They could quit referring to Outlook viruses like Klez and SirCam and ILOVEYOU...
Klez is not an "Outlook Virus" it can be executed in any Windows-based e-mail program.
Sircam is not an "Outlook Virus" it contains it's own SMTP engine and harvests its addresses from various files (such as.HTM) on the victim's hard drive.
VBS.LoveLetter does spread using the Outlook address book, though it can also spread via mIRC (though curiously I never hear it referred to as a "mIRC Virus").
I absolutely agree that we should strive for accurate information.
Sure there would, virus writers target Outlook because it's widely used. If Eudora was the most widely used you'd see people griping about why there are so many Eudora viruses (virii?).
Nobody writes viruses that target e-mail products that aren't widely used because that defeats the purpose of releasing the virus -- it's a numbers game.
Besides with the new Outlook security patches even legitimate programs have a difficult time sending automated e-mail; much less viruses.
Maybe we should say that if everybody rented a clue and didn't open that "Britney Spears Naked!" attachment there would not be as strong a need for virus checking software, now would there?:)
That is a crucial piece of functionality for me -- I use an HP Jornada now and I love that I can sync all of my Outlook PIM information plus I can get primitive Word and Excel functions for those times when I want to work in those kinds of documents.
I have a grocery spreadsheet on it that I can enter the prices of items I buy at various stores so that I can easily keep track of where the best bargains are.
Last time I did some tech editing for a book I actually did some of it on PocketWord on my Jornada while running errands. Very convenient.
I'm looking forward to a reasonably priced phone/PDA that has the same functionality.
I have a spare laptop sitting off to the side of my desk that runs a news/stock/sportsticker across the top and I usually leave Google News running on it.
Helps me keep up with what's going on in the world; just a glance over from time to time and if any headlines catch my interest I can swivel over there and read the story. Otherwise the refresh takes care of showing me a relatively up-to-date news page without my having to remember to reach over and refresh it manually.
It does help illustrate, however, that having source code is useful to actual users, although perhaps not your normal "where's the any key?" user.
Ultimately that's the rub. Open-source software will always have a hard time getting out of the back room until Joe and Jane User are comfortable and experienced with the UI. I have a Linux box or three in our server room and would be happy to have one on my desk too, but few of my users can even spell Linux. Their comfort level is with Windows and Windows applications and despite what some of the Microsoft bashers around here would crow the reality is that our workstations are quite stable and the work gets done. At the end of that day that's all the bosses with the big offices care about - did the work get done.
Me? I like the whole idea of open source software and enjoy the moments when I get to pull up a chair in front of a Linux box and play. I'm always interested to see the latest tool for this and that even if it's something I know I'm only going to tinker with for a few days then uninstall.
My users just want to do their jobs though; and their jobs have nothing to do with compiling the OS. Windows provides them with a level of comfort.
Many users pay for it (eg, PC purchase) who may not have otherwise
In fact, many users pay for it who have no intention of using it. It can be difficult to buy a name-brand PC without Windows on it. I know people who have acquired PCs with Windows only to reformat them and install *NIX instead.
I can't tell you how many cellophane wrapped copies of Microsoft Works we have tossed in boxes; but I'm sure some dollar or three of each PC purchase paid for them.
Piracy, and network effects, only help if you have ancillary products that you do sell -- for example you might sell a lot more copies of Microsoft Office if everybody is running Windows (even if most of them are pirated) -- or if you sell more of something because it's so widespread.
For example, our firm is probably going to be converting to Microsoft Word (from WordPerfect) in no small part because most of our clients use Word and most of the available secretarial personnel are trained on Word. Even if those clients and secretaries have pirated versions of Word we're going to have to buy it because in the interests of compatability and getting qualified staff, Word is what we'll need to use.
If you only have one product and you only sell one copy of that then piracy does you no good.
For the record I am philosophically opposed to piracy but don't think it should be a capital offense.
