It's funny. I worked at a bank that passed on the Yahoo IPO back in 199x. There was a lot of e-enthusiasm among the analysts, but it had not reached the flaming inferno of the past two years.
The primary (overlapping) criticisms of the deal at the time were:
No customer lock-in
Dubious "eyeball-counting" methods
Doubtful per-eyeball valuations
Infinite potential for me-toos
Time seems to have confirmed these worries, and it won't be long before we hear a chorus of "I told you so" from the despised minority of doubters. Incidentally, the ability to enumerate these points did NOT save my old co from its share of internet flameouts. I guess that's why they call it a mania.
My own opinion is that the shakeout is a good thing. Most "e-tailers" are glorified catalog retailers, except that they lack basic business knowledge. Throwing people's savings at them is hardly a good thing. If other online cos that parted these fools with their money have to suffer some, that's good too. Let them shed the corporate massage parlor, or whatever other.com fat they've accumulated. Let them automate more, as computer businesses should, and return workers to the Pool of Useful People.
The worst thing is the media trying to turn this into MY problem. I can't stand it when these business issues cause people (particularly the Times) to darkly hint at the impending death of free content. Don't they think some struggling free content provider might be happy with Yahoo's "80% discounted" ad placements? Might they not benefit some from the many skilled workers returning from their mad crusades?
On a grander scale, follow the money upstream -- do they think when the tap runs dry, infrastructure and bandwidth providers will just pack up and go home? Nonsense. They'll do what the computer industry always does when faced with a glut -- increase capacity and lower costs until you find your market again. The only rational conclusion is that the removal of.com high-rollers from the marketplace is the best possible thing for the free and independent Internet.
Sorry, I should've warned about rant mode, but it took me a while to get worked up.
I agree with your subject line, but from a different angle. If there's any debate, it should be, "should Debian help Adobe maintain the fiction that pdf authors can secure their documents against exporting/printing?"
It doesn't really matter if there's a million security holes in your server -- just ONE makes your server insecure. The mere existence of this patch invalidates whatever security pdf authors think they are getting when they use the format. A protection scheme this weak is no better than writing "Do Not Print" at the top of the page.
Somehow, I doubt the product literature for Acrobat Writer will mention this in the "Securing Your Document" section. Compiling in the patch will not "break" pdf security, because it's already broken. To me, the real question is whether Adobe will choose to fix the problem or delist security as a pdf feature in Version 5.
If you put holes in your hull, don't blame the sea for sinking the boat.
Hello? 1/4 of the article talks about how it has nothing to do with crypto. It's a security *model*, concerned with access control. You don't even need their code to implement the design.
In fact, it looks like some good grist for the eternal acls vs. crufty old unix security argument. They seem to have solved a lot of nagging issues by just moving the SIDs out of the object definition and maintaining mapping externally (to the file, not the system!). From the diagrams, it looks like security info is just stored in regular files on whatever filesystem you're securing. This scheme could even be used to secure FAT! Unless I'm misreading everything...
This seems like a perfect match for linux, with its goal of filesystem interoperability. I hope the fact that it comes from the NSA and looks (to the user) a lot like the w2k model doesn't keep people from taking a closer look. In particular, I'd like to hear from the "linux/acls don't mix" crowd, to see if any of their objections are answered by this architecture.
Those interested should probably check out the nsa itself. Turn off those cookies!
What's this about the Gnome project strong-arming the developers into switching from C++ to C? Leaving aside my religious beliefs in OOP, that doesn't seem in keeping with "open source ideals" at all.
Worse, I thought gnome was supposed to specifically address inter-language issues (everything thru an ORB, or whatever). The fact that this issue even arose suggests that there is some kind of deep architectural unsoundness to this project.
This wasn't going to be just another module, this was going to be a part of the core GNOME...
A file manager is part of the core? Must be written in the same language? Bad signs. Someone who knows better tell me I'm wrong.
I don't know about all the AD/DNS stuff, but I believe you. Sounds very Microsoft.
However, it is possible in the NT model to have apps "customize various aspects of [their] behavior" on a per-user basis. Under "winroot, Profiles, username, Application Data" progs can save settings that get merged into the registry (I think) when the user logs in. That being said, almost no windows apps take advantage, possibly for the sake of running on 95/8. As I check my system, only Microsoft, Rational, and MKS put anything there, and I have the whole world installed.
