Tim Cook vs the FBI

[The111 0]

ryoder

Term: "iCloud"
Definition: A "service" pushed by Apple to put your all your personal information on Apple's servers where the Feds can access them easier.

I get really fed up with Apples heavy-handed pushing of that crap onto users.

I'm not a fan of the stupid name and the i-ification of every word. But I also don't understand the hate of "cloud" services which really haven't been new or exciting since Hotmail came out in the 90's. Being able to access your data from any device, anywhere, is great! It's still totally possible to set up an SMTP email server and use that, but who would choose to do so? The cloud benefits users in every way. Users complain that their email data is on Google's or Apple's servers, but that's how email works! It has to sit on a server somewhere, and you the user (the generic "you" here) get to choose where it sits, so don't complain when it does just that, at the host you chose! Any of these complaining users are free to set up their own privately managed email servers... but they won't.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[The111 0]

quade

***iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

Mmmm... It does what it says on the tin. To say that it "sucks" is a mischaracterization.

For instance, it doesn't say it will give you a blow job. If you expect all your software to give you a blow job, then I guess you're right in having the opinion that iCloud "sucks" (or doesn't in that case), but the fact remains, it does do exactly what it says it will do.

What's the problem?

I've never used it, but if you can get your data in, you can get your data out, and nobody else can do either of those things (i.e. this very topic), then yes it does indeed work as advertised. :-)

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[quade 3]

The111

******iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

Mmmm... It does what it says on the tin. To say that it "sucks" is a mischaracterization.

For instance, it doesn't say it will give you a blow job. If you expect all your software to give you a blow job, then I guess you're right in having the opinion that iCloud "sucks" (or doesn't in that case), but the fact remains, it does do exactly what it says it will do.

What's the problem?

I've never used it, but if you can get your data in, you can get your data out, and nobody else can do either of those things (i.e. this very topic), then yes it does indeed work as advertised. :-)

If you are James Bond and have to keep Blofeld from seeing your actually top secret plans, then no cloud service is 100%, absolutely, completely, and totally unbreakable as far as encryption goes. You probably need an air-gapped device.

That said, for the rest of the planet, the encryption on iCloud is perfectly fine and Apple doesn't muck with it for their own nefarious purposes.

The same can not be said for the "free" cloud storage from Google who tells you right up front, "oh yeah, we're going through all your crap in exchange for the 'free' storage to we can push ads to you based on it."

Personally, I'd rather pay the $0.99 / month to not have Apple data mine me. Technically, iCloud is free for a small amount of storage, but that's just the normal, "hey, the first hit is free" thing.

http://www.apple.com/icloud/

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[quade 3]

ryoder

Term: "iCloud"
Definition: A "service" pushed by Apple to put your all your personal information on Apple's servers where the Feds can access them easier.

I get really fed up with Apples heavy-handed pushing of that crap onto users.

I really think you're missing the point of iCloud to begin with. It's so you have all your information on all your devices synced.

I don't know about you, but I kinda hated syncing files on different devices and carrying floppy discs or USB drives around to do it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ryoder 1,381]

quade

***Term: "iCloud"
Definition: A "service" pushed by Apple to put your all your personal information on Apple's servers where the Feds can access them easier.

I get really fed up with Apples heavy-handed pushing of that crap onto users.

I really think you're missing the point of iCloud to begin with. It's so you have all your information on all your devices synced.

I don't know about you, but I kinda hated syncing files on different devices and carrying floppy discs or USB drives around to do it.

I'm happy to have my devices sync to my Mac. No way in hell I'm putting my personal files on someone else's servers. My desktops and laptops run rsync daily to my server, and that server is synced weekly to an identical server.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[The111 0]

quade

If you are James Bond and have to keep Blofeld from seeing your actually top secret plans, then no cloud service is 100%, absolutely, completely, and totally unbreakable as far as encryption goes. You probably need an air-gapped device.

https://www.google.com/search?q=encrypted%20email%20cloud%20service

There is indeed encryption that is unbreakable, "as far as encryption goes" (the human on either end will always be breakable).

And there are cloud services offering it as an email wrapper, if you don't want to set up your own.

And it will be available from big names very soon, and probably fairly common in the slightly-more-distant future if I had to guess.

If I give a 3rd party company access to my raw email content, I really don't care if they let robots serve me ads based on that content (I'm just going to block those ads anyway). What matters is what humans do with it.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[Coreeece 2]

Stumpy

iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

I remember when Apple used to be somewhat necessary, particularly in the creative media community. They had a good product and those that saw the value brought that company back to life with their loyalty.

