Consider how much CPU power we're actually talking about. I've got something like 500 PIII's, and a flotilla of PII's working on this thing, pushing through two maxxed out personal proxies, and I'm only #5 on the super-l33t top 100 overall participants list.
Remember proofreading? I wish I did. I've handed in English papers with "Happy Birthday, Insert Virus Name Here!" which usually reduced my grade on general principles. Always look at EVERY BIT of your webpage before it goes live. Always run as many queries on your database as you can imagine a well trained monkey coming up with at random. Then things like this won't happen.
And, just to abuse poor Jamie, PLEASE, please. Assign blame where it needs to be assigned. They don't have a police record because they made a perl snafu. They have a record because the police lost the first ammendment under the desk when they left the stationhouse, okay?
Just have a partner. You both pay your buck, along with maybe 10-20 other people. They all run around like monkeys, and you just kill your friend, and camp his respawn point. Rack up the kills, split the money of all the other people. Yeah, it's a great idea. Do it, do it!
It allows you to view your schedule in various ways, including monthly, daily, and weekly, as well as set up multiple user views - i.e. what is the design team doing this week? It allows you to add qualifiers to appointments - such as "I'll be there for the first half" when accepting, and other neat features. It's painfully welded to the Novell Groupwise system, which is helpful - you can attach an appointment to any mail message/phone message/etc. but groupwise mail isn't the best mailing system running around today. The calender, though, is neat. =)
How do they know that the brain is really controlling the robot arm? Since it is a monkey, and the arm is 600 miles away, I doubt the monkey is manipulating the arm and using it to pick banannas. What evidence do they have that the arm isn't moving essentially randomly, or just picking up electrical signals from the brain that can't be willfully controlled?
And, since I'm on the subject, doesn't it seem like they stuck the internet there just for the heck of it? I think their experiment would me so much more useful if the monkey could SEE the robot, and maybe "learn" how to use it. I mean, the internet is cool, but we all know we can make stuff move by clicking in a browser already.
Nothing stops you from compiling Java code into a native app, but your functionality is limited - Java can do less things, or, rather, mostly the same things, but it takes more lines of code to get the job done, than other (visual C/basic) languages. Now, that's my own opinion. YMMV. Myself, I'd only write in Java to make a Java app, running on a webpage, in the virtual machine.
But Sun is missing the point. It's possible that they've gotten so miffed with the slow Java adaptation of Java that they view everything as a threat..net is exactly what they say Microsoft 'claims' it to be, however - an enhancement to bring Visual Basic/C++ up to speed with modern times. It allows whichever language you're writing in to access all _windows_ API calls.
Sun's point, in the article is that Java allows you to access the same API calls, and they'll function on any machine imaginable, which is true. But if you're going to be programming FOR a Windows box (and, last time I checked, developing code to run native in an OS was still the way your program would run the fastest).net is the solution rather than Java. If you're a Netware Guru, for example, compare NWAdmin32 to ConsoleONE. (Win32 vs. Java) They do the same thing, but if all I had to use was ConsoleONE, I'd quickly go insane waiting for my P500 or higher to open a dialog box.
Perhaps I should change my login to slashdot to 'Devil's Advocate'. =) Java has it's niche, though. And it does what it was intended to do - make code HIGHLY transportable. But you can't outrun native code, no matter how good your universal language is.
Is the Tivo service on the internet? It was my understanding that the Tivo dialed a 1-800 number to reach it's service, more BBS style than internet style. So who's going to be providing the service that you can reach with your ethernet card? And, worse, even if someone will be (and I don't doubt the CAN) - won't this prevent people from needing to pay the monthly 'fee' the Tivo box is supposed to be making it's manufacturer?
