I've found TCL's slave interpreter very useful. It allows you to execute "uncontrolled" TCL code securely, trapping/substituting/exposing whatever you want. Variables can be exposed, hidden, readonly, etc.
In particular, I find it useful when allowing an application written in TCL to be scripted. The TCL application can remain robust and reliable, even when the user code isn't.
A tool for managing the various aspects of encryption on a system would be useful:
1- Setup and administration of VPNs (PPTP, IPSEC) 2- Administration of secure remote access (SSH) 3- Partition encryption 4- File encryption 5- Email encryption
YES there are bits and pieces, some distributions have more than others, but no control point for system-wide administration and enforcement that can be implemented across distributions.
"Due to the constantly evolving hardware and software industries, 100% compatibility
between hardware and software can not be assured."
While I don't care, this disclaimer will put a lot of people off. When's the last time you bought a PC that said "Oh, some of that stuff might not work".
This is why a large vendor, like Dell or HP needs to push Linux. They can force hardware vendors to provide drivers, where the little mom and pop shops can't.
My parents were doing this when I was a kid
on
RF-Blocking Wallpaper
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· Score: 5, Interesting
My mom always loved the foil/felt (flock) wallpapers in our dining room, when I was growing up (about 40 years ago). The foil was always grounded, because it went under the (metal) outlet and switch covers, which in turn grounded to the (metal) box. I know the foil was conductive, because we once had a two-wire appliance short to it's metal case (before the days of 'double insulated' design), and I got a shock touching the wall and appliance.
Maybe companies selling this kind of wallpaper should rebrand it as inexpensive high-tech (but low cost) Faraday shielding. And maybe the defense agency could save a few billion dollars by using an off-the-shelf solution. Nah.
Requirements for certifications can be used to filter out clueless employers.
If a company's management chain is so weak that they need to use certifications to determine employee skill, you can be sure that working there will be a bureaucratic nightmare.
"Before that, you had to know someone that knew someone that knew someone...."
Not if you lived near New York. After Star Wars came out (1977, now known as episode 4), I noticed that it only took days for street vendors all over mid-town to have copies for sale. That's still the case; just days after a movie opens, you can get a physical bootleg copy for a few dollars on CD.
More than anything, I see this as a way for these industries to justify huge imaginary losses, which they can claim against revenue. In effect, they are not going after pirates -- they are pirates. They are stealing their fair share of the taxes they should be paying.
And it still works too! Woot! One of the things I've noticed is that the user interface really hasn't changed all that much since Win3.1 (or MacOS) was introduced, particularly the speed of interaction. It takes as long for me to perform a task (say, create and print a letter) on that 486 with Win3.1 as it takes me on a 1.7GHZ P4 with Fedora Core 2. Sure, stuff looks nicer and there's a ton more features. But it really hasn't gotten any faster to perform the everyday mundane tasks.
A further point about airports is that they don't need a courtesy "hook" to reel in the customer. It's effectively a monopoly situation -- if you want to fly, you have to be there, no need for them to sweeten the pot.
This will only be true until the first airline that offers free WiFi for their customers. Once that happens, all other will have to follow suit. Airlines compete with each other fiercely, and tiny differences can sway customers. Offering free WiFi is less costly than a meal/drink voucher. Just authenticate with your ticket number and you are online.
Similar to the situation with hotels, all things being equal, wouldn't you go with the airline that offered free WiFi at the airport?
Several hotel chains in the US are now advertising free WiFi connectivity when you stay at the hotel. This is where I see free hotspots as a business model -- a value add on an existing market. Given a choice between two hotels (all things being equal), which would you select, the one with the WiFi or the one without? Similar to advertising free cable TV, a pool, or even air conditioning, free WiFi can be used to attract customers at low cost for the establishment. Now that some are offering the incentive, I expect free WiFi to be an across-the-board service provided by any decent hotel.
Other environments, where you may only be using the service for an hour or less (cafe, airport, etc.) will have a hard time justifying a cost that makes the credit card processing worthwhile. A subscription model may work in this environment, but that just means another company is taking a chunk of any profit.
I have to think that WiFi (or some form of Internet access) will be considered a low cost utility or courtesy at some point -- like a water fountain, electrical outlet or even a public restroom. Most people take those for granted now, and I expect that the same will be true of WiFi in only a few years.
Paying for WiFi access now is paying for the deployment of the hotspots. Once they are reasonably ubiquitous, they will be "free" (included in the cost of doing business).
"Really, you want to put plutonium, polonium, or other dirty bomb materials in the hands of the general public? The same public that currently tosses NiCd batteries into the trash when they're done with them?"
