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I never typed "news" into the search bar.
When I want to read news I go to a newspaper or search for news containing the topic of interest.

Interesting that you are from Germany, The legislation passed is an attempt at keeping you from changing your news source.

I have not really a news source ... I read stuff like spiegel.de, sueddeutsche.de, https://www.bangkokpost.com/
  or /. obviously. Sometimes wired or http://www.silicon.com/ or http://thefutureofthings.com/

If those new rules wont be changed, I guess it will backfire heavily.

When women are young, slim, and unwrinkled, they can get what they want by flirting with or marrying powerful men. Why should they be feminists? When their charms fade, their ability to manipulate bosses fades until it reaches the vanishing point. When they get dumped for a younger trophy wife, their chances for another marriage are, under the best of circumstances, about 2-1 against. If they've gained weight, lost confidence, and don't know how to get asked out for dates, the odds are more like 7-2.

http://www.calculatorslive.com/Chances-Of-Getting-Married-After-40-Calculator.aspx

If you're a programmer over 40, your mental powers and ability to concentrate begin to fade. Your ability to keep up with current technology trends, relative to younger engineers, fades until it reaches the vanishing point. Evidence for this is mostly anecdotal, but try not to be an anecdote and see what happens.

http://www.silicon.com/management/cio-insights/2004/05/28/ageism-in-it-over-40-forget-about-getting-a-job-39120958/

When you're young and female, you can bargain for the best deal at work or in your personal life. Why should you join a union?
When you're young and a programmer, you can bargain for better wages and shorter hours. You've got four or five other potential employers waiting in the wings. You can bargain for yourself. Why join a union?

Moral: If you're young, don't worry. You'll never get old. You don't need collective bargaining. The web has changed everything. Why join a union?

Larry Ellison IS the devil. Haven't you seen a photo of him?

Skip TFA and go straight for the print view.

you don't know what you're talking about http://www.silicon.com/technology/software/2004/02/11/lindows-wins-in-us-court-microsoft-ruling-39118328/

Actually it appears you don't know what you're talking about, that article in no way whatsoever refutes my comment, i'm guessing you didn't even read it.

you don't know what you're talking about http://www.silicon.com/technology/software/2004/02/11/lindows-wins-in-us-court-microsoft-ruling-39118328/

Microsoft was not successful in defending the "Windows' trademark. They dodged a bullet. It was looking pretty bad for them, so they settled out of court.

http://www.silicon.com/technology/software/2004/02/11/lindows-wins-in-us-court-microsoft-ruling-39118328/

Blah blah technology is evil blah blah. This generation clearly is suffering from blah blah more than any other. Humanity is in danger blah blah.

My favorite part is the end:

So no need to throw your iPhone off a cliff - just yet.

What are we supposed to take away from this? Let's all be unspecifically fearful of future technology.

KARMA WHORE
printable version /KARMA WHORE

But Microsoft does sue companies that make products with names similar to Windows. They sued Lindows. If Microsoft can successfully sue over the Windows trademark, why can't Apple successfully sue over the App Store trademark?

Microsoft couldn't successfully sue over the Windows trademark. Microsoft lost that case [citation], and after 2 more years of trying to appeal the decision they eventually gave up and bought the Lindows trademark for $20 million [citation] instead.

One page version of the article.

Not that I bothered reading it.... if they are quoting astronauts advocating ipads, it is clearly just yet another propaganda piece pushing mindless consumption. Very few people will operate a computer in zero gravity, and whilst it is possible that no keyboard and being stuck in a closed playground could be good in space, I should think the ipad would suck as much as when on the ground.

Congratulations on the purchase of a Quant-U-com Q*Bert 3000 Personal Quantum Machine...

http://www.silicon.com/management/ceo-essentials/2010/10/25/quantum-computing-cheat-sheet-39746192/print/

Personally, I'll be happy with plain old computing on nano-structures or a Photon-Computer. Nothin' special, just wicked fast, all Unixy on the insides, and small enough to fit in my jeans change pocket.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_computer

Here's a link to the print version of the article, so that you don't have to click 'next' six or seven times... http://www.silicon.com/management/public-sector/2010/09/25/space-exploration-the-computers-that-power-mans-conquest-of-the-stars-39746245/print/

They can try though. My bank asks for characters from my password, and each time they ask for different characters in a different order (e.g. the 4th, 1st and 9th). They then ask for two numbers from a PIN, and I input that using a drop-down box.

