You know, your post was just fine until that last comment.
Yes, Linux, just like everything else, has problems. It seems to me that those problems are those of a project that is very large and is not under the control of any one person/group/entity. This is fairly new territory for about everybody, and there are growing pains to be had.
Why is it that we expect everything to fall together like a well-crafted puzzle? What you have is a bunch of people putting the hardest and best effort, mostly for free, into something they want to see. Linux is a vision of what they want to see the world be like.
And so, because of these growing pains, there is no place for Linux? I doubt that highly. Every operating system contributes and learns something from the other OS's out there.
You posted AC, but I wonder if you yourself have contributed anything to Linux? Have you ever tried to find out why it crashes? Have you ever tried to create a program that produces what you want? You, sir (I assume) have missed the point. If you don't like it, get up, go to your computer, and help fix it. Don't sit and whine and hope to get moderated up pointing out issues that you could help fix.
Sometimes I wonder if Linux is the problem, or if it is misinformed lazy people like you that scare people away.
The company I used to work for, Root International, sells these cases. I have one very similar to the one this gentlemen used for my laptop (thought it's just a case). They can build them to do just about anything, custom foam inserts, etc. They even sell cases just like that one for Palm Pilots, etc.
One thing I have noticed is that everyone wants to jump on the high-speed access providers for the file sharing, etc. But what about those using dial-up access?
For example, we were just discussing at work how, about 8 or 9 years ago, the Uuniversity of Florida accidentaly left one of their FTP servers open. My coworker got in and downloaded programs all night long from them.
Was it illegal? Yep, sure was. And that's my question. Why does it make it more illegal for someone to download music and programs via high-speed connections rather than dial-up? I have friends that are dial-up only, and have a dedicated phone line, and let it download nearly 24 hours a day. Why don't we see dial-up connections being shut down as well? Do they simply feel they are not enough of a threat?
Yes, downloading programs and files and music that are copyrighted *and that you do not own* is illegal. But how far can the ISP's take it? As a previous poster said, technically they are providing just a line, and, as a communications provider, can they really regulate what goes over those lines? I mean, if I am using my phone line to read someone a copyrighted something so they can copy it, can my phone line be shut off? Or is that something totally different?
Before I took my current job, I spent three months at a company called Link Systems International. Their job was to convert textbooks to be online. Mathematical textbooks, complete with charts, formulas, etc. And while it was challenging at first to figure out a good method, once we figured it out it was great.
I feel the biggest challenge of these projects is people who look at it and say it can't be done. Look at everything2, and at the two sites mentioned in the article. Those sites are capable of so much that it is unbelievable. My biggest chalenge was feeling like I could not contribute, that I wouldn't be able to fit in. It was fear of failing, of screwing up, of being humiliated for all the world to see. But once I got past that, and realized that as long as I posted on what I knew well, I love it.
Trying to create a new infrastructure is only going to add a level of complexity that is going to keep people out. It needs to be as easy as possible, which means using ways that people are already familiar with. Have a complicated formula with fractions and everything else? Create it as a gif, and have a way to add that, maybe as a link at the bottom of the entry.
In short, I think this is genius, and agree that we have the possibility to move this direction with a lot of things and blow a lot of the publishers out of the water. As long as we make it easy to use, and to contribute, and don't humiliate people for trying (or who need help), it will be amazing.
Being a former IT Manager for a case company, I am aware of how bits of the industry work. Yes, it is a rather small industry. There are maybe 8 different case companies, each having only a handful of distributors in each state. It is a fiercely competitive world, with technology (surprise!) being the key to success.
The company I used to work for, Root International, has the capabilities to do such a thing that you are talking about. They offer both custom and pre-made solutions that are not that expensive. They are the supplier for the UN, a lot of Sony's musicians, and several other high-profile clients. Best of all, the staff is very friendly, and will work with you to develop any solution you need. And I know of clients who have had racks built just for that purpose. They also do cases for flat-screen monitors, laptops, etc.
Wish the best of luck to ya!
Actually, you do have the ability to see the license before you open it, and again when you install it. Normally the media and license are seperate, and before you break the second seal (the one on the media - not on the package) it clearly states that by breaking the seal you agree to the terms of the license.
At any rate, even if the license was, for some reason, in the package, if you did not agree to it, then you could always take it back. The challenge would come from the store you bought it from, but I assume it would be their obligation to take it back without any special charges (restocking, etc). Any thoughts?
What's really odd is that I couldn't access Slashdot, my home banking, nor one of the primary places I go for guitar tablature. Suddenly I could access all three.
It gets even stranger when, before the fix, I *could* access all three by using Safeweb, the program I use to bypass our proxy at work. I figured it was something with my ISP. But then Slashdot says it's a hardware problem on their end.
Oh well, at least I got to get outside for a bit. Course, being that it is Florida that meant 95 degree temps with feels like around 106, 100% humidity, followed by an approximate 3 degree drop before the sky opens up at the 'acts of nature and God' start flying.
Sarah Deutsch, associate general counsel for Verizon Communications, said the treaty, as it stands, could disrupt e-commerce because Web infrastructure companies would have to worry about every transmission that moves over their network. Despite complaints from her company, AT&T and Yahoo, the delegates did not insert protections for ISPs and portals into the treaty.
And for...
The only groups that seem to have positive comments about the treaty are copyright holders, who hope the pact will let them crack down on infringement in new and more stringent ways.
And against...
"People don't realize what a disaster this could be," said Richard Stallman, president of the Free Software Foundation
And For...
"The draft convention may advance, in some respects, the effective protection of copyright--particularly as the convention relates to enforcement of judgments," a group including the Association of American Publishers, the Business Software Alliance, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America wrote during a comment period on the convention.
In other words, those groups hope to apply the laws of countries with the strictest copyright restrictions to gain control of their products.
So in other words...
"People don't realize what a disaster this could be," said Richard Stallman, president of the Free Software Foundation
Imagine that. The RIAA endorsing a forum that gives them complete control, regardless of what almost every other major business in the US wants. Hmmmm...
