As @Uriel-238 and @ThatOneGuy already mentioned, this is just another smokescreen for "we wanted to search you". But it's so egregious it gives lie to the phrase "false positive". Seems like what they want here is "all positive" so that when all the results are kept secret, they can just trot out the positive results they like and say, see, it worked; this guy was a terrorist and our fancy software also said so.
It's just a plausibly-enough technical-sounding solution that politicians can plausibly pretend that it works because most people won't be able to evaluate why it doesn't.
As a last resort, we can "have a discussion" over it's efficacy.
This is the power of advertising. It makes you jump to all kinds of conclusions without a shred of data. The reactions to this image highlight it's power. Imagine the reactions if it had been a room full of Olympic athletes!
People may now be starting to become aware that they have opted in to a system in which they have traded control and privacy for convenience.
It is convenient for Apple/Microsoft/Android-device-makers to be able to automatically update software remotely, but the price is that those companies get to their fingers on your device at any/all times.
If you want security independent of some company like these, the ecosystem must be restructured. It's not a matter of Apple (or whoever) giving you better security; it's a matter of taking security out of Apple's hands.
The strongest link in the chain of data security is encryption. We don't know of a technology that is better at keeping things secret. So, the best security you have is when you have a "key"/password that will decrypt data. (And remember, your data is only secure because/when it is hard to guess or figure out the key.)
*Anything* else is a weaker link in the chain of security. So relying on features in an OS to protect you is weaker. Unless you and you alone have the key, you can't assume it is secure.
For Apple to be able to remotely install and update the OS means that any security features they implement can be circumvented, unless you can prevent that process using some form of encryption with your own key. Any other form of security will be weaker.
So, the strength of your Apply security is directly tied to the strength of Apple's backbone and the laws they/we confront.
The whole "conversation" gambit has a perverse and beautiful simplicity to it. You can use it whenever you're faced with resistance to a stand you are taking, and it makes you sound "reasonable": "I'm not the bad guy here. I just want to have a 'conversation' to figure out the right way to do this."
But it's a trap for the other side. As soon as they say anything that doesn't have the same facade of conciliation, then you can criticize them for being "extreme".
Further, you can always rehash old ground or backtrack in your argument by saying you just want to "continue" the "conversation".
All it really is, is a stalling and deflection tactic, allowing you to wait for another chance. When you hear someone use it, there's something slimy going on.
As a side note, one wonders how useless all of that in-flight WiFi equipment is going to be in the near future.
Laptops won't get banned. Airlines make money (or expect to) by providing wifi, so they want people to bring their laptops. If TSA threatens their revenue, the lobbyists will spring into existence.
I picked up on the scare tactic Gaudino used, that Big Ag and Big Pharma would come do the patenting if the small players don't. I agree with Masnick about the ridiculousness of patents in this area and how they kill innovation, but this threat seems like a real risk. It's the system perpetuating the system. If you don't do it, someone else will and then you will be hosed. That's another of the perversities of the patent system.
It seems the push these days is to transform corporations -- which used to have to work within a country's governmental apparatus -- into extra-governmental entities that instead of adhering to a country's laws instead dictate those laws to them.
I do not want to live in the sovereign state of Big Business!
The fundamental problem here is that politicians are not accountable to the voters. They are accountable to industry. That's why so much of the TPP protects legacy players in user-unfriendly ways.
There may be a short-term solution in the form of public outrage and such. If so, count me in. The long-term solution is to find a way to get politicians to be accountable to voters again. I think it is real campaign finance reform. But whatever, if you care about things like the TPP (or any other similar issue), what you should really care about first is fixing campaign finance. You can't get politicians to fix anything in favor of voters until they feel accountable to the voters.
Anti-circumvention is like saying it is illegal for me to break my own front door (say, if I locked my keys in the house). It may be illegal for me to break down someone else's door, but I can kick in my own door if I want. Same should go for my digital goods.
The value in advertising is not what a seller gets out of doing it, but what they lose by not doing it. If you have two equivalent products X and Y, and X advertises but Y does not, Y will lose. So if one advertises, both must.
That's only one layer in the logic of advertising, though. As others have pointed out, it is complex and illogical, and works in ways we may not even understand or be aware of.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A game of statistics
There isn't "truth" in advertising because there isn't "truth" in purchasing. It's a two-sided coin (multi-headed hydra!).
I hate ads as much or more than anyone. I don't have cable because of ads; I don't watch broadcast TV because of ads; I block web ads entirely online; I don't use apple products because they don't let me block ads my way [via the hosts file]; I have subscriptions to Netflix and SiriusXM (and avoid the Sirius/XM channels with ads); etc. Seriously, I hate ads.
That being said, I think we as consumers need to admit to our part in how things got this way. We are fickle. We choose products not based on "truth" but based on emotion, style, popularity, etc. You might believe there is "truth", but really there isn't.
Seriously, Coke is not objectively better than Pepsi. You have your preference, I have mine. Coke cannot create an ad saying, "we fulfill all the criteria of being a cola better than Pepsi". Proper competition results in products that are functionally identical. Once you have that, all you have left to differentiate yourself, to sell yourself, is intangibles where you have to "create" the value out of nothing. So even in an ideal world, all advertising can do is create the sense in you that you want product X over product Y, for no objective reason.
