Does the firefox community have any regression testing? They need fully automated test like the linux kernel has now.
Automated testing is helpful, though mainly for known errors or conditions. It can be used to find some unknown problems, but it is not entirely effective at this class of problems.
It is from the June 2005 issue. Covers OSS neuron simulations. Not available online unless you are a subscriber. (I'm not and lent my boss my copy. If someone can skim through this and post a link to the OSS project(s), please do so.)
Based on this (incredibly rough and inaccurate) analysis, I would predict that this type of project will be successful around the year 2040.
Maybe I'm not thinking about this properly...though I thought this type of problem delt with parallelization not raw computing speed. The individual units have to be fast enough to respond at neuron speeds, while the arangement of the neurons is what would make the 'brain' work like a human brain.
The question and the answer if someone 'believes' or not isn't interesting.
People believe amazing things all the time without proof. Maybe that's the point...without proof (key in Douglas Adams quote).
For me, I'm soldly in the "Won't be in the slightest bit surprised" camp with a big hunk of "Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence".
Is life outside of this solar system likely? Sure. It's probably on a few planets in this solar system, though that's pure uninformed opinion.
More uninformed opinions: Is it smart? I'm less sure. The gap in time between 'smart enough to say hi' and 'smart enough to not say anything at all' is fairly narrow...unless they are hostile. In that case, why attack the boondocks of our out of the way planet when the alien next door already has the stuff they likely want anyway. I doubt they want our women, for example.
When you get into linux desktop users, security takes a lot of work and attention.
No doubt. Many of the default behaviors, thankfully, are sane under most Unix/unix-like systems including Linux. Because of that, the amount of work to discover holes and plug them across multiple systems is much less when compared to Windows.
(Note: I am definately NOT saying that security is running the right software and applying patches...it's not that simple. Using specific operating systems, though, do impact how difficult it is to lock down and secure a system, though.)
Personal examples:
XP: It took me 2 weeks to discover the main issues and to implement them for an XP home system (my dad's laptop). Extra work was done to remove bundled software from the system to reduce the potential attack vectors. Because I only had the restore CDs, Microsoft discourages any 'clean installs' without paying once again for the XP retail CDs and then having to get hardware-specific drivers and software seperately.
With Linux I am able to lock the system down much better and quicker and the defaults (selinux, as one example) make quite a bit of sense. I have control of everything that appears on the system and can even compile it from scratch if I want (though I don't!). Perfect? Bah! "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't actually out to get you!"
As I said in another thread, the problem isn't computer insecurity, but the fact that people will install anything given enough social engineering. Even if you use an operating system like Mac OS X or Linux or something else similar, where the users aren't typically logged in as root, you can still spy on the user whose account you've infected, which is enough damage right there.
Give an example.
I'm straining to think of one for either OSX or Linux where the person doesn't have root/administrator and patches have been applied for known and not social exploits. All I can think of is packet sniffing and/or DNS redirection, and that is a network issue not a client issue.
Note specifically, I'm not counting key loggers and other pre-installed tools. If someone can install them before a normal user logs in, the game is over even before the user shows up.
The store is closed at the moment, though when it is open they do sell manuals, manuals with CDs, CDs, or a whole kit from the Mozilla store. I think I remember them giving discounts for bulk purchases, starting at 10 units. Wouldn't hurt to ask.
So many well known enterprice Antivurs/Firewall companys create drivers that lead to security flaws and it is not limited to Windows....
Thanks for the information. Do you have any examples of non-Windows operating systems that have this category of problem in firewall software? (Antivirus not being an issue except for pre-OSX Macs.)
As other people have said, the operative word is that YOU installed Linux for him. Once a Linux system is set up it's easier than Windows, but setting it up in the first place isn't always that easy.
He had Windows on his computer. He had to have a tech come in and work on it once every 6 months. He now has Linux on it. He had one guy (me) work on it once; a default install + video codecs.
He's totally incapable (and not interested) in setting up or repairing either Linux or Windows. He's a bartender, not a geek. Linux works for him where Windows was a hassle.
He's an average joe. Actually, his name IS Joe. He doesn't want to do anything else. I asked. He's happy. He's not shy about telling me he thinks something is crap. He's happy.
Could he have done more beyond porn and surf music? Sure. When I point it out, he's entirely disinterested. Porn: Good. Surf: Good. Using a word processor, database, graphics editor,...: Zzzzzzz.
