Or instead of frustrating yourself by always being on the cutting edge, you could just buy what fits your needs, TODAY. Not "what will I need in 5 years". Not "what will the neighbours have in 6 months". Today.
It's not like if you buy a DVD burner tomorrow it's going to stop working all of a sudden. Besides, once this new format is affordable, you'll just be repeating the whining cycle, because there will be an even better, more expensive format out there.
Well, better get to work rebuying your entire video collection, again.
Toshiba/NEC's standard is fully backwards compatible with the existing DVD standard. What this means is, unlike Blu-ray, you can watch your old movies on the new players. No need for re-buying, unless you're bored:)
Considering how many more people die annually from traffic accidents (speed often considered a contributing factor) than murders, I'm inclined to be happy with that situation.
You and a lot of educated people back when the printing press was invented.
Before this, most information was passed down verbally, and people couldn't just "look up" an answer to a problem - they had to figure it out for themselves. 15/16th century academics often worried that mass availability of printed material would stop people from thinking for themselves, because all the answers were available on paper.
I've heard of schools fighting against textbooks even into the 20th century for this very reason. Of course, once the publishers started using kickbacks, we all acquiesced:)
Imagine if the library of Alexandria had been "backed up" to another site somewhere else in the world.
Or to bring it closer to home, a friend of mine recently had a house fire. He now only has photographs of his life dating from about 1999 onwards, when he first bought a digital camera.
I suspect the Domesday book either isn't quite as important to people as Slashdotters try to make it out to be, or they chose a really stupid format to put it in. What, did the reading equipment suddenly just break one day? Or did the thing sit and languish for a decade until someone realized "hey, we can't read this thing anymore?"
Properly stored, it's trivial to avoid the issue that's happened with the Domesday. When you realize your equipment is no longer current, copy it onto something more modern. Hell, I can still pull files off my 20 year old Commodore 64 with a little work.
I've just removed IM from my life entirely. Well, it was a few years ago, when ICQ turned to shit, and suddenly everyone was on different IM systems. Having 5 client programs just to do what is really email/IRC really pissed me off.
I've since tried Trillian, and I suppose it works for some people, but I still don't see the point.
Perhaps it's a little harsh, but I've essentially told people that if they want to communicate with me, they can use email, IRC, or *gasp* the telephone. I'm not interested in signing up for yet another service just to get "Hey, what's up?" 50 times every time I log onto my computer. I guess I'm one of the few who watched as every few months there was some new IM service and people randomly seemed to switch.
If people get REALLY beligerent about it, I just tell them I only use Linux on my desktop (which is a complete lie), and because Linux is such an immature operating system, it can't handle IM. It's funny, because in the past 3 years I have never had anyone question this. Diehard IM'ers that I know are all non-technical types, or so it seems.
Red Hat charges $349 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES, per their website. This price includes a FULL year of updates for free. Uhm, wow.
The grandparent was talking about demo accounts. Which are used when you HAVEN'T paid for support. Which happens when you get RedHat for free.
Any remote root exploit, of which there have been several.
Really? Find me one. Read my criteria and point it out to me. It'll be news to RedHat users to know that their systems can be compromisd by sendmail or openssh exploits when they're not even installed or running.
Uhm, ever heard of firewalls? Ever heard of IPSec policies under Windows 2000? you probably haven't, but most competent 2000 administrators have, and they use them.
Again, thanks for not reading. I'd love to see a Windows install that had a firewall enabled by default. Really I would. A properly administered machine is irrelevent to the discussion, as the number of vulnerabilities discovered becomes meaningless if you're keeping it up to date.
The grandparent was trying to equate exploitability of Windows and RedHat. Properly administered, both machines are equally secure, so it's a moot point. Problem is, if you're not perfect, you're a lot more likely to get nailed on Windows than on RedHat.
You're right, it needs the browser to work. Still pretty damn close to a remote root exploit, in a Windows environment anyway. Visit a malicious webpage, and bang! you're rooted.
I might be going out on a limb here, but I would venture to say that there's a much bigger threat because the dude could just kick my door down and take my entire computer away with him.
Person breaks into your place, steals your computer. You know about it, you can call the cops. You can also change bank account info, credit cards, passwords, or any other information you might keep on your computer (they're used for more than just porn, ya know:).
Someone hacks in remotely, you have no clue it happened. They can do what they want, when they want, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
Hell, even Microsoft doesn't force you to go through a lengthly (or much of any, besides activation) registration in order to use Windows Update.
No, they just charge you $400 for your copy of Windows first.
It also seems like Red Hat is neck and neck with Microsoft concerning number of vulnerabilities, as of late.
Number of vulnerabilities != severity of vulnerabilities.