Yes, the same public that tosses Americium-241 into the trash. Just because it's radioactive, doesn't mean it's a problem. Your backyard is radioactive. Your bar-b-que is probably more radioactive, as is the granite building you probably work in. The irrational fear of radiation has been holding back R&D for decades.
Even just using an alpha emitter like Americium, chemically bonded into a plastic and successively sandwiched between photo-electric cells to provide a "wireless" charger for existing battery technologies would be an immense (and safe) step forward. These technologies have been known and patented for a long time. Unfortunately, the monster movies of the 1950s have raised a generation that associates radiation with Godzilla, and prevents any rational use.
She runs a corporate gifts business, and several hundred businesses and vendors have her email address. I suspect that one or more of them ended up getting compromised, and either her email account was harvested, or some of her vendor/client machines are actually generating spam via virus, trojan or web hijacking (or possibly even as a sideline business!).
I suggested she contact her ISP to have them do a first-line spam filtering for the account, which will hopefully reduce the rate she sees to a manageable number. I'm also going to be looking through the headers on the spam, to see if the majority are originating from a single source.
My sister-in-law is now receiving over 2400 spam a day, and no longer even has the time to scan for false positives. For folks like her, email is definitely broken. She has no choice but to rely on spam filtering to make the right choice, even though a false positive could cost her small business a serious amount of revenue. Even the local processing on her PC to sort/filter the emails is keeping her machine busy.
For many of us, the problem isn't that bad. But we need to recognize that many others are dealing with an onerous problem.
For my home network (and wired alarm system), I connected a 130V MOV (metal oxide varister) to each line. The other end of the MOV is connected to a 1 amp fuse. The other end of the fuse is connected to a good ground:
---Ethernet Lead 1 - MOV - 1A Fuse -\
---Ethernet Lead 2 - MOV - 1A Fuse --\
---Ethernet Lead 3 - MOV - 1A Fuse ---\
---Ethernet Lead 4 - MOV - 1A Fuse ----\
---Ethernet Lead 5 - MOV - 1A Fuse ----- Ground
---Ethernet Lead 6 - MOV - 1A Fuse ----/
---Ethernet Lead 7 - MOV - 1A Fuse ---/
---Ethernet Lead 8 - MOV - 1A Fuse --/
MOVs are open until the voltage exceeds the rating (130V in this case), at which point they become a short. So if the potential on the line exceeds 130V, the line is momentarily shorted to ground discharging it. If the current on the line exceeds 1 amp, the fuse will open.
While this wont help you in a direct strike (nothing will), it does prevent charge build-up and induced current (in the giant antenna that is your network wiring) as a result of nearby lightning strikes.
As a side benefit, I no longer get false alarms on my burglar alarm when there's a storm in the area.
After a bad storm, I check the fuses, but none have been blown in the last 15 years.
Nothing is more maddening to me than seeing people with a couple of thousand emails in their inbox. Unfortunately, that seems to be the rule. I could never convince people to use folders and multiple PST files (not even my wife). Virtual folders is a waste of effort for the vast majority.
However, memos/notes were a gift from the gods. I used them to store travel directions, hardware serial numbers, software registration codes, frequent support responses, as an unlimited copy/paste buffer, etc. Because the memos are synced to a PDA, they are also always available.
- "Our off-site meeting is at location X. Here are the directions:" (copy/paste from memo) - "The problem you're having can be solved by:" (copy/paste from memo) - "The serial number on that missing piece of equipment is:" (copy/paste from memo) - Get an email with useful info? Copy paste into a memo.
That was one feature I never had trouble convincing people to use.
How about one of the major features of Outlook that has been missing for three and a half years now? The notes/memos feature? I, and many other use it extensively, but no matter how many times it has been requested (or who requests it; check the submitter on the listed bug), it has never made it into Evolution.
The latest version of mmplayer for connected PalmOS machines (the Tungsten C has built-in WiFi, as does the Sony UX50) now supports HTTP streaming over the wireless connection. Not just audio, but video as well.
The Palm Tungsten C is (relatively) cheap now ($399/retail qty 1) and you can slip them into a ziplock bag (and use them that way, with the thumb-board). It will keep the units clean, protect the screen from scratching, and make it water resistant/spill proof. I do this when I'm working in less than clean/dry conditions.
They have WiFi (including WEP-128, and a VPN client compatible with Poptop), a graphical SSL web browser, an email client, and can even do SSH2. It's an Xscale 400MHz based PDA, so it may even run Linux some day.:-)
Only $199?:-) VMWare used to sell the workstation product for $49 for personal use, didn't they? Now that its actually stable and people would buy it, they've priced it higher than actual hardware.
