PythonicAlpha

Sounds as, that you did not understand, that the author did not mean the __slots__ system, that allows to avoid the __dict__ on objects, but the internal slots-system that is intended to speed up the dispatching of special methods.

Maybe one should add, that (as much I understood) it is a problem of the processor handling one specific (and rare) instruction. It does assume register dependencies that do not exist. It was shown, that AMD does not have this behavior. And it shows, that today's processors are enormous complex beasts.

The problem with the compilers was, that they where not aware of this behavior and thus generated sub-optimal code for this situation ... but compiler builders are also mere humans.

Thanks. So, if anybody reverse engineers the proprietary utility, a virus could be coined that spreads via USB devices and infects thousands of computers and USB sticks and the like. Scary.

Good to hear, I hope you have some ideas, since else, this "facebookers only" feels like discrimination -- as I explained here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8115706

And what is with people, that don't have a Facebook account (yet)?

I guess, anybody that creates a new Facebook account now, because he wants to also get the Stellars will fall into the spam category.

tl;dr: Isn't it a legitimate interest, to get something that others get? Or is it just a giveaway for Facebook users? When so, would you please say so in the first place (, that your system is only for them). It does not foster my trust in this new system, when I am locked out, just because I am not inside some "special club" (I don't remember, that Facebook membership is now essential to interact in the internet -- .... I am at the verge to feel discriminated.).

I find it good, to have an alternate payment method to get out of the trap of traditional payment systems, that are dominated by a few big corporations .... and then, what happens, I have to bow to one even bigger monopolist. --> Does not foster my trust into a system that claims to be free and open.

Since the typing is made with the full privileges of the current user and he might be totally unaware of this, it is nearly as good -- the dongle has only to wait until some administrator is on the computer. It gives all sorts of new attack vectors at least.

I think, one of the problem here, is the universality aspect of USB. When we had different plugs for different things, no keyboard could pretend to be a mass storage device and vice versa. Now, when you plug something into your USB port, it could be anything.

It is similar to the scripting languages, Microsoft included into their office products. Before their where also some scripting possibilities in office products, but most of the time not that powerful. When they did it into the most popular office suite existing, the way for a new kind of virus was paved. The universality of office scripting also made the products more vulnerable to attacks.

I am missing one information here (maybe one hw-hacker can give the answer):

Is it possible (for some or many) USB-sticks or USB devices to reprogram the firmware from an PC that it is connected to it?

The article plays a little with the threat, that I (I want to put it this way:) lent my USB stick to a friend, he uses it, but clears it afterwards and gives it back to me and the stick now contains an infected firmware (that I can not find out by normal means). And also the friend knows nothing, since his computer was infected before.

Of course, I know that it is possible to change a firmware by hw-means (replacing the chip or reprogram it with special hw) but when the firmware of some or all USB-devices would be alterable just by plugging them into a computer, a new kind of virus would be possible spreading more silently and dangerously as all of them before.

HW hacking the firmware of USB devices of course is possible, but would be more in the field of industrial or real espionage. Reprogramming firmware "on-the-run" would cause a new mass-threat for computers.

I see it similar. That is also the reason, that countries with high risk are paying much higher interest rates. Those rates are always defined as "payment" for the risk of loss. So it is a little weird, when funds now find a way to get out of the risk and earn 16x the money they spent, just because of their good arguing before some courts.

I don't agree. As much I know, they lent Argentina no money. They bought bonds (I think that's the correct term) that already lost nearly all of their value since the land was already in trouble then, for pennies and now they want the full money back, that they never spent. As much I remember the profit would have been 16x the money spent. So, they lent no money to the country .... the papers already lost their value since the risk was high of total loss or a haircut.

I guess, even with the haircut settlement, even then they would have earning a lot of money -- but they where very greedy.

Our financial system should not foster poor greed!

It is most likely, that the state systems as we know them today will break down in many areas of the world.

It all depends, how the survivors will behave. I think it is much likely, that living together will change its form very much -- up to the possibility that people will fight for the last resources or a return to Middle Ages state (but, when I see what is happening in our democracies, they might also do without nuclear destruction).

>but it did not cause the kind of damage that is claimed for this weapon

I don't know, what you are referring to here, but to my opinion, given the distances of a relatively wide area with very limited population, the results where grave enough. Generations of the inhabitants where contaminated and had babies with many defects or deaths born. I guess the descendants of these poor people still struggle with the effects of this bomb.

Given such an event in or near a city of the US, I guess not only one city might get wiped out but the effects would be very real and destructive in a very big part of the US.

"Humans" as such would have still survived, but I don't know, if that what would have been left of it would be realistically to be called "civilization".

I am also not to sure, if they (the remnants) would survive for long with global climate change and radioactive fallout everywhere.

Sometimes people can be like sub-atomic particles. You can't measure them without changing them.

Any form of measurement will fall back on them that want to make the measurement. You even can ruin company culture by having the wrong measurement. I saw it happen, when people started to cheat on colleagues to get better "performance".

As much I understood, they did tell him not enough, that he could understand what was wrong. Automated eMails are "customer-support from hell".

The OP made some grave errors with his apps. But is it really a good reason, to not tell him, what was going wrong and instead swinging the big hammer on his head (life-long ban)?

Google once started with the slogan "Don't be evil".