A competing bank uses the chip on the debit card to authenticate logging in, mine only uses the chip for authorising a transaction. (Using one of these) Either way, you input a one-use-only number into the bank website.

... when Microsoft is run by Steve Ballmer.
http://twitter-marketingonline.com/twitter-marketing/steve-balmer-eat-my-shorts/
http://www.silicon.com/technology/software/2004/10/05/steve-ballmer-qanda-microsoft-ceo-on-security-piracy-licensing-and-the-digital-future-39124699/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer/

And these announcements are coming thick and fast.

Also, UK government's record on successful system implementation is very expensive and patchy (to say the least): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/591645.stm That's the best link I can find quickly, doesn't include failure at the Student Load system: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/19/student_loan_fail/, Child Protection Agency: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3235394.stm and the monstrous Hational Health System: http://www.silicon.com/management/cio-insights/2004/07/27/5bn-nhs-it-failure-warning-39122638/

So if Gordon (who is a an ex TV journalist, in spite of his belief in his own enormous intellect) says is going to knock us up a few pages with an out of date copy of Dreammweaver, we shouldn't take this too seriously, right now.

Wow, linked from TFA http://www.silicon.com/management/public-sector/2005/10/31/id-card-costs-could-hit-30bn-39153819/ 30bn sterling ($45bn!) is a lot of money. What could be so extremely expensive? They mention integration [with other systems] costs, but it seems like they could build the whole system from ground up with that kind of cash, make it current and secure. Even Apple could build a huge datacenter for $1bn...

Which is exactly why the next government will scrap it.

Wow, linked from TFA http://www.silicon.com/management/public-sector/2005/10/31/id-card-costs-could-hit-30bn-39153819/ 30bn sterling ($45bn!) is a lot of money. What could be so extremely expensive? They mention integration [with other systems] costs, but it seems like they could build the whole system from ground up with that kind of cash, make it current and secure. Even Apple could build a huge datacenter for $1bn...

It's unfortunate that chip cards are still pretty useless from a security standpoint: http://www.silicon.com/technology/security/2007/02/06/chip-and-pin-hack-attack-demoed-39165665/

I think Japan might have the right idea with using phones for this purpose instead of magnetic cards. At least with a phone you could always be required to transmit a couple forms of identity (let's say a thumbprint and a password) and the easiest path of compromise is to man in the middle the radio signals. Throw in some encryption and that should put it beyond the reach of MOST criminals. Sure, not everyone owns a phone. But how much longer is that going to be?

Sure:

• See here: McAfee & Symantec got the EU involved, and Neelie Kroes seemed happy to oblige.
• Or here
• A bit longer (the main stuff is a few pages in).

MS basically didn't want to do the whole dog and pony show for the US DOJ and EU's committee -- so they came up with this compromise (PatchGuard in 64-bit OSes only), and in return McAfee and Symantec dropped their objections. These links are actually after the fact (after that agreement was brokered, and the fight contnued for 64-bit windows).

While it appears that for some reason this scene is dominated by Nigerian scammers, they don't always operate out of their own country. Amsterdam and London are popular bases for these scammers and they get arrested there all the time, sometimes with the help of Nigerian police. Amsterdam cops bust 419 ring, arrest 52

