The NSA meta-data program will be nearly as useless as the supposed "Golden Key" in combating terrorism. 1. The "bad" people can change phones and/or number on a periodic basis. 2. The "bad" people can use fake names. Old phones linked to a name can be tossed. A new phone with a new number and new name can be bought. 3. Before, during, or after an incident the entire set of cell phones used for that incident can be replaced during each phase. (that would imply using 3 cell phones per person)
Off course the NSA data-collection effort could work if the "bad" people are stupid; such as keeping the same phone for several years.
Good example. If I recall correctly Sony even went so far as to claim that the software could not be modified by the user.
Also there have been several music servers, where the companies pulled the plug. I don't know, however, if the users of those music servers lost their investment of if they were given other opportunities to save what they paid for.
Fox News has been brazingly pushing for the reinstitution of data collection effort in the name of making it easier for law enforcement and for security. Unfortunately, they are not interviewing those who believe that the data collection efforts would be futile and un-Constitutional.
1. The terrorists could cycle to new phone numbers on a periodic basis and/or after a major event. Essentially that would make the collection of phone numbers almost useless.
2. The stupid "back door" solution to "break" encryption keeps surfacing and surfacing. Well, the terrorists can develop their own encryption making a "back door" useless. Also these "back door" pundits don't seem to realize that a lot of our activities, such as financial transactions, requires strong encryption.
It bothers me, that companies demand honesty out of you but they themselves are not willing to be honest in return. As one example, a few years ago I bought a game, it had the usual EULA. I read it and declined. Guess what, there were no instructions on how to return the game for a refund. I contacted the company and they refused to provide a refund.
PS: My credit card company did give me a credit. Good for them at least.
Financial institutions require unbreakable encryption. Funny thing, the positives of encryption never seem to be mentioned by those advocating for a "backdoor".
This morning, Fox News trotted out a police chief who blamed encryption for frustrating the ability of law enforcement to monitor potential terrorists. Missing from the discussion is that the ability to "break" encryption means that there is no security, even for legitimate uses.
The Federal government as well as all State and local governments can save taxpayer dollars by using open source software, such as Linux and LibreOffice.
Most of the office work done by staff is based on word-processing and spreadsheets. LibreOffice is just as good as MS Office, and is a lot cheaper - as in free.
When posting on forums or creating documents (especially academic and scientific papers), hyper-links serve a critical purposes. They document the source of your information.
Robocalls are not "... good faith communications from businesses to their customers. ...". Virtually every call "hides" who the true caller is. That dishonesty in itself demonstrates that they are not calling in "good faith".
Furthermore, an overlooked issue, I am not paying the phone company to receive these calls. The phone companies and the FCC should be more proactive in stopping unsolicited phone calls.
The telemarketers who are cold-calling you are committing a tort on you. They are disrupting your life and are imposing a financial obligation (your phone bill) on you.
I have moved on to Linux, so I seldom access Windows games. One of my daughters visited, so we decided to play a game (Civ 4) and it would not load. After much searching we found out that it was do to an M$ update. (Seems that a pop-up could have been provided upon loading the game to let the user know.)
I just received a response from 2K Support. Essentially, they will offer to move you to Steam. An unacceptable solution. They either need to develop a patch in cooperation with M$ or provide a patch that removes the DRM requirement. Civ 4 is a very old game now.
Anyway, this incident continues to confirm that M$ and its associated partners will pull the plug on you without notice. A major reason for switching to Linux.
Now that Obama has been mentioned. The presence of a so-called "Golden Key" opens the door to using it for blatant political gain.
For the progressive left, the purpose of law is to further their political objectives. Not in agreement with their mantra? You are then designated an "enemy of the state". Consequently, using a "Golden Key" is the perfect tool to find out what "enemies of the State" (terrorists) are doing. The NSA may soon be charged with monitoring internet/cell phone conversations to locate all outstanding Confederate flags.
Those who mistakenly believe that a supposed "Golden Key" will solve law enforcement concerns, seem to neglect the obvious counter solution. The "bad" guys can simply implement their own encryption, thereby making any supposed "Golden Key" useless.
When a user declines the TOS, they should be entitled to a refund as the game will be DOA. When a user declines the TOS, the next screen should display the information for getting a refund.
In a moment of weakness, I bought Civ5. During the install, it had the usual TOS that took away all your rights. I declined to accept. No screen popped-up for getting a refund. Of course my complaints were denied.
If those who impose DRM are not going to refund your money if you decline their TOS, why should you have any sympathy for them? The whole purpose of DRM is to prevent piracy, yet it is the game manufacturer who is being the pirate by declining to refund your money if you don't accept their TOS.
The credit card company did give me a courtesy refund. Good for them.
Sony simply made the mistake of taking on someone (North Korea) who had the capability to fight back. One piece of collateral damage was the release of some of Sony's private documents. One might have sympathy for Sony if they had respect for the privacy and property rights of their customers. Sony doesn't. What goes around comes around. It came to Sony.
Regretfully, this impractical solution by the Post is only the tip of the iceberg, that just happened to be tech related.
But the world is bigger than tech. Recently, Biden made (truthful) remarks critical of Turkey. Now Biden has been forced to apologize for his supposed "gaffe". We are living in the world of Orwell's NewSpeak.
The definition of "legal" seems to be a unitary corporate definition not subject to the judicial process. Technically, those asserting that content that is being transmitted is not legal would need to go to a court to get a "restraining" order of some sort. I seriously doubt that is the intent since the legal process is viewed as an impediment by the content industry.
On the post: The NSA Will Apparently Still Be Accessing The Old Phone Metadata It Said It Would No Longer Be Accessing
Another Useless Concept that Refuses to "die".
