Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Evidently this guy is going to prison. See details here, with a link to VideoSift from Gizmodo. Ta

http://gizmodo.com/#!5723577/powerbalance-admits-their-wristbands-are-a-scam

Net neutrailty
In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Have you seen the tits on Net Neutrality?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
It's better than an unhealthy obsession with Net neutrality.
In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Also I think you have an unhealthy fascination with Wonder Woman.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I'm beginning to think that you write Cyanide & Happiness.

Deserves an upvote despite its "edited in the kitchen" look. Also, related:
http://gizmodo.com/5723577/powerbalance-admits-their-wristbands-are-a-scam

Coincidence, or magic? You decide.

You can download the torrent that was released a weak or so ago with the passwords of many users of the Gawker owned webspites: Deadspin, Fleshbot, Gizmodo, io9, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Kotaku and Lifehacker.

I've been meaning to try password programs like Roboform.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

What a massive, horrible breach. I'm glad I don't log on to any of those sites, though I do often visit io9 and gizmodo.

I still remember when discussing (well before the new body scanners, years ago) with someone about the TSA and the checks they do. He seemed to be OK with whatever they did and was of the standard "well if you are doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about" crowd. I had asked him "Well what if they started doing (insert unlikely scenario here) would you be ok with that then?" and he did not seem to really think that would happen. He just eventually would call me paranoid, although I think he probably imagined as secretly being a terroist. Or something. With the past week of news about the TSA now I do not feel so bad looking back.

The biggest trouble is that the TSA is always knee-jerk reaction to whatever threat that occurs rather than looking forward. They will always forever be playing catchup rather than implementing procedures that work. Shoe bomber? Have everyone x-ray their shoes... afterward. Underwear guy? Full body scans... afterward. What's next?

Granted there is no perfect solution. Regressing on the security back to the 60s would yield an incident (hijacking, bombing, etc) where everyone will just panic and demand more intrusive scans than before. Israeli level interrigations and questioning (they do high security through profiling/body language/etc rather than relying on machinery) while being skilled is impractical in the US. Throwing out the fact you would need to show up to the airport hours early it would simply cost too much for a country our size.

What gets under my skin from sheer stupidity though, is why are the pilots being subject to this? They just have to push the stick forward to be a terrorist. Going through those scanners day in and day out (when even TSA agents themselves have worried about its radiation from the outside) cannot be a good thing for them. Damn right they should be protesting this crap.

Personally? I'm really torn. If someone does The Dark Knight or uses a buttplug bomb I can only forsee flying in the US becoming The Fifth Element where everyone is simply knocked out for the duration of the flight. As much as this country puts up with I would have a really hard time believing that the average citizen would put up with downright cavity searches before getting on a plane.

Then again... I am probably sounding naive. This security theatre bullshit has got to stop either way. I'm genuinely more afraid of the TSA goons than the remote chance of someone blowing the plane to smitherines. Fuck, mechanical failure or some other fault is likely much more of a threat than terrorism.

</rant> The reason I sound pissed off is that if I want to fly I have to go through the redneck rivera TSA that is part of MCO here in Florida. I knew they were lying about the stored images from the start but what is batshit stupid is they installed the scanners there just the past week and already the images are being leaked out. Pardon the expression but Jesus Holy Titty Fucking Christ.

(Reference: http://gizmodo.com/5690749/ This is what I read earlier today, and what just makes my blood boil. Then again when the local news website posted the story about the guy who is in hot water over refusing the scan and patdown facing fines... most of the commenters were of the "Flying is a privilege not a right" or "YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO FLY BECUASE OF 9/11 GOD BLESS THEIR SOULS" bullshit. I guess in Florida its ok to shred the 4th amendment as long as it you are a believer.)

Fuck this. I'm cancelling my damn trip next year. I'll fucking drive.

Translation from Mandarin Chinese:

The 4th gen iPhone continues to stir debate, Jobs is busy putting out the fire.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs helped his company earn several billion dollars, thanks to the popularity of the iPod and iPhone.

