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1351

Living Room / Re: Celluloid vs digital: what are the REAL differences?

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2014, 03:58 PM »

The clinical approaches in a lot of what happens today are stale, dead, lifeless -- they're trapped in a sterile corporate culture of lifelessness fueled by LCD - the lowest common denominator. That's what buddy in the video 40hz was going on about - the lack of life.

-Renegade (August 08, 2014, 08:23 AM)

Unless, of course, you actually like that sort of thing. No accounting for taste, but far be it from me to tell somebody what they should be listening to or watching.

It's not the tools. It's the artist.

It's also the audience. If you do your art purely for art's sake, there's no need to publish it. You just do it for yourself. Like Emily Dickenson.

But if you want somebody else to experience it, it's a little more complicated. The audience has rights too. It's not all about the artist once you take it public.

1352

Living Room / Re: Russian hackers steal 1.2B passwords

« Last post by 40hz on August 08, 2014, 03:47 PM »

True. My point was more about how "digital piracy" isn't actually theft. "Stolen" passwords definitely present a much bigger risk of personal loss than a "stolen" digital movie.

Even so, if someone "steals" the combination to your safe, nothing has been stolen until they use the combination to open your safe and steal the contents.

-Deozaan (August 08, 2014, 01:17 PM)

I prefer the old security term "compromise" as in: to expose or make vulnerable to danger

Whether or not something was taken is almost moot once your security is compromised and the potential is there for someone to act upon it.

Now if the act of compromising the security of digital accounts or IDs was specifically made a crime it would go a long way towards clearing up that nagging issue of whether or not it was an actual criminal act if nothing had been taken yet.

 

1353

General Software Discussion / Re: My New Temporary 14 day Blog that does not support comments

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2014, 10:21 AM »

@IainB - what is Bazqux charging these days? I visited their website but couldn't find any pricing info.

1354

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2014, 10:16 AM »

^Hoo-boy! And US congressional elections are coming up soon too! That one should make for some fine political posturing, right-wing sabre rattling, and rhetorical firework displays.

1355

Living Room / Re: Wikimedia refuses to remove animal selfie because monkey ‘owns’ the photo

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2014, 10:11 AM »

^Just hand them a dollar for doing it. Then you have offer, tender, and acceptance and it becomes "work for hire."

And yeah, this stuff is utter nonsense and really needs to be fixed. I've already seen a few new sysadmin hires who wanted to talk about arranging licensing for the entry-level shell script they just wrote - for the client who is paying their wages  - because ad hoc administrative scripting wasn't specifically mentioned in their job description.

I wonder just what blog or irc channel they got that idea from?

And here I thought I was a BOFH...

1356

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2014, 09:16 AM »

Due process is a joke.

-Renegade (August 07, 2014, 07:26 AM)

Not really. It's pretty precise for the most part. But it doesn't quite work the way people think it does - or think it should. Especially when we're sympathetic towards the defendant.

The biggest problem Ulbricht has is his allowing Silk Road to become associated with some things he had to have known would put it on very shaky legal grounds. Turning a blind eye and then claiming ignorance isn't a smart legal defence strategy. And displaying wilful ignorance is very often interpreted as an admission of culpability. Then he got foolish and decided to double-down and thumb his nose when it became general public knowledge there were concerns about the operation and activities taking place within Silk Road.

Sorry Ren, I don't see this as a kangaroo court just yet. (Although it could always turn into one.) I think the government prosecutors are dotting every i and crossing every t while his defence team is shot-gunning everything they can think of to muddy the waters and try to give them the moral high ground.

It's not going to work.

Like TechDirt, my real regret is that this isn't a good case to test the recent SC interpretations on limits for gathering evidence. It's a weak case on those grounds. And if those 4th Amendment motions are addressed in the final judgement, it will have the effect of legally weakening the SC's ruling by making judges (who generally do pay close attention to case law precedent) more likely to dismiss 4th Amendment challenges to the admissibility of evidence going forward.

Opponents of that SC ruling are probably hoping those motions by Ulbricht's legal team loom large in the upcoming trial for that very reason..

1357

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2014, 06:53 AM »

Mike over at TechDirt weighs in and has reached much the same conclusions I have. But since he writes so much better than I do, I'll just quote the article:

The argument, not surprisingly, is relying on the new Supreme Court ruling in the Riley / Wurie cases, about the need for a warrant to search mobile phones. That is an important ruling bringing back certain 4th Amendment protections, but Ulbricht's lawyers are really trying to stretch it to argue that it applies to the warrants issued against him.

