The school could set up an internal-only P2P network, and reconfigure thier DNSes so all users are connected to it automatically when they try to use normal P2P programs.
This couldn't be detected from outside (although it would still be possible to find out about it) and it would slash thier bandwidth bills.
Now assuming this will be successful, spammers would have to move their bases offshore. How will we deal with that? I don't know.
How about a no questions asked spammer bounty program?
DNA technology could cut the transport costs as well. Just mail back the scalp, and if it suggests an appearance that matches the spammer, pay out 100 gold.
So, if I'm running a sniffer while they are sending email through my PC I won't be able to find the source?
They could put a proxy function in. The spammer contacts one computer, and that computer contacts another. Thus the second computer couldn't locate the spammer, but any e-mail messages would only have the second computer's IP address.
If they were really crafty, they could have a web-like feature. Each infecteed system could scrape web pages for, say, 15 e-mail addresses (Could use IE's cache), and port scan computers for 5 different computers with the virus. The spammer injects one message into the network, and the infected computer forwards it to all 5 on the list, which forward it to all the systems on it's list, and so on. One day later, the network switches to 'send' mode, and each node sends out the message to it's 15 e-mail addresses.
A sort of Gnutella network + Code red port scanning + web page scraper + mail program virus.
Of course, such a program would get zapped by port blockers and virus scanners pretty fast.
From what I read, they didnt attack these companies, they didnt DoS them, they merely provided tools that people could use to stop spammers from contacting them.
People who make anti-spam software should sue spammers who have spams saying 'g*neric v*agra', because they're circmuventing a security measure.
And people who write mail software should make sure it doesn't work as an open relay if you use the default settings.
I make that 2,000,000,000 / 35,000,000. Cancel six zeros to get 2,000/35 - one thirty-fifth of what you estimated. Just over 57 spams per user per day.
I think there are these issues that hindered Concorde operations
Also, it cost £8000 (~= US$12,000) first class ticket for a transatlantic return, when a non-supersonic flight could be much more comfortable, and would only cost £3,000 (~= US$4,500).
Although after S-11 airlines took a caning, low price 'economy' carriers recovered fairly well. Luxury carriers didn't recover anything like as well, and between the high price and the concorde expolsion, it just ain't viable.
When I get really stuck on a design problem, I go for a walk in some very beautiful woods about three miles from my office.
I don't know why most employers don't acknowledge problem-solving techniques like this:...Parker warns against following the technique of the Estonian telescope designer Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt. He would access his subconscious mind by drinking alcoholic beverages for several days until he entered a coma. Although Schmidt did often find a solution to his problem after emerging from the coma, he ended up damaging his brain beyond repair and spent his last days in a psychiatric unit.
In fact one could actually get useful work out of this.
Not easily. You either send them a problem that is already solved (pointless, because you won't get any useful work done) or you send them a problem that is unsolved... in which case, you have no way of telling if they are sending the right solution or a spoofed one.
Some places like SETI@HOME have a problem with people submitting fake daya to get thier stats up. The same would happen here.
I suppose You could distribute one work packet to 3 systems simeltaniously, and only send the mail after all 3 systems supplied the same result. But this will only work if a fairly small proportion of mail is spam... which isn't really the case.
There might be some way of getting this to work, but after you factor in data transmission overheads, you'd be better off with pre-solved problems and letting people run distributed computing apps if they want to.
How do you build and maintain a wind farm of giant metal and plastic structures without oil, coal and gas to power the factories and foundries? It's EXTREMELY difficult.
What about nuclear power? It's fairly sustainable, doesn't produce gaseous emmissions (modern reactors also don't produce much radioactive waste), and doesn't need mid east oil.
They're not perfect by any means, but they could be better than what we've got now.
Who shall reward them? If you want to reward them, that's fine. But why should I be forced to do so? To compel me to reward them amounts to a gross imposition on my own liberties.
I believe the idea is you only reward them (i.e. give them money) if you use thier invention.