1. The "bad" people can change phones and/or number on a periodic basis.
2. The "bad" people can use fake names. Old phones linked to a name can be tossed. A new phone with a new number and new name can be bought.
3. Before, during, or after an incident the entire set of cell phones used for that incident can be replaced during each phase. (that would imply using 3 cell phones per person)
Off course the NSA data-collection effort could work if the "bad" people are stupid; such as keeping the same phone for several years.
On the post: Microsoft Lobbying Group Forces 'Pirate' To Get 200,000 Views On Anti-Piracy Video... Whole Thing Backfires
Re: Re: Why be Honest if they are Not?
Also there have been several music servers, where the companies pulled the plug. I don't know, however, if the users of those music servers lost their investment of if they were given other opportunities to save what they paid for.
On the post: The NSA's Bulk Collection Of Phone Records Ended Saturday. Long Live The Bulk Collection Of Phone Records!
1. The terrorists could cycle to new phone numbers on a periodic basis and/or after a major event. Essentially that would make the collection of phone numbers almost useless.
2. The stupid "back door" solution to "break" encryption keeps surfacing and surfacing. Well, the terrorists can develop their own encryption making a "back door" useless. Also these "back door" pundits don't seem to realize that a lot of our activities, such as financial transactions, requires strong encryption.
On the post: Microsoft Lobbying Group Forces 'Pirate' To Get 200,000 Views On Anti-Piracy Video... Whole Thing Backfires
Why be Honest if they are Not?
PS: My credit card company did give me a credit. Good for them at least.
On the post: Senator McCain Promises To Introduce Legislation To Backdoor Encryption, Make Everyone Less Safe
Fiancial Institutions
On the post: Senator McCain Promises To Introduce Legislation To Backdoor Encryption, Make Everyone Less Safe
Why Won't The Backdoor Concept Die?
On the post: As Predicted: Encryption Haters Are Already Blaming Snowden (?!?) For The Paris Attacks
srynas
On the post: US Government Successfully Issues Contract For Open Source Code... For $1
Most of the office work done by staff is based on word-processing and spreadsheets. LibreOffice is just as good as MS Office, and is a lot cheaper - as in free.
On the post: Pirate Party MEP Julia Reda: EU Preparing 'Frontal Attack On The Hyperlink'
On the post: The FCC Has Started Publicly Shaming Robocallers Weekly
Furthermore, an overlooked issue, I am not paying the phone company to receive these calls. The phone companies and the FCC should be more proactive in stopping unsolicited phone calls.
The telemarketers who are cold-calling you are committing a tort on you. They are disrupting your life and are imposing a financial obligation (your phone bill) on you.
On the post: DRM Still Breaking Games Nearly A Decade After Purchase
Just Got Screwed
I just received a response from 2K Support. Essentially, they will offer to move you to Steam. An unacceptable solution. They either need to develop a patch in cooperation with M$ or provide a patch that removes the DRM requirement. Civ 4 is a very old game now.
Anyway, this incident continues to confirm that M$ and its associated partners will pull the plug on you without notice. A major reason for switching to Linux.
On the post: Washington Post Observes Encryption War 2.0 For Several Months, Learns Absolutely Nothing
Re: I want an Oompa Loompa NOW Daddy!
For the progressive left, the purpose of law is to further their political objectives. Not in agreement with their mantra? You are then designated an "enemy of the state". Consequently, using a "Golden Key" is the perfect tool to find out what "enemies of the State" (terrorists) are doing. The NSA may soon be charged with monitoring internet/cell phone conversations to locate all outstanding Confederate flags.
On the post: Washington Post Observes Encryption War 2.0 For Several Months, Learns Absolutely Nothing
The "Bad" Guys Can Develop Their Own Encryption
On the post: Game Developers Wary Of Steam Refund Policy Because Customers Are Using It
Re: Game Developers Wary Of Steam Refund Policy
On the post: Game Developers Wary Of Steam Refund Policy Because Customers Are Using It
When DRM is Used Refunds Must be Allowed
If those who impose DRM are not going to refund your money if you decline their TOS, why should you have any sympathy for them? The whole purpose of DRM is to prevent piracy, yet it is the game manufacturer who is being the pirate by declining to refund your money if you don't accept their TOS.
The credit card company did give me a courtesy refund. Good for them.
On the post: Sony Demands Twitter User Remove Posts Containing Images Of Leaked Documents
Sony itself a cyber bully
On the post: Washington Post's Clueless Editorial On Phone Encryption: No Backdoors, But How About A Magical 'Golden Key'?
Tip of the Iceberg
But the world is bigger than tech. Recently, Biden made (truthful) remarks critical of Turkey. Now Biden has been forced to apologize for his supposed "gaffe". We are living in the world of Orwell's NewSpeak.
On the post: NY Times And Washington Post Describe Yesterday's Net Neutrality Vote In Diametrically Opposite Ways
Re: Let's Clarify
The definition of "legal" seems to be a unitary corporate definition not subject to the judicial process. Technically, those asserting that content that is being transmitted is not legal would need to go to a court to get a "restraining" order of some sort. I seriously doubt that is the intent since the legal process is viewed as an impediment by the content industry.
On the post: President Obama Says He Had No Idea His Own NSA Was Spying On Angela Merkel
Re: Re:
On the post: Contractors Who Built Healthcare.gov Website Blame Each Other For All The Problems
Its the "free" money, not the product
This may be similar to Solyndra where a company gets a so-called "loan" not to actually produce anything useful, but to get "free" taxpayer $$$$.
Since the website developers may have been paid for "work" already done, will bankruptcy be the next step?
Next >>