Is this not done in the effort to be even righter? Did not Newton himself point out evidence that his theory could not explain and thus that it was incomplete, and have not others made extenstions to the theory that have it very much "righter"? Is not one of the possible advantages of Free Software that it can easily be examined and changed to make it better?
Isn't this how we want things to work?
I don't hang out at Groklaw much, but in the few hours I've spent there I get the impression that PJ is very open to corrections, even soliciting them, and takes them to heart.
This is the side I'm likely to bet on. Nobody ever gets everything right, but the people who cling to their wrongs remain wrong, the people who admit their wrongs correct them and become "righter."
And then get critized for admiting they were wrong and retracting/correcting. On the other hand if you "correct" your view to a wrong one to gain popularity you are often cheered as a hero, and elected President. Is a puzzlement.
Henry Clay said, "I'd rather be right than President." I'll got with that, and PJ, not because she's infallible, but because she clearly, and publicly, knows that she isn't.
Plenty of people have been fired/prosecuted because of stupid usage of internal e-mail.
Certainly, but very, very few of them for leaking sensitive information. If you've worked in IT all of your life it may be hard to understand that most workers don't even have access to such information.
No, most of them have been fired for sending an e-mail to the woman three cubes down that reads:
"Nice tits. Wanna "do" Lunch?"
See the recent story about students being expelled from Harvard Law School for passing notes.
This isn't about leaked information. Anyone who wishes to leak information has multiple avenues to do so quite easily, given that they have access to the information in the first place.
Their own brains being the most obvious means. Notebooks and copy machines being others.
No, this is primarily about "hostile work environment" and sexual harrassment lawsuits and such like, with a healty dose of rigid heirarchical control syndrome (formerly known as Overseers Disease, formerly known as "Asshole Boss") thrown in for good measure.
The man is defending his new firm, which is a "think tank" to dream up "new" ideas to hold patents on and sue people over.
You don't think he might be bit biased on the issue, do you?
Anyone who doesn't see the problem with firms like this should go read Feynman's "What do You Care What People Think?". . . and demand your dollar for every thought that ever enters your head.
The precedent was set by Robert Townsend when he was president of American Express in the late 50s, refusing to take a bonus or pay increase while still working, because that would be misappropriating the stockholder's money.
The whole issue brings to mind Alan Shepard's famous joke when asked what he was thinking while waiting for the Redstone to fire off:
"I was up there looking around, and suddenly I realized I was sitting on top of a rocket built by the lowest bidder."
They are certainly aware of the dangers and if they didn't accept them they wouldn't be astronauts.
On the other hand, before they climb to the top of the rocket they strap themselves into a car carrying a hundred pounds or so of highly explosive fuel and take it out on the road with thousands of complete idiots doing likewise, who are not concious of the dangers inherent in doing so. Familiarity breeds contempt, even though, on a passenger mile basis, an astronaut is far more likely to die accidentally in his/her car on his/her way to the space center than in the rocket.
And sitting on a rocket beats the hell out of coal mining, but you don't see many people running around shutting down the mines, because their houses would get cold and their TVs wouldn't work.
If it took manned space missions to keep TVs working people would be willing to "off" a few dozen astronauts a week without giving it half a thought.
So there's Hubble's problem right there. It isn't part of the vital "communications infrastructure." It merely informs us of what's going on in the universe, not what's going on in the trailer parks as does Jerry Springer.
If it were pointing into Cameron Daiz's bedroom window people would save the sucker right quick, no matter how many lives of other people it took to accomplish it. It has the misfortune of pointing at the wrong sort of star.
"Do you really think that average Joe can handle switching between user levels for installing and running an application? Do you think they could even understand the concept?"
My experience is that when it is explained to them properly they can not only understand the concept, but the meta concepts as well and are damn glad they do.
"See, this mode here protects you from yourself. So long as you're in this mode you can fuck up your own data, but it's impossilbe for you, or a virus, to do anything that will hurt your system, losing you days of working time and making you pay me $200 to bring it all back again.It's kinda like the blade guard on a table saw. This other mode lets you make changes to the system, like installing software, but either you or a virus can damage your system when in it, so only use it when you have to and be careful not to cut your fingers off."
They frickin' love it when it's explained to them that way, because it relieves them of 99% of the anxiety that the average Joe feels about just using his computer.
And if they screw up and get nailed because they did something stupid while in admin mode they then understand it was at least partly their fault, not the computer's or mine.
"Seriously, could you imagine the tech support nightmare if MS forced people to use different accounts and not run as admin the majority of the time? The issue here is with ignorant users, and the way around it is. .."
. ..to effectively relieve them of their ignorance. That's what good manuals and tech support ought to do, because the solution is permanent.
No justification whatsoever for your cliam of XP not designed right.
While this is correct, providing such justification would be like providing justification for a claim that Pintos weren't designed right and had a tendency to blow up.
There might be some who have missed that, but it's still common knowledge that doesn't bear repeating every damned time the issue comes up. I suppose we could all attach standard disclaimer files to all of our posts, but they would take up two or three library of congresses to only cover the most common of the bases.