Personally, I think for someone interested in military service that ROTC is the way to go, as you'll get a standard university education out of it and go on to serve as an officer, where you'd be able to demonstrate more initative, have a greater potential to shape military policy, and have a greater chance to get introduced to beltway politics, should you want to go that way after serving your time (which would allow you to address most of the negative points presearch makes).
Besides, the Air Force is the only branch of the service that sends its officers off to do the fighting and leaves the enlisted men in the rear with the gear.
I see your point, but I don't have time to sit there and reload some Asian porn site a few hundred times.
I have been known to call a spammers 800 number to...ummmm...get more information.
But it comes down to how much I'm willing to let the spammers steal. They've already stolen a little bit of my bandwidth, some of my storage space, my time to open my overfull mailbox and delete their garbage, a little more of my time to add them to our filters or even block their mailhost entirely. I'm not inclined to let them steal even more of my time in a futile attempt to reload their page (which will probably just come out of our ISA cache anyhow) a bunch of times.
If I thought they really cared I might do it, but I'm not convinced they do. Accordingly the occasional call to their 800 number is about as much protest as I'm willing to invest and I realize that despite the $1 it costs them in actual money it's a mostly symbolic gesture.
Things have changed in public schools and it's not just the curriculum. Here's one example of what I'm talking about:
Compare how many different languages are spoken in an urban public school today, as opposed to 70 years ago. It's a lot easier to teach reading when all (or the vast majority) of your students speak English. Also I suspect that students were a lot less transitory back then -- same students came up through elementary, intermediate and high school together and were at roughly the same level.
Today you have immigrants foreign and domestic and a 9th grade teacher may have students who come from half a dozen different intermediate schools and even a few different countries. Finding a common ground to teach all of them from is difficult and, unfortunately, too often means dumbing down the curriculum to a level that all of them are ready for -- at the obvious expense of the more advanced students.
A student can excel in a public school setting but it almost always requires a home environment that values and emphasizes education. Those situations are all too rare these days.
I won't even get started on the respect and discipline aspects of a modern classroom.
Actually there is a perfectly good Chess game available for the Palm for free. I guess the argument could be made that anybody that interested in chess during high school probably has good grades anyhow.
Still, there are a few decent games available for the Palm platform. Back when I had a Palm (before I bought my HP Jornada) I wasted a lot of time playing Miles Borne (had a different name for the Palm, though).
If that's not enough I'm sure the students will find ways to kill time. Don't underestimate the ability and resourcefulness of students trying to avoid schoolwork.
The Army Air Corps during WWII was notoriously disorganized with paperwork. My uncle flew a B-17 during the war and he still has the receipt from when he turned the plane in after the war. He says "I know how the Army works and they're going to come looking for that plane one of these days."
"We fill out this form in triplicate. One we keep, one we send to headquarters and one we destroy so the Russians won't get it."
As a matter of fact it may well be that difficult. The Department of Motor Vehicles in %state% has an extensive and often court-tested set of guidelines for such things and even so there are regular disputes on the matter.
The City of Houston may have to implement an equally extensive set of rules and regs, plus they don't have the same kind of enforcement infrastructure that the Motor Vehicles folks have.
This also ties back into the question of proof of residency and identification -- what prevents somebody whose account is revoked from just getting a new account at a different fire station and/or under a different name? Then we get into issues of people with same or similar names, possible confusion, etc.
Well, if you say so. I'm certainly supportive of extending Internet services to anybody who wants them - they just seem awfully extended now.
My grandparents have Internet access. I have friends in Los Angeles who can barely afford rent who manage to get e-mail. My uncle got WebTV, my friend "E" doesn't have a computer but checks his Yahoo! mail from a friend's house 2-3 times a week.
Most of the public libraries I've been in lately have web terminals where one could access Hotmail or other web-based mail services for free.
If there really are that many people who will use it then I'm all for helping them out. I'm just skeptical that the well is really that much deeper.
Will the spammers be signing up all the poor people down there to do their dirty work for them?
