* Posts by Charles 9

16605 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Kentucky to build 3,400-mile state-owned broadband network – and a fight is brewing

Charles 9

Re: The Business of America is Business

Sorry, pal. We're already in the handbasket. The choices this November are going to be between Dumb and Dumber (and maybe Dumbest on the outside), and that assuming Dumber's even on the ballot.

As for breaking the companies up, we tried that with Ma Bell. They just put themselves back together with acquisitions and threats to pull up stakes otherwise.

Show us the code! You should be able to peek inside the gadgets you buy – FTC commish

Charles 9

Re: The code is not enough

Unless the NSA can run shadow code that never shows up in compiled code, hiding somewhere in the hardware beyond even an X-ray...

Charles 9

Re: Electronic Voting/Counting Machines?

The problem is that a resourceful adversary can go beyond the code, to the chips where you eventually run afoul of trade secrets and patent protection. They can subvert hardware and hide it within the physical structure of the voting machines, and they can act outside the encryption envelope, defeating even a custom compile and making it exceedingly difficult to detect, even with an X-ray. At some point, you're going to have to trust SOMEONE, and when a state with a big purse (and probably backed up by big boots) comes in, it's hard to say if ANYONE is safe.

Charles 9

Re: Open Source FTW

Or it might do wonders for source code spyware obfuscation techniques. Or they could take the simple route and cheat...including bribing the enforcers...

Charles 9

"Both agreed there needed to be more dialogue to find a solution that worked for everyone. "

Given that some WANT to data mine and others want to block said mining, that puts them in direct, exclusive competition. It's opponents such as these that bring up the phrase, "You can't please everyone."

For fsck's SAKKE: GCHQ-built phone voice encryption has massive backdoor – researcher

Charles 9

Re: They all have the same flaw...

That still leaves the matter of the First Contact problem, where the parties have never met before. Plus, a resourceful adversary like a state can probably punch through an encrypted conversation almost as easily as an unencrypted one, making bad crypto worse than no crypto because it leads to a false sense of security.

West Virginia mulls mother of all muni networks – effectively a state-wide, state-run ISP

Charles 9

Re: The private companies had years to get this construction done.

Sure they do. They want it to be all or nothing. Either you do the middle mile AND the last mile, or you do neither.

Charles 9

Re: Run the layer 2 network as a gov utility, run the layer 3 as a private biz

Most utilities in America are run that way: as de jure monopolies (mostly to prevent NIMBY issues with redundant infrastructure. Thing is, people STILL complain about cheating and corruption by these regulated monopolies. Like I said, you can't win.

Charles 9

Re: Run the layer 2 network as a gov utility, run the layer 3 as a private biz

But Americans DON'T TRUST the government to do it right. And before you mention roads, let me remind you of some significant wear-and-tear issues and at least one tragic Interstate bridge collapse. There are those who say the government should get out of the way of EVERYTHING: including the military.

So basically, it's a no-win situation. They don't trust the government to do it right, and any private enterprise will always attach strings. Pick your poison. Most around here will take the latter.

Charles 9

Re: Run the layer 2 network as a gov utility, run the layer 3 as a private biz

I think because without the exclusivity agreement, none of the ISPs are willing to plunk down, especially to rural communities far from a trunk line. And the ISPs aren't dumb enough to kowtow to government-run lines, meaning either they have control from end to end or the government will have to operate the whole thing including the last mile, which raises socialism scares.

Charles 9

Re: Run the layer 2 network as a gov utility, run the layer 3 as a private biz

What about companies like Google that have high speed internal fiber? And how would the government regulate flow and who's allowed and who's not? Sounds a bit like the problem of trying to separate utility supply from utility transport.

Charles 9

So which came first? The gigabit Ethernet or the software company? Or was the Ethernet set up to entire said company? It's like with that part of Washington east of Seattle: there's usually a long and not-so-pretty story behind it.

Charles 9

Re: "will be in direct competition"

But at least it's money. Better the "wrong" hands than NO hands. As long as it's money, it can CHANGE hands.

Charles 9

Re: Nothing new to the state of Washington

Washington's an edge case with a long and complicated story behind it last I read. Plus Washington has the benefit of being up north so can draw datacenters that would like to keep their cooling bills down.

Charles 9

Re: "will be in direct competition"

Only where there's money to be had. But then you have places like here that don't have a lot of money. Here, capitalism falls flat because there's no money angle. Convincing a penniless man to buy your stuff is basically a waste of time. Government has the ability to invest for reasons other than money, such as general well-being.

How to help a user who can't find the Start button or the keyboard?

Charles 9

Re: The joys of answering the phone

What about if it's NEXT TO the washroom?

Charles 9

Re: Do organisations not use 360 feedback for support services?

I wonder how you dealt with illiterates in high places.

Charles 9

Re: no idea other operating systems existed

And if he answered, "I don't. I'm a zombie."?

Charles 9

Re: My personal input.

I once recall a "better fool" call where a guy talked to a customer who blatantly asked, "What's a mouse?"

