Getting fired was probably a bit harsh. However I am getting concerned with how many spotty teenagers working in retail cannot do basic addition and subtraction. My wife (who is scary smart at mental arithmetic), had a situation where she was short changed and the teenager and his supervisor couldn't figure out how to get it right without the cash register.
Much to my shame, I don't claim any prowess with mental arithmetic. With hindsight I wish I'd have put more effort in memorising the times tables and practising mental arithmetic.
My opinion, our work requires us to work at such a pace that we can't afford the time screwing about with basic maths. We should know the basic maths and be working with the real problem.
My list of what an average person needs to know? Times tables Metal addition + subtraction basic division Linear algebra Basic statistics
I had reservations about finding boxes hidden and opening them to see what's inside. On all occasions the contents were benign.
I think it's a shame that the first thing people think to do with these is to load them up with exploits or porn. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be plugging my laptop in without some serious protection. However one thing I liked about Geocaching was that it caused you to go to places off the beaten track or informed you of interesting facts about the location. It was great as a tourist.
There is so much interesting stuff about this...and yet...now I'd be too afraid to plug in.
Another train of thought, If the artist wanted to present some interesting social study, he/she would monitor the files at each location and build an instillation to show what type of file, when uploaded, how much good and bad, yadda yadda.
I'm sure with a bit of extra thought with respect to the security aspects by the artist, this could be made acceptably safe. For instance, could the stick be simulated on a system which actively scans and cleans between uploads?
Like or hate their software, business practices etc they've tried to help here.
So suck it up slash dotters, regardless of the reasons or underlying "side benefits" they are doing something to protect free speech and free press. I thought you Americans thought that stuff was the bees knees?!!
Strikes me as curious that you'd try and find the bad in that!
Plenty of examples of "brands" becoming generic out there. The reason cited that this has happened was the lack of effort to defend the brand name against generic usage.
"Zipper" is one example.
I recall that a few years ago Sony lost a fight with someone using "Walkman" to describe all personal music players. (This was before ipod). Then I seem to remember (and perhaps more applicable here), Apple lost a fight over the use of the letter 'i' as a prefix.
We seem to want to get behind David in these situations.
Yes it was designed in the 70's. In fact, it was first proposed before Apollo was completed.
However just like every other airframe out there, it has undergone significant change over the years to keep it state of the art.
Check out the write up in this months "Air and Space".
Evolution of the Space Shuttle.
Then look at the alternative - The Soyuz. When was that developed? And again undergone continual evolution.
This "Public / Private Partnership" has to be the next step in Space Exploration. As governments have less to prove out in space, spending will be cut. This means private industries will take up the slack and find commercial opportunities. What they will bring to the table are commercial imperatives which drive operating costs down, and profit margins up. I for one believe that in order for us to start colonizing the solar system, we need to demonstrate commercial viability.
The Safety issue? - Yes it's important and we need to make sure cost cutting does not increase the risk to human life.
Oh this is such a good idea.
I hope that people in the industry are actually looking at this post and consider this a cheap and easy way to get very very good metrics on watch ability. Sure enough it's probably only good for tech-savy demographics.
Dear Mr. Producer, This is a good idea and will cost chicken feed to run. You could take a lot bigger risks and have some surprising results. If free advice is uncomfortable for you then please pay me an obscene amount of money to consult on this project!!;)
Agree!!!! - Encryption is a Red Hearing The issue is a Government wants to assume the right to track your every online move regardless of any suspicion of guilt.
Australian federal election coming up in 2010 (a few months time).
I've already started a list of topics I'm going to weigh up when I cast my vote.
I can't stand Mr. Abbot but I'd put up with him for 1 term if that's what it takes to prevent a Government from gathering the powers to unilaterally and at whim monitor my every move. - I believe the default state should be a right to privacy.
I mean... if they continue, then I might not be allowed make these comments online any more...How scary is that?
So all Australians, I encourage you to indicate your opinion to your local member and if it comes to it, vote with your feet. As Mr. Conroy himself said
"[if you disagree with a government's policy, at least you can vote them out]"
Hey, thanks for your thoughtful reply. I admit to being very suspicious of people in general and large data gathering really makes me want to find a nice and cozy cave to live in.
