Some systems can be put into a BIOS recovery mode where the system will read a BIOS image off of a floppy and re-flash itself.
I last did this in 1998 on a DEC EISA-bus 486-66 when the flashing process got corrupted, so it's not exactly a fancy new feature, either. I do think that this system required you to use the standard BIOS utility to *create* the rescue disk, which I think was a raw write to the diskette and not a DOS filesystem.
What surprises me is that vendors haven't put more user-friendly BIOS recovery (text menu, floppy operations, etc) options into ROM that one could access from startup or with a mainboard jumper, never having to worry about recovery images or something, or putting the shipping BIOS in ROM and have recovery be just dumping the ROM into flash.
The latter would seem the safest, since traditional floppy-type PCs are disappearing in favor of CD or USB systems.
But they can only push their suppliers so far, because at some point, the supplier goes out of business.
I think suppliers end up cutting their prices to near zero profit margins first, and, if their management has any vision, they start cutting costs related to their products (labor, materials, etc), up to and including moving production overseas. I even think some suppliers get Walmart's assistance from a management perspective.
I think the smart play has been to develop a line of "Walmart" products sold only at Walmart. These are cheaper products, made on contract in $third_world *just* to meet Walmart's pricing, packaging and other needs.
Walmart is a kind of scary/evil force, to be sure.
When it comes to small sites and PHP board, why not just create an unusually unique username and a pool of passwords you associate only with those usernames and have at it?
Clearly it's not possible to consider all possible spams as illegal, especially for all possible definitions of "spam" and "illegal".
The overwhelming majority of spams I and everyone else I know gets either prima faciae fraudulent (impossible claims about penile enhancement), offering illegal services or products (cable descramblers, prescription drugs), or, and this is speculation on my part but probably not inaccurate, solicitations for goods/services which will never be delivered and are just attempts to grab personal information/credit card info.
And I'm not sure what your fixation on "legal spam" this is, either -- I think most people want to get rid of the vast majority of spam, and the vast majority is for fraudulent or otherwise illegal products and services, and law enforcement actions targeting fraud would be wasted on "legal spammers", which I think is a pretty tiny category.
Besides, most spam I get now is in violation of the CAN-SPAM act, which makes it prima faciae illegal even if it is trying to legitimately sell me something entirely above-board.
You assume something as the basis for your thesis that is not necessarily true: that spamming is a crime. It is not. It might be obnoxious, it might even advocate illegal services or products but mass mailing is not an illegal activity, obnoxious as it is.
If you start with the assumption that spamvertized products are, for all intents and purposes, illegal or fraudulent, then spamming is essentially part of a broader conspiracy to commit fraud. The spammer would have to go through some pretty hairy intellectual gymnastics to demonstrate that they were not direct benficiaries of and participants in illegal business practices. "I didn't know what email I was sending" is neither believable nor justifiable.
And that's just for the spammers who are simply doing bulk mailing, and not those who run the fraud business AND do the bulk mailing directly.
The reason I'd like to see a RICO prosecution is (a) the penalties are much higher, and more importantly (b) it may be possible to ensnare ISP or Banking executives who may be knowingly participating in these activities as well. The larger problem in attacking spam is the fact that otherwise legitimate and credible businesses are willing to shelter spammers and run interference for them. If those people were indictable as paritipants in a racketeering case, it should in theory have a chilling effect, which would deny spammers easy access to bandwidth, banking services and the other tools that they need to do their work on a large scale basis.
So the slashbots can have something to rail against.
What's amusing/irconic about the spam debate is that any possible solution is always shot down for technical/philosophical/OSS reasons. I have yet to see a solution advocated that gets more than 25% support.
I'm personally in favor of an RICO organized-crime investigation of the spamming "industry" and its related businesses; I think if real people started going to jail for long terms, including colluding executives from "legitimate" businesses such as ISPs, banks, and other businesses supporting spammers, we'd see a real reduction in spam. It wouldn't go away completely, but it would certainly be reduced.
Users wouldn't be a big deal if management actually had enforced and enforcable policies that dealt with user-computer interaction (read: you're responsible for self-inflicted computer fowlups, up to and including docking your pay for broken equipment and termination for repeated behavior), allowed IT to be more proactive with virus/worm/spyware/adware control (read: arbitrary site blocking, attachment blocking, restrictive controls on what you can do with PCs).
