Yeah, this was a good idea... I actually have Ubuntu installed on a portable USB drive -- It's faster than installing off a CD and it remembers saved data, bookmarks & installed progs (instead of a clean boot image).
However, I don't think for a moment that this prevents an infected system BIOS/CMOS from infecting the MBR of the flash drive, or that even booting off of a CD-R will be able to keep me safe if the hardware can't be trusted... I mean, If you want security, why not give them a personal mobile pocket computer instead? Everyone knows that physical access = game over; If an attacker's gained physical access you've just been pwned. Not to mention how easy it is to place a low-tech internal key-logger in todays machines...
I don't use Wolfram, but, come on. The interior angle sum is listed correctly directly beneath the very numbers you totaled.
Also: Each degree is displayed using only 2 significant digits. 181 has 3 significant digits (1.81e2). thus when you added you forgot to round the the solution to the proper number of significant digits (two), giving 1.8e2 or 180 degrees.
The Internet (v4) does not support cryptography either... However, if two machines both equipped with support for either unencrypted protocol (Internet or NFC) wish to exchange encrypted data, what's stopping them from doing so?
Hint: TLS exists as a layer atop an unencrypted channel; Thus, HTTPS (part of the "World Wide Web") supports crypto...
(Also: I'd take upgradeable / patch-able software encryption protocols over hardware crypto implementations any day.)
Seriously, do you guys want to keep scratching with each other over grandma's machine, or do you guys want people like me to push your product to 50 machines at once, and let 50 people *see and use* your browser, learn for themselves that it's better, and take it home with them?
Nah, we'll just make half-hearted attempts to quell unfounded "enterprise" FUD and let all the end users at home or in school enjoy our product's benefits, then take it to work with them -- You know, like BBSs, the Internet, Cellphones then Smartphones, etc, etc.
Sorry, If it's not open source, compiled in house, and uses data encrypted BEFORE it leaves our network -- It's not a secure service. Also: I put it to you that a closed source program or OS is considered harmful in terms of security and transparency (read trust-ability) -- This goes for LockLizard, Symantec's PGP NetShare, and especially Windows -- The US, UK, Russian, Chinese and other governments have the Windows source code, why is that? Security, and also to look for exploit vectors... Being a security contentious individual, Why don't you insist on having the source of your software too?
Even if you can prove that a certain algorithm is being used to encrypt the data, how can I be sure that the program or OS doesn't contain a key-logger that sends the key and/or data where I don't want it to go (Perhaps via a update request)?
If your "SaaS service" (software as a service service?) has the keys to unlock your data -- Well, Your version of "done right" is very different from mine.
Let's not forget the "trust" we put in RSA tokens, letting RSA keep the root keys, and how hackers cracked the collective single point of failure, then used RSA's keys... If those who got hacked as a result of using RSA's "Security as a Service" had instead used Yubikey, they could have installed their own "seed" keys into their own tokens, thus eliminating the centralized key-store. (Additionally, if RSA wasn't using Windows internally they wouldn't have been vulnerable to the attack vector used against them; Google learned this lesson too.)
A true "Thin Client" or Dumb Client, won't be doing much work with your data, allowing data processing remotely means you have no control over your security. I opt for "Real Clients" and in-house services combined with a "Dumb Cloud" that just stores and fetches encrypted blobs.
In short: If someone else has the keys to your kingdom, how secure are you really? (Lockheed thought they could trust RSA in such a way -- Yep, they both got hacked).
--
Don't get me wrong, apply security as needed; Some systems don't need as much security as others (provided backups are made), but why call a less secure solution "done right"?
In unrelated news, Steve Jobs says that no-one wanted a tablet PC, then announced the iPad.
Personally, I'd much rather have 1080p or better per eye in my portable VR goggles, the best I've purchased (without building my own from used Android phones) is 640x480 per eye, tried a few 852x480 or better but I'm waiting for the price to drop a bit.
Follow each tech to it's logical conclusion: Getting the screen bigger and farther away will become impractical -- I'd rather head the other direction and place the high res screens in/near my eyes.
A 360 degree 3D surround setup, with head tracking is very costly (more than some houses); When the next new hotness comes out you replace all the expensive projectors or screens to get better resolution. The 3D environment is stationary (unless it's in a mobile home).
