How is this different from the Mac? I thought the initial authentication upon login opens up the Keychain?

I thought if your iPhone was PIN-code protected it would use that to lock the Keychain, no?

I'll be honest and say I don't really know much about the details of iPhone encryption, but would it be fair to say that without the PIN code, it is not possible to get access to the Keychain database on the phone?

And trying to bruteforce the PIN code would cause the device to get wiped / locked?

I'm asking, because if this is not the case, then bruteforcing the Keychain might be trivial assuming most people use 4-5 number PINs...

The encryption bit of the keychain is AES, which is effectively unbreakable as far as current tech goes. However, as I mentioned it uses the user's login password (by default) as the seed to the session key, which might reduce the keyspace quite a bit, if the user has a weak password.

So no, not quite the same. In case a device is stolen, the attacker would need to have access to the user's password or PIN (I think the iPhone encrypts the device's whole storage anyway if it is PIN-protected, so you can't just copy the keychain database off the device and try to bruteforce it).

I take it you've never heard of the OS-level security feature called Keychain, present on both OS X and iOS - basically, it's a way of storing data in an encrypted form, using the user's login password (or PIN) as the seed for the encryption key. Not unbreakable, but surely a hell of a lot better than plaintext.

Considering this ships as default with the OS, it's inexcusable to not use it. Morons.

See below for more details:

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Security/Conceptual/keychainServConcepts/iPhoneTasks/iPhoneTasks.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keychain_(Mac_OS)

Yes you are seriously missing something, a fundamental understanding of British politics. Criminal justice is devolved to the Scottish Government, a reasonably autonomous part of the United Kingdom. The prime minister (i.e. the executive branch of the federal structure. Yes, I know it's not really federal in the true sense of the word but it's close enough for an analogy in this case) can no more directly interfere with court decisions taken by a devolved judiciary than your (federal) President can interfere with decisions taken by a State judiciary. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_devolution#Scotland for more details if interested. Checks and balances? We have them over here too you know.

Basically, Turkey (including some of the military) wants accession to the European Union. The EU can thus set terms for accession treaties, including restrictions on the military's role in political life. Because of these restrictions, the military is impeded from blocking the current religious AKP party from ruling - an unfortunate side effect, not the desired end result of a fundamental EU policy that member states' governments must be of a certain liberal democratic standard. Whether the AKP actually wants Shariah or not is highly debatable, they are a pretty moderate party as far as I can tell, when I was last in Istanbul (January) it certainly did not feel like a state under an Islamic regime, not even to the extent that something like Dubai does.

But if they've coded it sanely, the private key is never stored on the bots, and the public key is used merely for verifying the validity of the command. I guess this is the impossible end of your scale.

Little problem - can't get out of the Sinai without a passport to GET to my embassy.

...the first time was fine, but they broke my passport (by accident, the ID page basically detached from the booklet) on my way back into Egypt. The second time, I crossed with the same (fixed with superglue) passport a few weeks later. Much shouting and pointing of guns ensued - and they took my shoes and belt away for chemical testing or something. Weirdest freaking border crossing I've ever had, but considering the shit the Israelis have to put up with it's sort of understandable, I guess. Sampsa

Which the VAST majority of users of a device such as this couldn't care less about - they just want a couple of services (AFP/SMB, DNS, Mail and basic Web) to work, pretty much out of the box - OS X Server is ideal for this.

If you DO want to go beyond the basic settings, there is (on Leopard server at least) an "Advanced" settings mode (which is pretty much identical to the Server Admin interface on Tiger). Since this is OS X, if even the Advanced settings don't let you do what you want, just open up Terminal.app and start hacking config files - the point is, the vast majority of users don't need to or want to do this level of customisation.

Informative? How the HELL is that informative?

Seriously? Another expense of what, 10-20 USD? Is your time is worth that little to you?

Seriously? 256 KB of RAM in a 486DX? I think my 1990 model 486DX had 256 KB of L2 cache. Are you making this up?

"Latest estimates show the tax take from Scotland - buoyed by the financial success of companies such as Royal Bank of Scotland - is higher than anywhere outside London."

I think I read somewhere that the entire Scottish economy would have collapsed due to the RBS bail out, so you might want to revise this particular "busted myth".

Ah yes, here it is: Vince Cable: 'RBS would break Scotland'

If you ever need to eat something in London Heathrow, head for the Prunier Caviar House Seafood Bar. Absolutely wonderful - a plate of Kamchatka King Crab with a glass of Chablis makes the whole Heathrow experience tolerable.