Linux can do these things well enough that Joe could understand how to do it. These apps and many more are installed and available for him to use if he wishes. All from a default install. He's not interested, though, so he doesn't bother with them. Porn. Surf. Done.
Because unless you're a reasonably tech-minded person, Linux is too hard.
That's bull. Case in point: I've set up a system for a friend who has 2 goals in using a computer; porn and surf music. He seems quite happy with his Linux system, and doesn't bug me with any questions.
The reason why he asked me to install Linux? Every 6 months, he would have to call in a PC tech to clean his Windows system from virus and malware.
After a few years of that, he happened to hear that I did not have these problems and asked me why. I said "I don't use Windows"... 'If not Windows, what?' 'Linux.'...and so on. He quickly asked me to install it on his computer for him.
At first, I did not install Linux for him, seeing if he would loose interest in the idea. I let 3 weeks pass. He didn't loose interst at all and was constantly annoyed with the spyware and virus problems he had to manage. Firefox did not resolve all these problems, and Norton slowed his computer down and showed him regular annoying messages. After the 3 weeks passed, I eventually installed Linux with a dual boot setup for him.
He hasn't booted into Windows for over a year.
This is an average guy. He's a bartender and not at all geeky. Knows nothing about computers besides they are great for porn and surf music. Try and get him to look at anything else and he's 100% uninterested.
You haven't learnt that no one likes to hire someone who's going to bad mouth them later.
Depends. If the vtech products do indeed suck, it's not bad at all to point that out. Besides, do you think the other person would say that in an interview as the first thing, up front?
I was trying to work out why these people continue to use this platform, and it can only be a manifestation of that sadistic quality that is present in so many geeks - the one that leads us to defile a beautiful Mac mini with the installation of, say, Slackware 7 or Red Hat 5.2, just to be difficult, or why we tunnel PPP over SSH to create VPNs (because IPSec and PPTP are for lusers).
For the same reason people do difficult and odd things; they can show off and show that they are interesting. If it's easy to do, anyone could do it. If anyone can do it, it's not important or interesting.
(A bit serious, though: The Christian and Muslim religions are branches of the Jewish religion, just as the Jewish religion is a branch of Zoroastrianism. Yet, each of these groups claim to be 'the one true' religion -- though credit goes to the Jews as they don't have an aggressive and distructive recruiting drive.)
Slashdot Mirror
(The National Enquirer is also right occasionally, too.)
Automated testing is helpful, though mainly for known errors or conditions. It can be used to find some unknown problems, but it is not entirely effective at this class of problems.
dd if=/dev/hdc of=~/name_of_movie.iso
...should work. Just mount the image instead of the device and use it as you normally would.
Depends on the brand. I've had good sucess with Averatec, specifically this series. Solid feeling, no creeks or parts that bend in when you grab them.
Here: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8038
It is from the June 2005 issue. Covers OSS neuron simulations. Not available online unless you are a subscriber. (I'm not and lent my boss my copy. If someone can skim through this and post a link to the OSS project(s), please do so.)
Maybe I'm not thinking about this properly...though I thought this type of problem delt with parallelization not raw computing speed. The individual units have to be fast enough to respond at neuron speeds, while the arangement of the neurons is what would make the 'brain' work like a human brain.
People believe amazing things all the time without proof. Maybe that's the point...without proof (key in Douglas Adams quote).
For me, I'm soldly in the "Won't be in the slightest bit surprised" camp with a big hunk of "Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence".
Is life outside of this solar system likely? Sure. It's probably on a few planets in this solar system, though that's pure uninformed opinion.
More uninformed opinions: Is it smart? I'm less sure. The gap in time between 'smart enough to say hi' and 'smart enough to not say anything at all' is fairly narrow...unless they are hostile. In that case, why attack the boondocks of our out of the way planet when the alien next door already has the stuff they likely want anyway. I doubt they want our women, for example.
Doesn't that make you want to check the calculations?
"The only barrier now is to prove that it is economically viable."
No doubt. Many of the default behaviors, thankfully, are sane under most Unix/unix-like systems including Linux. Because of that, the amount of work to discover holes and plug them across multiple systems is much less when compared to Windows.
After all, we get this type of security for a common Linux distribution and these two examples from Microsoft's flagship desktop OS.
(Note: I am definately NOT saying that security is running the right software and applying patches...it's not that simple. Using specific operating systems, though, do impact how difficult it is to lock down and secure a system, though.)
