I think, if one was to study through the methods eveyone was using you would find a lot of flawed assumptions. I know I read and thought of a lot of lines of reasonings that made sense at the time, were very well thought out, but had absolutly no proof. What assumption killed me? The assumption that I had to move a pawn to bring the queen into play. If I has challenged that assumption I might have had more Karma, or at least, a cool book. It's nice to have my assumptions challenged a week before I find out whay Y2K really does.
Congrats. I had figured out I needed the queen to do a verticle attack. I had figured out that I needed the knight to take the rook and trap the king exactly that way. I never throught about using White's Queen to get my dang pawn out of the way!
1. It could be a discover mate: The knight would have to take the rook on the knight's third move. The rook's protection would therefore not matter.
2. There is a very good reason for e2-e4. It is NOT a red herring. It is there to add challenge to the puzzle. I've come across a number of solutions if only white had not made that move. i.e. the move is necessary in order to limit the solutions.
3. The mate could easily be by white. I say this because e-2 e-4 allows the queen and bishop to move to advantageous positions to for #1 (above). In addition, black's position at the start of the game is much more vulnerable and he has the time to really put the rook in a stupid place.
The questions I face are: 1. Where can a knight get to in two moves that blocks c potential check (for a discovered check) 2. What protected position can a knight even get to to check the king by turn 5, (never mind mate)?
Arrrgh! If I could get the dang rook to C-2 in three moves it would be easy. The black knight can get to c-2 in three moves and bishop takes queen at g4 involves 1 more move for white and 2 for black. Taking an unmoved rook requires 4 moves for the knight. No time to bring out anything for a discovered check. and the only place to get the king in check on the kings side from knight take rook leaves the king one too many places to run. (I can't find a way to get the kind somewhere on the queen's side to result in an unmoved rook check). Ok. I started this line of thought a half hour ago and I've come up with 7 failed solutions... I can feel my karma dropping.
A lot of time, you're working at someone else's desk in someone else's office. In my case, I have my home computer which is in heavy use by two different people and a cubicle which is covered in printouts. A friend of mine, Dana wears Soft Flex Gloves. At about $25 a pair, it's a very cheap portable solution.
(the American:) My room. Pure geek setting And the coder don't know that the coder is getting The worst damn puzzle in the chess world. One that can't even be solved by Yul Brenner.
Time files - doesn't seem an hour Been working on this puzzle, haven't even had a shower No hope - don't you know that when you work on this puzzle you need more than a small clue
It's an exposed check... or a castle... or a fools mate... or... or... I don't know!
(Slashdot:) One night of puzzles makes a hard man humble Checkmate in six moves but the man says five The knight moves slowly and I don't see a castle No matter what I do, the king survives Solving this dang puzzle just my take my life.
(The American:) One move is very like another Neither gets me closer to a quick kill brother
(Slashdot:) It's a pain, it's a challenge, it's really such a pity That you're trying to solve it since your rank's so shi77y.
(The American:) Whaddya mean? You shoulda seen me in high school you rotton S.O.B.s!
(Slashdot:) Linux, Brute force, need a hack. This is worse than a Cal-tech Stack.
(The American:) Get real! You're talking to a slacker It's been too long since I was a hacker. I get my kicks from coding legos, Slashdot!
(Slashdot:) One night of puzzles makes a hard man humble Checkmate in six moves but the man says five The knight moves slowly and I don't see a castle No matter what I do, the king survives I can't solve this puzzle. I should ask my wife.
(The American:) Slashdot's gonna be the witness To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness This grips me more than would a unfair patent or bogus lawsuit
And thank god I'm only submitting a reply, not moderating it.
I don't see you guys getting The kind of Karma I'm contemplating I'd let you help, I would invite you. If I could fing a solution on Yahoo.
So you better go back to your linux machines, your hacks, your compilers.
