Slashdot Mirror

Wasn't "Fahrenheit" also the code name about five years back for a Microsoft/SGI vanture to merge Direct3D and OpenGL? IIRC, that ended really well, with SGI claiming that, surprisingly, Microsoft screwed them. Oops.

See here for an iMac (running OS X, natch) in an old-skool Mac SE/30 case.

The hotmail one was due to the canadians taking over

you could use "eh" as anyone's password and it would work.

I'm serious too :> News article here

Thoose MS Hoosers!

Well, since he didn't talk to Wired, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Which is too bad, since this Goldberg thing is pretty mysterious, and seems to be a bit paranoid himself.

I think the bigger question is: do crazy people go into AI, or does AI make people crazy? There were definitely a few professors I avoided during my undergrad because they reputedly had gone nuts working on AI problems.

I've used it and it's not that great, and it is less responsive on my dual-533 than Windows 95 or Linux/ICE is on a $100 P200, or 2K/XP/Linux+KDE/Gnome on a $300 PIII/500. (Or BeOS on a P120, heh.) I've run it on two Beige G3s (a 266/224MB at work and my own 300/256; value: ~$300 according to http://www.baucomcomputers.com/ ) and it is like death, only worse. If you want a windowing UI + a UNIX CLI, get Linux or Windows+cygwin.

My first computer was an Apple II+, my second was an XT. I started using windowing UIs with a Mac, followed by Windows 3 a year later. So no, I'm not some schmuck who always used Windows, then used a Mac for 10 minutes and said "It sucks!" I started on Macs and *vastly* prefer Windows. I use 2K, OS X, and OS 9 daily.

Let me end with a link to my favorite article, which I can attest is true from daily experience. Q: What does everyone buy a computer for? A: surfing. By all means, *avoid* Macs for this. And don't respond to talk about other browsers. I've done tests and overall, they're all slower than Win or Lin. But don't take my word for it: download this, change the code to make the colors proper hex triplets (just add '00' to the end of each) and check it out yourself. Open it off the HD to remove variances due to network speed.

Even if it passes its obviously unconstitutional and any judge in his right mind will strike it down.

Really? I sure hope so.

Kill Your TV
Kill Your TV
Kill Your TV

Cigarettes are a nicotine delivery system. TV is an idiocy delivery system.

No, the main disadvantage was that they have never really produced it :)

Silicon Film was one of the most infamous "vaporware" products... They presented their product every year (since 1998) on big photo-shows, including PMAs, but have never delivered the real product.

See, for example, Wired lists:
Vaporware 2000
Vaporware 2001

No, the main disadvantage was that they have never really produced it :)

Silicon Film was one of the most infamous "vaporware" products... They presented their product every year (since 1998) on big photo-shows, including PMAs, but have never delivered the real product.

See, for example, Wired lists:
Vaporware 2000
Vaporware 2001

I agree, you can't stop talented individuals( Remember the 7 line perl DVD hack?) No market level encryption scheme will survive long on the field.

Even from a non-economic, non-biological aspect, otherwise silent submarines can be tracked by how they disturb the different layers of water. These planes will be cruising for long periods like modern subs do.

However, back to the planes. Yes, even tiny jet contrails in the big sky change the weather as much as 3 degrees C. That can be translated directly into millions of dollars per year increased / decreased revenue from crops, if not from other industries.

See also: Wired Story and Slashdot discussion thereof.

6. Silicon Film's electronic film system: Last year, Silicon Film Technologies made our list for failing to deliver its intriguing "digital film" system, which purported to turn an ordinary camera into a digital one. The digital film, one year later, is still not available, to the chagrin of many readers.

They're still at it. Their Web Site says it will be available soon (last updated Feb 14, 2002).

See the article about the signs on the last issue.

Do you really think hardware vendors are SO STUPID as to cripple them all in the processor?

