I hope land lines never go away. I had a cell phone once and absolutely hated it. Why? Because when I go out, I don't want to talk on the phone! I don't want to be bothered. Sure I could sign up for voicemail and leave it turned off at home, but where I live in Canada, that's an expensive option. Whereas I can get voicemail on my landline number virtually for free.
I hate talking to people on the phone. I tell all my friends if they want to talk to me, they should come over and we'll go for a beer.
"The reason why Alexander Graham Bell accomplished so much in his life was because he wasn't bothered by the telephone." How true it is.
"Linux creator Linus Torvalds said this afternoon that he's now running an Apple Macintosh as his main desktop, mainly for work reasons, although partly simply because he's a self-described "technology whore" and got the machine for free."
This bothers me. One could rewrite this headline to say:
TV Show host Oprah Winfrey said this afternoon that she is now wearing Versace as her clothes of choice, mainly for work reasons, althought simply because she's a self-described "fashion freak."
Really, who cares? Why in the world would anyone care what kind of computer Torvalds is using? There are far more newsworthy things in the world than this. PFFT!
It's about time some people did something about this. I really hate things that stop working just because you decide to secure your systems. Trying to do DCC sends over NAT is a nightmare.
But it seemed like there were two implementations of DCC. The "right" way, which most Unix-based IRC clients did, and the "backwards" way, which Mirc did. I never seemed to have any problems with DCC sends when using a Unix-based IRC client but it always seemed like I would have to stand on my head and chant voodoo chants when trying to use Mirc. Unfortunately, Mirc is by far the best IRC client out there. Yeah, Irssi and BitchX are good too, but there aren't any GUI based IRC clients for Unix that can hold a stick to Mirc. Try being an op in a busy channel and have a requirement for robust userlist functions, channel protections, file sharing, etc. You can't have them all in any Unix-based IRC client but you can with Mirc.
I always ended up having to set up a socks5 proxy server in order to get DCC sends to work correctly. I truly hope they implement the protocol correctly this time...
ATMs not connected to the Internet and without keyboard are pretty much unhackable unless you can pry open the case and attach a keyboard and/or wireless connection.
It doesn't matter if they're connected to the Internet. Having worked on ATM banking systems in the past, they are connected to a WAN that likely has Windows workstations connected as well. Since Windows Update is probably never run on the ATMs I would think that it would be trivial for a Windows workstation to infect a Windows ATM.
It's Good That It's So Good At Filtering Spam....
on
DSPAM v2.10 Released
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Now if they could only make it usable. After reading the last Slashdot article about it I decided to try and move my Amavis/ClamAV/SpamAssassin/Postfix/Courier-IMAP setup to use DSPAM. Good Lord what a configuration nightmare. I couldn't find a decent HOW-TO and no real working example configurations in order to test it out. Sure the README "has all the information I'll ever need" but some of the stuff that it talks about I don't understand and I don't have the patience to configure it through trial and error.
Developing good software is one thing. But it's a lot nicer when good software is actually usable. I'll be sticking with SpamAssassin until they can dumb it down a little.
Is that Windows is an operating system. An operating system is a kernel, a boot loader, and a set of utilities to make a computer work. In no way is a media player, a web browser, or any other value-added piece of software part of an operating system. In no way is a media player or a web browser required for a computer to function.
By adding these types of applications into the operating system Microsoft blurs the definition of operating system. Microsoft also leverages these applications for their own benefit. By defining Media Player as an integral part of the operating system, and then leveraging it for their own DRM stuff, they are exerting monopoly power.
I hope the EU sticks it to them. Microsoft deserves to pay for the monopoly they have gotten through coercion of OEMs and preying on users who don't know better.
I'm from Canada and two weeks ago my employer held a seminar regarding PIPEDA and what it means.
The ramifications of it are quite enormous though as someone pointed out, it isn't retroactive. Canadian lawyers will make a killing as contracts are established/renewed will need to ensure that privacy is taken into account.
