Thats one of the reasons I think AR (Augmented Reality) is cool. Its not the same as VR simply because you are still in your environment.
And you can add extra soldiers and people around whom you can shoot/fight with and whatever.
I do know that my school has a project on Battlefield Visualization using AR, and I'm quite surprised that AR isn't as widespread as VR. Agreed, it does have its own set of issues with long term usage. However, if you tried doing something stupid in AR like running against a wall, you WILL hit yourself and you WILL be hurt.
And with a sufficiently complex AR system, you would not know the difference between who's real and who is not (dim the lights, add a few real soldiers and a few virtual ones and you will not know who's who).
I really wonder why this is not as widespread as VR.
I know that the best thing to do is to call a lawyer, but I find it quite unsettling to think that when I'm creating something and giving it away to the world for free, I would need to pay a price to protect my work?
There is something inherently wrong in that - there must be a better way to protect works that have been created for the benefit of others out there than having to pay to protect whats rightfully yours and whats given out in goodwill.
I wish i could get credit for playing video games at school. Your parents money hard at work!
Well, I don't see anything wrong in having to play video games to learn how AI in the field really works! In fact, I think its a good idea to let people go out in the field and see what the state of things really are, what other better way to teach?
And interactive media does necessiate knowing the various kinds of methods that things can be done in, and how they work. I do not see anything wrong with it, really.
And oh, I support myself fully through research scholarships, so its not really my parents' hard earned money - its my money:-)
The best part is that its got such a cool narrative and storyboard, and the way it takes you through it is awesome.
You wouldn't believe it, but an Interactive Fiction & Media class that I'm taking this semester taught by this guy actually requires us to play GTA3 and analyze the gameplay!:) Go see the course site!
And its kinda fun seeing why it really succeded - the whole story sometimes follows what seems to a post-modernist approach to storytelling, and its a great mix of both narrative and game-theory approach with a non-singular series of puzzles. And believe it or not, its success has really changed the way acadmic people look at gaming and at simulation and storytelling.
If you want to compare a similar analogy, think of your bank. If your bank had bags of your money out in their branch, and had slack security for guarding it, you have EVERY right to try and protect your money.
If the bank does not take sufficient care to protect those bags of money which are mine, and if the security guard is sleeping on the job, I can and WILL point it out to you. But a lot of times, you really don't listen when I point it out to you.
So, someone who isn't as ethically obliged as I'm decides to threaten to rob the bank if you don't give them some money.
Sure, the guy who's blackmailing you is most certainly a villain. But you're equally responsible for having slackened at protecting others possessions.
Would you let your bank keep its safes open when its your money thats at stake? I think not. So why should it be any different for the Internet? I do not mean to diss your post, but looking at flaws legally and reporting it most often than not backfires.
And whats the big benefit of reporting anyway? Nothing at all. Hence, people are simply trying to make money off it in the process. Plain and simple.
Are they wrong? Yeah they are. But are they the ONLY people to be blamed? Most certainly not. I for one would demand a change of guard. Which is what will happen eventually.
Hint: When my credit card information is at stake, its a matter of public responsibility on _your_ part to protect it.
As long as I can find ways of fishing that out, you're at fault.
If you have a security flaw that helps 13 year old kids break in and take the credit card information of a few thousand people out there, I think I can say with reasonable assurance that YOU are at fault.
If someone leverages that to their advantage, don't blame them - fix your holes first. Thats the way security works.
Like tuxette said, you hear about all these cases where a hacker either makes it public or like in this case someone tries something stupid. But for each known case, there are so many cases out there where frauds are just not brought out to the open simply because companies are afraid of what it would do to their public image.
Maybe his actions were wrong, who cares? As long as companies get shit scared in their pants about whats going to happen if they don't secure their servers, its good. Its a classic predator prey relationship, and its inevitable.
One one hand, if a genuine white hat hacker finds an exploit in a network and told the owners about it, s/he finds himself ostracized for the actions, and is threatened with legalities.
And on the other hand, what this guy tried to do was establish a "business relationship" -- notice that he did try to contact them first with the offer to help them:
The e-mail also offered to establish an unspecified business relationship between the sender and Best Buy, adding: "Without your response, we are obligated to share the security hole with the public for their protection. As a result, Best Buy may experience a loss in business, thefts and lawsuits."
