This situation is just what real inventors need. This shows that patents do not automatically encourage advancement in technology - the main argument used to justify software and technology patents. I think that in order to enforce a patent the holder should have to show that thet where at least attempting to exploit it - and not merely squatting on the patent in order to sue when someone else puts their time and money into developing the idea. Sueing for IP rights when you are otherwise not actively using those rights to develop or bring to market a product (or raising funding to do the same) is morally wrong, and the governments of the world need to have this fact rammed down their throats until they take notice. *sigh*/rant
Erm.. by making the 'music' so crap that no-one would want to lay prior claim to it?
(Disclaimer: I haven't heard the German band in question, so the above is a joke based on personal views of this music genre as a whole, which may or may not be considered as informed or accurate by yourselves, and is therefore not intended as a critique of the aforementioned band specifically.)
Yes, it is. But it might just illustrate to the music industry that there are other marketing models to adopt other than the grab-control-and-screw-it-for-all-its-worth model that they currently adopt. The band is clearly making a political point about home copying. It would have been cheaper for them to put three copies of the album in the case and say to give the other 2 away.. instead they gave away CD-R's because that immediatly evokes the image of home copying and also points out that every blank CD-R is not the same as a lost record sale. Perhaps if this CD sells because of its notoriety and because loads of people like the idea of getting a couple of free CD-R's with the logo on, maybe they might get a clue that there might be ways of exploiting the free (as in beer) exchange of copyright material for their own profit. If they did that, then they may stop looking like a load of sad King Kanute's and start looking like a bunch of people with brains and flair.
An Interrupt is an event where the CPU saves its context (the address it is executing at, and the values of critical registers) and starts executing a service routine inside the operating system. The interrupt can be triggered by an instruction called a software interrupt or by an electrical signal fed to the CPU - this is called a hardware interrupt. The CPU implements both mechanisms using the same method - you could say the software interrupt 'Emulates' a physical hardware interrupt. So, since the software interrupt was a really easy way to call routines without upsetting the registers of the CPU, its not hard to see why software interrupts were used by the writers of the BIOS and DOS to call system functions, like reading and writing files, because it is a cheap mechanism in terms of speed and memory usage to call operating system functions. Additionaly, it didn't require the programmer to know (or care) where in memory the service routine was held, which was valuable since it meant changes to DOS or BIOS wouldn't require changes to the programs. Remember, the early DOS executable '.COM' format had no ability to fix external references. The new '.EXE' format does, I believe.
Re:Much scarrier than Patriot Act...
on
Kazaa Offices Raided
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Hmm didn't you read this story? Losing 8 computer, all your software and practically anything electrical in your house because you changed a setting in your broadband modem? Seems to me thats a little over the top. But it happened in Toledo, Ohio - It could happen to you next where you are!
I recenty was 'Joe-Jobbed' by a spammer, who spammed O2's mail server. One of the emails got through to customer support - and their auto responder sent me a fault reference! Can't wait till they email me back with the solution...!
I feel it is necessary to respond to Stephen Evans' article linking the recent MyDoom attack to Linux Activists. This angle, while newsworthy, is in all probablility baseless, and certainly there has been no organised attempt by the Linux, Opens Source, or GNU communities to orchestrate this attack.
