'Certainly you can never underestimate the level of malicious people out there who are going to try to take advantage of whatever things there are. That's why we made trustworthy computing the top priority.'
I trust my computer just fine; thank you very much.
Now if you, your company, Disney, the MPAA & RIAA etc. don't trust my computer that's really not my fucking problem. Doncha think?
Yes, I am aware that you sayd trustworthy and no trusted computing. Nevertheless, a faint, cold fear thrills through my veins when I observe execs, pr shills, spin doctors and other professional liars preparing the rethoric ground to matter of factly take my computer away.
Look, I like a good microsoft bashing, just as most of my fellow slashdooters, but don't you think that this is a very cheap shot?
No doubt that Microsoft has some shady business tactics. There's no question that they provide shoddy products from a security perspective and then push responsibility for their goofs to on user community. There's the issue,of corse, that they hound free software by the cheapest pr tricks in the book and the system Microsoft sucks shit! Well, hell! There's a lot of valid complaints when it comes to chastising Microsoft as a corporation
I really don't want to ideolize Mr. Gates and he is often guilty of wrong speak; willingly or out of ignorance.
But attempting a character analyses from a doodle he left at a conference (which potentially was boring) is just plain juvenile.
Hold your ammunition for the real issues, slashdot, and retain your credibility in the bargain...
Are those the same blokes that bounce your mail if you complain to abuse@sbcglabal.net due to a full mailbox?
Oh yeah: When you you try postmaster@sbcglobal.com it is equally undelivarable and you get an undeliverable message every 24 hours until it bounces?
If so they are a huge part of the problem and their entire management team deserves to rot in hell, or at least getting tarred feathered and whipped out of town. This of course is also applicable for the "abuse desk" staff, provided they even exists.
Needless to say that this company will never get 1 cents worth of business from me.
Since a hell of a lot of spam seems to originate from their network (according to spamcop reports), I think it's about time to blacklist themn into oblivion.
Why anyone would trust the MPAA is beyond me. Hell, our strapped public schools are wasting class time and resources indoctrinating children with the MPAA/RIAA supplied materials
So this means that public schools in the US permit every shady business to slip in its personal agenda to the official curriculum, provide they bribe enough politicos.
This is a fucking scandal and a disgrace for the US school system. Since I'm a foreigner there's nothing I can do, besides urging you to act on this outrage.
Who is arguing that you need to have computer sans an OS?
I, for example. Or do you consider it fair to be forced to implicitely pay for a software, which I will never use since I want to grace my box with BSD?
It doesn't matter how cheap a computer is offered. It would be even cheaper if it comes naked or with a free OS, that doesn't grace the world with viruses, trojan horses and spam.
I said it's complex. I never said it's supposed to suck. I thank you for not putting words into my mouth, which I never said.
In addition: IMO Microsofts approach to mask potentially incredible complex systems - like networks or databases - by nifty point and click interfaces and imbecile paperclips dîd far more damage to enterprise computing then any archaic scripting interface.
Now all I need is a magical installer which will convert my existing 7.2.4 systems to 8.x without missing a single beat or disrupting the existing programs written against the old libs.... I'm serious!
Even though I can feel your pain I' d like to ask a question: Do you know of any database (free or commercial) that supports such a feature (auto)magically?
See, I thought not.
Migrating a data server to a new major release is a pain by definiton and while you might be able to trick the users into believing that it never goes down you ultimately will have to apply some more or less vicious hack (i.e. warm standby, while you're upgrading the primary db) to achieve that.
In a replicated environment the DBAs pains and hassles grow exponentially if no or very minimal downtime is permissable.
I don't want unlimited rights to the content, I want unlimited rights to listening to the content, and this is what I bought...
Alas I think it could use some improvement. I suggest the following enhancement
I don't want unlimited rights to the content, I want unlimited rights to listening to the content on any fucking device, supporting such content, that catches my fancy, and this is what I bought...
I suppose this qualifies as art for art's sake. As long as people want to truly express themselves art for art's sake will be alive.
Yep. Nothing wrong with that too. And if you're considered a very elitist, arrogant person then so be it.