Five technologies you shouldn't bother looking out for in 2016

Charles 9

Re: Year of Linux?

Well then, where are all the games? No serious gamer would use a Linux desktop because the games aren't there, especially headliners like Fallout 4 (and Bethesda has already come out and said no chance for a native Linux port). Way too many games are Windows-only and WINE-unfriendly, so it's basically Windows or bust.

Brit boffins brew nanotech self-cleaning glass

Charles 9

But as noted, how will will the glass surface stand up to direct surface abrasion from, say, a sandstorm (and we know how abrasive blown sand can be since it's used as a paint stripping technique). Plus, as noted, what about acid rain, which normally starts etching on contact?

Charles 9

Re: Cleaing Costs for Skyscapers?

At the ground floor, the pressure is at equilibrium, so people can come and go freely. Within a few floors or so, the differential is not significant enough, so windows there theoretically can be opened, though they usually remain closed for reasons of climate control. As you climb up, the building's interior is set up to limit air egress back down to the ground (the mostly likely candidates are the elevator shafts, stairwells in really tall buildings tend to be clustered, limited to so many floors at a time), allowing the air pressure to be maintainable despite the altitude.

PS. Don't take my word for it. Ask the MythBusters, who confirmed the Toronto skyscraper incident. The pressure differential at 1000ft is just over 1/2psi, but note the size of those skyscraper windows. 1/2psi times thousands of square inches equals quite a few pounds of ultimate force on those windows.

Charles 9

Re: Limited lifetime.

Until they malfunction and fall 1,000 feet to the street below. If you've seen a tower crane collapse, you've got a decent idea of what'll happen; a whole lotta ugly.

Charles 9

Re: Cleaing Costs for Skyscapers?

"I'm sure those who build these things have very good reasons for it, but I've never understood why skyscraper windows have to be cleaned from the outside. Surely some sort of mechanism could be included in the frame to allow the whole panel to rotate 180 degrees, so that the outside side is reachable from someone on the inside?"

They MUST be cleaned from the outside because of pressure differential. Think of a skyscraper, especially high up, as like an airplane. There's a positive pressure inside the building versus the outside. So skyscraper exteriors above a certain elevation are hermetically sealed to contain the pressure. The last thing you want to do is break a window at 1000 feet up. It'll cause quite an air blast. I recall a story once of a Toronto guy ramming a skyscraper window (about 25 stories up), breaking it thanks partly to the pressure differential, and falling to his death.

Eight budget-friendly 1TB SSD data packers for real people

Charles 9

Re: Good qulaity, low price

Thing is, as demand for SSDs goes up, demand for rust will start to tank, and Economics 101 dictates that falling demand will drive prices down to get the existing inventory moving again. I know it's still going because for the price of a 3TB external drive just a couple years back, you can get 5TB. And 10TB jobbers will likely be the next big external drive to appear since they're basically the only option for large (>1TB) consumer-grade backup solutions.

Charles 9

If SSDs actually do overtake spinning rust, perhaps a variant of this will take hold in future. Without so much need for bulk space to hold drive enclosures, the cases can shrink without compromising power. Perhaps in future internal drives will be, like you say, slotted in much like how expansion cards are now. Not discounting nor noting it as a bad thing.

Charles 9

Re: Good qulaity, low price

It'll all depend on the foundries. Some wonder if they can actually crank the chips out quickly enough to keep up the pace. If they can't, the parity point will be pushed back. Still, if 3D Flash keeps up, this will represent a significant step forward in mass storage tech and may actually present a sunset for spinning rust, provided it can deal with any issues of longevity and cold storage.

Pentagon fastens lasers to military drones to zap missiles out of the skies

Charles 9

Re: Why a drone?

Except the laser's range is limited in atmosphere, so you have to get close, and you have to do this in the boost phase because there are too many ways to defeat defenses in the descent phase: not the least of which is to pack multiple warheads per missile a la MIRVs. A crazy may also choose to arm the warheads once it passes apex so that any attempt to intercept them now sets them off (they won't arm it at launch since a boost-phase interception means the explosion happens over them instead).

Charles 9

Not if the missile is moving at several Mach. What you propose would be like trying to catch a dragster en passant with a grappling hook: even with tracking, the window in which you can actually score a hit is vanishingly small because it's too quick to chase and will be, relative to the kill vehicle, gone in a blink. That includes an attempt at a head-on because the slightest miscalculation and the missile slips away to the side.

Charles 9

Re: Still not reliable

The problem with that being the only reliable way to disable ICBMs before they launch is to launch your own ICBMs, as any other approach can be intercepted. An ICBM takes time to hit: time enough to detect it, take it as an attack and just launch YOUR ICBMs in retaliation. About the only thing stopping the end of the world is that no one currently in possession of ICBMs is crazy enough to welcome Armageddon and launch regardless.

Charles 9

Re: Isn't there a standard defence against lasers?

Make the laser powerful enough, and the reflective coat will heat and warp before any serious reflection can occur. Since reflective coats aren't anywhere near 100% reflective nor physically will likely ever be able to approach that, mirrors aren't practical.