An interesting question - hadn't occured to me. A new variation on the "Make money stuffing envelopes at home" scam could be the "Make money remailing spam" scam. Of course, this leads to the question of what proof of residency is going to be required to get an account? What stops spammers from just strolling in (or sending agents to do so) claiming to be "Carlos Moreno" ("Charlie Brown" for the Spanish-impaired) and asking for their free account.
...which they proceed to use to spam mercilessly until it's yanked (if it ever is) and they just stroll into a different library or fire station and claim to be "Dave Smith" and ask for their free account...
What kind of terms of service will the city impose and how bad does somebody have to screw up to lose their privileges, and how soon will the fight start over whether it's privilege or right?
Yet another important question. Can a spammer, who is a legitimate resident of Houston (or Hosuton) have their account revoked for ANY reason?
I still like the idea of widening Internet access with programs like this, but these are troubling questions that don't appear to have any easy answers.
I'm always in favor of pushing technology to every individual who wants it, and so I like the idea of offering these kinds of services.
I'm skeptical, though, that the people motivated and able to use it aren't already in possession of an e-mail address from somewhere. Does an illiterate who can't read or type really have much benefit from e-mail access? Isn't it possible that the Internet market is approaching saturation? Does anybody who wants to get online (especially in a major city) not already have at least a Hotmail or Yahoo! address through their local library, school, friends' house or Internet Cafe?
Nonetheless, if it improves communication and helps people, especially those who can't afford a computer or Internet Access of their own, I'm all for it.
Coach
Motion for Summary Judgment
on
Hotmail Hacked
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Actually, the owners of Slashdot.org don't do the moderating -- the users do. Furthermore the actual users doing the moderating rotates fairly constantly; could be me tomorrow, could be you the day after that.
A smart lawyer, of which I could be one, would quickly dispatch the "promoting a felony" argument by pointing out that none of the promoting was done by the hypothetical defendants in this matter. Any promoting or highlighting of the "offensive" subject matter, like the posting itself as a matter of fact, was done by pseudo-anonymous members of the community at large.
It could be argued, I suppose, that Slashdot.org has created a forum that fosters or even encourages(?) such offenses, but that argument has fallen flat in a number of cases already decided.
Precedent being what it is I don't think Taco and friends should be speed-dialing Johnnie Cochran just yet.
-Coach-
Speaking of pretty disclaimers...I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice, merely my educated opinion. If you wish legal advice seek out an attorney licensed to practice the kind of law you need in your area and pay them for it.
Shame too - that "worthless portal" is not a terrible site. I'm not surprised that it doesn't make any money but we have quite a few folks here who have it as their home page (for tracking stocks). There are undoubtedly better stock tracking sites, but as a general portal (stocks, sports, etc.) Excite.com is decent and reliable.
We haven't had such good results with just ticking the box, especially lately. Also the logistics of counting 200 million paper ballots without any kind of technological assistance means that our current President would have to serve another term before we figured out who won the last election.
The technology CAN work, if it's intelligently designed and a big part of that is a simplicity and redundancy of design.
A coworker was cutting a piece of thin, flat, clear plastic as a cover for her desk. I saw the remnant (about 2'x3') and was struck with the idea of maximizing my desk space with it.
I cleared everything off the desk, lay this piece of plastic down, used a tad of scotch tape on the corners to hold it in place, and slipped some papers under it. Pages I need to refer to frequently that used to be stacked on the desk now sit under the plastic where I can see them, but don't have to sacrifice space for them.
The most useful thing, however, has been sliding a piece of blank copier paper under the plastic. Now I can use dry-erase markers to make lists, diagrams, any temporary lists or notes (or doodles) I want right on the plastic with the white paper background. A napkin wipes it clean and it's always in easy view.
At home my wife got these little mini self-standing shelves at Home Depot which she put in some of our cabinets. Makes a lot more efficient use of empty space when you have a lot of small objects.
Balloons are an interesting idea, but they're harder to control than a plane. The Helios can stay up for extended periods and be brought down, in a controlled fashion, when they want to. They could even fly it to different airfields if they really needed to. Harder to do that with a balloon which tends to be at the mercy of the prevailing winds.
