...is a tool. A "FREE" tool, but a tool none the less. And just as with ANY other tool in existance, it can be used properly, and help you, or it can be used badly or immplemented badly and cause harm.
Normally I wouldn't comment about MAPS, but I feel compelled to point out the fact that PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE THE FUCK UP AND THINK BEFORE YOU COMMENT!!!:) If you don't know "what" MAPS is, it happens to be a DNS server which only holds A records (those are the domain thingy-do-dads there that get returned on a DNS lookup) of IP addresses that are either originating spam from their domain, or have improperly configured email relay servers (which by the way, if you think that "open" relay servers are OK, you need to wake up, move ahead 20 years to today, and face the fact that people using the internet today aren't as responsible are they were 20 years ago).
So, where does this bring us? This leaves us with a DNS server full of "bad" sites (spam-wise). It's a database of spam-originating domains. How do you PROPERLY use this tool? Well, first, you should ONLY be using their DNS to check the originating addresses (and IP) on incoming email to see where the email was sent from. If it's in this "black list", then YOU have the choice of dropping the email or not (well, ok, it's actually your incoming mail server, but that's a whole other issue, we'll assume you have control for the moment).
So, there's nothing even REMOTELY the same about censorware and MAPS, in fact, I'd go so far as to say that they both do different things entirely! Censorware censors websites BY CONTENT (supposedly), while MAPS provides a method of looking up domains that are reported as originating spam.
There, that's my rant, and Jamie? Next time you post something like this, PLEASE research your topic even a bit. Cheers, and I hope this clears up the confusion for at least a few people.
Actually, if you look at the HTML spec, there IS a way of rating a page. It's under the META tag, and the rating system is fairly similar to the movie rating scheme.
Very possible... I would have thought that any modern OS would at least give you the option to do this. However, it IS computationally a bit stressing, so perhaps it might be better to go with a hardware solution (maybe a ram swap drive, like the Playtpus QikDrive? ).
... such as sensitive files, config files, password files, and your swap disk. I'm pretty sure that someone here must have mentionned it, but it doesn't hurt to say it again... ALL FILES AT SOME POINT AFTER BEING ACCESSED GO INTO YOU SWAP! Or have the potential to. And even if I'm wrong, it's still the weak link in all encrypted FS.
I just wanted to point oput that I think most people did NOT fully read the article and jumped to the conclusion that either the author didn't know what he was talking about or timothy didn't know what the author was talking about. Actually, the whole article *while it does take a few to get to the point* is talking about the presence of role-models and their affect on the scientifc community.
Amazingly enough, I work for a company that has received an overseas contract. =) Let me give you some views from the "other side".
First of all, as someone mentioned above, specifications are a MUST! And detailed specs are a MUST. We're lucky in that we get alot of le-way in terms of the technical decisions, however, in the industry that we work for, there are countless details that do not pertain to computing (or design in general) that we must follow. What helps for these details is having someone (the project manager) come overseas and work with us for a week or so every couple of months.
Another thing that helps immensly(sp?) are web-based scheduling and bug tracking tools. We just started to use TWIG, a resource management tool. It's fast, easy to use, and free!:)
Other than that, remeber that just as with any project, a good, solid design and specification at the start will ease the entire development process right up to release. Good luck!
Well, it looks like you have a few options, including some of the packages mentioned here. However, being somewhat of a "do-it-yourselfer" myself, I have a couple of other suggestions:
1) First, does your univsersity have a Computer science department? If it does, try getting an inter-department project going. Use the development of the EMR system as a final project, or term project for a number of comp-sci students. (it'll give them good experience, and who knows, an all university system might be sellable later on!;)
2) I saw a post about an EMR database backend, and the suggestion to use it and write your own front end. This is a GREAT idea! And when you're writing that frontend, go with a WWW type UI... why? Because that will cut out the pain you're having right now, ie OS/platform changes.
Anyways, if you want some more ideas about building a system like either of the two mentioned above, drop me an email at wintermutex@hotmail.com
After you've decided who to colo with, when you sign the contract, make sure there are provisions in it for you to make X number of spotchecks of their services per month... and make sure you're able to do it without telling them ahead of time.;) Remember, if they say they're up 99% of the time, keep checking on that figure! Remember those fire-drills you used to do at elementary school? Apply the same technique to your colo.
Vorbis == Standard? No. It's a specification, and a damn cool one, being open source and all, but remember that acceptance turns a spec into a standard.;)
So get the damn thing out and let's start using it!:)
All you need to use is a "click-through" license. What, you don't think it's good enough? Well, it supposedly stands up in court for software written by large companies...;) Why shouldn't it work in this case?
Certainly, finding a security hole (assuming the company missed it themselves) opens up the possibility of it being patched, but it also opens the possibility of it being exploited...