In the UK we have the Disability Discrimination Act (‘DDA’) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_Discrimination_Act_1995 ) This requires that service providers do not provide a disabled person with a lesser degree of service than a person who is not disabled and that they make reasonable adjustments to facilitate this. Any public website based in the UK would be bound by this legislation. Cases are heard in a criminal court with a jury. Statute law does not define what constitutes a disability or a reasonable adjustment, the courts decide this on a case by case basis. A common prejudice is that people think of disabilities, first as someone in a wheelchair and maybe secondly of a blind person. A disability may in fact be mental, ‘invisible’ (e.g. epilepsy) or in fact any chronic condition that disables someone. The comment “Someone with no legs shouldn't sue Ford because it is hard to drive.” is not relevant because Ford do provide cars that may be driven by someone with no legs- certainly an automatic with hand controls is available in the UK. The linked article specifically mentions ‘World of Warcraft’ which for the terms of the DDA is a web-based business operating in the UK. There is a very clear precedent here with Odeon Cinemas (a UK chain) not providing a website that was accessible with alternative browsers: before http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39124215,00.htm and after http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/accessibility/ The alternative of course would be to not do business in the UK

One of the things I have done to describe things in the past where a consensus had not been reached is tell clients something was a "common practice". I think any practice has to spend time in the common practice area before it can become a best practice, and I would be explicit with my clients if something did not match best practices. I have also many times told clients that there is more than one "school of thought" when it came to something with contradictory common practices.

Sources of best practices that I have used beyond my personal experience:

• Companies such as Cisco, Altiris and Microsoft typically produce whitepapers and publish other work that describe best practices.
• Any number of forum sites also produce best practices.
• I read books that cover best practices, and study for new skills (presently getting ready to take my CISSP which is all about best practices)
• I read trade journals, attend user groups and hear what the vendor has to say
• I spend time on forum sites
• I continue my education taking classes at night.
• The best resource of all without question have been the people that were senior to me that were willing to let me ask 101 questions on "why" they did something. Learning to listen when someone describes why something was or wasn't done a certain way and to look past the immediate technical solution I thought was best was the most important thing I ever developed.

I'd rather not... they don't really seem knowledgeable about this whole "Internet" thing.

http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/thespamreport/0,39025001,39153964,00.htm

I hereby declare that as true, as I'm currently using the latest stone-tablet-2-internet direct interface of 72 hammer-hits-per-minute bandwidth with the weird name "barbarois homilein" v1.0.

I'd rather not... they don't really seem knowledgeable about this whole "Internet" thing.

http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/thespamreport/0,39025001,39153964,00.htm

Google seems to have a lot of moral/intelligent employees. Many read slashdot, and said they'd quit if Google abused usage of all the data it collects.

Google was the only company that didn't hand over their search data upon request.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/19/1332207

http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39155785,00.htm

Listening to some freetards trot out the "convicted monopolist" line is like me calling Redhat a bunch of "convicted patent infringers". I don't, however, because I am not a douchebag.

Using the term "freetard" pretty much denotes that you are in fact a douchebag. I won't hold that against you though. Regarding the remainder of that sentence however; Microsoft (fairly or unfairly in your opinion does not matter) has been convicted of monopolistic practices in several courts.

1). http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm
2). http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39119500,00.htm
2). http://law.jrank.org/pages/12388/Sherman-Antitrust-Act-Microsoft-Settlement-Twenty-First-Century-s-First-Major-Antitrust-Settlement.html
4). Google for yourself

Now.. can you provide links to any article that shows that Redhat has indeed violated patents; as proven in a court of law or similar venue? I found a single instance of Redhat (co-defending with Novell as it happens) being sued for patent infringement. Coincidentally, the company behind this suit appears to be a patent troll headed up by former Microsoft GM of IP licensing. Regardless, there has yet to be a conviction, if there is even one forthcoming.

'Microsoft leaned on EC to spike open source report'

'One might ask, "Who are these lobbyists?", so let's take a closer look'

http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39275144,00.htm

"Ubuntu became the latest Linux vendor to patch a vulnerability in the open-source operating system's kernel that could have left the door open for hackers to find their way into users' machines."

The only "problem" here is that you don't read about this on /. (or any other place, for that matter). False sense of security is the worse security.

"Using the Linux card is a great way to get a better deal from Microsoft"

Among the reasons cited were:

to reduce commercial software license fees,

freedom from foreign-owned technology,

greater security,

curbing the number of infections from Windows-based viruses and

to gain technological leadership on platforms relatively free of dominance by large multinational corporations ...