As a matter of fact. A lot of great artists perform their craft from this perspective. Besides Tom Waits, who can certainly not be considered mainstream, Nick Cave is another shining example.
Films? Well, Jim Jarmush comes to mind ot Robert Altman. Sure, they made some commercially interesting movies. But you never get the impression that they compromised or sold out.
Paintings? Well, ol' Vincent Van Gogh couldn't sell a painting (one exception, to his brother) during his lifetime. Now, I'd sure be happy if my great-great-grand father would have picked up a couple while they where cheap.
That's not to say that all mainstream sucks. Good bands like Steely Dan can certainly be considered (intelligent) mainstream. Song writers like Elton John/Bernie Taupin, or Billy Joel are certainly on the very top of their league. Doesn't matter if I like them or not, I can respect them for what they do.
I don't think however that anyone of the forementioned would have their songs checked for marketability by a fucking computer.
No, but I WILL to see it on the TV, hear it on the radio and see it in the newsagents when looking for the real stuff.
Kick out the TV or stay away from "music" programs, switch your radio habbits to a good internet station and subscribe to a serious newspaper so that you don't have to look at those silikone titted, non-talented whatsoever bimbos pretending to be artists.
Oh, you want the right not to be offended? Sorry, I can't help you here.
Mind you, my favourite band is Motorhead so my observations on art and music should be taken with a grain of salt;)
Well, even though heavy metal (in all its varieties) never really appealed to me, I appreciate that this genre is usually performed by outstanding musicians. Oh and I don't consider Led Zeppelin heavy metal (or even hardrock, whatever that is), but one of the most important bands of all time.
I meant emusic.com
I'll check it out. Maybe after all something good comes from this "AI hitwriting software" after all.
"Musicians", and I use that term loosely, will be tweaking their songs to score a "hit" on this service.
Sure, but so what? Same as you are not forced to eat crappy processed food you don't need to buy this homogenized shit.
Sure, something gets lost along the lines. Creativity? Kharma? Soul? I don't really know, but unfortunately this change happened after the last of the titans in the music business left the ship and where replaced by young, aggressive, MBA schooled and Excel knowledged executives, who don't really give a shit if they're moving laundry detergent, softdrinks or, well, culture [for lack of a better word].
The somewhat cheering thought is that we will always have good music around (currently Tom Waits: Blue Valentine, but I digress) and there will always be good new bands, song writers, arrangers and musicians.
The difference between them and the mainstream will be that while they don't necessarilly shun technology they sure as hell won't use "hit"-writer software, or those gizmos that "clean" mistakes in human vocals.
I totally agree with your assessment. Just wanted to add some perspective and maybe a more joyful outlook on what is to come.
I really don't understand all of this paranoia over spam--especially on slashdot. You just have to be an intelligent internet user to avoid getting spam. I only get 2-3 a week--these are easily deleted. I don't run any special software or anything. Just don't give your email address to people you don't trust. If there's a form that requires an email address, put in a fake one. It's really pretty easy.
Specifically the arrogance of some of you "spam isn't so bad, you can deal with it" dudes.
First of all: Why the fuck should I be forced to buy software, services invest my time and resources just so a couple hundred lowlifes can get rich quick by shitting into the communal water supply.
Maybe spam is not a problem for you, but I can assure you that it's a helluva problem and a massively costly one for the entire internet and all its legitimate users.
When my sister was working for a now defunked European carrier family members could purchase up to two flights annually at really steep discounts.
One of the rules though was: No jeans when flying on staff tickets. In addition when you wanted to fly business -, or first class (even on paid flights, not only for upgrades) you where required to wear a tie.
While I heard others gripe about this rule, I figured it's their airline and if they don't want people flying on staff tickets dressed up in shower curtains then that's fine with me. In addition I always had a tie ready in case I would get an upgrade.
If I'd be a paying customer however, I would go ballistic if they wouldn't let me board a plane in first, or business because they don't like my clothes.
Hmm.. sounds like Boeing is likely to increase share in 'many, smaller domestic markets' while Airbus is likely to increase share in single large international flights market.
Why do you think that Boeing can suddenly regain the market share lost on medium type planes to er... Airbus?
In the regional markets both companies are pretty much irrelevant.