The point of these robots is to prevent the fire from getting to the stage where a life is in danger. If you notice, the contest has a five minute limit on finding the candle. Why? Because, at that point, the fire would beyond the capabilites of a single unit.
Take for example, sprinklers. If we are called to a fire at a structure with sprinklers installed, normally either the fire is out and they want us to check it, or it is past the point that the sprinklers can handle. At that point we use them as a gauge (sprinklers use about 15psi, if we note the pressure that we are supplying drop by that amount, then we know another sprinkler head let loose).
And actually, fires are only about 20% of what we run. Most of us are trained to a minimum EMT level, with Paramedic becoming a requirement at major departments. And truthfully, how would a firefighter react to the same situation? You do what you are programmed to do, which is the best that you can do.
But, let's quickly look at advantages of this:
Robots will be able to go into places considered a life-hazard by human firefighters
Robots will able to work for longer stretches of time
A destroyed robot is no problem, it is simply replaced
While initial R/D is high, training costs are dramatically reduced
etc, etc.
And honestly, I am not worried about seeing positions cut because of this anytime soon.
No, no I never said I was upset by that. On the contrary, I was expecting them to hit me with all of the charges, and had the money saved up for it. I would have had no problem with that at all. My issue was that instead of the 39.95 that was in my contract (and on the advertisements) I was charged 49.95.
Mindspring has been an excellent service, and I have never had problems with their service or support. Someone mentioned the comment that the Phone companies are upping their prices, and that's why these companies are as well.
For those of you not aware, some DSL providers go through another company for DSL. For example, in our area we have three companies that offer DSL service, but every single one just takes your money and hands it to Verizon, as that is who the service is through. I personally feel that 49.95 a month is nothing to spend for what you get in return, and the cost was never an issue to me.
What is an issue is a company that does not honor their advertisments. And even though it was a bit of a challenge, they did that, and I have had no problems with them since.
I apologize for sounding like a complete moron and implying that I was upset because I got 5 months service (about $200) for free. If I was, I deserved to be WTF'd all day long.
Seriously, my story is a bit crazy with them. I was a mindspring dial-up customer for nearly two years. I loved their service, and when DSL came out, I was quite excited. So I signed up for it, and on the mailer, it said $39.95 per month, and I could keep my existing email address to boot.
What I have no found out is that, while they pretend to be one company, Mindspring and Earthlink are two different entities. They maintain seperate customer databases, seperate support (oh, you are a mindspring customer, hold on), etc.
Anyhow, what it comes down to is this. For the first five months of DSL I paid absolutely nothing. Why? Because I would log on to the DSL account using my Mindspring username and password, like I was told I could. But apparantely their systems didn't recgonize me as a DSL, because their billing does not start until the first time you log in using your DSL username and password.
Eventually they caught on, and sent me a bill for 19.95 (my dial up) and 49.95 (DSL). I quickly called them, and after about an hour on the phone, I finally asked for the lady's head supervisor. She asked me to hold on, and when she came back, she informed me that I would be credited $60.00 so that I would only pay $39.95 a month for the next 6 months, and I was on my own after that.
Regardless, we have a provider who I can get a dedicated connection through (784kb up and down) for 69.95 a month, so I will be switching as soon as possible. It is a shame, because Mindspring was awesome, just too bad they had to fall to Earthlink.
My Step-dad has 6 satellite dishes, a 40 footer, an 18 footer, two 12 footers, a 10 footer and a 8 footer. He has the Dish Network, which is Ku-Band, and works well on the small (read:18 inch) dishes if it is a beautiful day outside. Well, here in Florida, we get these fun things called Thunderstorms, and my step-dad got tired of the signal going out, so he hooked it up to his 18-footer. Viola, no problems
As someone else has replied, many, many stations still use giant satellite dishes. Plus, they are a lot of fun. We used it for several experiments, including hooking up a giant antenna to the side of the 40-footer and bouncing signals off of the moon about two years ago.
Plus, nothing as impressive as turning a corner and seeing that monster. Scares the people who shouldn't be out there.:)
Ok, first, you started off preserving your karma by posting as an AC. So you are already not known, there is no reason to use a lame caesar-4 shift to encode it. It has been cracked since sometime in the 15th century, and I would have expected a little more out of ya. Anyhow, for those not wanting to take the 10 minutes to crack it, here was Mr. AC's post...
"slashdot org is slowly going down the drain with
all these lame ass stories which none gives a shit about does anyone know another site which does not allow such single sided views on things they post or am i damned to depend on slashdot for ever"
Well, Mr. AC, you are not 'damned' to use anything at all. I, for one, try to get my stories from a wide variety of sources, using slashdot as only one. If you really don't like what is being posted, either post as a real being, instead of a wussy AC, and influence the topics that you know about. Complaining in code as an AC does not help Slashdot get better one bit.
Or you could just get an enigma and post something a bit harder to crack.
While I hate to mention it because they were so bad to me - my former employer Link Systems, based in Tampa, FL, does things just like this. They work with some of the largest textbook publishers, and also host homework help for college students in subjects ranging from Chemistry to English.
Again, I am viewing this from too perfect a scenario. No one should lose their rights for being accused of a crime. I was referring to conviction of a crime, per se. If I knew, without a shadow of a doubt (i.e. I walked in on you raping my daughter), then in my book, you lose all your rights. Yes, I would go to jail for it. I would be willing to pay that price.
BUT, if my daughter came home and told me that someone raped her, though I would want to find and murder that person, I would not be able to. Why? Because as much as I wouldn't want to believe that someone would lie about something like that, it is entirely possible. In that instance, even if it means that you get off for a crime you did commit, I support your right to due process.
Same thing applies in this case. IF someone had indeed posted the itenarary for the president (the actual classified document) it is the secret service's duty to find out who that is. BUT, no one should lose their right during the investigation. What I was referring to is the defense that you were posting it anonymously. NO ONE, and I repeat, no one, should lose their rights without being tried and convicted. I was referring to the end product of the investigation.
