Is it because its more trendy than a desktop or something? Even if this is the case, who cares? Why does the intellegence community need them? If data is sensitive, even in the slightest, it shouldn't EVER be in a position that it could be accidently LEFT LYING AROUND SOMEWHERE! It should remain confined within a secure guarded perimeter. Even when kept internally it is subject to potential security breaches, networks can be cracked, spies can smuggle out information, etc, but at least thats a far cry than being able to just pick up a 4 pound object and walk away with it and spend all the time you need trying to figure out what you have.
Besides this reason, laptops are fragile, expensive, and rarely contain many user servicable parts. Even if you were going to set up a system in a public environment, would you prefer your potential thief to be forced to lug around 40+ pounds of bulky equipment or be able to slide 4 pounds worth of equipment into a backpack and walk away?
It would sure help make people honest. Sure, that laptop you're illegally pilfering is probably not rigged to explode in your face... but how can you be sure? Best to just leave it exactly where you found it.
And you could extend this to other items as well. Every retail shop could come equipped with one or several decoy items, so if the place gets ransacked, the thieves would either be trackable, or better yet, you could detonate the payload, either something destructive, or something the equivalant to a dyepack.
Thats the same thing as saying there won't be another slashdot oriented site thats as popular as slashdot.
Well.... to that I say.. of course!:)
They paved the way with their concept, and they deserve to reap the benefits from it, whatever that might be. This doesn't stop anyone from competeing if they want to, but if they choose to compete on common ground, they should expect to come up short, as they're going to compete against the the incumbant.
Its VERY difficult to unseat the first to bring the niche to market. It takes a company with the power and influence of Microsoft to accomplish this. This is why AOL is still the most prominant internet service provider, and why Intel is still the premiere maker of x86 chips, even if they're more expensive.
However, there is an infinite quantity of new ground to cover. Of course, its hard to say what exactly this would be because nobody has implemented it yet. To succeed you need a little bit of marketing intellegence and a whole lot of luck, but it can happen. From first glance, the amihotornot concept does not seem to be anything that isn't intuitively obvious, but it has the advantage of not offered before with the proper mixture of smoothness and addictiveness. Thus it made it big. If its success has crippled the potential success of "me too!" followers, so be it.
Dream up your own concept. Don't keep scratching the itch that has already been scratched... find a new itch.
"Good friends" can be the most dangerous people in the world. At least you're naturaly suspicious of most other people, but good friends can sneak up behind you and stab you in the back and you'll never know what happened until its too late.
Not to say you can't trust them. The point is, the first time you suspect that you CAN'T trust them, you shouldn't ever trust them from that point on.
Sorry. I've been burned before.
Bittersweet advice...
Don't have good friends as roommates. Sure, you want to KNOW the person and you want to be able to get along with them, but nobody can get on your nerves quite like a GOOD friend, and they're a lot harder to kick out if things go sour for some reason.
Don't lend money to friends if you expect to be paid back. If they pay you back, thats an act of good faith on their part that shows their quality. If they don't, you have every excuse not to lend money to them again. Otherwise, that loan will become a tension point and you'd have been better off never lending it to them in the first place.
Don't go into business with anyone who doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on reality. Buisiness that boom overnight are rare, and even more rarely predictable. A friend might have some glorious plan for becoming a millionaire overnight and want you to quit your job and put in 80 hour weeks to help him realize his dream and reap the benefits. Don't hesitate to be the rational mind in the situation. Even if he believes what he's saying, you'll still end up throwing a lot of money and time at a black hole.
However, a sobering business plan, with modest investment, and a reasonable expectation of profits after a period of time that isn't based
on a quackjob theory, THAT might be something that interests me. Sure, it doesn't sound like its got the potential to turn me into an overnight millionaire, but at least I'd have better faith in the chances.
If for no other reason, having opt-in only means that the RIAA doesn't have to do a damn thing except patrol napster occasionally and search for infringing material, at which point they can sue again because napster failed to filter it.
