The really old MS-DOS Typing Tutor had a game like that in it (Letter Invaders). Such a wonderful generic name makes it really difficult to find on the internet.
You do realise that the reason Microsoft now takes a month to release the patch is because they are frustrated with the (bad) publicity frequent patch releases were causing them? That's why we have the one patch-a-month scheme now (and as an added bonus, they get to claim they're more secure than any Linux distro because they put out fewer patches!). Microsoft is (again) treating security as a PR problem.
You really ought to hope that IE7 DOESN'T kill Firefox. Anything, regardless of if you personally use it or not, that keeps Microsoft on it's toes, is good for the customer. It's forcing Microsoft to be competitive, and that's means a better product for everyone.
"We haven't actually bothered to read or fact check anything O'Gara has written, but since it's created a controversy, it must be good. We're getting a lot of hits, and we're making good money.
Unfortunately the DDoS attack is now eating some of that profit, so we have to pull it."
Funny, I have similar, but opposite experiences. I can choose between an overloaded supernode with Shaw, or a consistent 3Mbit/s DSL connection with MTS. Shaw's cable TV offering, is also crappy. MTS's is slightly better, but Bell ExpressVu is probably the best out of the bunch (if you can put up with some of the absolutely stupid things they've done in the past).
You do realize that French isn't spoken in the vast majority of the country? Outside of Quebec, some of New Brunswick, a small part of Winnipeg, and the communities near the Ontario/Quebec border, you won't find much French spoken, and even if you do, you'll often find that the french speakers have little problem speaking english (at least outside of Quebec).
Moreover, if the sky was green how would you ever get the refrigerator out of your ear? Therefore we must flatten the tires of our great tomato in order to prevent the miscarriage of granite. Only then can we labour safe in the knowledge that the world is flat. All in favor, say, "huh?"
I disagree about the "strength" or "weakness" of DRM running on an Open Source OS. First, it depends very greatly on which license we're talking about. If it's the permissive kind of license (BSD, MIT, etc), then there's no real difference between it and proprietary because proprietary extensions may be added without source disclosure. Since Apple's Darwin is licensed from such a permissive source, there's always the possibility that there are proprietary extensions which set up the framework for the DRM, and also prevent it from working without it.
Assuming we presume that a so-called "Copyleft" license was used, then there are other tricks that can be employed. One of them is technologies similar to TCPA. You "measure" the system startup, and the signatures of the system, and get the correct decryption key only if the signature matches the known state. (This technology can also be used for "good" by allowing you to encrypt your own personal data and also making it impossible to decrypt by any other means than the official ones. An IBM employee wrote a useful document on this for Linux Journal)
They are working feverously on unbreakable DRM, and even GNU/Linux can't stop it. All that remains is the "analog hole". Hopefully that's an unsolvable problem, although there have been talks about mandating watermark detection.
I don't believe this is regulating VoIP as much as it is regulating VoIP subscription services. In this context, they are not regulating the internet traffic but rather the internet businesses.
If your iRiver player gets old and you want the the new Samsung or Rio or Dell, all of your DRM WMA music will still play.
Actually, it's possible it won't. I believe MS's WMA DRM is capable of tracking and limiting the number of devices you upload your songs to. Given the control freaks in the recording industry, it's entirely likely for the limit to be one device.
Well, it has this reputation for being cold... Oh, forget it. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They could just as easily ship people here if they wanted them to be cold.
UAEs were application errors, but because of the lack of memory protection in Windows 3.0, they were also system errors, usually requiring a reload of Windows as best, or a reboot at worse. GPFs in Windows 3.1 were ever-so-slightly better than the UAEs in 3.0, but still far too often required a reboot to fix. It wasn't until Windows 95 that introduced some real memory protection (but sadly, still not anywhere near what the 80386 or later was capable of) where you could have a concrete separation between real system errors (fatal exceptions) and application errors (illegal operations).
It's also easily arguable that it's lessso than apache. The new kernel mode http.sys could give attackers unparalleled access to the server if vulnerabilities are found in it. w3svc still runs as SYSTEM so it's still possible to get full system access from an exploit of that (although I understand some of the privledges are dropped somewhat so most attackers would be left a guest account that is allowed to impersonate). And last, the relative number of security advisories are just as useless as when Linux proponents posted them against MS products in the past. Exploits of apache will get nobody (or httpd or whatever) privledge, and a second vulnerability (local root) will be required to take full control of the machine.
Let's be honest here, Microsoft does not like having a large number of advisories to their name, so they are unlikely to disclose vulnerabilities they found and fixed themselves. On the other hand, Windows tends to be a much bigger target (why build a botnet where you'll have to search forever to find UNIX or Linux based hosts when you can make use of the plentiful, poorly administered MS Windows machines out there). Or the prestige of finding security vulns in a product in which you could not merely search the source code for common errors but rather had to use blackbox analysis or object code disassembly.