BTW, is the "Active" part of AD the dynamic DNS? It seems so useful where everything is increasingly distributed and DHCPed. Did you find a way to make it interoperate?
Yeah, everything from MS sounds fantastic about a year or two before release. If every rumored solution from Redmond materialized, governments could be disbanded because all the world's problems would be solved (and wouldn't they like that). The problem is, you get it and it works like shit. "Regis has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down...". I can't hardly wait.
Calculus can be seen as the foundation of programming
How's that? Do you consider discrete math the stepchild of calculus? I've always thought of it as separate but equal, and certainly closer to the foundations of programming.
How about a household of four people watching four different HDTV-quality streams, running local-logic search-bots and videoconferencing? With current bandwidth, it's pointless to offer services that depend on fatter pipes, so it's senseless to argue that "because there are no such services, we don't need more bandwidth". Build the thing, and people will use it.
What if I want access to Mauna Kea's observations?
If you don't want more bandwidth, stick with cans on a string. I'll take yours.
Entirely true. The genie is very much out of the bottle. I remember I used to access the net at the NYPL, and there were invariably pictures of sweaty naked men left over on the machine when I got to the terminal.
But why would that be? In this case, I think that ideals win out, and the "real world" quits the field. Consider the real question here: will the in/availability of pr0n really have any effect on teenage sexuality? Really? I pity them either way.
If your troubles are legal in nature, have people show ID or get parental permission. Otherwise there is no compromise on this issue.If you believe that information can be dangerous, then by all means, censor. But don't stop with pr0n. Neo nazis. Black Israelites. Anarchists. IRS.gov. Bomb makers. Gun advocates. Barbie. CNN.
If humankind can know good from evil, teach it. If they cannot, then who would presume?
Zarathustra is like a great wind. Beware of spitting against that wind.
Yeah, you're probably right. But for the most part, what else can you do with slow code but throw metal at it? Even if everything I ran was open source (it isn't) and I was a master programmer (I'm not), I still run too many too large apps to go in and optimize all of them. I need a chip that tolerates hideously slow code, even more than everything I've already mentioned. Thanks!
Re:yeah, they do these things to steal from you...
on
Coming Soon From Intel
·
· Score: 2
I don't get this "overpowered" argument. First of all, take the issue of "just word processing". If current processing is sufficient for document display, why is the speed of browser rendering engines such a big issue? Add a few graphics and charts to your document and scroll -- you'll see what I mean.
And not just MS Word -- Wordperfect & Lotus aren't any better. A Windows problem? "You should do your DTP w/ crappy X fonts instead!" Please. And Mac isn't much different, either.
Also, it's ironic that you bring up "style vs safety". Surplus power allows you to run useful daemons that improve safety and reliability of your system, from background disk checking to virus scanning. And apps designed for a faster "average" platform can build in more layers of checks and safeguards without having to weigh them against performance costs.
There is also the frequent argument about more power enabling new apps, such as voice commands and the like. That's a given. But extra cycles also enable workarounds to other current bottlenecks, like with heavy compression.
If your current processor meets your needs, don't get a new one. But I've found a way to max out every upgrade so far. I just don't get this (very common) resentment of constantly falling prices and constantly increasing capabilities. To me, it's magic.
As far as this incrementalism goes, I think you're looking at it the wrong way. Sure, there's no usually reason to upgrade from 1GHz to 1.4. But for someone running at 733 and starting to feel a bit pinched, 1.4 might start to sound interesting. Especially when it falls to 1/2 price after they release the 1.8.
I've wondered about that combo, too. At least the orbiter part. It seems that if you're going to be sending many probes to mars, you could factor their transmission capabilities into a one or two orbiting satellites, which could do high-level surveying, too. Plus, comsats are pretty well-understood at this point and making one mars-worthy doesn't sound like an enormous challenge. Probes could concentrate on probing, and the communications system could concentrate on communicating.
Such a satellite might also act as a relay station for probes going farther out, at least while the planets are aligned. Actually, you'd probably need another hanging out on the other side of the sun, and how would you park it there? Forget I said it.
But doesn't it work the other way? Wouldn't access to a great old version generate enthusiasm for some new, enhanced, souped-up graphics version? I don't think they have to be free, but if companies don't even make these games available, then somebody will. Doesn't it seems like the popularity of these old games points to a major opportunity overlooked by distributors?
