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Living Room / Re: Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

« Last post by Renegade on June 27, 2010, 04:29 PM »

Why is every year 1984 lately?

Why does every political event or medical event, or even current event, spawn a dozen different conspiracy theories?



(I didn't write the following - it was at the end of the "kill switch" story.)

CANCER CONSPIRACY? Are "they" suppressing the cure? Will YOU be the next victim? Learn the Secret Truth! - READ FULL STORY

-mrainey (June 27, 2010, 03:35 PM)

It's extreme. It's cutting off the top form of communication. Why would you need to do this? There is no reason at all for it. Given the state of technology today for traffic shaping and filtering, there just isn't a reason. Well... Not a legitimate reason.

These are the kinds of things that governments do to suppress their civilian populations. It has happened before. It is happening today. And with this, it may very well happen in the "home of the free and the land of the brave".

It's not a conspiracy when it's right out in the open for everyone to see.

I used the 1984 metaphor because there are far too many things like this happening. Increased legislation that restricts basic freedoms, like the freedom to communicate, is becoming more and more common. It's a slippery slope, and we're teetering at the edge of a very steep slope.

In Australia they have Internet censoring legislation. It's not too dissimilar to what China has. Is this a good thing? Do you want to be fed "approved" information? I don't.

There are some very sick people out there, like the nut cases at Stormfront, and while I vehemently disagree with them, I most certainly support their right to have their own beliefs and put up sites/garbage about those beliefs.

What other metaphor fits for when the state blocks communications for its population?

We have organizations that monitor these kinds of things to one degree or another -- an EFF article (just the end part to see how they describe this kind of behavior):

EFF will continue to monitor these events. For some ideas on ways to speak freely without falling victim to authoritarian surveillance and censorship, and ways for the rest of us to help support the worldwide community, check out EFF's Surveillance Self Defense International.

I may be paranoid about some things. I don't think I'm stretching with the metaphor in this case. It's pretty obvious that it's just very far beyond reasonable.

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Living Room / Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

« Last post by Renegade on June 27, 2010, 03:14 PM »

Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday and now moves to the floor...


...While media and public attention is overwhelmingly focused on the BP oil spill, the establishment is quietly preparing the framework that will allow Obama, or indeed any President who follows him, to bring down a technological iron curtain that will give the government a foot in the door on seizing complete control over the Internet...

...Indeed, China uses similar rhetoric about the need to maintain “security” and combating cyber warfare by regulating the web, when in reality their entire program is focused around silencing anyone who criticizes the state.

Ahem... Do the words

NSFW

Fuck off and leave us alone

have any meaning?

Sneaky, and dangerous.

Why is every year 1984 lately?

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Living Room / Re: Why has Microsoft seemingly stopped innovating?

« Last post by Renegade on June 25, 2010, 08:52 AM »

Interesting. It seems to me that innovation at Microsoft really is all "under the hood" stuff, and nothing up front and easy to see. What they are doing in their developer tools is simply amazing.

However, their front-facing innovation is lacking, seriously. It makes me wonder if they have a plan, or if they are simply lacking entirely. There are a lot of markets out there that they could do very well in, but aren't.

My take on it is that Google and Apple have been successful in changing their core businesses, but Microsoft has been sticking to what they know. Apple has become a retail store for other people's products, while Google has branched out their advertising into different non-profitable products that keep them in the lime-light. MS will have a long, hard road ahead if they want to stay relevant in anything other than base platforms.

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Living Room / Re: Is Apple a victim of sour grapes?

« Last post by Renegade on June 24, 2010, 09:36 AM »

I have nothing good to say about Apple. They've got it coming. They're just mean people.

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Living Room / Re: I am so very very sick of copyright issues.

« Last post by Renegade on June 24, 2010, 09:33 AM »

AMEN~! It drives me nuts. The way they segment markets is just far too much. It's a pain in the butt. And one of my pet peeves...

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Living Room / Re: A software engineer might tell you that the fastest code is...

« Last post by Renegade on June 23, 2010, 07:15 AM »

Actually, I think the analogy is valid. Complexity introduces additional margin for error, and with the bloat in bills and laws, well, the outcome can only be bad.

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Living Room / Re: A software engineer might tell you that the fastest code is...

« Last post by Renegade on June 23, 2010, 06:13 AM »

And every problem can be solved with 1 more layer of abstraction.

From the article above:

Witness the bewildering sizes of recent pieces of legislation, or attempted legislation, drafted in true “we’ve really got it this  time” fashion.    Obamacare tips the scales at 2000+ pages. The recent financial reform bill is 3000+ (with the original Glass-Steagall act, whose re-birth some people are calling for, weighing in at a paltry 34 pages).   Even the government’s response to the tragically ongoing BP oil spill has been one of triangulation and determined-complexity.

