I agree. Frankly, a lot of other institutions with extremely expensive equipment use cameras to monitor who comes and goes. Everyone's in a huge uproar about RFID when it's actually/less/ intrusive than security cameras. I'll take swiping an RFID and letting someone know I'm in the general vacinity over being videotaped any day.
When I was about 6, my dad had a work laptop that he brought home. It had a grey-scale screen, dual 3.5" floppies, 4 (I think) MB of RAM, and no hard drive.
The only things he had for it was WordPerfect and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago?" Based on the sound of the spinning drive, I could decipher which of the multiple choice answers was correct to move to the next stage while the current stage was loading. After a while, I started plugging my ears while a stage was loading so the game didn't suck.
I competed against the West Points team in the ACM computer programming competition. My team sat next to them and I was far from impressed...didn't see any code, but they were clearly missing some HUGE concepts from what I heard from their discussions. And these are supposedly the academics of the US Army.
Would my writing "American expression, Membership has its Privileges" in this post result in Slashdot getting a letter?
Definitely not. But it might result in you getting a letter (if/. gives them info to find you). ZERAN v AMERICA ONLINE INC upheld that hosts can't be held responsible for what posters say, or even held responsible if they're asked to remove it and don't do so.
This reminds me of Nestle's baby formula in the 80's. They gave out free samples in hospitals and villages in various impovrished countries in Africa, saying it would make babies much healthier than breast milk. Mothers would use the formula and their breast milk would dry up. Then they'd be forced to buy the product because there were no other alternatives. Unfortunately, lots of babies died because the mothers flat out couldn't afford the formula after the samples ran out.
Yeah, except they'll actually be able to use this OS.
I know many people who will gladly install linux on a box for you (which is a total pain in the ass, so that's nice of them), but very few who will come and fix it when you have a problem. With an old windows box, when you have a problem...just reinstall! Anyone can do that...
I don't believe the Ford analogy mentioned in the blog is appropriate. It's more like finding a way to remotely detonate a Ford's gas tank and then telling all the pyromaniacs in the world. The difference being that the harm will not happen unless someone knows about it.
I don't think publishing exploits without informing the company is appropriate. I believe that notifying the company and then saying, "I'm going to make this public in x units of time" is fair. That way the company is under pressure to fix it and can distribute a patch before the exploit is well-known.
easy access to a wide choice
of third-party applications that run with the Office front-end
Has anyone had any experience with this? How difficult is it for third-party vendors with existing applications to integrate with Oo?
I have no experience with this, and it's clear that many will see this as a monopolistic
argument, but I'm curious which industries would have to be concerned with this and why.
I believe it will be considered against the anti-trust if they make it required for their OS to run (like IE). But I don't see them doing that...I'm confident that users will be able to disable the virus software if they want.
I honestly think that Microsoft is extremely frustrated that no one downloads the fixes for secific viruses from Windows Update, especially those caused entirely by the ignorance of the user (MyDoom).
MS releases patches for security holes, but if those holes have been exploited, the fix doesn't work. At work, we always have problems with people trying to do system fixes in the wrong order (patching before removing the virus). Hopefully with this software, they can integrate the virus removal process with downloading and installing the patch and at least guide users through a system-fixing order that works.
I've always wondered why the anti-virus vendors didn't integrate a "x virus was found and cleaned. It is recommended that you now get this patch for your computer to prevent this from happening again."
...the operator who those calls are transfered to.
This brings an interesting concept of "matching" callers and operators. If you match the more impatient callers with operators who are able to handle those situations well and not get flustered, I'd imagine there would be less turnover. In addition, these positions could pay higher.
Tiering customer support skill would definitely be more efficient and benefit both company and customer, in my opinion.
"Recent investigations uncovered that it was actually the spiteful Linux community that wrote and deployed violent video games, hoping small children would then take their violence out on IP rival SCO."
Welcome to the world of opportunity costs. Whenever you pay for a service, all you're paying for is "convenience." Technically, you could do it yourself, but it may take more time or effort, or your time may be more valuable doing something else.
My time is worth $40/hour to my employer...if an album costs $10, why should I spend $40 worth of time downloading and organizing it?
