A bit of a tangent but do you have a view on prices for hardware security keys like YubiKey? For private use they're a pricey option, especially if you get a few backup keys. Could a big actor like Google, if they wanted, scale up production, sell at cost and get prices down to say $2 each? Or is the components and manufacturing inherently more costly? Is there anything on the horizon that likely will bring much lower prices?
This is why they're pushing passkeys in phones' secure element with cloud account sync: getting people to keep a separate set of hardware keys is nigh impossible at scale.
Sure, but why not preserve the option for people to use hardware keys?
Unfortunately, both the FIDO and WebAuthN working groups seem to be dead-set on making the hardware authenticator use case as painful as possible [1] [2] [3].
I just don't get it. Why even try to pretend that WebAuthN is a single API for both use cases when all stakeholders in charge seem to have given up on one of them?
Most modern smartphones support contactless smartcards (a.k.a. "NFC"), which can be used as FIDO credentials. It should be possible to produce these for around $2 at scale.
They wouldn't work at computers, unfortunately (not even with an adapter, since desktop browsers and OSes don't expect to speak FIDO-over-ISO-7816-over-CTAP-over-USB), but with QR-based cross-platform flows now part of the specs, phones could pretty straightforwardly serve as readers for other devices.
If large issuers of ISO-based smart cards (e.g. banks or government authorities for biometric ID cards and passports) could be convinced to just throw a FIDO implementation on there (there's open-source ones available!), people could even use the cards they already own.
Yubikey used to sell a simple Webauthn-only key for $10-$15. USB-only, no NFC or anything. It was blue instead of the standard black. That one was essentially killed when Passkeys became popular, because it didn't support resident keys. I believe some companies (Google? Github?) were giving them away for free.
Its replacement is $25, which is expensive enough to be an issue for poor people.
Thanks, I'll look into that product. Less costly, but still far from the $2 scenario. If hardware keys got to a super low price point, or even handed out for free or bundled with new phones or PCs, I image lots of people would prefer them over passkeys.
I am a yubikey user, but they are a terrible option for a normal person. Losing a hardware key means being locked out from all your accounts for real, and if cryptography taught me one thing it's that people are not responsible enough to manage their own keys (keep a backup key up to date, print recovery codes, etc)
Both the Economist's text and the Fraunhofer press release focus mostly on the benefit of not using certain refrigerants. But for in home AC use noise reduction might be a much stronger selling point. Especially in Europe where it is common with so called portable indoor AC units that put the noisy compressor inside the room you want to cool down.
> If you mean, "if punishing people for crimes increases the number of crimes, would you still support it?" then my answer is yes
As a thought experiment how many more murders per year would you accept as a cost of keeping "punishment-respect" around? 10? 1000? 100K? Limitless?
To me respect for others is primarily about caring, promoting health and reducing harm. To prevent someone from getting murdered is very respectful of them and their life. We can also show respect for all the choices a person will make in the future by adopting the policy that prevents them getting murdered today.
"justice ... Empiricism fails us here, we're arguing over values."
Values can depend on descriptive background assumptions and in such cases value arguments can improve by making progress on factual topics. In the case of the justness of punishment: the topic of determinism. The recent discussion by Daniel Dennett and Greg Caruso in their book "Just Deserts - Debating Free Will" is a useful read.
> if there was "evidence" that not punishing murderers was the "best thing for society" (in terms of rehabilitation, crime rate, etc) would you support that policy?
Yes, if the "best thing .. in terms of .. crime rate" includes fewer murders. I prefer the package (fewer murders + higher percentage of murderers unpunished) over the package (more murders + lower percentage of murderers unpunished). Where unpunished does not mean "no reaction" but rather treatment, medication and rehabilitation.
But you or someone you care about could become a murder victim in both packages. Indeed the likelihood for that unwanted outcome is higher in the second package. I prefer the policy alternative that lowers the risk of people being murdered.
Here [0] is a series of nine short videos (with text transcripts and links to all scientific sources) on plant-based meat substitutes' health and environmental impact. The reported findings go against your claim.
Nutritionfacts is ideologically driven[1], advocating a plant-based diet. What exactly did you expect?
Actual "nutrition facts" are few and far between. I could selectively cite all kinds of studies that go for or against veganism. They're all flawed in some way, so people can just dismiss what they don't want to hear.
They advocate a whole-foods plant-based diet. Meats/cheeses made out of plants aren't whole foods though. Generally we have to think critically and scrutinize sources cited and if they back up claims made. Do you have some such specific objection in this case?
> Why doesn’t calibre let me store books in my own folder structure?
> ... a search/tagging based interface is superior to folders ...
> ... much more efficient than any possible folder scheme you could come up with ...
Quite opinionated software. That and the quirky UI are reasons why I only use Calibre for a conversion or de-DRM here and there. Jump in, flail around until task done, fast exit.
Your sequestration suggestion should be compared to the most effective non-meat alternative, which is land area effective plant based protein production combined with reforestation of much current pasture
https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-opportunity-costs-food