By being the new "Judge Dredd" of the internet, it can just become, what it never wanted to be. All that, just because Google tries to drive technology to its extremes ("customer-service from hell").

This is going to be more and more important, because there exist only very few major app-stores and very few major internet-payment systems (gladly, there the situation could still change to the better). But I know, how much Paypal was criticized because of his behavior and being a semi-monopolist in internet payments.

With our today's trend to centralization -- I don't want to put my fate into the hand of one of these new Judge Dredds.

Might be, but they will run in tremendous health problems, given the current rate of environmental pollution.

Also (again): Compared to western standards, the Chinese median earnings are still laughable.

That he posted four links does not mean, that all what he says (as much I see, he draws conclusions, that need not necessarily be proved inside his links) is true.

I also can post several links, some with truth, some with lies or speculations. Who will decide. Numbers mean nothing.

The key is "supposed". Inflation rates are always political.

Did they also compare/correct not only with "inflation rates" but with raw material (e.g. foods) prices?

To my knowledge, food prices have risen in many countries more than official inflation rates.

This is just propaganda without any real facts.

And even that, I doubt. In China is rising a new class of Billionaires, which in place exploit their own people.

I guess (and there is no real data given in the article), that they just counted for the inequality between countries and found that the lowest incomes in China are doing better against medium or low incomes in other countries.

No wonder, since the medium income for example in Germany has dropped .... and of course the medium incomes in countries like China has risen (but the low incomes in those countries are still "poor" compared to Western standards).

I don't see any evidence in the article, just links to some dubious papers, partially paid by the world bank.

It might be, that some money goes to third world countries (specially China and India) but I just doubt, that many people are really rising out of poverty. The "wandring labourers" of China are not. They work just to survive. Also those that are sewing our jeans in Malaysia and other countries ... at the verge of living wage. When the big corporations move along, to even cheaper countries, nothing is left to them.

I know by own experience, that with statistics, you can prove just anything, even lies.

I think, reading also the comments posted to the article is helpful. Some insights are also there.

I don't know, where you live. But I guess, that you live in a country, where critics of the capitalistic system does not appear in the media.

I don't care, what the world bank says. It is statistics. For example: How do they define "poverty"? By manipulating the definitions, I can prove anything to you.

It is a fact (and in my country, you can see it in the media), that in the developed countries, the rich got far much richer than the other people got.

That maybe some people in lower developed countries are better of now (by the statistics), might be, but their income is so low, that they do not really count against the growth in income in the other countries.

Please, don't tell me about the world bank. I don't trust organisations, that are installed for one main reason: To sell capitalism to the world.

The numbers from independent researchers are different. Read the book from Piketty: http://www.amazon.de/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Pik...

Of course, if you read the right (right-wing) media, they will try to discredit it, but I did not yet read any plausible critic -- only wild tries to protect capitalism from any thinking.

Just theories.

The reality is, that very much (if not most) of our electronics garbage goes to Africa, where it goes to wild garbage dumps and young children are destroying their health by burning the valuable materials out of the garbage without any health or environmental measures.

Even when the phones are decomposed and parts are recycled, we are very far from recycling 100% of electronic gadgets. Maybe you could (with much effort, that is not cost effective) recycle 40% of the materials. The idiotic method of glueing all together makes things even more difficult!

What you tell here, is just science fiction, that is presented as facts from the media to give us better feelings.

I live in a country with very high standards for garbage recycling -- but even here, most of the stuff is either just dumped or burnt, since that is the most cost effective thing -- that is done, of course after the private households took much effort into waste separation -- it is just dumped/burnt together. I know that, because I brought my things separated to official recycling and was advised to dump it together into one big hole.

Don't believe, what media and press tells you, because governments want to shine a bright light on our industries! You are being just brain-washed.

That is just capitalistic propaganda that now runs the last decades over the world.

But it does not work any more. The "growth" of the last two decades did go 99% into the pockets of the millionaires and billionaires.

Today is the situation, that new jobs in underdeveloped countries are at the existence minimum of that country or below -- meaning, those people work their ass of, just to survive and make the big bosses richer. And additionally, the environments of the countries are polluted, resources are depleted ...

All in the name of god money.

That is partly because, many information was leaked by people that where stirred up by the process.

That is just a theory. What do we have in practice:

- Some years ago, you could (yourself) exchange the battery of your mobile phone -- today, many mobile phones will be thrown away, when the battery is finished or any other part does not work any more. Todays "highest tech" industries are environmental nightmares. And now they even build tablet PCs that way, that should replace normal computers (see MS Surface).

- A lot more products are just build for fast consumption and recycling is still not in focus of most manufacturers. Instead, the waste from Europe is exported to Africa.

What I say: I am sure, that it would be possible, but with our todays ideology of growth for the sake of more and more profits and less and less regulation, that is just not "compatible".

Growth and more growth is only needed, because of our interest based money system.

Any gardener can tell you, that unlimited (and exponential) growth is not possible. But economists still believe in it.

Some (very soon) day, all the resources of this planet will be wasted -- and humanity will have destroyed itself -- just because of economic theories and to make billionaires from millionaires.

I used to use an old Windows program some time ago. That was the best email client, I ever used. It was never topped by any other. To sad, that it is no longer supported and runs only on Windows.

It seems to me, that nobody really can write a real good eMail clients.