• Recently, business sales of new CPUs have fallen off. Apparently people are running word processors just about as fast as they need to, and so it makes sense to hang onto older, "obsolete" motherboards and "outdated" OSes. This of course threatens the chip makers, since their business model depends on unconstrained growth in demand.
• If Microsoft releases Windows Palladium as advertised, then businesses will feel motivated, if not outright compelled, to buy it, since security is a growing concern. But to run Palladium, you need hardware-level encryption and signing. That means to "upgrade" to Windows Palladium, you need to buy an entire new CPU. At least one more rush of hardware purchases awaits!
• Consider these quotes:
  • Giants chip in for Palladium
    "...INDUSTRY chip giants Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have confirmed they will support Microsoft's plan to improve PC hardware and software security..."
  • Palladium: Safe or Security Flaw?
    "...Microsoft's recently announced R&D project, which includes chipmakers Intel and AMD as partners, aims to combine software and hardware extensions to traditional PC architecture..."

Believe it or not, out of all the people in in the world running MS Outlook, fewer than 1% have ever pulled down security patches, see The Great MS Patch Nobody Uses.

Additionally, the Win2K/NT server guys are afraid to install security patches since they never are really how much of their server is going to break. Often times, Admins will patch the servers which touch the Internet but not the Internal servers for fear of breaking them. With Code Red, this was quite humorous because the outer servers were patched as soon as the Code Red patch was available, thinking this action would defend the realm against Code Red, but they forgot about the laptop users which brought Code Red in the back door via the local LAN.

But not to worry folks, once we get Palladium hardware in all our servers, this will not happen again right? In fact we won't even have to patch anymore, since everything will be secure and, only secure applications will be allowed to run.

Oh, wait, wouldn't IIS pass the palladium trusted application test?

Why yes it would...... and Code Red would join the list of "Trusted Secure Applications".!
Sorry, I have to smack Palladium everytime I get a chance.

You mean "Magic Lantern", don't you?

here...
Internet on south pole is tricky... not many sattelites going there.

Link

It's also not long ago both the government and citizens thought encryption was bad. After all only terrorists need encryption! :p

What ever happened to ?

Is there any info on this?

Hacktivismo is down and I didn't see anything on cDc

CNet reports on this with the Headline: House OKs life sentences for hackers

This seems to have almost no opposition, passing in the House passed 385-3 on Monday evening.

features include new and improved (Tougher! Stronger!) survelliance provisions.

It is very strange which bills get attention in tech forums, and which slipp through with barely a whisper.

not that I care all that much any more.

Here.

1939 methinks. I don't remember the allied powers doing much to stop the German involvement in Spain and that was about it for German military action that year. Of course, 1939 is only when the war started for countries that hadn't finished selling military technology to the fascists yet.... bad Big Blue, bad

Found this on Wired:
China's postal agency launched a new service this week that will enable computer users to have e-mails delivered in hard-copy form to recipients who don't have e-mail. The e-mails will be printed out by postal employees, placed into envelopes, and sent with the rest of the mail to the sender's assigned destination.
Oh, and it won't be read by anyone. A spokeswoman for China Post says so. "Mail is a private matter," the spokeswoman says. "There would be no reason for anybody to read it."
Rrrright...

Found this on Wired:
China's postal agency launched a new service this week that will enable computer users to have e-mails delivered in hard-copy form to recipients who don't have e-mail. The e-mails will be printed out by postal employees, placed into envelopes, and sent with the rest of the mail to the sender's assigned destination.
Oh, and it won't be read by anyone. A spokeswoman for China Post says so. "Mail is a private matter," the spokeswoman says. "There would be no reason for anybody to read it."
Rrrright...

is being released soon, according to Wired. It will be interesting to see how this works in conjunction with Peek-a-booty.

...here.

Or, you can be like me. I refuse to order cable in my apartment. I get all my TV via rabbit ears. If it isn't viewable, I don't watch.

Fortunately, among the channels I do get are three PBS stations -- KQED out of San Francisco, KTEH in San Jose, and KCSM from Santa Clara. And, yes; I do support them with my pledge dollars.

In Australia, apparently.

When it's France, however, the folks from Yahoo stand up and defend their right to independent content. Strange dualism going on there, wouldn't you say.