There may be some real issues in how the feds got access to the Silk Road servers, but to claim that other searches (and even actual warrants) were unconstitutional in light of Riley would require an almost ridiculously broad reading of the Riley ruling. That case involved searches of mobile phones that were on someone's person -- not a coordinated effort to track down someone they believed to be a criminal.

I do think there are some real issues with the case against Ulbricht, mainly focused on his liability for the actions done by users of Silk Road, but these kinds of broad attempts to throw anything at the wall are likely to be rejected, and can actually piss off judges who feel that lawyers are just trying to throw up a smoke screen.

There are important cases to be had in challenging various digital searches and how the 4th Amendment applies to them, but it's doubtful that this is a particularly good test case.

1358

Living Room / Re: Wikimedia refuses to remove animal selfie because monkey ‘owns’ the photo

« Last post by 40hz on August 07, 2014, 06:38 AM »

Awesome!

Good article over at TechDirt about how the Wikimedia Foundation has a record of not rolling over any time a bogus takedown notice is received. Read the full article here.

Kudos To Wikimedia Foundation For Resisting All Government Requests To Censor Content
from the good-to-see dept

Wikimedia's new Transparency Report has been getting some attention, in part because it brought attention back to the whole monkey selfie copyright debacle. However, the rest of the transparency report itself is rather interesting, starting with the fact that it appears that Wikimedia rejected every request to pull down information (unrelated to copyright, which we'll get to in a second).

1359

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 09:24 PM »

So barring Ulbricht's motion coming before an extremely sympathetic judge, it will most likely be dismissed with little comment. (Yes, US judges can do that.)

-40hz (August 05, 2014, 02:01 PM)

You think his 4th amendment argument will work?

-Renegade (August 05, 2014, 07:56 PM)

Not really. Maybe for some of the evidence. But that's a long shot. And certainly not for all the evidence.

But I'm not an attorney - so who knows?

-40hz (August 05, 2014, 09:06 PM)

Got it. For a bit there I thought you were saying that it would work.

My guess is that nothing short of divine intervention will help Ross. The evidence doesn't matter. The law doesn't matter. He is hated, and that's reason enough to punish him.

-Renegade (August 05, 2014, 09:53 PM)

Or the selection of the right attorney that knows the right judge.  And that's a fact.

-wraith808 (August 06, 2014, 10:45 AM)

In many other criminal cases, possibly/probably.

But not this one.

I think the whole Silk Road thing has gone too high up the flagpole that an attorney "knowing the right judge" is going to help much. There's too many eyes on it - and far too much at stake for the government (which wants to make an example) - for this case to be another "business as usual" criminal proceeding.

1360

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 09:12 PM »

"Unknown leaker" according to "unnamed sources?"

Why not just report: "The 'authorities' (whoever that may be this time around) are now saying "All we know is there's gotta be somebody else."

It's about the same thing - and equally well substantiated. (As in not.)

FWIW, I think this guy is his accomplice:

1361

Living Room / Re: Russian hackers steal 1.2B passwords

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 09:00 PM »

Oh! 40hz, are you ever serious?

-dantheman (August 06, 2014, 07:56 PM)

I'm never more serious then when I am joking. (And I get a lot of complaints about that too.)

And yet, someone today told me: "I wonder how many passwords the NSA has managed to get so far?"

My guess would be very very very many of them - not that passwords are all that secure with the cracking tools they’ve got these days.

1362

Living Room / Re: Russian hackers steal 1.2B passwords

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 05:16 PM »

Eeeeek!!! Last night Russian hackers cracked the bank account for my favorite poker game and got off with over $280,000 in I.O.U.s!!!!

1363

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 05:10 PM »

 

Makes you wonder...

1364

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 05:09 PM »

Man, do I ever know the pain of the last panel in that comic.

-Edvard (August 06, 2014, 01:00 AM)

+1 - I just had a poorly timed interruption cost me 2 hours of putting Humpty-Dumpty's ass back together last week.

-Stoic Joker (August 06, 2014, 11:46 AM)

Yup! Happens to me from time to time. Usually during a server configuration. 15 second interruption for something stupid. One hour plus getting the big picture back in your head. Then another 30 minutes getting fully back into the zone...

1365

Living Room / Re: Cody Wilson Interview on Idea City (3D Printing & Defcad)

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 07:57 AM »

^I know. I just couldn't find a good group shot with the replicator that would work with the caption I wanted to use. 

(Lordy, these "Tech" Trekkies! What a buncha nerds.)

