I can see it already. Buy stock in Terminix... they'll have a contract on your electric car before you can blink.
Re:Maybe there's a silver lining here...
on
Storm Worm Rising
·
· Score: 1
This is most definitely not what we need. Botnets and viruses are either the result of immature over intelligence, or outright malicious criminal act. They cost real people real time/money to combat.
The solution is neither simple, nor painless. If detection of a botnet infection is (as it is now) left to the end user, one would merely have to "not check" in order to circumvent quarantine. And lets face it... how many users would really allow their ISP to deep scan their system for possible botnet infection? The situation only gets worse if botnet scans are mandated by a government body... can you imagine every PC in the country running some mandated bloatware developed by the lowest bidder on the government contract? Nope. No chance of that happening.
If the problem were easily solvable, it would have been solved long ago. There is no financial incentive for Redmond to produce a invulnerable OS... an entire anti-virus industry exists based on their buggy OS... one in which Redmond actively participates with their own anti-virus solution. Conflict of interest? You do the math.
The only real answer is in accountability. Make both OS manufacturers and virus creators accountable, to some degree, for losses. What would Redmond's bottom line look like if they had to pay damages based on man-hours lost because of holes in their buggy OS? You could even limit the damages to the actual cost of the original OS. I'd be willing to bet on 2 things... 1) that Bill Gates wouldn't be cashing out his options to the tune of $1B / quarter... and 2) that the next Redmond OS would be a little bit more secure.
Virus creators are another problem... once identified, they need to spend hard time in a Federal PMITA Prison... 1 day of time served per infected system. That should make the point. A small sized infection could easily churn up a 20 year sentence. At the current rate of technological change, am pretty sure the perp would have some degree of difficulty repeating the offense at the end of that kind of prison term.
*Terrorist #1: "What do you mean I have a squid on my face?" *Terrorist #2: screw this guys. we don't even have a prophet in our group. i'm going fishing.
i've read some RAH... but am by no means a RAH expert. wife picked this up for me as a b-day gift... and i was floored. enjoyed the work quite a lot... i felt many times that RAH himself would have approved very strongly of the work. imo, SR paid RAH his highest compliment by attempting such a project... and succeeded in writing a book i will treasure for years to come.
my beagle loved the book too... at least its binding back cover. *sob* have to spring for another copy now... worth it tho.
appears on the surface to be as you have described, but from what i've read they are also going to support 3rd party co-processors in the extra slot... for say... a dedicated physics or encryption engine. not that i think either of those are particularly useful except in overspecialized situations...
i'm not an intel fan...but i've got to tip my hat to them. they've put out a chip that actually looks "worth buying" for a change. amd needs to update their fab to 65nm and increase on-die cache sizes... imo that will do a lot to close the performance gap again...
i remember an article from an old computer magazine from 1990... in which some company claimed to have invented infinate compression. the reporter, somewhat skeptical, visited them and confirmed that they did, indeed, have the ability to compress previously compressed files with very impressive ratios at every compression... so much so that they could, in theory, reduce the entire contents of the library of congress to a single (3.5") floppy disk. the problem that the company was on the verge of solving was... de-compression of their compressed format. but they were nearly there... just 2-3 years away.
Saying that you'd stop using Firefox if this is deployed is like saying you'd stop going to Wal-Mart if they have cameras watching you... but wait... they do. Face it. You're on the web. You're being tracked. OMG! Slashdot is tracking me now!!1!!1
but seriously... as a tool to improve user experience, this is a GREAT idea. decouple the link tracking from the target page loading. however, until it's adopted in a standard way by all browsers, it's useless. this can already be done in numerous ways thru javascript, proxy pages, inventive link creation, mod-rewrite... there are as many ways to track user clicks as there are competent developers.
sure, make it disableable. additionally, make it configurable to set the maximum number of PINGs per click. and lastly, limit the URLs to the originating site only.
brings a tear to my eye. reminds me of a time when we decomissioned an old domain name that had not been used in years... got a call about a week later from some dude in germany requesting that we re-enable the "mail server" on that domain so he could run his mailing list. nevermind the obvious "wtf??!?" questions... for giggles we re-enabled the domain in our DNS systems & pointed the MX to 127.0.0.1.
*boggle* You measure experience in resume & personal interview. IMO, degrees by themselves mean little other than a formal cursory knowledge of the subject area. Practical knowledge comes only from experience. Any CS graduate can rattle off the O() value for most generic sorting algorithms, but how many can tell you the best way to code a shared memory cache for basic authentication for a web server that sees 800k hits a day?