Do you know how many security and bug fixes Microsoft engineered when building IIS 6 for Windows 2003 from 5.0/5.1? I'm guessing far more than the security advisories and knowledgebase articles would suggest. Microsoft's bug tracking database (I assume they have one) is not public and likely never will be, so we will never know the answer. In comparison, EVERYTHING the Apache Software Foundation does is public. On the other hand, I'm glad Microsoft finally stopped bragging about how many lines of code their All New Windows version has. It was just silly.
When using Windows, I often had better luck (and usually better video) using the open source DScaler than Hauppauge's drivers and software. The only problem I've ever had with the software is it will eat up nearly all your CPU capacity even on a very fast machine. A fair bit of tvtime is based on dscaler.
I don't buy ATI video input cards for a purely practical reason -- I hate paying a $100 premium for a card that I'll eventually upgrade and have to shell out that $100 premium again if I want to keep the same capabilities.
Wow.. It's like Winnipeg, only worse since your minor streets don't even seem to connect perpendicular to each other. You have my condolences. Unfortunately, though, when I said the streets run parallel to the river, I meant the run parallel to the Red River, which snakes back and forth (I understand it was caused by retreating glaciers)
When you have money, you can always find a group of "experts" willing to argue anything you want. Doesn't matter if it's WMD or global warming or economics. Beware of those offering definitive simple answers to complex problems.
You forgot the constant summer construction "fixing" the potholes that appear on the streets constantly (that reappear in 6 months), the confusing street layout (how many times does Route 90 change street names?), virtually none of the streets meet at right angles but instead run parallel to the rivers, confusion corner, and the fact that they send all the dangerous infectious diseases here for research these days.
I can think of one upside to living in Winnipeg... It's cheap to live here.
It probably was. What gets me is why you guys pay so much for your broadband connectivity. For some other numbers on this, you can check this site which has percentages of broadband penetration compared to various different countries.
It's just a guess, but many GNU projects have a habit of avoiding non-GPL and even non-GNU components. If they did, however, it would help GNU Arch mature (the software itself is probably fine, but the supporting software isn't there yet).
The problem is that 24 frames per second, which you chose as your holy number is just as arbitrary as 30fps or 60fps that is used by NTSC/ATSC. Arguably there's probably more 60Hz material out there than film sources in the form of home videos, etc. In addition, digital technology is getting better and better that tying yourself to 24fps may be a fairly foolish thing to do as technology further improves. In fact, you could probably make just as a convincing argument about using 25/50/100 as your frame rate since it's only 4% off 24fps for film (less than 5 minutes off a 120 minute film).
This technology has been trying to get off the ground since at least the 1980s. Today, we have some limited adoption of EDTV and HDTV, but SDTV sets are still being sold more frequently than their higher resolution equivalents. Many 20 and 30 year old televisions are still going strong into this decade, and with HD capable sets just finally getting into price ranges where people might be able to afford them, it'll still be a couple decades before it's the norm and SDTV is unusual like B&W sets are today.
Let's be completely honest here, I don't mind Windows running on systems that are non-critical like a GPS, or entertainment system. But I wouldn't even want Linux running the critical systems because "rarely crashes" is still too many crashes. Any OS driving such a system has to be provably correct (a few RTOSs qualify) and able to detect faults and either shut itself down or failover to a "limp home" mode.
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The really old MS-DOS Typing Tutor had a game like that in it (Letter Invaders). Such a wonderful generic name makes it really difficult to find on the internet.
You do realise that the reason Microsoft now takes a month to release the patch is because they are frustrated with the (bad) publicity frequent patch releases were causing them? That's why we have the one patch-a-month scheme now (and as an added bonus, they get to claim they're more secure than any Linux distro because they put out fewer patches!). Microsoft is (again) treating security as a PR problem.
You really ought to hope that IE7 DOESN'T kill Firefox. Anything, regardless of if you personally use it or not, that keeps Microsoft on it's toes, is good for the customer. It's forcing Microsoft to be competitive, and that's means a better product for everyone.
"We haven't actually bothered to read or fact check anything O'Gara has written, but since it's created a controversy, it must be good. We're getting a lot of hits, and we're making good money.
Unfortunately the DDoS attack is now eating some of that profit, so we have to pull it."
There is a difference between your postal address, and physical address. The idea is that it's not for sending you mail, but to find YOU.
Funny, I have similar, but opposite experiences. I can choose between an overloaded supernode with Shaw, or a consistent 3Mbit/s DSL connection with MTS. Shaw's cable TV offering, is also crappy. MTS's is slightly better, but Bell ExpressVu is probably the best out of the bunch (if you can put up with some of the absolutely stupid things they've done in the past).
You do realize that French isn't spoken in the vast majority of the country? Outside of Quebec, some of New Brunswick, a small part of Winnipeg, and the communities near the Ontario/Quebec border, you won't find much French spoken, and even if you do, you'll often find that the french speakers have little problem speaking english (at least outside of Quebec).
