Houses use power measured in KiloWatt-Hours, right? This should be 10 Watt-Hours, I suppose.
Plus �a change, plus c'est la mem chose...
on
High-Speed Greed
·
· Score: 5
IANAA, (I Am Not An American) but hail from thier neigbour to the North. Since much of what goes on below the 49th eventually happens up here, I'll comment anyway.
Isn't it amazing. Here we are, 224 years after the American Revolution, and we're back to square one. If this follows through, the Citizens of the Good Ol' US of A will be paying sales tax to a coproration. Heh. Something like that hasn't happened since, ohhhhh... the British Crown decided to tax tea. Read the link, kids - that was to save a faltering coporation, namely the East India Company, too.
So, we have taxes on audio capable blanks to make sure the RIAA and it's kin get thier fair share, absurd patents and copyrights whose sole purpose is to guarantee profits for already successful companies, and now this. Makes you sick, especially when this and this stare you in the face each night on the news
Welcome to the Free World, fellow serfs, look what the American Free Market eventually brings you - The Copristocracy. It works just like an Aristocracy, but instead of being appointed by a King, the people in it founded a successful company, are paying off our "elected" officials to pass laws so they keep thier fabulous wealth, so they can pass it on to thier progeny - just like a Duke, Prince or Barron. So much for the Revolution, eh?
"1. Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch." Far fetched? Hear me out.
Slashdot, Vanguard (according to Katz, anyway) of the Geek Culture, is a victim of it's own success.
I started here not long after Linux hit the mainstream, just as I got curious about the "new OS in town". Seemed like a nice spot. I think a search engine link brought me here. My first post was some drivel about how Linux zealots were being hipocrytes - they wanted users, but only the smart ones, and that wasn't how to complete the "World Domination" they craved. My little diatribe seemed well recieved, and caused a good discussion to happen - so I created my account and have stuck around. (Actually, IIRC, my response was to a someone slagging Kats when he was trying to install Linux on his laptop - and Taco helped him with it. Ironic, eh?) It seems I've watched/. go downhill ever since. Why? Simple - the human need for acceptance. This, faithful Slashdot Readers, Friends, Moderators, Karma Whores and Trolls, is the itch that/. scratches.
The one thing that always strikes one full in the face about the "geek culture" is that it's real currency is Intellect, and the display thereof. CmdrTaco, in his infinite wisdom, put a real, monetary value to the intellegence displayed by we people who post - Karma points - instead of measuring them by the quality of the thread created. Now, intead of soliciting replies in order to get lively debate, discussion and possibly New Clues, we solicit Karma. Karma, so we don't look like idiots to our peers. Or, if we figure that we don't rate, and haven't got the chance to, we troll or pop in as an AC - to hopefully deflect some of the moderators away from putting other people's "Inellect" ahead of our own. Signal 11 is right - it's now a contest to see who can win the title of "Most Intellegent Geek", not "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters" - we all seem to want scratch our itch to be viewed as "Intelligent" to our peers.
No Slashdot account with a cool nic? You're just not in the game anymore, man. Don't run Linux? Further damage to your credibility. Only 3 Karma points? HAHAHHAH, you're either a moron or a Micr$oft shill, dude!
Personally, it's getting to the point that I don't give a flying fuck about my Karma anymore. +1 Bonus? Who cares. It'll just be drowned out in the rush to be first with some sort of incredibly pendantic navel gazing that we've all heard before. "Preaching to the Chior" indeed.
At least I don't have to sort through C/Net, ZDNet,Kiro5hin or the BBC to get to the importatnt stuff anymore - just the repeat stories here. VA - you've been HAD.
"Thank you for your post. That'll be 5.95 in Karma, buddy"
Yeah, yeah. Lots of "OhmyGAWD, they apologised", "They feel the heat", etc., etc. posts. No one seems to notice that this opens the door for YAISMTMTFS (Yet Another Industrial Strength Multi Tasking Multi Threaded File System) for ALL operating systems. NTFS, especially V5, (fragmentation aside) is fast, stable, hard to corrupt and reasonably secure. IMHO, it's one of the few really good things to come out of Redmond - period.