I am frustrated by the people who feel they can post whatever they want, without caring about consequences, and defend it under first amendment rights. Yes, we have a right to free speech, but it has already been proven that you can do things like yell FIRE! in a movie theatre (unless there is a real fire). Publishing a President's classified itenarary falls under that same classification in my book.
It is the Secret Service's duty to protect the President of the United States at all costs. I feel that if you do something to jeopardize that person, than you lose your right to be protected.
But wait, don't jump all over me yet. Perhaps I am merely viewing this from too ideal of a circumstance. IF you say something that has the direct effect of jeopardizing the life of the President, and IF it does not impinge on the rights of others, I am all for the SS tracking you down. In my book, you have lost your right to anonymitity. but IF that method envolves violating, or potentially violating, the rights of others (i.e. Carnivore) then something needs to be done.
I truly believe that in order to have individual rights, we give up the ability to track down every criminal, and catch every person who commits a crime. And I am fine with that. There is no way for us to catch everyone without violating the rights of those either acting innocently, or those who have done nothing wrong. For example, the 18 year old who has sex with his 17 year old girlfriend should not be sent to prison and branded as a sexual offender(assuming it was consensual). Regardless of how wrong you may think this is (and I feel sex before marriage is wrong) I don't think it should be a law. BUT if we had to track down every person, just in case you might be a criminal at some point, this poor kid is going to have his life ruined for an innocent consensual act.
Now, the more that I have read about this, the more I feel that the FBI's actions were wrong. If the president's itenarary had been posted online, then I feel it was within their rights to find out who that was. But apparantely they had their story wrong, and something like that was never posted.
Individual rights, I agree, should never be sacrificed unless their is *absolute proof* that there is a need for it. If I had a 15 year old daughter, and you raped her, you just lost all of your rights to feel safe and be happy. And if I knew, without a shred of doubt, that it was you (not YOU per se, just this fictitious person) then my duty would be to hunt you like a wild boar, torture you, and, oh I dunno, I'll leave this one open.
BUT if there is *any* doubt, whatsoever, then you don't deserve that. It is why we have a judicial system. No one's life should be ruined on a hunch, or an accusation, or a post that may or may not be you. You deserve due process, not the immediate swooping of black (FBI) birds on you.
So yes, the president may be just another person, but he is still the president, and deserves the rights as such. But only if those rights are completely proven to have been breached, and only if we maintain our current first amendment rights. And I apologize if I implied anything different.
Yes, sound the alarms, get the guns, and build your shelters. That time has come.
*sigh* Yes, of course the government is going to come knocking when it involves classified information. The secret service takes their job very seriously because they have to. Their job is to protect the president of the united states at all costs. Sometimes that conflicts with our right to free speech, but that is the price we pay sometimes.
But not all the time. I agree that if someone publishes the president's travel itenarary, they should be tracked down, and will be tracked down, at all costs. That is highly sensitive information that should not be published. In that instance the president is a bit more important than your precious right to anonymitity.
BUT if you right something that says you hate the president, I completely agree that the SS or FBI have no right to track you down. That is your first amendment right to speak out.
I'm just fed up with us crying 1984, 1984, everytime something comes around. Yes, by God, it is vitally important for us to protect our right. But if we all go out ther and look like a bunch of stupid kiddie hackers, what good does that do us? NONE! It just encoruages those that don't know better to use it as a reason to pass more regulation to stop people.
Finally, it is my opinion that you should not ever expect anonymitity when using a 3rd party ISP. Never. If you want security and anonymitity, build your own network, and use it. I always have anonymitity when posting to the two other computers on my home network, because I choose not to log. But ISP's don't have that option.
Do you really believe logging everything to dev/null/ stops the tracking? If you truly believe that, then make a threat on the president's life and see how long it takes for them to track you down. You will see a lot of people's toes stepped on, but I am sure they will find you.
Somethings truly violate our rights, but there are somethings that are sacred and sensitive and should never be published.
As a firefighter, I can't even imagine having to be in the response area of this building. However, besides a terrorist attack or Sim-like plane crash, I am sure this is their biggest fear.
Most hospitals employ a similar technology. When a fire breaks out, the rooms are immediately shut to trap the fire in the room of origin. If it is a rapid fire (aka explosion/fire being fed by NO2 or O2, etc.) you may not be able to get to the patient in the room, but the fire won't spread.
Also, heat has this tendancy to do wierd stuff, like expand metal beams which then contract. That may not sound like much, but think of it this way. You get a good fire going in the place. It heats the steel beam that supports the floor above it. That beam then expands, pushing the walls that it is attached (or support structure) outward. Then the automatic sprinkler system kicks in and cools the fire. Suddenly the heat source is removed, the beam contracts, and the floor collapses.
I work on the 28th floor of a building, and I think every day of carrying a personal rappelling kit (more as a joke than pure paranoia). But I am quite happy there, so let's find other ways to buld, ummkay? Thanks.
Because we believe that our cool watermarking technology is going to make us lots and lots of money, and because we think that the internet is a fad and will hopefully go away soon, please refrain from exposing what idiots we are and how much our encryption software sucks.
Oh, and please don't let anyone know about all of the hard work you did to prove that. We thank you for that and all, but will attempt to destroy you if you talk bad about us.
Finally, we will have to sue you under the DMCA if anything that you have said, ever, in your life, and we mean ever, could, at any time, in some way, possibly, be used to give someone the faintest idea about cracking this software and maybe using this illegally. we don't care about a better tomorrow as long as we make money today and look good."
I agree with you 100%. I fell into this exact category. All through elementary and middle school I was a straight-A 'geek.' But then I fell into depression, simply because I did not fit in.
My sophomore year I took 28.5mg Valium's, at 11pm, went to sleep, got up the next morning, drove to school, and then collapsed. I was in a coma for nearly a week, and spent four weeks in the hospital.
I tried to go back to school, and did until partway through my senior year when I dropped out. At the time I still tested highly on my SAT's, and my counselor's felt I would be Ok. I got my GED and went on with my life.
I am now 22, and oversee the web site for one of the largest county governments in Florida. And while depression is something that I fight with every day, I feel that escaping from school and being able to move on with my life helped me make it through.
