And yet, somehow, it seems like with every Firefox release, someone decides to link Slashdot straight to an FTP site before they've finished pushing everything out. Firefox 2 beta 2, Firefox 2 beta 1... I'm sure you can find more, but I don't feel like searching further.
Given this track record, what would it take for Slashdot to do a little checking the next time someone submits a "Firefox X released!" story?
I think one of the reasons he's stuck around is that he keeps current. About half of his songs are either direct parodies or style parodies, and for the most part the subjects are current songs, current artists, and current topics.
If he'd stuck with the 80s, he'd be nothing but a nostalgia act. But he's adapted as both music and pop culture have changed over the past ~20 years.
Actually, IE7 can check each site as you go, and Firefox 2 has two modes: one that checks against the blacklist, and one that checks each site as you go (look in Tools/Preferences/Security).
So yes, each browser will have a mode which will send nearly every URL you visit to a third party for checking against phishing sites.
Any word on how soon IE7 is hitting automatic updates? Not until at least Patch Tuesday, I assume...
Actually, it's sooner than expected: it'll hit automatic updates on November 1. Though it sounds like they're only targeting IE7 beta users at first, then adding systems with IE6 "after a few weeks."
If you really want to blend in, send out your Zombie commands via Myspace profiles.:) That'll look like normal web-traffic.
I can actually imagine the botnets and the blog spammers getting together on this. Someone blasts a bunch of nonsensical comments to various blogs, wikis, guestbooks, etc. They monitor them to see which ones get cleaned up. The ones that don't get cleaned up are designated as sources for commands. Then the spambots start posting encoded commands along with the blogspam, and the zombies start reading the blogs' comments to get instructions.
Hmm... Number of people worldwide who use Internet Explorer vs. number of people worldwide who (a) use Linux, (b) want to have Flash animations in their browser, and (c) are OK with installing the proprietary Flash player.
I'd say based on numbers alone, the new IE release qualifies as "stuff that matters."
Microsoft have only from my reckoning only implemented 58% of the CSS 2.0 framework, compared to figures in the 90's for other browsers (I have no direct source for these figures this info- so may be wrong)
The only reason I want to upgrade is security patches - god knows till when IE6.0 will be supported.
Fortunately, he's not the only one. IE6 comes standard with Win2k SP, WinXP SP2, and Win2k3 server, so it'll be supported (on those platforms) as long as they are. That means if you're using Windows 2000 SP4, IE6 will be supported until 2010. For WinXP SP2, you'll have to look up the date.
Dave Massy (Moderator):
Q: Now that IE7 is nearing completion, can you give any information on how regularly you plan to release future versions of IE?
A: We definitely plan to release on a regular basis. Exactly when the next release will be is difficult to predict adn we still have plenty of planning and work to do. You can be assured that it will not be 5 years until the next release of IE though:) we are plannign the next two versions now.
Yep. Now we just have to see how quickly IE7 and the rest supplant IE6.
Personally, I'm hoping that anyone who can't install IE7 will instead try out Firefox or Opera. And anyone who can install IE7 will do so quickly, or switch quickly.
Unfortunately there are plenty of people who can't install *anything* because IT locks the machine down, and plenty of people who won't install anything because they're afraid they'll break something.
Still, the sooner IE6 disappears, the easier things will be.
What is different about alcohol in the US compared with the rest of europe?
In the US, it's forbidden to youth. Which means they're that much more interested in it. And since they have to drink it illicitly, they're more likely to binge drink. Which leads to forming lifelong bad drinking habits, to overdoses, and to doing stupid things that result in injury, death, unwanted pregnancies, STDs, etc. Which leads to more concern that alcohol is dangerous, and an even stronger determination to keep it out of the hands of teens. Which makes them more interested in it...
Because once people think it's OK to inappropriately use just one piece of wood, then our Home Depots and other lumber yards are no better than arms markets.
And the last thing we want is to give more power to the Lumber Cartel, right?
Yes, cripple your country! Better to maintain strict control over a nation in poverty than be in charge of a prosperous one!
(Interestingly, the same comparison can be made for overprotective parents, who would prefer keeping their children...well, children, rather than prepare them to become adults.)
Well, they've fixed some memory leaks in all but one of the 1.5.0.x releases (check the release notes). And they have fixed more memory leaks in 2.0.
If you're interested, there's a page detailing Mozilla's tools to find memory leaks. It was originally posted in 2001, but as you look through it you'll find a bunch of sections updated in summer 2006.
An analog would be the world's banana crop. There are a number of varieties of banana, but the one most often seen in the west, the Cavendish, has been bred to such a level of homogeneity that there are real concerns that a single disease could wipe it out worldwide. In fact, that's exactly what happened in the 1960s to the then-dominant banana, the Gros Michel (same link). Banana growers had to find a replacement variety that consumers would accept, then retool their operations around it. Big surprise, the disease that wiped that one out has already evolved to attack the Cavendish.
An argument gets pointless when the two persons who argument have diametrically opposed opinions on the topic.
Not necessarily. If the two people arguing have good debate skills, good arguments, and an audience watching them, the audience can walk away better informed on the subject than when they arrived. Unfortunately, one out of three is typical, two out of three is pushing it, and three out of three is rare.
Slashdot Mirror
Just before brillig, and a little after the hour of scampering.