In a world without IP, that work bench is simply two bits of wood, some metal legs, and some plastic handles. Value: Less than £10. And that's a high estimate.
But during production, value is added to those bits of wood, metal and plastic. Thier value increases from £10 to £30.
That increase is caused by IP.
In other words, the inventor of the bench has contributed two thirds of it's value. In a world without IP, he would have no right to any of that.
Inventors should be rewarded because it is thier product (IP) which turns raw materials (wood and metal) into products (work benches) people want.
Why shouldn't you compensate them, when you benefit from thier work?
Not all slashdot posts are pointless speculative drivel, and many "rigorous academic inquiries" are pompous, pedantic, and obfuscated. The medium through which a thing is said does not inherently render it good or bad.
Yes, but a Slashdsot post is typically constructed in a few minutes, and usually uses only anecdotal evidence, if any at all. And they frequently have poor spelling and grammer, like my last sentance.
They also tend to suggest radical solutions, such as 'The entire IP system should be abandoned', which betray a lack of knowledge about other industries and sectors which rely on IP so survive.
AFAICS, formally educated economists have done nothing but support conventional wisdom for the past few decades.
There are a lot of discussions going on in economics. You just don't hear about them, just like you don't hear about things going on in English Literature.
And it could be that the conventional wisdom is, well, right.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
Re:5 million solders? I dont think so.
on
Blizzard Births BBS
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Hey,
Suess took care of five million solder joints and the odd unforeseen problem... 4.13 solders per second.
Aint no way in hell he did that by hand.
He did not do it all by hand, he did not do it with Ayn Rand, he did not do it for a band, he did not do it to command.
He could have used a solder bath, that could have worked with your math, or may have used another path, for the figures which cause your wrath.
Avril Lavigne is a prime example... she's just a sellout, though. no self-respecting sensible teenager would really support her,
I personally derive pleasure from listening to her songs. Does this mean I am not 'self-respecting' or 'sensible'? That is what your post implies to me.
It could be said that you are insulting me (i.e. saying I am not self-respecting or sensible) because I don't conform to what your social group deems good (i.e. acting indignant about Avril Lavigne).
Aren't you effectively saying that if we want to be 'in on the punk scene', we have to dislike one singer (Avril Lavigne) and like others (your entire list)? And aren't you demanding the very conformity that so many punks claim to hate?
I would be interested to hear how you reconcile this disparity.
Michael
Re:What is an example that can't run in parallel?
on
Forget Moore's Law?
·
· Score: 1
Hey,
Can someone please give an example of a computing task that CANNOT be subdivided into smaller tasks and run in parallel on many processing elements?
Pretty much any task where different parts effect each other, such as modeling the flow of water over a submarine, weather systems, or nuclear bomb detonations.
Very long lists of calculations, where early results effect late results, like a spreadsheet.
Anything running simple operations on large datasets (where the time to send data to parallel systems would be greater than the time to do the calculations) e.g. resizing an image
And pretty much any recursive calculation.
Another (marginal) benefit is that a faster processor can run non-parallel programs without reprogramming, so single workstation packages don't need to be totally re-coded.
They have the same thing as an "all you can eat bar". Should I not be allowed to purchase all you can eat ribbs because last time I did I ate four full racks? Should I not be allowed to eat the crab leggs because I at 12 halves? that is the bisuness model, sell "all you can use" to everybody, a few use alot most don't.
I think the situation is more anologuous to an all you can eat bar that can serve 50 average-sized people at the same time. Let's say that every lunchtime at peak period, a gentleman walked in who ate enough food for 20 normal people, cost the bar far more than he paid, and resulted in 19 people recieving markedly inferior service.
It would bake sound buisness sense for the resturaunt to ban the gentleman, no?
Cable services seem to be as much of a monopoly in UK as they are here in US (no DSL is rarely viable here, dunno about UK). So what is stopping them from this? NOTHING. So the customers get pissed and set up websites... but how many are going to pack up and move? None.