(Slashdot:) One lousy puzzle and you're drinking vodka The puzzle's locked inside your brain It's like some bizarre scene from Kafka And even whiskey wouldn't dull the pain. This simple puzzle has driven you insane
One night of puzzles makes a hard man humble Checkmate in six moves but the man says five The knight moves slowly and I don't see a castle No matter what I do, the king survives Solving this dang puzzle just my take my life.
Now I'm going insane trying to solve this. Since I can't find my chess set, I had to dig one up on NoNAGS under their games pile (EGChess). I couldn't find a decent java game that didn't require two different computers. (sorry) Onthe brute force side, given that we have a limited number of moves and a limited possible number of moves in a turn, this should fall well into the brute force category. Hmmm. 9 moves maximum Black only has 20 possible moves. 8 moves after that, White has 28 possible moves. 7 moves left. At that rate it should be possible to brute force the dang thing in a reasonable period of time with enough decent resources.
But I'm going to sit here and pound my head on a virtual chessboard. I figure I'll find the answer just after everyone else.
Humor value. Opera wasn't news for slashdot when the new Windows (Dec 20) or BeOS (Dec 15) versions came out. (I know, I submitted the article.) Also we have icons for Netscape and Microsoft but not for an alternative to the big two... Hmmm... 6 kids in MTV bunker is news but not an alternative browser for BeOS. (is this "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters."?)
All that aside: If you go to Opera and you happen to run Windows or BeOS you'll find new versions there as well. Bugs, tech discussions, etc. can be found on theirdiscussions page (most of the links there are newsgroups, which works rather well).
My prediction is that the next version of Windows (after 2000) will be Open Sourced. Microsoft did not get where they were by ignoring reality or their competitors. The very look of Windows shows that they saw a threat from Apple or at least innovation from Apple and they responded to it. With both Brazil and England wanting Open Source operating systems and with the possible results of the current legal actions in the United States it may be in Microsoft's best interest to change their stance. By fulling opening their operating system they can continue to compete in those markets that are starting to deny them. They can sucessfully deny any legal claims that their software behave in any suspicious or malicious pattern. They can (with the current patent system) clean up at the patent office and sucessfully block competitors from using procedures that appear in thier publicly released code. In short, they can clean up. Besides, just picture the following thought in Bill Gates mind: "If my customers have a problem instead of calling tech support they pay their own people to fix it and then I get the fix for free?" Any bets? Anyone?
I really don't see the value of Linus (or other Free[speach] software) related stocks as changing a thing. Some programmers work for free out of a sense of Bucky Fuller style economics while others want to be the next Bill Gates. What I think will happen is the stock will fall, and people getting wiser about overvaluing stocks. Let's face it. We already had an example of getting rich through programming through Bill Gates. Linux IPOs doesn't change that. What Linux changed was the realization that Free[speach] (I like the way that looks...) software works as a distribution model much more effectively than propriatary software. (I find it Amazing that AOL deals with Netscape and Instant Messenger with such different philosophies. Unless it's a "screw Microsoft any way you can" philosophy...)
Odd that this comes out on/. the same day that the Andy Kaufman movie comes out.:) Does anyone have a single report from anyone except a group of artists (who could easily be doing this as a publicity stunt/performance art piece? Personally I think it's a great parody of the ETOY(S) joke.
You will see, as responses, a number of statements made by people with one degree or another claiming that their education is what allows them to refute or substantiate these claims. A degree is only proof that you have the economic power to attend a center of education and regurgitate what they want you to regurgitate. Many of these people have a finicial interest in debunking Mr. Mills. Dr. Robert Park is making money on a debunking book to be published next year. Dr. Michio Kaku has based his career off of string-field theory. As for the rest of us, we have an easy option, wait a year. "I'll have demonstrated an entirely new form of energy production by the end of 2000." - Randell Mills.I can wait a year to make my informed decision. There are, and have been, a lot of theories about the nature of the universe. History shows that the one thing intelligensia does not like is anyone who does not agree with them. I can't blame them. How would you like to base your whole career on the "fact" that the three corners of a triangle add up to 180 degrees? The problem with modern science is that the "proof" of most discoveries is based on a lot of assumptions. Some of these assumptions have bene around for so long that we have begun to regard them as facts. Regardless of the outcome, he has at least given support to a very important scientific theory: Money for scientific research is easier to acquire if you can show a profit - Grant Money for Dummies
Let's think about this. Just about every news agency is discussing the arrest of a suspected terrorist (with a good sized chunk of explosive in the car) in Seattle. (examples) If you really wanted to make a statement, what's a better target than Time's Square? And these fools want to be underneath that if the World ENDS?
