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Comment +1 (Score 1) 20

This is an *excellent* summary of the tension between being welcoming to new contributors and staving off maintainer burnout. Because if there was a bug / deliberate nefarious thing hidden in that "innocent" 300-line refactoring patch, the maintainer's the one who's gonna be on the hook for it, not the contributor who may be long gone. :\

Whereas, if you take work *off* a maintainer's plate by doing a "thankless" task like improving docs or writing test cases, it's good things all around.

Comment "I want to have fun" — Precisely! (Score 1) 20

Yep. That is exactly the point of Codes of Conduct, so that **everyone** can just have fun and not worry about being harassed, berated, singled out for some immutable trait, and so on.

If having fun for you necessitates having the freedom to do this to other people, maybe carefully sit down and consider your life choices. ;)

Comment Fair enough! Thanks for the feedback. (Score 2) 20

Sometimes you're too immersed in things and forget what assumptions you're making! :)

I actually think the comment by Pseudonymous Powers at https://developers.slashdot.or... does a *fantastic* job of laying out some of those pitfalls, but to be more explicit, I've now added a new section towards the bottom of the article that itemizes them more explicitly: https://webchick.hashnode.dev/...

Hope that helps, and thanks again the candid feedback!

Submission + - Maryland To Become First State To Tax Online Ads Sold By Facebook And Google. (npr.org)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: With a pair of votes, Maryland can now claim to be a pioneer: it's the first place in the country that will impose a tax on the sale of online ads.

The House of Delegates and Senate both voted this week to override Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of a bill passed last year to levy a tax on online ads. The tax will apply to the revenue companies like Facebook and Google make from selling digital ads, and will range from 2.5% to 10% per ad, depending on the value of the company selling the ad. (The tax would only apply to companies making more than $100 million a year.)

Proponents say the new tax is simply a reflection of where the economy has gone, and an attempt to have Maryland's tax code catch up to it. The tax is expected to draw in an estimated $250 million a year to help fund an ambitious decade-long overhaul of public education in the state that's expected to cost $4 billion a year in new spending by 2030. (Hogan also vetoed that bill, and the Democrat-led General Assembly also overrode him this week.)

Still, there remains the possibility of lawsuits to stop the tax from taking effect; Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh warned last year that "there is some risk" that a court could strike down some provisions of the bill over constitutional concerns.

Submission + - Tesla Wins Lawsuit Against Whistleblower Accused of Hacks (cnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The US District Court of Nevada awarded Tesla a win in its lawsuit against a former employee, filed two years ago. You may recall CEO Elon Musk referred to this incident in a previously leaked email calling on employees to be "extremely vigilant." Martin Tripp, who worked at the company's Nevada Gigafactory, was accused of hacking the automaker and supplying sensitive information to unnamed third parties. Reuters reported Friday the court ruled in Tesla's favor and dismissed Tripp's motion to file another reply to the court. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but according to Reuters, the court will grant Tesla's motion to seal the case.

Submission + - DuckDuckGo Is Growing Fast (bleepingcomputer.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine, announced that August 2020 ended in over 2 billion total searches via its search platform. While Google remains the most popular search engine, DuckDuckGo has gained a great deal of traction in recent months as more and more users have begun to value their privacy on the internet. DuckDuckGo saw over 2 billion searches and 4 million app/extension installations, and the company also said that they have over 65 million active users. DuckDuckGo could shatter its old traffic record if the same growth trend continues. Even though DuckDuckGo is growing rapidly, it still controls less than 2 percent of all search volume in the United States. However, DuckDuckGo's growth trend has continued throughout the year, mainly due to Google and other companies' privacy scandal.

Submission + - Why passenger jets could soon be flying in formation (cnn.com)

Submitted by ragnar_ianal
ragnar_ianal writes: Look at the V-shaped formations of migrating ducks and scientists have long surmised that there are aeronautical efficiencies at play. Aerbus is examining this in a practical manner to see if fuel efficiency can be enhanced.

Building on test flights in 2016 with an Airbus A380 megajet and A350-900 wide-body jetliner, fello'fly hopes to demonstrate and quantify the aerodynamic efficiencies while developing in-flight operational procedures. Initial flight testing with two A350s began in March 2020. The program will be expanded next year to include the involvement of Frenchbee and SAS airlines, along with air traffic control and air navigation service providers from France, the UK, and Europe.

"It's very, very different from what the military would call formation flight. It's really nothing to do with close formation," explained Dr. Sandra Bour Schaeffer, CEO of Airbus UpNext, in an interview with CNN Travel.

Comment Re:They already have rail for San Jose - SF (Score 1) 392

by dtremenak (#58113900) Attached to: California Will Not Complete $77 Billion High-Speed Rail Project
San Diego-LA is currently served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner (not really commuter service). San Diego-Oceanside commuter rail is the Coaster, and Oceanside-LA commuter rail is the Metrolink Orange County line...if you want to go between San Diego and anywhere in the LA area outside of Orange County you pretty much have to change trains either two or three times, on a minimum of two different tickets. HSR between the major metro hubs (SAN and LAX, and probably stopping in Anaheim at least) makes a lot of sense, not that anybody will ever do it...they're too busy building in the middle of nowhere.
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Transactions Lead To Arrest of Major Drug Dealer (techspot.com) 169

Posted by EditorDavid from the bitcoin-and-beards dept.
"Drug dealer caught because of BitCoin usage," writes Slashdot reader DogDude. TechSpot reports: 38-year-old French national Gal Vallerius stands accused of acting as an administrator, senior moderator, and vendor for dark web marketplace Dream Market, where visitors can purchase anything from heroin to stolen financial data. Upon arriving at Atlanta international airport on August 31, Vallerius was arrested and his laptop searched. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents allegedly discovered $500,000 of Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash on the computer, as well a Tor installation and a PGP encryption key for someone called OxyMonster...