Microsoft has no problem exposing Windows source code to the Royal Navy:

The United Kingdom is the latest country to join a Microsoft programme that lets governments around the world see the otherwise secret source code underlying Windows.

Microsoft unveiled the Government Security Program (GSP) two weeks ago as a way to address concerns various governments have about the security of its Windows operating system.

The programme, widely viewed as Microsoft's response to the complete openness of the open-source movement, already includes Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as members. Under Microsoft's new programme, governments may visit Microsoft's campus, see the millions of lines of source code that make up Windows, run analysis tools on the source code and build versions of Windows for themselves from the raw materials. Officials will be able to see source code for Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and CE. UK government gets access to Windows source code [Feb 3, 2003]

In the years since, access to the Windows source code has become rather easy for the student or the developer: Microsoft Expands Access to Windows Source Code {Jul 2004], Microsoft Shared Source Initiative

I would also humbly suggest that if that if your cyber intelligence is so limited that you haven't been able to deconstruct Win2K in eight years, you have no business building military grade submersibles.

While Microsoft hasn't directly attacked anyone, they've certainly tried to sow fear, uncertainty, and doubt regarding the patent situation on Linux. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has claimed that Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents. If he wasn't trying to sow doubt amongst enterprises as to the long term viability of Linux, why would he do such a thing? Lets also not forget Microsoft's aid in arranging funding for SCO. So, while Microsoft hasn't gone after anyone directly for patent issues, they've certainly done so indirectly.

I don't see how Adobe is related to the topic. PDF is not an "Adobe's format" anymore. PDF can be implemented by anyone without requiring any deals or license from Adobe. There are hundreds of feature-rich open-source implementations. PDF has nothing to do with Adobe.

Yes, everybody thought so. Then Adobe got pissy at Microsoft for implementing it. This news was widely covered everywhere, including Slashdot.

Whom did they sue? Can you give us some references?

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39273094,00.htm
http://software.silicon.com/applications/0,39024653,39159285,00.htm
http://www.techweb.com/wire/software/188701275
http://www.pdfzone.com/c/a/Authoring/Adobe-to-Sue-Microsoft-Over-PDF-Support-in-Office-2007/
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/4509/53/
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1012_3-6079320.html
http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_to_Drop_PDF_Support_in_Office/1149284222

I have to correct myself, though: They didn't actually sue, because Microsoft settled first (by relegating the PDF support to a optional install.)

What Adobe wants is irrelevant. Nobody needs Adobe's permission to implement PDF support. Anyways, can you give us some reference to Adobe's behaviour?

Yes, everybody thought that. Then they got pissy at Microsoft for implementing it. Wow, this conversation is kind of repetitive.

ms didn't "back-down". It truly hates the idea of providing proper pdf support.

Actually, they did. Is your memory seriously this short? It only happened, what, 2 years ago? It was covered in all the trade press, extensively, it got probably 1000+ comments on Slashdot stories. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

You would have been way more on topic if you had linked to this instead: http://management.silicon.com/itdirector/0,39024673,39286675-6,00.htm

Speaking of Sun, here are some pics of the company's factory in Scotland. If you like servers it's one to check out...

Statement on the cause of the crash mentioned "connectivity" which is consistent with the Infolect message passing system. The Infolect system based on MS .Net and SQL server and HP proliant servers. http://whitepapers.silicon.com/0,39024759,60237581p,00.htm Infolect was also blamed for outage in November 2007 http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/networking/messaging/news/index.cfm?newsid=6089 NYSE recently moved to Red Hat.

Don't forget to view the photos. I thought the photos were more interesting than the article.

http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39270417,00.htm

The U1 is the most commonly reported number. But there is a U6 number which counts people who do not show up at employment centers (most of which are a joke BTW), are working temporary jobs, pasting together 2-3 part-times jobs or discouraged and not looking. The U6 is now at about 10.3%. Anecdotally I have met EE's and programmers working temp jobs to try to get by.
http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab12.htm

Also, companies whine and bitch about not being able to find qualified workers. But due to ageism, workers over 40 often have a hard time finding work, regardless of education, certs, experience etc. This is do that companies do not have to pay more salary and benefits for skilled workers.

http://management.silicon.com/careers/0,39024671,39168214,00.htm

Some details are emerging about the Vista based "Quebec." Microsoft Readies "Quebec" Vista based embedded OS [June 6 2008]

I've done the research.