Unless the balloon is tethered, how do you keep it in a geostationary orbit? Also, I'm not sure you're going to get a balloon much higher than 96,000 feet.
I doubt you could use Helios as much of a weapons platform - the thing only generates about 25 horsepower. The total weight of the aircraft now is about 1300 pounds; 600 lbs of ordinance is 50% again the weight of the plane. With that little power it might not even get off the ground if it were that heavily loaded.
The more likely application for Helios - military application anyhow - is as a spy plane or combat targetting system. It can easily, and almost endlessly, circle over an enemy nation or a battlefield taking pictures, infrared, or any of a multitude of other high-altitude sensors, and beaming them back to friendly forces.
How about a Helios spotter that constantly broadcasts birdseye camera shots of a battlefield directly to visor mounted screens on soliders?
Slashdot Mirror
They could quit referring to Outlook viruses like Klez and SirCam and ILOVEYOU...
Klez is not an "Outlook Virus" it can be executed in any Windows-based e-mail program.
Sircam is not an "Outlook Virus" it contains it's own SMTP engine and harvests its addresses from various files (such as .HTM) on the victim's hard drive.
VBS.LoveLetter does spread using the Outlook address book, though it can also spread via mIRC (though curiously I never hear it referred to as a "mIRC Virus").
I absolutely agree that we should strive for accurate information.
-Coach-
Sure there would, virus writers target Outlook because it's widely used. If Eudora was the most widely used you'd see people griping about why there are so many Eudora viruses (virii?).
:)
Nobody writes viruses that target e-mail products that aren't widely used because that defeats the purpose of releasing the virus -- it's a numbers game.
Besides with the new Outlook security patches even legitimate programs have a difficult time sending automated e-mail; much less viruses.
Maybe we should say that if everybody rented a clue and didn't open that "Britney Spears Naked!" attachment there would not be as strong a need for virus checking software, now would there?
-Coach-
That is a crucial piece of functionality for me -- I use an HP Jornada now and I love that I can sync all of my Outlook PIM information plus I can get primitive Word and Excel functions for those times when I want to work in those kinds of documents.
I have a grocery spreadsheet on it that I can enter the prices of items I buy at various stores so that I can easily keep track of where the best bargains are.
Last time I did some tech editing for a book I actually did some of it on PocketWord on my Jornada while running errands. Very convenient.
I'm looking forward to a reasonably priced phone/PDA that has the same functionality.
-Coach-
If it was, Boston would've hired their contractors.
-Coach-
I have a spare laptop sitting off to the side of my desk that runs a news/stock/sportsticker across the top and I usually leave Google News running on it.
Helps me keep up with what's going on in the world; just a glance over from time to time and if any headlines catch my interest I can swivel over there and read the story. Otherwise the refresh takes care of showing me a relatively up-to-date news page without my having to remember to reach over and refresh it manually.
-Coach-
It does help illustrate, however, that having source code is useful to actual users, although perhaps not your normal "where's the any key?" user.
Ultimately that's the rub. Open-source software will always have a hard time getting out of the back room until Joe and Jane User are comfortable and experienced with the UI. I have a Linux box or three in our server room and would be happy to have one on my desk too, but few of my users can even spell Linux. Their comfort level is with Windows and Windows applications and despite what some of the Microsoft bashers around here would crow the reality is that our workstations are quite stable and the work gets done. At the end of that day that's all the bosses with the big offices care about - did the work get done.
Me? I like the whole idea of open source software and enjoy the moments when I get to pull up a chair in front of a Linux box and play. I'm always interested to see the latest tool for this and that even if it's something I know I'm only going to tinker with for a few days then uninstall.
My users just want to do their jobs though; and their jobs have nothing to do with compiling the OS. Windows provides them with a level of comfort.
-CoachS-
Many users pay for it (eg, PC purchase) who may not have otherwise
In fact, many users pay for it who have no intention of using it. It can be difficult to buy a name-brand PC without Windows on it. I know people who have acquired PCs with Windows only to reformat them and install *NIX instead.
