Not necessarily, but if piracy hits a level where anyone can just rent and duplicate every last game without any hassle at all, it's not exactly going to provide much incentive for future development.
Does it really offend people so much that developers, engineers, artists, etc, benefit from their work?
There is still a remote chance that if you botched your soft mod, the update will brick you system. This means you get to pay for shipping both ways plus a service fee to fix the Wii. Fun times.
Why would Nintendo want to release something to put an end to homebrew? Likely because it's the first stepping stone to soft modding the Wii and playing pirated games. If they don't make an effort to reduce piracy, developers aren't going to be interested in developing games for the platform if they can't profit from it.
This effectively keeps the rookie script kiddies (soft modding is NOT hacking, unless you coded the firmware hack yourself) from soft modding the Wii, either out of concern for "bricking" the system, or just not having the know-how to do it in the first place. I really don't see a problem with wanted to make a profit from a novel commercial venture that a company has invested millions in.
I think there's a bit of confusion here. I'm not referring to a layperson or "average Joe" as a schmuck, but rather the pseudo internet paparazzi type that take one tiny quote, and spam it everywhere, completely out of context. Kinda like the people who take screen caps of people's facebook profiles and then advertise them on Digg.
Also, other posters have drawn attention to this point: in most jobs, provided you don't insult your boss or the company, if you post something about a rough day at the office, it usually is of no consequence. If you're in a senior role and you do the same, a seemingly innocuous statement is interpreted a dozen different ways, usually for the worst.
Twitter is SOCIAL, Engineers are ANTI-SOCIAL, and you wonder why the two aren't a match made in heaven?
Twitter lacks any sort of competitive appeal, sex appeal, or intellectual appeal.
It is used to disseminate socially relevant knowledge, and humor.
Sports. Celebrity Gossip. One-Liners.
These are the cornerstones of twitter.
Having said that, if you want the truly great tweets, you need a reliable third party to sift through the junk and gather them for you.
Unfortunately this process has become increasingly inefficient with the demise of Conan's Late Night Twitter Tracker.
Engineers being anti-social is a misguided stereotype at best. Those of us in intermediate to senior roles as professional engineers have to be the social and business-oriented type, in addition to having a few degrees and technical expertise.
I avoid Twitter as the majority of tweets that come my way, from people of all walks of life, are typically nothing more than inane rants and shameless self promotion. As for why I don't use twitter to advertise my every waking moment ala "The Trueman Show", as an engineer, I'm held to considerably higher standards than just about any other member of society in general. This applies both in my spare time and while taking part in my professional endeavors. A single complaint or gripe is easily misunderstood by the average schmuck who then manages to get the entire "issue" blown completely out of proportion and flung around all over the internet. Professionals should, and, for the most part, do know better than to waste their time on this.
So, aside of the majority of tweets being completely banal, yet still having the potential to cause severe career setbacks, it's also completely useless to me. I routinely catch up with my close friends in-person while I travel or on weekends, as opposed to using twitter to keep on top of day-to-day events.
I wonder what the quiescent power consumption of the device is. Also, would it be feasible to deploy them on other devices too? ie: thermostat/AC, bathroom fans, etc etc.
Anyhow, just seems like yet another burden for consumers. I use my dryer when I need it. I usually have to reset the timer anyways if my clothes are still damp and run it another 10 minutes, not another hour. The only way I see this being practical is maybe at a laundromat. That's sure gonna annoy people who swap small loads mid-cycle to save some cash though.
"I think they're being a little bit cute when they say they want the source and the destination IP addresses for internet sessions [while] saying 'we're not really asking for web browsing history' "
My mind wanders to Mark Twain's, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court":
"Verily, I cannot make it out. Ye've just said ours are the higher, and with the same breath ye take it back."
I went to school in a smaller town based around a farming-type community. Not quite the burbs, but still small-townish. I was fortunate enough that my teacher was very passionate about what he taught. Two days after we started learning plotting simple graphs, he showed how zooming in could be used to to deceive. Small things here and there that accumulated over time.
