Perhaps this was already answered in the original discussions about NetPD, but how do programs like this get around Napster's use policy which, iirc, explicitly bans bots like this, or really, bots of any kind?
Why is it a bot? It's just another unofficial Napster client, but aimed at a different bunch of people. Or does `bot' simply mean `anything the music pirat...errrrm I mean.. sharing community don't like'? As for the filename issue, did anybody really have files full of random garbage called Metallica on Napster before Metallica sued? There's really no reason anyone can take the moral high ground about this program being in any way `evil'. It's a perfectly legit tool that helps defeat pirates using the pirates' own toys.
...or maybe I just haven't spent enough time in front of Slashdot to get the joke:-)
In related news: Andover are doing their bit too!
on
Red Hat Helps Fund EFF
·
· Score: 4
Though Slashdot seem a bit coy about it (maybe for good reason): the RIAA are suing Superpimp Software, the guy(s) who make the Pan newsreader for Gnome, because, ummm, it decodes attachments. They want them to remove the program's MIME decoding capabilities because you can trade MP3s that way. The RIAA's final out-of-court offer was for Superpimp comply, they refused, and Andover are putting up money for the defence.
The idea of a paperclip wagging its finger at me, left me speechless the first time I saw it... Wasn't there a notice recently that someone found a scripting hole with said paperclip?
`It looks like you're trying to 0wn this box; would you like me to help?'
Back in 1988, two guys called Ian and Ricky thought up a project called Karma, a game intended to have everything that Terminus had, and more. They'd planned it to run on the super-computer of the day, the Archimedes with its blazingly fast 8MHz ARM2, and they got a lot of code done until one of them was killed in a motorcycle accident (this was back in 1993). Although Ian is still working on it (or rather nobody's heard anything to the contrary), it's been really slow progress, and I don't remember seeing anything from him on comp.sys.acorn.games for a while. Still, it's worth looking at the pitifully out-of-date Karma project page to compare the two.
Maybe they're still hunting the culprit; maybe they don't want to give the little bastard the attention he wants; maybe server downtime is something that speaks for itself; maybe you could just phone Andover.net and ask them? It's not as if anything they don't announce is automatically a conspiracy of silence (or is it? maybe Bill Gates' minions got into their underpants this morning...).
According to an article in The Register, this'll also be the date for the European launch. And according to the Register, they're only shipping a million to each territory, and will have sorted out the DVD `issues'.
I guess this archive is a bit more modern than what those guys play, but if you crave that Amiga experience, it's, well, addictive. It includes the classics such as Gods, SWIV, Magic Pockets (heard the original Betty Boo song on the telly the other day; the Magic Pockets music is a darned good remix given it's only about 200K:-) )... anyway, it's all here.
If you want all of this now in a reliable package Psion have it. Full compatibility with Word, Excel etc. A full Java 1.1.4 runtime so a Full Web browser. Never crashes, boots in milliseconds.
Maybe, but they really are only pitching it to people using MS applications; something I didn't realise when I got mine. The file formats are still pretty mysterious, despite some fine reverse-engineering efforts, and you have to pay them for the latest version of their link software, which I presume is only bugfixes against the really appalling PsiWin 2.1 which they ship with it.
Currently I'm waiting for a Palm IIIx to be delivered after buying it off a guy on Ebay-- the hackability factor, the huge wealth of free software for them (compared to EPOC), and better linkage to Linux has sold me on one, despite the fact that my Psion is faster and has a slightly posher-looking OS. Maybe I'm in a tiny minority here, but I reckon Symbian might lose more customers this way.
What I find, then, is that Slashdot's agenda is: 1. Praise Linux, praise Open Source. 2. Get the Linux and Open Source community to all pat each other in the back for being defenders of the free software world. 3. Get rich off of the companies that they have vested interest in.
Ah, but the encouraging thing is-- if Slashdot readers consist entirely of backslapping open-source bigots, why was your comment moderated to a +4? Why was the top-rated comment about the `Geek Pride' festival one that said, I think, that meeting Eric Raymond would be `about as enticing as a headwound'? Certainly among the Slashdot Illuminati, there's a strong voice of dissent to the party line.
