No, but the taxation often provides the tipping point.
A national currency is marked by 2 things: that you can (or must) pay your taxes with it, and that the employees of that government (most especially the military) accept it in payment. As long as both of those are true, even with serious inflation, the national currency has value.
That is only pertinent to the internal market value of the currency and only to a limited degree. The North Korean won and Libyan dinar are pretty worthless outside of their native nation states. However a national currency can even internally spiral out of control even where there is still the requirement to pay ones taxes from it and have it accepted as payment (think Zimbabwean dollar).
Any currency can be massively devalued by the creation of more of itself in excess of the perceived value of the currency. The more notes that are printed, the less the value of those in circulation becomes. This is why quantitative easing and similar solutions will not work. Come back in 5 years if you do not recognise this fact today and we'll talk then.
The strength in Bitcoin in this matter is that one cannot just run a shell script to create a few million more Bitcoins. Because the release of the unit of exchange is fixed there is a certain degree of security to it. Okay, so there is no major tax-raising government entity behind the currency. Does that mean it is worthless as a medium of exchange? Of course not. A medium of exchange is just that and no more. The value of a one hundred dollar bill is only what you are able to exchange it for, which is entirely dependent upon the environment you find yourself in.
Personally I would even argue that the claimed weaknesses of Bitcoin (decentralised, no government backing) could be a foundational key strength of the currency.
From around 1730hrs yesterday, Cable & Wireless started having huge (95% packet loss) issues for about 90 minutes in the Holland/Germany area. Was interesting to note that trying to reach (from remote locations in Europe) two sites we have in Sweden, one (on Telia) was fine, but another was mostly offline. We're still waiting to receive a report from C&W about the outage.
I would suggest that the LibDems, like the Tories, have come into service of the nation only to discover the barren waste left by the Labour administration. It's all well and good having grand plans, but when one peers inside to find the coffers empty through abysmal mis-management, it's difficult to step forward with increased spending plans without looking completely nuts.
Clegg and his bunch are in a very difficult situation where they need to keep some stability in the country by not having an early election called that could potentially bring Miliband into government. At the same time they need to keep the Right in check and ensure that some Liberal views are represented. The key to all of this mess is to get the country back on its feet before the Reds are able to get close to another attempt at drowning the UK.
There's always horse trading in politics and this is one area that it would be very surprising to see the Liberals allow to pass through.
Yeah because poor people are well known for a) their disposable income to spend on electronics other than cell phones and b) their desire to read books often enough to have a dedicated device for it. I mean, when you hear that ghetto street slang you think "wow, he must be a well-read sort of fellow".
I'm not in the lowest tax bracket and can attest to the fact that it's more than simply the price-point that is a consideration when it comes to purchasing an ebook reader. I've just ordered my first ebook reader from Amazon and selected the basic model (without adverts). What I considered to be their high prices had put me off looking at them in the past. Plus there was (and still is) the issue that if I buy treeware, I'd expect to receive a digital copy too, so that my original copy does not get ruined and I find I am unable to purchase another copy since the publisher has stopped printing it. Kind of like being able to make MP3s from my own CD collection.
There is something satisfying about selecting a book and settling down to read it, when it comes in a paper version. That being said, the convenience and space factors when travelling make the ebook reader a certain winner. The reduction in price of the Kindle is what tipped the scales for me. There may still be the relatively high prices to pay on new books (compared to the associated costs involved with virtual media), but when one considers the wealth of knowledge available that is not constrained by copyright, the low priced Kindles make for a good purchase.
IPv4 NAT can cause problems for some communications protocols. These include, but are not limited to:
PPTP
Bittorrent
SIP
Things will only get worse on IPv4 when the ISPs increasingly move towards carrier NAT as a solution to avoid the perceived complexities if IPv6, when really it's just an excuse to do less work and squeeze more money out of the users.
I doubt that individuals & companies said, "No! We refuse to go on the internet until we can have TLDs with non-Latin characters."
You think that companies have only a single domain? You think that they use only a single IP?
iain@expat-tc ~ $ host www.microsoft.com.au
www.microsoft.com.au has address 203.19.66.74
iain@expat-tc ~ $ host www.microsoft.it
www.microsoft.it is an alias for microsoft.it.
microsoft.it has address 207.46.232.182
microsoft.it has address 207.46.197.32
microsoft.it mail is handled by 10 maila.microsoft.com.
I wonder what impact this will have on the ever decreasing amount of IPv4 addresses available. If it means that this pushes us towards a greater uptake of IPv6, it can only be good. For too long ISPs have been reluctant to encourage the rollout of IPv6 connectivity, all the time turning a blind eye to this problem of diminishing IPv4 addresses. Perhaps with a rush for new domains there will be a significant drop in the number of free IPv4 addresses and this will spur the uptake of IPv6.
