John Fenderson 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (17316)

• 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 @ 06:49am

  Re:

  Spoofing your MAC address might work, but you'd need to change it frequently. Perhaps every 15 minutes or so? The only other method I can think of to avoid this would be to turn your WiFi off.

• On the post: DEA Accessing Millions Of Travelers' Records To Find Cash To Seize

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2016 @ 09:59pm

  Re: Re:

  "The real problem that government has with the drug trade is that it's all untaxed revenue."
  
  If only that were true, because that would be the easiest problem in the world for the government to solve. All they'd have to do is legalize and tax it.

• On the post: Why Apple Removing The Audio Jack From The iPhone Would Be A Very, Very, Very, Bad Move

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2016 @ 02:39pm

  Re: We did this with laptops and USB to eliminate the optical drive.

  I use the jack on my cellphone all the time, and it's worked very well for me over the years. I can't think of a single phone I've had that it failed on.
  
  So, I guess, YMMV.

• On the post: Why Apple Removing The Audio Jack From The iPhone Would Be A Very, Very, Very, Bad Move

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2016 @ 02:37pm

  Re: Forget the music issue...

  In all fairness, this is already the case, at least in my part of the woods. People in public talk on speakerphone everywhere for no damned good reason.
  
  It's mostly, but not solely, iPhone users. I really don't understand why this has started happening.

• On the post: Why Apple Removing The Audio Jack From The iPhone Would Be A Very, Very, Very, Bad Move

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2016 @ 10:42am

  Re: Other Devices

  The thing is that the reason these devices began to use the audio jack was Apple's move to the lightning connector.
  
  Perhaps that's a part of Apple's thinking here -- too many companies were working around the need to pay an Apple Tax, so they want to close that loophole.

• On the post: Why Apple Removing The Audio Jack From The iPhone Would Be A Very, Very, Very, Bad Move

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2016 @ 10:37am

  Re: Let's think this through, REALLY

  In other words, "you've already made your choice, serf, so you must now tolerate all further abuse without complaint"?
  
  I disagree.

• On the post: A Possible Solution To Twitter's Difficult Problem Of Abusive Behavior: Let People Speak, Don't Force Everyone To Listen

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2016 @ 05:10pm

  Re: Re:free speech zones

  I don't think the commentary is posing the notion of a "free speech zone" except that the entirely of twitter should be one. The point is that it should also be a "free to ignore" zone.
  
  Sounds reasonable to me. Someone's right to free speech does not mean that I should be compelled to listen to that speech.

• On the post: Terrorist-Fighting License Plate Readers Just Mobile Revenue Generators Cruising Poor Neighborhoods

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2016 @ 05:01pm

  Re: Re: But how do we beat them...

  Well, maybe not public transport.
  
  http://transportationblog.dallasnews.com/2016/02/dart-eyeing-facial-recognition-software-for-its-buses-trains-and-stations.html/

• On the post: Another Unfortunate Example Of Facebook Silencing Important Videos

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2016 @ 04:08pm

  Re: Re:slang for police in China

  "dont look to China as if your own nations arent doing this and more"
  
  Don't worry, nobody is.

• On the post: The Five Technologies That Are Now — And Will Be — In Your Home

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2016 @ 04:03pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  I'm not sure why that's a relevant point to what AAC was saying, but I will add a simple historical truth.
  
  The average person doesn't care about the security of anything until they get bitten. Sooner or later, people will start to get bitten by the security problems in newer technologies.
  
  When that happens, people will start to care. Companies who are already prepared for that will become the new kings of the hill.

• On the post: Why Does The Copyright Office Keep Acting Like A Lobbying Arm For Hollywood?

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2016 @ 10:31pm

  Re:

  "It's the copyright office's mandate to do so"
  
  Since when?

• On the post: Volkswagen Created A 'Backdoor' To Basically All Its Cars… And Now Hackers Can Open All Of Them

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2016 @ 10:26pm

  Re: Re: if it isn't broke don't fix it.

  No firmware changes are required to support each car having a unique key. Also, there is no technical reason why the car manufacturer would have to have a record of the key that goes with each car.
  
  "So long as the firmware key is not varied per-car, a simple dictionary attack will crack the car open easily."
  
  This isn't correct. Most remote car unlockers use a rotating key system or a computational exchange, specifically to foil dictionary attacks or attackers sniffing the unlock signal to reproduce it. There are a few different ways this is done, some better than others, but the net effect is that a different key is needed for each unlock.

• On the post: Like The Rest Of The Internet Of Things, Most 'Smart' Locks Are Easily Hacked

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2016 @ 03:29pm

  Re:

  What would be the basis of the lawsuit? Factor in that there's almost certainly wording in the license agreement that to the effect that there is no promise of fitness for purpose or that bugs will be fixed.

• On the post: Archivists Grapple With Problems Of Preserving Recent Culture Held On Tape Cassettes And Floppy Drives

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2016 @ 03:25pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  It also depends on when the floppies were made. Earlier floppies were of substantially higher quality than later floppies, and tend to last multiple decades unless abused.

• On the post: Volkswagen Created A 'Backdoor' To Basically All Its Cars… And Now Hackers Can Open All Of Them

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2016 @ 03:19pm

  Re: if it isn't broke don't fix it.

  "If they used different keys that would also mean needing to maintain different copies of the firmware or at least track which car has which key. Manufacturers also might need to have access to keys."
  
  Ummm, no.

• On the post: If Police Officials Won't Hold Officers Accountable, More Cameras Will Never Mean More Recordings

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2016 @ 03:32pm

  In Russia

  In Russia, everyone has dashboard cameras in their cars to protect themselves. Perhaps it's time in the US for everyone to wear their own body cameras.

• On the post: Court Says Child Porn Clearinghouse Acts As A Government Entity, Cannot Perform 'Private Searches'

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2016 @ 12:43pm

  Re: Does this ruling also apply to private database entities ...

  The ruling has nothing to do with private databases. It's about whether or not NCMEC was bound by the Fourth Amendment when it performed a search.

• On the post: Judge Says Stash House Sting Operations Allow Prosecutors To Be Judge, Jury, And Executioner

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2016 @ 12:40pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Not about stopping crime

  "the best way to make men respect laws is to make laws respectable."
  
  I do agree with this. The nature of the laws and the means by which they're enforced are the primary influences over how much respect there is for law.

• On the post: Like The Rest Of The Internet Of Things, Most 'Smart' Locks Are Easily Hacked

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2016 @ 12:21pm

  Re: Still, Why the Rage Pointed Just at IoT?

  I have read numerous articles here and elsewhere about the security problems in every one of the other things you have mentioned. I don't see a single-minded focus on IoT issues at all.

• On the post: Like The Rest Of The Internet Of Things, Most 'Smart' Locks Are Easily Hacked

  

  John Fenderson ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2016 @ 10:03am

  Re: Re:

  "What happens when any yokel can order one off alibaba.com for 5 bucks."
  
  No need to even do that if you have a smartphone. There are plenty of bluetooth sniffer apps that use your phone's hardware.

Next >>