Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 22 Mar 2018 @ 6:57pm
Re:
Isn't there a significant difference between electronics identifying a person off the road and predicting what that person will do next?
Some scenarios I see possible are:
1) The electronics identify a person, not on the road, and the person remains off the road. Should the vehicle stop because that person might wander onto the road?
2) The electronics identifies the person off the road, takes multiple readings of their approximate location and direction of travel (how many seconds?) and then makes a determination as to slowing down or ignoring the person who is still off the road.
3) Take that second scenario up to the point where at the last second the person off the road changes direction and moves into the road rendering all the calculations previously accomplished null and void and no time left to maneuver.
Are we really gonna ask these AV to predict the behavior of every human within range, or have some expectation that those others will follow the rules/laws? Sure detectors can help, but just as humans, processors need time to process information and react, And reacting to things that happen faster than either human or processor can react to are still gonna happen sometimes.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 22 Mar 2018 @ 7:54am
Re: Outraged
I think the outrage is in that every time a lawmaker throws a hissy fit by doing something for their constituents, they have to throw repeated tantrums as in 'No, no, no, you work for us, not them, check your contributions!'.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 21 Mar 2018 @ 8:29pm
I wonder
Has any viable information ever been extracted via torture? If it has, it has certainly not been broadcast. That it hasn't been broadcast, then there is a reliable conjecture that torture is not a reliable source of viable information. That brings up the question of 'why continue torture if nothing can be reliable learned from it'? The answer that we did learn something, but you are in the need to know is not an acceptable answer. We do need to know, or you need to stop. Any method is not acceptable methods, especially when they don't work, or if you cannot prove that they work. You can only prove that by telling us what is going on, what you learned, and why what you learned is important and worth torturing a fellow human being, regardless of their ideology.
The answer to that is that there are terrible dark motivations in those that commit and those that oversee these acts (there are various psychological diagnoses, none of them good). Do we really want people with that kind of thinking actually representing our country? If not, then they should not be running our international investigative (aka spy) agencies. If the answer is yes, then we really need to take a serious look at ourselves.
If the answer is no, and we truly identify with the American ideal, and the Senate approves the appointment, then we really need to look at how we approve people to become Senators. Not to mention the wingnut that appointed them in the first place.
America, right or wrong, is not right, unless America is true to its basic concepts (read the Declaration of Independence for a begining of understanding that concept). Something I have a harder and harder time believing.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 21 Mar 2018 @ 7:46pm
Re: Re: There's a fix for that
Or, long shot here, we could get the Government to embrace the concept of privacy.
I am not a Constitutional scholar, but I understand that some Constitutional scholars embrace the concept of privacy in the Constitution. I wish there were more, and wish also that the Government understood that, rather than embracing the concept of surveillance of everyone all of the time because it gives them more power over those we surveille.
But, we come back to that old saw about 'absolute power' and the corruption derived thereof. When the outcome of their 'supposed' absolute power comes to fruition, are they gonna be surprised.
The tree of liberty will be refreshed from time to time, but read the whole letter. In fact read all of Jefferson's letters. He may or may not foment continual revolution, but I do believe he means that when the Government seeks to oppose the rights of the people, that the people should do something about it. Even if that something might be perceived as drastic.
That definition of drastic might mean various things to various people. In the end, if one thing does not work, then other things must be employed. This is not to say that any of those things should be violent. The human mind has great capacity for creativity. There is a lot of space between doing nothing and violence. We need more creative thinkers involved with the expression of privacy and the Governments adherence to that concept.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 21 Mar 2018 @ 9:09am
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Plenty to be pissed about...
I blame the failure to enforce regulations on the soft money allowed by the FEC, for the most part. That corporations and other moneyed organizations are allowed to turn elected officials, and thereby those bureaucrats that they control, to showing favoritism to those same corporations and organizations is actually called bribery. At least by those who are not part of, or benefiting from, that system.
