I am a long-time listener to the BBC News through the United States' National Public Radio (NPR). You have earned a great deal of my respect through well-supported news stories.
I was quite surprised, then, to read Stephen Evans' "Linux cyber-battle turns nasty." This article places the blame for a Denial-of-Service attack on the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) and the disruptive MyDoom computer virus squarely on the Linux community.
As a law abiding member of the Linux community since 1993, I am doubly offended by this article - first by its unjustified broad brush and secondly by its lack of substantiation. No single piece of software is ever written by the entire Linux community - only by a few specific members. You can no more point a finger at all of us than to claim that all of Great Britain is responsible for an act.
Worse, I have seen no evidence in this article or elsewhere linking any member of the Linux community to the creation of this virus. I will be the first to agree that SCO's actions against Linux provide probable cause, however asserting blame without proof is shoddy and irresponsible journalism that only serves to unjustly poison the reputation of a community with tremendous donations to the common good.
I hope that you will either provide newsworthy proof of the connection between *specific* members of the Linux community and the DoS attack on SCO or retract this article and post an apology in its place.
I'm an avid enviro-geek that follows EVs even more than computers, but when it came time to buy a new car earlier this year I bought an '03 Jetta TDI wagon to run biodiesel (http://www.biodiesel.org/).
I test drove: - 2003 Honda Insight (stick and CVT automatic models) - 2003 Toyota Prius
(note that a new, improved 2004 model is out now, and should be worth the look - http://www.toyota.com/newprius/ ). - Volkswagen Golf and Jetta TDIs (for use with biodiesel, of course)
I found the Insights had poor pickup, although they handled and cruised very nicely and had great looks. I was seriously concerned about passing on a hill. Also, a long-time stick-shift fan, the manual transmission Insight messed me up - you can't shift by engine RPM because part of your power is from electric motor! On the other hand, the CVT was one of the few automatic transmissions I'd consider buying. If you want an Insight, I vote CVT for driving experience.
The 2003 Prius had good pickup, but poor highway cruising, and mediocre looks. For city-style driving, it would be a great car. Unfortunately, I drive a healthy mix of highway miles, and I found that I was always fighting to keep the cruising speed up. I felt like I had to play leadfoot to keep the vehicle moving. I also found that the dashboard graphics were not as useful as in the Insight, although I like the centered dashboard instrumentation.
I'm curious to try the newly-redesigned 2004 Prius. It's supposed to have more power and a smoother, more refined hybrid system. This might fix my major gripe with it.
I ended up liking the VW TDI's best. They are all fairly luxuriously appointed with dozens of well-engineered touches, and have a very smooth and comfortable ride. The quietly purring diesels have gobs of torque that make for a fun drive. And you're still looking at 42-52 mpg (I get 45mpg in my Jetta TDI wagon). Plus you can get completely off gasoline (and oil politics) if you buy 100% biodiesel (a.k.a. B100). The downside? While they produce less CO2 and "greenhouse" gases than any gasoline vehicles, their emissions of NOx or "smog-forming" emissions are worse. The biodiesel helps greatly compared to petro-diesel, but it is still worse than any gasoline car in that regard. I'm personally keeping a lookout for newer-technology catalytic converters that are on the horizon.
Hope this helps anyone trying to make a decision.
P.S. I recommend the Golf TDI as best bang for the buck if you don't absolutely need the extra little bit of cargo space the wagon affords.
Red Hat Enterprise releases are slower-changing and provide less of a moving target for 3rd party hardware and software developers who are trying to produce reliable and easy-to-install "solutions" for Linux.
Most Enterprises are not reliably staffed by good Linux hackers (it's a shame, but true). As such, they can get stuck trying to get binary-only distributions working on their latest-and-greatest RedHat consumer distribution. They're not used to compiling/linking their own software, and won't have the source to fix problems even if they were.
If you're not using or producing closed-source software for linux, you probably don't have to care.
Meanwhile, Richard Smith notes that the Globally Unique Identifier in every installation of Windows Media Player allows websites to universally track users, and Microsoft does not consider it a security problem.
Of course not - it's a privacy problem. (rimshot!)
1) I think to say that our freedoms and way of life are endangered is exaggeration at this point. I cried this morning for the hundreds or even thousands of people trapped in the twin towers of the world trade center when they were destroyed. I hurt thinking about the people who narrowly escaped and the families of those who died - the trauma for them will last the rest of their lives. This is the most awful thing that anyone can be asked to deal with.
But many, many people around the world have dealt with such tragedies in my lifetime. The Oklahoma City bombing. The earthquake in India. Every day is like this in the Gaza strip, is it not?
I look outside my window and the sun is shining. There is nothing in my city that makes an attractive target. Airlines will fly again. I do not believe that the American government will propose any draconian measures to control and prevent terrorist acts. You don't preserve freedom by removing it.
Panic is not going to help a situation this serious. Reason and compassion will.
