I find it interesting how the only "reasonable" comments about this are responses like "Why do this I could just download a bunch of emulators instead of this!!"... that's the whole point.
Download 1 emulator that is a singular source to play all the older games. instead of having multiple emulators for multiple game system formats etc... such a pain in the arse.
Don't get me wrong, I am concerned that they might just screw up a lot of good parts of many emulators out there (save state etc). I think this is a massive undertaking not only because they are trying to consolidate things but they have a GREAT opportunity to improve upon original design.
Currently the emulators out there are pretty limited simply due to how emulators work. There just isn't anything for ps2 games that's worth a dam. You can argue with me but there is a tremendous need for optimization here. There are a lot of games I'd love to play again that I lost due to a flood, and one of my ex dorm-mates stealing from me. You just can't find them anymore or you have to pay $20-$30 again for them. (screw that noise).
I'm no pirate, but I miss the nostalgia that came with many of the games from my youth. Downloading 15 emulators and finding one that doesn't suck, supports my gamepad... and managing them all when i want to switch games is a pain in the ass. The GUI's are also TERRIBLE (to each their own opinion). I think it's a rule that if you make great emulators they have to look like trash or a clown shit on them.
Lets cut to the chase. Open source software is great and sometimes meets the needs of businesses but when you hit academia that's a WHOLE other world.
1) Academia needs to be able to access proprietary and non-proprietary documents. Most government agencies are NOT open source. Open Office does not "work" well with a lot of Word Doc's, newer Excel sheets and definitely not Access databases.
2) Blackboard on the other hand is about to get a RUDE awakening. NCSU, UNC, DUKE and a few other universities have all started their own open source implementations of Moodle (Blackboards competitor). Blackboard costs HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A YEAR for the license. Moodle costs $0. Unfortunately support for Moodle is still in it's infancy for products like MediaSite (Sonic Foundry E-Learning, communication stuff).
3) Learning Curves. There's no better way to piss people off and make you position "temporary" by forcing FACULTY and Administration to use other tools that they have to re-learn how to do things. Also, there's a great deal of documentation written (by your own internal groups) involving "how-to guides" etc that don't explain how to do it in OpenOffice.
4) Can open source solutions do everything that your groups need. A lot of statistical analysis, data mining and recording happens and is exported, imported between systems. A BUTTLOAD of scientific equipment will export to non compliant documents that Office tends to be lenient to where OpenOffice is not. (Water Sampling equipment form HCOR for example).
Be very VERY careful and instead of bulldozing it in... start offering it. Identify the benefits that a user would experience. In some situation it's cost... (that's a big one right now with most universities having a hiring freeze etc). The other is no licensing, so no management of that rascal (Auditors love you). Take it slow and it will work.
Most of the "really guilty" companies use VOIP with callerid spoofing. It's illegal but almost impossible to prove on a sweeping scan of the industry. You have to watch one company to catch them doing it and most of these guys switch their names, change location etc... and often times aren't even in the United States and thus, not under their jurisdiction.
- I don't want the Government to be able to wiretap companies without a warrant. - I don't want the telephone companies / ISP's filtering content. - We can't punish the companies who use them because it could easily be used as a bankrupting tool for innocent companies (company A wants to bankrupt company b and "hires" telemarketing company as company A). - I refuse to pay my telephone company or the government more money for something that should be happening in the first place
So how do we stop these guys especially when we can't prosecute them under our laws?
Solutions 1) Filters - You can have automatic private/unknown block. I know two people who have private numbers who would have trouble calling me. This is flawed because you block people you want to talk to and callerID spoofing bypasses the rest. If it comes to traffic identification that means ISPS are scanning traffic... uh NO. No matter what you basically you hurt yourself here.
2) Fines - won't work on the really bad ones outside the US. A pointless endeavor except to inside the US.
Sure the above two work to deter it within our Country... however I think jail-time of the company owners should be mandatory. That would pretty much stop it within the US. However... it's pretty minor here. Most calls you get are from out of country.
Here is my solution... but its easier said than done due to difficulty of implementation. The requirements are the follows
1) Create a complaint system where users can do *123 (or something) that identifies that call as an unwanted sales call. 2) Users who have access to this feature must be on the DO NOT CALL LIST 3) This system must be profitable for all those involved or negligible in cost or it's a pipe dream. 4) There has to be a bit of leeway because lists are purchased and occasionally even the best companies screw up.
When a caller identifies a call by hitting *123 it flags that call for the telephony company. It stores the data of that caller in a database. This database is given to a US agency who runs reports identifying repeat offenders or "areas" of the world where it comes from the most (including the US).
This helps the US target those areas and identify the companies that relay those calls, or that companies VOIP id's etc. From this information we can block them entirely. Like all blacklists there has to be a measure of care taken before someone is placed on it.
Good exploiters of the system are constantly moving, constantly changing to not be identified. Here's what the cherry in my plan comes from. When telemarketers like this are identified, it's almost a shoe in to identify the companies that do business with them. Begin to fine those companies. WHY?!?
When companies begin to get hit with fines, and the threat of being identified as "bad marketers" receiving bad media... you bet your ass they'll start looking for more reputable marketing groups. You'll see a SHARP decline in the number of unwanted calls that occur.
Unfortunately this is a long term solution and would take over a year to begin culling the data and identifying trends. Except one thing...
AT&T, Sprint and several others have been doing this for years. They have the data, they know who it is... all they need is little push from a Governmental agency dedicated to spam! The fines and such would self manage this agency. When fines are high this agencies focus is here... when it's low this agency can focus on other issues.
The best part is that when this problem becomes small... so will the governmental agency.
Just like a job, if someone is paying you to do work, or come up with ideas then they have rights to them. Typically it's spelled out clearly in your contract.
However when it comes to Universities, this is where there is a lot of muck and confusion.
1) If you are WORKING for the university or using THEIR equipment AND (this is the important part) you have signed something stating they own the works from what you develop... then yeah... they own it. I've NEVER seen this not clear and usually involved someone unhappy that a great idea they came up with isn't going to make them a millionaire simply because they didn't negotiate well in their contract.
2) Working for the University is defined as being actually paid $$ or getting a free ride paid for by the institution.
3) If you didn't sign anything where it says your ideas belong to them while working for them... then they don't pure and simple.
NC State is a great example of this. As long as you do it on your own time with your own equipment you're fine. Otherwise you have to write some kind of agreement to use their facilities for your research. Generally it involves you paying them for use of their facilities and can be costly. That's the price of having access to advanced technology you couldn't otherwise afford.
And like many above have said... if your idea is that great... if it's that amazing... don't use their equipment. Just don't take a chance. Otherwise, please don't complain.
Somalia and Russia are a different playing field. More Somalia than russia really. People who have guns have power. Typically those without guns can't afford them. Plain as that. Comparing Somalia to the US is like comparing apples to oranges.
The world is a complex place, and "weapons" don't solve everything... but being a criminal, if you know that person has a gun typically you'll go after the person that doesn't. Less risk.
