He's not for invading Iraq to fight terrorism, though Bush has made that popular.
Don't get me wrong: Saddam was a bad guy. However, there's a lot of "bad guys" out there running countries. We can't just invade every one that we don't like! Due to sanctions, inspections, and no-fly zones (all of which seemed to be working), Iraq has been pretty militarily neutered since the last Iraq war.
Meanwhile, we have turned our attention away from the real bad guys. Osama is on the loose, and Iraq and North Korea have budding nuclear programs. We have also totally ignored a humanitarian nightmare in Sudan, where tens-of-thousands of people have died (50k-70k) and hundreds of thousands have become displaced.
We had no reason to go to war, no reason for the 1000+ American soldiers to die. There's no reason for the many innocent Iraqis to die in the crossfire. We were told there was irrefutable proof, that the evidence was a slam-dunk. We were told those crafty Iraqis move their WMD every week or so. Our "proof" for the war in Iraq turned out to be some flimsy forged documents and unchecked hearsay. And most of the propaganda coming from the US Government before the war has been debunked.
I am sure the major virus scanners will have it before anything "really" bad happens.. this isnt anything special.. move along
You've gotta be kidding! Viruses can spread quicker than the virus companies can react. During this past week, our systems have recently been ransacked by a variant of the Polybot virus. Have you noticed about five new Dat files for McAfee in the past week? That's because we were totally screwed by this virus, and none of the major antivirus programs seemed to do a darned thing. (Oh, McAfee would detect it, but then let it through. Thanks!) Maybe our samples will help some other poor schmuck out there.
Fact is, once a virus is deployed, it can spread very fast. While the virus is spreading, someone must procure and send a sample to the antivirus companies, who must engineer a fix for it, and then publish a DAT update. Then, once the Extra.dat file is published, the end-user has to download and deploy it. Best case scenario, it will probably take a few days. By that time, a virus can do a lot of spreading and damage.
(I hope this doesn't come across as a gigantic free textad on Slashdot.:-)
Hi there, I'm Scott Starkey, designer of the card game "The Mother Lode of Sticky Gulch." My game was honored by the GAMES 100 this past year, a lifelong dream I accidentally hurdled. I would be happy to dispense a little bit of advice.
If you're just starting out, probably the "home-publishing" method could probably work for you. There's a few companies out there that are doing print runs at Kinko's and lovingly hand-cutting their product and selling it. Advantage: Very small cash outlay at the start. Disadvantage: Product might seem a little "cheap." (Cheaper than Cheapass?) Also takes a lot of energy to do each deck.
Secondly, there's the method that I tried. If you're insane, and you've got a few thousand dollars that you'd just like to say goodbye to, you can have your cards professionally printed. There are a few printers around that will do small print runs of 1000 units or so. I went with Delano Service, because of them being geographically close to me, and they seemed to have excellent customer service. My good pal Jim Doherty of Eight Foot Llama seems to get good service in Canada at Quebecor. Fact is, there are several places you could get a game printed at, and there's no obligation to get a quote if you know what you need. In fact, it's rather fun to get quotes.:-)
I don't want to discourage you too much, but creating a game is somewhat of a pain in the ass. You've got to compile a metric buttload of art, design each of the cards, lay it out in a way that's pleasing to the eye, design an attractive package, write clear and consise rules. Most games are designed by a team. Me, I was lucky, because I was already an artist, but it was still an uphill battle. Then once you compile all of the artwork, you might find out that the printer needs all of your art to be 300 dpi CMYK instead of 60 dpi RGB, and have to do it all over again, like I did.
Of course, I didn't realize, after getting the game printed... printing the game is the easy part. Yeah, I'm designing games as a hobby. But now I have to become a marketer, promoter, and salesman. Fact is, I'm a horrible salesman, and I don't like pushing my game in people's faces. Also, if you're running a business, you've got to keep voluminous records of travel, expenses, taxes. It's all mind-numblingly boring, for something that was supposed to be fun!
You might go to a convention and expect to sell a bundle of games. Don't kid yourself. I dropped $500 on half of a GenCon booth last year and sold a scant few decks. Chatting with some of the other boothites, it seems that most companies that go to a convention do not make back their investment at the convention. However, it does serve as good advertising. Having a presence at a convention puts a product in the public eye, which is good. But it doesn't really add up in many direct sales, unless you're Wizards of the Coast in 1992.