Show me something as damaging as the RPC holes on RH. It has to be installed by default, you cannot just turn off the service blindly without breaking things, it has to lead to root access on the machine, and it also has to somehow bypass iptables in order to get into the machine in the first place.
Show me that, and I'll re-evaluate your post as being anything other than a troll.
What, exactly do Nazis have to do with any of this?
I'm serious. This is a private interest, doing what it wants, hurting no one. You don't like it, go make your own search engine. This is what is known as freedom.
Pretty much the exact opposite of the Nazis, if you ask me.
We had an incident a few years ago in Canada, where a woman drove home drunk after her staff party, crashed her car, severely injured herself, etc.
The courts ended up finding the bar that held the party partly responsible for her injuries. Her employer was also held at fault, for failing to prevent her from driving drunk.
Now, this is after her sober co-workers offered to:
a) call her a cab b) call her husband to come get her c) drive her home themselves
Short of physically restraining her (and imagine the lawsuits there!), there's pretty much sweet diddly they could have done. Yet, our legal system placed quite a bit of blame on the bar and her boss for allowing her to be so irresponsible.
Of course, there's also the case of the drunk guy who jumped off a roof at a party, aiming for the pool, but hit the concrete instead. He successfully sued the homeowner's insurance company for damages.
It's very well established by now that in Canada, bars can be held responsible for the actions of their patrons, even after they leave. I find it patently absurd, but hey, the bar does after all keep forcing alcohol down my throat...:)
Slashdot Mirror
Or instead of frustrating yourself by always being on the cutting edge, you could just buy what fits your needs, TODAY. Not "what will I need in 5 years". Not "what will the neighbours have in 6 months". Today.
It's not like if you buy a DVD burner tomorrow it's going to stop working all of a sudden. Besides, once this new format is affordable, you'll just be repeating the whining cycle, because there will be an even better, more expensive format out there.
Well, better get to work rebuying your entire video collection, again.
:)
Toshiba/NEC's standard is fully backwards compatible with the existing DVD standard. What this means is, unlike Blu-ray, you can watch your old movies on the new players. No need for re-buying, unless you're bored
Considering how many more people die annually from traffic accidents (speed often considered a contributing factor) than murders, I'm inclined to be happy with that situation.
As opposed to spending their valuable time posting to Slashdot, perhaps?
I feel that they often promote less thinking
:)
You and a lot of educated people back when the printing press was invented.
Before this, most information was passed down verbally, and people couldn't just "look up" an answer to a problem - they had to figure it out for themselves. 15/16th century academics often worried that mass availability of printed material would stop people from thinking for themselves, because all the answers were available on paper.
I've heard of schools fighting against textbooks even into the 20th century for this very reason. Of course, once the publishers started using kickbacks, we all acquiesced
Until it burns.
Imagine if the library of Alexandria had been "backed up" to another site somewhere else in the world.
Or to bring it closer to home, a friend of mine recently had a house fire. He now only has photographs of his life dating from about 1999 onwards, when he first bought a digital camera.
I suspect the Domesday book either isn't quite as important to people as Slashdotters try to make it out to be, or they chose a really stupid format to put it in. What, did the reading equipment suddenly just break one day? Or did the thing sit and languish for a decade until someone realized "hey, we can't read this thing anymore?"
Properly stored, it's trivial to avoid the issue that's happened with the Domesday. When you realize your equipment is no longer current, copy it onto something more modern. Hell, I can still pull files off my 20 year old Commodore 64 with a little work.
Attitudes like this are suspiciously like historians/archaeologists used to be (until very recently, anyway).
"Why should we care about the common man, we only want to record the *important* events".
You never know what's important data 50 or 100 years down the road.
Daniel Brandt, is that you?
I didn't know you had a Slashdot account!
I've just removed IM from my life entirely. Well, it was a few years ago, when ICQ turned to shit, and suddenly everyone was on different IM systems. Having 5 client programs just to do what is really email/IRC really pissed me off.
I've since tried Trillian, and I suppose it works for some people, but I still don't see the point.
Perhaps it's a little harsh, but I've essentially told people that if they want to communicate with me, they can use email, IRC, or *gasp* the telephone. I'm not interested in signing up for yet another service just to get "Hey, what's up?" 50 times every time I log onto my computer. I guess I'm one of the few who watched as every few months there was some new IM service and people randomly seemed to switch.
If people get REALLY beligerent about it, I just tell them I only use Linux on my desktop (which is a complete lie), and because Linux is such an immature operating system, it can't handle IM. It's funny, because in the past 3 years I have never had anyone question this. Diehard IM'ers that I know are all non-technical types, or so it seems.
Well, realistically all ISPs rent their bandwidth from their upstream providers as well. Except for the boys on top, of course.