Okay, that sounds like flamebait, I admit. But with the I-opener, they were selling the hardware at a loss. So when people modified it (yes, like I did. I admit that too) to not have to use their service, it cost them money. And people here yelled and screamed that they decided to implement a contract with the selling of the unit. (Which was the ONLY thing they could do to not go out of business straight away.) With the BlessTivo utility (which allowed you to add a 2nd hard drive to your unit) the company response was more towards 'hey, neat' rather than 'hey, stop that!' This, however, may very well make them, well, upset. Does anyone know if they're selling the hardware at a loss, and depending on subscription revenue to keep afloat?
Yes, I know it's a textbook, and has maybe entirely useless examples, and is, by definition, too expensive to be entirely practical, but I learned a lot from this book. It's written by not entirely incompetent professors, and has been taught for several years successfully at a few major universities. The chapter layout is nearly exactly the same as the book reviewed above, and it has examples in both SQL and relational algebra for many problems, so you actually get a feel for how you can use one to get better with the other. Just do a google search for 'A First Course in Database Systems' and you'll come up with quite a few class pages that use it, and use it well.
Wow, you're worse than CNN, thinking Gore is winning Florida. Where are you getting your crank information? Bush has 62% of the vote in Texas as of RIGHT NOW. And it was never in doubt. Funny, he's also got 51% of Tennessee. Who's home state is that?
CNN declared Gore the winner in the state of Florida in a 50%-48% win, with only FIVE percent of the results in. Currently, they still have him declared as the winner, but Bush is WINNING the state despite this, again, 50%-48%, with closer to half the results in. Check out cnn.com for full details. Is this fair at all? Irresponsable speculation could very well influence the election results.
Yes, it's full of typo's. I'm in a hurry, so people might actually read this.
A few people I know are living a happy existance as a member of fairly average unsigned club bands bouncing around New York trying to get heard, and a few of them, after finally getting a demo-quality CD cut asked me to rip the tracks and share them over 'that Napster thing'. I'd like to do what I can, but because of the way Napster works, it's easy to find the song you know, by the band you know (oh, say, Metallica) but next to impossible to just share a song that no one has ever heard of and get any good hits. mp3.com is a site that does a much better job of this than Napster claims to do.
Knee-jerk pro-napster moderators can mark this as flamebait if they really want to, but realize that unless Napster gets a decent overhaul allowing an mp3.com style system of self-advertising, their claims in the article are fairly self-serving in their defense against RIAA. However, the potential is there. I'd LOVE to see them actually do it.
Since when was anyone actually held accountable for opinions expressed in print? IMNAL, but it's always seemed to me that Slander/Libel cases are next to impossible to prove, and even more difficult to win. The medium in question must have made false comments, about you _purposefully_, and even then the law doesn't apply if you're a public figure. This leaves room for plenty of legal hairsplitting, including the definition of a public figure, if it was knowingly untrue, and on and on. Suing someone for libel is a losing game, as the cost of trial is high, and the results most likely disappointing. And even then, if you WIN, the most you can hope for is an 8 point font retraction somewhere on page C16.
How can we expect digital mediums to show more journalistic integrity than the New York Times?
I just thought I'd interject a bit. What made the celeron such a great chip to OC was that they had that 66Mhz bus - remember, when the multiplier is locked, when you overclock, you're upping the bus speed. So, if you overclock your Celery 400 to 600 (completely possible with nothing more than a large fan) suddenly you're running at 100Mhz FSB...
Compare this to overclocking a normal P3 - you have to start pushing your FSB OVER 100 - suddely your PC100 ram isn't good enough anymore... your PCI cards start to act fruity - when you up your FSB, after all, you're overclocking EVERYTHING... Forget about even TRYING to overclock your Cu that is designed to run on a 133 Mhz FSB... your PC133 ram will bite the dust around 140-145.
So, once you got your celeron running at 600, 100mhz FSB, you just get your Abit BP6 board, run two of them, and whoosh. Nice power. 'Cause remember, the other thing that made the celeron so great was that the cache RAN AT THE SAME SPEED AS THE CHIP. As opposed to half. So just because there was less cache didn't matter so much 'cause it was a HECK of a lot faster.