Ofcourse, once he noticed he wasn't getting anywhere, he decided to resort to good ole' blackmail.
Honestly, this was bound to happen some day or the other. When legitimate security people point out bugs and holes, they get treated like scum and are threatened with law suits. So whats the best thing to to? Threaten the companies with money. Even if 0.1% of the companies gave in, it still is a way of making money.
Good, atleast this way companies will be more careful about protecting data.
Bangalore (and India, in general) has been more of a source catering to the Software Services Industry, rather than the products side.
Its simply because its easier and cheaper in the services side, and there is sustained income.
On the other hand, products necessiates a higher initial investment and a whole lot more of hardwork, something that a lot of companies in India are not willing to invest in, given the uncertainty and delay in terms of returns.
Do you really think that all of the "engineers" in India are really worth it? Most of them are from really bad schools, and have degrees in arcane areas of which they themselves have no idea about. All it takes is a degree, an aptitude test and the ability to be a drone and you're easily in into a services company full of drones like this one. There is really no need to innovate when you can hire a few hundred dumb engineers to do the mundane, who will work for cheap wages without a question. And companies from the west are happy outsourcing to these places, purely because of the cost factor involved.
And those companies that really do product development, still have their offices in either Silicon Valley or parts of Europe. Ofcourse, there still are a few companies that do products, but they're just a handful.
The next option is Germany - education in Germany is absolutely free - you just have to pay for the living. And I'm guessing that getting scholarship to this effect should not be that hard. And besides, Germany has some real top notch research institutes and tech schools.
Well, the only way that things like this would end is if the current business practices and RIAAs (here in the US) model were proved to be wrong.
Unfortunately, I do not think thats really happening. At my school, so many people have almost stopped using p2p networks for music downloads out of sheer fear - they'd rather pay more than risk getting sued by RIAA.
The only other way that this would happen is through what Apple and others are doing - although not the best of solutions, its better than what RIAA has to offer today.
But this article at ABCNews seems to indicate that its not piracy thats really affecting the sales, but services like iTunes -
"CD sales are down 15 percent from last year, while legal online services like the new Napster and Apple's iTunes have taken off, especially for the holidays. Apple's iTunes sold more than $1 million in download gift certificates since October."
I think that more than CD-Rs or mp3 piracy, its services like these which would affect the records sales.
It does not matter, because if this article is any indication, almost all US Toy companies are guilty of bad practices - Hasbro, Walmart, Mattel, Fischer-Price, Tommy, Toys-R-Us, McDonald's, Disney, etc.
Agreed, that maybe parts of Europe are perhaps a little more prosperous than the US. But to equate worker conditions in the US with sweatshop factories in China is absolutely ridiculous!
China is a communist republic - you cannot dream of fighting something that would harm the state. Look at the number of state-versus-worker cases in the US for whatever reason.
If any company did anything that the workers were not happy with, they would get sued to kingdom come.
Ofcourse, maybe there are places where people do work for real low wages in bad conditions - but often its their ignorance and other factors, not that of the country. And I think the US has sufficient labour laws (and lawyers;-) to make sure that worker exploitation is minimal.
True, but just how difficult is it to set up a new account?
In fact, there are a lot of banks that support small businesses and have no minimum balance requirements (Wachovia, for one) for checking accounts. And there is almost no fee for maintaining the accounts, either.
I know that its not a "cool" idea but the point is that its simple and it works! I think once people are convinced of the after-effects of identity thefts, it would not be too hard.
There is another solution to this - use a check card.
I have an account which has very little money that I use just for online transactions and at clubs.
Usually, my online purchases don't exceed $100, so I just pay using that account. And when there is a need for me to pay more than that amount, I just transfer the amount to my checking account.
Not exactly very convenient, but it works just fine for me. And it sure as hell is safe.
You're so right, for the most part, yes, the US is materialistic. However I guess thats one of the prices you pay to sustain a pseudo-libertarian system. I say pseudo because in reality, we really do not have all that much freedom.