(Links ommitted: If curious do a/. search..) Action: Amazon sues B&N - courts act like ninnys Response:Richard Stallman calls for an Amazon boycot. Response: Amazon doesn't notice. Action: WTO goes to Seattle - cops act like ninnys Response: Techno-Hippies attempt DOS Sit-in Response: WTO doesn't notice. Action: EToys sues EToy. - courts act like ninnys Response: RTMark attempts DOS attacks. Response: EToys doesn't notice.
Are we seeing a pattern here? Oops. I missed something Response: Amazon, WTO, and EToys get great press coverage, the kind of coverage PR departments can't buy, and love every minute of it. Response: A bunch of people get upset over hacker/cracker definations. (When you get your system raided by the Secret Service, let me know. [I, at least, got a cool T-Shirt.] Until then get off your high horse.) Response: People get upset over biased reporting and report on that in a biased manner.
Of special note is the Attrittion Mirror of defaced sites. This will allow you decide how much "damage" is actuall done and how much "help" was actually done. Please not that this varies greatly by individual.
The problem that exists is that these people, often under 21, see big giant gaping holes in the security systems and this bothers them. If they report it, nothing happens because no one has, or ever will, listen to them. (Some sites have been defaced repeatedly, without ever having fixed the holes, even after the fix was placed in the HTML!)
So they make a mistake. They try to draw atttention to the fact before someone less kind, (for example a rival organization) uses the same holes to download actual sensitive information. (Warning, this kind of thought process can occurr to you when you've read too much cyberpunk.)
I'm older and wiser now. I realize that people REALLY DON'T care about security. Normally they just want something to rant about. The status quo is to lock your car door for security but if you lock the keys in your car you expect a locksmith to get them out in under a minute.
Think about it. If the locksmith can do it in under a minute, so can I.
They may not be adults, they may be fools, and they may annoy the computer professionals that are responsible for security but let's look at it this way. If some kids can take down whitehouse.com, why couldn't Zhirinovsky hire someone to do the same, only with a lot more creativity and subtleness. (Wouldn't the media just love it if someone found a collection of porn jpegs on whitehouse.gov?)
They're criminals. They view themselves as unsung heros. In short, they're the Chicago Seven of a new generation. Even Richard Daley's famous quote could still apply:
"Gentlemen, let's get something straight. The police aren't in the streets to create disorder; they are in the streets to preserve disorder." -- Mayor Richard Daley
Well, no. Actually I like the money I'm making now as a programmer but that's besides the point.
What strikes me as enjoyable if the thought that I could plant this new device in my cat along with a number of those rice-sized bionic implants . All I would need then is a good remote control.
"The stupid cat's run off again kids. Bring him back."
Of course the story would have someone remote controlling an unwilling assassian, but people pay for things that make them fear.
PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS: WARNING:Do not write the above story or they WILL assume that you are going to take a gun and kill all the teachers. I am a professional. Do not attempt to do this at home without an adult's supervision.(Yeah, like there's any adults at home paying attention...)
A crawler is a fine tool for searching the web. Becuase it only attempts to go to those sites that are already linked to somewhere else, it doesn't bombard machines with useless requests. However, it really does not work when you would like it to find pages that no one points to. Those unique pages are well hidden from crawlers, even those you can e-mail all of your friends about them. Until one of your friends puts a link on his start page, you're immune. For an organization, it's the wrong avenue of approach. Organizations tend to keep their internet files on a small set of machines, in very specific directory structures. The best search engine for those machines should have permission to look at the directory structures and go through every file in them when it uspdates it's database. This insures that every file in that organization is collected and that no links going outside the organization are followed.