Then there's the celeron two - same slow cache as the P3, just less of it. And the multiplier's going to be pretty damn high to make a 600+ Mhz chip out of a 66Mhz FSB... so if you up it all the way to 100, just sit back and watch the fireworks... the era of the Celeron being the perfect chip (value-wise, and even power) looks like it's coming to a halt.
Something tells me they won't enjoy this. Anyhow, for your education, and enjoyment:
TO: The NYU Community
In order to ensure NYU-NET availability is sufficient for NYU work, Information Technology Services (ITS) has been forced to take steps to restrict traffic related to an outside service called "Napster," which enables distribution of MP3 music files over the Internet.
In addition, in order to protect the security of NYU systems, we require that Napster software be removed from any NYU-owned machine on which it is installed. And we strongly recommend that it be removed from personally owned computers that are connected to NYU-NET.
The surging increase in Napster traffic on NYU-NET and with the Internet during recent weeks indicates that this service has become quite well known and popular at the University. However, it seems much less well understood that, because of the way the Napster service works, using it conflicts directly with the agreement an individual makes when:
(a) You register for an ITS account or any school or department account permitting network access (see "Responsibilities of All NYU Computer and Network Users," at http://www.nyu.edu/its.standards/respon.nyu);
(b) You connect your personal computer to NYU ResNet in the student residences (see "ResNet Accounts - Specific Policies and Information," at http://www.nyu.edu/its/standards/resnet-policy.nyu ).
NYU's "World Wide Web Policies and Procedures" also applies (see http://www.nyu.edu/its/standards/webpolicy.nyu).
Two main issues force ITS to highlight these policies and take steps to restrict use of Napster: network availability and computer security. In addition, individuals who have been using Napster need to be aware of some further considerations.
1) Network Availability
Traffic on NYU-NET increased dramatically in the past few weeks. Our analyses show that this increase is due largely to surging use of Napster, particularly on and from the ResNet leg of NYU-NET. Last Thursday night, for instance, before we put emergency restrictions into place, NYU's Internet connection was operating at a dangerously high 98% of capacity. After the restrictions, traffic on the link dropped back to the more typical 60% of capacity.
It's not necessarily apparent when you're using Napster that you're generating much network traffic. Once you've downloaded your MP3 files, you might think you're done. But Napster in its default mode makes it possible for everyone else on the Internet to download files from your computer without your awareness or approval. Depending on the popularity of your collection, this feature can multiply many times the network traffic generated by your machine.
This Napster traffic surge has already interfered with the availability of the network for normal NYU work-related connections, which include University projects that require consistent network availability. NYU-NET resources exist to further the academic mission of the University. Though these resources are substantial, they are not infinite. Given the Napster surge, ITS has no choice but to restrict the Napster load on NYU-NET, so that the network remains available for NYU-related purposes. ITS had been planning to upgrade our link to the Internet as soon as the next generation of capacity comes online, later this year. That planning continues. In the meantime at least, these restrictions are essential.
2) Computer Security
It's not readily apparent that, by running Napster, you can introduce serious security risks to your machine and the other files on it, as well as to other computers on the network. Napster disregards the security of individual computers in misleading ways that are unprecedented.
In the default configuration, when you download your first music file from Napster, you automatically also download Napster software that turns your computer into a file server. This software allows any other machine on the Internet to connect to your computer and download copies of your files without your knowledge or approval. Triggered by a request from the other machine, the Napster software on your computer then searches your hard drive and any mounted network drives for "music files to share."
Unprotected file sharing and file scanning create significant risks of compromise to your computer and your privacy, as well as to other computers on NYU-NET. There is no way to tell what malicious functions may be performed by the software you automatically download with the music or what modifications may have been made to the music files themselves. This security issue is further complicated by Napster's decision to release the source code for the software it downloads onto your machine. The resulting proliferation of authors and versions makes your machine even more vulnerable to unexpected intrusions.