There are a few interesting twists to it, though. For example, my company is planning on implementing a very strict policy regarding PIPEDA. But I am currently outsourced working at a client's site. The policy that I will have to follow will be the one that my client implements. I was also told that there are looser stipulations for international business. So if I'm doing business with an American resident, and the United States doesn't have a similar law, then I am not required BY LAW to follow my company's privacy policy.
It'll be interesting to see how the government tweaks this in the future. I am very happy that something like this is finally in place.
I seem to remember stumbling across a web site a few months ago that had a list of "black market" ISPs that would allow a Saudi citizen to access the Internet in a non-monitored/non-censored way. Apparently accessing the Internet using "normal" ISPs means excessive content blocking, etc.
There may already be such ISPs in China for all I know. But it's interesting to see groups of people band together to circumvent the restrictions put on them by their governments.
BSD vs. Linux on the Desktop
on
FreeBSD 5.2 Review
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The hardware support available in modern Linux distributions make it a very good candidate for desktop workstations. But the ability to tweak certain kernel settings to suit it to a desktop workstation (like the CK release of patches) make it an even BETTER choice for a desktop.
That said I would rather have a cohesive, well thought out OS for a server. I don't want the server to change ever. I want to have easy to read documentation when I need it in a pinch and actually have documentation that relates to the OS environment I'm in!
BSDs are far more cohesive than any Linux distro I have ever used and don't feel like a bunch of utilities slapped on top of a kernel. Man pages make sense, documentation is everywhere, and the bastard runs really freaking fast too.
On the other hand, my few adventures with *BSD on the desktop always had me banging my head in frustration.
The choice is obvious: If it supports your hardware, *BSD for the server. Linux is still the best choice for the desktop.
They aren't necessarily bad, but they're humourous. I live in Canada and right now it's -20C outside. My desk is right under an air conditioning vent that cannot be turned off so it blows cold air. The windows nearby are drafty so it's pretty cold where I sit.
My manager felt sorry for me so he bought me a space heater for my cubicle. Very nice! Except that when I plug it in and it runs for more than 10 minutes it flips the breaker and everyone on the floor loses power.
The office itself is just outside a very large steel mill and when it's cold outside and they add water to the molten steel mixture it causes very loud explosions that shake the entire admin building where I am. I have gone through three keyboards so far this winter from the shaking of the building causing my coffee to spill on the keyboard.
I'd be interested in knowing if any Canadian Slashdot readers found their user names in the database. Afterall, file swapping is NOT illegal in the Great White North.
I wonder how many drug dealers would respond if they saw an advertisement saying "Call the local police station and give us your name to see if you're on our current drug dealer watch list." Almost sounds like entrapment.
Although Linux is a good solution for call centre workstations that doesn't take into consideration corporate workstation standards. In a help desk type of environment, I would hazard a guess that most call centres are simply departments within a larger company. They probably don't have any say whatsoever in what kind of desktop OS - the internal corporate IT department does.
Its unbelievable that the RIAA would go to such lengths to make examples of these people. But what did they gain? The story mentions that the students settled but did not admit guilt. So the RIAA recoups "lost revenue" but did they really get what they wanted? An admission of guilt would have given the RIAA more ammunition for future witch-hunts. But on the other hand, now they know that they can coerce people out of ridiculous sums of money just by sharing MP3s. What will happen in the future?
While I realize that what these people did is illegal why doesn't the American government try and come up with a reasonable solution to this?
Any moment now I expect to hear a jarring noise and then Cardinal Ximinez, Cardinal Biggles, and Cardinal Fang bursting out saying "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
It's not all covert stuff
on
Inside SAIC
·
· Score: 3, Informative
The city where I live in Canada is the provincial capital. A number of years ago the provincial government created a new health care agency called SHIN whose purpose was to facilitate the development of a provincial health care network. SAIC was awarded the contract to do all the necessary IT work involved to make SHIN's vision a reality.
They have done some really cool things. They utilized the existing Internet infrastructure to allow pharmacists in remote areas of the province to be able to send their prescription data to a mainframe here in Regina. They have also provided doctors with wireless communications using PDAs for appointments, emergencies, etc. The grander picture here is that since the province was wired with fibre-optic cable a long time ago (thanks to the wide-open geography and a telephone company with a lot of foresight) they plan on allowing doctors to view CT scans, MRI scans, etc. real time over a network. There are also plans in place to even have surgeries performed where a general surgeon is performing the operation in one location being guided by a specialist in a different location.