Gah, this keeps coming up. People bitch about COM & CORBA's implementation difficulties (and I agree, to a large extent) but the idea is so compelling. I read some propaganda for SOAP (XML-activated objects) and it sounded good. But wouldn't reliance on an XML structure just put people back into the soup which motivated the switch from operations on data structures to operations by data structures (objects)? That is, back to a COM, CORBA model? So they can make more money? So they can buy more cocaine? So they can make more money?
Will advancements here be incremental improvements to COM/CORBA, or is there something cooler on the horizon? It seems that a platform that offered a real working solution to this issue could provide both power and ease of use unmatched by any other. Do any ivory tower CS types have any thoughts?
I was very impressed with the large IBM commitment to linux. I had no sense that they're trying to muscle in and take over. Quite the contrary -- behind many of the comments, I could hear "finally, an OS that won't stab us in the back". Companies can become true believers in open source when they come to see it means that they won't get screwed over.
I admit my own suspicions rose when they did the "unix pyramid" graphic w/ AIX at the high end and linux feeding it at the low end. Typical. But in the q&a, the speaker didn't seem at all worried about a linux push from below -- he said it was more a matter of when, not if, it gains the high-count SMP capabilities of AIX.
If IBM comes too feel its fate is tied to linux, imagine what they could contribute. Who of the open source developers has a 24-processor system to run tests on?
In the book "Empire Building", it says that Lucas & Co. decided mid-film to kill Kenobi -- in early drafts he was just wounded, and it became a cinematic difficulty to have the characters lugging around this lame old man.
The said in the book that AG's agent was extremely unhappy with this, but was assured that he would still be used in any sequels. I don't remember any direct reaction from AG himself.
Anyway, the news is sad, but you can't really ask more from a life.
And this is precisely why this is a terrible law. I hate spam, but...
The vast majority of my spam comes not from the company being promoted, but from some anonymous intermediary: laura2216@yahoo.com or whatever. Can a company be held accountable for this? "Gee, judge, we started getting a lot of hits, but how could we know?"
Why not apply the law based on the company the actual message refers to? The suspicious number of messages you've been getting urging you to "Visit the Future at Microsoft.com" from one "smcnealy@hotmail.com" should be a clue.
I went to the article before visiting security focus, and I feel like a sucker. Using the aggregate data? Nobody is that stupid. Why doesn't he just add up the count of every other operating system, then say, "NT is better than 'every other operating system', according to respected security site".
Quick poll: will his his article for next week be, "See Giant Man Eating Clam" or "A Horse With Its Head Where Its Tail Should Be"?
Oh, well./. should pull the link. Or relink to the all-too-frequently-seen troll moon shot. At least that's original.
Just curious -- does your optimization include arranging the order of execution to maximize cache usage? Is your cpu usage maxed out? I've played w/ neural nets, but I'm not the best coder so I don't know how to do it. Also, I seem to recall that some Athlons had cache running at 1/3 or 1/2 cpu speed -- not good for heavy iterations.
Also, since you can run linux on ppcs now, has anyone done a home-built ppc system? I'd like something that doesn't require an asbestos case, but I can't find ppc cpu/motherboards that aren't mac-attached.
I always thought that AOL bought Netscape as a defense against the "nightmare scenario" of MS controlling the internet platform. The fear was that they would use the same tactics Windows used to promote MS application software -- breaking other companies apps and using inside information to give their own apps features that other companies couldn't offer.
With IE's increasing market share and the recent *huge* push for msn subscribers, aren't they almost in a position to start doing this? Is AOL asleep at the wheel, or am I missing something?
I'll admit I'm not much of a gamer -- Other than Civ II, I enjoy watching more than playing, usually, because I'm so bad. My own incompetence aside, I am grateful to games for being the driving force in CPU/Graphics power on the PC platform over the past few years. Games create the mass market, and everybody benefits. Is it possible that the rise of online gaming will bring about a similar mass demand for applications w/ built-in network security checking? The paranoid geeks who've been clamoring for this sort of thing don't seem to have had much effect.
I hope gamers get ornery enough about cheaters (and generalize the lessons) to demand something more than the "optional" security of today's apps.
Slashdot Mirror
It's funny. I worked at a bank that passed on the Yahoo IPO back in 199x. There was a lot of e-enthusiasm among the analysts, but it had not reached the flaming inferno of the past two years.