Napster simply isn't designed to run this way. MP3.COM is. Of course, if I remember correctly the RIAA doesn't care much for MP3.COM either.
It was stated in the article that past inititives to control the media content of consumers had died a quick market death. The only way to implement wide scale protection of this sort would be to leave no other options for consumers. As long as there is one holdout, that company won't be able to manufacture hardware fast enough.
People aren't stupid, contrary to popular belief. Sell them two harddrives at the same price, specify that one will allow you to store mp3's and the other won't, guess which one they're going to buy?
Even complete systems will probably have to post some type of disclaimer after numerous irate customers return systems in droves because they're not "allowed" to store certain files on their harddisk or aren't allowed to burn those files to a CD. See how long the big name companies stick to the moral antipiracy stance when they're not selling any products.
But then again, when we think of interfacing with a computer, we picture a keyboard, mouse and a monitor able to display 32 bit color in 1024x768 or at the very least text in 80x25 columns. This type of interface is infeasible for a watch.
However, consider that we simply won't be doing the same things with a watch that we do with the monster on your desk. We won't be writing reports on it, we won't be spending 20 hour stretches kernel hacking on it, nor will we be playing the latest incarnation of Quake. It probably won't even make a remarkably good websurfer. It would appear quite useless from typical computer standards.
But thats exactly the point. Its not going to be used as a typical computer. I can think of quite a few novelty uses for it besides keeping time. Certainly many of the PDA functions could be replicated on a device as small as a watch. But the true power of a such a device is the capability that a dynamic operating system provides. I don't know what it could be used for tomorrow, but knowing the device runs linux, I have a good shot at being able to implement a useful feature should the opportunity arise, and I won't necessarily have to do a hardware upgrade to accomplish it.
As for battery power, two hours might not seem like a lot of time, but think of how long cell phones used to last with MUCH larger batteries. It will require a combination of more efficient batteries and more efficient electronics, along with an easy method of recharging. Since this is still very much a prototype stage, I fail to see the issue.
Perhaps someone actually requires an instant message type service. So where are the open source solutions? Of course, I understand they probably exist, but they haven't propogated as well as the commercial ones have.
Here's the answer. We create such a system. Don't make ANY effort to be compatible with the AOL systems. This is designed to replace, not to coexist with those systems. Create it to be bug free and cross platform, of course. Then... add THE feature. Whatever feature will draw in the 90% of the users for whom it is a challenge locating the start button, like most MCSE's.
Now...here's the trick. If this system were to become extremely popular, such that it actually rivaled the other services, they would probably add in support for it (being an open protocol, they certainly could). The trick would be forcing open their system as well in the process, although I don't think the GPL can reach THAT far.:)
Actually... I'd rather prefer to keep the bandwidth unrestricted and just block out the abusers. I think the wireless net devices can block based on MAC addresses, although I'm unsure if those addresses can be modified or not (I'd assume not). That way, the only way to get back into the network would be to get ahold of another device, which would get costly after a while.
I'm not really concerned if someone leeches ONE mp3. I'm worried about the individual(s) who use this as their own private internet service instead of a momentary convienence for those who are mobile, as intended.
I can't see any real problem providing free wireless access to my neighborhood, especially if I was using it anyways. A good chunk of my bandwidth goes unused anyways, and bandwidth is a use it or lose it resource, so it might as well get used.
However, its important that this service does not get abused. It needs to be used for WIRELESS access, not 24/7 mp3 leeching or commercial services which are better and more convienently used with wired connections. However, for convienent mobile access while sitting in a coffee shop or in the car, this makes a LOT of sense. A lot more sense than a 128kbps $79 a month option from a company that has one foot in bankrupcy court.
Everyone who spends money on the wireless interface probably already has a similar setup at home, and most likely has a high bandwidth internet feed. If they provide the same public access service, then everyone will benefit.
Up through Ultima 7, the games were great. Then EA bought them out.. And what happens?
