... demonstrated that humans can follow a scent trail -- an ability that most had assumed only animals possessed... Have these people never observed dogs? If dogs have such a great sense of smell, why do they have to hold their noses about 2mm from another dog's butt (or a pile made by another dog) for 30 seconds to form an opinion about what they're sniffing?
I can tell you it's distressingly easy to get publications like this to give glowing reviews, even if what you're offering is either broken or primarily vapor. Having authored many articles and finishing work on my second book, my experience is that publishers like to spread good news and avoid printing the negative. This generally applies to peer reviewed manuscripts as well as trade journals. Although people worry about getting sued, that's not the only issue. Everyone likes to maintain good relationships with individuals, companies, etc that they know they'll have to deal with in the future. Strained relations make life difficult for everyone on many levels.
Just yesterday, my publisher returned a chapter where I described a serious problem that lacked solution. The reason I had submitted it the way I had is that I think it's important for people to understand when critical issues cannot yet be handled satisfactorily -- i.e. don't get on the bleeding edge unless you want to be there.
However, they still want a more positive spin. They'll get it rewritten the way they want, but anyone who actually reads the book will need to think that much more critically when they encounter the section I'm working on now.
This reminds me of award ceremonies for staff and professional organizations where lots of meaningless awards are distributed. Stupid awards devalue true excellence and accomplishment.
I personally think all the dead people should get the person of the year award. Had it not been for things they did, there would be no internet, no highways, no scientific achievement, or even any human race. That deserves some recognition.
This almost had me going until the second half of the sentence. When has anyone ever offered any product as the "ultimate" anything that ultimately proved to actually ultimately be the ultimate whatever it was?
My reaction was similar. I'm wondering how they intend to do an effective scan without getting locked out of everything. It's not nice to systematically scan systems and download files. Many folks will treat that as an attack and take appropriate measures.
There is always a way to break in. But many crude security methods are reasonably effective.
A rootkit has to be pretty good to return the "correct" response. It needs to retain all previous file attributes, modify md5sum to return the correct hash, fake disk usage statistics, and do it all without causing any glitches on the system.
It is impossible to modify the environment without leaving some sort of trace. A rootkit needs to succeed before it can mask itself. The problem a rootkit faces is it cannot know the particulars of a machine in advance so it will not necessarily plan to most efficient attack. All it has to do is trip one alarm and it will be discovered. If programs scan sufficiently frequently, you can discover things quickly.
Logs on other systems cannot be erased -- only new entries can be screwed up (which is itself a clue). Communications with other machines can give clues. Manual monitoring is also very useful. The trick is to use a wide variety of tools to maintain security. While any one of them can be broken, it's hard to get them all.
The heavily used agglomeration of PC / two monitors / printer / hard drive / speakers in my downstairs study costs a bit more than $10 a month. The PC in our bedroom costs about $6 a month. The upstairs laptop? Less than $1...
In other words, we're talking over $200 a year just to power electronic gizmos. They may not be the biggest consumers of electricity, but that still adds up and he could save a lot by turning them off when he doesn't need them. Heck, I have a 3 bedroom house and pay about $60/mo for electricity (higher in the winter, lower in the summer). Sounds like he pays more for a much smaller place.
Isn't the point of a rootkit is to take over the file system to such an extent that virus activity is hidden from programs like scripts running on the kernel
Absolutely. The alarms either need to be tripped off before too much damage is done. Having programs regularly investigate the integrity of files, who's doing what from where, etc makes it pretty hard to pull anything off without getting discovered. Obviously, this strategy is more difficult to employ if a large number of people could be doing a wide variety of tasks at a given time. However, security is much better when measures are based on what is normal for a system than it is by simply following best practices.
Part of security includes constantly verifying that the security measures themselves haven't been tampered with.
Worst case scenario is a compromise. That's what backups are for. All you have to do is know where you went wrong and history doesn't need to repeat itself. Hasn't happened to me yet [knock, knock]
News flash -- any 220V appliance (water heater, range, furnace) draws more juice than the other stuff. One of the reasons these things are put on higher voltage is so they draw fewer amps.
Other hogs include anything that radiates a large amount of heat or has a compressor. Note that the purpose of such devices is typically to create or transfer heat (as in the case of a freezer). Anyone who needs a power meter to discover that the battery charger consumes less electricity than one of these appliances is a bit of a low Watt bulb.
If you have scripts to watch important files, it's easy to detect changes. The scripts do not need to live on the same machine or even be visible from there.
We use this braindead method to monitor our UNIX and Windows systems. It's easy enough to make sure that the detection scripts themselves aren't tampered with.