School is not for everyone, especially those people who are at the top of the academic chain but the bottom of the food chain. (At least, IMHO).
One of the quotes from the story was that people could dial into their favorite eatery and see how busy it was.
I worked for a large credit union, and we considered implementing a drive-thru cam and a lobby cam so that members could log on and see how busy the Credit Union was before they came in. We had the technology in place and the capabilities to do it, but the idea never made it out of the meeting. Why?
Let's look at this from another angle. They are pitching this to come up with other reasons besides law enforcement to have cameras. *BUT* if everyone can see just how busy a store/bank/eatery etc is, or if they can see pictures of the eatery, they are going to know several things:
A map of the place
Regular traffic peaks and patterns
Positioning of employees
How much traffic is there *right now*
This just helps the criminals to case the place without ever having to step foot inside of it.
We have, here in Tampa, cameras all over Ybor City (and the Super Bowl, for those who remember). There was the typical public outcry at first, but it is now an acceptable part of the area, and it does help people like firefighters, paramedics, and police see and react to situations faster then people on cell phones could tell them.
<tangent>For those of you who have never been involved with emergency services, people on cell phones are generally very difficult. We have no way of tracking their location (They call 911, "Help me!", "Ok, sir, where are you at right now, and what is going on?", "I don't know, just help!"), they sometimes give misinformation (if I had a dollar for every false house fire call we've gone on because of a cell phone caller), and, they aren't trained emergency service personnel. So it is difficult for them to describe the exact situation.
Generally speaking, though, we are glad to have them. But it is nice to be able to get a 911 call, swing a camera to the situation, and have our dispatch relay to us exactly what is going on, ESPECIALLY in Ybor City.</tangent>
So, as long as the cameras are for public areas that have difficulties getting emergency service personnel to them, or may be hard for the average Joe Cop to see from his patrol car or regular route, I am all for cameras. But if an area has not shown a need for those cameras, regardless of how 'nice' it might be to have them there, we should not put them there.
I personally am fed up with all the DSL problems, to a degree. It is unfortunate that these companies could not sustain themselves, but even more so AFTER they introduced the concept of fast home access to the end-user.
I have been using Mindspring (Earthlink, whatever) for about three years as my dial-up service. When they released DSL about 8 months ago, I jumped on it, mainly because they offered free (DIY)installation, a free modem, and I could keep my existing email address, a big point for me.
Then it turned out, after I got everything, that I would have to use a completely different email address, and the only way I could keep my existing Email address was to pay an addition 19.95 a month, on top of the DSL fee. But, in reading the service agreement, I found out that they don't start billing you until the first time you logon with their username and password.
So I hooked it up, and logged it with my dial-up password. Worked like a charm. And I was only paying 19.95 a month (because technically I never 'activated' the service).
But alas, I got my bill last night and they finally caught on and charged me 49.95. So now it's time to think about a fractional T1 or somethig similar. I've had cable, and couldn't stand the service given by Time Warner, so that's out.
I work for a large county government as the webmaster. We are required to keep our site up as parts of it have legal documents that are only distributed through the web. In addition, several agencies were just awarded approval to post all notices via the web and no longer in print.
Your post actually makes three points.
Internet Service is not necessary to perform any daily task. - Yes, to some extent. While there are many people whose lives go along just fine without it, there are many things that, if they had the access, would make life (and safety) easier. For example, currently The Register is running a story about foot and mouth disease, and how if only they would have tracked the livestock with computer, approximately 100,000 animals would have to be destroyed instead of half of the country's livestock.
Broadband is less of a necessity - Actually, I find that to not be true. You can get by with dial-up access (and most people are) but that severely limits the things that can be done with the web. Currently applications have to be built to account for those users who only are on a 28.8 connection. (Note that I do not refer to the need to have seventy animated gif's on your home page either). If higher speeds is not necessary, and if it doesn't matter, how come I remember everyone being absolutely excited when 2400 baud came out?
Why should the Government involve itself in the business of regulating ISP's - I don't think they should. *BUT* I do think that, with the critical nature of the web, that these companies should be watched to make sure they are not gouging users. Again, while it may not be a necessity now, it will be in the near future. And if you don't think that is true, examine the stats between children who have no access, dial-up access, and broadband access in their homes.
I, for one, am glad to see the internet revolution. I think it opens up a whole world of information to those who never ever would have seen it. Yes, there have been some incredibly stupid ideas to come out of it, but by and large the information and fields of research that have been opened up are worth it.
I am one of those users (as I am sure are a lot of us) who started with this whole computer thing long before AOL, when it was just BBS's and 300-1200-2400 baud modems (zmodem transfer, yes!). I never had a problem accessing most content, though some BBS's did a better job than others.
At the time, I was just a wee lad, and really didn't know much better. I got involved with quite a few groups, and became 'friends' with a lot of people. Of course, you could lie a lot about a lot of things, but jeez, I was only 13 when I started, so I didn't know *too* much to lie about. At any rate, after being on a lot of the local boards, one guy invited me to do work at a shop he owned doing electronic stuff. I worked there for perhaps four months on the weekends before on day he drugged me and molested me (I'm a male BTW).
But do I blame the BBS for that? Do I blame technology for that? Obviously not as I am still heavily involved in the field of technology, nor do I go out torturing llamas and the such because of it. It was a bad experience, and one that I hope no one has to go through, but I learned a lot of valuable lessons from it.
So why people all of a sudden act like AOL is such a bad thing, I don't understand. In my opinion AOL is to BBS's what Napster was to MP3's - It opened up a world that previously was only available to those who knew what they were doing. It mainstreamed chat and email, and allowed users to connect to this 'internet thing' (even if they do think AOL == Internet) and enter a world never before open to them.
But as those of us who have operated or participated on BBS's or ICQ or anything else of that nature know, the price that opening a service such as that brings is exactly what we see. People are not what they seem, very sadistic and strange people dive right in, and a general melee seems to run rampant. By exposing your personal information to a stranger, you can get in a lot of trouble. Why does this surprise people?
