Here's what I've settled on for my morning coffee fix: grind it fresh; I buy small batches of a Mocha / Java blend so I can use it up before it gets old. I use a burr grinder (Solis); those "whirlybird" things are useless if you want good coffee. If you have one of these, use it as a spice grinder and go get a burr grinder for your coffee. It'll make a huge difference in taste.
For everyday coffee, I use a Bunn coffee maker. It works very well for a drip machine; perfect brewing temperature and it makes a full pot in 3 minutes flat. Avoid those misbegotten coffee makers that use the heat of the warming plate to perk water through the grounds - they run too hot and really can't make good coffee. There's also some specialty coffee making devices that make a better pot of coffee, but I'd rather not deal with a French press first thing in the morning. Another key to good coffee is the water; if your tap water is pure and sweet then use it. Otherwise, bottled or filtered water are good to use.
I also have a pump espresso machine which gets used for special occasions or fancy drinks.
For those who are reading along and don't understand why the fancy machinery and procedures are necessary - you've probably never had good coffee. If you think the coffee that your local big chain coffee shop sells is good, you are in for a treat when you get the real thing. That coffee company figured out years ago that if you buy mediocre beans and roast them until they smoke you can get a uniform product. If all you've known is ground coffee in cans then this chain coffee is an improvement - but after you've tasted good coffee you'll realize that the stuff at that coffee shop tastes burnt. And once you're "spoiled" you'll discover that that canned ground coffee tastes just like a burning tire smells.
One other tip: good coffee comes from Arabica beans. Robusta beans taste lousy. Grocery store canned coffee comes from Robusta beans.
When I see something like this come around again and again, I've got to wonder about it. I mean, how valuable is this "one click" patent, anyway? As noted up the page a bit, it's not necessarily a great idea, and it's also unclear how Amazon plans to make even one thin dime from this patent.
Most folks like to confirm a purchase rather than have one click buy something; it protects against simple mistakes and allows them a chance to back out if the terms aren't what they were expecting.
It's a simple thing to work around; just add an "are you sure?" prompt and you've bypassed this patent. Given the obvious nature of the patent and the limited profit potential - why put so much time and money into defending it?
I'm sure Mr. Bezos isn't a stupid person. But sometimes I've got to wonder...
They're saying that there are known security bugs in their products, that they have researched said bugs and designed possible patches for them - and are intentionally withholding this information from their customers and are not going to release the patches.
So, Mr. Corporate Executive - your customers are at risk, you know it, and you're not going to do anything about it?
Oh, that's right - not until there's a public release of information about the security holes from someone else. Go ahead and wait for the media report - but don't be surprised if what they say isn't what you were expecting.
And you might want to check with your attorney about your liability for the losses your customers incur - because you knew about the risk and DID NOTHING to correct it or advise your customers.
Doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result. After indirectly funding the SCO debacle, you'd think they might have learned something about threatening your own customers.
But no; they're going to step up and play the same game themselves. They're using the same game plan - point and say "this violates our patents / copyrights" but keep the details of these supposed violations secret - then shake down some companies for a payoff.
They're making the same mistake, too - attack the open source community. Of course, they can't sue everyone at once, they have to pick a target - but while they're bogged down in that battle, thousands of other open source proponents are sniping at them from the rooftops.
Saying that they can't reveal which patents are being violated because they'd be attacked shows how firm their foundation is; they're afraid that any patent they trot out would be challenged and invalidated. That also prevents any corrective action being taken by the supposed violators. If someone is doing you wrong, you're expected to let them know and ask them to stop before you take legal action. If you don't - and instead avoid letting anyone know what wrong your complaining about - don't expect a warm reception in the courtroom.
This looks like the beginning of the end for Microsoft. They are entering into battle with a superior force - with nothing to gain if they win and everything to lose if they don't. Even the Republican administration won't be able to save them from this mistake.
Seems strange that this announcement comes so shortly after an AACS key was spread all over the internet; it seems that HD-DVD's protection is pretty well beyond defending now. It's not totally broken yet, but the writing is on the wall.
