Apple is finally catching up with BSD, Linux and Vista!
The fair comparison isn't relative to other OS's, it's relative to the black-hat community targeting the OS. Windows didn't start adding security features until well after malware/viruses were a major problem on Windows. Apple, on the other hand, is adding the security features proactively, despite the fact that there are not yet any major virus/malware outbreaks on their platform. Bravo to Apple for thinking ahead!
I always thought that was funny. If his prediction models were so good couldn't he just factor in the fact that people were aware of the results?
That would give you an infinite recursion, no?
i.e. then you'd have to factor in the fact that people were aware that you had factored in the results, and then factor in the fact that they were aware you had factored in the fact that people were aware you had factored in the results.... and so on until your head explodes.
Apparently there are those that have forgotten the old computer law of "Garbage In, Garbage Out" [...] all it shows is that this university professor will happily take government money for delivering absolutely nothing.
Unless, of course, garbage is what they are after. Last time it was "Curveball" that gave them the necessary disinformation to justify a war; next time they won't even need to bother with informants, they'll just look to their computer program to tell them an invasion is necessary. Accuracy would only get in the way of the political goals anyway.
You could build a computer with the exact same parts as Apple does and it would still not run legally. You can't blame driver or other issues if the hardware is identical.
If the hardware is identical, how would Apple's installer know that it wasn't a genuine Apple box?
FWIW, they were demonstrating these at the Wired NextFest in Los Angeles last month. I didn't get the details, but they seemed to basically work... at least, they had a curtain of them (several square feet) strung up with several lights pointing at it, and if you blocked the lights with your hands, the toy train that the spheres were powering would stop moving...
Are any of them self aware enough to know that the device is associated with humans and remove it?
Well, the articled did mention that they had to put the cameras on a timer, otherwise they only got footage of the crow attempting to remove the camera...
Why should business trust a platform from a company that lets petty crap like that drive product development?
They shouldn't, if that is indeed the case. OTOH, you are only asking that question because you are trusting the words of some pseudonymous poster on Slashdot. Why do you trust that what he said happened, actually happened?
Personally, I'm not sure why OSX doesn't use tar files or zip files (with or without out compression, depending on file type) to contain these "files" by default. You could still do some voodoo in the OS to allow users to browse these packages like folders, but at least their default state would still look like a file to all operating systems.
Admittedly, I'm no expert here, so forgive me if there's something naive about the idea.
I think it's a good idea... however the likely reason why they don't do it that way is that it would make adding/removing data from the "archive" very inefficient. i.e. instead of just writing another hidden file into the Package folder, you'd have to rewrite most or all of the.tar file every time you made a change.
I'm still trying to figure out what social ill these things are supposed to cure. I won't perpetuate the popular stereotype of straw huts and rampant starvation and disease, but I don't buy into this assumption that African progress is being hindered by a lack of cheap computers, of all things.
What makes you assume these laptops are all going to Africa? There are many other parts of the world that could use a cheap laptop as well, or perhaps better, than Africa.
Anyway, to answer your question: the "need" for cheap/free access to information for educational purposes.
So, great - these folks will have an education program. Now how do we get them raw materials and factories to construct an infrastructure without having the local warlords or whomever steal or destroy them and avoid the rest of the international community saying "hey quit being a bully state!"?
The simple answer is that you don't: the XO laptop is not going to cure all of the world's ills by itself. Instead, you accept that the XO is not going to work in all countries, and market it only to the countries where it seems likely that it can help.
Use a VM to test them. Free virtualization is available and is easy to use
Running it in a VM will probably keep your main system from being infected, but how do you know when it is safe to move the suspect executable out of the VM? No matter how long you run it, it could be that the malware portion will only activate after a bit longer period than that...
Poor Apple, these big mean companies keep holding guns to their head and making them sign contracts that say they have to do lame things.
Not to defend Apple too much, but what would you have done in Apple's place? Told the cell phone companies to f*ck off and built your own cell network from scratch? Doing that would have made every iPhone an iBrick, since nobody would be able to use them as, you know, cell phones.
This is an honest question: why do kids need laptops? Is there some fundamental problem in teaching today that can only be solved with computers?
Actually, what kids need is access to information. A laptop with Internet access is one way to provide that access. (the other way would be to provide lots of books, but that would be a lot harder to scale, ship, translate into the appropriate language, keep up to date, etc... and even then the books would only provide fairly static information)
Or the rest of the world for that matter. Are we not good enough to buy those?
Spoiled much? These laptops are part of a program to help children in developing countries. As such, they are shipping to---you guessed it, developing countries. Given that they can only make so many of these laptops per year, are you really going to whip out your credit card and take one of these out of the hands of a child who could really benefit from it, just so it can sit on your shelf for your geek friends to admire for twenty minutes before going back to using your powerbook?
If I generate more than I use, then they don't send me a check, they just say, "Thanks for the free electricity."
That rule has always annoyed me, since it removes the incentive to use your roof's insolation to the extent possible. I wonder if there is some way around it, perhaps by going co-op with your neighbors (e.g. so that if you overproduce, your bill goes to zero and your neighbor's bill is reduced by the extra amount... then at the end of the year your neighbor send you a check for the difference, or some percentage thereof)
Well, I can dream of a world where the rules make sense, anyway....