It sounds to me like you're describing Amsterdam, my favourite city where I would live tomorrow if I didn't have too many commitments here in the UK.
Well, it's certainly where such eeevil vice is most openly visible. But I think it goes for most of "Old Europe" now. I forgot that prostitution is still technically illegal in the UK, but never got the impression that Scotland Yard is wasting too many resources in capturing Average Q Dick. For the rest I didn't experience a reefer as something terribly naughty, nor would I think that a Bobby gives me a hard time for the atrocity of enjoying a Lager outside of a pub on the pavement.
Amsterdam does have it's merrits of course, from which I'd like to point out some really fine museums to the visiting youth of the world:
Don't just waste your time fogged away in coffeeshops when there are so much interesting things to see. Alas I would be the last to discourage a spliff prior to visiting a fine exhibition at the Stedelijk Musemum for modern art.
Airbus is going for capacity while Boeing is going for distance.
So does one exclude the other? I wouldn't think so.
Well, admitted. It's probably somewhat hard to cram 550 odd people into a 7E7, but where does it say that the A380 has a smaller range?
Personally I think Boeing started to lose it after the 747. Granted, the 767 was successful, but at the cost of a lot of lost 747 sales. I think they didn't sell a single passenger version of the 747 since 2002.
What I believe lead to Boeings "demise" was what happened to a lot of companies when they got fat and lazy: Arrogance! After they bought MD Douglas they thought they remained the only game in town, because those [and this is my fully fictional fantsay] "dumb Euros can't distinguish their arse from a hole in the ground anyways." Well, guess what. They where wrong! Dead wrong!
I also think that Boeings reasononing that "not selling 747s prooves that there is no market for super jumbos any more." is spurrious at worst and wishful thinking at best. Or would you place a $5'000'000'0000 order on a 35 year old plane design, when you know that a product is released in acouple years that doesn't only incorporate all of todays aviation knowledge, but is also likely to reduce operations costs by a significant amount? Provided of course that you can fill them adequately. Not bloody likely
I don't think that Boeing is beyond recovery. But they will first have to stop to whine, start to listen to their customers again and being willing again to take risks (they had a 600p plane in the pipeline, which was scrapped not too long ago).
While I personally agree that I rather fly on a smaller plane, I do think that the massive changes in the East (China / India) will literally scream for such large jets in the not too far future.
I'll put five dollars on a horse race - you watch your kids being shot in the playground.
Maybe I can supply you with additional incentives:
I throw in dope smoking without going to the slammer for four years and the ability to sit in the park on a sunny day and quaff a bottle of Becks without being hassled by those employed to protect and serve. In addition you get to visit a health checked prostitute (male or female) in a safe and legal environment if you are so inclined without your foto appearing in the local rag under the Gotcha! section.
I can see how this would solve the cracking problem entirely. Consumers have the money, thus, consumers have the power. The simple fact is, people won't buy a disc that won't play in their player -- At least I'm not about to new player to play their new disc every time this happens.
Well, I for my part won't even buy a CD, which quite likely plays on my normal player, if there is the slightest suspicion that it's tampered with some braindead DRM scheme. Oh yeah: And I always make a point to ask the sales clerk.
I will never, ever buy from any online music store that doesn't permit me to do whatever I fucking please with the material I purchased as long it's for personal use. Personal use includes copies for direct friends. Oh: and for the consumers of such services there might be some bad news: Are you sure that you can play your expensively bought music in three years? Well, I'm not!
So yeah, you can count me into the non-buyers of any such innane concepts.
If you're worried about the privacy of your communications, you should encrypt them. There's simply no other way to ensure that nobody's listening in.
This is most certainly correct. You can't assume that nobody listens into your phone conversations too. However, you can assume that your mail is not opened on a systematic basis. At least for civilized, democratic and (relatively) open societies I think this is a reasonable assumption. Taking that forward the USPS is the carrier in case of mail.
But the business of them being able to snoop on their customers is just standard law. If you own a server, you have to right to monitor files on that server.