The size of Apple now exceeds that of Microsoft. Jobs has become the most important figure in the field of technology. However, some people claim that the more business Jobs does, the more evil he is becoming.

When the iPhone 4 prototype was obtained by Gizmodo, Jobs ordered police to raid the house of Jason Chen, forcing him to relinquish the prototype.

There were recent reports that certain Apple-contracted factories are abusing employees. Some people think Apple was too cold-hearted when handling the situation.

Many users do not like being forced into an AT&T service contract when purchasing iPhone and have banded together to report Apple. The latest issue is the reception issue with the iPhone. Jobs claims the fault is not with Apple, but the consumer blocking the antenna with his/her hands, causing weak reception. As long as users do not block the antenna there are no issues. However, when Consumer Reports denied recommendation of the iPhone 4, Jobs realized that his charade was over. Jobs held a press conference to explain the issue. Jobs claimed that the iPhone 4 did have antenna issues, but other smartphones had the same problems as well. If users are still unsatisfied, Apple will send out free bumpers to alleviate the issue.

Spotted on Gizmodo.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I blame Gizmodo.

More info
http://gizmodo.com/5567328/space-robot-can-repair-ships-or-bring-satellites-to-fiery-doom

I don't know which is more pathetic, the fact Gizmodo didn't even stop to think this was inappropriate or the fact hordes of apple fan boys would find it justified, if only to get a glimpse at Apple's next piece of poo poo.

Anyways, right on.

1- One of the main wireless network engineers

2- So one of the main wireless network engineers can test the unit in real world conditions (see dags response)

3- The name of the person who found it was not given. I'm guessing since he lives in Silicon Valley, he's quite probably a tech geek, thought the phone looked odd, and wanted to take it apart to see why

4- Yes. Using mobile me, you can easily turn the phone off, lock it down, and get GPS coordinates for where it is, all through mobileme's easy web interface. Apple did lock it. It was locked the next morning.

5- I understand what you're saying, but this phone is to be released in the next 3-4 months. Apple would be doing a great disservice to themselves and AT&T with a stunt like this, causing tens of thousands of units to sit on shelves, and untold number of new AT&T customers to wait to sign up. It's not practical by any means.

6- WTC7 was an inside job.


I also called around to my Apple friends, and all of them said there was a giant shitstorm brewing, noone knew what it was about until the Gizmodo article came out. Then shit sincerely hit the fan. One of my friends was on the original iPhone team, and had a working one that he carried around, months before the official release. He couldn't even show his wife.

When you are one of these lucky duckies, not only are you on über strict NDA, but you are also a very very loyal Apple employee who loves the products, loves the company, and really loves their job and wouldn't do anything to sacrifice it.


>> ^blankfist:

Why is this staged? Here are my thoughts.
1. This is obviously not a random guy's phone who works at Apple. Who would have access to carry one of these?
2. Knowing how fanatical Apple is about security, why would they allow someone to take the brand new top secret iPhone out to a bar?
3. Who was the person who found it? And why did he have an interest in disassembling the phone as opposed to just returning it?
4. Did the person who lost it try to call the phone to get it back?
5. There are a number of new smartphones, and a lot are marketing themselves as better than the iPhone. And being that the new Apple 4G phone won't be on the market for a while, a stunt like this may keep new customers from signing a new 2 year phone contract and purchasing a different smartphone if they know Apple's is coming and it will be bad ass.
6. What about WTC 7?

All your number points are answered in the articles attached to the original Gizmodo post.

You could've educated yourself in the time necessary to formulate that list.

The App-Store "ecosystem" is there to keep porn out, so says Apple.

Gizmodo Liveblog
via Boing Boing

Q: Are there any plans for you to run unsigned applications, like on Android?
A: There is a porn store for Android to go to. You can download them, your kids can download them. That's a place we don't want to go. We're not going to go there.

It's tripe, total bullshit. The standards of quality? Yes, you're guaranteed to get the best flash-light or fart-simulator possible.