When it comes to legislation, it seems dangerous to have overly complex laws. Nobody can possibly know them all, and yet, "ignorance of the law is no excuse." Bollocks. You can't follow a law if you can't know it, and with legal complexity as it is...

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Living Room / Re: IP address on public network

« Last post by Renegade on June 21, 2010, 01:22 PM »

Some guy reads a 10 year old issue of 2600 or visits some script-kiddie hax0r website and somebody thinks  what he did required skill? Good grief! Are there still reporters that clueless about how this stuff works after all this time?

-40hz (June 20, 2010, 03:26 PM)

'c0z reel sk!llz meez u dunt get cot~!

For faking email, it's very simple: Email Avenger < An old tutorial and emergency email program that lets you use a fake email address if you want.

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Living Room / Re: Microsoft lashes out at Googler for making Windows vulnerability public

« Last post by Renegade on June 21, 2010, 12:54 PM »

Yikes... Quoting a Sophos researcher in that article:

"So my question to Mr Ormandy is this - do you feel proud of your behavior? Do you think that you have helped raise security on the Internet? Or did you put your vanity ahead of others' safety?"

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Living Room / Re: 10 News Stories Overshadowed by the BP Oil Spill

« Last post by Renegade on June 21, 2010, 08:45 AM »

I used to live in Malaysia, and just watched on TV. I think you can view videos at their web sites... not too sure... Sorry I can't be of much more help.

Oh - some cable providers make them available, and they are available on satellite TV, I believe.

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Living Room / Re: 10 News Stories Overshadowed by the BP Oil Spill

« Last post by Renegade on June 21, 2010, 07:49 AM »

I find BBC to be one of the best news providers there is. It always has a neutral tone and always tries to have reactions from all parties involved. I wouldn't trust a news agency from a communist (or any dictatorship) country in a billion years.

-bgd77 (June 21, 2010, 07:39 AM)

That's what I thought before I'd actually sat down and watched it for a while. Seriously. If you can get Al Jazeera or CNTV, watch it for a few days. It will change your opinion about other news providers.

I should distinguish some things about the BBC though. They have different sections for different areas. Their international news is infinitely above CNN reporting. Still, it really does fall short once you see CNTV and Al Jazeera. (Yes -- I know I sound like a crackpot. I was blown away when I first started watching them. I never would have guessed. If I were you, I'd think I sounded like a nutcase.)

The breadth of news in Al Jazeera and CNTV is massive. I think that's the thing that I find so much better. The "international" segment is more than 2 stories that run for months. You get a really broad view of what's happening in different places. It's almost like they aggregate the top important stories from all the local sources worldwide. The BBC and CNN give you the same 5 stories for a week, then next week they follow up on those 5... well, close anyways.

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Living Room / Re: FCC Moves to Regulate Internet

« Last post by Renegade on June 21, 2010, 12:55 AM »

Does no one remember the reason they were trying to regulate Comcast? Do we all just trust the corporations to keep things hunky dory and price things fairly when they have virtually complete monopoly (how many of you have a choice of cable or phone company in your area?).

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (June 20, 2010, 11:56 PM)

Very true. I'm partial to being screwed by a company though, rather than being screwed by a government. One is a hammer. The other is a 2,500 kg ACME anvil dropped on you. God only knows how badly a government will screw things up. With a company, provided it's not a monopoly as you pointed out, is still somewhat subject to keeping customers happy. The unfortunate thing there is that telcos are notorious for abusing their customers. Why do you think Apple and AT&T make such good partners?

It's nice when governments can regulate industries that NEED regulation for the benefit of consumers first, then the industry. (If an industry doesn't benefit its consumers, then it's pointless and really needs to disappear. Kind of like the market for getting your face punched in -- not a consumer benefit, hence, no industry for it. )

It has been a nightmare up to now though with government regulations for hi-tech (Internet, etc.). Look at Australian regulations... jeez... They're primitive morons. They actually believe that they can censor the Internet! Naive. Misinformed. Stupid. And it's driven by the christian right...

Governments need technologists like Tim Berners Lee, Bill Gates, Larry Elison, Linus Torvalds -- those kinds of people -- to help them draft sane, effective, beneficial laws and regulations. Problem is, they don't. They get some jack-@$$ that got elected because he promised to spend money that the government doesn't have to spend on a new public swimming pool and god knows what -- and this incompetent nitwit then goes on to champion some inane bill for the sake of publicity and image, and not because the bill is good for people. This is a real problem for technology, and liberty.

