a multi-billion dollar behemoth that likes to crush competition
To be more exact, they tend to half-kill things and then eat them.
I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to comprehending licensing and related issues, but as far as I can tell Microsoft's biggest contribution to the Open Source / Free Software Movement has been the continued tendency to obscenely restrict and retard peoples' ability to use their computers and software as they see fit (I'm thinking primarily of 'premium content protection' in Vista onward), thus waking more and more people up to the alternatives (by motivating them to look elsewhere).
Here's a link to an audio podcast of the article (actually starts at 5:52): Cost Analysis of Vista Content Protection by Peter Gutmann. And the source site (please don't try to download the PDFs, the useful info all appears to be on the HTML page and the site seems to be speed throttled): HERE.
I actually remember seeing test setups of this tech 18 years ago, not a new technology, but still very cool.
Try 18 hundred years... While stories of Archimedes' Mirror may have been greatly exaggerated (Mythbusters and a couple of independent projects have recreated the effect but with an infeasible time-frame for warfare), the concept and 'technology' of parabolic mirrors or arrays to concentrate solar heat are pretty ancient. Also, Death Ray FTW.:D
What I meant and should have said is "Presumably, you're not arguing that you wouldn't be able to type faster if you knew how to touch type."
No, I wasn't arguing that. I in fact conceded that very point, when responding to the individual in this thread who was saying they would fire a person who couldn't touch type, seemingly regardless of actual typing speed or other proficiency.
About 1/2 - 3/4 of the time that I'm actually typing, yes.
That said, I think that the established methodology is sound, and you would be a faster typist if you had started with touch typing and put the time you put into your own method improving on your touch typing.
Agreed. I am in favour of teaching kids from a very young age how to type (or use whatever interface is contemporary) effectively, though I still maintain that hiring, say, a slow touch typist over a fast non-standard typist is absurd and counter-productive, though this is what some in this thread are seemingly advocating.
True. Multiply the figures by a factor of between 2 and 10 to match the usual ratio of "individual fine" and "company fine" for violations of civil laws. Oh look, they're still buggered. Happy days!:)
As another commenter pointed out, whatever precedent they set by weaselling out of this charge will just make it easier for the next person defending themselves against copyright infringement charges in Mexico or wherever this gets fought out. Ah, they'll probably just settle though, which would be the safest option for them, damn.
It's also worth pointing out that they have an obvious intent to distribute for commercial gain... CD prices have been a crime for the better part of a decade, it's about time it made it to court!:P
the technologies are now being developed which will eventually allow even faster data manipulation with direct mind interfaces that will make keyboards [obselete]
While there is certainly amazing progress being made in the areas of eye-tracking and brain-interface systems (initially much more important for quadriplegics and those with various locked-in syndromes), I can imagine some awkward issues with a direct brain interface. It might be good for games etc, but you wouldn't want it at work - I can see the xkcd.com cartoon now:
*office setting, one guy plugged into the new system and his workmate is shoulder surfing, seeing how good the new thought-activated interface works* *hot chick from accounting walks past (both guys look), then she bangs knee on a chair "ow!"..* *computer announces "accessing google results for 'hot amputee action', please wait..."* Workmate: "woah, you're twisted" *first guy is frantically stabbing the Esc key, comp continues "found stumpsex.com, logging in with remembered details"* Workmate: "Dude..."
So you would fire a 65wpm natural typer (with 100% accuracy) over a 35wpm touch typer?
Fundamentalism is stupid pretty much anywhere it rears its ugly head - if you fire someone over their _methods_ rather than their _productivity_ and thus value to your company, then you probably deserve to fail in business.
Or, in my case, I use a secure hashing algorithm where a common secret is concatenated with the name of the website I visit to get a secure password, akin to using the Md5 sum of "This is secret;slashdot.org" to get a password.
I'm curious. Assuming your attacker knows that you use a common hash (and can easily guess which one), what do you gain over just using "secretpassword;slashdot.org?" If the attacker was going to use a dictionary attack, it would require the same number of guesses with and without the hash (or perhapse a measily 5 or 10x if the attacker has to try several hashing algorithms).
