Actually have a pretty good idea. Handed out by a DHCP server that keeps a log of the MAC address and a time/date record of when it was handed out and how long the lease has left. Baring the end user spoofing the MAC, it does tie it to a specific device. If it is a PTD, likely could be cross referenced to a SIM card and thus to a specific user. Given that all modern PTD include a GPS module, with a time/date stamp, you now can get a location down to the accuracy of the GPS unit, likely a few feet. Close enough to determine what state someone is in.
A desktop probably won't have a GPS module but that hasn't kept Google from having my location to within a block or so in a urban location and a few miles in a rural setting. Not enough to prove specific end user for MPAA purposes but maybe enough to determine venue for a lawsuit.
IMO - Nunes is a idiot for even trying this. If you go into politics, best plan on growing a thick skin.
I would be surprised if Twitter doesn't know who the account holders are and where they were when each tweet happened down to the accuracy of the GPS in the Personalized Tracking Devices used to make the tweets. Even if they came from a desktop, IP address + time stamp would likely give a close location. Again, something a company profiting from targeted advertising would know. A VPN might allow for anonymous tweeting but many of those have proven less then truly anonymous.
As far as venue, all the judge needs is a binary Yes the tweets in question came from Virginia, No they didn't. Based on that answer either dismiss for lack of venue or allow to proceed to discovery where the Constitutional questions could be argued.
If Officer Casamassima was of retirement age, very likely he had enough hearing loss that he wasn't hearing a lot of what she was saying. If she had an accent and the normal higher pitch that most women do, even if her English was perfect, he might well only hear enough to register it as some incomprehensible gibberish. Still not an excuse to yell at her. And one would think that after that many years on the job, he would have attended a few seminars on "How to deal with folks you can't understand." Maybe there should be a further investigation into the overall training the Troopers receive.
The system isn't broken. The rules were well known to all concerned and have been in place since 1787. Hillary chose to campaign in California which by all accounts, she had wrapped up even with no campaigning. Her husband, Bill, the guy who had won 4 executive level campaigns, begged her in early October to campaign in many of those states where she lost by a few thousand votes. She ignored him and instead listened to her overpaid advisors. The rest is history.
The real answer is to make sure the 911 system(or local equivalent) can automagically obtain the GPS location from the calling device. No app needed. Call 911, the GPS location pops up on the screen.
Oddly, this was the reason given for mandating that all phones had to have GPS capability. Then the mandating authorities failed to update the 911 systems to take advantage of the GPS data.
Worse. You have to worry that you might accidentally turn the oven on while checking menu options in the Hawaiian hotel where you are enjoying a week long vacation.
One might think that if the thing was so smart, it might include a 'notify owner I am turning on' option.
I find it hilarious that folks are worried about the NSA and saying nothing about the phone company's data collections. From TFA, the NSA isn't collecting data anymore,(at least that is being admitted), they are/were asking for subsets of the data the phone companies have on every phone user. We already know the phone companies are using said data themselves and selling it to anyone willing to pay the asking price. Time to quit worrying about government agency data collection and start worrying about private corporation data collection.
Its all about the budget. You don't get law enforcement increases if you say overall crime is going down, violent crime is going down, shooting crime is going down, etc. The moment a govt agency says 'Mission Accomplished', their budget gets cut. The moment Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, NASA's budget got slashed. When the Cold War was declared won, the defense budget was slashed. Other agencies noticed and learned. Now a mission is never accomplished. The moment the old goals are being achieved, new more expensive goals are set, requiring more money and more people.
Wonder how much Pornhub's rumored bid was? Of course, they may have figured that by now, damage done and too much time passed to recover even if they bought Tumblr and allowed porn back.
Wonder how long before lawsuits begin claiming under-reporting of viewers when a show is licensed from outside the streaming network(to lower license fees) and over-reporting for for in network shows(for higher ad fees)?
When each network is running its own proprietary and secret viewership monitoring service, verifying real numbers is likely to become very interesting.
Running a network without a proper firewall and rule set is pretty much like leaving your front and back doors open when you go to bed. Sad that most consumer grade edge devices still allow all outbound traffic by default which violates basic network security 101. The harsh reality is most government officials are clueless, ISPs know better but don't want the responsibility of helping millions of IT clueless customers setup proper security and the companies selling this stuff are taking full advantage.