I despise AOL. Not because of what they have accomplished, but in their methodologies. Researching them, I see what they are trying to do, and the 'features' that they add to their software. Imagine a service like AOL that, instead of trying to protect themselves, served to help people step into the next level of computing. Imagine something similar for the world of Linux (very theoretically of course) where users would get a simple installation disk to start that was all GUI, and 24-hour support, but slowly were weened off to strictly command-line interfaces and hash-bang scripts.
Or maybe not.
But let's not let the people who have no clue set the boundries to which we are 'allowed' to use the internet. The internet world has always been and will always have people who aren't what they seem, whose ultimate motives are to pillage, rape, kill, etc. No longer are they forced to hide in their little worlds. Anytime you have the ability to hide your identity, some people will use that to a different advantage, for a different purpose than just expressing ideas.
I feel we basically have a few options of where to go from here.
Reveal the identity of all users. Have some giant world-governing organization ensure that everyone is who they say they are, say by implanting a chip in everyone that automatically signs them into the computer.
Continue with things being the way they are and watch as the world we are used to gets bashed and limited to the point where you would be lucky if you could find Powerpuff girls sites because they are too violent.
Educate the public, and our lawmakers, and support ways to protect users without taking away the things that we hold dear. But realize at the same time that by not regulating everything, some people may slip through the cracks and you may have to actually be careful online.
If your kid has a computer in his/her bedroom, and you don't talk to them about the things they may see, or don't keep up with them on a regular basis, don't be surprised to come in one day to get them for dinner and find them gone. But even if you do all of that, you still may find them gone. Sometimes there is nothing you can do.
So don't let the public take away something that has been around for years and years just because it doesn't fit into their personal schedules. Yes, the internet is a dangerous place sometimes, but that doesn't mean that we should close shop just to appease the customers who don't like it.
Slashdot Mirror
You know, your post was just fine until that last comment.
Yes, Linux, just like everything else, has problems. It seems to me that those problems are those of a project that is very large and is not under the control of any one person/group/entity. This is fairly new territory for about everybody, and there are growing pains to be had.
Why is it that we expect everything to fall together like a well-crafted puzzle? What you have is a bunch of people putting the hardest and best effort, mostly for free, into something they want to see. Linux is a vision of what they want to see the world be like.
And so, because of these growing pains, there is no place for Linux? I doubt that highly. Every operating system contributes and learns something from the other OS's out there.
You posted AC, but I wonder if you yourself have contributed anything to Linux? Have you ever tried to find out why it crashes? Have you ever tried to create a program that produces what you want? You, sir (I assume) have missed the point. If you don't like it, get up, go to your computer, and help fix it. Don't sit and whine and hope to get moderated up pointing out issues that you could help fix.
Sometimes I wonder if Linux is the problem, or if it is misinformed lazy people like you that scare people away.
The company I used to work for, Root International, sells these cases. I have one very similar to the one this gentlemen used for my laptop (thought it's just a case). They can build them to do just about anything, custom foam inserts, etc. They even sell cases just like that one for Palm Pilots, etc.
For example, we were just discussing at work how, about 8 or 9 years ago, the Uuniversity of Florida accidentaly left one of their FTP servers open. My coworker got in and downloaded programs all night long from them.
Was it illegal? Yep, sure was. And that's my question. Why does it make it more illegal for someone to download music and programs via high-speed connections rather than dial-up? I have friends that are dial-up only, and have a dedicated phone line, and let it download nearly 24 hours a day. Why don't we see dial-up connections being shut down as well? Do they simply feel they are not enough of a threat?
Yes, downloading programs and files and music that are copyrighted *and that you do not own* is illegal. But how far can the ISP's take it? As a previous poster said, technically they are providing just a line, and, as a communications provider, can they really regulate what goes over those lines? I mean, if I am using my phone line to read someone a copyrighted something so they can copy it, can my phone line be shut off? Or is that something totally different?
Before I took my current job, I spent three months at a company called Link Systems International. Their job was to convert textbooks to be online. Mathematical textbooks, complete with charts, formulas, etc. And while it was challenging at first to figure out a good method, once we figured it out it was great.
I feel the biggest challenge of these projects is people who look at it and say it can't be done. Look at everything2, and at the two sites mentioned in the article. Those sites are capable of so much that it is unbelievable. My biggest chalenge was feeling like I could not contribute, that I wouldn't be able to fit in. It was fear of failing, of screwing up, of being humiliated for all the world to see. But once I got past that, and realized that as long as I posted on what I knew well, I love it.
Trying to create a new infrastructure is only going to add a level of complexity that is going to keep people out. It needs to be as easy as possible, which means using ways that people are already familiar with. Have a complicated formula with fractions and everything else? Create it as a gif, and have a way to add that, maybe as a link at the bottom of the entry.
In short, I think this is genius, and agree that we have the possibility to move this direction with a lot of things and blow a lot of the publishers out of the water. As long as we make it easy to use, and to contribute, and don't humiliate people for trying (or who need help), it will be amazing.
The company I used to work for, Root International, has the capabilities to do such a thing that you are talking about. They offer both custom and pre-made solutions that are not that expensive. They are the supplier for the UN, a lot of Sony's musicians, and several other high-profile clients. Best of all, the staff is very friendly, and will work with you to develop any solution you need. And I know of clients who have had racks built just for that purpose. They also do cases for flat-screen monitors, laptops, etc. Wish the best of luck to ya!
Actually, you do have the ability to see the license before you open it, and again when you install it. Normally the media and license are seperate, and before you break the second seal (the one on the media - not on the package) it clearly states that by breaking the seal you agree to the terms of the license. At any rate, even if the license was, for some reason, in the package, if you did not agree to it, then you could always take it back. The challenge would come from the store you bought it from, but I assume it would be their obligation to take it back without any special charges (restocking, etc). Any thoughts?
It gets even stranger when, before the fix, I *could* access all three by using Safeweb, the program I use to bypass our proxy at work. I figured it was something with my ISP. But then Slashdot says it's a hardware problem on their end.
Oh well, at least I got to get outside for a bit. Course, being that it is Florida that meant 95 degree temps with feels like around 106, 100% humidity, followed by an approximate 3 degree drop before the sky opens up at the 'acts of nature and God' start flying.
