...and then someone else can sell our personal info. Swell. Right now your personal info is already being sold left and right and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Your options are to either enact some legislation to protect your personal info, shop offline with cash or get used to it.
When RedHat has a vulnerability, it's news because such things are pretty rare. When Microsoft has a vulnerability, it's not news because it happens so damn often. To widely publicize it is like putting "Sun To Rise" as the morning headline...
SNK is not ceasing its US arcade operations. Metal Slug 3 has been quite a good seller, as I recall. I can't seem to find a link, but only the NGPC is ceasing distribution in the US and europe.
The company that made the game still doesn't make any money from that, the game has been out of production for ages. Technically it's illegal to give the ROM to someone who doesn't own the game, but who are you stealing from?
I think it's "fair" to trade ROMs of old (i.e. out of production) games, even if copyright law doesn't agree. It can probably even help the company. If they decide to release a sequel, the series will have gained popularity from the "pirated" ROMs.
I quite agree. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any actual evidence of harm coming from the online trading of ROMs - legally or otherwise. From an archivist's standpoint, I think the crime of losing old arcade games forever is far greater than minor infringement of the copyright held by companies that no longer exist. Arcade games are an art form, pure and simple, and must be preserved.
If I can compensate the artists (companies) for their games, I will. But if I must occasionally be civilly diobediant in the cause of preservation, I'm not about to hesitate.
If someone wants to play the original "Castlevania" again, chances are he has the original cart stashed away in a closet gathering dust - either because of a dead NES or because it's too much work to hook it up again. If he doesn't, it only costs a dollar to two to acquire.
And, if he owns the original cart, he has a right to the original ROM - much like people have a right to tape CDs to play in their cars. He can't give the ROM to all his friends (unless they too have the original cart), but he can have the ROM without breaking copyright laws.
Being hooked up to the net at work, there's always the temptation to fire up the old web browser and check the latest goings-on when things are getting a little dull and slow. There's plenty of neat stuff online, but it's an awful distraction when trying to Get Stuff Done.
So, when I built my box for home, I had them install a nice ethernet card for my little LAN, but I kept the modem out. And the difference is pretty amazing. Just dis-engaging my mind from the computer, going outside and thinking about problems without the computer staring back at me is quite refreshing and helps my creativity immensely. The computer is just a tool, after all, and sometimes one needs to put aside the tools to get a better look at the problem.
My apologies for being less than clear. Under X, the thumb-button on logitech wheeled mice acts as the middle button, as does clicking the wheel. So with those three taken care of as actual buttons, I have the wheel free to act as buttons 4 and 5 (for scrolling).
The reason I dislike clicking the wheel as a button is that I'd have a single part of my mouse acting as three distinct buttons - and I have to worry about accidentically scrolling when I'm trying to click.
It's a minor quibble, but that's just the layout I prefer. And since I don't do much mouse-driven gaming, I find the low maintenance of the Logitech optical mouse to be ideal for my needs.
The problem with the "mini" mouse is that the wheel doubles as the third button. I never cared for that, so I picked up the fancier one with the blue glow. Logitech mice have better ergonomics than Microsoft ones (IMHO) and I need at least three actual buttons along with the wheel for all my X apps.
And since I shut down my box before bed (much quieter), the blue glow hasn't been an issue.
does echelon exist? does it matter?
on
Inside Echelon
·
· Score: 2
If the "baddies" think there's a system in place to automatically intercept and decrypt their communications via some super-secret computer system, the natural response would be to switch to more primative (and slower) forms of communication like couriers, etc., thereby slowing themselves down.
So, it stands to reason that an actual existing echelon system is not nearly as useful as the threat of such a system. Much like although Fort Knox has no "pop-up machine gun turrets", the tour guides don't hesitate to let people believe such things for the deterrent factor.
Not that I know anything about national security, but it just seems logical.
Yes, the CSS should be ignored by browsers that don't have it. And if Netscape 4 has problems, the users will notice and figure out what to do on their own. What the web doesn't need is web authors to tell the users that their browser sucks and to get another one.
By this logic, Netscape 1 is not a www browser. In truth, browsers that can't handle the latest HTML (for whatever reason) should do their best to handle it gracefully (like Netscape 4 does) but for the actual HTML to tell the reader to switch browsers is insulting.
The truth about what? That they don't know how to write a good webpage without forcing CSS on people? The web is supposed to be browser-independant, after all. Ars posted a great editorial on the subject only a few days ago. I suggest more web page authors read it.
If we really want X replaced, we have to deliver something a lot better than X has now in order to justify the trouble to developers and users to make the switch. Simply being "just as good" won't cut it. Perhaps Berlin will be worthy when it's finished, but we're not quite there yet.