U8 is no longer a roleplaying game, its an arcade game. Ultima Online is released with only a cosmetic similarity to the game and the concept behind the game series. Funny how a company can take a game series with a rich and powerful virtuous theme and turn it into an online game that becomes the exact opposite.
And Ultima Ascention. Don't even talk to me about how badly they screwed THAT up.
Origin had what it needed. A steadily growing loyal fanbase. People who knew how to design and tell a story through an interactive game environment. And most importantly, a strong leader who had been with the project since the inception.
And now, that fanbase has been decimated, storytelling is overrated as long as the game has the best 3D graphics available today, and of course, the leader has quit after the company he guided for two decades is destroyed because someone upstairs thought that it was best to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
And whatever happened with Sierra? I remember saving up my money as a kid and begging my parents to drive me to the computer store so I could buy a new game released by this company.
Even after a new interface was introduced, the games didn't lose their spirit.
But thats all gone now too. Perhaps they weren't making enough money. I don't know. Storytelling doesn't take a lot of money. It doesn't require a team of hundreds of programmers. It doesn't require movie studio equipment and it doesn't require blockbuster movie budgets.
What it requires is a well organized team, a leader with the appropriate vision, creative people who have something to contribute, and artists who can say more with less. Once upon a time, we couldn't render 100fps realtime 3D in 32 bit color. So we had to make up in story what we couldn't convey in realism. But it was certainly more fun back then.
I mean, you have to admire their courage. If this was real life and not on the internet, a good metaphor for the script kiddy would be the weakest, scrawniest little kid who walks into a dark alley, finds the strongest, nastiest, most well armed individual that he does not know, walking up to him, screaming whatever insult he can come up with and taking a piss on his leg.
Of course, the big difference is, in real life, this kid wouldn't EVER try that again, nor would any other kids who ever heard about it.
If you're using it only in house, nobody will ever be able to obtain a copy of it to determine that its infringing. Sure, the SBA might do a raid looking for pirated software, but its not pirated software, as you coded it yourself.
There may be other thorny legal issues that arise if you try to make that program publicly available, but so long as its only used in house, I can't see any indication of a problem.
The scary thing is, using agent and downloading all your mp3's from newsservers is a piece of cake, and MUCH less frustrating than using napster ever was. Of course, you sometimes have to be patient, because you can't get everything all at once, but given a short length of time, everything eventually becomes available.
However, as easy as using usenet is, its way beyond most of the the internet users who were bred on AOL and still think that Internet Explorer IS the internet. The entire concept of usenet probably escapes them and even if they decided to investigate it, they would be initially overwelmed and forget about it, rather to spend hours a day desparately searching on webpages, sifting through numerous porn banners and such.
Thats why napster was such a hit. Just type in the name of the song you want and keep clicking on the name until one of them downloads. It saves the users the trouble of thinking too much.
This is no big loss. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it. But there probably WILL be a backlash. The public as a whole has gotten a taste of what the internet CAN offer, and its going to be very hard for them to be pacified. Even the whole Pig Latin thing probably won't take off. Thats more complex than they want to deal with. They're going to want it to be as easy as it was before. And if market forces have their way, they may actually succeed.
True, there may be "unclean hands", but if the activity is hidden by encryption that can't be legally broken, then there is no way to determine if the activity is actually taking place. Certainly, if probable cause is available to justify a warrant to break the encryption, its possible, but as long as the service has some non infringing uses, there is no way that simply using the service can be considered probable cause.
What is needed is some type of alarm system. Somehow force anyone attempting to monitor the data to engage in some type of handshake which will be able to capture IP addresses. If any of these IP addresses come from an unauthorized source, the "attacker" can be traced and prosecuted.
Quite often the return route differs. In fact, in many cases, subsequent traceroutes won't even be the same. Packets will take whatever route any given router sends it by. If packets always followed the same route, there wouldn't be any such thing as out of order packets.
Just because a packet travelling from point A to point B passing through router C, because point A thought C was the best place to send the packet, does not mean that B will think the same thing. B may send the packet to a different router, or any of the many routers in between might make such a decision.
