Even if this guy wins, do you think that the on line casinos will again ever let him play their games on credit?
And would he be suing if he had won? Come on! Nobody forced this guy to play the games. If he is able to show in court that AE is at fault, it would open the door to even more frivilous suits, where Jane Doe sues Visa for helping her spend too much money on clothes at the local K-Mart.
Sure, its possible for a clever Cracker to get at my cookies. But I'm not too concerned with it. The guys who are that good have bigger fish to fry.
I'm more worried about some store clerk collecting card numbers and passing them on to someone else. That is a lot more likely to happen in the real world!
Based on the facts as stated in this article, I would say that the people from the etoy site would have the basis for a counter suit against EToys. And since EToys is worth $6 billion, it seems they can afford a multi-million dollar settlement.
Maybe with that, the etoy people can afford to get themselves a better address... one that won't be confused with a stupid toy company.
The problem with letting governments (be they National, (US) State, or local have the right to tax Internet commerce in at all is that it makes them think they have a right to tax Internet commerce in any fashion they want to. And historically, governments are much more reluctant to give up taxes than they are to raise them.
Besides it is difficult to determine just what to tax. What is the basis for determining who gets the tax? The location of the server hosting a selling company? The location of the company's HQ? The location of the factory/warehouse the sold product is coming from? The buyer's location (in all his possible permutations)? The thought that I could be taxed buy multiple governments scares me.
This is great that IBM will keep the speed increase for CPUs going for another decade. But will it really make the computers speed up that much? As the article points out, memory on the chip is faster than memory not on the chip. Part of the new technology involves putting more memory on the chip. But what is not mentioned is that the computer bus (used in moving data from memory to the chip) is not the biggest bottleneck today. Even slower is the network connection between computers. Sure, there is progress here, but the rate of increase is no where near as steep as the speed increase for CPU cycles. The problem is that the amount if information being transfered over the networks is increasing too.
Undoubtedly, the mapping of the human genome will revolutionize medicine during the 21st century. But it opens at least one can of worms... Will individuals have rights to their genetic map? Like any information, if this gets out, could this information be used against a person.
Say, if you carry the gene predisposing you to some form of cancer, could an insurance co. deny you coverage for that condition? Could an employer not hire (or fire you) because you have a genetic tendency toward alcoholism? Could police or the FBI tag you as being a potential criminal because of some combination of traits in your genes?
If it wasn't for the opportunity to importalize themselves in the software, would all those developers work such long hours? Admittedly, the money's good, but you don't think that's the real reason they went into this field, do you?
What is surprising is not the goofy letters the fadetoblack guys came up with, it is how many of these odd-ball letters actually got responses. Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
This discovery does have significance, not for the possibility of life on those gas giants, but because it proves that planets outside of our solar system do form in the "life zone".
As some of the news stories stated, only a tiny fraction of the stars have been identified as having a planet. Ten or twenty years will probably be required to detect some of the planets out there, based on the length of their orbital periods.
As for these gas giants... well, it is still possible that one or more of them have a moon large enough to old a decent atmosphere. That would provide a possible abode for life.
We should all thank the FBI for providing educators with such a valuable tool for identifying that 1 in a million kid who will kill his classmates. Now, we can throw him in jail before he perpetrates his deed.
Oh, we can tell which one of the million kids is really the potential killer? Let's treat them all like potential killers, just to make sure!
This reminds me of the early days, with the debate about Mac vs. PC. Sure, a Mac was easy to use, but it was harder to get at the guts of the computer/operating system.
There is no doubt that some valuable information was gathered by this, but is it really that much more valuable than the data generated by a normal crash dummy?
Although come to think of it, this professor's actions show that he is pretty much a dummy, after all.
What this really amounts to is the Scientology crowd is trying to use the legal system to shut out controvertial talk against it. You can bet that if there were a site singing the praises of dianetics, etc, using the exact same words, that there would never be a suit.
After you've explored the maze, and finally blasted the bad ass demon, what is left?
I'm sure that there are lots of us who are looking forward to this one (with slack jawed anticipation, and fingers twitching to push ever deeper into caverns and tombs using mouse, joystick, or keyboard).
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
Four years ago, I tried installing linux on my machine. The install was unhelpful, and I finally gave it up as a bad job, not having enough time to make it work.
