The RIAA is a group of sanctimonius, avaricious maggots.
Before becoming a software engineer I used to produce CDs; my professional interaction with the RIAA provided direct experiences from which to base my claim.
Most/. readers already know not to use user-agent string evaluation to conditionally server content (it's lame to do so).
However I tried to persuade the readers of the original forum where the article was posted with a post. I adopted a rational argument and hopefully it will influence the non-slashdot audience with what I hope is an eloquent statement against this inane (but perfectly understandable from the vendor's perspective) advice.
Subject: Microsoft is deadly wrong about this advice
First, I am a strong Microsoft supporter and have personally benefited from the use of their products. However, the most important reason for the web's creation -- and its primary value -- is to allow hitherto incompatible content formats to be seamlessly integrated according to internationally accepted standards, e.g., HTML, XML, HTTP, CSS, etc. No single vendor can lay claim to any of these languages or protocols, i.e., they are standards, not proprietary systems, owned and controlled by a single vendor. By conditionally serving content based on a single vendor's proprietary user agent (IE 7, Firefox, or Opera, for example), you not only reveal a profound misunderstanding of the web's great communicative power, but you will paint yourself into a corner from which you will find costly to extricate yourself (I know, I already made this painful mistake once, in the last decade).
In summary: build your content according to standards (not ipso facto, ephemeral market-share ideology), and let the browser vendors do what they're supposed to do: innovate while simultaneously and rigorously adhere to W3C standards.
I thought adverbs were dying out, e.g., "Think Different." Feh. If Apple were really trying to be different, all they had to do was use correct grammar: "Think Differently." I suppose they just wanted to be nonconformist like everybody else.
Those in the U.S. who learned English grammar and punctuation before rigorous standards were left by the wayside (before 1980) find it hard to accept that the vast majority of subsequent generations have such an apathetically cavalier attitude toward written communication (essential skill, if you can get it).
Naturally, this negligent approach is so prevalent that its pernicious invasion in the software industry -- an industry that requires punctillious fastidiousness of the most extreme sort -- is the cause of so much crap that it negatively affects my afternoon slashdot reading sessions.
Since Dell is incapable of knowing how to access their own alledged license agreements, you can just create one yourself. Of course, your agreement must state that it supersedes any Dell EULA; it will be impossible for Dell to dispute that in any case. Put in any clauses you like and send a copy to Dell (at any of their official addresses, which means it will take many days to get to the correct department to be reviewed. Oh well). Include in your license agreement the clause: "This document must be signed, notarized, and returned by [date]. Failure to respond with any dispute puts this agreement in full force." Or words to that effect. Just make sure the [date] is the same day you send it to Dell.
(this proposal was written extemporaneously, so any tweaks and enhancements are expected from the/. community.)
It's a fun read and highly informative: learn why card counting is legal and why most card counters fail. Learn why Black Jack is virtually the only game in which the player can deterministically and consistently (over time) beat the house. Learn why Vegas casinos do not beat you up if they catch you counting cards, etc...
Actually, the View menu item is called, "Page Source." Nevertheless, it's a deceptive misnomer the way it's currently labeled because it DOES NOT SHOW THE SOURCE! It displays instead a modified version of the source; hence IT IS NOT THE SOURCE. In this case, IE's mundane notepad view without syntax highliting is better because at least it displays the actual source, not something else. Either fix mozilla to display the source, or change the label to read, "view a modified version of the source." Of course nobody would want that. But that's what they're getting without realizing it. Sorry; getting repetitive. But I do love Mozilla overall.
Most people have a very short historical view of music; anything over 10 years ago is considered old! But for thousands of years -- up until the advent of recording/playback technology -- there was only live performance. And real music lovers know that the greatest listening experience they've ever had was a live performance, not a recording of a live performance. The RIAA are self-serving, sanctimonious, avaracious, and utterly non-musical. The faster they go away the better this universe will be.
email is inherently insecure, unless...
on
Hotmail Hacked
·
· Score: 1
You get off your fat lazy asses and use encryption.
Every company's privacy policy is to protect the company, not the consumer.
The public has voted for convenience over privacy. That's why non-anonymous financial transactions (e.g., credit card purchases) and their associated loss of privacy have succeeded online, whereas anonymous payment schemes -- like prematurely launched DigiCash -- just haven't taken hold. Yet. (I'm hopeful.)
Any company that states it won't sell personal information is lying. And so what if the company gets fined: your information has already been sold.
Anyone who thinks communism is a viable way to live has never lived under communist rule.