And yet, somehow, it seems like with every Firefox release, someone decides to link Slashdot straight to an FTP site before they've finished pushing everything out. Firefox 2 beta 2, Firefox 2 beta 1... I'm sure you can find more, but I don't feel like searching further.
Given this track record, what would it take for Slashdot to do a little checking the next time someone submits a "Firefox X released!" story?
Maybe he doesn't have a Slashdot account? It's possible.
Maybe he was in a hurry and didn't want to spend time logging in before getting the message out?
He did sign the comment with his email address, so it's "Anonymous" in terms of Slashdot accounts only.
I think one of the reasons he's stuck around is that he keeps current. About half of his songs are either direct parodies or style parodies, and for the most part the subjects are current songs, current artists, and current topics.
If he'd stuck with the 80s, he'd be nothing but a nostalgia act. But he's adapted as both music and pop culture have changed over the past ~20 years.
As crazy as this patent insanity gets, I can't help but think of the phrase, "Live by the sword, die by the sword."
I trust you are aware that Microsoft announced similar antiphishing features over a year ago, and just released them in IE7? And that Firefox 2 will also ship with similar functionality next week?
You don't have to imagine the reaction... just look back in the archives and read it.
Actually, IE7 can check each site as you go, and Firefox 2 has two modes: one that checks against the blacklist, and one that checks each site as you go (look in Tools/Preferences/Security).
So yes, each browser will have a mode which will send nearly every URL you visit to a third party for checking against phishing sites.
Wouldn't that be for the Melville MMORPG?
On the other hand, I can see that game devolving into one long Moby Dick joke.
Actually, it's sooner than expected: it'll hit automatic updates on November 1. Though it sounds like they're only targeting IE7 beta users at first, then adding systems with IE6 "after a few weeks."
I can actually imagine the botnets and the blog spammers getting together on this. Someone blasts a bunch of nonsensical comments to various blogs, wikis, guestbooks, etc. They monitor them to see which ones get cleaned up. The ones that don't get cleaned up are designated as sources for commands. Then the spambots start posting encoded commands along with the blogspam, and the zombies start reading the blogs' comments to get instructions.
Talk about a disturbing synergy.
Hmm... Number of people worldwide who use Internet Explorer vs. number of people worldwide who (a) use Linux, (b) want to have Flash animations in their browser, and (c) are OK with installing the proprietary Flash player.
I'd say based on numbers alone, the new IE release qualifies as "stuff that matters."
(P.S. Thanks for the link -- that's great news!)
You're probably thinking of this table.
Fortunately, he's not the only one. IE6 comes standard with Win2k SP, WinXP SP2, and Win2k3 server, so it'll be supported (on those platforms) as long as they are. That means if you're using Windows 2000 SP4, IE6 will be supported until 2010. For WinXP SP2, you'll have to look up the date.
You'll be glad to know it's possible to block the automatic update to IE7.
And best of all, Microsoft has realized they have to keep going:
Yep. Now we just have to see how quickly IE7 and the rest supplant IE6.
Personally, I'm hoping that anyone who can't install IE7 will instead try out Firefox or Opera. And anyone who can install IE7 will do so quickly, or switch quickly.
Unfortunately there are plenty of people who can't install *anything* because IT locks the machine down, and plenty of people who won't install anything because they're afraid they'll break something.
Still, the sooner IE6 disappears, the easier things will be.
Definitely Wednesday. When I checked this afternoon, the download page was still talking about RC1.
In the US, it's forbidden to youth. Which means they're that much more interested in it. And since they have to drink it illicitly, they're more likely to binge drink. Which leads to forming lifelong bad drinking habits, to overdoses, and to doing stupid things that result in injury, death, unwanted pregnancies, STDs, etc. Which leads to more concern that alcohol is dangerous, and an even stronger determination to keep it out of the hands of teens. Which makes them more interested in it...
Or limiting bookstores to only be open two hours a day, on weekdays, during typical work hours... and not overlapping the typical lunch hour.
And the last thing we want is to give more power to the Lumber Cartel, right?
Yes, cripple your country! Better to maintain strict control over a nation in poverty than be in charge of a prosperous one!
(Interestingly, the same comparison can be made for overprotective parents, who would prefer keeping their children...well, children, rather than prepare them to become adults.)
Well, they've fixed some memory leaks in all but one of the 1.5.0.x releases (check the release notes). And they have fixed more memory leaks in 2.0.
If you're interested, there's a page detailing Mozilla's tools to find memory leaks. It was originally posted in 2001, but as you look through it you'll find a bunch of sections updated in summer 2006.
An analog would be the world's banana crop. There are a number of varieties of banana, but the one most often seen in the west, the Cavendish, has been bred to such a level of homogeneity that there are real concerns that a single disease could wipe it out worldwide. In fact, that's exactly what happened in the 1960s to the then-dominant banana, the Gros Michel (same link). Banana growers had to find a replacement variety that consumers would accept, then retool their operations around it. Big surprise, the disease that wiped that one out has already evolved to attack the Cavendish.
Not necessarily. If the two people arguing have good debate skills, good arguments, and an audience watching them, the audience can walk away better informed on the subject than when they arrived. Unfortunately, one out of three is typical, two out of three is pushing it, and three out of three is rare.
Yes, this is a difficult question to answer. Interestingly enough, the reverse is true, and easily demonstrated, as immoral can be a word.