Further considerations for those using Napster
Because Napster can automatically turn your computer into a server, it increases the possibility of automatically turning you into a distributor of music files without the creator's permission. Distribution is a step more serious than simply copying these files and can be a violation of U.S. copyright laws. In this regard, it's worth noting that Napster keeps a database of the IP addresses of all the individual computers that use Napster software to distribute MP3 files.
Thanks for your cooperation in addressing what so quickly became a serious threat to both network availability and computer security at NYU. We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation and may take further steps as they become necessary.
Marilyn McMillan Chief Information Technology Officer New York University
Of course, you're not in any way associated with the US and its sometimes draconian copyright/patent policies, except for your now world-famous involvement with the MPAA, but maybe you have some insight - and I quote the infamous amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Do you believe that this should apply to original source code? I.e. - no matter what the code does (say, an internet worm that overloads Micro$oft TCP/IP stacks, and clogs the internet for days l0pht style, or even, oh, DeCSS) should be protected by a fundamental law such as this?
But isn't this the same thing done with incredibly valuable works of art? I mean, living in New York City, most of the stuff hanging around OUR museums is from private collections - they spent years there, yes, being completely appreciated, and then got shared with the general public when the altruistic gentleman went the way of the dodo.
I mean, no one is REALLY going to blow 5.8 million dollars on a skeleton of a T-Rex unless they plan to look up at it in awe and from time to time utter the word 'woah' just like I would if I had a Picasso hanging from my living room wall. And I'd protect it too, right down to the bulletproof glass and the 24 hour guard.
Overall, I think that it will work out in the long run - money for more digs, a happy rich guy, some ranch owners with a new truck, and maybe 50 years down the road, the Hemos personal collection will be revealed, T-Rex, stuffed penguin and all.;p
In a way, this IS the ultimate GUI.... it seems to me that it's the same way - think about the ammount of time that it takes for you to format a floppy disk through a gui, and then compare that to the nice, simple DOS command line. The downside to the GUI is clear - if you can type quick, you can get a heck of a lot more done in a shorter time on the command line.
The advantage to a GUI on an OS is ease of use. But Ananova will just be delivering sports scores? How is this making anything better than text? Isn't this just a slightly more evil version of the office assistant? Not what I think I need to get my news.
First of all, you wouldn't believe the number of interns where I work that get their hands on a Linux workstation for the first time, and then, upon managing to screw up something, reboot. Microsoft products have been so dependant on the reboot, it's been ingrained in the minds of people without enough luck to have gotten some experience with something better.
Not only that, but Win2k is Microsoft's attempt to make NT a usefull OS - meaning you can play games on it. =) And now it seems like they're chickening out on being able to offer a product that can do both by promising Windows Millenium, which I betaed, much to my own sorrow. It seems to me that the only way they can keep the OS stable is to prevent it from doing things - using easily written video card drivers for instance.
But... but... you'll be hearing MORE about it? Perhaps Livingston's been reading his own publication too much. Last time I checked, Linux was gaining buzzword status - it's almost up there with 'intranet' now... =)
Plus, Microsoft is now REALLY playing catchup, because, after all, once the DOJ gets through with them, they might be open source.;p
They seem to be misspelling 'color' as 'colour' in SEVERAL places, as well as a few other words. That must be one of the clues, but I can't figure out what it means for the life of me.
Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot actually remembered the RC5 contest.
Consider how much CPU power we're actually talking about. I've got something like 500 PIII's, and a flotilla of PII's working on this thing, pushing through two maxxed out personal proxies, and I'm only #5 on the super-l33t top 100 overall participants list.
Crikey. Can anyone send me 200 thunderbirds?
Remember proofreading? I wish I did. I've handed in English papers with "Happy Birthday, Insert Virus Name Here!" which usually reduced my grade on general principles. Always look at EVERY BIT of your webpage before it goes live. Always run as many queries on your database as you can imagine a well trained monkey coming up with at random. Then things like this won't happen.