Even according to the FAQ for the blimp, there are other hot air blimps available. This thing is not available for sale, they "predict that, with the current engine in place, we'll go about 12 miles per hour" (i.e. they haven't even measured it from the ground which is easy enough to do), and they say they don't really want to fly much above treetop level though they have reached "hundreds of feet".
In other words, someone has built themselves a clever gadget, but it's barely been used at all, and is basically a cool plaything that for those with a spare hundred or two hundred grand, plenty of spare time, and open fields. This is any more newsworthy than my personal vehicle I use for getting around town is even though that is very different from anything you'll see on the street in terms of weight, design, engine, etc. View it at http://alptown.com/temp/Oregon.2006.VelokitAtNight .jpg if you like
What does an IPOD have (other than after market accessories) that the Zune does not?
Market penetration. Most people don't give a rip about what they use. They just want to use roughly the same thing as everyone else so they don't need to worry about figuring out anything tricky to make it work well enough for themselves.
That's why we still use the QWERTY keyboard. It sucks, but it has so much penetration that it's actually a PITA to use one of the superior alternatives. That's also why McD's is the most popular restaurant. It ain't because people think it's the best food -- it's because it's easy and people know what to expect.
If you want a music player and know nothing about them, you know that if you get an IPOD, you'll be able to play and download music without figuring anything much out. There may be better alternatives, but you have to do a bit of digging to figure out which they are. Most people don't want to bother, so they just get the IPOD.
Well, it seems that you do not understand Java as well as you should
Secondly, I was not so convinced that going under the VM has serious performance implications. It is not as if applications are developed with performance in mind anymore. Otherwise, all the software that I am using would be flying rather than crawling like 20 years ago.
Performance only doesn't matter if the machine is working well below its capabilities. Make it actually do something and all the small things that people say don't matter really add up.
I find it amusing how many people tell me I don't know what I'm talking about based on a few comments I have made. This is precisely why IT people have such a lousy reputation with the general public -- if you don't understand what someone is trying to say, try to convince them they're an idiot rather than present logical arguments that can be judged on their own merits. Few people who think they are smarter than others actually are. Experience makes people aware of how little they know. That's why older people are so generally so much dumber than younger people.
BTW, software did not crawl 20 years ago. Machines were much slower, yes, but they weren't nearly as busy doing useless things with very inefficient code. Surprising things can be done with a couple K (not MB) of memory if you know what you're doing. I will bow out after now, because I see this topic is too touchy and I can see that most people regard my comments as inflammatory.
There are plenty of technical articles written by people who have ideological axes to grind, even when there is no financial benefit to the writer. Most of the endless general debates about operating systems, standards, technologies, philosophical approaches, etc fall into this category. Hearing the same arguments rehashed over and over is tiresome regardless of whose "side" the writer is on.
Better to just let people write what they will. If they consistently write interesting things, others will listen. If they're consistently schilling, that will also be obvious. Besides, you shouldn't believe everything you read.....
I work for a large.com that serves up tens of millions of hits per day, and we are a Java shop.
You don't know what you're talking about.
Virtually anything can be scaled if done properly. I see I've been labeled a troll, but Java has been more promise than substance from the very beginning. It's just another programming language.
Whenever someone emphasizes the technologies they use rather what their product does, I know to lower my expectations. I guarantee that some of the "enterprise" level software that our institution buys requires specific VM's to work. I'm not saying that all Java is this way, only that there definitely are apps that are that way. Besides, going through any kind of emulation layer such as a VM always has performance implications. Doesn't mean it should never be done, but all things being equal, it's something that does not make an app easier to maintain.
I can't understand the resistance to keeping the OS vaguely up to date. Yes, upgrading can break apps. But the longer you wait, the rougher the inevitable transition will be. All systems and software eventually become obsolete.
Besides, when you run a system that no one else uses, you have no right to whine when something you install doesn't work. It's unreasonable to expect vendors to test new software with hardware/OS configurations that should have been upgraded years ago.
One thing that I've found surprising in this discussion is the number of geeks talking about how Vista looks. Who gives a rip, and what's the point in having your system resources consumed by eye candy? I need my systems to work well, not just look like they're working well.
No one uses Java anymore, it's all flash these days. For individual web sites and popular software, maybe. However, there are plenty of specialized applications that have taken many years to develop that are written in Java.
I've never been a fan of the language. Performance is terrible, and moving an app from one VM to another often causes serious problems. The cross platform claims have consistently been exaggerated.
There is too much invested already in it just to disappear, and I certainly can't see everything just going to Flash, though that definitely has many applications. Predictions of a long slow decline are spot on.
A decline and death are not the same thing. I keep hearing C is dead. Losing popularity, sure, but it will be around for a very long time.
