Funny...unless you're a Mac user. I notice that Mac "hey, it's cool and 'just works'(TM)" users are less used to managing security issues, hence less able. So, bad news.
Urm...no. Aviation was started by inspired, (and slightly crazy) amateur inventors.
But the, civil aviation, (not GA), took off (sorry) after sucessive wars provided the civil market with massive amounts of cheap matériel, ('planes, pilots, runways, navigation, engines....)
Even today, Boeing and Airbus are propped-up by massive Govt. subsidies, as are many airlines.
I guess the difference lies within individual, and then public/group perceptions of the implications of the same thing - yes, you're right - a crime, namely theft.
In the case of mp3s, 'the man' (a faceless corporation) takes a profit hit. The artist, too, of course. In the case of identity theft, some *insert stereotype one-patent family minority victim here* potentially has their life ruined.
Hmmmm...personally, I think that identity theft should perhaps be punished more severely. The legal experts would perhaps have a few words to say about 'intent'. I'm not sure that people downloading mp3s intend to ruin peopl's lives...
You raise the right question, but having "a way of positively identifying any person" is a bit of a shortcut.
Identification = Associating an identity with an individual, process, or request Authentication = Verifying a claimed identity
Ok, so you are John Smith. But are you THE John Smith who is entitled to withdraw all the money on this account?
Problem is, most systems do only one step, or rather, 'both in one'. "We have your password/SSID/whatever, on file, therefore we identify AND authenticate you...
It's a bit like 'self-certifying' web sites, as discussed here recently. Complete bollocks, worth nothing.
Also, "The trouble with that, is that it would require a single entity (presumably government) to store (and thus have access to) this information." Hmmm...the same Govt. who recently lost (in UK) 25 million personal records?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The first one who cracks THAT problem will make gazillions...
"Locally mined coal will provide power for refrigeration units..."
Thereby hastening global warming, our eventual doom and therefore the need for the seed banks.
Next up, news of Western plans to hand over nuclear tech for 'safe keeping' to stable, responsible, friendly regimes such as Pakistan, India, North Korea, China and Libya...oh wait.
Where you can point your friends without original XP disks, so they can re-create them from scratch. It's a pain, but does work.
Of course, easier still to just use the appropriate disk from your XP collection - just remember to update their install using their original serial number (should be on a sticker on the PC).
Totally agree. Shame that all recent attempts to get redistricting out of the hands of gerrymandering politicos got nowhere, as our demcratically-elected** representitives decided that they were better-qualified to draw electoral boundaries than independant experts.
**In November of 2004, 401 of the 435 sitting members of the U.S. House of Representatives sought reelection. Of those 401, all but five were reelected. In other words, incumbents seeking reelection to the House had a better than 99% success rate. In the U.S. Senate, only one incumbent seeking reelection was defeated. Twenty-five of twenty-six (96%) were reelected.
So, when it comes to hanging on to power, I guess you could say they're actually pretty competent. Now, if they could only display the same talent in managing the budget deficit, health-care reform...
What 'professionals' were you talking about? IT ones, presumably. One of my clients has 100k+ employees; they are not allowed to install non-approved software on their PCs, (which I understand). The only approved browser is IE6, (which I find harder to understand - probably becuse all of their crap in-house apps. are written for IE6 only).
Except that many people get PCs with OEM installed XP, and a 'recovery' disk that normally is NOT a true XP bootable install CD, but intead:
1. Wipes all your data. 2. Then reinstalls XP from a hidden partition, plus all the crapware that the tech friends spent ages getting rid of, ( Norton AV 'trail' etc.)
In other words, you want commodity software that anyone could easily, and cheaply copy/use. Great for citizens & taxpayers, not so good for the manufacturers. They might actually have to do real work to demonstrate the added value of machine x against machine y.
So, sorry, it's about as likely to happen as M$ open-sourcing Windows, (although in other news, I hear that they've offered to show the Chinese Gov. ALL of the windows source code in order to ally suspicions of backdoors - probably in fear of the Chinese Gov. throwing their resources behind some local version of Linux, as the Koreans - both North and South - have recently done).
Of course it is! Everybody knows Penguins can go down to 1800Ft!
"Dives of the large Emperor Penguin have been recorded which reach a depth of 565 m (1870 ft) and last up to 22 minutes." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguins
Oh, before somebody writes in that "we'd have good drivers if OEMs would only release their binaries", it (mainly) was a joke, guys...