What is really pissing the British off is that the American government is trying to extradite McKinnon using a law that was passed under the shadow of 9/11 for the purposes of anti-terrorism.
Granted, McKinnon was foolish to enter the US government computers, although perhaps he should be given a consultant's fee for highlighting such lax security. If they're going to prosecute him for being an idiot, then certainly they could look closer to home.
And the tactics employed by the American Justice Department have been more than questionable under various EU laws, let alone the English legal system.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is to see the politicians rolling over for the American government instead of standing up for their own citizens.
Did McKinnon break into the systems? Yes, and he has admitted such. Surely as a British citizen having commited a crime in England he should be tried under English law.
I would be happy to setup a proxy for just this purpose and charge a nominal subscription charge on a monthly basis along with a step-by-step guide on how to use such a service.
Information tends to spread quickly enough via email where people do have something to share and if this does concern users then there appears to be a viable business model here.
Agreed, using free proxy services does mean playing catch-up, but pay-for-services that are profitable will more often be around for the long term.
Far from being a 'lax country', I would suggest that perhaps a 'free' country would be a more appropriate description. Certainly the majority of democratic nations do not (yet) subscribe to the Chinese standard. And as much as blocking methods can be put in place, it is still easier to provide a method to bypass these, whilst the bureaucracy takes time (and money) to implement their next attempt.
As for the
1% of people with the necessary knowledge and skills
...let's not forget that it was not long ago that Internet use was by that same 1% and considered to be 'too technical' for most people.
I would go with Linux has never had a rapidly spreading virus, or the standard security settings in Linux have so far prevented the spread of Linux viruses without anti-virus software
The fact that one must manually execute the malware, instead of having Windoze conveniently install it for you makes a difference.
If you run the windows task manager you will typically see about three users with processes running. (as opposed to the typical linux machine that has over a dozen users, bind, www, mail, etc.)
It concerns me that you run multiple services on the same nodes and then talk about security. You are way off the mark with that comment though. My machine that I'm doing some web development on has a high user count of 7 at the moment, but turning off some stuff that is not normally in use brings this down to 3. I should point out, however, that these extra users are running various services under these restricted identities. This is a Good Thing.
I do not want to have just one user running all services. I want them separate. It's safer that way. But a DNS server should not be running web services or email. One server, one service.
Windows security model is closer to that of linuxSE than traditional unix permissions.
Exactly how do you figure that?
The big problem with windows security is that configuration is left as an exercise for the end user.
No, the big problem is that it's almost non-existent.
According to a study released by Microsoft 90% of the Windows malware would not run if people did not run as administrator.
Blame the customer? Nice one.;)
Personally I believe that when SELinux makes it to web browsers and filemanagers, then Linux may be ready for the desktop, in the meantime it is as close as anything else.
SELinux has little bearing on general desktop acceptance. And I would suggest that "ready for the desktop" happened years ago.
You might want to skip that part. Linux has had proof of concept viruses, and the windows NT family was designed to be multi user.
Okay, How about Linux has never had a virus outside of a lab environment?
Windows being designed as multi-user is only in the context that multiple users could login and have their own environment. Not quite in the same vein as having a multi-user operating system that supports multiple simultaneous users.
Back on the virus issue, it should also be borne in mind that the worst a regular user will do is delete his/her home directory. That's after they have explicitly executed the virus payload. The *NIX design architecture is still inherently more secure that anything MSFT has brought to market.
In rare situations, some people may experience anaphylaxis after being bitten by mosquitoes. Other people may have experienced whole body urticaria and angioedema (hives and swelling), or worsening of asthma symptoms after being bitten. Typically, these symptoms occur within minutes after a mosquito bite, compared to Skeeter Syndrome, which may take hours to days to occur."
Nice side effects from non-malaria carrying insects. Thanks, Bill, you tosser.
Slashdot Mirror
No, but the taxation often provides the tipping point.
A national currency is marked by 2 things: that you can (or must) pay your taxes with it, and that the employees of that government (most especially the military) accept it in payment. As long as both of those are true, even with serious inflation, the national currency has value.
That is only pertinent to the internal market value of the currency and only to a limited degree. The North Korean won and Libyan dinar are pretty worthless outside of their native nation states. However a national currency can even internally spiral out of control even where there is still the requirement to pay ones taxes from it and have it accepted as payment (think Zimbabwean dollar).
Any currency can be massively devalued by the creation of more of itself in excess of the perceived value of the currency. The more notes that are printed, the less the value of those in circulation becomes. This is why quantitative easing and similar solutions will not work. Come back in 5 years if you do not recognise this fact today and we'll talk then.