What AT&T is saying is that they want you to upload copyrighted music to them? Does the RIAA know about this? I have a feeling this serice isn't going to be around much longer...
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I've found TCL's slave interpreter very useful. It allows you to execute "uncontrolled" TCL code securely, trapping/substituting/exposing whatever you want. Variables can be exposed, hidden, readonly, etc.
In particular, I find it useful when allowing an application written in TCL to be scripted. The TCL application can remain robust and reliable, even when the user code isn't.
A tool for managing the various aspects of encryption on a system would be useful:
1- Setup and administration of VPNs (PPTP, IPSEC)
2- Administration of secure remote access (SSH)
3- Partition encryption
4- File encryption
5- Email encryption
YES there are bits and pieces, some distributions have more than others, but no control point for system-wide administration and enforcement that can be implemented across distributions.
Don't get sick.
There is not such thing as an absolute proof of identity, only a trust relationship.
"Due to the constantly evolving hardware and software industries, 100% compatibility
between hardware and software can not be assured."
While I don't care, this disclaimer will put a lot of people off. When's the last time you bought a PC that said "Oh, some of that stuff might not work".
This is why a large vendor, like Dell or HP needs to push Linux. They can force hardware vendors to provide drivers, where the little mom and pop shops can't.
My mom always loved the foil/felt (flock) wallpapers in our dining room, when I was growing up (about 40 years ago). The foil was always grounded, because it went under the (metal) outlet and switch covers, which in turn grounded to the (metal) box. I know the foil was conductive, because we once had a two-wire appliance short to it's metal case (before the days of 'double insulated' design), and I got a shock touching the wall and appliance.
Maybe companies selling this kind of wallpaper should rebrand it as inexpensive high-tech (but low cost) Faraday shielding. And maybe the defense agency could save a few billion dollars by using an off-the-shelf solution. Nah.
If a company's management chain is so weak that they need to use certifications to determine employee skill, you can be sure that working there will be a bureaucratic nightmare.
Not if you lived near New York. After Star Wars came out (1977, now known as episode 4), I noticed that it only took days for street vendors all over mid-town to have copies for sale. That's still the case; just days after a movie opens, you can get a physical bootleg copy for a few dollars on CD.
More than anything, I see this as a way for these industries to justify huge imaginary losses, which they can claim against revenue. In effect, they are not going after pirates -- they are pirates. They are stealing their fair share of the taxes they should be paying.
I still have a 486SX-25MHz, you insensitive clod!
And it still works too! Woot! One of the things I've noticed is that the user interface really hasn't changed all that much since Win3.1 (or MacOS) was introduced, particularly the speed of interaction. It takes as long for me to perform a task (say, create and print a letter) on that 486 with Win3.1 as it takes me on a 1.7GHZ P4 with Fedora Core 2. Sure, stuff looks nicer and there's a ton more features. But it really hasn't gotten any faster to perform the everyday mundane tasks.
This will only be true until the first airline that offers free WiFi for their customers. Once that happens, all other will have to follow suit. Airlines compete with each other fiercely, and tiny differences can sway customers. Offering free WiFi is less costly than a meal/drink voucher. Just authenticate with your ticket number and you are online.
Similar to the situation with hotels, all things being equal, wouldn't you go with the airline that offered free WiFi at the airport?
Several hotel chains in the US are now advertising free WiFi connectivity when you stay at the hotel. This is where I see free hotspots as a business model -- a value add on an existing market. Given a choice between two hotels (all things being equal), which would you select, the one with the WiFi or the one without? Similar to advertising free cable TV, a pool, or even air conditioning, free WiFi can be used to attract customers at low cost for the establishment. Now that some are offering the incentive, I expect free WiFi to be an across-the-board service provided by any decent hotel.
Other environments, where you may only be using the service for an hour or less (cafe, airport, etc.) will have a hard time justifying a cost that makes the credit card processing worthwhile. A subscription model may work in this environment, but that just means another company is taking a chunk of any profit.
I have to think that WiFi (or some form of Internet access) will be considered a low cost utility or courtesy at some point -- like a water fountain, electrical outlet or even a public restroom. Most people take those for granted now, and I expect that the same will be true of WiFi in only a few years.
Paying for WiFi access now is paying for the deployment of the hotspots. Once they are reasonably ubiquitous, they will be "free" (included in the cost of doing business).
Yes, the same public that tosses Americium-241 into the trash. Just because it's radioactive, doesn't mean it's a problem. Your backyard is radioactive. Your bar-b-que is probably more radioactive, as is the granite building you probably work in. The irrational fear of radiation has been holding back R&D for decades.