Slashdot Mirror
I agree. Frankly, a lot of other institutions with extremely expensive equipment use cameras to monitor who comes and goes. Everyone's in a huge uproar about RFID when it's actually /less/ intrusive than security cameras. I'll take swiping an RFID and letting someone know I'm in the general vacinity over being videotaped any day.
When I was about 6, my dad had a work laptop that he brought home. It had a grey-scale screen, dual 3.5" floppies, 4 (I think) MB of RAM, and no hard drive.
The only things he had for it was WordPerfect and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago?" Based on the sound of the spinning drive, I could decipher which of the multiple choice answers was correct to move to the next stage while the current stage was loading. After a while, I started plugging my ears while a stage was loading so the game didn't suck.
I competed against the West Points team in the ACM computer programming competition. My team sat next to them and I was far from impressed...didn't see any code, but they were clearly missing some HUGE concepts from what I heard from their discussions. And these are supposedly the academics of the US Army.
NSA's got this one in the bag.
Frankly, I'm not going to trust something that has a software engineer listed as "IT - Software". That's insulting.
ZERAN v AMERICA ONLINE INC upheld that hosts can't be held responsible for what posters say, or even held responsible if they're asked to remove it and don't do so.
This reminds me of Nestle's baby formula in the 80's. They gave out free samples in hospitals and villages in various impovrished countries in Africa, saying it would make babies much healthier than breast milk. Mothers would use the formula and their breast milk would dry up. Then they'd be forced to buy the product because there were no other alternatives. Unfortunately, lots of babies died because the mothers flat out couldn't afford the formula after the samples ran out.
Yeah, except they'll actually be able to use this OS.
I know many people who will gladly install linux on a box for you (which is a total pain in the ass, so that's nice of them), but very few who will come and fix it when you have a problem. With an old windows box, when you have a problem...just reinstall! Anyone can do that...
Longhorn isn't even in beta yet...how on earth could you have a copy of it?
I don't believe the Ford analogy mentioned in the blog is appropriate. It's more like finding a way to remotely detonate a Ford's gas tank and then telling all the pyromaniacs in the world. The difference being that the harm will not happen unless someone knows about it.
I don't think publishing exploits without informing the company is appropriate. I believe that notifying the company and then saying, "I'm going to make this public in x units of time" is fair. That way the company is under pressure to fix it and can distribute a patch before the exploit is well-known.
Ben
Psh, someone cancel parent's account...he's obviously not a real
Sure, if you wanted the robot to play a half-tone flat for half an hour and then fall on its face...
BenI believe it will be considered against the anti-trust if they make it required for their OS to run (like IE). But I don't see them doing that...I'm confident that users will be able to disable the virus software if they want.
I honestly think that Microsoft is extremely frustrated that no one downloads the fixes for secific viruses from Windows Update, especially those caused entirely by the ignorance of the user (MyDoom).
MS releases patches for security holes, but if those holes have been exploited, the fix doesn't work. At work, we always have problems with people trying to do system fixes in the wrong order (patching before removing the virus). Hopefully with this software, they can integrate the virus removal process with downloading and installing the patch and at least guide users through a system-fixing order that works.
I've always wondered why the anti-virus vendors didn't integrate a "x virus was found and cleaned. It is recommended that you now get this patch for your computer to prevent this from happening again."
BenOnce again, people are confusing obscurity with security.
Sigh.
Ben
...the operator who those calls are transfered to.
This brings an interesting concept of "matching" callers and operators. If you match the more impatient callers with operators who are able to handle those situations well and not get flustered, I'd imagine there would be less turnover. In addition, these positions could pay higher.
Tiering customer support skill would definitely be more efficient and benefit both company and customer, in my opinion.
--Ben
"Recent investigations uncovered that it was actually the spiteful Linux community that wrote and deployed violent video games, hoping small children would then take their violence out on IP rival SCO."
--Ben
Welcome to the world of opportunity costs. Whenever you pay for a service, all you're paying for is "convenience." Technically, you could do it yourself, but it may take more time or effort, or your time may be more valuable doing something else.
My time is worth $40/hour to my employer...if an album costs $10, why should I spend $40 worth of time downloading and organizing it?
So don't be surprised if you're in Japan early next year and see people running holding their cellphone/PDA like a gun
Now I won't have to lug my pc to lan parties...