Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit | Cyther606's comments login

It has a clear purpose the public can get behind, but it will almost certainly be abused for persecuting domestic political rivals, software developers among them.

Here are some entertaining thought exercises:

A cyber 9/11 is linked to Bitcoin. Can Bitcoin developers be sanctioned?

A cyber 9/11 is linked to Tor. Can Tor developers be sanctioned?

You donate to Wikileaks, which is linked to a national security threat. Can you be sanctioned?

Section 1(ii)(B) applies to _any_ individual or entity, domestic or abroad, developing or facilitating development of pentesting or related software employed against vague and faceless "national security interests". But don't you worry, because this is only applicable to the "Chinese" threat which may actually be true for the first couple of years to build political support for the eventual, predictable abuses of power.


No, "Section 1(ii)(B)" does not work that way.


Real 9/11 with airplanes happened. Were airplane manufacturers sanctioned?


How considerate. As if the legal system matters at all to the existence of the NSA. Wikimedia's case notwithstanding, it's abundantly clear the spy agencies can only be peacefully resisted with privacy enhancing technology. It's obvious why they've been degrading public cryptographic standards and pushing for back doors.


It's abundantly clear that they can't, for exactly the reasons you mention.


The Stasi controlled every aspect of life in East Germany, including the postal service and communications industry. In the US, FOIA documents reveal a history of domestic political spying on civil-rights leaders such as MLK, and on a wide variety of legitimate organizations.

Throughout history, suspicionless surveillance has been carried out by mafioso to oppress and control.

Of your suspicionless surveillance, you assert "this time is different". The assertion fails.

The Nazis could use your arguments word for word on dissenters of the Gestapo.


>Of your suspicionless surveillance, you assert "this time is different".

Where did I do that?


Barbaric methods of violating private property, kewl?

Thanks Mao, but everything is relative. Maybe what you need is a nice fat doobie. While you're lighting up next to me, know that I as a proud simpleton, find cans of _diesel fuel_ to be "technically impressive". Imagine that?

> Piece by piece, you cease to exist. It takes about half an hour to vanish someone, completely.

https://news.vice.com/article/how-a-mexican-cartel-demolishe...


I don't really see the appeal, but maybe I don't have the perspective to appreciate the skill that goes into dissolving human bodies properly. I still wouldn't call someone crazy if they did.


The Nazis would say the same of the Gestapo to dissenters, albeit with a tinge less arrogance.


They would probably also say that smoking is bad for your health.


Are you trying to play victim, or are you just using your holier than thou card?


You can do worse than pip and virtualenv, yes, but I wouldn't call pip the cream of the crop by any means. NPM is way easier to use for starters, and Go, Rust and Nim go one step beyond NPM by compiling language dependencies down to a single binary file which can be shipped to users. It's very succinctly done.

Python really needs to step up the game to stay ahead of up and coming languages like Nim, which looks like this:

    import rdstdin, strutils

    let
      time24 = readLineFromStdin("Enter a 24-hour time: ").split(':').map(parseInt)
      hours24 = time24[0]
      minutes24 = time24[1]
      flights: array[8, tuple[since: int,
                              depart: string,
                              arrive: string]] = [(480, "8:00 a.m.", "10:16 a.m."),
                                                  (583, "9:43 a.m.", "11:52 a.m."),
                                                  (679, "11:19 a.m.", "1:31 p.m."),
                                                  (767, "12:47 p.m.", "3:00 p.m."),
                                                  (840, "2:00 p.m.", "4:08 p.m."),
                                                  (945, "3:45 p.m.", "5:55 p.m."),
                                                  (1140, "7:00 p.m.", "9:20 p.m."),
                                                  (1305, "9:45 p.m.", "11:58 p.m.")]

    proc minutesSinceMidnight(hours: int = hours24, minutes: int = minutes24): int =
      hours * 60 + minutes

    proc cmpFlights(m = minutesSinceMidnight()): seq[int] =
      result = newSeq[int](flights.len)
      for i in 0 .. <flights.len:
        result[i] = abs(m - flights[i].since)

    proc getClosest(): int =
      for k,v in cmpFlights():
        if v == cmpFlights().min: return k

    echo "Closest departure time is ", flights[getClosest()].depart,
      ", arriving at ", flights[getClosest()].arrive
And performs like this:

    Lang    Time [ms]  Memory [KB]  Compile Time [ms]  Compressed Code [B]
    Nim          1400         1460                893                  486
    C++          1478         2717                774                  728
    D            1518         2388               1614                  669
    Rust         1623         2632               6735                  934
    Java         1874        24428                812                  778
    OCaml        2384         4496                125                  782
    Go           3116         1664                596                  618
    Haskell      3329         5268               3002                 1091
    LuaJit       3857         2368                  -                  519
    Lisp         8219        15876               1043                 1007
    Racket       8503       130284              24793                  741
http://goran.krampe.se/2014/10/20/i-missed-nim/


> Go, Rust and Nim go one step beyond NPM by compiling language dependencies down to a single binary file

And the person in security hat now says: so how do you deal with library upgrades? If you need to go back to original app developers to provide you with a new version just to update one library, then you've got a problem.


Rust gives you the option to dynamically link, and I expect Nim does as well. As for Go, I believe dynamic linking is somewhere on their roadmap, though I don't know how high of a priority it is.


I see Go and OCaml recommended to people fed up with Python's lack of static typing, and I just cringe. I love experimenting with programming languages, and Go seems to be picking up momentum but unfortunately for both Go and OCaml, they have this ridiculously restrictive syntax to them respectively which it makes it deeply unattractive for prototyping anything.

If you're looking for a statically typed Python that can be grokked in a matter of minutes, and compiles down to a static binary like Go does, and runs as fast as C in benchmarks, you should definitely check out the Nim compiler [1].

Code example:

    import rdstdin, strutils

    let
      time24 = readLineFromStdin("Enter a 24-hour time: ").split(':').map(parseInt)
      hours24 = time24[0]
      minutes24 = time24[1]
      flights: array[8, tuple[since: int,
                              depart: string,
                              arrive: string]] = [(480, "8:00 a.m.", "10:16 a.m."),
                                                  (583, "9:43 a.m.", "11:52 a.m."),
                                                  (679, "11:19 a.m.", "1:31 p.m."),
                                                  (767, "12:47 p.m.", "3:00 p.m."),
                                                  (840, "2:00 p.m.", "4:08 p.m."),
                                                  (945, "3:45 p.m.", "5:55 p.m."),
                                                  (1140, "7:00 p.m.", "9:20 p.m."),
                                                  (1305, "9:45 p.m.", "11:58 p.m.")]

    proc minutesSinceMidnight(hours: int = hours24, minutes: int = minutes24): int =
      hours * 60 + minutes

    proc cmpFlights(m = minutesSinceMidnight()): seq[int] =
      result = newSeq[int](flights.len)
      for i in 0 .. <flights.len:
        result[i] = abs(m - flights[i].since)

    proc getClosest(): int =
      for k,v in cmpFlights():
        if v == cmpFlights().min: return k

    echo "Closest departure time is ", flights[getClosest()].depart,
      ", arriving at ", flights[getClosest()].arrive
Statistics (on an x86_64 Intel Core2Quad Q9300):

    Lang    Time [ms]  Memory [KB]  Compile Time [ms]  Compressed Code [B]
    Nim          1400         1460                893                  486
    C++          1478         2717                774                  728
    D            1518         2388               1614                  669
    Rust         1623         2632               6735                  934
    Java         1874        24428                812                  778
    OCaml        2384         4496                125                  782
    Go           3116         1664                596                  618
    Haskell      3329         5268               3002                 1091
    LuaJit       3857         2368                  -                  519
    Lisp         8219        15876               1043                 1007
    Racket       8503       130284              24793                  741
This language deserves your attention.

[1]: http://goran.krampe.se/2014/10/20/i-missed-nim/

[2]: https://github.com/Araq/Nim/wiki/Nim-for-C-programmers


Nim is nowhere near the maturity of OCaml, and everything I've seen about it has the whiff of zealotry. I'll wait until I see more nuanced talks about it, and an established ecosystem that doesn't rely on C libraries.


> ecosystem that doesn't rely on C libraries

If something is compiled to native code, what's the point of writing a library that's not just a binding? In python it makes sense, because you get the pure-python installation of your app - it doesn't depend on the OS, python versions, etc.

But once you're going to compile your app for a target platform... what's the point of not relying on C libraries?


