They are related in that they were both created at CMU as part of the Andrew project. The applications you are thinking of are probably part of the Andrew User Interface System. It's a suite of integrated applications for Unix. Check the web site for more info.
All algorithms that run on modern computers have runtimes that can be described in terms of polynomial functions. Some examples of these are:
N,N^2,LogN,NLogN,N^N
As you allude to later in your posting, N^N is
not a polynomial function.
I am curious if people think that the folks who broke in are "white hat" intruders. If they are "white hat" intruders, what was the point of making a fake post on Slashdot in CmdrTaco's name? Why didn't they just email the Slashdot admins with the security holes and request that they be fixed?
Making a fake post is cute, but it is a bit childish. I can not think of any other reason why the hackers made a fake posting other than making a name for themselves or embarrassing the site operators. Was the security of Slashdot really their primary or even secondary concern? Fake posts are no better than grafitti.
Can we even be sure that they only broke into Slashdot this one time? Were the systems reinstalled with fresh code that had been secured or encrypted? How can we be certain that a backdoor hasn't been installed?
I certainly feel that the security breach should be publicized. I am glad that the problems have been fixed. And I understand the hackers desire for anonymity given our society's penchant for litigation. However, I do not think it is polite or justified to inform a site's admins of security holes through graffiti on the front page of their website at 10:30 PM. An anonymous or pseudononymous email message would have had the same end result. (Getting phone calls about urgent time sensitive problems at 10:30 PM is bad enough for most system administrators; getting phone calls for problems that could have been solved in the morning is really frustrating.)
The folks who broke in may not have been "black hat" intruders, but it is specious to call them "white hat" hackers. Perhaps there needs to be a term like "gray hat" hackers, but "immature self-promoting" hackers seems to work just as well.
It should be kept in mind that this is less of an article and more of a press release. It was written by "Knowledge@Wharton," the copyright is owned by the Wharton School, and the only source is the business professor who conducted the study. It is hardly an example of balanced journalism.
Is there a shortage of tech worker in the United States? Possibly. Are tech workers poorly managed? Possibly. Are there are significant number of open positions in the technology world? Certainly.
I would be more interested in reading the actual study rather than a predigested press release summary. The press release is designed to catch the reader's attention; the study may be a bit more interesting.
(Personally, I find it interesting that CNET runs press releases as "News," but that is a bit off-topic.)
Referendums allow the will of the majority or plurality to totally control the minority or minorities. For the most part, we do not live in a direct democrary. The United States is a republic--we elect others to lead us in the manner they best see fit. Personally, I think this system works fairly well.
As another poster suggested, the best way to effect change is to send letters to your representatives in Congress. If you are really passionate about the issue, follow up with a phone call.
<flamebait>I don't think postings on/. will really get law enforcement to change their behavior or people in Congress to change their votes.</flamebait>
The #1 rule there was that the advertising department does NOT talk to the editorial department at all.
This practice is certainly not followed universally.
It is standard practice for small newspapers to sell advertising packages that include guaranteed editorial coverage.
Larger publications also bend this rule a little bit; it's called custom publishing. If an advertiser wants a special issue of a magazine produced, the can enter an arrangement with the publisher where they supply all of the advertising content and the editorial content is tailored to their needs. Publications who care about advertising influence end up being really careful in this situation to ensure that there is a divide between the editorial and advertising staffs.
In the network television work, the barriers between the editorial and business sides are flagrantly broken. Look at the CBS News coverage of survivor or ABC News coverage of Disney properties.
In an editorial, MacWeek discussed their reasoning in dropping Mac the Knife, MacWeek's rumor column. While the column listed several reasons for dropping the column, I believe that Mac the Knife's on advertising certainly had an affect.
Some magazines, such as Ms. and Consumer Reporter, will not accept advertising so that there is never a link between editorial content and advertising.
