throwaway31338

Since the genie is out of the bottle, when it comes to ALPRs in the United States, I'd rather just have all the data publicly available. If the cops, data brokers, and insurance companies can see it I should be able to as well.

I should be able to see the comings and goings of law enforcement, elected officials, etc, if they can see mine.

Alternatively, lock it away behind judicial oversight. Make the cops get a warrant. Criminalize companies collecting the data from offering it in any manner other than by the order of a judge.

I feel the same way about tracking cell phones, publicly-owned surveillance cameras, privately-owned surveillance cameras that are "voluntarily" offered to law enforcement, and, in general, any dragnet surveillance available to law enforcement. If it's available to law enforcement and not being conducted on an individual basis under a judicial order (or, heck, even just probable cause) I think it should be available to the public, too.

"But stalkers!"

Tough. That's the price we have to pay for keeping law enforcement in check. Either adapt or take this power away from law enforcement.

Until the passkey workflow goes sideways for "tech" people I don't think the risks will be acknowledged (if then even).

Those of us who don't want the let Google, Apple, or Microsoft manage our passkeys (i.e. pledging our fealty to our lords) will be seen as fringe lunatics.

I'll keep my workflow of always visiting sites by typing the URL myself, using a password manager, and TOTP 2FA w/ the secrets saved offline on paper. At least until I'm not allowed to do that anymore.

Don't want to "punish" anybody. Those bailouts are all over now. I'm just tired of coming out on the losing end and would like to make something from this crisis, versus just paying for it.

The various "bailouts" over the years (2008 financial crisis, COVID stimulus, PPP loan forgiveness, student loan relief) have left me pretty cynical. I paid my bills and didn't get "bailed out". What can I do to profit from this?

Undefined behavior isn't a feature. A spec isn't an implementation, either.

All behavior in an implementation can be teased-out if given sufficient time.

if you were an alien trying to reconstruct it, for example - you'd hit serious problems.

I can't speak to alien minds. Considering the feats of reverse-engineering I've seen in the IT world (software security, semiconductor reverse-engineering) or cryptography (the breaking the Japanese Purple cipher in WWII, for example) I think it's safe to say humans are really, really good at reverse-engineering other human-created systems from close-to-nothing. Starting with documentation would be a step-up.

I really, really appreciate your reply and its tone. Thank you for that. You've given me some things to think about.

I often wish people were more like computers. It probably wouldn't make the world better but it would make it more comprehensible.

One can look at the source code to a program, the libraries it uses, the compiler for the language, and the ISA spec for the machine language the compiler generates. You can know that there are no hidden unspecified quantities because programs can't work without being specified.

When you get down to the microcode of the CPU that implements the ISA you might have an issue if it's ill-specified. You might be talking about an ISA like RISC-V, though, specified at a level sufficient to go down to the gates. You might be talking about an ISA like 6502 where the gate-level implementations have been reverse-engineered.

You can take programming all the way down boolean logic if you need to and the tools are readily available. They don't rely on you "just knowing" something.

Came here to say the same thing harshly and laced with profanity. I guess I can back off a bit from that now.

I was filled with crushing disappointment when I learned mathematical notation is "shorthand" and there isn't a formal grammar. Same goes for learning writers take "shortcuts" with the expectation the reader will "fill in the gaps". Ostensibly this is so the writer can do "less writing" and the reader can do "less reading".

There's so much "pure" and "universal" about math, but the humans who write about it are too lazy to write about it in a rigorous manner.

I can't write software w/ the expectation the computer "just knows" or that it will "fill in the gaps". Sure-- I can call libraries, write in a higher-level language to let the compiler make machine language for me, etc. I can inspect and understand the underlying implementations if I want to, though. Nothing relies on the machine "just knowing".

It's feels like the same goddamn laziness that plagues every other human endeavor outside of programming. People can't be bothered to be exact about things because being exact is hard and people avoid hard work.

"We'll have a face-to-face to discuss this there's too much here to put in an email."

It doesn't feel like it will be long until we're getting CAPTCHAs like: "Click the pictures of humans brandishing firearms."

The current "system" is very hostile to small business. I don't think the average person realizes how bad it is.

I abandoned a financially successful independent contracting business of 15 years and went back to being an employee (ugh) because the Republican efforts to repeal the ACA freaked me out. I'm old enough that my wife and I both have some pre-existing non-chronic conditions, and I have a young daughter. Paying ~$20K of premiums annually for the privilege of having a $13K deductible was grudgingly acceptable to me. The uncertainty was not. The stress of wondering if insurance was going to be available year-to-year (in the final year I operated the business my County had exactly one marketplace plan available) was extreme.

I happened to get a job offer from a Customer. I decided that, though I swore I'd never be anybody's employee again, it was irresponsible in light of the efforts by the GOP to repeal the ACA to continue gambling that insurance would be available.

I had a taste of being uninsured in 2014 when, on pre-ACA grandfathered insurance, I had to pay out-of-pocket for treatment related to a pre-existing condition that wasn't covered. The idea of just how close we all are to a medically-induced bankruptcy really hit me at that point.

My quality of life is much worse now. I used to bill in 20 hours what I now have to report to the office "40 hours" to earn. I used to be able to spend more time with my family. I used to have the flexibility to make decisions about how and when I wanted to work, take time off, etc.

My Customers, some of whom I'd worked with for 10+ years, ended up stuck going with drastically more expensive (and less attentive and skilled) "managed services" companies to service their IT needs. The emails and calls that I get regularly asking for my help, along with the out-right statements to the fact, tell me that the situation for them isn't better either.