New open-source ad-blocking web browser emerges from brain of ex-Mozilla boss Eich

Charles 9

Re: A browser with

Wouldn't that balk many people because that would involve exposing payment details to the Internet which means they can be STOLEN?

Charles 9

Re: When I get a gigabit pipe with no limits

I wouldn't be too surprised if ad slingers are able to use things like timing checks to distinguish between human clicks and bot clicks.

Charles 9

Re: Looks like a great idea...

Yes, it has. It's either this or paywalls, which web surfers ALSO balk at.

Charles 9

Re: Maybe I wasn't reading properly

And if the manufacturer no longer exists? That's what I mean by obscure. it does what you want like nothing else does, but it's old and the official source no longer exists.

Charles 9

Re: Looks like a great idea...

More than you think because although fewer they at least pay the bills unlike all the other leeches. Or would you rather 90% of the Internet switch to paywalls that demand your credit card? And leaving the Internet is less of an option as print sources shut their doors. Finally, while one could go without information, many would also point to a lower standard of living compared to today.

Charles 9

Re: Maybe I wasn't reading properly

Even if it's the ONLY source of something important like an obscure device driver?

It's 2016 and idiots still use '123456' as their password

Charles 9

Re: It's disgraceful

A thought, but it's impractical to regulate what people do in the privacy of their own homes. At least cars drive on public roads, so there a toehold there.

Charles 9

Re: No Support Stnadard there?

Look at where the T is on a QWERTY keyboard, trace the password with your finger, and you should get it.

Charles 9

The easier to use, the less secure it is. Plus people have bad memories and our adversaries are nearing MiniLuv levels of sophistication.

Charles 9

Re: Nothing wrong with insecure passwords

This has been known FOR DECADES. The chief problem comes from the wetware requirement. Against a resourceful opponent (and as you note, the requirement keeps falling), there's no way to convulsively distinguish someone from an imposter. Passwords can be copied, looks can be matched, factors can be stolen, even DNA can be cloned. Yet we live in a world where proof of identity is a daily requirement, so we're caught between Scylla and Charybdis: needing a form of authentication that frankly cannot exist. So what do we do?

Charles 9

Re: tools...

But a smarter botherder would install a malware that rifles through the entire system for secrets. A password safe would immediately be marked as a juicy target and the mark the target of a logger to spot the password and/or keyfile that cracks it open.

Charles 9

Re: pUctuAt10n

Even worse, many people need to keep tabs on many different sites and may not even have a computer to call his/her own, meaning password safes are not an option. So now you're staring at the password prompt and thinking to yourself:

"Now as it correcthorsebatterystaple or muleturbineclipwrong?"

And then there are those with just plain bad memory (due to bad luck or maybe senility), How do we help people like that?

Waving Microsoft's Windows 10 stick won't help Intel's Gen 6 core

Charles 9

Re: There has been a dearth of PC innovation, 'tis true

Until SteamOS Linux can do the headliners like Fallout 4, it's pretty much Windows or bust for gamers.

Robots. Machine learnin', 3D-printin' AI robots: They'll take our jobs – Davos

Charles 9

Re: Still waiting for no work

The utopian vision overlooks one key element: someone's going to OWN these robots, and "the State" is just another owner in this regard. Whoever controls the robots gets to dictate terms, and if it's the State owning them, then it's whoever controls the State that has all the power.

As for the beer, they could always keep the beer cheap for the "bread and circuses" effect. Plus drunk people tend to be more pliable.

Charles 9

Re: Who owns the A.I. ?

Or rather, the rest of the world becomes irrelevant to them. By the time they're finished, the rest of the world will be literally crumbs. Picture if you will an isolated island. One guy manages to vanish with all but one of the coconuts, leaving just one for all the rest to fight over.

Charles 9

Re: The need to show off social status...

Unfortunately, it's also a basic instinct. Showing off is just one way of making sure you get the girl (or whatever) and the other guy doesn't. Frankly, showing off may be seen as preferable to a fistfight.

Bottom line, showing off won't be going away.

Internet of Things 'smart' devices are dumb by design

Charles 9

Re: Do not despair

Problem is, I bet the survey only counts those who deign to answer. The ones you have to worry about with this tech are the blissfully ignorant and the apathetic who simply don't care.

Charles 9

Re: Home cloud?

ONLY when the market's mature or there's a synergy between them. Otherwise, the applicable terms are "acquisition," "buyout," and "cheating". It's all in the name of getting the most dollar.

As for using nuts and bolts, that depends. Apple was notorious for using penta-star screws, if you'll recall. The only reason nuts and bolts standardized is because the market was extremely mature and well settled. IoT is an emerging market; not much is settled, and just like with the HD-DVD/BluRay war, companies are jockeying to become the standard-bearer, which gives them big market advantage over the longer term.

Computer sales not a matter of life and death, they're more important than that

Charles 9

Re: Small business here . . .

How do you keep the EOL systems from getting pwned while still being useful for your business?