The US has laws in place that pretty much screws anyone who shoots their gun without using their brain. I wish i didn't live in a world where guns were needed but that's how it is. Before you pass judgment on me... I don't own a gun. The level of security i wish to live requires only two great dogs (labs) to alert me or let the criminal know that my house probably isn't the best place to rob.
However, there are a LOT of people who's way of life and experience require some form of protection. A gun is one of those things.
Another thing, when you're talking about the number of gun deaths, what about the crime rate? You quote VIOLENT crime... but what about overall crime. Hmm lets look!
http://www.gunsandcrime.org/auresult.html... wait that can't be right it says the crime rate INCREASED... in fact it says the crime rate exploded... lets look at more references... this one must be flawed...
Well... I'll be damned. Government studies, independent studies and just plain facts show you're completely wrong. Here are some quotes from your own major news groups.
"Crime rate has been skyrocketing in the UK and AU since stricter gun control laws were enacted..." "Australia saw its violent crime rates soar after it's gun control measures..."
It's littered with the same thing. You are WRONG. Your violent crime might be down but your crime went through the roof!!!!!
The only gun control the US needs is to require education on ALL purchasing of firearms, and much much stiffer penalties on those that illegally own firearms. I have NO problem with someone owning an automatic weapon as long as they have proven that they are trained to use it.
What is the difference between someone with a degree and someone without? Generally it's their intellectual level an ability to adapt. This doesn't apply to everyone of course but in my experience it does to most.
A bachelor of science means you not only completed your core requirements but you also explored a great deal more expanding your mind, making you think in other ways and you aren't a limited tool. It also means you took classes in a variety of different classes to understand the underlying technology. On top of that it means that you dedicated yourself to learning for at least 3 and a half years and are fully capable of learning at that level. That's extremely important to companies especially in IT.
A friend of mine is a Sysadmin and took thermodynamics, electronics of computers etc... classes that really delve into why things work the way they do. Not only does that help you understand what the cause of the problem is but the best way to fix it. It allows you to give the companies you work for more options and a better evaluation of the problem. Trying to sum up 4 years of this does not do it justice...
But I would hire someone with a degree and 3 years of experience over someone without a degree and 5 years of experience, if they both worked in similar jobs.
While there are realistically about 50... the main 3... the ones that best identify if you are a good programmer... or "that guy"...
4) Understand the coding tags you are using. Not just that they "work". This is the biggest source of problems when upgrades happen. Just because it "does it" doesn't mean it should be used for it.
3) Use standard code writing utilities. There's nothing worse than opening a file to see that 10,000 lines of code is actually 1 single line. We had a russian developer who used this crazy tool. It didn't format to any standard... and yeah... it was ugly.
2) Indention indention indention. People who don't indent make me sad. Their code is unreadable and typically it's to hide their inept abilities and security holes.
3) COMMENT YOUR CODE! Not just for others to follow your logic but for YOU to follow your OWN logic when you come back to it in a year and go "WTF was I doing here!?!".
If you do the above... chances are you'll end up being a very good developer. Other people have posted a LOT of great books and resources for coding. After you've mastered the above, if you are doing web applications you should look into the following
SQL Injection Attacks (Learn how to prevent them) Relational Database Design Frameworks (Tomcat, MachII etc) a lot of time these frameworks will save you days of work. Steep learning curve though. SVN's
Well that would be me. To avoid being slashdotted to hell I'm not posting the link to my blog but you can figure it out if you try hard enough.
In 2000 I purchased the.net domain of my site intentionally avoiding the.com since I'm not a commerce site. Fast forward to 2005 when some wrestler named Raige came into being. On top of that I was sent a notice to immediately surrender my domain to this douche bag.
I actually was lucky enough to have college legal resources available to me and brought the issue to them. Fact is, since he didn't exist when I purchased the domain he had no standing what so ever. I replied to the letter with some legal mumbo jumbo and they replied with a threat of a lawsuit. I told them to go ahead but that I was willing to fight all the way.
The issues that come with this guys site are the following 1) Did he create the site knowingly of previous site names the olympics used? Does NOT matter. You cannot trademark a naming scheme. You CAN trademark a name. So while a symbol, or McChicken can be trademarked... "Mc" cannot. It could be argued in court if someone made a McChickenWafer... 2) Is this guy a commercial entity? He has a.com site... that means it commerce... if it's not he might be in trouble. However all that he would have to do is sell a T-shirt through www.geekstuff.com or something. 3) Does he actively use the site? If he didn't... he would be viewed as a squatter and smished. However, the site is actively in use... meaning that this isn't a problem.
In short, ICANN will not be able to take the name and the Olympics will have to create another site or purchase it from him.
IT field is so wide and diverse with many people coming to it's ranks without any "true" background. I have a degree in Textiles. I manage and maintain a wide assortment of applications, servers, databases, email systems etc. I actually laughed at a lady on the phone a long time ago during an interview, who said that they were only looking for MCSE's. When I laughed she seemed so surprised and asked me why?
I told her "You do understand that you can get one of those in 2 weeks offline right now right?". People have become so dependent on "certifications" that they don't actually test those individuals skills. I don't limit it to IT either. The same thing applies to MBA's. I wound up being involved in a round table interview (2+ applicants at the same time) and everyone but me had a certification. When asked what the difference between mirroring and clustering in databases was one of the answers was (I joke you not) something oracle can only do.
Additionally, I find that now, most companies don't truly involve their IT groups in the hiring process. They ask for "specs" for a job and then try to match them up. This doesn't work in reality. It might with a secretary, or blockbuster video clerk... but not in IT.
IT skills are quantifiable. There's no "bullshit" answer. There are several different levels of gray but if you ask a programmer what Model View Controller or what a framework is... there's no bs answer that isn't wrong.
When I create questions for a prospective employee I'm not trying to ramrod them. I ask only questions that I believe they should know 100%. For example, a ColdFusion programmer position is about to be placed here are some of the questions I plan to ask. I don't necessarily believe they need to know how to do all of them, but they MUST know what they are.
This position will be updating a slew of applications written in ColdFusion 5 and fixing about 30 databases that were converted from Access to MSSQL and 99% of the fields are NVARCHAR.
1) What is SQL injection and what built in features of coldfusion protect applications from it? 2) Write an inner join query? 3) Whats the difference between a.cfm and a.cfc? 4) What is an SVN repository? 5) What is the datatype NVARCHAR used for? 6)...
You get the idea. However, my reasoning for asking these questions isn't just for the answers!
1) How well did they answer the questions? Enunciation, quickness to respond, accuracy in describing solutions 2) What is their personality like when pressured? 3) When they don't know an answer how do they respond. This is a big one for me. I expect you to say that you don't know. Bonus points for you writing it down and emailing me the answer later. This lets me know you didn't forget, and that you are trying to improve yourself.
A lot of times I'll throw in a question I KNOW they shouldn't know just to trip them up. I want to see how people react under pressure. We have 125 employees all depending on these applications for our business functions. If something screws up I need them to be quick, calm and attentive to the problem. Imagine this on a much larger scale, like 10,000, or 100,000. Businesses need to depend on these employees.