If you're of an intellectual bent, read Atlas Shrugged to find out what it's like when you allow the state to decide your fate. Communism is great for those who want to abrogate personal responsibility and sacrifice self-respect and individuality.
All you communist lovers, run right over to China. Yeah, I thought so. You have no conviction. And because deep down, you know the truth, but are afraid to express it.
When I'm driving -- especially on the highway or other multi-lane road -- I can easily get a better position for passing the alert-challenged, cell-chatting weenie in the next vehicle. It never fails. The person who's talking (or texting) on the cell can't possibly maintain as much concentration on their driving as I can. And I grin each time at them as I pass their vehicle. Their smug expression quickly vanishes. Mine does not. ;-)
Except for carelessly designed pages, hyperlinks are obvious from context, link color or a combination of both. Including the underline as part of the attribute of hypertext should be allowed by the user to be set in the preferences.
Underlined text is more difficult to read and is ugly.
The reason underlined text is used at all is because of typewriters. I'll explain.
Before (and since) the advent of the old-fashioned mechanical typewriter, emphasis in text was achieved through italics or bold or a combination of the two. Underlining was eschewed by professionals for the reasons cited above. How, then, was someone to emphasize text with a typewriter with no italics or bold available? Underlining, of course!
Then the GUI word processors appeared and an entire generation of typographically-challenged folk retained the underline from their typewriter days instead of restricting their emphasis of text to the bold and italic modes that were suddenly available.
The default settings of Netscape's Navigator (and the earlier Mosiac) had underline text for links, but the preferences allowed them to be turned off, which, of course, I immediately took advantage of.
The Mozilla builds I've seen so far have not provided this option. Is anybody listening out there? Please put the option to turn off underlining in the preferences.
I saw the movie in the theatre when it was originally released. I was just a kid, but it left a powerful impression. Later, when I found the book, I read it and realized that the movie's surpise ending was only half the suprise that was masterfully revealed in Boulle's book. As usual, profundity that a book can capture rarely translates into a medium (cinema) that precludes reflection and minimizes abstract thought.
It's a shame that many of Boulle's other books are not available to the US: The Whale of the Victoria Cross, Ears of the Jungle, etc. -- each book contains original and powerful ideas, cleverly executed and would provide Hollywood with a feast of ideas. But it would just be casting pearls before swine...
(FWIW, I have stood on the Bridge on the River Kwai, about an hour or so west of Bangkok in the town of Kanchanaburi.)
Epicor officials considered the list of user IDs and passwords to be very confidential information which they had taken significant security measures to protect.
Not significant enough I guess.
The security "experts" at Epicor are afraid to admit their ignorance of obvious security testing tools like L0phtCrack. For real security experts, it's axiomatic that MS operating systems should not be used in any production environment. Oh well.
Amazon's one-click patent and its associated processes are already outdated.
I've already given up on the better, though also lame half-click order process -- just the mouse-down event is sufficient to invoke the order. Amazon obviously missed this one.
But the latest craze is my patent for mouseover ordering. No deliberate and quaint "clicks" of the mouse; just a breezy fly-by of the mouse pointer over a rectangular area making up 50% of the web page's area is enough to start the ordering process. What could be easier?
Amazon's marketing and legal staff are sure to be sporting major wood thinking of these new possibilites.
<!-- Greetings, Lynx users. There is a reason this page doesn't use ALT tags on the images. The reason is that the bozos responsible for both MSIE and Netscape Confusicator 4.0 decided that they would display the ALT tags of images every time you move the mouse over them -- even if the images are loaded, and even if they are not links. The ALT attribute to the IMG tag is supposed to be used *instead of* the image, not *in addition to* the image.
This looks absolutely terrible, so I don't use ALT tags any more in self-defense.
If they wanted to implemented tooltips, they should have used the TITLE attribute to the A tag. That's in the HTML 1.2 spec and everything.
I had to decide between making this page look good for the vast majority of viewers, or making it be readable by the miniscule minority of you stuck in the 70s. Those of you in the retro contingent lost. Sorry. -->
If there's one thing I can't stand is when people think an electronic document can be called an ebook if it can only be read on a PC on your desktop.
I like to read wherever I happen to be, not be chained to my PC's location. The Palm/Visor/whatever PDA has a great convienence to functionality ratio that liberates me from sitting at my desk.
Thankfully, PeanutPress has the right idea in leveraging the PDA's inherent computing power so that I can read novels and short stories when I'm at the cafe waiting for my punctuality-challenged friends, at the dentist office, on the plane, etc.
