That example's an "inside the box" system, and one based on flawed math to boot.
The profitable tricks subvert how things normally work. They're hacks. Any slashdotter ought to appreciate that, right?
The thing is, exploiting loopholes tends to piss off those who own the thing being exploited. When done to excess the exploit can change the way the game is played or even ruin the game for all the players. Case in point: naked shorting works... it just wrecks the market you do it in.
Oh, there most certainly are "systems". If you (ab)use one to profit at the house's expense they'll break your kneecaps (or charge you with racketeering).
You absolutely can beat the house in both cases, and in both cases if you beat the house too sorely they'll get upset and try to throw you out.
Naked shorting in the stock market.... teams counting blackjack in a casino. Both can be done with tremendous profits, given the right discipline and organization. It's all about subverting the system.
What if, BetOnSports had refused all direct money transfers from or to US accounts? Make customers have to set up a proxy offshore account first, which would ostensibly be used for all sorts of things.
When you bet, transfer money from the offshore account rather than from the US. If you win, likewise, money goes to offshore accounts only.
Even if they had done this, I bet Uncle Sam would have gone after the internet traffic and phone calls-- anything that could be linked to activity within the US.
Not sure if it runs Linux under the hood (yeah, shame on me for not hacking it)... but I like my Samsung TV just fine. It has Yahoo widgets for Flickr, Youtube, the weather, stocks, and a bunch of other stuff. You can plug in a USB thumb drive or portable hard drive and it will play MP3's and video right off the disk. It does not have a built in DVR, nor does it support that functionality, but it's a nice TV with some cool extra features that I find useful.
I tried and tried to kill Lord British on the Apple II version of Ultima IV, Quest of the Avatar. Never could take him down, but it was fun to have British and a whole castle full of guards coming after you.
THOU HAS LOST AN EIGHTH! was only the beginning of the fun in that game.
There will always be un-configured browsers, users who don't know, and people who don't care. Will that be enough to keep advertising profitable? I don't know.
I do know that running an ad blocker is a hell of a lot simpler than having to circumvent a retarded paywall.
Your credit card has a magnetic "bar code". I don't know where your driver's license is from, but many licenses come with both magnetic strips *and* a 1-D or 2-D bar code. I can take a cell phone picture of my license's 2-D code and within seconds, pull out my full name, date of birth, endorsements/restrictions, address and license number.
Don't be afraid of the technology - just be afraid of leaking sensitive information.
Right, but they sure can read whatever your RFID has to say. The problem is twofold:
1) Ignorant implementers put sensitive data on RFID's in plaintext. 2) Users are unaware of what data is actually *in* their RFID items.
RFID tags are dumb, low powered, even passive devices. If you can't afford active RFID's with public key encryption, don't put sensitive data on the damn things!
Yep. I had never even HEARD of Monroe College and I grew up in the northeast. Does anyone else notice an uncanny similarity between the blue and yellow logos at Monroe College and Monro Muffler ?
Well in a recession economy we can use more basic labor. Not everybody gets to be a high powered executive in a glass tower, ya know. Ditches won't dig themselves. Burgers need flipping.
She suggested that Monroe's Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. "They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement," she said.
Wow, no shit? Maybe it should have occurred to her at some point during her 4+ years at college that she'd get more out of it if she earned better grades.
Yes. My local apple store is little more than a glorified cell phone kiosk. It's one of the only places to go if you have an iPhone since Apple and ATT have a strangle hold on the supply chain.
The last time I needed apple repair service (movers cooked a power supply in a G4 tower) the insurance companies and Apple sent it to a local mom'n'pop store.... one which has since been forced out of business thanks to the Apple Cell Phone Kiosk down the road.
I currently work at MSFC and do things with evolutionary computation. To stay on the safe side in mixed company, I tend to avoid the "e" word altogether. Generally even the most hardboiled YEC's can accept analogies with "selective breeding" and "hybrid vigor".
Besides bible-inspired woo, I've also run into a few Electric Universe people at Marshall. Takes all kinds.
Slashdot Mirror
That example's an "inside the box" system, and one based on flawed math to boot.
The profitable tricks subvert how things normally work. They're hacks. Any slashdotter ought to appreciate that, right?
The thing is, exploiting loopholes tends to piss off those who own the thing being exploited. When done to excess the exploit can change the way the game is played or even ruin the game for all the players. Case in point: naked shorting works... it just wrecks the market you do it in.
Yep. When are they going to arrest Ben and Jerry for "making it too easy for people to get fat"?
Oh, there most certainly are "systems". If you (ab)use one to profit at the house's expense they'll break your kneecaps (or charge you with racketeering).
Help, I just accidentally my sports betting website! Is this bad?
You absolutely can beat the house in both cases, and in both cases if you beat the house too sorely they'll get upset and try to throw you out.