I might never make back what I invested. Sales haven't been spectacular, despite having been honored by GAMES. It doesn't really matter, though. It's a wild ride. I am now a game designer with a mote of prestige. I've fulfilled a lifelong dream. It's my biggest gambit of all: I wagered a few thousand dollars that there are 1000 people out there that would buy my game. I get the feeling that very few people make a profit at this game. However, if I justify it as a "very expensive hobby," it takes the sting out somewhat.:-)
You might check out the Board Game Designer Forum, where a bunch of folks of a similar mindset to you and me hang out and talk about the process of creating games. We critique each other's works, and have weekly chat sessions about various topics about the craft of game desi
I'm not a lawyer, but I am taking a law class right now in which we talked about this!
But what if the law said that only the party that files the lawsuit is required to pay their opponent's legal fees if they lose? This seems like a pretty good way to discourage frivolous lawsuits.
There is already a law on the books (I think it's a federal law) called "Rule 11." The defendant can appeal to the judge that a suit is frivolous and baseless. If the judge agrees, the one suing is required to pay the legal fees and of the defendant, and the case is dropped. Now that I reread it, it sounds like the *lawyers* have to pay the penalties...
Of course, if you want legal advice, talk to a real lawyer, and not some guy who's taken a half-semester of one class like me. Of course, this is Slashdot, so you should listen to crackpots like me as gospel, right?:-)
I'm an Indiana voter, and the most recent elections in my county (Tippecanoe County, encompassing Purdue University) were a complete disaster. Yes, we can thank our good pal Diebold.
I went to vote at 7:00 am after the polls had been open for an hour and was turned away because of "computer problems." Apparently one of the "pick X candidates for city council" votes was not allowing a voter to pick multiple candidates. Our election board had to print up paper ballots at the last minute, delaying the opening of the polls for about two hours. When I finally got a chance to vote, it was the good-old-fashioned way: checking off candidates pen and paper, and counted by hand.
Okay, shame on us for not having a backup in place in case the computer screwed up. But the computer shouldn't have screwed up in the first place. Testing, people?
Elsewhere in our county, first the machine neglected to tally absentee ballots in a very close race. Then it was discovered that one of the voting stations put the wrong candidates on the ballot, which may lead to a special run-off election. http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20031111/20031111 1l ocal_news1068529632.shtml
My town, little old Dayton, Indiana, with only about 200 voters, uses Diebold voting machines, as mandated by the county. In this morning's election, the machines would not allow voters to cast multiple votes in a category (for city council, I believe).
So, the opening of elections is currently being postponed while we print punch-card ballots. As of now, I think the voting is 1.5 hours late.
We trusted Diebold voting machines, and we had no backup plan. Someone is going to hear about this. I guess Diebold machines are not only insecure, they are also unreliable!
You should check out one of the free (as in beer) "fake" email services. Take a look at:
Sneakemail Basic account is free, premium service is $2/month. This is a wonderful service where you set up an address that will act as a front door and forward mail to an address you specify. You can have dozens of addresses, each for a specific company. Whenever you like, you can delete the address; no more spam problem.
Mailinator If you ever need a temporary throwaway email address just to sign up for something you're unsure of, use Mailinator. Once you sign up for Mailinator (using your Sneakemail address above;-) then you pick AnyUserName@mailinator.com, Mailinator will capture the email, and allow you to look at it. I saw this in Cringely's column, and really like it.
Two extremely handy services. I use both quite often!
I doubt you would be able to sue them in small claims court, unless they have an office in your state. I think that if you sue a company across state lines, you need a higher court.
I'm not 100% sure about that, and I'm not a lawyer. But I think it's possible that 5000 people could do a "lawsuit crapflood" in SCO's home state.;-)
Gimp only does RGB format, and cannot save as CMYK format, as far as I know. I think it's wrapped up in a totally separate patent issue.
I'm a professional artist, and I'd love to use Gimp for my needs (blatant plug, sorry;-). However, professional printing companies demand CMYK. Because of that, at this time I can't do without one of the big graphics suites.
If Gimp does do CMYK with some special plug-in, could someone point me in the right direction?
Listen up! I come to Slashdot for one thing only: Microsoft bashing. If I want to read pro-MS stuff I'll go to -- um, some site that people talk about how great Microsoft is.
This is too much. Let's hope it's not the start of a trend. Thank God I didn't subscribe.
There's a kinky story accessible through this site about two underage kids who fall in love, have sex, and later die. I've read it myself. It's called, "Romeo and Juliet."
