Take a look at the link you set me. You'll notice that the numbers are provided by the people who own the machines. Yep thats right - these are COMPLETELY 100% unvalidated statistics. Thanks for playing please try again.
You "assume" that it will be quality chipset. What evidence do you have to back this up? Personally Im a HUGE fan of Nvidia but for you to simply ASSUME that their first venture (ahem.... well I guess you could count the xbox) into the field of integrated chipsets will be shining with quality is proposterous speculation to say the least.
As far as the NForce goes - I say wait and see what happens. Its bit pricy for an intergated chipset so it will be interesting to gauge the market acceptance for such a product.
If anything the Nforce has brought us Dual Channel DDR Ram - perhaps now DDR will be able to fully compete with Rambus memory (Say what you will but Rambus is clearly superior to its competitors - submissions proving otherwise will be considered.)
Oh yeah one more thing - the Nforce will force the fools at Creative to get off their collective asses and produce something New for change. Afterall the sound portion of the Nforce makes the SBLive look like crap from what I understand.
Perhaps you should attempt to provide some real life numbers. Photoshop tests do not count. Has it ever occured to you that Jobs has yet to benchmark his precious PPC against anything but Photoshop for the last few years at MacWorld?
Heres One for you - straight from the horses mouth: http://www.macworld.com/2001/07/buzz/ppcvpentium.h tml
Im tired of this mhz!=real life speed argument. The fact is you maclots scream and whine and try to drive that point home so much (which I do agree with by the way - take any Alpha chip as an example) you absolutely forgot that you had to provide real life numbers in order to really back these claims up.
And as far as the heat a PPC generates is concerned all I have to say is BULLSHIT. Take a long hard look at the HUGE heatsink sitting on those chips in any of the Apple boxes for a clear explanation as to what I mean. The P4 may have a 1 lb heatsink - but so does the G4. Why is it that you think it took them YEARS to get a G4 into a laptop? Why is it that you think everybody complains about the heat generated for a TiBook?
Yes I owned a dual 450 G4 when those first came out. It was a decent box. But the P3 1ghz dell I replaced it with three months later just slices and dices it in every way shape and form. And it was half the price.
I could go on and on and refute your claims - but its a waste of my time. Your RDF is fully engaged and I accept that as a reality. Its too bad that you are unable to do that same regarding the fact that the G4 is simply outclassed by modern x86 chips.
I find myself thinking much of the time while I read slashdot nowadays, "It must be nice to be so clueless". This thought has crossed my mind numerous times while reading your responses.
You must be stupid to assume that:
(1) If you tink you can decrypt these files and they cant - thats just plain idiocy. All they have to do is download whatever the opensource client of the week is. Duh. Try Again.
(2) The bounty hunters encrypted the files before offering them to you - therefore they ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO DOWNLOAD!
(3) You're right it isnt worth it to go through all the trouble to find out who was using a DHCP address (from the feds perspective) - thats why the ISP simply AVOIDS ALL THE TROUBLE AND KICKS YOU OFF!
(4) Since when were packet sniffers illegal? Especially when you are just monitoring traffic that comes in and out of your own computer (which is all a bounty hunter would have to do). Get a clue kiddo.
Also - the information a bounty hunter would obtain is NOT illegal. Your IP and what you download on the net is public information. As the CEO of SUN would say, "You have no privacy get over it." Perhaps one day when you reach puberty and learn to properly punctuate your sentences, talk in a sensible manner, and use paragraphs to better format your "arguement" (chuckle) - we will talk again.
This is the last response that I will waste upon you. Your zealot mentality was assuming for a brief few moments but I'm growing weary of it now. Perhaps somebody more intelligent will attempt to comment on what I've said here but considering where I am posting - I doubt it.
Ok genius - then explain to me what difference that makes. If I am a bounty hunter on the network who shares out these files, encrypted or not - and Im in the business of logging connections made to my machine - Im still going to get your IP address when you download any portion of that encrypted song.
ISPs arent sniffing their networks for this content pal. The RIAA and MPAA are hiring people to sit on these networks catch people in the exact same way I described above. Hell, they could even do this on gnutella.
No matter what you do the security of a peer to peer network is entirely dependent upon each person. Unless you know precisely who you are downloading from then you dont have a clue what they are going to do with that information - now do you?
Encrypt it all you want - it doesnt matter. As long as the internet is a TCP/IP network and you have an IP address - then yes everything is traceable even through anonymizer services.
