WHY would bush lie about WMD's? So that in 6 months time when WMD's weren't found, the public would love him for it? No... that doesn't make sense. Damn logic. So you tell me--WHY would Bush lie about WMD's?
Simple, Bush & Co. had to have a plausible excuse to go into Iraq and finish what his father started in Gulf War version 1.0.
Also as payback for the time Saddam tried to have the senior Bush assassinated.
Having been born and raised in Texas, I can tell you that some of the people still have a frontier attitude towards meting out justice: "You tried to kill my daddy so I'ma gonna come over there and kick your a$$!" Fortunately, not everyone in Texas thinks that way. Unfortunately, we have a person in power that has the ability to send others into the line of fire to do his dirty work rather than risking his own a$$. He also believes that God has rubber-stamped "OK" on all his actions.
As for Moore, he has the right to say what he wants and, like many others have already said, I'll defend his right to say it. However, he comes across as loud-mouthed, ego-centric, and a bit of a bully in his interviewing tactics.
Instead of worrying about Mr. Moore's political views, worry about your own views. Challenge what you believe, read opposing viewpoints, educate yourself on the issues America faces, and VOTE for the person you think will do the best job as President of the USA. Don't allow other people to tell you how to vote or what to think; discover it for yourself. Voting along party lines is double plus ungood.
Look, I'm all for putting computers in everyday objects, but how does this guy use his computer? I'd rather he keep both hands on the handlebars than trying to ride and use the computer.
I hope he remembers to wear a helmet to prevent head crashes!
IMHO, I believe the U.S. Government needs to get involved with shutting down these spy- and mal-ware companies due to National Security. Having worked as a contractor in military facilities, every Windows-based system attached to the internet I've worked on in those facilities, has been loaded with spy-ware. And I'm not talking about military-sanctioned keystroke loggers and system management tools.
I've never been comfortable working with unclassified (but potentially sensitive) data on a system that I know has spy-ware on it. It wouldn't be difficult for someone to collect sensitive data from those machines with spy- or mal-ware. A little side note here: it's possible to use information from unclassified documents to determine classified information.
Regardless of whether the system is military, government, or your own personal PC, I see spy- and mal-ware as a form of trespassing. Someone sneaking software onto your PC is no different than someone breaking into your house and stealing your drivers license, social security card, and other personal information. What these companies do has nothing to do with free speech.
It's what you DO with your intelligence that's important. Find a cause to champion, find people that need your skills and help them, or save the world; it's all up to you.
As for college, start at a community college and take your basic subjects while you search for the direction you want your life to go. You'll save money and won't be stuck in a classroom with 300 people where you are a faceless student number. I've found that the professors at community colleges are just as good as those at the 4-year variety.
Read everything you can get your hands on. Don't think that you should just read your textbooks; read other books on the same subject or on a subject totally unrelated to the classes you are taking. By reading across a broad spectrum of subjects you'll be able to appreciate how what you do affects, or is affected by, other areas of human endeavour.
Lastly, read books on self-improvement. I see a couple have already been mentioned (How to Win Friends and Influence People, etc). Never forget that you are a work-in-progress and need to keep working on yourself. After all, without the ability to interact successfully with others, you'll find that you'll have a hard time landing any type of gainful employment.
I'm actually in the process of getting away from Windows due to many of the reasons other people have already stated (monopoly, worms, BSOD, etc). I'm a *nix systems admin and have been for many years. I use SuSE 9.0, AIX 5.2, and Mac OS X.3 at home (also AIX and Solaris at work). I prefer knowing that, odds are, when I get up in the morning: 1. My systems will still be running (barring hardware failure). 2. I don't have to worry about the latest email virus/worm/trojan fscking up the system. 3. My JFS filesystems won't sudden disappear like I've had NTFS do to one of my ex-Windows boxes. 4. I don't have to give out personal information to have a fully operational OS. 5. I can use LVM on my systems and I'm not stuck with just 4-8 partitions on my 250GB hard drive. 6. I can afford it - Cost (AIX: $50; SuSE: $89; OS X: $129; WinXP Pro $299.99?!?)
The only reason I will keep a single Windows machine running is GAMES. Many of the games I like are not available on OS X or any flavor of Linux. Fortunately, I do not consider my saved games to be critical data; if that box goes down, no great loss. Actually, it gives me a reason to play the games again;-)
If Linspire believes they have rights to Mark's images because they sponsor www.kde-look.org where his images are available as backgrounds?
I'm not saying they are right for taking, altering, and using the images without his permission. I, too, think they have violated the Creative Commons license. But I have seen cases where companies have appropriated images, information, and physical property from groups or organizations that they sponsor.