Actually this strikes me as useful. Very Useful. What has essentially been developed is an automated method of determining abnormal behavior and classifying that abnormal behavior. Now normally, most of us are against the sort of behavior scoring that classifies kids as potential Hellmouths but let's think this over. Could we use this tool to find those rotten kids that are always getting others to pick on someone? Could we use this tool to help find the people who actually have creative ideas in our organization? Could we use this toll to find the creative misfits? Robert Anton Wilson would have LOVED to use this stuff in Illuminatius. Think of the possibilities.
And if that doesn't work, someone will probably use it to find a date. "According to our cameras, the new intern is very likely to be a slut, Mr. President."
Ken Boucher
Do privacy advocates stand up to be counted?
on
IDs in Color Copies
·
· Score: 2
1st: When you take a photocopy and photocopy it, the watermarks on the first one are usually lost, simply becuase the second copier often can't detect them.
2nd: Watermarking is a benefit to individuals and freeware/copyleft/whatever. A number of free graphics (backgrounds, icons, etc.), including mine are deliberately watermarked. (In my case by hand). Almost every graphic has a small area that is a single color. For these areas, make a unique id in a different unused color and then change that color to have the same rgb as the surrounding areas. This way, if someone is using your work in a method you don't permit (aka, selling a quake mod using your graphics) you have a method of proving what was done. The same technique can be used with multiple colors if necessary. (The 1st 16 colors are only used in a "glider" [from the old game of life] pattern. (16 colors allows you to repeat the pattern a LOT)
There are ways to completely bollux the watermark. A simple soultion should be to laminate the copies. I doubt that the watermark could be properly read through the lamination and removing the lamination should ruin the copy effectively enough.
Here's my question to slashdot: Do we find it offensive when companies copy the works of individuals and do we want methods to prevent this (for example Sun's actions with Blackdown's code)? If so, do we believe that corporations have the same rights to try to protect their works from individuals (recent articles on MP3 and DVD)? I almost wonder if we believe that the rights of "us" are more important than the rights of "them". - bonsai -
Slashdot Mirror
How many times does an item have to be copied until it becomes public domain?
Since we're going to discuss PageRank and it's patentability, You might want to read about it first.
Anyone whose search engine returns this result for More Evil than Satan Himself can have a patent. That's one SMART search engine.
I think, if one was to study through the methods eveyone was using you would find a lot of flawed assumptions. I know I read and thought of a lot of lines of reasonings that made sense at the time, were very well thought out, but had absolutly no proof.
What assumption killed me? The assumption that I had to move a pawn to bring the queen into play. If I has challenged that assumption I might have had more Karma, or at least, a cool book.
It's nice to have my assumptions challenged a week before I find out whay Y2K really does.
I had figured out I needed the queen to do a verticle attack.
I had figured out that I needed the knight to take the rook and trap the king exactly that way.
I never throught about using White's Queen to get my dang pawn out of the way!
I bow to your superior wisdom.
2. There is a very good reason for e2-e4. It is NOT a red herring. It is there to add challenge to the puzzle. I've come across a number of solutions if only white had not made that move. i.e. the move is necessary in order to limit the solutions.
3. The mate could easily be by white. I say this because e-2 e-4 allows the queen and bishop to move to advantageous positions to for #1 (above). In addition, black's position at the start of the game is much more vulnerable and he has the time to really put the rook in a stupid place.
The questions I face are:
1. Where can a knight get to in two moves that blocks c potential check (for a discovered check)
2. What protected position can a knight even get to to check the king by turn 5, (never mind mate)?
Arrrgh!