Guys - there are a few misconceptions floating around here that probably need to be cleared up:
(1) Encryption will NOT help. All they need is your IP when you attempt to download the copyrighted material (thats why they have the bounty hunters).
(2) DHCP will NOT help. Every ISP I know of keeps extensive records of which user was on their network using which IP at which time. All they need is an IP Addy and a Date/Time stamp to go with it.
(3) What you are doing is ILLEGAL. There is no two ways about it. You whine that some of the other methods used to prevent this such as Copy Protected CDs are illegal - but YOU BROUGHT IT ON YOURSELVES. They didnt bring those out until you guys gave them a reason to.
(4) Most ISPs WILL NOT stand up for you in this case. Why should they? They are barely afloat as it is - do you REALLY THINk that they will spend millions of dollars defending your right to pirate copyrighted material in court? Duh - think again.
(5) Copyright != GPL. Thats right boys and girls. You guys seem to treat everything as if it was OPENSOURCE whether or not it truely is. GPL is a bastardization of Copyright and not indicative of the real world.
Thats all I have to say. I hope this clears a few things up.
Maybe they should've gotten Taco to write their system - that way Microsoft would've just given up instead of offering them a patch!
Billg: Thats it - this code reeks - Im outta here. Ballamer: Wow - I cant believe this guy talks so much trash about us when he writes code like this.... Billg: Hes one of those sicko anime sex freaks - what did you expect?
I know I didnt expect anything more. I sure as hell hope none of you did either.
But science and the environment are becoming among the planet's hottest political issues. President Bush touched off a firestorm when he refused to sign the Kyoto accord. Although the reaction in the U.S. was less pronounced, a March 2001 Time/CNN poll found that two-thirds of Americans think the President should develop a plan to reduce the gas emissions that may contribute to global warming.
Wrong. Utterly Wrong. Katz spins EVERYTHING and always neglects the truth. This is yet another case of that.
The Kyoto treaty seeks to reduce ALL Carbon Dioxide emissions 5% BELOW 1990 levels by 2010 (More Info Here). This is of course impossible. Consider the current power situation in California for instance. Solving that will likely INCREASE the amount of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere. How can you expect to reduce these emissions when you have no choice but to increase them? (You liberals have nobody to blame but yourselves on this one)
Bush came up with his own plan. His plan states that by 2015 CO2 emission levels will cease to increase. By 2050 his plan is to abolish ALL CO2 emissions. Hmmmm... I dont think the Kyoto treaty planned to get of them all......
Learn to read people. Dont make yourselves look like morons by buying into Katz's shit. Bush's plan is not only better in the long run - but it takes a realistic outlook on the problems he have TODAY. He realizes that A LOT of this country's power comes from COAL. Which as you know produces A LOT of CO2. You slashbotters are so blindly aligned sometimes its just sick. You people deserve Katz - you truly do.
I just tried it actually. XPDec DOES NOT create a Confirmation ID from an Installation ID which is what would be required to crack WPA. XPDec simply serves the purpose of allowing the user to understand what pieces of hardware affect the Installation ID sent to Microsoft.
Read the docs - they seem to have a very high opinion of WPA and feel that alot of the "fears" about it are unfounded to say the least.
The EU fucked with the wrong people. Simple as that. Its sad how truly suppresed Europe is. It was their supression that started World War II - and its their continued tactics of suppresion that will ultimately start World War III.
The term software refers to the toolkit itself - NOT THE SOFTWARE YOU CREATE WITH IT.
Besides - you guys HAVE NO ROOM TO TALK. You dont want your free shit distributed with commercial stuff (debian anybody?) and it goes vice versa for them.
Java = Hyped up language which is pretty much worthless when it comes to real world use.
Sorry guys. But not only is Java a closed standard - but its a hideously over complicated and slow one at that. CS students dont need to be burdened with too many language specifics in those first few months of learning.
As for my schooling - I went to some dipsh*t community college (didnt much care for going to an actual university) - and I remember the introduction to programming class used old VAX Basic (they now use QBasic).
You would be amazed how many people just dropped that class by the end of the term. Not because of the language but because the teacher made it quite clear that if you couldnt grasp BASIC - then you wouldnt be grasping anything else either.
As far as CS is concerned - start working with basic concepts and work your way up. Alot of people on this thread argue that CS students should be learning Assembler as a language FIRST - I disagree completely. While Assembler does have its uses (such as teaching you how your computer actually works) I believe it to be overrated considering the technical environments that exist today.