No one seems to care how easy we make things for the terrorists -- at least the FCC is trying to do something.
When will people learn that terrorists may be using our roads, electrical grid, water supply, and grocery stores to benefit themselves? I hear some of them may even be using the telecommunications infrastructure to communicate with each other!
Once we deprive the terrorists of access to these resources, we can live safe and free. Limiting access to these things will be difficult as a practical matter, our best option is probably to blow all these things up.
We should probably burn down the schools and universities too -- there's no telling what a terrorist might do with knowledge they could gain there....
Slashdot Mirror
... demonstrated that humans can follow a scent trail -- an ability that most had assumed only animals possessed... Have these people never observed dogs? If dogs have such a great sense of smell, why do they have to hold their noses about 2mm from another dog's butt (or a pile made by another dog) for 30 seconds to form an opinion about what they're sniffing?Just yesterday, my publisher returned a chapter where I described a serious problem that lacked solution. The reason I had submitted it the way I had is that I think it's important for people to understand when critical issues cannot yet be handled satisfactorily -- i.e. don't get on the bleeding edge unless you want to be there.
However, they still want a more positive spin. They'll get it rewritten the way they want, but anyone who actually reads the book will need to think that much more critically when they encounter the section I'm working on now.
This reminds me of award ceremonies for staff and professional organizations where lots of meaningless awards are distributed. Stupid awards devalue true excellence and accomplishment.
I personally think all the dead people should get the person of the year award. Had it not been for things they did, there would be no internet, no highways, no scientific achievement, or even any human race. That deserves some recognition.
My reaction was similar. I'm wondering how they intend to do an effective scan without getting locked out of everything. It's not nice to systematically scan systems and download files. Many folks will treat that as an attack and take appropriate measures.
There is always a way to break in. But many crude security methods are reasonably effective.
A rootkit has to be pretty good to return the "correct" response. It needs to retain all previous file attributes, modify md5sum to return the correct hash, fake disk usage statistics, and do it all without causing any glitches on the system.
It is impossible to modify the environment without leaving some sort of trace. A rootkit needs to succeed before it can mask itself. The problem a rootkit faces is it cannot know the particulars of a machine in advance so it will not necessarily plan to most efficient attack. All it has to do is trip one alarm and it will be discovered. If programs scan sufficiently frequently, you can discover things quickly.
Logs on other systems cannot be erased -- only new entries can be screwed up (which is itself a clue). Communications with other machines can give clues. Manual monitoring is also very useful. The trick is to use a wide variety of tools to maintain security. While any one of them can be broken, it's hard to get them all.
In other words, we're talking over $200 a year just to power electronic gizmos. They may not be the biggest consumers of electricity, but that still adds up and he could save a lot by turning them off when he doesn't need them. Heck, I have a 3 bedroom house and pay about $60/mo for electricity (higher in the winter, lower in the summer). Sounds like he pays more for a much smaller place.
Absolutely. The alarms either need to be tripped off before too much damage is done. Having programs regularly investigate the integrity of files, who's doing what from where, etc makes it pretty hard to pull anything off without getting discovered. Obviously, this strategy is more difficult to employ if a large number of people could be doing a wide variety of tasks at a given time. However, security is much better when measures are based on what is normal for a system than it is by simply following best practices.
Part of security includes constantly verifying that the security measures themselves haven't been tampered with.
Worst case scenario is a compromise. That's what backups are for. All you have to do is know where you went wrong and history doesn't need to repeat itself. Hasn't happened to me yet [knock, knock]
News flash -- any 220V appliance (water heater, range, furnace) draws more juice than the other stuff. One of the reasons these things are put on higher voltage is so they draw fewer amps.
Other hogs include anything that radiates a large amount of heat or has a compressor. Note that the purpose of such devices is typically to create or transfer heat (as in the case of a freezer). Anyone who needs a power meter to discover that the battery charger consumes less electricity than one of these appliances is a bit of a low Watt bulb.
Ever since 9/11, that area's basically a no fly zone. Take this thing around there, and you won't need the blimp to float into the clouds......
If you have scripts to watch important files, it's easy to detect changes. The scripts do not need to live on the same machine or even be visible from there.
We use this braindead method to monitor our UNIX and Windows systems. It's easy enough to make sure that the detection scripts themselves aren't tampered with.