It is surely true that SCO has enraged fans and participants in the OS community, that SCO have become unpopular. However, to attribute to an entire movement the actions of one silly individual is lazy journalism at best, and blatant sensationalism at worst. Had Mr Evans bothered to do research into the virus in any depth, he would have discovered that the virus 'payload' is for the greater part a spamming engine, designed not just to send out copies of itself, but to install a 'back door' enabling someone to take control of the computer and use it to send out junk emails, without the user being particularly aware of it happening. Here lies the real purpose of the Virus. The efforts of many poeple over the last few years, both in the Open Source community and in the corporate world to curtail the relentless tidal wave of spam that clutters the internet infrastructure has led spammers to use desperate tactics to get their unwanted emails out, including the use of Viruses to create ad-hoc mail servers for their use, now that most 'official' mail servers have been secured against abuse. Consequently there is considerable doubt that the supposed 'DDOS' attack on SCO is the main target of the Virus, since the code to do this is unreliable and in many cases doesn't work. Other variants of the virus target other organisations, for instance Microsoft. Perhaps Mr Evans should also look into the Open Source community and find out that we are not "internet zealots who believe that code should be free to all (open source)". Software published under Open Source licences are published subject to strict conditions, it's just that we beleive that it is better to make available the source code, so that the software is available to all to inspect. In the same way that a book is published openly, but the rights to the book remain with the owner. In many cases, as with the GPL, the right to modify and distribute the software is also given. This is for the betterment of the computing community as a whole. To use a much quoted phrase, the 'Free' we refer to when we say that software should be free, is the free as in speech, rather than free as in beer! If, as was the case in the early days of the internet, the majority of computers on the internet where of the 'Open Source' model, then very few of the security holes in the operating systems in use that are exploited by crackers, spammers and virus writers would remain unfixed. It is precisely because proprietary software (such as Microsoft Windows, or SCO's Unix) is closed to inspection by being private to their owners, that no-one other than those companies have the opportunity to fix the security holes, or know that they are there until they are exploited. It is a matter of record that when they are discovered, they can go uncorrected for years, since private corporations often have other priorities than fixing the faults in their software. I am sure that if Mr Evans wishes to really find out what is going on in this current attack there are many people more qualified and eloquent than me to instruct him. Fortunately, because those in the Open Source community prefer information to be free, it is all available on the internet, for no charge, other than a few minutes searching on Google or some other search engine. Look for the comments by Bruce Perens, Richard Stallman or ESR. I was moved to write this comment on this story because I was dissapointed by the lack of any real analysis of this recent attack, which is in contrast to the general quality of technology reporting on the BBC's website, and as an "internet zealot" I was distressed that I and more particularly the many millions of Open Source advocates the world over who work for little or no reward to make the internet and software industry a better place, have been linked to this dispicable and pointless Virus.
Interestingly enough, I work in England, and I often need to call Fedex. They have an 0800 callcentre - One day I phoned in and the girl that answered had an Australian accent, as did some of the voices in the background. In conversation I asked her where she was, she said she was in Bangalore... On another occasion the call centre was in Eire and the accent German. It's all a plot to confuse!!
I must confess I don't have it any more.. a few years ago when I moved I gave it to a cousin of mine who is a bit of an audio-phile. It was a Leak TL/12
12 watt power amp & pre-amp. It was built in 1950 and probably is worth a lot - I just didn't have room for it and wanted it to stay in the family because it was my grandfathers. As far as I know it's still going. I must ask him some day!
Back in 1979/80 I had a Commodore Pet 2001 that I hooked up to a GE Terminet 300 Belt printer that my dad picked up from work (they where going to dump it!!). Of course the Pet had no RS232 interface, but I managed to figure out how to hook up the PET's user port to the serial interface using a transistor and a few other components. Then I programmed a routine to send characters out to it.. It worked fine for listings etc. At 30 whole characters a second!!! Taught me a whole lot about programming in assembler, interacting with real-world devices etc. The next summer I bought a paper tape punch mechanism, built another interface and got that working too. God I wish I still had the time to tinker with hardware now, and that it was not so complex these days 'cos my brain can't cope:o)
What I'd like is a beysian (sp?) filter program that has a whitelist, plugged into a sendmail program that automatically updates my whitelist if I email someone.
Then I'd have a rule that looked for a code-word in the subject line that will let through the email, just in case someone asks for my email address IRL.
That would pretty much solve all my spam blues, aside from having to download the ffin crap in the first place.
Another strategy that occurred to me that would kill a lot of the spam's I get would be to reject any email that linked back to an image that's not in the domain of the sender. Very few people I know would link someone elses image into their email, most would send it as an attachment.
Yeah, GNOME is great for debugging too, I mean you can see it draw every pixel... Seriously, Gnome is a bit heavy on the CPU and mem, but not more so than KDE3.x.. If the new KDE is more efficient, then thats great. I use GNOME because it was the first desktop with transparent Term windows that I could get working, and I haven't been bothered to change since.
If Orlando's unavailable, I'd volunteer for the role. Especially if I get to make it with the hot female KGB defector.. Those Russian Girls GrrrOWL! Mind you, at my age (40 - *sob*) I think it'd be a stretch to class myself as 'surprisingly good looking once you take off the glasses' any more....
Re:The virus is spread by UNIX
on
SCO Offline
·
· Score: 1
Well, to be fair the virus is being spread by email servers, and every time email is is mentioned a chorus goes up from the OSS cheerleaders about how 90% of servers are OSS (Sendmail, POP3, fetchmail, chuckmail whatever.) It's probably true that most of these mails come thru a unix mail server... I guess that the hole in his argument is that a Windows mailserver would do any different.