Shame on the FEC, because they started this mess, and can end it. The political will to do so is lacking because politicians benefit from the bribery that allows them to enhance and extend their power. And it's the politicians who appoint and approve the members of the FEC.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 20 Mar 2018 @ 1:46pm
Automation is good
Aw, they're just trying to save Internet companies the cost of hiring thousands and thousands of people to do something that has such great possibilities when automated (and so fast), and no extra people needed. They know it can happen, 'cause they believe the nerds have nerded hard enough. They just know it.
And btw, it has absolutely nothing to do with those extra anonymous campaign contributions.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Mar 2018 @ 2:47pm
Re: Re:
I would not be surprised if the self-driving cars do better than drivers from states that get little snow do when they encounter snowstorms. I learned to drive in New England, lots of snow, but I lived in the Washington DC area for some time, and a 1/4 inch of snow caused an awful lot of havoc that just does not take place in the north.
At least the self-driving cars will be programmed with some sensible snow related driving actions. People from southern states, not so much.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Mar 2018 @ 2:16pm
Compare and contrast
Pedestrian Deaths By Car In Phoenix Area Last Week: 11. But One Was By A Self-Driving Uber
I would like to see not only the police investigation reports on these 11 accidents, but the insurance companies reports on investigations into these 11 accidents. It's not like I don't trust the police reports, cause I don't, but I want to see the differences between the two reports.
In addition, I don't think we will have a complete understanding of the 'egregiousness' of the Uber car until we understand the nature of all the accidents. While no-fault might make the 'driver' liable, we all know that they are not always at fault.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Mar 2018 @ 12:50pm
Just which criminals were you talking about?
Well, there are criminals, and there are criminals. There are those criminals who rob and murder and rape and extort other people, etc.. Then there are those who break the law in the name of enforcing the law by setting up innocents to do purportedly illegal things that would be illegal if they were real. They also practice breaking Constitutional protections by collecting information and by listening in on others, without appropriate warrants, and then lie in court about their sources and methods via a process we know as parallel construction (what was that other phrase?) and by avoiding Brady material both by not telling the prosecutors about it and signing NDA's with the manufacturers of technologies designed solely for the purpose of spying.
In the end, as now, we will not be able to find out what they are up to, but they will know everything about what we are up to, giving them the ability to charge us with 'made up conspiracies' using things out of context while they will continue to hide their activities via obfuscation, hand waving, and legal contracts that prevent the freedom of information that the law allows us.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Mar 2018 @ 10:24am
In favor of harming Hollywood
Not that this bill would actually harm Hollywood, which I would be in favor of, I would prefer that they do it in more explicit manners.
1) Revert copyright to its original 14 years and allow one 14 year extension if they pay a significant fee, at the appropriate time, and if they don't...automatic public domain.
2) Enforce accounting rules that are used by the rest of business, also known as General Principals of Accounting. This would devastate their current business model, but bring some sense to payments to those creators who deserve it.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 15 Mar 2018 @ 5:59pm
New Bread Box Need, New Engineers Requested
I am trying to discern the reason the German Government did not chose an existing secure email program and then just dictate the various addresses to be used? Was there a particular need to build a system from the ground up? Right, some contractor needed the income.
If a particular system is already secure, and there would be a benefit to it being opened sourced (with the exception of the encryption algorithm) so that security could be further verified, then why would someone actually want to build a new one? That is if there was no profit motivation? Government should never have a profit motivation. Cost savings, maybe, but that would mean that something is cut, not added.
What is actually needed in such a system? A secure sending unit, a secure receiving unit, and a secure server to store the communication and a secure system for distributing the already secure communication to only those that have the appropriate security clearance to receive them. Hasn't this been built numerous times already?
Is the issue that those already built systems weren't properly translated into German? Wouldn't it be cheaper to do a better job of translation than start from scratch, and maybe build something not as secure? I don't know the names of the existing systems (as I have no need for them...today, but I know they exist, various governments around the world are complaining about them).
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 15 Mar 2018 @ 12:04pm
ESI
"This includes without limitation all relevant ESI (including but not limited to e-mail), banking records, Word documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, reports, articles, books, memos, letters, calendar entries, handwritten notes, text messages, chats, phone messages, phone logs, audio recordings, or any other type of document or communication, final or draft, in either written or electronic format."