True, however, Company A with Security Product B are the only one that CAN fix their closed-source software because those that COULD do it and would WANT to do it can't. I'm not saying that there are a flood of people out there that actively fix buggy software, but when it comes to security, even 5 more people helping out to fix security holes are better than 5 less people.
And you're supposing that there are alot more evil people out there scanning source code and trying to break into systems through obscure un-found security holes?? Please. Most of thoes "bad" people you mentionned most likely barely know how to compile an attack-in-a-box exploit and run it, much less pour over thousands of lines of code to find that ONE buffer over-flow bug in a piece of code.
Well, if people "clearly" were able to see AMD's processors as "superior", then they would buy them, no? In fact, there are 2 reasons why people go out and buy Intel: a) Excellent grip on publicity and brand-name penetration, b) people are NOT technically literate. What does that mean? What's clearly something to you, is most likely muddy and obtrusificated to non-techies. You want other people to buy AMD? Then explain to them why they should. I'll bet you have a reasonably hard time... Not everyone's a chip-wiz;)
Considering the subject, I feel the need to go out on a limb and point out a couple of things with this letter (but god knows I'm no lawyer, so no flame for accuracy):
1) We aren't lawyers (most of us on Slashdot), so let's not act like them and rip a simple letter to shreds;
2) This sounds like (and most probably is) a request for INFORMATION... you know, the stuff one uses to make REAL, SOLID arguements with?
I don't think that Slashdot's lawyers are trying to "stick it" to Microsoft... they're basically trying to get info on the accusation, before they make any counter move. This is generally a good idea, as anyone with any experience in arguments will tell you. =)
Wait a second, does this stem from the recent lawsuits and regular policing action that the US has been involved with (i.e. MPAA, RIAA, I LUV U virus, Montrealer caught for Yahoo/CNN DDoS)??
Personally, I would like to see an international team of computer/law experts put together for the express purpose of tracking down DDoS attacks, virii, and general mis-use of the Net... But let's be reasonable... if the US has laws and "agencies" set-up to do this, is that any reason to give them a green light?
And what about international laws for computer crime? Might not developing those first be a smarter idea before going head-first into a potential court mine-field with authorities from different counties?
Soudns to me as though this is being done completely ass-backwards. =(
My company has a number of domain names registered at Netowk Solutions, and unfortunately, we've have nothing but problems when dealing with them. I think one of the most frustrating things about that company is their lack of phone-support people. Literally, you cannot get a tech support person on the phone. And when you do, it's generally not helpful, because they do not perform you request for domain entry modifications for at least a couple of weeks!!!
So, will just rant and not give useful advice? Heck no!!! goto these guys for ANY domain name services:
True, however, if they're also a startup company, with limited funds *at that time, I doubt they could have set up a search facility all that quickly*, they would probably be running on limited bandwidth. Besides, if they only listened for 2 sec. per song that they downloaded, that alone would have taken more than 150 hours.;)
While they aren't accurate, they're enough to show that there's something amiss.;)
Excellent eye...;) So if I revised and run the numbers for 200KB per song, I would get ~91 hours. Which, AFAIK, is still longer than the 48 hours they claimed they did it in.;)
Has anyone done a little math? If NetPD actually downloaded 1 song per user they found, that would be 330000 songs *about*. Let's assume each song is about 3meg *average* These are NOT hyper accurate by any means, but will do for an example:
3megs * 330000 songs = 990000 megs, or 990gigs.
Close to a terabyte. WOW... but why stop there? Let's assume they have a T1 connection, which is
1.5Mbit/sec, or 1500000 bits/sec 1500000 / 8 bits/byte = ~200KB/sec.
990gig / 0.002gig/sec = 495000
495000 seconds to download all those pirated MP3's. Ok, now if you calculate how many hours that is, wouldn't it be close to ~137 hours? And how many hours are in a weekend? Yeah, that's what I thought.;) NetPD not only got the usernames of 300000 users, they invented a TIME COMPRESSOR!!! YOU GO!!!;)
Um, guys, this is *linux* remember? How many times a YEAR do you reboot your machine? Right, I thought so. And how many times do you actually watch the bootup-sequence? Right.
So give the developers a break, did they write good drivers? Yes? Then let them have they're 5 seconds of fame, they deserve it *more than us commenting, that's for sure*;)
Slashdot Mirror
...is a tool. A "FREE" tool, but a tool none the less. And just as with ANY other tool in existance, it can be used properly, and help you, or it can be used badly or immplemented badly and cause harm.
:) If you don't know "what" MAPS is, it happens to be a DNS server which only holds A records (those are the domain thingy-do-dads there that get returned on a DNS lookup) of IP addresses that are either originating spam from their domain, or have improperly configured email relay servers (which by the way, if you think that "open" relay servers are OK, you need to wake up, move ahead 20 years to today, and face the fact that people using the internet today aren't as responsible are they were 20 years ago).