I can't tell you how many cellophane wrapped copies of Microsoft Works we have tossed in boxes; but I'm sure some dollar or three of each PC purchase paid for them.
-CoachS-
Piracy, and network effects, only help if you have ancillary products that you do sell -- for example you might sell a lot more copies of Microsoft Office if everybody is running Windows (even if most of them are pirated) -- or if you sell more of something because it's so widespread.
For example, our firm is probably going to be converting to Microsoft Word (from WordPerfect) in no small part because most of our clients use Word and most of the available secretarial personnel are trained on Word. Even if those clients and secretaries have pirated versions of Word we're going to have to buy it because in the interests of compatability and getting qualified staff, Word is what we'll need to use.
If you only have one product and you only sell one copy of that then piracy does you no good.
For the record I am philosophically opposed to piracy but don't think it should be a capital offense.
-CoachS-
Personally, I think for someone interested in military service that ROTC is the way to go, as you'll get a standard university education out of it and go on to serve as an officer, where you'd be able to demonstrate more initative, have a greater potential to shape military policy, and have a greater chance to get introduced to beltway politics, should you want to go that way after serving your time (which would allow you to address most of the negative points presearch makes).
Besides, the Air Force is the only branch of the service that sends its officers off to do the fighting and leaves the enlisted men in the rear with the gear.
-CoachS-
With all due respect, patent lawyers make it possible for techies to earn a good living by creating something.
-CoachS-
I see your point, but I don't have time to sit there and reload some Asian porn site a few hundred times.
I have been known to call a spammers 800 number to...ummmm...get more information.
But it comes down to how much I'm willing to let the spammers steal. They've already stolen a little bit of my bandwidth, some of my storage space, my time to open my overfull mailbox and delete their garbage, a little more of my time to add them to our filters or even block their mailhost entirely. I'm not inclined to let them steal even more of my time in a futile attempt to reload their page (which will probably just come out of our ISA cache anyhow) a bunch of times.
If I thought they really cared I might do it, but I'm not convinced they do. Accordingly the occasional call to their 800 number is about as much protest as I'm willing to invest and I realize that despite the $1 it costs them in actual money it's a mostly symbolic gesture.
-CoachS-
Compare how many different languages are spoken in an urban public school today, as opposed to 70 years ago. It's a lot easier to teach reading when all (or the vast majority) of your students speak English. Also I suspect that students were a lot less transitory back then -- same students came up through elementary, intermediate and high school together and were at roughly the same level.
Today you have immigrants foreign and domestic and a 9th grade teacher may have students who come from half a dozen different intermediate schools and even a few different countries. Finding a common ground to teach all of them from is difficult and, unfortunately, too often means dumbing down the curriculum to a level that all of them are ready for -- at the obvious expense of the more advanced students.
A student can excel in a public school setting but it almost always requires a home environment that values and emphasizes education. Those situations are all too rare these days.
I won't even get started on the respect and discipline aspects of a modern classroom.
-Coach-
Still, there are a few decent games available for the Palm platform. Back when I had a Palm (before I bought my HP Jornada) I wasted a lot of time playing Miles Borne (had a different name for the Palm, though).
If that's not enough I'm sure the students will find ways to kill time. Don't underestimate the ability and resourcefulness of students trying to avoid schoolwork.
-Coach-
"We fill out this form in triplicate. One we keep, one we send to headquarters and one we destroy so the Russians won't get it."
-Coach-
The City of Houston may have to implement an equally extensive set of rules and regs, plus they don't have the same kind of enforcement infrastructure that the Motor Vehicles folks have.
This also ties back into the question of proof of residency and identification -- what prevents somebody whose account is revoked from just getting a new account at a different fire station and/or under a different name? Then we get into issues of people with same or similar names, possible confusion, etc.
It may well be a bumpy road.