Blu-Ray has additional copy protection in addition to AACS, so any media mogul who is depending on DRM to protect his profits would naturally be waving the Blu-Ray banner at this point.
Of course, Blu-Ray will have all of its protections defeated too - it's just a matter of time.
I hope our NASA scientists can keep in mind that this one's going to be out of shuttle range - so sending astronauts to fix it isn't going to save the day if they launch another dud.
There's enough of us around that remember the Hubble fiasco - they're going to have to do a LOT better this time.
Let's see here; Sun wants to make their proprietary operating system more like the one that's given away for free. I may be a little dense, but I don't see a valid business model here...
Sprint / Nextel wants those spectrum allocations for itself. If there wasn't a dollar in it for Sprint, they wouldn't be interested.
And don't be surprised if after they get these frequencies allocated to themselves they do nothing with them - just to make sure a competitor doesn't have a chance to use them.
These guys have a long history of bad actions - assume the worst and they won't disappoint you.
So here's this person hanging over an abyss by one hand; they can't hold on much longer without help. A stranger comes along and offers his assistance - for a price. If they can't meet his price they fall and die.
What we're talking about here is evil in its basest form - pay me or die. It's hard enough to believe that people would step right up and do this in public - but it's even harder to believe that there's people here on Slashdot that are jumping to their defense.
They'll be singing a different tune when they're old and gray and can't afford all the medications they need to preserve their health.
I've seen this going on at a local Best Buy. I was trying to check out with a new TV but the lines were incredibly long and slow moving due to each and every customer being run through the FREE MSN signup at the register.
I wonder if they've thought about the size of the Indian market for their services? Each time they send jobs overseas they're also sending the paychecks overseas. Do enough of this and the Americans won't be able to afford their services.
Does anyone at these corporations ever consider that by putting Americans out of work they're shrinking the size of their market? A little temporary boost in profits will be followed by a long term loss...
Swedish prosecutors play CYA too. A year ago, under the alleged urgings of American media interests, they cleaned out an ISP - seizing all computers located at that site. That put a lot of people out of business for varying lengths of time.
Of course, if there was no law violated by TPB, then this seizure wasn't proper - and the prosecutor would be responsible for the value of the seized equipment, lost wages, etc. So he's looking at a very big downside and the only way out is to make his prior actions fit the legal guidelines.
Even if TPB ultimately walks away from this prosecutor (as seems likely), by forcing the issue now he can postpone the inevitable day when he'll be required to reimburse those he's damaged. Much like SCO; by dragging a losing war out, you can avoid punishment.
When management is looking for benchmarks / SLAs / metrics to judge IT performance by, you can be sure of two things:
1: Management is clueless as to what the IT staff actually does.
2: Management is looking for ways to reduce headcount.
When you see this nightmare raise its head at your place of employment - be worried. Especially if you're at the top of the pay scale - you'll go first.
If you see this at the same time as there's handwringing about the cost of health benefits, don't just get your resume in order, start looking for another job. Even if your job survives the reorg that's just around the corner, you'll be working twice as hard.
The price optimization software that these retailers are so proud of doesn't provide the benefits they imagine. It depends upon two fallacious assumptions: first, that their software can predict human behavior and second, the assumption that the only pricing information the customer receives is what they calculate and provide.
The idea of predicting human behavior via software should be obviously ridiculous. Coding behavior patterns based on statistical averages tells you NOTHING about the individual case; we're just plain hard to predict. Too many personal biases that they can't know about or calculate.
And providing different prices to different people - well, the success of this depends on each person being ignorant of what his fellow humans are paying. That doesn't work; people do indeed communicate and discuss the prices / merits of their purchases. Not to mention that the act of charging different buyers different prices is illegal in some states.
While the retailers may see an increase in profit when they implement a system like this, the benefits are transitory and ultimately they lose customers and see their profit decrease.
Here's an example of how "scientific" retail management has unexpected negative results: the idea of managing inventory turns to maximize profit has already been discussed in this thread. Stores that do this well find that they can reduce the number of SKUs they stock and make even more by only stocking the items with the highest markup / fastest turnover. The downside: all those no-longer-carried items still have a market. So when someone wants that 5-bay switch plate or left-handed thread bolt they can't find it at any of these "modern" stores (sound familiar?) They usually end up finding it and buying it online from a specialty vendor. While they're doing that, they also discover that the prices are lower and there's no sales tax. While this is going on, the retailers cry about how the internet businesses are stealing their customers.
