I just went to the House of Representatives website to find the mailing address(es) of my rep. According to the page I found (last modified March 3rd, 2003), quote:
NOTICE ON MAIL DELIVERY TO US CAPITOL
Because of the discovery of biological contaminants at the Capitol complex in early October, normal mail deliveries to offices in the House of Representatives were suspended. Months later, new screening policies have been implemented. Still, normal mail service has not yet fully resumed.
Despite this inconvenience, please be assured I greatly value your comments and feedback.
If you have an urgent matter, please consider contacting any of my three offices by telephone.
How are we supposed to effectively communicate with our reps? E-mails can be easily ignored, or not even checked. Phone calls do not produce a permanent record. Faxes also can be ignored (if a fax line is listed). How can we contact these people and be sure that our concerns are read and recorded?
[activate paranoia]
Could it be that the govt. *started* the anthrax scare to shut down mail delivery? Maybe they didn't want to hear the public's concerns to the new laws they are working on. If they don't notify the people that the mail delivery is shut down, how are we to know that they're not listening?
[deactivate paranoia]
You, young sir, grew much in those two months. Don't be discouraged by the receiption of your warnings. Keep on alerting those you love, and encourage them to do the same and spread the word.
[quote] Its been publically admitted by many of the acts proponents that it drastically reduces the Judicial branches powers, greatly restricts personal freedoms, and grants the executive branch almost police state powers, but that was always prefaced with the promise that it was a temporary measure for a particularly volatile period. Now, the 'temporary' measure appears to be a permanent fixture, which is probably only fair since the "war on terrorism" itself will likely last longer than any of us will live. [/quote]
Why does this bit remind me of Senator Palpatine's speech in Episode 2 regarding his assumption of power, and how he will "throw down that power" once the crisis is over? See episodes 4-6 to see how that situation turned out.
Precicely sums up every complaint I have had with MacOS X's interface. Reading the bit on Copland was a trip down memory lane - it had so much potential. It's a shame that the project was canned. Though, for what it's worth, BeOS has an implementation of "live search folders", in a fashon. You can save a file query as a document, right-click on it (or double-click it), and get a constantly updating result list. Add to that the ability to search on file metadata, and it was file-searching nirvanna. Pity Be, Inc. is dead now. That OS had real potential.
[quote] Similarly, they yanked at one point the Chimes Of Death(doo wee do doooooo) that accompanied the dead-mac(and error code dump), usually caused by severe hardware or software problems during booting in older macs. It genuinely freaked people out(I know it scared the shit out of me the first time i heard it.) [/quote]
Didn't Apple replace the chimes of death with the sound of a car crash? Or was that a different kid of error?
The linked CNET article has a bit of a misleading title.
The title and by-line states: "Bush order covers Internet secrets" and "President Bush has signed an executive order that explicitly gives the government the power to classify information about critical infrastructures such as the Internet."
But the last paragraph states:
"Steven Aftergood, an analyst at the Federation of American Scientists who tracks government secrecy, says the change in definitions "creates an opening that could be exploited in the future, but in practice the previous policy would have permitted much of the same thing."
Meaning that the previous act (signed into law by President Clinton in '95) would have allowed the same thing as President Bush's re-do of the act.
Unfortunately, most people won't read the entire article to see what the real information is.
[quote:]
Is there an equivalent of Wine for running Mac OS X applications on Linux/PowerPC? [/quote] Yes, it's called "Mac On Linux", available here. Basically, it boots the MacOS on top of Linux, as opposed to emulation.
...but as a picture frame! The LCD screen died on me (note to self: don't store in backpack, then toss backpack). So, I took the guts out, and it makes a really nifty picture frame now (the case nicely displays a 4x6 photo).
Quote the poster: "So, why can't I find out BEFORE getting involved with a piece of real estate, whether it has this service available? Also, what kind of approach can I take to force the issue? I don't want to sign a contract or a lease without knowing in advance whether I can get DSL, what signal rate it will support, and what providers will offer the service." End-quote the poster.
Actually, you can. Call up a DSL provider and ask to do a DSL service check on a particular address. It works with SBC (and any other ASI-serviced providers).
I work at a small-sized ISP in northern california. Specifically, I work in the broadband department. With only around 12k customers, it's not economically feasable for us to offer voice communcation service. So, our DSL service goes "poof". If ILECs aren't forced to share, they won't!