Nice idea, but it's not hard to see that unless it's watertight it would be easy for this system to be abused by crackers/spammers/malcontents. The sad fact is that viruses would be ineffective if everyone used a virus checker. For home users there are free options available, and for corporate users the licensing cost is reasonable (esp. compared to the cost of being hit by an attack). The problem is people who are clueless or careless enough not to run with a decent firewall and a virus checker. That is what needs to be combatted.
A vast improvement can be made for those people who must have Windows by simply uninstalling Outlook, and installing a 'simpler' email client. Delete all the IE buttons/links/toolbar thingies and make Opera or Netscape the default. Some companies can't move to Linux because of the need to run software for which there is no OSS alternative. But you can mitigate the problem a little.
I remember back in 1980 when I had my swanky new Commodore Pet 2001-8 that to reboot it (because I'd crashed it running hand-assembled machine code routines) I used a specially bent paper clip on the edge connecter ("Expansion port") that stuck out the right hand side of the machine. I'd always intended to fit a switch, even bought it.. just never got round to drilling the hole!
Slashdot Mirror
Apologies for being thick, but what is "Pork Barrel" spending?
Half naked? She's fully dressed!.. and she has to stand in that pose because the Psion's screen is low and wide!!
Code Poet :o)
That's what I say
It confuses people, but they usually ask what you mean. And yes, I have bought the t-shirt!
This situation is just what real inventors need. This shows that patents do not automatically encourage advancement in technology - the main argument used to justify software and technology patents. I think that in order to enforce a patent the holder should have to show that thet where at least attempting to exploit it - and not merely squatting on the patent in order to sue when someone else puts their time and money into developing the idea. Sueing for IP rights when you are otherwise not actively using those rights to develop or bring to market a product (or raising funding to do the same) is morally wrong, and the governments of the world need to have this fact rammed down their throats until they take notice. *sigh* /rant
Erm.. by making the 'music' so crap that no-one would want to lay prior claim to it?
(Disclaimer: I haven't heard the German band in question, so the above is a joke based on personal views of this music genre as a whole, which may or may not be considered as informed or accurate by yourselves, and is therefore not intended as a critique of the aforementioned band specifically.)
Yes, it is. But it might just illustrate to the music industry that there are other marketing models to adopt other than the grab-control-and-screw-it-for-all-its-worth model that they currently adopt. The band is clearly making a political point about home copying. It would have been cheaper for them to put three copies of the album in the case and say to give the other 2 away.. instead they gave away CD-R's because that immediatly evokes the image of home copying and also points out that every blank CD-R is not the same as a lost record sale.
Perhaps if this CD sells because of its notoriety and because loads of people like the idea of getting a couple of free CD-R's with the logo on, maybe they might get a clue that there might be ways of exploiting the free (as in beer) exchange of copyright material for their own profit.
If they did that, then they may stop looking like a load of sad King Kanute's and start looking like a bunch of people with brains and flair.
...Does that mean if my chips glow red in the dark then its a bad thing?
Perhaps I need one of those heat-sink thingies.
An Interrupt is an event where the CPU saves its context (the address it is executing at, and the values of critical registers) and starts executing a service routine inside the operating system. The interrupt can be triggered by an instruction called a software interrupt or by an electrical signal fed to the CPU - this is called a hardware interrupt. The CPU implements both mechanisms using the same method - you could say the software interrupt 'Emulates' a physical hardware interrupt.
So, since the software interrupt was a really easy way to call routines without upsetting the registers of the CPU, its not hard to see why software interrupts were used by the writers of the BIOS and DOS to call system functions, like reading and writing files, because it is a cheap mechanism in terms of speed and memory usage to call operating system functions. Additionaly, it didn't require the programmer to know (or care) where in memory the service routine was held, which was valuable since it meant changes to DOS or BIOS wouldn't require changes to the programs. Remember, the early DOS executable '.COM' format had no ability to fix external references. The new '.EXE' format does, I believe.
Hmm didn't you read this story? Losing 8 computer, all your software and practically anything electrical in your house because you changed a setting in your broadband modem? Seems to me thats a little over the top. But it happened in Toledo, Ohio - It could happen to you next where you are!
I recenty was 'Joe-Jobbed' by a spammer, who spammed O2's mail server. One of the emails got through to customer support - and their auto responder sent me a fault reference! Can't wait till they email me back with the solution...!