So go ahead and use your price optimization software to determine the most effective pricing - but while you do, keep in mind that there's a world of internet vendors out there who use cost-plus pricing and have very low overhead. The only advantage the retail store has is convenience / instant gratification. But if folks find (as they always do) that the retailer is playing games with the prices they'll shop somewhere else. Nobody likes to be manipulated.
And don't complain so much about the internet vendors - you created them with your profit-seeking policies, and drive customers to them with your "customer service".
Every time the idea of impeaching Bush has come around, my thought has always been that if Bush is removed, Cheney would take over as President. That doesn't sound like a positive outcome to me; the thought of President Cheney makes chills run down my spine.
Of course, if they take Cheney out first it'd be different...
Given that approximately 90% of PCs run Windows - if you were writing software for commercial distribution, what platform would you target?
The "problem" that open source based systems have isn't all that complex - it's their tiny "market share" that holds development back. Various flavors of distribution just fragement the tiny market - even if every distribution sang the same tune it wouldn't change the big picture.
The way to "fix" this is to help others to migrate to Linux systems. With the open source advocates pulling - and Microsoft pushing (with their anti-consumer acts) it's a sure win for Linux. It's going to take some time to get there, though...
All you Firefox users, add the AdBlock or AdBlock Plus extension and put *.doubleclick.net in its configuration. For those with less capable web browsers, add this line to your HOSTS file:
127.0.0.1 *.doubleclick.net
And there you go; no need to be worried about who owns or what Double Click wants to do on your computer.
Much easier than hyperventilating in a public forum...
Somebody at Microsoft says something about another company's upcoming product and it's news? I'm sure the folks at Apple stay up at night worrying about what Bill and Co. think about what they're doing.
Look in your book of common wisdom - right there in chapter one it says "Companies say bad things about their competition." Nothing to see here.
If someone at Microsoft said that Apple's new product was great and they wish they had such a fine product - that would be news. This isn't news.
I suspect nearly everyone here has experienced the "joy" of helping someone succeed - and then have that person take it all as their own with no benefit to the people who made it possible. If you haven't experienced this yet - you will.
So Alexa built their business on the backs of the volunteers that provided the data they now claim as their proprietary data. Building on that ethical triumph, they see someone else make good use of the same data and proceed to sue them into oblivion - but not before taking all the good ideas this person had for their own. Of course, we're talking about Amazon; the people with that "one click" patent that they've used against competitors more than once.
I'd say something about this being good reason to avoid Amazon in the future - but I already came to that conclusion a long time back. There was a book I'd heard about and I wanted a copy. Nobody seemed to have it in stock - but Amazon did, and they took my order for a copy. After a week I was wondering where my book was and checked Amazon's website for order status. Backordered. But they should have it for me in 5 to 7 days.
After a couple of months of this I finally contacted the publisher of the book to see what was going on. What was going on is the book that Amazon was selling me was OUT OF PRINT and had been for a few years. You'd think Amazon might communicate that little detail to me, wouldn't you? Nope; they maintained the fiction of "it'll be here in 5 to 7 days" right up until I cancelled my order. You should see how their attitude changes at that point; I must have been transferred to a "customer retention" specialist.
OK, here's the real truth about the big Amazon catalog. It's the ISBN catalog; they just borrowed that data and imported it into their database.
I'm expecting someone from Amazon to jump up and say "I stole it fair and square, it's MINE now."
Do you suppose this special version of Media Player has a benefit to Microsoft? Of course it does; why waste programmers otherwise.
So what does Microsoft get from this - besides that ephemeral "protect WMV market share" stuff?
How about usage data? Media Player has been sending information back to MS for years; OS version, GUID, etc. Now they can also collect data about Firefox installs. I suspect that data has value to MS - and very well may be the reason for this unexpected release.
It's not as though Firefox users haven't been able to view WMV files, is it?