The strength in Bitcoin in this matter is that one cannot just run a shell script to create a few million more Bitcoins. Because the release of the unit of exchange is fixed there is a certain degree of security to it. Okay, so there is no major tax-raising government entity behind the currency. Does that mean it is worthless as a medium of exchange? Of course not. A medium of exchange is just that and no more. The value of a one hundred dollar bill is only what you are able to exchange it for, which is entirely dependent upon the environment you find yourself in.
Personally I would even argue that the claimed weaknesses of Bitcoin (decentralised, no government backing) could be a foundational key strength of the currency.
"Atheist countries"?
Yes, like the USA.
Pledge of Allegiance: "...one nation under God..."
National motto: "In God we trust"
Court oath: "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
Oath of allegiance: "...I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God"
USA atheist? You're having a fucking laugh, mate.
From around 1730hrs yesterday, Cable & Wireless started having huge (95% packet loss) issues for about 90 minutes in the Holland/Germany area. Was interesting to note that trying to reach (from remote locations in Europe) two sites we have in Sweden, one (on Telia) was fine, but another was mostly offline. We're still waiting to receive a report from C&W about the outage.
You can find out here
s/UK/US/
Get a UK based VPS service and terminate your VPN there.
Doesn't matter. Most democratic countries run on the basis of "innocent until proven guilty".
Assange has as yet to be charged with anything, let alone tried or convicted.
I do not, however, include the USA as a democratic country, since they employ:
* Imprisonment without trial
* Torture
* Executions without trial
* Repression of basic freedoms
I would suggest that the LibDems, like the Tories, have come into service of the nation only to discover the barren waste left by the Labour administration. It's all well and good having grand plans, but when one peers inside to find the coffers empty through abysmal mis-management, it's difficult to step forward with increased spending plans without looking completely nuts.
Clegg and his bunch are in a very difficult situation where they need to keep some stability in the country by not having an early election called that could potentially bring Miliband into government. At the same time they need to keep the Right in check and ensure that some Liberal views are represented. The key to all of this mess is to get the country back on its feet before the Reds are able to get close to another attempt at drowning the UK.
There's always horse trading in politics and this is one area that it would be very surprising to see the Liberals allow to pass through.
Yeah because poor people are well known for a) their disposable income to spend on electronics other than cell phones and b) their desire to read books often enough to have a dedicated device for it. I mean, when you hear that ghetto street slang you think "wow, he must be a well-read sort of fellow".
I'm not in the lowest tax bracket and can attest to the fact that it's more than simply the price-point that is a consideration when it comes to purchasing an ebook reader. I've just ordered my first ebook reader from Amazon and selected the basic model (without adverts). What I considered to be their high prices had put me off looking at them in the past. Plus there was (and still is) the issue that if I buy treeware, I'd expect to receive a digital copy too, so that my original copy does not get ruined and I find I am unable to purchase another copy since the publisher has stopped printing it. Kind of like being able to make MP3s from my own CD collection.
There is something satisfying about selecting a book and settling down to read it, when it comes in a paper version. That being said, the convenience and space factors when travelling make the ebook reader a certain winner. The reduction in price of the Kindle is what tipped the scales for me. There may still be the relatively high prices to pay on new books (compared to the associated costs involved with virtual media), but when one considers the wealth of knowledge available that is not constrained by copyright, the low priced Kindles make for a good purchase.
Only to the British in England, not so for the English in Britain. ;)
I suspect you're confusing English with British
Great Britain includes England, Scotland and Wales.
IPv4 NAT can cause problems for some communications protocols. These include, but are not limited to:
Things will only get worse on IPv4 when the ISPs increasingly move towards carrier NAT as a solution to avoid the perceived complexities if IPv6, when really it's just an excuse to do less work and squeeze more money out of the users.
I doubt that individuals & companies said, "No! We refuse to go on the internet until we can have TLDs with non-Latin characters."
You think that companies have only a single domain? You think that they use only a single IP?
iain@expat-tc ~ $ host www.microsoft.com.au
www.microsoft.com.au has address 203.19.66.74
iain@expat-tc ~ $ host www.microsoft.it
www.microsoft.it is an alias for microsoft.it.
microsoft.it has address 207.46.232.182
microsoft.it has address 207.46.197.32
microsoft.it mail is handled by 10 maila.microsoft.com.
I wonder what impact this will have on the ever decreasing amount of IPv4 addresses available. If it means that this pushes us towards a greater uptake of IPv6, it can only be good. For too long ISPs have been reluctant to encourage the rollout of IPv6 connectivity, all the time turning a blind eye to this problem of diminishing IPv4 addresses. Perhaps with a rush for new domains there will be a significant drop in the number of free IPv4 addresses and this will spur the uptake of IPv6.
