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Actually, it's easy to find specific allegations of torture. It's also quite easy to find that the international and US courts have no control over guantanamo bay prisoners. And it's easy to find this from multiple sources. To me the very fact that the US government doesn't want courts to get involved signifies they're likely doing stuff that can not see the light of day. If there's nothing to hide, why are they hiding it?

Ofcourse, you could argue that these are all lies and hearsay, and that the US government would never ever use torture. But it is a fact that prisoners on guantanamo bay are held illegally (according to the geneva convention they should be pow's, but the US claims they aren't), and that they do not have due process rights (inalienable human right). If the US is breaking the law anyway in their detainment of these prisoners, would it be such a stretch to imagine them using torture as well?

There is such a thing as psychological torture by the way. If you're being held without accusation, without promise of release, ever (despite that the war in afghanistan is over, pow's haven't been returned or formally accused of a crime), and without even access to counsel or basically the outside world, would you feel ok? I'd feel downright miserable in such circumstances, even if they did not lay a hand on me. The geneva convention's definition of torture is "cruel and unusual treatment", which does not need to have a physical component involved.

I see no need for guantanamo bay. If the people there did something wrong, the regular US judicial system should be able to handle it. If they didn't do something wrong (and no, fighting for your country is not a crime), they should be freed. The very existance of guantanamo bay is a slap in the face of justice.

Chris from Port80 here.

I was misquoted or rather never asked directly about the subject in the theage.com.au article, so here's what I have to say about IIS security:

http://www.owasp.org/columns/jlima/joelima1

There is work to be done, but IIS is moving in the right direction.

Enjoy the tryptophan effects,
Chris @ Port80

8x dvd write speed = ~72x cd
And you're mostly correct about write and read speeds, but like we saw with highspeed CD-Rs, the faster you go, the less likely the disc is to work in a stand alone reader.

I'm breaking my own rule of never arguing more than two posts deep on slashdot, but here goes.

My point was, when someone says, "I have this information, but I'm not telling!" that's not censorship. It's called keeping a secret. It's called confidential information. It's not called censorship. Censorship requires a party other than a publisher and reader.

Much better! Allow me to summarise: Censorship involves A, someone who has information and a desire to communicate it; B, a potential recipient; and C, a censor, someone who has the functional power to inhibit that communication. Is that close enough to what you are saying?

Actually I would prefer to talk about the right to to communicate and the right to receive, precisely because of such legal issues as "confidential information" which A may have access to without having any right to communicate it. However your definition seems workable and sensible, so let's go with that for the moment.

I simply said that censorship is impossible because you can always go anonymously on the 'net to publish your thoughts.

I think this is a really weak point in your argument. It can hardly have been the case that when the old Soviet Union was banning the publication or importation of the Bible, they were not engaging in censorship merely because some Evanglical societies successfully smuggled Bibles into Russia. There may be workarounds, there may be censorship which is less than 100% effective. But this is still censorship.

Moreover I doubt the effectiveness of web publication as a form of circumventing media censorship. If anything I would say that the sheer size of the market in the US (providing we can stop it all from falling into Mr Murdoch's hands) is the best protection the American public has. Clearly the more players there are in a market, the less chance there is of effective collusion

Smaller markets are not always so fortunate, especially when you consider strategic control of the media. In Australia, for instance, Murdoch has the game sown up as regards print media which floating voters read. That highbrow Sydney Morming Herald and The Age are only read by people who already know how they are going to vote. As a consequence there has not been a (federal) change of government in Australia from 1972, which has not had Murdoch's approval. The same is probably true for the UK from the days of Thatcher onwards (but there haven't been too many changes, so its a moot point).

I agree that it would be wrong, but it would not be censorship. If a reporter found out about it, went to post it on the web, and was stopped by his employer, that would be censorship.

What if the reporter wanted it published in the newspaper. You would have the situation of A, a reporter wanting to do his/her job of informing the public, B a public which ought to be informed,and C a newspaper proprietor using their functional power to inhibit that communication?

