5 ms·

A $5 wrench can allegedly crack passwords: https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/

by nosmokewhereiam 6y ago

Chris2048 6y ago
So can a $0 rock (or stick)
- Joker_vD 6y ago
  Rocks ain't free. Finding and picking up a rock usually requires at least half a minute, so if one takes an hourly wage to be $24 that makes the cost of obtaining a rock equal to... about 20 cents.
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    But there are two further considerations: (1) The cost of the rock drops precipitously with your ability to pay. No matter what value you compute for the rock, you will find that the actual cost of a rock never rises above "negligible" for anyone who isn't severely handicapped, regardless of ability to pay. (2) If you anticipate needing a rock in the future, you probably don't have to dedicate any time to finding one. You can just pick one up whenever it happens to be convenient.
schwartzworld 6y ago
the technique costs more than 5 dollars though unless you have the "drug him" drugs sitting around already.
- athenot 6y ago
  The alt text on that comic also says "I would be hard-pressed to find that wrench for $5" ;)
- leetcrew 6y ago
  yeah you need at least $20 for the drugs, plus gas and wages for the driver to go pick them up. this doesn't even touch on depreciation / capital cost of the vehicle itself! also, what's the prevailing rent for an interrogation facility these days?
anonymfus 6y ago
It does not, Randall is just parroting a popular misconception that torture works. In reality you will not believe that a sadistic person beating you up is gonna stop after you say a password, and the more are you beaten and drugged the less likely you are to say that password, and criminals, police, intelligence and other thugs know it, they just use torture because they like it.
- devthrowawy 6y ago
  Bring his kids in. He'll talk. Downvotes for unpleasant reality.
  - MereInterest 6y ago
    Whether he will "talk" is independent of whether torture works. With sufficient torture, I would tell you anything you want to hear. Want to know where the diamonds are? Sure, I can make up a dozen locations if it means those pliers stay away from me, even if I have no idea what diamonds you are talking about. Torture will always get answers. What it can't get is truth, or any way to distinguish truth from pleas. And that is even independent of torture being inherently immoral.
    - devthrowawy 6y ago
      This is assuming that the torturers are dumb (not true in the case of nation states) and that the information is not verifiable. This is not always the case. And the argument is that torture can and does work not that it always works. In the context of a password that I know you know and we can type in right now to make it stop, this will be effective.If you don't think the torture will ever stop and just want a 'fuck you' then you may keep quite. When your kids/family are brought in the 'fuck you' mentality goes out the window. Torture works, but it's like war. You have to go all in. This isn't a pro torture argument necessarily. But saying torture never works is dishonest and tanamount to saying I would keep all my secrets while being tutored to death, which I know I wouldn't.
- jacinabox 6y ago

A $5 wrench can allegedly crack passwords: https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/

Chris2048 6y ago

So can a $0 rock (or stick)

Joker_vD 6y ago
Rocks ain't free. Finding and picking up a rock usually requires at least half a minute, so if one takes an hourly wage to be $24 that makes the cost of obtaining a rock equal to... about 20 cents.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  But there are two further considerations: (1) The cost of the rock drops precipitously with your ability to pay. No matter what value you compute for the rock, you will find that the actual cost of a rock never rises above "negligible" for anyone who isn't severely handicapped, regardless of ability to pay. (2) If you anticipate needing a rock in the future, you probably don't have to dedicate any time to finding one. You can just pick one up whenever it happens to be convenient.

schwartzworld 6y ago

the technique costs more than 5 dollars though unless you have the "drug him" drugs sitting around already.

athenot 6y ago
The alt text on that comic also says "I would be hard-pressed to find that wrench for $5" ;)
leetcrew 6y ago
yeah you need at least $20 for the drugs, plus gas and wages for the driver to go pick them up. this doesn't even touch on depreciation / capital cost of the vehicle itself! also, what's the prevailing rent for an interrogation facility these days?

anonymfus 6y ago

It does not, Randall is just parroting a popular misconception that torture works. In reality you will not believe that a sadistic person beating you up is gonna stop after you say a password, and the more are you beaten and drugged the less likely you are to say that password, and criminals, police, intelligence and other thugs know it, they just use torture because they like it.

devthrowawy 6y ago
Bring his kids in. He'll talk. Downvotes for unpleasant reality.
- MereInterest 6y ago
  Whether he will "talk" is independent of whether torture works. With sufficient torture, I would tell you anything you want to hear. Want to know where the diamonds are? Sure, I can make up a dozen locations if it means those pliers stay away from me, even if I have no idea what diamonds you are talking about. Torture will always get answers. What it can't get is truth, or any way to distinguish truth from pleas. And that is even independent of torture being inherently immoral.
  - devthrowawy 6y ago
    This is assuming that the torturers are dumb (not true in the case of nation states) and that the information is not verifiable. This is not always the case. And the argument is that torture can and does work not that it always works. In the context of a password that I know you know and we can type in right now to make it stop, this will be effective.If you don't think the torture will ever stop and just want a 'fuck you' then you may keep quite. When your kids/family are brought in the 'fuck you' mentality goes out the window. Torture works, but it's like war. You have to go all in. This isn't a pro torture argument necessarily. But saying torture never works is dishonest and tanamount to saying I would keep all my secrets while being tutored to death, which I know I wouldn't.
jacinabox 6y ago