1. serve to-spec content that doesn't work right in any browser* (*note: end-users will blame you.)
Content written to the W3C's HTML, CSS, and DOM specs works in my browser in virtually every case; there are a few odd corners of CSS and DOM that don't work, but they're for things that I've never seen used anywhere in any browser. I develop web applications and use these specs, and I don't generally run into problems. This sounds like a complaint based on experiences of five years ago, which no longer apply.
2. serve plain vanilla content that doesn't offer functionality that you could have offered otherwise**. (**note: end-users will blame you. product management will ask why competitors' sites offer this functionality)
I prefer plain vanilla content, myself, but I realize not all users do. However, you can provide all the gee-whizziness your users think they want with the specs listed above. Product managerment's complaints are therefore not going to happen.
3. serve de facto standard (IE) compliant content. tell your 8% of NS/Opera/etc. users*** to stick it in a pipe and smoke it, or to use IE to view your website. (***note: users with other browsers will blame you; standards compliance advocates will blame you).
Non-MSIE represents far more than 8% of my users. This month, non-MSIE is up to about 30% of my users. You're also forgetting how many things which work one way in one version of MSIE work differently (or not at all) in the next/previous version. This is an expensive game and plays right into Redmond's hand as well.
4. switch content based on browser type. serve compliant content when possible. serve plain vanilla content when not possible**** (****note: product management will ask why it's taking so long to implement)
Please, no. Just use the standards! It really works. Too often, this browser-sniffing game blows up. I've stopped using a lot of sites that play this game because they do completely fucktarded things like assuming they can require the use of Java, Flash, popups, weird scripts, or whatever based on my user-agent string, when those features aren't available because of different-from-default preferences settings or whatever.
I don't know, dynamic content switching looks like the best bet.
Nope. Writing to the standards and allowing the site to degrade gracefully is the best bet. Anything else plays into Redmond's hand.
As if one bit is going to stop anyone from doing anything.
It will. Every commercial broadcast will have this flag set. Every off-the-shelf VCR-like device will obey this flag -- and prevent you from recording the broadcast.
Say goodbye to timeshifting, saving programs for your personal use in future, buildling a personal collection of your favourite show by recording it yourself, etc.
Bitter Apple can work well for cats and dogs, but it isn't always effective for other pets who may enjoy the taste, such as rabbits.
Okay, that's good to know -- I actually have two house rabbits. I've never tried to use bitter apple with them, but I wouldn't have guessed they'd like the taste.
... rabbits are notorious about chewing on wiring
I know. I've replaced phone cords a couple of times, the doorbell wires once, and had to replace the mains cord on a table lamp. Everything else is behind physical barriers:).
Pet stores sell products specifically designed for this problem. The most common one is a "bitter apple" extract; you just apply it to the items you want your pet to avoid (cables, baseboards, whatever). It's similar to but far more effective than treating the surface with lemon juice, and it's not harmful to the animal.
Any decent pet store will have these types of products. Find one with a knowledgable owner and ask him/her.
In a nutshell, Blockbuster tells studios that make movies with objectionable content (sex or anti-religious, mostly) "Make a 'family-friendly' cut of the film minus that content or we won't carry it at all"; they then carry this "rated" version which lacks the content from the original theatrical release, but they get to blame the director/studio if anyone notices. Some directors who have sufficient clout with their studios refuse, which is why you won't find some popular films there.
More troublingly, studios make special "Blockbuster" editions of a film for home video -- the tape or DVD you rent at Blockbuster of a given film might be missing material that shows up in the theatrical version or in a home video version seen elsewhere, with no indication on the packaging that this is the case.
djbdns looked like an interesting and secure alternative to BIND, but I'll be darned if I can get it to cache/forward DNS requests and serve its own at the same time.
That's because those are two totally different services (proxy dns resolving, and authoritative dns content serving), handled by different programs. They're supposed to be separate, even in BIND installations.
It would have been trivial for you to set up dnscache (the proxy dns resolver portion of djbdns) and tinydns (one of the authoritative dns content servers included in djbdns) to do what you want, and indeed this is described in the documentation and examples -- it's the most-common configuration.
Wonderful. I guess he should put in his resignation now because what he's doing is impossible.
I didn't say that; you'll note I used the word might. The original poster didn't give any information about what security considerations had been part of the design, so we don't have enough information to evaluate this possibility.
If security was not part of the design, and issues I referred to were not considered, then it might very well be easier and cheaper to rebuild the system/application with security designed-in.
Unfortunately, security isn't something you can bolt on to an application after it's developed; it has to be part of the design process. For a great example of some of the things that you should already have done, read the file SECURITY included in the qmail distribution.