Job security wouldn't be such a big deal if IT was "at the table" in terms of overall business management and planning, instead of reading about management initiatives in the Wall Street Journal and having to mop up, clean up or otherwise try to make bad ideas implementable as IT systems. I love how terrible management decisions result in unworkable processes and systems and then management decides that their bad decsisions warrant outsourcing the disaster overseas where the lower costs mask the overruns, delays and waffling by management.
I like what I *do* for my job, but I *hate* having to deal with all 37 layers of management. If a company is well managed (and this DOES NOT just mean insanely profitable), it just seems to follow that the IT annoyances of an IT job will be greatly minimized and the real work of IT will be maximized. As long as management is a bunch of clueless MBAs lining their pockets, IT will be a backwater.
Domain names seem like a pretty precarious thing to own to begin with. Do you really "own" a domain name now, or are all domain names merely rented from ICANN? Are IP numbers "owned" or rented from ICANN? It all just strikes me as a fee to participate, not something that you actually possess, even if possession is defined liberally in terms of intangible intellectual property.
Furthermore, this just seems like a play by Verisign to grab domain names. For example, if an entity buys something lucrative for 100 years and then dries up and blows away 5-10 years later, doesn't it seem like it allows Verisign to retain some kind of rights to the domain name, including the right to resell it to a high bidder if the owning company is perceived to be no longer in existance?
It's not like Verisign has done anything in the past to try to claim ownership of the domain naming systems *cought*sitefinder*cough.
The other thing that strikes me as odd about this is that it presumes that the present naming system and DNS as we know it will continue to operate for the next 100 years. I don't doubt there will always be a directory system of some kind, but will it be DNS and will it be something necessarily managed by Verisign? What if the new directory system is managed by another entity? What if it manages or allows for duplicate names?
According to the CNN article (which is the nutritional equivilent of sugary cereal), Sony's format is "DVD-R DL". Does this mean:
A) it's the -R (as we've all come to know -R) equivilent of dual layer technology? What happened to Pioneer's -R DL effort? Does this moot it, add to it, or surpass it? Will Pioneer ALSO release a -R DL format?
B) Or is this just a marketing name used by Sony for what is in fact the same DL technology used by the +R group, and the discs/drives will be basically interchangeable among the Sony/Philips standard?
C) Will the -R DL discs be readable in set tops or computer drives that cannot read +R/RW media but can read existing dual-layer media?
$5 per disc smells kind of expensive. I'm impressed enough with the job done by DVDShrink that I don't know if a direct copy of a DVD-9 means much at this point. It WOULD motivate me to replace my Panasonic E80 set-top DVD recorder if SP mode would now mean 4.16 hours of recording, or XP at 2.16 hours, or, if I'm willing to tolerate it, *16* hours at EP mode.
...but unfortunately the only overseas corporation outsourcing to the US is the Chinese Interior Ministry, and I understand that the wage/benefit package is something like "rice" and an AK-47 buttstock in your face.
Did nobody hike before then? Was it "too dangerous"?
I've had this discussion with tons of gadget freaks who say they just won't go anywhere without their cell phone and GPS, but what did they do before those things? Just stay at home and read National Geographic?
...which is why televisions often were sold in console format. You didn't want to spoil a "furnished" room with a bunch of plastic. In the latter part of the 1970s, people just accepted the idea of a TV as a device unto itself and consoles went out, and the TV itself become a kind of modern design itself.
We've almost looped back completely with the rise of the armoir, which is a kind of do-it-yourself console TV/stereo.
Re:Nicest thing for me is the nanode
on
Cebit 2004 Coverage
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Ya know, back in the day when everyone had a massive wooden console TV, you probably COULD have stashed a VAX or something inside the cabinet.
Some people I knew had a big (25"?) TV in a massive wooden console with a phonograph and stereo speakers. I think the whole cabinet was like 5 feet wide by 3 feet deep. Wouldn't need some lame nano-itx case for that.
I had one of those at work. IIRC the Apple branded cards were made for the 6100 and the 7200. It mostly sucked, since it didn't have its own NIC and relied a lot on the host OS for IO, and Mac OS 7.x or 8.x really bit hard for IO even for native Mac apps, let alone having MacOS encapsulate the HDD for the Windows system. Running Windows 95 REALLY sucked, since I don't think there were truly native mode drivers for a lot of the hardware.
Orange Micro made a line of cards which I think might have included a native NIC.
It would have been more useful and more tolerable if the x86 display could have been show in a window instead of just full screen by switching displays. As it was it just became easier to run a PC next to the Mac, and, sadly, just to run a PC and not run a Mac at all.
