Funny how nobody seems to mention the curious fact that this was an expedition of global warming nutjobs on a mission to prove how the polar ice caps are melting, polar bears are drowning, sea levels rising, ad nauseum. Stuck in an unexpected ice pack in the middle of summer, no less! Poetic justice!
Are Apple Maps users really this dumb? Did you get a clue the map might be in error when it directed you TOWARDS the place where the big airplanes are? What happens if the map directs you over a cliff? Will that help cleanse the world of Apple brainwashed morons?
And the vast majority of those polled are what I like to call "Low Information Voters." Benjamin Franklin is rolling in his grave! Is this America 2013, or Germany 1938? I can't tell anymore.
What about passengers? What about emergencies? How far does this tyrannical nanny-state bullcrap have to go before people say "enough is enough already!!!" Big Government, leave us the hell ALONE!!!!!
I run a small ISP and my email server is set to block illegitimate connections. Why should I allow an IP address with a PTR record of something like "generic_dumbass_user_IP123.233.domain.com" to freely connect to my email server and start spewing data? That's just stupid. Granted, a "fake" record can easily be created, but it is not unreasonable to setup or have your ISP setup a simple PTR record for your email server. It doesn't even have to match your domain's MX record. It just has to NOT be an obvious generic entry, or worse, no record at all. I understand the headaches when dealing with other email "admins" out there who may or may not know how to configure things, or may or may not care when you give them "friendly" advice on how things should be configured. Network admins are usually governed 90% by their ego, and nobody who is "king of his own little hill" appreciates being told by some stranger that his network is messed up. But there are "industry best practices" and RFCs to guide you. So IMHO, RDNS will not stop all SPAM, but it is simple enough to implement and does not create a lot of "false positives" when integrated with a comprehensive security profile.
What have you been smoking? So you want me to replace my $1200 energy efficient gas-burning furnace with a $500,000+ "rack of cloud servers" as a "cost effective" alternative to heating my home??? Are you frakking stupid????
The legend of a "flaming sword" has been around for thousands of years. The Cherub posted at the entrance to the Garden of Eden as a guard to the Tree of Life had a "flaming sword that turned in every direction." And we all know Genesis is literal, true history, right? I think a lightsaber is entirely possible. Think about how super-heated plasma and non-magnetic force fields would behave if they actually existed in a 4th spatial dimension and how it would appear to us if it intersected our 3 dimensional realm. I don't "think outside the box." My box just happens to have 10 dimensions. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Actually, IMHO, ever since BSG went off the air, I've had no reason to watch that channel. What's it called??? "SyFy" ???? What the FRAK is that supposed to mean? It doesn't mean anything. It is totally meaningless. It was a colossal insult to the audience in thinking "If we call it 'SyFy" instead of "SciFi" then "normal" people will watch instead of just the geeks. Typical pointy-headed, micro-managing, bureaucrat, idiotic thinking. Well, now you have wrestling and ghost chasers that "normal" people AND geeks go out of their way to avoid watching. Caprica could have been successful if they didn't botch it up with scheduling like they always do. I say blow SyFy out the airlock like the fake, skin-job Cylons that they are and bring back the original!
There are many more variables that affect a planet's ability to support advanced life besides it's similarity in mass to Earth. "Simple bit of math based on descent assumptions...." There's your problem. Calculating the probability of all the necessary attributes that must come together for intelligent life to exist is neither "simple" nor should it be based on assumptions. Remember what happens when you assume too much? [ASS-U-ME]. Here's an interesting quote from a prominent astronomer:
Teams of astronomers from all over the world continue to search for strange new worlds. As of December 11, 2009, these groups have found a total of 407 planets. Yet not a single one is an analogue to any of our solar system’s planets. None of the newly discovered planetary systems permit the existence of a planet like Earth. The exuberant vision imparted by Sagan has, for nontheists, turned into a dirge. In his book God: The Failed Hypothesis, atheist and particle physicist Victor Stenger laments that Earth, “a tiny blue speck in a vast universe,” is alone, the only locale where advanced life might exist.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Earth and our solar system are unique.
