What do people do with all this money? This isn't a rhetorical question; I'd really like to know what these people intend to do with such fortunes. I assume part of it is really stocks, and so it's company worth rather than personal worth, but still, I can't see ever needing more than, say, $2-3 million over the course of my entire life.
For CD-R, DVD-R/w, the industry defines 1024 MB = 1 GB
You'd be surprised: all the writable DVDs I have claim 4.7GB but offer 4,700,000,000 (+/- a tiny amount) bytes = 4.3*2^30. (CDs, on the other hand, do use 1024: the "700MB" CDs I use are 736,966,656 (data) bytes = 703*2^20.
Just because something like the Web server has a Local System level of security access, DOES NOT mean that it can do whatever it wants on the system. It still has to ask what it can do and where.
It seems to be able to do enough, judging from all the worms/viruses we've seen and the damage they've done. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the local shells provided by IIS, or the zillions of E-mail viruses going around. As far as data goes, no, maybe you can't touch ntoskrnl.exe, but you could probably still delete (or modify, even) earnings2003.xls. (Even if it is possible to prevent this, how many financial managers out there know how to secure their files--or even that they can, or that they should?) The problem isn't the kernel, it's the software that's built around it.
Also, you seem to be under the misconception that I consider the Unix security model superior to the NT one. As I said in my previous post, I don't know enough about the NT security model to judge either way. I also don't consider the Unix model to be that good anyway; about all it has going for it is simplicity. NT may well be better--but until someone comes up with a completely new set of tools for it (GNU NT?) I'll pass.
I woke up this morning (JST) to a couple dozen of these in my mailbox. I added a filter line for any messages containing a "Content-ID:" line, which seems to catch them (and as an added bonus ought to take out most other viruses too). Does anyone know of any mail clients that add Content-ID headers on legitimate attachments?
you have no idea what you are talking about in regard to Microsoft's OS architectural security
You missed the parent's next paragraph, which gives examples of "running a webserver under the System or Administrator account" and "[i]nstalling and activating services by default". He's not, or at least doesn't appear to be, bashing the architecture or technology itself; he's bashing the way it's used (or not used, as the case may be). I don't have the knowledge to discuss the security capabilities of NT, but no matter how capable it is, such capabilities are pointless if they aren't used properly. To borrow the tired old house analogy, it's like installing a new ultra-secure electromechanical lock on your door--and then leaving the door wide open while you go on vacation. That's why so many people, myself included, keep railing against Microsoft and Windows for its "lack of security".
Dynamic strings are fine--until you run out of memory.
Whether static or dynamic, there is, eventually, a limit you'll run into, and if you don't code with that limit in mind then, eventually, you'll be screwed. In some cases, static allocation can be better because you know ahead of time what the limit is.
Either way, it's a matter of knowing the tools you use. I use the standard C string functions (albeit with some of my own additions), and I'll put my skills up against dynamic string library users any day.
(That said, I hope eventually to be able to use a better language altogether, but I'm still looking for one that doesn't assume top-of-the-line hardware (*cough*Perl*cough*Python*cough*Java*cough*)...
Interesting note about the bosozoku kid, but I suspect that that's because he isn't actually violating any laws--it isn't until recently that some local governments (Hiroshima comes to mind, can't remember whether it was the city or the prefecture) started taking action--and it's fairly well known that the police don't take action without a sound legal basis. I would agree, however, that society as a whole needs to take more responsibility to deter bosozoku and similar problems.
As far as traffic laws not being enforced, I suspect that's partly due to reluctance to get involved in others' matters, and partly due to the general view that as long as nothing bad happens, breaking the rules is okay. (On the other hand, a friend of mine had her license suspended for stopping less than the requisite three seconds at a stop sign with no traffic around, so it looks like the laws are enforced sometimes...)
The number of disaffected Japanese ojisan going crazy and blowing up office buildings is very tiny,
Actually, I didn't mean to suggest the 30+ people were committing the crimes--but that their endless wailing about the state of the Japanese economy has almost certainly had a negative influence on the children who have grown up listening to it. (I wrote an article on my Japanese home page discussing this very issue, though it's rather lopsided in discussing only this aspect of juvenile crime.) There was a poll done of schoolchildren a few years ago in which one of the questions asked the children to draw a picture representing their image of the future, and 25% or so turned in black or mostly black papers. Not a good sign.