Too bad most of the population doesn't even grasp basic tactics used to manipulate the representation of data. The most common ones being:
-cherry picking
-disproportionately small samples sizes
-no idea of what a confidence interval is
-the fallacy of appealing to tradition/religion/celebrity-endorsement/belief
-the inability to distinguish between science and psuedo/junk-science
-or that, GASP, correlation does not imply causation
This is a simple combination of common sense and critical thinking, which we were taught in fifth grade elementary school. Still, such a disturbing number of people seem to be unable to grasp such basic concepts.
How exactly will they be able to interpret this data beyond dumping parts of it in excel, extracting an average (without outlier removal or consideration, because, "why would we do that? Won't it make it less accurate?"), and making another ridiculous policy or tax as a result? I'm all for making this data available for analysis by the public, but it is the responsibility of individuals to educate themselves beyond what they did (or did not) learn in school as a kid so that policy makers cannot bully them into submission due to an inability to interpret data or understand certain concepts.
And before someones cries out "academic elitist", let me note, again, that that the above topics are taught to us as children, not in university.
Hence why I just get a hard copy of the contract and actually read it. There's no gray font BS, etc. Although IANAL, tiny gray text that isn't legible on a hard copy of your contract is obviously going to make it hard to enforce the contract. The technical nitty-gritty is minimal, so even a non-techie should be able to read both pages of it, and know what the scoop is.
I recall some issue with Telus in Canada trying to terminate 3-year "unlimited" contracts for iPhones (I think it was some sort of "blogger plan", if I recall). I don't know what became of that though.
Fat conversion to ATP through aerobic metabolism is generally slower than other forms of metabolism. It requires a steady supply of oxygen too, so your circulatory system will likely be overworked. Also, rapid breakdown of lipids in the body could lead to metabolic acidosis, decreasing the pH in your blood, and possibly leading to renal/kidney failure.
So, I doubt fat loss via such a method would be very helpful, or safe.
Does this software only detect USB mass storage device (MSD) modules? A simple workaround would be to implement a USB-connected character device. You could simply dump a binary file via "cat" or some similar tool to the device, presto - data acquired. I would know this because I've built similar ones in the past while playing around with PICs.
At some of the more "security oriented" offices I've visited, the easiest way to prevent data from leaving the office was:
-implementing proper network security (blocked sites, restricted sent-to abilities for e-mail)
-customizing the Linux kernel for slim-boxes so there was next to no driver support for anything not already connected to the box
-disabling MSDs in the kernel altogether
The only other way (ie: in the case of my little USB data logger) is to completely disable un-used USB ports, etc. If you have the computing resources for it, you could just have most slim boxes log in to VMs that are pretty much locked down and obliviously to external H/W anyways. This approach seems to be useful for detecting attempts to make unauthorized copies of data, etc, but it seems far from a fool-proof way to prevent it.
All these access restrictions seem a bit over the top, considering the end goal seems to be a simple time-based limit as to when people can use machines. Install $30 worth of surge protected powerbars in their rooms, and buy those cheap timers for the circuit breaker box they sell at home depot to cut the power to their rooms at certain times of day. Install a couple cheap nightlights with batteries installed in case they need to get up at night, etc.
On a separate note, check out the details (as I don't want to retype them) here: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1487038&cid=30537220
Works like a charm. It's truly a beautiful sight to behold when the TV is off 15 minutes BEFORE the deadline, knowing that:
a) no exceptions
b) the next save spot is likely at least 20 minutes away
c) the power shutoff could "damage" the wii (until they realize the surge protector is in place for a reason, lol)
Slashdot Mirror
Not necessarily, but if piracy hits a level where anyone can just rent and duplicate every last game without any hassle at all, it's not exactly going to provide much incentive for future development.
Does it really offend people so much that developers, engineers, artists, etc, benefit from their work?
There is still a remote chance that if you botched your soft mod, the update will brick you system. This means you get to pay for shipping both ways plus a service fee to fix the Wii. Fun times.
Why would Nintendo want to release something to put an end to homebrew? Likely because it's the first stepping stone to soft modding the Wii and playing pirated games. If they don't make an effort to reduce piracy, developers aren't going to be interested in developing games for the platform if they can't profit from it.
This effectively keeps the rookie script kiddies (soft modding is NOT hacking, unless you coded the firmware hack yourself) from soft modding the Wii, either out of concern for "bricking" the system, or just not having the know-how to do it in the first place. I really don't see a problem with wanted to make a profit from a novel commercial venture that a company has invested millions in.