99% of IT people I meet (yes I know this is sad) wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about if I mentioned the AX register on a processor, IRQs, or DMAs. The IT world today has, to say the least, has become soft. Thats because there is such a demand (except for maybe in the Valley - hehe) for these people - the local colleges are pumping them out like an assembly line with the minimal and most desirable knowledge. (Assembler NOT being on that list for most companies)
But I digress: C or BASIC should be the initial languages learned by CS students. I lean more heavily towards C in this case because alot of the knowledge is easily transplantable into C++ when it comes time to learn Object Oriented stuff - whereas with BASIC - VB's object orientation can leave a bit to be desired at times.
Visual Basic isnt difficult - but it does present more of a transition problem than going to C++ from C. Simply put - not only will you learn some Object Oriented concepts from VB (albeit they are not truly Object Oriented as of yet) - but CS students would be forced to grasp the concepts of Event Based Programming (yes this can be a bit of a bear).
Already slipping into reruns, eh Jon? Oh wait... you've been posting the same Anti-Microsoft FUD article for years now..... I mean, how could I forget?
Sorry guys - the information is this article is ABSOLUTELY BULLSHIT. Excuse the language but theres just no other way of expressing the pure digust I have for the moron who posted this.
Before you post s*hit like this, make an effort to check it out. Just because CNET can post inaccurate and moronic stories doesnt mean that slashdot should to.
Smarttags do NOT change the data in the HTML document - rather they provide additional information to what is already supplied in the document. For example, if I hover over a link to http://www.microsoft.com - I will be presented with a tiny little, unobstusive window detailing some info about the company such as their homepage and stock symbol.
Jesus christ slashdot - why dont you actually ask somebody who beta tests Internet Explorer 6 / Windows XP before making these WILD accusations? Probably because it would be ALOT harder to spread your FUD then.
I love how you guys so blindly defend the GPL license. If the source was TRULY open - then people could do with it as they pleased without having to adhere to the terms of some FSF License Agreement.
If you think Microsofts Shared Source Initative is bad then you cannot possibly think GPL is any better. They are both one in the same - heres why:
1: Both licenses seek to restrict how the source code is used.
2: Both licenses were created in order to serve their own purposes and not that of the community (MS wants money - FSF wants more "free" software)
Both licenses are a farse. Its that simple. If you are really going to distribute your source - distribute it. End of Story. All of my open projects are distributed without any license because I feel that in order for it to be truly free and useful work - it must come without any catches.
Yes Shared Source does make Microsoft look hypocritical - but the GPL makes the Linux community look just as foolish. The GPL only serves one purpose: To produce FREE SOFTWARE. Shared Source only exists to serve one purpose: To make MONEY.
I was going through middle/high school during the "lets buy all the computers we can so us teachers dont have to do our jobs" phase.
Now dont get me wrong, I LOVE computers. Im a verified geek. I have been ever since my parents sat me in front of the old Apple IIe at the age of six. (And gave be a BASIC book at the age of 7)
Computers arent the savior of education that everybody was hoping they would be. Computers are a tool and nothing more. You will always have the children who choose not to use the tools available to them, as well as the children who have no tools available to them.
I remember one time in elementary school we were in the computer lab of Apple IIe s and I decided to have a little bit of fun with the people in there - so I wrote a little program to show just how 3eet I was:
10 PRINT "THIS SCHOOL SUCKS"
20 GOTO 10
You wouldnt believe how much trouble I almost got in for that little stunt. I distinctly remember sitting in the hallway for the remainder of the class - with a large smile on my face. (This only got worse when I started going into Radio Shack Stores - Some of the messsages I came up with there probably affected sales quite a bit:-)
Anyway - I remember in highschool (around 1995) when they built the computer lab full of older IBM 486 Lan Manager machines. We spent a large amount of time there (to my great surprise) - but it was only to waste time on substandard "education" games and work on composing some research presentation using some Powerpoint wannabe called "Linkway" or something.
The point is: Most of those kids learned absolutely nothing. Most of them just goofed off in the computer lab. The teacher didnt even really know what the heck she was doing in there.
The morale of the story kiddies: Computers are like an encyclopedia - they are only useful if you are willing to open the cover and explore. Until then - they are useless.