Of course this isn't an easy thing to resolve. After all proprietors must have some say in what the publish and what not. Indeed publishers arguably have as much a duty to censor as they do the publish, for instance when something a reporter wants to print, would, in their judgment, endanger the operational security of a section of the nations armed forces during a time of war. Our concern should be with what is being censored, what those people who occupy that special place a democracy accords, decide to allow to filter through to us, and what they don't. And why.

Of course we should oppose this, but it's next to impossible for it to happen because of the way the network is setup. First of all, who has this "right" to sell it? ...

The same people who sold off (not licensed, but sold) a section of the electro-magnetic spectrum for the next generation communications technologies. Governmen

There are a few references out there of Billy moonlighting at some other professions as well.

This is Slashdot! I thought everyone knew this. Do some reasearch, people!

But Microsoft ARE looking to buy Google. here

Microsoft don't write software, they assimilate :)

Microsoft made their name through DOS - but did they write DOS? No, they bought Seattle Computer Products' 86-DOS operating system. Microsoft wrote Internet Explorer, right? Well, no, it was born out of code licensed from the Spyglass browser. Did they write SQL server? Nope - that was again developed with code licensed from Timeline.

Infact, whatever the latest bandwagon is, Microsoft buys out the competition? Instant messaging becomes in vogue? Microsoft buys an instant messaging developer. Holes in file security? Microsoft buys a XDegrees, a security specialist. Worried that Mac's can emulate Windows? Microsoft buys Connetix, the makers of Virtual PC. Microsoft worried about viruses negative effects on OS sales? Don't worry, Microsoft have just bought GeCAD, an AV vendor...

Acording to this article, we have about 250 years of recorded sunspot history.

Mod the parent AC up. This is exactly the way it works. The government is the biggest customer around. Vendors don't want to R&D once for government and separately for private sector. Vendors want to R&D once and sell to everyone. The best return is on developing for the biggest customer. That's the customer everyone wants to keep happy. How widespread would TCP/IP and windows have been without the government using them? NSW just gave local suppliers reasons to develop for SunONE. DHS gave suppliers reason to continue developing for m$. Some supporters of the DHS giveaway say it will encourage the vendor to make its product more secure.

Yes, Australian consumer watchdogs do have teeth.

The ACCC and Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have stopped VISA and MasterCard from forcing merchants from absorbing the cost of credit transactions (as well as other fees).

These costs will simply turn up as extra fees on credit cards, but at least customers paying cash no-longer subsidise the credit providers.

I'd guess that VISA and MasterCard have more clout and fancy laywers than SCO.

trying to destroy the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Being the force behind Australia's equivalent of the Patriot Act

Refusing to defend a homosexual judge, despite being bound by his position as Attorney General to act as an advocate and protector for the judiciary

Refusing to accept UN reports on racism in Australia

Lobbying for increased intellectual property rights

Lobbying for laws allowing Australia's spy agency, ASIO, to read domestic emails

Supporting the increase in the rate of phone tapping

And generally trampling on human rights and civil liberties wherever possible.

This is definately not good news.

The problem with this is it is an exception rather than the rule with Alston.

As he's probably the most ignorant and facist communications minster I can remember us ever having anyway.

The problem with this is it is an exception rather than the rule with Alston.

As he's probably the most ignorant and facist communications minster I can remember us ever having anyway.

That was an SCO Australia spokesperson talking about the chances of SCO suing someone Down Under. Presuming that SCO had a real case (a big presumption), SCO US could still file suit and honestly say "That wasn't us talking, that was our aussie subsidiary".

"Diplomacy is the art of telling a lion 'nice kitty, kitty, kitty' while you search for a big rock"
- - Unknown

Perhaps HP lawyers just read the news.

SCO has no intention to sue Linux end-users

And there has to be limitations and fineprint to HP offer. No way HP if offer protection from every SCO case out there. Does that mean I can actively steal SCO code and be free of all legal consequences as long as its run on HP hardware?