He left out thoughts. Our brains work on electricity, don't they? Memories are stored, aren't they? I want to see the subpoena for those.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 15 Mar 2018 @ 11:48am
Re:
>"The only way Gina Haspel is qualified to serve is if she completely renounces her actions and the actions of the U.S. government in approving torture of detainees and vows that it will not happen under her watch."
You would accept her word, or would she just pull a Clapper?
Gina Haspel is in no way qualified to lead an agency, and her previous behavior is the prime indicator.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 15 Mar 2018 @ 10:54am
Is the new job the same as the old job?
If Mike Pompeo is actually confirmed by the Senate as the new Secretary of State, when will the first accusation of his acting as a Secretary of State or as a CIA director be leveled? Whether that charge is true or not, it will be leveled at least in order to give some leverage to the ones making it.
If Gina Haspel is actually confirmed by the Senate as the new CIA director, how many of our current allies will take that as a direct confirmation of this countries endorsement of torture, and lose all remaining respect for our foreign policy?
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 14 Mar 2018 @ 3:47pm
Maintenance
Seems to me that there was a discussion here some time ago about the cost of maintaining those vehicles. Something the Feds don't fund. How is such a tiny department able to pay for the maintenance. What, they don't maintain the vehicles, just sell them?
Just what are the rules about selling 1033 items? When are the Feds going to do something about this little cabal? Right, homeland security, better to have these guys over prepared, even if the stuff won't work because there is no money to maintain the equipment.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 14 Mar 2018 @ 8:51am
Re: Re:
I would put it a bit differently. "for limited times" isn't actually being ignored, but it is being outrageously defined. The whole point of the limitation was to encourage more creative efforts on the part of the creators, who cannot create anything once they are dead.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 12 Mar 2018 @ 3:30pm
Can't tell or didn't do?
What is the difference between the government not being able to figure things out and the government having a whole lot of information about something and not doing anything about it? Can anyone outside of government tell the difference?
Yes, because sometimes the government is stupid enough to tell us after something happens that they had a whole bunch of information before it happened and didn't act on it.
Then there are the instances where they just plain lie...erm I mean tell us the least untruthful thing.
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 12 Mar 2018 @ 10:00am
I can see it now
Captain: Lieutenants, get your squads to nerd harder and faster.
Lieutenants: Sargents, the Captain tells us that we are not nerding up to speed and quality. Get some discipline in your troops.
Sargents: Troops, you are hereby ordered to nerd harder and faster. The other squads are ahead of us. You had better get some ideas quick, or there is gonna be some hell to pay.
On the post: Uber's Video Shows The Arizona Crash Victim Probably Didn't Cause Crash, Human Behind The Wheel Not Paying Attention
Re:
Isn't there a significant difference between electronics identifying a person off the road and predicting what that person will do next?
Some scenarios I see possible are:
1) The electronics identify a person, not on the road, and the person remains off the road. Should the vehicle stop because that person might wander onto the road?
2) The electronics identifies the person off the road, takes multiple readings of their approximate location and direction of travel (how many seconds?) and then makes a determination as to slowing down or ignoring the person who is still off the road.
3) Take that second scenario up to the point where at the last second the person off the road changes direction and moves into the road rendering all the calculations previously accomplished null and void and no time left to maneuver.
Are we really gonna ask these AV to predict the behavior of every human within range, or have some expectation that those others will follow the rules/laws? Sure detectors can help, but just as humans, processors need time to process information and react, And reacting to things that happen faster than either human or processor can react to are still gonna happen sometimes.
On the post: Facebook Working With Comcast To Scuttle California Broadband Privacy Protections
Re: Outraged
On the post: ProPublica's Reporting Error Shows Why The Government Must Declassify Details Of Gina Haspel's Role In CIA Torture
I wonder
Has any viable information ever been extracted via torture? If it has, it has certainly not been broadcast. That it hasn't been broadcast, then there is a reliable conjecture that torture is not a reliable source of viable information. That brings up the question of 'why continue torture if nothing can be reliable learned from it'? The answer that we did learn something, but you are in the need to know is not an acceptable answer. We do need to know, or you need to stop. Any method is not acceptable methods, especially when they don't work, or if you cannot prove that they work. You can only prove that by telling us what is going on, what you learned, and why what you learned is important and worth torturing a fellow human being, regardless of their ideology.