You are right, they are giving the "honesty is the best policy" impression and for that (regardless of how this all started), they should get some credit.
You also listed a bunch of companies that have been caught collecting data or invading privacy in some way. While you're at it, remember Amazon's latest invasion on the kindle (don't know the product so spelling suspect). Don't you think this problem is becoming a plague?
You know, scientists have to pass all testing related to animal and humans through the Ethics committee (in my country at least). Perhaps these large companies should start doing the same with respect to privacy information? This is such a common issue now, and most of it unbroken ground. - Legislators can't hope to keep up when the envelope is being pushed.
I'm all for the debate and our society needs to evolve with it's new abilities.
OK Here's my view. Flamebait or not.
Google have repeatedly demonstrated some sketchy regard for privacy of others. They have to be dragged kicking and screaming to implement procedures that allow people to remove street view pictures for example.
I agree that in pushing the envelope that they will come across some interesting social topics like the ones that they found in the first run of street view and the one they are back peddling now. And I do believe in the large amount of good Google have done for open source and data use for the public good, (Google earth and maps for instance).
However Google repeatedly are coy whenever they think about collecting information and get asked for explanations on what they will be doing with it.
In this instance I read a BBC article that indicated that the German government asked to review the data and that's when Google "discovered" this "gaff". It wasn't Google unprompted..
However officially Google now admit to collecting snippets of payload data which is something they expressly ruled out in the original blog. They say this was a mistake...I have my doubts.
Think it through...They are collecting this data... the data is 3 years old....did they just sit on it and do nothing with it?
Surely when they started extracting the SSID's and MAC's, they would've noticed the snippets of people emails and websites they also captured...surely the tested the code and the data collected? And then what did they do...Nothing! They didn't exercise any moral judgment and raise the issue of people's privacy on unencrypted networks. They have the platform they could have won some serious brownie points by telling people how to protect themselves. But did nothing. I don't believe they held all this data and didn't know what it was.
This is yet another example of a "mostly good" company collecting peoples personal data for reasons us mere mortals can't understand.
I think there is a real difference between data that is public to your neighbors and then someone posting that data on a billboard in the the main street. For instance, when I'm on holiday perhaps? Clearly here is an example of data that is not private, in the public domain but is not intended to be distributed to strangers. That level of privacy is not covered by the current laws but needs to be in my opinion.
I could go on but I recon half the people who started reading have stopped already;-),... suffice to say, I'll be doing less of my searches with Google as a direct result, and ensuring my network is buttoned up even tighter the ever.
Given religion's track record, I would have thought that violence was right up their alley?
Why would they want to oppose violent games? It's nothing like the things humans have done to each other in the name of their preferred imaginary friend(s)....and recently too!
I'd like to look at it from another perspective.
I assume an IT department in an Hospital your dealing with general desktop apps as well as Patient data for insurance claims and employee data of some description.
The thought that confidential patient data might be replicated on someones 'personal' machine quite frankly chills me. If I was Emperor if the IT department, I'd ban and make a sack-able offense plugging your personal machine into the hospital network.
In my mind, I'd forgo any ability of employees to check their email from home. In fact I'd actively discourage it unless you were currently on-call for a specific reason and that on-call person would be issued work equipment for the task.
If patient data was leaked and the media got hold of the story any argument for using personal machines and not locking down the network and securing the machines connected to it would be fuel for that media frenzy.
Ahhhhh, While I agree that voting usually comes down to "who dislike the least"; informally voting is like being with a bunch of friends deciding on where to eat and when asked, you say 'I don't care, anywhere will do'.
Unfortunately in my view if you do that then you surrender your right to complain about how rubbish the meal was later...don't you think?
Slashdot Mirror
Almost forgot
and basic geometry
Getting fired was probably a bit harsh. However I am getting concerned with how many spotty teenagers working in retail cannot do basic addition and subtraction. My wife (who is scary smart at mental arithmetic), had a situation where she was short changed and the teenager and his supervisor couldn't figure out how to get it right without the cash register.