SAIC definately does some neat stuff and as time passes I hope that the work they do benefits the pathetic health care system we have right now.
The topic is Karamba, not SuperKaramba. As I have never used SuperKaramba I cannot comment on it. But my previous comment regarding Karamba still stands. Although it is nice to look at its effectively useless for me.
so you're expecting other people to develop your content then??? the whole point of Karamba and Super karamba is that you are given the tools to do it your way. Use other peoples themes as a base, but you have the basis to customise it exactly as you want. Don't dis what has been done so far, it gives excellent examples for others to use. Just blame yourself if you can't find a use for it.
As a matter of fact, yes I AM expecting other people to develop content for me. They are the developers. I am the user. I have no interest in working on this project. It is the developers job to make an application both appealing and useful to the user. As I pointed out, the Karamba developers have done half of that. The application is appealing yes, but useful no.
I compiled Karamba once and....quickly uninstalled it. Sure it looks nice but I never found it particularly useful. It takes up a lot of desktop space and really is nothing more than a very beautiful way to waste your system resources.
For example, one of its features is the ability to read headlines from news sources such as Slashdot. While its nice to see the headlines right on your desktop, how useful is it? If you want to read the whole story you have to fire up a browser anyways to read it. So whats the point?
Sidebars such as Karamba need to be more useful than just show information. There needs to be a way for a user to interact with the information presented to them. Until that happens they will remain pretty much useless (and off my desktop).
Its not? It must just be a complete coincidence then that Daniel Weise (A) Hates UNIX (B) Works for Microsoft and (C) was allowed to have it on one of Microsoft's servers. Ya think Microsoft would have minded had Daniel been one of the co-authors of the I Hate Windows book?? Do the math.
This is good news for the Linux community and it IS a good product. But the thing that gets me is that when all is said and done, Linux users and companies adopting Linux end up paying more to use software than they normally would if they were to use the native Windows applications. Afterall they need to buy a license for each workstation running WINE. I know the price doesn't make it prohibitively more expensive but its just sort of ironic. Don't ya think?
I ran a BBS from the early to late eighties. I am one of those old timers that can truly remember being able to out type a 300 baud modem. In fact MY first modem was an acoustic coupler model that sped along at the terrific rate of 150 baud.
The jump to 300 was huge. And the jump from that to 1200 was almost mind numbing.
But nostalgia aside, the best thing that Ward gave to the world was Xmodem. The first portable file transfer protocol available for a multitude of computer types. My users, whether they were using Apples, Commodores, TRS-80's, Peanuts, or PCs could upload and download files from me. Using the.ARC format for file concatenation/compression all of those users of different computer types could extract the files too.
I wasn't much of a programmer but I distinctly remember downloading and looking at the Xmodem source code. I don't recall if it was licensed or not but think about the ramifications of this. Ward released the source code to something to help benefit computer users everywhere no matter what platform they were using. In 'those' days it wasn't a big deal - I'm sure he just thought "hey, someone else could use this" and let it flow. Too often these days innovations such as thing get wrapped in a litany of licenses and red-tape.
The early to mid eighties were a wonderful time to be an online computer user. Holier than thou open source bandwagon jumpers and intellectual property whores who have owned a computer for less than 10 years have no idea what it was like when things WERE open because THEY COULD BE. It wasn't a big deal to make something available to the public like it is now. It was almost like "if you're smart enough to know what this means then you have every right to look at it". Very non-chalant and very cool.
These days when the open source community develops something revolutionary its very much "Yay us!" from the techie crowd. Back then it wasn't a big deal. It didn't have to be. It was almost taken as a given.
My how times have changed. Ward's contribution to the technical community of both bulletin board systems and especially the Xmodem protocol make him a pioneer that your pimply-faced, teenaged next door neighbor sadly will never appreciate.