Heres the problem with the majority of the./ readers:
Microsoft runs a buisness. They are successful because they are very good at running a buisness (yeah I know its sp). To prove my point, take a look at MS versus your Linux Distro companies:
(A): Linux Distro Companies - With the exception of Redhat, most range from failures to be failing in the buisness world. Redhat of course got lucky and broke even. Why is this? What is that one of them offers that other doesn't? Not a damn thing. Each of these companies is haunted by the fact that joe blow down the street offers the exact same product for free - and probably something close to the exact same service/support agreements.
(B): Microsoft - Microsoft is a successful buisness. They have sucessfully penetrated and conquered numerous buisnesses. They offer a product which is unique and like no other. (They are the makers of the only MAJOR OS which is NOT FULLY POSIX compliant or UNIX based) They offer service/support agreements that simply cannot be met by other companies in the sheer quality alone (sometime take a look at MSDN - you'll be amazed at what MS will just give to you) simply because they dont have the knowledge of the product that MS does.
Now I understand that its the tendency of people in America to "root for the underdog" and for a long time a I did as well. But sit down and take a long hard look at MS' buisnesses, their success, their products, and their support and you'll find something that any of your beloved linux communities/companies have yet to offer.
Gam Troll = Somebody who would dare disagree with the herd of Slashdot. (In otherwords ME)
Windows Media player 7+ has ALWAYS limited the quality of MP3's that can be recorded! DUH! How in the hell is this news? BTW - Real Jukebox has always done the same thing as well.
You can still install any other codec and use that to rip a CD with - and 3rd party ripping programs will work. (Just because they dont work now doesnt mean a thing - a shitload of stuff - namely installshield installers dont run correctly in XP in Beta 2 - GET OVER IT)
What a load of FUD. You guys whine about how MS likes to spread all kinds of lies and mistruths about linux - but then you turn around and do the same thing!?!?!?! The free software movement has truly become the "lets do whatever the hell we want and never take responsibility for anything at all movement". If MS wants to distribute a built CD Ripper that perfers WMA to MP3 - who cares? Do you honestly think the average consumer will ever notice the difference? Probably not guys. As long as there is A file upon which they can DOUBLE CLICK and as a result hear music - they are happy.
I see this has also degraded into a Windows XP bashfest as well. Considering maybe more than 99% of the slashdotters that have commented so far probably have never even seen, much less used any Microsoft OS since Windows 95/NT - I dont want to hear it.
What a bunch of sore losers. You'll never understand that UNIX at home will never truly take place. All Mac OS X has done is given you UNIX on Television (unless you watched the half baked hacking that takes place on Lone Gunmen - lol) because god knows nobody wants to buy a MacinTrash.
This exploits a VERY well known and easily fixable IIS hole on the passport registration site. Check out the source behind this page and you will see exactly what I mean:-) Note this doesnt work well on pure ASP pages because of the presence of the
Its very likely that the passport site is vulnerable to other holes as well - but I'll leave that to you NT Script Kiddies out there dying to get a piece of the Microsoft action.
Now normally I'm one to stay away from the MS Bash Mobile here at Slashdot - but in this case I would suggest that anybody with a brain refrain from using passport for anything you wish to keep even remotely private.
What is your take on Microsoft's "corporate culture" versus that of other companies you have worked with? Does it resemble the all powerful Empire of Star Wars that oh-so-many Slashdotters seem to believe in - or is it just another company with all the action items, BS initiatives, and corporate doublespeak that we have all come to know and love? (Note: feel free to present your own alternative answer to the choices - should you feel compelled to do so).
All Katz ever talks about is how "disappointed" he is with the state of the internet today. Get over it or get out Jon - we are sick of hearing it.
I for one, am quite satisfied with what the internet has become - it is the ultimate form of balance - something we need nowadays.
That having been said, I'm going to check the Jon Katz box now. I've really had enough of his inane blabbering. You guys can defend him if you want to - but he brings it upon himself - he really does.
Maybe he should start taking walks or even go out and get laid. In otherwords: GET A LIFE JON!
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah the 6.49/6.5 drivers seem to provide the best reliability. 12.x may be faster but there are a few games which dont work with them.
Gam
Take a look at the link you set me. You'll notice that the numbers are provided by the people who own the machines. Yep thats right - these are COMPLETELY 100% unvalidated statistics. Thanks for playing please try again.
y pe=all&arch=2&contest=all
Sample: http://n0cgi.distributed.net/speed/query.cgi?cput
There is an entry for a PowerPC G4 with a speed of 417,928,832. That smells like.... bullshit!