I've got a BSCS and wouldn't even consider going back for anything more. I am biased of course... I am a programmer. If you have a CS degree and don't want to be a programmer, then yes... choose another degree and move on up the ladder. Try to find something you enjoy... because unless you're independently wealthy, the chances are you'll be doing it for a while.
delisting is not quite as it sounds. they would really "move" from Nasdaq SmallCap to OTCBB or Pink Sheets. they would still, however, be a publicly traded company.
... with 14 years real world experience (get this) programming. Oh... and if ya gonna try and dis me, at least be a man and sign in, ya (wait... let me copy & paste...) Anonymous Coward. For once the name fits.
Seriously tho... how many non-degree'd programmers would know when and where to use a n-phase merge sort over a standard quicksort algorithm? Binary vs iterative searches? Hell, proper use of simple recursion? Experience shows you how to do these... but education plants the concepts in your mind and can give you some insight on when they are the proper choice.
If you don't understand the benefits of the broad exposure to concepts that a structured college education can give you, then it is probably not for you. Find an education system that works for you and go with that... just don't settle for ignorance like the Anonymous Coward from above.
As far as math goes, back in the early 90's I had to have up thru Calculus 3 for a BS in CS (public state university). Careerwise, I rarely use math more advanced than pointer arithmetic and boolean logic... and when I do dive into the deep end of math, I usually have field-knowledgable professionals at my disposal to verify my logic.
I think this question leads straight to the "degree vs no degree" debate in computer science. I've seen many comments about how many computer skills come on-job rather than from the school room, and I tend to agree with that argument up to a point. I know that 90% of my everyday useful computer skills came on the job, HOWEVER, in my work experience I've worked with many degree'd and non-degreed computer folks, and in general the degree'd associates generated better quality of work. This is not to say that there are not many talented non-degree'd programmers... but in my opinion, exposure to advanced topics in school gives a programmer an edge over folks who may never be exposed to concepts because the workplace never required it. School teaches you how to learn and exposes you to advanced concepts you "may" never need... but then if you've never been exposed to a concept you sure as hell will never find a case to use it.
Wash, Rinse, and Repeat for all advanced college courses.
If i were in the market for a service like iTunes, i would divide the market into 3 categories (in order of preferential subscription)
all services unencumbered by DRM.
services encumbered by DRM in name alone (e.g.: those not enforced legally)
all others.
each of the services would then be rated in terms of usability, availability, and cost... after which i would doubtlessly come up with some arbitrary value for each & make a choice as to service. at this time, iTunes falls into the 3rd category... and rather than settle for something that degrades me as a human being, i would rather wait and see what technology brings me tomorrow.
to quote Andrew Tannenbaum,
The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from. And if you really don't like all the standards you just have to wait another year until the one arises you are looking for.
3. Whether or not the DMCA is unconstitutional is irrelevant to the fact that, at least with regard to Sourceforge, Apple used a law in existence in its favor - how can it be faulted for that?
It could choose NOT to seek enforcement of the DMCA in this case, rather than supporting the supression of a user's right to choose where and how a purchased media product can be used.
The number of arguments is irrelevant unless some of them are correct. This is not a grey area. The choice is clear. The right to use vs perpetual indenture to a media format provider.
Apple has fulfilled it's requirement (to RIAA no doubt) to obfuscate the media content it is delivering. Taking a neutral stance on encryption circumvention of this product would doubtless earn them respect in the eyes of users rights advocates, while heavy handed enforcement of a law with such dubious pedigree as DMCA can only hurt their reputation as being a "friend of the little guy". Again, the choice is clear.
Corporate politics be damned, but I hope to live to see the day a company actually sides with it's users rather than big media.
5. If you don't like the iTunes Music Store license, don't buy music from it.
Exactly. I understand and accept that apple wants to promote their hardware products. I only ask that apple understands and accepts that promotion of their products by means of legal threats in opposition of users rights prevents my support and use of their products. As mere users, with apparently no rights, the only thing we can do is not support them. That is my choice.
This fine is strictly front pocket money for MSFT... and/or Bill Gates, for that matter. They don't need to take ANY internal action on this other than whipping out their checkbook and asking "To whom should we make this check payable?" The company has more than $50b (yes billion, francis) in current assets at the moment, including more than $6b in cash and $42b in marketable securities. Bill Gates himself cashes out on personal stock & options to the tune of over $1b/year ($546,439,392 so far this year) in pre-scheduled liquidations, of course. Since 2002, he has sold more then 100 million shares of microsoft...