Perhaps the Redmond boys _have_ finally seen the light. After all, they employ geeks. Geeks who are exposed to other geeks, who have not been assimilated. They are, I'm sure like you and I - interested in all the latest cool stuff, including Open Source, open standards and new and fresh ideas. This stuff can't be filtered out by any firewall I know of. (Except MS Proxy, maybe, but that's because it tends to filter THE WHOLE FSCKING NET! GA....oops, sorry, lost meself for a sec. Back to Karma Whoring...)
One's IQ does not necessarily drop 40 points once you walk into the M$ campus, does it? Is it posssible that they do some sort of black magic ceremony that instantly turns you from a moral person into one of Bill's evil minions? I think not. I think that we are indeed affecting the Microsoft mind set - for the better. This wonderful movement called Open Source has spread to the Campus, and started to change things for the better. How could it not? Yes, Hugh is alive and well in the collective. Bet on it.
Besides, there are (or were, anyway) a few M$ employees here on/. who have an inordinate amount of Karma.;o)
Fantastic definition. I think it needs to be in the Jargon file.
But, upon reflection, this definition would make MacGyver the ultimate hacker, wouldn't it?:)
...and this is in reference to...what? The story is about a company that uses a cooling unit (likely 50-60Lbs and a 400W power sink in itself) almost the size of the PC to overclock an Athlon to 1.6 GHz. You want to lug that around for a laptop? I can see it now:
(On American flight 2603 to Little Rock)
Stewardess: Excuse me sir, but you'll have to put your "laptop" away.
Cecil: What? No way, lady, the guy next to me is using his! And he's only got a Tecra! Mine's a Sys Cold-Fusion!
Stewardess: I know, sir, but your computer is taking up the entire aisle.
Cecil. Computer? See, it fit's under the seat in front of me!
Stewardess: Oh? Is THAT why the upolstery is smouldering? And that battery pack above us...
Cecil: What? The lead-acid cells are 2 lbs under the storage capacity of the overhead bin!
Stewardess: Actually, we need to stow those in the hazardous waste container at the back of the plane.
Cecil: Great! No power! You have an adapter?
Stewardess: How much power do you need?
Cecil: Oh, about 1000 Watts
Stewardess: That's just about how much the generator puts out for the whole aircraft. Shut it down, sir.
Cecil: Awww, geez, it's such a nice laptop too. All the guys on Slashdot think so!
Doesn't matter to them that you specifically didn't do it, just "one of your gang". That's about as sensible as saying that since if a black man robs a convenience store, the store owners are going to blame black men.
I beg to differ. The normal human response to an unknown group are (unfortunately) fear, mistrust and resistance, especially when it seems a representative of that group has attacked you. There have been people who looked at me, a hardware guy, sideways because in their mind, since I know how to build a computer, I _must_ be able to crack into them. Stupid? Youbetcha, but a reality none the less.
I am not encouraging scape-goating - I'm advocating that we use a measured and well thoght out response, instead of resorting to finger pointing and name calling. If anything, I'm hoping that we differentiate ourselves from the h4xor doodz by not adding any more fuel to the fire. I think a concilliatory attitude is best, not the "Well you stupid fucks, you were asking for it" that seems prevalant so far.
Good reply. However, you are the type that I was warning against.
"ESR didn't break into the server. RMS didn't do it. Linus didn't mastermind the attack. This has nothing at all to do with Open Source, as a movement or software. It's got a lot to do with Microsoft's closed source software and stupid administrators. "
I couldn't agree more. But that being said, have you seen the view from the other side?
You are a hacker, and a hacker broke into the Western Union credit card database. Doesn't matter to them that you specifically didn't do it, just "one of your gang". This type of attack undermines what the establishment wants the Internet for - commerce. As such, they will just bear down more on ANY threat coming via the Internet, not just this specific type of attack. If that doesn't work, they may go after the Internet itself.
I agree that it is shoddy programming pratices, mis-configurations and bad administration that are the usual causes of security breaches, but to a CEO who talks to the lawmakers, it's "Some punk hacker who got through the firewall", key word being "hacker".