Can't you get special deals on education software?
Also, why not appeal to the business community for some cash / software donations.
When I was trying to recruit programmers back in the 80s, there was a real skills shortage - still is. We (my team & I) started to develop relationships with local schools & technical colleges, so that we'd get first dibs on the smart grads. Cost us some time, but not much cash, especially compared to paying professional recruiters.
As a side benefit, we were also able to feed back to the education establishments exactly what we wanted...the kids who did well in school were virtually guaranteed a job when they graduated, and integrated the team quickly, were productive...all good.
So, a long way of saying, why not get out there and engage with the market?
Indeed. No point in having loads of Apple devices scattered around the place if there's no content to play on them. After all, most mp3s being played on iPods were NOT paid for on iTunes, (whether they were ripped from owners' CDs or from the intertubes is another matter).
As the market saturates / competition hots up for mp3 players, the next big thing is HDTV hardware.
Except that DRM ensures that it simply does not work. Unless you download your non-DRM stuff from illegal torrents, that is, in which case it works fine. Or use MythTV, in which case it works fine. Both scenarious being doubleplusungood for both Apple & the studios, (and let's not forget Jobs is in deep with the studios, or at least 1 of them).
Since broadband downloading of films, (apart from torrents, again), has not taken off, why not try and replicate the iTunes model, only this time in an 'offline' way. Anyways, it's probably just a come on - Jobs will end up pushing for DRM-free stuff like he did with mp3s.
GPS nav has already led unthinking people to their deaths.
For example, http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/413038 Later reports, (can't find, sorry), said that the driver ignored/did not 'see' roadsigns EXPRESSLY FORBIDDING the route. They're now installing a height-restricting gate.
It seems that 'professional' drivers don't bother to prepare their routes using maps any more. The better maps, and later on route planning websites - Michelin springs to mind, but there are others - have always allowed drivers to see hazards such and weight, height, width restrictions, or steep gradient, and thus plan to avoid them.
Even the better GPS software (iGo...) allows only limited constraints, such as 'don't use unmetalled roads'.
So, yet another example of new tech being treated as a replacement for proper competency instead of as an adjunct to it...
Most of the immediate fatalitites in Hiroshima were caused by the intial blast and its direct effects, (building collapse, fire..)
From Wikipedia, (so must be true, eh?)
"directly killing an estimated 70,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000-140,000".
Although, also note:
"Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs."
So yes, radiation from a nucler bomb is a bad thing, but in the real world you still have a greater chance of being killed by your car than by your mobile phone or wifi.
Thanks for the post - good summary. For what it's worth, you're not the only one sick of nutjobs.
One could add that all of the radiation you mention is non-ionising, so not to be confused with nastier stuff. The most harm non-ionising radiation has been proven to do, is cook seagulls in front of high-power radar.
Also, as you point out, the most intense signal you are likely to receive is from holding a cell phone close to your ear. I suggest a headset, or a tinfoil hat...
Sadly, it was "all of them, plus my accounting records".
Time to whip out the trusty boot CD (yes, I do carry it with me everywhere - sad, I know), with security tools on it...I stopped counting after 150 infected files.
This is major problem highlighted by another poster - plenty of otherwise really smart people, (doctors, lawyers) are being forced into installing complex systems that they just don't understand properly...
Right. Worse still, I was at the doctor's a while ago when I saw him furiously trying to close lots of Internet Explorer pop-ups.
The conversation went something like this:
Me: You don't have a pop-up blocker then? Dr: No. What's that? Me: How about security software, anti virus? Dr: No. What's that? Me: How many patient records are stored on that thing?
FTFA: "succeeded in eavesdropping traffic from a distance of up to ten meters using a simple radio receiver. More sensitive receivers may make it possible to capture keystrokes over larger distances"
A decent arial can make a massive difference to reception - directional antennas, like those used by people trying to sniff your wifi, can extend the range 10x.
Radio reception can be highly influenced, and non-linear, due to local conditions. Try moving your receiver...
Slashdot Mirror
Funny...unless you're a Mac user. I notice that Mac "hey, it's cool and 'just works'(TM)" users are less used to managing security issues, hence less able. So, bad news.
Urm...no. Aviation was started by inspired, (and slightly crazy) amateur inventors.