High res VR goggles are very light-weight now, the prices are affordable as an unlocked "smart-phone", and the contrast ratio and luminescence are good; Some VR visors are even designed to connect to your mobile computer/phone, ergo: Portable.
Follow the 3D screen tech far into the future and you've got a 3D display on every surface and remote 24/7 location and head tracking... Or, use the current VR goggle tech and you've got a 3D display over every surface with a private accelerometer/gyroscope for head tracking, and private screens for viewing mobile altered reality. Follow VR far enough -- smaller screens with higher resolutions close to the eyes, and you've got cybernetic ocular implants (which can enable the blind to see -- in 3D HD! heh).
It's fun to watch everyone either waiting to or scrambling to jump on the 3D bandwagon I've been riding since the 90s, them with these huge ugly screens; Come sit next to me, I'm the one holding the "smart-phone" and wearing the high-tech glasses.
As for games? IMO, nothing beats VR headsets in the immersion department. Since I played Descent in '95 I've been hooked on VR.
I've always been wary of "cloud computing", esp. when it's powered by a hybrid "thick-client" connected to a remote data repository... Applications anyone? At least with a client side service (eg: mail reader app) I can continue to use the features I like (such as gestures, goggles, nibbles, etc.) beyond the external "support" lifetime -- Without wondering if a feature will disappear tomorrow.
As an avid Google Labs user, I find their lack of support disturbing.
Furthermore, my plotter does not work with Windows7. The MFG no-longer supports it, so they won't recompile the driver, or give out the source so that I may do so. XP's EOL is 993.0488278587964 from now. This tells me that not only will I be using G'Linux / FLOS Software in the near future, and insist on hardware driver source-code, but that "The Cloud" I use must be built from my own servers, or not at all.
I think I'll call my globally accessible private personal network "The Closet"; I suspect many will identify with this terminology in terms of privacy for multiple reasons.
"Given the number of people who prefer a multi-monitor setup, surely someone can come up with a lighter, less cumbersome, and cheaper design?"
We solved this problem in the 90's -- It's called: VR.
The display res has shot up, and the weight is very low now... When I turn my head I have a whole world of screen-space. When people see me developing a 3D terminal emulator / IDE for my cross-platform game-engine, they always say: "WTF? Multiple terminal regions navigable in 3D? Why? That's a waste!
It's because it will soon be my 3D OS of choice. Go put your polarized or shutter glasses back on, or have your display dictate your head placement. I'll just wear the displays and have a full 360 degree "surface" for cheaper than your ridiculously priced wall of "HD" screens.
Too bad it wasn't as "hip" to be a geek in the 90s as it is today, otherwise more of us would have better/cheaper VR; Instead of me having to use clunky old low-res helmets or build my own light-weight VR units by mounting used Android phone parts to my comfy gaming headset (protip, accelerometers = cheap head tracking).
Hell, if the phones keep getting lighter and thinner: I'll just make a generic helm and slot 2 phones into place -- My OS can then be side-loaded as an app or installed as a custom firmware and I won't have to have a "utility-belt" full of mobile phone guts (it'll be much easier to upgrade), displays can sync wirelessly. Voice recognition is decent, but I still need my portable keyboard... I can't wait till that brainwave sensing tech can let me type.
Someday I may replace an eye with an ocular implant to take full advantage of altered-reality tech -- Leave the other one normal for now, can't risk having my senses hacked just yet. I bet by then the nay-sayers will still be paying too much for non-portable Super Duper HD Gigantron Screens...
--
Once a cyborg, always a cyborg; Still sad about the stem-cell organ ban.
obviously not for 50-60 bucks. If you make a 2h AAA game you must be able to sell it for 10 bucks.
However, if you have to spend big $$$ developing on a custom 3D graphics engine, then short/linear/low-priced games don't make sense unless you license the engine and enable others to do the same sort of thing or make a crap-load of games with the same engine yourself.
Oh, Snap! This is what they already do, yet they figured out they don't have to drop the damn price on the crap linear/short games!
... Then a Hurd of Wildebeasts tramples across the scene, leveling everything and a huge terminal looms into view displaying light-on-dark mono-spaced lettering: Because: GPLv3 > GPLv2; You twits.
