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Comment Thinking is hard (Score 1) 282

When our elected officials are called upon to vote or decide upon an issue, it is assumed that they are well informed on said issue; however, it is difficult to understand the ins and outs of a field they barely comprehend. It's my hope that one day there people that can make decisions for the good of the populous that are informed.

Comment Very Little Correlation (Score 2) 193

I fail to see how internet addressing and numbering is directly related to the NSA (and GCHQ, which Neelie Kroes fails to mention) spying on individuals. Also the argument of agility seems a bit off too. Once you start adding a multitude of (governments) stakeholders to any project, things tend to slow down not become more agile.

Comment It's a matter of motivation (Score 3, Insightful) 250

The larger problem here is motivation of software developers, white hats, and black hats. The developers; whether it be open source or proprietary, tend to code towards a particular functionality and usually with deadlines. The white hats are preforming a job function to the best of their ability usually no more than 40-50 hours a week in teams. Whereas, the black hat is playing a game or solving a puzzle for personal enjoyment reasons. Now, I'm not saying that there is any weakness to any of the aforementioned groups, but when people do things for enjoyment, it tends to yield a higher chance of success especially when the black hat needs only to find a single point of attack in a system that largely extends from the digital realm or job functions of the software developer or the infosec ops.
Android

Submission + - Unscrambling an Android telephone with FROST (uni-erlangen.de)

Noryungi writes: Researchers at the University of Erlangen demonstrates how to recover an Android phone confidential content, with the help of a freezer and FROST, a specially-crafted Android ROM. Quite an interesting set of pictures, starting with wrapping your Android phone in a freezer bag...
Intel

Submission + - Intel Leaving Desktop Motherboard Business (pcworld.com)

An anonymous reader writes: As soon as its next-gen Haswell CPUs ship, Intel will start to leave the desktop motherboard business. It will be a lengthy process, taking at least three years. The company will be focusing instead on smaller and newer form factors. For one, it will be working on its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) boards, which are 4" by 4" and intended to be a self-contained PC. Legacy support for old motherboards and the new Haswell motherboards will continue through their respective warranty periods. 'Given the competitive landscape, it’s not a big surprise that Intel is refocusing its efforts on areas that have greater potential impact on future growth. All segments of the PC business are under extreme pressure, with sales slipping and users gravitating toward tablets and smart phones. Focusing on reference designs for all-in-one PCs, Ultrabooks and tablets will enable Intel’s partners to more rapidly ship products that appeal to the new generation of mobile users.' AnandTech points out that one of the reasons Intel put out motherboards for so long was to assure a baseline level of quality for its CPUs. Now that the boards coming out of Taiwan are of good quality, Intel doesn't need to expend the effort.
AI

Submission + - How Google is becoming an extension of your mind (cnet.com)

An anonymous reader writes: An article at CNET discusses Google's ever-expanding role in search, and where it's heading over the next several years. The author argues it's becoming less of a discrete tool and more an integrated extension of our own minds. He rattles off a list of pie-in-the-sky functions Google could perform, which would have sounded ridiculous a decade ago. Now.. not so much. Quoting: 'Think of Google diagnosing your daughter's illness early based on where she's been, how alert she is, and her skin's temperature, then driving your car to school to bring her home while you're at work. Or Google translating an incomprehensible emergency announcement while you're riding a train in foreign country. Or Google steering your investment portfolio away from a Ponzi scheme. Google, in essence, becomes a part of you. Imagine Google playing a customized audio commentary based on what you look at while on a tourist trip and then sharing photo highlights with your friends as you go. Or Google taking over your car when it concludes based on your steering response time and blink rate that you're no longer fit to drive. Or your Google glasses automatically beaming audio and video to the police when you say a phrase that indicates you're being mugged.'

Comment Routine (Score 1) 1880

I've been without windows (in my boot manager) since '99, but yet still run a copy of 7 and XP in VMs. The problem with ridding myself completely of the OS is one of routine of other users. The demand that I submit or view documents in the latest Word format for work or school requires proprietary software. While Libre/OpenOffice can open these documents, when it comes to margins and other subtle features, OSS differs (likely due to following standards, but I digress). Clearly, gaming is always an issue, but I believe that most users are just so set in their ways that they do not want to be bothered with the hassle of installing another operating system.

On a side note, I had a user bring in their netbook last week. Their Win7 OS had been corrupted (deleted system files...). I replaced it with Ubuntu. It installed cleanly without the need for additional drivers, configuration, or any of the other complaints that MS users typically throw out there. I told her it was like Android and she came back today telling me how great it was working and how her kids want to use the netbook instead of the desktop now. So, I am extremely skeptical of the Windows users that complain about the configuration/installation/maintenance complaints because some distros have become so much like Windows that I'm transitioning to be free of Linux (moving back to Warp ;p ) in the next two years.

Comment Use Mobile Network (Score 1) 558

Does he have cell phone service at his home? He could purchase a fixed wireless terminal and use the cell phone network to connect to the internet.
Granted this won't be as quick as broadband, but it can reach speeds around 200kbps with a GSM/Edge based cell network, it's doubtful that he has 3G in his area yet.
Then all he would have to do is get a SIM chip and pay the cell phone company for a plan that includes unlimited data transfers.

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