So, tests are necessary and frankly I'd like to see them in more positions.
but you CAN give it a direction. I've said this a thousand times. There will always be people stupid/desperate/greedy enough to do something like this. Hell, two good friends of mine who I always thought were very intelligent fell victim to an Amway like scam. (Same company different name).
When I showed them all of the websites talking about the scam they realized what a big mistake was. At least they only lost $400. Most people who fall for this lose their life savings.
My mother is internet stupid. She's not a dumb person this is just alien to her. I showed her the power of google to answer her questions and now she uses it all the time to research businesses that she wants to work with. In fact, I think google helped her become Internet savvy.
I truly believe that people who fall for scams like this should be forced to serve time. Give them solid time to think about their actions and how society should be forced to help the Darwin award winners of today.
Most professors at NC State during my time (1994-2002) we realistic about the books. I was there when books went from cheap to retarded in price. NCSU is currently in the works to prevent books costing over $150 from being a choice, and to prevent teachers who use books they wrote or co-wrote from charging over $50 for it. I doubt it will go through and I'm sure I'm behind the actual state of it.
The worst offender I remember was some douche bag who wrote his own chemistry manual and his WIFE (a non chemist) proof read it. The funniest thing and I couldn't find a link to the picture was the the cover had Avogadro's number on the cover... as
6.023 x 10 -23... yes I said NEGATIVE 23 in bold yellow on glossy paper.
the book had so many mistakes. I'm so glad I wasn't in that class.
Cliff, if you want to beat pirates... it's very simple. Give up.
1) No DRM. It does NOT work. Ask me a game.. ANY game... and ill find it for you in a torrent for download that has it broken already. I mean seriously... what's the record on copy protection lasting? 2 weeks? How much did you invest in whatever schema it was? 2) Make DAMN sure that the cracked version of your game isn't superior to you own. Having to call a server everytime you play is stupid. Having to have the disc in the drive is stupid. People pirate games exactly for this reason. 3) ASSUME that your customer base are fun loving gamers. They WANT to play your game and are happy to pay for it. There will ALWAYS be the criminal element or college students to broke to pay for your game. That's a fact of life. You'll spend more money trying to fight them than anything. Lets say your game gets popular via pirates... there's a huge section of those people who when they hear your game rocks will BUY IT. 4) Keep your price lower than your competitors. $49 is way too much now. I don't even buy a game until it's under $30. It's not worth it to me and yes I'll pirate if I get tired of waiting for the price to drop. I know you need to recoup the development costs but do it by offering digital downloads of your game. NO CD required!!! Most people don't give a damn about the crap in the box or the box. Most of us just want the game. Steam had a great idea unfortunately it's slow as shit.
The world is telling you that they aren't going to put up with merchants violating any of the above. They don't have to. If you aren't willing to give us the product how we want it... we'll take it. While that may be wrong to you... it's right to me. I WANT to pay for your products... just make it worth it to me. You'll save money in the get go.
When I saw smart I mean it literally. Bill Gates saw the business world. The giants and players who could easily throw you around. The only way to truly compete is to offer something noone else had.
Sure, he ganked the GUI from Steve Jobs, but understand that he ganked the concept... not the code. Bill Gates and his company had a TERRIFIC understanding of what the average user would want in an experience. They also understood what a company would want when making technical decisions at the time
1) Will it do what we need it to do? 2) Can we easily maintain it? 3) Can our users learn to use it quickly and easily? 4) Is it cost efficient? 5) Does it "just work"?
The answers to all of these ONLY Microsoft could say yes to. Apple lost in #3 and #4. Every single apple I used growing up was completely non-user friendly. Microsoft spent millions upon millions understanding what users want to be able to do and made multiple ways to do it to allow a user to choose how they like doing things.
I hear a LOT of people complain about windows software but every single Office App, I've ever used has lived up to my expectations. In my 15 years in the IT industry I still feel that 90% of the problems are user error when it came to basic installs.
The other 10% was comprised of plethora of wierd setups, odd configurations, and *gasp* bad coding.
Don't get me wrong... Microsoft has written a lot of seriously wacked out code that has no business in production. But lets compare... to Lotus Notes. That thing is about as friendly as a porcupine with a machete. It's almost as bad as Groupwise. These people spend $1.99 at Big Lots on a book for "User Friendly" and "Tech Support Friendly".
You might hate microsoft, but they took what every software company was lacking and built that into their business model. Bill Gates is a genius... a low down dirty scoundrel genius... but a genius none-the-less.
Just an FYI, Radioshack Stores are moving away from being the parts store we all loved. They are now trying to be more competitive in Cell Phones and Satellite dishes. You can thank their CEO for this. It's not very easy to find a Radioshack that still has a lot of parts in stock, let alone kits.
It's best to order it online as most stores won't have what you're looking for. Also another idea is to call up your local colleges who offer courses. They often sell kits or can tell you where their students buy kits. Those places ALWAYS have additional info.
The project lists can range from simple circuits to digital electronics. Learning how to build your own Amplifier for your stereo you quickly realize what massive profit margins these companies have, and you start to wonder why medical equipment that performs simple functions costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Next time anyone says "No one ever got sacked for buying Microsoft", I'm pointing to this guy.
Ozmanjusri that is the dumbest statement I've ever read. Seriously, linux systems are just as compromis-able if not setup correctly and not maintained. Sure there are a LOT less exploits but linux is a LOT less user friendly. It was obvious from the REPORT that his machine was not updated, and not maintained correctly.
The reason linux doesn't have as many exploits or "viruses" or whatever... is the target audience are non-computer savvy users. They went to Bestbuy and bought the "on-sale" computer. That's the type of person that will fall for their scams or not realize they are hacked. Why in the world would they target people like us who are much more in tune with security issues and how to correctly maintain our stuff. They don't put it as a priority.
You can argue, they should, or they should learn, but I hate to tell you this... most people don't care. They have other things in their life they find more important. In this aspect these people are sheep and need to be herded gentle, not hit with a cattle prod.
Flavors of linux like Ubuntu and others are starting to provide that slow migration. Help the process, don't lay baseless blame on something using flawed logic.
Let me be clear. I think "Business Methods" patents are a stupid idea. However, that's the reality of things and NOTHING in this world, especially law, moves quickly or changes radically with ease. The best way, in my opinion, is to do what he is suggestions.
We SHOULD recognize that Business method patents are different from other patents. (Don't get me into software patents). There should be types of patents and each patent should have a time limit. However, there is not a SINGLE patent type I can think of that should be 17 years long. 10 years MAYBE... and that's an extreme.
I understand that companies invest a lot of time and money in research for "things". Pharmaceuticals, Engineering etc... but none of them take 17 years to fruition. It's one thing to protect a return on an investment, it's another to exploit it.
Additionally the patent system should be built to specifically fight those who would exploit it's system in a method that is SELF policing. His comment about creating a prior art database where people on the internet would be able to comment on prior art of a patent before it is approved is a TERRIFIC IDEA!