With Redhat and others producing Linux for the market, there is support and competition to produce a user friendly product. When I get ready to install Linux on my new machine (the old one being to kludgy & loaded to bother with), I expect the install & operation to go relatively smoothly. Maybe not as smoothly as an WinNT install, but I haven't done dozens of them either.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
All depends what you call simple. No, they aren't multi-player, networked games, it is true, but even some of the simpler ones are heavily graphic and sound enabled, often with tons of options. I know, having bought a few for my kids (ages 9 & 2). Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
All fun aside, it is facinating the way the word gets passed around about a certain site on the web, and bang!, everyone is checking it out. It makes one wonder what triggers such sudden rushes. If anyone figures it out, please tell me. I'd like to a million hits on my page too. Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
Linux on Palm. Great! So what?
on
Linux on Palm
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· Score: 3
This seems like it would be a great idea. But on second thought, what real benifits is it going to give us. The biggest problem with the hand helds is not the OS, it is the interface. Just adding Linux as the underlying operating system isn't going to automatically give us a great interface. And it certainly isn't necessary to a great interface. I've got nothing against Linux, but I can't see that it solves the problem of Palmtop OS's by itself. Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
So we want a system that requires a user to enter a user ID, a password, as well as a code phrase, etc., etc.??? Who are we trying to kid?
The main security hole that we are trying to cover with this type of stuff is not access to the system by the patient/doctor/user. It is the communication between the terminal/PC, the database, and the terminal/PC. For that, extra layers of passwords don't work. Some of the systems that I've worked with use a secure communication protocal of some sort, that encodes/decodes the information. Such things are probably good and right, but they shouldn't have to be the problem of the user! That is what they pay developers to take care of.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
VERITAS has agreements with both Red Hat and Oricle to provide storage backup. Storage backup will be necessary for any ecommerce operation ('cuz computers do go down). If it wasn't VERITAS, it would have to be Legato. Someone has to make the choice. Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
In this particular case, what does Yahoo!s patent really mean? Not Much 1) If another site wanted to use identical technology in their code to increase the performance of their access, how would anyone (including Yahoo! and the Federal Government) know? The only way would be if there was an inside informant who squealed. 2) If the other site was known to be using a similar set of programs, so what? Copyright law provides protection (supposedly) to prevent copying of code. There is some (very) limited protections against backward engineering a piece of software. But if someone wanted to develop, say, a new word processor that looked just like Microsoft Word, Bill Gates would have a really hard time seeking any recourse in the courts. "Look and Feel" cases haven't done well. As for the garbage that we see getting patents these days... don't get me started. Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
Slashdot Mirror
Even if this guy wins, do you think that the on line casinos will again ever let him play their games on credit?
And would he be suing if he had won? Come on! Nobody forced this guy to play the games. If he is able to show in court that AE is at fault, it would open the door to even more frivilous suits, where Jane Doe sues Visa for helping her spend too much money on clothes at the local K-Mart.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Sure, its possible for a clever Cracker to get at my cookies. But I'm not too concerned with it. The guys who are that good have bigger fish to fry.
I'm more worried about some store clerk collecting card numbers and passing them on to someone else. That is a lot more likely to happen in the real world!
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
Based on the facts as stated in this article, I would say that the people from the etoy site would have the basis for a counter suit against EToys. And since EToys is worth $6 billion, it seems they can afford a multi-million dollar settlement.
Maybe with that, the etoy people can afford to get themselves a better address... one that won't be confused with a stupid toy company.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
The problem with letting governments (be they National, (US) State, or local have the right to tax Internet commerce in at all is that it makes them think they have a right to tax Internet commerce in any fashion they want to. And historically, governments are much more reluctant to give up taxes than they are to raise them.
Besides it is difficult to determine just what to tax. What is the basis for determining who gets the tax? The location of the server hosting a selling company? The location of the company's HQ? The location of the factory/warehouse the sold product is coming from? The buyer's location (in all his possible permutations)? The thought that I could be taxed buy multiple governments scares me.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
This is great that IBM will keep the speed increase for CPUs going for another decade. But will it really make the computers speed up that much? As the article points out, memory on the chip is faster than memory not on the chip. Part of the new technology involves putting more memory on the chip. But what is not mentioned is that the computer bus (used in moving data from memory to the chip) is not the biggest bottleneck today. Even slower is the network connection between computers. Sure, there is progress here, but the rate of increase is no where near as steep as the speed increase for CPU cycles. The problem is that the amount if information being transfered over the networks is increasing too.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
Undoubtedly, the mapping of the human genome will revolutionize medicine during the 21st century. But it opens at least one can of worms... Will individuals have rights to their genetic map? Like any information, if this gets out, could this information be used against a person.
Say, if you carry the gene predisposing you to some form of cancer, could an insurance co. deny you coverage for that condition? Could an employer not hire (or fire you) because you have a genetic tendency toward alcoholism? Could police or the FBI tag you as being a potential criminal because of some combination of traits in your genes?