The companies believe they have paid for it with their sponsorship (wrongly, IMHO)
First, let's figure out what type of stress you are under. There are two types: eustress and distress.
Eustress results from exhilarating experiences. It can be euphoric and powerfully energizing. It is the type of stress you are likely to experience when you win the lottery, get that promotion or receive really good news. It is the orgasmic experience of sex. It is the stress of elation, winning, achieving and produces positive and powerful emotions.
Distress is the forces and pressures of modern life and our responses to them. Most of us think of stress in negative terms. It is the stress of losing, failing, overworking and not coping. It affects us in a negative and often harmful manner. It is unhealthy stress.
It sounds like you are experiencing distress in your current job. Are you unable to cope with the distress? Have you noticed that your distress on the job is bleeding over into your relationship with your wife? Do you find that minor issues become major ones?
If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you might want to look for a new position. Take a look at working for a non-profit organization where the "time is money" mentality is considerably lower than working for a corporation. Or you might want to consider starting your own website development business.
Just remember that this is YOUR life and YOU are the one who chooses to put up with the negative stress for a paycheck. Is what you get paid worth the distress you experience?
The ONLY brand of CD-ROMs that I've found to last a long time are the Kodak ULTIMA series. Sadly, Kodak has stopped producing these CD-ROMs. I have several that I burned back in 1994-5 and they all still read with no errors.
I wish Kodak would bring these CD-ROMs back into production; I'd even be willing to pay a premium for them. When it comes to archiving data or something precious (like your late-grandfather's voice or late-mother's audio diary), cost really isn't an object. What's important is protection and preservation of history (in a sense).
What's more important: Going after terrorists and others who want to hurt, maim, and kill people or going after a few students who share music and movies?
I'm don't support illegal copying and distribution of movies and music, but IMHO there are things that are a little more important than harrassing children who download MP3s.
A automobile black box is a great thing as it allows the police to prove the guilt of an individual who killed someone with a car while speeding. It would also allow someone to prove they WEREN'T speeding when they hit someone that stepped out from between two parked cars instead of using the crosswalk.
The only thing a blackbox records is what the car was doing, not what you were doing. The police still have to prove YOU were the person behind the wheel.
If they were to start equipping cars with interior video cameras to record the occupants, then I'd be worried about my privacy!
Until one or more of them are caught and fined HEAVILY or get thrown in jail where they get to be someone's hot, tasty biotch, they will continue to spray their garbage all over the net.
Legislating that someone has to do something is meaningless unless there is enforcement.
As a daily user of all three of the mentioned OS's (OS X, Unix/Linux, 2000/XP) I've encountered the various problems and pitfalls that each have.
Just because on OS is very usable (easy to understand, navigate, etc) does NOT make it more liable to be hacked/trojaned/virused. What makes an OS a target of the "crackers"/script kiddies is how easy it is to bypass or defeat an OS's security system. The real blackhats enjoy a good challenge while the "crackers" and script kiddies want to do as little work as possible; all they are interested in is causing chaos and havoc.
Unfortunately, there are many more "crackers" and script kiddies than there are blackhats. As a result, the OS that's easiest to penetrate will ALWAYS be the one that gets attacked the most.
Having worked as an systems administrator on DoD programs, I can tell you for a FACT that ANY software that goes on mission-critical systems is either developed in-house or very throughly scrutinized. They do code review, bug fixes and testing in a continuous cycle to get all the software bugs out. (This is one of the big reasons you hear about DoD projects going over time and/or over budget).
If COTS products are used, the DoD programmers will test the software for defects and ask the vendor to correct the defects they find. There have been cases where the DoD has signed NDAs to gain access to source code for COTS software to fix bugs that caused problems with the DoD software that the software company WOULDN'T fix. This has even been done to find backdoors, trojans, and other bad things that disgruntled employees of proprietary software vendors have put into that company's products.
OSS gives the DoD the power to make the changes they want to secure their systems the way they want. They WILL go through the code and look for backdoors, trojans, viri, etc. They may even set up their own repository and fork the kernel. Once the DoD has a trusted version of Linux, they'll use it in-house. I suspect that most DoD programs looking at Linux are probably testing NSA's version.
The DoD should be able to release some of the improvements they make back to the community, but don't expect them to release everything. The military still has it's secrets.