70%? Shouldn't it be 99%? I didn't realize that Macs and Linux boxes were capable of running malware. Blast you WINE users!
I think there's a bit of confusion here. I'm not referring to a layperson or "average Joe" as a schmuck, but rather the pseudo internet paparazzi type that take one tiny quote, and spam it everywhere, completely out of context. Kinda like the people who take screen caps of people's facebook profiles and then advertise them on Digg.
Also, other posters have drawn attention to this point: in most jobs, provided you don't insult your boss or the company, if you post something about a rough day at the office, it usually is of no consequence. If you're in a senior role and you do the same, a seemingly innocuous statement is interpreted a dozen different ways, usually for the worst.
Twitter is SOCIAL, Engineers are ANTI-SOCIAL, and you wonder why the two aren't a match made in heaven? Twitter lacks any sort of competitive appeal, sex appeal, or intellectual appeal.
It is used to disseminate socially relevant knowledge, and humor. Sports. Celebrity Gossip. One-Liners.
These are the cornerstones of twitter. Having said that, if you want the truly great tweets, you need a reliable third party to sift through the junk and gather them for you.
Unfortunately this process has become increasingly inefficient with the demise of Conan's Late Night Twitter Tracker.
Engineers being anti-social is a misguided stereotype at best. Those of us in intermediate to senior roles as professional engineers have to be the social and business-oriented type, in addition to having a few degrees and technical expertise.
I avoid Twitter as the majority of tweets that come my way, from people of all walks of life, are typically nothing more than inane rants and shameless self promotion. As for why I don't use twitter to advertise my every waking moment ala "The Trueman Show", as an engineer, I'm held to considerably higher standards than just about any other member of society in general. This applies both in my spare time and while taking part in my professional endeavors. A single complaint or gripe is easily misunderstood by the average schmuck who then manages to get the entire "issue" blown completely out of proportion and flung around all over the internet. Professionals should, and, for the most part, do know better than to waste their time on this.
So, aside of the majority of tweets being completely banal, yet still having the potential to cause severe career setbacks, it's also completely useless to me. I routinely catch up with my close friends in-person while I travel or on weekends, as opposed to using twitter to keep on top of day-to-day events.
Whatever rings your bell? lol
I wonder what the quiescent power consumption of the device is. Also, would it be feasible to deploy them on other devices too? ie: thermostat/AC, bathroom fans, etc etc.
Anyhow, just seems like yet another burden for consumers. I use my dryer when I need it. I usually have to reset the timer anyways if my clothes are still damp and run it another 10 minutes, not another hour. The only way I see this being practical is maybe at a laundromat. That's sure gonna annoy people who swap small loads mid-cycle to save some cash though.
From TFA:
"I think they're being a little bit cute when they say they want the source and the destination IP addresses for internet sessions [while] saying 'we're not really asking for web browsing history' "
My mind wanders to Mark Twain's, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court":
"Verily, I cannot make it out. Ye've just said ours are the higher, and with the same breath ye take it back."
Thats more porn then you can shake a fist at...
Talk to the hand!
Your response makes me wonder what you must think "prenatal care" refers to...
BOGU: Bend Over, Grease Up!
It's practically considered common courtesy in prisons.
I went to school in a smaller town based around a farming-type community. Not quite the burbs, but still small-townish. I was fortunate enough that my teacher was very passionate about what he taught. Two days after we started learning plotting simple graphs, he showed how zooming in could be used to to deceive. Small things here and there that accumulated over time.
Too bad most of the population doesn't even grasp basic tactics used to manipulate the representation of data. The most common ones being:
-cherry picking
-disproportionately small samples sizes
-no idea of what a confidence interval is
-the fallacy of appealing to tradition/religion/celebrity-endorsement/belief
-the inability to distinguish between science and psuedo/junk-science
-or that, GASP, correlation does not imply causation
This is a simple combination of common sense and critical thinking, which we were taught in fifth grade elementary school. Still, such a disturbing number of people seem to be unable to grasp such basic concepts.