The answer to that is that there are terrible dark motivations in those that commit and those that oversee these acts (there are various psychological diagnoses, none of them good). Do we really want people with that kind of thinking actually representing our country? If not, then they should not be running our international investigative (aka spy) agencies. If the answer is yes, then we really need to take a serious look at ourselves.
If the answer is no, and we truly identify with the American ideal, and the Senate approves the appointment, then we really need to look at how we approve people to become Senators. Not to mention the wingnut that appointed them in the first place.
America, right or wrong, is not right, unless America is true to its basic concepts (read the Declaration of Independence for a begining of understanding that concept). Something I have a harder and harder time believing.
On the post: If You're Pissed About Facebook's Privacy Abuses, You Should Be Four Times As Angry At The Broadband Industry
Re: Re: There's a fix for that
Or, long shot here, we could get the Government to embrace the concept of privacy.
I am not a Constitutional scholar, but I understand that some Constitutional scholars embrace the concept of privacy in the Constitution. I wish there were more, and wish also that the Government understood that, rather than embracing the concept of surveillance of everyone all of the time because it gives them more power over those we surveille.
But, we come back to that old saw about 'absolute power' and the corruption derived thereof. When the outcome of their 'supposed' absolute power comes to fruition, are they gonna be surprised.
The tree of liberty will be refreshed from time to time, but read the whole letter. In fact read all of Jefferson's letters. He may or may not foment continual revolution, but I do believe he means that when the Government seeks to oppose the rights of the people, that the people should do something about it. Even if that something might be perceived as drastic.
That definition of drastic might mean various things to various people. In the end, if one thing does not work, then other things must be employed. This is not to say that any of those things should be violent. The human mind has great capacity for creativity. There is a lot of space between doing nothing and violence. We need more creative thinkers involved with the expression of privacy and the Governments adherence to that concept.
On the post: If You're Pissed About Facebook's Privacy Abuses, You Should Be Four Times As Angry At The Broadband Industry
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Plenty to be pissed about...
I blame the failure to enforce regulations on the soft money allowed by the FEC, for the most part. That corporations and other moneyed organizations are allowed to turn elected officials, and thereby those bureaucrats that they control, to showing favoritism to those same corporations and organizations is actually called bribery. At least by those who are not part of, or benefiting from, that system.
Shame on the FEC, because they started this mess, and can end it. The political will to do so is lacking because politicians benefit from the bribery that allows them to enhance and extend their power. And it's the politicians who appoint and approve the members of the FEC.
On the post: If You're Pissed About Facebook's Privacy Abuses, You Should Be Four Times As Angry At The Broadband Industry
Re: Re:
Especially when it comes to extending or increasing their personal power.
On the post: EU's Mandatory Copyright Content Filter Is The Zombie That Just Never Dies
Automation is good
And btw, it has absolutely nothing to do with those extra anonymous campaign contributions.
Have a nice day!
On the post: Pedestrian Deaths By Car In Phoenix Area Last Week: 11. But One Was By A Self-Driving Uber
Re: Re:
At least the self-driving cars will be programmed with some sensible snow related driving actions. People from southern states, not so much.
On the post: Pedestrian Deaths By Car In Phoenix Area Last Week: 11. But One Was By A Self-Driving Uber
Compare and contrast
I would like to see not only the police investigation reports on these 11 accidents, but the insurance companies reports on investigations into these 11 accidents. It's not like I don't trust the police reports, cause I don't, but I want to see the differences between the two reports.
In addition, I don't think we will have a complete understanding of the 'egregiousness' of the Uber car until we understand the nature of all the accidents. While no-fault might make the 'driver' liable, we all know that they are not always at fault.
On the post: The Future The FBI Wants: Secure Phones For Criminals, Broken Encryption For Everyone Else
Just which criminals were you talking about?