The sydney morning herald is not known for original reporting, everything is duplicated in the Melbourne Age for starters...

Loop:

Slashdot reports story, smh reports story, slashdot reports smh reporting (slashdot story), smh reports story again (cos Slashdot did).

Repeat until servers full.

The Eponymous Mallard
"If it quacks like a duck, it's the Eponymous Mallard."

I've read several articles in recent months that pretty much state that Hollywood relies on the first weekend bump to make back production costs, even on crapola movies.

Bravo for Google News, I say!

However this part of our culture is under threat from the tea totaling anti-Australian premier of NSW.

I am calling apon all Australians to fight this anti-booze sentiment to restore the nationalistic pride of the only country to have ever used rum as a national currency, and who's national food: vegimite is made from beer extract.

Victorians, remember that your scientific research as well as your VB swilling nature is under direct threat so even if us New South Welsh people are overcome with soberity I beg you to fight on.

While I will agree that there is a possibility of patches taking a while to appear from closed-source software (and that it has happened, usually regarding Internet Explorer)

In other news there are 30 security holes in IE which are well known and documented, which Microsoft has not yet done anything about.

There is some more information here and here.

At least the P2P United group stepped in, offering to pay the fine.
Saying "We don't condone copyright infringement, but it's time for the RIAA's winged monkeys to fly back to the castle and leave the Munchkins alone."

Seems to me they are using shock and awe. The girls mother, when confronted with the charge, instantly agreed to settle the action.

Since at least August, SCO have been floating the idea of sending invoices to Linux users. It's even been reported, seemingly incorrectly, back in August, that SCO was beginning to send invoices. The invoice story has been taken up with a vengence in the last few days, for example, here, here and here.

SCO Australia says the invoicing plan doesn't "ring true" and contradicts very recent strategy discussions. Unfortunately, SCO USA's Blake Stowell, doesn't seem to have yet responded to SCO Australia's request for clarification. SCO Australia also says that they're unsure about the question of invoices being sent in the US even though there are reports on the web [examples: here, here and here] about just such a thing being planned.

Since at least August, SCO have been floating the idea of sending invoices to Linux users. It's even been reported, seemingly incorrectly, back in August, that SCO was beginning to send invoices. The invoice story has been taken up with a vengence in the last few days, for example, here, here and here.

SCO Australia says the invoicing plan doesn't "ring true" and contradicts very recent strategy discussions. Unfortunately, SCO USA's Blake Stowell, doesn't seem to have yet responded to SCO Australia's request for clarification. SCO Australia also says that they're unsure about the question of invoices being sent in the US even though there are reports on the web [examples: here, here and here] about just such a thing being planned.

The original post can be found at groklaw

I just wrote to Mr. Varghese about who SCO's statements apply to and got a reply. He states that:

"All their statements - plus the interviews which I did with their US officials - have come through the same source so it represents the company's stance.

See this and this for earlier material.

I have reported their statements and also provided earlier statements as one should in a news story. The reader can draw his/her own conclusions about the seeming contradictions.

Cheers, Sam"

Not terribly helpful I'm afraid. As to Mr. Varghese's attitude toward SCO, he seems reasonable. At the very least he was willing to print a very long letter I sent detailing their misbehavior and the letter stayed on theage.com for a long time. He's on my list of friendlies.

Alex

The original post can be found at groklaw

I just wrote to Mr. Varghese about who SCO's statements apply to and got a reply. He states that:

"All their statements - plus the interviews which I did with their US officials - have come through the same source so it represents the company's stance.

See this and this for earlier material.

I have reported their statements and also provided earlier statements as one should in a news story. The reader can draw his/her own conclusions about the seeming contradictions.

Cheers, Sam"

Not terribly helpful I'm afraid. As to Mr. Varghese's attitude toward SCO, he seems reasonable. At the very least he was willing to print a very long letter I sent detailing their misbehavior and the letter stayed on theage.com for a long time. He's on my list of friendlies.

