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Siege that b****

7 days ago on The illusion of simplicity: photographer Peter Belanger on shooting for Apple

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The source code would matter, in my opinion, because it gets to the nitty-gritty heart and foundation of the issue. What defines whether what happened is a bug or not? The prosecution has incentive to claim that it is a bug, while the defense conversely has incentive to claim otherwise. And as it’s impossible to pre-determine any and all potential bugs that could come about in a program, it’s going to be “tricky” to prove what’s actually a bug or not.

It comes down to semantics, really. While it may be obvious to us that it’s a bug, in a legal setting, that “feeling” won’t hold legal weight. It will need to get down to the elemental specifics of what defines/determines something a bug, and for that, I believe they’d need to get to the source code to see what the programming was doing. Otherwise, who’s to say that the machine’s developers aren’t just retroactively labeling it a bug after the fact?

I haven’t been to many casinos, so I’m not aware of how these games define themselves, and particularly, how explicit they are. But short of them being written in exactly precise legalese, my opinion is that the skirmish needs to be taken to the ground level — the source code. Otherwise, it’s a critical/core piece of evidence enshrouded in a cloud of mystery, with everyone having to rely on what the owners claim — perhaps this “bug” could/should be legally confirmed to be an actual “part” of the game.

9 days ago on Hacking charges dropped in poker machine exploit case

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To all the lawyers in the house —

Shouldn’t a trial such as this perhaps require the machine’s programming to be dumped out to source code, giving both sides fair access to evidence, and the ability to determine what was and wasn’t “fair” vs. cheating? (Given that there’s no explicit agreement and/or contract between the player and the “machine” beforehand)

I imagine the casino (and its extended party sources/parties) would say, “The game is not supposed to be played this way, therefore it’s cheating.” Then they’d have to prove whether it was actually cheating or not, then have to show whether the defendant was sufficiently made aware of the rules and game limitations beforehand.

As such, I feel that the matter would come down to very particular programming specifics in the code. What legally constitutes a bug/glitch? Will/Would the source code be necessary to provide to the defendants in this case?

10 days ago on Hacking charges dropped in poker machine exploit case 2 replies 1 recommend

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Well back in my day, we had to trudge up and down the inbox both ways, with nothing but an “archive” button and a prayer. Ah, kids…

13 days ago on Eric Schmidt on an internet 'delete' button: 'There is a time when erasure is a right thing'

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What I want to know is who swapped out your Depends with ones four sizes too small today.

/s

C’mon now, old-timer — can’t we all cut loose a bit and be a little goofy and/or lighthearted from time to time, to escape life’s stresses for a second, no matter our age? I’m sorry you had your fun-card so innocently pried from your hands at a tender young age, but that doesn’t mean we all have to get serious and stick to just paying taxes ;)

16 days ago on Tears in rain: how Snapchat showed me the glory of data death 2 recommends

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Alright friends, everyone at ease — I’m all “such’d” out for today.

16 days ago on Chinese researchers branded 'appallingly irresponsible' over creation of new lethal flu strains 1 reply

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…And if it was clear that China was handling and overseeing well such biosafety containment, I personally wouldn’t have any issue whatsoever with China’s research and experimentation of such. I agree that China definitely has justified incentive to study such.

16 days ago on Chinese researchers branded 'appallingly irresponsible' over creation of new lethal flu strains 1 reply

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You guys are resorting to strictly last-named numbers now?

/s

But in all seriousness — no doubt, there is good to be had in researching such lethal, biological dangers such as this. But what I personally raise an eyebrow to is, given China’s “affinity” (or lack thereof) for the mitigation and control of such matters as pollution and piracy (amongst others), I question whether China’s measures for biosafety containment and control are up to par with the rest of the developed world that also handles/researches similar biological dangers.

I tried finding an old Wired article on a Biosafety Level 4 research/containment facility, but it eludes me. So here’s a runner up of Wikipedia, instead:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level

16 days ago on Chinese researchers branded 'appallingly irresponsible' over creation of new lethal flu strains 1 reply

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No, it’s poor taste regardless of what happens, and regardless of your “disclaimer” of sarcasm. It’s in the same vein of being in an airplane, jumping up on your seat, and yelling “Bomb! …Just kidding!”

27 days ago on Shooting threat at 4chan leads to arrest, closure of over 20 Dutch schools 1 reply 1 recommend