Thanks, but I tried that... It turns out that I intentionally don't stay signed in to Google services, so I wrote a userscript for Grease-Monkey instead.
var f = 1;
while ( f ) {
var a = document.getElementsByTagName('a');
f = 0;
for ( var i = 0; i < a.length; ++i )
if ( a[i].href.match('experts-exchange.com') ) try {
f = 1;
var p = a[i];
while ( p != null ) {
if ( p.tagName == 'LI' ) {
p.parentNode.removeChild( p );
break;
} else p = p.parentNode;
}
if ( p == null ) a[i].parentNode.removeChild( a[i] );
} catch ( x ){}
}
void(0);
(Sorry for the formatting, still haven't figured out how to keep slash from eating my s.)
I also have a script to remove all the "ads" links on search results -- Now that they don't color their backgrounds yellow or light-blue and I'm tired of accidentally clicking them. While I was at it I removed the non-intrusive side-bar ads too. Your move Google.
Civil Rights protesters can't be trusted -- If they're breaking the law by riding in the front of buses or participating in illegal protests speaking out the very laws that make such things illegal, or performing their "duty as a statesman" to overthrow an oppressive government (as mentioned in their original Declaration of Independence), then they can clearly NEVER be Trusted!
Are you now or have you ever been in violation of any law? Aha! Your vehicle exceeded the mandated speed limit! Your words are meaningless to me now!
Also: I do not abide by laws that are unjust, or logic that is flawed. Nor do I wait idly for the next blow from my assailant's fist.
My commanding officer's iPhone4 accidentally fell down the loaded barrel of an M1-Abrams Tank. He didn't find it until AFTER it was fired from the barrel -- It smashed through a brick wall, decapitated 42 terrorists, then ricocheted off of a Nexus-S and a Kin (destroying them both). We found it embedded in a granite counter-top with bits of skull and a congressional medal of honor on it.
Please consider that not every character in a password needs to contribute a high level of entropy; As long as a few do (to increase the search space) the length of a password can contain relatively low entropic character streams.
0#f$%aEx 6.7e15 search space (cracked in 3.35e15 brute force attempts on average).
Sl@5h--------------------VortexCortex 1.51e73 (cracked in 75.5e72 brute force attempts on average).
(Sl@5h, twenty dashes, user name -- easy to remember -- not my real algo, make up your own)
A short string of upper and lower case, with symbols increases the search space required per character. However, each character thereafter, even if it repeats, increases the search space size by a factor of the search character set size...
The biggest problem with passwords is that they are not hashed, thus many sites place limitations on the characters and length. If any sites do: I write a scathing e-mail to the moronic IT staff and I refuse to use the insecure service (if I can, otherwise, for places like my previous bank, Wells Fargo, I just bitch about it every so often until my account gets hacked and I'm forced to choose a more secure service...).
I agree, its artificial scarcity and thus considered harmful. As for subscriptions for the latest versions -- If keeping an archived copy of the current / past versions is not allowed you can count me out of subscription based & DRM enabled information access. If I paid to access version 1.5, then my local copy does not need to disappear when version 2.0 is available.
I still have some of my old programming books even though C has changed a lot since then. Can you guess why I still have those old books? Hint: I just wrote, "C has changed a lot since then." -- This means I may need to brush up on, say, the old parameter declaration syntax to understand the programs I wrote when I revisit them (Sometimes it's faster to revisit my code than read a few chapters, sometimes the "book" is a faster route).
Even when you have conditional access to a digital service it's not RENTING.
Why should archived copies of the past versions disappear, or access to the stored current version end when your subscription does?
For any information, (esp on subjects truly important to my life, like computer programming languages), I will not pay for any information or "info service" that has DRM that enables "renting".
Much like the President of the US. At most he'll be around only for 8 years as the head of the Armed Forces... Can't afford to tell him everything, so he's just kept safe unless that's not on the agenda...
Additionally, other than Zaphod-Beeblebroxism I can't understand why the US places so much importance on their president... They can't even make laws -- Wouldn't it be better if the pres actually served in an armed force prior to election as chief commander?
At least royalty has "royal blood", and congress or parliament can make laws when they need to -- It seems that presidents truly are being elected for no other reason than their distractive capabilities...
