Sessions Active, Or Reconnect? · · Score: 1

    Also, someone sniffing the network can quickly see those machines you have accounts for with a quick glance. If a curious hacker was inside your network, you would be an "interesting" target.

  7. Re:screen on Keep SSH Sessions Active, Or Reconnect? · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've had two cars catch fire ... both blue!!! I think you're on to something ...

  8. Re:Seems to me... on Amazon Pulls Book Publisher's Listings; Ebook Wars Underway? · · Score: 1

    Uh, what law requires Amazon to sell anyone's books?

    Can you have a "wholesale" price eBook? I think you're kind of missing the point of "wholesale" here ... they don't need to buy and warehouse 10,000,000 eBooks, so where's the wholesale price break?

    I don't think anything "illegal" is going on here. But it's the ethics of selling an item for one price to one retailer, and a higher price to another retailer. Why in the world wouldn't the retailer on the loosing side of this have the right to fight back?

  9. Will the real issue please stand up? on Amazon Pulls Book Publisher's Listings; Ebook Wars Underway? · · Score: 1

    From the replies, it looks like we're looking at two separate issues -

      - Kindle vs. iPhone / iPod / iPon / iWhatever

            and

      - availability of products

    On the first issue, the iPawn (let's just call all the products by that name) is better than the Kindle, hands down; but both devices ultimately suck for reading. IMHO, digital books can be a good supplement to printed material, but have yet to successfully replace printed material (especially for technical books).

    The second issue is honestly more important to me. While it's not exactly new (Best Buy, Wal*mart and I'm sure many others demand a lower price from the manufacturer), one critical difference here is you'd be getting the EXACT same product, but the manufacturer would have a preferred retailer, and try their best to force (by price) potential customers to use that retailer over any other. Serves them right if Amazon dumps them!!!

    These exclusive agreements with distributors go directly against the concept of free market. Amazon has every right to fight back, and any consumer who is at all concerned with his rights to choose what they buy and where they shop should be telling MacMillan goodbye at this point.

  10. Re:Encryption isn't free on What's Holding Back Encryption? · · Score: 1

    While I agree most sites probably don't need encryption, I don't see why you'd need dedicated hardware, or why it would be an incredible performance drain. Even client-side, it shouldn't be too difficult of a task (unless you're decrypting War and Peace in a single download).

    That encryption is a performance drain is a myth created by hardware vendors wanting to sell you more hardware.

  11. Re:It's simple. on What's Holding Back Encryption? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Or, the cost of NOT doing exceeds the cost of doing it ...

  12. One Word: on What's Holding Back Encryption? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Verisign. Because of the ridiculous cost of THEIR certificates, and that browsers don't seem to properly recognize any certs but ones from Verisign. People either use fake certs (encrypted traffic, but no verification of trust), or simply don't bother.

    Also, because so many sites pull in images and other content from non-origin servers, webmasters do not know how to build a proper SSL site in most cases. It's tricky to do right (not impossible - just tricky), and most web designers / site administrators simply give up on SSL, rather than try to learn how to implement it properly.

  13. Re:book-a-minute summaries on The Gathering Storm Discussion · · Score: 1

    mod this one up!!!

  14. Re:Theft? on Grad Student Project Uses Wikis To Stash Data, Miffs Admins · · Score: 1

    But all the stuff that was taken was marked "Free for the Community to use".

    I agree, there is a violation of ethics here, and likely a violation of MediaWiki's rules, but no violation of the law itself.

    It's more like if you had a little bulletin board in a public area, but then one group started filling the board with their own messages (not related to your intended purpose). "Theft of Bandwidth" is nonsensical if you provide that bandwidth with no restrictions (as most public wikis do).

  15. Re:Oh Yeah?! on Red Hat CEO Questions Relevance of Desktop Linux · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Modern Linux distros run on more laptops, and netbooks than the current MS distribution.

    As far as I know, Windows doesn't even have an OS for netbooks ... they have to use an old OEM of XP, which won't be around forever.

    Many netbooks are using Ubuntu instead of any MS OS.

    Vista (more-have-y) requires such overloaded hardware to achieve the same thing Gnome, KDE and Mac have been achieving for the past five years.

    No - the real problem is not hardware, but the software people are expected to use. My wife is in school, where they may have been able to use linux, except one class absolutely required Microsoft Office 2007 (which wouldn't run on many students' old laptops), and most of the "demo" software that comes with the text books also requires Windows to run Flash apps (now how stupid is that?).

    Linux is ready for the desktop, has been for years. It's the half-ass software designers that are not ready to think anything beyond MS.

  16. How does Stallman use the web? on Richard Stallman Warns About Non-Free Web Apps · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So, I assume Stallman can't use any typical search engine ... maybe he built his own from Lucene. He also must not do any credit transactions online.

    He must also be careful that any packets his computer sends turn right around should they encounter a Cisco router (or any other proprietary router).

    I suppose in his daily life, using a phone, or a car, or Television would be right out.

    I sure hope Mr. Stallman never needs any medical attention.