We're already losing lots of customers to the cheaper rates of SBC (read: offered at cost to SBC), since we have to add a bit to our service charges to barely recover operating expenses.
DSL will once again belong only to the phone company. Cable access will only belong to the large cable operators. What's left? Wireless. $1k for equipment - yeah, lots of customers love that.
The thing that worries me is that the cornerstone of Palladium, and other technologies like it, is the concept of "trusted" applications - programs that can prove their authenticity. My question is this: how simple would it be to spoof a trusted app? Any program can pretend to be trusted, or otherwise authorized. A simple script can say "Yes, I am administrative program Foo, and I have access to file Bar". The only way I can think of getting around this is a database of known "trusted" apps, each with a corresponding hash. The "trusted" platform would check the "Trusted" list to see if program "so-called Foo" is in the known list of "Trusted" apps.
How would vendors get their software listed in the "Trusted" apps list? Who will oversee addition of programs? What or who would determine the rules for allowing a program to be listed? A conglomerate of companies? What if company X has a program in the list, and competing company Y wants to list a similar program, and company X has power to decide who can be in the list? Will company Y's product be listed? Will there be a hefty fee required?
Sorry for the stream-of-conciousness post. The potential abuse of power is frightening...I can see computer software distribution only being in the hands of the few large corps. Geeks, treasure your DRM-free computers!
A group called "Console Classix" has a NES client that lets you "rent" NES ROMs from their website. When someone "rents" a game, a lockout is placed on that game so nobody else can rent it until the game is "returned" (when the emulator program is closed). The group has the actual carts for each ROM image they offer.
From the website:
...we will let you borrow our games, just like your neighbor down the street used to do. The difference is that we own a lot of games: over 200 titles, and multiple copies of many. So you and your neighbor can both borrow the same game and play at the same time, as long as we have two copies free at the time.
Best of all, the NES service is free (very small fee for the SNES client).
[quote parent:] How would people feel if someone wrote some magical piece of software that prevented users from having to view annoying copyright- and authorship- nag banners and notices that appear while running software ? [/quote]
You're comparing Apples to Oranges here. The issue at stake is consumer rights. If I buy something (outright purchase, NOT lease or rent), that thing is mine. I can do to it what I wish. I can lock it in a cabinet, I can see if it can withstand the weight of my car, or I use it for target practice. It's mine, I can do with it whatever I damn well please. Let's say I buy a movie. I like 95% of the movie, but a gratuitous, unnecessary and poorly done sex scene spoils it for me. I want to watch the movie, but not that one part. If it was VHS, I would be limited to fast-forwarding. Since it's a DVD, I can skip that scene entirely (if it's bookmarked as its own scene). So, the lights go down, the temperature rises, and all of a sudden, it's the morning after. Yay for consumer choice!
The movie is mine, I should be able to skip parts if I want. Enough said.
Slashdot readers have a habit of forgetting details of an issue if the details are inconvenient:
[quote] Now this guy used the iTools SDK, develops something the terms said he couldn't, and he's the hero? Apple obeys the terms of the license, this guy didn't. [/quote]
He violated the terms of using Apple's SDK! Or cource Apple's going to be be angry.
Actually, a lot of cities have banned use of skateboards, skates (quads and inlines), bicicles, and other devices on sidewalks. I, for one, am thankful for that. I shouldn't have to worry about dodging a skater who isn't paying attention to what he's doing.
If I recall correctly, increasing the noise-to-signal ratio can be considered a Denial of Service attack. The amount of garbage infiltrating the network, while not actually damaging the network or impeding connectivity, prevents Fred from getting the service he requested.
Yes, this will be flamebait. Mod me down, I don't care. I'm at the bottom of the rung anyway.
QUIT YER WHINING!! Stop crying foul, and focus on your project! So Apple decided to use kHTML as the rendering engine instead of Gecko. So what? How does that impact the Mozilla project? Make it better than Safari! I'm sorry that the decision injured your geek pride, but if you cry foul every time a company doesn't use your sacred works, then you get destracted from the mission of finishing the product.
This quote from the MSNBC article caught me off guard:
[quote] (the) android Data (Brent Spiner, who also co-conceived of the film's story) and an earlier prototype of himself, amusingly named B-4 (also well-played by the versatile Spiner). [/quote]
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Data's prototype supposed to be Lore?