They could save some patch-writing effort and a lot of PR headaches by simply taking a deep look at all of their "action at a distance" misfeatures with an eye to how they could be misused.
All of those things like ActiveX, remote administration, etc. Anything that allows someone else to execute code on your computer; how did they ever imagine this would be a good idea? How about leaving some of that vunerable code out of the shipping product?
Just look at the name of the vulnerable service in the current newsflash; RPC, aka Remote Procedure Call. How nice of Microsoft to make the cracker's job easier - all he has to do is poke in his exploit code via the typical buffer / stack overflow and use the friendly Microsoft-supplied interface to trigger it.
That reminds me - didn't they make a big fuss a while back about how they'd gone over all the code and eliminated all the unchecked buffers, etc. Clearly that didn't happen; makes one wonder if they're lying or stupid...
After the great rootkit incident it should have been obvious to any observer that Sony didn't give a damn about what their customers thought. Folks with a good memory should also remember the "We'll firewall it at your PC" statement from Sony.
Sure, they got their fingers burned a little over the rootkit debacle - but they aren't sorry about it, nor have they changed their direction. Expect more outrages from this corporation that has already "jumped the shark".
What can us as consumers do? It's simple; just say NO to anything from Sony. If you'd been doing that since the rootkit, you wouldn't be bothered with these defective DVDs or their future mistakes. All they look at is their bottom line, and the only thing they'll pay attention to is when that bottom line suffers; quit buying their crap and they'll pay attention.
Remember OS/2? The advertising said it was a better Windows than Windows and a better DOS than DOS - and it ran OS/2 applications as well. Many people did as I did and evaluated the situation: I've already got DOS and Windows, and don't have any OS/2 applications. No benefit, so don't buy it.
So here's Vista; the same old turd polished up with a big upgrade price to make Bill even richer. So where's the benefit? It runs FEWER Windows programs than XP does, has higher hardware requirements, and it gives you what? A fancier interface? If that's what you want, try installing a new theme on XP. Vista is certainly not faster, nor does it have fewer bugs. No benefit; I'm not buying.
So I'm going to pass this one up too. If Microsoft forces the issue, then I'll bite the bullet and move to Linux full time. If I'm going to be required to buy more powerful hardware, then it's going to be a Mac.
Let's see if the people that Microsoft wrote Vista for (the "content producers") will fund Bill's big dream. Us consumers have had enough of this nonsense.
I tried doing this with a laptop. I found that a moderately loaded laptop running 24/7 generates a bit more heat than it can dissipate; it was OK all winter but when the house warmed up in the summer it started having problems. It died while I was trying to figure out what to replace it with; the main board was turning brown from the long heat soak.
The answer was a small Pentium-M based desktop machine. With a right-sized power supply, large fans turning very slowly, etc. it's very quiet and uses very little power. This little machine (2 GHz Pentium-M) is running my home controls and weather station, doing frequent FTP uploads of weather data, serving web pages, acting as a home file server, etc. Even running Windows XP (yes, I know) it's rock solid. After almost two years it's never crashed and only gets rebooted when the power fails or an automatic update forces it to reboot. The slow turning fans don't suck in dust bunnies, so it's been totally trouble free.
You could do worse...
More than one, with the firewalls all as different from each other as possible. Hackers do find and exploit bugs in commercial firewalls, so when they breach the one facing the internet there's another level of protection. Widely differing firewalls in series greatly reduce the change of anyone breaking in. The number of series firewalls depends on your security needs.
Note well: if you're depending on one commercial firewall to protect your business - you will be hacked. You probably have been already.
Equally critical is proper firewall configuration. Deny all traffic by default - only allow needed traffic. Always keep in mind that any program can use any (or all) port for communication. If you're not an expert in information security / firewall configuration, hire one to do it for you.
Slashdot Mirror
For everyday coffee, I use a Bunn coffee maker. It works very well for a drip machine; perfect brewing temperature and it makes a full pot in 3 minutes flat. Avoid those misbegotten coffee makers that use the heat of the warming plate to perk water through the grounds - they run too hot and really can't make good coffee. There's also some specialty coffee making devices that make a better pot of coffee, but I'd rather not deal with a French press first thing in the morning. Another key to good coffee is the water; if your tap water is pure and sweet then use it. Otherwise, bottled or filtered water are good to use.
