murjinsee

My dad gave me a laptop with games and basic tools on it when I was 2 years old, and i figured that out pretty quickly.

When I was 6, I was allowed to use the internet but there were limitations for time and keyloggers.

My parents gave up when they found out I was booting up with linux off a flash drive at 14.

I feel like I learned more about technology when there were obstacles to overcome, rather than instant gratification.

I would start my own kids off air-gapped and then gradually allow access, since for me it gave me a healthy respect for danger and taught me to find solutions.

Adb yo, you can remove packages without root. Even then, I do wonder what fragments are left behind. I fear Facebook/Google/et. al are too intertwined with the likes of Samsung and LG.

Even when I remove all related packages, Facebook stuff still shows up in the app manager as 'Not Installed'.

Anybody have a complete list of packages and know if removing them prevents data harvesting by FB?

What do you mean? Should refinement equal surface complexity?

It's because our politicians are hypocrites who use morality as prestige, all the while engaging in the very behavior they decry.

I guess there's also less of a paper-trail when prostitution is illegal, and girls are less willing to come forward about beatings and nonpayment, so...

You think it's irreconcilable for an individual to be okay with farming data, but not with indirectly killing people?

Everybody has a slightly different moral compass. Every "good" person does "bad" things.

I highly doubt, for instance, that everyone who commits check fraud would be okay with murder; I also doubt every murderer would be okay with committing check fraud.

I can only view like 4 lists of 13 articles each right now. The website directs you to download an app, which seems to be nothing more than a shortcut to a webpage. When i open the app, there is a banner at the bottom that says, "Get it on Google play".

All in all, Mix seems to be a work in process to me, and not a smooth landing off Stumble

Wouldn't modifying the sample slightly, like lowering pitch by a few cents or stretching parts, also make it seem original?

Audio is definitely too easy to spoof for it to be a security method IMO.

Are they the only provider in your area?

Every year when my contract is about to expire they tell me my rates will be increasing from $60 to $90/mo., I call in and say I want to cancel and go to CenturyLink unless there is a comparable retention offer, and they continuously offer me a similar rate if I sign a new contract. It takes about 5 minutes, though I wish I didn't have to jump through hoops.

In a competitive market, they will do this for me within 2 calls usually with no escalations.

My friends in places where there is no other option go all the way up the chain with no results, since their threat to leave has no teeth.

It was crazy observing the difference in customer service when I moved to a major metro.

What I'm trying to say is that I agree that they suck, but they do subsidize the cities with higher fees in the country, and also that haggling is important.

In addition to competition, there were also safety issues with proprietary chargers. I personally experienced this, when I had an emergency and my LG Lotus was dead. I tried using a borrowed microUSB charger at the hospital, only to be presented with the message, "Please use an LG-branded charger."

The power rating was identical; but, they had some kind of crazy, DRM-like scheme in place.

I'm very glad that I can now use or buy a cable anywhere and use pretty much any block, even an inefficient one.

I don't know any good reason for them not to make ast2 and the battery health check available directly, other than to promote sales and additional door swings at their retail locations.

I've always hated how opaque iOS is; Android allows wayyyy more insight into data/battery stats, and most Android phones (unless carrier locks them down) allow the user to dial a #code to test most features.

Hopefully, Apple will change their tune going forward.

...and yet they comply with ~80% of government requests for user data?

At the end of the day, they still have a way to break their own encryption; they just don't want to set a legal precedent or create tools to allow a third-party to have unfettered access.

Everything they say in public releases is just, "face". It's better than the Facebook or AT&T models of charging for access as a subscription service, but nonetheless I do not believe them when they claim their hardware is opaque to themselves.

Here is a link to their privacy policy: https://www.apple.com/privacy/government-information-request...

It states that they comply with requests by the government for user data, and informs the user unless gagged.

They received over 5000 NSL's in 6 months last year, which seems kind of dumb if they're not handing over data.

I, for one, do not believe that their "secure enclave" is truly secure, that they have no backdoor.

I read Wheeler's statement as sarcasm. He said the decision was "tragic" right before that line. It seems like he is implying that nobody likes cable companies, and now they're going to hate the similarities in internet service providers if this bill passes.

Wheeler, despite being a former industry man, definitely pushed for the consumer agenda despite industry pressure.