But the, civil aviation, (not GA), took off (sorry) after sucessive wars provided the civil market with massive amounts of cheap matériel, ('planes, pilots, runways, navigation, engines....)
Even today, Boeing and Airbus are propped-up by massive Govt. subsidies, as are many airlines.
I guess the difference lies within individual, and then public/group perceptions of the implications of the same thing - yes, you're right - a crime, namely theft.
In the case of mp3s, 'the man' (a faceless corporation) takes a profit hit. The artist, too, of course.
In the case of identity theft, some *insert stereotype one-patent family minority victim here* potentially has their life ruined.
Hmmmm...personally, I think that identity theft should perhaps be punished more severely. The legal experts would perhaps have a few words to say about 'intent'. I'm not sure that people downloading mp3s intend to ruin peopl's lives...
You raise the right question, but having "a way of positively identifying any person" is a bit of a shortcut.
Identification = Associating an identity with an individual, process, or request
Authentication = Verifying a claimed identity
Ok, so you are John Smith. But are you THE John Smith who is entitled to withdraw all the money on this account?
Problem is, most systems do only one step, or rather, 'both in one'.
"We have your password/SSID/whatever, on file, therefore we identify AND authenticate you...
It's a bit like 'self-certifying' web sites, as discussed here recently. Complete bollocks, worth nothing.
Also, "The trouble with that, is that it would require a single entity (presumably government) to store (and thus have access to) this information." Hmmm...the same Govt. who recently lost (in UK) 25 million personal records?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The first one who cracks THAT problem will make gazillions...
"Locally mined coal will provide power for refrigeration units..."
Thereby hastening global warming, our eventual doom and therefore the need for the seed banks.
Next up, news of Western plans to hand over nuclear tech for 'safe keeping' to stable, responsible, friendly regimes such as Pakistan, India, North Korea, China and Libya...oh wait.
Oh, I suppose I could have added this link:
http://www.howtohaven.com/system/createwindowssetupdisk.shtml
Where you can point your friends without original XP disks, so they can re-create them from scratch.
It's a pain, but does work.
Of course, easier still to just use the appropriate disk from your XP collection - just remember to update their install using their original serial number (should be on a sticker on the PC).
Totally agree. Shame that all recent attempts to get redistricting out of the hands of gerrymandering politicos got nowhere, as our demcratically-elected** representitives decided that they were better-qualified to draw electoral boundaries than independant experts.
**In November of 2004, 401 of the 435 sitting members of the U.S. House of Representatives sought reelection. Of those 401, all but five were reelected. In other words, incumbents seeking reelection to the House had a better than 99% success rate. In the U.S. Senate, only one incumbent seeking reelection was defeated. Twenty-five of twenty-six (96%) were reelected.
So, when it comes to hanging on to power, I guess you could say they're actually pretty competent. Now, if they could only display the same talent in managing the budget deficit, health-care reform...
What 'professionals' were you talking about? IT ones, presumably. One of my clients has 100k+ employees; they are not allowed to install non-approved software on their PCs, (which I understand). The only approved browser is IE6, (which I find harder to understand - probably becuse all of their crap in-house apps. are written for IE6 only).
Except that many people get PCs with OEM installed XP, and a 'recovery' disk that normally is NOT a true XP bootable install CD, but intead:
1. Wipes all your data.
2. Then reinstalls XP from a hidden partition, plus all the crapware that the tech friends spent ages getting rid of, ( Norton AV 'trail' etc.)
Some recovery.
Yup - and a fine record they have of doing that, eh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6wNyTYzja8
Oldie, but goodie
In other words, you want commodity software that anyone could easily, and cheaply copy/use.
Great for citizens & taxpayers, not so good for the manufacturers. They might actually have to do real work to demonstrate the added value of machine x against machine y.
So, sorry, it's about as likely to happen as M$ open-sourcing Windows, (although in other news, I hear that they've offered to show the Chinese Gov. ALL of the windows source code in order to ally suspicions of backdoors - probably in fear of the Chinese Gov. throwing their resources behind some local version of Linux, as the Koreans - both North and South - have recently done).
Sounds like a typical /. contributer
*ducks*
Interesting table - Firefox & Safari don't look that good either...
Of course it is! Everybody knows Penguins can go down to 1800Ft!
"Dives of the large Emperor Penguin have been recorded which reach a depth of 565 m (1870 ft) and last up to 22 minutes."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguins
Oh, before somebody writes in that "we'd have good drivers if OEMs would only release their binaries", it (mainly) was a joke, guys...