Finally, even where there is an explicit rule against advertising affecting the editorial side, the fact is that for most publications, if the editorial content angers the advertisers too much the editorial staff will be changed. In addition, advertising generally pays the editorial staff's salaries. The editorial staff knows this.
Slashdot Mirror
Minor nit: CMYK is not capable of fewer colors than RGB; the CMYK and RGB color spaces are not subsets of each other, although they do intersect.
ezmail is an AMS client; the release of the AFS source code does not impact the status of ezmail.
They are related in that they were both created at CMU as part of the Andrew project. The applications you are thinking of are probably part of the Andrew User Interface System. It's a suite of integrated applications for Unix. Check the web site for more info.
All algorithms that run on modern computers have runtimes that can be described in terms of polynomial functions. Some examples of these are: N,N^2,LogN,NLogN,N^N
As you allude to later in your posting, N^N is not a polynomial function.
Making a fake post is cute, but it is a bit childish. I can not think of any other reason why the hackers made a fake posting other than making a name for themselves or embarrassing the site operators. Was the security of Slashdot really their primary or even secondary concern? Fake posts are no better than grafitti.
Can we even be sure that they only broke into Slashdot this one time? Were the systems reinstalled with fresh code that had been secured or encrypted? How can we be certain that a backdoor hasn't been installed?
I certainly feel that the security breach should be publicized. I am glad that the problems have been fixed. And I understand the hackers desire for anonymity given our society's penchant for litigation. However, I do not think it is polite or justified to inform a site's admins of security holes through graffiti on the front page of their website at 10:30 PM. An anonymous or pseudononymous email message would have had the same end result. (Getting phone calls about urgent time sensitive problems at 10:30 PM is bad enough for most system administrators; getting phone calls for problems that could have been solved in the morning is really frustrating.)
The folks who broke in may not have been "black hat" intruders, but it is specious to call them "white hat" hackers. Perhaps there needs to be a term like "gray hat" hackers, but "immature self-promoting" hackers seems to work just as well.
It should be kept in mind that this is less of an article and more of a press release. It was written by "Knowledge@Wharton," the copyright is owned by the Wharton School, and the only source is the business professor who conducted the study. It is hardly an example of balanced journalism.
Is there a shortage of tech worker in the United States? Possibly. Are tech workers poorly managed? Possibly. Are there are significant number of open positions in the technology world? Certainly.
I would be more interested in reading the actual study rather than a predigested press release summary. The press release is designed to catch the reader's attention; the study may be a bit more interesting.
(Personally, I find it interesting that CNET runs press releases as "News," but that is a bit off-topic.)
As another poster suggested, the best way to effect change is to send letters to your representatives in Congress. If you are really passionate about the issue, follow up with a phone call.
<flamebait>I don't think postings on /. will really get law enforcement to change their behavior or people in Congress to change their votes.</flamebait>
This practice is certainly not followed universally.
It is standard practice for small newspapers to sell advertising packages that include guaranteed editorial coverage.
Larger publications also bend this rule a little bit; it's called custom publishing. If an advertiser wants a special issue of a magazine produced, the can enter an arrangement with the publisher where they supply all of the advertising content and the editorial content is tailored to their needs. Publications who care about advertising influence end up being really careful in this situation to ensure that there is a divide between the editorial and advertising staffs.
In the network television work, the barriers between the editorial and business sides are flagrantly broken. Look at the CBS News coverage of survivor or ABC News coverage of Disney properties.
In an editorial, MacWeek discussed their reasoning in dropping Mac the Knife, MacWeek's rumor column. While the column listed several reasons for dropping the column, I believe that Mac the Knife's on advertising certainly had an affect.
Some magazines, such as Ms. and Consumer Reporter, will not accept advertising so that there is never a link between editorial content and advertising.
Finally, even where there is an explicit rule against advertising affecting the editorial side, the fact is that for most publications, if the editorial content angers the advertisers too much the editorial staff will be changed. In addition, advertising generally pays the editorial staff's salaries. The editorial staff knows this.