"Or use a WhatsApp call, which now has end-to-end encryption."
Because I would totally trust Facebook with our national security.
1208 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Sep 2007
"Who bothers to store a 4 digit pin?"
Anybody who has to remember too many of them.
Anybody with an account they don't access via PIN regularly.
Anybody who doesn't have a perfect memory.
Anybody who is mortal and might want to leave their account details to whomever might have to take them over. Especially if they become disabled but not dead. Like, you know, growing old.
So which is the simpler explanation: the sun doing sun stuff, or a group of people spending hundreds of hours focused on the task of finding weaknesses in a foreign computer system thousands of miles away, then using that to cause minor disruption to air travel for an hour and a half?
When you just wave your hands at it, you make it sound simple. Just because there's a simple term for something doesn't mean it's actually simple. "Having a baby" sounds pretty straightforward if you don't think about the processes involved, not to mention all the things that can go wrong.
Picking on spelling, grammar and punctuation on the Internet is like shouting at clouds.
Also, maybe it was an autocorrect that he missed. On a phone here, and I had to re-correct two just in that first sentence. Sorry, three; Internet wasn't capitalized. And I forgot to include "capitalization" in the rant list. Oh hey, I just started a sentence with a conjunction. VERY bad form.
I recently repaired an iPhone 5 for my neighbor by soaking it acid.*
I did not bother with an iPhone 4 for a friend (just needs a new case, front and back both cracked) only because it's locked to a carrier we don't like, and would need to spend money on an account for 6 months to get a free unlock. Third party unlock costs $90, before anybody suggests it.
I own two working iPhone 3GS units and one broken. All are Frankenphones. Broken one has bad battery, cracked glass, non-working backlight. Not worth fixing, though some parts may be useful (buttons) and the logic board works and in fact is unlocked from AT&T.
...Of course, I'm a geek and a nerd. But phones can be fixed for pay. Only question is value, like my friend's iPhone 4. My point is that "forced" may be a strong word here. There are choices, if unpalatable.
* Actually, I disassembled it and soaked the logic board in white vinegar overnight, rinsed in water, rinsed in alcohol, blew off with compressed air, let dry a few hours, then reassembled and tested. Seeing it boot was a GLORIOUS thing. Months later the neighbor reports it still working flawlessly. Came from a drawer in my boss's desk; after water exposure he deemed it preferable to replace. Obviously it WAS a choice.
Her. Dianne. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein
Not that I expect everybody in the world to know our politicians. The US citizenry are notorious in our own ignorance of global politics. Or culture. Or language. Or geography. I... May be slightly less parochial than most, but I'm guilty of it as well.
"I wonder whether these congresspeople ever think their ideas through to the end. If they insist on weakened encryption, this encryption will not only be broken by law enforcement, but by criminals ranging from individual to corporate."
No. They think the keys well be safe in the hands of law enforcement, won't be abused, and won't be cracked independently by hackers or other governments.
After all, they're the good guys, right?
They really are that incredibly stupid and ignorant.
I'll just pull my old PIII system of the shelf and plug it in there. Knoppix and no hard drive.
Ok, worst case: hardware fried. Somebody in the thread threatened to install an inverter to fry my hardware, so maybe I found that one. It's a cute little system but I can live without it. Yeah, I've got all kinds of old crap hardware about. Kind of an elaborate joke, especially if you don't get to see the result.
It's their nature because it's instinctive behaviour. They do it for practice, to improve their hunting skills.
Whereas humans do it deliberately, just for the sake of cruelty.
I think you're intent on wiping out the wrong species for exactly opposite the reason you're citing.
I'll not try to claim there's anything wrong with your being disgusted by their actions, but please don't play the moral superiority card.
Why are so many of you going on about Apple recycling used phone parts? It's the design they're recycling. Why invent a new display when the 5S display will work fine for this phone? They basically took a 5S and updated the processor, and maybe a few bits like the camera. Must've saved tons of time and money on R&D, not to mention that they already manufacture and stock the 5S parts. Inventory reduction is a big cost savings.
Pretty sure they just mean the 6E uses some of the same parts in the design, like adjacent years of some automobile models and/or similar models from different lines (e.g. Plymouth Dart and Valiant) may use some of the same parts. Rather than saying that Apple is digging into junkyards to recycle used parts to make new 6E phones.
