There has been a lot of debate lately about security in Open Source Software and whether it is better or worse than proprietary, closed source software. How do you feel about OSS software?
The thing I like about this is that it only takes one year. It seems with a computer science degree, half of anything you learned more than a year ago is obsolete.
I mean, can you imagine what the people that have spent 6 years getting a MSCS have gone through? Let's see, in 1994 they were using Win3.11/Dos5. 1995, Win95A. '96-Win95B. 1998 - Win98. 1999 - Win98SE. Toss in the changes made to Windows NT/2000 (That would be from 3.51 to W2K) and all of the different *nixs and look what you have... People with a lot of knowledge about outdated, mundane, obsolete technology. I guess you could argue that they still have that knowledge and can use it towards modern stuff, but I would still rather have the education in things that can help me get a job today...
OK, so now I've pissed off every moderator with a degree in computer science...
kwsNI
Try being a geek that works for a tech Co..
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This is one of the first Slashdot articles in a while that I've actually felt like I could have nothing to contribute if I wanted to spend the time
And yet, for some reason, you still tried.
Thus, I think Slashdot's typical range of "on-topic" subjects are just about right on and something like this shouldn't be accepted to the pool of accepted topics on Slashdot.
This is for everyone out there that says this isn't "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters." Chances are, you don't work for a public tech company. I work for a Fortune 250 tech company and I have a fair amount of stock invested in it and even more stock options for them.
If you think this isn't for nerds, what about all of the nerds out there that are working for these companies and have investments in them? If you think this doesn't matter to them, you'd be very mistaken.
"Send us $20 more for the UBERWEAPON!" or a DM saying "For a 5-spot, I'll set you up with the best sword!".
You know. That's bad, but we're not talking $5 for a sword here. We're talking auctions going for over 4 figures. That goes way beyond "too far". That's up to "You're fscking nuts".
I kind of liked the way they did things with the old BBS games. In order to keep the game balanced and to keep people from getting too serious, things would be reset every so often. Games like Barren Realms Elite were great because every so many months (depending on the server) the entire network was reset to the very beginning. Other games, like Legend of the Red Dragon would reset individual characters when they became powerful enough to defeat the Red Dragon.
OK, so now you think I was getting way off topic. I guess my point is, would you pay $1250 for a Cloak of Fire if you know you're character is going to be reset in 5 more months???
BTW, does anyone know of a place on the interent to play BRE or LORD? All of my local free BBSs closed down out here...
What next, suing Home Depot for selling the lead pipe that killed Mr. Boddy?
It was Hemos, in the Library with the lead pipe.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Seriously though. This is messed up. The eLegal system is getting so messed up because the judges don't have a clue about how servers/IPS/Content Providers work. When do we get to the point where we just give up and say "Fuck it"? It isn't worth the legal hassels to be online. I can't put Source Code on my homepage because it's free speach but corporate America doesn't like it. I'm afraid of putting an address book on my webpage because I'm now responsible for anything that goes onto my servers. I can't use one-click shopping or affiliate programs because Jeff Bezos owns those ideas.
WTF? What ever happened to free speech online? Time to start supporting the EFF more...
For only $29.95 a month and a $74.95 activation fee plus $299.46 installation and a $14.95 adapter (Net weight 4lbs. 2 oz Adapter sold separately), we will remove your name from our mailing lists. No more stupid messages like the one you are reading now.
So because some people call themselve that, every female online between the age of 13 and 30 are now ChickClickers? All I was pointing out was that there are some people that would be really infuriated if they were called that.
It's annoying how much satisfaction slashdotters seem to take in pointing out Katz's faults.
No, actually, I was pointing out that if he called my girlfriend that to her face, she'd kick his ass. I'm not "pointing out his faults", I'm pointing out that one of the terms he used (over and over and over) is a sexist comment that would piss off many women.
Maybe I should elaborate a little on why it would piss my girlfriend off. A> Some women don't like being called a chick. B> He groups every single female ages 13-30 that use the internet into 1 group.
So, I realize that ChickClick may be a bright, cheery, postive site but the name is still offensive to some people. I'm not bashing John Katz, just the name ChickClicker.
Well, well. I'm glad to see that the DMCA is finally being put to good use. What do you want to bet the MPAA and RIAA are going to be upset if all their precious (gollum - oops, sorry) money they spent to lobby for the DMCA ends up supporting the very thing they wanted to stop.
Mind you after a few shots of vodka, finding a 2x2 blue block takes a lot longer.
Is there ever a blue Lego when you need it? I mean, there's red and black and white and yellow and you can never forget about those ugly green ones, but there's never blue when you need it. Same goes for the red or black or white or yellow or the ugly green ones when you need those too. And I won't even go into how Mr. Murphy (most famous for his laws) seems to hide all the 2x2 bricks when you need them.