My post was to show that we as a group had better be accomodating to the interests of everyone, else they will not be accomodating to us - which could conceivably spill over into the other cases stated in my post. The Man won't care that you didn't do it - just that you could.
Exactly. However, you may get lumped in with them anyway - that is at the discretion of the Western Unions of the world. Saying "I am no more part of a "we" that includes skr1pt k1dd13s than I am part of a "we" that includes Western Union." won't do you any good, unless there is some tabgable way of demostrating that to the established powers that be.
I totally agree with you.The problem is some of these l337 h4x0rs wrap themselves in the cloak of "Free Speech on the Internet" when they get caught. That ties them to OSS in general in the eyes of society at large - don't forget that the "unwashed masses" tend to not differentiate between the sub-sections of a group. If you can use a computer for more that e-mail, you're a hacker, and you'll be lumped in with the idiots who did this. As I said, that's NOT good for worthier things like DeCSS and Napster. Stealing CC#s is illegal and theft - and by current legal standards, sending your friends and MP3 of Metallica's latest song is illegal and theft, too.
From the establishments point of view, these two are one and the same. As such, they deserve the same method of remedy - litigation.
This is NOT good. Western Union is Old Money - they've been around for a long, long time as far as companies go. This will get the establishment REALLY pissed. Do we really want an all out war with The Man? Something like this will not help the cause of Napster, DeCSS and Open Source in general.
The establishment is not used to how the Hacker culture does things - they are used to order and directed control. The Internet is a terribly chaotic place - if you want something done, you go ahead and do it. Also, the first one there usually controls the situation, no matter whom else joins them in the endeavour (witness that newer posts on/. usually garner more moderation points, and therefore direct the comment stream). Even in Internet startups, there is usually one person who starts the company and then hands over the reigns to an established Buisiness man to run the show (Yahoo!), not like what happens with Internet based projects, where the Alpha Geek or Lone Coder is regarded as the undisputed leader, regardless of how much education or money he has (a Good Thing, BTW).
The establishment will likely view this as futher validation that we are out to kill. While the Hacker community has control of the Internet attacke like this may end up being more common. The only way the Establishment can ensure it's continued existatnce is to wrest control back. Napster being stamped out might be the first salvo in the Great Internet War. This little faux pas (likely by a script kiddie) will only accelerate the zeal and ruthlessness with which The Man deals with us. They just might see such attacks as a threat to thier very survival, and react accordingly.
OK, some of you may post "Yeah! Stick it to the man, l337 h4x0r d00dz" and think it's good that the rich are getting thiers. That's fine, and welcomed on one level. However, we need to look at the big picture - The Man can pull the switch on the Internet if he's really threatened (not literally, figuratively), so we end up out in the cold (InternetII, anyone). Or just toss your ass in jail, rights be damned. As much as we don't like it, we have to compromise and let the establishment have its way - for a while.
I hope we can start to see things from the other side of the firewall soon - and use articulate argument, humour, understanding and gentle persuasion to get our way instead of random guerilla attacks on established companies.
Get ERD Commander from SysInternals to fix that NT4 box. Command console doesn't exist on NT4, only Win2k.
SysInternals is a cool company - they seem to like Open Source too. See this page for all the source code freely available. Remember that tree in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"? Maybe NT only needs a little love to grow. Nahh.
Hackers, eh? Check out thier Press page: "... Working in conjunction with industry-leading partners such A. H. Belo Corporation, RadioShack, NBC and Forbes magazine, Digital:Convergence's innovative technology allows broadcasters, publishers and manufacturers to instantly bridge their content or products to the Internet. The company's management team includes a roster of industry veterans from Time Warner, Hearst Corporation, AT&T, GE and ING Barings."
and this is where they think they have a legal leg:
:CRQ is a free-to-consumer software that interacts with any form of broadcasting and print media through cue coding.
Cue is a coding method for media that allows any form of broadcasting and print media to remotely control a computer by instantly driving a Web browser to relevant content.
:CueCat (Keystroke Automation Technology) is a free-to-consumer hand-held device that is attached to the computer and "reads" Digital:Convergence Corporation's proprietary codes and all known existing product codes to "interactivate" a cue.
