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Comment Re:ROFL (Score 1) 231

by Z00L00K (#48353087) Attached to: Canadian Police Recommend Ending Anonymity On the Internet

The problem as I see it is not the authorities, but that if you have an unusual name and have opinions that aren't popular in one camp then you run the risk of getting harassed. Even if your opinion is legal and acceptable you can still run this risk. You will only have to go as far as a political opinion that can cause trench warfare. Like Obamacare.

Some people have the tendency to focus more on you as a person than on the issue.

The end result will be that people won't dare to publish their opinions due to the risk of being followed, getting their property damaged or worse.

Submission + - Gridlock In Action: Retailers Demand New Regulations To Protect Consumers (securityledger.com)

Submitted by chicksdaddy
chicksdaddy writes: How bad is the gridlock in Washington D.C.? So bad that the nation's retailers are calling for federal legislation on cyber security and data protection to protect consumer information — this even though they would bear the brunt of whatever legislation is passed.

The Security Ledger notes (https://securityledger.com/2014/11/retailers-demanding-federal-action-on-data-breach/) that groups representing many of the nation's retailers sent a letter to Congressional leaders last week urging them to pass federal data protection legislation that sets clear rules for businesses serving consumers. The letter, dated November 6, was addressed to the majority and minority party leaders of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and signed by 44 state and national organizations representing retailers, including the National Retail Federation, the National Grocers Association, the National Restaurant Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, among others.

“The recent spate of news stories about data security incidents raises concerns for all American consumers and for the businesses with which they frequently interact,” the letter reads. “A single federal law applying to all breached entities would ensure clear, concise and consistent notices to all affected consumers regardless of where they live or where the breach occurs.”

Retailers would likely bare the brunt of a new federal data protection law. The motivation for pushng for one anyway may be simplicity. Currently, there are 47 different state-based security breach notification laws, as well as laws in the District of Columbia and Guam. (http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/security-breach-notification-laws.aspx) There is broad, bi-partisan agreement on the need for a data breach and consumer protection law. However, small differences of opinion on its scope and provisions, exacerbated by political gridlock in Congress since 2010 have combined to stay the federal government’s hand.

Submission + - Obama pressures FCC for strong net neutrality rules (reuters.com)

Submitted by jriding
jriding writes: Obama posted a statement and video message online acknowledging the FCC is an independent agency and that the decision is "theirs alone." But he sided with consumer advocates in calling for the FCC to explicitly ban "paid prioritization" and reclassify ISPs to be regulated more like public utilities.

ISPs have fought hard against potential reclassification, and Verizon on Monday said such a "gratuitous" move would probably not stand up in court.

Submission + - Scientists Discover Virus That Makes People Stupid

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: The Sunday Times reports that scientists have found a virus that appears to infect human brains, reducing people’s thinking power including their spatial awareness and attention span. The virus, ATCV-1, seems to alter genes governing brain function. “Unexpectedly, we identified DNA sequences of ATCV-1, an algal virus not previously known to infect humans, in oropharyngeal [throat] samples from healthy adults,” said the researchers. “ATCV-1 was associated with a modest but measurable decrease in cognitive functioning.” By using modern bioinformatics analysis, the genes effected were found to be involved in pathways related to dopamine receptor signaling, cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) signaling, antigen presentation, immune cell adhesion, and eukaryotic initiation factor 2. Note that dopamine is a central component of many psychiatric conditions.

Submission + - Nevada Earthquake Swarm Increases Chance Of Larger Quake

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Hundreds of small earthquakes have been gaining in strength in northwestern Nevada. The Nevada region bordering California and Oregon was hit by 18 quakes in less than 24 hours, with magnitudes measuring from 2.7 to 4.5. According to CNN: "This does not necessarily mean a big one will come, state seismologists said, but they added that it's good to be prepared, just in case. Seismologists refer to such quake groupings as swarms, and the U.S. Geological Survey has detected them regularly. They can produce thousands of small tremors."

Submission + - Major Performance Improvement Discovered For Intel's GPU Linux Driver (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: LunarG on contract with Valve Software discovered a critical shortcoming with the open-source Intel Linux graphics driver that was handicapping the performance. A special bit wasn't being set by the Linux driver but was by the Windows driver, which when enabled is increasing the Linux performance in many games by now ~20%+, which should allow for a much more competitive showing between Intel OpenGL performance on Windows vs. Linux. However, the patch setting this bit isn't public yet as apparently it's breaking video acceleration in certain cases.

Comment Re:Or, to put it another way... (Score 5, Insightful) 217

by Z00L00K (#48317225) Attached to: The Effect of Programming Language On Software Quality

So far my preference lies with static strongly typed languages, and from the question of code quality it's certainly helpful.

However the real strength of static strongly typed languages is when it comes to maintenance. The original programmer knows what he's using, but someone inheriting an old code base will need to put down a large amount of time to figure out how it's actually built and what a certain type do. A dynamically typed solution tends to be elusive and can change the semantics depending on how it's used, which can range from confusing to outright hilarious.

Submission + - Verizon, AT&T tracking their users with 'supercookies' (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: Verizon and AT&T have been quietly tracking the Internet activity of more than 100 million cellular customers with what critics have dubbed “supercookies” — markers so powerful that it’s difficult for even savvy users to escape them.

The technology has allowed the companies to monitor which sites their customers visit, cataloging their tastes and interests. Consumers cannot erase these supercookies or evade them by using browser settings, such as the “private” or “incognito” modes that are popular among users wary of corporate or government surveillance.

Comment Re:This is the first election I've skipped since 2 (Score 1) 551

by Z00L00K (#48316417) Attached to: In this year's US mid-term elections ...

So essentially you are only able to vote for the ones that you are told you can vote for - not very different from the old communist block election system.

Where I live it is permitted to pick the ballot for the party that suits you, some have a list of candidates for that party, some are blank. If you have a blank you can add the name you like. An interesting side effect is that sometimes people have been voted in without knowing it - but it's rare.

It's of course also possible to put in a blank ballot.

The restriction against ballot stuffing and so on is instead by verifying that you have voted against a list using your photo ID as confirmation.

Comment From being obscure to being world famous. (Score 3, Insightful) 257

Dejan Lazic went from being obscure to being world famous for the wrong reason, now he will remain in the memories of people as a person not able to take criticism.

How many did know of him before this story?
Who will hire him for a concert now?

If I wanted an obnoxious person-centered musician with an ego the size of Mount Everest I would hire Prince.
If I wanted a piano player that is fun to watch I'd take Robert Wells instead.

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