Follow one of the links provided in subsequent posts to Steve "Foaming at the Mouth" Gibson's site to get a rundown on the issues. Note that Steve will cheer this move by MS because flaws in the OS design make it necessary.
The core issue being that XP Home Edition runs apps in administrator mode, giving all apps, like a trojan, full access to raw sockets. Most home users that use Pro are still silly enough to run in admin mode as well. But hey, at least it's hardened against trojans, eh?
Easy to infect with malicious code, malicious code runs with full privileges. That's bad design.
. ..i do think they should make available as a download or on CD a TCP/IP pack that does support raw sockets.
A patch to restore what a patch took out. That alone should clue you in that something braindead is going on.
Please note that only "desktop" versions of XP are affected, so all you have to do is buy a server product from MS.
Assholes often get things done. This is not the same thing as saying that one must be an asshole to get things done.
Ferrari was an asshole and got things done. Bugatti was not an asshole, and got things done anyway. Usually better, because people would pull for him because his personality earned respect and loyalty, not adulation and fear.
Jobs can keep his personality. I don't want it. It only works on the cult minded anyway who have this incredible abiltiy to excuse any behavior of the personality only because they are a "personality," in part, I believe, because they adore what they fear.
Slashdot Mirror
Which saves you the most time, getting the right answer in 10 days, or the wrong one in 9 1/2?
I am not arguing against the value of execution speed.
KFG
And in both groups you will find people who believe that execution speed is the measurement of code quality.
KFG
Is this not done in the effort to be even righter? Did not Newton himself point out evidence that his theory could not explain and thus that it was incomplete, and have not others made extenstions to the theory that have it very much "righter"? Is not one of the possible advantages of Free Software that it can easily be examined and changed to make it better?
Isn't this how we want things to work?
I don't hang out at Groklaw much, but in the few hours I've spent there I get the impression that PJ is very open to corrections, even soliciting them, and takes them to heart.
This is the side I'm likely to bet on. Nobody ever gets everything right, but the people who cling to their wrongs remain wrong, the people who admit their wrongs correct them and become "righter."
And then get critized for admiting they were wrong and retracting/correcting. On the other hand if you "correct" your view to a wrong one to gain popularity you are often cheered as a hero, and elected President. Is a puzzlement.
Henry Clay said, "I'd rather be right than President." I'll got with that, and PJ, not because she's infallible, but because she clearly, and publicly, knows that she isn't.
KFG
... if old media is smart enough to financially support citizens' media and not just exploit it.
If they do not exploit it, from whence will the support come?
KFG
Plenty of people have been fired/prosecuted because of stupid usage of internal e-mail.
Certainly, but very, very few of them for leaking sensitive information. If you've worked in IT all of your life it may be hard to understand that most workers don't even have access to such information.
No, most of them have been fired for sending an e-mail to the woman three cubes down that reads:
"Nice tits. Wanna "do" Lunch?"
See the recent story about students being expelled from Harvard Law School for passing notes.
KFG
This isn't about leaked information. Anyone who wishes to leak information has multiple avenues to do so quite easily, given that they have access to the information in the first place.
Their own brains being the most obvious means. Notebooks and copy machines being others.
No, this is primarily about "hostile work environment" and sexual harrassment lawsuits and such like, with a healty dose of rigid heirarchical control syndrome (formerly known as Overseers Disease, formerly known as "Asshole Boss") thrown in for good measure.
KFG
The man is defending his new firm, which is a "think tank" to dream up "new" ideas to hold patents on and sue people over.
You don't think he might be bit biased on the issue, do you?
Anyone who doesn't see the problem with firms like this should go read Feynman's "What do You Care What People Think?". . . and demand your dollar for every thought that ever enters your head.
KFG
The precedent was set by Robert Townsend when he was president of American Express in the late 50s, refusing to take a bonus or pay increase while still working, because that would be misappropriating the stockholder's money.
KFG
"I shouldn't make such assumptions."
Correct. This is primarily a news reposting site, in order to generate discussion.
It's a forum, not a newspaper.
KFG
The whole issue brings to mind Alan Shepard's famous joke when asked what he was thinking while waiting for the Redstone to fire off:
"I was up there looking around, and suddenly I realized I was sitting on top of a rocket built by the lowest bidder."
They are certainly aware of the dangers and if they didn't accept them they wouldn't be astronauts.
On the other hand, before they climb to the top of the rocket they strap themselves into a car carrying a hundred pounds or so of highly explosive fuel and take it out on the road with thousands of complete idiots doing likewise, who are not concious of the dangers inherent in doing so. Familiarity breeds contempt, even though, on a passenger mile basis, an astronaut is far more likely to die accidentally in his/her car on his/her way to the space center than in the rocket.
And sitting on a rocket beats the hell out of coal mining, but you don't see many people running around shutting down the mines, because their houses would get cold and their TVs wouldn't work.
If it took manned space missions to keep TVs working people would be willing to "off" a few dozen astronauts a week without giving it half a thought.