I found Steve Gibson's description of battling a DDoS attack having more technical information, and being much more entertaining at the same time. He's the author of "Shields UP!!" and other Internet security software. A good read for geeks.
Just yesterday, I received an email back from my Senate-critter concerning my email to him about current issues before the Senate at this time. The email stated that he'd keep my views in mind when the issues came up for votes.
I wasn't expecting any notification back, but getting his confirmation was nice. Our legislature might be becoming swamped with emails, but hopefully the rational ones that say I'm a voter and you represent me will be listened to. That is, if your representative is worth his weight.
The article poses the question, "Who do you call for tech support?" if your office suite breaks.
That's the big bugaboo question with corporations: Who do we blame if something goes wrong? That's the question that MS wants to stick in your craw, to give the perception that open source software is unreliable.
However, if you're using Microsoft products, when is the last time you got tech support from Microsoft? I've been supporting Microsoft products in a Helpdesk environment for over six years now. I have never even thought of support from Microsoft as much of an option. Am I missing something?
I do know that every time I have submitted bug reports to Microsoft (which I've done on multiple occasions) the report seems to disappear into a black hole. I've never got even so much as an automatic confirmation or anything. And always, the suggestion to correct the bug has gone unanswered, with no bug fix. Yes, I rather resent the poor service back to me, when I was trying to help them.
Every open source project I've submitted bug fixes for have almost always sent feedback back to me. Usually in the form of a personal email from the author. Now how's that for service?
I'm questioning whether Microsoft fixed this bug at all. I really am.
Okay, I'm familiar with the bug which Klez and others supposedly exploit, and its fix (supposedly IE 5.5 SP1 or greater) but the fix does not seem to do a darned thing. I've installed every service pack for IE under the sun, and still no good.
On computers that I've installed IE 5.5 SP2 on plus all the other recommended patches, they still have the vulnerability. I've seen users with 5.5sp2 just click on (not open) an email and it automagically loads the virus du jour. Fortunately, McAfee stops it before doing any damage, but it still irks me.
I've installed all the fixes suggested by hfnetchk and/or "WindowsUpdate"... and I'm at a loss. This vulnerability seems to be pretty ubiquitous across all of our NT4 and Win2k machines, which all have IE5.5sp2. Is there anyone else out there that is having similar problems?
Slashdot Mirror
Meanwhile, we have turned our attention away from the real bad guys. Osama is on the loose, and Iraq and North Korea have budding nuclear programs. We have also totally ignored a humanitarian nightmare in Sudan, where tens-of-thousands of people have died (50k-70k) and hundreds of thousands have become displaced.
We had no reason to go to war, no reason for the 1000+ American soldiers to die. There's no reason for the many innocent Iraqis to die in the crossfire. We were told there was irrefutable proof, that the evidence was a slam-dunk. We were told those crafty Iraqis move their WMD every week or so. Our "proof" for the war in Iraq turned out to be some flimsy forged documents and unchecked hearsay. And most of the propaganda coming from the US Government before the war has been debunked.
Fact is, once a virus is deployed, it can spread very fast. While the virus is spreading, someone must procure and send a sample to the antivirus companies, who must engineer a fix for it, and then publish a DAT update. Then, once the Extra.dat file is published, the end-user has to download and deploy it. Best case scenario, it will probably take a few days. By that time, a virus can do a lot of spreading and damage.
(I hope this doesn't come across as a gigantic free textad on Slashdot. :-)
:-)
:-)
Hi there, I'm Scott Starkey, designer of the card game "The Mother Lode of Sticky Gulch." My game was honored by the GAMES 100 this past year, a lifelong dream I accidentally hurdled. I would be happy to dispense a little bit of advice.
If you're just starting out, probably the "home-publishing" method could probably work for you. There's a few companies out there that are doing print runs at Kinko's and lovingly hand-cutting their product and selling it. Advantage: Very small cash outlay at the start. Disadvantage: Product might seem a little "cheap." (Cheaper than Cheapass?) Also takes a lot of energy to do each deck.
Secondly, there's the method that I tried. If you're insane, and you've got a few thousand dollars that you'd just like to say goodbye to, you can have your cards professionally printed. There are a few printers around that will do small print runs of 1000 units or so. I went with Delano Service, because of them being geographically close to me, and they seemed to have excellent customer service. My good pal Jim Doherty of Eight Foot Llama seems to get good service in Canada at Quebecor. Fact is, there are several places you could get a game printed at, and there's no obligation to get a quote if you know what you need. In fact, it's rather fun to get quotes.
