Posts by Charles 9

Re: In 20 years, US bots will fight wars against whom?

And MAD normally works because both sides are rational enough to know it's not in their best interests. The problem becomes if a MAD-CAPABLE belligerent is IRrational.

Well, there's still Traveling Salesman (Best Route to exactly N points and back), which is probably gonna take more than an AI to crack (if it CAN be cracked).

Re: In 20 years, US bots will fight wars against whom?

I think the problem is that this comes too close to a question for which there is likely only one answer, and it's an answer we'd rather avoid:

What do you do against an opponent for whom MAD is an acceptable scenario?

IOW, what do you do against someone who would sooner destroy the world than surrender? The uncomfortable answer everyone is trying to avoid is, "Nothing." Meaning if someone's willing to destroy the world, then we're basically screwed.

Re: Can I ask

You can win a war by exhausting the opponent's materiel capabilities. Machines may be easier to replace than people, but raw materials still have to come from somewhere.

Re: Top. Lel.

The idea I think was to identify the system by Latin names (Sol, Terra, Luna) for formality's sake, given we identify external bodies more formally as well and also because the thought was that in future we would genericize the term "sun" as the star in which a life-bearing planet orbits and "earth" as ground matter rather than a planet. I think if we ever did leave the system and colonize other worlds, then we'd be more likely to reterm our sun Sol for the sake of identification.

Re: Do we care anymore?

The term "Tivoization" springs to mind. The kernel can be GPL and its source code distributed, but anything on top of that kernel is fair game; thus, someone provided an example of how Tivoization is impossible to prevent, not even if the kernel were converted to GPL3 (they can black-box the proprietary bits in a VM and still not violate GPL3).

Re: "V-Moda Forza Metallo"

"And what stupid names... why use Italian words randomly just because of the "sound"?"

Actually, economist Thorstein Veblen (who first described the concept which now bears his name) was an American. And Sir Robert Giffen, namesake of the Giffen good, was Scottish.

Re: It's simply the Google's hate for "personal" devices.

That's the thing. They got beat by Samsung as a single brand (I'm talking social effects, not economic) and their ecosystem is eclipsed by Android. Furthermore, the Third World is now in play, and bling doesn't attract them.

Re: you can't make a Veblen good out of a dumb computer terminal

By "green screen" he means something like a Network Computer: basically, all the grunt work isn't done on the device but on a remote server (aka "the Cloud"). A ChromeOS device doesn't do a lot of local work; thus why it relies on an Internet connection.

IOW, you don't expect a device that depends on an Internet connection for even basic operation to be a status symbol.

Re: Giffen good?

As I read it, the two work slightly differently.

In a Veblen good, the perceived value of a good (its "status symbol" value) rises WITH the price, precisely BECAUSE it's expensive. Something like a Rolls Royce or a very old bottle of single-malt Macallan.

In a Giffen good, the price itself (and alone) determines its desirability. When it goes up, so does the demand. This goes to the other end of the price scale, where low prices get instantly perceived as "cheap" or even "substandard". Best way to see this is in common consumables like fresh produce (where a cheap product would be seen as marked down because they're trying to move it before it goes bad). Or, another way, it's something that people will ONLY buy because they can't afford anything else; IOW, people don't substitute the Giffen good because the GIffen good IS the substitute for something they'd rather have but can't afford anymore.

Re: It's simply the Google's hate for "personal" devices.

I was just thinking about that. I used to call it the Midas Touch, but now I've read about Veblen goods. In its heyday, iPhones were Veblen goods, which is why they sold like crazy in spite of their high price: perhaps because they sold because of their high price and their status symbol effect. These days, the effect is a bit blunted after Apple had a few missteps and the tarnish started to set in.

Re: phoning home

It went via USB sticks which were a necessary evil in the Stuxnet case since the machines needed programming code to run, which Stuxnet covertly altered in the compiling phase.

So how would you approach it if you can't be sure the firmware will stay the same due to custom flashes or security updates?

Re: A Matter of Trust

Most people won't accept a third option: adopting a strict for/against mindset, assuming vacillation equals dissent.

Re: It looks very nice

"They're obliged to provide source code for all the GPL stuff but not for anything they've added."

Plus ODM drivers are always blobbed because the market there is cutthroat and no one wants to Give Information to the Enemy. And because all 4G-and-up tech and most 3G tech is still under active patent, opening modem chips up (the most important part of the cell phone) ain't gonna happen for any length of time that would be practical.

Re: Security?

When it comes to cell phones, it can't be helped. It's expected to receive communications: a basic part of its function. Without a unique identifier like an IMEI, there's literally no way for cell phone providers to tell phones apart and address them individually: and before you start with broadcasting, bandwidth is precious over the air due to the Shannon-Hartley Theorem. It's basically a part-and-parcel problem: you either have both or neither.