I get the impression that the majority of the comments you read on Slashdot represent the views of a group of kneejerk reactionary teenagers who, like you do when you're a teenager, are trying to find their niche to fit in. The sometimes heady political atmosphere of Linux advocacy is ideal for this sort of self-definition, gives you something to talk about at parties etc. (but does not, repeat not impress girls, take note. Skateboarding is still good for something. )
Anyhow, I think the guys that run this site do a smashing job of keeping us posted. I don't think they have an agenda, but their attitude, like that of most balanced Linux users, is parallel to Linus' when he said jokingly that the purpose of Linux was to `conquer the world'. Slashdot's stories need to be taken with this sort of tongue-in-cheek comment in mind-- yeah, so MS has a dodgy DLL, big deal we will now inherit the earth bwahahaha... you're hardly meant to take it as serious political commentary. But I think the teeny contingent take it seriously and flood the comments boards with Borg-like efficiency because, well, they're just following a crowd like teenagers do.
Hmmm, bit of a ramble. But you get my drift. I don't think Slashdot is going to be descending into back-slapping hell for a long while, and there are some really incisive, decent comments being moderated up. And let's not let ESR do security reports in future, because although he's written some good essays and software, he does have an annoying habit of posting complete tripe here.
First off, its closed source. If we find bugs, we have to report them to the company, which in turn needs to fix them, release a fix (after a looong while), and so on. It won't be good enough.
Yes, I'm sure they'll be completely unresponsive to any criticism, bug reports etc. just because they choose to comply with the licensing restrictions that have enabled them to produce this software so quickly in closing their source. Of course we all know that people who close the source code to the programs pull the legs off small children too.
Secondly, the company is saying "we're doing it the legal way, use us!". eh? They are saying DeCSS is illegal? They are indirectly saying that reverseengineering should be illegal? Excuse me, I don't want to buy ANYTHING from such a company.
Well, help out the Linux DVD folks, write your own player from scratch or live in a world without DVDs. Those are your options. Or just whine a lot on Slashdot; it's a lifestyle choice:-)
And if you're really concerned about getting your player for free, I've no doubt that the moment this software hits the streets, a de-regioning hack, along with probably the full version will be out within not very long...
BT has been experimenting with and promising ADSL for a long time. They are just getting a trial service under way with some ISPs. Those who have it say it works great, but roll-out of the trials has not been terribly successful. BT have just extended the trial time. It is widely suspected that they don't want people to have high speed net access because this will lose BT its lucrative leased line market (ISTR a 64kbit line costs £1,000/month).
I'm pretty sure you can get a 64k leased line from Pipex for about £4000 / year, so maybe this figure is wrong. But it doesn't change the fact that even if they do prostitute ET in their advertisements, we still won't think they're a cute furry company:-)
Whats the bet that this was a testing function that the programmer forgot to remove. The funny thing is that it must have been one of the designers of the machine that has leaked this out.
Oh I'm sure it was some debug code. Just like that DVD player that Tescos are selling over here which switched to multi-region when you `accidentally' zap it with an Aiwa hi-fi remote control. I think somebody, somewhere is sympathetic to the cause...
I have to strongly dissagree with his thinking. Most of the criticism of Linux of late is that its hard to install. Well of course its hard for an average user with limited computer experience to install
The fact is that any OS installation is pretty hard work. It's just that 99% of Windows users never have to do that because their computers come with it pre-loaded. At least Linux installers offer to format your HD for you-- Win98 expects your drive to be already formatted when most drives I buy aren't these days.
I found this pretty amusing-- I mean, a company that takes photographs of your house from space having a carefully-worded policy on what they're going to do with your freakin' cookies:-)
You have to replace the | characters with a less-than, and two greater-than signs respectively because Slashdot strips 'em out:-) But that'll take any HTML out of user's comments. If users to be able to post links, why not just scan for URLs and put anchor tags around then?
But then I thought we all knew browser-side scripting was inherently insecure...? Why has CERT only just decided this is a problem worthy of their attention?
To what extent will these `click-wrap' licenses be enforcable, then? I mean, if somewhere in small print down the bottom of the text, it says something about the user being required to witness a weekly RealVideo broadcast of Bill Gates shagging a goat for the duration they use the software... is that enforcable? I hardly think a software manufacturer could write anything they liked.
