This is how technology generally evolves, isn't it? Small steps that have a tremendous impact in the long-term.
I guess it's not that exciting in day-to-day news, but it's important to realize that the evolution from the first computer to the one you're reading this article on wasn't made in a giant leap -- it took years and many many many small improvements.
Let's say I were doing something illegal, where I had to report my activities to somebody else.
When they come around, do you think I'm going to show them that I'm breaking the law? Of course not. I'm going to show them some legitimate materials, and keep the illegal stuff well out of sight.
No, if you RTFA, they are comparing AMERICA'S game sales to DOMESTIC box office, sales and rental returns. Doh.
When the author says, "the movie industry is bigger then just the U.S. box office", he means that we should also include rentals and purchases, not that we should include non-US receipts.
See emphasis added to quotation below:
The 2004 domestic Video and Computer Game Industry is estimated to be around $10B. This is a slightly misleading figure because it includes the sales of the console machines, in addition to the sales of the software, but we'll go with it.
The domestic US box office is estimated to be around $9B for 2004, and this is where the myth starts to take life. The problem is the movie industry is a lot bigger then just the U.S. box office. DVD sales and rentals for 2003 topped $16B. VHS sales and rentals for 2003 was $6.4B. VHS sales are declining fast, but most of that will just shift over to DVDs, which brings the grand total for non-box office movie sales to over $20B, twice the figure for the entire game industry.
I've loaded Windows (various versions) onto machines, then downloaded service packs, with no firewall, MANY times, and never gotten a single trojan or spyware.
Perhaps the 20 minute figure that people like to bandy about has more to do with common user behaviors -- namely, the fact that most people don't even know what a service pack IS?
I imagine the average user's behavior to be something like this:
1. Turn on computer. 2. Install AOL. 3. Check email. Oh look, there's an email from Aunt Marge! And it has an attachment! Aunt Marge has a great sense of humor -- I bet it's a funny picture or something! 4. Open attachment. 5. Congratulations, your computer is infected.
Please note that in this process, the thought of patching the machine never crossed the user's mind. Microsoft (and computer manufacturers) may be failing to properly inform the users of the importance of patching, but c'mon, face it -- even Linux has to be patched to be secure... and the burden is ultimately on THE USER to do so.
This isn't just a phenomenon in the IT arena. Have a look at medical journals some time... You have to be VERY careful when putting stock in the findings of studies -- the first thing to check is who *funded* the study.
I think it's just a fact of life: everybody wants their product to be seen in the best light, and to sell well (in the case of commodities or services).
That's why Amazon.com has reader reviews, sites like epinions.com exist, and Slashdot has moderator points. It's also why there are hardware review sites -- we can't just trust the manufacturer's PR now, can we?
So, people may be inherentely biased and often untruthful, but with proper monitoring (read: community involvement), the truth will out.
My parents gave me a Toyota Tercel for my 17th birthday. I'm not sure why they chose Toyota, but I suspect they expect it to be replaced by a Lexus or BMW by the user.
The problem isn't just with remembering a strong password that you use on a daily basis. What about those one-time sign-ups that you have to do from time to time, for example to request a secure email certificate?
Two years down the road, you've changed all your other passwords a dozen times, you get a new laptop, and now you can't remember the password to unlock your certificate -- which means you won't be able to read any encrypted emails people send you anymore, until you get a new certificate and they all accept it.
Asking people to remember a few regularly used passwords may or may not be too much... but asking them to remember infrequently used passwords certainly is.
So a bunch of people wrote applications that take advantage of lax security in Windows server environments.
Now Microsoft is saying they won't be so lax anymore, so the applications need to change.
Microsoft is basically damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don't. If they don't patch the flaws, they're bad for providing an unsecured environment. If they do patch the flaws, they're bad for breaking existing applications.
I for one fail to see how this is a bad thing... OSes evolve, and applications have to keep up. That's why manufacturers provide separate drivers and software versions for different OS versions, isn't it?
Slashdot Mirror
This is how technology generally evolves, isn't it? Small steps that have a tremendous impact in the long-term.
I guess it's not that exciting in day-to-day news, but it's important to realize that the evolution from the first computer to the one you're reading this article on wasn't made in a giant leap -- it took years and many many many small improvements.
Let's say I were doing something illegal, where I had to report my activities to somebody else.
When they come around, do you think I'm going to show them that I'm breaking the law? Of course not. I'm going to show them some legitimate materials, and keep the illegal stuff well out of sight.
That's what I'd do, anyway.
Assuming that a feature list comes from user demands for functionality, what is the difference between "it works" and "it satisfies the feature list"?
Those slaves could have just sought work elsewhere if they didn't like the conditions.
Oh, wait...
To be honest, I expect that when you view the unfiltered results, those top 10 get bumped off the list completely:
... and so on.
1. sex
2. teen sex
3. naughty teen sex
4. naughty teen oral sex
5. naughty lesbian teen oral sex
Let's hope his server has a hefty exoskeleton as well...