And what about Lego Mindstorm and all of the mechanical pieces. Damn! And just when you find all the right gears you need, you find that your batteries are dead on your motor or that your system has a resource conflict and you can't comunicate with your creation.
Personally, I liked Lego so much more when it didn't require a free IRQ on my computer system...
That is the religious side to the ethics problem. There is also a legal side to the problem. If artificial intelligence is created, who is responsible for it. You've seen the Matrix, it's a little extreme but the point is still there. If you create a machine that has AI, who is responsible for that machines actions. If your car has an AI driving system in it and you have a wreck, is Ford responsible?
Not only is there the question of who is responsible for "holes" or glitches in the AI, but what about if AI is created for the wrong reasons (#include massmurder.h)...
Do you weigh 1 pound? (Y/N) N Do you weigh 2 pounds? (Y/N) N Do you weigh 3 pounds? (Y/N) N
Actually, this isn't AI, it's a simple loop. What true AI should be is saying:
Last time I saw someone this size, they were 150 lbs. Last time I saw someone like this, they seemed 20% thinner (Adds 30 lbs...) Guesses 180 pounds. (Y|N). If yes, stores this in memory for future reference.
A lot of what AI is about it learning. AI shouldn't make the same mistake twice and it should react to new circumstances based on previous observations.
Another example is playing a game. For instance, a truly good AI bot should notice that a Q3A player has a weakness when the bot is firing and straffing. Then, the next time it notices this type of player, it should be able to recall what strategy worked best before and apply it again while still learning what works better.
Rather than searching the users HDDs for programs that allow you to cheat, wouldn't it be easier to either patch the servers to not allow the cheats or patch the program.
Blizard did that alot with Starcraft and their Battle.net servers. Every time a new hack/cheat came out for Starcraft, they patched the program and any user than wanted to use their servers had to have the latest version to play online. It won't completely protect you from cheaters, but it's not an invasion of privacy...
I agree. It sounds like this is going to be more of an encouragement to them than a punishment. Kind of like feeding the slashdot trolls negative karma.
They're doing this to get attention and to make others lives hell. So how do we punish them? By giving them the ultimate in attention by shutting down IRC and making every IRC user suffer because of them.
Slashdot Mirror
There has been a lot of debate lately about security in Open Source Software and whether it is better or worse than proprietary, closed source software. How do you feel about OSS software?
kwsNI
I mean, can you imagine what the people that have spent 6 years getting a MSCS have gone through? Let's see, in 1994 they were using Win3.11/Dos5. 1995, Win95A. '96-Win95B. 1998 - Win98. 1999 - Win98SE. Toss in the changes made to Windows NT/2000 (That would be from 3.51 to W2K) and all of the different *nixs and look what you have... People with a lot of knowledge about outdated, mundane, obsolete technology. I guess you could argue that they still have that knowledge and can use it towards modern stuff, but I would still rather have the education in things that can help me get a job today...
OK, so now I've pissed off every moderator with a degree in computer science...
kwsNI
And yet, for some reason, you still tried.
Thus, I think Slashdot's typical range of "on-topic" subjects are just about right on and something like this shouldn't be accepted to the pool of accepted topics on Slashdot.
This is for everyone out there that says this isn't "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters." Chances are, you don't work for a public tech company. I work for a Fortune 250 tech company and I have a fair amount of stock invested in it and even more stock options for them.
If you think this isn't for nerds, what about all of the nerds out there that are working for these companies and have investments in them? If you think this doesn't matter to them, you'd be very mistaken.
CmdrTaco, it's your site. Post whatever you want.
kwsNI
You know. That's bad, but we're not talking $5 for a sword here. We're talking auctions going for over 4 figures. That goes way beyond "too far". That's up to "You're fscking nuts".
I kind of liked the way they did things with the old BBS games. In order to keep the game balanced and to keep people from getting too serious, things would be reset every so often. Games like Barren Realms Elite were great because every so many months (depending on the server) the entire network was reset to the very beginning. Other games, like Legend of the Red Dragon would reset individual characters when they became powerful enough to defeat the Red Dragon.
OK, so now you think I was getting way off topic. I guess my point is, would you pay $1250 for a Cloak of Fire if you know you're character is going to be reset in 5 more months???
BTW, does anyone know of a place on the interent to play BRE or LORD? All of my local free BBSs closed down out here...
kwsNI
It was Hemos, in the Library with the lead pipe.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Seriously though. This is messed up. The eLegal system is getting so messed up because the judges don't have a clue about how servers/IPS/Content Providers work. When do we get to the point where we just give up and say "Fuck it"? It isn't worth the legal hassels to be online. I can't put Source Code on my homepage because it's free speach but corporate America doesn't like it. I'm afraid of putting an address book on my webpage because I'm now responsible for anything that goes onto my servers. I can't use one-click shopping or affiliate programs because Jeff Bezos owns those ideas.