(Bold emphasis mine) The DCMA strikes again - thier proprietary codes are their IP. I've never use a cuecat, so does anyone know if there's a EULA attached to the critter?
I work for the Post's parent company, and can tell you that it's normally very right of center. "So?", you ask? Well, that means that all the PHBs are really starting to take Open Source seriously. All the talk of "strategy" and the fact that Linux and Apache are being used in a great number of IT shops means that the Open Source movement is building critical mass - a snowball effect is starting. That happened with Windows - M$ came up with 2 good Windoze apps - Word and Excel, and seeded these apps in new Windoze installs. These apps attracted new customers to the OS, which attracted more developers, who created more apps for the OS,which attracted more customers, (etc. ect., ad nauseum, ad infinitum). If it happens to Linux, well now we've got a horse race.
If Micro$oft is good for any one thing, it's showing the way to World Domination - "Build good applications, and they will come". What we've got right now is Linux, Apache, Samba - as well as Standards Compliant network services. If the Open Source movement were to leverage these, we need not concern ourselves about Microsoft or AOL or anyone else's big ugly giant. The market wind will blow in our direction.
"MEOWRRR". Oops, let the cat outta the bag. Where'd I file that source tree?
It has been my experience that nothing shows you the road ahead like just turning around and seeing where everybody has been. Teach them the history of the computer, not just the C language. It's like having a partly finished book, then having the student read the last chapter that's complete, and then saying to them "continue the story in a coherent manner" - they're missing a big portion of the picture.
Show them the screwy 20 bit address space on a real 8086, explain to them why Windows 3.1 was such a kludge and how it's screwed up every Windows 9x since, and why they have write 200 lines of error checking code to get a 50 line program to run reliably. Explain how a PC (or Sun or Mac) is architected, and then get them to DO something with that architecture at a low level. You show them the foundations, and they'll learn to build the best buildings.
So, do we have to give EXTRA appreciation to the poor bastards administrating the server this story is on? It's been Slashdotted.
Luser: HI! I thought your Sysadmin Appriciation day was such a great thing, I submitted it to Slashdot? Isn't that great? Now everyone will know waht a great job you guys do!!!
Sysadmin: Slashdot? SLASHDOT! Ohhhhhh, OK, yeah. Thanks. Thanks A LOT. (types rm -r/usr/home/)What's your user name?
The RIAA still doesn't get it. All the free and open alternatives to Napster are _still_ going to eat their business models alive. When will the suits realise that it's OUR Internet? Where will this all stop?
OK, Napster is being lead to the headsman's block - and others will follow if we're not careful. If DeCSS is any indication, they'll go after the people WRITING OpenNap, GNUTELLA et. al. under the same shoddy banner. OK, then these people go underground too. How will the man strike back?
If the RIAA and other such don't-kill-our-golden-goose organisations had thier way, you'd only be able to get a one way connection to the Net. That is, you only get back what you request - no serving files, IRC uploads banned and other such restrictions to control the channel and make sure they make money. Don't forget, fellow geeks, that the bandwidth-blood of the Internet is controlled ultimately by the telephone and communications companies - a single point of failure in my book.
I say we come up with a way of usurping any way that the man can try to wrest control back. Anyone figured how to get a respectable data stream across a HAM link? Soup up an AirPort, and distrubute them throughout the world to people willing to help?
OK, so I'm paranoid. I just know that these short sighted business men are trying to find a way to reign in the Net, to make it spout cash and nothing else - no new ideas except for them. The net is our best hope for bringing people of all stripes together, and by doing so make the world a better and safer place for our progeny.
Slashdot Mirror
Houses use power measured in KiloWatt-Hours, right? This should be 10 Watt-Hours, I suppose.
IANAA, (I Am Not An American) but hail from thier neigbour to the North. Since much of what goes on below the 49th eventually happens up here, I'll comment anyway.
Isn't it amazing. Here we are, 224 years after the American Revolution, and we're back to square one. If this follows through, the Citizens of the Good Ol' US of A will be paying sales tax to a coproration. Heh. Something like that hasn't happened since, ohhhhh... the British Crown decided to tax tea. Read the link, kids - that was to save a faltering coporation, namely the East India Company, too.