And, just to abuse poor Jamie, PLEASE, please. Assign blame where it needs to be assigned. They don't have a police record because they made a perl snafu. They have a record because the police lost the first ammendment under the desk when they left the stationhouse, okay?
Rated for five years? Am I the only one that still has a 40MB hard drive that still works? What did they do that was so special?
Oh yes. Moving parts, but made out of really thick metal, instead of plastic. Good call.
Just have a partner. You both pay your buck, along with maybe 10-20 other people. They all run around like monkeys, and you just kill your friend, and camp his respawn point. Rack up the kills, split the money of all the other people. Yeah, it's a great idea. Do it, do it!
It allows you to view your schedule in various ways, including monthly, daily, and weekly, as well as set up multiple user views - i.e. what is the design team doing this week? It allows you to add qualifiers to appointments - such as "I'll be there for the first half" when accepting, and other neat features. It's painfully welded to the Novell Groupwise system, which is helpful - you can attach an appointment to any mail message/phone message/etc. but groupwise mail isn't the best mailing system running around today. The calender, though, is neat. =)
How do they know that the brain is really controlling the robot arm? Since it is a monkey, and the arm is 600 miles away, I doubt the monkey is manipulating the arm and using it to pick banannas. What evidence do they have that the arm isn't moving essentially randomly, or just picking up electrical signals from the brain that can't be willfully controlled?
And, since I'm on the subject, doesn't it seem like they stuck the internet there just for the heck of it? I think their experiment would me so much more useful if the monkey could SEE the robot, and maybe "learn" how to use it. I mean, the internet is cool, but we all know we can make stuff move by clicking in a browser already.
Nothing stops you from compiling Java code into a native app, but your functionality is limited - Java can do less things, or, rather, mostly the same things, but it takes more lines of code to get the job done, than other (visual C/basic) languages. Now, that's my own opinion. YMMV. Myself, I'd only write in Java to make a Java app, running on a webpage, in the virtual machine.
The first line - Slow Java^H^H^H^H adaptation of Java.
I type too fast, and think too slow. Maybe I should use the preview button or something.
But Sun is missing the point. It's possible that they've gotten so miffed with the slow Java adaptation of Java that they view everything as a threat. .net is exactly what they say Microsoft 'claims' it to be, however - an enhancement to bring Visual Basic/C++ up to speed with modern times. It allows whichever language you're writing in to access all _windows_ API calls.
.net is the solution rather than Java. If you're a Netware Guru, for example, compare NWAdmin32 to ConsoleONE. (Win32 vs. Java) They do the same thing, but if all I had to use was ConsoleONE, I'd quickly go insane waiting for my P500 or higher to open a dialog box.
Sun's point, in the article is that Java allows you to access the same API calls, and they'll function on any machine imaginable, which is true. But if you're going to be programming FOR a Windows box (and, last time I checked, developing code to run native in an OS was still the way your program would run the fastest)
Perhaps I should change my login to slashdot to 'Devil's Advocate'. =) Java has it's niche, though. And it does what it was intended to do - make code HIGHLY transportable. But you can't outrun native code, no matter how good your universal language is.
Is the Tivo service on the internet? It was my understanding that the Tivo dialed a 1-800 number to reach it's service, more BBS style than internet style. So who's going to be providing the service that you can reach with your ethernet card? And, worse, even if someone will be (and I don't doubt the CAN) - won't this prevent people from needing to pay the monthly 'fee' the Tivo box is supposed to be making it's manufacturer?
Okay, that sounds like flamebait, I admit. But with the I-opener, they were selling the hardware at a loss. So when people modified it (yes, like I did. I admit that too) to not have to use their service, it cost them money. And people here yelled and screamed that they decided to implement a contract with the selling of the unit. (Which was the ONLY thing they could do to not go out of business straight away.) With the BlessTivo utility (which allowed you to add a 2nd hard drive to your unit) the company response was more towards 'hey, neat' rather than 'hey, stop that!' This, however, may very well make them, well, upset. Does anyone know if they're selling the hardware at a loss, and depending on subscription revenue to keep afloat?