E-Bay won't, though. They need the growth. Sure, there's a point at which the level of fraud becomes a hindrance to growth, but I'd wager my next paycheck that they have detailed models telling them at what point the fraud level is too high to sustain their revenue growth.
I always get flamed for this, but there was a time a few years ago that I think that Apple should have bought (not merged, but *bought*) SGI and standardized OS X across the entire product line from iMac to the highest end SGI system, importing SGI UNIX and/or hardware innovations where necessary.
It would have kept Apple as a niche product, but would have widended the niche considerably, as well as providing a consistant user interface and platform from secretary to scientist. It would have provided Apple with a real entry to the corporate/scientific/industrial computing world. I know that Mac enthusiasts claim that G5/Xserve gives this to them now, but it doesn't come with a street rep or track record that SGI had.
People are so fscking stupid that unless they saw "Independence Day"-style ships vaporizing city blocks, they wouldn't react to even a REAL invasion, and even then it'd be something like "Hey honey, did we upgrade to 3D cable or something...?"
I'm really amazed at the number of "why do you need one?" posts. Sorry, but yours is one of the more pedantic and supportive of totalitarian work rules.
We also don't "need" computers, the internet, cars, air conditioning or any of the other components of the 21st century, except for that they all make us way more productive and in touch.
Employers who embrace this and make it work for them will reap huge rewards, those with control agendas or luddite tendencies will pay the penalty.
When my Mom was in the intensive care unit 3 years ago, there were all kinds of "NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED" signs posted, but what did I see at nurse's station in the center of the room, not 10 feet from my mom and no more than 20 feet than most of the ICU stations? A DOCTOR ON HIS CELL PHONE!
At that point, I knew it was a bullshit ban implemented by either lawyers ("save us from 0.00000001% liability risk") , administrators ("working the the dihydrogen monoxide risk, too"), or some anti-cellphone zealot ("it is not polite to patients to hear ringing or talking during nap/meal time").
Maybe at one time there was medical equipment that was analog-monitored on FCC part 27 ("unregulated") spectrum, but I highly doubt that anymore. I'd think that manufacturers would have hardened their wireless system to be immune from casual interference, since fuckups would cost them money, too.
Most 23 year old copywriters make that as an entry level salary, with little or no educational background (maybe a two-year ad design school).
By the time they're 35 they'll be hitting $100k++ if they've made it to the next level, associate creative director (despite the title, it really is the next level at least at the agency I work at).
Seasoned copywriters in the early 40s who make senior creative director positions are often getting $200k in salary and profitability bonuses, which can push their compensation over $250k easily.
There's actually an old joke about this with essentially the parent's line as the punch line.
I think it went something like:
A guy was sick of all of his wife's demands, each day it was for something different, more extravagant and expensive
Woman: Honey, I want to see a plastic surgeon. Man: What for? Woman: I'd like my breasts to be bigger, they're not big enough for all the new clothes I want to buy. Man: Why spend the money on a plastic surgeon, you can do that at home for free. Woman: What? How? Man: Just rub your tits with toilet paper -- it sure worked for your ass!
I'm sure there's a 1001 variations, this one just reminds me of the one I heard.
Doctors are part of the professional class, and have extensive training and a monopoly-like grip on the pharmacopia, so they're able to command high salaries, in addition to being necessary for most people's well being.
English teachers are too often seen as part of the faceless government bureaucracy and school system and hence don't command respect, while *writers* who actually practice the craft command a great deal of social status, even if they seldom make any money.
Ad writers, while hated by many, actually make piles of money. An associate creative director in his late 20s with little educational background often makes $150k per year, and the right accounts/firms can push that salary to $300k by his mid 40s.
A physicist with a fresh Ph.D might make what, $40k in an adjunct faculty position, and maybe $70k or so in an "entry level" research position? The salaries can go high if you get a really good senior research position at a big-name Uni or corporation, but those jobs are often management jobs in practice, with grad students and lab techs doing the day-day work.
First of all, aren't the logins SSL encrypted? I'd think that would be your first giveaway.
Second of all, I've wondered how common it is to only find Verizon APs. I stayed in at the Sheraton Russell on 37th & Park two weeks ago and had my choice of APs w/o WEP to use. Unfortunately the best one got turned off when the guy went to bed.
I didn't get a chance to surf for more, as I spent most of my time in Crestwood or on the Metro-North railroad.
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Some systems can be put into a BIOS recovery mode where the system will read a BIOS image off of a floppy and re-flash itself.