I also have a pump espresso machine which gets used for special occasions or fancy drinks.
For those who are reading along and don't understand why the fancy machinery and procedures are necessary - you've probably never had good coffee. If you think the coffee that your local big chain coffee shop sells is good, you are in for a treat when you get the real thing. That coffee company figured out years ago that if you buy mediocre beans and roast them until they smoke you can get a uniform product. If all you've known is ground coffee in cans then this chain coffee is an improvement - but after you've tasted good coffee you'll realize that the stuff at that coffee shop tastes burnt. And once you're "spoiled" you'll discover that that canned ground coffee tastes just like a burning tire smells.
One other tip: good coffee comes from Arabica beans. Robusta beans taste lousy. Grocery store canned coffee comes from Robusta beans.
Most folks like to confirm a purchase rather than have one click buy something; it protects against simple mistakes and allows them a chance to back out if the terms aren't what they were expecting.
It's a simple thing to work around; just add an "are you sure?" prompt and you've bypassed this patent. Given the obvious nature of the patent and the limited profit potential - why put so much time and money into defending it?
I'm sure Mr. Bezos isn't a stupid person. But sometimes I've got to wonder...
So, Mr. Corporate Executive - your customers are at risk, you know it, and you're not going to do anything about it?
Oh, that's right - not until there's a public release of information about the security holes from someone else. Go ahead and wait for the media report - but don't be surprised if what they say isn't what you were expecting.
And you might want to check with your attorney about your liability for the losses your customers incur - because you knew about the risk and DID NOTHING to correct it or advise your customers.
But no; they're going to step up and play the same game themselves. They're using the same game plan - point and say "this violates our patents / copyrights" but keep the details of these supposed violations secret - then shake down some companies for a payoff.
They're making the same mistake, too - attack the open source community. Of course, they can't sue everyone at once, they have to pick a target - but while they're bogged down in that battle, thousands of other open source proponents are sniping at them from the rooftops.
Saying that they can't reveal which patents are being violated because they'd be attacked shows how firm their foundation is; they're afraid that any patent they trot out would be challenged and invalidated. That also prevents any corrective action being taken by the supposed violators. If someone is doing you wrong, you're expected to let them know and ask them to stop before you take legal action. If you don't - and instead avoid letting anyone know what wrong your complaining about - don't expect a warm reception in the courtroom.
This looks like the beginning of the end for Microsoft. They are entering into battle with a superior force - with nothing to gain if they win and everything to lose if they don't. Even the Republican administration won't be able to save them from this mistake.
Blu-Ray has additional copy protection in addition to AACS, so any media mogul who is depending on DRM to protect his profits would naturally be waving the Blu-Ray banner at this point.
Of course, Blu-Ray will have all of its protections defeated too - it's just a matter of time.
There's enough of us around that remember the Hubble fiasco - they're going to have to do a LOT better this time.
Let's see here; Sun wants to make their proprietary operating system more like the one that's given away for free. I may be a little dense, but I don't see a valid business model here...
And don't be surprised if after they get these frequencies allocated to themselves they do nothing with them - just to make sure a competitor doesn't have a chance to use them.
These guys have a long history of bad actions - assume the worst and they won't disappoint you.
What we're talking about here is evil in its basest form - pay me or die. It's hard enough to believe that people would step right up and do this in public - but it's even harder to believe that there's people here on Slashdot that are jumping to their defense.
They'll be singing a different tune when they're old and gray and can't afford all the medications they need to preserve their health.
I've seen this going on at a local Best Buy. I was trying to check out with a new TV but the lines were incredibly long and slow moving due to each and every customer being run through the FREE MSN signup at the register.
Does anyone at these corporations ever consider that by putting Americans out of work they're shrinking the size of their market? A little temporary boost in profits will be followed by a long term loss...
Of course, if there was no law violated by TPB, then this seizure wasn't proper - and the prosecutor would be responsible for the value of the seized equipment, lost wages, etc. So he's looking at a very big downside and the only way out is to make his prior actions fit the legal guidelines.
Even if TPB ultimately walks away from this prosecutor (as seems likely), by forcing the issue now he can postpone the inevitable day when he'll be required to reimburse those he's damaged. Much like SCO; by dragging a losing war out, you can avoid punishment.
1: Management is clueless as to what the IT staff actually does. 2: Management is looking for ways to reduce headcount.
When you see this nightmare raise its head at your place of employment - be worried. Especially if you're at the top of the pay scale - you'll go first.
If you see this at the same time as there's handwringing about the cost of health benefits, don't just get your resume in order, start looking for another job. Even if your job survives the reorg that's just around the corner, you'll be working twice as hard.
The idea of predicting human behavior via software should be obviously ridiculous. Coding behavior patterns based on statistical averages tells you NOTHING about the individual case; we're just plain hard to predict. Too many personal biases that they can't know about or calculate.
And providing different prices to different people - well, the success of this depends on each person being ignorant of what his fellow humans are paying. That doesn't work; people do indeed communicate and discuss the prices / merits of their purchases. Not to mention that the act of charging different buyers different prices is illegal in some states.
While the retailers may see an increase in profit when they implement a system like this, the benefits are transitory and ultimately they lose customers and see their profit decrease.
Here's an example of how "scientific" retail management has unexpected negative results: the idea of managing inventory turns to maximize profit has already been discussed in this thread. Stores that do this well find that they can reduce the number of SKUs they stock and make even more by only stocking the items with the highest markup / fastest turnover. The downside: all those no-longer-carried items still have a market. So when someone wants that 5-bay switch plate or left-handed thread bolt they can't find it at any of these "modern" stores (sound familiar?) They usually end up finding it and buying it online from a specialty vendor. While they're doing that, they also discover that the prices are lower and there's no sales tax. While this is going on, the retailers cry about how the internet businesses are stealing their customers.
So go ahead and use your price optimization software to determine the most effective pricing - but while you do, keep in mind that there's a world of internet vendors out there who use cost-plus pricing and have very low overhead. The only advantage the retail store has is convenience / instant gratification. But if folks find (as they always do) that the retailer is playing games with the prices they'll shop somewhere else. Nobody likes to be manipulated.
And don't complain so much about the internet vendors - you created them with your profit-seeking policies, and drive customers to them with your "customer service".
Every time the idea of impeaching Bush has come around, my thought has always been that if Bush is removed, Cheney would take over as President. That doesn't sound like a positive outcome to me; the thought of President Cheney makes chills run down my spine. Of course, if they take Cheney out first it'd be different...
The "problem" that open source based systems have isn't all that complex - it's their tiny "market share" that holds development back. Various flavors of distribution just fragement the tiny market - even if every distribution sang the same tune it wouldn't change the big picture.
The way to "fix" this is to help others to migrate to Linux systems. With the open source advocates pulling - and Microsoft pushing (with their anti-consumer acts) it's a sure win for Linux. It's going to take some time to get there, though...
127.0.0.1 *.doubleclick.net
And there you go; no need to be worried about who owns or what Double Click wants to do on your computer.
Much easier than hyperventilating in a public forum...
Look in your book of common wisdom - right there in chapter one it says "Companies say bad things about their competition." Nothing to see here.
If someone at Microsoft said that Apple's new product was great and they wish they had such a fine product - that would be news. This isn't news.
So Alexa built their business on the backs of the volunteers that provided the data they now claim as their proprietary data. Building on that ethical triumph, they see someone else make good use of the same data and proceed to sue them into oblivion - but not before taking all the good ideas this person had for their own. Of course, we're talking about Amazon; the people with that "one click" patent that they've used against competitors more than once.
I'd say something about this being good reason to avoid Amazon in the future - but I already came to that conclusion a long time back. There was a book I'd heard about and I wanted a copy. Nobody seemed to have it in stock - but Amazon did, and they took my order for a copy. After a week I was wondering where my book was and checked Amazon's website for order status. Backordered. But they should have it for me in 5 to 7 days.
After a couple of months of this I finally contacted the publisher of the book to see what was going on. What was going on is the book that Amazon was selling me was OUT OF PRINT and had been for a few years. You'd think Amazon might communicate that little detail to me, wouldn't you? Nope; they maintained the fiction of "it'll be here in 5 to 7 days" right up until I cancelled my order. You should see how their attitude changes at that point; I must have been transferred to a "customer retention" specialist.
OK, here's the real truth about the big Amazon catalog. It's the ISBN catalog; they just borrowed that data and imported it into their database.
I'm expecting someone from Amazon to jump up and say "I stole it fair and square, it's MINE now."
So what does Microsoft get from this - besides that ephemeral "protect WMV market share" stuff?
How about usage data? Media Player has been sending information back to MS for years; OS version, GUID, etc. Now they can also collect data about Firefox installs. I suspect that data has value to MS - and very well may be the reason for this unexpected release.
It's not as though Firefox users haven't been able to view WMV files, is it?
All of those things like ActiveX, remote administration, etc. Anything that allows someone else to execute code on your computer; how did they ever imagine this would be a good idea? How about leaving some of that vunerable code out of the shipping product?
Just look at the name of the vulnerable service in the current newsflash; RPC, aka Remote Procedure Call. How nice of Microsoft to make the cracker's job easier - all he has to do is poke in his exploit code via the typical buffer / stack overflow and use the friendly Microsoft-supplied interface to trigger it.
That reminds me - didn't they make a big fuss a while back about how they'd gone over all the code and eliminated all the unchecked buffers, etc. Clearly that didn't happen; makes one wonder if they're lying or stupid...
Sure, they got their fingers burned a little over the rootkit debacle - but they aren't sorry about it, nor have they changed their direction. Expect more outrages from this corporation that has already "jumped the shark".
What can us as consumers do? It's simple; just say NO to anything from Sony. If you'd been doing that since the rootkit, you wouldn't be bothered with these defective DVDs or their future mistakes. All they look at is their bottom line, and the only thing they'll pay attention to is when that bottom line suffers; quit buying their crap and they'll pay attention.
So here's Vista; the same old turd polished up with a big upgrade price to make Bill even richer. So where's the benefit? It runs FEWER Windows programs than XP does, has higher hardware requirements, and it gives you what? A fancier interface? If that's what you want, try installing a new theme on XP. Vista is certainly not faster, nor does it have fewer bugs. No benefit; I'm not buying.
So I'm going to pass this one up too. If Microsoft forces the issue, then I'll bite the bullet and move to Linux full time. If I'm going to be required to buy more powerful hardware, then it's going to be a Mac.
Let's see if the people that Microsoft wrote Vista for (the "content producers") will fund Bill's big dream. Us consumers have had enough of this nonsense.
I tried doing this with a laptop. I found that a moderately loaded laptop running 24/7 generates a bit more heat than it can dissipate; it was OK all winter but when the house warmed up in the summer it started having problems. It died while I was trying to figure out what to replace it with; the main board was turning brown from the long heat soak. The answer was a small Pentium-M based desktop machine. With a right-sized power supply, large fans turning very slowly, etc. it's very quiet and uses very little power. This little machine (2 GHz Pentium-M) is running my home controls and weather station, doing frequent FTP uploads of weather data, serving web pages, acting as a home file server, etc. Even running Windows XP (yes, I know) it's rock solid. After almost two years it's never crashed and only gets rebooted when the power fails or an automatic update forces it to reboot. The slow turning fans don't suck in dust bunnies, so it's been totally trouble free. You could do worse...
More than one, with the firewalls all as different from each other as possible. Hackers do find and exploit bugs in commercial firewalls, so when they breach the one facing the internet there's another level of protection. Widely differing firewalls in series greatly reduce the change of anyone breaking in. The number of series firewalls depends on your security needs. Note well: if you're depending on one commercial firewall to protect your business - you will be hacked. You probably have been already. Equally critical is proper firewall configuration. Deny all traffic by default - only allow needed traffic. Always keep in mind that any program can use any (or all) port for communication. If you're not an expert in information security / firewall configuration, hire one to do it for you.