So, we have taxes on audio capable blanks to make sure the RIAA and it's kin get thier fair share, absurd patents and copyrights whose sole purpose is to guarantee profits for already successful companies, and now this. Makes you sick, especially when this and this stare you in the face each night on the news
Welcome to the Free World, fellow serfs, look what the American Free Market eventually brings you - The Copristocracy. It works just like an Aristocracy, but instead of being appointed by a King, the people in it founded a successful company, are paying off our "elected" officials to pass laws so they keep thier fabulous wealth, so they can pass it on to thier progeny - just like a Duke, Prince or Barron. So much for the Revolution, eh?
Xenex, check to make sure those HREF tags are closed before you hit the sumbit button, man!
Putz.
Good reply. Take the +1 Bonus out of Petty Karma and the rest of the day off - you've earned it. ;)
We read about this, didn't we kids?
/. go downhill ever since. Why? Simple - the human need for acceptance. This, faithful Slashdot Readers, Friends, Moderators, Karma Whores and Trolls, is the itch that /. scratches.
"1. Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch." Far fetched? Hear me out.
Slashdot, Vanguard (according to Katz, anyway) of the Geek Culture, is a victim of it's own success. I started here not long after Linux hit the mainstream, just as I got curious about the "new OS in town". Seemed like a nice spot. I think a search engine link brought me here. My first post was some drivel about how Linux zealots were being hipocrytes - they wanted users, but only the smart ones, and that wasn't how to complete the "World Domination" they craved. My little diatribe seemed well recieved, and caused a good discussion to happen - so I created my account and have stuck around. (Actually, IIRC, my response was to a someone slagging Kats when he was trying to install Linux on his laptop - and Taco helped him with it. Ironic, eh?) It seems I've watched
The one thing that always strikes one full in the face about the "geek culture" is that it's real currency is Intellect, and the display thereof. CmdrTaco, in his infinite wisdom, put a real, monetary value to the intellegence displayed by we people who post - Karma points - instead of measuring them by the quality of the thread created. Now, intead of soliciting replies in order to get lively debate, discussion and possibly New Clues, we solicit Karma. Karma, so we don't look like idiots to our peers. Or, if we figure that we don't rate, and haven't got the chance to, we troll or pop in as an AC - to hopefully deflect some of the moderators away from putting other people's "Inellect" ahead of our own. Signal 11 is right - it's now a contest to see who can win the title of "Most Intellegent Geek", not "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters" - we all seem to want scratch our itch to be viewed as "Intelligent" to our peers.
No Slashdot account with a cool nic? You're just not in the game anymore, man. Don't run Linux? Further damage to your credibility. Only 3 Karma points? HAHAHHAH, you're either a moron or a Micr$oft shill, dude!
Personally, it's getting to the point that I don't give a flying fuck about my Karma anymore. +1 Bonus? Who cares. It'll just be drowned out in the rush to be first with some sort of incredibly pendantic navel gazing that we've all heard before. "Preaching to the Chior" indeed.
At least I don't have to sort through C/Net, ZDNet,Kiro5hin or the BBC to get to the importatnt stuff anymore - just the repeat stories here. VA - you've been HAD.
"Thank you for your post. That'll be 5.95 in Karma, buddy"
Yeah, yeah. Lots of "OhmyGAWD, they apologised", "They feel the heat", etc., etc. posts. No one seems to notice that this opens the door for YAISMTMTFS (Yet Another Industrial Strength Multi Tasking Multi Threaded File System) for ALL operating systems. NTFS, especially V5, (fragmentation aside) is fast, stable, hard to corrupt and reasonably secure. IMHO, it's one of the few really good things to come out of Redmond - period.
/. who have an inordinate amount of Karma. ;o)
Perhaps the Redmond boys _have_ finally seen the light. After all, they employ geeks. Geeks who are exposed to other geeks, who have not been assimilated. They are, I'm sure like you and I - interested in all the latest cool stuff, including Open Source, open standards and new and fresh ideas. This stuff can't be filtered out by any firewall I know of. (Except MS Proxy, maybe, but that's because it tends to filter THE WHOLE FSCKING NET! GA....oops, sorry, lost meself for a sec. Back to Karma Whoring...)