I last did this in 1998 on a DEC EISA-bus 486-66 when the flashing process got corrupted, so it's not exactly a fancy new feature, either. I do think that this system required you to use the standard BIOS utility to *create* the rescue disk, which I think was a raw write to the diskette and not a DOS filesystem.
What surprises me is that vendors haven't put more user-friendly BIOS recovery (text menu, floppy operations, etc) options into ROM that one could access from startup or with a mainboard jumper, never having to worry about recovery images or something, or putting the shipping BIOS in ROM and have recovery be just dumping the ROM into flash.
The latter would seem the safest, since traditional floppy-type PCs are disappearing in favor of CD or USB systems.
But they can only push their suppliers so far, because at some point, the supplier goes out of business.
I think suppliers end up cutting their prices to near zero profit margins first, and, if their management has any vision, they start cutting costs related to their products (labor, materials, etc), up to and including moving production overseas. I even think some suppliers get Walmart's assistance from a management perspective.
I think the smart play has been to develop a line of "Walmart" products sold only at Walmart. These are cheaper products, made on contract in $third_world *just* to meet Walmart's pricing, packaging and other needs.
Walmart is a kind of scary/evil force, to be sure.
When it comes to small sites and PHP board, why not just create an unusually unique username and a pool of passwords you associate only with those usernames and have at it?
Clearly it's not possible to consider all possible spams as illegal, especially for all possible definitions of "spam" and "illegal".
The overwhelming majority of spams I and everyone else I know gets either prima faciae fraudulent (impossible claims about penile enhancement), offering illegal services or products (cable descramblers, prescription drugs), or, and this is speculation on my part but probably not inaccurate, solicitations for goods/services which will never be delivered and are just attempts to grab personal information/credit card info.
And I'm not sure what your fixation on "legal spam" this is, either -- I think most people want to get rid of the vast majority of spam, and the vast majority is for fraudulent or otherwise illegal products and services, and law enforcement actions targeting fraud would be wasted on "legal spammers", which I think is a pretty tiny category.
Besides, most spam I get now is in violation of the CAN-SPAM act, which makes it prima faciae illegal even if it is trying to legitimately sell me something entirely above-board.
You assume something as the basis for your thesis that is not necessarily true: that spamming is a crime. It is not. It might be obnoxious, it might even advocate illegal services or products but mass mailing is not an illegal activity, obnoxious as it is.
If you start with the assumption that spamvertized products are, for all intents and purposes, illegal or fraudulent, then spamming is essentially part of a broader conspiracy to commit fraud. The spammer would have to go through some pretty hairy intellectual gymnastics to demonstrate that they were not direct benficiaries of and participants in illegal business practices. "I didn't know what email I was sending" is neither believable nor justifiable.
And that's just for the spammers who are simply doing bulk mailing, and not those who run the fraud business AND do the bulk mailing directly.
The reason I'd like to see a RICO prosecution is (a) the penalties are much higher, and more importantly (b) it may be possible to ensnare ISP or Banking executives who may be knowingly participating in these activities as well. The larger problem in attacking spam is the fact that otherwise legitimate and credible businesses are willing to shelter spammers and run interference for them. If those people were indictable as paritipants in a racketeering case, it should in theory have a chilling effect, which would deny spammers easy access to bandwidth, banking services and the other tools that they need to do their work on a large scale basis.
So the slashbots can have something to rail against.
What's amusing/irconic about the spam debate is that any possible solution is always shot down for technical/philosophical/OSS reasons. I have yet to see a solution advocated that gets more than 25% support.
I'm personally in favor of an RICO organized-crime investigation of the spamming "industry" and its related businesses; I think if real people started going to jail for long terms, including colluding executives from "legitimate" businesses such as ISPs, banks, and other businesses supporting spammers, we'd see a real reduction in spam. It wouldn't go away completely, but it would certainly be reduced.
...of the larger, number one problem: Management.
Users wouldn't be a big deal if management actually had enforced and enforcable policies that dealt with user-computer interaction (read: you're responsible for self-inflicted computer fowlups, up to and including docking your pay for broken equipment and termination for repeated behavior), allowed IT to be more proactive with virus/worm/spyware/adware control (read: arbitrary site blocking, attachment blocking, restrictive controls on what you can do with PCs).
Job security wouldn't be such a big deal if IT was "at the table" in terms of overall business management and planning, instead of reading about management initiatives in the Wall Street Journal and having to mop up, clean up or otherwise try to make bad ideas implementable as IT systems. I love how terrible management decisions result in unworkable processes and systems and then management decides that their bad decsisions warrant outsourcing the disaster overseas where the lower costs mask the overruns, delays and waffling by management.