There seems to be a huge attitude difference in those matters between the US and Europe. This is most clearly illustrated by EUs privacy directive, which is implemented as law in all EU states. It is most certainly illegal for any carrier to tap into your communications. It is even illegal for your employer to listen in to your communications as an employee under normal circumstances. Doesn't matter if phone, or email. Exceptions might be banks, brokers and other entitities that may have to prove the contents of phone calls in a court case. And even then it must be clearly announced that the call is monitored and taped prior to call completion.
The freedom to listen into private communications at whim, regardless of who owns the carrying gear is a totally foreign concept for most Europeans.
To emphasise: I'm not that naive to believe that it doesn't happen and I certainly wouldn't trust that all folks are pure hearted, upstanding, law abiding citizens of flawless character. But at least such actions are considered a criminal offense.
And note that AOL has every right to monitor conversations on its servers.
Maybe they do, but then it would be granted by sleazy fine print on page 39 (or so) of the TOS.
Note the word sleazy and note in addition that you can't get away with such terms in a lot of countries since it's a violation of the most basic foundation of contract law: Acting in good faith.
Neither a phone carrier nor an internet provider should have any rights to tap into their users private conversation, unless so authorized by a court order.
Slashdot Mirror
I trust my computer just fine; thank you very much.
Now if you, your company, Disney, the MPAA & RIAA etc. don't trust my computer that's really not my fucking problem. Doncha think?
Yes, I am aware that you sayd trustworthy and no trusted computing. Nevertheless, a faint, cold fear thrills through my veins when I observe execs, pr shills, spin doctors and other professional liars preparing the rethoric ground to matter of factly take my computer away.
No doubt that Microsoft has some shady business tactics. There's no question that they provide shoddy products from a security perspective and then push responsibility for their goofs to on user community. There's the issue ,of corse, that they hound free software by the cheapest pr tricks in the book and the system Microsoft sucks shit! Well, hell! There's a lot of valid complaints when it comes to chastising Microsoft as a corporation
I really don't want to ideolize Mr. Gates and he is often guilty of wrong speak; willingly or out of ignorance.
But attempting a character analyses from a doodle he left at a conference (which potentially was boring) is just plain juvenile.
Hold your ammunition for the real issues, slashdot, and retain your credibility in the bargain...
Oh yeah: When you you try postmaster@sbcglobal.com it is equally undelivarable and you get an undeliverable message every 24 hours until it bounces?
If so they are a huge part of the problem and their entire management team deserves to rot in hell, or at least getting tarred feathered and whipped out of town. This of course is also applicable for the "abuse desk" staff, provided they even exists.
Needless to say that this company will never get 1 cents worth of business from me.
Since a hell of a lot of spam seems to originate from their network (according to spamcop reports), I think it's about time to blacklist themn into oblivion.
So this means that public schools in the US permit every shady business to slip in its personal agenda to the official curriculum, provide they bribe enough politicos.
This is a fucking scandal and a disgrace for the US school system. Since I'm a foreigner there's nothing I can do, besides urging you to act on this outrage.
The full post can be found here
I, for example. Or do you consider it fair to be forced to implicitely pay for a software, which I will never use since I want to grace my box with BSD?
It doesn't matter how cheap a computer is offered. It would be even cheaper if it comes naked or with a free OS, that doesn't grace the world with viruses, trojan horses and spam.
I'll call in the answer to that.
Let me find a phonebooth first, in which the men in the black helicopters can't see me.
In addition: IMO Microsofts approach to mask potentially incredible complex systems - like networks or databases - by nifty point and click interfaces and imbecile paperclips dîd far more damage to enterprise computing then any archaic scripting interface.
Actually it's good to be wrong when you get the chance to learn something in exchange.
Even though I can feel your pain I' d like to ask a question: Do you know of any database (free or commercial) that supports such a feature (auto)magically?
See, I thought not.
Migrating a data server to a new major release is a pain by definiton and while you might be able to trick the users into believing that it never goes down you ultimately will have to apply some more or less vicious hack (i.e. warm standby, while you're upgrading the primary db) to achieve that.
In a replicated environment the DBAs pains and hassles grow exponentially if no or very minimal downtime is permissable.