1366

Living Room / Re: Cody Wilson Interview on Idea City (3D Printing & Defcad)

« Last post by 40hz on August 06, 2014, 05:48 AM »

And just thinking out loud here...maybe you could get one and just print yourself a new continent and a new home - and be done with it?

-40hz (August 05, 2014, 09:10 PM)

I think you're confusing 3D printing with the Star Trek TNG replicator.

-Renegade (August 05, 2014, 09:47 PM)

Nope. Just the v2.0 release - which is in early beta right now!

1367

Living Room / Re: Celluloid vs digital: what are the REAL differences?

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 09:18 PM »

I agree with the historical value of celluloid.  It should be preserved and encouraged as an art form.  But it shouldn't be used as a criticism against digital.  I really dislike that.

-superboyac (August 05, 2014, 03:33 PM)

My feeling is why chose one or the other when you can have both?

Like analog vs digital - or tube vs solid state - in music technology. Just mix and match for the results you're shooting for and enjoy the best of both worlds.

1368

General Software Discussion / Re: Cyberfox Anyone?

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 09:13 PM »

I think the FF release cycle is just too fast.  And it's driving the spin-offs to keep up.  Seems like if it's FF or Pale Moon or whatever, it works for a couple of updates, then it's funky for a few.

A lot of time is wasted trying out supposedly stable versions only to uninstall after a bad patch.

-MilesAhead (August 04, 2014, 09:00 AM)

This.

1369

Living Room / Re: Cody Wilson Interview on Idea City (3D Printing & Defcad)

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 09:10 PM »

Getting a 3D printer is on the todo list, but not until after moving across continents. Moving is a pain, and the more stuff you have, the worse it is.

-Renegade (August 05, 2014, 07:50 PM)

I want one too.

And just thinking out loud here...maybe you could get one and just print yourself a new continent and a new home - and be done with it?

(Would that we could, huh? Would that we could.  )

1370

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 09:06 PM »

So barring Ulbricht's motion coming before an extremely sympathetic judge, it will most likely be dismissed with little comment. (Yes, US judges can do that.)

-40hz (August 05, 2014, 02:01 PM)

You think his 4th amendment argument will work?

-Renegade (August 05, 2014, 07:56 PM)

Not really. Maybe for some of the evidence. But that's a long shot. And certainly not for all the evidence.

But I'm not an attorney - so who knows?

1371

Living Room / Re: Cody Wilson Interview on Idea City (3D Printing & Defcad)

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 06:29 PM »

To my mind, the really sad thing is that there's been so many people NOT involved in the development of the technology or software who have done so much political posturing and trash-talking over 3D printing (Self-styled 'anarchists'? I'm talking about you!) that it's became a hot-button political issue a lot sooner than it needed to. Thanks for playing right into the The Man's hands people! Does the phrase "hook, line, and sinker" mean anything to you?

1372

Living Room / Re: When you make your 100'th Post

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 02:15 PM »

From the Tooting-My-Own-Horn Dept.:
 (see attachment in previous post)
 

-Edvard (August 05, 2014, 12:59 AM)

Congrats E-Man!

1373

Living Room / Re: Extracting audio from visual information

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 02:14 PM »

The Butterfly Effect...FEAR IT!

1374

Living Room / Re: My first 408...

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 02:13 PM »

Try accessing some of the US health insurance exchange websites. You'll see 408s regularly at certain times of the day.

1375

Living Room / Re: Silk Road Seized - Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested

« Last post by 40hz on August 05, 2014, 02:01 PM »

It will be interesting to see how the judge tries to wiggle out of that.

-Renegade (August 05, 2014, 10:36 AM)

Judges don't wriggle. They issue rulings. And when in doubt, they rule as they deem best and let the higher courts deal with any technical (Court of Appeals) or larger constitutional (SCOTUS) issues if they come up. Many times those higher courts decline to rule on (CoA) or even hear (SCOTUS) the case. More often than not, the ruling of the lower court is affirmed on appeal anyway. On those fairly rare occasions when a lower court is overruled by a higher court, it generally only results in the case being sent back to the lower court for a new trial. It's not a "get out of jail free" card. The circuit courts conduct trials. The CoA and SCOTUS don't try cases. Or dismiss them. They serve more as the US legal system's quality control department.

So barring Ulbricht's motion coming before an extremely sympathetic judge, it will most likely be dismissed with little comment. (Yes, US judges can do that.)

Despite what you see on TV shows, most US judges are extremely loathe to dismiss serious charges (especially when subsequent corroborating evidence backs up the substance of the charges made) on purely technical grounds. At least for anything other than a case where the strong chance of capital punishment is on the menu.