They could change to ADSL. British Telecom (who own most of the country's telephone wires) were told by the government that they had to sell connections wholesale... meaning you connect to your ISP through BT's network, but you can choose from a very wide range of ISPs to link you up to the 'actual' internet. So there's lots of competition.
If you want to connect multiple computers, use VPN, or have multiple IPs, you can. If you have the cash, you can get as fast as 8Mbps, but 512kbps is the normal connection speed.
Which, needless to say, it great.
Yay for market forces and, uh, government intervention as well.
the secret ballot--not letting another person watch you vote--has to be mandatory to be fully effective.
I understand what you're trying to say, but wouldn't your policy make absentee voting as a whole impossible? That doesn't seem a big improvement for disabled people, the elderly, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
The school could set up an internal-only P2P network, and reconfigure thier DNSes so all users are connected to it automatically when they try to use normal P2P programs.
This couldn't be detected from outside (although it would still be possible to find out about it) and it would slash thier bandwidth bills.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
Hey,
Now assuming this will be successful, spammers would have to move their bases offshore. How will we deal with that? I don't know.
How about a no questions asked spammer bounty program?
DNA technology could cut the transport costs as well. Just mail back the scalp, and if it suggests an appearance that matches the spammer, pay out 100 gold.
Michael
Hey,
So, if I'm running a sniffer while they are sending email through my PC I won't be able to find the source?
They could put a proxy function in. The spammer contacts one computer, and that computer contacts another. Thus the second computer couldn't locate the spammer, but any e-mail messages would only have the second computer's IP address.
If they were really crafty, they could have a web-like feature. Each infecteed system could scrape web pages for, say, 15 e-mail addresses (Could use IE's cache), and port scan computers for 5 different computers with the virus. The spammer injects one message into the network, and the infected computer forwards it to all 5 on the list, which forward it to all the systems on it's list, and so on. One day later, the network switches to 'send' mode, and each node sends out the message to it's 15 e-mail addresses.
A sort of Gnutella network + Code red port scanning + web page scraper + mail program virus.
Of course, such a program would get zapped by port blockers and virus scanners pretty fast.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
Hey,
From what I read, they didnt attack these companies, they didnt DoS them, they merely provided tools that people could use to stop spammers from contacting them.
People who make anti-spam software should sue spammers who have spams saying 'g*neric v*agra', because they're circmuventing a security measure.
And people who write mail software should make sure it doesn't work as an open relay if you use the default settings.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
One could get better results by sending your $1000 to a local charity and putting out a press release.
Save the Children today recieved a $1000 donation from Smith V*agra and P E N 1 S E N L A R G E M E N T Co, ltd.
Hey,
I make that 2000 spam messages per user per day!
I make that 2,000,000,000 / 35,000,000. Cancel six zeros to get 2,000/35 - one thirty-fifth of what you estimated. Just over 57 spams per user per day.
At 70% spam, 30% ligitimate, I make that:
(57/70)*30 = 24 messages per day.
Which is way more messages than I get.
Michael
BSD, Apple, Decent rock music and 'BSD is Dying' are also dying.
Or so I'm told.
Michael
Hey,
in 2004 the computer that said no to fair use and yes to drm
Excuse me, I don't think you read the article, even the first line.
Look, it says right there:
Back-up diskette A "safe copy" made from the original diskette and kept in case of damage or destruction of data on the original diskette.
And that's right in the manufacturer's advertising literature... Ah, those were the days.
Michael
Hey,
I think there are these issues that hindered Concorde operations
Also, it cost £8000 (~= US$12,000) first class ticket for a transatlantic return, when a non-supersonic flight could be much more comfortable, and would only cost £3,000 (~= US$4,500).
Although after S-11 airlines took a caning, low price 'economy' carriers recovered fairly well. Luxury carriers didn't recover anything like as well, and between the high price and the concorde expolsion, it just ain't viable.
Michael
Hey,
With that sum of money a person would have to spend $40.78 every second for his/her entire life, every day, and including during the night.