Gam
"Flame at Will"
You "assume" that it will be quality chipset. What evidence do you have to back this up? Personally Im a HUGE fan of Nvidia but for you to simply ASSUME that their first venture (ahem.... well I guess you could count the xbox) into the field of integrated chipsets will be shining with quality is proposterous speculation to say the least.
As far as the NForce goes - I say wait and see what happens. Its bit pricy for an intergated chipset so it will be interesting to gauge the market acceptance for such a product.
If anything the Nforce has brought us Dual Channel DDR Ram - perhaps now DDR will be able to fully compete with Rambus memory (Say what you will but Rambus is clearly superior to its competitors - submissions proving otherwise will be considered.)
Oh yeah one more thing - the Nforce will force the fools at Creative to get off their collective asses and produce something New for change. Afterall the sound portion of the Nforce makes the SBLive look like crap from what I understand.
Gam
"Flame at WIll"
Perhaps you should attempt to provide some real life numbers. Photoshop tests do not count. Has it ever occured to you that Jobs has yet to benchmark his precious PPC against anything but Photoshop for the last few years at MacWorld?
h tml
Heres One for you - straight from the horses mouth: http://www.macworld.com/2001/07/buzz/ppcvpentium.
Im tired of this mhz!=real life speed argument. The fact is you maclots scream and whine and try to drive that point home so much (which I do agree with by the way - take any Alpha chip as an example) you absolutely forgot that you had to provide real life numbers in order to really back these claims up.
And as far as the heat a PPC generates is concerned all I have to say is BULLSHIT. Take a long hard look at the HUGE heatsink sitting on those chips in any of the Apple boxes for a clear explanation as to what I mean. The P4 may have a 1 lb heatsink - but so does the G4. Why is it that you think it took them YEARS to get a G4 into a laptop? Why is it that you think everybody complains about the heat generated for a TiBook?
Yes I owned a dual 450 G4 when those first came out. It was a decent box. But the P3 1ghz dell I replaced it with three months later just slices and dices it in every way shape and form. And it was half the price.
I could go on and on and refute your claims - but its a waste of my time. Your RDF is fully engaged and I accept that as a reality. Its too bad that you are unable to do that same regarding the fact that the G4 is simply outclassed by modern x86 chips.
Gam
"Flame at Will"
The PPC chip is also as fast as the slowest x86. Wow.
That is easily one of the coolest things I have EVER heard. Somebody mod this man up! (Hmmm.. you are already at 5)
Somebody change the maximum number of points! Quick!
Gam
Hahahahahaha..... Priceless
I find myself thinking much of the time while I read slashdot nowadays, "It must be nice to be so clueless". This thought has crossed my mind numerous times while reading your responses.
You must be stupid to assume that:
(1) If you tink you can decrypt these files and they cant - thats just plain idiocy. All they have to do is download whatever the opensource client of the week is. Duh. Try Again.
(2) The bounty hunters encrypted the files before offering them to you - therefore they ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO DOWNLOAD!
(3) You're right it isnt worth it to go through all the trouble to find out who was using a DHCP address (from the feds perspective) - thats why the ISP simply AVOIDS ALL THE TROUBLE AND KICKS YOU OFF!
(4) Since when were packet sniffers illegal? Especially when you are just monitoring traffic that comes in and out of your own computer (which is all a bounty hunter would have to do). Get a clue kiddo.
Also - the information a bounty hunter would obtain is NOT illegal. Your IP and what you download on the net is public information. As the CEO of SUN would say, "You have no privacy get over it." Perhaps one day when you reach puberty and learn to properly punctuate your sentences, talk in a sensible manner, and use paragraphs to better format your "arguement" (chuckle) - we will talk again.
This is the last response that I will waste upon you. Your zealot mentality was assuming for a brief few moments but I'm growing weary of it now. Perhaps somebody more intelligent will attempt to comment on what I've said here but considering where I am posting - I doubt it.
Gam
"Flame at Will"
Ok genius - then explain to me what difference that makes. If I am a bounty hunter on the network who shares out these files, encrypted or not - and Im in the business of logging connections made to my machine - Im still going to get your IP address when you download any portion of that encrypted song.
ISPs arent sniffing their networks for this content pal. The RIAA and MPAA are hiring people to sit on these networks catch people in the exact same way I described above. Hell, they could even do this on gnutella.