So, I'll just leave my method (list of instructions / source code / binaries) available to purchase online. You can use your "system" to download them. Thus the only people in violation of the patent are the end users who actually combine the two when they run the software. Good luck suing them all...
Yeah, we fucking created a search engine and a FSM-damned global online network of computers to serve the information in them such that they could simply TYPE a few words from the patent into the box and hit [ search ].
They won't use it, even to just get a lead on someone the can contact for hard evidence -- proof of prior art. The only thing they recognize is the shite that's in their own previously patented databases.
If it's not already patented (or sometimes if it already is) then it can be patented (again). Apparently every good idea must be patented or else someone can come along and force you to pay legal fees to defend your unpatented "invention" -- I mean, why wouldn't you patent it? Hell, I've even suggested a "proof of prior art registry" be created such that ideas we don't want patents on, along with proof or who to contact for proof can be submitted at zero or very low cost.
Additionally, they don't even care if they grant invalid patents. It's the burden of the submitter to do all the leg work to make sure it's a valid set of claims. The PTO leaves it up to the court to determine if the patent is invalid (or, actually, in need of request for review for invalidation of by the PTO). If you get an invalid patent granted, it's on you to defend it -- the PTO doesn't protect us from invalid patents and the courts are wary to rule in favor of seeking invalidation.
What part of "The Whole System Is Fucked" don't you understand?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the BBS software I created in 1988 had such a feature.
In fact, many Will-o'-the-wisps delivered "Knowledge Packets" in real
time among the my many users of my 12 line BBS.
I preferred instantaneous character transmission. It was a bit more
intimate when you could actually see the folks on the other end typing as
they... typed?
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, this was a good idea... I actually have Ubuntu installed on a portable USB drive -- It's faster than installing off a CD and it remembers saved data, bookmarks & installed progs (instead of a clean boot image).
However, I don't think for a moment that this prevents an infected system BIOS/CMOS from infecting the MBR of the flash drive, or that even booting off of a CD-R will be able to keep me safe if the hardware can't be trusted... I mean, If you want security, why not give them a personal mobile pocket computer instead? Everyone knows that physical access = game over; If an attacker's gained physical access you've just been pwned. Not to mention how easy it is to place a low-tech internal key-logger in todays machines...
I don't use Wolfram, but, come on. The interior angle sum is listed correctly directly beneath the very numbers you totaled.
Also: Each degree is displayed using only 2 significant digits. 181 has 3 significant digits (1.81e2). thus when you added you forgot to round the the solution to the proper number of significant digits (two), giving 1.8e2 or 180 degrees.
Bluetooth supports cryptography. NFC does not.
The Internet (v4) does not support cryptography either... However, if two machines both equipped with support for either unencrypted protocol (Internet or NFC) wish to exchange encrypted data, what's stopping them from doing so?
Hint: TLS exists as a layer atop an unencrypted channel; Thus, HTTPS (part of the "World Wide Web") supports crypto...
(Also: I'd take upgradeable / patch-able software encryption protocols over hardware crypto implementations any day.)
What, no more iDweeb wires-into-ears look?
Actually, no, I upgraded from those a long time ago.
You people can call me a tool all you want -- I can explode your heads revealing the underlying talking anuses with my altered reality...
Seriously, do you guys want to keep scratching with each other over grandma's machine, or do you guys want people like me to push your product to 50 machines at once, and let 50 people *see and use* your browser, learn for themselves that it's better, and take it home with them?
Nah, we'll just make half-hearted attempts to quell unfounded "enterprise" FUD and let all the end users at home or in school enjoy our product's benefits, then take it to work with them -- You know, like BBSs, the Internet, Cellphones then Smartphones, etc, etc.
Sorry, If it's not open source, compiled in house, and uses data encrypted BEFORE it leaves our network -- It's not a secure service. Also: I put it to you that a closed source program or OS is considered harmful in terms of security and transparency (read trust-ability) -- This goes for LockLizard, Symantec's PGP NetShare, and especially Windows -- The US, UK, Russian, Chinese and other governments have the Windows source code, why is that? Security, and also to look for exploit vectors... Being a security contentious individual, Why don't you insist on having the source of your software too?
Even if you can prove that a certain algorithm is being used to encrypt the data, how can I be sure that the program or OS doesn't contain a key-logger that sends the key and/or data where I don't want it to go (Perhaps via a update request)?