I like what I *do* for my job, but I *hate* having to deal with all 37 layers of management. If a company is well managed (and this DOES NOT just mean insanely profitable), it just seems to follow that the IT annoyances of an IT job will be greatly minimized and the real work of IT will be maximized. As long as management is a bunch of clueless MBAs lining their pockets, IT will be a backwater.
Domain names seem like a pretty precarious thing to own to begin with. Do you really "own" a domain name now, or are all domain names merely rented from ICANN? Are IP numbers "owned" or rented from ICANN? It all just strikes me as a fee to participate, not something that you actually possess, even if possession is defined liberally in terms of intangible intellectual property.
Furthermore, this just seems like a play by Verisign to grab domain names. For example, if an entity buys something lucrative for 100 years and then dries up and blows away 5-10 years later, doesn't it seem like it allows Verisign to retain some kind of rights to the domain name, including the right to resell it to a high bidder if the owning company is perceived to be no longer in existance?
It's not like Verisign has done anything in the past to try to claim ownership of the domain naming systems *cought*sitefinder*cough.
The other thing that strikes me as odd about this is that it presumes that the present naming system and DNS as we know it will continue to operate for the next 100 years. I don't doubt there will always be a directory system of some kind, but will it be DNS and will it be something necessarily managed by Verisign? What if the new directory system is managed by another entity? What if it manages or allows for duplicate names?
I guess its to create the association that it's a TV-connected device, and not a computer device or some other kind of component.
"Component $device" isn't as clear, IMHO, as set-top is, even if in reality the set-top $device doesn't really go on top of the set.
According to the CNN article (which is the nutritional equivilent of sugary cereal), Sony's format is "DVD-R DL". Does this mean:
A) it's the -R (as we've all come to know -R) equivilent of dual layer technology? What happened to Pioneer's -R DL effort? Does this moot it, add to it, or surpass it? Will Pioneer ALSO release a -R DL format?
B) Or is this just a marketing name used by Sony for what is in fact the same DL technology used by the +R group, and the discs/drives will be basically interchangeable among the Sony/Philips standard?
C) Will the -R DL discs be readable in set tops or computer drives that cannot read +R/RW media but can read existing dual-layer media?
$5 per disc smells kind of expensive. I'm impressed enough with the job done by DVDShrink that I don't know if a direct copy of a DVD-9 means much at this point. It WOULD motivate me to replace my Panasonic E80 set-top DVD recorder if SP mode would now mean 4.16 hours of recording, or XP at 2.16 hours, or, if I'm willing to tolerate it, *16* hours at EP mode.
...but unfortunately the only overseas corporation outsourcing to the US is the Chinese Interior Ministry, and I understand that the wage/benefit package is something like "rice" and an AK-47 buttstock in your face.
Did nobody hike before then? Was it "too dangerous"?
I've had this discussion with tons of gadget freaks who say they just won't go anywhere without their cell phone and GPS, but what did they do before those things? Just stay at home and read National Geographic?
...which is why televisions often were sold in console format. You didn't want to spoil a "furnished" room with a bunch of plastic. In the latter part of the 1970s, people just accepted the idea of a TV as a device unto itself and consoles went out, and the TV itself become a kind of modern design itself.
We've almost looped back completely with the rise of the armoir, which is a kind of do-it-yourself console TV/stereo.
Ya know, back in the day when everyone had a massive wooden console TV, you probably COULD have stashed a VAX or something inside the cabinet.
Some people I knew had a big (25"?) TV in a massive wooden console with a phonograph and stereo speakers. I think the whole cabinet was like 5 feet wide by 3 feet deep. Wouldn't need some lame nano-itx case for that.
I had one of those at work. IIRC the Apple branded cards were made for the 6100 and the 7200. It mostly sucked, since it didn't have its own NIC and relied a lot on the host OS for IO, and Mac OS 7.x or 8.x really bit hard for IO even for native Mac apps, let alone having MacOS encapsulate the HDD for the Windows system. Running Windows 95 REALLY sucked, since I don't think there were truly native mode drivers for a lot of the hardware.
Orange Micro made a line of cards which I think might have included a native NIC.
It would have been more useful and more tolerable if the x86 display could have been show in a window instead of just full screen by switching displays. As it was it just became easier to run a PC next to the Mac, and, sadly, just to run a PC and not run a Mac at all.
