In math however, if you don't understand the problem you can't easily ask the question or look it up. I watched a guy wrap a string around a barrel that he was going to make a wishing well out of. After he did that he cut the string into segments the width of one the boards he was going to nail around it. He then counted the segments and I suppose went out and got that many pieces of wood.
Why not just do it on Earth?
on
Lunar Lasers
·
· Score: 1
You'd have to worry about clouds and other atmospheric conditions. AZ has a solar plant that reflects sunlight to a tower to heat water to generate electricity. Didn't I just read another was going up in the Australian Outback? Building one of these on the moon just sounds too expensive, especially when there are other means of energy on earth that we're not using effectivly or at all.
The thought of this thing falling into the wrong hands and being used as a death ray also frightens me.
Do what I do... Toshiba Portege 7020CT with Windows 2000 and a telnet session. Works great and I can still play my DVD's. Rolling your own laptop isn't going to be cheap.
You might be able to find an RDI Powerlite laptop however. These were based on the Sun Micro-Sparc and had built in ethernet, SCSI-2, TGX graphics and a 800x600 active matrix TFT screen. I have seen them on eBay for $200-300.
First of all I don't think Slashdot works that well. I come here for the ultra geeky stuff like "hacking your NES to fit in your shoe so you can cross your legs and play Zelda in church" kind of articles. When you have Linux vs Windows, Linux vs OpenBSD, GNOME vs KDE, etc, you get major abuses of moderating with troll and flamebait being handed out for no reason other than a disagreement with this Pro-BSD, Pro-MS, or Pro-Linux guy. Quite often the summary and the linked article are totally different with quotes being taken out of context or just a total failure in the submitter seeing the author's idea in the article. It's kind of sad actually. Fortunatly with these types of submissions the comments are amusing enough to keep me reading them.
Actually the majority of those exploits documented were for web servers running under *nix. Don't just assume that an article on web exploits would be aimed at IIS.
Add to all the above the latest footnote to the article on Slant Six.
Editor's Note
Felix Abraham Truman, 10/29/2001 8:54:42 PM
Some of the comments posted about this article have led me to believe that it may be either inaccurate or blatantly false. If any of our readers from MIT can cast some light on this issue, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
This guy broke Sony's encryption scheme, modified their software, and then distributed it. Using your VCR analogy that would be similar to buying a movie, editing in your own scenes, and then giving copies away.
Can Intel sue us for writing code for their proprietary processors? If it was in their EULA they might be able to, but again that is not close to the issue. The issue is taking someone else's work which they took the trouble of copy protecting, breaking it, modifying it, and then giving it away like it was his own. And all Sony did was tell him to stop and remove what he did. Under the DMCA they probably could have had him arrested. The guy is lucky if you ask me.
I'm amazed by the number of posts by people who think it is perfectly fine to violate Sony's copyright because in order to use the software you have to buy an AIBO. Perhaps this guy, by showing people how to break their encryption and hack the AIBO, has infringed on future business plans for the AIBO.
Sony sells a programming kit for $500. This guy's web site might impact those sales. A company that develops hardware and software copyrights them for a reason. They want to protect their intellectual propery and make a profit. Face it, not all software can be free. Sometimes people (including programmers, engineers, musicians, and authors) need to make money so they can earn a living.
If it is like other government developed sofware I've seen it's written in VB with very large buttons, all bold all caps text, and a clever color scheme.
The programmer will still have the creative input on how the data is interpreted - what gets rendered and what slips through. Regardless, it is an interesting project. I just hope no one takes the code and uses it for evil.:)
[i]how is a programmer expected to deal with the CD being scratched? Does your car still work if the transmission is damaged or half the engine has been riddled with bullet holes? [/i]
A programmer should consider the possibility of a read error on the CD and exit gracefully if the CD or files on the CD cannot be found for whatever reason. Having a fatal error which forces the OS to reboot is just poor.
The example of Word corrupting a file because the drive filled up is also an example of poor programming. Drives fill up more often than you think. It is something that a programmer should consider. Microsoft had this same problem with either DOS 3.0 or DOS 4.0 but it was much worse than just a file. If you filled up the drive, say goodby to your FAT.