If we want ads that are less annoying then we need consumers that are less swayed by them. Do you buy generics? Why not? Do you buy the staid, solid Consumer Reports-rated car or the stylish one? Do you buy the $15 wine or the $50 wine? Do you objectively rate products on quality (on your own scale) and then buy the best or one with the best quality/value ratio?
People don't buy that way so advertisers don't advertise that way. It's not all the advertisers fault.
This still doesn't mean I have to look at ads, though! And I blame all y'all for this state of affairs. Not my fault, I buy objectively. ( ;) )
The moral argument against ad-blocking fails. It's no more immoral for me to block ads than it is for a website to choose to use ad-networks the present the kinds of ads that chase me away. It's an optimization problem.
First, advertising currently works. Ad-supported websites survive. These statements are demonstrably true simply because ads and ad-supported websites exist. I feel no moral obligation to enable ads because this is true even though I block ads. So, my opting out of this obnoxious system hasn't broken anything, and thus the argument that I have some moral obligation to opt in fails. If advertisers and websites want me to put up with ads, they need to create ads I will put up with. They have not. Until they do, they don't get my eyes.
The equation for advertising is not an all or none equation. It's a statistical one. There will always be an "ad-viewing" and an "ad-blocking" group of users. Advertisers try to maximize revenue from the ad-viewing group. They have many ways to do this. If things they try chase ad-viewers into the ad-blockers group, but still raise revenue, then that's a rational thing to do. But it's not fair to blame the ad-blockers for "breaking" the ad-supported revenue models. The ad-supported sites play an counterbalancing role. If they think their ad-blocker group is too large, they can try to increase their revenue by seeking out ad networks that chase away fewer users.
If you want to lay the blame at the feet of anyone, it is not the individual user who feels their internet experience is degraded when they are forced to view ads they don't like. They have no control over the situation. Blame the advertisers and ad-supported sites. They are the ones making the choices that create the ad-blocking and ad-viewing groups. They need to start optimizing their approaches to increase the ad-viewing group. Whining and begging users to voluntarily join the ad-viewing group against their own self-interest is the weakest tactic the advertusers can use.
Kudos for Techdirt for respecting the ad-blocking group enough to make it easy for them to block ads. That's respect for your community.
Not at all. I learned how to learn and the internet puts at my fingertips loads of information from which to learn. Of course I'm searching for info on things I don't know. They're new. That's why I need to learn them.
At the same time, there are things I never plan to learn/memorize well, because I don't use them often enough, and plain searching (in the sense I think you meant it) is more than efficient enough.
No kidding. Books required you to go to a place that actively discouraged social interaction ("Shhh!"). They dedicated *whole buildings* to those places.
On the post: New T-Shirt: Home Cooking Is Killing Restaurants
Better quality fabric
On the post: Israeli Company Claims Its Software Can Look At Your Face And Determine If You're A Terrorist Or Murderer
Confirmation Bias
It's just a plausibly-enough technical-sounding solution that politicians can plausibly pretend that it works because most people won't be able to evaluate why it doesn't.
As a last resort, we can "have a discussion" over it's efficacy.
On the post: No, Virtual Reality Won't Make Us Fat, Stupid Slaves Of Mark Zuckerberg
Power of Advertising
On the post: FBI Director: We're Only Forcing Apple To Undermine Security Because We Chase Down Every Lead
Control and convenience
It is convenient for Apple/Microsoft/Android-device-makers to be able to automatically update software remotely, but the price is that those companies get to their fingers on your device at any/all times.
If you want security independent of some company like these, the ecosystem must be restructured. It's not a matter of Apple (or whoever) giving you better security; it's a matter of taking security out of Apple's hands.
On the post: FBI Director: We're Only Forcing Apple To Undermine Security Because We Chase Down Every Lead
Strongest link is encryption
*Anything* else is a weaker link in the chain of security. So relying on features in an OS to protect you is weaker. Unless you and you alone have the key, you can't assume it is secure.
For Apple to be able to remotely install and update the OS means that any security features they implement can be circumvented, unless you can prevent that process using some form of encryption with your own key. Any other form of security will be weaker.
So, the strength of your Apply security is directly tied to the strength of Apple's backbone and the laws they/we confront.
On the post: FBI Director: We're Only Forcing Apple To Undermine Security Because We Chase Down Every Lead
Conversation
But it's a trap for the other side. As soon as they say anything that doesn't have the same facade of conciliation, then you can criticize them for being "extreme".
Further, you can always rehash old ground or backtrack in your argument by saying you just want to "continue" the "conversation".
All it really is, is a stalling and deflection tactic, allowing you to wait for another chance. When you hear someone use it, there's something slimy going on.
On the post: Techdirt Crowdsourcing: How Will The TSA Idiotically Respond To The Laptop Terror Bomb?
WiFi
Laptops won't get banned. Airlines make money (or expect to) by providing wifi, so they want people to bring their laptops. If TSA threatens their revenue, the lobbyists will spring into existence.