Much to my shame, I don't claim any prowess with mental arithmetic. With hindsight I wish I'd have put more effort in memorising the times tables and practising mental arithmetic.
My opinion, our work requires us to work at such a pace that we can't afford the time screwing about with basic maths. We should know the basic maths and be working with the real problem.
My list of what an average person needs to know?
Times tables
Metal addition + subtraction
basic division
Linear algebra
Basic statistics
I used to do Geocaching...before kids ;)
I had reservations about finding boxes hidden and opening them to see what's inside. On all occasions the contents were benign.
I think it's a shame that the first thing people think to do with these is to load them up with exploits or porn. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be plugging my laptop in without some serious protection. However one thing I liked about Geocaching was that it caused you to go to places off the beaten track or informed you of interesting facts about the location. It was great as a tourist.
There is so much interesting stuff about this...and yet...now I'd be too afraid to plug in.
Another train of thought, If the artist wanted to present some interesting social study, he/she would monitor the files at each location and build an instillation to show what type of file, when uploaded, how much good and bad, yadda yadda.
I'm sure with a bit of extra thought with respect to the security aspects by the artist, this could be made acceptably safe. For instance, could the stick be simulated on a system which actively scans and cleans between uploads?
Agree, It's a really good things they are doing.
Like or hate their software, business practices etc they've tried to help here.
So suck it up slash dotters, regardless of the reasons or underlying "side benefits" they are doing something to protect free speech and free press. I thought you Americans thought that stuff was the bees knees?!!
Strikes me as curious that you'd try and find the bad in that!
Plenty of examples of "brands" becoming generic out there. The reason cited that this has happened was the lack of effort to defend the brand name against generic usage.
"Zipper" is one example.
I recall that a few years ago Sony lost a fight with someone using "Walkman" to describe all personal music players. (This was before ipod). Then I seem to remember (and perhaps more applicable here), Apple lost a fight over the use of the letter 'i' as a prefix.
We seem to want to get behind David in these situations.
I guess now the courts will decide.
Ummm, Are we reading the same article?
Yes it's been incremental changes but the net result is a significant change.
Perhaps it's just a difference of opinion of what constitutes a major change
In any case it's getting off topic.
Woah- back it up a little there.
Yes it was designed in the 70's. In fact, it was first proposed before Apollo was completed.
However just like every other airframe out there, it has undergone significant change over the years to keep it state of the art.
Check out the write up in this months "Air and Space". Evolution of the Space Shuttle.
Then look at the alternative - The Soyuz. When was that developed? And again undergone continual evolution.
This "Public / Private Partnership" has to be the next step in Space Exploration. As governments have less to prove out in space, spending will be cut. This means private industries will take up the slack and find commercial opportunities. What they will bring to the table are commercial imperatives which drive operating costs down, and profit margins up. I for one believe that in order for us to start colonizing the solar system, we need to demonstrate commercial viability.
The Safety issue? - Yes it's important and we need to make sure cost cutting does not increase the risk to human life.
Oh this is such a good idea. I hope that people in the industry are actually looking at this post and consider this a cheap and easy way to get very very good metrics on watch ability. Sure enough it's probably only good for tech-savy demographics. Dear Mr. Producer, This is a good idea and will cost chicken feed to run. You could take a lot bigger risks and have some surprising results. If free advice is uncomfortable for you then please pay me an obscene amount of money to consult on this project!! ;)
Australian federal election coming up in 2010 (a few months time).
I've already started a list of topics I'm going to weigh up when I cast my vote.
I can't stand Mr. Abbot but I'd put up with him for 1 term if that's what it takes to prevent a Government from gathering the powers to unilaterally and at whim monitor my every move. - I believe the default state should be a right to privacy.
I mean
So all Australians, I encourage you to indicate your opinion to your local member and if it comes to it, vote with your feet. As Mr. Conroy himself said
"[if you disagree with a government's policy, at least you can vote them out]"
(paraphrase). If it's good enough for Google.....
