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Comment Java, what a waste (Score 1) 405

I never really liked Java, I liked the idea of java. I *really* liked the idea of optimized bytecodes that could be JITed. Java was full of promise. It may well have gotten a C++ interface.

I wanted java to do well. It could have been a great thing. Richard Stallman was right, I suspected he was right all along, but I was optimistic that Sun would do well. When Ass Hole Ellison (AHE for short) bought sun, I knew it would get worse.

The last two reasons for using Java are tomcat and Android, and Android "java" doesn't matter much because it isn't even java byte codes. I guess tomcat could be replaced by PHP.

Comment This is exactly what BBC should do (Score 1) 487

They report news, and do it well.

It is virtualy impossible to, 100% of the time to 100% of visitors, get the time right. The computers time can be wrong. A laptop set to EDT on a business trip tp LA will have the wrong time and the user won't adjust it because he's only going to be there a day or two. Besides, he or she may want to quickly see what time it is at home. How on earth could you adjust for that? IP addresses registered in one time zone may be servicing another, so geolocation of IPs doesn't work. What's left?

It *is* a tough problem and 100 days is probably right and I bet they still won't ever get to 100% of the time, general computers and laptops don't have the technology to maintain locationally accurate time. Removing the clock is a "simplification" that removes an unnessisary work load and no user will be harmed and the service will not be affected.

Comment Vigilante Justice (Score 4, Insightful) 156

This is something I am troubled by on a regular basis. It is increasingly clear that our government and legal system are stacked against common citizens.

At some point, it will occur to those being prosecuted for sharing some songs on the internet and being fined for more than they'll ever make in their lifetime, that the U.S. is a dictionary definition of a fascist state where government is intertwined with corporations and industry. The real problems are the corporate executives that can do this crap with no repercussions. There needs to be repercussions. If the legal system doesn't provide a way to bring the fight to the door of the powerful, then I fear that the our society will break down to the point where citizens must be vigilantes to get any sort of justice over the prosecutors, politicians, and the people who run the corporations.

Comment Re:Give me a break (Score 1) 153

Believe me, I understand encryption. The problem is that if you know how the encryption key was made, which random number generator is used. How the seed was generated and any potential salt, you can limit the universe of potential keys. There are a lot of ways to reduce the "real" range of possibilities based on application weakness and user stupidity.

I doubt very much the the NSA does a dumb attack on crypto, they can guess based on the application being used, when, and from other information a MUCH smaller range of keys.

Comment Give me a break (Score 1) 153

The math of encryption makes it seem almost impossible to break, the reality is user stupidity. Passwords are stupid simple and that will get you every time. Now, iMessage, where they have randomly generated keys, I could see those as being far more difficult to break, even for a massive super computer, but still, not impossible -- if the code breaking software is excluded from the initial brokerage of the shared secret. However, in many ssl type encryptions they re-negotiate the secret periodically. It is possible to insert yourself or monitor the exchange and calculate it.

Who knows? Encryption is based on the assumption that it would take a very very long time to break. When you virtually infinite resources to crack it, all bets are off.

Comment Courage is in short supply. (Score 3) 144

The "Home of the Brave" is a joke at MIT, and U.S. universities across America. Once the wussy administrators take hold, all is lost without a fight. Wussy administrators will use security and safety as they cudgels, They will hide behind their desks and enact policy that eliminates any freedom that may challenge the status quo.

This is, in fact, what America deserves unless and until we ALL have the courage to fight it everywhere it is. I would say "Shame On You" to MIT, but I would be decades late.

Comment Re:Human Beings (Score 1) 759

Freedom of speech, as enshrined in the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution protects us from our government. It does not protect us from our fellow citizens or employers. If you say something nasty to me about my wife, whether it is true or not

I don't know who started thus rumor, but it is not true. If you say something publicly, that is damaging, but true, then truth is the absolute defense against slander or libel.

The 1st amendment trumps many laws. We have the right to speak. These guys should absolutely file a civil rights law suit against Richards, SendGrid, and PyCon. If they are responsible to their employer for their remarks on the premise that their employer is responsible for their representation, then SendGrid is responsible for Richard's actions and is therefor a legitimate target.

the 1st Amendment does not protect you when I punch you in the nose.

Of course it doesn't, what you describe is battery. If you threaten me, that's assault. If you threaten me, then hit me, that's assault and battery. Making a dongle joke is neither.

Comment Human Beings (Score 5, Insightful) 759

We are all at risk here. Even though we have freedom of speech, we run the risk of losing our livelihoods if we say something that might offend someone somewhere. Richards was being a real "bitch." I say "bitch" because it is a disparaging name for a female. Not because I wish to be sexist. If the perpetrator of this nonsense was a guy, I'd call him a real "bastard." Calling a woman a "bastard" doesn't seem to be the correct usage in the English language. If someone can come up with a disparaging name to call a female that is not sexist, please suggest one, but if it is not sexists to call a guy a bastard, I refuse to accept that there is no non-sexist name we can call a woman when we are condemning her and her actions, but I digress.

Seriously, I've been in the situation where I have been pulled aside by management for saying something offensive, but they won't say what, to someone, but they won't say who, and that I should stop it, but they don't say how. The whole harassment mentality is very kafka-esque. The REAL hostile work environment is created by zero-tolerance crap, which, by definition, means "intolerant."

Human beings are imperfect. "Appropriate" behavior is a myth of the modern workplace police. Human beings build relationships and we communicate. We are not robots. Humor is part of humanity, and sometimes humor is off color. There is a difference between saying, "Hey, my dongle is bigger than yours" and "Have sex with me or your fired."

Also, lets be honest here, if ms Richard heard these jokes from her friends at that conference, she would not have complained. She should try to understand and take to heart Voltaire's quote: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." An evangelist should stand for something besides her own notoriety. Gatherings of human beings are generally improved when we all try to be tolerant of one another.

Comment Of course it is hard (Score 2) 108

The spirit of the law is to protect users. The people creating sites don't care, and are, in fact, hostile to any such consideration.

In all reality, cookies enable some pretty good behavior on web sites, but more often than not, are designed to track user behavior against their own interests.

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