WTF? What ever happened to free speech online? Time to start supporting the EFF more...
kwsNI
Can we call it Linux 3 Arena Tournament???
kwsNI
And I say that one bad patent deserves another ;)
kwsNI
And don't forget to CC: SignMeUp@Spam.Com when you forward this to all your friends.
kwsNI
For only $29.95 a month and a $74.95 activation fee plus $299.46 installation and a $14.95 adapter (Net weight 4lbs. 2 oz Adapter sold separately), we will remove your name from our mailing lists. No more stupid messages like the one you are reading now.
Please call 1-900-StopSpam for more information.
Thank you.
kwsNI
So because some people call themselve that, every female online between the age of 13 and 30 are now ChickClickers? All I was pointing out was that there are some people that would be really infuriated if they were called that.
kwsNI
No, actually, I was pointing out that if he called my girlfriend that to her face, she'd kick his ass. I'm not "pointing out his faults", I'm pointing out that one of the terms he used (over and over and over) is a sexist comment that would piss off many women.
Maybe I should elaborate a little on why it would piss my girlfriend off.
A> Some women don't like being called a chick.
B> He groups every single female ages 13-30 that use the internet into 1 group.
So, I realize that ChickClick may be a bright, cheery, postive site but the name is still offensive to some people. I'm not bashing John Katz, just the name ChickClicker.
kwsNI
Check out the MSNBC article.
kwsNI
Well, well. I'm glad to see that the DMCA is finally being put to good use. What do you want to bet the MPAA and RIAA are going to be upset if all their precious (gollum - oops, sorry) money they spent to lobby for the DMCA ends up supporting the very thing they wanted to stop.
kwsNI
Is there ever a blue Lego when you need it? I mean, there's red and black and white and yellow and you can never forget about those ugly green ones, but there's never blue when you need it. Same goes for the red or black or white or yellow or the ugly green ones when you need those too. And I won't even go into how Mr. Murphy (most famous for his laws) seems to hide all the 2x2 bricks when you need them.
And what about Lego Mindstorm and all of the mechanical pieces. Damn! And just when you find all the right gears you need, you find that your batteries are dead on your motor or that your system has a resource conflict and you can't comunicate with your creation.
Personally, I liked Lego so much more when it didn't require a free IRQ on my computer system...
kwsNI
You paid full price for Adobe, didn't you? I get it, you're bitter because you're jealous...
kwsNI
And don't forgot grammer checking neither....
kwsNI
When it tells you that you have.
kwsNI
Thanks S-T, but I already have a girlfriend...
kwsNI
That is the religious side to the ethics problem. There is also a legal side to the problem. If artificial intelligence is created, who is responsible for it. You've seen the Matrix, it's a little extreme but the point is still there. If you create a machine that has AI, who is responsible for that machines actions. If your car has an AI driving system in it and you have a wreck, is Ford responsible?
Not only is there the question of who is responsible for "holes" or glitches in the AI, but what about if AI is created for the wrong reasons (#include massmurder.h)...
kwsNI
Do you weigh 2 pounds? (Y/N) N
Do you weigh 3 pounds? (Y/N) N
Actually, this isn't AI, it's a simple loop. What true AI should be is saying:
Last time I saw someone this size, they were 150 lbs.
Last time I saw someone like this, they seemed 20% thinner (Adds 30 lbs...)
Guesses 180 pounds. (Y|N).
If yes, stores this in memory for future reference.
A lot of what AI is about it learning. AI shouldn't make the same mistake twice and it should react to new circumstances based on previous observations.
Another example is playing a game. For instance, a truly good AI bot should notice that a Q3A player has a weakness when the bot is firing and straffing. Then, the next time it notices this type of player, it should be able to recall what strategy worked best before and apply it again while still learning what works better.
kwsNI
What do you say to the people that feel it is unethical to try to create "intelligence"?
kwsNI
Linux: It's everywhere you want to be.
kwsNI
Blizard did that alot with Starcraft and their Battle.net servers. Every time a new hack/cheat came out for Starcraft, they patched the program and any user than wanted to use their servers had to have the latest version to play online. It won't completely protect you from cheaters, but it's not an invasion of privacy...
kwsNI
They're doing this to get attention and to make others lives hell. So how do we punish them? By giving them the ultimate in attention by shutting down IRC and making every IRC user suffer because of them.
kwsNI
That's it. I'm copying the list of all sites mirroring the software to my page. I say, mirror the mirror page :)
kwsNI