Slashdot Mirror
How are we supposed to effectively communicate with our reps? E-mails can be easily ignored, or not even checked. Phone calls do not produce a permanent record. Faxes also can be ignored (if a fax line is listed). How can we contact these people and be sure that our concerns are read and recorded?
[activate paranoia]
Could it be that the govt. *started* the anthrax scare to shut down mail delivery? Maybe they didn't want to hear the public's concerns to the new laws they are working on. If they don't notify the people that the mail delivery is shut down, how are we to know that they're not listening?
[deactivate paranoia]
You, young sir, grew much in those two months. Don't be discouraged by the receiption of your warnings. Keep on alerting those you love, and encourage them to do the same and spread the word.
[quote]
Its been publically admitted by many of the acts proponents that it drastically reduces the Judicial branches powers, greatly restricts personal freedoms, and grants the executive branch almost police state powers, but that was always prefaced with the promise that it was a temporary measure for a particularly volatile period. Now, the 'temporary' measure appears to be a permanent fixture, which is probably only fair since the "war on terrorism" itself will likely last longer than any of us will live.
[/quote]
Why does this bit remind me of Senator Palpatine's speech in Episode 2 regarding his assumption of power, and how he will "throw down that power" once the crisis is over? See episodes 4-6 to see how that situation turned out.
[quote]
If it emulates the SNES, I think the performance specs of the GBA is about as powerful as a SNES,
[/quote]
Actually, the GBA is more powerful than the SNES. A buddy of mine is a GBA developer, and he's constantly amazed by what the little guy can do.
Precicely sums up every complaint I have had with MacOS X's interface.
Reading the bit on Copland was a trip down memory lane - it had so much potential. It's a shame that the project was canned.
Though, for what it's worth, BeOS has an implementation of "live search folders", in a fashon. You can save a file query as a document, right-click on it (or double-click it), and get a constantly updating result list. Add to that the ability to search on file metadata, and it was file-searching nirvanna. Pity Be, Inc. is dead now. That OS had real potential.
[quote]
Similarly, they yanked at one point the Chimes Of Death(doo wee do doooooo) that accompanied the dead-mac(and error code dump), usually caused by severe hardware or software problems during booting in older macs. It genuinely freaked people out(I know it scared the shit out of me the first time i heard it.)
[/quote]
Didn't Apple replace the chimes of death with the sound of a car crash? Or was that a different kid of error?
The linked CNET article has a bit of a misleading title.
The title and by-line states: "Bush order covers Internet secrets" and "President Bush has signed an executive order that explicitly gives the government the power to classify information about critical infrastructures such as the Internet."
But the last paragraph states:
"Steven Aftergood, an analyst at the Federation of American Scientists who tracks government secrecy, says the change in definitions "creates an opening that could be exploited in the future, but in practice the previous policy would have permitted much of the same thing."
Meaning that the previous act (signed into law by President Clinton in '95) would have allowed the same thing as President Bush's re-do of the act.
Unfortunately, most people won't read the entire article to see what the real information is.
We can't let this bill pass! The title, when condensed to the first letter of each word, doesn't make an inspirational word! Think of the children!
Actually, this is exactly what happens in CS. That's why I mute anyone on my team with a mike.
[quote]
Why ruin a perfectly good system with Mac OS X and install Linux over it?
[/quote]
You don't have to. You can install the two side-by-side.
It's nice to have a modern operating system on hardware Apple has long-since abandoned (I have YDL 2.3 installed on a PPC Clone)
[quote:]
Is there an equivalent of Wine for running Mac OS X applications on Linux/PowerPC?
[/quote]
Yes, it's called "Mac On Linux", available here.
Basically, it boots the MacOS on top of Linux, as opposed to emulation.
*grumble, gripe* I posted this last week, but apparently it wasn't interesting enough last week.
I can't find it on the SJ Mercury article... /. postings need to not make assumptions like that.
Remember: Assume = makes an ASS out of U and ME.
...but as a picture frame!
The LCD screen died on me (note to self: don't store in backpack, then toss backpack).
So, I took the guts out, and it makes a really nifty picture frame now (the case nicely displays a 4x6 photo).
Quote the poster:
"So, why can't I find out BEFORE getting involved with a piece of real estate, whether it has this service available? Also, what kind of approach can I take to force the issue? I don't want to sign a contract or a lease without knowing in advance whether I can get DSL, what signal rate it will support, and what providers will offer the service."