But it never does any harm to flatter a little in order to charm someone you're complaining to - or did your momma never tell you that?
Interestingly enough, I work in England, and I often need to call Fedex. They have an 0800 callcentre - One day I phoned in and the girl that answered had an Australian accent, as did some of the voices in the background. In conversation I asked her where she was, she said she was in Bangalore... On another occasion the call centre was in Eire and the accent German. It's all a plot to confuse!!
I must confess I don't have it any more.. a few years ago when I moved I gave it to a cousin of mine who is a bit of an audio-phile. It was a Leak TL/12
12 watt power amp & pre-amp. It was built in 1950 and probably is worth a lot - I just didn't have room for it and wanted it to stay in the family because it was my grandfathers. As far as I know it's still going. I must ask him some day!
Back in 1979/80 I had a Commodore Pet 2001 that I hooked up to a GE Terminet 300 Belt printer that my dad picked up from work (they where going to dump it!!). Of course the Pet had no RS232 interface, but I managed to figure out how to hook up the PET's user port to the serial interface using a transistor and a few other components. Then I programmed a routine to send characters out to it.. It worked fine for listings etc. At 30 whole characters a second!!! Taught me a whole lot about programming in assembler, interacting with real-world devices etc. The next summer I bought a paper tape punch mechanism, built another interface and got that working too. God I wish I still had the time to tinker with hardware now, and that it was not so complex these days 'cos my brain can't cope :o)
I do too - A valve (tube) amp provides great sound for a guitar, and with the cover off great mood lighting for those romantic occasions!!!
What I'd like is a beysian (sp?) filter program that has a whitelist, plugged into a sendmail program that automatically updates my whitelist if I email someone.
Then I'd have a rule that looked for a code-word in the subject line that will let through the email, just in case someone asks for my email address IRL.
That would pretty much solve all my spam blues, aside from having to download the ffin crap in the first place.
Another strategy that occurred to me that would kill a lot of the spam's I get would be to reject any email that linked back to an image that's not in the domain of the sender. Very few people I know would link someone elses image into their email, most would send it as an attachment.
Just my 0.02
Perhaps it's because they're afraid of the Moon Worms or something?
Yeah, GNOME is great for debugging too, I mean you can see it draw every pixel... .. If the new KDE is more efficient, then thats great.
Seriously, Gnome is a bit heavy on the CPU and mem, but not more so than KDE3.x
I use GNOME because it was the first desktop with transparent Term windows that I could get working, and I haven't been bothered to change since.
If Orlando's unavailable, I'd volunteer for the role. Especially if I get to make it with the hot female KGB defector.. Those Russian Girls GrrrOWL!
Mind you, at my age (40 - *sob*) I think it'd be a stretch to class myself as 'surprisingly good looking once you take off the glasses' any more....
Well, to be fair the virus is being spread by email servers, and every time email is is mentioned a chorus goes up from the OSS cheerleaders about how 90% of servers are OSS (Sendmail, POP3, fetchmail, chuckmail whatever.) It's probably true that most of these mails come thru a unix mail server...
I guess that the hole in his argument is that a Windows mailserver would do any different.
Nice idea, but it's not hard to see that unless it's watertight it would be easy for this system to be abused by crackers/spammers/malcontents.
The sad fact is that viruses would be ineffective if everyone used a virus checker. For home users there are free options available, and for corporate users the licensing cost is reasonable (esp. compared to the cost of being hit by an attack). The problem is people who are clueless or careless enough not to run with a decent firewall and a virus checker. That is what needs to be combatted.
Hmm.. I'm 40 and I 'meet on the internet'. Or maybe it just that I'm wierd... Oh yeah, thats it. Sorry to bother you all....
A vast improvement can be made for those people who must have Windows by simply uninstalling Outlook, and installing a 'simpler' email client. Delete all the IE buttons/links/toolbar thingies and make Opera or Netscape the default.
Some companies can't move to Linux because of the need to run software for which there is no OSS alternative. But you can mitigate the problem a little.
I remember back in 1980 when I had my swanky new Commodore Pet 2001-8 that to reboot it (because I'd crashed it running hand-assembled machine code routines) I used a specially bent paper clip on the edge connecter ("Expansion port") that stuck out the right hand side of the machine. I'd always intended to fit a switch, even bought it.. just never got round to drilling the hole!