-Coach-
My grandparents have Internet access. I have friends in Los Angeles who can barely afford rent who manage to get e-mail. My uncle got WebTV, my friend "E" doesn't have a computer but checks his Yahoo! mail from a friend's house 2-3 times a week.
Most of the public libraries I've been in lately have web terminals where one could access Hotmail or other web-based mail services for free.
If there really are that many people who will use it then I'm all for helping them out. I'm just skeptical that the well is really that much deeper.
-Coach-
An interesting question - hadn't occured to me. A new variation on the "Make money stuffing envelopes at home" scam could be the "Make money remailing spam" scam. Of course, this leads to the question of what proof of residency is going to be required to get an account? What stops spammers from just strolling in (or sending agents to do so) claiming to be "Carlos Moreno" ("Charlie Brown" for the Spanish-impaired) and asking for their free account.
...which they proceed to use to spam mercilessly until it's yanked (if it ever is) and they just stroll into a different library or fire station and claim to be "Dave Smith" and ask for their free account...
What kind of terms of service will the city impose and how bad does somebody have to screw up to lose their privileges, and how soon will the fight start over whether it's privilege or right?
Yet another important question. Can a spammer, who is a legitimate resident of Houston (or Hosuton) have their account revoked for ANY reason?
I still like the idea of widening Internet access with programs like this, but these are troubling questions that don't appear to have any easy answers.
-Coach-
I'm skeptical, though, that the people motivated and able to use it aren't already in possession of an e-mail address from somewhere. Does an illiterate who can't read or type really have much benefit from e-mail access? Isn't it possible that the Internet market is approaching saturation? Does anybody who wants to get online (especially in a major city) not already have at least a Hotmail or Yahoo! address through their local library, school, friends' house or Internet Cafe?
Nonetheless, if it improves communication and helps people, especially those who can't afford a computer or Internet Access of their own, I'm all for it.
Coach
A smart lawyer, of which I could be one, would quickly dispatch the "promoting a felony" argument by pointing out that none of the promoting was done by the hypothetical defendants in this matter. Any promoting or highlighting of the "offensive" subject matter, like the posting itself as a matter of fact, was done by pseudo-anonymous members of the community at large.
It could be argued, I suppose, that Slashdot.org has created a forum that fosters or even encourages(?) such offenses, but that argument has fallen flat in a number of cases already decided.
Precedent being what it is I don't think Taco and friends should be speed-dialing Johnnie Cochran just yet.
-Coach-
Speaking of pretty disclaimers...I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice, merely my educated opinion. If you wish legal advice seek out an attorney licensed to practice the kind of law you need in your area and pay them for it.
-Coach-
[rolling eyes skyward]
-Coach-
The technology CAN work, if it's intelligently designed and a big part of that is a simplicity and redundancy of design.
-Coach-
I cleared everything off the desk, lay this piece of plastic down, used a tad of scotch tape on the corners to hold it in place, and slipped some papers under it. Pages I need to refer to frequently that used to be stacked on the desk now sit under the plastic where I can see them, but don't have to sacrifice space for them.
The most useful thing, however, has been sliding a piece of blank copier paper under the plastic. Now I can use dry-erase markers to make lists, diagrams, any temporary lists or notes (or doodles) I want right on the plastic with the white paper background. A napkin wipes it clean and it's always in easy view.
At home my wife got these little mini self-standing shelves at Home Depot which she put in some of our cabinets. Makes a lot more efficient use of empty space when you have a lot of small objects.
My $.02. Keep the change.
Coach
Unless the balloon is tethered, how do you keep it in a geostationary orbit? Also, I'm not sure you're going to get a balloon much higher than 96,000 feet.
Just a few random thoughts.
-Coach-
The more likely application for Helios - military application anyhow - is as a spy plane or combat targetting system. It can easily, and almost endlessly, circle over an enemy nation or a battlefield taking pictures, infrared, or any of a multitude of other high-altitude sensors, and beaming them back to friendly forces.
How about a Helios spotter that constantly broadcasts birdseye camera shots of a battlefield directly to visor mounted screens on soliders?
-Coach-