If your "SaaS service" (software as a service service?) has the keys to unlock your data -- Well, Your version of "done right" is very different from mine.
Let's not forget the "trust" we put in RSA tokens, letting RSA keep the root keys, and how hackers cracked the collective single point of failure, then used RSA's keys... If those who got hacked as a result of using RSA's "Security as a Service" had instead used Yubikey, they could have installed their own "seed" keys into their own tokens, thus eliminating the centralized key-store. (Additionally, if RSA wasn't using Windows internally they wouldn't have been vulnerable to the attack vector used against them; Google learned this lesson too.)
A true "Thin Client" or Dumb Client, won't be doing much work with your data, allowing data processing remotely means you have no control over your security. I opt for "Real Clients" and in-house services combined with a "Dumb Cloud" that just stores and fetches encrypted blobs.
In short: If someone else has the keys to your kingdom, how secure are you really? (Lockheed thought they could trust RSA in such a way -- Yep, they both got hacked).
--
Don't get me wrong, apply security as needed; Some systems don't need as much security as others (provided backups are made), but why call a less secure solution "done right"?
Correct. They've yet to evict me from my cave -- You basement-dwellers know what I mean.
In unrelated news, Steve Jobs says that no-one wanted a tablet PC, then announced the iPad.
Personally, I'd much rather have 1080p or better per eye in my portable VR goggles, the best I've purchased (without building my own from used Android phones) is 640x480 per eye, tried a few 852x480 or better but I'm waiting for the price to drop a bit.
Follow each tech to it's logical conclusion: Getting the screen bigger and farther away will become impractical -- I'd rather head the other direction and place the high res screens in/near my eyes.
A 360 degree 3D surround setup, with head tracking is very costly (more than some houses); When the next new hotness comes out you replace all the expensive projectors or screens to get better resolution. The 3D environment is stationary (unless it's in a mobile home).
High res VR goggles are very light-weight now, the prices are affordable as an unlocked "smart-phone", and the contrast ratio and luminescence are good; Some VR visors are even designed to connect to your mobile computer/phone, ergo: Portable.
Follow the 3D screen tech far into the future and you've got a 3D display on every surface and remote 24/7 location and head tracking... Or, use the current VR goggle tech and you've got a 3D display over every surface with a private accelerometer/gyroscope for head tracking, and private screens for viewing mobile altered reality. Follow VR far enough -- smaller screens with higher resolutions close to the eyes, and you've got cybernetic ocular implants (which can enable the blind to see -- in 3D HD! heh).
It's fun to watch everyone either waiting to or scrambling to jump on the 3D bandwagon I've been riding since the 90s, them with these huge ugly screens; Come sit next to me, I'm the one holding the "smart-phone" and wearing the high-tech glasses.
As for games? IMO, nothing beats VR headsets in the immersion department. Since I played Descent in '95 I've been hooked on VR.
I've always been wary of "cloud computing", esp. when it's powered by a hybrid "thick-client" connected to a remote data repository... Applications anyone? At least with a client side service (eg: mail reader app) I can continue to use the features I like (such as gestures, goggles, nibbles, etc.) beyond the external "support" lifetime -- Without wondering if a feature will disappear tomorrow.
As an avid Google Labs user, I find their lack of support disturbing.
Furthermore, my plotter does not work with Windows7. The MFG no-longer supports it, so they won't recompile the driver, or give out the source so that I may do so. XP's EOL is 993.0488278587964 from now. This tells me that not only will I be using G'Linux / FLOS Software in the near future, and insist on hardware driver source-code, but that "The Cloud" I use must be built from my own servers, or not at all.
I think I'll call my globally accessible private personal network "The Closet"; I suspect many will identify with this terminology in terms of privacy for multiple reasons.
"Given the number of people who prefer a multi-monitor setup, surely someone can come up with a lighter, less cumbersome, and cheaper design?"
We solved this problem in the 90's -- It's called: VR.
The display res has shot up, and the weight is very low now... When I turn my head I have a whole world of screen-space. When people see me developing a 3D terminal emulator / IDE for my cross-platform game-engine, they always say: "WTF? Multiple terminal regions navigable in 3D? Why? That's a waste!
