etherael

78 ms·

691.
by etherael 15y ago
I think if we throw away the direct similarity between the blockchain as a transaction log vs a spoolchain as a massive collective megaspool and instead go with the concept of a spoolchain being a log of pointers to storage bins which are
692.
by etherael 15y ago
This is an amazing idea. I have been thinking how to do webmail + proper privacy for ages. By proper I mean it ought to completely cryptographically protect participants from any kind of orwellian search and seizure policy as well as just f
693.
by etherael 15y ago
Sure, in the same sense that pursuing magic space unicorns (nobody proved that they don't exist) is equal to pursuing pulsed nuclear rocketry as a means of interplanetary transport is an undeniably good idea.
694.
by etherael 15y ago
Sure, and maybe some day if you've lived as long as you care to you may choose to allow your consciousness to fade away too, and that is all very well and good. It's the inability to do otherwise that is a problem. With regards to possibili
695.
by etherael 15y ago
It currently is, that doesn't mean it's theoretically impossible that it ever could be otherwise. It's not fantasizing to point that out.
696.
by etherael 15y ago
And yet your codebase for needfeed is likely homed on separate redundant storage devices to ensure continuity in the inevitable event of the decay of the composites that store it. You'd probably be aghast at the suggestion that you put it a
697.
by etherael 15y ago
I'm not sure that your analogy works so well, death is a natural condition of the normal life of an organism. Herpes is expressly a virus that could (theoretically) be cured. That said, I do agree with you that it is actually a failure. I j
698.
by etherael 15y ago
That's exactly what I'm talking about, and the main comment I made that was at +4 when I went to bed last night is now at just +1 so I take it as fairly obvious that this people trying to muzzle well presented / supported positions that the
699.
by etherael 15y ago
It's not just this instance, I've noticed in an increasingly broad variety of topics that when something goes against the accepted groupthink it is prone to silent downvoting. Even in the absence of ad homs, whining in general, etc. Also yo
700.
by etherael 15y ago
Firstly, the downvotes are a recent manifestation of creeping groupthink. They're disheartening, but they're actually a good example in this particular instance as an illustration that people as a whole, even in places where you'd expect th
701.
by etherael 15y ago
It's a fair one, I just don't know that it's reason to refrain from doing so. As a theoretical Iranian dissident with a typical end user grasp on technology I'd definitely rather have such tools available than need to resort to creating the
702.
by etherael 15y ago
Unless you're from Bhutan, you're already facing down a violent authoritarian regime. It's all just a question of degrees. People in Iran may well look to North Korea and be thankful that at least they don't have it that bad. Those of us be
703.
by etherael 15y ago
Interesting perspective. If the alternative to pursuing tools in this area is complete subjugation, perhaps some people are willing to bear the costs of risking going against that. What use is your life if it's not really yours? It's a posi
704.
by etherael 15y ago
I asked because from the perspective of mental self improvement it seems to me that any sufficiently intricate and well formed literature ought to do as well and I was wondering if there was any reason for it to be Shakespeare in particular
705.
by etherael 15y ago
Why?
706.
by etherael 15y ago
Was this an attempt to illustrate "important issues" rather than promoting iconoclasm, or an attempt to say that wedge issues are what drives modern government and thus we shouldn't be paying attention to the man behind the curtain, but dis
707.
by etherael 15y ago
Actually they could, assuming that "they" exist as a single coherent entity that sets policy etc. Even without exposing their identities. All they would need to do is set up a pgp key which all official anonymous press releases would need t
708.
by etherael 15y ago
A polemic is an argument leaning toward attacking a person, I do not know you at all and make no claim to be able to attack you and expressly disclaim any desire to engage in polemic or ad hominem. Some things are simply accurately describe
709.
by etherael 15y ago
This is the worst kind of poisonous nonsense, appeals to authority and the sanctity of the known falsehoods of religion. Wisdom may be hard to define, but it is easy to define what is not wisdom; allowing provably bad sources to make your c
710.
by etherael 15y ago
Not really, I'm still convinced that DRM is completely counterproductive, but with regards to criticisms of flash/silverlight being short-sighted because these are necessary components of essential DRM solutions, the fact that those solutio
711.
by etherael 15y ago
For subscription based services, is there a reason not to just use html5 streaming video with something like http://www.wowza.com/media-server ? This should work fine and circumvent all the flash / silverlight problems whilst still being
712.
by etherael 15y ago
That's an interesting perspective, I realise this may be selection bias but myself and everybody I know and associate with will not bother with DRM encumbered content, some will eschew it entirely, some will circumvent it, but none will act
713.
by etherael 15y ago
Why would you not bank on the fact that DRM doesn't work? Putting aside all questions of whether it's evil or not, isn't that a foregone conclusion and an answer to the question that is demonstrated writ large for anyone who cares to make
714.
by etherael 15y ago
That sounds like a reasonable assumption to me also.
715.
by etherael 15y ago
To claim that it's unclear what the effect of a no poach cartel is on engineering salaries is at the same time to claim that it is not necessary that there should be legislation preventing no poach cartels from existing. Do you believe this
716.
by etherael 15y ago
Is that before or after you write a gui interface using visual basic to track an IP address? :/
717.
by etherael 15y ago
This is actually a pretty good indicator that integrating PGP in a usable "it just works" fashion might be a really good thing to do these days. If the question is why are you allowing google the ability to violate your privacy, the solutio
718.
by etherael 15y ago
What they want is not the problem, what they're doing is. A boycott and all out war on their existence is a perfectly rational response with respect to what they're doing.
719.
by etherael 15y ago
Not if the item was produced by a a party other than the parties pushing for SOPA and its ilk. I think piracy is generally bad, I just think financing groups that want to destroy the internet is worse. Think of it as a transmogrification of
720.
by etherael 15y ago
There is even less ethical about financially supporting companies that tried to buy laws that would destroy the net as we know it.

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