by drabiega on 9/5/17, 8:00 PM with 282 comments
by jordigh on 9/6/17, 3:25 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_(web_browser)#Communi...
Plus, people tend to act more morally when they think they might be watched, whether they actually are watched or not.
Whenever someone refuses to show source code I always think, "what are you hiding in there?" There's usually something.
by Nomentatus on 9/6/17, 3:33 AM
We aren't enforcing the laws we have and our grandfathers and mothers had. (Three guesses why.) Not on monopolies, contracts, patent misuse... nothing.
Just this week I and Hearthstone came to a stop - Blizzard's new policy insists on a credit card and that I owe them for purchases made if they leak the card no! I can't sign in to play "my" cards 'till I agree this is totally cool. Sure, the old policy said they could revise it as they liked, but the law says otherwise and always has. They don't care - it'll be years before the law is enforced against them, as it was with Steam and refunds.
No cops - so to speak - on the beat, and Trump vowing to fire more regulators, that's what's changed. The number of potential demons is more of a constant.
by walterbell on 9/5/17, 9:05 PM
From http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a2...
"... farmers have worked on their own equipment "for decades, generations even." Brasch also pointed to the emerging DIY sources of information in the world as a way that farmers and others who want to make repairs can learn about their equipment: "You can go to a YouTube for something as simple as baking a cake to repairing or operating an item. I think that's the way the market is moving. We'd like this market to move with the rest of the world."
This is one of the IP/copyright issues being negotiated in the new version of NAFTA (US, Canada, Mexico), as many farmers are affected.
by captaincrowbar on 9/5/17, 9:47 PM
by SubiculumCode on 9/5/17, 9:39 PM
More and more I see gas pumps ask if you want a receipt BEFORE the gas is dispensed. This seems risky.
If you decline the receipt and then dispense gas, the pump could cheat on the amount of gas dispensed with less risk, as a papered record of the purchase amount and price is not produced.
If on the other hand, the pump waits to ask if you desire a receipt until after the gasoline is dispensed, the dispenser will not know if a written record will be requested, and cheating the customer is riskier.
Therefore, I always request a receipt if asked prior to dispensing my gasoline.
by zackmorris on 9/5/17, 10:58 PM
Form a company that explores new markets in legal liabilities. It could bring lawsuits with little risk where the payoff could be billions of dollars. Off the top of my head:
* Research whether channels were engineered into smartphones to allow water to leak in (since they have no moving parts and should self-evidently be watertight).
* Find the planned-obsolescence parts in things like car doors that were engineered too thin or out of plastic so that door and window handles fail after a certain number of uses.
* Find evidence that companies opted to use proprietary battery and charger form factors which drove up prices and prevented interoperability.
...the list is nearly endless. Most of these seem like they depend on research or whistleblowers. If the free market and regulations won't prevent this kind of widespread hacking then maybe lucrative opportunities could be found working within the courts!
by zaroth on 9/5/17, 9:48 PM
The only thing I can think of is the flash drive is slowing down as it wears. Or, the CPU clock rate is programmed to progressively lower itself the longer it runs.
Has anyone done the performance analysis on used phones to prove this isn't just my brain moving the goalposts as hardware improves, or apps just slowing down as they bloat, but that the old devices really and truly are running the same software significantly slower than when they were new?
by mirimir on 9/6/17, 2:16 AM
This was the norm in the US until the late 1800s. Indeed, corporations had to act in the public interest. And if they didn't, they were dissolved.
But then, the railroad corporations got wealthy enough that they were able to buy favorable Supreme Court rulings. Basically, they got human rights. After former male slaves, but before women.
by adrianratnapala on 9/5/17, 9:32 PM
But I would like a nice readable article like that to appear in more mainstream publications. It should make a good story, being both true and sensationalist and important at the same time.
by Opossum on 9/6/17, 12:31 AM
by shmerl on 9/5/17, 9:21 PM
Also, conditional cheating reminded me The Story of Mel, a Real Programmer: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html
by letlambda on 9/6/17, 2:39 PM
This has actually been the case for some time. The car magazine wouldn't just go borrow a car, they would get one directly from the manufacturer. And the manufacturer would send a ringer, a vehicle with an EPA test-exemption that doesn't have to comply with any emissions regulations.
I suppose the era of Youtube car review channels is bringing that method to a close though.
by ehsankia on 9/5/17, 9:40 PM
I guess they just didn't foresee someone buying the domain.
by eridius on 9/6/17, 1:15 AM
Anyone know what iTunes update he's talking about? I don't remember anything that fits this description.
by Dove on 9/6/17, 1:45 PM
by mathattack on 9/6/17, 11:54 AM
This is a very strong statement. Asking for high margins puts you at war with your customers?
by titzer on 9/6/17, 8:43 AM
In a world populated by IOT devices full of software (as discussed previously https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15034955), we'll end up in a post-scientific world where the underlying rules that govern a device's behavior are so complex and arcane that we'll have little chance of reverse engineering how basic devices work anymore.
I think in practice it will mean that devices become bricks relatively quickly, and when people realize they have been cheated, there will be a strong backlash: imagine "paleo diet" but for devices.
by otakucode on 9/6/17, 5:29 PM
Courts wouldn't have it. They will stop this too. Digital property will be declared property, not licenses. No limits on resale transfer or rental and the like. Companies will howl like stuck pigs. And it will benefit them, as well as consumers, tremendously.
by bluetwo on 9/5/17, 9:56 PM
by donatj on 9/6/17, 12:54 AM
What? Is he being metaphorical or does he mean via the environmental impact? That's a stretch IMHO. Or alternately am I simply missing something?
by sshanky on 9/6/17, 5:46 PM
by carapace on 9/6/17, 5:15 AM
by calinet6 on 9/6/17, 12:24 AM
by hutzlibu on 9/6/17, 10:27 AM
I really want to have my robot servant - but only if he really is MY servant and controlled by ME and not someone else, I do not trust ...
by visvavasu on 9/6/17, 3:58 AM
by MrZongle2 on 9/5/17, 10:26 PM
What's the source for this claim?
by dclowd9901 on 9/5/17, 9:25 PM
Is it nanny-state? Yes, but maybe some people need a nanny.