It really makes me sad looking at this country and how the culturally based general apathy and lack of respect for others (interestingly, this is supposed to be one of the big things that the Japanese supposedly have) has brought the societal climate to one of edginess and frequent outbursts of anger. I ride from Shinjuku to Chiba every day, twice. I see this lack of respect played out every single day.
I'd guess the majority of the offenders are in their teens or 20's? I likewise see that frequently from that age group. As to why other people don't stop them, that's probably due not so much to apathy as to the fact that said teens and 20's offenders won't hesitate to injure or kill anyone who annoys them; most "traditional" Japanese are probably scared shitless of the younger generation. I don't know how long you've been in Japan, but there was a rash of incidents along those lines two or three years ago--one at Sangenjaya station where a 40-or-so businessman got beaten to death by four college students because one's foot bumped into the other particularly sticks in my mind.
(This is probably getting off-topic for the article; feel free to E-mail me at achurch@achurch.org if you'd like to continue the discussion.)
Who knows... dictionary.com doesn't list either virii or viri as a valid plural of virus (and I assumed you were commenting on virii vs. virus; apologies if that's not the case). I guess "viri" looks too short, or not imposing enough, or something.
Hell, it's all in fun anyway. I hope so, at least.
It's more likely that some middle manager decided that it would keep costs down by restricting support calls to Japanese. No need to hire English speakers, no need to worry about updating the advertisement brochures. Then in typical Japanese fashion, this mandate becomes gospel and anything representing thinking outside the norm becomes forbidden.
I agree with that being the probable source of this particular problem--not that that excuses it--but I wouldn't characterize it as "typical Japanese fashion"; Japanese are, in general, doing quite a bit better than that nowadays. (I've only been in Japan about five years myself, so I can't speak to what Japan was like before that, but assuming that it used to be "typical Japanese fashion", then yes, it has improved.)
Go to McD's and ask for extra ketchup or a Filet O' Fish with no cheese. Try to get a straight quote from any salesperson on any price. See if you can get permission to use a store's restroom in an emergency.
Interesting examples you chose; I've had no trouble with any of them--though I live in the Tokyo area, and it may be that things have changed more quickly here than elsewhere.
It's one reason why crime is so bad here. The police simply don't know how to handle the criminals. Instead of treating them as criminals, they treat them with kid gloves and try to show them respect.
Assuming "here" == Japan, the stories I hear regarding police are usually along the lines of brutal police questioning (which could, granted, result in the police becoming overly careful, but there does not seem to have been much improvement in the time I've been here). From what I have seen and heard--modulo reporting bias, of course--a large part of the recent crime increase seems to be due to (1) foreigners who take advantage of Japanese naivete, (2) kids who don't believe in societal rights and wrongs (probably due to bad parenting), and (3) the conviction of most Japanese over 30 or so that economic growth under 10% is a horrible depression and means the end of the world.
If you are living in Japan, then with all due respect, do you speak Japanese? I frankly think it foolish to try and judge a culture without even being able to speak with the people on an even basis, i.e. in their language.
The article said that Verizon kept its log files indefinitely where as others may have kept logs for 30 days meaning those other companies wouldn't be able to provide any information if legal battles took the courts over that amount of time.
Presumably the RIAA would obtain a court order requiring the ISP to hold the relevant records until the user was located. Even if not, deleting the logs after receiving the subpoena would probably be considered contempt of court, destruction of evidence, or something along those lines.
As has been pointed out, broadband modems are being passed out on the street by yahoo bb,
I might point out that YahooBB discriminates against foreigners by not allowing their customer service reps to speak English. (They have a bad reputation anyway among those in the know, but this took me by surprise.)
Good point, updated. As far as my home page, I'm guessing your browser has a bug with handling Japanese text, since my top page is in Japanese. (I should have linked to the English page; that's fixed now, too.)
[...] their console, designed to primarily be a hands off OS device, is downloading patches WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION!?!?! THE HORROR!
And that's the crux of the problem. It does no one harm to add a message that says "Your XBox will now be updated. If you do not update you will not be able to play online." before the actual update happens. I might note that this is exactly what Square does with its PS2 PlayOnline system: it won't let you play without the newest version, for obvious reasons, but it gives you a chance to cancel before it starts the download. "Hands-off" or not, that's the way it should be done. (And not just because of this particular case; the user might have simply connected to check messages and not have time to download a large update, for example. This has happened to me before on PlayOnline, but since I was able to cancel the update it did not turn into a bigger problem.)