If your app uses C libraries then it inherits the problems of C: there will almost surely be bugs in the library that mean your app might segfault, or worse, have security problems. Thus e.g. the recent effort to write a full SSL stack in OCaml.



Tor is so slow as to be unusable for everyday browsing.


Tor Browser is perfectly suitable for everyday browsing. When's the last time you used it for any significant period of time? It's plenty speedy and very stable.

Please, instead of bemoaning your complete lack of privacy online, do something about it for a change. Download Tor Browser right now.

Tor Browser bundle on Win/Mac/Linux: https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en

Orweb on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.guardianp....

OnionBrowser on iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/onion-browser/id519296448?mt....


What kind of a weasel word is "everyday" browsing?

Tor has way more latency. It's been a while since I measured bandwidth, but relatively high bandwidth transfers like videos are everyday browsing nowadays. I, for one, frequently use Youtube playlists as ad-hoc background music, for example.


I don't find Tor that slow. Unless you're talking watching videos or something.


That "unless" is a big (if not major) part of everyday Internet usage of a casual user, so your argument only supports parent post.


Hasn't been my recent experience. It's got rather a lot of relay capacity, actually, and has scaled better than I expected.

I2P is also a lot faster than when I last looked, even though i2pd isn't done.


Isn't non-HTTPS traffic susceptible to snooping in Tor?


Because shocking attacks get the public's attention. With all eyes on the TV screen, it's the perfect time to introduce public policy changes that strip people of their rights.

All the better if I can defend my statements by inciting a sense of nationalism or publicly shared responsibility for preventing future heinous crimes.

This is the raw video of the shooting of the French policeman: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bc6_1420632668

Here it is in slow motion, zoomed in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_c4IUO6h7w

We are told this is footage of a 7.62mm round fired into a target at point blank range.

With no recoil exhibited by the rifle, no blood present anywhere on the scene, and no violent head or body movement on part of the person "shot" at point blank range, it's very possible that blanks were fired and that this is yet another deep event meant to mislead the public into accepting a hidden agenda.


Are you for reals calling false-flag on the Charlie Hebdo attack?


Quoting Dr. Paul Craig Roberts:

> Among these purposes is bringing France back into Washington’s orbit. The French president had recently said that the sanctions against Russia should be terminated.

> Hollande was allying himself with French economic interests instead of with Washington’s hegemonic foreign policy.

> Another purpose is to stifle the growing European sympathy for the Palestinians and to realign Europe with Israel.

> Another purpose is to counter the rising opposition in Europe to more Middle Eastern wars. The American neoconservatives have not completed their agenda. Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and Saudi Arabia are still standing.

> And there can be other purposes not apparent to me.

> My recommendation is that you not believe the print and TV media, but think. The failure of Americans to think is why they are 13 years into war and live in a police state.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/01/11/suspicions-growin...


Let's be honest with ourselves - there is not one shred of evidence in there. Yes, for the reasons you state, America could have staged a false flag attack. But that's just a list assembled after the fact to suit the narrative the author has already created.

"And there can be other purposes not apparent to me."

Oh, well, why didn't you say? Wrap this one up as a one and done case, then!

It goes without saying that he is also a 9/11 Truther:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Craig_Roberts#September_11...


Paul was presenting the information in a politically correct format. The US would never carry out such a cowardly act of state sponsored terror.


Wait, your saying this is a false flag attack by the US to fool the French government. And the US 'pretend' to kill a French policeman and don't expect the French to ever realise a real policeman never died....all this illusion after gunning down a bunch of journalists.... you need some lessons in logical reasoning.


Nowhere did I state the US did this. Nowhere did I state real people didn't die. I unequivocally stated and continue to insist this police officer did not die since was he wasn't so much as grazed by a single bullet.

Show me _any_ video of a loaded AK-47 being fired, even from a _prone position_, wherein zero recoil is exhibited by the weapon. It is simply not credible to claim AK-47s can be fired with zero recoil. That is a patent impossibility unless blanks are fired. At a minimum, if the muzzle of the weapon doesn't rise, then the energy should be transferred into the shoulder of the shooter. The energy from the gunpowder being ignited has to transfer somewhere, unless there was no gunpowder to begin with. It's even more unbelievable to see a Kalashnikov exhibit no recoil while being fired by a running person _mid-stride_.

Think for yourself. Who benefits most from animosity towards radical Muslims.