It also seems that all you need to get yahoo to pull certain content or messages is a few irate e-mails... Heck, even the Saudis have asked yahoo to regulate itself according to its government's preferences. /me scratches head.

Where's the surprise?

They've always been like this.

The rats might already be leaving the ship.
They have at least started to pack.
Whitch this story might be a proof of.
(This story has probably been posted at /. before.)

It's like George Clinton and Kraftwerk stuck in an elevator. - Derrick May


I'm probably not the best qualified, but since nobody else is contributing this:

According to the legend, Detroit Techno started when eclectic radio genius The Electrifying Mojo started playing Kraftwerk in the early 80's. I used to listen to Mojo; he was late night on an urban station, and would play anything from James Brown to Prince to AC/DC, interview the B-52s, and give trippy inspirational sermons to the city's youth.

The story goes, the Belleville Three (Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson (better known as part of Inner City)) heard Mojo and started making their own music, including Clear by Cybertron (Atkins), the 'first' techno record.

By the mid-80's my friends in northwest Detroit were playing house and techno on turntables in their basement. In the late-80's the Music Institute was the epicenter (just ask my cool friends). Since then there's been an explosion of techno and electronica talent in Detroit, most prominently Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) and the more experimental Carl Craig.

Unfortunately, if you had asked most Detroiters in the mid-90's -- apart from the small but loyal group who listened-- they wouldn't know what you were talking about. You couldn't find techno on the radio (Mojo was gone). The DJs were international stars, but they had plenty of privacy at home. In the late 90's, Carl Craig and a promoter put together the Detroit Electronic Music Fest (DEMF). Much to the surprise of many native Detroiters, over a million people came from all over the world to hear it. The vibe (and I don't use that word often) was incredible. It included a truly touching moment when Derrick May stepped on stage and finally got his due from his hometown; he started his set with "The Payback" by James Brown.

Now, most Detroiters are aware, and local popularity has exploded. The city is rich in very interesting music , and the very open-minded scene hasn't been overwhelmed with trendiness.


... Probably more than you wanted to know, but here's a few more links:

History
Techno Rebels, an excellent history (I've heard) in book form, by Dan Sicko.

Someone's thesis that is a history of Techno.

Meta Soul, an interesting site (in design and content) about electronic music, including a Detroit Techno section.


Today
The 313 list, an active list with high signal-to-noise, full of techno geeks.

Record Time, the best place to find the latest from Detroit

The Metro Times, probably the best place for current news on Detroit music (click music at the top left).


You also may not realize how much music originates, even if it's not popularized, in Detroit: Motown, punk (Iggy Pop in the 60's), funk (George Clinton and Bootsy X), and techno.

Nova did a great show on Joe Kittinger and his dive from 19 miles up.

They first tested it with human shaped models and found out the flatspin would be deadly, liquifying organs. After that they used a stabilizing chute to avoid the flatspin.

Exerpt:
http://www.yvcc.cc.wa.us/~chemyvcc/Skydive_From_St ratosphere.html

Here's the link to the shockwave game:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/escape/skydive.html

Wired article:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.08/space.html ?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=

Project Excelsior:
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/coldwar/pe. htm

I can no longer find my favorite desktop sized picture of the jump but a smaller one is here (the top picture):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/balloon/science/histo ry2.html

See here and here among other places

Although the game is pretty simple, it is innovative, considering the crack-like nature of the game.

Are the KDE, Gnome, and Emacs versions in good standing with the Tetris Company?

Terminal Velocity

Wired had an article in August 2001 about two other people attempting much the same thing.

Wired had an article in August 2001 about two other people attempting much the same thing.

Already available: http://www.spammimic.com/ and talked about here: Wired

This is a rather late post that's likely of little value considering it's datedness. Just the same:

Video games aren't "anger" any more than any other competion.