Moreover, the reading experience is abstracted (in the reader's mind) so I don't need the high-powered PDA's that have yet to come to market; current performance is adequate and will only continue to improve.
The Michael Kandel translations are the ones you want.
Lem's wordplay is utterly fantastic -- and Kandel's job of conveying that in English is indescribably awesome.:)
Absolutely... Kandel is one of the finest translators I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
My first experience with Lem, after reading gallons of SF for many years, made me suddenly realize how the majority of writers -- in any genre -- lack the imagination and brilliant writing style that is the hallmark of everything Lem touches. The relatively obscure The Star Diaries was the first book I read; I consider it -- along with The Cyberiad -- a must read for any one who is not afraid to confront wild ideas, intelligently and amusingly written.
It's essential to have a great translator -- I remember having read an early translation of Mishima's The Temple of Dawn (from the mostly rewarding Sea of Tranquility tetralogy). When I went to get a copy for a friend to read, I scanned the opening pages of a beautifully printed Vintage edition, newly translated. What a disappointment! The translator wrote what seemed a "dumbed down" version of the book. Of course, I wouldn't buy that edition.
Again: Both and Lem and Kandel deserve the highest literary praise your imagination can muster. Get Lem now!
Yes, buzz and momentum are are indeed the two primary characteristics that Wall Street looks at in companies. Revenue and expense amounts are secondary issues that have little influence in valuation formulas.
The marketing muscle in conventional, non Internet-based media is what has kept AOL and TW so powerful, in spite of their substandard services and products.
Amazingly, most people are still glued to the TV, read Newsweek, listen to NPR, and generally accept other maintsream media channels to guide the decision making process. Until the general populous learns to think critically and make evaluations for themselves, then Corporate Mediocrity will continue to dominate the landscape.
Thankfully, the VC infrastructure in the US provides enourmous amounts of capital to help startups to achieve fantastic results that benefit all of us. (I'm not a super-patriot by any means. I hope that the best minds throughout the world have the opportunities that US capital makes possible; and indeed the best and the brightest do go to the US for that very reason: to have their visions realized.)
Slashdot Mirror
The RIAA is a group of sanctimonius, avaricious maggots.
Before becoming a software engineer I used to produce CDs; my professional interaction with the RIAA provided direct experiences from which to base my claim.
"I'm sure even the most average user could tell which of these two practises are the most insecure."
The grammar rule from long ago is to use "more" when comparing exactly two things, not "most."
Also, I'm wearing my new pinpoint Oxford shirt today!
Most /. readers already know not to use user-agent string evaluation to conditionally server content (it's lame to do so).
However I tried to persuade the readers of the original forum where the article was posted with a post. I adopted a rational argument and hopefully it will influence the non-slashdot audience with what I hope is an eloquent statement against this inane (but perfectly understandable from the vendor's perspective) advice.
original article
And here's my post there:
Today I'm wearing a long sleeve company shirt, sporting the old logo on the front left breast and a vicious Lugian poised for attack on the back.
I'm wearing my new sweater today!
I thought adverbs were dying out, e.g., "Think Different." Feh. If Apple were really trying to be different, all they had to do was use correct grammar: "Think Differently." I suppose they just wanted to be nonconformist like everybody else.
Those in the U.S. who learned English grammar and punctuation before rigorous standards were left by the wayside (before 1980) find it hard to accept that the vast majority of subsequent generations have such an apathetically cavalier attitude toward written communication (essential skill, if you can get it).
Naturally, this negligent approach is so prevalent that its pernicious invasion in the software industry -- an industry that requires punctillious fastidiousness of the most extreme sort -- is the cause of so much crap that it negatively affects my afternoon slashdot reading sessions.
Superciliously yours.
Admiral Yamamoto
Read JWZ's "scrmable" description:
http://www.jwz.org/hacks/marginal.html
Verisign's Developer's Guide to DNS Wildcards
Since Dell is incapable of knowing how to access their own alledged license agreements, you can just create one yourself. Of course, your agreement must state that it supersedes any Dell EULA; it will be impossible for Dell to dispute that in any case. Put in any clauses you like and send a copy to Dell (at any of their official addresses, which means it will take many days to get to the correct department to be reviewed. Oh well). Include in your license agreement the clause: "This document must be signed, notarized, and returned by [date]. Failure to respond with any dispute puts this agreement in full force." Or words to that effect. Just make sure the [date] is the same day you send it to Dell.
/. community.)