So there's Hubble's problem right there. It isn't part of the vital "communications infrastructure." It merely informs us of what's going on in the universe, not what's going on in the trailer parks as does Jerry Springer.
If it were pointing into Cameron Daiz's bedroom window people would save the sucker right quick, no matter how many lives of other people it took to accomplish it. It has the misfortune of pointing at the wrong sort of star.
KFG
I would be cautious about making claims as to what "physics" does and does not guarantee.
If you push it hard enough it will fall over.
KFG
Don't forget the geek's favorite, "Stir Fried Random Friends."
KFG
When Microsoft invites you over "for dinner" it doesn't mean they want to make friends.
.
Do do do do, do do do do, do do do do. .
KFG
Oddly enough your post is apropos as a response to the one I wrote after this one.
KFG
They dumped the tea into the harbor because the tax had been removed from it.
.The Netherlands.
Not that it mattered much, since just about everybody in America by that point was actually drinking tax free tea smuggled in from. .
Which, as others have already pointed out, is the natural response to an offensive tax. Dutch lawmakers need to go read a bit of their own history.
KFG
I think SOMEONE didn't quite think this through.
The current Slashdot fortune seems oddly apropos:
It is much easier to suggest solutions when you know nothing about the problem.
KFG
Remember the credit card ad that said, "Don't leave home without it"?
Well, the VoIP people can simply resuse that, ammended to "Don't leave home."
KFG
Yes, that too. You'd think Windows was poorly designed or something, wouldn't you?
KFG
. . .he just has issues that noone understands.
Now, don't tell me, let me guess. "He misses his mommy."
Am I at least close?
KFG
"Do you really think that average Joe can handle switching between user levels for installing and running an application? Do you think they could even understand the concept?"
."
.to effectively relieve them of their ignorance. That's what good manuals and tech support ought to do, because the solution is permanent.
My experience is that when it is explained to them properly they can not only understand the concept, but the meta concepts as well and are damn glad they do.
"See, this mode here protects you from yourself. So long as you're in this mode you can fuck up your own data, but it's impossilbe for you, or a virus, to do anything that will hurt your system, losing you days of working time and making you pay me $200 to bring it all back again.It's kinda like the blade guard on a table saw. This other mode lets you make changes to the system, like installing software, but either you or a virus can damage your system when in it, so only use it when you have to and be careful not to cut your fingers off."
They frickin' love it when it's explained to them that way, because it relieves them of 99% of the anxiety that the average Joe feels about just using his computer.
And if they screw up and get nailed because they did something stupid while in admin mode they then understand it was at least partly their fault, not the computer's or mine.
"Seriously, could you imagine the tech support nightmare if MS forced people to use different accounts and not run as admin the majority of the time? The issue here is with ignorant users, and the way around it is. .
. .
KFG
No justification whatsoever for your cliam of XP not designed right.
.i do think they should make available as a download or on CD a TCP/IP pack that does support raw sockets.
While this is correct, providing such justification would be like providing justification for a claim that Pintos weren't designed right and had a tendency to blow up.
There might be some who have missed that, but it's still common knowledge that doesn't bear repeating every damned time the issue comes up. I suppose we could all attach standard disclaimer files to all of our posts, but they would take up two or three library of congresses to only cover the most common of the bases.
Follow one of the links provided in subsequent posts to Steve "Foaming at the Mouth" Gibson's site to get a rundown on the issues. Note that Steve will cheer this move by MS because flaws in the OS design make it necessary.
The core issue being that XP Home Edition runs apps in administrator mode, giving all apps, like a trojan, full access to raw sockets. Most home users that use Pro are still silly enough to run in admin mode as well. But hey, at least it's hardened against trojans, eh?
Easy to infect with malicious code, malicious code runs with full privileges. That's bad design.
. .
A patch to restore what a patch took out. That alone should clue you in that something braindead is going on.
Please note that only "desktop" versions of XP are affected, so all you have to do is buy a server product from MS.
Or install BSD for free.
KFG
The rights of one are the rights of all.
Keep your eyes on the prize. Hold on!
KFG
I can't bear the thought of offending somebody, somewhere, so I am simply going to remove myself from the world to solve the problem.
Oh, wait, that would offend some people.
Help me! Heeeeeeeellllllp meeeeeeeeee!
KFG
Assholes often get things done. This is not the same thing as saying that one must be an asshole to get things done.
Ferrari was an asshole and got things done. Bugatti was not an asshole, and got things done anyway. Usually better, because people would pull for him because his personality earned respect and loyalty, not adulation and fear.
Jobs can keep his personality. I don't want it. It only works on the cult minded anyway who have this incredible abiltiy to excuse any behavior of the personality only because they are a "personality," in part, I believe, because they adore what they fear.
And that's fucked up, dude.
KFG
Microsoft have created a huge market/environment (or 'ecosystem' as they call it) for software vendors targetting windows.
The lion may lie down with the lamb, but only the lion will be getting up again.
KFG