I don't want to discourage you too much, but creating a game is somewhat of a pain in the ass. You've got to compile a metric buttload of art, design each of the cards, lay it out in a way that's pleasing to the eye, design an attractive package, write clear and consise rules. Most games are designed by a team. Me, I was lucky, because I was already an artist, but it was still an uphill battle. Then once you compile all of the artwork, you might find out that the printer needs all of your art to be 300 dpi CMYK instead of 60 dpi RGB, and have to do it all over again, like I did.
Of course, I didn't realize, after getting the game printed... printing the game is the easy part. Yeah, I'm designing games as a hobby. But now I have to become a marketer, promoter, and salesman. Fact is, I'm a horrible salesman, and I don't like pushing my game in people's faces. Also, if you're running a business, you've got to keep voluminous records of travel, expenses, taxes. It's all mind-numblingly boring, for something that was supposed to be fun!
You might go to a convention and expect to sell a bundle of games. Don't kid yourself. I dropped $500 on half of a GenCon booth last year and sold a scant few decks. Chatting with some of the other boothites, it seems that most companies that go to a convention do not make back their investment at the convention. However, it does serve as good advertising. Having a presence at a convention puts a product in the public eye, which is good. But it doesn't really add up in many direct sales, unless you're Wizards of the Coast in 1992.
I might never make back what I invested. Sales haven't been spectacular, despite having been honored by GAMES. It doesn't really matter, though. It's a wild ride. I am now a game designer with a mote of prestige. I've fulfilled a lifelong dream. It's my biggest gambit of all: I wagered a few thousand dollars that there are 1000 people out there that would buy my game. I get the feeling that very few people make a profit at this game. However, if I justify it as a "very expensive hobby," it takes the sting out somewhat.
You might check out the Board Game Designer Forum, where a bunch of folks of a similar mindset to you and me hang out and talk about the process of creating games. We critique each other's works, and have weekly chat sessions about various topics about the craft of game desi
There is already a law on the books (I think it's a federal law) called "Rule 11." The defendant can appeal to the judge that a suit is frivolous and baseless. If the judge agrees, the one suing is required to pay the legal fees and of the defendant, and the case is dropped. Now that I reread it, it sounds like the *lawyers* have to pay the penalties...
Of course, if you want legal advice, talk to a real lawyer, and not some guy who's taken a half-semester of one class like me. Of course, this is Slashdot, so you should listen to crackpots like me as gospel, right?
I'm an Indiana voter, and the most recent elections in my county (Tippecanoe County, encompassing Purdue University) were a complete disaster. Yes, we can thank our good pal Diebold.
1 1l ocal_news1068529632.shtml
I went to vote at 7:00 am after the polls had been open for an hour and was turned away because of "computer problems." Apparently one of the "pick X candidates for city council" votes was not allowing a voter to pick multiple candidates. Our election board had to print up paper ballots at the last minute, delaying the opening of the polls for about two hours. When I finally got a chance to vote, it was the good-old-fashioned way: checking off candidates pen and paper, and counted by hand.
Okay, shame on us for not having a backup in place in case the computer screwed up. But the computer shouldn't have screwed up in the first place. Testing, people?
Elsewhere in our county, first the machine neglected to tally absentee ballots in a very close race. Then it was discovered that one of the voting stations put the wrong candidates on the ballot, which may lead to a special run-off election.
http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20031111/2003111
My town, little old Dayton, Indiana, with only about 200 voters, uses Diebold voting machines, as mandated by the county. In this morning's election, the machines would not allow voters to cast multiple votes in a category (for city council, I believe).
So, the opening of elections is currently being postponed while we print punch-card ballots. As of now, I think the voting is 1.5 hours late.
We trusted Diebold voting machines, and we had no backup plan. Someone is going to hear about this. I guess Diebold machines are not only insecure, they are also unreliable!
You should check out one of the free (as in beer) "fake" email services. Take a look at:
;-) then you pick AnyUserName@mailinator.com, Mailinator will capture the email, and allow you to look at it. I saw this in Cringely's column, and really like it.
Sneakemail Basic account is free, premium service is $2/month. This is a wonderful service where you set up an address that will act as a front door and forward mail to an address you specify. You can have dozens of addresses, each for a specific company. Whenever you like, you can delete the address; no more spam problem.