Alas I think it could use some improvement. I suggest the following enhancement
I don't want unlimited rights to the content, I want unlimited rights to listening to the content on any fucking device, supporting such content, that catches my fancy, and this is what I bought...
Yep. Nothing wrong with that too. And if you're considered a very elitist, arrogant person then so be it.
As a matter of fact. A lot of great artists perform their craft from this perspective. Besides Tom Waits, who can certainly not be considered mainstream, Nick Cave is another shining example.
Films? Well, Jim Jarmush comes to mind ot Robert Altman. Sure, they made some commercially interesting movies. But you never get the impression that they compromised or sold out.
Paintings? Well, ol' Vincent Van Gogh couldn't sell a painting (one exception, to his brother) during his lifetime. Now, I'd sure be happy if my great-great-grand father would have picked up a couple while they where cheap.
That's not to say that all mainstream sucks. Good bands like Steely Dan can certainly be considered (intelligent) mainstream. Song writers like Elton John/Bernie Taupin, or Billy Joel are certainly on the very top of their league. Doesn't matter if I like them or not, I can respect them for what they do.
I don't think however that anyone of the forementioned would have their songs checked for marketability by a fucking computer.
Kick out the TV or stay away from "music" programs, switch your radio habbits to a good internet station and subscribe to a serious newspaper so that you don't have to look at those silikone titted, non-talented whatsoever bimbos pretending to be artists.
Oh, you want the right not to be offended? Sorry, I can't help you here.
Well, even though heavy metal (in all its varieties) never really appealed to me, I appreciate that this genre is usually performed by outstanding musicians. Oh and I don't consider Led Zeppelin heavy metal (or even hardrock, whatever that is), but one of the most important bands of all time.
I meant emusic.com
I'll check it out. Maybe after all something good comes from this "AI hitwriting software" after all.
Sure, but so what? Same as you are not forced to eat crappy processed food you don't need to buy this homogenized shit.
Sure, something gets lost along the lines. Creativity? Kharma? Soul? I don't really know, but unfortunately this change happened after the last of the titans in the music business left the ship and where replaced by young, aggressive, MBA schooled and Excel knowledged executives, who don't really give a shit if they're moving laundry detergent, softdrinks or, well, culture [for lack of a better word].
The somewhat cheering thought is that we will always have good music around (currently Tom Waits: Blue Valentine, but I digress) and there will always be good new bands, song writers, arrangers and musicians.
The difference between them and the mainstream will be that while they don't necessarilly shun technology they sure as hell won't use "hit"-writer software, or those gizmos that "clean" mistakes in human vocals.
I totally agree with your assessment. Just wanted to add some perspective and maybe a more joyful outlook on what is to come.
Specifically the arrogance of some of you "spam isn't so bad, you can deal with it" dudes.
First of all: Why the fuck should I be forced to buy software, services invest my time and resources just so a couple hundred lowlifes can get rich quick by shitting into the communal water supply.
Maybe spam is not a problem for you, but I can assure you that it's a helluva problem and a massively costly one for the entire internet and all its legitimate users.
There is no need to thank me.
Yep, sounds like a great deal.
One of the rules though was: No jeans when flying on staff tickets. In addition when you wanted to fly business -, or first class (even on paid flights, not only for upgrades) you where required to wear a tie.
While I heard others gripe about this rule, I figured it's their airline and if they don't want people flying on staff tickets dressed up in shower curtains then that's fine with me. In addition I always had a tie ready in case I would get an upgrade.
If I'd be a paying customer however, I would go ballistic if they wouldn't let me board a plane in first, or business because they don't like my clothes.
Why do you think that Boeing can suddenly regain the market share lost on medium type planes to er... Airbus?
In the regional markets both companies are pretty much irrelevant.
Well, it's certainly where such eeevil vice is most openly visible. But I think it goes for most of "Old Europe" now. I forgot that prostitution is still technically illegal in the UK, but never got the impression that Scotland Yard is wasting too many resources in capturing Average Q Dick. For the rest I didn't experience a reefer as something terribly naughty, nor would I think that a Bobby gives me a hard time for the atrocity of enjoying a Lager outside of a pub on the pavement.