There must be some enforcement of statutory rights; if this bill is just being pushed through by software manufacturers, what will your government say to one industry that wishes to disclaim all responsibility for its actions? My guess is it ain't gonna happen.
And what's with the hysteria of snap decisions on licensing? What's the difference between a click in the installation process, breaking the seal on a CD jewel case or just firing up the software for the first time? As long as you know what you're agreeing to, as long as you know what signifies your acceptance, and as long as the contract you're agreeing to is legal, where's the problem?
I'm not trying to sound confrontational with my post but there's a lot of hysteria flying about and nobody's quite told me what it's about yet.
This was announced last week and, not wishing to be smug, but I submitted almost exactly this story the day it was released. Rejected VERY quickly.
Sounds familiar; I'm waiting for the somebody else's version of the story that NEdit has been released under the GPL to appear as news here. I mean, a quick straw poll: how many people care about the source code to an Amiga program being GPL'd compared to that of a slick, emacs-thrashing programmer's editor? It's not that I think that any source code liberation isn't worthy of note, but a sense of priority would be nice on an essentially Linux-biased site such as this.
When programming, I try to keep 50% of my concentration on the job at hand, 25% on how I'm doing it, 12.5% on how I'm thinking about how I'm doing it, 6.25% on how I'm thinking about how I'm thinking about... etc. ad nauseam.
The article is great though, really bringing some of that horrible Computer Science stuff out into the open. I think most programmers who haven't been formally trained eventually start banging their heads against brick walls. But their problems are often well-served by these sorts of accessible and pragmagic articles on theory.
Though I agree wholeheartedly with what Tim says, it's perfectly possible to sit at your keyboard wondering about your approach to a program, deciding that a C++ / Apache / carrier pigeon hybrid solution might involve a bodge and there must be a better way of doing things. And then you've got a deadline looming (or a life to be getting on with), panic, write the whole thing in COBOL and have done with it.
Slashdot Mirror
Yup, and the Beeb have a report on this. Never mind Terence and Philip, I think this is something that might start a war.
Perhaps this was already answered in the original discussions about NetPD, but how do programs like this get around Napster's use policy which, iirc, explicitly bans bots like this, or really, bots of any kind?
...errrrm I mean.. sharing community don't like'? As for the filename issue, did anybody really have files full of random garbage called Metallica on Napster before Metallica sued? There's really no reason anyone can take the moral high ground about this program being in any way `evil'. It's a perfectly legit tool that helps defeat pirates using the pirates' own toys.
Why is it a bot? It's just another unofficial Napster client, but aimed at a different bunch of people. Or does `bot' simply mean `anything the music pirat
...or maybe I just haven't spent enough time in front of Slashdot to get the joke :-)
Though Slashdot seem a bit coy about it (maybe for good reason): the RIAA are suing Superpimp Software, the guy(s) who make the Pan newsreader for Gnome, because, ummm, it decodes attachments. They want them to remove the program's MIME decoding capabilities because you can trade MP3s that way. The RIAA's final out-of-court offer was for Superpimp comply, they refused, and Andover are putting up money for the defence.
:-)
C'mon, guys, surely this is a story!
The idea of a paperclip wagging its finger at me, left me speechless the first time I saw it...
Wasn't there a notice recently that someone found a scripting hole with said paperclip?
`It looks like you're trying to 0wn this box; would you like me to help?'
Back in 1988, two guys called Ian and Ricky thought up a project called Karma, a game intended to have everything that Terminus had, and more. They'd planned it to run on the super-computer of the day, the Archimedes with its blazingly fast 8MHz ARM2, and they got a lot of code done until one of them was killed in a motorcycle accident (this was back in 1993). Although Ian is still working on it (or rather nobody's heard anything to the contrary), it's been really slow progress, and I don't remember seeing anything from him on comp.sys.acorn.games for a while. Still, it's worth looking at the pitifully out-of-date Karma project page to compare the two.
Maybe they're still hunting the culprit; maybe they don't want to give the little bastard the attention he wants; maybe server downtime is something that speaks for itself; maybe you could just phone Andover.net and ask them? It's not as if anything they don't announce is automatically a conspiracy of silence (or is it? maybe Bill Gates' minions got into their underpants this morning...).