If I could get the dang rook to C-2 in three moves it would be easy. The black knight can get to c-2 in three moves and bishop takes queen at g4 involves 1 more move for white and 2 for black.
Taking an unmoved rook requires 4 moves for the knight. No time to bring out anything for a discovered check. and the only place to get the king in check on the kings side from knight take rook leaves the king one too many places to run. (I can't find a way to get the kind somewhere on the queen's side to result in an unmoved rook check).
Ok. I started this line of thought a half hour ago and I've come up with 7 failed solutions... I can feel my karma dropping.
A lot of time, you're working at someone else's desk in someone else's office. In my case, I have my home computer which is in heavy use by two different people and a cubicle which is covered in printouts.
A friend of mine, Dana wears Soft Flex Gloves. At about $25 a pair, it's a very cheap portable solution.
My room. Pure geek setting
And the coder don't know that the coder is getting
The worst damn puzzle in the chess world.
One that can't even be solved by Yul Brenner.
Time files - doesn't seem an hour
Been working on this puzzle, haven't even had a shower
No hope - don't you know that when you
work on this puzzle you need more than a small clue
It's an exposed check... or a castle... or a fools mate... or... or ... I don't know!
(Slashdot:)
One night of puzzles makes a hard man humble
Checkmate in six moves but the man says five
The knight moves slowly and I don't see a castle
No matter what I do, the king survives
Solving this dang puzzle just my take my life.
(The American:)
One move is very like another
Neither gets me closer to a quick kill brother
(Slashdot:)
It's a pain, it's a challenge, it's really such a pity
That you're trying to solve it since your rank's so shi77y.
(The American:)
Whaddya mean? You shoulda seen me in high school you rotton S.O.B.s!
(Slashdot:)
Linux, Brute force, need a hack.
This is worse than a Cal-tech Stack.
(The American:)
Get real! You're talking to a slacker
It's been too long since I was a hacker.
I get my kicks from coding legos, Slashdot!
(Slashdot:)
One night of puzzles makes a hard man humble
Checkmate in six moves but the man says five
The knight moves slowly and I don't see a castle
No matter what I do, the king survives
I can't solve this puzzle. I should ask my wife.
(The American:)
Slashdot's gonna be the witness
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness
This grips me more than would a
unfair patent or bogus lawsuit
And thank god I'm only submitting a reply, not moderating it.
I don't see you guys getting
The kind of Karma I'm contemplating
I'd let you help, I would invite you.
If I could fing a solution on Yahoo.
So you better go back to your linux machines, your hacks, your compilers.
(Slashdot:)
One lousy puzzle and you're drinking vodka
The puzzle's locked inside your brain
It's like some bizarre scene from Kafka
And even whiskey wouldn't dull the pain.
This simple puzzle has driven you insane
One night of puzzles makes a hard man humble
Checkmate in six moves but the man says five
The knight moves slowly and I don't see a castle
No matter what I do, the king survives
Solving this dang puzzle just my take my life.
Apologies to Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, both of ABBA fame, and renown lyricist Tim Rice
Since I can't find my chess set, I had to dig one up on NoNAGS under their games pile (EGChess).
I couldn't find a decent java game that didn't require two different computers. (sorry)
Onthe brute force side, given that we have a limited number of moves and a limited possible number of moves in a turn, this should fall well into the brute force category. Hmmm. 9 moves maximum Black only has 20 possible moves. 8 moves after that, White has 28 possible moves. 7 moves left. At that rate it should be possible to brute force the dang thing in a reasonable period of time with enough decent resources.
But I'm going to sit here and pound my head on a virtual chessboard. I figure I'll find the answer just after everyone else.
All that aside: If you go to Opera and you happen to run Windows or BeOS you'll find new versions there as well.
Bugs, tech discussions, etc. can be found on theirdiscussions page (most of the links there are newsgroups, which works rather well).
Microsoft did not get where they were by ignoring reality or their competitors. The very look of Windows shows that they saw a threat from Apple or at least innovation from Apple and they responded to it.