It's because it will soon be my 3D OS of choice. Go put your polarized or shutter glasses back on, or have your display dictate your head placement. I'll just wear the displays and have a full 360 degree "surface" for cheaper than your ridiculously priced wall of "HD" screens.
Too bad it wasn't as "hip" to be a geek in the 90s as it is today, otherwise more of us would have better/cheaper VR; Instead of me having to use clunky old low-res helmets or build my own light-weight VR units by mounting used Android phone parts to my comfy gaming headset (protip, accelerometers = cheap head tracking).
Hell, if the phones keep getting lighter and thinner: I'll just make a generic helm and slot 2 phones into place -- My OS can then be side-loaded as an app or installed as a custom firmware and I won't have to have a "utility-belt" full of mobile phone guts (it'll be much easier to upgrade), displays can sync wirelessly. Voice recognition is decent, but I still need my portable keyboard... I can't wait till that brainwave sensing tech can let me type.
Someday I may replace an eye with an ocular implant to take full advantage of altered-reality tech -- Leave the other one normal for now, can't risk having my senses hacked just yet. I bet by then the nay-sayers will still be paying too much for non-portable Super Duper HD Gigantron Screens...
--
Once a cyborg, always a cyborg; Still sad about the stem-cell organ ban.
obviously not for 50-60 bucks. If you make a 2h AAA game you must be able to sell it for 10 bucks.
However, if you have to spend big $$$ developing on a custom 3D graphics engine, then short/linear/low-priced games don't make sense unless you license the engine and enable others to do the same sort of thing or make a crap-load of games with the same engine yourself.
Oh, Snap! This is what they already do, yet they figured out they don't have to drop the damn price on the crap linear/short games!
"Union" == "Unskilled Workers"
Hmm, Filmmaker's union.
I see what you did there.
Because: GPLv3 > GPLv2; You twits.
Thanks, but I tried that... It turns out that I intentionally don't stay signed in to Google services, so I wrote a userscript for Grease-Monkey instead.
var f = 1;
while ( f ) {
var a = document.getElementsByTagName('a');
f = 0;
for ( var i = 0; i < a.length; ++i )
if ( a[i].href.match('experts-exchange.com') ) try {
f = 1;
var p = a[i];
while ( p != null ) {
if ( p.tagName == 'LI' ) {
p.parentNode.removeChild( p );
break;
} else p = p.parentNode;
}
if ( p == null ) a[i].parentNode.removeChild( a[i] );
} catch ( x ){}
}
void(0);
(Sorry for the formatting, still haven't figured out how to keep slash from eating my s.)
I also have a script to remove all the "ads" links on search results -- Now that they don't color their backgrounds yellow or light-blue and I'm tired of accidentally clicking them. While I was at it I removed the non-intrusive side-bar ads too. Your move Google.
Civil Rights protesters can't be trusted -- If they're breaking the law by riding in the front of buses or participating in illegal protests speaking out the very laws that make such things illegal, or performing their "duty as a statesman" to overthrow an oppressive government (as mentioned in their original Declaration of Independence), then they can clearly NEVER be Trusted!
Are you now or have you ever been in violation of any law? Aha! Your vehicle exceeded the mandated speed limit! Your words are meaningless to me now!
Also: I do not abide by laws that are unjust, or logic that is flawed. Nor do I wait idly for the next blow from my assailant's fist.
My commanding officer's iPhone4 accidentally fell down the loaded barrel of an M1-Abrams Tank. He didn't find it until AFTER it was fired from the barrel -- It smashed through a brick wall, decapitated 42 terrorists, then ricocheted off of a Nexus-S and a Kin (destroying them both). We found it embedded in a granite counter-top with bits of skull and a congressional medal of honor on it.
It was fine.
Simple? Yes. Short? NO.
Please consider that not every character in a password needs to contribute a high level of entropy; As long as a few do (to increase the search space) the length of a password can contain relatively low entropic character streams.
0#f$%aEx
6.7e15 search space (cracked in 3.35e15 brute force attempts on average).
Sl@5h--------------------VortexCortex
1.51e73 (cracked in 75.5e72 brute force attempts on average).
(Sl@5h, twenty dashes, user name -- easy to remember -- not my real algo, make up your own)
A short string of upper and lower case, with symbols increases the search space required per character. However, each character thereafter, even if it repeats, increases the search space size by a factor of the search character set size...