There was the segment that went down because a guy disconnected his computer and, thinking he was helping, plugged the resulting open plug with a F-F coupler and a terminator. Fortunately he had the sense to fess up when he heard us coming and fortunately I had the sense not to blow him off because we were too busy to talk to him just then. (I didn't know it was relevant until I talked to him, understand.)
Palm over face, I explained that the cabling was not a water pipe and didn't need to be capped off to keep the elections in.
Ignorance rather than stupidity and he came to us so we let him off without a lynching. He had the grace to be deeply chagrined.
Don't push intrusive, offensive, obnoxious, annoying or malware-ridden advertisements on me and I'll be happy to stop blocking.
I'm usually happy to disable it on sites that ask me politely to do so. Also on webcomics sites specifically. But if you try to force me, I'll walk away. I'm looking at you, Forbes. I never did get to read that article. Too bad.
More likely that it gives them more legal options to protect themselves.
I remember pointing out to a mallcop friend that people constantly ignored the"no sneakers" sign on the escalator. Including me. He replied that it was only there to minimize litigation in case of accident.
Telnet logon. I didn't see any other vector in TFA, though I admit I read it rather quickly. Do router companies really leave that on by default? I noticed the option in e.g. my last router (Asus RT-AC68R) but I don't remember having to disable it. Granted my memory is vague on that.
Why would anybody turn that on?
"Smith reflected Bill Gates' comments about there being a necessary balance between securing conversations and making sure that law enforcement can do its job."
Huh. Didn't realize it was Microsoft's job to make law enforcement's job easier.
And to be clear, I know he was saying possible, not easy. But funny thing, police were able to do their jobs before smartphones were around. Suggesting that police can't operate without access to smartphone data is several kinds of fallacy.
Not a fan of Apple's walled garden approach. But will take them over Microsoft any day.
"In my "town" X, in the "county" of X, [X=X in this exercise] (VERY little research needed)..."
Chester, Pennsylvania?
I'll bet there is more than one town in a county of the same name on the east coast. Not even counting major cities like Philadelphia.
Obvious if you live there, I guess.
Net neutrality is about passing others' data neutrally as a carrier. Netflix is restricting their own data as a content provider. Not the same thing at all.
The way I see it, Netflix is trying to help their customers by keeping costs down. Their mistake was not being transparent about it, and not giving customers the choice to decide for themselves. Unwise, yes, but I see no evil intent, at least not with regards to the throttling itself.
"Netflix said it doesn’t limit its video quality at two carriers: T-Mobile and Sprint Corp., because “historically those two companies have had more consumer-friendly policies.” When customers exceed their data plans on Sprint or T-Mobile, the carriers usually slow their network connections, rather than charge overage fees." I pulled that quote from Techdirt, but I believe they were quoting from WSJ.
It looks like they're now going to offer the ability to make the choice yourself, so that's that part sorted. If you want to boycott them for being dishonest by omission, go for it, but I don't see this as hypocrisy myself.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160325/05264934013/netflix-reveals-it-throttles-att-verizon-customers-to-save-them-usage-caps-overage-fees.shtml
15-20 online accounts? Is that all? Let's see...
Bank
CC
Phone
Internet
Cable
Utilities
DMV
IRS
Insurance
WiFi
Home computer
That's 10 right there. Some could be combined, some may have multiples. The banks probably include cards whose PINs you must choose and remember. Now, what else...
Amazon
EBay
Paypal
Netflix
Hulu
Redbox
Apple
Starbucks
Work email
Work computer
Work WiFi
Skype
Any typical person might have some or all of those. Now let's add a few that I also have...
Steam
Yahoo
Newegg
Tigerdirect
Hosting service (Eapps)
Dating site
Tumblr
Cypress Semiconductor
Texas instruments
Digikey
Work phone system
Work server admin logon
Work development server logon
Root for above
Killing Floor dedicated server
USPS
UPS
Fandango
Logitech Harmony
Dropbox
XDA
The Register
Slashdot
Techdirt
Wikipedia
Wikia
Tvtropes
IMDB
IMFDB
WordPress
Teamviewer
Firefox
Glyde
Freedompop
Franchise tax board
Daily Steals
...That's just a few of the top of my head, and doesn't count old accounts nor the fact that in some cases I have multiple accounts. Nor that my wife and I sometimes have separate accounts but know each other's information.
I use Keepass. Of course, I also have an elaborate password I have to remember.