Stuff like this worries me sometimes.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
If it wasn't for the opportunity to importalize themselves in the software, would all those developers work such long hours? Admittedly, the money's good, but you don't think that's the real reason they went into this field, do you?
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
What is surprising is not the goofy letters the fadetoblack guys came up with, it is how many of these odd-ball letters actually got responses.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
This discovery does have significance, not for the possibility of life on those gas giants, but because it proves that planets outside of our solar system do form in the "life zone".
As some of the news stories stated, only a tiny fraction of the stars have been identified as having a planet. Ten or twenty years will probably be required to detect some of the planets out there, based on the length of their orbital periods.
As for these gas giants... well, it is still possible that one or more of them have a moon large enough to old a decent atmosphere. That would provide a possible abode for life.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
We should all thank the FBI for providing educators with such a valuable tool for identifying that 1 in a million kid who will kill his classmates. Now, we can throw him in jail before he perpetrates his deed.
Oh, we can tell which one of the million kids is really the potential killer? Let's treat them all like potential killers, just to make sure!
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
This reminds me of the early days, with the debate about Mac vs. PC. Sure, a Mac was easy to use, but it was harder to get at the guts of the computer/operating system.
Sound familiar?
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.spam.com
I guess I don't quite get it. Why won't 11/13/1999 be an odd day?
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
There is no doubt that some valuable information was gathered by this, but is it really that much more valuable than the data generated by a normal crash dummy?
Although come to think of it, this professor's actions show that he is pretty much a dummy, after all.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
What this really amounts to is the Scientology crowd is trying to use the legal system to shut out controvertial talk against it. You can bet that if there were a site singing the praises of dianetics, etc, using the exact same words, that there would never be a suit.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
After you've explored the maze, and finally blasted the bad ass demon, what is left?
I'm sure that there are lots of us who are looking forward to this one (with slack jawed anticipation, and fingers twitching to push ever deeper into caverns and tombs using mouse, joystick, or keyboard).
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
Four years ago, I tried installing linux on my machine. The install was unhelpful, and I finally gave it up as a bad job, not having enough time to make it work.
With Redhat and others producing Linux for the market, there is support and competition to produce a user friendly product. When I get ready to install Linux on my new machine (the old one being to kludgy & loaded to bother with), I expect the install & operation to go relatively smoothly. Maybe not as smoothly as an WinNT install, but I haven't done dozens of them either.
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
All depends what you call simple. No, they aren't multi-player, networked games, it is true, but even some of the simpler ones are heavily graphic and sound enabled, often with tons of options. I know, having bought a few for my kids (ages 9 & 2).
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
All fun aside, it is facinating the way the word gets passed around about a certain site on the web, and bang!, everyone is checking it out. It makes one wonder what triggers such sudden rushes. If anyone figures it out, please tell me. I'd like to a million hits on my page too.
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
This seems like it would be a great idea. But on second thought, what real benifits is it going to give us. The biggest problem with the hand helds is not the OS, it is the interface. Just adding Linux as the underlying operating system isn't going to automatically give us a great interface. And it certainly isn't necessary to a great interface. I've got nothing against Linux, but I can't see that it solves the problem of Palmtop OS's by itself.
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
The main security hole that we are trying to cover with this type of stuff is not access to the system by the patient/doctor/user. It is the communication between the terminal/PC, the database, and the terminal/PC. For that, extra layers of passwords don't work. Some of the systems that I've worked with use a secure communication protocal of some sort, that encodes/decodes the information. Such things are probably good and right, but they shouldn't have to be the problem of the user! That is what they pay developers to take care of.
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
VERITAS has agreements with both Red Hat and Oricle to provide storage backup. Storage backup will be necessary for any ecommerce operation ('cuz computers do go down). If it wasn't VERITAS, it would have to be Legato. Someone has to make the choice.
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt
In this particular case, what does Yahoo!s patent really mean? Not Much 1) If another site wanted to use identical technology in their code to increase the performance of their access, how would anyone (including Yahoo! and the Federal Government) know? The only way would be if there was an inside informant who squealed. 2) If the other site was known to be using a similar set of programs, so what? Copyright law provides protection (supposedly) to prevent copying of code. There is some (very) limited protections against backward engineering a piece of software. But if someone wanted to develop, say, a new word processor that looked just like Microsoft Word, Bill Gates would have a really hard time seeking any recourse in the courts. "Look and Feel" cases haven't done well. As for the garbage that we see getting patents these days... don't get me started.
Mike Eckardt
meckardt@yahoo.nospam.com
http://www.geocities.com/meckardt