This would be like a wikipedia for patents and prior art making the jobs of the patent reviewers a thousand times easier at finding prior art. Once they are alerted of it, they can then investigate that specific instance and make an informed recommendation.
It's a start and a reasonably easy one to implement.
I was part of the massive lawsuit against Paypal back when there were plenty of scammers. One such tried to screw me and even though I provide more than enough evidence to PROVE without a shadow of a doubt this guy was scamming the system, committing mail fraud, AND on top of that was using stolen credit cards, AND i gave him his confirmed address...
They still sided with him. However, I knew this was a possibility and I moved the money out of paypal, and blocked them from charging me back through my bank who happily sided with me.
About 6 months later I joined the lawsuit, and provided all of the evidence to them for exhibits. If you didn't know we won... and won big. Not happy with the default settlement offering I filed for the full settlement and received my check a few months later. I framed it... and I will NEVER do business with Paypal again.
I don't care if Ebay bought them. They do not follow banking guidelines, they consistently have proven themselves untrustworthy and generally don't abide by the law OR their own policies.
If Ebay goes to Paypal only, I think they'll soon realize the size of the mistake they will make when other auction sites blow past them at 90mph!
I love how many flawed arguements are presented here.
- I don't buy CD's because that screws the RIAA (Uh, lots of indie music has nothing to do with the RIAA and you find those in record stores - I don't listen to todays music (well, that sucks for you because there is a lot of good stuff!)
etc etc etc
There is a MASSIVE movement to eliminate the middleman (RIAA). Tons of websites are popping up where music is shared FREELY. Most of it used to suck but a lot of it is turning out to be pretty good.
With FREE software that lets bands remix their own albums, hardware being at an all time low, and the learning curve to use it getting smaller and smaller there's just no reason to complain!
I don't illegal download music... I used to... in fact I had so much illegal music at one point we added it up and I would do approximately 137 Million years in prison. Do the math... yes that was about 2.2 terabytes of mp3's. Don't ask... and yes there were probably copies of the same music in there.
I came to realize that 99% of that music I had I didn't like or listen to. I just downloaded it because it was there. A friend of mine turned me on to a lot of free bands... NOT INDIE BANDS that posted music on different websites.
Techno, Rock, Hardcore, Deathmetal, Soft Rock, Classical... etc was all there and it was GOOD. I mean REALLY good. Sure... I had to wade through the crap and that will always be the case but most of the sites do a really good job of recommending other music you'd like.
Internet Radio stations like Digitally Imported or Chronix Aggression also do a lot of the work finding good music depending on what you listen too.
If you like more mainstream music just go to www.shoutcast.com and listen to what they play. A LOT of it you can find cheaper digitally than you can on a CD.
Here's a few radio stations that I have to pimp because of their pure dedication to the music and not to some corporate entity... or at least I never hear them voice support... and their music is awesome. Most of these stations have multiple stations with different flavors! Did I mention it's free to listen?
Just go to http://www.shoutcast.com./ Also, if anyone reads this post your favorite sites for Internet Radio. You cannot fight the RIAA head on. You have to fight it with your wallet... but why suffer without music when you can do both!
I read about 100 comments in this post and I have to admit most were about "I wouldn't go there then" or "They are taking away our rights".
Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm in the US... but where in the UK law does it say "Right to bear cell phone"... it doesn't you twits.
This is a terrific idea made by a PRIVATE entity on THEIR property. I cannot tell you how often I hear loud obnoxious people on cell phones distracting from MY fun. How the families they are with are like "Come on dad" or "Honey can't you do that later" and they reply "Just one sec" while being blissfully ignorant of the line behind them.
I WOULD go to this theme park simply because it removes the ADD enhancing objects in our lives and lets us focus on conversation with each other and paying attention to ones surroundings.
World of Warcraft is a game that has wide appeal specifically to people with little time or short attention spans. In Everquest it took time and talent to do a lot of things. It was COMPLETELY gear dependent. That meant, you had to be good, and dedicated to be the best. It also meant that when you saw someone with a glowing weapon or had an aura on their cape that person was IMPORTANT. They earned their way there.
WoW, while I love the end game and play actively, removed that. In everquest the target age I'd see in end game guilds (real end game guilds) was college and older. Very few young kids. In WoW, the majority of players are 13-18. You can argue statistics with me but log on any server and talk to the average end game guild. The age bracket dropped and THATS what the problem is.
The lack of maturity, the increased ADD, and various other reasons are the primary reason why AoC is enticing. None of this faction versus faction bs. If you piss someone off by whining you're going to die. If you stalk newbies, chances are you're going to get tromped hard.
The biggest thing is that most "annoying kids" won't have the dedication to get high level. It will be too much work, where as people my college age and older will openly welcome this. The higher level you go the higher average of ages get and the maturity level goes up.
I don't think AoC gives a DAMN about the entire wow appeal. They want to focus on the more detailed player. Someone who wants to EARN what they get. Take it back a bit so that everyone doesn't have "epics". So when you walk through a town and you see someone sparkling you know that they are someone.
You have thousands of computers all controlled by a centralized source right? Wrong. They have trails. That's why there are waves of attacks. They start small but eventually all of the compromised systems do the attack/mail/whatever.
How is this accomplished? Why can't we track them down? Torrents my friends.
Imagine a Bot, that used a torrent to update it's configuration every so often. Then that torrent is deleted and it's like it never existed. Keep the number of connections down, use existing servers to spread the torrent initially, but have it focus on other hacked servers originally created to host the file. 10-20 should do it and take absolutely no time to do.
Create a method to update the torrent or key off a series of downloads for the botnet to use a new config and search torrents for it.
The concept is very easy... and very scary. I personally think that once you make the crime not worth the punishment... it will mostly go away or be focused in other countries. These people are affecting thousands of peoples lives. A thief who steals a car gets 10 years, where these guys barely get jailtime? C'mon. They've stolen millions and that's what you KNOW about.
I don't need to know your platform to help you qualify that answer. This is easy.
1) When you look the technology up on monster.com, how many results do you get? 2) Does the technology have an active community? How supported is it? 3) How big is your site? 4) How much are you willing to spend for someone to maintain it, convert it, implement it etc? 5) What is your time span?
I've done a hell of a lot of conversion from PHP and ASP to ColdFusion simply because companies want a language that's easy for other developers to come behind and figure what's going on. Like ALL code... even ColdFusion can be made to look ugly by a bad developer.
The most important thing is what many echoed already. Pick a language that has years of support behind it with an active community. You'll find your developers easily then. It also prevents the entrenchment technique used by bad developers.
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I find it interesting how the only "reasonable" comments about this are responses like "Why do this I could just download a bunch of emulators instead of this!!"... that's the whole point.
Download 1 emulator that is a singular source to play all the older games. instead of having multiple emulators for multiple game system formats etc... such a pain in the arse.