Even with the lower amount ($97.8 Billion), you could do a lot. It wou converted it bo British money, you could:
Make a stack of 1p coins which was 10 million kilometers high, and weighed 22 million tonnes.
Cover a 70m * 100m football pitch in 1p coins... to a depth of 590 meters.
Buy 11,000 tonnes of gold.
Make a stack of £50 notes which was 115 kilometers high.
It's a lot of money.
Michael
Hey,
...Parker warns against following the technique of the Estonian telescope designer Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt. He would access his subconscious mind by drinking alcoholic beverages for several days until he entered a coma. Although Schmidt did often find a solution to his problem after emerging from the coma, he ended up damaging his brain beyond repair and spent his last days in a psychiatric unit.
When I get really stuck on a design problem, I go for a walk in some very beautiful woods about three miles from my office.
I don't know why most employers don't acknowledge problem-solving techniques like this:
Interesting, eh?
Hey,
In fact one could actually get useful work out of this.
Not easily. You either send them a problem that is already solved (pointless, because you won't get any useful work done) or you send them a problem that is unsolved... in which case, you have no way of telling if they are sending the right solution or a spoofed one.
Some places like SETI@HOME have a problem with people submitting fake daya to get thier stats up. The same would happen here.
I suppose You could distribute one work packet to 3 systems simeltaniously, and only send the mail after all 3 systems supplied the same result. But this will only work if a fairly small proportion of mail is spam... which isn't really the case.
There might be some way of getting this to work, but after you factor in data transmission overheads, you'd be better off with pre-solved problems and letting people run distributed computing apps if they want to.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
Hey,
How do you build and maintain a wind farm of giant metal and plastic structures without oil, coal and gas to power the factories and foundries? It's EXTREMELY difficult.
What about nuclear power? It's fairly sustainable, doesn't produce gaseous emmissions (modern reactors also don't produce much radioactive waste), and doesn't need mid east oil.
They're not perfect by any means, but they could be better than what we've got now.
Michael
Hey,
A New York Times Magazine article about how a London surgeon is planning on performing an experimental full-face transplant.
You know, that this is possible was announced months ago.
I read it here first.
Michael
Hey,
Besides virtually nothing is "compiled into assembly language" these days.
Yeah, most compilers compile directly into machine code.
You see? It's funny, because that's what the poster really meant!
Michael
Hey,
Who shall reward them? If you want to reward them, that's fine. But why should I be forced to do so? To compel me to reward them amounts to a gross imposition on my own liberties.
I believe the idea is you only reward them (i.e. give them money) if you use thier invention.
Let me put ut another way... say you invent something simple, but which no-one has come up with before. For example, a work bench which has a vice in the middle.
In a world without IP, that work bench is simply two bits of wood, some metal legs, and some plastic handles. Value: Less than £10. And that's a high estimate.
But during production, value is added to those bits of wood, metal and plastic. Thier value increases from £10 to £30.
That increase is caused by IP.
In other words, the inventor of the bench has contributed two thirds of it's value. In a world without IP, he would have no right to any of that.
Inventors should be rewarded because it is thier product (IP) which turns raw materials (wood and metal) into products (work benches) people want.
Why shouldn't you compensate them, when you benefit from thier work?
Michael
Hey,
Not all slashdot posts are pointless speculative drivel, and many "rigorous academic inquiries" are pompous, pedantic, and obfuscated. The medium through which a thing is said does not inherently render it good or bad.
Yes, but a Slashdsot post is typically constructed in a few minutes, and usually uses only anecdotal evidence, if any at all. And they frequently have poor spelling and grammer, like my last sentance.
They also tend to suggest radical solutions, such as 'The entire IP system should be abandoned', which betray a lack of knowledge about other industries and sectors which rely on IP so survive.
AFAICS, formally educated economists have done nothing but support conventional wisdom for the past few decades.
There are a lot of discussions going on in economics. You just don't hear about them, just like you don't hear about things going on in English Literature.