The CPOD is really just an extension of a device called a Holter Monitor that cardiologists use on their patients. Holters used to be just a tape recorder that recorded your heartbeat/respiration for up to 36-hours. Now you can get digital versions that do all that and MORE (for only $19.95! Order now!) You can also plug them into ECG machines, have them transmit data over phone lines, via a radio while in a hospital, etc. I'm actually surprised it took NASA this long to adapt something that has been in use publicly for many years. It used to be that technology was developed by NASA and then the public sector adopted it.
like the NSA, DOD, and others that routinely deal with security know how to properly secure their systems. Yes, even they are human, make mistakes and get hacked. Agencies like the DOI that deal with issues that are deemed to be of less importance than National Security usually don't get the best-of-the-best when it comes to resources for data security. Also, these are the agencies that suckle the most at Microsoft's teat. IMHO, I think that the NSA should do the security for ALL government agencies, not just the spooks.
IIRC there may have been a monetary cap on what you could accept but it was really low; even legitimate things like Christmas baskets or company tchotskes were frowned upon, which kind of weirded out suppliers the first time they dealt with the military since it could come across as rude when an Airman tells you to take your fruit basket home with you.
I've worked as a contractor to the USAF and it's the same for contractors as it is for the military: no gift over $10.00 in retail value may be accepted as a gift from a vendor. Things like mouse pads, coffee cups, items that would be considered swag at a trade show, etc. If it's over $10.00, then you have to politely return the item and notify your manager/commanding officer. What Microsoft is doing is considered to be an attempt at BRIBING a government official/representative. They've been working with the government and military long enough to know this. It sounds like Microsoft still thinks the rules don't apply to them.
If anyone really thinks these kinds of issues don't affect the outcome of things, I seriously think you need to do your research. Of course it's unethical, but you name one business that hasn't done something unethical for the sake of their company.
There's one that immediately comes to mind: Malden Mills, the company that invented Polartec. Here's a little snippet about the president and owner from their website:
After a devastating fire destroyed the mill in December 1995, Aaron Feuerstein, president and owner of Malden Mills(R) and grandson of the founder, garnered international acclaim and awards for his decision to rebuild a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly facility in the same location. In a display of commitment to the community and employees, Mr. Feuerstein continued to compensate his staff during the rebuilding process.
Had a chance to meet this gentleman and he is a very down-to-earth guy. Honest, truthful, caring - all the things I'd like in a boss.
Slashdot Mirror
WHY would bush lie about WMD's? So that in 6 months time when WMD's weren't found, the public would love him for it? No... that doesn't make sense. Damn logic. So you tell me--WHY would Bush lie about WMD's?
Simple, Bush & Co. had to have a plausible excuse to go into Iraq and finish what his father started in Gulf War version 1.0.
Also as payback for the time Saddam tried to have the senior Bush assassinated.
Having been born and raised in Texas, I can tell you that some of the people still have a frontier attitude towards meting out justice: "You tried to kill my daddy so I'ma gonna come over there and kick your a$$!" Fortunately, not everyone in Texas thinks that way. Unfortunately, we have a person in power that has the ability to send others into the line of fire to do his dirty work rather than risking his own a$$. He also believes that God has rubber-stamped "OK" on all his actions.
As for Moore, he has the right to say what he wants and, like many others have already said, I'll defend his right to say it. However, he comes across as loud-mouthed, ego-centric, and a bit of a bully in his interviewing tactics.
Instead of worrying about Mr. Moore's political views, worry about your own views. Challenge what you believe, read opposing viewpoints, educate yourself on the issues America faces, and VOTE for the person you think will do the best job as President of the USA. Don't allow other people to tell you how to vote or what to think; discover it for yourself. Voting along party lines is double plus ungood.
Look, I'm all for putting computers in everyday objects, but how does this guy use his computer? I'd rather he keep both hands on the handlebars than trying to ride and use the computer.
I hope he remembers to wear a helmet to prevent head crashes!
Smathers has been fired.
Out of a cannon, I hope.
Or fired at with a gun.
Either way works for me.
A very good point! Someone could copy your information via ballpoint pen and paper. I don't see many burglers carrying Xerox machines around.
IMHO, I believe the U.S. Government needs to get involved with shutting down these spy- and mal-ware companies due to National Security. Having worked as a contractor in military facilities, every Windows-based system attached to the internet I've worked on in those facilities, has been loaded with spy-ware. And I'm not talking about military-sanctioned keystroke loggers and system management tools.
I've never been comfortable working with unclassified (but potentially sensitive) data on a system that I know has spy-ware on it. It wouldn't be difficult for someone to collect sensitive data from those machines with spy- or mal-ware. A little side note here: it's possible to use information from unclassified documents to determine classified information.
Regardless of whether the system is military, government, or your own personal PC, I see spy- and mal-ware as a form of trespassing. Someone sneaking software onto your PC is no different than someone breaking into your house and stealing your drivers license, social security card, and other personal information. What these companies do has nothing to do with free speech.