Yes, I know it's a textbook, and has maybe entirely useless examples, and is, by definition, too expensive to be entirely practical, but I learned a lot from this book. It's written by not entirely incompetent professors, and has been taught for several years successfully at a few major universities. The chapter layout is nearly exactly the same as the book reviewed above, and it has examples in both SQL and relational algebra for many problems, so you actually get a feel for how you can use one to get better with the other. Just do a google search for 'A First Course in Database Systems' and you'll come up with quite a few class pages that use it, and use it well.
I just thought I'd make my own follow-ups. CNN got their act together, and even Larry King is making fun of them. And moderators, you suck. =)
Wow, you're worse than CNN, thinking Gore is winning Florida. Where are you getting your crank information? Bush has 62% of the vote in Texas as of RIGHT NOW. And it was never in doubt. Funny, he's also got 51% of Tennessee. Who's home state is that?
CNN declared Gore the winner in the state of Florida in a 50%-48% win, with only FIVE percent of the results in. Currently, they still have him declared as the winner, but Bush is WINNING the state despite this, again, 50%-48%, with closer to half the results in. Check out cnn.com for full details. Is this fair at all? Irresponsable speculation could very well influence the election results.
Yes, it's full of typo's. I'm in a hurry, so people might actually read this.
A few people I know are living a happy existance as a member of fairly average unsigned club bands bouncing around New York trying to get heard, and a few of them, after finally getting a demo-quality CD cut asked me to rip the tracks and share them over 'that Napster thing'. I'd like to do what I can, but because of the way Napster works, it's easy to find the song you know, by the band you know (oh, say, Metallica) but next to impossible to just share a song that no one has ever heard of and get any good hits. mp3.com is a site that does a much better job of this than Napster claims to do.
Knee-jerk pro-napster moderators can mark this as flamebait if they really want to, but realize that unless Napster gets a decent overhaul allowing an mp3.com style system of self-advertising, their claims in the article are fairly self-serving in their defense against RIAA. However, the potential is there. I'd LOVE to see them actually do it.
Since when was anyone actually held accountable for opinions expressed in print? IMNAL, but it's always seemed to me that Slander/Libel cases are next to impossible to prove, and even more difficult to win. The medium in question must have made false comments, about you _purposefully_, and even then the law doesn't apply if you're a public figure. This leaves room for plenty of legal hairsplitting, including the definition of a public figure, if it was knowingly untrue, and on and on. Suing someone for libel is a losing game, as the cost of trial is high, and the results most likely disappointing. And even then, if you WIN, the most you can hope for is an 8 point font retraction somewhere on page C16.
How can we expect digital mediums to show more journalistic integrity than the New York Times?
I just thought I'd interject a bit. What made the celeron such a great chip to OC was that they had that 66Mhz bus - remember, when the multiplier is locked, when you overclock, you're upping the bus speed. So, if you overclock your Celery 400 to 600 (completely possible with nothing more than a large fan) suddenly you're running at 100Mhz FSB...
Compare this to overclocking a normal P3 - you have to start pushing your FSB OVER 100 - suddely your PC100 ram isn't good enough anymore... your PCI cards start to act fruity - when you up your FSB, after all, you're overclocking EVERYTHING... Forget about even TRYING to overclock your Cu that is designed to run on a 133 Mhz FSB... your PC133 ram will bite the dust around 140-145.
So, once you got your celeron running at 600, 100mhz FSB, you just get your Abit BP6 board, run two of them, and whoosh. Nice power. 'Cause remember, the other thing that made the celeron so great was that the cache RAN AT THE SAME SPEED AS THE CHIP. As opposed to half. So just because there was less cache didn't matter so much 'cause it was a HECK of a lot faster.