500m euro is just 1 step up from the joke of a settlement the USDOJ got handed... err... handed them. The only downside (apart from the insignificant loss of capital) that I can see is the impression that it hurts them... which may have negative impact on their stock price for a short time. But this too can be used to turn a profit...
Slashdot Mirror
I think I'm missing some op-codes.
I can see it already. Buy stock in Terminix ... they'll have a contract on your electric car before you can blink.
This is most definitely not what we need. Botnets and viruses are either the result of immature over intelligence, or outright malicious criminal act. They cost real people real time/money to combat.
... how many users would really allow their ISP to deep scan their system for possible botnet infection? The situation only gets worse if botnet scans are mandated by a government body ... can you imagine every PC in the country running some mandated bloatware developed by the lowest bidder on the government contract? Nope. No chance of that happening.
... an entire anti-virus industry exists based on their buggy OS ... one in which Redmond actively participates with their own anti-virus solution. Conflict of interest? You do the math.
... 1) that Bill Gates wouldn't be cashing out his options to the tune of $1B / quarter... and 2) that the next Redmond OS would be a little bit more secure.
... once identified, they need to spend hard time in a Federal PMITA Prison ... 1 day of time served per infected system. That should make the point. A small sized infection could easily churn up a 20 year sentence. At the current rate of technological change, am pretty sure the perp would have some degree of difficulty repeating the offense at the end of that kind of prison term.
The solution is neither simple, nor painless. If detection of a botnet infection is (as it is now) left to the end user, one would merely have to "not check" in order to circumvent quarantine. And lets face it
If the problem were easily solvable, it would have been solved long ago. There is no financial incentive for Redmond to produce a invulnerable OS
The only real answer is in accountability. Make both OS manufacturers and virus creators accountable, to some degree, for losses. What would Redmond's bottom line look like if they had to pay damages based on man-hours lost because of holes in their buggy OS? You could even limit the damages to the actual cost of the original OS. I'd be willing to bet on 2 things
Virus creators are another problem
1) Disable Java. ...
2)
3) NO PROFIT!
... and it's not even April 1.
*Terrorist #1: "What do you mean I have a squid on my face?"
*Terrorist #2: screw this guys. we don't even have a prophet in our group. i'm going fishing.
Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
This could be the bestest thing in supercomputing EVAR!!1!one!1
I've always wanted a computer named Steve...
I guess they ran out of 128 bit numbers. :-/
i've read some RAH ... but am by no means a RAH expert. wife picked this up for me as a b-day gift ... and i was floored. enjoyed the work quite a lot ... i felt many times that RAH himself would have approved very strongly of the work. imo, SR paid RAH his highest compliment by attempting such a project ... and succeeded in writing a book i will treasure for years to come.
... at least its binding back cover. *sob* have to spring for another copy now... worth it tho.
my beagle loved the book too
appears on the surface to be as you have described, but from what i've read they are also going to support 3rd party co-processors in the extra slot ... for say ... a dedicated physics or encryption engine. not that i think either of those are particularly useful except in overspecialized situations...
...but i've got to tip my hat to them. they've put out a chip that actually looks "worth buying" for a change. amd needs to update their fab to 65nm and increase on-die cache sizes ... imo that will do a lot to close the performance gap again...
i'm not an intel fan
i remember an article from an old computer magazine from 1990 ... in which some company claimed to have invented infinate compression. the reporter, somewhat skeptical, visited them and confirmed that they did, indeed, have the ability to compress previously compressed files with very impressive ratios at every compression ... so much so that they could, in theory, reduce the entire contents of the library of congress to a single (3.5") floppy disk. the problem that the company was on the verge of solving was ... de-compression of their compressed format. but they were nearly there ... just 2-3 years away.
Saying that you'd stop using Firefox if this is deployed is like saying you'd stop going to Wal-Mart if they have cameras watching you ... but wait ... they do. Face it. You're on the web. You're being tracked. OMG! Slashdot is tracking me now!!1!!1
... as a tool to improve user experience, this is a GREAT idea. decouple the link tracking from the target page loading. however, until it's adopted in a standard way by all browsers, it's useless. this can already be done in numerous ways thru javascript, proxy pages, inventive link creation, mod-rewrite ... there are as many ways to track user clicks as there are competent developers.
but seriously
sure, make it disableable. additionally, make it configurable to set the maximum number of PINGs per click. and lastly, limit the URLs to the originating site only.