I wonder if the government would be willing to give a tax credit to programmers who submit bug-fixes or enhancements to their OSS software?
It's what you DO with your intelligence that's important. Find a cause to champion, find people that need your skills and help them, or save the world; it's all up to you.
As for college, start at a community college and take your basic subjects while you search for the direction you want your life to go. You'll save money and won't be stuck in a classroom with 300 people where you are a faceless student number. I've found that the professors at community colleges are just as good as those at the 4-year variety.
Read everything you can get your hands on. Don't think that you should just read your textbooks; read other books on the same subject or on a subject totally unrelated to the classes you are taking. By reading across a broad spectrum of subjects you'll be able to appreciate how what you do affects, or is affected by, other areas of human endeavour.
Lastly, read books on self-improvement. I see a couple have already been mentioned (How to Win Friends and Influence People, etc). Never forget that you are a work-in-progress and need to keep working on yourself. After all, without the ability to interact successfully with others, you'll find that you'll have a hard time landing any type of gainful employment.
I'm actually in the process of getting away from Windows due to many of the reasons other people have already stated (monopoly, worms, BSOD, etc). I'm a *nix systems admin and have been for many years. I use SuSE 9.0, AIX 5.2, and Mac OS X.3 at home (also AIX and Solaris at work). I prefer knowing that, odds are, when I get up in the morning:
;-)
1. My systems will still be running (barring hardware failure).
2. I don't have to worry about the latest email virus/worm/trojan fscking up the system.
3. My JFS filesystems won't sudden disappear like I've had NTFS do to one of my ex-Windows boxes.
4. I don't have to give out personal information to have a fully operational OS.
5. I can use LVM on my systems and I'm not stuck with just 4-8 partitions on my 250GB hard drive.
6. I can afford it - Cost (AIX: $50; SuSE: $89; OS X: $129; WinXP Pro $299.99?!?)
The only reason I will keep a single Windows machine running is GAMES. Many of the games I like are not available on OS X or any flavor of Linux. Fortunately, I do not consider my saved games to be critical data; if that box goes down, no great loss. Actually, it gives me a reason to play the games again
Please, no need to be so polite. Tell us how you REALLY feel!
Just checked my WG602v2 and the factory firmware upgrade 2.0rc5 and they do not have the backdoor.
Whew!
for helping someone with their computer was my wife! :-) :-) :-)
Hmmmm....
Seems to me that we could get more power from harnessing the copious quantities of hot gases that escape from a volcano.
Or Washington, D.C.....
If Linspire believes they have rights to Mark's images because they sponsor www.kde-look.org where his images are available as backgrounds?
I'm not saying they are right for taking, altering, and using the images without his permission. I, too, think they have violated the Creative Commons license. But I have seen cases where companies have appropriated images, information, and physical property from groups or organizations that they sponsor.
The companies believe they have paid for it with their sponsorship (wrongly, IMHO)
First, let's figure out what type of stress you are under. There are two types: eustress and distress.
Eustress results from exhilarating experiences. It can be euphoric and powerfully energizing. It is the type of stress you are likely to experience when you win the lottery, get that promotion or receive really good news. It is the orgasmic experience of sex. It is the stress of elation, winning, achieving and produces positive and powerful emotions.
Distress is the forces and pressures of modern life and our responses to them. Most of us think of stress in negative terms. It is the stress of losing, failing, overworking and not coping. It affects us in a negative and often harmful manner. It is unhealthy stress.
It sounds like you are experiencing distress in your current job. Are you unable to cope with the distress? Have you noticed that your distress on the job is bleeding over into your relationship with your wife? Do you find that minor issues become major ones?
If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you might want to look for a new position. Take a look at working for a non-profit organization where the "time is money" mentality is considerably lower than working for a corporation. Or you might want to consider starting your own website development business.
Just remember that this is YOUR life and YOU are the one who chooses to put up with the negative stress for a paycheck. Is what you get paid worth the distress you experience?
The ONLY brand of CD-ROMs that I've found to last a long time are the Kodak ULTIMA series. Sadly, Kodak has stopped producing these CD-ROMs. I have several that I burned back in 1994-5 and they all still read with no errors.
I wish Kodak would bring these CD-ROMs back into production; I'd even be willing to pay a premium for them. When it comes to archiving data or something precious (like your late-grandfather's voice or late-mother's audio diary), cost really isn't an object. What's important is protection and preservation of history (in a sense).
What's more important:
Going after terrorists and others who want to hurt, maim, and kill people or going after a few students who share music and movies?