Also, the car analogy doesn't work with software. It might work with hardware however. Does your PC work if the BIOS is damaged or the CPU is busted in half?
Apparently he knows the slashdot crowd and added these comments to his site. I don't know about youu but I am offended. Why would anyone post a discouraging message on an unfinished project that we don't understand?:-)
This site has seen a huge surge in hits since shashdot has linked ot it. Just so all the visitors from there know, this P64 project is just getting started, is no where near finished, so please hold your discouraging comments till it is finished.
The only project that is finished it the NESp, which I am working on a version 2 which will have a whole bunch of new features.
If you have nothing good to say, I don't want to hear it.
So what we end up here is a cheaper alternative to Windows that allows us to run Windows software. We still have the cost/licensing issues of Windows software however. Business users are still going to need Office. So what, you save about a $100-200 per workstation OS (if you pay $99 for LindowsOS vs the full version of XP Professional or XP Home). You're still paying tons of cash for all of your applications.
Your favorite distro + Ximian GNOME w/ Red Carpet + Star Office still seems like a more workable business solution to me. And you could still add Wine if you needed it for your legacy Windows apps.
Still, I'm anxiously awaiting the preview release.
When you summarize an article, why not include the important facts, like what it is that exactly costs money. It's using the.Net services, you know the ones Microsoft is hosting that has everyones panties in a wad over privacy and what not. They're not charging you extra for writing in ASP.NET or VB.NET or C#. It's only if you use their passport and wallet shiznit.
The trick with Office applications is the document formats need to be 100% compatible with the standard, which for many is Microsoft. As long as you can maintain compatibility like that in the Linux office suites, Linux has a chance to catch up and win. I remember when Word Perfect was the standard in an office I worked. Because MS Word could read WP files, we were able to switch over very fast. Granted there is a little bit more work invoved in changing your whole OS, it can be done.
I actually do quite a bit of work at home using my Linux box. For those apps which I need that are only available on Windows, I run those through my Citrix ICA client.
[i]Few of them read their email. What do you do with your un-solicited email? Guess what they do?
[/i]
I recently wrote six senators and congressmen. I got 5 responses. I wrote them via email. The responses did look like a generic form letter reply. But I do know that the emails were read. The reason being is the subject/category of the stock response matched the topic of my email so someone had to read it to determine which stock reply to send. I bet if I sent the same as a handwritten or typed letter I would get the same typed response.
Trust me, they do listen. However you won't see action if you're not in the majority or not a big spender or employer in their districts.
Ouch. Modded down to Flamebait. Regardless, web journalists still see less respect than those in print. It's like broadcasting. No matter how good you are, if you don't look good you're limited to radio. Life's not fair.
Unless the national id is tied to biometrics (face recognition, hand recognition, etc) it will be possible to fake it.
I forgot where I read it, probably on The Onion, they should only let born again people fly and have people submit to baptisms before boarding the planes.
PGP always boggled my mind. I had two choices. I could either buy the US version from NAI or download the international version for free. Now I wonder why sales could have been low.
I will agree there has been some tremendous coverage on the net about the WTC attack and the bombings on Afganistan. Where else can you see it all and get the big picture?
I'd like to see Katz andswer this one. As a journalist, where would you prefer to see your work? A column on Slashdot, a column on CNN.com, or a column printed in Sunday's New York Times? The net is a great medium for news but in a room full of journalists, those who work only for web publications will be put at the kiddie table.
They don't look that bad when the picture is in a window over another picture on the TV. It's only when they blow it up full that it looks bad (especially on my digital widescreen Toshiba.) Yesterday afternoons coverage of the bombings on CNN was pretty bad. I was essentialy looking at 3 inch by 3 inch blocks of green when they went full screen with it.
Did you read the linked article?
A new TV public service announcement targets U.S. computer hacktivists with a blunt message: Uncle Sam wants you to help fight the war on terrorism.
But the spot, which organizers hope to begin airing nationwide next week on major networks, will warn that misguided patriotic efforts from software experts can hurt the cause.
"Computer attacks and hate speech do not contribute in any constructive way to dealing with the many problems our global civilization faces," said WorldCom senior vice president Vinton Cerf, who is scheduled to appear in the televised announcement.
In other words, they want hackers to help by not hacking.