This story from Ars is misleading. Chances are you really are getting the bandwidth you are paying for. I am amazed at how many "technical" people have no idea how computer networks actually work. The "Internet" is not much more than a vast mesh of many many interconnected networks. My ISP, for example, has a speed test link right on their website that links to a server that physically resides on their network. When using this tool, I always get 100% and sometimes a little more than the package I am paying for. Do you people realize that "speedtest.net" or any other service like BitTorrent is NOT capable of showing accurate results of your connection speed? The Internet is built on a "best effort" design and once your traffic egresses your ISPs network, they have absolutely no control over how that traffic gets routed to its ultimate destination. It's like trying to make a phone call from Boise Idaho to New York City. All the lines are busy in New York and your call can't get through. How is that your local telephone company's fault? And what exactly do you expect them to do to fix it? Your ISP can only guarantee your connection speed from your house to their Central Office. Once it leaves their domain, it is totally out of their hands. Any perception of "slow speeds" are 99.999% of the time related to network issues "somewhere else." Your ISP has a reputation to uphold and customers to keep happy. They most likely have built their infrastructure as robust as they possibly can or they wouldn't even be able to open their doors and offer services in the first place. Do you have any idea what it actually takes to build a wireless broadband network, fiber-to-the-home infrastructure, or even re-condition a copper plant to get DSL performing at its optimum level? Trust me, their profit magin is actually pretty slim. Most likely your monthly bill is just paying for infrastructure for the first year before they ever even see a profit. So don't go blaming ISPs for being money hungry liars when all you need is a little education on how networks actually work and the economics involved in building infrastructure and selling services.
I agree. Although I loved the gratuitous use of "frak." It was a deliberate tweek to the network executives / censors. It's obvious what it "really meant" but at the same time, how can you tell me I can't say "frak???" It's not even a word. So Frak YOU! Motherfrakker!! But this "new" re imagining so close on the heels of the conclusion of a very excellent four years of the finest television ever produced, it is clearly nothing but a money-grab taking advantage of the familiar name. Its as if Roger Moore came out of retirement to redo "Casino Royale" right after the very well-done Daniel Craig rendition had been released. Come on people!
Okay...substitute "publisher" for "author" in my previous example and the analogy still holds. Once it becomes my personal property, I should expect to have "perpetual access" to it. Our society is WAY to litigious. What happened to good old fashioned vigilantism ala Wyatt Earp?
So if I buy a book from a favorite author, said author has the authoritay to come onto my private property and confiscate his copyrighted book from me at any time? Copyright law places certain restrictions on transfer and/or copying of creative works once they are in the "public domain." I don't think it states anything about the copyright owner being allowed to "render his works incomprehensible, unreadable, unusable, etc. once an authorized copy has become the personal property of the consumer. But the digital format makes that prospect very easy doesn't it? Most (good) artists/authors seem to desire their works to have a long prosperous life. It seems the type that seems more concerned with getting a freaking nickel everytime someone plays their song, are not very creative and cannot create anything worth keeping around anyway.
Nope. They will make sure it is illegal for "citizens" to sue the govt. I had an "issue" once that I won't go into detail about. But at the end of a very long and tedious process about which I had a legitimate grievance I received and official letter that said, and I quote, "The Federal Government is not liable for mistakes made by it's employees."
This makes about as much sense as requiring citizens (drones) to have a license in order to watch television! I have an idea. If the govt. thinks the average citizen is too stupid to operate a vehicle safely, why don't they just ban cars? If they're so dangerous, then get rid of them. A government employed taxi driver should be made available to take you anywhere you want to to go at anytime.