I think it was arms in the book, but noses makes just as much sense. 50 of them would give them a hell of a sense of smell...
+1 insightful, if I had any...
No, if you RTFA, they are comparing AMERICA'S game sales to DOMESTIC box office, sales and rental returns. Doh.
When the author says, "the movie industry is bigger then just the U.S. box office", he means that we should also include rentals and purchases, not that we should include non-US receipts.
See emphasis added to quotation below:
The 2004 domestic Video and Computer Game Industry is estimated to be around $10B. This is a slightly misleading figure because it includes the sales of the console machines, in addition to the sales of the software, but we'll go with it.
The domestic US box office is estimated to be around $9B for 2004, and this is where the myth starts to take life. The problem is the movie industry is a lot bigger then just the U.S. box office. DVD sales and rentals for 2003 topped $16B. VHS sales and rentals for 2003 was $6.4B. VHS sales are declining fast, but most of that will just shift over to DVDs, which brings the grand total for non-box office movie sales to over $20B, twice the figure for the entire game industry.
Unlike movies, which only exist in the U.S.
I hope you informed the site of their security breach. I have yet to encounter a trojan from any legitimate site.
Spyware STILL got in. Every Spybot scan would regularly reveal something nasty (normally DSO or other IE Exploits).
Moral of the story: pick your porn sites wisely.
I've loaded Windows (various versions) onto machines, then downloaded service packs, with no firewall, MANY times, and never gotten a single trojan or spyware.
Perhaps the 20 minute figure that people like to bandy about has more to do with common user behaviors -- namely, the fact that most people don't even know what a service pack IS?
I imagine the average user's behavior to be something like this:
1. Turn on computer.
2. Install AOL.
3. Check email. Oh look, there's an email from Aunt Marge! And it has an attachment! Aunt Marge has a great sense of humor -- I bet it's a funny picture or something!
4. Open attachment.
5. Congratulations, your computer is infected.
Please note that in this process, the thought of patching the machine never crossed the user's mind. Microsoft (and computer manufacturers) may be failing to properly inform the users of the importance of patching, but c'mon, face it -- even Linux has to be patched to be secure... and the burden is ultimately on THE USER to do so.
Shelby Foote has met his match.
... that the top-rated comment in this thread will be +5, funny.
I was referring to the part in the post that referred to "skipping ahead, and random access without downloading the entire file."
Congratulations on completely ignoring my point.
It seems to me that the types of media that swarming is commonly used for won't benefit much from being able to skip forward.
I mean, if you're downloading a feature film or TV show, do you really want to watch the middle before the beginning?
Just because CR doesn't get the product straight from the manufacturer doesn't mean they're honest.
I'm not saying they're *not*, but it's worth noting that there are many ways for manufacturers to curry favor that aren't immediately apparent.
This isn't just a phenomenon in the IT arena. Have a look at medical journals some time... You have to be VERY careful when putting stock in the findings of studies -- the first thing to check is who *funded* the study.
I think it's just a fact of life: everybody wants their product to be seen in the best light, and to sell well (in the case of commodities or services).
That's why Amazon.com has reader reviews, sites like epinions.com exist, and Slashdot has moderator points. It's also why there are hardware review sites -- we can't just trust the manufacturer's PR now, can we?
So, people may be inherentely biased and often untruthful, but with proper monitoring (read: community involvement), the truth will out.
My parents gave me a Toyota Tercel for my 17th birthday. I'm not sure why they chose Toyota, but I suspect they expect it to be replaced by a Lexus or BMW by the user.
The problem isn't just with remembering a strong password that you use on a daily basis. What about those one-time sign-ups that you have to do from time to time, for example to request a secure email certificate?
Two years down the road, you've changed all your other passwords a dozen times, you get a new laptop, and now you can't remember the password to unlock your certificate -- which means you won't be able to read any encrypted emails people send you anymore, until you get a new certificate and they all accept it.
Asking people to remember a few regularly used passwords may or may not be too much... but asking them to remember infrequently used passwords certainly is.
What size of monitor will someone need to view this all on one screen???
And how much will it cost?
Less than flying to the location to see it for yourself?
Somebody mod parent up, please.
Complaining about free "service packs" (or whatever you want to call them) is like complaining about a free engine upgrade.
Well, duh. Can you name a vendor that produces more individual software packages for the Microsoft platform than Microsoft itself?
So a bunch of people wrote applications that take advantage of lax security in Windows server environments.
Now Microsoft is saying they won't be so lax anymore, so the applications need to change.
Microsoft is basically damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don't. If they don't patch the flaws, they're bad for providing an unsecured environment. If they do patch the flaws, they're bad for breaking existing applications.
I for one fail to see how this is a bad thing... OSes evolve, and applications have to keep up. That's why manufacturers provide separate drivers and software versions for different OS versions, isn't it?
Oops. Make that "yielding", not "[b]un[/b]yielding".
;)
Whatever, you know what I meant.