Posts by big_D

Re: This is a non-story

Yes and no, sending the information to Google is also not allowed, under GDPR, in Europe without an explicit opt-in from the user. If this is a default setting and it wasn't explicitly stated, when activating, what the data will be sent to Google, it would contravene GDPR.

If Apple acted as an intermediary, that would solve the problem as they are not passing on PII to a third party without explicit permission.

Re: "the actual URL of a website you visit is never shared with a safe browsing provider"

Who is to say that the source database doesn't also have the original, unhashed URL, in full? And all sites, whether malicious or not are stored and it only returns information on malicious sites?

Yes and no. As long as the DNS server doesn't log your IP address, that is fine.

If the IP address is stored, for example in a log file or a database, that would contravene GDPR.

There might be a get-out for ISPs, if it is in the T&Cs that customers sign when they get broadband, but it wouldn't cover 3rd party DNS servers, such as Google, Cloudflare etc.

Re: It is...?

IP address, for a start. That is classified as user identifiable data under GDPR.

Even website log files have to anonymise the IP address, in theory.

It is the same with any "IoT" white good. The white goods should last a couple of decades, but you'll be lucky if the IoT side of the device is still getting security updates after 2 years...

I refuse to buy anything with IoT built in. If I'm going to "IoT" it, I'll buy a good quality, non-intelligent device and couple it with a dedicated IoT device that can be swapped out, cheaply, when its time has come.

E.g. a good TV and then something like a FireTV or a Raspi for media playback.

I don't need an intelligent fridge, dishwasher or washing machine. I still have to fill the washing machine with laundry and put in the washing powder. If I do that, I can start it - or set the inbuilt timer to start so that it will be finished when I get back home to hang the stuff out.

Re: Lego is heirloom material

Yes, I lived in a modern building in Bavaria and it had a loft/attic. Our house has one as well.

My nephew built a new house this year and that has a very big loft/attic.

Exactly. As a kid, I had a big box of Lego, it had stuff from the early 60s through to the 70s and early 80s, by the time I grew out of it and it was passed on to my cousin's kids.

The same for my wife, we have a big Ikea tub full of Lego, that her kids played with, in the loft, which is going to go to our grandchildren.

I don't think there is any problem with using plastic on products which will be used for decades. It is using plastic in product packaging and disposable products that is the problem. We use re-usable nets for fruit and vegetable, we take containers to the supermarket for fresh meat and cheese and we use cotton or hemp bags or a wicker basket for carrying the shopping. We also avoid products with excessive packaging, where possible.

Thanks for that. I knew there should be a direct translation, but I couldn't think of it as I was posting.

Re: “I saw his ass yesterday”

That is a big part of the problem. The other problem is how do you differentiate between AAE posted by an African American and a piece of racist text not posted by an African American, when all you have to go on is the text, and possibly a nondescript pseudonym?

The problem is, those words in AAE that are acceptable are derogatory or racial slurs in standard English.

The text being provided to the AI has no way of declaring itself as being AAE instead of English, so the AI can only apply English rules.

And even if the AI says that "hey nigga" could, in all probability, be AAE, how does it know, from 9 ASCII characters, whether an African American posted it or not?

Dialects are too diverse and specialized to be able to differentiate in a few characters. You need the identity of the person saying it - and given Twitter's ability to disguise your real identity, it is a Sisyphus Arbeit (German, never-ending job).

This has nothing to do with the race of the programmers.

This has to do with language detection, English is an official language, AAE is a dialect that the user posting the message can't declare in Twitter settings, so the AI can only treat it as English, or let all racial slurs slide, because it could be AAE...

Re: Is anyone surprised ? Really ?

And AAE isn't an official dialect that you can select in most spellcheckers. It would fall under American English and therefore fall under those rules. Unless Twitter lets you define your input language as African American English (and that is a flag that is passed to the AI), it can only look at the sentence, work out it is English and work out whether it is profane.

Re: “I saw his ass yesterday”

And I haven't seen a setting in Twitter that lets me define what language I am posting in - I post in Germany a (British) English.

If AAE is not an official language and if the text isn't marked as AAE, how is it supposed to differentiate between plain English and AAE? The only thing you can do is try and recognise the base language and then flag any derogatory or racial words.

Given I don't live in America, the whole topic of AAE was new to me, upon reading this post.

Re: This requirement for paper bills/statements...

Full address is on the rear of the card.

Re: This requirement for paper bills/statements...

In Germany, it is a proof of identity and residence.

Re: This requirement for paper bills/statements...

I finally got my ID card a few months back, after 18 years of living in Germany. Now I only have to carry around my ID card, not my passport and proof of residence (the benefits of dual nationality).

The ID card is very useful when collecting parcels or signing up for new contracts, utility changes etc. No fuss, no muss.

Re: This requirement for paper bills/statements...

That is one of the things I like about Germany. When you move, you go down to the council offices, with your ID card (or passport for foreigners), a copy of the rental agreement or sale contract and register yourself at the new address.

You get a piece of paper with your name, new address, an official council stamp and a signature. You ID card will be re-issued with the new address, but until that time, the piece of paper + old ID card are enough evidence for all concerned.

Re: I use Slack, but I'm not an Office 365 user

We are an Office 365 (well, Microsoft 365) customer, but we don't use Teams - we don't use Slack either.

At my previous employer, they had their own private Jabber server. They were a security company and no confidential communications or data storage was allowed over cloud services.

Re: Simpler

Also, AFAIK, that only goes for things in their head. If it is stored on a device, then they can get access - assuming it is fingerprint or face recog. locked. If they have to enter a password, they are safe.

Re: Simpler

I don't live in America, so it isn't my problem. My data being p4wn3d by hackers because of backdoors and poor encryption is.

Re: There is an issue with IT...

That is the problem, we've spent so long looking for the cheapest possible deal, that many have lost sight of what really matters and that quality has its price. The only expensive things these days are brand labels, the quality often isn't any better than the non-branded products and is often made in the same factories, but because of the name, people are willing to pay 3 - 4 times as much.

But actually give them a quality product at a quality price, but doesn't have some hip brand stuck on it and people will baulk and not pay. We don't buy things that we expect to last 20 or 30 years any more, because next year the colour will be unfashionable, so we buy the "next" model, with the "next" colour, even though it isn't really any different to what we already have.

We need to take a step back and actually look at what we are doing and make informed decisions... But it won't happen. Because people have short Ooooh, shiny!

Re: "compared the rise of the IoT to the Industrial Revolution"

Call me an IT professional Luddite.

I've worked long enough in IT to spurn IoT in its current form.

Maybe I should change my name to Butler and start a Jihad against the machines. /Frank Herbert.