No matter what you do the security of a peer to peer network is entirely dependent upon each person. Unless you know precisely who you are downloading from then you dont have a clue what they are going to do with that information - now do you?
Encrypt it all you want - it doesnt matter. As long as the internet is a TCP/IP network and you have an IP address - then yes everything is traceable even through anonymizer services.
Gam
Guys - there are a few misconceptions floating around here that probably need to be cleared up:
(1) Encryption will NOT help. All they need is your IP when you attempt to download the copyrighted material (thats why they have the bounty hunters).
(2) DHCP will NOT help. Every ISP I know of keeps extensive records of which user was on their network using which IP at which time. All they need is an IP Addy and a Date/Time stamp to go with it.
(3) What you are doing is ILLEGAL. There is no two ways about it. You whine that some of the other methods used to prevent this such as Copy Protected CDs are illegal - but YOU BROUGHT IT ON YOURSELVES. They didnt bring those out until you guys gave them a reason to.
(4) Most ISPs WILL NOT stand up for you in this case. Why should they? They are barely afloat as it is - do you REALLY THINk that they will spend millions of dollars defending your right to pirate copyrighted material in court? Duh - think again.
(5) Copyright != GPL. Thats right boys and girls. You guys seem to treat everything as if it was OPENSOURCE whether or not it truely is. GPL is a bastardization of Copyright and not indicative of the real world.
Thats all I have to say. I hope this clears a few things up.
"Flame at Will"
Gam
Maybe they should've gotten Taco to write their system - that way Microsoft would've just given up instead of offering them a patch!
Billg: Thats it - this code reeks - Im outta here.
Ballamer: Wow - I cant believe this guy talks so much trash about us when he writes code like this....
Billg: Hes one of those sicko anime sex freaks - what did you expect?
I know I didnt expect anything more. I sure as hell hope none of you did either.
Gam
Wrong. Utterly Wrong. Katz spins EVERYTHING and always neglects the truth. This is yet another case of that.
The Kyoto treaty seeks to reduce ALL Carbon Dioxide emissions 5% BELOW 1990 levels by 2010 (More Info Here). This is of course impossible. Consider the current power situation in California for instance. Solving that will likely INCREASE the amount of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere. How can you expect to reduce these emissions when you have no choice but to increase them? (You liberals have nobody to blame but yourselves on this one)
Bush came up with his own plan. His plan states that by 2015 CO2 emission levels will cease to increase. By 2050 his plan is to abolish ALL CO2 emissions. Hmmmm... I dont think the Kyoto treaty planned to get of them all......
Learn to read people. Dont make yourselves look like morons by buying into Katz's shit. Bush's plan is not only better in the long run - but it takes a realistic outlook on the problems he have TODAY. He realizes that A LOT of this country's power comes from COAL. Which as you know produces A LOT of CO2. You slashbotters are so blindly aligned sometimes its just sick. You people deserve Katz - you truly do.
Gam
"Flame at Will"
I just tried it actually. XPDec DOES NOT create a Confirmation ID from an Installation ID which is what would be required to crack WPA. XPDec simply serves the purpose of allowing the user to understand what pieces of hardware affect the Installation ID sent to Microsoft.
Read the docs - they seem to have a very high opinion of WPA and feel that alot of the "fears" about it are unfounded to say the least.
Gam
The EU fucked with the wrong people. Simple as that. Its sad how truly suppresed Europe is. It was their supression that started World War II - and its their continued tactics of suppresion that will ultimately start World War III.
Gam
God - I guess that means that GPL is non enforcable - since all its nothing more than a text based EULA.
Use your brain before you speak.
Gam
The term software refers to the toolkit itself - NOT THE SOFTWARE YOU CREATE WITH IT.
Besides - you guys HAVE NO ROOM TO TALK. You dont want your free shit distributed with commercial stuff (debian anybody?) and it goes vice versa for them.
You have NO LEGS to stand on.
Gam
"FLame at Will"
Java = Hyped up language which is pretty much worthless when it comes to real world use.
Sorry guys. But not only is Java a closed standard - but its a hideously over complicated and slow one at that. CS students dont need to be burdened with too many language specifics in those first few months of learning.
As for my schooling - I went to some dipsh*t community college (didnt much care for going to an actual university) - and I remember the introduction to programming class used old VAX Basic (they now use QBasic).
You would be amazed how many people just dropped that class by the end of the term. Not because of the language but because the teacher made it quite clear that if you couldnt grasp BASIC - then you wouldnt be grasping anything else either.