Normally I wouldn't comment about MAPS, but I feel compelled to point out the fact that PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE THE FUCK UP AND THINK BEFORE YOU COMMENT!!!
So, where does this bring us? This leaves us with a DNS server full of "bad" sites (spam-wise). It's a database of spam-originating domains. How do you PROPERLY use this tool? Well, first, you should ONLY be using their DNS to check the originating addresses (and IP) on incoming email to see where the email was sent from. If it's in this "black list", then YOU have the choice of dropping the email or not (well, ok, it's actually your incoming mail server, but that's a whole other issue, we'll assume you have control for the moment).
So, there's nothing even REMOTELY the same about censorware and MAPS, in fact, I'd go so far as to say that they both do different things entirely! Censorware censors websites BY CONTENT (supposedly), while MAPS provides a method of looking up domains that are reported as originating spam.
There, that's my rant, and Jamie? Next time you post something like this, PLEASE research your topic even a bit. Cheers, and I hope this clears up the confusion for at least a few people.
Chris
Actually, if you look at the HTML spec, there IS a way of rating a page. It's under the META tag, and the rating system is fairly similar to the movie rating scheme.
Very possible... I would have thought that any modern OS would at least give you the option to do this. However, it IS computationally a bit stressing, so perhaps it might be better to go with a hardware solution (maybe a ram swap drive, like the Playtpus QikDrive? ).
Chris
... such as sensitive files, config files, password files, and your swap disk. I'm pretty sure that someone here must have mentionned it, but it doesn't hurt to say it again... ALL FILES AT SOME POINT AFTER BEING ACCESSED GO INTO YOU SWAP! Or have the potential to. And even if I'm wrong, it's still the weak link in all encrypted FS.
Cheers, Chris
I just wanted to point oput that I think most people did NOT fully read the article and jumped to the conclusion that either the author didn't know what he was talking about or timothy didn't know what the author was talking about. Actually, the whole article *while it does take a few to get to the point* is talking about the presence of role-models and their affect on the scientifc community.
Cheers
Chris
Amazingly enough, I work for a company that has received an overseas contract. =) Let me give you some views from the "other side".
:)
First of all, as someone mentioned above, specifications are a MUST! And detailed specs are a MUST. We're lucky in that we get alot of le-way in terms of the technical decisions, however, in the industry that we work for, there are countless details that do not pertain to computing (or design in general) that we must follow. What helps for these details is having someone (the project manager) come overseas and work with us for a week or so every couple of months.
Another thing that helps immensly(sp?) are web-based scheduling and bug tracking tools. We just started to use TWIG, a resource management tool. It's fast, easy to use, and free!
Other than that, remeber that just as with any project, a good, solid design and specification at the start will ease the entire development process right up to release. Good luck!
Chris
Well, if anyone is going to Comdex 2000, they're supposed to be there, so maybe someone could do a little detective work..
Well, it looks like you have a few options, including some of the packages mentioned here. However, being somewhat of a "do-it-yourselfer" myself, I have a couple of other suggestions:
;)
1) First, does your univsersity have a Computer science department? If it does, try getting an inter-department project going. Use the development of the EMR system as a final project, or term project for a number of comp-sci students. (it'll give them good experience, and who knows, an all university system might be sellable later on!
2) I saw a post about an EMR database backend, and the suggestion to use it and write your own front end. This is a GREAT idea! And when you're writing that frontend, go with a WWW type UI... why? Because that will cut out the pain you're having right now, ie OS/platform changes.
Anyways, if you want some more ideas about building a system like either of the two mentioned above, drop me an email at wintermutex@hotmail.com
Cheers! And good luck! =)
Chris
Read'em and weep
Well, I would like to, but seeing as how the next 8 systems down the list are running UNIX, I can't seem to find the tears. ;)
Chris
....Or maybe it was so simple as a student using pine over a telnet connection? :)
Chris
After you've decided who to colo with, when you sign the contract, make sure there are provisions in it for you to make X number of spotchecks of their services per month... and make sure you're able to do it without telling them ahead of time. ;) Remember, if they say they're up 99% of the time, keep checking on that figure! Remember those fire-drills you used to do at elementary school? Apply the same technique to your colo.
Chris
Vorbis == Standard? No. It's a specification, and a damn cool one, being open source and all, but remember that acceptance turns a spec into a standard. ;)
:)
So get the damn thing out and let's start using it!
Chris
Heck, that's the easiest part!
;) Why shouldn't it work in this case?
All you need to use is a "click-through" license. What, you don't think it's good enough? Well, it supposedly stands up in court for software written by large companies...
Chris
True, however, Company A with Security Product B are the only one that CAN fix their closed-source software because those that COULD do it and would WANT to do it can't. I'm not saying that there are a flood of people out there that actively fix buggy software, but when it comes to security, even 5 more people helping out to fix security holes are better than 5 less people.