Then there's the celeron two - same slow cache as the P3, just less of it. And the multiplier's going to be pretty damn high to make a 600+ Mhz chip out of a 66Mhz FSB... so if you up it all the way to 100, just sit back and watch the fireworks... the era of the Celeron being the perfect chip (value-wise, and even power) looks like it's coming to a halt.
God, I ramble like Katz...
Something tells me they won't enjoy this. Anyhow, for your education, and enjoyment:
u ).
.
TO: The NYU Community
In order to ensure NYU-NET availability is sufficient for NYU work,
Information Technology Services (ITS) has been forced to take steps
to restrict traffic related to an outside service called "Napster," which
enables distribution of MP3 music files over the Internet.
In addition, in order to protect the security of NYU systems, we require
that Napster software be removed from any NYU-owned machine on
which it is installed. And we strongly recommend that it be removed
from personally owned computers that are connected to NYU-NET.
The surging increase in Napster traffic on NYU-NET and with the
Internet during recent weeks indicates that this service has become quite
well known and popular at the University. However, it seems much less
well understood that, because of the way the Napster service works, using
it conflicts directly with the agreement an individual makes when:
(a) You register for an ITS account or any school or department account
permitting network access (see "Responsibilities of All NYU Computer
and Network Users," at http://www.nyu.edu/its.standards/respon.nyu);
(b) You connect your personal computer to NYU ResNet in the student
residences (see "ResNet Accounts - Specific Policies and Information,"
at http://www.nyu.edu/its/standards/resnet-policy.ny
NYU's "World Wide Web Policies and Procedures" also applies (see
http://www.nyu.edu/its/standards/webpolicy.nyu)
Two main issues force ITS to highlight these policies and take steps to
restrict use of Napster: network availability and computer security.
In addition, individuals who have been using Napster need to be aware of
some further considerations.
1) Network Availability
Traffic on NYU-NET increased dramatically in the past few weeks.
Our analyses show that this increase is due largely to surging
use of Napster, particularly on and from the ResNet leg of NYU-NET.
Last Thursday night, for instance, before we put emergency restrictions
into place, NYU's Internet connection was operating at a dangerously
high 98% of capacity. After the restrictions, traffic on the link dropped
back to the more typical 60% of capacity.
It's not necessarily apparent when you're using Napster that you're
generating much network traffic. Once you've downloaded your MP3 files,
you might think you're done. But Napster in its default mode makes it
possible for everyone else on the Internet to download files from your
computer without your awareness or approval. Depending on the
popularity of your collection, this feature can multiply many times
the network traffic generated by your machine.
This Napster traffic surge has already interfered with the availability of
the network for normal NYU work-related connections, which include
University projects that require consistent network availability. NYU-NET
resources exist to further the academic mission of the University. Though
these resources are substantial, they are not infinite. Given the Napster
surge, ITS has no choice but to restrict the Napster load on NYU-NET,
so that the network remains available for NYU-related purposes. ITS had
been planning to upgrade our link to the Internet as soon as the next
generation of capacity comes online, later this year. That planning
continues. In the meantime at least, these restrictions are essential.
2) Computer Security
It's not readily apparent that, by running Napster, you can introduce
serious security risks to your machine and the other files on it, as well
as to other computers on the network. Napster disregards the security
of individual computers in misleading ways that are unprecedented.
In the default configuration, when you download your first music file from
Napster, you automatically also download Napster software that turns
your computer into a file server. This software allows any other machine
on the Internet to connect to your computer and download copies of your files
without your knowledge or approval. Triggered by a request from the other
machine, the Napster software on your computer then searches your hard
drive and any mounted network drives for "music files to share."
Unprotected file sharing and file scanning create significant risks of
compromise to your computer and your privacy, as well as to other computers
on NYU-NET. There is no way to tell what malicious functions may be
performed by the software you automatically download with the music or
what modifications may have been made to the music files themselves.