The primary (overlapping) criticisms of the deal at the time were:
Time seems to have confirmed these worries, and it won't be long before we hear a chorus of "I told you so" from the despised minority of doubters. Incidentally, the ability to enumerate these points did NOT save my old co from its share of internet flameouts. I guess that's why they call it a mania.
My own opinion is that the shakeout is a good thing. Most "e-tailers" are glorified catalog retailers, except that they lack basic business knowledge. Throwing people's savings at them is hardly a good thing. If other online cos that parted these fools with their money have to suffer some, that's good too. Let them shed the corporate massage parlor, or whatever other .com fat they've accumulated. Let them automate more, as computer businesses should, and return workers to the Pool of Useful People.
The worst thing is the media trying to turn this into MY problem. I can't stand it when these business issues cause people (particularly the Times) to darkly hint at the impending death of free content. Don't they think some struggling free content provider might be happy with Yahoo's "80% discounted" ad placements? Might they not benefit some from the many skilled workers returning from their mad crusades?
On a grander scale, follow the money upstream -- do they think when the tap runs dry, infrastructure and bandwidth providers will just pack up and go home? Nonsense. They'll do what the computer industry always does when faced with a glut -- increase capacity and lower costs until you find your market again. The only rational conclusion is that the removal of .com high-rollers from the marketplace is the best possible thing for the free and independent Internet.
Sorry, I should've warned about rant mode, but it took me a while to get worked up.
Under whose flag does the ship sail?
Probably the Jolly Roger.
I agree with your subject line, but from a different angle. If there's any debate, it should be, "should Debian help Adobe maintain the fiction that pdf authors can secure their documents against exporting/printing?"
It doesn't really matter if there's a million security holes in your server -- just ONE makes your server insecure. The mere existence of this patch invalidates whatever security pdf authors think they are getting when they use the format. A protection scheme this weak is no better than writing "Do Not Print" at the top of the page.
Somehow, I doubt the product literature for Acrobat Writer will mention this in the "Securing Your Document" section. Compiling in the patch will not "break" pdf security, because it's already broken. To me, the real question is whether Adobe will choose to fix the problem or delist security as a pdf feature in Version 5.
If you put holes in your hull, don't blame the sea for sinking the boat.
Hello? 1/4 of the article talks about how it has nothing to do with crypto. It's a security *model*, concerned with access control. You don't even need their code to implement the design.
In fact, it looks like some good grist for the eternal acls vs. crufty old unix security argument. They seem to have solved a lot of nagging issues by just moving the SIDs out of the object definition and maintaining mapping externally (to the file, not the system!). From the diagrams, it looks like security info is just stored in regular files on whatever filesystem you're securing. This scheme could even be used to secure FAT! Unless I'm misreading everything...
This seems like a perfect match for linux, with its goal of filesystem interoperability. I hope the fact that it comes from the NSA and looks (to the user) a lot like the w2k model doesn't keep people from taking a closer look. In particular, I'd like to hear from the "linux/acls don't mix" crowd, to see if any of their objections are answered by this architecture.
Those interested should probably check out the nsa itself. Turn off those cookies!
What's this about the Gnome project strong-arming the developers into switching from C++ to C? Leaving aside my religious beliefs in OOP, that doesn't seem in keeping with "open source ideals" at all.
Worse, I thought gnome was supposed to specifically address inter-language issues (everything thru an ORB, or whatever). The fact that this issue even arose suggests that there is some kind of deep architectural unsoundness to this project.
This wasn't going to be just another module, this was going to be a part of the core GNOME...
A file manager is part of the core? Must be written in the same language? Bad signs. Someone who knows better tell me I'm wrong.
They demonstrate why you should be programming in php rather than perl (like slashcode is)
Slashcode may be written in perl, but it runs on mod_up_perl...
I don't know about all the AD/DNS stuff, but I believe you. Sounds very Microsoft.
However, it is possible in the NT model to have apps "customize various aspects of [their] behavior" on a per-user basis. Under "winroot, Profiles, username, Application Data" progs can save settings that get merged into the registry (I think) when the user logs in. That being said, almost no windows apps take advantage, possibly for the sake of running on 95/8. As I check my system, only Microsoft, Rational, and MKS put anything there, and I have the whole world installed.