Moreover, if the sky was green how would you ever get the refrigerator out of your ear? Therefore we must flatten the tires of our great tomato in order to prevent the miscarriage of granite. Only then can we labour safe in the knowledge that the world is flat. All in favor, say, "huh?"
Assuming we presume that a so-called "Copyleft" license was used, then there are other tricks that can be employed. One of them is technologies similar to TCPA. You "measure" the system startup, and the signatures of the system, and get the correct decryption key only if the signature matches the known state. (This technology can also be used for "good" by allowing you to encrypt your own personal data and also making it impossible to decrypt by any other means than the official ones. An IBM employee wrote a useful document on this for Linux Journal)
They are working feverously on unbreakable DRM, and even GNU/Linux can't stop it. All that remains is the "analog hole". Hopefully that's an unsolvable problem, although there have been talks about mandating watermark detection.
I don't believe this is regulating VoIP as much as it is regulating VoIP subscription services. In this context, they are not regulating the internet traffic but rather the internet businesses.
Well, it has this reputation for being cold... Oh, forget it. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They could just as easily ship people here if they wanted them to be cold.
UAEs were application errors, but because of the lack of memory protection in Windows 3.0, they were also system errors, usually requiring a reload of Windows as best, or a reboot at worse. GPFs in Windows 3.1 were ever-so-slightly better than the UAEs in 3.0, but still far too often required a reboot to fix. It wasn't until Windows 95 that introduced some real memory protection (but sadly, still not anywhere near what the 80386 or later was capable of) where you could have a concrete separation between real system errors (fatal exceptions) and application errors (illegal operations).
Let's be honest here, Microsoft does not like having a large number of advisories to their name, so they are unlikely to disclose vulnerabilities they found and fixed themselves. On the other hand, Windows tends to be a much bigger target (why build a botnet where you'll have to search forever to find UNIX or Linux based hosts when you can make use of the plentiful, poorly administered MS Windows machines out there). Or the prestige of finding security vulns in a product in which you could not merely search the source code for common errors but rather had to use blackbox analysis or object code disassembly.
Do you know how many security and bug fixes Microsoft engineered when building IIS 6 for Windows 2003 from 5.0/5.1? I'm guessing far more than the security advisories and knowledgebase articles would suggest. Microsoft's bug tracking database (I assume they have one) is not public and likely never will be, so we will never know the answer. In comparison, EVERYTHING the Apache Software Foundation does is public. On the other hand, I'm glad Microsoft finally stopped bragging about how many lines of code their All New Windows version has. It was just silly.
I don't buy ATI video input cards for a purely practical reason -- I hate paying a $100 premium for a card that I'll eventually upgrade and have to shell out that $100 premium again if I want to keep the same capabilities.
Wow.. It's like Winnipeg, only worse since your minor streets don't even seem to connect perpendicular to each other. You have my condolences. Unfortunately, though, when I said the streets run parallel to the river, I meant the run parallel to the Red River, which snakes back and forth (I understand it was caused by retreating glaciers)
When you have money, you can always find a group of "experts" willing to argue anything you want. Doesn't matter if it's WMD or global warming or economics. Beware of those offering definitive simple answers to complex problems.
I can think of one upside to living in Winnipeg... It's cheap to live here.
You mean 700 bytes per page? This is IBM, there could be 800,000 pages of "This page intentionally left blank".
It probably was. What gets me is why you guys pay so much for your broadband connectivity. For some other numbers on this, you can check this site which has percentages of broadband penetration compared to various different countries.
It's just a guess, but many GNU projects have a habit of avoiding non-GPL and even non-GNU components. If they did, however, it would help GNU Arch mature (the software itself is probably fine, but the supporting software isn't there yet).
We're probably more likely to see GCC and other GNU projects convert to GNU Arch over Subversion.
Exhibit #2 - Any political party you don't personally agree with
The problem is that 24 frames per second, which you chose as your holy number is just as arbitrary as 30fps or 60fps that is used by NTSC/ATSC. Arguably there's probably more 60Hz material out there than film sources in the form of home videos, etc. In addition, digital technology is getting better and better that tying yourself to 24fps may be a fairly foolish thing to do as technology further improves. In fact, you could probably make just as a convincing argument about using 25/50/100 as your frame rate since it's only 4% off 24fps for film (less than 5 minutes off a 120 minute film).
This technology has been trying to get off the ground since at least the 1980s. Today, we have some limited adoption of EDTV and HDTV, but SDTV sets are still being sold more frequently than their higher resolution equivalents. Many 20 and 30 year old televisions are still going strong into this decade, and with HD capable sets just finally getting into price ranges where people might be able to afford them, it'll still be a couple decades before it's the norm and SDTV is unusual like B&W sets are today.
Let's be completely honest here, I don't mind Windows running on systems that are non-critical like a GPS, or entertainment system. But I wouldn't even want Linux running the critical systems because "rarely crashes" is still too many crashes. Any OS driving such a system has to be provably correct (a few RTOSs qualify) and able to detect faults and either shut itself down or failover to a "limp home" mode.