In addition to his role with the site, agents had identified OxyMonster as a major seller of Oxycontin and crystal meth. "OxyMonster's vendor profile featured listings for Schedule II controlled substances Oxycontin and Ritalin," testified DEA agent Austin Love. "His profile listed 60 prior sales and five-star reviews from buyers. In addition, his profile stated that he ships from France to anywhere in Europe." Investigators discovered OxyMonster's real identity by tracing outgoing Bitcoin transactions from his tip jar to wallets registered to Vallerius. Agents then checked his Twitter and Instagram accounts, where they found many writing similarities, including regular use of quotation marks, double exclamation marks, and the word "cheers," as well as intermittent French posts. The evidence led to a warrant being issued for Vallerius' arrest.
U.S. investigators had been monitoring the site for nearly two years, but got their break when Vallerius flew to the U.S. for a beard-growing competition in Austin, Texas. He now faces a life sentence for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Comment Re:I removed money from corporate pockets today (Score 1) 169

Not to hear them whinge about it. Each used sale takes money away from them in their own whines and words. Because if they could keep you from buying the used copy, they could sell you the new one (If I'm disinterested in spending the money, no, you wouldn't- but they don't see things that way...)...

Here's an example of the thinking there...and a study that shows how dangerous the thinking actually might be...

Comment Re:Search for and Not Found (Score 1) 169

Bingo! Not sharing that you found nothing means you're trying to hide things...

It is a requirement, though not often followed in any endeavor these days, to show your "homework" for a given conclusion or set thereof.

Doesn't matter if you're talking a Law, or a bit of Physics research.

Hiding things or discounting them because they don't provide you conclusive answers is not science, law, or the like- it's merely religion in other clothing.

Comment Re:Irrelevant (Score 1) 169

Ah, this is so cute.

Copyright is an artificial, government backed monopoly on the publication and distribution of a "protected" work .

You are not assured of any money whatsoever. Ever. The LGP edition of Ballistics from Grin, SE proved that out to me. Even if there wasn't the 5-10k units of pirated versions on The Pirate Bay out there, the thing probably wouldn't have been much more sold for Linux.

Not because of the Linux market's "small". I know better. You appear to not.
Not because of the piracy, though that didn't help. I know better. You appear to not.

It was because we couldn't price the thing to what the market, at that time, could willingly bear. People would point to the bargain-bin priced Windows version and ask why they should spend $40 when it's available for $5, with the understanding that it only ran so-so under WINE. Seriously.

People will pay you what they believe it is worth. I know this because I saw some small, but real amounts of money from my participation with the Humble Indie Bundle #2. No DRM. No BS. Pay me what you thought this was worth or donate it all to charity- or somewhere in-between. It's my right and desire to control how it's shipped, copied, etc. within the limits allowed me by law for things, relative to work for hire, etc. that I agree to. But, to say what you said? X-D

Do you have IP, which is to say, creative works protected by Copyright or Patent? I. Do. As a rights holder, I can tell you that the rights are only worth the amount you are legally able to pursue enforcement of the same. Unless you're a big, big corporation, there's some hard limits on your rights there- because you don't have the finances and all to defend the same. Legally speaking, your only position (hint: Morality doesn't even factor into this...) is to not use the works in question. Morally? You should abide by the law so long as it's not wrong/evil. DMCA? Probably wrong/evil. Copyright? You have fair use exemptions, which in many cases people "stealing" it all fall under. And, it's not theft. It's infringing on your right to control publication and distribution. Again...no assurances of money. No assurances of people doing the legally right thing...ever.

Morality? This varies between persons and what faiths and beliefs they hold. I don't hold yours...why should I let you dictate to me that? (Oh, WAIT... I don't ,)

Submission + - Oreo means no going back (androidpolice.com) 1

Submitted by jbernardo
jbernardo writes: Google is using the boiling frog method to exclude power users and custom ROMS from android.

A new feature in Android 8.0 Oreo, called "Rollback Protection" and included in the "Verified Boot" changes, will prevent a device from booting should it be rolled back to an earlier firmware. The detailed information is here.

As it rejects an image if its "rollback index" is inferior than the one in "tamper evident storage", any attempts to install a previous version of the official, signed ROM will make the device unbootable. Much like iOS (without the rollback grace period) or the extinct Lumias. It is explained in the recommended boot workflow and notes below, together with some other "smart" ideas.

Now, this might seem like a good idea at first, but let's just just imagine this on a PC. It would mean no easy roll back from windows 10 to 7 after a forced installation, and doing that or installing linux would mean a unreasonably complex bootloader unlocking, with all your data wiped. Add safetynet to the mix, and you would also be blocked from watching netflix or accessing your banking sites if you dared to install linux or rollback windows.

To add insult to injury, unlocked devices will stop booting for at least 10 seconds to show some paternalist message on how unlocking is bad for your health — "If the device has a screen and buttons (for example if it's a phone) the warning is to be shown for at least 10 seconds before the boot process continues."

Now, and knowing that most if not all android bootloaders have vulnerabilities/backdoors, how can this be defended, even with the "security/think of the children" approach? This has no advantages other than making it hard for users to install ROMs or to revert to a previous official ROM to restore missing functionality.

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