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Comment Re: 7.1a for x64 linux (Score 1) 146

Only if you can handle the keying material properly. The problem with one time pad is that the keying material needs to be as much as the message to encrypt. Now if you want to transfer 1 GB of data you need 1GB of keying material. This material needs to be shared with the receiving end. Although a one time pad is mathematically proven safe, the burden is shifted from the problem to keep the message safe to keeping the keying material safe.

Comment Re:lawl. (Score 1) 417

You mean like France that totally does not have nuclear ICBMs and of the fiercest special forces or the UK with still entertains one for the largest navies of the world and operates one of the few VTOL aircraft with lot's of operational flexibility or Germany with Tank battalions few can rival technologically and operates sizable air defense force. Just because European nations don't hang out their military dong all the time does not mean they can't be reckoned with. The US military primarily only serves as pork barrel spending and has only little real geopolitical meaning. Sure the US invaded two countries in the last decade, but on a political scale that rather backfired. Also putting 300 $ more in education of civil infrastructure would not hurt either.

Comment Re:How about Kindergarten? (Score 1) 253

As it happens, you are wearing a red shirt. But it's a total non-sequitur. "Why do you care about my shirt?"

What does copyright infringement have to do with the color of shirts?

I would like to watch Game of Thrones, here is a reasonable amount of money. To watch Game of Thrones you need an HBO subscription, go buy a HBO subscription. Ok that is a bit pricey, but fine, I would like a HBO subscription, I currently live in Germany. Sorry, you must live in the US to get an HBO subscription. Ok, is there a different way to watch Game of Thrones? You can buy the DVDs. OK do you have region 2 DVDs? No we only have region 1 DVDs. Ok so my options are paying you money and circumvent the region coding, aka "copy protection" and potentially get 3 years jail time and not paying you money and torrenting / downloading the movies and potentially get 3 years jail time. You know there are occasionally situations where people will outright refuse to sell you a legal copy.

Comment Re: Not surprising. (Score 4, Insightful) 378

I would disagree with you, the classical term hacking is used for any mode penetration. The difference between the late 80s/early 90s and today is that companies have started to implement reasonable procedures, like changing default passwords... Remember most hacks are still done through some sort of social engineering.

Comment Re:War of government against people? (Score 2) 875

Although I generally agree with you, the Swiss example is slightly misleading. Yes almost every Swiss male under 30 has an army issued assault rifle at home, but not the ammunition for it. They used to have a problem with homicides where enraged husbands shot or threatened their wives. They used to have one or two clips of ammunition with the rifle as to be combat ready any time. They figured that any invasion would not happen so sudden and as a result the ammunition is now stored centrally and handed out on demand. The result is a significant decrees in homicides.

Comment Re:Just give the NASA budget to Elon Musk (Score 1) 206

You mean like a powered landing? Ok that thing is a prototype, but it looks like it will be in service within this decade. Elon Musk is a genius when it comes to reducing operational costs. Sure they build on top of existing technologies, but they have surpassed them and are stepping into unknown territory. With the combination of the Dragon 2 and the grasshopper we may see launch vehicles and space ships that are fully reusable, similar to how planes are today. Refuel them, maybe spay on a new layer to the heat shield and off you go again.

Comment Re:Well... (Score 1) 206

I basically agree with you, but the statement "But automated factories need to get considerably better before that's a reasonable scenario" is outdated. Have you been recently in an automobile factory? Up until almost the end of the production line there are no humans involved. The couple humans that run around are only there when something goes wrong and the tolerances for that are awfully low, often the robots will stop in an error condition and the human reviewing the issue can not even see what is wrong. In most factories the end of the line, that is most steps to assemble the interior, are done by humans. This has absolutely nothing to do with technology and only something to do with costs. To do the jobs by a robot you would need a higher degree of tool development and more complicated product designs. This bring the development costs up and in these cases it is simpler to have humans assemble the car. In addition many car companies have additional benefits to retaining humans, they get tax cuts and other incentives to retain humans factory workers. But the current status quo is about economy not technology.

Comment Re:Encryption (Score 1) 220

Except that with DNSSEC you have authentication, just not bundled around the HTTP protocol. How you solve the encryption and authentication does not change the situation, that when communication with parties that you wish to exchange session keys with, you need to authenticate them. You could also use a previously shared key for that, but that would not be feasible for the web.

Comment Re: No steering wheel? No deal. (Score 2) 583

Human level AI? I would rather not, most human drivers are bad. Try to use the cruise control on a crowded highway and you know what I mean. Just maintaining uniform speed is an impossible task for most drivers. Oh there is a minor bend in the road, I need to slow down, there is a minor hill, I need to slow down, look an accident on the other side of the road, I need to slow down.

In almost all cases a computer will be able to react way faster and with more precision than a human can. Yes there will be some minor flaws in the first systems, they will be systemic and patched out. With human drivers it is a gamble each time they get on the road.

Comment Re:No steering wheel? No deal. (Score 1) 583

You mean manual controls like the autopilot? Most modern planes are flown autonomous, granted by manual heading inputs by the pilots, because there is no digital link to the air traffic control. Modern airliners are capable of taking of, flying and landing fully autonomously. The current technological hurdle is to get ATC guidance into the airplane's systems.

Just look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... (look ma no hands)

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