Personal examples:
XP: It took me 2 weeks to discover the main issues and to implement them for an XP home system (my dad's laptop). Extra work was done to remove bundled software from the system to reduce the potential attack vectors. Because I only had the restore CDs, Microsoft discourages any 'clean installs' without paying once again for the XP retail CDs and then having to get hardware-specific drivers and software seperately.
With Linux I am able to lock the system down much better and quicker and the defaults (selinux, as one example) make quite a bit of sense. I have control of everything that appears on the system and can even compile it from scratch if I want (though I don't!). Perfect? Bah! "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't actually out to get you!"
Give an example.
I'm straining to think of one for either OSX or Linux where the person doesn't have root/administrator and patches have been applied for known and not social exploits. All I can think of is packet sniffing and/or DNS redirection, and that is a network issue not a client issue.
Note specifically, I'm not counting key loggers and other pre-installed tools. If someone can install them before a normal user logs in, the game is over even before the user shows up.
Normally, they do.
The store is closed at the moment, though when it is open they do sell manuals, manuals with CDs, CDs, or a whole kit from the Mozilla store. I think I remember them giving discounts for bulk purchases, starting at 10 units. Wouldn't hurt to ask.
"Dumb article, too."
ME: 'Erm...Platypus can't help that.'
AC: Yes it can! Right click, Platypus!, hover cursor, press Del, ...
Touche!
Platypus! Right click, Platypus!, hover cursor, press Del, ...
Dumb article, too.
Erm...Platypus can't help that.
Thanks for the information. Do you have any examples of non-Windows operating systems that have this category of problem in firewall software? (Antivirus not being an issue except for pre-OSX Macs.)
1. It's a desktop.
2. That's only if you pay for dial up modem service at ~$22/month. (Total: ~$330.)
It's not bad at $320 (w/o dialup) though not stunning.
He had Windows on his computer. He had to have a tech come in and work on it once every 6 months. He now has Linux on it. He had one guy (me) work on it once; a default install + video codecs.
He's totally incapable (and not interested) in setting up or repairing either Linux or Windows. He's a bartender, not a geek. Linux works for him where Windows was a hassle.
Could he have done more beyond porn and surf music? Sure. When I point it out, he's entirely disinterested. Porn: Good. Surf: Good. Using a word processor, database, graphics editor, ...: Zzzzzzz.
Linux can do these things well enough that Joe could understand how to do it. These apps and many more are installed and available for him to use if he wishes. All from a default install. He's not interested, though, so he doesn't bother with them. Porn. Surf. Done.
I don't have to give him credit...he tells me if there are any problems. There aren't.
That's bull. Case in point: I've set up a system for a friend who has 2 goals in using a computer; porn and surf music. He seems quite happy with his Linux system, and doesn't bug me with any questions.
The reason why he asked me to install Linux? Every 6 months, he would have to call in a PC tech to clean his Windows system from virus and malware.
After a few years of that, he happened to hear that I did not have these problems and asked me why. I said "I don't use Windows"... 'If not Windows, what?' 'Linux.' ...and so on. He quickly asked me to install it on his computer for him.
At first, I did not install Linux for him, seeing if he would loose interest in the idea. I let 3 weeks pass. He didn't loose interst at all and was constantly annoyed with the spyware and virus problems he had to manage. Firefox did not resolve all these problems, and Norton slowed his computer down and showed him regular annoying messages. After the 3 weeks passed, I eventually installed Linux with a dual boot setup for him.
He hasn't booted into Windows for over a year.
This is an average guy. He's a bartender and not at all geeky. Knows nothing about computers besides they are great for porn and surf music. Try and get him to look at anything else and he's 100% uninterested.
Depends. If the vtech products do indeed suck, it's not bad at all to point that out. Besides, do you think the other person would say that in an interview as the first thing, up front?
Good point.
For the same reason people do difficult and odd things; they can show off and show that they are interesting. If it's easy to do, anyone could do it. If anyone can do it, it's not important or interesting.
You know: sex...children...next....
Who cares about that pop-religion? For me, it's that old-time religion, Zorastrianism!
(A bit serious, though: The Christian and Muslim religions are branches of the Jewish religion, just as the Jewish religion is a branch of Zoroastrianism. Yet, each of these groups claim to be 'the one true' religion -- though credit goes to the Jews as they don't have an aggressive and distructive recruiting drive.)
Why not? Works for my housemate -- and he only surfs for porn!