Of course, it doesn't really make any difference as long as the packet gets there. When this becomes significant is when you get horrible latency or speed issues when connecting to a specific site but nobody else has the same problem. The site may have plenty of bandwidth, but a router somewhere in between is sending your data to you through a clogged hole somewhere.
This is an excellent start, as most starts are. Obvious improvements would be to code it in a less interpretive language, and to add local directory features to provide the room description. For all I know, this might be an option already, I only scanned the source briefly.
some of the issues mentioned in the original thread, such as concepts such as "file I edited yesterday" would be useful and interesting, or maybe just interesting, or maybe just cool.
Winamp (and I imagine other programs) is capable of directing the output to a WAV file that can be burned to a CD with no difficulties whatsoever. And this is assuming you want an audio cd when you're finished. How exactly they expect to prevent me from copying files and burning them straight, I have no clue.
However, my best guess is that it will involve storing all mp3's inside a loopback type encrypted filesystem, and all mp3 playback will have to be through napster's program. Of course, this is far from foolproof. A couple days with a disassembler, and all this will be for naught.
Of course, I still say that none of this matters. Napster can be whatever it wants to be. I don't use it, never have used it and don't plan to start anytime soon. I can't keep up with the inflow of mp3's I'm getting now, why would I want to make the "problem" worse.:)
Slashdot Mirror
Is it because its more trendy than a desktop or something? Even if this is the case, who cares? Why does the intellegence community need them? If data is sensitive, even in the slightest, it shouldn't EVER be in a position that it could be accidently LEFT LYING AROUND SOMEWHERE! It should remain confined within a secure guarded perimeter. Even when kept internally it is subject to potential security breaches, networks can be cracked, spies can smuggle out information, etc, but at least thats a far cry than being able to just pick up a 4 pound object and walk away with it and spend all the time you need trying to figure out what you have.
Besides this reason, laptops are fragile, expensive, and rarely contain many user servicable parts. Even if you were going to set up a system in a public environment, would you prefer your potential thief to be forced to lug around 40+ pounds of bulky equipment or be able to slide 4 pounds worth of equipment into a backpack and walk away?
-Restil
It would sure help make people honest. Sure, that laptop you're illegally pilfering is probably not rigged to explode in your face... but how can you be sure? Best to just leave it exactly where you found it.
And you could extend this to other items as well. Every retail shop could come equipped with one or several decoy items, so if the place gets ransacked, the thieves would either be trackable, or better yet, you could detonate the payload, either something destructive, or something the equivalant to a dyepack.
-Restil
Thats the same thing as saying there won't be another slashdot oriented site thats as popular as slashdot.
:)
Well.... to that I say.. of course!
They paved the way with their concept, and they deserve to reap the benefits from it, whatever that might be. This doesn't stop anyone from competeing if they want to, but if they choose to compete on common ground, they should expect to come up short, as they're going to compete against the the incumbant.
Its VERY difficult to unseat the first to bring the niche to market. It takes a company with the power and influence of Microsoft to accomplish this. This is why AOL is still the most prominant internet service provider, and why Intel is still the premiere maker of x86 chips, even if they're more expensive.
However, there is an infinite quantity of new ground to cover. Of course, its hard to say what exactly this would be because nobody has implemented it yet. To succeed you need a little bit of marketing intellegence and a whole lot of luck, but it can happen. From first glance, the amihotornot concept does not seem to be anything that isn't intuitively obvious, but it has the advantage of not offered before with the proper mixture of smoothness and addictiveness. Thus it made it big. If its success has crippled the potential success of "me too!" followers, so be it.
Dream up your own concept. Don't keep scratching the itch that has already been scratched... find a new itch.
-Restil
And a true Ultima fan will understand the significance of this.
:)
"Good friends" can be the most dangerous people in the world. At least you're naturaly suspicious of most other people, but good friends can sneak up behind you and stab you in the back and you'll never know what happened until its too late.