Hey, thanks for your thoughtful reply. I admit to being very suspicious of people in general and large data gathering really makes me want to find a nice and cozy cave to live in.
You are right, they are giving the "honesty is the best policy" impression and for that (regardless of how this all started), they should get some credit.
You also listed a bunch of companies that have been caught collecting data or invading privacy in some way. While you're at it, remember Amazon's latest invasion on the kindle (don't know the product so spelling suspect). Don't you think this problem is becoming a plague?
You know, scientists have to pass all testing related to animal and humans through the Ethics committee (in my country at least). Perhaps these large companies should start doing the same with respect to privacy information? This is such a common issue now, and most of it unbroken ground. - Legislators can't hope to keep up when the envelope is being pushed.
I'm all for the debate and our society needs to evolve with it's new abilities.
OK Here's my view. Flamebait or not.
... the data is 3 years old....did they just sit on it and do nothing with it?
... suffice to say, I'll be doing less of my searches with Google as a direct result, and ensuring my network is buttoned up even tighter the ever.
Google have repeatedly demonstrated some sketchy regard for privacy of others. They have to be dragged kicking and screaming to implement procedures that allow people to remove street view pictures for example.
I agree that in pushing the envelope that they will come across some interesting social topics like the ones that they found in the first run of street view and the one they are back peddling now. And I do believe in the large amount of good Google have done for open source and data use for the public good, (Google earth and maps for instance).
However Google repeatedly are coy whenever they think about collecting information and get asked for explanations on what they will be doing with it.
In this instance I read a BBC article that indicated that the German government asked to review the data and that's when Google "discovered" this "gaff". It wasn't Google unprompted..
What makes even more sobering reading is Google's own blog which admits they were intending on collecting wi-fi SSID's and MAC addresses.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-update.html
For what purpose, I ask, would MAC addresses be collected?
However officially Google now admit to collecting snippets of payload data which is something they expressly ruled out in the original blog. They say this was a mistake...I have my doubts.
Think it through...They are collecting this data
Surely when they started extracting the SSID's and MAC's, they would've noticed the snippets of people emails and websites they also captured...surely the tested the code and the data collected? And then what did they do...Nothing! They didn't exercise any moral judgment and raise the issue of people's privacy on unencrypted networks. They have the platform they could have won some serious brownie points by telling people how to protect themselves. But did nothing. I don't believe they held all this data and didn't know what it was.
This is yet another example of a "mostly good" company collecting peoples personal data for reasons us mere mortals can't understand.
I think there is a real difference between data that is public to your neighbors and then someone posting that data on a billboard in the the main street. For instance, when I'm on holiday perhaps?
Clearly here is an example of data that is not private, in the public domain but is not intended to be distributed to strangers. That level of privacy is not covered by the current laws but needs to be in my opinion.
I could go on but I recon half the people who started reading have stopped already;-),
It just doesn't make any sense to me...
...and recently too!
Given religion's track record, I would have thought that violence was right up their alley?
Why would they want to oppose violent games? It's nothing like the things humans have done to each other in the name of their preferred imaginary friend(s).
I'd like to look at it from another perspective. I assume an IT department in an Hospital your dealing with general desktop apps as well as Patient data for insurance claims and employee data of some description. The thought that confidential patient data might be replicated on someones 'personal' machine quite frankly chills me. If I was Emperor if the IT department, I'd ban and make a sack-able offense plugging your personal machine into the hospital network. In my mind, I'd forgo any ability of employees to check their email from home. In fact I'd actively discourage it unless you were currently on-call for a specific reason and that on-call person would be issued work equipment for the task. If patient data was leaked and the media got hold of the story any argument for using personal machines and not locking down the network and securing the machines connected to it would be fuel for that media frenzy.
Ahhhhh, While I agree that voting usually comes down to "who dislike the least"; informally voting is like being with a bunch of friends deciding on where to eat and when asked, you say 'I don't care, anywhere will do'. Unfortunately in my view if you do that then you surrender your right to complain about how rubbish the meal was later...don't you think?