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Comment Re:The only answer (Score 1) 312

Well, sure, Tor provides very good anonymity and should be able to do so even when this system is introduced: ultimately, they're not going to know what you're doing and shouldn't be able to see who you're connecting to on the other side of the Tor network. The problem is that your ISP knows who you are, knows where you live and knows that you're using Tor for some reason (one could deduce from the logs that you're using Tor as they'll show that you're connecting to a Tor node or they'll be able to use packet inspection). Given that the government will have access to your ISP's logs, they'll know that you're using Tor and, consequently, you reveal that you've got something to hide.
End results is that you look suspicious: even if you're only trying to hide a minor secret (researching an embarrassing health condition over your landlord's wifi, say), it might cause the government to use heavier tactics against you in order to learn what it is. While this sounds paranoid, most people forget that the UK has a huge amount of existing legislation that would allow them to do this legally, easily and sometimes without court oversight.
Examples: tap your phone, track your cellphone, inspect your mail, watch your credit card transactions, read your email or, perhaps scarily of all, track your car using the automated license plate recognition system that exists on all UK highways. I'm not making this stuff up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police-enforced_ANPR_in_the_UK
UK domestic surveillance is frighteningly draconian and, amazingly, none of the population (many of who are convinced by "won't somebody please think of the children?") actually seem to give a damn.

Comment Re:The only answer (Score 1) 312

Use Tor and you've told them everything they need to know...
Seriously though, it will be interesting to see how the government responds to suddenly seeing an entire nation's Tor use. Either:
(i) Everyone ends up becoming a suspect and gets subjected to other kinds of surveillance
(ii) Tor (and similar methods) get banned.
(iii) The system allows good statistical traffic analysis to be performed (less likely, as you'll be crossing borders but not impossible) and makes you less anonymous.
Ultimately though, the system cannot catch smart criminals, criminals who were operating in the open (and might have been caught) will start going underground and will no longer be caught which means the system will only be useful against dumb criminals (who would have been caught anyway) and a entire nation of innocent suspects. Um, e-petition, anyone? http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/32400
How can the the same nation that gave the world Orwell, Huxley, Oxford and Cambridge decide to pass something as dumb and self-defeating as this?

Submission + - BC's top doc declares ecstacy safe (theglobeandmail.com)

Lev13than writes: B.C.’s top health official says taking pure ecstasy can be “safe” when consumed responsibly by adults. Dr. Perry Kendall asserts the risks of MDMA – the pure substance originally synonymous with ecstasy – are overblown, and that its lethal dangers only arise when the man-made chemical is polluted by money-hungry gangs who cook it up. That’s why the chief provincial health officer is advocating MDMA be legalized and sold through licensed, government-run stores where the product is strictly regulated from assembly line to check-out.
Politics

Submission + - UK Government finally specifies plans for Internet Monitoring (theregister.co.uk)

frostilicus2 writes: The Register reports that Home Secretary Theresa May has finally specified her plans to monitor all UK internet and digital communications. The release generated so much interest that the Home Office's website went down for several hours. Sign the government e-petition in opposition, perhaps? ;)
AI

Submission + - The Volume Clock, Insights Into High Frequency Trading (ssrn.com)

demachina writes: Interesting paper on High Frequency Trading, speed isn't their only advantage, "HFT reacts to information leaked by LFT in order to anticipate their actions". HFT also uses a volume clock which offers advantages over time based trading. Toxic trading strategies they use include quote stuffers, quote danglers, liquidity squeezers, and pack hunters where algorithms gang up for kills. The paper also covers strategies low frequency traders(LFT) and humans can use to defend themselves

Submission + - Vein Grown From Her Own Stem Cells Saves 10-Year-Old Swedish Girl

An anonymous reader writes: A ten year old girl became the first person in the world to get a major blood vessel replaced by one grown using her own stem cells.
The 10-year-old from Sweden had a blockage of a vein from her liver. The doctors decided to give her a new vein instead of a liver transplant or giving her a vein from her own body, Associated Press reported.
Games

Submission + - Will Wright, other gaming greats talk about the future of gaming (cnn.com)

An anonymous reader writes: CNN has run a story interviewing Will Wright, Peter Molyneux, and other gaming luminaries talking about the future of gaming in a more mobile world. Among what they and other gaming insiders had to say:

* Multi-screen is starting to be designed into games from the start. Your big screen TV and game console, your smart phone, and your iPad will all participate in the gaming experience. You will be able to continue playing a game on your mobile device after you leave your living room, and you will be able to use your mobile device to enhance the gaming experience as you play on your large screen.

* There is an influx of new gaming experiences coming online as touch becomes integrated into the gaming experience.

* Younger gamers are more likely to adopt mobile devices as their primary gaming environment. "Smartphones, tablets and smart TVs are the first devices that the new generation will adopt rather than old PCs or gaming consoles."

* Console game makers are "aggressively expanding" their efforts to expand their offerings to include mobile devices.

* The graphics capability of tablets is quickly expanding to "equal current console offerings", and this will allow rich gaming experiences on mobile devices.

Microsoft

Submission + - PC makers 'not thrilled' with Windows 8, holding off on tablets (networkworld.com)

colinneagle writes: If the accumulating negative reviews for Windows 8 (here, here and here, among others) aren't enough to raise alarm bells in Redmond, maybe this will do it: a Wall Street analyst firm has issued a research note that says OEMs are giving Windows 8 a thumbs-down.

As part of an overall IT hardware report from the massive Computex show in Taipei, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White noted the potential for a Q3 slowdown because OEMs are "not thrilled" with Windows 8.

"During our conversation, we noticed a general lack of enthusiasm around Windows 8 for the notebook computer market and uncertainty around the success of the launch this fall. In fact, our contact will monitor the acceptance around Windows 8 before launching a tablet around the new operating system," he wrote.

White was writing from a hardware perspective, and noted that if Ultrabooks are unable to reach a price point of $699 or lower, he felt consumers will continue to opt for Apple’s MacBook Air. And that was before Apple introduced its new MacBooks that have everyone drooling.

He also noted that the OEMs are pretty mad at the leading HDD vendors because the company was told that HDD pricing isn’t expected to change much until the latter part of 2013. They had been expecting price cuts sooner than that.

Biotech

Submission + - Antibody cocktail cures monkeys of Ebola (nature.com)

ananyo writes: "From the Nature story:
Monkeys infected with Ebola have been cured by a cocktail of three antibodies first administered 24 hours or more after exposure. The result raises hopes that a future treatment could improve the chances of humans surviving the disease caused by the deadly virus, which kills up to 90% of infected people and could potentially be used as a biological weapon. Most treatment regimes tested to date only improve chances of survival if administered within one hour of infection (abstract)."

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