As far as CS is concerned - start working with basic concepts and work your way up. Alot of people on this thread argue that CS students should be learning Assembler as a language FIRST - I disagree completely. While Assembler does have its uses (such as teaching you how your computer actually works) I believe it to be overrated considering the technical environments that exist today.
99% of IT people I meet (yes I know this is sad) wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about if I mentioned the AX register on a processor, IRQs, or DMAs. The IT world today has, to say the least, has become soft. Thats because there is such a demand (except for maybe in the Valley - hehe) for these people - the local colleges are pumping them out like an assembly line with the minimal and most desirable knowledge. (Assembler NOT being on that list for most companies)
But I digress: C or BASIC should be the initial languages learned by CS students. I lean more heavily towards C in this case because alot of the knowledge is easily transplantable into C++ when it comes time to learn Object Oriented stuff - whereas with BASIC - VB's object orientation can leave a bit to be desired at times.
Visual Basic isnt difficult - but it does present more of a transition problem than going to C++ from C. Simply put - not only will you learn some Object Oriented concepts from VB (albeit they are not truly Object Oriented as of yet) - but CS students would be forced to grasp the concepts of Event Based Programming (yes this can be a bit of a bear).
Gam
"Flame at Will"
Already slipping into reruns, eh Jon? Oh wait... you've been posting the same Anti-Microsoft FUD article for years now..... I mean, how could I forget?
Advice for Jon: Shut the fuck up.
Gam
Sorry guys - the information is this article is ABSOLUTELY BULLSHIT. Excuse the language but theres just no other way of expressing the pure digust I have for the moron who posted this.
Before you post s*hit like this, make an effort to check it out. Just because CNET can post inaccurate and moronic stories doesnt mean that slashdot should to.
Smarttags do NOT change the data in the HTML document - rather they provide additional information to what is already supplied in the document. For example, if I hover over a link to http://www.microsoft.com - I will be presented with a tiny little, unobstusive window detailing some info about the company such as their homepage and stock symbol.
Jesus christ slashdot - why dont you actually ask somebody who beta tests Internet Explorer 6 / Windows XP before making these WILD accusations? Probably because it would be ALOT harder to spread your FUD then.
Gam
I love how you guys so blindly defend the GPL license. If the source was TRULY open - then people could do with it as they pleased without having to adhere to the terms of some FSF License Agreement.
If you think Microsofts Shared Source Initative is bad then you cannot possibly think GPL is any better. They are both one in the same - heres why:
1: Both licenses seek to restrict how the source code is used.
2: Both licenses were created in order to serve their own purposes and not that of the community (MS wants money - FSF wants more "free" software)
Both licenses are a farse. Its that simple. If you are really going to distribute your source - distribute it. End of Story. All of my open projects are distributed without any license because I feel that in order for it to be truly free and useful work - it must come without any catches.
Yes Shared Source does make Microsoft look hypocritical - but the GPL makes the Linux community look just as foolish. The GPL only serves one purpose: To produce FREE SOFTWARE. Shared Source only exists to serve one purpose: To make MONEY.
Gam
Flame At Will
Now dont get me wrong, I LOVE computers. Im a verified geek. I have been ever since my parents sat me in front of the old Apple IIe at the age of six. (And gave be a BASIC book at the age of 7)
Computers arent the savior of education that everybody was hoping they would be. Computers are a tool and nothing more. You will always have the children who choose not to use the tools available to them, as well as the children who have no tools available to them.
I remember one time in elementary school we were in the computer lab of Apple IIe s and I decided to have a little bit of fun with the people in there - so I wrote a little program to show just how 3eet I was:
You wouldnt believe how much trouble I almost got in for that little stunt. I distinctly remember sitting in the hallway for the remainder of the class - with a large smile on my face. (This only got worse when I started going into Radio Shack Stores - Some of the messsages I came up with there probably affected sales quite a bit
Anyway - I remember in highschool (around 1995) when they built the computer lab full of older IBM 486 Lan Manager machines. We spent a large amount of time there (to my great surprise) - but it was only to waste time on substandard "education" games and work on composing some research presentation using some Powerpoint wannabe called "Linkway" or something.
The point is: Most of those kids learned absolutely nothing. Most of them just goofed off in the computer lab. The teacher didnt even really know what the heck she was doing in there.