End-quote the poster.
Actually, you can. Call up a DSL provider and ask to do a DSL service check on a particular address. It works with SBC (and any other ASI-serviced providers).
I work at a small-sized ISP in northern california. Specifically, I work in the broadband department. With only around 12k customers, it's not economically feasable for us to offer voice communcation service. So, our DSL service goes "poof". If ILECs aren't forced to share, they won't!
We're already losing lots of customers to the cheaper rates of SBC (read: offered at cost to SBC), since we have to add a bit to our service charges to barely recover operating expenses.
DSL will once again belong only to the phone company. Cable access will only belong to the large cable operators. What's left? Wireless. $1k for equipment - yeah, lots of customers love that.
The thing that worries me is that the cornerstone of Palladium, and other technologies like it, is the concept of "trusted" applications - programs that can prove their authenticity. My question is this: how simple would it be to spoof a trusted app? Any program can pretend to be trusted, or otherwise authorized.
A simple script can say "Yes, I am administrative program Foo, and I have access to file Bar".
The only way I can think of getting around this is a database of known "trusted" apps, each with a corresponding hash. The "trusted" platform would check the "Trusted" list to see if program "so-called Foo" is in the known list of "Trusted" apps.
How would vendors get their software listed in the "Trusted" apps list? Who will oversee addition of programs? What or who would determine the rules for allowing a program to be listed? A conglomerate of companies? What if company X has a program in the list, and competing company Y wants to list a similar program, and company X has power to decide who can be in the list? Will company Y's product be listed? Will there be a hefty fee required?
Sorry for the stream-of-conciousness post. The potential abuse of power is frightening...I can see computer software distribution only being in the hands of the few large corps. Geeks, treasure your DRM-free computers!
From the website:
Best of all, the NES service is free (very small fee for the SNES client).
...makes Jack a dull boy.
Laugh, it's funny.
[quote parent:]
How would people feel if someone wrote some magical piece of software that prevented users from having to view annoying copyright- and authorship- nag banners and notices that appear while running software ?
[/quote]
You're comparing Apples to Oranges here. The issue at stake is consumer rights. If I buy something (outright purchase, NOT lease or rent), that thing is mine. I can do to it what I wish. I can lock it in a cabinet, I can see if it can withstand the weight of my car, or I use it for target practice. It's mine, I can do with it whatever I damn well please.
Let's say I buy a movie. I like 95% of the movie, but a gratuitous, unnecessary and poorly done sex scene spoils it for me. I want to watch the movie, but not that one part. If it was VHS, I would be limited to fast-forwarding. Since it's a DVD, I can skip that scene entirely (if it's bookmarked as its own scene). So, the lights go down, the temperature rises, and all of a sudden, it's the morning after. Yay for consumer choice!
The movie is mine, I should be able to skip parts if I want. Enough said.
Slashdot readers have a habit of forgetting details of an issue if the details are inconvenient:
[quote]
Now this guy used the iTools SDK, develops something the terms said he couldn't, and he's the hero? Apple obeys the terms of the license, this guy didn't.
[/quote]
He violated the terms of using Apple's SDK! Or cource Apple's going to be be angry.
Actually, a lot of cities have banned use of skateboards, skates (quads and inlines), bicicles, and other devices on sidewalks. I, for one, am thankful for that. I shouldn't have to worry about dodging a skater who isn't paying attention to what he's doing.
If I recall correctly, increasing the noise-to-signal ratio can be considered a Denial of Service attack. The amount of garbage infiltrating the network, while not actually damaging the network or impeding connectivity, prevents Fred from getting the service he requested.
Yes, this will be flamebait. Mod me down, I don't care. I'm at the bottom of the rung anyway.
QUIT YER WHINING!! Stop crying foul, and focus on your project! So Apple decided to use kHTML as the rendering engine instead of Gecko. So what? How does that impact the Mozilla project? Make it better than Safari! I'm sorry that the decision injured your geek pride, but if you cry foul every time a company doesn't use your sacred works, then you get destracted from the mission of finishing the product.
Short version: FOCUS ON THE JOB!!
This quote from the MSNBC article caught me off guard:
[quote]
(the) android Data (Brent Spiner, who also co-conceived of the film's story) and an earlier prototype of himself, amusingly named B-4 (also well-played by the versatile Spiner).
[/quote]
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Data's prototype supposed to be Lore?