With both Brazil and England wanting Open Source operating systems and with the possible results of the current legal actions in the United States it may be in Microsoft's best interest to change their stance.
By fulling opening their operating system they can continue to compete in those markets that are starting to deny them. They can sucessfully deny any legal claims that their software behave in any suspicious or malicious pattern. They can (with the current patent system) clean up at the patent office and sucessfully block competitors from using procedures that appear in thier publicly released code.
In short, they can clean up.
Besides, just picture the following thought in Bill Gates mind: "If my customers have a problem instead of calling tech support they pay their own people to fix it and then I get the fix for free?"
Any bets? Anyone?
What I think will happen is the stock will fall, and people getting wiser about overvaluing stocks.
Let's face it. We already had an example of getting rich through programming through Bill Gates. Linux IPOs doesn't change that. What Linux changed was the realization that Free[speach] (I like the way that looks...) software works as a distribution model much more effectively than propriatary software. (I find it Amazing that AOL deals with Netscape and Instant Messenger with such different philosophies. Unless it's a "screw Microsoft any way you can" philosophy...)
Does anyone have a single report from anyone except a group of artists (who could easily be doing this as a publicity stunt/performance art piece?
Personally I think it's a great parody of the ETOY(S) joke.
You will see, as responses, a number of statements made by people with one degree or another claiming that their education is what allows them to refute or substantiate these claims.
A degree is only proof that you have the economic power to attend a center of education and regurgitate what they want you to regurgitate.
Many of these people have a finicial interest in debunking Mr. Mills. Dr. Robert Park is making money on a debunking book to be published next year. Dr. Michio Kaku has based his career off of string-field theory.
As for the rest of us, we have an easy option, wait a year. "I'll have demonstrated an entirely new form of energy production by the end of 2000." - Randell Mills.I can wait a year to make my informed decision.
There are, and have been, a lot of theories about the nature of the universe. History shows that the one thing intelligensia does not like is anyone who does not agree with them. I can't blame them. How would you like to base your whole career on the "fact" that the three corners of a triangle add up to 180 degrees?
The problem with modern science is that the "proof" of most discoveries is based on a lot of assumptions. Some of these assumptions have bene around for so long that we have begun to regard them as facts.
Regardless of the outcome, he has at least given support to a very important scientific theory: Money for scientific research is easier to acquire if you can show a profit - Grant Money for Dummies
Let's think about this. Just about every news agency is discussing the arrest of a suspected terrorist (with a good sized chunk of explosive in the car) in Seattle. (examples)
If you really wanted to make a statement, what's a better target than Time's Square?
And these fools want to be underneath that if the World ENDS?
Action: Amazon sues B&N - courts act like ninnys
Response:Richard Stallman calls for an Amazon boycot.
Response: Amazon doesn't notice.
Action: WTO goes to Seattle - cops act like ninnys
Response: Techno-Hippies attempt DOS Sit-in
Response: WTO doesn't notice.
Action: EToys sues EToy. - courts act like ninnys
Response: RTMark attempts DOS attacks.
Response: EToys doesn't notice.
Are we seeing a pattern here?
Oops. I missed something
Response: Amazon, WTO, and EToys get great press coverage, the kind of coverage PR departments can't buy, and love every minute of it.
Response: A bunch of people get upset over hacker/cracker definations. (When you get your system raided by the Secret Service, let me know. [I, at least, got a cool T-Shirt.] Until then get off your high horse.)
Response: People get upset over biased reporting and report on that in a biased manner.
Second:Attrition.org
Of special note is the Attrittion Mirror of defaced sites. This will allow you decide how much "damage" is actuall done and how much "help" was actually done. Please not that this varies greatly by individual.
The problem that exists is that these people, often under 21, see big giant gaping holes in the security systems and this bothers them. If they report it, nothing happens because no one has, or ever will, listen to them. (Some sites have been defaced repeatedly, without ever having fixed the holes, even after the fix was placed in the HTML!)