Thats 100^2 miles that will be devoid of sunlight because it covered up by panels. I see that as a huge problem.
Worse than global warming? FWIW, 100^2 miles is.0026% of the USA's area, and it wouldn't be a contiguous 100^2 miles either. So I don't see how this would be a huge problem, relative to the other problems we already face that this would help solve.
The fact that people are willing to buy something that officially can't have new software written for it suggests they are not very serious technical people.
How do you like your open-source TV? Is your open-source refrigerator working for you? And your open-source car is doing fine, I trust?
Surely you didn't buy closed-source versions of these products... that would suggest you are not a serious technical person.
Slashdot Mirror
The fair comparison isn't relative to other OS's, it's relative to the black-hat community targeting the OS. Windows didn't start adding security features until well after malware/viruses were a major problem on Windows. Apple, on the other hand, is adding the security features proactively, despite the fact that there are not yet any major virus/malware outbreaks on their platform. Bravo to Apple for thinking ahead!
That would give you an infinite recursion, no?
i.e. then you'd have to factor in the fact that people were aware that you had factored in the results, and then factor in the fact that they were aware you had factored in the fact that people were aware you had factored in the results.... and so on until your head explodes.
Unless, of course, garbage is what they are after. Last time it was "Curveball" that gave them the necessary disinformation to justify a war; next time they won't even need to bother with informants, they'll just look to their computer program to tell them an invasion is necessary. Accuracy would only get in the way of the political goals anyway.
If the hardware is identical, how would Apple's installer know that it wasn't a genuine Apple box?
I wonder when our little Iraq problem will get bloody well solved?
Perhaps not, but it may be the lesser evil.
FWIW, they were demonstrating these at the Wired NextFest in Los Angeles last month. I didn't get the details, but they seemed to basically work... at least, they had a curtain of them (several square feet) strung up with several lights pointing at it, and if you blocked the lights with your hands, the toy train that the spheres were powering would stop moving...
If they really want to attract the "young male market segment", they should try handing out free porn.
You mean like a hit man? I know Ballmer is annoying, but really -- isn't that taking it a bit far?
Well, the articled did mention that they had to put the cameras on a timer, otherwise they only got footage of the crow attempting to remove the camera...
Who has the GNU Project extinguished so far?
They shouldn't, if that is indeed the case. OTOH, you are only asking that question because you are trusting the words of some pseudonymous poster on Slashdot. Why do you trust that what he said happened, actually happened?
Admittedly, I'm no expert here, so forgive me if there's something naive about the idea.
I think it's a good idea... however the likely reason why they don't do it that way is that it would make adding/removing data from the "archive" very inefficient. i.e. instead of just writing another hidden file into the Package folder, you'd have to rewrite most or all of the
What makes you assume these laptops are all going to Africa? There are many other parts of the world that could use a cheap laptop as well, or perhaps better, than Africa.
Anyway, to answer your question: the "need" for cheap/free access to information for educational purposes.
The simple answer is that you don't: the XO laptop is not going to cure all of the world's ills by itself. Instead, you accept that the XO is not going to work in all countries, and market it only to the countries where it seems likely that it can help.
Running it in a VM will probably keep your main system from being infected, but how do you know when it is safe to move the suspect executable out of the VM? No matter how long you run it, it could be that the malware portion will only activate after a bit longer period than that...
Isn't that the Slashdot motto?
Not to defend Apple too much, but what would you have done in Apple's place? Told the cell phone companies to f*ck off and built your own cell network from scratch? Doing that would have made every iPhone an iBrick, since nobody would be able to use them as, you know, cell phones.
Oh, I agree. I was responding to the person who was complaining because (he felt) his money wouldn't buy him a spot at the front of the line.
Actually, what kids need is access to information. A laptop with Internet access is one way to provide that access. (the other way would be to provide lots of books, but that would be a lot harder to scale, ship, translate into the appropriate language, keep up to date, etc... and even then the books would only provide fairly static information)
Spoiled much? These laptops are part of a program to help children in developing countries. As such, they are shipping to---you guessed it, developing countries. Given that they can only make so many of these laptops per year, are you really going to whip out your credit card and take one of these out of the hands of a child who could really benefit from it, just so it can sit on your shelf for your geek friends to admire for twenty minutes before going back to using your powerbook?
That rule has always annoyed me, since it removes the incentive to use your roof's insolation to the extent possible. I wonder if there is some way around it, perhaps by going co-op with your neighbors (e.g. so that if you overproduce, your bill goes to zero and your neighbor's bill is reduced by the extra amount... then at the end of the year your neighbor send you a check for the difference, or some percentage thereof)
Well, I can dream of a world where the rules make sense, anyway....
Haha, no... the Americans have standardized on "Libraries of Congress" and "Volkswagon Beetles" for all measurements.
Worse than global warming? FWIW, 100^2 miles is
How do you like your open-source TV? Is your open-source refrigerator working for you? And your open-source car is doing fine, I trust?
Surely you didn't buy closed-source versions of these products... that would suggest you are not a serious technical person.