Yes, I comprehend the difference between mere "knowledge" and "understanding." But in my opinion, true "understanding" can only come when one has a thorough understanding of the fundamentals. Too many times have I seen really smart programmers design applications who had no understanding of networking. They had no clue of the difference between designing an app that works on a 100Mb LAN then wondering why it is so sluggish trying to work across a 1.5Mb T1 link. That's just one example. My coworkers are constantly amazed that I can figure out a linux DHCP server that I've never seen before. Or how I can configure a Pannaway BAR as easily as I can a Cisco 3845 with no prior Pannaway training. It's not because I'm so smart. It's not because I'm a mythical "Network Engineer." It's because I understand the fundamentals of IP, Routing, TCP, UDP, Ethernet, Frame Relay, ATM, Token Ring (now I'm dating myself) etc. Knowing the fundamentals is key to being a successful IT professional. Too often I have seen whiz-kids who can fly through a GUI like it was second nature but put them in front of a command line, and without any knowledge of the fundamental protocols, were totally helpless. No hard feelings. I have enjoyed this debate. I am an avid slashdot reader, but today the "ethernet cable" article rubbed me wrong. I've had micro-managing "pointy-haired-bosses" who held me back before and I sympathized with the poor guy. I had to post.
Oh I absolutely agree. I do currently work for a small company where I have the luxury of being able to do most of this stuff myself without relying on consultants. I also worked for a larger organization where we contracted out cabling and fiber termination. I was troubleshooting a fiber connectivity issue with a so-called "fiber splicing expert" who was in my wiring closet while I was at the computer. I asked him, "Are you sure you don't see any light on fiber "xyz?" (I was assuming he was using a proper light source/power meter device) His response was, "I have the lights turned off in the room and I don't see any light coming out of any of these connectors." I had to direct his attention to the bright yellow decal on the door to the fiber cabinet that said, "WARNING!!! INVISIBLE LASER RADIATION!!! DO NOT STARE INTO BEAM WITH REMAINING EYEBALL!!!" So, in my experience it has always been beneficial to know the "physical layer" stuff intimately.
In my opinion, the physical layer is the most important. Because 99% of all network outages can be traced back to a physical layer issue. I was working on a project with a Cisco CCIE once and we needed to wire two T1 CSU/DSU units back-to-back. I was astonished that he didn't know how to build a simple T1 cross-over cable. He was equally astonished that I got it done before he could look up the pinouts online. A thorough understanding of the physical layer and it's functions is absolutely essential to all aspects of the IT field. It is one of the fundamentals that forms a solid foundation to the understanding of how computers work. I find it helps tremendously to know how the underlying pieces work when troubleshooting problems and designing new networks. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
What university did you get your "engineering" diploma from? If you have to check Google to get pinouts for a T1, I'm guessing it's the Cracker Jack School of IT Engineering. Sorry, I hear the "Network Engineer" title get thrown around so much I consider it meaningless. Terminating your own copper cables is an essential skill for any IT professional. With practice you can learn to do it quickly and with excellent quality. The tools and bulk materials are much cheaper than pre-terminated "factory" cables. Speaking from experience, I've inherited many a rats-nest of factory-made cables that were way too long. A custom job takes time, but it makes management and troubleshooting so much easier.
Or more accurately, micro-managers. My first task jumping into the IT industry nearly 20 years ago was learning the TIA/EIA wiring standards and being given a spool of Cat-5 and a crimper and told to do it, and redo it until it's right. This is a skill I think all IT professionals need to master. I can terminate a Cat-5e connection that is as good as, if not, better than any "factory" terminated cable. In addition, you can clean up your cable plant by customizing the length of each cable run. If all you need is a T1, Cat-6 isn't even necessary. Cat-5e works fine for GigE on short runs. Anything more then you should run fiber. Buy a Fluke cable tester/certifier to prove to your boss you know what you're doing. Granted, there is a cost associated with a cable tester, but you should have one anyway. The problem with "factory" cables is that because of that fact, nobody ever suspects them when problems arise. But in my experience, they still need to be checked.