I admit I wouldn't be quite as upset if it was, say, General Electric instead of Microsoft. However, it's not because it's Microsoft, per se (trying to use a hacked box on an online service is just stupid); it's that Microsoft has already announced their intention, or at least desire, to implement a similar auto-update system in future versions of Windows, which I'm very concerned about.
And can we please enact a law prohibiting people from the deep South from saying "www"? Hearing someone say, "Dubya dubya dubya" makes my fucking ears bleed.
Just get them to do what I do--pronounce it "wuh-wuh-wuh". Saves on syllables too.
I also considered "wee-wee-wee" at one point, but it never really caught on...
One thing I've noticed lately is that I tend to recognize words, and possibly entire phrases, by their overall shape rahter than sequences of individual letters. I've been studying/using Japanese for the last seven years or so, and it may have been reading kanji, which have completely different shapes, that got me thinking about this; as my Japanese skills have improved, I've noticed that rather than having to read everything out loud as I used to, I can see a kanji or sequence of kanji and understand instantly what it means. When I then went back and read a book in English, I realized I was doing the same thing: seeing the words as "images", or patterns in and of themselves.
I'm not sure what practical benefit the particular discovery mentioned in the article has, other than letting CmdrTaco rest easy, but it's an interesting insight into how the brain works.
Too much of anything is bad. As you say, ultra-protectionism is bad because you lose competition, which reduces the incentive to advance. On the other hand, though, 100% free trade means that you may have to compete on even ground with someone whose cost of living is a tenth of yours. Guess who'd win that battle?
Free trade is good, but like everything else, it's not a panacea; you need a balance between trade with the outside and keeping your own society healthy.
Slashdot Mirror
We'll see what it means for the U.S. to have it's global bandwidth be owned by, well, someone else.
Install whatever OS you like--it won't do you any good against my power shovel!
(The guy in that article failed, but there have been a number of successes in the last year or two. What will people think up next...)
What do people do with all this money? This isn't a rhetorical question; I'd really like to know what these people intend to do with such fortunes. I assume part of it is really stocks, and so it's company worth rather than personal worth, but still, I can't see ever needing more than, say, $2-3 million over the course of my entire life.
For CD-R, DVD-R/w, the industry defines 1024 MB = 1 GB
You'd be surprised: all the writable DVDs I have claim 4.7GB but offer 4,700,000,000 (+/- a tiny amount) bytes = 4.3*2^30. (CDs, on the other hand, do use 1024: the "700MB" CDs I use are 736,966,656 (data) bytes = 703*2^20.
Good lord, this is confusing...
My Linux system already starts up pretty quickly. Give me a BIOS that can boot in under 5 seconds (under 25, even!) and I'll be happy.
Just because something like the Web server has a Local System level of security access, DOES NOT mean that it can do whatever it wants on the system. It still has to ask what it can do and where.
It seems to be able to do enough, judging from all the worms/viruses we've seen and the damage they've done. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the local shells provided by IIS, or the zillions of E-mail viruses going around. As far as data goes, no, maybe you can't touch ntoskrnl.exe, but you could probably still delete (or modify, even) earnings2003.xls. (Even if it is possible to prevent this, how many financial managers out there know how to secure their files--or even that they can, or that they should?) The problem isn't the kernel, it's the software that's built around it.
Also, you seem to be under the misconception that I consider the Unix security model superior to the NT one. As I said in my previous post, I don't know enough about the NT security model to judge either way. I also don't consider the Unix model to be that good anyway; about all it has going for it is simplicity. NT may well be better--but until someone comes up with a completely new set of tools for it (GNU NT?) I'll pass.
I woke up this morning (JST) to a couple dozen of these in my mailbox. I added a filter line for any messages containing a "Content-ID:" line, which seems to catch them (and as an added bonus ought to take out most other viruses too). Does anyone know of any mail clients that add Content-ID headers on legitimate attachments?
I half suspect this is a troll, but...
you have no idea what you are talking about in regard to Microsoft's OS architectural security
You missed the parent's next paragraph, which gives examples of "running a webserver under the System or Administrator account" and "[i]nstalling and activating services by default". He's not, or at least doesn't appear to be, bashing the architecture or technology itself; he's bashing the way it's used (or not used, as the case may be). I don't have the knowledge to discuss the security capabilities of NT, but no matter how capable it is, such capabilities are pointless if they aren't used properly. To borrow the tired old house analogy, it's like installing a new ultra-secure electromechanical lock on your door--and then leaving the door wide open while you go on vacation. That's why so many people, myself included, keep railing against Microsoft and Windows for its "lack of security".
