While much of the slashdot community is aware of the insanity the way software patents work, this show does a pretty good job of explaining the process for the uninitiated. I tried to explain the problems associated with software patents to my girlfriend last week and she could barely believe how screwed software patents are. Thanks to NPR, I can send her to a more clear and thorough explanation than I was able to give.
Hopefully this helps to convince non-technical Americans that patents should rarely, if ever be awarded for software.
The first chapter is on Asterisk. Don't get me wrong, Asterisk has done a lot of good for the open source community, but I shudder to think that anyone would use it as an example of good development
I suspect that over the last six years Anthm (Anthony Minnesale) has logged over 10,000 commits to the FreeSWITCH project. For more info, check out freeswitch.org or #freeswitch on freenode.
There should be a law requiring a fine for each user who's personal information is compromised as a result of bugs like this. My bet is that if there were, this type of thing would happen far less often. Of course, Facebook isn't the only company guilty of this type of thing -- and I suspect that until there is some serious consequence associated with this type of security hole, most companies won't take it seriously enough.
He knew how to program a logic bomb and how to cover his tracks by removing it from the source, but he didn't have the smarts to change the source file's time stamp? Sounds like an obvious step to take -- not that I'd ever do anything like that, but seriously, changing a time stamp isn't rocket science.
While I agree that the politicians in office have, generally speaking, done a terrible job of managing the company, your comment terrifies me. Please learn how to spell "racist" before voting in November. Please consider that a possessive pronoun such as "your" shouldn't be used to refer to a word like "fired." It doesn't make sense. I think you were looking for the contraction "you're" instead. It really makes more sense that way -- it's short for "you are."
But don't get me wrong -- I agree with you, and you've helped to confirm my suspicion that we're fucked.
Why did they give it to you "for free"? Some kind of promotion? Last I checked, Verizon charges customers for tethering. While it is possible to tether for free with smart phones, this usually requires jailbreaking (for Android) or some third party app like PDANet, which is against the terms of your service (admittedly, the terms are terribly written -- they say that users can not tether without purchasing a plan. It's already clearly established that it's not a question of whether users can, but whether they may. .
The only way I'd accept your claim that Verizon's given you the ability to tether for free would be if you're using VZ Access Manager (Verizon's tethering software) to do it.
It seems to me that the most appropriate solution to this would be to disbar the lawyers that run this firm. What they've done is clearly unethical, and it's also obvious that they were aware of (or should have been aware of) the infringement (they are intellectual property lawyers, right?).
This will discourage others from behaving this way, and will make it impossible for some obviously bad actors to earn a living by behaving badly. Perhaps they could consider a new career in fast food? In any case, I have no sympathy for these people.
Um, I may live in a hole, but I know the lyric. The funny thing about the passphrase is that I work with a bunch of (male) engineers, and one of them selected that as a passphrase. I just think it's strange that an engineer, probably in his mid 40s with a beer gut, came up with that.
I remember one of our truecrypt volume passwords at work used to be "mymilkshakebringsalltheboystotheyard". Upon being informed of that, I thought "ok, pretty secure, easy to remember, but who the hell came up with that?"
That's fair, I suppose -- I actually agree with the parent (sexconker). I just think it's unfortunate that his language was so strong. Nobody deserves a beating, no matter how green or incompetent.
I'll grant that some folks don't deserve a job in IT, or aren't worthy of being hired, but it's better to educate someone than it is to tear him (or her) down. Language matters. We all started somewhere, and even as a high level admin for a mid sized company, I've made my share of mistakes. We all have.
It's always better to educate someone than it is to tear them down.
Civil and criminal penalties should be imposed on manufacturers that ship hardware that's pre-loaded with malware. As of right now, there are no consequences, which means that this will continue to happen. The only remedy that will stop, or at least curb this behavior is serious civil or criminal charges.
Companies may blame this on outsourcing, but they have chosen to outsource. They may blame it on poor quality control, but quality control is their responsibility! There is no excuse for this, and the executives that make decisions that lead to this type of security hole must be held accountable. I wish I could say that I was surprised by this news, but I'm not. It's commonplace. And until hardware and software companies are held accountable, this will continue to happen.
Seems like a bit much for a very limited operating system that only works on PPC architecture. Can anyone explain why this would be attractive at that price?
Slashdot Mirror
ok slashdot, since apparently you're going to make me type more than ":)" in the comment, how's this?
Still happy with the table given the price I paid.
I'm glad to year you've repurposed it as a table. How's that working out for you?
Last I heard, that's under US jurisdiction.