And it could be that the conventional wisdom is, well, right.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
Hey,
Suess took care of five million solder joints and the odd unforeseen problem... 4.13 solders per second.
Aint no way in hell he did that by hand.
He did not do it all by hand,
he did not do it with Ayn Rand,
he did not do it for a band,
he did not do it to command.
He could have used a solder bath,
that could have worked with your math,
or may have used another path,
for the figures which cause your wrath.
Michael
Nerd Vacation to the Earth Simulator
At first, I read the title as:
Nerd 'Vacation to the Earth' Simulator
when it's actually
'Nerd Vacation' to the 'Earth Simulator'
The distinction is important.
Michael
Hey,
... she's just a sellout, though. no self-respecting sensible teenager would really support her,
Avril Lavigne is a prime example
I personally derive pleasure from listening to her songs. Does this mean I am not 'self-respecting' or 'sensible'? That is what your post implies to me.
It could be said that you are insulting me (i.e. saying I am not self-respecting or sensible) because I don't conform to what your social group deems good (i.e. acting indignant about Avril Lavigne).
Aren't you effectively saying that if we want to be 'in on the punk scene', we have to dislike one singer (Avril Lavigne) and like others (your entire list)? And aren't you demanding the very conformity that so many punks claim to hate?
I would be interested to hear how you reconcile this disparity.
Michael
Hey,
Can someone please give an example of a computing task that CANNOT be subdivided into smaller tasks and run in parallel on many processing elements?
Pretty much any task where different parts effect each other, such as modeling the flow of water over a submarine, weather systems, or nuclear bomb detonations.
Very long lists of calculations, where early results effect late results, like a spreadsheet.
Anything running simple operations on large datasets (where the time to send data to parallel systems would be greater than the time to do the calculations) e.g. resizing an image
And pretty much any recursive calculation.
Another (marginal) benefit is that a faster processor can run non-parallel programs without reprogramming, so single workstation packages don't need to be totally re-coded.
Michael
Hey,
They have the same thing as an "all you can eat bar". Should I not be allowed to purchase all you can eat ribbs because last time I did I ate four full racks? Should I not be allowed to eat the crab leggs because I at 12 halves? that is the bisuness model, sell "all you can use" to everybody, a few use alot most don't.
I think the situation is more anologuous to an all you can eat bar that can serve 50 average-sized people at the same time. Let's say that every lunchtime at peak period, a gentleman walked in who ate enough food for 20 normal people, cost the bar far more than he paid, and resulted in 19 people recieving markedly inferior service.
It would bake sound buisness sense for the resturaunt to ban the gentleman, no?
Michael
Hey,
Cable services seem to be as much of a monopoly in UK as they are here in US (no DSL is rarely viable here, dunno about UK). So what is stopping them from this? NOTHING. So the customers get pissed and set up websites... but how many are going to pack up and move? None.
They could change to ADSL. British Telecom (who own most of the country's telephone wires) were told by the government that they had to sell connections wholesale... meaning you connect to your ISP through BT's network, but you can choose from a very wide range of ISPs to link you up to the 'actual' internet. So there's lots of competition.
If you want to connect multiple computers, use VPN, or have multiple IPs, you can. If you have the cash, you can get as fast as 8Mbps, but 512kbps is the normal connection speed.
Which, needless to say, it great.
Yay for market forces and, uh, government intervention as well.
Michael
Hey,
Prevent booting from a floppy, password protect the bios and lock the case. Makes it much harder.
You can get hardware keyboard loggers. They go between the keyboard and the case. They're fairly cheap, and availiable to consumers.
Alternately, you could use a BIOS master password. Look them up on Google; many popular bioses have them.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
Hey,
the secret ballot--not letting another person watch you vote--has to be mandatory to be fully effective.
I understand what you're trying to say, but wouldn't your policy make absentee voting as a whole impossible? That doesn't seem a big improvement for disabled people, the elderly, etc.
Just my $0.02,
Michael