Slashdot Mirror
I hope land lines never go away. I had a cell phone once and absolutely hated it. Why? Because when I go out, I don't want to talk on the phone! I don't want to be bothered. Sure I could sign up for voicemail and leave it turned off at home, but where I live in Canada, that's an expensive option. Whereas I can get voicemail on my landline number virtually for free.
I hate talking to people on the phone. I tell all my friends if they want to talk to me, they should come over and we'll go for a beer.
"The reason why Alexander Graham Bell accomplished so much in his life was because he wasn't bothered by the telephone." How true it is.
"Linux creator Linus Torvalds said this afternoon that he's now running an Apple Macintosh as his main desktop, mainly for work reasons, although partly simply because he's a self-described "technology whore" and got the machine for free." This bothers me. One could rewrite this headline to say: TV Show host Oprah Winfrey said this afternoon that she is now wearing Versace as her clothes of choice, mainly for work reasons, althought simply because she's a self-described "fashion freak." Really, who cares? Why in the world would anyone care what kind of computer Torvalds is using? There are far more newsworthy things in the world than this. PFFT!
It's about time some people did something about this. I really hate things that stop working just because you decide to secure your systems. Trying to do DCC sends over NAT is a nightmare.
But it seemed like there were two implementations of DCC. The "right" way, which most Unix-based IRC clients did, and the "backwards" way, which Mirc did. I never seemed to have any problems with DCC sends when using a Unix-based IRC client but it always seemed like I would have to stand on my head and chant voodoo chants when trying to use Mirc. Unfortunately, Mirc is by far the best IRC client out there. Yeah, Irssi and BitchX are good too, but there aren't any GUI based IRC clients for Unix that can hold a stick to Mirc. Try being an op in a busy channel and have a requirement for robust userlist functions, channel protections, file sharing, etc. You can't have them all in any Unix-based IRC client but you can with Mirc.
I always ended up having to set up a socks5 proxy server in order to get DCC sends to work correctly. I truly hope they implement the protocol correctly this time...
ATMs not connected to the Internet and without keyboard are pretty much unhackable unless you can pry open the case and attach a keyboard and/or wireless connection.
It doesn't matter if they're connected to the Internet. Having worked on ATM banking systems in the past, they are connected to a WAN that likely has Windows workstations connected as well. Since Windows Update is probably never run on the ATMs I would think that it would be trivial for a Windows workstation to infect a Windows ATM.
Now if they could only make it usable. After reading the last Slashdot article about it I decided to try and move my Amavis/ClamAV/SpamAssassin/Postfix/Courier-IMAP setup to use DSPAM. Good Lord what a configuration nightmare. I couldn't find a decent HOW-TO and no real working example configurations in order to test it out. Sure the README "has all the information I'll ever need" but some of the stuff that it talks about I don't understand and I don't have the patience to configure it through trial and error.
Developing good software is one thing. But it's a lot nicer when good software is actually usable. I'll be sticking with SpamAssassin until they can dumb it down a little.
Lady Justice is always depicted with a blindfold. Seems to me that this attitude wants to rip that blindfold off.
I don't think the EU gives a rat's ass about what Lady Justice thinks...
Is that Windows is an operating system. An operating system is a kernel, a boot loader, and a set of utilities to make a computer work. In no way is a media player, a web browser, or any other value-added piece of software part of an operating system. In no way is a media player or a web browser required for a computer to function.
By adding these types of applications into the operating system Microsoft blurs the definition of operating system. Microsoft also leverages these applications for their own benefit. By defining Media Player as an integral part of the operating system, and then leveraging it for their own DRM stuff, they are exerting monopoly power.
I hope the EU sticks it to them. Microsoft deserves to pay for the monopoly they have gotten through coercion of OEMs and preying on users who don't know better.
I'm from Canada and two weeks ago my employer held a seminar regarding PIPEDA and what it means.
The ramifications of it are quite enormous though as someone pointed out, it isn't retroactive. Canadian lawyers will make a killing as contracts are established/renewed will need to ensure that privacy is taken into account.
There are a few interesting twists to it, though. For example, my company is planning on implementing a very strict policy regarding PIPEDA. But I am currently outsourced working at a client's site. The policy that I will have to follow will be the one that my client implements.