Amsterdam does have it's merrits of course, from which I'd like to point out some really fine museums to the visiting youth of the world:
Don't just waste your time fogged away in coffeeshops when there are so much interesting things to see. Alas I would be the last to discourage a spliff prior to visiting a fine exhibition at the Stedelijk Musemum for modern art.
But I probably digress..
So does one exclude the other? I wouldn't think so.
Well, admitted. It's probably somewhat hard to cram 550 odd people into a 7E7, but where does it say that the A380 has a smaller range?
Personally I think Boeing started to lose it after the 747. Granted, the 767 was successful, but at the cost of a lot of lost 747 sales. I think they didn't sell a single passenger version of the 747 since 2002.
What I believe lead to Boeings "demise" was what happened to a lot of companies when they got fat and lazy: Arrogance! After they bought MD Douglas they thought they remained the only game in town, because those [and this is my fully fictional fantsay] "dumb Euros can't distinguish their arse from a hole in the ground anyways." Well, guess what. They where wrong! Dead wrong!
I also think that Boeings reasononing that "not selling 747s prooves that there is no market for super jumbos any more." is spurrious at worst and wishful thinking at best. Or would you place a $5'000'000'0000 order on a 35 year old plane design, when you know that a product is released in acouple years that doesn't only incorporate all of todays aviation knowledge, but is also likely to reduce operations costs by a significant amount? Provided of course that you can fill them adequately. Not bloody likely
I don't think that Boeing is beyond recovery. But they will first have to stop to whine, start to listen to their customers again and being willing again to take risks (they had a 600p plane in the pipeline, which was scrapped not too long ago).
While I personally agree that I rather fly on a smaller plane, I do think that the massive changes in the East (China / India) will literally scream for such large jets in the not too far future.
We'll see.
Maybe I can supply you with additional incentives:
I throw in dope smoking without going to the slammer for four years and the ability to sit in the park on a sunny day and quaff a bottle of Becks without being hassled by those employed to protect and serve. In addition you get to visit a health checked prostitute (male or female) in a safe and legal environment if you are so inclined without your foto appearing in the local rag under the Gotcha! section.
So, did you chose yet?
How nice for them...
Well, I for my part won't even buy a CD, which quite likely plays on my normal player, if there is the slightest suspicion that it's tampered with some braindead DRM scheme. Oh yeah: And I always make a point to ask the sales clerk.
I will never, ever buy from any online music store that doesn't permit me to do whatever I fucking please with the material I purchased as long it's for personal use. Personal use includes copies for direct friends. Oh: and for the consumers of such services there might be some bad news: Are you sure that you can play your expensively bought music in three years? Well, I'm not!
So yeah, you can count me into the non-buyers of any such innane concepts.
This is most certainly correct. You can't assume that nobody listens into your phone conversations too. However, you can assume that your mail is not opened on a systematic basis. At least for civilized, democratic and (relatively) open societies I think this is a reasonable assumption. Taking that forward the USPS is the carrier in case of mail.
But the business of them being able to snoop on their customers is just standard law. If you own a server, you have to right to monitor files on that server.
There seems to be a huge attitude difference in those matters between the US and Europe. This is most clearly illustrated by EUs privacy directive, which is implemented as law in all EU states. It is most certainly illegal for any carrier to tap into your communications. It is even illegal for your employer to listen in to your communications as an employee under normal circumstances. Doesn't matter if phone, or email. Exceptions might be banks, brokers and other entitities that may have to prove the contents of phone calls in a court case. And even then it must be clearly announced that the call is monitored and taped prior to call completion.
The freedom to listen into private communications at whim, regardless of who owns the carrying gear is a totally foreign concept for most Europeans.
To emphasise: I'm not that naive to believe that it doesn't happen and I certainly wouldn't trust that all folks are pure hearted, upstanding, law abiding citizens of flawless character. But at least such actions are considered a criminal offense.
Maybe they do, but then it would be granted by sleazy fine print on page 39 (or so) of the TOS.
Note the word sleazy and note in addition that you can't get away with such terms in a lot of countries since it's a violation of the most basic foundation of contract law: Acting in good faith.
Neither a phone carrier nor an internet provider should have any rights to tap into their users private conversation, unless so authorized by a court order.
Period!