According to an article in The Register, this'll also be the date for the European launch. And according to the Register, they're only shipping a million to each territory, and will have sorted out the DVD `issues'.
I guess this archive is a bit more modern than what those guys play, but if you crave that Amiga experience, it's, well, addictive. It includes the classics such as Gods, SWIV, Magic Pockets (heard the original Betty Boo song on the telly the other day; the Magic Pockets music is a darned good remix given it's only about 200K :-) )... anyway, it's all here.
Just when you thought it was safe to come out...
If you want all of this now in a reliable package Psion have it. Full compatibility with Word, Excel etc. A full Java 1.1.4 runtime so a Full Web browser. Never crashes, boots in milliseconds.
Maybe, but they really are only pitching it to people using MS applications; something I didn't realise when I got mine. The file formats are still pretty mysterious, despite some fine reverse-engineering efforts, and you have to pay them for the latest version of their link software, which I presume is only bugfixes against the really appalling PsiWin 2.1 which they ship with it.
Currently I'm waiting for a Palm IIIx to be delivered after buying it off a guy on Ebay-- the hackability factor, the huge wealth of free software for them (compared to EPOC), and better linkage to Linux has sold me on one, despite the fact that my Psion is faster and has a slightly posher-looking OS. Maybe I'm in a tiny minority here, but I reckon Symbian might lose more customers this way.
Come on, nobody's taken it yet... :-)
What I find, then, is that Slashdot's agenda is: 1. Praise Linux, praise Open Source. 2. Get the Linux and Open Source community to all pat each other in the back for being defenders of the free software world. 3. Get rich off of the companies that they have vested interest in.
Ah, but the encouraging thing is-- if Slashdot readers consist entirely of backslapping open-source bigots, why was your comment moderated to a +4? Why was the top-rated comment about the `Geek Pride' festival one that said, I think, that meeting Eric Raymond would be `about as enticing as a headwound'? Certainly among the Slashdot Illuminati, there's a strong voice of dissent to the party line.
I get the impression that the majority of the comments you read on Slashdot represent the views of a group of kneejerk reactionary teenagers who, like you do when you're a teenager, are trying to find their niche to fit in. The sometimes heady political atmosphere of Linux advocacy is ideal for this sort of self-definition, gives you something to talk about at parties etc. (but does not, repeat not impress girls, take note. Skateboarding is still good for something. )
Anyhow, I think the guys that run this site do a smashing job of keeping us posted. I don't think they have an agenda, but their attitude, like that of most balanced Linux users, is parallel to Linus' when he said jokingly that the purpose of Linux was to `conquer the world'. Slashdot's stories need to be taken with this sort of tongue-in-cheek comment in mind-- yeah, so MS has a dodgy DLL, big deal we will now inherit the earth bwahahaha... you're hardly meant to take it as serious political commentary. But I think the teeny contingent take it seriously and flood the comments boards with Borg-like efficiency because, well, they're just following a crowd like teenagers do.
Hmmm, bit of a ramble. But you get my drift. I don't think Slashdot is going to be descending into back-slapping hell for a long while, and there are some really incisive, decent comments being moderated up. And let's not let ESR do security reports in future, because although he's written some good essays and software, he does have an annoying habit of posting complete tripe here.
Go see...
`April Fool' by John Hegley
A good time for an April Fool
is when it is unexpected.
Like early October.
First off, its closed source. If we find bugs, we have to report them to the company, which in turn needs to fix them, release a fix (after a looong while), and so on. It won't be good enough.
Yes, I'm sure they'll be completely unresponsive to any criticism, bug reports etc. just because they choose to comply with the licensing restrictions that have enabled them to produce this software so quickly in closing their source. Of course we all know that people who close the source code to the programs pull the legs off small children too.
Secondly, the company is saying "we're doing it the legal way, use us!". eh? They are saying DeCSS is illegal? They are indirectly saying that reverseengineering should be illegal? Excuse me, I don't want to buy ANYTHING from such a company.
Well, help out the Linux DVD folks, write your own player from scratch or live in a world without DVDs. Those are your options. Or just whine a lot on Slashdot; it's a lifestyle choice
And if you're really concerned about getting your player for free, I've no doubt that the moment this software hits the streets, a de-regioning hack, along with probably the full version will be out within not very long...
