Comment Re:Not rocket science (Score 1) 303
They already did that. If you followed the standard, you were eligible for this "randomness". Only if you new what secret code to use, you got in front of the ignorant.
Comment Re:So what did you expect the SEC Chair to say? (Score 1) 303
Anything but "the markets are not rigged" would gave caused a panic.
But an official regulating authority presenting itself as a complete idiot is not? Off course, they did that numerous times in the past, and always got away with it.
SEC Chair On HFT: 'The Markets Are Not Rigged' 303
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Reuters reports that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White told a U.S. House of Representatives panel that she flatly rejected claims that retail investors are being fleeced by high-frequency traders who can use their speed to jump ahead with buy and sell orders that fetch better prices. 'The markets are not rigged,' says White. 'The U.S. markets are the strongest and most reliable in the world.' White's comments to the House Financial Services Committee mark the first time she has directly responded to allegations in Michael Lewis' new book Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt. The book alleges that high-speed traders are engaged in a form of front-running, in which the firms are able to quickly identify an investor's desire to buy a stock, rush to buy it first and then sell it back at a higher price. The SEC has been reviewing equity market structure issues, particularly following the May 6, 2010 flash crash incident when the Dow Jones Industrial Average sharply plunged before quickly rebounding. Although staff at SEC are considering whether to launch some pilot studies to test different regulatory proposals, there are no immediate plans to issue rules to crack down on high-speed trading or trading in unlit markets. 'I want to be very clear that the market metrics suggest that the retail investor is very well-served by the current market structure.'"
Comment Re:Forgotten one's history? (Score 1) 399
I owned a Seiko MessageWatch (see http://mako.cc/copyrighteous/t...). It was functional for about 3 years. Off course, a modern-day variant can be connected to a laptop or desktop computer to upgrade the firmware, which the MessageWatch could not. So the idea is ancient, but maybe the time is ripe now.
On the other hand, My Nokia N900 was supported for about 3 years as well. Maybe people want to spend a lot of money on phones, but I doubt if they want to spend that much money on a watch that is already obsolete when you open the package.
Why the Sharing Economy Is About Desperation, Not Trust 331
An anonymous reader writes "Wired recently ran a cover story about the sharing economy — shorthand for the rise of peer-to-peer rental services like Lyft and Airbnb — which they call a cultural and economic breakthrough. They say it has ushered in a 'new era of Internet-enabled intimacy.' An article at New York Magazine has another theory: that it arose because of the weakness in the real economy. Quoting: 'A huge precondition for the sharing economy has been a depressed labor market, in which lots of people are trying to fill holes in their income by monetizing their stuff and their labor in creative ways. In many cases, people join the sharing economy because they've recently lost a full-time job and are piecing together income from several part-time gigs to replace it. In a few cases, it's because the pricing structure of the sharing economy made their old jobs less profitable. (Like full-time taxi drivers who have switched to Lyft or Uber.) In almost every case, what compels people to open up their homes and cars to complete strangers is money, not trust.'"
Comment Re:"Web 2.0" is a decade old now (Score 1) 55
Yes they can. Especially the bad ones. They made cross site scripting into an art form.
Comment Re:authenticity (Score 2) 56
I really don't know. Maybe some sex line operator can inform you? Given their abundance, I think enough people like to be fooled.
What is more scary is that this can be used on people who just don't know any better and react to instincts. In other words: babies. Would a baby accept a robot nanny as its mum in the future?
Comment Re:Shame this happened (Score 5, Funny) 136
Now I know for sure. The world has gone mad. Should I tell my neighbours that the seeds of my vegetable garden are subject to the General Plant Licence?
Comment Re:Crisis explained in a short phrase (Score 1) 359
That "fracking" takes too long. Would you settle for a tropical cyclone? The more equal pigs are working on it as you speak.
Comment Totally misses the point (Score 1) 359
It sure looks like someone is trying to explain a housing crisis without even looking at how money is put into existence.
Comment Re:Welcome to America! (Score 1) 133
You forget that the USA is a capitalist state. You have the cheapest government that money can buy, not the best.
Comment "... fair patent use" (Score 1) 26
China is requiring Microsoft and Nokia to make promises on fair patent use
I think a few brain cells just exploded. What can possibly be fair about an extortion permit?
Comment Re:HA (Score 1) 351
Indeed. Guns are not unknown.
Comment Re:A better solution (Score 1) 307
And the financial sector, please. Among with the lawyers.
Comment Re:bullshit (Score 4, Funny) 641
Webmail loads slower?
Not that I am aware of. From the summary:
the Start menu will return to Windows sometime in the coming months
It appears that they tested it on a really slow computer. On my computer, the start menu appears just after I have clicked the button...