(this proposal was written extemporaneously, so any tweaks and enhancements are expected from the
Read this book: Bringing Down the House : The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
It's a fun read and highly informative: learn why card counting is legal and why most card counters fail. Learn why Black Jack is virtually the only game in which the player can deterministically and consistently (over time) beat the house. Learn why Vegas casinos do not beat you up if they catch you counting cards, etc...
Actually, the View menu item is called, "Page Source." Nevertheless, it's a deceptive misnomer the way it's currently labeled because it DOES NOT SHOW THE SOURCE! It displays instead a modified version of the source; hence IT IS NOT THE SOURCE. In this case, IE's mundane notepad view without syntax highliting is better because at least it displays the actual source, not something else. Either fix mozilla to display the source, or change the label to read, "view a modified version of the source." Of course nobody would want that. But that's what they're getting without realizing it. Sorry; getting repetitive. But I do love Mozilla overall.
Most people have a very short historical view of music; anything over 10 years ago is considered old! But for thousands of years -- up until the advent of recording/playback technology -- there was only live performance. And real music lovers know that the greatest listening experience they've ever had was a live performance, not a recording of a live performance. The RIAA are self-serving, sanctimonious, avaracious, and utterly non-musical. The faster they go away the better this universe will be.
You get off your fat lazy asses and use encryption.
Here's my SSN, if anyone's interested:
-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----qANQR1DBwU4DlqED0wdUwQkQCADXxCLpw7M5WBka374Xt7Vfh
O671tUTFvUVD534Na2sq6macNcOVw51WJmxPwFsYrvUriFEAH
pLTMzkW3L5nXLn2ZfyUZl2sjzV4wayjbomDPklSOOVB6Vhlqp
qy2GHDt+7qUfIzxhNJzCGxiEtzzVJ7ZwyGSK1pk6inF17ty1q
gw2clFq6ukexmtIMfkkoxMoRJhds30AOELnU0VnFsm1uowysC
g+Vwh3p7ytU5RKm2uifMGT9ZozxM00sgpWdzneGc7fKhCQGPB
hdsvzPXKWPA/KkjSHnhDiR4xroUvX7E9LA6gRpPNnsUSjFgez
kwdqB46LfnVr9TxWen4hKYsaH0nBHV0yROL8pbpOiR2FlCC5N
uVwAXfjnm71aUUuVFlTCVW3zqAOApK3fLO1ONt14WzdSjrUKU
mgjCj5v6zSFUqbpLsPf7Ix6duEbjYKVJFEgkKm4tCK9ID+H9G
9iXrAZeFNTb9hcHgMzBq97uDK3tutKQI73wSLGW/gICbztpS2
g5VDJ6ElySVnlNQ2lpIPSaMLE9bAgcxC1w60LphwlTlrQF2DY
=iDVa
-----END PGP MESSAGE-----
Admiral Yamamoto
The public has voted for convenience over privacy. That's why non-anonymous financial transactions (e.g., credit card purchases) and their associated loss of privacy have succeeded online, whereas anonymous payment schemes -- like prematurely launched DigiCash -- just haven't taken hold. Yet. (I'm hopeful.)
Any company that states it won't sell personal information is lying. And so what if the company gets fined: your information has already been sold.
Admiral Yamamoto
Anyone who thinks communism is a viable way to live has never lived under communist rule.
If you're of an intellectual bent, read Atlas Shrugged to find out what it's like when you allow the state to decide your fate. Communism is great for those who want to abrogate personal responsibility and sacrifice self-respect and individuality.
All you communist lovers, run right over to China. Yeah, I thought so. You have no conviction. And because deep down, you know the truth, but are afraid to express it.
When I'm driving -- especially on the highway or other multi-lane road -- I can easily get a better position for passing the alert-challenged, cell-chatting weenie in the next vehicle. It never fails. The person who's talking (or texting) on the cell can't possibly maintain as much concentration on their driving as I can. And I grin each time at them as I pass their vehicle. Their smug expression quickly vanishes. Mine does not. ;-)
Admiral Yamamoto
It's only a tragedy because of what he achieved. When people die and there's no loss (except for life), it's not a tragedy. It's just death.
Underlined text is more difficult to read and is ugly.
The reason underlined text is used at all is because of typewriters. I'll explain.
Before (and since) the advent of the old-fashioned mechanical typewriter, emphasis in text was achieved through italics or bold or a combination of the two. Underlining was eschewed by professionals for the reasons cited above. How, then, was someone to emphasize text with a typewriter with no italics or bold available? Underlining, of course!
Then the GUI word processors appeared and an entire generation of typographically-challenged folk retained the underline from their typewriter days instead of restricting their emphasis of text to the bold and italic modes that were suddenly available.