And offlate, its become more common and acceptable for people to "make some quick money" or exploit their physical goodlooks. A girl who dresses like a slut to get good guys who can buy thinks for her by sleeping with them is nothing more than a glorified slut, really.
I know girls who were once wonderful, who now think nothing before getting drunk at discs and sleeping with a few guys every weekend. The worst thing is that I have seen them go the wrong way and lose themselves emotionally. These were the same girls who just a couple of years ago wanted to remain celibate until marriage.
They lose touch with reality, and all that they are left with are materialistic pleasures to provide for temporary fulfillment. And sadly, one of my ex. girlfriends has just become one them. You cannot even imagine what its like to know someone who was once so different, and who is now what I would call "sleazy" - it hurts on so many levels.
Clint, you made a point of value systems - its not just a question of values - its a question of what you want from life. If all you want is materialistic needs and materialistic pleasures, that is all you will get. Remember, when you are 40 and aged, you will be left a wreck. No amount of alchohol or partying or sex is going to relieve you of that.
Character is like virginity, you either have it or you don't. And if you lost it, its gone. And losing respect is something thats so easy, regaining it back is whats tough.
However, I would like to believe that we're better than that. And that things are not all that bad. However, everytime I switch on the TV or go out on a weekend, I feel my hopes lessening.
Slashdot Mirror
Wonderful comment, thank you!
Added you as a friend just for this one comment, hats off!
Thats one of the reasons I think AR (Augmented Reality) is cool. Its not the same as VR simply because you are still in your environment.
And you can add extra soldiers and people around whom you can shoot/fight with and whatever.
I do know that my school has a project on Battlefield Visualization using AR, and I'm quite surprised that AR isn't as widespread as VR. Agreed, it does have its own set of issues with long term usage. However, if you tried doing something stupid in AR like running against a wall, you WILL hit yourself and you WILL be hurt.
And with a sufficiently complex AR system, you would not know the difference between who's real and who is not (dim the lights, add a few real soldiers and a few virtual ones and you will not know who's who).
I really wonder why this is not as widespread as VR.
I know that the best thing to do is to call a lawyer, but I find it quite unsettling to think that when I'm creating something and giving it away to the world for free, I would need to pay a price to protect my work?
There is something inherently wrong in that - there must be a better way to protect works that have been created for the benefit of others out there than having to pay to protect whats rightfully yours and whats given out in goodwill.
If not, we're just a really fucked up society.
Yeah, just what we need now is to tell everyone in the neighbourhood -
:-p
Warning! Geek Crossing! Nerd Ahead! LEDs Lit!
Would do wonders to my social life. No thanks!
I used to work for a company that used to write software for Notes for tasks that it could not do well itself -- printing, data viz. and the like.
And I can tell you that the internals would be just as bad, if not worse.
I wish i could get credit for playing video games at school. Your parents money hard at work!
:-)
Well, I don't see anything wrong in having to play video games to learn how AI in the field really works! In fact, I think its a good idea to let people go out in the field and see what the state of things really are, what other better way to teach?
And interactive media does necessiate knowing the various kinds of methods that things can be done in, and how they work. I do not see anything wrong with it, really.
And oh, I support myself fully through research scholarships, so its not really my parents' hard earned money - its my money
GTA really rocks!
:) Go see the course site!
:)
The best part is that its got such a cool narrative and storyboard, and the way it takes you through it is awesome.
You wouldn't believe it, but an Interactive Fiction & Media class that I'm taking this semester taught by this guy actually requires us to play GTA3 and analyze the gameplay!
And its kinda fun seeing why it really succeded - the whole story sometimes follows what seems to a post-modernist approach to storytelling, and its a great mix of both narrative and game-theory approach with a non-singular series of puzzles. And believe it or not, its success has really changed the way acadmic people look at gaming and at simulation and storytelling.
I can't wait to see whats coming up next!
Its come on Slashdot a real long time back.
See my journal for some of the links.
Ok, for the millionth time, repeat after me -
*The house analogy does NOT work for networks*
If you want to compare a similar analogy, think of your bank. If your bank had bags of your money out in their branch, and had slack security for guarding it, you have EVERY right to try and protect your money.