Because if you use this password method to create an account on an unscrupulous/insecure site, or manage to get phished, even for a minor account, then they know your 'secret' and can very easily hijack all of your accounts. And yes, there are still plenty of services out there storing in plaintext.
I'd imagine it has more to do with those damn required "Security Questions", many of which use publicly available information. Even the services which allow you to specify the question and answer are probably no match for a cracker working in conjunction with an Ex.
Not if you make the question something absurd like:
greendogsuit-goodsite-gesundheit
And the answer isn't as complicated as it seems:
gir-slashdot-achoo
So long as it makes sense to _your_ brain, it doesn't have to conform to the usual 'security questions' format, and thus you can avoid the associated vulnerability of ex-accessible data.;)
"normally it's hard to know when an account has been compromised, because e-mail snooping doesn't leave a trace."
Well that's incorrect. I'd be fairly confident that most web-based email services have a way of telling when you logged into your account last (otherwise how would they know when to deactivate your account after X months of inactivity?) - they simply choose not to allow Joe Average to access this information.
Slashdot Mirror
I was referring to a profession involving a different kind of yeast.
Eeewwwwwwwww... :/
In other news, This! :)
for the mute out there, I'm sure you can sign like a pirate, too.
Yeah, you just need to do it with a bit of a snarl, and have your parrot chime in with loud, often profane witticisms at opportune moments. :D
a multi-billion dollar behemoth that likes to crush competition
To be more exact, they tend to half-kill things and then eat them.
I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to comprehending licensing and related issues, but as far as I can tell Microsoft's biggest contribution to the Open Source / Free Software Movement has been the continued tendency to obscenely restrict and retard peoples' ability to use their computers and software as they see fit (I'm thinking primarily of 'premium content protection' in Vista onward), thus waking more and more people up to the alternatives (by motivating them to look elsewhere).
Here's a link to an audio podcast of the article (actually starts at 5:52): Cost Analysis of Vista Content Protection by Peter Gutmann.
And the source site (please don't try to download the PDFs, the useful info all appears to be on the HTML page and the site seems to be speed throttled): HERE.
On a side note (sorry for offtopic), I wonder how many people will be blocked from going to that page since it says "make bombs"? :P
ALLAAAAH
*cough*
I actually remember seeing test setups of this tech 18 years ago, not a new technology, but still very cool.
Try 18 hundred years... While stories of Archimedes' Mirror may have been greatly exaggerated (Mythbusters and a couple of independent projects have recreated the effect but with an infeasible time-frame for warfare), the concept and 'technology' of parabolic mirrors or arrays to concentrate solar heat are pretty ancient. Also, Death Ray FTW. :D
Hmm... that's odd, I don't think I could agree... Methinks Bender would say: "Hey baby, wanna help me kill all huma<character limit reached>
Okay, maybe you have a point, but can you really complain?
I mean after all, if it wasn't for the CryEngine how would you power your WAAHmbulance?
Last time I played cloud games, I got in trouble...
(How was I to know that fog machines set off fire alarms?!) :o
Seriously though... this has potential :)
What I meant and should have said is "Presumably, you're not arguing that you wouldn't be able to type faster if you knew how to touch type."
No, I wasn't arguing that. I in fact conceded that very point, when responding to the individual in this thread who was saying they would fire a person who couldn't touch type, seemingly regardless of actual typing speed or other proficiency.
Do you look at the keyboard?
About 1/2 - 3/4 of the time that I'm actually typing, yes.
That said, I think that the established methodology is sound, and you would be a faster typist if you had started with touch typing and put the time you put into your own method improving on your touch typing.
Agreed. I am in favour of teaching kids from a very young age how to type (or use whatever interface is contemporary) effectively, though I still maintain that hiring, say, a slow touch typist over a fast non-standard typist is absurd and counter-productive, though this is what some in this thread are seemingly advocating.
Presumably, you're not arguing that you're faster than a "real" touch typist.
"touch typist" != "fast typist"
I am faster at 65wpm than many touch typists, and I'm certainly not the fastest non-touch typist on /.
All well and good but where's my GIANT ENEMY CRAB?
www.parishilton.com
Is there raptors in there? They are good for skinning and grinding on.