Even just using an alpha emitter like Americium, chemically bonded into a plastic and successively sandwiched between photo-electric cells to provide a "wireless" charger for existing battery technologies would be an immense (and safe) step forward. These technologies have been known and patented for a long time. Unfortunately, the monster movies of the 1950s have raised a generation that associates radiation with Godzilla, and prevents any rational use.
I suggested she contact her ISP to have them do a first-line spam filtering for the account, which will hopefully reduce the rate she sees to a manageable number. I'm also going to be looking through the headers on the spam, to see if the majority are originating from a single source.
My sister-in-law is now receiving over 2400 spam a day, and no longer even has the time to scan for false positives. For folks like her, email is definitely broken. She has no choice but to rely on spam filtering to make the right choice, even though a false positive could cost her small business a serious amount of revenue. Even the local processing on her PC to sort/filter the emails is keeping her machine busy.
For many of us, the problem isn't that bad. But we need to recognize that many others are dealing with an onerous problem.
The development kit, which includes everything you need, can be had for under $40US. Sweet.
You mean like this one?
Let's see, 400MHz processor, 64 meg of RAM a 64K color screen, an SD/SDIO expansion socket and WiFi.
You should check the product line before dissing them. They're inexpensive and well built, with a considerable library of free/commercial software.
For my home network (and wired alarm system), I connected a 130V MOV (metal oxide varister) to each line. The other end of the MOV is connected to a 1 amp fuse. The other end of the fuse is connected to a good ground:
---Ethernet Lead 1 - MOV - 1A Fuse -\
---Ethernet Lead 2 - MOV - 1A Fuse --\
---Ethernet Lead 3 - MOV - 1A Fuse ---\
---Ethernet Lead 4 - MOV - 1A Fuse ----\
---Ethernet Lead 5 - MOV - 1A Fuse ----- Ground
---Ethernet Lead 6 - MOV - 1A Fuse ----/
---Ethernet Lead 7 - MOV - 1A Fuse ---/
---Ethernet Lead 8 - MOV - 1A Fuse --/
MOVs are open until the voltage exceeds the rating (130V in this case), at which point they become a short. So if the potential on the line exceeds 130V, the line is momentarily shorted to ground discharging it. If the current on the line exceeds 1 amp, the fuse will open.
While this wont help you in a direct strike (nothing will), it does prevent charge build-up and induced current (in the giant antenna that is your network wiring) as a result of nearby lightning strikes.
As a side benefit, I no longer get false alarms on my burglar alarm when there's a storm in the area.
After a bad storm, I check the fuses, but none have been blown in the last 15 years.
Nothing is more maddening to me than seeing people with a couple of thousand emails in their inbox. Unfortunately, that seems to be the rule. I could never convince people to use folders and multiple PST files (not even my wife). Virtual folders is a waste of effort for the vast majority.
However, memos/notes were a gift from the gods. I used them to store travel directions, hardware serial numbers, software registration codes, frequent support responses, as an unlimited copy/paste buffer, etc. Because the memos are synced to a PDA, they are also always available.
- "Our off-site meeting is at location X. Here are the directions:" (copy/paste from memo)
- "The problem you're having can be solved by:" (copy/paste from memo)
- "The serial number on that missing piece of equipment is:" (copy/paste from memo)
- Get an email with useful info? Copy paste into a memo.
That was one feature I never had trouble convincing people to use.
How about one of the major features of Outlook that has been missing for three and a half years now? The notes/memos feature? I, and many other use it extensively, but no matter how many times it has been requested (or who requests it; check the submitter on the listed bug), it has never made it into Evolution.
Evolution would be perfect for me too, except that they completely blew off the memos/notes portion of the application. Does it really take 4 years to add simple text containers?
The latest version of mmplayer for connected PalmOS machines (the Tungsten C has built-in WiFi, as does the Sony UX50) now supports HTTP streaming over the wireless connection. Not just audio, but video as well.
The Palm Tungsten C handheld also has the same functionality, built-in to the WiFi Setup utility.
They have WiFi (including WEP-128, and a VPN client compatible with Poptop), a graphical SSL web browser, an email client, and can even do SSH2. It's an Xscale 400MHz based PDA, so it may even run Linux some day. :-)
Only $199? :-) VMWare used to sell the workstation product for $49 for personal use, didn't they? Now that its actually stable and people would buy it, they've priced it higher than actual hardware.
What AT&T is saying is that they want you to upload copyrighted music to them? Does the RIAA know about this? I have a feeling this serice isn't going to be around much longer...