Everyone knows that they're used primarily as Solar collectors to power a ship's Kearny-Fujita drive. Now if someone could please invent one, my JumpShip is waiting for me.
Well, if there's group of users that has been told repeatedly that their computer is safe from viruses, that it "just works," and that they don't need to be concerned with computer threats of any kind...it's Apple users. Sitting in their offices, wearing their turtlenecks and sipping their lattes, the only thing about phishing they've heard about is that it happens to other people. Uglier people. They're not used to having to defend themselves, not like Windows users.
Windows users have a battle-scarred paranoia...they've seen worms that can rewrite their BIOS, steal their credit cards, and kidnap their firstborn. Their 50 yard stares have been earned by fixing their mom's computer for the eighth time this month, and damnit if they're going to lose another computer to some Ethiopian scammer...not after the last time.
Their nightmares are the stuff of Steven King novels, the earlier stuff with lovecraftian clowns and superplagues that are the start of apocalyptic battles between good and evil. Their best days on the internet involve life and death struggles against the next pop-up, because it might be their last. Ironically, Mac users have never had to live with the terror that clicking on that "win a free iPod" might just cause their computer to explode, spamming their grandmother with anal tranny porn on its way out.
Maybe it's time they should......wait, what the hell was I talking about?
Congratulations! Your line of reason has just declared every country on the planet that bothers to maintain its border a police state! Welcome to this new and terrifying millenium!
I know that Slashdot likes to focus on marketting cockups, but parent's comment about NO ONE thinking about consumers rings very true. It's not that they don't think about the consumer, though...
Marketers only think about how they're going to persuade the consumer that they want something, not whether or not the consumer actually wants something or will be better off without it.
The sales team (I was in sales before analytics) only thinks about how they're going to convince their customer that the customer's consumers (or end-users) really want this product. The actual consumer is the customer's problem.
The engineering team, meanwhile, is upset that sales and marketting don't want to give the go-ahead for their Widgetizer 5000, which will almost certainly be out of alpha in 3 year and rarely ever turns its user into a gerbil anymore.
I support this sort of filtering for the same reasons that I support the rules prohibiting cell phones on planes. Now, ignoring the safety concerns of cell phones, the second that two or three business travelers start competing to be the loudest person so that their incredibly important conference call can hear their thoughts on the Johnson proposal is the second that other passengers start acquiring arguments for reasonable homicide. Idiots on the web can only be an even worse idea.
I don't mind people checking their e-mail, but if airlines wish to enforce civility while I'm paying $150+ for a 1.5 hour flight to DC with a bunch of philistines...I say more power to them.
I'm a bit confused. If the only economic impact of a spybot net is the salaries of the people who need to investigate the network and arrest the wankers who are hacking your mom's computer, is the real answer to just stick our heads in the sand and not investigate?
Now, if your point is that the men in nice dark suits can't accurately put a dollar figure on an ephemeral crime like hijacking CPU time and turning computers into spambots, I agree with you. That doesn't mean that there is no impact, though. Maybe we should assign economic impact based on what I would bill a stranger for fixing their computer that's infested with spyware (I do my mom's for free).
Ah, the "a mysterious stranger snuck in and did what you say I did that that the evidence said was done as I would do it but you can't prove it was me what did it." It worked so well for OJ in civil court...
I realize that slashdotters have a dim view of the IQs of government officials, but do we really think that an immigration official will be so baffled by someone's solid black fingerprint marks that they won't notice the gloves?
(Also, Coming soon: In a non-free society, only criminals will wear gloves!)
As a celebration for his victory, we are established for your beneficiary a large bank account in a small East African village. Effect payment of charge processing to the bank account to be listed later in order to receive your monies.
They call out the fact that they'll be using context-sensitive ads fairly often, and I (and others) signed up for it nonetheless. My privacy can't be violated if I've already consented to see some ads in exchange for free e-mail/storage hosting. I have other options if I don't like it.
Now, can a person who e-mails ME complain about a privacy violation? That's a bit more of an interesting question, and it depends on the level of tin-foil-hattery.
"We need 5L of patent applications, stat! Can you imagine the dough we'll make when we lock up this discovery so that no one else can cure diabetes but us?"
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, the initial robots would sometimes mistake their owners for spam, so when they went to rub the spam in feces...well...it was a precurser to 2001
Everyone knows that they're used primarily as Solar collectors to power a ship's Kearny-Fujita drive. Now if someone could please invent one, my JumpShip is waiting for me.