Even according to the FAQ for the blimp, there are other hot air blimps available. This thing is not available for sale, they "predict that, with the current engine in place, we'll go about 12 miles per hour" (i.e. they haven't even measured it from the ground which is easy enough to do), and they say they don't really want to fly much above treetop level though they have reached "hundreds of feet".
t .jpg if you like
In other words, someone has built themselves a clever gadget, but it's barely been used at all, and is basically a cool plaything that for those with a spare hundred or two hundred grand, plenty of spare time, and open fields. This is any more newsworthy than my personal vehicle I use for getting around town is even though that is very different from anything you'll see on the street in terms of weight, design, engine, etc. View it at http://alptown.com/temp/Oregon.2006.VelokitAtNigh
Market penetration. Most people don't give a rip about what they use. They just want to use roughly the same thing as everyone else so they don't need to worry about figuring out anything tricky to make it work well enough for themselves.
That's why we still use the QWERTY keyboard. It sucks, but it has so much penetration that it's actually a PITA to use one of the superior alternatives. That's also why McD's is the most popular restaurant. It ain't because people think it's the best food -- it's because it's easy and people know what to expect.
If you want a music player and know nothing about them, you know that if you get an IPOD, you'll be able to play and download music without figuring anything much out. There may be better alternatives, but you have to do a bit of digging to figure out which they are. Most people don't want to bother, so they just get the IPOD.
Secondly, I was not so convinced that going under the VM has serious performance implications. It is not as if applications are developed with performance in mind anymore. Otherwise, all the software that I am using would be flying rather than crawling like 20 years ago.
Performance only doesn't matter if the machine is working well below its capabilities. Make it actually do something and all the small things that people say don't matter really add up.
I find it amusing how many people tell me I don't know what I'm talking about based on a few comments I have made. This is precisely why IT people have such a lousy reputation with the general public -- if you don't understand what someone is trying to say, try to convince them they're an idiot rather than present logical arguments that can be judged on their own merits. Few people who think they are smarter than others actually are. Experience makes people aware of how little they know. That's why older people are so generally so much dumber than younger people.
BTW, software did not crawl 20 years ago. Machines were much slower, yes, but they weren't nearly as busy doing useless things with very inefficient code. Surprising things can be done with a couple K (not MB) of memory if you know what you're doing. I will bow out after now, because I see this topic is too touchy and I can see that most people regard my comments as inflammatory.
There are plenty of technical articles written by people who have ideological axes to grind, even when there is no financial benefit to the writer. Most of the endless general debates about operating systems, standards, technologies, philosophical approaches, etc fall into this category. Hearing the same arguments rehashed over and over is tiresome regardless of whose "side" the writer is on.
Better to just let people write what they will. If they consistently write interesting things, others will listen. If they're consistently schilling, that will also be obvious. Besides, you shouldn't believe everything you read.....
You don't know what you're talking about.
Virtually anything can be scaled if done properly. I see I've been labeled a troll, but Java has been more promise than substance from the very beginning. It's just another programming language.
Whenever someone emphasizes the technologies they use rather what their product does, I know to lower my expectations. I guarantee that some of the "enterprise" level software that our institution buys requires specific VM's to work. I'm not saying that all Java is this way, only that there definitely are apps that are that way. Besides, going through any kind of emulation layer such as a VM always has performance implications. Doesn't mean it should never be done, but all things being equal, it's something that does not make an app easier to maintain.
I can't understand the resistance to keeping the OS vaguely up to date. Yes, upgrading can break apps. But the longer you wait, the rougher the inevitable transition will be. All systems and software eventually become obsolete.
Besides, when you run a system that no one else uses, you have no right to whine when something you install doesn't work. It's unreasonable to expect vendors to test new software with hardware/OS configurations that should have been upgraded years ago.
One thing that I've found surprising in this discussion is the number of geeks talking about how Vista looks. Who gives a rip, and what's the point in having your system resources consumed by eye candy? I need my systems to work well, not just look like they're working well.
No one uses Java anymore, it's all flash these days.
For individual web sites and popular software, maybe. However, there are plenty of specialized applications that have taken many years to develop that are written in Java.
I've never been a fan of the language. Performance is terrible, and moving an app from one VM to another often causes serious problems. The cross platform claims have consistently been exaggerated.
There is too much invested already in it just to disappear, and I certainly can't see everything just going to Flash, though that definitely has many applications. Predictions of a long slow decline are spot on.
A decline and death are not the same thing. I keep hearing C is dead. Losing popularity, sure, but it will be around for a very long time.
When will people learn that terrorists may be using our roads, electrical grid, water supply, and grocery stores to benefit themselves? I hear some of them may even be using the telecommunications infrastructure to communicate with each other!
Once we deprive the terrorists of access to these resources, we can live safe and free. Limiting access to these things will be difficult as a practical matter, our best option is probably to blow all these things up.
We should probably burn down the schools and universities too -- there's no telling what a terrorist might do with knowledge they could gain there....