Not to say you can't trust them. The point is, the first time you suspect that you CAN'T trust them, you shouldn't ever trust them from that point on.
Sorry. I've been burned before.
Bittersweet advice...
Don't have good friends as roommates. Sure, you want to KNOW the person and you want to be able to get along with them, but nobody can get on your nerves quite like a GOOD friend, and they're a lot harder to kick out if things go sour for some reason.
Don't lend money to friends if you expect to be paid back. If they pay you back, thats an act of good faith on their part that shows their quality. If they don't, you have every excuse not to lend money to them again. Otherwise, that loan will become a tension point and you'd have been better off never lending it to them in the first place.
Don't go into business with anyone who doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on reality. Buisiness that boom overnight are rare, and even more rarely predictable. A friend might have some glorious plan for becoming a millionaire overnight and want you to quit your job and put in 80 hour weeks to help him realize his dream and reap the benefits. Don't hesitate to be the rational mind in the situation. Even if he believes what he's saying, you'll still end up throwing a lot of money and time at a black hole.
However, a sobering business plan, with modest investment, and a reasonable expectation of profits after a period of time that isn't based
on a quackjob theory, THAT might be something that interests me. Sure, it doesn't sound like its got the potential to turn me into an overnight millionaire, but at least I'd have better faith in the chances.
-Restil
Yes, I know you were being humorous....
But I wrote that guide you're referring to.. Please don't use it as an official reference that makes it sound like I know what I'm talking about.
PLEASE!
:)
-Restil
You can find all the buffy shows you want on usenet.
And Voyager
and Simpsons
and Southpark
and Futurama
and Andromeda
and Friends
and plenty of other shows I don't watch.
-Restil
Wait a day everyone.
:)
Notice the date.
-Restil
If for no other reason, having opt-in only means that the RIAA doesn't have to do a damn thing except patrol napster occasionally and search for infringing material, at which point they can sue again because napster failed to filter it.
Napster simply isn't designed to run this way. MP3.COM is. Of course, if I remember correctly the RIAA doesn't care much for MP3.COM either.
-Restil
It was stated in the article that past inititives to control the media content of consumers had died a quick market death. The only way to implement wide scale protection of this sort would be to leave no other options for consumers. As long as there is one holdout, that company won't be able to manufacture hardware fast enough.
People aren't stupid, contrary to popular belief. Sell them two harddrives at the same price, specify that one will allow you to store mp3's and the other won't, guess which one they're going to buy?
Even complete systems will probably have to post some type of disclaimer after numerous irate customers return systems in droves because they're not "allowed" to store certain files on their harddisk or aren't allowed to burn those files to a CD. See how long the big name companies stick to the moral antipiracy stance when they're not selling any products.
-Restil
But then again, when we think of interfacing with a computer, we picture a keyboard, mouse and a monitor able to display 32 bit color in 1024x768 or at the very least text in 80x25 columns. This type of interface is infeasible for a watch.
However, consider that we simply won't be doing the same things with a watch that we do with the monster on your desk. We won't be writing reports on it, we won't be spending 20 hour stretches kernel hacking on it, nor will we be playing the latest incarnation of Quake. It probably won't even make a remarkably good websurfer. It would appear quite useless from typical computer standards.
But thats exactly the point. Its not going to be used as a typical computer. I can think of quite a few novelty uses for it besides keeping time. Certainly many of the PDA functions could be replicated on a device as small as a watch. But the true power of a such a device is the capability that a dynamic operating system provides. I don't know what it could be used for tomorrow, but knowing the device runs linux, I have a good shot at being able to implement a useful feature should the opportunity arise, and I won't necessarily have to do a hardware upgrade to accomplish it.
As for battery power, two hours might not seem like a lot of time, but think of how long cell phones used to last with MUCH larger batteries. It will require a combination of more efficient batteries and more efficient electronics, along with an easy method of recharging. Since this is still very much a prototype stage, I fail to see the issue.
-Restil
Perhaps someone actually requires an instant message type service. So where are the open source solutions? Of course, I understand they probably exist, but they haven't propogated as well as the commercial ones have.