E-Bay won't, though. They need the growth. Sure, there's a point at which the level of fraud becomes a hindrance to growth, but I'd wager my next paycheck that they have detailed models telling them at what point the fraud level is too high to sustain their revenue growth.
I always get flamed for this, but there was a time a few years ago that I think that Apple should have bought (not merged, but *bought*) SGI and standardized OS X across the entire product line from iMac to the highest end SGI system, importing SGI UNIX and/or hardware innovations where necessary.
It would have kept Apple as a niche product, but would have widended the niche considerably, as well as providing a consistant user interface and platform from secretary to scientist. It would have provided Apple with a real entry to the corporate/scientific/industrial computing world. I know that Mac enthusiasts claim that G5/Xserve gives this to them now, but it doesn't come with a street rep or track record that SGI had.
I'd buy my wife an $800 Christmas present, but she'd have to give me Jennifer Connolley as a Christmas present in return.
People are so fscking stupid that unless they saw "Independence Day"-style ships vaporizing city blocks, they wouldn't react to even a REAL invasion, and even then it'd be something like "Hey honey, did we upgrade to 3D cable or something...?"
I'm really amazed at the number of "why do you need one?" posts. Sorry, but yours is one of the more pedantic and supportive of totalitarian work rules.
We also don't "need" computers, the internet, cars, air conditioning or any of the other components of the 21st century, except for that they all make us way more productive and in touch.
Employers who embrace this and make it work for them will reap huge rewards, those with control agendas or luddite tendencies will pay the penalty.
When my Mom was in the intensive care unit 3 years ago, there were all kinds of "NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED" signs posted, but what did I see at nurse's station in the center of the room, not 10 feet from my mom and no more than 20 feet than most of the ICU stations? A DOCTOR ON HIS CELL PHONE!
At that point, I knew it was a bullshit ban implemented by either lawyers ("save us from 0.00000001% liability risk") , administrators ("working the the dihydrogen monoxide risk, too"), or some anti-cellphone zealot ("it is not polite to patients to hear ringing or talking during nap/meal time").
Maybe at one time there was medical equipment that was analog-monitored on FCC part 27 ("unregulated") spectrum, but I highly doubt that anymore. I'd think that manufacturers would have hardened their wireless system to be immune from casual interference, since fuckups would cost them money, too.
Most 23 year old copywriters make that as an entry level salary, with little or no educational background (maybe a two-year ad design school).
By the time they're 35 they'll be hitting $100k++ if they've made it to the next level, associate creative director (despite the title, it really is the next level at least at the agency I work at).
Seasoned copywriters in the early 40s who make senior creative director positions are often getting $200k in salary and profitability bonuses, which can push their compensation over $250k easily.
There's actually an old joke about this with essentially the parent's line as the punch line.
I think it went something like:
A guy was sick of all of his wife's demands, each day it was for something different, more extravagant and expensive
Woman: Honey, I want to see a plastic surgeon.
Man: What for?
Woman: I'd like my breasts to be bigger, they're not big enough for all the new clothes I want to buy.
Man: Why spend the money on a plastic surgeon, you can do that at home for free.
Woman: What? How?
Man: Just rub your tits with toilet paper -- it sure worked for your ass!
I'm sure there's a 1001 variations, this one just reminds me of the one I heard.
Doctors are part of the professional class, and have extensive training and a monopoly-like grip on the pharmacopia, so they're able to command high salaries, in addition to being necessary for most people's well being.
English teachers are too often seen as part of the faceless government bureaucracy and school system and hence don't command respect, while *writers* who actually practice the craft command a great deal of social status, even if they seldom make any money.
Ad writers, while hated by many, actually make piles of money. An associate creative director in his late 20s with little educational background often makes $150k per year, and the right accounts/firms can push that salary to $300k by his mid 40s.
A physicist with a fresh Ph.D might make what, $40k in an adjunct faculty position, and maybe $70k or so in an "entry level" research position? The salaries can go high if you get a really good senior research position at a big-name Uni or corporation, but those jobs are often management jobs in practice, with grad students and lab techs doing the day-day work.
First of all, aren't the logins SSL encrypted? I'd think that would be your first giveaway.
Second of all, I've wondered how common it is to only find Verizon APs. I stayed in at the Sheraton Russell on 37th & Park two weeks ago and had my choice of APs w/o WEP to use. Unfortunately the best one got turned off when the guy went to bed.
I didn't get a chance to surf for more, as I spent most of my time in Crestwood or on the Metro-North railroad.