I'd hardly call a supermarket club card an "invasion of privacy." Need I say that the program is voluntary?
That said, I am sick to death of all the stores that ask for your phone number when you buy something. Once an auto parts store (at the dealer, no less) let me walk out without buying the part I needed because I refused to give them my name, address, and phone number. Several years ago I invented a number that I give in all such cases. I've even gone into stores where I wasn't sure I'd been before, and when I gave them the number they typed it in and said, "John?" -- indicating I'd given it to them before.
Dude, I am so tired of hearing that phrase, "identity theft." You're absolutely right...most of these cases are simple fraud or theft. To me, it's not identity theft until someone uses your information to open a new account or start some other relationship for the purpose of additional fraud or theft.
On the subject of Google spam in general: I was looking over my wife's shoulder recently while she searched for something on Google. I wanted to pull my hair out as I watched her following an endless ring of "click here to search for..." result links.
WARNING! DO NOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET WITHOUT A FIREWALL. -or- WARNING! THIS COMPUTER SHOULD NOT BE USED BY UNTRAINED PERSONNEL.
They won't do that, but give them credit for warning you right up front not to use it underwater and not to chew on the cord and not to put the plastic bag over your head.
You could teach a graduate-level course on filtering and other preventive techniques, but I find that most trouble is caused by people who innocently take actions that open the door to abuse.
Three things I tell friends and family who are looking for help:
1 - Keep two email addresses...most service providers will let you set up aliases. Give one address to family and friends ONLY, and use the other for web memberships, bank and utility accounts, etc. When you start to get spam at the alias (your "public" address,) turn it off and get another one.
2 - NEVER use your personal address to sign up for anything, ever. And ask your friends not to either. I shake my head when I get an email with a subject line like, "Somebody wanted you to read this article," -- indicating that some well-intentioned person had put my address into a web form somewhere. Assume that whenever a form asks for your address, it is for the purpose of sending you advertisements and other things that you don't want.
3 - NEVER download and install any free software, no matter how cool it is. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule for knowledgeable people who are looking for something specific, but I'm thinking more along the lines of, "Hey! Click here to get fancy animated cursors!"
I've been using computers for over six years now, so I can tell you I'm in a position to answer this.
I tried Unix for about a week before I went back to Windows. It was practically useless for too many reasons to list, but here are the biggies:
1 - No type of 'My Computer' icon at all. 2 - No 'Start Button.' 3 - No automatic updates. 4 - No AOL client (in this case, 'client' refers to a computer program rather than a person.) 5 - No wizards of any sort, making dialing in virtually impossible. 6 - No Gator or Bonzai Buddy.
the point is that Slashdot does it, Roland does it, everyone else does it: that's how it is.
All of this is news to me, but it seems to me that the real point is the apparent 100% acceptance rate of these articles. If there is some sort of arrangement between Slashdot and Roland, basic ethics would dictate that the connection be disclosed to readers -- like on TV News when they say "XYZ Company, which is owned by the parent company of this network, announced today..."
There is nothing wrong with posting links to articles others have written in order to generate traffic and make money, which, as you point out, both Slashdot and Roland do. But publishing a news service and selecting your news based on a financial arrangement is a little shady.
I hate to sound the old familiar gripe, but I don't think that your free bike program would work here in the U.S. It would take about 38 minutes for someone to fall and hurt themselves on a free bike, then sue the city.
I'm sure MS has their own business related reasons, which I won't pretend to know. My point was that people CAN take action in U.S. courts against companies outside the U.S. While the courts can't always reach into that other country to make a company do something, they can make a determination about the legal status of that company within the U.S. This point was in response to the "good luck enforcing U.S. law overseas" line of reasoning.
I don't think it's accurate...
on
Apollo 12 at 35
·
· Score: 1
to say that dust "billows" on the moon. Without air to form currents and eddies, anything tossed up just follows a ballistic path until it hits the ground again.
I'll mitigate the annoying inanity of my nit-picking by adding that I learned this from BadAstronomy, where the fact was used to counter "evidence" used by moon-hoax loonies.
We are unable to process your lawsuit at this time. Even though there is a legal basis to your suit, the defendent resides in a country whose market is very important to us. You are therefore ineligible to be heard in court on this matter.
I don't think the point is enforcing U.S. law in Asia so much as it's forcing an Asian company to comply with U.S. law if they want to do business in the U.S. or with a U.S. company.
People and companies outside the U.S. have legal action taken against them in U.S. courts all the time. While they can't necessarily do anything to that person/company in their own country, they can effect the status of that person/company with regards to dealings in and with the U.S. In layman's terms, that person/company is put on the shit list.
One night when I was home alone and bored in high school, I memorized pi to 30 decimal places AND practiced until I could type it out in 5 seconds on a ten-key adding machine.
Slashdot Mirror
"semi-hot-pluggable"...Wonder where that fits in?
It depends. Has the warranty expired yet?
using the old really big floppies (5 1/4?)
I guess you never saw the 8-inch floppies they used in the 70's.
I didn't rtfa, but..no. Nine years ago I used to start my word processor (Ami Pro!), then go take a leak while it loaded. What a BS claim.
I'd hardly call a supermarket club card an "invasion of privacy." Need I say that the program is voluntary?