:)
Gotta love legalese so vague that it turns every Slashdotter into an ISP
To hell with estimating, I'd rather have a firm grasp on the number.
Red Hat charges $349 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES, per their website. This price includes a FULL year of updates for free. Uhm, wow.
The grandparent was talking about demo accounts. Which are used when you HAVEN'T paid for support. Which happens when you get RedHat for free.
Any remote root exploit, of which there have been several.
Really? Find me one. Read my criteria and point it out to me. It'll be news to RedHat users to know that their systems can be compromisd by sendmail or openssh exploits when they're not even installed or running.
Uhm, ever heard of firewalls? Ever heard of IPSec policies under Windows 2000? you probably haven't, but most competent 2000 administrators have, and they use them.
Again, thanks for not reading. I'd love to see a Windows install that had a firewall enabled by default. Really I would. A properly administered machine is irrelevent to the discussion, as the number of vulnerabilities discovered becomes meaningless if you're keeping it up to date.
The grandparent was trying to equate exploitability of Windows and RedHat. Properly administered, both machines are equally secure, so it's a moot point. Problem is, if you're not perfect, you're a lot more likely to get nailed on Windows than on RedHat.
Sorry, I linked to the wrong page.
Yu said the redirection feature could also be exploited to download and execute a malicious file on a user's system.
You're right, it needs the browser to work. Still pretty damn close to a remote root exploit, in a Windows environment anyway. Visit a malicious webpage, and bang! you're rooted.
I might be going out on a limb here, but I would venture to say that there's a much bigger threat because the dude could just kick my door down and take my entire computer away with him.
:).
Person breaks into your place, steals your computer. You know about it, you can call the cops. You can also change bank account info, credit cards, passwords, or any other information you might keep on your computer (they're used for more than just porn, ya know
Someone hacks in remotely, you have no clue it happened. They can do what they want, when they want, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
Yeah, on a day with 5 new IE holes (most of which are the same magnitude), I'll have to agree with you.
I'm not sure I really want a magnetic field around my head.
Better leave Earth then!
People always say "get them what you want, what you'd like to get, and you're home safe"...
Who the hell says that?!? Homer Simpson? (see the bowling episode from season 1).
Anyone who says something like that can be described in one word: self-centred.
Everyone is Microsoft's enemy.
According to Bill Gates, Microsoft is not a monopoly.
According to Bill Gates, the Internet is irrelevant (circa 1995).
According to Bill Gates, a web browsers is an integral part of an operating system.
etc, etc, ad nauseum
Actually, we welcome the Return of the King.
So does most of Slashdot.
Hell, even Microsoft doesn't force you to go through a lengthly (or much of any, besides activation) registration in order to use Windows Update.
No, they just charge you $400 for your copy of Windows first.
It also seems like Red Hat is neck and neck with Microsoft concerning number of vulnerabilities, as of late.
Number of vulnerabilities != severity of vulnerabilities.
Show me something as damaging as the RPC holes on RH. It has to be installed by default, you cannot just turn off the service blindly without breaking things, it has to lead to root access on the machine, and it also has to somehow bypass iptables in order to get into the machine in the first place.
Show me that, and I'll re-evaluate your post as being anything other than a troll.
Hello, Mr. Godwin!
What, exactly do Nazis have to do with any of this?
I'm serious. This is a private interest, doing what it wants, hurting no one. You don't like it, go make your own search engine. This is what is known as freedom.
Pretty much the exact opposite of the Nazis, if you ask me.
These companies act like they're owed something more based solely on the fact that they were getting it before. Merit-less entitlement.
Here's where I cue in an Ayn Rand line, and the thread devolves into a shouting match, eventually comparing her to the Nazis.
I call it the "Rand Collary to Godwin's Law".
C'mon, Slashdot, don't let me down!
We had an incident a few years ago in Canada, where a woman drove home drunk after her staff party, crashed her car, severely injured herself, etc.
:)
The courts ended up finding the bar that held the party partly responsible for her injuries. Her employer was also held at fault, for failing to prevent her from driving drunk.
Now, this is after her sober co-workers offered to:
a) call her a cab
b) call her husband to come get her
c) drive her home themselves
Short of physically restraining her (and imagine the lawsuits there!), there's pretty much sweet diddly they could have done. Yet, our legal system placed quite a bit of blame on the bar and her boss for allowing her to be so irresponsible.
Of course, there's also the case of the drunk guy who jumped off a roof at a party, aiming for the pool, but hit the concrete instead. He successfully sued the homeowner's insurance company for damages.
It's very well established by now that in Canada, bars can be held responsible for the actions of their patrons, even after they leave. I find it patently absurd, but hey, the bar does after all keep forcing alcohol down my throat...
Which is pretty much the same thing.
:)
Now we can start a fun thread on the existence of altruism