I was a "loyal" customer, but got fed up with the spinning wheel of death and all their overpriced bullshit that essentially put a premium on incompatibility with all the other shit that I owned.

Now I can build a custom PC for half the price with twice the performance of a mac pro and it plays nicely with all my other devices/software - and last year I finally got rid of my iphone - the last piece of jewelry tying me to that abusive relationship.

If it wasn't for the intel mac, apple computers would be extinct. They're gonna have to come to a similar compromise with regard to compatibility and price of their other devices if they want to stay alive - loyalty can only take so much abuse.

Never was there an answer....not without listening, without seeing - Gilmour

[quade 3]

The111

There is indeed encryption that is unbreakable, "as far as encryption goes".

I might be wrong, but I would say you're probably wrong about that.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ryoder 1,381]

Mother of a San Bernardino victim takes Apple's side: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/20/carole-adams-mom-who-lost-son-in-san-bernardino-sh/

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[The111 0]

quade

***There is indeed encryption that is unbreakable, "as far as encryption goes".

I might be wrong, but I would say you're probably wrong about that.

Please elaborate.

AES-256 for example will never be brute-forceable in the lifetime of the universe, using every computer on earth.

There are currently no known algorithmic attacks against it either. Might this change? Sure. It also might not. Either is speculation. Disregarding a speculative future, unbreakable encryption exists now.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[Coreeece 2]

ryoder

Mother of a San Bernardino victim takes Apple's side: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/20/carole-adams-mom-who-lost-son-in-san-bernardino-sh/

But what if it could bring her son back? What if her son was merely a hostage - what would she say then?

At first i was gung-ho against the backdoor, but given that apple would just hand over data about the presumed innocent anyway, who cares? This encryption - for the most part - is only protecting people from potential identity theft ...we already have protection against that.

Never was there an answer....not without listening, without seeing - Gilmour

[ryoder 1,381]

The111

Please elaborate.

AES-256 for example will never be brute-forceable in the lifetime of the universe, using every computer on earth.

There are currently no known algorithmic attacks against it either. Might this change? Sure. It also might not. Either is speculation. Disregarding a speculative future, unbreakable encryption exists now.

After reading Schneier's "Applied Cryptography" many years ago, I came to the realization there are two kinds of crypto:
a) Crypto that has been broken.
b) Crypto that will be broken.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[quade 3]

The111

******There is indeed encryption that is unbreakable, "as far as encryption goes".

I might be wrong, but I would say you're probably wrong about that.

Please elaborate.

AES-256 for example will never be brute-forceable in the lifetime of the universe, using every computer on earth.

There are currently no known algorithmic attacks against it either. Might this change? Sure. It also might not. Either is speculation. Disregarding a speculative future, unbreakable encryption exists now.

Please note the wording of this;
https://www.nsa.gov/ia/programs/suiteb_cryptography/

I think one can safely assume it has been cracked by the NSA.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[gowlerk 1,904]

Quote

After a ruling in that court, the case might then go the SC, but with a 4-4 split, the case would automatically revert to the Appeals Court ruling, making that the Law of the Land.

My understanding is that would make it the law only in the district the Appellate Court is responsible for. Other courts in other districts could rule differently.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[The111 0]

quade

Please note the wording of this;
https://www.nsa.gov/ia/programs/suiteb_cryptography/

I think one can safely assume it has been cracked by the NSA.

Which wording specifically? And if the NSA has cracked our strongest encryption, why does this topic exist?

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[Stumpy 256]

quade

***iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

Mmmm... It does what it says on the tin. To say that it "sucks" is a mischaracterization.

For instance, it doesn't say it will give you a blow job. If you expect all your software to give you a blow job, then I guess you're right in having the opinion that iCloud "sucks" (or doesn't in that case), but the fact remains, it does do exactly what it says it will do.

What's the problem?

I have 2 Macbooks, a chromebook, a windows laptop, an iMac and an android phone, which makes iCloud a non starter for me because it's not properly cross platform and/or browser accessible, like genuine "Cloud" applications. Of course this depends on your definition of "cloud", but mine is the correct one.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[muff528 3]

gowlerk

Quote

After a ruling in that court, the case might then go the SC, but with a 4-4 split, the case would automatically revert to the Appeals Court ruling, making that the Law of the Land.

My understanding is that would make it the law only in the district the Appellate Court is responsible for. Other courts in other districts could rule differently.