I'm don't support illegal copying and distribution of movies and music, but IMHO there are things that are a little more important than harrassing children who download MP3s.
$2,500 for breaking an encryption scheme. I wonder what SETI@Home will pay me for discovering an extraterrestrial...
A automobile black box is a great thing as it allows the police to prove the guilt of an individual who killed someone with a car while speeding. It would also allow someone to prove they WEREN'T speeding when they hit someone that stepped out from between two parked cars instead of using the crosswalk.
The only thing a blackbox records is what the car was doing, not what you were doing. The police still have to prove YOU were the person behind the wheel.
If they were to start equipping cars with interior video cameras to record the occupants, then I'd be worried about my privacy!
It's the spammers laughing their a$$e$ off.
Until one or more of them are caught and fined HEAVILY or get thrown in jail where they get to be someone's hot, tasty biotch, they will continue to spray their garbage all over the net.
Legislating that someone has to do something is meaningless unless there is enforcement.
As a daily user of all three of the mentioned OS's (OS X, Unix/Linux, 2000/XP) I've encountered the various problems and pitfalls that each have.
Just because on OS is very usable (easy to understand, navigate, etc) does NOT make it more liable to be hacked/trojaned/virused. What makes an OS a target of the "crackers"/script kiddies is how easy it is to bypass or defeat an OS's security system. The real blackhats enjoy a good challenge while the "crackers" and script kiddies want to do as little work as possible; all they are interested in is causing chaos and havoc.
Unfortunately, there are many more "crackers" and script kiddies than there are blackhats. As a result, the OS that's easiest to penetrate will ALWAYS be the one that gets attacked the most.
Having worked as an systems administrator on DoD programs, I can tell you for a FACT that ANY software that goes on mission-critical systems is either developed in-house or very throughly scrutinized. They do code review, bug fixes and testing in a continuous cycle to get all the software bugs out. (This is one of the big reasons you hear about DoD projects going over time and/or over budget).
If COTS products are used, the DoD programmers will test the software for defects and ask the vendor to correct the defects they find. There have been cases where the DoD has signed NDAs to gain access to source code for COTS software to fix bugs that caused problems with the DoD software that the software company WOULDN'T fix. This has even been done to find backdoors, trojans, and other bad things that disgruntled employees of proprietary software vendors have put into that company's products.
OSS gives the DoD the power to make the changes they want to secure their systems the way they want. They WILL go through the code and look for backdoors, trojans, viri, etc. They may even set up their own repository and fork the kernel. Once the DoD has a trusted version of Linux, they'll use it in-house. I suspect that most DoD programs looking at Linux are probably testing NSA's version.
The DoD should be able to release some of the improvements they make back to the community, but don't expect them to release everything. The military still has it's secrets.
The CPOD is really just an extension of a device called a Holter Monitor that cardiologists use on their patients. Holters used to be just a tape recorder that recorded your heartbeat/respiration for up to 36-hours. Now you can get digital versions that do all that and MORE (for only $19.95! Order now!)
You can also plug them into ECG machines, have them transmit data over phone lines, via a radio while in a hospital, etc. I'm actually surprised it took NASA this long to adapt something that has been in use publicly for many years. It used to be that technology was developed by NASA and then the public sector adopted it.
like the NSA, DOD, and others that routinely deal with security know how to properly secure their systems. Yes, even they are human, make mistakes and get hacked.
Agencies like the DOI that deal with issues that are deemed to be of less importance than National Security usually don't get the best-of-the-best when it comes to resources for data security. Also, these are the agencies that suckle the most at Microsoft's teat.
IMHO, I think that the NSA should do the security for ALL government agencies, not just the spooks.
IIRC there may have been a monetary cap on what you could accept but it was really low; even legitimate things like Christmas baskets or company tchotskes were frowned upon, which kind of weirded out suppliers the first time they dealt with the military since it could come across as rude when an Airman tells you to take your fruit basket home with you.
I've worked as a contractor to the USAF and it's the same for contractors as it is for the military: no gift over $10.00 in retail value may be accepted as a gift from a vendor. Things like mouse pads, coffee cups, items that would be considered swag at a trade show, etc. If it's over $10.00, then you have to politely return the item and notify your manager/commanding officer. What Microsoft is doing is considered to be an attempt at BRIBING a government official/representative. They've been working with the government and military long enough to know this. It sounds like Microsoft still thinks the rules don't apply to them.
There's one that immediately comes to mind: Malden Mills, the company that invented Polartec. Here's a little snippet about the president and owner from their website:
Had a chance to meet this gentleman and he is a very down-to-earth guy. Honest, truthful, caring - all the things I'd like in a boss.