I am not sure I follow your line of reasoning. It is obvious that Kaspersky does not advertise itself in such a way, and the average consumer probably has no idea the company is even based out of Russia.

Who cares if Putin personally calls the shots to the leaders of the company? There are a thousand shades of grey, for instance: Kaspersky knowledgeably allowing backdoors about which they could later feign ignorance.

I don’t trust US, Chinese, or Russian software. Big companies with access to sensitive data invariably become targets, and are only allowed to exist peacefully with the blessing of their masters.

...or, just sign out of Snapchat before turning airplane mode off. At least that's how it used to work.

I fix phones for a living and frequently assist customers with calling manufacturers for warranty issues.

LG and HTC are the worst, with the most frequent denial of customer assistance. Samsung and Apple have their faults, but you can typically reach someone helpful when there is an issue.

HTC has some of the worst design decisions I've ever seen. The M8 and M9 each contain approximately 20 pieces of tape on the inside, holding important components together. It takes about 4 hours to replace a screen or charging port, and usually doesn't go back together well.

LG is pretty terrible, as well. Read the horror stories about the G4. The G5 is already exhibiting some of the same flaws, such as half the screen freezing or just showing static, or the device not powering on fully straight out of the box.

Nothing is perfect, and every device has its own faults, but I strongly caution people about dealing with companies like this.

If how the individual came into possession of the property is a mystery, how is it clear the property was illegally obtained? I would be hard-pressed to prove that many of my assets truly belong to me.

Edit: all of this is off-topic, as the bank can be proven the owner and the police would not keep the money.

Then how does God exist? To me, the argument that a creator makes more sense than naturally occurring existence simply displaces the issue. God is then the unexplained, naturally occurring existence.

Yeah, but at the same time... If they want to reap the tax benefits of basing themselves out of a country, I would argue that they should be subject to that country's rule.

Really, calling themselves an "Irish" company seems like tax evasion to me, if it's in name only, with none of the negative ramifications.

Edit: speaking with regard to Apple, though other companies are in the same boat.

Or, "That sounds like a fun challenge! Can I ask you a couple questions to better understand how this company is structured before answering?"

Just saying you don't have enough information to formulate a plausible response doesn't make a very good impression from my experience.

They're asking you to qualify yourself and so you need to know where you fit into the equation.

'Arms dealer': one who sells arms. The point he is making is that, regardless of what is considered legitimate, both this individual and the U.S. government are, by definition, arms dealers.

Or at least that the U.S. is an arms dealer.

All of your audio is recorded (google.com/dashboard) then the audio files are thrown into a lottery. Individual people transcribe what they hear for the computer to build associations.

Or, at least, that's my best guess with zero research and little knowledge.

Thanks for saying this! I work with phones and it's sad to hear people talk about the ever-widening gap technology places between them and their children.

Too many people from younger generations make fun of their parents for being technically illiterate. I spend an hour a week at least bringing my mom up to speed on Google Photos, iOS content management, etc.

It feels good seeing somebody learn how to do things for themselves, and you should hear your parents brag about you for your minor assistance.

I agree with you emotionally, but question your argument legally. What, 'is,' and what, 'should be', are rarely the same thing.

If government wants something forbidden, it creeps towards it. Expectations are meaningless without threats.

This is how it sounds to me. I think it is naive to assume Mr. Gates' character is so one-dimensional. He is a critical thinker; I'm sure he realizes the dichotomy he presents is BS. He wants to protect his legacy.

Mr. Cook, on the other hand, I truly feel is using this issue for a little free (minus legal fees) publicity, and to tell the FBI not to make such a big, public stink if they want cooperation. Like a contract negotiation.

It's easy to believe in someone who says what we want to hear, but necessary to question their motivations.

Honne and tatemae, pure and simple.

Precedence is a serious issue in the U.S. While the end result of this case might not be an immediate, radical policy shift, it would certainly lay the groundwork for that in the future.

You give the devil an inch...

As others have said, this is an attempt to demonize encryption in the eyes of the public.

I truly do not know what to think of the matter, since Apple seems to enjoy a suspicious amount of support from the judicial branch. Tim's letter does seem to fly in the face of our government's desired narrative. Hopefully he gets his vehicle inspected frequently and keeps his closet free of skeletons.