Alex

Unbelieveable... SCO is now backtracking on the whole Linux user lawsuit thing... SCO's PR people in Australia are now claiming that there was never any serious plans to sue Linux companies or commercial Linux companies! This in spite of Darl's statement quite to the contrary just a week ago!

Are they really so stupid as to think that nobody will remember what they've actually said up to this point?

Not nearly dying!

Humor you? People that maintain and patch MS systems for a living *should* have a favorite grouping of mailing lists and forums to follow information like this. If you are truely interested I would suggest you subscribe to the NTBugtraq mailing list for starters. Just because you choose to limit your knowledge to what is posted on slashdot does not mean these things do not exist. Many of the introduced bugs are somewhat small, may not effect more then a small % of the users, and fixed with relative ease but they still exist. Specific to NTBugtraq, if there is a problem, you will noramlly see a reply within a day or so of the lists announcing the MS patch. The group knowledge is very helpful in troubleshooting and repairing any issues. Very few of the patches cause something major to fail but that does happen also.

Here is a couple of quick finds from Google. I don't track or keep lists of problems like you are requesting. I do monitor select mailing lists and web sites and take note of things that will directly effect me. These bugs or lack of fixes were a little bigger so they got news coverage.

NT patch causes other services to fail
Microsoft patch causes system failure
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 192816
Super patch fails to fix worst flaw in Internet Explorer
Microsoft fails Slammer's security test Not a direct patch failure but describes the complexity of deploying some patches and the side effects.
Researchers: Newest Microsoft IE patch flawed

By Peter Behr and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 17, 2003

The Bush administration intends to side with a Senate Republican attempt to freeze a disputed regulatory proposal meant to strengthen the nation's aging power transmission system, which was blamed in last week's massive blackout, a senior administration official said yesterday.

On top of this it was announced that grids would be targeted by terrorists.

US electrical grid a prime terrorist target By Knut Royce Washington August 18, 2003 Like virtually all of America's infrastructure, the electrical grid is vulnerable to isolated terrorist attacks that could create disruptions similar to the recent blackout. A growing number of security experts, in and out of the Government, worry that potentially hostile states and even a rebuilt al-Qaeda could wreak havoc through simultaneous and co-ordinated assaults on sensitive points on the grid.

Here is a link to a mirrored doc of the Electronic Power Risk Assessment, there is going to be a huge amount of finger pointing, and political partisan bs behind this entire incident, but read it for yourself in plain english how your (P)Resident will not fund plan for a more secure system.

Off topic? I think not

There is an interesting article "Novell letters throw new light on SCO-IBM case" published in The Age that discuss letters sent to SCO by Novell asserting that Novell has "the right to compel SCO to waive or revoke any of its (SCO's) rights under the contract [involving SCO, IBM, and Novell]." In the letters Novell basically tells SCO that SCO cannot terminate IBM's license. These letters were apparently used as exhibits in IBM's countersuit of SCO.

... pardon me!
Novell's letters to SCO

An anonymous reader writes "Vicroads does regular surveys of the roads in Victoria, Australia, to determine where they need to be patched or otherwise repaired. It used to be done in a vehicle travelling at 12 mph: slow, tedious, and hazardous to the traffic around it. Now, thanks to Linux, it's being done at speeds of 50 to 60 mph. The Melbourne Age has the details. Short version: the cost has fallen from $800,000 USD to $560,000. Not bad...

[in Australia] everyone turns out, and it is a much better system. We actually get a reasonable representation of the opinion of the people.

at least munkeyspanker won't get prostate cancer

An excellent analogy. And, just like BSD, they fork every time a couple of the lead figures have a spat. I'm a little sore about the Dems; they did, after all, support the Australian version of the DMCA, but it looks like they might redeem themselves with this sort of thing.

If they manage to survive long enough, that is.

But I found what I think is the article referred to here

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/17/10580 35125683.html The Google link does not appear to work.

They're already starting to track vehicle identity in Australia to give out speeding tickets.