Got my fix now, though, so guess I'll sleep.
And for...
And against...
And For...
So in other words...Imagine that. The RIAA endorsing a forum that gives them complete control, regardless of what almost every other major business in the US wants. Hmmmm...
Take for example, sprinklers. If we are called to a fire at a structure with sprinklers installed, normally either the fire is out and they want us to check it, or it is past the point that the sprinklers can handle. At that point we use them as a gauge (sprinklers use about 15psi, if we note the pressure that we are supplying drop by that amount, then we know another sprinkler head let loose).
And actually, fires are only about 20% of what we run. Most of us are trained to a minimum EMT level, with Paramedic becoming a requirement at major departments. And truthfully, how would a firefighter react to the same situation? You do what you are programmed to do, which is the best that you can do.
But, let's quickly look at advantages of this:
- Robots will be able to go into places considered a life-hazard by human firefighters
- Robots will able to work for longer stretches of time
- A destroyed robot is no problem, it is simply replaced
- While initial R/D is high, training costs are dramatically reduced
etc, etc.And honestly, I am not worried about seeing positions cut because of this anytime soon.
Mindspring has been an excellent service, and I have never had problems with their service or support. Someone mentioned the comment that the Phone companies are upping their prices, and that's why these companies are as well.
For those of you not aware, some DSL providers go through another company for DSL. For example, in our area we have three companies that offer DSL service, but every single one just takes your money and hands it to Verizon, as that is who the service is through. I personally feel that 49.95 a month is nothing to spend for what you get in return, and the cost was never an issue to me.
What is an issue is a company that does not honor their advertisments. And even though it was a bit of a challenge, they did that, and I have had no problems with them since.
I apologize for sounding like a complete moron and implying that I was upset because I got 5 months service (about $200) for free. If I was, I deserved to be WTF'd all day long.
Seriously, my story is a bit crazy with them. I was a mindspring dial-up customer for nearly two years. I loved their service, and when DSL came out, I was quite excited. So I signed up for it, and on the mailer, it said $39.95 per month, and I could keep my existing email address to boot.
What I have no found out is that, while they pretend to be one company, Mindspring and Earthlink are two different entities. They maintain seperate customer databases, seperate support (oh, you are a mindspring customer, hold on), etc.
Anyhow, what it comes down to is this. For the first five months of DSL I paid absolutely nothing. Why? Because I would log on to the DSL account using my Mindspring username and password, like I was told I could. But apparantely their systems didn't recgonize me as a DSL, because their billing does not start until the first time you log in using your DSL username and password.
Eventually they caught on, and sent me a bill for 19.95 (my dial up) and 49.95 (DSL). I quickly called them, and after about an hour on the phone, I finally asked for the lady's head supervisor. She asked me to hold on, and when she came back, she informed me that I would be credited $60.00 so that I would only pay $39.95 a month for the next 6 months, and I was on my own after that.
Regardless, we have a provider who I can get a dedicated connection through (784kb up and down) for 69.95 a month, so I will be switching as soon as possible. It is a shame, because Mindspring was awesome, just too bad they had to fall to Earthlink.
As someone else has replied, many, many stations still use giant satellite dishes. Plus, they are a lot of fun. We used it for several experiments, including hooking up a giant antenna to the side of the 40-footer and bouncing signals off of the moon about two years ago.
Plus, nothing as impressive as turning a corner and seeing that monster. Scares the people who shouldn't be out there. :)
"slashdot org is slowly going down the drain with all these lame ass stories which none gives a shit about does anyone know another site which does not allow such single sided views on things they post or am i damned to depend on slashdot for ever"
Well, Mr. AC, you are not 'damned' to use anything at all. I, for one, try to get my stories from a wide variety of sources, using slashdot as only one. If you really don't like what is being posted, either post as a real being, instead of a wussy AC, and influence the topics that you know about. Complaining in code as an AC does not help Slashdot get better one bit.
Or you could just get an enigma and post something a bit harder to crack.
While I hate to mention it because they were so bad to me - my former employer Link Systems, based in Tampa, FL, does things just like this. They work with some of the largest textbook publishers, and also host homework help for college students in subjects ranging from Chemistry to English.
BUT, if my daughter came home and told me that someone raped her, though I would want to find and murder that person, I would not be able to. Why? Because as much as I wouldn't want to believe that someone would lie about something like that, it is entirely possible. In that instance, even if it means that you get off for a crime you did commit, I support your right to due process.
Same thing applies in this case. IF someone had indeed posted the itenarary for the president (the actual classified document) it is the secret service's duty to find out who that is. BUT, no one should lose their right during the investigation. What I was referring to is the defense that you were posting it anonymously. NO ONE, and I repeat, no one, should lose their rights without being tried and convicted. I was referring to the end product of the investigation.
I am frustrated by the people who feel they can post whatever they want, without caring about consequences, and defend it under first amendment rights. Yes, we have a right to free speech, but it has already been proven that you can do things like yell FIRE! in a movie theatre (unless there is a real fire). Publishing a President's classified itenarary falls under that same classification in my book.
It is the Secret Service's duty to protect the President of the United States at all costs. I feel that if you do something to jeopardize that person, than you lose your right to be protected.
But wait, don't jump all over me yet. Perhaps I am merely viewing this from too ideal of a circumstance. IF you say something that has the direct effect of jeopardizing the life of the President, and IF it does not impinge on the rights of others, I am all for the SS tracking you down. In my book, you have lost your right to anonymitity. but IF that method envolves violating, or potentially violating, the rights of others (i.e. Carnivore) then something needs to be done.
I truly believe that in order to have individual rights, we give up the ability to track down every criminal, and catch every person who commits a crime. And I am fine with that. There is no way for us to catch everyone without violating the rights of those either acting innocently, or those who have done nothing wrong. For example, the 18 year old who has sex with his 17 year old girlfriend should not be sent to prison and branded as a sexual offender(assuming it was consensual). Regardless of how wrong you may think this is (and I feel sex before marriage is wrong) I don't think it should be a law. BUT if we had to track down every person, just in case you might be a criminal at some point, this poor kid is going to have his life ruined for an innocent consensual act.