Slashdot Mirror
In math however, if you don't understand the problem you can't easily ask the question or look it up. I watched a guy wrap a string around a barrel that he was going to make a wishing well out of. After he did that he cut the string into segments the width of one the boards he was going to nail around it. He then counted the segments and I suppose went out and got that many pieces of wood.
You'd have to worry about clouds and other atmospheric conditions. AZ has a solar plant that reflects sunlight to a tower to heat water to generate electricity. Didn't I just read another was going up in the Australian Outback? Building one of these on the moon just sounds too expensive, especially when there are other means of energy on earth that we're not using effectivly or at all.
The thought of this thing falling into the wrong hands and being used as a death ray also frightens me.
I used to think ratings systems were bad. It all changed once I became a parent.
Do what I do... Toshiba Portege 7020CT with Windows 2000 and a telnet session. Works great and I can still play my DVD's. Rolling your own laptop isn't going to be cheap.
You might be able to find an RDI Powerlite laptop however. These were based on the Sun Micro-Sparc and had built in ethernet, SCSI-2, TGX graphics and a 800x600 active matrix TFT screen. I have seen them on eBay for $200-300.
First of all I don't think Slashdot works that well. I come here for the ultra geeky stuff like "hacking your NES to fit in your shoe so you can cross your legs and play Zelda in church" kind of articles. When you have Linux vs Windows, Linux vs OpenBSD, GNOME vs KDE, etc, you get major abuses of moderating with troll and flamebait being handed out for no reason other than a disagreement with this Pro-BSD, Pro-MS, or Pro-Linux guy. Quite often the summary and the linked article are totally different with quotes being taken out of context or just a total failure in the submitter seeing the author's idea in the article. It's kind of sad actually. Fortunatly with these types of submissions the comments are amusing enough to keep me reading them.
Actually the majority of those exploits documented were for web servers running under *nix. Don't just assume that an article on web exploits would be aimed at IIS.
Add to all the above the latest footnote to the article on Slant Six.
Editor's Note
Felix Abraham Truman, 10/29/2001 8:54:42 PM
Some of the comments posted about this article have led me to believe that it may be either inaccurate or blatantly false. If any of our readers from MIT can cast some light on this issue, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
This guy broke Sony's encryption scheme, modified their software, and then distributed it. Using your VCR analogy that would be similar to buying a movie, editing in your own scenes, and then giving copies away.
Can Intel sue us for writing code for their proprietary processors? If it was in their EULA they might be able to, but again that is not close to the issue. The issue is taking someone else's work which they took the trouble of copy protecting, breaking it, modifying it, and then giving it away like it was his own. And all Sony did was tell him to stop and remove what he did. Under the DMCA they probably could have had him arrested. The guy is lucky if you ask me.
I'm amazed by the number of posts by people who think it is perfectly fine to violate Sony's copyright because in order to use the software you have to buy an AIBO. Perhaps this guy, by showing people how to break their encryption and hack the AIBO, has infringed on future business plans for the AIBO.
Sony sells a programming kit for $500. This guy's web site might impact those sales. A company that develops hardware and software copyrights them for a reason. They want to protect their intellectual propery and make a profit. Face it, not all software can be free. Sometimes people (including programmers, engineers, musicians, and authors) need to make money so they can earn a living.
If it is like other government developed sofware I've seen it's written in VB with very large buttons, all bold all caps text, and a clever color scheme.
The programmer will still have the creative input on how the data is interpreted - what gets rendered and what slips through. Regardless, it is an interesting project. I just hope no one takes the code and uses it for evil. :)
[i]how is a programmer expected to deal with the CD being scratched? Does your car still work if the transmission is damaged or half the engine has been riddled with bullet holes? [/i]
A programmer should consider the possibility of a read error on the CD and exit gracefully if the CD or files on the CD cannot be found for whatever reason. Having a fatal error which forces the OS to reboot is just poor.
The example of Word corrupting a file because the drive filled up is also an example of poor programming. Drives fill up more often than you think. It is something that a programmer should consider. Microsoft had this same problem with either DOS 3.0 or DOS 4.0 but it was much worse than just a file. If you filled up the drive, say goodby to your FAT.