BT has been experimenting with and promising ADSL for a long time. They are just getting a trial service under way with some ISPs. Those who have it say it works great, but roll-out of the trials has not been terribly successful. BT have just extended the trial time. It is widely suspected that they don't want people to have high speed net access because this will lose BT its lucrative leased line market (ISTR a 64kbit line costs £1,000/month).
:-)
I'm pretty sure you can get a 64k leased line from Pipex for about £4000 / year, so maybe this figure is wrong. But it doesn't change the fact that even if they do prostitute ET in their advertisements, we still won't think they're a cute furry company
And there is definitely something sinister behind those moving eyes...
Is it still there?
Whats the bet that this was a testing function that the programmer forgot to remove. The funny thing is that it must have been one of the designers of the machine that has leaked this out.
Oh I'm sure it was some debug code. Just like that DVD player that Tescos are selling over here which switched to multi-region when you `accidentally' zap it with an Aiwa hi-fi remote control. I think somebody, somewhere is sympathetic to the cause...
I have to strongly dissagree with his thinking. Most of the criticism of Linux of late is that its hard to install. Well of course its hard for an average user with limited computer experience to install
The fact is that any OS installation is pretty hard work. It's just that 99% of Windows users never have to do that because their computers come with it pre-loaded. At least Linux installers offer to format your HD for you-- Win98 expects your drive to be already formatted when most drives I buy aren't these days.
I found this pretty amusing-- I mean, a company that takes photographs of your house from space having a carefully-worded policy on what they're going to do with your freakin' cookies :-)
$user_input =~ s/|([^|])*|/ /gs;
:-) But that'll take any HTML out of user's comments. If users to be able to post links, why not just scan for URLs and put anchor tags around then?
You have to replace the | characters with a less-than, and two greater-than signs respectively because Slashdot strips 'em out
But then I thought we all knew browser-side scripting was inherently insecure...? Why has CERT only just decided this is a problem worthy of their attention?
To what extent will these `click-wrap' licenses be enforcable, then? I mean, if somewhere in small print down the bottom of the text, it says something about the user being required to witness a weekly RealVideo broadcast of Bill Gates shagging a goat for the duration they use the software... is that enforcable? I hardly think a software manufacturer could write anything they liked.
There must be some enforcement of statutory rights; if this bill is just being pushed through by software manufacturers, what will your government say to one industry that wishes to disclaim all responsibility for its actions? My guess is it ain't gonna happen.
And what's with the hysteria of snap decisions on licensing? What's the difference between a click in the installation process, breaking the seal on a CD jewel case or just firing up the software for the first time? As long as you know what you're agreeing to, as long as you know what signifies your acceptance, and as long as the contract you're agreeing to is legal, where's the problem?
I'm not trying to sound confrontational with my post but there's a lot of hysteria flying about and nobody's quite told me what it's about yet.
--
Matthew
This was announced last week and, not wishing to be smug, but I submitted almost exactly this story the day it was released. Rejected VERY quickly.
Sounds familiar; I'm waiting for the somebody else's version of the story that NEdit has been released under the GPL to appear as news here. I mean, a quick straw poll: how many people care about the source code to an Amiga program being GPL'd compared to that of a slick, emacs-thrashing programmer's editor? It's not that I think that any source code liberation isn't worthy of note, but a sense of priority would be nice on an essentially Linux-biased site such as this.
When programming, I try to keep 50% of my concentration on the job at hand, 25% on how I'm doing it, 12.5% on how I'm thinking about how I'm doing it, 6.25% on how I'm thinking about how I'm thinking about... etc. ad nauseam.
The article is great though, really bringing some of that horrible Computer Science stuff out into the open. I think most programmers who haven't been formally trained eventually start banging their heads against brick walls. But their problems are often well-served by these sorts of accessible and pragmagic articles on theory.
Though I agree wholeheartedly with what Tim says, it's perfectly possible to sit at your keyboard wondering about your approach to a program, deciding that a C++ / Apache / carrier pigeon hybrid solution might involve a bodge and there must be a better way of doing things. And then you've got a deadline looming (or a life to be getting on with), panic, write the whole thing in COBOL and have done with it.