IMO - a large part of the problem is the intolerant behavior and lack of statesmanship by US leaders(in both parties). When your leaders set such a poor example, hard to blame some young minds for feeling helpless and frustrated.
Love the fine print where it says rates are only good for auto pay with direct access to bank account(no credit cards allowed) and with paperless billing. They want to suck the money directly out of your bank while making it as difficult as possible to get a breakout of your bill.
As far as Congress critters in the lobbyists pockets, just list all 535 of them. Its the only way to be sure.
If AT&T implements this contract with the same zeal they have applied to rural broadband upgrades, the DOJ will soon be announcing their new 80 column punch card sorting machines.
Re: Re: Re: Because apparently it needs to be said yet again...
Just imagine the fun if biometric result files had been included as part of Equifax credit records or Capital One credit card applications.
Still like the idea of having a phone app that intercepts the fingerprint scan and upon match, encrypts the phone, then does a factory reset. "Your Honor, they had a court order, I HAD to touch the scanner."
Sadly, most of the usual "Freedom Loving" suspects are further down the path of on-line censorship then the US.
This does highlight some of the fears folks had about Microsoft's acquisition of Github. As a multifaceted company is it a lot easier for the Government to coerce Microsoft. "We see you are fighting the Github request. Sorry but you are blacklisted from all further participation in US Government cloud contracts until that changes."
If Github had stayed independent, they might have been able to argue Code = Protected Speech instead of Trade Goods without the threat of other business divisions being impacted.
IMO - Obstruction is one of those made up crimes law enforcement loves to bring when they can't find evidence of an actual crime, in this case Collusion. If Collusion isn't a crime, then what exactly was the point of the investigation? Could it be that Trump is right and it WAS a witch hunt? Remember, it was Trump's DOJ that appointed the special prosecutor. Trump turned over most every document asked for. Don't remember him invoking Executive Privilege. Not exactly a shining case for obstructing an investigation.
Zero charges or convictions for Russian Collusion which was the alleged original point of the investigation.
List so far includes: Lying to Federal Officials, Tax Evasion, Bank Fraud, Conspiracy to Defraud, and Violations of Campaign Finance Rules.
Guessing if we did a equally in depth investigation of all 535 Congress critters and their staffers, we would wind up with hundreds of similar charges.
I have watched decades of the multiple cell and ISP companies do crap coverage build out, failed ISP deployments despite billions in subsidies to do so, bill cramming, etc. Makes me long for the old AT&T Bell System. For all its faults, it did roll out near universal coverage, even in distant rural locations. The bills usually made sense. You had one number to call for service and hold times were usually fairly short and the person on the other end usually spoke understandable English.
Maybe the solution is to force them to merge into one large heavily regulated mega-corp. I don't really see how having four or now three duplicate systems covering the same territory and not covering the same territory is ever going to lead to lower prices. Especially when they have to rebuild it every few years for the next great G+1 roll out.
Not sure there is a good solution here, just variations on bad.
On the post: Judge Wants To Know Who's Behind Devin Nunes' Cow's And Mom's Twitter Account
Re: Re:
Actually have a pretty good idea. Handed out by a DHCP server that keeps a log of the MAC address and a time/date record of when it was handed out and how long the lease has left. Baring the end user spoofing the MAC, it does tie it to a specific device. If it is a PTD, likely could be cross referenced to a SIM card and thus to a specific user. Given that all modern PTD include a GPS module, with a time/date stamp, you now can get a location down to the accuracy of the GPS unit, likely a few feet. Close enough to determine what state someone is in.
A desktop probably won't have a GPS module but that hasn't kept Google from having my location to within a block or so in a urban location and a few miles in a rural setting. Not enough to prove specific end user for MPAA purposes but maybe enough to determine venue for a lawsuit.
IMO - Nunes is a idiot for even trying this. If you go into politics, best plan on growing a thick skin.
On the post: Judge Wants To Know Who's Behind Devin Nunes' Cow's And Mom's Twitter Account
I would be surprised if Twitter doesn't know who the account holders are and where they were when each tweet happened down to the accuracy of the GPS in the Personalized Tracking Devices used to make the tweets. Even if they came from a desktop, IP address + time stamp would likely give a close location. Again, something a company profiting from targeted advertising would know. A VPN might allow for anonymous tweeting but many of those have proven less then truly anonymous.
