Posts by horriblicious

Re: A little sensationalism?

"...to see what you are likely to face..."

Frankly, a DMV or other check may tell you absolutely nothing about what you will face. Being on the "gun registry" in Canada was said to be vital information for police by those in favor of the registry. What this actually told you is that you had a law-abiding gun owner that had passed all records checks to get the permit. You would be quite safe to show up and knock on the door in your stocking-feet to serve the warrant. For home-owners without any such information, you better get the SWAT guys. The reality these days is the police always assume the worst and call in SWAT. This is why you can "SWAT" someone (cause police to break into someone else's house by issuing a false complaint of violence underway). The police focus is purely on harm-reduction - for them - without concern for any effects on anyone living at the location. Its not exactly guilty until proven innocent, but getting close to that.

Re: Self certification?

Well, the problem is when the party being certified gets to pick which third party to hire and has other separate business arrangements with that same certifier (and hence leverage to insist on a good audit; a problem with accountancy firms having business consulting gigs with the same clients they audit). If NASA picks the third party certifier (and maybe adds the condition that the certifier does no other business with the supplier), that concern goes away. It will complicate purchasing for NASA, but still cheaper than satellites not deploying.

Well, let's do the counter-example then. In Canada we are holding a Huawei executive, owner's daughter no less, for possible extradition on a US warrant. She is out on bail and living comfortably in mansion in Vancouver awaiting the hearing.

The response from China:

2 Canadians arrested, thrown in jail cells that are lit 24 hours a day and interrogated 8 hours a day. Very limited access to consular staff and no legal counsel.

Another Canadian, in jail for drug smuggling (and I have no sympathy for that idiot), has a 1-day hearing and a death sentence imposed.

The Chinese ambassador has been just short of vulgar criticizing how politicized our legal system is and how our government "should behave" with a thinly veiled "or else". Oh, and we are apparently racist too.

Latest action - Our exports of billions of dollars worth of canola seeds are apparently infested with pests according to Chinese authorities. Including pests that only live in Asia too.

I couldn't give a skinny-rats behind for one avowedly anti-American yahoo that thought he could claim journalism as a shield for his own personal crusade. He wanted to take on the US, and he certainly got their attention. Now he gets to play the martyr.

But now you are at least aware of how China reacts if you touch one of their "chosen". After this behavior, it will be a cold decade in hell for any Canadian government that allows purchase of Huawei networking gear.

Re: They don't even know how

You don't understand. The methods now used are kind to the witnesses, who no longer have to watch a neck snap at a hanging or see blood splatter from a shooting or beheading. A lot of the opposition to capital punishment goes away if you can make it seem neat and painless and especially not-bloody - even if it is actually is even more painful. Sad really.

Re: I didn't think anyone serious still believed "blowing it up" was a viable plan

Yet surely the damage from many of those smaller pieces is far preferable to the damage that would be caused by the asteroid in one piece? Much will land where there are no people - 2/3 of the surface is ocean and the land surface is surprisingly empty as well. It will still cause damage, but in the absence of a perfect solution many smaller chunks sounds "good enough" as an alternative.

NO. Getting re-elected depends, somewhat, on being able to keep the promises you made. Somewhat, because all politicians know that voters like being lied to, and as long as you are telling voters the lies they want to hear, you can get re-elected repeatedly without ever fulfilling all your promises. This should not be news to anyone that lives in a democracy.

Re: Scumbags

Well now there is a valid comparison - cluster bombs and software. We cannot be far from a Godwin's Law violation at this point.

Re: Legacy Systems

Those core account systems are not the problem nor is COBOL the problem. The security problem exists in all the layers of code added to allow access from phone, or internet or mobile. No one accesses a COBOL based banking system directly (do you see a CICS screen on your phone?) When security fails in one of those user-friendly interface layers then what is presented to that back-end account system is what looks like a valid user. The legacy system is not your security problem. Replacing is an impossible task if what you will say to a business person is: Give me $250 Miliion dollars and 5 years and I will give you exactly what you have now, except newer. What is the business value in that? You will never get that funding so those old systems will remain in place until the hardware is no longer manufactured - and that may be never. Better to spend a fraction of that $250MM properly securing (or rebuilding securely) those "front-end" layers.

Re: Toyota

The article is about autonomous car software. Surely we mean actual "driving systems" by this phrase? QNX is an RTOS and therefore very suited to this purpose, I would think. Whether it gets used for infotainment as well is surely not that important, though perhaps convenient.

Re: They need more than just this

It would be very expensive to build and operate the hardware required for mining in space. Where do you think funds are coming from for hardware for pirates? I can see it now: "Here's $5BN to build ships and armaments. Try to break even in the first year." All sarcasm aside, I look forward to the day when space travel is so common and inexpensive that piracy is a problem. I think the concern is a bit premature though.