I was also told that there are looser stipulations for international business. So if I'm doing business with an American resident, and the United States doesn't have a similar law, then I am not required BY LAW to follow my company's privacy policy.
It'll be interesting to see how the government tweaks this in the future. I am very happy that something like this is finally in place.
I seem to remember stumbling across a web site a few months ago that had a list of "black market" ISPs that would allow a Saudi citizen to access the Internet in a non-monitored/non-censored way. Apparently accessing the Internet using "normal" ISPs means excessive content blocking, etc.
There may already be such ISPs in China for all I know. But it's interesting to see groups of people band together to circumvent the restrictions put on them by their governments.
The hardware support available in modern Linux distributions make it a very good candidate for desktop workstations. But the ability to tweak certain kernel settings to suit it to a desktop workstation (like the CK release of patches) make it an even BETTER choice for a desktop.
That said I would rather have a cohesive, well thought out OS for a server. I don't want the server to change ever. I want to have easy to read documentation when I need it in a pinch and actually have documentation that relates to the OS environment I'm in!
BSDs are far more cohesive than any Linux distro I have ever used and don't feel like a bunch of utilities slapped on top of a kernel. Man pages make sense, documentation is everywhere, and the bastard runs really freaking fast too.
On the other hand, my few adventures with *BSD on the desktop always had me banging my head in frustration.
The choice is obvious: If it supports your hardware, *BSD for the server. Linux is still the best choice for the desktop.
They aren't necessarily bad, but they're humourous. I live in Canada and right now it's -20C outside. My desk is right under an air conditioning vent that cannot be turned off so it blows cold air. The windows nearby are drafty so it's pretty cold where I sit.
My manager felt sorry for me so he bought me a space heater for my cubicle. Very nice! Except that when I plug it in and it runs for more than 10 minutes it flips the breaker and everyone on the floor loses power.
The office itself is just outside a very large steel mill and when it's cold outside and they add water to the molten steel mixture it causes very loud explosions that shake the entire admin building where I am. I have gone through three keyboards so far this winter from the shaking of the building causing my coffee to spill on the keyboard.
I'd be interested in knowing if any Canadian Slashdot readers found their user names in the database. Afterall, file swapping is NOT illegal in the Great White North.
I wonder how many drug dealers would respond if they saw an advertisement saying "Call the local police station and give us your name to see if you're on our current drug dealer watch list." Almost sounds like entrapment.
Although Linux is a good solution for call centre workstations that doesn't take into consideration corporate workstation standards. In a help desk type of environment, I would hazard a guess that most call centres are simply departments within a larger company. They probably don't have any say whatsoever in what kind of desktop OS - the internal corporate IT department does.
Its unbelievable that the RIAA would go to such lengths to make examples of these people. But what did they gain? The story mentions that the students settled but did not admit guilt. So the RIAA recoups "lost revenue" but did they really get what they wanted? An admission of guilt would have given the RIAA more ammunition for future witch-hunts. But on the other hand, now they know that they can coerce people out of ridiculous sums of money just by sharing MP3s. What will happen in the future?
While I realize that what these people did is illegal why doesn't the American government try and come up with a reasonable solution to this?
Any moment now I expect to hear a jarring noise and then Cardinal Ximinez, Cardinal Biggles, and Cardinal Fang bursting out saying "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
The city where I live in Canada is the provincial capital. A number of years ago the provincial government created a new health care agency called SHIN whose purpose was to facilitate the development of a provincial health care network. SAIC was awarded the contract to do all the necessary IT work involved to make SHIN's vision a reality.
They have done some really cool things. They utilized the existing Internet infrastructure to allow pharmacists in remote areas of the province to be able to send their prescription data to a mainframe here in Regina. They have also provided doctors with wireless communications using PDAs for appointments, emergencies, etc. The grander picture here is that since the province was wired with fibre-optic cable a long time ago (thanks to the wide-open geography and a telephone company with a lot of foresight) they plan on allowing doctors to view CT scans, MRI scans, etc. real time over a network. There are also plans in place to even have surgeries performed where a general surgeon is performing the operation in one location being guided by a specialist in a different location.