Currently the company spends god knows how much money on disposable cameras.
First, find out exactly how much they are spending on camera -- they're ten bucks a pop, do exactly what's needed, and they're cheap enough that it doesn't matter if you don't use all 27 exposures before developing the film, or if one is accidentally destroyed. On top of that, you don't have to worry about making sure you have fresh (or freshly recharged) batteries on hand, low light levels that digitals can't deal with well, and a million other considerations.
It sounds like you want to convert to digital cameras purely on geek factors. Don't. Consider the problem space before trying to come up with solutions.
The djbfft website clearly emphasizes the Pentium, and makes no mention of AltiVec. I have personally found FFTW to be relatively fast on most (non-vector) platforms. However, the AltiVec FFTs smoke it.
djbfft is faster than FFTW. It's also faster than many FFT libraries that sacrifice accuracy for speed. I asked if you had tried it, and you didn't answer.
You have to give the FFTW people credit: they have provided their results, and made it easy for you to reproduce them. I guess that's why they're at MIT, and djbfft is at.... Where is it again?
University of Illinois at Chicago. Don't try playing ego games; if you don't know who djb is, you need to do some more research before trying to slag him. He's one of the most important mathematicians in the world today.
The problem is that Bernstein DOESN'T implement the standards. He appears to think he's above them.
Actually, that's incorrect. djbdns does implement DNS according to the standards. Be aware, of course, that the RFCs incorrectly describe BIND-specific implementation details as part of the standard, though, and there's no reason for any other DNS implementor to copy those.
Most companies can't use GPL'd code in their products.
Incorrect; most companies choose not to use GPL'ed code in their products, but this does not mean that they cannot use such code. This is entirely their choice, and the citizens needn't be penalized for their boneheaded mistakes.
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It will. Every commercial broadcast will have this flag set. Every off-the-shelf VCR-like device will obey this flag -- and prevent you from recording the broadcast.
Say goodbye to timeshifting, saving programs for your personal use in future, buildling a personal collection of your favourite show by recording it yourself, etc.
Pet stores sell products specifically designed for this problem. The most common one is a "bitter apple" extract; you just apply it to the items you want your pet to avoid (cables, baseboards, whatever). It's similar to but far more effective than treating the surface with lemon juice, and it's not harmful to the animal.
Any decent pet store will have these types of products. Find one with a knowledgable owner and ask him/her.
Absolutely; they do it all throughout the U.S. and Canada.
In a nutshell, Blockbuster tells studios that make movies with objectionable content (sex or anti-religious, mostly) "Make a 'family-friendly' cut of the film minus that content or we won't carry it at all"; they then carry this "rated" version which lacks the content from the original theatrical release, but they get to blame the director/studio if anyone notices. Some directors who have sufficient clout with their studios refuse, which is why you won't find some popular films there.
This should be common knowledge; try http://pintday.org/archive/20031007.shtml for a few links.
More troublingly, studios make special "Blockbuster" editions of a film for home video -- the tape or DVD you rent at Blockbuster of a given film might be missing material that shows up in the theatrical version or in a home video version seen elsewhere, with no indication on the packaging that this is the case.
I stopped renting at Blockbuster because of this.
That quote came out of one of the Diebold memos -- that's what made it so scary.
That's because those are two totally different services (proxy dns resolving, and authoritative dns content serving), handled by different programs. They're supposed to be separate, even in BIND installations.
It would have been trivial for you to set up dnscache (the proxy dns resolver portion of djbdns) and tinydns (one of the authoritative dns content servers included in djbdns) to do what you want, and indeed this is described in the documentation and examples -- it's the most-common configuration.
I didn't say that; you'll note I used the word might. The original poster didn't give any information about what security considerations had been part of the design, so we don't have enough information to evaluate this possibility.
If security was not part of the design, and issues I referred to were not considered, then it might very well be easier and cheaper to rebuild the system/application with security designed-in.
Unfortunately, security isn't something you can bolt on to an application after it's developed; it has to be part of the design process. For a great example of some of the things that you should already have done, read the file SECURITY included in the qmail distribution.
Legally, you need to license the public performance rights for any program you want to show. This is really, really simple -- talk to a lawyer.
It sounds like you want to convert to digital cameras purely on geek factors. Don't. Consider the problem space before trying to come up with solutions.
Have you tried djbfft? You might want to, as it's quality software from a hardcore mathematician.
Legal questions, on Slashdot, being answered by a lawyer.
How refreshingly novel.
More to the point, they don't want you to have a VCR. They want you to have a VCP. Remember them?