Developers now holding managers laiable for crappy software requirements...
brings a tear to my eye. reminds me of a time when we decomissioned an old domain name that had not been used in years ... got a call about a week later from some dude in germany requesting that we re-enable the "mail server" on that domain so he could run his mailing list. nevermind the obvious "wtf??!?" questions ... for giggles we re-enabled the domain in our DNS systems & pointed the MX to 127.0.0.1.
*boggle* You measure experience in resume & personal interview. IMO, degrees by themselves mean little other than a formal cursory knowledge of the subject area. Practical knowledge comes only from experience. Any CS graduate can rattle off the O() value for most generic sorting algorithms, but how many can tell you the best way to code a shared memory cache for basic authentication for a web server that sees 800k hits a day?
... I am a programmer. If you have a CS degree and don't want to be a programmer, then yes ... choose another degree and move on up the ladder. Try to find something you enjoy ... because unless you're independently wealthy, the chances are you'll be doing it for a while.
I've got a BSCS and wouldn't even consider going back for anything more. I am biased of course
delisting is not quite as it sounds. they would really "move" from Nasdaq SmallCap to OTCBB or Pink Sheets. they would still, however, be a publicly traded company.
me thinks they need to "Make" a subscription service that can handle a decent slashdotting...
no.
Add to the "Seven Samurai" - The Magnificent Seven
TechJapan writes...
Unless my english is way too rusty, this certainly sounds like a HD recorder.
Seriously tho
If you don't understand the benefits of the broad exposure to concepts that a structured college education can give you, then it is probably not for you. Find an education system that works for you and go with that
As far as math goes, back in the early 90's I had to have up thru Calculus 3 for a BS in CS (public state university). Careerwise, I rarely use math more advanced than pointer arithmetic and boolean logic ... and when I do dive into the deep end of math, I usually have field-knowledgable professionals at my disposal to verify my logic.
... but in my opinion, exposure to advanced topics in school gives a programmer an edge over folks who may never be exposed to concepts because the workplace never required it. School teaches you how to learn and exposes you to advanced concepts you "may" never need ... but then if you've never been exposed to a concept you sure as hell will never find a case to use it.
I think this question leads straight to the "degree vs no degree" debate in computer science. I've seen many comments about how many computer skills come on-job rather than from the school room, and I tend to agree with that argument up to a point. I know that 90% of my everyday useful computer skills came on the job, HOWEVER, in my work experience I've worked with many degree'd and non-degreed computer folks, and in general the degree'd associates generated better quality of work. This is not to say that there are not many talented non-degree'd programmers
Wash, Rinse, and Repeat for all advanced college courses.
If i were in the market for a service like iTunes, i would divide the market into 3 categories (in order of preferential subscription)
- all services unencumbered by DRM.
- services encumbered by DRM in name alone (e.g.: those not enforced legally)
- all others.
each of the services would then be rated in terms of usability, availability, and costto quote Andrew Tannenbaum,i'm waiting for a unencumbered standard.
It could choose NOT to seek enforcement of the DMCA in this case, rather than supporting the supression of a user's right to choose where and how a purchased media product can be used.
The number of arguments is irrelevant unless some of them are correct. This is not a grey area. The choice is clear. The right to use vs perpetual indenture to a media format provider.
Apple has fulfilled it's requirement (to RIAA no doubt) to obfuscate the media content it is delivering. Taking a neutral stance on encryption circumvention of this product would doubtless earn them respect in the eyes of users rights advocates, while heavy handed enforcement of a law with such dubious pedigree as DMCA can only hurt their reputation as being a "friend of the little guy". Again, the choice is clear.
Corporate politics be damned, but I hope to live to see the day a company actually sides with it's users rather than big media.
Exactly. I understand and accept that apple wants to promote their hardware products. I only ask that apple understands and accepts that promotion of their products by means of legal threats in opposition of users rights prevents my support and use of their products. As mere users, with apparently no rights, the only thing we can do is not support them. That is my choice.
This fine is strictly front pocket money for MSFT ... and/or Bill Gates, for that matter. They don't need to take ANY internal action on this other than whipping out their checkbook and asking "To whom should we make this check payable?" The company has more than $50b (yes billion, francis) in current assets at the moment, including more than $6b in cash and $42b in marketable securities. Bill Gates himself cashes out on personal stock & options to the tune of over $1b/year ($546,439,392 so far this year) in pre-scheduled liquidations, of course. Since 2002, he has sold more then 100 million shares of microsoft...
... handed them. The only downside (apart from the insignificant loss of capital) that I can see is the impression that it hurts them ... which may have negative impact on their stock price for a short time. But this too can be used to turn a profit...
500m euro is just 1 step up from the joke of a settlement the USDOJ got handed... err