Now, the more that I have read about this, the more I feel that the FBI's actions were wrong. If the president's itenarary had been posted online, then I feel it was within their rights to find out who that was. But apparantely they had their story wrong, and something like that was never posted.
Individual rights, I agree, should never be sacrificed unless their is *absolute proof* that there is a need for it. If I had a 15 year old daughter, and you raped her, you just lost all of your rights to feel safe and be happy. And if I knew, without a shred of doubt, that it was you (not YOU per se, just this fictitious person) then my duty would be to hunt you like a wild boar, torture you, and, oh I dunno, I'll leave this one open.
BUT if there is *any* doubt, whatsoever, then you don't deserve that. It is why we have a judicial system. No one's life should be ruined on a hunch, or an accusation, or a post that may or may not be you. You deserve due process, not the immediate swooping of black (FBI) birds on you.
So yes, the president may be just another person, but he is still the president, and deserves the rights as such. But only if those rights are completely proven to have been breached, and only if we maintain our current first amendment rights. And I apologize if I implied anything different.
*sigh* Yes, of course the government is going to come knocking when it involves classified information. The secret service takes their job very seriously because they have to. Their job is to protect the president of the united states at all costs. Sometimes that conflicts with our right to free speech, but that is the price we pay sometimes.
But not all the time. I agree that if someone publishes the president's travel itenarary, they should be tracked down, and will be tracked down, at all costs. That is highly sensitive information that should not be published. In that instance the president is a bit more important than your precious right to anonymitity.
BUT if you right something that says you hate the president, I completely agree that the SS or FBI have no right to track you down. That is your first amendment right to speak out.
I'm just fed up with us crying 1984, 1984, everytime something comes around. Yes, by God, it is vitally important for us to protect our right. But if we all go out ther and look like a bunch of stupid kiddie hackers, what good does that do us? NONE! It just encoruages those that don't know better to use it as a reason to pass more regulation to stop people.
Finally, it is my opinion that you should not ever expect anonymitity when using a 3rd party ISP. Never. If you want security and anonymitity, build your own network, and use it. I always have anonymitity when posting to the two other computers on my home network, because I choose not to log. But ISP's don't have that option.
Do you really believe logging everything to dev/null/ stops the tracking? If you truly believe that, then make a threat on the president's life and see how long it takes for them to track you down. You will see a lot of people's toes stepped on, but I am sure they will find you.
Somethings truly violate our rights, but there are somethings that are sacred and sensitive and should never be published.
Most hospitals employ a similar technology. When a fire breaks out, the rooms are immediately shut to trap the fire in the room of origin. If it is a rapid fire (aka explosion/fire being fed by NO2 or O2, etc.) you may not be able to get to the patient in the room, but the fire won't spread.
Also, heat has this tendancy to do wierd stuff, like expand metal beams which then contract. That may not sound like much, but think of it this way. You get a good fire going in the place. It heats the steel beam that supports the floor above it. That beam then expands, pushing the walls that it is attached (or support structure) outward. Then the automatic sprinkler system kicks in and cools the fire. Suddenly the heat source is removed, the beam contracts, and the floor collapses.
I work on the 28th floor of a building, and I think every day of carrying a personal rappelling kit (more as a joke than pure paranoia). But I am quite happy there, so let's find other ways to buld, ummkay? Thanks.
"Dear Sir:
Because we believe that our cool watermarking technology is going to make us lots and lots of money, and because we think that the internet is a fad and will hopefully go away soon, please refrain from exposing what idiots we are and how much our encryption software sucks.
Oh, and please don't let anyone know about all of the hard work you did to prove that. We thank you for that and all, but will attempt to destroy you if you talk bad about us.
Finally, we will have to sue you under the DMCA if anything that you have said, ever, in your life, and we mean ever, could, at any time, in some way, possibly, be used to give someone the faintest idea about cracking this software and maybe using this illegally. we don't care about a better tomorrow as long as we make money today and look good."
Sound right? *sigh*
My sophomore year I took 28 .5mg Valium's, at 11pm, went to sleep, got up the next morning, drove to school, and then collapsed. I was in a coma for nearly a week, and spent four weeks in the hospital.
I tried to go back to school, and did until partway through my senior year when I dropped out. At the time I still tested highly on my SAT's, and my counselor's felt I would be Ok. I got my GED and went on with my life.
I am now 22, and oversee the web site for one of the largest county governments in Florida. And while depression is something that I fight with every day, I feel that escaping from school and being able to move on with my life helped me make it through.
School is not for everyone, especially those people who are at the top of the academic chain but the bottom of the food chain. (At least, IMHO).
I worked for a large credit union, and we considered implementing a drive-thru cam and a lobby cam so that members could log on and see how busy the Credit Union was before they came in. We had the technology in place and the capabilities to do it, but the idea never made it out of the meeting. Why?
Let's look at this from another angle. They are pitching this to come up with other reasons besides law enforcement to have cameras. *BUT* if everyone can see just how busy a store/bank/eatery etc is, or if they can see pictures of the eatery, they are going to know several things:
- A map of the place
- Regular traffic peaks and patterns
- Positioning of employees
- How much traffic is there *right now*
This just helps the criminals to case the place without ever having to step foot inside of it.We have, here in Tampa, cameras all over Ybor City (and the Super Bowl, for those who remember). There was the typical public outcry at first, but it is now an acceptable part of the area, and it does help people like firefighters, paramedics, and police see and react to situations faster then people on cell phones could tell them.
<tangent>For those of you who have never been involved with emergency services, people on cell phones are generally very difficult. We have no way of tracking their location (They call 911, "Help me!", "Ok, sir, where are you at right now, and what is going on?", "I don't know, just help!"), they sometimes give misinformation (if I had a dollar for every false house fire call we've gone on because of a cell phone caller), and, they aren't trained emergency service personnel. So it is difficult for them to describe the exact situation.