Dynamic strings are fine--until you run out of memory.
Whether static or dynamic, there is, eventually, a limit you'll run into, and if you don't code with that limit in mind then, eventually, you'll be screwed. In some cases, static allocation can be better because you know ahead of time what the limit is.
Either way, it's a matter of knowing the tools you use. I use the standard C string functions (albeit with some of my own additions), and I'll put my skills up against dynamic string library users any day.
(That said, I hope eventually to be able to use a better language altogether, but I'm still looking for one that doesn't assume top-of-the-line hardware (*cough*Perl*cough*Python*cough*Java*cough*)...
Interesting note about the bosozoku kid, but I suspect that that's because he isn't actually violating any laws--it isn't until recently that some local governments (Hiroshima comes to mind, can't remember whether it was the city or the prefecture) started taking action--and it's fairly well known that the police don't take action without a sound legal basis. I would agree, however, that society as a whole needs to take more responsibility to deter bosozoku and similar problems.
As far as traffic laws not being enforced, I suspect that's partly due to reluctance to get involved in others' matters, and partly due to the general view that as long as nothing bad happens, breaking the rules is okay. (On the other hand, a friend of mine had her license suspended for stopping less than the requisite three seconds at a stop sign with no traffic around, so it looks like the laws are enforced sometimes...)
The number of disaffected Japanese ojisan going crazy and blowing up office buildings is very tiny,
Actually, I didn't mean to suggest the 30+ people were committing the crimes--but that their endless wailing about the state of the Japanese economy has almost certainly had a negative influence on the children who have grown up listening to it. (I wrote an article on my Japanese home page discussing this very issue, though it's rather lopsided in discussing only this aspect of juvenile crime.) There was a poll done of schoolchildren a few years ago in which one of the questions asked the children to draw a picture representing their image of the future, and 25% or so turned in black or mostly black papers. Not a good sign.
It really makes me sad looking at this country and how the culturally based general apathy and lack of respect for others (interestingly, this is supposed to be one of the big things that the Japanese supposedly have) has brought the societal climate to one of edginess and frequent outbursts of anger. I ride from Shinjuku to Chiba every day, twice. I see this lack of respect played out every single day.
I'd guess the majority of the offenders are in their teens or 20's? I likewise see that frequently from that age group. As to why other people don't stop them, that's probably due not so much to apathy as to the fact that said teens and 20's offenders won't hesitate to injure or kill anyone who annoys them; most "traditional" Japanese are probably scared shitless of the younger generation. I don't know how long you've been in Japan, but there was a rash of incidents along those lines two or three years ago--one at Sangenjaya station where a 40-or-so businessman got beaten to death by four college students because one's foot bumped into the other particularly sticks in my mind.
(This is probably getting off-topic for the article; feel free to E-mail me at achurch@achurch.org if you'd like to continue the discussion.)
Who knows... dictionary.com doesn't list either virii or viri as a valid plural of virus (and I assumed you were commenting on virii vs. virus; apologies if that's not the case). I guess "viri" looks too short, or not imposing enough, or something.
Hell, it's all in fun anyway. I hope so, at least.
So, if the plural or "virus" is "virii", then I guess the plural of "radius" is "radiii".
The thing is, it is, except for the number of i's (radii, not radiii).
It's more likely that some middle manager decided that it would keep costs down by restricting support calls to Japanese. No need to hire English speakers, no need to worry about updating the advertisement brochures. Then in typical Japanese fashion, this mandate becomes gospel and anything representing thinking outside the norm becomes forbidden.
I agree with that being the probable source of this particular problem--not that that excuses it--but I wouldn't characterize it as "typical Japanese fashion"; Japanese are, in general, doing quite a bit better than that nowadays. (I've only been in Japan about five years myself, so I can't speak to what Japan was like before that, but assuming that it used to be "typical Japanese fashion", then yes, it has improved.)
Go to McD's and ask for extra ketchup or a Filet O' Fish with no cheese. Try to get a straight quote from any salesperson on any price. See if you can get permission to use a store's restroom in an emergency.
Interesting examples you chose; I've had no trouble with any of them--though I live in the Tokyo area, and it may be that things have changed more quickly here than elsewhere.
