Competition drives innovation, so if the browser wars are really over it's us that has lost. Besides, there's no way that MS is just going to sit on their hands while other browsers gain on them in market share.
IANAL, but I thought that harassment included telecommunication (phone). Wouldn't it be better to extend the law to cover computer related communication as well? In fact, I'd be surprised if it already doesn't. This just sounds way too narrow in it's scope.
I'm not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure that my programming professors would have given me an F if as part of input validation I had put:
if (isExploit){
crashApplication();}// this is to prevent abusing an exploit Prof. X... no really...
... so how is it that Microsoft (or anyone else) thinks they can argue that this is intended? Does it stop the exploit from being used? Possibly, but that does not mean that they should get to shrug this off as "not an issue". There -has- to be a more elegant way to handle it.
Yes, because we all know that the best hardware always comes out on top. Marketing and software compatibility are never factors. Thanks.
See my post in reply to the helpful first response, and you'll see that my question was based on the possibility of current geological factors (global warming) having enough of an effect to warrant pushing for OS/software finally pushing for that extra efficiency. I wasn't expecting the market to try and leave MS behind.
That makes sense. I was just thinking that with power consumption being a bigger issue today that it might be able to push MS and developers to update code so that the efficiency could be maximized. It may still be the case, but with the BIOS (and likely hardware detection etc) being involved the benefit could be effort required.
The problem is that deep inside Windows is code taken from the MS-DOS operating system of the early 1980s, and that code looks for certain instructions when it boots. Does anyone know if that code still exists in Vista? Does Linux/Unix have similar holdout code from it's roots? I'd be interested to know if the article is correct that Microsoft's use of legacy code is the only thing holding efficiency/power of CPUs back.
This is definitely going to have the most application for gamers and people looking for performance PCs initially. I already know lots of gamers who go for smaller 10,000 RPM drives for their OS and applications, and have larger 7200 RPM drives for storage. This seems to be in the same ballpark in terms of size (mid-size consumer 10k RPM is 74GB), so it will just be a matter of performance vs. dollars.
Typically someone smart enough to get around it would also be smart enough to not open potentially hazardous attachments.
My work doesn't block anything, but keeps images of the computers that can be rolled back to in the case of issues/infections.
Often times the best designed technology will lose out to ones that are either marketed more aggressively or are easier to implement. That being the case, inertia is going to be a big factor in this (current internet is already implemented and works fine enough for most people). Something either about the design or "marketing" (government push?) will have to be impressive enough to overcome that inertia. It will be interesting to see if/how that happens.
Yes, it could be. Cloning is an example of that I believe. While the ethics of it were still being debated in the US, research was taking leaps and bounds in Europe. Personally, I'm not sure which approach is better. I think that some things should be considered thoroughly before being pushed forward.
We've already seen that laws (copyright for instance) have difficulty keeping up with technology. The laws have always been reactive in that regard. Never mind the fact that internet technology can't effectively be legislated against by a single country or entity. I don't think they really have to worry about government hindering the advance of technology. If one government tries to, the advances will just take place somewhere else.
All I want (especially in the case of a laptop where this tends to be more difficult) is something from them saying "This hardware will work with kernel 2.6.20.3" and have it come with nothing on it. That way I can decide what distro to use, what desktop to use etc without having to deal with stripping everything off it in the first place. With the skill level of the average Linux user, I'd be willing to bet support isn't an issue. They'll probably get the least amount of false positive (PEBKAC) support calls from this group.
Is there somewhere that numbers of users for those ISPs is available? I agree that it would be more interesting to see it as a percentage of their user base rather than raw numbers.
With the exception of the phishing possibilities that others have already noted, there really shouldn't be any change for English speaking internet users. Most English websites aren't going to want to use special characters. My parents have a hard enough time grasping ctrl-c and ctrl-v for copy and paste. Good luck to anyone explaining alt-145 for them to get to æon.com
Video gaming goes through similar stages. Whenever the "next big thing" in graphic capabilities comes out there's a slew of games that use that new tech but have little or no content to speak of. Then the flash of the tech wears off and games with real foundation to them come out. The same with happen with HD, it's just that the flash wears off more quickly for certain people (the type of people who would visit slashdot for instance), so we're left hanging for a while.
I've recently been considering getting involved in some OSS projects and have always wondered how such communities function with these types of people in them. I've found people like this in nearly every online community I've been involved with, and the idea of them in OSS projects has put me off the idea of joining in on any in the past.
I didn't get to see the whole video (It stopped at about 20% complete), so I'm sorry if this is covered. Dealing with those types of people is part of management in any project, even open ones. Projects with good management do well and those without do poorly, all other things being equal.
Slashdot Mirror
Competition drives innovation, so if the browser wars are really over it's us that has lost. Besides, there's no way that MS is just going to sit on their hands while other browsers gain on them in market share.
IANAL, but I thought that harassment included telecommunication (phone). Wouldn't it be better to extend the law to cover computer related communication as well? In fact, I'd be surprised if it already doesn't. This just sounds way too narrow in it's scope.
Sorry, the X-Men reference wasn't intended. I don't recall the School for Gifted Youngsters having a programming course.
I'm not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure that my programming professors would have given me an F if as part of input validation I had put:
// this is to prevent abusing an exploit Prof. X... no really...
... so how is it that Microsoft (or anyone else) thinks they can argue that this is intended? Does it stop the exploit from being used? Possibly, but that does not mean that they should get to shrug this off as "not an issue". There -has- to be a more elegant way to handle it.
if (isExploit){
crashApplication();}
All they need to do is add Office to it and we're back to having a PC...
Very good point. Just checked and according to wikipedia Microsofts spec for a Pocket PC requires that it:
Be based on an ARM version 4 compatible CPU, Intel XScale CPU, MIPS CPU or SH3 CPU. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_PC#Definition
I'm curious how accurate the article is on it's point about how long that backward compatibility will remain (and hold back advances)
Yes, because we all know that the best hardware always comes out on top. Marketing and software compatibility are never factors. Thanks. See my post in reply to the helpful first response, and you'll see that my question was based on the possibility of current geological factors (global warming) having enough of an effect to warrant pushing for OS/software finally pushing for that extra efficiency. I wasn't expecting the market to try and leave MS behind.
That makes sense. I was just thinking that with power consumption being a bigger issue today that it might be able to push MS and developers to update code so that the efficiency could be maximized. It may still be the case, but with the BIOS (and likely hardware detection etc) being involved the benefit could be effort required.
Did they make the robot egg before, or after?
This is definitely going to have the most application for gamers and people looking for performance PCs initially. I already know lots of gamers who go for smaller 10,000 RPM drives for their OS and applications, and have larger 7200 RPM drives for storage. This seems to be in the same ballpark in terms of size (mid-size consumer 10k RPM is 74GB), so it will just be a matter of performance vs. dollars.
Typically someone smart enough to get around it would also be smart enough to not open potentially hazardous attachments. My work doesn't block anything, but keeps images of the computers that can be rolled back to in the case of issues/infections.
You shouldn't really, but I meant one that is more easily implemented will be chosen over one that functions better.
Often times the best designed technology will lose out to ones that are either marketed more aggressively or are easier to implement. That being the case, inertia is going to be a big factor in this (current internet is already implemented and works fine enough for most people). Something either about the design or "marketing" (government push?) will have to be impressive enough to overcome that inertia. It will be interesting to see if/how that happens.
Yes, it could be. Cloning is an example of that I believe. While the ethics of it were still being debated in the US, research was taking leaps and bounds in Europe. Personally, I'm not sure which approach is better. I think that some things should be considered thoroughly before being pushed forward.
We've already seen that laws (copyright for instance) have difficulty keeping up with technology. The laws have always been reactive in that regard. Never mind the fact that internet technology can't effectively be legislated against by a single country or entity. I don't think they really have to worry about government hindering the advance of technology. If one government tries to, the advances will just take place somewhere else.
Tell that to this guy http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1993-01.h tml
All I want (especially in the case of a laptop where this tends to be more difficult) is something from them saying "This hardware will work with kernel 2.6.20.3" and have it come with nothing on it. That way I can decide what distro to use, what desktop to use etc without having to deal with stripping everything off it in the first place. With the skill level of the average Linux user, I'd be willing to bet support isn't an issue. They'll probably get the least amount of false positive (PEBKAC) support calls from this group.
Is there somewhere that numbers of users for those ISPs is available? I agree that it would be more interesting to see it as a percentage of their user base rather than raw numbers.
All you have to do to achieve this security is turn the windows machine off.
With the exception of the phishing possibilities that others have already noted, there really shouldn't be any change for English speaking internet users. Most English websites aren't going to want to use special characters. My parents have a hard enough time grasping ctrl-c and ctrl-v for copy and paste. Good luck to anyone explaining alt-145 for them to get to æon.com
Then they have a ridiculous interpretation of unlimited. Having a fridge with the door always open doesn't mean you can advertise unlimited food.
Video gaming goes through similar stages. Whenever the "next big thing" in graphic capabilities comes out there's a slew of games that use that new tech but have little or no content to speak of. Then the flash of the tech wears off and games with real foundation to them come out. The same with happen with HD, it's just that the flash wears off more quickly for certain people (the type of people who would visit slashdot for instance), so we're left hanging for a while.
I've recently been considering getting involved in some OSS projects and have always wondered how such communities function with these types of people in them. I've found people like this in nearly every online community I've been involved with, and the idea of them in OSS projects has put me off the idea of joining in on any in the past.
I didn't get to see the whole video (It stopped at about 20% complete), so I'm sorry if this is covered. Dealing with those types of people is part of management in any project, even open ones. Projects with good management do well and those without do poorly, all other things being equal.