As far as venue, all the judge needs is a binary Yes the tweets in question came from Virginia, No they didn't. Based on that answer either dismiss for lack of venue or allow to proceed to discovery where the Constitutional questions could be argued.
On the post: Woman Complains About Trooper's Behavior, Ends Up Getting A Whole Bunch Of Cops Fired For Timecard Fraud
If Officer Casamassima was of retirement age, very likely he had enough hearing loss that he wasn't hearing a lot of what she was saying. If she had an accent and the normal higher pitch that most women do, even if her English was perfect, he might well only hear enough to register it as some incomprehensible gibberish. Still not an excuse to yell at her. And one would think that after that many years on the job, he would have attended a few seminars on "How to deal with folks you can't understand." Maybe there should be a further investigation into the overall training the Troopers receive.
On the post: Federal Elections Committee Chair Is Sick Of Donald Trump's Bullshit: Put Up Or Shut Up About Voter Fraud
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
The system isn't broken. The rules were well known to all concerned and have been in place since 1787. Hillary chose to campaign in California which by all accounts, she had wrapped up even with no campaigning. Her husband, Bill, the guy who had won 4 executive level campaigns, begged her in early October to campaign in many of those states where she lost by a few thousand votes. She ignored him and instead listened to her overpaid advisors. The rest is history.
On the post: Federal Elections Committee Chair Is Sick Of Donald Trump's Bullshit: Put Up Or Shut Up About Voter Fraud
Re: Re: Re:
But he did win the election. The question no one has been able to answer is: Did he win because of or in spite of the meddling of those Russian kids?
On the post: What3words Is A Clever Way Of Communicating Position Very Simply, But Do We Really Want To Create A Monopoly For Location Look-ups?
The real answer is to make sure the 911 system(or local equivalent) can automagically obtain the GPS location from the calling device. No app needed. Call 911, the GPS location pops up on the screen.
Oddly, this was the reason given for mandating that all phones had to have GPS capability. Then the mandating authorities failed to update the 911 systems to take advantage of the GPS data.
On the post: Rogue 'Smart' Ovens Again Highlight How Dumb Tech Is Often The Smarter Choice
Re:
Worse. You have to worry that you might accidentally turn the oven on while checking menu options in the Hawaiian hotel where you are enjoying a week long vacation.
One might think that if the thing was so smart, it might include a 'notify owner I am turning on' option.
On the post: As The NSA Declares Phone Record Program Dead, Trump Administration Asks For A Permanent Reauthorization
I find it hilarious that folks are worried about the NSA and saying nothing about the phone company's data collections. From TFA, the NSA isn't collecting data anymore,(at least that is being admitted), they are/were asking for subsets of the data the phone companies have on every phone user. We already know the phone companies are using said data themselves and selling it to anyone willing to pay the asking price. Time to quit worrying about government agency data collection and start worrying about private corporation data collection.
On the post: Attorney General William Barr Declares War On The General Public
Its all about the budget. You don't get law enforcement increases if you say overall crime is going down, violent crime is going down, shooting crime is going down, etc. The moment a govt agency says 'Mission Accomplished', their budget gets cut. The moment Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, NASA's budget got slashed. When the Cold War was declared won, the defense budget was slashed. Other agencies noticed and learned. Now a mission is never accomplished. The moment the old goals are being achieved, new more expensive goals are set, requiring more money and more people.
On the post: With Tumblr Sale, Verizon Continues To Stumble In Bungled Pivot Away From Telecom
Wonder how much Pornhub's rumored bid was? Of course, they may have figured that by now, damage done and too much time passed to recover even if they bought Tumblr and allowed porn back.
On the post: After Missing Cord Cutting Trend, Nielsen Falls Apart
Wonder how long before lawsuits begin claiming under-reporting of viewers when a show is licensed from outside the streaming network(to lower license fees) and over-reporting for for in network shows(for higher ad fees)?
When each network is running its own proprietary and secret viewership monitoring service, verifying real numbers is likely to become very interesting.