It's one reason why crime is so bad here. The police simply don't know how to handle the criminals. Instead of treating them as criminals, they treat them with kid gloves and try to show them respect.
Assuming "here" == Japan, the stories I hear regarding police are usually along the lines of brutal police questioning (which could, granted, result in the police becoming overly careful, but there does not seem to have been much improvement in the time I've been here). From what I have seen and heard--modulo reporting bias, of course--a large part of the recent crime increase seems to be due to (1) foreigners who take advantage of Japanese naivete, (2) kids who don't believe in societal rights and wrongs (probably due to bad parenting), and (3) the conviction of most Japanese over 30 or so that economic growth under 10% is a horrible depression and means the end of the world.
If you are living in Japan, then with all due respect, do you speak Japanese? I frankly think it foolish to try and judge a culture without even being able to speak with the people on an even basis, i.e. in their language.
The article said that Verizon kept its log files indefinitely where as others may have kept logs for 30 days meaning those other companies wouldn't be able to provide any information if legal battles took the courts over that amount of time.
Presumably the RIAA would obtain a court order requiring the ISP to hold the relevant records until the user was located. Even if not, deleting the logs after receiving the subpoena would probably be considered contempt of court, destruction of evidence, or something along those lines.
Patches for DJBDNS and lots of other daemons here.
As has been pointed out, broadband modems are being passed out on the street by yahoo bb,
I might point out that YahooBB discriminates against foreigners by not allowing their customer service reps to speak English. (They have a bad reputation anyway among those in the know, but this took me by surprise.)
I always wondered how netcraft and nmap could determine how many days a server has been up.
I think it's done through TCP options, but I don't know the details offhand.
Good point, updated. As far as my home page, I'm guessing your browser has a bug with handling Japanese text, since my top page is in Japanese. (I should have linked to the English page; that's fixed now, too.)
[...] their console, designed to primarily be a hands off OS device, is downloading patches WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION!?!?! THE HORROR!
And that's the crux of the problem. It does no one harm to add a message that says "Your XBox will now be updated. If you do not update you will not be able to play online." before the actual update happens. I might note that this is exactly what Square does with its PS2 PlayOnline system: it won't let you play without the newest version, for obvious reasons, but it gives you a chance to cancel before it starts the download. "Hands-off" or not, that's the way it should be done. (And not just because of this particular case; the user might have simply connected to check messages and not have time to download a large update, for example. This has happened to me before on PlayOnline, but since I was able to cancel the update it did not turn into a bigger problem.)
I admit I wouldn't be quite as upset if it was, say, General Electric instead of Microsoft. However, it's not because it's Microsoft, per se (trying to use a hacked box on an online service is just stupid); it's that Microsoft has already announced their intention, or at least desire, to implement a similar auto-update system in future versions of Windows, which I'm very concerned about.
And can we please enact a law prohibiting people from the deep South from saying "www"? Hearing someone say, "Dubya dubya dubya" makes my fucking ears bleed.
Just get them to do what I do--pronounce it "wuh-wuh-wuh". Saves on syllables too.
I also considered "wee-wee-wee" at one point, but it never really caught on...
Preliminary (as in, it seems to work for me) BIND 8 patch that I just cooked up available here.
One thing I've noticed lately is that I tend to recognize words, and possibly entire phrases, by their overall shape rahter than sequences of individual letters. I've been studying/using Japanese for the last seven years or so, and it may have been reading kanji, which have completely different shapes, that got me thinking about this; as my Japanese skills have improved, I've noticed that rather than having to read everything out loud as I used to, I can see a kanji or sequence of kanji and understand instantly what it means. When I then went back and read a book in English, I realized I was doing the same thing: seeing the words as "images", or patterns in and of themselves.
I'm not sure what practical benefit the particular discovery mentioned in the article has, other than letting CmdrTaco rest easy, but it's an interesting insight into how the brain works.
4. warefare
Is that how companies keep putting out vaporware announcements to forestall their competitors from doing the same?
"And may the best marketroid win...!"
Too much of anything is bad. As you say, ultra-protectionism is bad because you lose competition, which reduces the incentive to advance. On the other hand, though, 100% free trade means that you may have to compete on even ground with someone whose cost of living is a tenth of yours. Guess who'd win that battle?
Free trade is good, but like everything else, it's not a panacea; you need a balance between trade with the outside and keeping your own society healthy.
Good god, man, don't write things like that while I'm clipping nose hairs...