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Funny how nobody seems to mention the curious fact that this was an expedition of global warming nutjobs on a mission to prove how the polar ice caps are melting, polar bears are drowning, sea levels rising, ad nauseum. Stuck in an unexpected ice pack in the middle of summer, no less! Poetic justice!
Are Apple Maps users really this dumb? Did you get a clue the map might be in error when it directed you TOWARDS the place where the big airplanes are? What happens if the map directs you over a cliff? Will that help cleanse the world of Apple brainwashed morons?
And the vast majority of those polled are what I like to call "Low Information Voters." Benjamin Franklin is rolling in his grave! Is this America 2013, or Germany 1938? I can't tell anymore.
What about passengers? What about emergencies? How far does this tyrannical nanny-state bullcrap have to go before people say "enough is enough already!!!" Big Government, leave us the hell ALONE!!!!!
I run a small ISP and my email server is set to block illegitimate connections. Why should I allow an IP address with a PTR record of something like "generic_dumbass_user_IP123.233.domain.com" to freely connect to my email server and start spewing data? That's just stupid. Granted, a "fake" record can easily be created, but it is not unreasonable to setup or have your ISP setup a simple PTR record for your email server. It doesn't even have to match your domain's MX record. It just has to NOT be an obvious generic entry, or worse, no record at all. I understand the headaches when dealing with other email "admins" out there who may or may not know how to configure things, or may or may not care when you give them "friendly" advice on how things should be configured. Network admins are usually governed 90% by their ego, and nobody who is "king of his own little hill" appreciates being told by some stranger that his network is messed up. But there are "industry best practices" and RFCs to guide you. So IMHO, RDNS will not stop all SPAM, but it is simple enough to implement and does not create a lot of "false positives" when integrated with a comprehensive security profile.
What have you been smoking? So you want me to replace my $1200 energy efficient gas-burning furnace with a $500,000+ "rack of cloud servers" as a "cost effective" alternative to heating my home??? Are you frakking stupid????
The legend of a "flaming sword" has been around for thousands of years. The Cherub posted at the entrance to the Garden of Eden as a guard to the Tree of Life had a "flaming sword that turned in every direction." And we all know Genesis is literal, true history, right? I think a lightsaber is entirely possible. Think about how super-heated plasma and non-magnetic force fields would behave if they actually existed in a 4th spatial dimension and how it would appear to us if it intersected our 3 dimensional realm. I don't "think outside the box." My box just happens to have 10 dimensions. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Actually, IMHO, ever since BSG went off the air, I've had no reason to watch that channel. What's it called??? "SyFy" ???? What the FRAK is that supposed to mean? It doesn't mean anything. It is totally meaningless. It was a colossal insult to the audience in thinking "If we call it 'SyFy" instead of "SciFi" then "normal" people will watch instead of just the geeks. Typical pointy-headed, micro-managing, bureaucrat, idiotic thinking. Well, now you have wrestling and ghost chasers that "normal" people AND geeks go out of their way to avoid watching. Caprica could have been successful if they didn't botch it up with scheduling like they always do. I say blow SyFy out the airlock like the fake, skin-job Cylons that they are and bring back the original!
There are many more variables that affect a planet's ability to support advanced life besides it's similarity in mass to Earth. "Simple bit of math based on descent assumptions...." There's your problem. Calculating the probability of all the necessary attributes that must come together for intelligent life to exist is neither "simple" nor should it be based on assumptions. Remember what happens when you assume too much? [ASS-U-ME]. Here's an interesting quote from a prominent astronomer: Teams of astronomers from all over the world continue to search for strange new worlds. As of December 11, 2009, these groups have found a total of 407 planets. Yet not a single one is an analogue to any of our solar system’s planets. None of the newly discovered planetary systems permit the existence of a planet like Earth. The exuberant vision imparted by Sagan has, for nontheists, turned into a dirge. In his book God: The Failed Hypothesis, atheist and particle physicist Victor Stenger laments that Earth, “a tiny blue speck in a vast universe,” is alone, the only locale where advanced life might exist. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Earth and our solar system are unique.