And you're supposing that there are alot more evil people out there scanning source code and trying to break into systems through obscure un-found security holes?? Please. Most of thoes "bad" people you mentionned most likely barely know how to compile an attack-in-a-box exploit and run it, much less pour over thousands of lines of code to find that ONE buffer over-flow bug in a piece of code.
Just my two cents.
Well, if people "clearly" were able to see AMD's processors as "superior", then they would buy them, no? In fact, there are 2 reasons why people go out and buy Intel: a) Excellent grip on publicity and brand-name penetration, b) people are NOT technically literate. What does that mean? What's clearly something to you, is most likely muddy and obtrusificated to non-techies. You want other people to buy AMD? Then explain to them why they should. I'll bet you have a reasonably hard time... Not everyone's a chip-wiz ;)
Chris
Considering the subject, I feel the need to go out on a limb and point out a couple of things with this letter (but god knows I'm no lawyer, so no flame for accuracy):
1) We aren't lawyers (most of us on Slashdot), so let's not act like them and rip a simple letter to shreds;
2) This sounds like (and most probably is) a request for INFORMATION... you know, the stuff one uses to make REAL, SOLID arguements with?
I don't think that Slashdot's lawyers are trying to "stick it" to Microsoft... they're basically trying to get info on the accusation, before they make any counter move. This is generally a good idea, as anyone with any experience in arguments will tell you. =)
Chris
Wait a second, does this stem from the recent lawsuits and regular policing action that the US has been involved with (i.e. MPAA, RIAA, I LUV U virus, Montrealer caught for Yahoo/CNN DDoS)??
Personally, I would like to see an international team of computer/law experts put together for the express purpose of tracking down DDoS attacks, virii, and general mis-use of the Net... But let's be reasonable... if the US has laws and "agencies" set-up to do this, is that any reason to give them a green light?
And what about international laws for computer crime? Might not developing those first be a smarter idea before going head-first into a potential court mine-field with authorities from different counties?
Soudns to me as though this is being done completely ass-backwards. =(
Chris
Mind you, if people are transferring Kodak Photo CD images via email, we have bigger *pun intended* problems than viri... ;)
Chris
My company has a number of domain names registered at Netowk Solutions, and unfortunately, we've have nothing but problems when dealing with them. I think one of the most frustrating things about that company is their lack of phone-support people. Literally, you cannot get a tech support person on the phone. And when you do, it's generally not helpful, because they do not perform you request for domain entry modifications for at least a couple of weeks!!!
;)
So, will just rant and not give useful advice? Heck no!!! goto these guys for ANY domain name services:
http://www.internetnamesww.com/
They have to be the best domain name registrar that I have dealt with to date. And they're polite!!!
"A motherboard and RAM swap may not sit too well with sysadmins whose hardware must be up 100% of the time."
;)
Mind you, if that system is crashing all the time anyways...
Chris
True, however, if they're also a startup company, with limited funds *at that time, I doubt they could have set up a search facility all that quickly*, they would probably be running on limited bandwidth. Besides, if they only listened for 2 sec. per song that they downloaded, that alone would have taken more than 150 hours. ;)
;)
While they aren't accurate, they're enough to show that there's something amiss.
Chris
Excellent eye... ;) So if I revised and run the numbers for 200KB per song, I would get ~91 hours. Which, AFAIK, is still longer than the 48 hours they claimed they did it in. ;)
Chris
Damn, I thought I had checked out the calcs... that calculation is for a 2meg/sec connection.. ;)
;)
Whoops! it would have taken 1375hours for a T1... MAN!! Something is JUST NOT KOOSHER with NetPD...
Chris
Has anyone done a little math? If NetPD actually downloaded 1 song per user they found, that would be 330000 songs *about*. Let's assume each song is about 3meg *average* These are NOT hyper accurate by any means, but will do for an example:
;) NetPD not only got the usernames of 300000 users, they invented a TIME COMPRESSOR!!! YOU GO!!! ;)
3megs * 330000 songs = 990000 megs, or 990gigs.
Close to a terabyte. WOW... but why stop there? Let's assume they have a T1 connection, which is
1.5Mbit/sec, or 1500000 bits/sec
1500000 / 8 bits/byte = ~200KB/sec.
990gig / 0.002gig/sec = 495000
495000 seconds to download all those pirated MP3's. Ok, now if you calculate how many hours that is, wouldn't it be close to ~137 hours? And how many hours are in a weekend? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Chris
Um, guys, this is *linux* remember? How many times a YEAR do you reboot your machine? Right, I thought so. And how many times do you actually watch the bootup-sequence? Right.
;)
So give the developers a break, did they write good drivers? Yes? Then let them have they're 5 seconds of fame, they deserve it *more than us commenting, that's for sure*
Chris