This security issue is further complicated by Napster's decision to release
the source code for the software it downloads onto your machine. The
resulting proliferation of authors and versions makes your machine even
more vulnerable to unexpected intrusions.
Further considerations for those using Napster
Because Napster can automatically turn your computer into a server, it
increases the possibility of automatically turning you into a distributor of
music files without the creator's permission. Distribution is a step more
serious than simply copying these files and can be a violation of U.S.
copyright laws. In this regard, it's worth noting that Napster keeps a
database of the IP addresses of all the individual computers that use
Napster software to distribute MP3 files.
Thanks for your cooperation in addressing what so quickly became a serious
threat to both network availability and computer security at NYU. We will,
of course, continue to monitor the situation and may take further steps
as they become necessary.
Marilyn McMillan
Chief Information Technology Officer
New York University
Of course, you're not in any way associated with the US and its sometimes draconian copyright/patent policies, except for your now world-famous involvement with the MPAA, but maybe you have some insight - and I quote the infamous amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Do you believe that this should apply to original source code? I.e. - no matter what the code does (say, an internet worm that overloads Micro$oft TCP/IP stacks, and clogs the internet for days l0pht style, or even, oh, DeCSS) should be protected by a fundamental law such as this?
But isn't this the same thing done with incredibly valuable works of art? I mean, living in New York City, most of the stuff hanging around OUR museums is from private collections - they spent years there, yes, being completely appreciated, and then got shared with the general public when the altruistic gentleman went the way of the dodo.
;p
I mean, no one is REALLY going to blow 5.8 million dollars on a skeleton of a T-Rex unless they plan to look up at it in awe and from time to time utter the word 'woah' just like I would if I had a Picasso hanging from my living room wall. And I'd protect it too, right down to the bulletproof glass and the 24 hour guard.
Overall, I think that it will work out in the long run - money for more digs, a happy rich guy, some ranch owners with a new truck, and maybe 50 years down the road, the Hemos personal collection will be revealed, T-Rex, stuffed penguin and all.
There is no sig.
In a way, this IS the ultimate GUI.... it seems to me that it's the same way - think about the ammount of time that it takes for you to format a floppy disk through a gui, and then compare that to the nice, simple DOS command line. The downside to the GUI is clear - if you can type quick, you can get a heck of a lot more done in a shorter time on the command line.
The advantage to a GUI on an OS is ease of use. But Ananova will just be delivering sports scores? How is this making anything better than text? Isn't this just a slightly more evil version of the office assistant? Not what I think I need to get my news.
There is no sig.
Microsoft IS playing catchup with Win2k. Why?
;p
First of all, you wouldn't believe the number of interns where I work that get their hands on a Linux workstation for the first time, and then, upon managing to screw up something, reboot. Microsoft products have been so dependant on the reboot, it's been ingrained in the minds of people without enough luck to have gotten some experience with something better.
Not only that, but Win2k is Microsoft's attempt to make NT a usefull OS - meaning you can play games on it. =) And now it seems like they're chickening out on being able to offer a product that can do both by promising Windows Millenium, which I betaed, much to my own sorrow. It seems to me that the only way they can keep the OS stable is to prevent it from doing things - using easily written video card drivers for instance.
But... but... you'll be hearing MORE about it? Perhaps Livingston's been reading his own publication too much. Last time I checked, Linux was gaining buzzword status - it's almost up there with 'intranet' now... =)
Plus, Microsoft is now REALLY playing catchup, because, after all, once the DOJ gets through with them, they might be open source.
There is no sig.
Joke? Laugh? Hello? Maybe next time I should include some more smilies. How about this:
;p
Blah blah blah... 'colour' instead of 'color' blah blah blah...
Better? =)
They seem to be misspelling 'color' as 'colour' in SEVERAL places, as well as a few other words. That must be one of the clues, but I can't figure out what it means for the life of me.
There is no sig.