This story from Ars is misleading. Chances are you really are getting the bandwidth you are paying for. I am amazed at how many "technical" people have no idea how computer networks actually work. The "Internet" is not much more than a vast mesh of many many interconnected networks. My ISP, for example, has a speed test link right on their website that links to a server that physically resides on their network. When using this tool, I always get 100% and sometimes a little more than the package I am paying for. Do you people realize that "speedtest.net" or any other service like BitTorrent is NOT capable of showing accurate results of your connection speed? The Internet is built on a "best effort" design and once your traffic egresses your ISPs network, they have absolutely no control over how that traffic gets routed to its ultimate destination. It's like trying to make a phone call from Boise Idaho to New York City. All the lines are busy in New York and your call can't get through. How is that your local telephone company's fault? And what exactly do you expect them to do to fix it? Your ISP can only guarantee your connection speed from your house to their Central Office. Once it leaves their domain, it is totally out of their hands. Any perception of "slow speeds" are 99.999% of the time related to network issues "somewhere else." Your ISP has a reputation to uphold and customers to keep happy. They most likely have built their infrastructure as robust as they possibly can or they wouldn't even be able to open their doors and offer services in the first place. Do you have any idea what it actually takes to build a wireless broadband network, fiber-to-the-home infrastructure, or even re-condition a copper plant to get DSL performing at its optimum level? Trust me, their profit magin is actually pretty slim. Most likely your monthly bill is just paying for infrastructure for the first year before they ever even see a profit. So don't go blaming ISPs for being money hungry liars when all you need is a little education on how networks actually work and the economics involved in building infrastructure and selling services.
As soon as I do, I promise I'll fax them back to you.
My machine is out of paper. Can you fax me a few blank pages until I can buy some more?
I agree. Although I loved the gratuitous use of "frak." It was a deliberate tweek to the network executives / censors. It's obvious what it "really meant" but at the same time, how can you tell me I can't say "frak???" It's not even a word. So Frak YOU! Motherfrakker!! But this "new" re imagining so close on the heels of the conclusion of a very excellent four years of the finest television ever produced, it is clearly nothing but a money-grab taking advantage of the familiar name. Its as if Roger Moore came out of retirement to redo "Casino Royale" right after the very well-done Daniel Craig rendition had been released. Come on people!
Okay...substitute "publisher" for "author" in my previous example and the analogy still holds. Once it becomes my personal property, I should expect to have "perpetual access" to it. Our society is WAY to litigious. What happened to good old fashioned vigilantism ala Wyatt Earp?
So if I buy a book from a favorite author, said author has the authoritay to come onto my private property and confiscate his copyrighted book from me at any time? Copyright law places certain restrictions on transfer and/or copying of creative works once they are in the "public domain." I don't think it states anything about the copyright owner being allowed to "render his works incomprehensible, unreadable, unusable, etc. once an authorized copy has become the personal property of the consumer. But the digital format makes that prospect very easy doesn't it? Most (good) artists/authors seem to desire their works to have a long prosperous life. It seems the type that seems more concerned with getting a freaking nickel everytime someone plays their song, are not very creative and cannot create anything worth keeping around anyway.
Nope. They will make sure it is illegal for "citizens" to sue the govt. I had an "issue" once that I won't go into detail about. But at the end of a very long and tedious process about which I had a legitimate grievance I received and official letter that said, and I quote, "The Federal Government is not liable for mistakes made by it's employees."
This makes about as much sense as requiring citizens (drones) to have a license in order to watch television! I have an idea. If the govt. thinks the average citizen is too stupid to operate a vehicle safely, why don't they just ban cars? If they're so dangerous, then get rid of them. A government employed taxi driver should be made available to take you anywhere you want to to go at anytime.