Watch the raw, uncut video of the supposed police shooting for yourself, right now: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bc6_1420632668

You will see:

- No blood, anywhere on the scene. Zero blood from the policeman "shot" with a 7.62mm round at point blank range.

- No flinching of the policeman "shot" at point blank range.

- Zero recoil exhibited by the Kalashnikov

Cross check this video with any other AK-47 video on Youtube.

View it in slow motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_c4IUO6h7w


Your theory doesn't make any sense. If this was indeed a false flag, then why would they go through the extra effort to fake the killing of a person?


Minimize casualties, maximize theatrical effect, is the norm for deep events.


"The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the "agentur" of the "Illuminati" between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion…We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil."

http://www.threeworldwars.com/albert-pike2.htm


...

You don't seem to be a troll based on your profile, so I'm not sure what would cause you to focus on details like the fact that it was a 7.62mm rifle and that you would know what the recoil looks like for various types of rifles.

I'm assuming you got fed this idea somewhere else, and went with it. Either way I'd urge you to really try and re-evaluate from a neutral standpoint and see if it genuinely seems probable.

Allowing your mind to go down this road unchecked seems like a path to Fischer-esque paranoia and self delusion.


Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. He is a disabled veteran and has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades [1].

> In a video published on Liveleak, a close range “execution style” shows no blast effect or blood, from a weapon capable of devastating effect. (See YouTube demonstration of AK47 effect [2])

> Ballistics experts consulted today describe videos of the French attack as “staged theatrical events.” Other than the suspicious HD video, experts have already noted that, without coming close to “conspiracy theory” dot-connecting, the weapons eject no shell casings, bullets supposedly hit concrete with no effect whatsoever, even from “point blank” range.

> You see, the AK47 round, 7.62×39 is not only very powerful but typically has a steel core for penetrating body armour. When hitting concrete, an AK round throws up large chunks of debris, unseen in this event.

> Preliminary analysis of the audio as well demonstrates a frequency indicating the subsonic report of a blank round. In an “urban canyon,” a supersonic round from an assault rifle creates a noticeable high frequency “crack” with a secondary “report” or echo, generally described as “crack-pop.”

> It has taken only a few hours for press outlets to question perfectly timed HD video from a seemingly fearless bystander who is witnessing actors firing blanks incapable of operating the ejection system of a weapon, imaginary bullets that leave concrete pristine and blood free.

1. http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/01/15/neo-paris-terror-the...

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLB36UxWD0M


Were you at the scene? Were you there as a witness? Are you a ballistics expert? How much do you know about spatter patterns? Can you tell the exact angle the victim's head was at when he was shot?

Ya know, don't even bother answering.


Usually, it's the nutballs who are Just Asking Questions. /s

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_asking_questions


Oh jeez.

Ok, pretend for a moment that you're the terrible neocon type, who would stop at nothing to get France back into Washington's orbit or whatever. Which one of two options would you chose?

1. Pretend that there is some shooting, but don't shoot actual bullets. Make an elaborate show, and be sure not to screw it up - it's all recorded.

2. Pay a couple of disgruntled guys a small stack of cash to go and shoot up a journal office. Actual guys, actual rifles, actual bullets, legit videos.

Seriously. You have to assume those "neocons" are drooling idiots to believe any of this "look at the video!1!!" stuff.


I may not be active duty military and a ballistics expert but I implore you to watch this quick video of the shooting: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bc6_1420632668

Here it is again in slow motion, zoomed in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_c4IUO6h7w

Kalashnikov rifles chambered at 7.62mm exhibit greater than zero recoil under the best of circumstances.

It simply isn't credible to state that a Kalashnikov rifle will not exhibit _any_ recoil.

And to pretend as if a 7.62mm round fired at point blank range into a human target would cause _no_ amount of blood splatter or blowback in the target is highly suspect.

There is no visual of a bullet hitting this police officer and I will not apologize for my statements inciting controversy. Watch the video. In less than a minute you will see I am accurately describing the events as they unfold on video.


You just admitted you are not a ballistics expert.

- How do you know how much recoil that rifle will generate?

- How much blood splatter should you expect? Where do you get this information from?

- How fast or slow does a bullet have to be going to be visible on a phone camera video?

Given the statements you are making, I assume you already have all this information.


video games /sarcasm


Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: