Monoculturalistic tendencies -- agricultural or technological -- develop because short term, they are more efficient, leading to economic benefits. Long term, of course, they are disasterous, because they lead to a lack of advancement and, if universal, lead to inevitable collapse of the entire system if a vulnerability exists and is exploited. This is a great example of what economists call "market failure," in which market forces drive a specific environment toward the *least* desirable outcome (for a primer on this problem, study articles relating to "the tragedy of the commons"). Eventually, such systems collapse because of these flaws, and are then subject to regulation or restrictive laws (see the government's ongoing oversight of Microsoft).
Public displays of "hacker" culture have been overwhelmed by script kiddies, wannabees, media morons (disclaimer: I worked in the biz myself for 20 years) and intelligence/law enforcement types. DEFCON has become a joke; 2600 is even worse, catering to the average alienated junior high school student who still thinks anarchy rocks. Nearly all real analysis and argument take place on line these days.
My filter keeps stats. I'm blocking over 90 percent of spam by looking for the follwing in the message text: 1. "Content-Transfer-Encoding quoted-printable" 2. "" 3. "unsubscribe" 4. Content-Transfer-Endocing: base64" 5. "Click Here" 6. "This is a multi-part message in MIME format." 7. "font size =" 8. "cellPadding" 9. "subject=remove" 10. My own e-mail address...
False positive rate is currently much less than 1 percent (about one fales positive every couple of months), largely mitigated by the fact that "approved" addresses always get through whatever is in the messages they're attached to. Generally the only flase positives I get these days are people who send me pix via their cellphones for the first time...
First time I've seen anyone in the mainstream media describe the process of movie piracy, who plays, what motivates them, and how the end product trickles out into the "mainstream" to wind up offered via services like Kazaa.
Disclaimer: I know the story's author, Jon Healey, and I happen to think he's one of few people left at the LA Times who's even interested in writing about technology or intellectual property issues on anything other than a "here's how *you* can money with this stock" level.
Classic case: Couple in California has a BBS with porn on it. They go to jail in Tennessee. The problem with staying clear of local laws today is, there is no "local" on the Net. For instance, some cultures forbid images of human beings. You think we should make everybody take their pix off their Web pages?
"State long-arm statutes authorize the courts to claim personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant whose principal business is outside the state." Long arm statutes are triggered by business transactions or torts committed within a state. From "Introduction to Cyberlaw" 2004.
What the federal law *does* do is eliminate distinctions between states for spamming.
If you're familiar with the word "grok" -- used to indicated grasp something completely, on every level -- you know Heinlein's work. The word is from Stranger In a Strange Land, arguably his greatest book, and a work that helped define science fiction for several generations. Heinlein's stories are classics; one of my personal favorites -- blanking on the title at the moment -- was about a society in which all citizens are required by law to carry guns. Duels are common, and everybody is incredibly polite:-). (I disagree with that objective, but I found the concept well-executed. As it were). Heinlein often exhibted a kind of crypto-fascist ideology on a certain level (read the book Starship Troopers and you'll get more out the humor within the movie), but it's not clear whether he actually believed it or was just being provocative. Sadly, much of his output after Stranger -- which came out in the early sixties -- was largely derivative of his earlier works.
Well, I have one of mine in my lap at the moment (I wrote a newspaper column on this one for years) and it says, in big black letters on a silver background on a label in the upper right corner, "Radio Shack, TRS-80, Model 100, Portable Computer." How's that for research?
Slashdot Mirror
No offense intended. I am, however, far more likely to present at academic-type conferences than HOPE.
Monoculturalistic tendencies -- agricultural or technological -- develop because short term, they are more efficient, leading to economic benefits. Long term, of course, they are disasterous, because they lead to a lack of advancement and, if universal, lead to inevitable collapse of the entire system if a vulnerability exists and is exploited. This is a great example of what economists call "market failure," in which market forces drive a specific environment toward the *least* desirable outcome (for a primer on this problem, study articles relating to "the tragedy of the commons"). Eventually, such systems collapse because of these flaws, and are then subject to regulation or restrictive laws (see the government's ongoing oversight of Microsoft).
Public displays of "hacker" culture have been overwhelmed by script kiddies, wannabees, media morons (disclaimer: I worked in the biz myself for 20 years) and intelligence/law enforcement types. DEFCON has become a joke; 2600 is even worse, catering to the average alienated junior high school student who still thinks anarchy rocks. Nearly all real analysis and argument take place on line these days.
My filter keeps stats. I'm blocking over 90 percent of spam by looking for the follwing in the message text:
1. "Content-Transfer-Encoding quoted-printable"
2. ""
3. "unsubscribe"
4. Content-Transfer-Endocing: base64"
5. "Click Here"
6. "This is a multi-part message in MIME format."
7. "font size ="
8. "cellPadding"
9. "subject=remove"
10. My own e-mail address...
False positive rate is currently much less than 1 percent (about one fales positive every couple of months), largely mitigated by the fact that "approved" addresses always get through whatever is in the messages they're attached to. Generally the only flase positives I get these days are people who send me pix via their cellphones for the first time...
How cool would it be to pay $50 bucks to the local woodshop teacher to make a custom bezel?
First time I've seen anyone in the mainstream media describe the process of movie piracy, who plays, what motivates them, and how the end product trickles out into the "mainstream" to wind up offered via services like Kazaa.
Disclaimer: I know the story's author, Jon Healey, and I happen to think he's one of few people left at the LA Times who's even interested in writing about technology or intellectual property issues on anything other than a "here's how *you* can money with this stock" level.
Classic case: Couple in California has a BBS with porn on it. They go to jail in Tennessee. The problem with staying clear of local laws today is, there is no "local" on the Net. For instance, some cultures forbid images of human beings. You think we should make everybody take their pix off their Web pages?
"State long-arm statutes authorize the courts to claim personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant whose principal business is outside the state." Long arm statutes are triggered by business transactions or torts committed within a state. From "Introduction to Cyberlaw" 2004.
What the federal law *does* do is eliminate distinctions between states for spamming.
I really miss Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers, etc.) I wonder what Heinlein and Adams talk about now?
Maybe. But I've been writing professionally for 20 years and I never throw anything away, no matter how crappy it is. Stories are like children...
Also, it makes it easier to steal from yourself, which is the only way to make money; you keep selliing the same story over and over.
If you're familiar with the word "grok" -- used to indicated grasp something completely, on every level -- you know Heinlein's work. The word is from Stranger In a Strange Land, arguably his greatest book, and a work that helped define science fiction for several generations. Heinlein's stories are classics; one of my personal favorites -- blanking on the title at the moment -- was about a society in which all citizens are required by law to carry guns. Duels are common, and everybody is incredibly polite :-). (I disagree with that objective, but I found the concept well-executed. As it were). Heinlein often exhibted a kind of crypto-fascist ideology on a certain level (read the book Starship Troopers and you'll get more out the humor within the movie), but it's not clear whether he actually believed it or was just being provocative. Sadly, much of his output after Stranger -- which came out in the early sixties -- was largely derivative of his earlier works.
Well, I have one of mine in my lap at the moment (I wrote a newspaper column on this one for years) and it says, in big black letters on a silver background on a label in the upper right corner, "Radio Shack, TRS-80, Model 100, Portable Computer." How's that for research?
I believe my colleague, Alex Pham, broke that story in the Los Angeles Times last week. http://latimes.com/business/la-000068596aug24.stor y