2) Retaliation is escalating the violence.
This is the exact opposite of what we want to do here.
When two individual people fight, sometimes it can resolve their inability to relate to each other in a backward sort of way. I made a good friend once by punching him out. Afterwards, once our anger was vented, we were able to laugh about the fact that I almost dislocated my thumb with the punch and his face was swelling. On the basis of that laughter we realized we could be friends instead of enemies.
I don't believe that this can ever happen between groups, be it gangs, religions, or nations. All of the individuals did not start the fight. Innocent members will be hurt. There may be no personal context in which to laugh. And the fight can live on in the group memory as an unresolved anger.
I hope our leaders are brave enough to address the source of the violence today instead of adding to it.
There are many areas of tension and instability in the world - Israel and Palestine, Afghanistan, various African nations, Bosnia. There are also "virtual" instabilities between international political movements and bodies such as WIPO, the World Bank, etc.
In failing to cultivate peace through diplomatic means before we are attacked, we allow suffering to breed unrest. What would we ourselves do if rendered powerless, hungry, afraid? We would eventually strike out in an attempt to gain attention and control of our lives.
Today we have been given a taste of what the rest of the world lives with. We should use it to right our perspective and unearth our sympathy.
It does not matter who was right and who was wrong. It matters that we and other people around the world are no longer at peace. First find peace.
Helping an enemy will turn them from being an enemy. Let us understand the conditions that have bred this violence and help to end those conditions.
I think the Arcosanti project is one of the first arcologies.
Very cool foray into sustainable living and life with saner priorities (IMHO).
Check them out at http://www.arcosanti.org/
> It is a complicated problem and it might even be one that cannot be solved today or even ever. But we can't make headway if we fall back into old and tired arguments.
Very true.
Let's also not overlook the achievable things we *can* do right now. There is a tendency to talk about what is wrong and to spend huge effort in accurately pointing fingers. That helps at first, but at some point it is no longer moving things forward to solve the problem.
It would have much more startling effects if we each went out and took one positive step. Go to your neighborhood school and ask how you could help volunteer just a few hours one day a week. Whatever you have free. One day a month.
If everyone that read Slashdot found just one kid that reminded them of themselves and helped them just a little, it could change the whole school system. If we think that parents aren't doing a good enough job, go meet the kids at your local school - find out! Help any way you can, but get out and do it. Then we'll each find out what's really going on and make a difference in it. Just visiting the schools will be a wakeup call.
"Hi, I live in this town, I don't have any kids myself, but I'm worried about the kids that go here - what can I do?"
We don't have to solve the whole problem or fix the whole world. If we each take a little, tiny nibble out of it, things will get a lot better.
Slashdot Mirror
Isn't "voluntary slavery" an oxymoron?
I encourage others to do the same
I'm an avid enviro-geek that follows EVs even more than computers, but when it came time to buy a new car earlier this year I bought an '03 Jetta TDI wagon to run biodiesel (http://www.biodiesel.org/).
I test drove:
- 2003 Honda Insight (stick and CVT automatic models)
- 2003 Toyota Prius
(note that a new, improved 2004 model is out now, and should be worth the look - http://www.toyota.com/newprius/ ).
- Volkswagen Golf and Jetta TDIs (for use with biodiesel, of course)
I found the Insights had poor pickup, although they handled and cruised very nicely and had great looks. I was seriously concerned about passing on a hill. Also, a long-time stick-shift fan, the manual transmission Insight messed me up - you can't shift by engine RPM because part of your power is from electric motor! On the other hand, the CVT was one of the few automatic transmissions I'd consider buying. If you want an Insight, I vote CVT for driving experience.
The 2003 Prius had good pickup, but poor highway cruising, and mediocre looks. For city-style driving, it would be a great car. Unfortunately, I drive a healthy mix of highway miles, and I found that I was always fighting to keep the cruising speed up. I felt like I had to play leadfoot to keep the vehicle moving. I also found that the dashboard graphics were not as useful as in the Insight, although I like the centered dashboard instrumentation.
I'm curious to try the newly-redesigned 2004 Prius. It's supposed to have more power and a smoother, more refined hybrid system. This might fix my major gripe with it.
I ended up liking the VW TDI's best. They are all fairly luxuriously appointed with dozens of well-engineered touches, and have a very smooth and comfortable ride. The quietly purring diesels have gobs of torque that make for a fun drive. And you're still looking at 42-52 mpg (I get 45mpg in my Jetta TDI wagon). Plus you can get completely off gasoline (and oil politics) if you buy 100% biodiesel (a.k.a. B100). The downside? While they produce less CO2 and "greenhouse" gases than any gasoline vehicles, their emissions of NOx or "smog-forming" emissions are worse. The biodiesel helps greatly compared to petro-diesel, but it is still worse than any gasoline car in that regard.