On the post: Microsoft Nabs Russian Hackers Exploiting Flimsy IOT Security
Running a network without a proper firewall and rule set is pretty much like leaving your front and back doors open when you go to bed. Sad that most consumer grade edge devices still allow all outbound traffic by default which violates basic network security 101. The harsh reality is most government officials are clueless, ISPs know better but don't want the responsibility of helping millions of IT clueless customers setup proper security and the companies selling this stuff are taking full advantage.
On the post: Why Is Our First Reaction To Mass Shootings To Talk About Censorship?
IMO - a large part of the problem is the intolerant behavior and lack of statesmanship by US leaders(in both parties). When your leaders set such a poor example, hard to blame some young minds for feeling helpless and frustrated.
On the post: Verizon's New 'Unlimited' Data Plans Still Have Very Real, Problematic Limits
Love the fine print where it says rates are only good for auto pay with direct access to bank account(no credit cards allowed) and with paperless billing. They want to suck the money directly out of your bank while making it as difficult as possible to get a breakout of your bill.
As far as Congress critters in the lobbyists pockets, just list all 535 of them. Its the only way to be sure.
On the post: AT&T Scores $1 Billion Contract To Rebuild DOJ Systems
If AT&T implements this contract with the same zeal they have applied to rural broadband upgrades, the DOJ will soon be announcing their new 80 column punch card sorting machines.
On the post: District Court Rolls Back Magistrate's Decision, Says Compelled Fingerprint Product Isn't A Fifth Amendment Issue
Re: Re: Re: Because apparently it needs to be said yet again...
Just imagine the fun if biometric result files had been included as part of Equifax credit records or Capital One credit card applications.
Still like the idea of having a phone app that intercepts the fingerprint scan and upon match, encrypts the phone, then does a factory reset. "Your Honor, they had a court order, I HAD to touch the scanner."
On the post: What Happens When The US Government Tries To Take On The Open Source Community?
Re:
Sadly, most of the usual "Freedom Loving" suspects are further down the path of on-line censorship then the US.
This does highlight some of the fears folks had about Microsoft's acquisition of Github. As a multifaceted company is it a lot easier for the Government to coerce Microsoft. "We see you are fighting the Github request. Sorry but you are blacklisted from all further participation in US Government cloud contracts until that changes."
If Github had stayed independent, they might have been able to argue Code = Protected Speech instead of Trade Goods without the threat of other business divisions being impacted.
On the post: Court Dismisses Democrats' Nutty Lawsuit Against Russia, Wikileaks And Trump Associates
Re:
IMO - Obstruction is one of those made up crimes law enforcement loves to bring when they can't find evidence of an actual crime, in this case Collusion. If Collusion isn't a crime, then what exactly was the point of the investigation? Could it be that Trump is right and it WAS a witch hunt? Remember, it was Trump's DOJ that appointed the special prosecutor. Trump turned over most every document asked for. Don't remember him invoking Executive Privilege. Not exactly a shining case for obstructing an investigation.
On the post: Court Dismisses Democrats' Nutty Lawsuit Against Russia, Wikileaks And Trump Associates
Re: Re: It was good theater at least
Zero charges or convictions for Russian Collusion which was the alleged original point of the investigation.
List so far includes: Lying to Federal Officials, Tax Evasion, Bank Fraud, Conspiracy to Defraud, and Violations of Campaign Finance Rules.
Guessing if we did a equally in depth investigation of all 535 Congress critters and their staffers, we would wind up with hundreds of similar charges.
On the post: The DOJ's Plan To 'Fix' The T-Mobile Merger Isn't Going To Work
I have watched decades of the multiple cell and ISP companies do crap coverage build out, failed ISP deployments despite billions in subsidies to do so, bill cramming, etc. Makes me long for the old AT&T Bell System. For all its faults, it did roll out near universal coverage, even in distant rural locations. The bills usually made sense. You had one number to call for service and hold times were usually fairly short and the person on the other end usually spoke understandable English.
Maybe the solution is to force them to merge into one large heavily regulated mega-corp. I don't really see how having four or now three duplicate systems covering the same territory and not covering the same territory is ever going to lead to lower prices. Especially when they have to rebuild it every few years for the next great G+1 roll out.
Not sure there is a good solution here, just variations on bad.
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