So you've got a dilemma - get hosed by the evil corporation, or get hosed by an incompetent government. Which is worse? It seems like there are only lose-lose solutions to the problem. Sigh... ;(

My remark was mildly tongue in cheek.
I am well aware of the governments inability to do anything short of spending massive amounts of other peoples money.
But consider for a moment the concept of taxes, there was talk of states legalizing marijuana for the purpose of "balancing" their budgets. Raising the tax on cigarettes and soft drinks for the same purpose.
They would also like to collect more revenue from regulating the internet, not to mention the danger of government censors and moderators running wild.
Legalizing pot, the danger of cigarettes or soft drinks and commerce on the internet really isn't the point.
My position is this, governments are very poor stewards when it comes to being frugal and efficient with our tax dollars, so why give them another revenue stream to squander?
Also if they can't manage their own affairs then why allow them to manage ours?
The internet works well as it is now, could it be improved?
Yes
Is involving government the best way to do it?
Hell no.

-Cpilot (June 20, 2010, 10:29 PM)

Sorry -- I think I came off wrong there. I saw your point -- I just wanted to point out the dark paranoid version.

My position is this, governments are very poor stewards when it comes to being frugal and efficient with our tax dollars, so why give them another revenue stream to squander?
Also if they can't manage their own affairs then why allow them to manage ours?

Bingo! It's really a very sad state of affairs.

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Living Room / Re: Interesting Side-Step of Copyright; Also Porn

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 10:02 PM »

One thing I can guarantee you - Hustler would absolutely *love* some sort of lawsuit trying to block the "It Ain't(tm) Avatar" movie.  You can buy that kind of advertising.

I must say though, I'm much more impressed by the punny titles that they often come up with for these movies:

• A Bustfull of Dollars
• Shaving Ryan's Privates
• Star Whores
• For Your Thighs Only
• Lust in Space
• A Star is Porn
• Edward Penishands
• Romancing the Bone
• Pulp Friction

And Seattle had a peep show club that recently shut it doors that had an impressive marquee that would post things like:

• Clash of the Tight Buns
• The Skirt Locker
• All Clothing 100% Off

It was fun to read the marquee, even if you would never think to go in.

-mwb1100 (June 20, 2010, 08:11 PM)

Hmmm...

mwb1100 vs. Innuendo vs. Zane -- Who will win the DC Pron King championship?

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Living Room / Re: When Social Media Users Hulk Up!

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 09:31 PM »

basically, that it has confronted them with the reality of it all

You got me thinking a bit, and it occurred to me that people might be upset in part because the guilt is theirs as well, as they are the ones that voted to get that guy in power, and the ones ultimately responsible for the legislation in their state where the death penalty is. i.e. The blood is on THEIR hands as well. It might not be at the forefront of anyone's mind, but at some level, people in democracies know that they are (ir)responsible for the legislation. A kind of background, nagging feeling of guilt... Then again that could all just be total drivel. Just a thought anyways.

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Living Room / Re: FCC Moves to Regulate Internet

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 09:23 PM »

There's just no denying the fact that the bigger the internet gets the more various governments will want to regulate (read:tax) it.
It's a consequence of success.

-Cpilot (June 20, 2010, 05:28 PM)

I think that's an optimistic view of the situation.

Perhaps by "tax" you mean "bleed dry", and perhaps by "regulate" you mean "snoop on everybody"?

I am very fearful any time any government tries to stick their grubby paws into the Internet. I am scared that they will abuse their power to get "dirt" on people and put people in jail for nothing short of nefarious purposes.

"Government" is the only business that succeeds by becoming progressively more and more incompetent at the jobs they do. (i.e. Create a larger bureaucracy with no increased benefit to the governed.) How is allowing them greater control over the Internet in anyone's best interest? (Even in a non-paranoid sense.)

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Living Room / Re: South African doctor invents female condom with 'teeth' to fight rape.

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 09:15 PM »

The lesser of 2 evils... 

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Living Room / Re: South African doctor invents female condom with 'teeth' to fight rape.

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 08:21 PM »

It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."

Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.

...snip...

South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, Human Rights Watch says on its website. A 2009 report by the nation's Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year, according to Human Rights Watch.

Let's do an informal poll here... How many people here are rapists?

WTF? That's from a survey with people volunteering answers! "Are you a rapist?" "Sometimes." Wow. The reality must be much higher.

Seriously --- that's very, very messed up.

As for complaining about "enslavement", geez... It's like they're upset that they can't run around raping anymore. "Enslavement"??? It's a really bad situation. Seems like it's needed there. Badly.

And as for the movie, "Teeth" -- it was REALLY bad.