BTW, is the "Active" part of AD the dynamic DNS? It seems so useful where everything is increasingly distributed and DHCPed. Did you find a way to make it interoperate?
Yeah, everything from MS sounds fantastic about a year or two before release. If every rumored solution from Redmond materialized, governments could be disbanded because all the world's problems would be solved (and wouldn't they like that). The problem is, you get it and it works like shit. "Regis has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down...". I can't hardly wait.
Calculus can be seen as the foundation of programming
How's that? Do you consider discrete math the stepchild of calculus? I've always thought of it as separate but equal, and certainly closer to the foundations of programming.
You're right. If the technologies developed in I2 require the user to carry around a large brick and pay $15/minute, people will not use it.
Duh.
Well, he always was a little short on talent...
heheHow about a household of four people watching four different HDTV-quality streams, running local-logic search-bots and videoconferencing? With current bandwidth, it's pointless to offer services that depend on fatter pipes, so it's senseless to argue that "because there are no such services, we don't need more bandwidth". Build the thing, and people will use it.
What if I want access to Mauna Kea's observations?
If you don't want more bandwidth, stick with cans on a string. I'll take yours.
Entirely true. The genie is very much out of the bottle. I remember I used to access the net at the NYPL, and there were invariably pictures of sweaty naked men left over on the machine when I got to the terminal.
But why would that be? In this case, I think that ideals win out, and the "real world" quits the field. Consider the real question here: will the in/availability of pr0n really have any effect on teenage sexuality? Really? I pity them either way.
If your troubles are legal in nature, have people show ID or get parental permission. Otherwise there is no compromise on this issue.If you believe that information can be dangerous, then by all means, censor. But don't stop with pr0n. Neo nazis. Black Israelites. Anarchists. IRS.gov. Bomb makers. Gun advocates. Barbie. CNN.
If humankind can know good from evil, teach it. If they cannot, then who would presume?
Zarathustra is like a great wind. Beware of spitting against that wind.
Yeah, you're probably right. But for the most part, what else can you do with slow code but throw metal at it? Even if everything I ran was open source (it isn't) and I was a master programmer (I'm not), I still run too many too large apps to go in and optimize all of them. I need a chip that tolerates hideously slow code, even more than everything I've already mentioned. Thanks!
I don't get this "overpowered" argument. First of all, take the issue of "just word processing". If current processing is sufficient for document display, why is the speed of browser rendering engines such a big issue? Add a few graphics and charts to your document and scroll -- you'll see what I mean.
And not just MS Word -- Wordperfect & Lotus aren't any better. A Windows problem? "You should do your DTP w/ crappy X fonts instead!" Please. And Mac isn't much different, either.
Also, it's ironic that you bring up "style vs safety". Surplus power allows you to run useful daemons that improve safety and reliability of your system, from background disk checking to virus scanning. And apps designed for a faster "average" platform can build in more layers of checks and safeguards without having to weigh them against performance costs.
There is also the frequent argument about more power enabling new apps, such as voice commands and the like. That's a given. But extra cycles also enable workarounds to other current bottlenecks, like with heavy compression.
If your current processor meets your needs, don't get a new one. But I've found a way to max out every upgrade so far. I just don't get this (very common) resentment of constantly falling prices and constantly increasing capabilities. To me, it's magic.
As far as this incrementalism goes, I think you're looking at it the wrong way. Sure, there's no usually reason to upgrade from 1GHz to 1.4. But for someone running at 733 and starting to feel a bit pinched, 1.4 might start to sound interesting. Especially when it falls to 1/2 price after they release the 1.8.
Sorry, I've turned bitter.
I've wondered about that combo, too. At least the orbiter part. It seems that if you're going to be sending many probes to mars, you could factor their transmission capabilities into a one or two orbiting satellites, which could do high-level surveying, too. Plus, comsats are pretty well-understood at this point and making one mars-worthy doesn't sound like an enormous challenge. Probes could concentrate on probing, and the communications system could concentrate on communicating.
Such a satellite might also act as a relay station for probes going farther out, at least while the planets are aligned. Actually, you'd probably need another hanging out on the other side of the sun, and how would you park it there? Forget I said it.
But doesn't it work the other way? Wouldn't access to a great old version generate enthusiasm for some new, enhanced, souped-up graphics version? I don't think they have to be free, but if companies don't even make these games available, then somebody will. Doesn't it seems like the popularity of these old games points to a major opportunity overlooked by distributors?