Naked shorting in the stock market.... teams counting blackjack in a casino. Both can be done with tremendous profits, given the right discipline and organization. It's all about subverting the system.
What if, BetOnSports had refused all direct money transfers from or to US accounts? Make customers have to set up a proxy offshore account first, which would ostensibly be used for all sorts of things.
When you bet, transfer money from the offshore account rather than from the US. If you win, likewise, money goes to offshore accounts only.
Even if they had done this, I bet Uncle Sam would have gone after the internet traffic and phone calls-- anything that could be linked to activity within the US.
Not sure if it runs Linux under the hood (yeah, shame on me for not hacking it)... but I like my Samsung TV just fine. It has Yahoo widgets for Flickr, Youtube, the weather, stocks, and a bunch of other stuff. You can plug in a USB thumb drive or portable hard drive and it will play MP3's and video right off the disk. It does not have a built in DVR, nor does it support that functionality, but it's a nice TV with some cool extra features that I find useful.
I tried and tried to kill Lord British on the Apple II version of Ultima IV, Quest of the Avatar. Never could take him down, but it was fun to have British and a whole castle full of guards coming after you.
THOU HAS LOST AN EIGHTH! was only the beginning of the fun in that game.
Well, I happen to have one of those wallets, and I work for the federal government, but I don't do anything with security. So there :p
They need to protect themselves from liability.
Wouldn't it be hilarious if there were class action suits against every retarded organization that misused Social Security Numbers?
There will always be un-configured browsers, users who don't know, and people who don't care. Will that be enough to keep advertising profitable? I don't know.
I do know that running an ad blocker is a hell of a lot simpler than having to circumvent a retarded paywall.
Your credit card has a magnetic "bar code". I don't know where your driver's license is from, but many licenses come with both magnetic strips *and* a 1-D or 2-D bar code. I can take a cell phone picture of my license's 2-D code and within seconds, pull out my full name, date of birth, endorsements/restrictions, address and license number.
Don't be afraid of the technology - just be afraid of leaking sensitive information.
If they ban RFID readers, only criminals will read RFID's. Sort of makes the legal use of RFID's a little awkward, ya think?
Or just don't carry incriminating ID while undercover.
Right, but they sure can read whatever your RFID has to say. The problem is twofold:
1) Ignorant implementers put sensitive data on RFID's in plaintext.
2) Users are unaware of what data is actually *in* their RFID items.
RFID tags are dumb, low powered, even passive devices. If you can't afford active RFID's with public key encryption, don't put sensitive data on the damn things!
Why would they be surprised? This has been common knowledge for years.
If you have to carry an RFID'ed object that contains sensitive information, keep it shielded at all times or destroy it.
What they really mean is "my business or country will grow, while those people over there, uhhh, grow less."
You want there to constantly be people in transition otherwise the economy has no where to grow. That's just ECON 101.
Grow? That's a fake idea. Try taking THERMODYNAMICS 101. All business operates with finite resources and inefficient, irreversible processes.
At best, you can strive for a sustainable system that doesn't "grow" by pillaging outside your economy's control volume.
Yep. I had never even HEARD of Monroe College and I grew up in the northeast. Does anyone else notice an uncanny similarity between the blue and yellow logos at Monroe College and Monro Muffler ?
Well in a recession economy we can use more basic labor. Not everybody gets to be a high powered executive in a glass tower, ya know. Ditches won't dig themselves. Burgers need flipping.
She suggested that Monroe's Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. "They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement," she said. Wow, no shit? Maybe it should have occurred to her at some point during her 4+ years at college that she'd get more out of it if she earned better grades.
Yes. My local apple store is little more than a glorified cell phone kiosk. It's one of the only places to go if you have an iPhone since Apple and ATT have a strangle hold on the supply chain.
The last time I needed apple repair service (movers cooked a power supply in a G4 tower) the insurance companies and Apple sent it to a local mom'n'pop store.... one which has since been forced out of business thanks to the Apple Cell Phone Kiosk down the road.
Exactly. Besides, if GPL software were really free, it wouldn't need *any* kind of copy protection - copyleft or copyright.
I currently work at MSFC and do things with evolutionary computation. To stay on the safe side in mixed company, I tend to avoid the "e" word altogether. Generally even the most hardboiled YEC's can accept analogies with "selective breeding" and "hybrid vigor".
Besides bible-inspired woo, I've also run into a few Electric Universe people at Marshall. Takes all kinds.
As long as they're throwing hissy fits about Rorschach tests, they might as well yank the article on eye charts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snellen_chart
Here,
E
FP
TOZ
LPED
PECFD
EDFCZP
FELOPZD
DEFPOTEC
I humbly await the eye doctors of the world to DMCA me.