Ah... fun times in Un'goro crater...
I wouldn't let you go dry-humping specimens on MY excavation site! Some people... *shakes head*
Don't hang your head, you're exposing your neck to assault!
Individual. Corporation. Not the same thing.
True. Multiply the figures by a factor of between 2 and 10 to match the usual ratio of "individual fine" and "company fine" for violations of civil laws. Oh look, they're still buggered. Happy days! :)
As another commenter pointed out, whatever precedent they set by weaselling out of this charge will just make it easier for the next person defending themselves against copyright infringement charges in Mexico or wherever this gets fought out. Ah, they'll probably just settle though, which would be the safest option for them, damn.
It's also worth pointing out that they have an obvious intent to distribute for commercial gain... CD prices have been a crime for the better part of a decade, it's about time it made it to court! :P
the technologies are now being developed which will eventually allow even faster data manipulation with direct mind interfaces that will make keyboards [obselete]
While there is certainly amazing progress being made in the areas of eye-tracking and brain-interface systems (initially much more important for quadriplegics and those with various locked-in syndromes), I can imagine some awkward issues with a direct brain interface. It might be good for games etc, but you wouldn't want it at work - I can see the xkcd.com cartoon now:
*office setting, one guy plugged into the new system and his workmate is shoulder surfing, seeing how good the new thought-activated interface works*
*hot chick from accounting walks past (both guys look), then she bangs knee on a chair "ow!"..*
*computer announces "accessing google results for 'hot amputee action', please wait..."*
Workmate: "woah, you're twisted"
*first guy is frantically stabbing the Esc key, comp continues "found stumpsex.com, logging in with remembered details"*
Workmate: "Dude..."
xD
I learned to type properly in high school. I had no friends
Ah. A common side effect. Damn you, Mavis Beacon!! *shakes fist*
The main problem with your argument is that it is based on an erroneous assumption.
"!touch typing" != "two-fingered hunt and peck"
I don't touch type and I use 6 fingers 2 thumbs (pinkies are pretty much useless).
So you would fire a 65wpm natural typer (with 100% accuracy) over a 35wpm touch typer?
Fundamentalism is stupid pretty much anywhere it rears its ugly head - if you fire someone over their _methods_ rather than their _productivity_ and thus value to your company, then you probably deserve to fail in business.
(and I can get to over 300 a minute on a well working keyboard)
WTF? 300wpm? Do you inject steroids into your knuckles or something?
I'm lucky to clock up an accurate 65wpm, or 80 with caffeine O.o
Or, in my case, I use a secure hashing algorithm where a common secret is concatenated with the name of the website I visit to get a secure password, akin to using the Md5 sum of "This is secret;slashdot.org" to get a password.
I'm curious. Assuming your attacker knows that you use a common hash (and can easily guess which one), what do you gain over just using "secretpassword;slashdot.org?" If the attacker was going to use a dictionary attack, it would require the same number of guesses with and without the hash (or perhapse a measily 5 or 10x if the attacker has to try several hashing algorithms).
Because if you use this password method to create an account on an unscrupulous/insecure site, or manage to get phished, even for a minor account, then they know your 'secret' and can very easily hijack all of your accounts. And yes, there are still plenty of services out there storing in plaintext.
I'd imagine it has more to do with those damn required "Security Questions", many of which use publicly available information.
Even the services which allow you to specify the question and answer are probably no match for a cracker working in conjunction with an Ex.
Not if you make the question something absurd like:
greendogsuit-goodsite-gesundheit
And the answer isn't as complicated as it seems:
gir-slashdot-achoo
So long as it makes sense to _your_ brain, it doesn't have to conform to the usual 'security questions' format, and thus you can avoid the associated vulnerability of ex-accessible data. ;)
Why should we all eventually get back to singularity?
Everyone knows marriageality never lasts; although in this case, it's the second one that sucks!
"normally it's hard to know when an account has been compromised, because e-mail snooping doesn't leave a trace."
Well that's incorrect. I'd be fairly confident that most web-based email services have a way of telling when you logged into your account last (otherwise how would they know when to deactivate your account after X months of inactivity?) - they simply choose not to allow Joe Average to access this information.