Can't you get special deals on education software?
Also, why not appeal to the business community for some cash / software donations.
When I was trying to recruit programmers back in the 80s, there was a real skills shortage - still is.
We (my team & I) started to develop relationships with local schools & technical colleges, so that we'd get first dibs on the smart grads.
Cost us some time, but not much cash, especially compared to paying professional recruiters.
As a side benefit, we were also able to feed back to the education establishments exactly what we wanted...the kids who did well in school were virtually guaranteed a job when they graduated, and integrated the team quickly, were productive...all good.
So, a long way of saying, why not get out there and engage with the market?
Can they start on the divers, please?
Mind you, can't see Sun paying for people to write drivers for other people hardware...shame.
Indeed. No point in having loads of Apple devices scattered around the place if there's no content to play on them.
After all, most mp3s being played on iPods were NOT paid for on iTunes, (whether they were ripped from owners' CDs or from the intertubes is another matter).
As the market saturates / competition hots up for mp3 players, the next big thing is HDTV hardware.
Except that DRM ensures that it simply does not work. Unless you download your non-DRM stuff from illegal torrents, that is, in which case it works fine. Or use MythTV, in which case it works fine. Both scenarious being doubleplusungood for both Apple & the studios, (and let's not forget Jobs is in deep with the studios, or at least 1 of them).
Since broadband downloading of films, (apart from torrents, again), has not taken off, why not try and replicate the iTunes model, only this time in an 'offline' way. Anyways, it's probably just a come on - Jobs will end up pushing for DRM-free stuff like he did with mp3s.
GPS nav has already led unthinking people to their deaths.
For example, http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/413038 Later reports, (can't find, sorry), said that the driver ignored/did not 'see' roadsigns EXPRESSLY FORBIDDING the route. They're now installing a height-restricting gate.
It seems that 'professional' drivers don't bother to prepare their routes using maps any more.
The better maps, and later on route planning websites - Michelin springs to mind, but there are others - have always allowed drivers to see hazards such and weight, height, width restrictions, or steep gradient, and thus plan to avoid them.
Even the better GPS software (iGo...) allows only limited constraints, such as 'don't use unmetalled roads'.
So, yet another example of new tech being treated as a replacement for proper competency instead of as an adjunct to it...
Most of the immediate fatalitites in Hiroshima were caused by the intial blast and its direct effects, (building collapse, fire..)
From Wikipedia, (so must be true, eh?)
"directly killing an estimated 70,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000-140,000".
Although, also note:
"Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs."
So yes, radiation from a nucler bomb is a bad thing, but in the real world you still have a greater chance of being killed by your car than by your mobile phone or wifi.
Thanks for the post - good summary. For what it's worth, you're not the only one sick of nutjobs.
One could add that all of the radiation you mention is non-ionising, so not to be confused with nastier stuff.
The most harm non-ionising radiation has been proven to do, is cook seagulls in front of high-power radar.
Also, as you point out, the most intense signal you are likely to receive is from holding a cell phone close to your ear.
I suggest a headset, or a tinfoil hat...
Sadly, it was "all of them, plus my accounting records".
Time to whip out the trusty boot CD (yes, I do carry it with me everywhere - sad, I know), with security tools on it...I stopped counting after 150 infected files.
This is major problem highlighted by another poster - plenty of otherwise really smart people, (doctors, lawyers) are being forced into installing complex systems that they just don't understand properly...
Right. Worse still, I was at the doctor's a while ago when I saw him furiously trying to close lots of Internet Explorer pop-ups.
The conversation went something like this:
Me: You don't have a pop-up blocker then?
Dr: No. What's that?
Me: How about security software, anti virus?
Dr: No. What's that?
Me: How many patient records are stored on that thing?
*sigh*
FTFA: "succeeded in eavesdropping traffic from a distance of up to ten meters using a simple radio receiver. More sensitive receivers may make it possible to capture keystrokes over larger distances"
A decent arial can make a massive difference to reception - directional antennas, like those used by people trying to sniff your wifi, can extend the range 10x.
Radio reception can be highly influenced, and non-linear, due to local conditions. Try moving your receiver...
For rich hypocondriacs. More seriously, I wonder what the implications are for the insurance, medical and even dating industries.
Works for me - I'll get his feet.