Until this morning no organisation, including NASA in the United States, has been able to successfully test fly a scramjet - an air-breathing supersonic engine.
Umm, I'm sorry, but in my humble opinion, heading straight down and digging a crater in the ground does not constitute "flying". Please be more accurate in your description.
According to the Houston Chronicle article, it's obvious Puffer did more than benignly access the Courthouse's network. Where else could that pr0n picture on the clerk's office server have come from?
The speed increase would be additive, not multiplicative, so you'd have a 364X speed increase. It'd probably be easier to keep the CD fixed and limit yourself to that 300X -- except I don't think it'd work.
I'm not so sure you could spin a mechanism at such a rate without making it impossible to seek the laser back and forth. If the forces involved can cause a CD to fragment, then you'd need a hell of a drive to move the laser inwards and outwards; and a mechanism strong enough to do it probably wouldn't operate quickly enough to match that 300X speed.
I suppose there are other ways to make the laser scan, and it might work. It's still a neat idea.
Zeosync Software Download Self-extractor Contains the total of Zeosync's work. Uses their own self-extractor, applied recursively to reduce the size to zero bytes. Now that's compression!
Now, now. It was scored offtopic because people didn't think about it. But yes, a 3D gaming engine can be used for scripted animation, though I don't know of any specific examples where it's been used as such.
Isn't MS going to stop supporting Win98 soon? Does this mean I'll have to buy a whole new car, or can I upgrade to XP-Automobile? (Maybe XP-Freight, if I'm always carrying stuff in the trunk.)
I'll put my responses to your various replies here.
Several people think I'm proposing a Windows-like system registry. That has advantages and disadvantages, and I personally would prefer not to have one, though some might disagree. I'd just like all the configuration files to be in the same format.
You're right that some of the information structures look cleaner when done in a specially formatted text file. Still specialized formats introduce specialized problems; a little bit of whitespace in the mount table can cause a lot of headaches. XML isn't elegant, but it's a lot less ambiguous. And yes, if you have to go in with a text editor it's going to be a headache, but a specialized editor will make it easier.
And yes, libxml is a lot more weighty than a simple text parser. Still, the entirety of the XML spec might not be needed for this project, and a stripped-down version might be what's called for.
Yes, that's the system they're proposing. The problem is, once a DRM setup like this is in place, it wouldn't be hard to take it further, to make it so the CPU won't operate at all, except in trusted mode. And while entertainment companies may not have the pull to do this, government authoritarians would see it as an easy solution to the "internet problem".
Linux suffers from having configuration files up the wazoo, in all sorts of different formats, with many requiring manual editing, and unless you've memorized the format or have the book sitting next to you (man in multiscreens sucks, and you may not even have gotten X up yet), you've had it.
I propose having an equivalent XML spec for each configuration file.
Phase one: Generate a spec for each file. Then write a compiler to convert the XML version into the typical *nix config file. Use an XML generator to take a spec and make your configs.
Phase two: Modify the programs to use the XML configs directly. Generate a database of the specs, with comments for each XML element. Write an XML generator that will provide these comments automatically as necessary.
Suddenly, you've got a system where configuration of every part of the OS is part of a unified system. (Sounds a lot like Windows, doesn't it?)
The checksum system you're talking about provides a nice easy way of verifying a package hasn't been corrupted or tampered with. It's certainly beneficial to your system. One could go further and have developers sign that checksum with their GPG key, and one would be doubly sure the package doesn't deviate from the author's intentions.
What's different about Palladium is that the authors can NOT sign the checksum. They can't create a checksum in the first place. Only MICROSOFT can make that checksum, and if your software differs from their vision of what they want running on your machine, then you won't be able to get that checksum. Further, if you don't HAVE the checksum, you will NOT be able to install that software, period. You may not even be able to view it.
...When code will have to be signed in order to run on a processor at all? This seems to be the end of this path, restricting processing to "trusted" applications, all in the name of intellectual property rights. Linux? Ha. Only Windows is allowed on our hardware, because other operating systems are havens for software and media pirates.
Once code verification has been inserted into the CPU, arranging it so code HAS to be signed in order to be parsed. What happens when laws are passed requiring all CPUs faster than X gigaflops to have mandatory code verification?
If we're talking about mines that are visible from the surface, why would a laser be preferable to, say, a machine gun? Throw a few rounds at a live mine and I'm sure it'll go off. Gun and ammo would be much less expensive than a laser with sufficient energy to ignite a land mine. And hardening a mine against a laser would be much easier than making it bulletproof.
