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[smjjames]

What’s the studies system? Firefox’s in-house version of github or something?

Sounds like a botchy way to fix something that shouldn’t have to be done this way, even on short notice. Kudos on them for fixing it within short notice though.

[Iduno]

Firefox is on fire today.

Add-on certification isn't working, so the next time Firefox checks the certification, the add-on will be disabled and possibly removed, since the certification has expired.

Not a good weekend for Mozilla devs.

Might the suggestions here help? Specifically:

    Open about:config
    Turn app.shield.optoutstudies.enabled to true (if false)
    Turn app.normandy.run_interval_seconds to 1
    Change back app.normandy.run_interval_seconds to what it was (21600 for me, YMMV).

[MorleyDev]

Malware-ridden laptop artwork sold for $1.3m

Because the sale of malware is restricted in the US, whoever purchases the laptop will receive it only once its ports and internet capabilities have been "functionally disabled", according to the auction web page.

That's not how that works and they know it. Guessing they're just banking on the US auditors not knowing that you can remove hard drives?

"It's totally cool officer, we may be selling a nuclear bomb but see, we took the batteries out of the detonator. No problem."

Obviously anyone can go online and get these malwares for free in minutes if you know where to look, but still. Letter of the law, spirit of the law...

[Magistrum]

It makes no difference tough, it is all old malware that can't do anything anymore. These things have a shelf life of months.

I'm not sure why someone would pay for it. Hell, I'll put it in your computer for you for half the price.

As always, there is a relevant xkcd for this too.

[Iduno]

It makes no difference tough, it is all old malware that can't do anything anymore. These things have a shelf life of months.

...assuming anyone patches critical systems instead of letting them run/people patch home systems at all (a lot of the people who actually did patch quit, because of the Windows 10 forced update thing).

[Telgin]

We've got a Windows XP desktop running somewhere in our office with a modem connection to some legacy system that people connect to using RDP all of the time.  I fear what kind of malware it's susceptible to... and what the security team of the company that bought us is going to think of it when they discover it.

[Max™]

Less tech news but  tech related: is there any way to use a blockchain public ledger type of system so you could voluntarily opt-in to putting your phone in a state where it can't be used for texting and shit while driving, and then could you link it to an insurance plan wherein you get reduced rates by proving you're not a distracted driver?

Am I like, a moron or a genius?

[IcyTea31]

Not a new idea. Too hard to verify it, even with the blockchain, to use it for insurance purposes. However, there exists an app that sends a prerecorded message to anyone who tries to call or message you while it's active, with the primary idea of setting it while driving or otherwise occupied.

[Max™]

Don't see how it could be too hard to verify, people can already use phones for shit involving identity, having it do something which requires screen control could be duped but how many of you would even know how to virtualize your entire phonestate sufficiently so you could try to cheat an insurance app just so you can be like "ha ha ha, I'm the stupid" and text while driving anyways?

Smartglasses can detect when you're driving and force you to id yourself as a passenger before reactivating, the same thing in reverse should be more than possible, hell just ask google for the records of your phones location, they have it already.

[Reelya]

There's really no feature of a blockchain that's going to help with that set up.

A blockchain can guarantee that previous blocks can't be edited, because each block contains a hash of the previous block. So, if you try and edit any previous block, it becomes invalid since the next block in the chain now has an invalid hash.

There's no magical way that blockchains can verify the veracity of any data from outside the blockchain, such as what state your phone is in.

[wierd]

A better idea:

Ask the insurance company to provide you an app that locks your phone and disables the ringer when the multiaxis accelerometer detects the phone is in motion.  A simple AI baked into the app could easily determine if you are walking around, vs driving around.

[Max™]

Having your phone do something which involves updating the public ledger while in motion would do so, and best of all you can get some of that venture capital bullshit by blockchaining it up!

The critical bit would be having your insurance premium lessened by this, mining safe driver coins or some shit.

There are chatrooms you can only access when your battery is <5% and unplugged, this is a possible thing I'm talking about.

[Trekkin]

A better idea:

Ask the insurance company to provide you an app that locks your phone and disables the ringer when the multiaxis accelerometer detects the phone is in motion.  A simple AI baked into the app could easily determine if you are walking around, vs driving around.

You wouldn't need an AI, but I guess it's next to blockchain on the buzzword bingo.

You would, however, need a way to distinguish drivers from passengers, or drivers who hand their phone to a passenger to run the map, or any of a hundred other things that are going to make the insurers leery of people gaming the system.

[wierd]

AI in the actual academic sense, (EG, a semi-intelligent program that can make a decision based on some weighted inputs). 

Not AI in the buzzword bingo sense. (No need for GANs, or anything.)

(EG, more "1960s chess AI" and less "IBM Watson")

[Trekkin]

Distinction without a difference, I'm afraid. AI is a buzzword. It doesn't actually describe anything concrete about the software, just that the creator wants you to be impressed with its complexity. It works great in outreach, though.

However, even in that fuzziest of senses, you neither need nor want anything you could credibly describe as AI here, because anything you have the algorithm do is going to be picked over endlessly in litigation. Similarly, the more parameters you have the algorithm consider, the more likely it is that someone will find some quirk of the logic that looks racist or classist or sexist or something. The first time someone sues over this, which will be the first time it is tried, the lawyers are going to want a concise description of how it works just like a Breathalyzer, and therefore that is the rubric against which to judge the algorithm. You want one parameter operating over a single range. Anything more complicated will make them skittish.

And, of course, it does nothing to solve the actual problem: your idea can't distinguish between driving in a car and just being in a car, which means you're asking the insurance companies to accept less money for what could be, and therefore will be assumed to be, nothing. I'd love to see you make that pitch.