So they make a mistake. They try to draw atttention to the fact before someone less kind, (for example a rival organization) uses the same holes to download actual sensitive information. (Warning, this kind of thought process can occurr to you when you've read too much cyberpunk.)
I'm older and wiser now. I realize that people REALLY DON'T care about security. Normally they just want something to rant about. The status quo is to lock your car door for security but if you lock the keys in your car you expect a locksmith to get them out in under a minute.
Think about it. If the locksmith can do it in under a minute, so can I.
They may not be adults, they may be fools, and they may annoy the computer professionals that are responsible for security but let's look at it this way.
If some kids can take down whitehouse.com, why couldn't Zhirinovsky hire someone to do the same, only with a lot more creativity and subtleness. (Wouldn't the media just love it if someone found a collection of porn jpegs on whitehouse.gov?)
They're criminals. They view themselves as unsung heros. In short, they're the Chicago Seven of a new generation. Even Richard Daley's famous quote could still apply:
"Gentlemen, let's get something straight. The police aren't in the streets to create disorder; they are in the streets to preserve disorder." -- Mayor Richard Daley
What strikes me as enjoyable if the thought that I could plant this new device in my cat along with a number of those rice-sized bionic implants . All I would need then is a good remote control.
"The stupid cat's run off again kids. Bring him back."
Of course the story would have someone remote controlling an unwilling assassian, but people pay for things that make them fear.
PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS: WARNING:Do not write the above story or they WILL assume that you are going to take a gun and kill all the teachers. I am a professional. Do not attempt to do this at home without an adult's supervision.(Yeah, like there's any adults at home paying attention...)
However, it really does not work when you would like it to find pages that no one points to. Those unique pages are well hidden from crawlers, even those you can e-mail all of your friends about them. Until one of your friends puts a link on his start page, you're immune.
For an organization, it's the wrong avenue of approach. Organizations tend to keep their internet files on a small set of machines, in very specific directory structures. The best search engine for those machines should have permission to look at the directory structures and go through every file in them when it uspdates it's database. This insures that every file in that organization is collected and that no links going outside the organization are followed.
Ken Boucher
What has essentially been developed is an automated method of determining abnormal behavior and classifying that abnormal behavior.
Now normally, most of us are against the sort of behavior scoring that classifies kids as potential Hellmouths but let's think this over.
Could we use this tool to find those rotten kids that are always getting others to pick on someone?
Could we use this tool to help find the people who actually have creative ideas in our organization?
Could we use this toll to find the creative misfits? Robert Anton Wilson would have LOVED to use this stuff in Illuminatius. Think of the possibilities.
And if that doesn't work, someone will probably use it to find a date. "According to our cameras, the new intern is very likely to be a slut, Mr. President."
Ken Boucher
2nd: Watermarking is a benefit to individuals and freeware/copyleft/whatever. A number of free graphics (backgrounds, icons, etc.), including mine are deliberately watermarked. (In my case by hand). Almost every graphic has a small area that is a single color. For these areas, make a unique id in a different unused color and then change that color to have the same rgb as the surrounding areas. This way, if someone is using your work in a method you don't permit (aka, selling a quake mod using your graphics) you have a method of proving what was done. The same technique can be used with multiple colors if necessary. (The 1st 16 colors are only used in a "glider" [from the old game of life] pattern. (16 colors allows you to repeat the pattern a LOT)
There are ways to completely bollux the watermark. A simple soultion should be to laminate the copies. I doubt that the watermark could be properly read through the lamination and removing the lamination should ruin the copy effectively enough.
Here's my question to slashdot: Do we find it offensive when companies copy the works of individuals and do we want methods to prevent this (for example Sun's actions with Blackdown's code)? If so, do we believe that corporations have the same rights to try to protect their works from individuals (recent articles on MP3 and DVD)? I almost wonder if we believe that the rights of "us" are more important than the rights of "them". - bonsai -