How exactly will they be able to interpret this data beyond dumping parts of it in excel, extracting an average (without outlier removal or consideration, because, "why would we do that? Won't it make it less accurate?"), and making another ridiculous policy or tax as a result? I'm all for making this data available for analysis by the public, but it is the responsibility of individuals to educate themselves beyond what they did (or did not) learn in school as a kid so that policy makers cannot bully them into submission due to an inability to interpret data or understand certain concepts.
And before someones cries out "academic elitist", let me note, again, that that the above topics are taught to us as children, not in university.
The part where the people are tearing the arms off of bears.
"What? Every American is entitled to a pair of preserved bear arms hanging on the wall. How could that possibly be misconstrued?"
Hence why I just get a hard copy of the contract and actually read it. There's no gray font BS, etc. Although IANAL, tiny gray text that isn't legible on a hard copy of your contract is obviously going to make it hard to enforce the contract. The technical nitty-gritty is minimal, so even a non-techie should be able to read both pages of it, and know what the scoop is.
I recall some issue with Telus in Canada trying to terminate 3-year "unlimited" contracts for iPhones (I think it was some sort of "blogger plan", if I recall). I don't know what became of that though.
More recently, they've implemented a 5GB cap on iPads without informing the public.
http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/06/01/telus-stealthy-adds-ipad-data-limit-canadian-ipad-data-plan-isnt-unlimited-as-telus-adds-5gb-limit/
A 5GB cap seems pretty fair, but Telus doesn't offer the option to just pay another $30/month if you go over your limit, no way: they'll ding you a fortune per 10MB you go over your limit. So using 10GB, instead of being 2x$30/month=$60/month, ends up being roughly $500. Fun times are had by all.
Am I the only one that thought the title was referring to "software developers" ?
The lengths some people go to keep IE6. *sigh*
ARGH I hate you for using that stupid pun.
Really? I thought it was remarkably well done.
It would seem the seasoned vets here are kicking off the day.
Fat conversion to ATP through aerobic metabolism is generally slower than other forms of metabolism. It requires a steady supply of oxygen too, so your circulatory system will likely be overworked. Also, rapid breakdown of lipids in the body could lead to metabolic acidosis, decreasing the pH in your blood, and possibly leading to renal/kidney failure.
So, I doubt fat loss via such a method would be very helpful, or safe.
That's "wide" about the 2012 Olympics...
http://boingboing.net/2007/06/04/london-2012-olympic-.html
The one hummer in life that you DON'T enjoy.
Yes there was! Over 9000!
And according to the RIAA, 9000 songs at 0.99$ each equals 5 billions in damages and 3000 years of prison!
What, 9000!?! There's no way that can be right! CAN IT?!
Abbey: "And the problem here is.... ?"
Ah, makes sense. Thanks!
Does this software only detect USB mass storage device (MSD) modules? A simple workaround would be to implement a USB-connected character device. You could simply dump a binary file via "cat" or some similar tool to the device, presto - data acquired. I would know this because I've built similar ones in the past while playing around with PICs.
At some of the more "security oriented" offices I've visited, the easiest way to prevent data from leaving the office was:
-implementing proper network security (blocked sites, restricted sent-to abilities for e-mail)
-customizing the Linux kernel for slim-boxes so there was next to no driver support for anything not already connected to the box
-disabling MSDs in the kernel altogether
The only other way (ie: in the case of my little USB data logger) is to completely disable un-used USB ports, etc. If you have the computing resources for it, you could just have most slim boxes log in to VMs that are pretty much locked down and obliviously to external H/W anyways. This approach seems to be useful for detecting attempts to make unauthorized copies of data, etc, but it seems far from a fool-proof way to prevent it.
All these access restrictions seem a bit over the top, considering the end goal seems to be a simple time-based limit as to when people can use machines. Install $30 worth of surge protected powerbars in their rooms, and buy those cheap timers for the circuit breaker box they sell at home depot to cut the power to their rooms at certain times of day. Install a couple cheap nightlights with batteries installed in case they need to get up at night, etc.
On a separate note, check out the details (as I don't want to retype them) here:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1487038&cid=30537220
Works like a charm. It's truly a beautiful sight to behold when the TV is off 15 minutes BEFORE the deadline, knowing that:
a) no exceptions
b) the next save spot is likely at least 20 minutes away
c) the power shutoff could "damage" the wii (until they realize the surge protector is in place for a reason, lol)
A way to efficiently handle buffer overflows in real time.