On the post: The Ridiculous Rush To Try To Patent Pot
Threat from Big Business
On the post: Full Text Of TPP Released: And It's Really, Really Bad
Re:
On the post: Full Text Of TPP Released: And It's Really, Really Bad
Extra-governmental corporations
I do not want to live in the sovereign state of Big Business!
On the post: TPP Also Locks In Broken Anti-Circumvention Rules That Destroy Your Freedoms
Politicians are accountable to industry
That's why so much of the TPP protects legacy players in user-unfriendly ways.
There may be a short-term solution in the form of public outrage and such. If so, count me in. The long-term solution is to find a way to get politicians to be accountable to voters again. I think it is real campaign finance reform. But whatever, if you care about things like the TPP (or any other similar issue), what you should really care about first is fixing campaign finance. You can't get politicians to fix anything in favor of voters until they feel accountable to the voters.
On the post: TPP Also Locks In Broken Anti-Circumvention Rules That Destroy Your Freedoms
My front door
On the post: You Can Now Turn Off Ads On Techdirt
Re: Re: A game of statistics
That's only one layer in the logic of advertising, though. As others have pointed out, it is complex and illogical, and works in ways we may not even understand or be aware of.
On the post: You Can Now Turn Off Ads On Techdirt
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A game of statistics
On the post: You Can Now Turn Off Ads On Techdirt
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A game of statistics
I hate ads as much or more than anyone. I don't have cable because of ads; I don't watch broadcast TV because of ads; I block web ads entirely online; I don't use apple products because they don't let me block ads my way [via the hosts file]; I have subscriptions to Netflix and SiriusXM (and avoid the Sirius/XM channels with ads); etc. Seriously, I hate ads.
That being said, I think we as consumers need to admit to our part in how things got this way. We are fickle. We choose products not based on "truth" but based on emotion, style, popularity, etc. You might believe there is "truth", but really there isn't.
Seriously, Coke is not objectively better than Pepsi. You have your preference, I have mine. Coke cannot create an ad saying, "we fulfill all the criteria of being a cola better than Pepsi". Proper competition results in products that are functionally identical. Once you have that, all you have left to differentiate yourself, to sell yourself, is intangibles where you have to "create" the value out of nothing. So even in an ideal world, all advertising can do is create the sense in you that you want product X over product Y, for no objective reason.
If we want ads that are less annoying then we need consumers that are less swayed by them. Do you buy generics? Why not? Do you buy the staid, solid Consumer Reports-rated car or the stylish one? Do you buy the $15 wine or the $50 wine? Do you objectively rate products on quality (on your own scale) and then buy the best or one with the best quality/value ratio?
People don't buy that way so advertisers don't advertise that way. It's not all the advertisers fault.
This still doesn't mean I have to look at ads, though! And I blame all y'all for this state of affairs. Not my fault, I buy objectively. ( ;) )
On the post: You Can Now Turn Off Ads On Techdirt
A game of statistics
First, advertising currently works. Ad-supported websites survive. These statements are demonstrably true simply because ads and ad-supported websites exist. I feel no moral obligation to enable ads because this is true even though I block ads. So, my opting out of this obnoxious system hasn't broken anything, and thus the argument that I have some moral obligation to opt in fails. If advertisers and websites want me to put up with ads, they need to create ads I will put up with. They have not. Until they do, they don't get my eyes.
The equation for advertising is not an all or none equation. It's a statistical one. There will always be an "ad-viewing" and an "ad-blocking" group of users. Advertisers try to maximize revenue from the ad-viewing group. They have many ways to do this. If things they try chase ad-viewers into the ad-blockers group, but still raise revenue, then that's a rational thing to do. But it's not fair to blame the ad-blockers for "breaking" the ad-supported revenue models. The ad-supported sites play an counterbalancing role. If they think their ad-blocker group is too large, they can try to increase their revenue by seeking out ad networks that chase away fewer users.
If you want to lay the blame at the feet of anyone, it is not the individual user who feels their internet experience is degraded when they are forced to view ads they don't like. They have no control over the situation. Blame the advertisers and ad-supported sites. They are the ones making the choices that create the ad-blocking and ad-viewing groups. They need to start optimizing their approaches to increase the ad-viewing group. Whining and begging users to voluntarily join the ad-viewing group against their own self-interest is the weakest tactic the advertusers can use.
Kudos for Techdirt for respecting the ad-blocking group enough to make it easy for them to block ads. That's respect for your community.
On the post: FTC Finally Goes After Roca Labs For Its Sketchy 'Weight Loss' Scheme & Misleading Promotions
Re:
On the post: Texas Police Arrest Kid For Building A Clock
Internet to the rescue
The kids could make little robots that could picket at the front of the school with little signs, "Clocks unite -- at 2:37."
On the post: One More Time With Feeling: No, The Internet Is Not Making Us Dumber
Re: Re: Facts vs. problem solving
At the same time, there are things I never plan to learn/memorize well, because I don't use them often enough, and plain searching (in the sense I think you meant it) is more than efficient enough.
On the post: One More Time With Feeling: No, The Internet Is Not Making Us Dumber
Re: Libraries
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