Don't get me wrong, I am concerned that they might just screw up a lot of good parts of many emulators out there (save state etc). I think this is a massive undertaking not only because they are trying to consolidate things but they have a GREAT opportunity to improve upon original design.
Currently the emulators out there are pretty limited simply due to how emulators work. There just isn't anything for ps2 games that's worth a dam. You can argue with me but there is a tremendous need for optimization here. There are a lot of games I'd love to play again that I lost due to a flood, and one of my ex dorm-mates stealing from me. You just can't find them anymore or you have to pay $20-$30 again for them. (screw that noise).
I'm no pirate, but I miss the nostalgia that came with many of the games from my youth. Downloading 15 emulators and finding one that doesn't suck, supports my gamepad... and managing them all when i want to switch games is a pain in the ass. The GUI's are also TERRIBLE (to each their own opinion). I think it's a rule that if you make great emulators they have to look like trash or a clown shit on them.
Lets cut to the chase. Open source software is great and sometimes meets the needs of businesses but when you hit academia that's a WHOLE other world.
1) Academia needs to be able to access proprietary and non-proprietary documents. Most government agencies are NOT open source. Open Office does not "work" well with a lot of Word Doc's, newer Excel sheets and definitely not Access databases.
2) Blackboard on the other hand is about to get a RUDE awakening. NCSU, UNC, DUKE and a few other universities have all started their own open source implementations of Moodle (Blackboards competitor). Blackboard costs HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A YEAR for the license. Moodle costs $0. Unfortunately support for Moodle is still in it's infancy for products like MediaSite (Sonic Foundry E-Learning, communication stuff).
3) Learning Curves. There's no better way to piss people off and make you position "temporary" by forcing FACULTY and Administration to use other tools that they have to re-learn how to do things. Also, there's a great deal of documentation written (by your own internal groups) involving "how-to guides" etc that don't explain how to do it in OpenOffice.
4) Can open source solutions do everything that your groups need. A lot of statistical analysis, data mining and recording happens and is exported, imported between systems. A BUTTLOAD of scientific equipment will export to non compliant documents that Office tends to be lenient to where OpenOffice is not. (Water Sampling equipment form HCOR for example).
Be very VERY careful and instead of bulldozing it in... start offering it. Identify the benefits that a user would experience. In some situation it's cost... (that's a big one right now with most universities having a hiring freeze etc). The other is no licensing, so no management of that rascal (Auditors love you). Take it slow and it will work.
Most of the "really guilty" companies use VOIP with callerid spoofing. It's illegal but almost impossible to prove on a sweeping scan of the industry. You have to watch one company to catch them doing it and most of these guys switch their names, change location etc... and often times aren't even in the United States and thus, not under their jurisdiction.
- I don't want the Government to be able to wiretap companies without a warrant.
- I don't want the telephone companies / ISP's filtering content.
- We can't punish the companies who use them because it could easily be used as a bankrupting tool for innocent companies (company A wants to bankrupt company b and "hires" telemarketing company as company A).
- I refuse to pay my telephone company or the government more money for something that should be happening in the first place
So how do we stop these guys especially when we can't prosecute them under our laws?
Solutions
1) Filters - You can have automatic private/unknown block. I know two people who have private numbers who would have trouble calling me. This is flawed because you block people you want to talk to and callerID spoofing bypasses the rest. If it comes to traffic identification that means ISPS are scanning traffic... uh NO. No matter what you basically you hurt yourself here.
2) Fines - won't work on the really bad ones outside the US. A pointless endeavor except to inside the US.
Sure the above two work to deter it within our Country... however I think jail-time of the company owners should be mandatory. That would pretty much stop it within the US. However... it's pretty minor here. Most calls you get are from out of country.
Here is my solution... but its easier said than done due to difficulty of implementation. The requirements are the follows
1) Create a complaint system where users can do *123 (or something) that identifies that call as an unwanted sales call.
2) Users who have access to this feature must be on the DO NOT CALL LIST
3) This system must be profitable for all those involved or negligible in cost or it's a pipe dream.
4) There has to be a bit of leeway because lists are purchased and occasionally even the best companies screw up.
When a caller identifies a call by hitting *123 it flags that call for the telephony company. It stores the data of that caller in a database. This database is given to a US agency who runs reports identifying repeat offenders or "areas" of the world where it comes from the most (including the US).
This helps the US target those areas and identify the companies that relay those calls, or that companies VOIP id's etc. From this information we can block them entirely. Like all blacklists there has to be a measure of care taken before someone is placed on it.
Good exploiters of the system are constantly moving, constantly changing to not be identified. Here's what the cherry in my plan comes from. When telemarketers like this are identified, it's almost a shoe in to identify the companies that do business with them. Begin to fine those companies. WHY?!?
When companies begin to get hit with fines, and the threat of being identified as "bad marketers" receiving bad media... you bet your ass they'll start looking for more reputable marketing groups. You'll see a SHARP decline in the number of unwanted calls that occur.
Unfortunately this is a long term solution and would take over a year to begin culling the data and identifying trends. Except one thing...
AT&T, Sprint and several others have been doing this for years. They have the data, they know who it is... all they need is little push from a Governmental agency dedicated to spam! The fines and such would self manage this agency. When fines are high this agencies focus is here... when it's low this agency can focus on other issues.
The best part is that when this problem becomes small... so will the governmental agency.
My perfect world i guess...
Just like a job, if someone is paying you to do work, or come up with ideas then they have rights to them. Typically it's spelled out clearly in your contract.
However when it comes to Universities, this is where there is a lot of muck and confusion.
1) If you are WORKING for the university or using THEIR equipment AND (this is the important part) you have signed something stating they own the works from what you develop... then yeah... they own it. I've NEVER seen this not clear and usually involved someone unhappy that a great idea they came up with isn't going to make them a millionaire simply because they didn't negotiate well in their contract.
2) Working for the University is defined as being actually paid $$ or getting a free ride paid for by the institution.
3) If you didn't sign anything where it says your ideas belong to them while working for them... then they don't pure and simple.
NC State is a great example of this. As long as you do it on your own time with your own equipment you're fine. Otherwise you have to write some kind of agreement to use their facilities for your research. Generally it involves you paying them for use of their facilities and can be costly. That's the price of having access to advanced technology you couldn't otherwise afford.
And like many above have said... if your idea is that great... if it's that amazing... don't use their equipment. Just don't take a chance. Otherwise, please don't complain.
Whoa whoa buddy, your facts are ALL WRONG!!!
Somalia and Russia are a different playing field. More Somalia than russia really. People who have guns have power. Typically those without guns can't afford them. Plain as that. Comparing Somalia to the US is like comparing apples to oranges.
The world is a complex place, and "weapons" don't solve everything... but being a criminal, if you know that person has a gun typically you'll go after the person that doesn't. Less risk.
The US has laws in place that pretty much screws anyone who shoots their gun without using their brain. I wish i didn't live in a world where guns were needed but that's how it is. Before you pass judgment on me... I don't own a gun. The level of security i wish to live requires only two great dogs (labs) to alert me or let the criminal know that my house probably isn't the best place to rob.
