Comment Re:OK, I'll bite. (Score 4, Informative) 685
Hooray for the publicity grab!
The primary purpose of the DATA statement is to give names to constants; instead of referring to pi as 3.141592653589793 at every appearance, the variable PI can be given that value with a DATA statement and used instead of the longer form of the constant. This also simplifies modifying the program, should the value of pi change.
* Early FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers
Diaspora has the benefit of being Open Source, much anticipated, and security aware. Thus, some number of security flaws have been found.
Diaspora is lucky in that regard. Bugs have lain dormant in even open source code for decades before being discovered. "Open Source" does not guarantee that bugs will become obvious. Open Source does not even guarantee that there will be people looking at the code, only that they CAN.
Exactly right.
What I don't understand is the current outcry about the bugs. It's a prealpha release. I'm betting that, as they got so much money from so many people on Kickstarter, they were feeling a lot of pressure to get something out the door, that people could talk about, and devs could start looking at to work on themselves.
I'd say that this move is mostly throwing the hungry dogs a bone - proof of concept, and a rough idea of the architecture; nothing more.
As soon as "intelligent" signals are detected, they destroy the source.
So as long as we keep broadcasting reality TV, we're safe?
The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the `social sciences' is: some do, some don't. -- Ernest Rutherford