Gah, this keeps coming up. People bitch about COM & CORBA's implementation difficulties (and I agree, to a large extent) but the idea is so compelling. I read some propaganda for SOAP (XML-activated objects) and it sounded good. But wouldn't reliance on an XML structure just put people back into the soup which motivated the switch from operations on data structures to operations by data structures (objects)? That is, back to a COM, CORBA model? So they can make more money? So they can buy more cocaine? So they can make more money?
Will advancements here be incremental improvements to COM/CORBA, or is there something cooler on the horizon? It seems that a platform that offered a real working solution to this issue could provide both power and ease of use unmatched by any other. Do any ivory tower CS types have any thoughts?
Finally! An optimistic post.
I was very impressed with the large IBM commitment to linux. I had no sense that they're trying to muscle in and take over. Quite the contrary -- behind many of the comments, I could hear "finally, an OS that won't stab us in the back". Companies can become true believers in open source when they come to see it means that they won't get screwed over.
I admit my own suspicions rose when they did the "unix pyramid" graphic w/ AIX at the high end and linux feeding it at the low end. Typical. But in the q&a, the speaker didn't seem at all worried about a linux push from below -- he said it was more a matter of when, not if, it gains the high-count SMP capabilities of AIX.
If IBM comes too feel its fate is tied to linux, imagine what they could contribute. Who of the open source developers has a 24-processor system to run tests on?
This is a good thing.
In the book "Empire Building", it says that Lucas & Co. decided mid-film to kill Kenobi -- in early drafts he was just wounded, and it became a cinematic difficulty to have the characters lugging around this lame old man.
The said in the book that AG's agent was extremely unhappy with this, but was assured that he would still be used in any sequels. I don't remember any direct reaction from AG himself.
Anyway, the news is sad, but you can't really ask more from a life.
And this is precisely why this is a terrible law. I hate spam, but...
The vast majority of my spam comes not from the company being promoted, but from some anonymous intermediary: laura2216@yahoo.com or whatever. Can a company be held accountable for this? "Gee, judge, we started getting a lot of hits, but how could we know?"
Why not apply the law based on the company the actual message refers to? The suspicious number of messages you've been getting urging you to "Visit the Future at Microsoft.com" from one "smcnealy@hotmail.com" should be a clue.
Totally
I went to the article before visiting security focus, and I feel like a sucker. Using the aggregate data? Nobody is that stupid. Why doesn't he just add up the count of every other operating system, then say, "NT is better than 'every other operating system', according to respected security site".
Quick poll: will his his article for next week be, "See Giant Man Eating Clam" or "A Horse With Its Head Where Its Tail Should Be"?
Oh, well. /. should pull the link. Or relink to the all-too-frequently-seen troll moon shot. At least that's original.
Just curious -- does your optimization include arranging the order of execution to maximize cache usage? Is your cpu usage maxed out? I've played w/ neural nets, but I'm not the best coder so I don't know how to do it. Also, I seem to recall that some Athlons had cache running at 1/3 or 1/2 cpu speed -- not good for heavy iterations.
Also, since you can run linux on ppcs now, has anyone done a home-built ppc system? I'd like something that doesn't require an asbestos case, but I can't find ppc cpu/motherboards that aren't mac-attached.
I always thought that AOL bought Netscape as a defense against the "nightmare scenario" of MS controlling the internet platform. The fear was that they would use the same tactics Windows used to promote MS application software -- breaking other companies apps and using inside information to give their own apps features that other companies couldn't offer.
With IE's increasing market share and the recent *huge* push for msn subscribers, aren't they almost in a position to start doing this? Is AOL asleep at the wheel, or am I missing something?
I'll admit I'm not much of a gamer -- Other than Civ II, I enjoy watching more than playing, usually, because I'm so bad. My own incompetence aside, I am grateful to games for being the driving force in CPU/Graphics power on the PC platform over the past few years. Games create the mass market, and everybody benefits. Is it possible that the rise of online gaming will bring about a similar mass demand for applications w/ built-in network security checking? The paranoid geeks who've been clamoring for this sort of thing don't seem to have had much effect.
I hope gamers get ornery enough about cheaters (and generalize the lessons) to demand something more than the "optional" security of today's apps.