The best evidence for intelligent life in the universe is that it hasn't contacted us yet
(Paraphrasing Calvin)
Well, if there's group of users that has been told repeatedly that their computer is safe from viruses, that it "just works," and that they don't need to be concerned with computer threats of any kind...it's Apple users. Sitting in their offices, wearing their turtlenecks and sipping their lattes, the only thing about phishing they've heard about is that it happens to other people. Uglier people. They're not used to having to defend themselves, not like Windows users. Windows users have a battle-scarred paranoia...they've seen worms that can rewrite their BIOS, steal their credit cards, and kidnap their firstborn. Their 50 yard stares have been earned by fixing their mom's computer for the eighth time this month, and damnit if they're going to lose another computer to some Ethiopian scammer...not after the last time. Their nightmares are the stuff of Steven King novels, the earlier stuff with lovecraftian clowns and superplagues that are the start of apocalyptic battles between good and evil. Their best days on the internet involve life and death struggles against the next pop-up, because it might be their last. Ironically, Mac users have never had to live with the terror that clicking on that "win a free iPod" might just cause their computer to explode, spamming their grandmother with anal tranny porn on its way out. Maybe it's time they should... ...wait, what the hell was I talking about?
What happened, mods? Encrypt your sense of humor and lose the key? This is why encryption is dangerous!
No explosions, according to Cecil: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_147.html
You'd even have a few seconds of useful consciousness to take a whiff and stick your head back in!
Congratulations! Your line of reason has just declared every country on the planet that bothers to maintain its border a police state! Welcome to this new and terrifying millenium!
I know that Slashdot likes to focus on marketting cockups, but parent's comment about NO ONE thinking about consumers rings very true. It's not that they don't think about the consumer, though... Marketers only think about how they're going to persuade the consumer that they want something, not whether or not the consumer actually wants something or will be better off without it. The sales team (I was in sales before analytics) only thinks about how they're going to convince their customer that the customer's consumers (or end-users) really want this product. The actual consumer is the customer's problem. The engineering team, meanwhile, is upset that sales and marketting don't want to give the go-ahead for their Widgetizer 5000, which will almost certainly be out of alpha in 3 year and rarely ever turns its user into a gerbil anymore.
Admit it, "W," if that is your real name. You came up with the name "Notwork."
A man in Idaho once tried....he doesn't like to talk about what happened, and that may be because he no longer has a mouth
Windows Genuine Advantage DID concern Windows, though. One for three isn't bad...
(actually, it's 33%, but don't tell anyone)
Some idiot was blabbering about it on his cell phone at 30 decibels.
I support this sort of filtering for the same reasons that I support the rules prohibiting cell phones on planes. Now, ignoring the safety concerns of cell phones, the second that two or three business travelers start competing to be the loudest person so that their incredibly important conference call can hear their thoughts on the Johnson proposal is the second that other passengers start acquiring arguments for reasonable homicide. Idiots on the web can only be an even worse idea.
I don't mind people checking their e-mail, but if airlines wish to enforce civility while I'm paying $150+ for a 1.5 hour flight to DC with a bunch of philistines...I say more power to them.
Can you blame HBO? Did you see the last episode?
Careful how you reply. My sarcasm levels are over 5000.
Now if only we could speed up the justice system so it could move as quickly as a Dragonball Z fight....
A publicly traded company (held privately) is still private (in the sense that the GP means).
I'm a bit confused. If the only economic impact of a spybot net is the salaries of the people who need to investigate the network and arrest the wankers who are hacking your mom's computer, is the real answer to just stick our heads in the sand and not investigate?
Now, if your point is that the men in nice dark suits can't accurately put a dollar figure on an ephemeral crime like hijacking CPU time and turning computers into spambots, I agree with you. That doesn't mean that there is no impact, though. Maybe we should assign economic impact based on what I would bill a stranger for fixing their computer that's infested with spyware (I do my mom's for free).
Ah, the "a mysterious stranger snuck in and did what you say I did that that the evidence said was done as I would do it but you can't prove it was me what did it." It worked so well for OJ in civil court...
I realize that slashdotters have a dim view of the IQs of government officials, but do we really think that an immigration official will be so baffled by someone's solid black fingerprint marks that they won't notice the gloves?
(Also, Coming soon: In a non-free society, only criminals will wear gloves!)
As a celebration for his victory, we are established for your beneficiary a large bank account in a small East African village. Effect payment of charge processing to the bank account to be listed later in order to receive your monies.
Congress' response: "As a required questioning protocol, we are required to inform you that after your testimony's completion, there will be cake."
They call out the fact that they'll be using context-sensitive ads fairly often, and I (and others) signed up for it nonetheless. My privacy can't be violated if I've already consented to see some ads in exchange for free e-mail/storage hosting. I have other options if I don't like it.
Now, can a person who e-mails ME complain about a privacy violation? That's a bit more of an interesting question, and it depends on the level of tin-foil-hattery.
And what does it say about George Bush? Two countries invaded and overthrown...working out some pent-up aggression?
"We need 5L of patent applications, stat! Can you imagine the dough we'll make when we lock up this discovery so that no one else can cure diabetes but us?"