Re: Calls and Email

"Not me. I never allow my personal devices to interact with my employer's systems, or vice versa, for security reasons."

Not even as just a dumb tether, with VPN thrown in for good measure? How do you use your work device abroad otherwise?

Re: Why android?

OK, so if blob access is an issue (and with ODM, they're always blobs), then it's probably a matter of accessibility. As Android is the go-to OS for mobile component manufacturers not in the Apple bandwagon, that would limit options.

Re: Calls and Email

"Doing all that dramatically improves emails and security."

AND makes it practically useless. And before you say to tell your correspondents to just sent plain text, try doing that to someone over your head. And before you say to find another job, one may not be forthcoming, and those that are will likely have the same problems: jumping from one sinking ship to another, IOW.

Re: Why android?

And what about some of the older ones already out there? Is there something wrong with Sailfish? Meego? System 60? App assortment isn't a priority, so there goes Android's chief advantage, and the older OS's were built with weaker CPUs and batteries in mind, meaning they'll sip the power better by necessity.

Re: Barnarians 1 Freeman 0

"The US has established a national ID card in the form of a uniform drivers license and in the process trod solidly on common law practices dating to Blackstone."

Well, answer me this. Without SOME form of uniform identification, how can you tell citizens from noncitizens (which is important in many respects)?

"In fact to really upset the entry people say oh well now I am here and the machine is open and you have seen it I will now change it!"

Wouldn't matter. The thought is that, now that it's open, they'll inject something into the device so that they can regain access to it at any time, even IF you change the code. Who knows? It may even be firmware-based and thus nuke-proof.

Re: Australia has more draconian laws

Reputation, yes, but someone REALLY hungry wouldn't give a rat's rear end about reputation. OK, at least kangaroos are too dangerous to approach and koalas are iffy due to their diet. But if that starving sees a sheep, regardless of origin, they see mutton which means dinner. Try and stop them.

"It is long past time we abandoned passwords and 4-digit PINs for anything of any real importance, and time to recognize and build protections into our sourcing systems against spyware hard and soft."

Ever heard of the phrase "the cure is worse than the disease"? At least the "big" loss isn't a guarantee, but killing ourselves trying to guard ourselves from a risk may well be a certain death. In which case, it's better to just roll the dice. After all, we've been fapping around with passwords for decades...because there just isn't any better alternative that employs nothing but the human brain, especially for faulty brains. AFAIK, it's a physical impossibility: what man can create, man can re-create. It's a problem that's been known since before World War II (based on the writings of E. E. "Doc" Smith, who had to resort to science fiction to find a foolproof solution).

Which, as the article noted, an Evil Insider may well have the necessary trust. It's very hard to beat an Evil Insider because they build up their trust prior to attacking.

Unless there are too many instances of customers complaining about setting their passwords and then forgetting them. Last thing any company wants is a bunch of "This trash is broken! I want a refund!" complaints.

Re: "and they vendor no longer supports this model."

Microchips are too small for that. At least you can use a wrench in a car. Plus component manufacturers are in cutthroat competition with each other, so the bottom line is critical for them.

Re: Common but terrible practice

Ever thought that's exactly why they're lumped together: to force you into a Morton's Fork? Either cripple your device or get pwned, and don't think about jumping ship, as they do the same thing.

Re: "install any updates before the noise stops"

Like I said, how do you stop people expecting Plug-and-Play from complaining, "This trash is broken! I want a refund!"?

Most of them don't blare. They just start giving short chirps every so often: intended to just be annoying and eventually get your attention. Given your average 9-volt gives the thing 5-10 years of normal use, it's infrequent enough that it hasn't given manufacturers many black marks in the past.

Well, how does your IoT toothbrush interact with anything, then, if there's no way to input it?

Re: What a stupid bill

"Great idea. That's why the bill makes exactly that provision."

But it can result in unintended consequences for people too expectant of plug-and-play. They'll start complaining "This trash is broken! I want a refund!"

Re: Not in anyone's interest

But INsecurity = convenience. It's QUICK, it's EASY, it lets people get on with their G.D. day! That's gonna be hard to beat.

Re: Broken updates

"And at this point, I'm done dealing with things breaking - if I can't rely on it to work untouched 5-10 years, I don't want it."

So what if the ONLY things available ONLY last that long? Do you throw your arms and say, "Stop the Internet! I wanna get off!"?

Re: No need for a unique password

And what of those who won't learn even BY experience?

Re: But will they give out the "unique" password?

And if there AREN'T any?

Re: The problem...

It may be a free OS, but it's not a consumer OS used by people who who wouldn't know a password from a potato, expect things to work out of the box, and simply complain, "This trash is broken! I want a refund!"

Re: Many people have basically lost the use of telephones

Even if they took over Congress, they don't have enough votes to override a veto; if they did, they could just pass a Joint Resolution and begin the process to outright Amend the Constitution.