Generally speaking, though, we are glad to have them. But it is nice to be able to get a 911 call, swing a camera to the situation, and have our dispatch relay to us exactly what is going on, ESPECIALLY in Ybor City.</tangent>
So, as long as the cameras are for public areas that have difficulties getting emergency service personnel to them, or may be hard for the average Joe Cop to see from his patrol car or regular route, I am all for cameras. But if an area has not shown a need for those cameras, regardless of how 'nice' it might be to have them there, we should not put them there.
I just found it amazing that for almost a full year they couldn't tell that I was using their DSL service. Makes you wonder a bit.
I have been using Mindspring (Earthlink, whatever) for about three years as my dial-up service. When they released DSL about 8 months ago, I jumped on it, mainly because they offered free (DIY)installation, a free modem, and I could keep my existing email address, a big point for me.
Then it turned out, after I got everything, that I would have to use a completely different email address, and the only way I could keep my existing Email address was to pay an addition 19.95 a month, on top of the DSL fee. But, in reading the service agreement, I found out that they don't start billing you until the first time you logon with their username and password.
So I hooked it up, and logged it with my dial-up password. Worked like a charm. And I was only paying 19.95 a month (because technically I never 'activated' the service).
But alas, I got my bill last night and they finally caught on and charged me 49.95. So now it's time to think about a fractional T1 or somethig similar. I've had cable, and couldn't stand the service given by Time Warner, so that's out.
Oh how I miss the days of 2400...*sigh*
I work for a large county government as the webmaster. We are required to keep our site up as parts of it have legal documents that are only distributed through the web. In addition, several agencies were just awarded approval to post all notices via the web and no longer in print.
Your post actually makes three points.
- Internet Service is not necessary to perform any daily task. - Yes, to some extent. While there are many people whose lives go along just fine without it, there are many things that, if they had the access, would make life (and safety) easier. For example, currently The Register is running a story about foot and mouth disease, and how if only they would have tracked the livestock with computer, approximately 100,000 animals would have to be destroyed instead of half of the country's livestock.
- Broadband is less of a necessity - Actually, I find that to not be true. You can get by with dial-up access (and most people are) but that severely limits the things that can be done with the web. Currently applications have to be built to account for those users who only are on a 28.8 connection. (Note that I do not refer to the need to have seventy animated gif's on your home page either). If higher speeds is not necessary, and if it doesn't matter, how come I remember everyone being absolutely excited when 2400 baud came out?
- Why should the Government involve itself in the business of regulating ISP's - I don't think they should. *BUT* I do think that, with the critical nature of the web, that these companies should be watched to make sure they are not gouging users. Again, while it may not be a necessity now, it will be in the near future. And if you don't think that is true, examine the stats between children who have no access, dial-up access, and broadband access in their homes.
I, for one, am glad to see the internet revolution. I think it opens up a whole world of information to those who never ever would have seen it. Yes, there have been some incredibly stupid ideas to come out of it, but by and large the information and fields of research that have been opened up are worth it.At the time, I was just a wee lad, and really didn't know much better. I got involved with quite a few groups, and became 'friends' with a lot of people. Of course, you could lie a lot about a lot of things, but jeez, I was only 13 when I started, so I didn't know *too* much to lie about. At any rate, after being on a lot of the local boards, one guy invited me to do work at a shop he owned doing electronic stuff. I worked there for perhaps four months on the weekends before on day he drugged me and molested me (I'm a male BTW).
But do I blame the BBS for that? Do I blame technology for that? Obviously not as I am still heavily involved in the field of technology, nor do I go out torturing llamas and the such because of it. It was a bad experience, and one that I hope no one has to go through, but I learned a lot of valuable lessons from it.
So why people all of a sudden act like AOL is such a bad thing, I don't understand. In my opinion AOL is to BBS's what Napster was to MP3's - It opened up a world that previously was only available to those who knew what they were doing. It mainstreamed chat and email, and allowed users to connect to this 'internet thing' (even if they do think AOL == Internet) and enter a world never before open to them.
But as those of us who have operated or participated on BBS's or ICQ or anything else of that nature know, the price that opening a service such as that brings is exactly what we see. People are not what they seem, very sadistic and strange people dive right in, and a general melee seems to run rampant. By exposing your personal information to a stranger, you can get in a lot of trouble. Why does this surprise people?
I despise AOL. Not because of what they have accomplished, but in their methodologies. Researching them, I see what they are trying to do, and the 'features' that they add to their software. Imagine a service like AOL that, instead of trying to protect themselves, served to help people step into the next level of computing. Imagine something similar for the world of Linux (very theoretically of course) where users would get a simple installation disk to start that was all GUI, and 24-hour support, but slowly were weened off to strictly command-line interfaces and hash-bang scripts.
Or maybe not.
But let's not let the people who have no clue set the boundries to which we are 'allowed' to use the internet. The internet world has always been and will always have people who aren't what they seem, whose ultimate motives are to pillage, rape, kill, etc. No longer are they forced to hide in their little worlds. Anytime you have the ability to hide your identity, some people will use that to a different advantage, for a different purpose than just expressing ideas.
I feel we basically have a few options of where to go from here.
- Reveal the identity of all users. Have some giant world-governing organization ensure that everyone is who they say they are, say by implanting a chip in everyone that automatically signs them into the computer.
- Continue with things being the way they are and watch as the world we are used to gets bashed and limited to the point where you would be lucky if you could find Powerpuff girls sites because they are too violent.
- Educate the public, and our lawmakers, and support ways to protect users without taking away the things that we hold dear. But realize at the same time that by not regulating everything, some people may slip through the cracks and you may have to actually be careful online.
If your kid has a computer in his/her bedroom, and you don't talk to them about the things they may see, or don't keep up with them on a regular basis, don't be surprised to come in one day to get them for dinner and find them gone. But even if you do all of that, you still may find them gone. Sometimes there is nothing you can do.So don't let the public take away something that has been around for years and years just because it doesn't fit into their personal schedules. Yes, the internet is a dangerous place sometimes, but that doesn't mean that we should close shop just to appease the customers who don't like it.