While much of the slashdot community is aware of the insanity the way software patents work, this show does a pretty good job of explaining the process for the uninitiated. I tried to explain the problems associated with software patents to my girlfriend last week and she could barely believe how screwed software patents are. Thanks to NPR, I can send her to a more clear and thorough explanation than I was able to give.
Hopefully this helps to convince non-technical Americans that patents should rarely, if ever be awarded for software.
The first chapter is on Asterisk. Don't get me wrong, Asterisk has done a lot of good for the open source community, but I shudder to think that anyone would use it as an example of good development
facepalm. His last name is spelled Minessale.
I suspect that over the last six years Anthm (Anthony Minnesale) has logged over 10,000 commits to the FreeSWITCH project. For more info, check out freeswitch.org or #freeswitch on freenode.
There should be a law requiring a fine for each user who's personal information is compromised as a result of bugs like this. My bet is that if there were, this type of thing would happen far less often. Of course, Facebook isn't the only company guilty of this type of thing -- and I suspect that until there is some serious consequence associated with this type of security hole, most companies won't take it seriously enough.
worst. crash. ever.
He knew how to program a logic bomb and how to cover his tracks by removing it from the source, but he didn't have the smarts to change the source file's time stamp? Sounds like an obvious step to take -- not that I'd ever do anything like that, but seriously, changing a time stamp isn't rocket science.
Ok, I forgive you. I just referred to the country as "the company." Or, is that a more accurate statement anyway?
While I agree that the politicians in office have, generally speaking, done a terrible job of managing the company, your comment terrifies me. Please learn how to spell "racist" before voting in November. Please consider that a possessive pronoun such as "your" shouldn't be used to refer to a word like "fired." It doesn't make sense. I think you were looking for the contraction "you're" instead. It really makes more sense that way -- it's short for "you are."
But don't get me wrong -- I agree with you, and you've helped to confirm my suspicion that we're fucked.
That's the funniest thing I've read all day!
I just write all of my data to /dev/null. Take that, toshiba!
Why did they give it to you "for free"? Some kind of promotion? Last I checked, Verizon charges customers for tethering. While it is possible to tether for free with smart phones, this usually requires jailbreaking (for Android) or some third party app like PDANet, which is against the terms of your service (admittedly, the terms are terribly written -- they say that users can not tether without purchasing a plan. It's already clearly established that it's not a question of whether users can, but whether they may. .
The only way I'd accept your claim that Verizon's given you the ability to tether for free would be if you're using VZ Access Manager (Verizon's tethering software) to do it.
It seems to me that the most appropriate solution to this would be to disbar the lawyers that run this firm. What they've done is clearly unethical, and it's also obvious that they were aware of (or should have been aware of) the infringement (they are intellectual property lawyers, right?).
This will discourage others from behaving this way, and will make it impossible for some obviously bad actors to earn a living by behaving badly. Perhaps they could consider a new career in fast food? In any case, I have no sympathy for these people.
Citation needed.
Um, I may live in a hole, but I know the lyric. The funny thing about the passphrase is that I work with a bunch of (male) engineers, and one of them selected that as a passphrase. I just think it's strange that an engineer, probably in his mid 40s with a beer gut, came up with that.
I remember one of our truecrypt volume passwords at work used to be "mymilkshakebringsalltheboystotheyard". Upon being informed of that, I thought "ok, pretty secure, easy to remember, but who the hell came up with that?"
On tasty artisan bread.
Still not terribly appetizing.
That's fair, I suppose -- I actually agree with the parent (sexconker). I just think it's unfortunate that his language was so strong. Nobody deserves a beating, no matter how green or incompetent.
I'll grant that some folks don't deserve a job in IT, or aren't worthy of being hired, but it's better to educate someone than it is to tear him (or her) down. Language matters. We all started somewhere, and even as a high level admin for a mid sized company, I've made my share of mistakes. We all have.
It's always better to educate someone than it is to tear them down.
But nobody deserves a beating. Chill out.
I've always used "liverpudlian" myself :p
Civil and criminal penalties should be imposed on manufacturers that ship hardware that's pre-loaded with malware. As of right now, there are no consequences, which means that this will continue to happen. The only remedy that will stop, or at least curb this behavior is serious civil or criminal charges.
Companies may blame this on outsourcing, but they have chosen to outsource. They may blame it on poor quality control, but quality control is their responsibility! There is no excuse for this, and the executives that make decisions that lead to this type of security hole must be held accountable. I wish I could say that I was surprised by this news, but I'm not. It's commonplace. And until hardware and software companies are held accountable, this will continue to happen.
Seems like a bit much for a very limited operating system that only works on PPC architecture. Can anyone explain why this would be attractive at that price?