So you really think that because it uses a BSD like kernel interface API, it is just more secure then?

How about if I throw you this little fact:
Windows XP and Vista have a full BSD subsystem (SUA), does this automatically make Vista and XP even 'more more more more' secure by design? (Or at least software running in the Vista/XP BSD subsystem 'super duper' secure?)

Here is the answer to the trick:
What you are saying just re-establishes that you have no idea even what BSD is, and your 'assessment' of OS X and security based on your understanding of its BSD underpinnings don't even make sense, let alone establish any foundation to your argument.

---

And did you Google the security holes in Vista vs OS X yet? Truly go even with OS X 10.5 which is almost a year newer than Vista even. Hint: Not only has 10.5 OS X had more security holes/problems but it also has had several that are far more severe...

I won't do your research for you, but just in case you think I'm trolling here is something from 2007 to wet your whistle:
http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39169503,00.htm
"While Mac OS X had 234 highly critical vulnerabilities reported in 2007, Vista and XP combined had 23, Ou wrote"

(Just guess what happens to even the staggering 10 to 1 ratio when you take XP out of the equation?)

Happy researching...

This doesn't appear to be exactly the same but take a peek here:

AP and Google in the past

It seems that AP has had some experience with even large sites/companies in similar situations in the past.

This reminds me of that time a single computer shut down an airport for several hours. It was a win9X machine that an employee would reboot monthly because of a know bug. After that employee left, nobody reboted the machine and it crashed.

The known bug was that win 9x stored the number of sec from last reboot in a int? and after about 47 days it would pass its max value and shut down. I did a quick search and this might be the story: http://software.silicon.com/applications/0,39024653,39124122,00.htm

> If Apple won't fix it, why doesn't someone fork the project and produce a version that doesn't have the vulnerability?

Even if it was possible to fork Safari and fix the problem (and I'm not sure if it is), Apple would still push their shitty browser onto unsuspecting users.

They already did .... http://www.pcworld.com/ and http://networks.silicon.com/

Counterfeiting was the public reasoning for the RFID chips in the 2006 World Cup tickets.

I saw a great video on the Colossus at Bletchley the other day... here we go: http://hardware.silicon.com/servers/0,39024647,39170411,00.htm

"Jobs is yet to see a demand for the device and is unimpressed with the existing video players on the market. Speaking today at Apple's annual European conference, Apple Expo in Paris, he said: 'Whether people want to buy a device just to watch video is not clear--so far the answer's been no. Devices that do video... have not been successful yet. No-one's figured out the right formula.' However, he didn't shut the door on a video playing device. 'One never knows,' he added.

Many companies have come to rely on software patents raising the barrier to entry for competitors.

WHich is why software patents are bad, someone who does not have the resources will find it harder to break into business because of patents, meanwhile those patents won't stop Microsoft or other companies from infringing on patents. "So go ahead and sue us, in the end if we have to pay you, years later, it'll be chump change to us." "Microsoft appeals Office patent infringement damages".

Like I mentioned, we have patents pending and have invested a substantial amount of money on lawyer and other patent fees. Are we going to get our money back?

You never should of have had to pay all those legal bills to begin with, and without software patents you wouldn't have had to. Software patents are only good for lawyers, it makes them richer while others pay more.

Back in the Day, we all figured that the SCO lawsuit would be quashed within 6 months. I remember a talk at a LinuxWorld several YEARS ago where Eric Raymond or someone openly challenged them to show us all where the 'infringing code' was.

Based on bs like this, I doubt everyone agrees with you. http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39154136,00.htm

If this man is the one I'm thinking of, he's saving a lot of computers from landfills. Even those of us in the movement have heard what an ecological disaster that can be. "Reuse" is often the best thing you can do with a used item, even better than recycling.

My Bad http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39122722,00.htm