    I DO admire much of what Mr. Stallman stands for, and I'm glad there is a champion for free software ... but I live in the real world, where to buy goods, you need some government's currency, and to do anything electronically, you have to use SOME commercial software somewhere.

    I wonder, too ... does Mr. Stallman's PC have a proprietary BIOS, or did he write that code, too?

  17. Re:If you didn't vote libertarian, you ASKED FOR T on Obama DOJ Sides With RIAA · · Score: 1

    IRV - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

    If Minnesota used that system for voting, we'd have a legally appointed Senator by now.

  18. using it wrong == out of compliance on Black Hat Presentation Highlights SSL Encryption Flaws · · Score: 1

    If you're handling credit card data at least, you should (better) be familiar with PCI-DSS. Basically, the credit card industry has gone to great lengths to set standards that can simply be followed to help assure that you're NOT handling data (or HTTP) in an insecure manner.

    It's amazing what proper due diligence can do for you. It's also amazing how many people think because they CAN take credit card data online, that they automatically should.

  19. illegal on A Teacher Asking Students To Destroy Notes? · · Score: 1

    Your teacher can ask for your notes - but I can't see how they would have the right to go into your backpack, or any of your private belongings. If it was the police, they would require a search permit. What this teacher did was illegal if they went into your backpack without your consent. I would seriously consider a lawsuit against the school for violating your right to privacy.

    Beyond that, they can ask for the notes back, but it's your right to keep them. I don't care what anyone says about their lectures being "copyrighted" - BS! Those were your notes. If you took notes at the recent inauguration, do you really think Obama has the rights to take those notes away from you?

    Talk to the dean. Let them know your rights were violated, and see what they have to say. Chances are this flaky teacher will be straitened out.

    Remember when schools were about education, not hording of "intellectual property", or selling student information to the highest bidder, or forcing ridiculous, expensive, and useless courses (like an "Intro to Computers" that requires the purchase of Microsoft Office 2007 pro and a useless book from Sams)? Too many schools in the U.S. have been focusing on their bottom line for so long, they have simply forgotten what their original purpose was.

  20. Re:You've got to be kidding... on Battlestar Galactica's Last Days · · Score: 1

    Another good example is Firefly.

    Lots of people loved it, it was a fantastic (if not short-lived) series. But it didn't really change the quality of the tripe generally shown on TV.

    ... but the tripe was a hell of a lot more fun!

  21. Re:Huh? on Battlestar Galactica's Last Days · · Score: 1

    Who says Helen is a Cylon? Just because Tigh suddenly has more memories, they are automatically true?

    So, I had to see "Maelstrom" again after the last BG episode. Didn't learn too much ... but ...

    The scene in Maelstrom where Apollo & Starbuck are having a pretty intense talk sitting underneath her viper. The talk gets more intense, and there is a shot where you can see both Apollo and Starbuck's faces - and in that shot, I swear, there are tiny red lights reflecting in the whites of both of Starbuck's eyes. An instant later, their conversation degrades - almost as if something had gone unsaid.

    I played it back several times, and because the light is in BOTH of her eyes, I don't think it was just a glitch.

    No idea what the hell it would mean, especially with the producers so insistent that Starbuck is NOT a Cylon.

    Maybe it's not Starbuck - maybe it's that Cylon raider she came back in several seasons ago, and it THINKS it's Starbuck ...

    Whatever, "Notion" was a great episode - a "10" on the WTF scale!

  22. Very useful, eco friendly on Wireless Power Consortium Pushes For Standard · · Score: 1

    This is actually a pretty slick concept - I was thinking of when my geeky friends go fishing and bring our PDAs - rather than having six different chargers, just bring one - or better yet, it's already installed in the truck!

    That drawer full of different-sized chargers for old phones - gone.

    You'd also have one less thing to make & ship with a new phone. If chargers were unified, less chargers would need to be built, and fewer would be thrown away.

    Hey - for the next trick, why not unify all the credit card processing machines?

    (and as far as "wireless power", it's been around since ... ah, how old is the sun?)

  23. Re:Kudos for the improvements, but... on Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 Adds Private Browsing · · Score: 4, Informative

    Firefox 3.1 beta ADDED NEW FEATURES to Ctrl+Tab. Those NEW FEATURES are buggy, and likely won't make it into the 3.1 final.

    They didn't BREAK anything ... just the opposite. Ctrl+Tab will behave in 3.1 just as it does in 3.0.

  24. Better buy them up quick ... on "BlueTrack" Mouse More Advanced Than Laser, Optical · · Score: 1

    ... before the touch screens become the default pointing device!

    Also, is there much point in having a mouse that offers better precision than my hand can deliver? For those who need precision, wouldn't a stylus be a better choice?

    They may as well put together a VCR that can record in High Def with Digital Surround Sound.

  25. Re:A joke! on Plug-In Hybrids Aren't Coming, They're Here · · Score: 1

    I guess I just assumed that Ford made cars that follow the laws of physics. When you can push more mass with equal (or slightly) greater force, either the physical laws are breaking down, or someone's being very optimistic with their MPG estimate.

    My guess is at the pump, the physical laws will catch up to you.

    Research is great, if you know whose research to trust.