That said, I am sick to death of all the stores that ask for your phone number when you buy something. Once an auto parts store (at the dealer, no less) let me walk out without buying the part I needed because I refused to give them my name, address, and phone number. Several years ago I invented a number that I give in all such cases. I've even gone into stores where I wasn't sure I'd been before, and when I gave them the number they typed it in and said, "John?" -- indicating I'd given it to them before.
Dude, I am so tired of hearing that phrase, "identity theft." You're absolutely right...most of these cases are simple fraud or theft. To me, it's not identity theft until someone uses your information to open a new account or start some other relationship for the purpose of additional fraud or theft.
On the subject of Google spam in general: I was looking over my wife's shoulder recently while she searched for something on Google. I wanted to pull my hair out as I watched her following an endless ring of "click here to search for..." result links.
the same thing that wiretap laws/capability have meant for the privacy of phone users for the last however many decades.
WARNING! DO NOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET WITHOUT A FIREWALL. -or- WARNING! THIS COMPUTER SHOULD NOT BE USED BY UNTRAINED PERSONNEL.
They won't do that, but give them credit for warning you right up front not to use it underwater and not to chew on the cord and not to put the plastic bag over your head.
You could teach a graduate-level course on filtering and other preventive techniques, but I find that most trouble is caused by people who innocently take actions that open the door to abuse.
Three things I tell friends and family who are looking for help:
1 - Keep two email addresses...most service providers will let you set up aliases. Give one address to family and friends ONLY, and use the other for web memberships, bank and utility accounts, etc. When you start to get spam at the alias (your "public" address,) turn it off and get another one.
2 - NEVER use your personal address to sign up for anything, ever. And ask your friends not to either. I shake my head when I get an email with a subject line like, "Somebody wanted you to read this article," -- indicating that some well-intentioned person had put my address into a web form somewhere. Assume that whenever a form asks for your address, it is for the purpose of sending you advertisements and other things that you don't want.
3 - NEVER download and install any free software, no matter how cool it is. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule for knowledgeable people who are looking for something specific, but I'm thinking more along the lines of, "Hey! Click here to get fancy animated cursors!"
Preach it, brother. I followed the same path until I got busted. I had to serve 1000 kilowatt-hours of community service.
I've been using computers for over six years now, so I can tell you I'm in a position to answer this.
I tried Unix for about a week before I went back to Windows. It was practically useless for too many reasons to list, but here are the biggies:
1 - No type of 'My Computer' icon at all.
2 - No 'Start Button.'
3 - No automatic updates.
4 - No AOL client (in this case, 'client' refers to a computer program rather than a person.)
5 - No wizards of any sort, making dialing in virtually impossible.
6 - No Gator or Bonzai Buddy.
the point is that Slashdot does it, Roland does it, everyone else does it: that's how it is.
All of this is news to me, but it seems to me that the real point is the apparent 100% acceptance rate of these articles. If there is some sort of arrangement between Slashdot and Roland, basic ethics would dictate that the connection be disclosed to readers -- like on TV News when they say "XYZ Company, which is owned by the parent company of this network, announced today..."
There is nothing wrong with posting links to articles others have written in order to generate traffic and make money, which, as you point out, both Slashdot and Roland do. But publishing a news service and selecting your news based on a financial arrangement is a little shady.
I hate to sound the old familiar gripe, but I don't think that your free bike program would work here in the U.S. It would take about 38 minutes for someone to fall and hurt themselves on a free bike, then sue the city.
the speaker will be instantly recognized as a greenhorn
Your entire explanation is remarkably similar to what needs to be said about the oft-misused movie phrase, "Over and out."
It's 'ADMIN'.
I'm sure MS has their own business related reasons, which I won't pretend to know. My point was that people CAN take action in U.S. courts against companies outside the U.S. While the courts can't always reach into that other country to make a company do something, they can make a determination about the legal status of that company within the U.S. This point was in response to the "good luck enforcing U.S. law overseas" line of reasoning.
to say that dust "billows" on the moon. Without air to form currents and eddies, anything tossed up just follows a ballistic path until it hits the ground again.
I'll mitigate the annoying inanity of my nit-picking by adding that I learned this from BadAstronomy, where the fact was used to counter "evidence" used by moon-hoax loonies.
We are unable to process your lawsuit at this time. Even though there is a legal basis to your suit, the defendent resides in a country whose market is very important to us. You are therefore ineligible to be heard in court on this matter.
I don't think the point is enforcing U.S. law in Asia so much as it's forcing an Asian company to comply with U.S. law if they want to do business in the U.S. or with a U.S. company.
People and companies outside the U.S. have legal action taken against them in U.S. courts all the time. While they can't necessarily do anything to that person/company in their own country, they can effect the status of that person/company with regards to dealings in and with the U.S. In layman's terms, that person/company is put on the shit list.
Validation.
I think you've struck the heart of the opposition to the Patriot Act: baseless guesses and an absolute lack of facts.
...the FBI showed up at my door to ask questions about my friends.
How did the Patriot Act contribute to this event?
when that skateboard girl latched onto the car using that big suction cup thing?
That was cool.
And, and, and remember in Cryptonomicon when that guy said you could map out a city by watching men's hats go up and down?
That was cool too.
/never got laid in high school
Their Top 10 seems pretty good. I'd put Brazil in the Top 15.