If the bank does not take sufficient care to protect those bags of money which are mine, and if the security guard is sleeping on the job, I can and WILL point it out to you. But a lot of times, you really don't listen when I point it out to you.
So, someone who isn't as ethically obliged as I'm decides to threaten to rob the bank if you don't give them some money.
Sure, the guy who's blackmailing you is most certainly a villain. But you're equally responsible for having slackened at protecting others possessions.
Would you let your bank keep its safes open when its your money thats at stake? I think not. So why should it be any different for the Internet? I do not mean to diss your post, but looking at flaws legally and reporting it most often than not backfires.
And whats the big benefit of reporting anyway? Nothing at all. Hence, people are simply trying to make money off it in the process. Plain and simple.
Are they wrong? Yeah they are. But are they the ONLY people to be blamed? Most certainly not. I for one would demand a change of guard. Which is what will happen eventually.
Make a polite call to one of their high ranking folks telling them about the problem? :)
;-)
Or, maybe post it on Slashdot
Hint: When my credit card information is at stake, its a matter of public responsibility on _your_ part to protect it.
As long as I can find ways of fishing that out, you're at fault.
If you have a security flaw that helps 13 year old kids break in and take the credit card information of a few thousand people out there, I think I can say with reasonable assurance that YOU are at fault.
If someone leverages that to their advantage, don't blame them - fix your holes first. Thats the way security works.
Like tuxette said, you hear about all these cases where a hacker either makes it public or like in this case someone tries something stupid. But for each known case, there are so many cases out there where frauds are just not brought out to the open simply because companies are afraid of what it would do to their public image.
Maybe his actions were wrong, who cares? As long as companies get shit scared in their pants about whats going to happen if they don't secure their servers, its good. Its a classic predator prey relationship, and its inevitable.
One one hand, if a genuine white hat hacker finds an exploit in a network and told the owners about it, s/he finds himself ostracized for the actions, and is threatened with legalities.
And on the other hand, what this guy tried to do was establish a "business relationship" -- notice that he did try to contact them first with the offer to help them:
The e-mail also offered to establish an unspecified business relationship between the sender and Best Buy, adding: "Without your response, we are obligated to share the security hole with the public for their protection. As a result, Best Buy may experience a loss in business, thefts and lawsuits."
Ofcourse, once he noticed he wasn't getting anywhere, he decided to resort to good ole' blackmail.
Honestly, this was bound to happen some day or the other. When legitimate security people point out bugs and holes, they get treated like scum and are threatened with law suits. So whats the best thing to to? Threaten the companies with money. Even if 0.1% of the companies gave in, it still is a way of making money.
Good, atleast this way companies will be more careful about protecting data.
Bangalore (and India, in general) has been more of a source catering to the Software Services Industry, rather than the products side.
Its simply because its easier and cheaper in the services side, and there is sustained income.
On the other hand, products necessiates a higher initial investment and a whole lot more of hardwork, something that a lot of companies in India are not willing to invest in, given the uncertainty and delay in terms of returns.
Do you really think that all of the "engineers" in India are really worth it? Most of them are from really bad schools, and have degrees in arcane areas of which they themselves have no idea about. All it takes is a degree, an aptitude test and the ability to be a drone and you're easily in into a services company full of drones like this one. There is really no need to innovate when you can hire a few hundred dumb engineers to do the mundane, who will work for cheap wages without a question. And companies from the west are happy outsourcing to these places, purely because of the cost factor involved.
And those companies that really do product development, still have their offices in either Silicon Valley or parts of Europe. Ofcourse, there still are a few companies that do products, but they're just a handful.
But don't they support you during the course (either through a loan or something) that you can later pay off by working for a period of X?
I remember that they had some forms of assistantship to support you throughout the course?
If you don't mind studying abroad, you can try Universities in Singapore and Germany.
Singapore has this option of you earning your degree and working there. If I'm right, both Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore support this. The last time I checked, there was also something called Singapore MIT Alliance, which is again a fully funded programme.
The next option is Germany - education in Germany is absolutely free - you just have to pay for the living. And I'm guessing that getting scholarship to this effect should not be that hard. And besides, Germany has some real top notch research institutes and tech schools.