Also, the car analogy doesn't work with software. It might work with hardware however. Does your PC work if the BIOS is damaged or the CPU is busted in half?
Apparently he knows the slashdot crowd and added these comments to his site. I don't know about youu but I am offended. Why would anyone post a discouraging message on an unfinished project that we don't understand? :-)
This site has seen a huge surge in hits since shashdot has linked ot it. Just so all the visitors from there know, this P64 project is just getting started, is no where near finished, so please hold your discouraging comments till it is finished.
The only project that is finished it the NESp, which I am working on a version 2 which will have a whole bunch of new features.
If you have nothing good to say, I don't want to hear it.
So what we end up here is a cheaper alternative to Windows that allows us to run Windows software. We still have the cost/licensing issues of Windows software however. Business users are still going to need Office. So what, you save about a $100-200 per workstation OS (if you pay $99 for LindowsOS vs the full version of XP Professional or XP Home). You're still paying tons of cash for all of your applications.
Your favorite distro + Ximian GNOME w/ Red Carpet + Star Office still seems like a more workable business solution to me. And you could still add Wine if you needed it for your legacy Windows apps.
Still, I'm anxiously awaiting the preview release.
When you summarize an article, why not include the important facts, like what it is that exactly costs money. It's using the .Net services, you know the ones Microsoft is hosting that has everyones panties in a wad over privacy and what not. They're not charging you extra for writing in ASP.NET or VB.NET or C#. It's only if you use their passport and wallet shiznit.
The trick with Office applications is the document formats need to be 100% compatible with the standard, which for many is Microsoft. As long as you can maintain compatibility like that in the Linux office suites, Linux has a chance to catch up and win. I remember when Word Perfect was the standard in an office I worked. Because MS Word could read WP files, we were able to switch over very fast. Granted there is a little bit more work invoved in changing your whole OS, it can be done.
I actually do quite a bit of work at home using my Linux box. For those apps which I need that are only available on Windows, I run those through my Citrix ICA client.
[i]Few of them read their email. What do you do with your un-solicited email? Guess what they do?
[/i]
I recently wrote six senators and congressmen. I got 5 responses. I wrote them via email. The responses did look like a generic form letter reply. But I do know that the emails were read. The reason being is the subject/category of the stock response matched the topic of my email so someone had to read it to determine which stock reply to send. I bet if I sent the same as a handwritten or typed letter I would get the same typed response.
Trust me, they do listen. However you won't see action if you're not in the majority or not a big spender or employer in their districts.
Ouch. Modded down to Flamebait. Regardless, web journalists still see less respect than those in print. It's like broadcasting. No matter how good you are, if you don't look good you're limited to radio. Life's not fair.
I forgot where I read it, probably on The Onion, they should only let born again people fly and have people submit to baptisms before boarding the planes.
PGP always boggled my mind. I had two choices. I could either buy the US version from NAI or download the international version for free. Now I wonder why sales could have been low.
I will agree there has been some tremendous coverage on the net about the WTC attack and the bombings on Afganistan. Where else can you see it all and get the big picture?
I'd like to see Katz andswer this one. As a journalist, where would you prefer to see your work? A column on Slashdot, a column on CNN.com, or a column printed in Sunday's New York Times? The net is a great medium for news but in a room full of journalists, those who work only for web publications will be put at the kiddie table.
They don't look that bad when the picture is in a window over another picture on the TV. It's only when they blow it up full that it looks bad (especially on my digital widescreen Toshiba.) Yesterday afternoons coverage of the bombings on CNN was pretty bad. I was essentialy looking at 3 inch by 3 inch blocks of green when they went full screen with it.
What they need to do now is record the tones and sell a CD and they can have the RIAA fight all their legal battles for them.
Welcome to slashdot.
Did you read the linked article?
A new TV public service announcement targets U.S. computer hacktivists with a blunt message: Uncle Sam wants you to help fight the war on terrorism.
But the spot, which organizers hope to begin airing nationwide next week on major networks, will warn that misguided patriotic efforts from software experts can hurt the cause.
"Computer attacks and hate speech do not contribute in any constructive way to dealing with the many problems our global civilization faces," said WorldCom senior vice president Vinton Cerf, who is scheduled to appear in the televised announcement.
In other words, they want hackers to help by not hacking.