The default settings of Netscape's Navigator (and the earlier Mosiac) had underline text for links, but the preferences allowed them to be turned off, which, of course, I immediately took advantage of.
The Mozilla builds I've seen so far have not provided this option. Is anybody listening out there? Please put the option to turn off underlining in the preferences.
Thanx.
It's a shame that many of Boulle's other books are not available to the US: The Whale of the Victoria Cross, Ears of the Jungle, etc. -- each book contains original and powerful ideas, cleverly executed and would provide Hollywood with a feast of ideas. But it would just be casting pearls before swine...
(FWIW, I have stood on the Bridge on the River Kwai, about an hour or so west of Bangkok in the town of Kanchanaburi.)
Not significant enough I guess.
The security "experts" at Epicor are afraid to admit their ignorance of obvious security testing tools like L0phtCrack. For real security experts, it's axiomatic that MS operating systems should not be used in any production environment. Oh well.
Weld Pond and Mudge rule!
I've already given up on the better, though also lame half-click order process -- just the mouse-down event is sufficient to invoke the order. Amazon obviously missed this one.
But the latest craze is my patent for mouseover ordering. No deliberate and quaint "clicks" of the mouse; just a breezy fly-by of the mouse pointer over a rectangular area making up 50% of the web page's area is enough to start the ordering process. What could be easier?
Amazon's marketing and legal staff are sure to be sporting major wood thinking of these new possibilites.
<!-- Greetings, Lynx users. There is a reason this page doesn't use ALT tags on the images. The reason is that the bozos responsible for both MSIE and Netscape Confusicator 4.0 decided that they would display the ALT tags of images every time you move the mouse over them -- even if the images are loaded, and even if they are not links. The ALT attribute to the IMG tag is supposed to be used *instead of* the image, not *in addition to* the image.
This looks absolutely terrible, so I don't use ALT tags any more in self-defense.
If they wanted to implemented tooltips, they should have used the TITLE attribute to the A tag. That's in the HTML 1.2 spec and everything.
I had to decide between making this page look good for the vast majority of viewers, or making it be readable by the miniscule minority of you stuck in the 70s. Those of you in the retro contingent lost. Sorry. -->
I like to read wherever I happen to be, not be chained to my PC's location. The Palm/Visor/whatever PDA has a great convienence to functionality ratio that liberates me from sitting at my desk.
Thankfully, PeanutPress has the right idea in leveraging the PDA's inherent computing power so that I can read novels and short stories when I'm at the cafe waiting for my punctuality-challenged friends, at the dentist office, on the plane, etc.
Moreover, the reading experience is abstracted (in the reader's mind) so I don't need the high-powered PDA's that have yet to come to market; current performance is adequate and will only continue to improve.
Absolutely... Kandel is one of the finest translators I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
My first experience with Lem, after reading gallons of SF for many years, made me suddenly realize how the majority of writers -- in any genre -- lack the imagination and brilliant writing style that is the hallmark of everything Lem touches. The relatively obscure The Star Diaries was the first book I read; I consider it -- along with The Cyberiad -- a must read for any one who is not afraid to confront wild ideas, intelligently and amusingly written.
It's essential to have a great translator -- I remember having read an early translation of Mishima's The Temple of Dawn (from the mostly rewarding Sea of Tranquility tetralogy). When I went to get a copy for a friend to read, I scanned the opening pages of a beautifully printed Vintage edition, newly translated. What a disappointment! The translator wrote what seemed a "dumbed down" version of the book. Of course, I wouldn't buy that edition.
Again: Both and Lem and Kandel deserve the highest literary praise your imagination can muster. Get Lem now!
Yes, buzz and momentum are are indeed the two primary characteristics that Wall Street looks at in companies. Revenue and expense amounts are secondary issues that have little influence in valuation formulas.
The marketing muscle in conventional, non Internet-based media is what has kept AOL and TW so powerful, in spite of their substandard services and products.
Amazingly, most people are still glued to the TV, read Newsweek, listen to NPR, and generally accept other maintsream media channels to guide the decision making process. Until the general populous learns to think critically and make evaluations for themselves, then Corporate Mediocrity will continue to dominate the landscape.
Thankfully, the VC infrastructure in the US provides enourmous amounts of capital to help startups to achieve fantastic results that benefit all of us. (I'm not a super-patriot by any means. I hope that the best minds throughout the world have the opportunities that US capital makes possible; and indeed the best and the brightest do go to the US for that very reason: to have their visions realized.)