I spend half of that time reading Slashdot everyday :-/
Oops, wrong link - instead see RIAA statistics. Fact or fiction? and here.
Well, the only way that things like this would end is if the current business practices and RIAAs (here in the US) model were proved to be wrong.
Unfortunately, I do not think thats really happening. At my school, so many people have almost stopped using p2p networks for music downloads out of sheer fear - they'd rather pay more than risk getting sued by RIAA.
The only other way that this would happen is through what Apple and others are doing - although not the best of solutions, its better than what RIAA has to offer today.
Hmmm, according to this article it has not affected the sales in the US either.
But this article at ABCNews seems to indicate that its not piracy thats really affecting the sales, but services like iTunes -
"CD sales are down 15 percent from last year, while legal online services like the new Napster and Apple's iTunes have taken off, especially for the holidays. Apple's iTunes sold more than $1 million in download gift certificates since October."
I think that more than CD-Rs or mp3 piracy, its services like these which would affect the records sales.
It does not matter, because if this article is any indication, almost all US Toy companies are guilty of bad practices - Hasbro, Walmart, Mattel, Fischer-Price, Tommy, Toys-R-Us, McDonald's, Disney, etc.
Just whom are you kidding?
;-) to make sure that worker exploitation is minimal.
Agreed, that maybe parts of Europe are perhaps a little more prosperous than the US. But to equate worker conditions in the US with sweatshop factories in China is absolutely ridiculous!
China is a communist republic - you cannot dream of fighting something that would harm the state. Look at the number of state-versus-worker cases in the US for whatever reason.
If any company did anything that the workers were not happy with, they would get sued to kingdom come.
Ofcourse, maybe there are places where people do work for real low wages in bad conditions - but often its their ignorance and other factors, not that of the country. And I think the US has sufficient labour laws (and lawyers
Hmmm, I do not think you've met a French-Canadian :-p
True, but just how difficult is it to set up a new account?
;-)
In fact, there are a lot of banks that support small businesses and have no minimum balance requirements (Wachovia, for one) for checking accounts. And there is almost no fee for maintaining the accounts, either.
I know that its not a "cool" idea but the point is that its simple and it works! I think once people are convinced of the after-effects of identity thefts, it would not be too hard.
Its almost like having multiple slashdot ids
There is another solution to this - use a check card.
I have an account which has very little money that I use just for online transactions and at clubs.
Usually, my online purchases don't exceed $100, so I just pay using that account. And when there is a need for me to pay more than that amount, I just transfer the amount to my checking account.
Not exactly very convenient, but it works just fine for me. And it sure as hell is safe.
You're so right, for the most part, yes, the US is materialistic. However I guess thats one of the prices you pay to sustain a pseudo-libertarian system. I say pseudo because in reality, we really do not have all that much freedom.
And offlate, its become more common and acceptable for people to "make some quick money" or exploit their physical goodlooks. A girl who dresses like a slut to get good guys who can buy thinks for her by sleeping with them is nothing more than a glorified slut, really.
I know girls who were once wonderful, who now think nothing before getting drunk at discs and sleeping with a few guys every weekend. The worst thing is that I have seen them go the wrong way and lose themselves emotionally. These were the same girls who just a couple of years ago wanted to remain celibate until marriage.
They lose touch with reality, and all that they are left with are materialistic pleasures to provide for temporary fulfillment. And sadly, one of my ex. girlfriends has just become one them. You cannot even imagine what its like to know someone who was once so different, and who is now what I would call "sleazy" - it hurts on so many levels.
Clint, you made a point of value systems - its not just a question of values - its a question of what you want from life. If all you want is materialistic needs and materialistic pleasures, that is all you will get. Remember, when you are 40 and aged, you will be left a wreck. No amount of alchohol or partying or sex is going to relieve you of that.
Character is like virginity, you either have it or you don't. And if you lost it, its gone. And losing respect is something thats so easy, regaining it back is whats tough.
However, I would like to believe that we're better than that. And that things are not all that bad. However, everytime I switch on the TV or go out on a weekend, I feel my hopes lessening.
I hope I'm proved wrong.