Reread my post. I was saying games which people use to "let out their anger" are especially likely to have some sort of side effect. I was not labeling video games as violent. I'm quite aware that video games can be decidedly nonviolent, evidenced by such games as Pong or to a lesser extent, Captain Novolin. And as you say, a game of paintball might have the same potential negative effects as a violent video game. For instance, a fellow may callously shoot his buddy in the face after he's already been taken out to relieve some anger. That sort of 'relief' of anger is what breeds more anger over time.

teens are out there with REAL guns killing REAL life with them

That's exactly the point. Any activity that encourages one to directly express her anger can encourage the spiraling growth of anger. Violent video games, for some people, may very well encourage just this sort of behavior, which may ultimately push them that extra step towards shooting their classmates.

oldie but goodie, face of aphex

Slashdot recently had a post about Seoul as an example of broadband done right. "The Bandwidth Capital of the World" In that very same issue they have a article about how China is goin g to be the next big PC boomtown, With legend computers ready to take charge over some of the big boys like Dell and IBM With only 11 percent of the population owning personal computers, the market saturation is nowhere near the likes of the U.S. and the U.K. It will be interesting to see if Dell will end up dominating the market as it has in the states, or if Legend truly has the upper hand...

Slashdot recently had a post about Seoul as an example of broadband done right. "The Bandwidth Capital of the World" In that very same issue they have a article about how China is goin g to be the next big PC boomtown, With legend computers ready to take charge over some of the big boys like Dell and IBM With only 11 percent of the population owning personal computers, the market saturation is nowhere near the likes of the U.S. and the U.K. It will be interesting to see if Dell will end up dominating the market as it has in the states, or if Legend truly has the upper hand...

Oh, come on.

Shure the artist has a choice: Sell the record companyALL rights to their work or NO DEAL. Only the well estabilsed artists (or those signed to indepedents) are able to (re)negotiate their contracts.

The RIAA claims to own 90% of all recorded music and yet they created none of it (all of the RIAA's members are companies, no artists). It would be a much better system if only those who create music can own copyright over it, unless it's a "work for hire" (like a jingle).

Of course then the record companies could just change the standard contract so that all songs the artist writes while under contract will be considerd a "work for hire," but they tried that once and it didn't work out very well.

--

Read this article.

Kan was severely depressed, i.e. Prozac, suicide hotlines, the whole thing.

From the article:

The signs of impending awfulness were there, Oliver said. Very recently, Gene had changed his resume, which was stored on the University of California at Berkeley's server, to read: "Summary: Sad example of a human being. Specializing in failure."

Sad. I think this pretty much dismisses the conspiracy theory...

How come /. still hasn't posted a single article about the passing of Gene Kan, but somehow a red stapler makes it to the front page???

????

The majority of people over the age of 30 do not currently play videogames and only vaguely remember the games they played as kids.

Get your facts right

GAMING POPULATION BY AGE 13-17 19.8%
18-24 17.8%
25-34 18.6%
35-44 22.8%
45-54 15.4%
55+ 5.6%
(PC Data)

From: Wired 9.05

Section 6 of article 21 is not that draconian. Or at least not anymore. For the last few years, thanks to the highly controversial movie "Toto' che visse due volte" (Toto' who lived twice), it hasn't been possible anymore for censors to ban altogether a movie in Italy. At most, they can restrict it to audiences over the age of 18.

Wired has a short article about the issue.

One of the scenes that censorship wanted cut - a cut that the directors refused vehemently, which led to the initial ban of the movie - involved a naked-bottom Madonna. The amusing thing is that the movie had been partially financed by grants from the Italian government itself.

Wired mentions Bertolucci's woes with Last tango in Paris, over which he temporarily lost some of his rights, first of all the right to vote. That happened a few years after the movie was released. A judge struck that ruling down in 1982, as in his opinion public morality had changed in the meantime and the movie could no longer be considered offensive. The Constitution, after all, refrains from specifying in detail what "offensive to public morality" really means. This second ruling was triggered by an unannounced screening of the movie at a film festival in Rome - those reels were of course illegal at the time, but they belonged to the German director R.W. Fassbinder, who had died just a few weeks before, anyway...