However, there are a LOT of people who's way of life and experience require some form of protection. A gun is one of those things.
Another thing, when you're talking about the number of gun deaths, what about the crime rate? You quote VIOLENT crime... but what about overall crime. Hmm lets look!
http://www.gunsandcrime.org/auresult.html ... wait that can't be right it says the crime rate INCREASED... in fact it says the crime rate exploded... lets look at more references... this one must be flawed...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=AU+crime+rate+gun+legislation&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
Well... I'll be damned. Government studies, independent studies and just plain facts show you're completely wrong. Here are some quotes from your own major news groups.
"Crime rate has been skyrocketing in the UK and AU since stricter gun control laws were enacted..."
"Australia saw its violent crime rates soar after it's gun control measures..."
It's littered with the same thing. You are WRONG. Your violent crime might be down but your crime went through the roof!!!!!
The only gun control the US needs is to require education on ALL purchasing of firearms, and much much stiffer penalties on those that illegally own firearms. I have NO problem with someone owning an automatic weapon as long as they have proven that they are trained to use it.
What is the difference between someone with a degree and someone without? Generally it's their intellectual level an ability to adapt. This doesn't apply to everyone of course but in my experience it does to most.
A bachelor of science means you not only completed your core requirements but you also explored a great deal more expanding your mind, making you think in other ways and you aren't a limited tool. It also means you took classes in a variety of different classes to understand the underlying technology. On top of that it means that you dedicated yourself to learning for at least 3 and a half years and are fully capable of learning at that level. That's extremely important to companies especially in IT.
A friend of mine is a Sysadmin and took thermodynamics, electronics of computers etc... classes that really delve into why things work the way they do. Not only does that help you understand what the cause of the problem is but the best way to fix it. It allows you to give the companies you work for more options and a better evaluation of the problem. Trying to sum up 4 years of this does not do it justice...
But I would hire someone with a degree and 3 years of experience over someone without a degree and 5 years of experience, if they both worked in similar jobs.
This guy is under the assumption everyone who works on open source technology is after financial gain. Very short sighted
While there are realistically about 50... the main 3... the ones that best identify if you are a good programmer... or "that guy"...
4) Understand the coding tags you are using. Not just that they "work". This is the biggest source of problems when upgrades happen. Just because it "does it" doesn't mean it should be used for it.
3) Use standard code writing utilities. There's nothing worse than opening a file to see that 10,000 lines of code is actually 1 single line. We had a russian developer who used this crazy tool. It didn't format to any standard... and yeah... it was ugly.
2) Indention indention indention. People who don't indent make me sad. Their code is unreadable and typically it's to hide their inept abilities and security holes.
3) COMMENT YOUR CODE! Not just for others to follow your logic but for YOU to follow your OWN logic when you come back to it in a year and go "WTF was I doing here!?!".
If you do the above... chances are you'll end up being a very good developer. Other people have posted a LOT of great books and resources for coding. After you've mastered the above, if you are doing web applications you should look into the following
SQL Injection Attacks (Learn how to prevent them)
Relational Database Design
Frameworks (Tomcat, MachII etc) a lot of time these frameworks will save you days of work. Steep learning curve though.
SVN's
Well that would be me. To avoid being slashdotted to hell I'm not posting the link to my blog but you can figure it out if you try hard enough.
In 2000 I purchased the .net domain of my site intentionally avoiding the .com since I'm not a commerce site. Fast forward to 2005 when some wrestler named Raige came into being. On top of that I was sent a notice to immediately surrender my domain to this douche bag.
I actually was lucky enough to have college legal resources available to me and brought the issue to them. Fact is, since he didn't exist when I purchased the domain he had no standing what so ever. I replied to the letter with some legal mumbo jumbo and they replied with a threat of a lawsuit. I told them to go ahead but that I was willing to fight all the way.
The issues that come with this guys site are the following .com site... that means it commerce... if it's not he might be in trouble. However all that he would have to do is sell a T-shirt through www.geekstuff.com or something.
1) Did he create the site knowingly of previous site names the olympics used?
Does NOT matter. You cannot trademark a naming scheme. You CAN trademark a name. So while a symbol, or McChicken can be trademarked... "Mc" cannot. It could be argued in court if someone made a McChickenWafer...
2) Is this guy a commercial entity? He has a
3) Does he actively use the site? If he didn't... he would be viewed as a squatter and smished. However, the site is actively in use... meaning that this isn't a problem.
In short, ICANN will not be able to take the name and the Olympics will have to create another site or purchase it from him.
IT field is so wide and diverse with many people coming to it's ranks without any "true" background. I have a degree in Textiles. I manage and maintain a wide assortment of applications, servers, databases, email systems etc. I actually laughed at a lady on the phone a long time ago during an interview, who said that they were only looking for MCSE's. When I laughed she seemed so surprised and asked me why?
I told her "You do understand that you can get one of those in 2 weeks offline right now right?". People have become so dependent on "certifications" that they don't actually test those individuals skills. I don't limit it to IT either. The same thing applies to MBA's. I wound up being involved in a round table interview (2+ applicants at the same time) and everyone but me had a certification. When asked what the difference between mirroring and clustering in databases was one of the answers was (I joke you not) something oracle can only do.
Additionally, I find that now, most companies don't truly involve their IT groups in the hiring process. They ask for "specs" for a job and then try to match them up. This doesn't work in reality. It might with a secretary, or blockbuster video clerk... but not in IT.
IT skills are quantifiable. There's no "bullshit" answer. There are several different levels of gray but if you ask a programmer what Model View Controller or what a framework is... there's no bs answer that isn't wrong.
When I create questions for a prospective employee I'm not trying to ramrod them. I ask only questions that I believe they should know 100%. For example, a ColdFusion programmer position is about to be placed here are some of the questions I plan to ask. I don't necessarily believe they need to know how to do all of them, but they MUST know what they are.
This position will be updating a slew of applications written in ColdFusion 5 and fixing about 30 databases that were converted from Access to MSSQL and 99% of the fields are NVARCHAR.
1) What is SQL injection and what built in features of coldfusion protect applications from it? .cfm and a .cfc? ...
2) Write an inner join query?
3) Whats the difference between a
4) What is an SVN repository?
5) What is the datatype NVARCHAR used for?
6)
You get the idea. However, my reasoning for asking these questions isn't just for the answers!
1) How well did they answer the questions? Enunciation, quickness to respond, accuracy in describing solutions
2) What is their personality like when pressured?
3) When they don't know an answer how do they respond. This is a big one for me. I expect you to say that you don't know. Bonus points for you writing it down and emailing me the answer later. This lets me know you didn't forget, and that you are trying to improve yourself.
A lot of times I'll throw in a question I KNOW they shouldn't know just to trip them up. I want to see how people react under pressure. We have 125 employees all depending on these applications for our business functions. If something screws up I need them to be quick, calm and attentive to the problem. Imagine this on a much larger scale, like 10,000, or 100,000. Businesses need to depend on these employees.