Zophar's has a whole slew of original NES.nsf files that contain the original songs and nosefart does a fine job of playing them. Try playing the original and then the remix to compare. Really neat stuff.
Sure, but there is value in just adding to the encrypted traffic : if you only encrypt the valuable data, then encrypted traffic is an obvious target for attack, but if you encrypt everything, you burden the potential attacker with plenty of decoys.
Oh, definately. For example, keeping open an ssh connection for all-day work or from home is a great idea - especially since I can install/maintain SSH on those machines.
But the chances of finding SSH on some dopey public terminal is much less, unfortunately, nor would I trust such a machine to even keep my keystrokes secured. On those occasions, when all I want to do is check a bit of email, using my trusty Palm to generate a one time password is a godsend.
SSH is preferred, but anything is better than plaintext passwords.
A skilled administrator will use SSH. An unskilled administrator will use Telnet.
An unskilled administrator is a risk. (They're also called 'students', but who's counting?)
Unfortunately, not every place has SSH. And sometimes SSH is simply overkill. If I just want to check my email, I don't care too much if someone along the pipe sees me deleting 10 messages on how to "make money fast!", but I don't want them sniffing my password. So, a one time password system is an ideal solution - if someone intercepts it, it's useless anyway. And it only requires installation on the server side. And if I want to do admin-type work, sudo also takes a one time password which again keeps my password secure.
In a perfect world, SSH would be everywhere. But in the meantime, one time password systems aren't a bad compromise for when your password is vital, but the data you're dealing with isn't.
Your reasoning for why VA would usurp projects continues to elude me. If a project becomes very successful, thus generating more traffic, and thus more banner ad clicks, why would VA bother to push it in their own direction and splinter the user base? Wouldn't a more logical reaction be to promote the project or add resources to it, thus making it even more popular and thus generate even more banner ad clicks?
Yes, VA is not a charity. But trying to somehow "take over" the existing free projects is neither feasible, profitable or rational. Nor have I seen any actual evidence that they might do so.
Haven't you noticed the "open" part of open source? If VA goes down the tubes, MySQL remains open and anybody can continue to help in the development. In addition, there's nothing preventing anybody (not just VA employees) from working full-time to replicate an open-sourced project for their own aims - but why? Why would an entity, commercial or otherwise, want to spend any amount of time and effort to reinvent a wheel being given away for free as it is? By virtue of the original being free, there's no financial gain from it since the original will remain free.
In short, why should anybody worry about their project being stolen when they're already giving it away to anyone who wants it? When it comes to privacy policy, I'd be much more worried about annoying spam and the like, really.
Your facts may be correct, but your speculations lack logic.
It seems like it would be trivial to create Lego-compatible plastic bricks. It's not like there's a whole lot to reverse-engineer there. And at the prices Lego sells at, I'm sure another company could undercut them.
According to a friend of a friend (perhaps someone can verify this for me), Lego plastic is of such high quality that the assembly lines for making the bricks must be dedicated to the task - since no other product uses plastic that good. This would mean that Lego isn't trying to gouge customers by charging so much (since they are making quality product) and competitors have a tough time making bricks as good without charging just as much.
But again, this is only from second and third-hand knowledge.
Re:Well my favorite pinball company is still aroun
on
Is Pinball Dying?
·
· Score: 1
I hate to say it, but I wouldn't put bets on it staying, as Sega is having a bit of trouble called 'two console flops in a row' and Pinball might be 'downsized'. That isn't an expert opinion though...
Yeah, but the whole 32X/Saturn problem was a long time ago. Whether or not they continue pinball depends on how many people continue to plunk in quarters.
Bill can only have stock in one company, according to the ABC News report. And each company will have little to gain by excluding other companies than by only working with each other.
Slashdot Mirror
...and then someone else can sell our personal info. Swell. Right now your personal info is already being sold left and right and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Your options are to either enact some legislation to protect your personal info, shop offline with cash or get used to it.
When RedHat has a vulnerability, it's news because such things are pretty rare. When Microsoft has a vulnerability, it's not news because it happens so damn often. To widely publicize it is like putting "Sun To Rise" as the morning headline...
And pardon my crappy grammer. I messed-up my post and didn't get the proper link added.
According to the at theForce.net.
SNK is not ceasing its US arcade operations. Metal Slug 3 has been quite a good seller, as I recall. I can't seem to find a link, but only the NGPC is ceasing distribution in the US and europe.
I quite agree. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any actual evidence of harm coming from the online trading of ROMs - legally or otherwise. From an archivist's standpoint, I think the crime of losing old arcade games forever is far greater than minor infringement of the copyright held by companies that no longer exist. Arcade games are an art form, pure and simple, and must be preserved.