The morale of the story kiddies: Computers are like an encyclopedia - they are only useful if you are willing to open the cover and explore. Until then - they are useless.
Gam
Heres the problem with the majority of the ./ readers:
Microsoft runs a buisness. They are successful because they are very good at running a buisness (yeah I know its sp). To prove my point, take a look at MS versus your Linux Distro companies:
(A): Linux Distro Companies - With the exception of Redhat, most range from failures to be failing in the buisness world. Redhat of course got lucky and broke even. Why is this? What is that one of them offers that other doesn't? Not a damn thing. Each of these companies is haunted by the fact that joe blow down the street offers the exact same product for free - and probably something close to the exact same service/support agreements.
(B): Microsoft - Microsoft is a successful buisness. They have sucessfully penetrated and conquered numerous buisnesses. They offer a product which is unique and like no other. (They are the makers of the only MAJOR OS which is NOT FULLY POSIX compliant or UNIX based) They offer service/support agreements that simply cannot be met by other companies in the sheer quality alone (sometime take a look at MSDN - you'll be amazed at what MS will just give to you) simply because they dont have the knowledge of the product that MS does.
Now I understand that its the tendency of people in America to "root for the underdog" and for a long time a I did as well. But sit down and take a long hard look at MS' buisnesses, their success, their products, and their support and you'll find something that any of your beloved linux communities/companies have yet to offer.
Gam
Troll = Somebody who would dare disagree with the herd of Slashdot. (In otherwords ME)
Hey fools,
Windows Media player 7+ has ALWAYS limited the quality of MP3's that can be recorded! DUH! How in the hell is this news? BTW - Real Jukebox has always done the same thing as well.
You can still install any other codec and use that to rip a CD with - and 3rd party ripping programs will work. (Just because they dont work now doesnt mean a thing - a shitload of stuff - namely installshield installers dont run correctly in XP in Beta 2 - GET OVER IT)
What a load of FUD. You guys whine about how MS likes to spread all kinds of lies and mistruths about linux - but then you turn around and do the same thing!?!?!?! The free software movement has truly become the "lets do whatever the hell we want and never take responsibility for anything at all movement". If MS wants to distribute a built CD Ripper that perfers WMA to MP3 - who cares? Do you honestly think the average consumer will ever notice the difference? Probably not guys. As long as there is A file upon which they can DOUBLE CLICK and as a result hear music - they are happy.
I see this has also degraded into a Windows XP bashfest as well. Considering maybe more than 99% of the slashdotters that have commented so far probably have never even seen, much less used any Microsoft OS since Windows 95/NT - I dont want to hear it.
What a bunch of sore losers. You'll never understand that UNIX at home will never truly take place. All Mac OS X has done is given you UNIX on Television (unless you watched the half baked hacking that takes place on Lone Gunmen - lol) because god knows nobody wants to buy a MacinTrash.
Flame at will,
Gamorck
Go to this URL:
http://register.passport.com/global.asa+.htr
This exploits a VERY well known and easily fixable IIS hole on the passport registration site. Check out the source behind this page and you will see exactly what I mean:-) Note this doesnt work well on pure ASP pages because of the presence of the
Its very likely that the passport site is vulnerable to other holes as well - but I'll leave that to you NT Script Kiddies out there dying to get a piece of the Microsoft action.
Now normally I'm one to stay away from the MS Bash Mobile here at Slashdot - but in this case I would suggest that anybody with a brain refrain from using passport for anything you wish to keep even remotely private.
Gamorck
"Equal Oppurtunity Windows/Linux/Macintosh Basher"
What is your take on Microsoft's "corporate culture" versus that of other companies you have worked with? Does it resemble the all powerful Empire of Star Wars that oh-so-many Slashdotters seem to believe in - or is it just another company with all the action items, BS initiatives, and corporate doublespeak that we have all come to know and love? (Note: feel free to present your own alternative answer to the choices - should you feel compelled to do so).
Thanks for your time,
Jay
All Katz ever talks about is how "disappointed" he is with the state of the internet today. Get over it or get out Jon - we are sick of hearing it.
I for one, am quite satisfied with what the internet has become - it is the ultimate form of balance - something we need nowadays.
That having been said, I'm going to check the Jon Katz box now. I've really had enough of his inane blabbering. You guys can defend him if you want to - but he brings it upon himself - he really does.
Maybe he should start taking walks or even go out and get laid. In otherwords: GET A LIFE JON!
Signing off...
Gam