So, tests are necessary and frankly I'd like to see them in more positions.
but you CAN give it a direction. I've said this a thousand times. There will always be people stupid/desperate/greedy enough to do something like this. Hell, two good friends of mine who I always thought were very intelligent fell victim to an Amway like scam. (Same company different name).
When I showed them all of the websites talking about the scam they realized what a big mistake was. At least they only lost $400. Most people who fall for this lose their life savings.
My mother is internet stupid. She's not a dumb person this is just alien to her. I showed her the power of google to answer her questions and now she uses it all the time to research businesses that she wants to work with. In fact, I think google helped her become Internet savvy.
I truly believe that people who fall for scams like this should be forced to serve time. Give them solid time to think about their actions and how society should be forced to help the Darwin award winners of today.
Most professors at NC State during my time (1994-2002) we realistic about the books. I was there when books went from cheap to retarded in price. NCSU is currently in the works to prevent books costing over $150 from being a choice, and to prevent teachers who use books they wrote or co-wrote from charging over $50 for it. I doubt it will go through and I'm sure I'm behind the actual state of it.
The worst offender I remember was some douche bag who wrote his own chemistry manual and his WIFE (a non chemist) proof read it. The funniest thing and I couldn't find a link to the picture was the the cover had Avogadro's number on the cover... as
6.023 x 10 -23... yes I said NEGATIVE 23 in bold yellow on glossy paper.
the book had so many mistakes. I'm so glad I wasn't in that class.
Cliff, if you want to beat pirates... it's very simple. Give up.
1) No DRM. It does NOT work. Ask me a game.. ANY game... and ill find it for you in a torrent for download that has it broken already. I mean seriously... what's the record on copy protection lasting? 2 weeks? How much did you invest in whatever schema it was?
2) Make DAMN sure that the cracked version of your game isn't superior to you own. Having to call a server everytime you play is stupid. Having to have the disc in the drive is stupid. People pirate games exactly for this reason.
3) ASSUME that your customer base are fun loving gamers. They WANT to play your game and are happy to pay for it. There will ALWAYS be the criminal element or college students to broke to pay for your game. That's a fact of life. You'll spend more money trying to fight them than anything. Lets say your game gets popular via pirates... there's a huge section of those people who when they hear your game rocks will BUY IT.
4) Keep your price lower than your competitors. $49 is way too much now. I don't even buy a game until it's under $30. It's not worth it to me and yes I'll pirate if I get tired of waiting for the price to drop. I know you need to recoup the development costs but do it by offering digital downloads of your game. NO CD required!!! Most people don't give a damn about the crap in the box or the box. Most of us just want the game. Steam had a great idea unfortunately it's slow as shit.
The world is telling you that they aren't going to put up with merchants violating any of the above. They don't have to. If you aren't willing to give us the product how we want it... we'll take it. While that may be wrong to you... it's right to me. I WANT to pay for your products... just make it worth it to me. You'll save money in the get go.
When I saw smart I mean it literally. Bill Gates saw the business world. The giants and players who could easily throw you around. The only way to truly compete is to offer something noone else had.
Sure, he ganked the GUI from Steve Jobs, but understand that he ganked the concept... not the code. Bill Gates and his company had a TERRIFIC understanding of what the average user would want in an experience. They also understood what a company would want when making technical decisions at the time
1) Will it do what we need it to do?
2) Can we easily maintain it?
3) Can our users learn to use it quickly and easily?
4) Is it cost efficient?
5) Does it "just work"?
The answers to all of these ONLY Microsoft could say yes to. Apple lost in #3 and #4. Every single apple I used growing up was completely non-user friendly. Microsoft spent millions upon millions understanding what users want to be able to do and made multiple ways to do it to allow a user to choose how they like doing things.
I hear a LOT of people complain about windows software but every single Office App, I've ever used has lived up to my expectations. In my 15 years in the IT industry I still feel that 90% of the problems are user error when it came to basic installs.
The other 10% was comprised of plethora of wierd setups, odd configurations, and *gasp* bad coding.
Don't get me wrong... Microsoft has written a lot of seriously wacked out code that has no business in production. But lets compare... to Lotus Notes. That thing is about as friendly as a porcupine with a machete. It's almost as bad as Groupwise. These people spend $1.99 at Big Lots on a book for "User Friendly" and "Tech Support Friendly".
You might hate microsoft, but they took what every software company was lacking and built that into their business model. Bill Gates is a genius... a low down dirty scoundrel genius... but a genius none-the-less.
Just an FYI, Radioshack Stores are moving away from being the parts store we all loved. They are now trying to be more competitive in Cell Phones and Satellite dishes. You can thank their CEO for this. It's not very easy to find a Radioshack that still has a lot of parts in stock, let alone kits.
It's best to order it online as most stores won't have what you're looking for. Also another idea is to call up your local colleges who offer courses. They often sell kits or can tell you where their students buy kits. Those places ALWAYS have additional info.
The project lists can range from simple circuits to digital electronics. Learning how to build your own Amplifier for your stereo you quickly realize what massive profit margins these companies have, and you start to wonder why medical equipment that performs simple functions costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Next time anyone says "No one ever got sacked for buying Microsoft", I'm pointing to this guy.
Ozmanjusri that is the dumbest statement I've ever read. Seriously, linux systems are just as compromis-able if not setup correctly and not maintained. Sure there are a LOT less exploits but linux is a LOT less user friendly. It was obvious from the REPORT that his machine was not updated, and not maintained correctly.
The reason linux doesn't have as many exploits or "viruses" or whatever... is the target audience are non-computer savvy users. They went to Bestbuy and bought the "on-sale" computer. That's the type of person that will fall for their scams or not realize they are hacked. Why in the world would they target people like us who are much more in tune with security issues and how to correctly maintain our stuff. They don't put it as a priority.
You can argue, they should, or they should learn, but I hate to tell you this... most people don't care. They have other things in their life they find more important. In this aspect these people are sheep and need to be herded gentle, not hit with a cattle prod.
Flavors of linux like Ubuntu and others are starting to provide that slow migration. Help the process, don't lay baseless blame on something using flawed logic.
Let me be clear. I think "Business Methods" patents are a stupid idea. However, that's the reality of things and NOTHING in this world, especially law, moves quickly or changes radically with ease. The best way, in my opinion, is to do what he is suggestions.
We SHOULD recognize that Business method patents are different from other patents. (Don't get me into software patents). There should be types of patents and each patent should have a time limit. However, there is not a SINGLE patent type I can think of that should be 17 years long. 10 years MAYBE... and that's an extreme.
I understand that companies invest a lot of time and money in research for "things". Pharmaceuticals, Engineering etc... but none of them take 17 years to fruition. It's one thing to protect a return on an investment, it's another to exploit it.
Additionally the patent system should be built to specifically fight those who would exploit it's system in a method that is SELF policing. His comment about creating a prior art database where people on the internet would be able to comment on prior art of a patent before it is approved is a TERRIFIC IDEA!
