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Comment Re:Complete idiocy (Score 1) 207

So if your friends like webmail and want to be secure, set up your own community mail server using SSL protected RoundCube backended with whatever IMAP server you like. The UI is easily as good as most webmail providers, and they get the added benefit that all mail between them won't leave the server and SSL ensures that the mail is protected.

SSL protected RoundCube is the easiest way for a group of friends to securely communicate.

Comment Re:Not much of a defense (Score 1) 358

See that's the thing. We always hear "well, people clamour for politicians to do something". However, I don't actually think that people do. The media makes a big deal out of disruptive events, however actual people on the streets? When was the last time you saw people staging a rally about cancer? More people are affected by cancer than are by terrorism. How about heart disease, which is the biggest killer in the US? How about car accidents?

I posit that it is government machinations that CLAIM that actions like implementing national security reforms are in response to populist demand for action, when in reality these policies are just the hammer falls of classic Hegelian dialectic methods.

Comment Re:For fucks sake google hating shills. (Score 1) 555

How does using what you contracted to get amount to "abusive behaviour"? There are other ways to prevent ping flooding. Perhaps the same way we limit things like free speech by; saying it's only free so long as you don't harm others.

If they advertise "10mbits unlimited" then they have to deliver "10 mbits unlimited". If they want to prevent overuse, then why don't they just say "10mbits, 1tb quota" or something similar. That's how it is here in Australia. I have a 200gb plan and anything I use above that is shaped to 256k. My use fits well within that and if I need more I can up to a 500gb or 1tb plan. No uncertain "acceptable use" clauses. I can transfer 200gb, and as long as I'm not doing anything illegal like attempting to hack into a government database or peddling child porn, I don't need to worry about getting reprimanding calls from my ISP or LEO.

The net neutrality debate is NOT about preventing abuse, as many naive people would like to believe. It is about ensuring that home users don't develop services that compete with commercial ones.

For example, Google doesn't want anyone starting up community-run OwnCloud instances reducing the attractiveness of Google's services now do they? How hard would it be to run a server to sync your contacts, files, calendar and other PIM data either yourself or with a group of friends? We're pretty much there with open source software like OwnCloud and Zimbra. THIS is what Google and other service providers don't want. They are protecting their ability to monetise you and charge you for the basic services that could be done privately, securely and effectively yourself.

Comment Re:Don't be evil (some of the time) (Score 5, Interesting) 555

The net neutrality debate is NOT about preventing abuse, as many naive people would like to believe. It is about ensuring that home users don't develop services that compete with commercial ones.

For example, Google doesn't want anyone starting up community-run OwnCloud instances reducing the attractiveness of Google's services now do they? How hard would it be to run a server to sync your contacts, files, calendar and other PIM data either yourself or with a group of friends? We're pretty much there with open source software like OwnCloud and Zimbra. THIS is what Google and other service providers don't want. They are protecting their ability to monetise you and charge you for the basic services that could be done privately, securely and effectively either yourself or by community groups.

Comment Re:Don't be evil (some of the time) (Score 5, Insightful) 555

So Google successfully conned the nerd herds into loving them with ostentatious nerd-friendly marketing in the late 90s and 00s, and now that they have acquired their financial and political power, the draw back the curtain to reveal Microsoft's policies on steroids.

"Somehow, 'I told you so' just doesn't say it."
- Will Smith.

Comment Re:True (Score 1) 230

What kept you from using a tablet (wacom-style tablets) before? I've been paperless for ages, and there's no credit for the Surface Pro there.

What kept me from using a wacom style tablet before? Well, being able to carry a single device and jot on it in the same way as one would a real clipboard and paper is not possible if you're carrying multiple devices with cables between them. With surface pro, you literally walk around taking notes, snapping photos recording conversations or jotting quick pieces of information as you go, with a device that can do what a real piece of paper can as well all the other cool stuff a laptop can.

If you've managed to be paperless using a wacom style tablet, then congratulations on being able to, but your job differs from the majority of normal peoples' jobs.

Device, and OS. Actually, how can note-taking be "the best in the planet" when (a) note taking is extremely simple to do right (b) OS and device support is so aweful (c) shareware? REALLY?

Modern note taking is a technically non-trivial task, especially when you consider that OneNote consolidates free inking functionality, text note taking with a keyboard, importing content from Internet, embedding audio and video notes and makes it all nicely polished. If notepad.exe suffices for your needs, then fine, but I believe I pre-empted the "my use case is simple therefore anything more complex is wrong" argument in my previous post.

Sure, because word now has better formatting and backwards/forwards compatibility than latex had 2 decades ago.

Latex isn't even analogous to a word processor. Do you have any connection to the real work that real people do? Or are you one of those BOFH types who revels in wielding petty power from the dungeon of an office building, only emerging to unjam a printer somewhere?

The fact the businesses use it and that it's here to stay don't make it a good product. That's just good marketing.
MSO is incredibly immature, and extremely hard to use.

You say MSO is hard to use after considering Latex to be an alternative product? You're living on bizarro world. Thankfully, I don't live there, which is why we disagree.

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