One's IQ does not necessarily drop 40 points once you walk into the M$ campus, does it? Is it posssible that they do some sort of black magic ceremony that instantly turns you from a moral person into one of Bill's evil minions? I think not. I think that we are indeed affecting the Microsoft mind set - for the better. This wonderful movement called Open Source has spread to the Campus, and started to change things for the better. How could it not? Yes, Hugh is alive and well in the collective. Bet on it.
Besides, there are (or were, anyway) a few M$ employees here on
Fantastic definition. I think it needs to be in the Jargon file. :)
But, upon reflection, this definition would make MacGyver the ultimate hacker, wouldn't it?
...and this is in reference to...what? The story is about a company that uses a cooling unit (likely 50-60Lbs and a 400W power sink in itself) almost the size of the PC to overclock an Athlon to 1.6 GHz. You want to lug that around for a laptop? I can see it now:
(On American flight 2603 to Little Rock)
Stewardess: Excuse me sir, but you'll have to put your "laptop" away.
Cecil: What? No way, lady, the guy next to me is using his! And he's only got a Tecra! Mine's a Sys Cold-Fusion!
Stewardess: I know, sir, but your computer is taking up the entire aisle.
Cecil. Computer? See, it fit's under the seat in front of me!
Stewardess: Oh? Is THAT why the upolstery is smouldering? And that battery pack above us...
Cecil: What? The lead-acid cells are 2 lbs under the storage capacity of the overhead bin!
Stewardess: Actually, we need to stow those in the hazardous waste container at the back of the plane.
Cecil: Great! No power! You have an adapter?
Stewardess: How much power do you need?
Cecil: Oh, about 1000 Watts
Stewardess: That's just about how much the generator puts out for the whole aircraft. Shut it down, sir.
Cecil: Awww, geez, it's such a nice laptop too. All the guys on Slashdot think so!
You forget, my friend, that Sony is a major player in the MPAA. And they're in the RIAA, too, for that matter. Stick that in your smarmy pipe and smoke it, eh?
Let the conspiracy theories commence!
Doesn't matter to them that you specifically didn't do it, just "one of your gang".
That's about as sensible as saying that since if a black man robs a convenience store, the store owners are going to blame black men.
I beg to differ. The normal human response to an unknown group are (unfortunately) fear, mistrust and resistance, especially when it seems a representative of that group has attacked you. There have been people who looked at me, a hardware guy, sideways because in their mind, since I know how to build a computer, I _must_ be able to crack into them. Stupid? Youbetcha, but a reality none the less.
I am not encouraging scape-goating - I'm advocating that we use a measured and well thoght out response, instead of resorting to finger pointing and name calling. If anything, I'm hoping that we differentiate ourselves from the h4xor doodz by not adding any more fuel to the fire. I think a concilliatory attitude is best, not the "Well you stupid fucks, you were asking for it" that seems prevalant so far.
Good reply. However, you are the type that I was warning against.
"ESR didn't break into the server. RMS didn't do it. Linus didn't mastermind the attack. This has nothing at all to do with Open Source, as a movement or software. It's got a lot to do with Microsoft's closed source software and stupid administrators. "
I couldn't agree more. But that being said, have you seen the view from the other side?
You are a hacker, and a hacker broke into the Western Union credit card database. Doesn't matter to them that you specifically didn't do it, just "one of your gang". This type of attack undermines what the establishment wants the Internet for - commerce. As such, they will just bear down more on ANY threat coming via the Internet, not just this specific type of attack. If that doesn't work, they may go after the Internet itself.
I agree that it is shoddy programming pratices, mis-configurations and bad administration that are the usual causes of security breaches, but to a CEO who talks to the lawmakers, it's "Some punk hacker who got through the firewall", key word being "hacker".
My post was to show that we as a group had better be accomodating to the interests of everyone, else they will not be accomodating to us - which could conceivably spill over into the other cases stated in my post. The Man won't care that you didn't do it - just that you could.
Exactly. However, you may get lumped in with them anyway - that is at the discretion of the Western Unions of the world. Saying "I am no more part of a "we" that includes skr1pt k1dd13s than I am part of a "we" that includes Western Union." won't do you any good, unless there is some tabgable way of demostrating that to the established powers that be.