It's a racket.

I have genuine questions about how I am supposed to conduct myself in a culturally sensitive way about this issue. I have a daughter who knows nothing of sex yet. Eventually there are conversations that I expect will need to occur.

I sincerely don't want to "blame the victim". I also don't understand where that line falls. I've felt that accusing a speaker of "victim blaming" is sometimes used as a way to shout them down in a discussion (or worse, target them for being "canceled" in their life outside of Internet discourse-- hence my use of a throwaway account here).

I do not culturally accept sexually predatory behavior. It is wrong. It should be prosecuted. I do not have a "men will be men" attitude. I also accept that I can't change the culture of institutions myself, no matter how fiercely I believe what I believe.

- Am I "victim blaming" if I talk to my daughter about the existence of sexual predators and her vulnerability?

- Am I in the wrong if I caution her about institutions or settings that have historically adopted a "men will be men" attitude?

- Am I in the wrong if I explain the realpolitik that individuals' rejection of "men will be men" doesn't automatically change the entrenched attitudes of organizations that might systematically act to shield predators and ignore vitims?

- I've already had the conversation about how people are generally good, but that we have to be cautious because there are people with criminal motivations, or mental illness, that might cause them to want to hurt us in a general sense (non-sexual violence). Am I "victim blaming" if I talk to her about general situational awareness, being cautious, and not putting yourself into situations where general violence might occur?

I abandoned my business of 15 years last year because of worry about availability of health insurance. It looks like I was in a similar situation to you.

My business was going well. I was making equivalent income of a bit more than a high-end salary for my skill set in my area. I was fine (grudgingly) paying the premiums.

The problem was that there was absolutely no assurance insurance that would actually cover anything would be available in the future. We had "marketplace" plans for a number of years. Eventually there were no "silver" marketplace plans available in my locale (and "bronze", with 20% "co-insurance", means I'm going bankrupt if I have any significant events anyway, so I might as well just have no coverage).

I gave up and took a job. I couldn't expose my family to the risk of not having any insurance available. It was crushing.

I took the route of not having employees and was unable to qualify for "business" plans. I guess I wasn't "successful" after all, since I didn't aspire to grow the business beyond what would support my family.

Using a gigantic overly complex software written in a non-memory-safe language for a system that gives commands to the flight control system?

This is how you get the Cylons pwning your spaceships. >sigh<

Your "get over yourself" and "mature person" bits fill me with frustration and anger. I'm sorry for that, but it's there.

Being selfless is great. Hating the grind of a 40 hour / week job, versus "accepting" it has nothing to do with selflessness.

How do you get health insurance in that situation, our of curiosity? All the employer-sponsored plans that I am familiar with require a minimum 30 hours / wk commitment.

Being an independent contractor is awesome (it's what I did for 100% of my income from 2004 until just a couple of months ago) but the health insurance situation and fear ended up killing it.

As a newly-minted member of the "40 hour / week" working club I have to agree with you. It's not okay. I'm not okay. This lifestyle is bullshit.

I recently shuttered my successful IT contracting business of 15 years. The reasons aren't worth going in to in detail. The fucked US health insurance system, out-of-control medical expenses, the Trump administration, and minor pre-existing medical conditions scared me (my wife and I in our 40's... shit has gone wrong because we've, ya' know, lived...). I was worried that the "Repeal Obamacare" people would eventually leave family without health insurance. In that state, we'd be potentially one health issue away from bankruptcy and losing everything I've worked my whole life for.

A job opportunity came up w/ a Customer. Since all I've done for the last 20 years is "hired gun" contract IT work I have no resume to speak of. I'd never get in the front door of a hiring process for what I'm accustomed to making. I'm "just" a sysadmin (albeit one who does know how to code). I'm in my 40's. I'd be lucky to make half and I'll be damned if I'm going to make my wife work outside the home if she doesn't want to.

So, I took the 40 hour / week public sector job. I spending $15K less per year on health insurance premiums and I'm making about the same gross that I was w/ my business. I guess I should count myself lucky. I should be happy with it. I guess.

The hours are fucking excruciating. Fucking. Excruciating. I don't understand how other people do this. It's soul-sucking and ridiculous. 40 hours a week dedicated to one single thing, aside from sleep, is untenable.

I've religiously tracked 100% my time-- personal and work-- for the last 15 years. My per-night sleep is down to under 6 hours, previously at 7.5 - 8. My personal time (meals, time w/ family, recreation, exercise) is crazily lower now too. I feel physically worse. My weight is going up.

I knew the old gig was good (billing 4.5 hours / weekday, on average, to make what I wanted) but I had absolutely no idea this grind would be such a grind. It's absolutely terrible. I don't see my wife and daughter anymore. I hate the time commitment.

I'm working to find the next business. Maybe there will be some actual progress with health insurance or medical expense and I'll be able to work independently again w/o fear of losing our retirement savings when one of us has the eventual medical issue. We're kicking the savings for retirement up and I need to start doing some income investing (though, again, a fat lot of good that does me if I can't affordable and good health insurance). I need to get rid of this fucking albatross.

I really like the icons, and I do mean this to be funny. I just couldn't resist creating Malicious Cloud Service[1] and Dead API[2]. SVG's available at [3].

[1] http://imgur.com/a/VY6ba [2] http://imgur.com/a/U0wVW [3] https://ufile.io/4de3f