SAIC definately does some neat stuff and as time passes I hope that the work they do benefits the pathetic health care system we have right now.
The topic is Karamba, not SuperKaramba. As I have never used SuperKaramba I cannot comment on it. But my previous comment regarding Karamba still stands. Although it is nice to look at its effectively useless for me.
so you're expecting other people to develop your content then??? the whole point of Karamba and Super karamba is that you are given the tools to do it your way. Use other peoples themes as a base, but you have the basis to customise it exactly as you want. Don't dis what has been done so far, it gives excellent examples for others to use. Just blame yourself if you can't find a use for it.
As a matter of fact, yes I AM expecting other people to develop content for me. They are the developers. I am the user. I have no interest in working on this project. It is the developers job to make an application both appealing and useful to the user. As I pointed out, the Karamba developers have done half of that. The application is appealing yes, but useful no.
I compiled Karamba once and....quickly uninstalled it. Sure it looks nice but I never found it particularly useful. It takes up a lot of desktop space and really is nothing more than a very beautiful way to waste your system resources.
For example, one of its features is the ability to read headlines from news sources such as Slashdot. While its nice to see the headlines right on your desktop, how useful is it? If you want to read the whole story you have to fire up a browser anyways to read it. So whats the point?
Sidebars such as Karamba need to be more useful than just show information. There needs to be a way for a user to interact with the information presented to them. Until that happens they will remain pretty much useless (and off my desktop).
"The worms, C. elegans, share many biological characteristics with humans and are the size of a pencil tip."
These worms share none of the characteristics of the crew. They're still alive.
This is what brilliant engineering students who have taken too much acid end up doing for fun.
Its not? It must just be a complete coincidence then that Daniel Weise (A) Hates UNIX (B) Works for Microsoft and (C) was allowed to have it on one of Microsoft's servers. Ya think Microsoft would have minded had Daniel been one of the co-authors of the I Hate Windows book?? Do the math.
This is good news for the Linux community and it IS a good product. But the thing that gets me is that when all is said and done, Linux users and companies adopting Linux end up paying more to use software than they normally would if they were to use the native Windows applications. Afterall they need to buy a license for each workstation running WINE. I know the price doesn't make it prohibitively more expensive but its just sort of ironic. Don't ya think?
Laugh at the dummies that fall for this.
I ran a BBS from the early to late eighties. I am one of those old timers that can truly remember being able to out type a 300 baud modem. In fact MY first modem was an acoustic coupler model that sped along at the terrific rate of 150 baud.
.ARC format for file concatenation/compression all of those users of different computer types could extract the files too.
The jump to 300 was huge. And the jump from that to 1200 was almost mind numbing.
But nostalgia aside, the best thing that Ward gave to the world was Xmodem. The first portable file transfer protocol available for a multitude of computer types. My users, whether they were using Apples, Commodores, TRS-80's, Peanuts, or PCs could upload and download files from me. Using the
I wasn't much of a programmer but I distinctly remember downloading and looking at the Xmodem source code. I don't recall if it was licensed or not but think about the ramifications of this. Ward released the source code to something to help benefit computer users everywhere no matter what platform they were using. In 'those' days it wasn't a big deal - I'm sure he just thought "hey, someone else could use this" and let it flow. Too often these days innovations such as thing get wrapped in a litany of licenses and red-tape.
The early to mid eighties were a wonderful time to be an online computer user. Holier than thou open source bandwagon jumpers and intellectual property whores who have owned a computer for less than 10 years have no idea what it was like when things WERE open because THEY COULD BE. It wasn't a big deal to make something available to the public like it is now. It was almost like "if you're smart enough to know what this means then you have every right to look at it". Very non-chalant and very cool.
These days when the open source community develops something revolutionary its very much "Yay us!" from the techie crowd. Back then it wasn't a big deal. It didn't have to be. It was almost taken as a given.
My how times have changed. Ward's contribution to the technical community of both bulletin board systems and especially the Xmodem protocol make him a pioneer that your pimply-faced, teenaged next door neighbor sadly will never appreciate.
-Necro
See how Microsoft products enhance one's Internet experience!