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Comment: Re:I Pay (Score 1) 305

by Arker (#46762507) Attached to: Netflix Gets What It Pays For: Comcast Streaming Speeds Skyrocket
Problem with that line of argument (besides the stupid personal attacks which do not contribute) is that this was never on Netflix's end and that has been confirmed over and over again. Problem only affects people on comcast, and only after someone at comcast got the bright idea to shake Netflix down.  Comcast customers (the few of them with the technical knowledge that is) could get around the breakage by disguising their traffic and many did so.

I hope you are getting paid well to astroturf here, enough to compensate you for your integrity.

Comment: Re:I Pay (Score 1) 305

by Arker (#46762211) Attached to: Netflix Gets What It Pays For: Comcast Streaming Speeds Skyrocket
"It is not Comcast's responsibility to provide enough bandwidth for you to stream a 3rd party software at maximum bandwidth"

Yes, if you paid them for that bandwidth, it is indeed their responsibility to provide it. Third party software? Everything on your computer is third party software, what else would you be using?

Your argument appears to make no sense whatsoever.

Comment: Re:Wat? (Score 2, Insightful) 300

by Arker (#46761787) Attached to: How Does Heartbleed Alter the 'Open Source Is Safer' Discussion?
"The problem here is that people have been using the argument that Open Source is better because these issues can't happen "because" of the visibility."

No, just no. No one with any sort of a clue ever argued these issues cannot happen with Free Software. It's good practice, it helps, but it's no silver bullet. That's just as true as it ever was and this news in no way contradicts that.

Comment: Re:The whole approach is wrong (Score 1) 136

by Arker (#46761253) Attached to: The Security of Popular Programming Languages
"Or at least no such thing as a project that only employs or accepts contributions from such programmers."

You could probably find a few drawing decent salaries in less public areas, but certainly it's a skill that the tech world in general has no appreciation for at all. And even though I hate it I can understand why - if you have two companies developing a similar product, one does it quick and cheap, the other takes the time to do it right - the first one will 'own the market' before the second can get there. And with that position it has the cash flow to keep paying programmers, while the second one closes their doors.

The same dynamic still plagues non-commercial projects as well, a quick but shoddy project can gain mindshare and take off before one that does things right has a product to show at all.

There are a few places where people are willing to pay the price for secure code, and the way things are going I suspect that is increasing, but it's still a tiny minority of available positions.
Power

Lack of US Cybersecurity Across the Electric Grid 65

Posted by Soulskill
from the asking-for-trouble dept.
Lasrick writes: "Meghan McGuinness of the Bipartisan Policy Center writes about the Electric Grid Cybersecurity Initiative, a collaborative effort between the center's Energy and Homeland Security Projects. She points out that over half the attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure sectors last year were on the energy sector. Cyber attacks could come from a variety of sources, and 'a large-scale cyber attack or combined cyber and physical attack could lead to enormous costs, potentially triggering sustained power outages over large portions of the electric grid and prolonged disruptions in communications, food and water supplies, and health care delivery.' ECGI is recommending the creation of a new, industry-supported model that would create incentives for the continual improvement and adaptation needed to respond effectively to rapidly evolving cyber threats. The vulnerability of the grid has been much discussed this last week; McGuinness's recommendations are a good place to start."

Comment: Re:Not even much money (Score 2) 346

by Shakrai (#46759595) Attached to: Intuit, Maker of Turbotax, Lobbies Against Simplified Tax Filings

If you are a die-hard, you can download [irs.gov] the forms and send them in for the price of a stamp or two (my state forms, seven pages of paper, cost $0.70 to mail.)

You don't even have to do that. There's Free Fillable Forms, which are exactly what the title suggests. Electronic copies of all the relevant paper forms that you fill out online and E-File. It doesn't have the logic of Turbotax but it performs basic math checks and saves you the hassle of printing and mailing the forms.

I can't understand why anyone would pay a third party to do their taxes. The logic flow isn't that complicated, even when you throw capital gains and itemized deductions into the mix. I've filed the long form 1040 by hand in years when I had to deal with capital gains and losses and was able to complete it in under two hours. Who are the people who pay Intuit or H&R Block to do their 1040ez filings?

Comment: Re:So Netflix wants to change how it connects (Score 4, Informative) 305

by Arker (#46758189) Attached to: Netflix Gets What It Pays For: Comcast Streaming Speeds Skyrocket
You have basically everything backwards here.

Netflix is not the comcast customer. Netflix pays their own ISP for their bandwidth already.

It's not Netflix which is using all this bandwidth on comcasts network - it's comcast customers who are using it. And they already paid for it.

Comcast wants to bill twice. I am sure they would bill 20 times if they could get away with it.

And they are the 800lb gorilla with an effective monopoly position in many markets and no scruples whatsoever. Netflix folded to extortion, and the precedent is certainly not one that will benefit any users, unless it's the users that are also comcast stock owners.

Comment: Re:Okay, Go! (Score 3, Interesting) 236

by chill (#46758181) Attached to: OpenBSD Team Cleaning Up OpenSSL

Not necessarily. It looks like they're removing what they can't support, such as VMS, Netware and OS/2. The few people that care can still use the original OpenSSL code.

I'd expect them to ensure it support the hardware platforms OpenBSD supports at the very least. Then, if they go the "portable" route like they did for OpenSSH, support for the other Unix and Unix-like systems.

http://www.openssh.com/portable.html

More power to them.

Comment: Re:Ukraine's borders were changed by use of force (Score 1) 223

by Arker (#46757977) Attached to: Is Crimea In Russia? Internet Companies Have Different Answers
The sanctity of treaties? That's your argument? A better argument to quit signing them so promiscuously but let that go for the moment.

The idea that the putsch in Kiev is legitimate successor to the elected government they deposed is... let's just say problematic. At best.

Comment: Re:Overseas comment (Score 2) 358

by Rob the Bold (#46757237) Attached to: Slashdot Asks: How Do You Pay Your Taxes?

I like the UK system - if you're an employee and you're happy with the tax your employer has withheld on your behalf, you don't have to do anything. You get a statement at the end of the year telling you how much you've been paid and how much tax has been withheld - if you think they've got it wrong, or you want to claim deductions, you file a tax return saying so.

We could do this in the US. By could I mean, if we changed tax regulations -- the system is mostly in place already. Wage income is deducted "pay-as-you-go" here, too. All of my interest, dividends and gains were already reported (but not deducted) by the entities that paid them. The IRS could have just sent me a bill for that with what they already know. Most of the data I put on my 1040 is redundant for the IRS. The biggest impediment -- other than changing the law -- would be that not claiming all your deductions could result in paying far more than you really should owe, especially if you have a mortgage, give to charity, or need to report other such deductions.

Comment: Re:base it around my OS (Score 1) 358

by Rob the Bold (#46757061) Attached to: Slashdot Asks: How Do You Pay Your Taxes?

. . . at some point you're clicking quickly because you just want to get shit done and accidentally upgrade yourself to a $120 tax package. After that, you literally cannot back out or restart.

You can, but it requires human intervention from customer service and takes a few hours. Obviously, this would be a problem if it happened at the last minute

The person who's taking you to lunch has no intention of paying.

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