Yes, I comprehend the difference between mere "knowledge" and "understanding." But in my opinion, true "understanding" can only come when one has a thorough understanding of the fundamentals. Too many times have I seen really smart programmers design applications who had no understanding of networking. They had no clue of the difference between designing an app that works on a 100Mb LAN then wondering why it is so sluggish trying to work across a 1.5Mb T1 link. That's just one example. My coworkers are constantly amazed that I can figure out a linux DHCP server that I've never seen before. Or how I can configure a Pannaway BAR as easily as I can a Cisco 3845 with no prior Pannaway training. It's not because I'm so smart. It's not because I'm a mythical "Network Engineer." It's because I understand the fundamentals of IP, Routing, TCP, UDP, Ethernet, Frame Relay, ATM, Token Ring (now I'm dating myself) etc. Knowing the fundamentals is key to being a successful IT professional. Too often I have seen whiz-kids who can fly through a GUI like it was second nature but put them in front of a command line, and without any knowledge of the fundamental protocols, were totally helpless. No hard feelings. I have enjoyed this debate. I am an avid slashdot reader, but today the "ethernet cable" article rubbed me wrong. I've had micro-managing "pointy-haired-bosses" who held me back before and I sympathized with the poor guy. I had to post.
Oh I absolutely agree. I do currently work for a small company where I have the luxury of being able to do most of this stuff myself without relying on consultants. I also worked for a larger organization where we contracted out cabling and fiber termination. I was troubleshooting a fiber connectivity issue with a so-called "fiber splicing expert" who was in my wiring closet while I was at the computer. I asked him, "Are you sure you don't see any light on fiber "xyz?" (I was assuming he was using a proper light source/power meter device) His response was, "I have the lights turned off in the room and I don't see any light coming out of any of these connectors." I had to direct his attention to the bright yellow decal on the door to the fiber cabinet that said, "WARNING!!! INVISIBLE LASER RADIATION!!! DO NOT STARE INTO BEAM WITH REMAINING EYEBALL!!!" So, in my experience it has always been beneficial to know the "physical layer" stuff intimately.
In my opinion, the physical layer is the most important. Because 99% of all network outages can be traced back to a physical layer issue. I was working on a project with a Cisco CCIE once and we needed to wire two T1 CSU/DSU units back-to-back. I was astonished that he didn't know how to build a simple T1 cross-over cable. He was equally astonished that I got it done before he could look up the pinouts online. A thorough understanding of the physical layer and it's functions is absolutely essential to all aspects of the IT field. It is one of the fundamentals that forms a solid foundation to the understanding of how computers work. I find it helps tremendously to know how the underlying pieces work when troubleshooting problems and designing new networks. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
I do all that AND I still build my own network cables. It's the only way to be sure they're done right.
What university did you get your "engineering" diploma from? If you have to check Google to get pinouts for a T1, I'm guessing it's the Cracker Jack School of IT Engineering. Sorry, I hear the "Network Engineer" title get thrown around so much I consider it meaningless. Terminating your own copper cables is an essential skill for any IT professional. With practice you can learn to do it quickly and with excellent quality. The tools and bulk materials are much cheaper than pre-terminated "factory" cables. Speaking from experience, I've inherited many a rats-nest of factory-made cables that were way too long. A custom job takes time, but it makes management and troubleshooting so much easier.
Or more accurately, micro-managers. My first task jumping into the IT industry nearly 20 years ago was learning the TIA/EIA wiring standards and being given a spool of Cat-5 and a crimper and told to do it, and redo it until it's right. This is a skill I think all IT professionals need to master. I can terminate a Cat-5e connection that is as good as, if not, better than any "factory" terminated cable. In addition, you can clean up your cable plant by customizing the length of each cable run. If all you need is a T1, Cat-6 isn't even necessary. Cat-5e works fine for GigE on short runs. Anything more then you should run fiber. Buy a Fluke cable tester/certifier to prove to your boss you know what you're doing. Granted, there is a cost associated with a cable tester, but you should have one anyway. The problem with "factory" cables is that because of that fact, nobody ever suspects them when problems arise. But in my experience, they still need to be checked.