John Fenderson 's BestNetTech Comments

Latest Comments (17316)

• On the post: Ed Snowden Explains Why Hackers Published NSA's Hacking Tools

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 08:45am

  Re: 1 million bitcoins?

  There are a number of nations that could come up with half a billion for this without much problem.
  
  But I suspect that they aren't really as interested in selling the stuff as they are in sending a signal that they could sell the stuff.
  
  I agree with Snowden in that the way all this went down only really makes sense if its part of a political play. This is about message more than the actual tools.

• On the post: Donald Trump Says He'll Turn Off The Internet For Terrorists

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 02:41pm

  Isn't Trump precious?

  He thinks the US owns the internet.

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 07:34am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  It does turn the wifi on briefly to listen, but transmits nothing when it does so. It uses the radio chip as a receiver only. The rest of the operating system does not think the radio is on when it does this.

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 07:31am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Nasch is right, I'm not talking about cell towers. Also, my Wifi is not engaging in any handshaking to do this. It's just listening for the AP beacons.

• On the post: Broadband Industry Think Tank Claims Comcast Plan To Charge More For Privacy 'Pro Consumer'

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 07:29am

  Re:

  "This is the same scenario."
  
  No, it's not. The issue with what Comcast is doing isn't the advertising, it's the spying. Comcast is essentially engaging in an extortion racket here, requiring "protection money" to keep them from attacking you.
  
  And even then, we have no assurance that if you pay them the money they'll actually stop with the spying.

• On the post: Dallas PD Asks Attorney General For Permission To Withhold 'Embarrassing' Documents About Its Bomb Robot

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 07:24am

  Re: Re: Asimov

  Also, "I, Robot" was a book full of stories about how the Three Laws of Robotics don't really work.

• On the post: Dallas PD Asks Attorney General For Permission To Withhold 'Embarrassing' Documents About Its Bomb Robot

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 07:22am

  Re: Re: Re: Cops wanted Revenge

  "Would you rather have them get it out of their system on this guy or on some sap with broken tail light at the next traffic stop?"
  
  Neither, thank you.
  
  I would rather the police not act as judge, jury, and executioner.

• On the post: Comcast Fancies Itself The Tesla Of Cable

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2016 @ 07:13am

  Re: A Premium Product?

  You're just reading the wrong definition. "Premium" meaning "high quality" is the third definition in my dictionary. The first is "An amount paid over and above the regular price".
  
  I think Comcast is going with the first.

• On the post: Lots Of Newspapers Discovering That Paywalls Don't Work

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 09:57pm

  Re: Re: Pulitzer and advertising

  "they should put some effort into creating online ads that don't annoy their readers"
  
  A certain amount of annoying is fine with me. What I absolutely cannot tolerate is the tracking. Until that stops, my adblockers stay up.

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 09:55pm

  Re:

  "For now, nothing to see here - move on."
  
  I couldn't disagree more. If we just ignore these issues now, they will be decided by default in a way that is very unfavorable for individuals and will become extremely difficult to change.
  
  Now is exactly the time to raise a big fuss about all of this.

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 09:50pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  I'm not sure what you're referring to here. When my receiver is sniffing, it is only listening. It is not sending out a radio transmission at all. (I just now confirmed this with some test equipment.)
  
  Your reference to "transmission by reflection" is vague and I can think of a couple of things that you might be referring to, but none of them seem very relevant to this particular issue.
  
  What am I missing?

• On the post: Lots Of Newspapers Discovering That Paywalls Don't Work

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 08:58am

  Re: Yes and no...

  This is pretty close to the approach that my hometown paper has taken, although they're a bit tighter with the paywall from the sounds of it.
  
  I pay them. Not because of the paywall, but despite it.
  
  Their coverage of local news is very good, and I want to support that. Also, they let me run my adblocker full blast and still read the news.

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 08:42am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Yes, this is precisely correct.
  
  I was speaking of the more general case. After all, some retail stores have started using the exact same sort of tracking of anyone that comes into their stores.

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 08:38am

  Re: Stalker's Wet Dream

  This has been trivially possible for a very long time now. The only thing that's happening here that's new is that it's being done by institutions on a wide-scale basis. But the technique they're using is as old as Wifi itself.
  
  By the way, this can't even be considered "hacking". All of the information being obtained is being done through known and accepted protocols being used in the intended way.
  
  The issue, really, is that data, legitimately obtained for one purpose, is being used for an entirely different purpose without people's knowledge -- let alone consent.
  
  So, as with many of these things, the real question is "who owns the data"? Is it "your" data, because it is about you, that you've "licensed" for a particular purpose? Or is it the AP owner's data, because they collected what was freely given, and they can use for any purpose they wish?

• On the post: Trademark Office Tosses Phyllis Schlafly's Opposition To Her Nephew's Brewery Name Trademark Application

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 08:07am

  Re: What statute?

  Here's an explanation I found of the law:
  
  

  A mark that is primarily a surname does not qualify for placement on the Principal Register under the Lanham Act unless the name has become well known as a mark through advertising or long use—that is, until it acquires a secondary meaning. Until then, surname marks can only be listed on the Supplemental Register. To register a mark that consists primarily of the surname of a living person (assuming the mark has acquired secondary meaning), the mark owner must have the namesake’s written permission to register the mark.

  
  
  http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/using-surname-family-name-trademark.html

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 08:04am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Personally, I use Android and Tasker to accomplish a compromise. My phone occasionally "sniffs" the wifi signals in the area (it does not send any wifi signals out when it does this), and if it sees an AP that is on my list of approved access points, it turns the wifi on and connects to that point automatically. When I leave the AP's range, it turns the wifi back off.
  
  This way my wifi is effectively off when I'm out and about, but I don't have to remember to turn it on or off myself.

• On the post: University Tracks Students' Movements Using WiFi, But Says It's OK Because It's Not Tracking Students

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 07:59am

  Re: Re: Re:

  "the only information that can be gathered from my phone is that a smart phone with such-and-so MAC address sent a ping to identify wi-fi sources in the vicinity."
  
  Right, which means that it's possible to identify and track the movements of your cell phone, even if you don't connect to anything.

• On the post: Broadband Industry Think Tank Claims Comcast Plan To Charge More For Privacy 'Pro Consumer'

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 07:57am

  Re:

  Yes, this.
  
  It's not a "discount" when its a surcharge.

• On the post: Broadband Industry Think Tank Claims Comcast Plan To Charge More For Privacy 'Pro Consumer'

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 07:56am

  Re:

  "I can easily see them claim they just anonymized the USER ID from their database, but left all of the other tracking in place."
  
  And let's not forget that even aggressive and sincere attempts at anonymization have yet to actually work.

• On the post: Study Says Police Body Cameras Have Contributed To Increased Uses Of Deadly Force

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 06:53am

  Re:

  "Good ones usually get them thrown out"
  
  I wish this were true, but I have seen exactly zero evidence that it is.

Next >>