I wonder what other reasons there are for wanting a high-intensity laser mounted on a HMMWV?
USDCO has been featured in other/. articles; not only is their colocation facility located underground, with a high degree of redundancy in their connections, but it's not very expensive, either...
'Course, an on-site solution won't be anywhere near as cheap, but if you can colo, this is the place.
I would strongly consider a hybrid car, but the fact is, I can't fit in any of the ones currently out. I suppose that people who buy economy cars are the ones most likely to be interested in a hybrid, and manufacturers are starting off in that direction before moving on to other vehicle types, but are there other reasons why no hybrid vans and SUVs are in the works? Are there any problems with scaling up the technology?
"man, I don't feel like cooking any of this stuff. Forget it, I'm going back to quake. I guess I wasn't that hungry after all." *tummy rumble* "Aah, I'll call Dominos."
From personal experience, I know a carb-deprivation diet a la Atkins works better for me than the alternatives. I've tried several different diets, but I've been able to maintain Atkins for periods of several months.
One time, after five months of eating steak and eggs and bacon and cheeses, and various other high-cholesterol goods, I went to have a blood test to see whether I was killing myself on the diet. My cholesterol level was 170, and I don't recall what my HDL/LDL split was, but it wasn't too bad.
Different people will do well on different diets, depending on their metabolisms. Don't poo-poo a diet that sounds ridiculous, because while it might not work for you, it could work for someone else.
It's not COMPLETELY infallible, thankfully, depending on the hardware being used. A CRT monitor has to generate analog signals internally, simply to drive the horizontal and vertical syncs and to vary the intensity of the CRT guns. A LCD display will also have analog drive circuitry, and one could demultiplex the pixel drivers to determine which pixel was being changed. Audio is simple; yank the speakers and plug them into an input.
This will of course prevent people from making "perfect" digital copies. But making a slightly imperfect analog copy, then reproducing it digitally ad infinitum, is entirely doable. 'Course the next step is to place controls on all analog-to-digital converters. I'd love to see them bell THAT cat.
That'd place your video and sound hardware in violation of the DMCA. You wouldn't be able to market cards with these modifications.
Of course, it would only take one person with modified display and sound hardware to create non-masked versions of DRM-protected material; once those copies were made, they could spread like wildfire.
Then all that might remain a challenge would be digital watermarks. The practicality of a watermarking system that isn't bypassable but can still automatically prevent material from being played is problematic. A watermark that only shows the origin of the material and wasn't designed for automatic discovery would be another matter, though.
So when you buy that video, intending to pirate it with your special ripping hardware, make sure you use a stolen credit card number and a spoofed IP.:-P
So Palladium won't load an untrusted program into memory... How would it accomplish that? In order to determine whether a program was properly signed, one would need to get its checksum. In order to do that, you would have no choice but to load it into memory of some form. I suppose you could bypass the RAM, DMA it through a dedicated calculator... But that would be inefficient; you'd need to scan it once, and then load it for execution. And you'd need to do it every time you ran the code, or someone could have compromised the data on the system's drive by editing it on a non-Palladium system.
And what's the big deal about having "non-trusted" code loaded into RAM anyway? Actually, it's very easy to put one's own binary code into the system's memory; load it as raw data. An OOB-type exploit can pass control to that nearly as easily as it can execute a program that's been loaded but not yet determined to be trustworthy.
Because the "discount" will eventually invert; instead, the rate given for people who allow themselves to be surveilled will be the standard, while people who want their privacy will be charged ever-increasing penalty rates.
In the meantime, don't expect the government to stay out of the argument; they'll want access to the system so they can automatically ticket speeders and so they can find out where you are no matter where you go.
Frankly, I think private companies should be allowed to offer such "services" despite the dangers, but the sheeple of the United States no longer have the will to keep the government out of their privacy, much less "vote with their feet" for a more expensive but less public alternative.
If the XMAME port isn't signed, then how can it be violating Microsoft's TOS? The mod chip required to run it is definitely a violation, but the software itself obviously is not, since it can't even run on an unmodified console. I think this is grounds for a lawsuit.
Slashdot Mirror
Until this morning no organisation, including NASA in the United States, has been able to successfully test fly a scramjet - an air-breathing supersonic engine.
Umm, I'm sorry, but in my humble opinion, heading straight down and digging a crater in the ground does not constitute "flying". Please be more accurate in your description.