In the end, as now, we will not be able to find out what they are up to, but they will know everything about what we are up to, giving them the ability to charge us with 'made up conspiracies' using things out of context while they will continue to hide their activities via obfuscation, hand waving, and legal contracts that prevent the freedom of information that the law allows us.
On the post: SESTA's Sponsors Falsely Claim That Fixing SESTA's Worst Problem Harms Hollywood
In favor of harming Hollywood
1) Revert copyright to its original 14 years and allow one 14 year extension if they pay a significant fee, at the appropriate time, and if they don't...automatic public domain.
2) Enforce accounting rules that are used by the rest of business, also known as General Principals of Accounting. This would devastate their current business model, but bring some sense to payments to those creators who deserve it.
On the post: German Lawyers Call For Their Profession's Bug-Ridden, Soon-To-Be Mandatory, Email System To Be Open Sourced
New Bread Box Need, New Engineers Requested
If a particular system is already secure, and there would be a benefit to it being opened sourced (with the exception of the encryption algorithm) so that security could be further verified, then why would someone actually want to build a new one? That is if there was no profit motivation? Government should never have a profit motivation. Cost savings, maybe, but that would mean that something is cut, not added.
What is actually needed in such a system? A secure sending unit, a secure receiving unit, and a secure server to store the communication and a secure system for distributing the already secure communication to only those that have the appropriate security clearance to receive them. Hasn't this been built numerous times already?
Is the issue that those already built systems weren't properly translated into German? Wouldn't it be cheaper to do a better job of translation than start from scratch, and maybe build something not as secure? I don't know the names of the existing systems (as I have no need for them...today, but I know they exist, various governments around the world are complaining about them).
Sheesh
On the post: How Trump's Lawyer's Silly Lawsuit Against Buzzfeed May Free Stormy Daniels From Her Non Disclosure Agreement
ESI
He left out thoughts. Our brains work on electricity, don't they? Memories are stored, aren't they? I want to see the subpoena for those.
On the post: As Trump Nominates Torture Boss To Head CIA, Congresswoman Suggests It's Sympathizing With Terrorists To Question Her Appointment
Re:
You would accept her word, or would she just pull a Clapper?
Gina Haspel is in no way qualified to lead an agency, and her previous behavior is the prime indicator.
On the post: As Trump Nominates Torture Boss To Head CIA, Congresswoman Suggests It's Sympathizing With Terrorists To Question Her Appointment
Is the new job the same as the old job?
If Gina Haspel is actually confirmed by the Senate as the new CIA director, how many of our current allies will take that as a direct confirmation of this countries endorsement of torture, and lose all remaining respect for our foreign policy?
On the post: Police Department With Eight Full-Time Officers Acquired 31 Military Vehicles Thru DoD's Surplus Program
Maintenance
Just what are the rules about selling 1033 items? When are the Feds going to do something about this little cabal? Right, homeland security, better to have these guys over prepared, even if the stuff won't work because there is no money to maintain the equipment.
On the post: Killing The Golden Goose (Again); How The Copyright Stranglehold Dooms Spotify
Re: Re:
On the post: Cop Hits Woman's Car At 94 MPH, Killing Her Infant. Police Arrest Woman For Negligent Homicide.
Re: Re: "car seat was not secured and the straps were not adjusted"
None of which contributed to the accident, but certainly points some blame for something elsewhere.
On the post: If The US Government Can't Figure Out Who's A Russian Troll, Why Should It Expect Internet Companies To Do So?
Can't tell or didn't do?
Yes, because sometimes the government is stupid enough to tell us after something happens that they had a whole bunch of information before it happened and didn't act on it.
Then there are the instances where they just plain lie...erm I mean tell us the least untruthful thing.
On the post: The US Government Is Considering Drafting Middle-Aged Hackers To Fight The Cyberwar
I can see it now
Lieutenants: Sargents, the Captain tells us that we are not nerding up to speed and quality. Get some discipline in your troops.
Sargents: Troops, you are hereby ordered to nerd harder and faster. The other squads are ahead of us. You had better get some ideas quick, or there is gonna be some hell to pay.
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