I totally agree with you.The problem is some of these l337 h4x0rs wrap themselves in the cloak of "Free Speech on the Internet" when they get caught. That ties them to OSS in general in the eyes of society at large - don't forget that the "unwashed masses" tend to not differentiate between the sub-sections of a group. If you can use a computer for more that e-mail, you're a hacker, and you'll be lumped in with the idiots who did this. As I said, that's NOT good for worthier things like DeCSS and Napster. Stealing CC#s is illegal and theft - and by current legal standards, sending your friends and MP3 of Metallica's latest song is illegal and theft, too.
From the establishments point of view, these two are one and the same. As such, they deserve the same method of remedy - litigation.
This is NOT good. Western Union is Old Money - they've been around for a long, long time as far as companies go. This will get the establishment REALLY pissed. Do we really want an all out war with The Man? Something like this will not help the cause of Napster, DeCSS and Open Source in general.
/. usually garner more moderation points, and therefore direct the comment stream). Even in Internet startups, there is usually one person who starts the company and then hands over the reigns to an established Buisiness man to run the show (Yahoo!), not like what happens with Internet based projects, where the Alpha Geek or Lone Coder is regarded as the undisputed leader, regardless of how much education or money he has (a Good Thing, BTW).
The establishment is not used to how the Hacker culture does things - they are used to order and directed control. The Internet is a terribly chaotic place - if you want something done, you go ahead and do it. Also, the first one there usually controls the situation, no matter whom else joins them in the endeavour (witness that newer posts on
The establishment will likely view this as futher validation that we are out to kill. While the Hacker community has control of the Internet attacke like this may end up being more common. The only way the Establishment can ensure it's continued existatnce is to wrest control back. Napster being stamped out might be the first salvo in the Great Internet War. This little faux pas (likely by a script kiddie) will only accelerate the zeal and ruthlessness with which The Man deals with us. They just might see such attacks as a threat to thier very survival, and react accordingly.
OK, some of you may post "Yeah! Stick it to the man, l337 h4x0r d00dz" and think it's good that the rich are getting thiers. That's fine, and welcomed on one level. However, we need to look at the big picture - The Man can pull the switch on the Internet if he's really threatened (not literally, figuratively), so we end up out in the cold (InternetII, anyone). Or just toss your ass in jail, rights be damned. As much as we don't like it, we have to compromise and let the establishment have its way - for a while.
I hope we can start to see things from the other side of the firewall soon - and use articulate argument, humour, understanding and gentle persuasion to get our way instead of random guerilla attacks on established companies.
Get ERD Commander from SysInternals to fix that NT4 box. Command console doesn't exist on NT4, only Win2k.
SysInternals is a cool company - they seem to like Open Source too. See this page for all the source code freely available. Remember that tree in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"? Maybe NT only needs a little love to grow. Nahh.
Hackers, eh? Check out thier Press page:
:CRQ is a free-to-consumer software that interacts with any form of broadcasting and print media through cue coding.
:CueCat (Keystroke Automation Technology) is a free-to-consumer hand-held device that is attached to the computer and "reads" Digital:Convergence Corporation's proprietary codes and all known existing product codes to "interactivate" a cue.
"... Working in conjunction with industry-leading partners such A. H. Belo Corporation, RadioShack, NBC and Forbes magazine, Digital:Convergence's innovative technology allows broadcasters, publishers and manufacturers to instantly bridge their content or products to the Internet. The company's management team includes a roster of industry veterans from Time Warner, Hearst Corporation, AT&T, GE and ING Barings."
and this is where they think they have a legal leg:
Cue is a coding method for media that allows any form of broadcasting and print media to remotely control a computer by instantly driving a Web browser to relevant content.
(Bold emphasis mine) The DCMA strikes again - thier proprietary codes are their IP. I've never use a cuecat, so does anyone know if there's a EULA attached to the critter?
Sure. How 'bout this EARL:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsMe/= Exasperatingly Assenine Resource Link
There's also an article in the National Post.