Camera network set to catch Hume speedsters

The main paragraphs since no one on slashdot reads the articles are:

Ten cameras to be installed along the Hume Freeway soon will measure the average speed of cars over the entire 300-kilometre journey between Melbourne's northern fringe and Wodonga.

Drivers whose overall progress is faster than the speed limit allows will be fined. Drivers will also be caught if they are speeding as they pass a camera.

The company said yesterday the cameras combined digital imaging and optical character recognition to read vehicle number plates. The cameras would be networked and synchronised.

That survey is obviously skewed. How'd can the number one spot be given to a group of people who don't even change their underwear!

Coincidence? There's an article in The Age about the Australian workplace: The office, Australia style.

Quote: Perth-based American computer technician Tom Cash agrees. "This is not what I'm used to," he says. "Not that I'm complaining! Australians are more into holidays and weekends and having a life than Americans. They're a bit lazy, though. Don't print that ... oh, go ahead, everyone's heard me mouthing off about it anyway."

I'm French and have lived in Melbourne for more than five years now, I really like the Australian culture and work/life balance. And I can be lazy too (any programmer who isn't? :-)

I don't know about a 747, but snagging a 727 seems not to be terribly difficult.

We need some counter suits from a mutlitude of places to make them vanish. As long as they have a single target in IBM I think they can manage, once there is a risk of them loosing everything they might win from IBM to 3,000 Linux developers it's Game Over.

Actually, Holland may well criminalize all types of public smoking in public, which would drastically change their "coffee shop" culture. Instead they'll have to bake it into cookies or something.

Ian Gilfillan, the South Australian Democrat, who introduced a bill to amend state software procurement policies, says he expects to know the fate of the bill by the end of July this year.

Getting information out of the head doesn't strike me as a serious problem, mostly becuase of neural plasticity. When the motor centers of quadriplegics are hooked up to software, they practice, and observe the effects of their efforts, and eventually their brain adapts and they're able to move a cursor around effortlessly -- in the early stages moving it "feels" like pushing against a wall; later on, it simply feels like moving a cursor. The brain, by virtue of its clever design, has little trouble interfacing with new stuff.

... that this would be a story about the worms that went into space on Columbia (and survived the tragedy).

Not the first time IBM has done a deal with Germany.

Spaceflight avionics software development is not for the faint-hearted either.
"The question for software developers is not, 'Are you paranoid?', the question is, 'Are you paranoid enough?' " Brain says. "Every software module, every function, procedure or method has to assume that information coming in may have been spoilt by a malfunction and be prepared for the worst. The system must be ductile - bending, not breaking - when things go wrong. In space no one can press Control/Alt/Delete."
A team of Australian programmers developed FedSat's onboard software, building on work done in Britain. It is written in Ada-95, a programming language designed for embedded systems and safety-critical software. All it has to work with is 16MB of RAM, 2MB of flash memory for storing the program, a 128K boot PROM (programmable read only memory) and 320MB of DRAM in place of a hard disk that would never survive the launch process. All essential data is stored in three physically different locations.

Software is NEVER deterministic in an operating environment. Just because you can put it on a bench and test the snot out of it does not certify it's behavior in the real world.

Every condition should be able to be gracefully handled by an error checking routine. There is zero room for failure.

1. Good Systems Engineering (as has been mentioned in other posts)
2. Really thorough testing, it's not feasible to test all the code with all the values, but a good risk/hazard analysis will tell you which ones can kill people if they go wrong, so put the test resources in those. All other things get tested as well, but not with every single possible permutation of values.
3. Finally, and this is the one that saves your bacon more than anything else, confine faults into small error boxes. If something goes wrong, be it from a failed chip, an errant cosmic ray, or a software bug, then the error handling you have in each section should confine the resultant problems so they don't propagate. Some languages make this trivially easy - such as Eiffel's Design by Contract, Delphi's Assert or (my personal favourite) Ada's strict typing (plus exception handling). Others make it much more difficult, but still possible.