If I can compensate the artists (companies) for their games, I will. But if I must occasionally be civilly diobediant in the cause of preservation, I'm not about to hesitate.
And, if he owns the original cart, he has a right to the original ROM - much like people have a right to tape CDs to play in their cars. He can't give the ROM to all his friends (unless they too have the original cart), but he can have the ROM without breaking copyright laws.
So, when I built my box for home, I had them install a nice ethernet card for my little LAN, but I kept the modem out. And the difference is pretty amazing. Just dis-engaging my mind from the computer, going outside and thinking about problems without the computer staring back at me is quite refreshing and helps my creativity immensely. The computer is just a tool, after all, and sometimes one needs to put aside the tools to get a better look at the problem.
The reason I dislike clicking the wheel as a button is that I'd have a single part of my mouse acting as three distinct buttons - and I have to worry about accidentically scrolling when I'm trying to click.
It's a minor quibble, but that's just the layout I prefer. And since I don't do much mouse-driven gaming, I find the low maintenance of the Logitech optical mouse to be ideal for my needs.
And since I shut down my box before bed (much quieter), the blue glow hasn't been an issue.
So, it stands to reason that an actual existing echelon system is not nearly as useful as the threat of such a system. Much like although Fort Knox has no "pop-up machine gun turrets", the tour guides don't hesitate to let people believe such things for the deterrent factor.
Not that I know anything about national security, but it just seems logical.
Yes, the CSS should be ignored by browsers that don't have it. And if Netscape 4 has problems, the users will notice and figure out what to do on their own. What the web doesn't need is web authors to tell the users that their browser sucks and to get another one.
By this logic, Netscape 1 is not a www browser. In truth, browsers that can't handle the latest HTML (for whatever reason) should do their best to handle it gracefully (like Netscape 4 does) but for the actual HTML to tell the reader to switch browsers is insulting.
The truth about what? That they don't know how to write a good webpage without forcing CSS on people? The web is supposed to be browser-independant, after all. Ars posted a great editorial on the subject only a few days ago. I suggest more web page authors read it.
Eh? Left button copies, middle button pastes. Works just fine between Netscape and xterm. What other way is there to copy and paste?
If we really want X replaced, we have to deliver something a lot better than X has now in order to justify the trouble to developers and users to make the switch. Simply being "just as good" won't cut it. Perhaps Berlin will be worthy when it's finished, but we're not quite there yet.
Zophar's has a whole slew of original NES .nsf files that contain the original songs and nosefart does a fine job of playing them. Try playing the original and then the remix to compare. Really neat stuff.
Oh, definately. For example, keeping open an ssh connection for all-day work or from home is a great idea - especially since I can install/maintain SSH on those machines.
But the chances of finding SSH on some dopey public terminal is much less, unfortunately, nor would I trust such a machine to even keep my keystrokes secured. On those occasions, when all I want to do is check a bit of email, using my trusty Palm to generate a one time password is a godsend.
SSH is preferred, but anything is better than plaintext passwords.
Unfortunately, not every place has SSH. And sometimes SSH is simply overkill. If I just want to check my email, I don't care too much if someone along the pipe sees me deleting 10 messages on how to "make money fast!", but I don't want them sniffing my password. So, a one time password system is an ideal solution - if someone intercepts it, it's useless anyway. And it only requires installation on the server side. And if I want to do admin-type work, sudo also takes a one time password which again keeps my password secure.
In a perfect world, SSH would be everywhere. But in the meantime, one time password systems aren't a bad compromise for when your password is vital, but the data you're dealing with isn't.
But is it Frankenstein standard time or Frankenstein daylight time?
Yes, VA is not a charity. But trying to somehow "take over" the existing free projects is neither feasible, profitable or rational. Nor have I seen any actual evidence that they might do so.
In short, why should anybody worry about their project being stolen when they're already giving it away to anyone who wants it? When it comes to privacy policy, I'd be much more worried about annoying spam and the like, really.
Your facts may be correct, but your speculations lack logic.
According to a friend of a friend (perhaps someone can verify this for me), Lego plastic is of such high quality that the assembly lines for making the bricks must be dedicated to the task - since no other product uses plastic that good. This would mean that Lego isn't trying to gouge customers by charging so much (since they are making quality product) and competitors have a tough time making bricks as good without charging just as much.
But again, this is only from second and third-hand knowledge.
Yeah, but the whole 32X/Saturn problem was a long time ago. Whether or not they continue pinball depends on how many people continue to plunk in quarters.
I think the split will change a few things.