:)
:)
Here's the answer. We create such a system. Don't make ANY effort to be compatible with the AOL systems. This is designed to replace, not to coexist with those systems. Create it to be bug free and cross platform, of course. Then... add THE feature. Whatever feature will draw in the 90% of the users for whom it is a challenge locating the start button, like most MCSE's.
Now...here's the trick. If this system were to become extremely popular, such that it actually rivaled the other services, they would probably add in support for it (being an open protocol, they certainly could). The trick would be forcing open their system as well in the process, although I don't think the GPL can reach THAT far.
Wishful thinking, yes yes I know.
-Restil
Actually... I'd rather prefer to keep the bandwidth unrestricted and just block out the abusers. I think the wireless net devices can block based on MAC addresses, although I'm unsure if those addresses can be modified or not (I'd assume not). That way, the only way to get back into the network would be to get ahold of another device, which would get costly after a while.
I'm not really concerned if someone leeches ONE mp3. I'm worried about the individual(s) who use this as their own private internet service instead of a momentary convienence for those who are mobile, as intended.
-Restil
I can't see any real problem providing free wireless access to my neighborhood, especially if I was using it anyways. A good chunk of my bandwidth goes unused anyways, and bandwidth is a use it or lose it resource, so it might as well get used.
However, its important that this service does not get abused. It needs to be used for WIRELESS access, not 24/7 mp3 leeching or commercial services which are better and more convienently used with wired connections. However, for convienent mobile access while sitting in a coffee shop or in the car, this makes a LOT of sense. A lot more sense than a 128kbps $79 a month option from a company that has one foot in bankrupcy court.
Everyone who spends money on the wireless interface probably already has a similar setup at home, and most likely has a high bandwidth internet feed. If they provide the same public access service, then everyone will benefit.
-Restil
Especially the Ultima Series.
Up through Ultima 7, the games were great. Then EA bought them out.. And what happens?
U8 is no longer a roleplaying game, its an arcade game. Ultima Online is released with only a cosmetic similarity to the game and the concept behind the game series. Funny how a company can take a game series with a rich and powerful virtuous theme and turn it into an online game that becomes the exact opposite.
And Ultima Ascention. Don't even talk to me about how badly they screwed THAT up.
Origin had what it needed. A steadily growing loyal fanbase. People who knew how to design and tell a story through an interactive game environment. And most importantly, a strong leader who had been with the project since the inception.
And now, that fanbase has been decimated, storytelling is overrated as long as the game has the best 3D graphics available today, and of course, the leader has quit after the company he guided for two decades is destroyed because someone upstairs thought that it was best to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
And whatever happened with Sierra? I remember saving up my money as a kid and begging my parents to drive me to the computer store so I could buy a new game released by this company.
Even after a new interface was introduced, the games didn't lose their spirit.
But thats all gone now too. Perhaps they weren't making enough money. I don't know. Storytelling doesn't take a lot of money. It doesn't require a team of hundreds of programmers. It doesn't require movie studio equipment and it doesn't require blockbuster movie budgets.
What it requires is a well organized team, a leader with the appropriate vision, creative people who have something to contribute, and artists who can say more with less. Once upon a time, we couldn't render 100fps realtime 3D in 32 bit color. So we had to make up in story what we couldn't convey in realism. But it was certainly more fun back then.
-Restil
Argh....
:)
My text based linux icq client doesn't have a security and privacy tag. I guess I'm out of luck.
-Restil
I mean, you have to admire their courage. If this was real life and not on the internet, a good metaphor for the script kiddy would be the weakest, scrawniest little kid who walks into a dark alley, finds the strongest, nastiest, most well armed individual that he does not know, walking up to him, screaming whatever insult he can come up with and taking a piss on his leg.
Of course, the big difference is, in real life, this kid wouldn't EVER try that again, nor would any other kids who ever heard about it.
It only takes one.