12) I will not buy this tobacconist. It is scratched.
Fixed.
BASIC and 640k?
What is really pissing the British off is that the American government is trying to extradite McKinnon using a law that was passed under the shadow of 9/11 for the purposes of anti-terrorism.
Granted, McKinnon was foolish to enter the US government computers, although perhaps he should be given a consultant's fee for highlighting such lax security. If they're going to prosecute him for being an idiot, then certainly they could look closer to home.
And the tactics employed by the American Justice Department have been more than questionable under various EU laws, let alone the English legal system.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is to see the politicians rolling over for the American government instead of standing up for their own citizens.
Did McKinnon break into the systems? Yes, and he has admitted such. Surely as a British citizen having commited a crime in England he should be tried under English law.
Iain
Mod parent up. The statements are factually correct in every way and should by no means be tagged as 'troll'.
Both Samba and Mono are clones, although I would suggest that certainly Samba has better performance than native Windows machines.
Java is removed from the IP/patent stone-round-the-neck negativity.
A link to the Microsoft quote would be nice though.
Iain.
I would be happy to setup a proxy for just this purpose and charge a nominal subscription charge on a monthly basis along with a step-by-step guide on how to use such a service.
Information tends to spread quickly enough via email where people do have something to share and if this does concern users then there appears to be a viable business model here.
Agreed, using free proxy services does mean playing catch-up, but pay-for-services that are profitable will more often be around for the long term.
Far from being a 'lax country', I would suggest that perhaps a 'free' country would be a more appropriate description. Certainly the majority of democratic nations do not (yet) subscribe to the Chinese standard. And as much as blocking methods can be put in place, it is still easier to provide a method to bypass these, whilst the bureaucracy takes time (and money) to implement their next attempt.
As for the
1% of people with the necessary knowledge and skills
...let's not forget that it was not long ago that Internet use was by that same 1% and considered to be 'too technical' for most people.
Iain.
It's simple enough to proxy through SSH and have access once again and (short of blocking SSH traffic) the Though Police can do very little.
Iain.
... Muslim head scarves / veils, anyone?
Not for me, thanks. They don't match with my complexion.
I would go with Linux has never had a rapidly spreading virus, or the standard security settings in Linux have so far prevented the spread of Linux viruses without anti-virus software
The fact that one must manually execute the malware, instead of having Windoze conveniently install it for you makes a difference.
If you run the windows task manager you will typically see about three users with processes running. (as opposed to the typical linux machine that has over a dozen users, bind, www, mail, etc.)
It concerns me that you run multiple services on the same nodes and then talk about security. You are way off the mark with that comment though. My machine that I'm doing some web development on has a high user count of 7 at the moment, but turning off some stuff that is not normally in use brings this down to 3. I should point out, however, that these extra users are running various services under these restricted identities. This is a Good Thing.
I do not want to have just one user running all services. I want them separate. It's safer that way. But a DNS server should not be running web services or email. One server, one service.
Windows security model is closer to that of linuxSE than traditional unix permissions.
Exactly how do you figure that?
The big problem with windows security is that configuration is left as an exercise for the end user.
No, the big problem is that it's almost non-existent.
According to a study released by Microsoft 90% of the Windows malware would not run if people did not run as administrator.
Blame the customer? Nice one. ;)
Personally I believe that when SELinux makes it to web browsers and filemanagers, then Linux may be ready for the desktop, in the meantime it is as close as anything else.
SELinux has little bearing on general desktop acceptance. And I would suggest that "ready for the desktop" happened years ago.
Regs.
Iain.
You might want to skip that part. Linux has had proof of concept viruses, and the windows NT family was designed to be multi user.
Okay, How about Linux has never had a virus outside of a lab environment?
Windows being designed as multi-user is only in the context that multiple users could login and have their own environment. Not quite in the same vein as having a multi-user operating system that supports multiple simultaneous users.
Back on the virus issue, it should also be borne in mind that the worst a regular user will do is delete his/her home directory. That's after they have explicitly executed the virus payload. The *NIX design architecture is still inherently more secure that anything MSFT has brought to market.
Regs.
Iain.
In rare situations, some people may experience anaphylaxis after being bitten by mosquitoes. Other people may have experienced whole body urticaria and angioedema (hives and swelling), or worsening of asthma symptoms after being bitten. Typically, these symptoms occur within minutes after a mosquito bite, compared to Skeeter Syndrome, which may take hours to days to occur."
Nice side effects from non-malaria carrying insects. Thanks, Bill, you tosser.
Not to mention that when it comes to a fight between you and Microsoft, you're going to lose. Not smart.
Tell that to the European Commission.
(If the allegations are true, that is).
Sadly "truth" and "justice" do not always appear together.
Iain.