According to the Houston Chronicle article, it's obvious Puffer did more than benignly access the Courthouse's network. Where else could that pr0n picture on the clerk's office server have come from?
http://www.benbrown.com/switch/. com/switch/
http://animoller
http://www.ubergeek.tv/switchback/
You want to see big? Wait 'til they integrate this into AOL 8.0(?). Now THAT will be a big puppy.
The speed increase would be additive, not multiplicative, so you'd have a 364X speed increase. It'd probably be easier to keep the CD fixed and limit yourself to that 300X -- except I don't think it'd work.
I'm not so sure you could spin a mechanism at such a rate without making it impossible to seek the laser back and forth. If the forces involved can cause a CD to fragment, then you'd need a hell of a drive to move the laser inwards and outwards; and a mechanism strong enough to do it probably wouldn't operate quickly enough to match that 300X speed.
I suppose there are other ways to make the laser scan, and it might work. It's still a neat idea.
Zeosync Software Download
Self-extractor
Contains the total of Zeosync's work. Uses their own self-extractor, applied recursively to reduce the size to zero bytes. Now that's compression!
Now, now. It was scored offtopic because people didn't think about it. But yes, a 3D gaming engine can be used for scripted animation, though I don't know of any specific examples where it's been used as such.
Isn't MS going to stop supporting Win98 soon? Does this mean I'll have to buy a whole new car, or can I upgrade to XP-Automobile? (Maybe XP-Freight, if I'm always carrying stuff in the trunk.)
When perusing a software contract, beware any clauses containing language similar to this:
Client agrees that all clients database are belong to us. You have no chance to appeal.
I'll put my responses to your various replies here.
Several people think I'm proposing a Windows-like system registry. That has advantages and disadvantages, and I personally would prefer not to have one, though some might disagree. I'd just like all the configuration files to be in the same format.
You're right that some of the information structures look cleaner when done in a specially formatted text file. Still specialized formats introduce specialized problems; a little bit of whitespace in the mount table can cause a lot of headaches. XML isn't elegant, but it's a lot less ambiguous. And yes, if you have to go in with a text editor it's going to be a headache, but a specialized editor will make it easier.
And yes, libxml is a lot more weighty than a simple text parser. Still, the entirety of the XML spec might not be needed for this project, and a stripped-down version might be what's called for.
Yes, that's the system they're proposing. The problem is, once a DRM setup like this is in place, it wouldn't be hard to take it further, to make it so the CPU won't operate at all, except in trusted mode. And while entertainment companies may not have the pull to do this, government authoritarians would see it as an easy solution to the "internet problem".
No, I'm serious.
Linux suffers from having configuration files up the wazoo, in all sorts of different formats, with many requiring manual editing, and unless you've memorized the format or have the book sitting next to you (man in multiscreens sucks, and you may not even have gotten X up yet), you've had it.
I propose having an equivalent XML spec for each configuration file.
Phase one: Generate a spec for each file. Then write a compiler to convert the XML version into the typical *nix config file. Use an XML generator to take a spec and make your configs.
Phase two: Modify the programs to use the XML configs directly. Generate a database of the specs, with comments for each XML element. Write an XML generator that will provide these comments automatically as necessary.
Suddenly, you've got a system where configuration of every part of the OS is part of a unified system. (Sounds a lot like Windows, doesn't it?)
The checksum system you're talking about provides a nice easy way of verifying a package hasn't been corrupted or tampered with. It's certainly beneficial to your system. One could go further and have developers sign that checksum with their GPG key, and one would be doubly sure the package doesn't deviate from the author's intentions.
What's different about Palladium is that the authors can NOT sign the checksum. They can't create a checksum in the first place. Only MICROSOFT can make that checksum, and if your software differs from their vision of what they want running on your machine, then you won't be able to get that checksum. Further, if you don't HAVE the checksum, you will NOT be able to install that software, period. You may not even be able to view it.
...When code will have to be signed in order to run on a processor at all? This seems to be the end of this path, restricting processing to "trusted" applications, all in the name of intellectual property rights. Linux? Ha. Only Windows is allowed on our hardware, because other operating systems are havens for software and media pirates.
Once code verification has been inserted into the CPU, arranging it so code HAS to be signed in order to be parsed. What happens when laws are passed requiring all CPUs faster than X gigaflops to have mandatory code verification?