But, an actual similar case would have to be heard in those other courts and in those decisions a lot of weight will have to be given to the precedent which will have been set. My feeling is that if somehow a conflict between two Appellate circuits was to occur, the Supreme Court would go with the existing precedent. IOW - I think the SC would see the concept of "precedent" as the main question before them rather than some appeal of a lower court decision (one on which they have already "decided"). The vote might not be 4-4 then, even with a politically or ideologically split Court. All speculation.

Edit to add: Got a little off track there. I think that the (admittedly speculative) point that the TV lawyer was making was that in a case of a 4-4 split decision, the reversion to the Appellate Court decision would become the de facto or effective SC decision. Anyway, off-topic here.

[quade 3]

Stumpy

******iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

Mmmm... It does what it says on the tin. To say that it "sucks" is a mischaracterization.

For instance, it doesn't say it will give you a blow job. If you expect all your software to give you a blow job, then I guess you're right in having the opinion that iCloud "sucks" (or doesn't in that case), but the fact remains, it does do exactly what it says it will do.

What's the problem?

I have 2 Macbooks, a chromebook, a windows laptop, an iMac and an android phone, which makes iCloud a non starter for me because it's not properly cross platform and/or browser accessible, like genuine "Cloud" applications. Of course this depends on your definition of "cloud", but mine is the correct one.



Uh . . . yes it is. You can get to your iCloud files from any modern browser. Maybe you didn't know that.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kallend 1,623]

Stumpy

******iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

Mmmm... It does what it says on the tin. To say that it "sucks" is a mischaracterization.

For instance, it doesn't say it will give you a blow job. If you expect all your software to give you a blow job, then I guess you're right in having the opinion that iCloud "sucks" (or doesn't in that case), but the fact remains, it does do exactly what it says it will do.

What's the problem?

I have 2 Macbooks, a chromebook, a windows laptop, an iMac and an android phone, which makes iCloud a non starter for me because it's not properly cross platform and/or browser accessible, like genuine "Cloud" applications. Of course this depends on your definition of "cloud", but mine is the correct one.



iCloud is poorly implemented to the point of uselessness unless you pay through the nose for additional space.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[gowlerk 1,904]

Of the cloud services currently offered by the big players, I like Google Drive the best. This needs a thread in Bonfire.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[ryoder 1,381]

gowlerk

Of the cloud services currently offered by the big players, I like Google Drive the best. This needs a thread in Bonfire.

I've used it a couple times when the goal was to share it with someone:

- In my notes from the CFQS v MHS trial for a Google Map of plaintiff & witness locations.(i.e. the public).

- Providing video evidence to a police dept to prosecute a reckless driver.
They wanted original video file not munged by Youtube's processing.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Stumpy 256]

quade

*********iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

Mmmm... It does what it says on the tin. To say that it "sucks" is a mischaracterization.

For instance, it doesn't say it will give you a blow job. If you expect all your software to give you a blow job, then I guess you're right in having the opinion that iCloud "sucks" (or doesn't in that case), but the fact remains, it does do exactly what it says it will do.

What's the problem?

I have 2 Macbooks, a chromebook, a windows laptop, an iMac and an android phone, which makes iCloud a non starter for me because it's not properly cross platform and/or browser accessible, like genuine "Cloud" applications. Of course this depends on your definition of "cloud", but mine is the correct one.



Uh . . . yes it is. You can get to your iCloud files from any modern browser. Maybe you didn't know that.

Nope. Any modern browser..... except the android ones.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[quade 3]

I don't know what to say other than the obvious. Firefox is not Android.

Try Google Chrome.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Stumpy 256]

quade

I don't know what to say other than the obvious. Firefox is not Android.

Try Google Chrome.

Same result. (I pretty much exclusively use Google Chrome - I only downloaded Firefox to check that it applied to other Android browsers as well.)

ETA - and actually, that screenshot IS chrome. FF is just up in the notification bar because I had just downloaded it.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[kallend 1,623]

The111

******iCloud sucks anyway. Its one of the few things apple doesn't do terribly well.

Mmmm... It does what it says on the tin. To say that it "sucks" is a mischaracterization.

For instance, it doesn't say it will give you a blow job. If you expect all your software to give you a blow job, then I guess you're right in having the opinion that iCloud "sucks" (or doesn't in that case), but the fact remains, it does do exactly what it says it will do.

What's the problem?

I've never used it, but if you can get your data in, you can get your data out, and nobody else can do either of those things (i.e. this very topic), then yes it does indeed work as advertised. :-)

I believe there's more to it than that. iCloud kept putting "you need to buy more memory" and "enter your iCloud password" pop-ups on my iPad Mini that I use for navigation in my plane. The only way I could stop it doing that at inopportune moments was to disable it completely.

The service I am willing to pay $$ for is Google Drive.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.