I use Napster. I download music that I do not own.. I admit it. I'm guilty. I use Napster to preview albums before I buy them, because I am sick of getting RAPED by the recording industry to buy an album for $20 just to find out that I only like the ONE song that was released as a single, and have ZERO recourse. I can't take the CD back, I can't say THIS REALLY BLOWS and get a refund.. I'm stuck with it, period, end of sentence.
Thanks to Napster, I can download every song from a new CD, listen to them all, and make a decision as an EDUCATED consumer about whether to buy the CD or not. Most record stores around here don't let you listen to the album first.. either you buy it or you don't. I can try out a TV before i buy it.. or a mattress.. or a car... or an appliance... or a car stereo. And if I don't like any one of them, I've got around 30 days to return them. Try doing that with a CD sometime. Even if the darned thing is defective, you can't return it.. you have to exchange it for another CRAPPY CD just like it.
So sure, I illegally download music. I do it all the time.
This is a step in the right direction. Maybe if the U.S. sees other nations dropping export restrictions, they will follow suit. There's no point in being the only nation on this planet banning encryption export. Besides, I'll bet there are quite a few companies that would move encryption development overseas to take advantage of lax laws.
I've never had time to track down mp3 format music.. I just listen to my CDs. Thanks to all of the publicity by Metallica, et al, I downloaded Napster today and am quite looking forward to taking it for a spin. Thanks guys!
Email virus infestations are never gonna end until we start properly training users in how to use computers. I think the primary problem is all of those "Learn how to use a computer and make thousands of dollars!" courses. People take a quick class at some no-name training center, bill themselves as computer litterate, and then completely blow away a hard-drive, or network share by double clicking on an attachment that they should have had the sense NOT to open after we've told them not to the FIRST 50 times.
Corporations will get what they pay for. When you set computers down in front of billions of people who have never previously seen/used one, with no real prior training, Bad Things (tm) tend to happen.
I can understand Real collecting information about users of a piece of FREE software.. heck, there's a price for everything these days. The problem that I have is that the hide this information in the "fine print" of their EULA, instead of displaying it promenantly in the install program. They should have a screen that comes up that says:
WARNING: By installing this software, Real reserves the right to record your name, address, kids social security numbers, and what you had for dinner last night by giving you this free software. If you don't want us to know that you beat your wife, please cancel this installation right now!
Ya know... I've really gotta thank Micro$h*t. It seems like everytime there is a release about a new security hole, I get 100 companies calling me and begging for security audits. Thank you, Micro$h*t, for helping my employer stay in business and keeping food on my table.
--cyphergirl (one very busy security engineer these days)
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I use Napster. I download music that I do not own.. I admit it. I'm guilty. I use Napster to preview albums before I buy them, because I am sick of getting RAPED by the recording industry to buy an album for $20 just to find out that I only like the ONE song that was released as a single, and have ZERO recourse. I can't take the CD back, I can't say THIS REALLY BLOWS and get a refund.. I'm stuck with it, period, end of sentence.
Thanks to Napster, I can download every song from a new CD, listen to them all, and make a decision as an EDUCATED consumer about whether to buy the CD or not. Most record stores around here don't let you listen to the album first.. either you buy it or you don't. I can try out a TV before i buy it.. or a mattress.. or a car... or an appliance... or a car stereo. And if I don't like any one of them, I've got around 30 days to return them. Try doing that with a CD sometime. Even if the darned thing is defective, you can't return it.. you have to exchange it for another CRAPPY CD just like it.
So sure, I illegally download music. I do it all the time.
--cyphergirl
Geeze.. that was fast. I was almost hoping to see it hit the Supreme Court first.. get this thing over with more quickly.
This is a step in the right direction. Maybe if the U.S. sees other nations dropping export restrictions, they will follow suit. There's no point in being the only nation on this planet banning encryption export. Besides, I'll bet there are quite a few companies that would move encryption development overseas to take advantage of lax laws.
--cyphergirl
During my time at NASIRC (NASA's security incident response thingy...) this NOAA project had everyone begging for one...including the IG. :)
Are there plans for building clusters for other government agencies, or is this isolated to NOAA right now.
--cyphergirl
I've never had time to track down mp3 format music.. I just listen to my CDs. Thanks to all of the publicity by Metallica, et al, I downloaded Napster today and am quite looking forward to taking it for a spin. Thanks guys!
--cyphergirl
Email virus infestations are never gonna end until we start properly training users in how to use computers. I think the primary problem is all of those "Learn how to use a computer and make thousands of dollars!" courses. People take a quick class at some no-name training center, bill themselves as computer litterate, and then completely blow away a hard-drive, or network share by double clicking on an attachment that they should have had the sense NOT to open after we've told them not to the FIRST 50 times.
Corporations will get what they pay for. When you set computers down in front of billions of people who have never previously seen/used one, with no real prior training, Bad Things (tm) tend to happen.
--cyphergirl
I can understand Real collecting information about users of a piece of FREE software.. heck, there's a price for everything these days. The problem that I have is that the hide this information in the "fine print" of their EULA, instead of displaying it promenantly in the install program. They should have a screen that comes up that says:
WARNING: By installing this software, Real reserves the right to record your name, address, kids social security numbers, and what you had for dinner last night by giving you this free software. If you don't want us to know that you beat your wife, please cancel this installation right now!
--cyphergirl
I'm the one person left on this planet that didn't get to see it... any chance you could email me a URL?
--cyphergirl
Ya know... I've really gotta thank Micro$h*t. It seems like everytime there is a release about a new security hole, I get 100 companies calling me and begging for security audits. Thank you, Micro$h*t, for helping my employer stay in business and keeping food on my table.
--cyphergirl (one very busy security engineer these days)