In this case there doesn't seem to be any ruling yet. They probably picked somebody with not enough resources to defend themselves in court. Or somebody who had breached the law in other ways on the side.

People can still see "Toto' che visse due volte", if they want to. They can still listen to an underground band from Rome, Santarita Sakkascia (a pun on the name of the saint, Santa Rita da Cascia), perform "Santi numi" - "Sainted divinities", a cover of Nirvana's "Smells like teen spirit", whose verses are nothing but a list of blasphemies against God and a bunch of saints. And they can see the uncut "Il pap'occhio", a satirical comedy from 1980 featuring Roberto Benigni, initially cut, in which the Pope tries to start a Vatican TV station to make up for the declining popularity of the Roman Church.

... was published in Wired two years ago.

Well here goes my karma...

Ever heard of securing an IIS server properly in the first place so you don't have to install all those dammned patches in the first place (hint - remove all mappings in IIS EXCEPT the ones you need and you won't get hit by the majority of the exploits out there).

Answer this, would you stick a default install of linux live on the net without securing it first? Or any operating system for that matter? Just as with linux, you have to secure Windows before putting it live. Unfortunally, quite a few winadmins are poorly trained and do not realize this.

That and Microsoft is now making reboot-less patches now for Windows 2000 Server, and for those rare ones that require a reboot, you can qchain them together and reboot once.

About the hackers (I assume you mean crackers), ever heard of a firewall, I hear they are good for defeating most of the script kiddies out there. DoSing, in reality, no server can withstand a major one. Go read up on them, Wired has an article here, and an admin at UW has some more articles here.

Oh yea, what the hell are you doing surfing the net on a server in the first place, that's what workstations are for.

Go work in a IT department with Windows 2000 before you go shooting your mouth off. Adminning your home linux box does not make you an expert in Windows 2000 administration.

OpenBeOS founder Gene Kan has taken his own life. He was also one of the designers of GNUtella. Very strange. More information availble in this Wired article for all the details. I must say, Drano is one hell of a way to check out.

Hi,
Hybrids really don't count IMHO as 'alternative fuel' vehicles, since they use two fuels that are exceedingly ordinary: gasoline and electricity. They should qualify for partial EV credit, and they're great for reducing fuel consumption, but without E85 they just aren't 'alternative fuel'.

I would recommend a late-model Volkswagen diesel and biodiesel as a true 'alternative fuel' vehicle. Diesels are more efficient, create less CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and last FOREVER. I just recently purchased a Mercedes diesel with 362000 miles on it, and I expect to get at least another 130000 miles on it with proper care and feeding. My car can't take 100% biodiesel without some fuel-line upgrades (bio eats rubber away since it's more oxygenated than petro) but any diesel since 1994 can take 100%. Another option, particularly in colder climes or with older cars, is B20, which is 20%bio/80%petro. Biodiesel doesn't contain sulfur, and is naturally oxygenated enough to prevent smelly particulate exhaust. In fact, tailpipe exhaust smells like french fries ;) Biodiesel is actually technically non-toxic and very hard to burn, and IIRC can be drop-shipped anywhere, so I _THINK_ you could even have it delivered to your house in large drums.. It's expensive (~$3/gal) but it may be worth it to you if you want to contribute to (a)saving the ozone layer and/or (b)keeping US$ out of the hands of despotic Arab states (and their terrorist pawns)..

Couple interesting Wired links on biodiesel:
here and
here

Even non-biodiesel is a better global environmental choice than gasoline/petrol since it's less intensive to refine. Diesel creates more NOx, large-particulate exhaust and sulfur (which lead to smog and acid rain), but the balance of impact is in its favor overall due to the efficiency of diesel engines. Also, if we could press for low-sulfur diesel, NOx could be handled with catalytic converters.

Oh, did I mention that biodiesel can be made from any biological substance that contains triglycerides? Hempseed, soybean, even used cooking fats can be 'cracked' into biodiesel, leaving glycerin. What to do with the glycerin though, that's the main Q...