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Comment Re:Eat your words on MULTIPLE grounds vs fact (Score 1) 298

Hi APK, I knew you were a hosts file fanboi, I didn't know you were a Microsoft astroturfer as well!

FYI, I didn't intend to put words in your mouth, hence why I put "ever?" in brackets (context APK, context...).

Also, if you want people to take you seriously then you need to learn how to summarise your thoughts and present them in a non-td;dr way.

// Note to self, don't feed the trolls

Comment Re:BS (Score 1) 298

Fair enough Windows has been dominant in the PC market for decades but you can hardly say it's been dominant on server platforms for decades (ever?). Maybe for intranet use but as far as internet facing, mission critical servers UNIX, BSD and since the late 90s Linux has been dominant.

Comment Re:ordinance? (Score 1) 18

WIYF:

The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying): mapping Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rebellion in 1745. There was also a more general and nationwide need in light of the potential threat of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars, reflected in the inclusion of the War Department's broad arrow in the agency's logo.

Comment Re:What do you mean not providing a service? (Score 3, Interesting) 18

"The OS are not creating a new Google Maps-style service of their own" was taken from the BBC article.

I figured I'd already broken the first rule of Slashdot by RTFA so I might as well break rule 1 of journalism by not verifying the source.

I suspect what they meant was that the OS is not trying to replace Google Maps. Also, if you were going to provide a (large) dataset for people to use don't you think it would be a good idea to give them a convenient way to browse it before downloading?

Comment Re:Still waiting for a "hackability meter" (Score 1) 159

Agreed that there is no reason users should need to know HOW their passwords are stored but they should care that their passwords are stored safely. Just as an airline passenger should care that the aeroplane they are flying in was manufactured to the highest standards, without needing to know the details of the manufacturing process.

Comment Re:My issue with password restrictions (Score 1) 159

IMO nobody who signs up for a Tesco bank account has any grounds for complaint.

I once asked a friend of mine, who is a professional ski boot fitter, what brands of hiking boots he recommends (he generally knows his stuff when it comes to performance footwear). His response was "buy a brand that makes shoes", meaning ONLY shoes/boots, not brands like North Face or Salomon.

If I asked my local butcher who I should get my bank account with I wouldn't be surprised if he said Tesco.

Comment Re:Still waiting for a "hackability meter" (Score 1) 159

"Your password is stored in a hash of type XXX that is ### bits long, hashed for ### rounds, and salted with ### bits during each round." would tell the user all they need to know about how well their password is going to be protected, and they can make a more informed decision.

Why isn't that part of the meter? Because 99% of users have absolutely no idea what any of that means. It would be a good idea to have that information available to anyone who cares* but it would confuse most users, maybe even put them off signing up.

* Of course users SHOULD care but most don't or at least don't have the time/inclination to learn.

Submission + - A drastic drop in complaints after San Diego outfitted its PD with body cameras

schwit1 writes: Surprise, surprise! Immediately after San Diego outfitted its police force with 600 body camera the number of complaints plunged.

The report, which took one full year into account, found that complaints against police have fallen 40.5 percent and use of “personal body” force by officers has been reduced by 46.5 percent. Use of pepper spray has decreased by 30.5 percent.

Two benefits can be seen immediately. First, the police are being harassed less from false complaints. Second, and more important, the police are finding ways to settle most disputes without the use of force, which means they are abusing their authority less.

These statistics do confirm what many on both the right and the left have begun to believe in recent years, that the police have been almost certainly using force against citizens inappropriately too often. In San Diego at least the cameras are serving to stem this misuse of authority.

Submission + - NY Times: "All The News That Mark Zuckerberg Sees Fit To Print"?

theodp writes: Two years ago, Politico caught Mark Zuckerberg's soon-to-be launched FWD.us PAC boasting how its wealthy tech exec backers would use their companies to 'control the avenues of distribution' for a political message in support of their efforts. Now, the NY Times is reporting that Facebook has been quietly holding talks with at least half a dozen media companies about hosting their content inside Facebook, citing a source who said the Times and Facebook are moving closer to a firm deal. Facebook declined to comment on specific discussions with publishers, but noted it had provided features to help publishers get better traction on Facebook, including tools unveiled in December that let them target their articles to specific groups of Facebook users. The new plan, notes the Times, is championed by Chris Cox, the top lieutenant to Facebook CEO Zuckerberg and a "major supporter" of FWD.us. Exploring Facebook's wooing of the media giants, the Christian Science Monitor asks if social media will control the future of news, citing concerns expressed by Fusion's Felix Salmon, who warns that as news sites sacrifice their brands to reach a wider audience, their incentives for accuracy and editorial judgment will disappear. So, will the Gray Lady's iconic slogan be changed to "All The News That Mark Zuckerberg Sees Fit To Print"?

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