From the article, the inventor quoting a rape victim:

"She looked at me and said, 'If only had teeth down there,'"

The product name is even scary: Rape-aXe

That something like that would ever be needed it extremely sad. And the inventor is drawing out critics! Just how completely FUBAR is that?

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Living Room / Re: Interesting Side-Step of Copyright; Also Porn

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 09:54 AM »

Hmmm... Do we have a challenger to dethrone Zane as the resident porn authority?

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Living Room / Re: Why do we always wait for apple's stuff before making a i[blank]-killer??

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 04:07 AM »

Yeah. It's easy to take for granted what we consider "basic" common sense. The fellow I bought my car from didn't even have an email address. He was in his mid 20's. (Actually, the owner's son, but 6 of 1...)

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Living Room / Re: Why does the computer have to pause when you stick in a blank dvd/cd?

« Last post by Renegade on June 20, 2010, 03:34 AM »

http://www.windows7taskforce.com/view/18

It reminds me of accessing a floppy drive.  The thing is so slow they must be afraid if it doesn't have the undivided attention of the system it won't pick up what it needs to get off the dime...  one of those things like "It's been broken for so long, don't try to fix it."

-MilesAhead (June 20, 2010, 12:34 AM)

From that article:

Reimplement disk access.
Don't wait for one disk/network operation to complete in order to continue - multitask!
Asynchronous I/O is the answer here.

He's bang on.

This and programs stealing focus are the 2 worst things in Windows that really p**s me off.

I simply do not understand why there can't be some degree of isolation there. Well, from a software standpoint. I suppose that from the hardware perspective there is a good reason.

What we really need is multi-access-mode-random-access-memory-storage. MAMRAMS~!

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Living Room / Re: Why does the computer have to pause when you stick in a blank dvd/cd?

« Last post by Renegade on June 19, 2010, 11:53 PM »

Whether it's at the file system level, or at a lower level (hardware), I don't think really will make much of a difference to the question there --- either way, there's really no reason to have the kind of delays that you get. I'm relatively certain that it is because of no multithreading. It would be simple enough to have a thread poll for significant changes (like mounting a new drive), and ping that thread for information periodically. Why it isn't done is anyone's guess. It may be more difficult than I'm guessing it would be.

I pointed out the file system issue because it has to do with how Windows loads metadata from files, which makes things slower. It's not directly related to mounting a new drive, but it puts some perspective on things. (e.g. Loading a directory of pictures takes much longer than simple text files.)

I think you're right about the driver/storage system issue though. That's going to be a limiting factor on how information gets bubbled up through the OS to the file explorer. What I don't get, is why those kinds of things aren't done in a thread so that the file explorer is more responsive. If anyone knows, I'd love to hear about it.

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Living Room / Re: When Social Media Users Hulk Up!

« Last post by Renegade on June 19, 2010, 10:50 PM »

True. It is pretty tacky/tasteless. I suppose I'm just rather apathetic. It's pretty bad when you're killing people anyways, so how much worse can the situation be? Being tasteless about it doesn't change the fact that you're about to kill someone. Dunno. Maybe I'm just too apathetic. It just seems like complaining about a scratch in the car paint when it doesn't have an engine or wheels. Y'know, there's an elephant in the room type of deal?

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Living Room / Re: Why do we always wait for apple's stuff before making a i[blank]-killer??

« Last post by Renegade on June 19, 2010, 09:38 PM »

That's right...it's support I am talking about.

Linux comes with "google it and hope you find an answer you can understand". That's what makes it not ready for the masses. That's the real image problem it has.

-app103 (June 19, 2010, 09:16 PM)

Very true. That's a massive part of the problem.

On the flip side though, some companies like Novell have support available. That's for their enterprise version though. For normal users, unfortunately... support is, well... would "poor" be an overstatement?

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Living Room / Re: 10 News Stories Overshadowed by the BP Oil Spill

« Last post by Renegade on June 19, 2010, 09:10 PM »

Mainstream news (CNN, BBC, etc.) is total garbage, if it even reaches that level. Al Jazeera and CNTV are far better. You get a better, more balanced view of things there.

It's ironic/pathetic that a communist authoritarian regime has better news than the news agencies in the "free world".

News is not news anymore. It's newstertainment.

They're just pointing out in the article what has been true for a long time. It's quite sad really. Sigh...

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Living Room / Re: Why do we always wait for apple's stuff before making a i[blank]-killer??

« Last post by Renegade on June 19, 2010, 09:01 PM »

That's what I mean. Linux just has a miserable image that they can't seem to fix. Zane pointed it out that they need a massive marketing campaign to actually get people to see it for what it is and change that image.