I work for the Post's parent company, and can tell you that it's normally very right of center. "So?", you ask? Well, that means that all the PHBs are really starting to take Open Source seriously. All the talk of "strategy" and the fact that Linux and Apache are being used in a great number of IT shops means that the Open Source movement is building critical mass - a snowball effect is starting. That happened with Windows - M$ came up with 2 good Windoze apps - Word and Excel, and seeded these apps in new Windoze installs. These apps attracted new customers to the OS, which attracted more developers, who created more apps for the OS,which attracted more customers, (etc. ect., ad nauseum, ad infinitum). If it happens to Linux, well now we've got a horse race.
If Micro$oft is good for any one thing, it's showing the way to World Domination - "Build good applications, and they will come". What we've got right now is Linux, Apache, Samba - as well as Standards Compliant network services. If the Open Source movement were to leverage these, we need not concern ourselves about Microsoft or AOL or anyone else's big ugly giant. The market wind will blow in our direction.
"MEOWRRR". Oops, let the cat outta the bag. Where'd I file that source tree?
It has been my experience that nothing shows you the road ahead like just turning around and seeing where everybody has been. Teach them the history of the computer, not just the C language. It's like having a partly finished book, then having the student read the last chapter that's complete, and then saying to them "continue the story in a coherent manner" - they're missing a big portion of the picture.
Show them the screwy 20 bit address space on a real 8086, explain to them why Windows 3.1 was such a kludge and how it's screwed up every Windows 9x since, and why they have write 200 lines of error checking code to get a 50 line program to run reliably. Explain how a PC (or Sun or Mac) is architected, and then get them to DO something with that architecture at a low level. You show them the foundations, and they'll learn to build the best buildings.
So, do we have to give EXTRA appreciation to the poor bastards administrating the server this story is on? It's been Slashdotted.
/usr/home/)What's your user name?
Luser: HI! I thought your Sysadmin Appriciation day was such a great thing, I submitted it to Slashdot? Isn't that great? Now everyone will know waht a great job you guys do!!!
Sysadmin: Slashdot? SLASHDOT! Ohhhhhh, OK, yeah. Thanks. Thanks A LOT. (types rm -r
Q. How many Newtons does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Foux! There to eat lemons, axe gravy soup.
Hope this turns out better.
It's about control, Stupid.
Musicians want to have control of thier music
RIAA wants control of everyones wallet
We want control of the Internet.
Who do you think has the waepons to succeed?
The RIAA still doesn't get it. All the free and open alternatives to Napster are _still_ going to eat their business models alive. When will the suits realise that it's OUR Internet? Where will this all stop?
OK, Napster is being lead to the headsman's block - and others will follow if we're not careful. If DeCSS is any indication, they'll go after the people WRITING OpenNap, GNUTELLA et. al. under the same shoddy banner. OK, then these people go underground too. How will the man strike back?
If the RIAA and other such don't-kill-our-golden-goose organisations had thier way, you'd only be able to get a one way connection to the Net. That is, you only get back what you request - no serving files, IRC uploads banned and other such restrictions to control the channel and make sure they make money. Don't forget, fellow geeks, that the bandwidth-blood of the Internet is controlled ultimately by the telephone and communications companies - a single point of failure in my book.
I say we come up with a way of usurping any way that the man can try to wrest control back. Anyone figured how to get a respectable data stream across a HAM link? Soup up an AirPort, and distrubute them throughout the world to people willing to help?
OK, so I'm paranoid. I just know that these short sighted business men are trying to find a way to reign in the Net, to make it spout cash and nothing else - no new ideas except for them. The net is our best hope for bringing people of all stripes together, and by doing so make the world a better and safer place for our progeny.
Ech. I'm sounding like Katz - time to shut up.
I can see it now:
"We deliver anywhere"
"Way Fast delivery, dude"
"Our pizza's out of this world"
The only thing you won't see, seeing as the launch was off by 9 months is something about " less than 30 months late - or it's free..."
Nite, folks. I need sleep.
where the fuck is BlueTooth? That's what the world really needs - a high speed connection whereever you are.
;)
Oh, and probrably a tan (or a brain tumour) from the all those microwaves flooding the planet