Mailinator If you ever need a temporary throwaway email address just to sign up for something you're unsure of, use Mailinator. Once you sign up for Mailinator (using your Sneakemail address above
Two extremely handy services. I use both quite often!
Since the virus spoofs the address of the sender, who it says it comes from is probably not where it came from.
Just FYI.
Microsoft Publisher is *already* unnecessary!
I doubt you would be able to sue them in small claims court, unless they have an office in your state. I think that if you sue a company across state lines, you need a higher court.
;-)
I'm not 100% sure about that, and I'm not a lawyer. But I think it's possible that 5000 people could do a "lawsuit crapflood" in SCO's home state.
Gimp only does RGB format, and cannot save as CMYK format, as far as I know. I think it's wrapped up in a totally separate patent issue.
;-). However, professional printing companies demand CMYK. Because of that, at this time I can't do without one of the big graphics suites.
I'm a professional artist, and I'd love to use Gimp for my needs (blatant plug, sorry
If Gimp does do CMYK with some special plug-in, could someone point me in the right direction?
Kudos! That is a great idea!
Listen up! I come to Slashdot for one thing only: Microsoft bashing. If I want to read pro-MS stuff I'll go to -- um, some site that people talk about how great Microsoft is.
This is too much. Let's hope it's not the start of a trend. Thank God I didn't subscribe.
There's a kinky story accessible through this site about two underage kids who fall in love, have sex, and later die. I've read it myself. It's called, "Romeo and Juliet."
NCR Corporation provides us with some examples to get you going:
- Exactly like a database, except it's on the Internet.
- Exactly like a secure database, except it's on the Internet.
- Exactly like a commerce database, except it's on the Internet.
- Exactly like a database client, except it's on the Internet.
- Exactly like computer security, except it's on the Internet.
Thanks, NCR!Mouse gestures are being worked on at a project called Optimoz.
I found Steve Gibson's description of battling a DDoS attack having more technical information, and being much more entertaining at the same time. He's the author of "Shields UP!!" and other Internet security software. A good read for geeks.
There's a word for a Windows 2000 machine with 2 years of uptime connected to the Internet.
Honeypot.
That thing must attract every hacker from the four corners of the world! Haven't they ever heard of a Service Pack? Good Lord.
She hasn't done much with her website, has she? Registered on April 2, 2002.
Just yesterday, I received an email back from my Senate-critter concerning my email to him about current issues before the Senate at this time. The email stated that he'd keep my views in mind when the issues came up for votes.
I wasn't expecting any notification back, but getting his confirmation was nice. Our legislature might be becoming swamped with emails, but hopefully the rational ones that say I'm a voter and you represent me will be listened to. That is, if your representative is worth his weight.
YMMV,
Yekrats
The article poses the question, "Who do you call for tech support?" if your office suite breaks.
That's the big bugaboo question with corporations: Who do we blame if something goes wrong? That's the question that MS wants to stick in your craw, to give the perception that open source software is unreliable.
However, if you're using Microsoft products, when is the last time you got tech support from Microsoft? I've been supporting Microsoft products in a Helpdesk environment for over six years now. I have never even thought of support from Microsoft as much of an option. Am I missing something?
I do know that every time I have submitted bug reports to Microsoft (which I've done on multiple occasions) the report seems to disappear into a black hole. I've never got even so much as an automatic confirmation or anything. And always, the suggestion to correct the bug has gone unanswered, with no bug fix. Yes, I rather resent the poor service back to me, when I was trying to help them.
Every open source project I've submitted bug fixes for have almost always sent feedback back to me. Usually in the form of a personal email from the author. Now how's that for service?
--Yekrats
I'm questioning whether Microsoft fixed this bug at all. I really am.
Okay, I'm familiar with the bug which Klez and others supposedly exploit, and its fix (supposedly IE 5.5 SP1 or greater) but the fix does not seem to do a darned thing. I've installed every service pack for IE under the sun, and still no good.
On computers that I've installed IE 5.5 SP2 on plus all the other recommended patches, they still have the vulnerability. I've seen users with 5.5sp2 just click on (not open) an email and it automagically loads the virus du jour. Fortunately, McAfee stops it before doing any damage, but it still irks me.
I've installed all the fixes suggested by hfnetchk and/or "WindowsUpdate"... and I'm at a loss. This vulnerability seems to be pretty ubiquitous across all of our NT4 and Win2k machines, which all have IE5.5sp2. Is there anyone else out there that is having similar problems?
Romeo and Juliet.