I'm personally keeping a lookout for newer-technology catalytic converters that are on the horizon.
Hope this helps anyone trying to make a decision.
P.S. I recommend the Golf TDI as best bang for the buck if you don't absolutely need the extra little bit of cargo space the wagon affords.
Red Hat Enterprise releases are slower-changing and provide less of a moving target for 3rd party hardware and software developers who are trying to produce reliable and easy-to-install "solutions" for Linux.
Most Enterprises are not reliably staffed by good Linux hackers (it's a shame, but true). As such, they can get stuck trying to get binary-only distributions working on their latest-and-greatest RedHat consumer distribution. They're not used to compiling/linking their own software, and won't have the source to fix problems even if they were.
If you're not using or producing closed-source software for linux, you probably don't have to care.
This reminds me of a nutating (wobbling, essentially) sphere engine I read about at McMaster Motor.
I have a little more faith in McMaster's credentials, and the design seems more realistic.
If you are in California, an area that was leasing EV-1's, then you can probably also find Toyota RAV4-EV's as well (I'm not so lucky).
The RAV4 is listed with a top speed of 78 mph and an average range of 126 miles per charge (although I've read a few people stating 140 - YMMV).
Meanwhile, Richard Smith notes that the Globally Unique Identifier in every installation of Windows Media Player allows websites to universally track users, and Microsoft does not consider it a security problem.
Of course not - it's a privacy problem. (rimshot!)
1) I think to say that our freedoms and way of life are endangered is exaggeration at this point. I cried this morning for the hundreds or even thousands of people trapped in the twin towers of the world trade center when they were destroyed. I hurt thinking about the people who narrowly escaped and the families of those who died - the trauma for them will last the rest of their lives. This is the most awful thing that anyone can be asked to deal with.
But many, many people around the world have dealt with such tragedies in my lifetime. The Oklahoma City bombing. The earthquake in India. Every day is like this in the Gaza strip, is it not?
I look outside my window and the sun is shining. There is nothing in my city that makes an attractive target. Airlines will fly again. I do not believe that the American government will propose any draconian measures to control and prevent terrorist acts. You don't preserve freedom by removing it.
Panic is not going to help a situation this serious. Reason and compassion will.
2) Retaliation is escalating the violence.
This is the exact opposite of what we want to do here.
When two individual people fight, sometimes it can resolve their inability to relate to each other in a backward sort of way. I made a good friend once by punching him out. Afterwards, once our anger was vented, we were able to laugh about the fact that I almost dislocated my thumb with the punch and his face was swelling. On the basis of that laughter we realized we could be friends instead of enemies.
I don't believe that this can ever happen between groups, be it gangs, religions, or nations. All of the individuals did not start the fight. Innocent members will be hurt. There may be no personal context in which to laugh. And the fight can live on in the group memory as an unresolved anger.
I hope our leaders are brave enough to address the source of the violence today instead of adding to it.
There are many areas of tension and instability in the world - Israel and Palestine, Afghanistan, various African nations, Bosnia. There are also "virtual" instabilities between international political movements and bodies such as WIPO, the World Bank, etc.
In failing to cultivate peace through diplomatic means before we are attacked, we allow suffering to breed unrest. What would we ourselves do if rendered powerless, hungry, afraid? We would eventually strike out in an attempt to gain attention and control of our lives.
Today we have been given a taste of what the rest of the world lives with. We should use it to right our perspective and unearth our sympathy.
It does not matter who was right and who was wrong. It matters that we and other people around the world are no longer at peace. First find peace.
Helping an enemy will turn them from being an enemy. Let us understand the conditions that have bred this violence and help to end those conditions.
Violence will only beget more violence.
I think the Arcosanti project is one of the first arcologies. Very cool foray into sustainable living and life with saner priorities (IMHO). Check them out at http://www.arcosanti.org/
> It is a complicated problem and it might even be one that cannot be solved today or even ever. But we can't make headway if we fall back into old and tired arguments.
Very true.
Let's also not overlook the achievable things we *can* do right now. There is a tendency to talk about what is wrong and to spend huge effort in accurately pointing fingers. That helps at first, but at some point it is no longer moving things forward to solve the problem.
It would have much more startling effects if we each went out and took one positive step. Go to your neighborhood school and ask how you could help volunteer just a few hours one day a week. Whatever you have free. One day a month.
If everyone that read Slashdot found just one kid that reminded them of themselves and helped them just a little, it could change the whole school system. If we think that parents aren't doing a good enough job, go meet the kids at your local school - find out! Help any way you can, but get out and do it. Then we'll each find out what's really going on and make a difference in it. Just visiting the schools will be a wakeup call.
"Hi, I live in this town, I don't have any kids myself, but I'm worried about the kids that go here - what can I do?"
We don't have to solve the whole problem or fix the whole world. If we each take a little, tiny nibble out of it, things will get a lot better.
Imagine it. Do it.