-Restil
If you're using it only in house, nobody will ever be able to obtain a copy of it to determine that its infringing. Sure, the SBA might do a raid looking for pirated software, but its not pirated software, as you coded it yourself.
There may be other thorny legal issues that arise if you try to make that program publicly available, but so long as its only used in house, I can't see any indication of a problem.
-Restil
Very good point you made here.
The scary thing is, using agent and downloading all your mp3's from newsservers is a piece of cake, and MUCH less frustrating than using napster ever was. Of course, you sometimes have to be patient, because you can't get everything all at once, but given a short length of time, everything eventually becomes available.
However, as easy as using usenet is, its way beyond most of the the internet users who were bred on AOL and still think that Internet Explorer IS the internet. The entire concept of usenet probably escapes them and even if they decided to investigate it, they would be initially overwelmed and forget about it, rather to spend hours a day desparately searching on webpages, sifting through numerous porn banners and such.
Thats why napster was such a hit. Just type in the name of the song you want and keep clicking on the name until one of them downloads. It saves the users the trouble of thinking too much.
This is no big loss. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it. But there probably WILL be a backlash. The public as a whole has gotten a taste of what the internet CAN offer, and its going to be very hard for them to be pacified. Even the whole Pig Latin thing probably won't take off. Thats more complex than they want to deal with. They're going to want it to be as easy as it was before. And if market forces have their way, they may actually succeed.
-Restil
Lets see...
There were 2 banners about credit card debt.
Careerbuilder.com
Wall Street Journal.
Something about weight loss.
Thats all I can remember.
-Restil
True, there may be "unclean hands", but if the activity is hidden by encryption that can't be legally broken, then there is no way to determine if the activity is actually taking place. Certainly, if probable cause is available to justify a warrant to break the encryption, its possible, but as long as the service has some non infringing uses, there is no way that simply using the service can be considered probable cause.
What is needed is some type of alarm system. Somehow force anyone attempting to monitor the data to engage in some type of handshake which will be able to capture IP addresses. If any of these IP addresses come from an unauthorized source, the "attacker" can be traced and prosecuted.
-Restil
Quite often the return route differs. In fact, in many cases, subsequent traceroutes won't even be the same. Packets will take whatever route any given router sends it by. If packets always followed the same route, there wouldn't be any such thing as out of order packets.
Just because a packet travelling from point A to point B passing through router C, because point A thought C was the best place to send the packet, does not mean that B will think the same thing. B may send the packet to a different router, or any of the many routers in between might make such a decision.
Of course, it doesn't really make any difference as long as the packet gets there. When this becomes significant is when you get horrible latency or speed issues when connecting to a specific site but nobody else has the same problem. The site may have plenty of bandwidth, but a router somewhere in between is sending your data to you through a clogged hole somewhere.
-Restil
Give me $99 and I'll show you all the ways that people can rip you off.
That IS the general gist of all this, right?
:)
-Restil
This is an excellent start, as most starts are. Obvious improvements would be to code it in a less interpretive language, and to add local directory features to provide the room description. For all I know, this might be an option already, I only scanned the source briefly.
some of the issues mentioned in the original thread, such as concepts such as "file I edited yesterday" would be useful and interesting, or maybe just interesting, or maybe just cool.
Anyways, cool idea, and cool project, good luck.
-Restil
Winamp (and I imagine other programs) is capable of directing the output to a WAV file that can be burned to a CD with no difficulties whatsoever. And this is assuming you want an audio cd when you're finished. How exactly they expect to prevent me from copying files and burning them straight, I have no clue.
:)
However, my best guess is that it will involve storing all mp3's inside a loopback type encrypted filesystem, and all mp3 playback will have to be through napster's program. Of course, this is far from foolproof. A couple days with a disassembler, and all this will be for naught.
Of course, I still say that none of this matters. Napster can be whatever it wants to be. I don't use it, never have used it and don't plan to start anytime soon. I can't keep up with the inflow of mp3's I'm getting now, why would I want to make the "problem" worse.
-Restil