This would be like a wikipedia for patents and prior art making the jobs of the patent reviewers a thousand times easier at finding prior art. Once they are alerted of it, they can then investigate that specific instance and make an informed recommendation.
It's a start and a reasonably easy one to implement.
I was part of the massive lawsuit against Paypal back when there were plenty of scammers. One such tried to screw me and even though I provide more than enough evidence to PROVE without a shadow of a doubt this guy was scamming the system, committing mail fraud, AND on top of that was using stolen credit cards, AND i gave him his confirmed address...
They still sided with him. However, I knew this was a possibility and I moved the money out of paypal, and blocked them from charging me back through my bank who happily sided with me.
About 6 months later I joined the lawsuit, and provided all of the evidence to them for exhibits. If you didn't know we won... and won big. Not happy with the default settlement offering I filed for the full settlement and received my check a few months later. I framed it... and I will NEVER do business with Paypal again.
I don't care if Ebay bought them. They do not follow banking guidelines, they consistently have proven themselves untrustworthy and generally don't abide by the law OR their own policies.
If Ebay goes to Paypal only, I think they'll soon realize the size of the mistake they will make when other auction sites blow past them at 90mph!
I love how many flawed arguements are presented here.
- I don't buy CD's because that screws the RIAA (Uh, lots of indie music has nothing to do with the RIAA and you find those in record stores
- I don't listen to todays music (well, that sucks for you because there is a lot of good stuff!)
etc etc etc
There is a MASSIVE movement to eliminate the middleman (RIAA). Tons of websites are popping up where music is shared FREELY. Most of it used to suck but a lot of it is turning out to be pretty good.
With FREE software that lets bands remix their own albums, hardware being at an all time low, and the learning curve to use it getting smaller and smaller there's just no reason to complain!
I don't illegal download music... I used to... in fact I had so much illegal music at one point we added it up and I would do approximately 137 Million years in prison. Do the math... yes that was about 2.2 terabytes of mp3's. Don't ask... and yes there were probably copies of the same music in there.
I came to realize that 99% of that music I had I didn't like or listen to. I just downloaded it because it was there. A friend of mine turned me on to a lot of free bands... NOT INDIE BANDS that posted music on different websites.
Techno, Rock, Hardcore, Deathmetal, Soft Rock, Classical... etc was all there and it was GOOD. I mean REALLY good. Sure... I had to wade through the crap and that will always be the case but most of the sites do a really good job of recommending other music you'd like.
Internet Radio stations like Digitally Imported or Chronix Aggression also do a lot of the work finding good music depending on what you listen too.
If you like more mainstream music just go to www.shoutcast.com and listen to what they play. A LOT of it you can find cheaper digitally than you can on a CD.
Here's a few radio stations that I have to pimp because of their pure dedication to the music and not to some corporate entity... or at least I never hear them voice support... and their music is awesome. Most of these stations have multiple stations with different flavors! Did I mention it's free to listen?
1FM (Alternative Rock)
181FM (Alternative Rock)
ANTYRadio (Alternative Rock)
ChroniX Agression (Metal/Rock)
Digitally Imported (Techno)
Idobi Radio
KinkFM
Radio Paradise
SomaFM
Just go to http://www.shoutcast.com./ Also, if anyone reads this post your favorite sites for Internet Radio. You cannot fight the RIAA head on. You have to fight it with your wallet... but why suffer without music when you can do both!
I read about 100 comments in this post and I have to admit most were about "I wouldn't go there then" or "They are taking away our rights".
Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm in the US... but where in the UK law does it say "Right to bear cell phone"... it doesn't you twits.
This is a terrific idea made by a PRIVATE entity on THEIR property. I cannot tell you how often I hear loud obnoxious people on cell phones distracting from MY fun. How the families they are with are like "Come on dad" or "Honey can't you do that later" and they reply "Just one sec" while being blissfully ignorant of the line behind them.
I WOULD go to this theme park simply because it removes the ADD enhancing objects in our lives and lets us focus on conversation with each other and paying attention to ones surroundings.
World of Warcraft is a game that has wide appeal specifically to people with little time or short attention spans. In Everquest it took time and talent to do a lot of things. It was COMPLETELY gear dependent. That meant, you had to be good, and dedicated to be the best. It also meant that when you saw someone with a glowing weapon or had an aura on their cape that person was IMPORTANT. They earned their way there. WoW, while I love the end game and play actively, removed that. In everquest the target age I'd see in end game guilds (real end game guilds) was college and older. Very few young kids. In WoW, the majority of players are 13-18. You can argue statistics with me but log on any server and talk to the average end game guild. The age bracket dropped and THATS what the problem is. The lack of maturity, the increased ADD, and various other reasons are the primary reason why AoC is enticing. None of this faction versus faction bs. If you piss someone off by whining you're going to die. If you stalk newbies, chances are you're going to get tromped hard. The biggest thing is that most "annoying kids" won't have the dedication to get high level. It will be too much work, where as people my college age and older will openly welcome this. The higher level you go the higher average of ages get and the maturity level goes up. I don't think AoC gives a DAMN about the entire wow appeal. They want to focus on the more detailed player. Someone who wants to EARN what they get. Take it back a bit so that everyone doesn't have "epics". So when you walk through a town and you see someone sparkling you know that they are someone.
Just watch the video. It would make a great gift. http://www.mythpvr.com/mythtv/distribution/mythdora/4/install-1.html
Am I missing something? This is like Comcast and Time Warner merging. There wouldn't BE any more competition.
You have thousands of computers all controlled by a centralized source right? Wrong. They have trails. That's why there are waves of attacks. They start small but eventually all of the compromised systems do the attack/mail/whatever.
How is this accomplished? Why can't we track them down? Torrents my friends.
Imagine a Bot, that used a torrent to update it's configuration every so often. Then that torrent is deleted and it's like it never existed. Keep the number of connections down, use existing servers to spread the torrent initially, but have it focus on other hacked servers originally created to host the file. 10-20 should do it and take absolutely no time to do.
Create a method to update the torrent or key off a series of downloads for the botnet to use a new config and search torrents for it.
The concept is very easy... and very scary. I personally think that once you make the crime not worth the punishment... it will mostly go away or be focused in other countries. These people are affecting thousands of peoples lives. A thief who steals a car gets 10 years, where these guys barely get jailtime? C'mon. They've stolen millions and that's what you KNOW about.
I don't need to know your platform to help you qualify that answer. This is easy.
1) When you look the technology up on monster.com, how many results do you get?
2) Does the technology have an active community? How supported is it?
3) How big is your site?
4) How much are you willing to spend for someone to maintain it, convert it, implement it etc?
5) What is your time span?
I've done a hell of a lot of conversion from PHP and ASP to ColdFusion simply because companies want a language that's easy for other developers to come behind and figure what's going on. Like ALL code... even ColdFusion can be made to look ugly by a bad developer.
The most important thing is what many echoed already. Pick a language that has years of support behind it with an active community. You'll find your developers easily then. It also prevents the entrenchment technique used by bad developers.