The biggest problem with passwords is that they are not hashed, thus many sites place limitations on the characters and length. If any sites do: I write a scathing e-mail to the moronic IT staff and I refuse to use the insecure service (if I can, otherwise, for places like my previous bank, Wells Fargo, I just bitch about it every so often until my account gets hacked and I'm forced to choose a more secure service...).
I saw that movie, "Mad Max" was it?
I agree, its artificial scarcity and thus considered harmful. As for subscriptions for the latest versions -- If keeping an archived copy of the current / past versions is not allowed you can count me out of subscription based & DRM enabled information access. If I paid to access version 1.5, then my local copy does not need to disappear when version 2.0 is available.
I still have some of my old programming books even though C has changed a lot since then. Can you guess why I still have those old books? Hint: I just wrote, "C has changed a lot since then." -- This means I may need to brush up on, say, the old parameter declaration syntax to understand the programs I wrote when I revisit them (Sometimes it's faster to revisit my code than read a few chapters, sometimes the "book" is a faster route).
Even when you have conditional access to a digital service it's not RENTING.
Why should archived copies of the past versions disappear, or access to the stored current version end when your subscription does?
For any information, (esp on subjects truly important to my life, like computer programming languages), I will not pay for any information or "info service" that has DRM that enables "renting".
Rent.
Digital.
Choose one.
Much like the President of the US. At most he'll be around only for 8 years as the head of the Armed Forces... Can't afford to tell him everything, so he's just kept safe unless that's not on the agenda...
Additionally, other than Zaphod-Beeblebroxism I can't understand why the US places so much importance on their president... They can't even make laws -- Wouldn't it be better if the pres actually served in an armed force prior to election as chief commander?
At least royalty has "royal blood", and congress or parliament can make laws when they need to -- It seems that presidents truly are being elected for no other reason than their distractive capabilities...
RIP D. Adams
Additionally, Where's the system? (or apparatus?)
So, I'll just leave my method (list of instructions / source code / binaries) available to purchase online. You can use your "system" to download them. Thus the only people in violation of the patent are the end users who actually combine the two when they run the software. Good luck suing them all...
Has anyone done anything about it?
Yeah, we fucking created a search engine and a FSM-damned global online network of computers to serve the information in them such that they could simply TYPE a few words from the patent into the box and hit [ search ].
They won't use it, even to just get a lead on someone the can contact for hard evidence -- proof of prior art. The only thing they recognize is the shite that's in their own previously patented databases.
If it's not already patented (or sometimes if it already is) then it can be patented (again). Apparently every good idea must be patented or else someone can come along and force you to pay legal fees to defend your unpatented "invention" -- I mean, why wouldn't you patent it? Hell, I've even suggested a "proof of prior art registry" be created such that ideas we don't want patents on, along with proof or who to contact for proof can be submitted at zero or very low cost.
Additionally, they don't even care if they grant invalid patents. It's the burden of the submitter to do all the leg work to make sure it's a valid set of claims. The PTO leaves it up to the court to determine if the patent is invalid (or, actually, in need of request for review for invalidation of by the PTO). If you get an invalid patent granted, it's on you to defend it -- the PTO doesn't protect us from invalid patents and the courts are wary to rule in favor of seeking invalidation.
What part of "The Whole System Is Fucked" don't you understand?
The murky forest stands before you - a giant maw of gloomy darkness
ever beckoning.
(L)ook for something to kill
(H)ealers Hut
(R)eturn to town
HitPoints: (16 of 20) Fights: 10 Gold: 500 Gems: 2
The Forest (L,H,R,Q) (? for menu)
Your command, user? [41:6] :
- -- --=[ Depths of the Vortex BBS Daemon Notice : SysOp Wants to Chat ]=-- -- -
- --=[ /\ User: Renraku /\ ]-=-[ \/ Sysop: VortexCortex \/ ]=-- -
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the BBS software I created in 1988 had such a feature.
In fact, many Will-o'-the-wisps delivered "Knowledge Packets" in real
time among the my many users of my 12 line BBS.
I preferred instantaneous character transmission. It was a bit more
intimate when you could actually see the folks on the other end typing as
they... typed?