If we're talking about mines that are visible from the surface, why would a laser be preferable to, say, a machine gun? Throw a few rounds at a live mine and I'm sure it'll go off. Gun and ammo would be much less expensive than a laser with sufficient energy to ignite a land mine. And hardening a mine against a laser would be much easier than making it bulletproof.
I wonder what other reasons there are for wanting a high-intensity laser mounted on a HMMWV?
USDCO has been featured in other /. articles; not only is their colocation facility located underground, with a high degree of redundancy in their connections, but it's not very expensive, either...
'Course, an on-site solution won't be anywhere near as cheap, but if you can colo, this is the place.
I would strongly consider a hybrid car, but the fact is, I can't fit in any of the ones currently out. I suppose that people who buy economy cars are the ones most likely to be interested in a hybrid, and manufacturers are starting off in that direction before moving on to other vehicle types, but are there other reasons why no hybrid vans and SUVs are in the works? Are there any problems with scaling up the technology?
"man, I don't feel like cooking any of this stuff. Forget it, I'm going back to quake. I guess I wasn't that hungry after all." *tummy rumble* "Aah, I'll call Dominos."
From personal experience, I know a carb-deprivation diet a la Atkins works better for me than the alternatives. I've tried several different diets, but I've been able to maintain Atkins for periods of several months.
One time, after five months of eating steak and eggs and bacon and cheeses, and various other high-cholesterol goods, I went to have a blood test to see whether I was killing myself on the diet. My cholesterol level was 170, and I don't recall what my HDL/LDL split was, but it wasn't too bad.
Different people will do well on different diets, depending on their metabolisms. Don't poo-poo a diet that sounds ridiculous, because while it might not work for you, it could work for someone else.
It's not COMPLETELY infallible, thankfully, depending on the hardware being used. A CRT monitor has to generate analog signals internally, simply to drive the horizontal and vertical syncs and to vary the intensity of the CRT guns. A LCD display will also have analog drive circuitry, and one could demultiplex the pixel drivers to determine which pixel was being changed. Audio is simple; yank the speakers and plug them into an input.
This will of course prevent people from making "perfect" digital copies. But making a slightly imperfect analog copy, then reproducing it digitally ad infinitum, is entirely doable. 'Course the next step is to place controls on all analog-to-digital converters. I'd love to see them bell THAT cat.
That'd place your video and sound hardware in violation of the DMCA. You wouldn't be able to market cards with these modifications.
:-P
Of course, it would only take one person with modified display and sound hardware to create non-masked versions of DRM-protected material; once those copies were made, they could spread like wildfire.
Then all that might remain a challenge would be digital watermarks. The practicality of a watermarking system that isn't bypassable but can still automatically prevent material from being played is problematic. A watermark that only shows the origin of the material and wasn't designed for automatic discovery would be another matter, though.
So when you buy that video, intending to pirate it with your special ripping hardware, make sure you use a stolen credit card number and a spoofed IP.
So Palladium won't load an untrusted program into memory... How would it accomplish that? In order to determine whether a program was properly signed, one would need to get its checksum. In order to do that, you would have no choice but to load it into memory of some form. I suppose you could bypass the RAM, DMA it through a dedicated calculator... But that would be inefficient; you'd need to scan it once, and then load it for execution. And you'd need to do it every time you ran the code, or someone could have compromised the data on the system's drive by editing it on a non-Palladium system.
And what's the big deal about having "non-trusted" code loaded into RAM anyway? Actually, it's very easy to put one's own binary code into the system's memory; load it as raw data. An OOB-type exploit can pass control to that nearly as easily as it can execute a program that's been loaded but not yet determined to be trustworthy.
Because the "discount" will eventually invert; instead, the rate given for people who allow themselves to be surveilled will be the standard, while people who want their privacy will be charged ever-increasing penalty rates.
In the meantime, don't expect the government to stay out of the argument; they'll want access to the system so they can automatically ticket speeders and so they can find out where you are no matter where you go.
Frankly, I think private companies should be allowed to offer such "services" despite the dangers, but the sheeple of the United States no longer have the will to keep the government out of their privacy, much less "vote with their feet" for a more expensive but less public alternative.
> she's only a pied piper for simpletons that
> haven't read any real literature since twelfth
> grade.
That's why her book was ideal for making into a major motion picture.
If the XMAME port isn't signed, then how can it be violating Microsoft's TOS? The mod chip required to run it is definitely a violation, but the software itself obviously is not, since it can't even run on an unmodified console. I think this is grounds for a lawsuit.