I'm not trying to take sides in this, but a lot of businesses that do that, take in a fraction of its worth, do it because they're not sure they can sell it.
Buy 3 laptops @ 300, sell 1 @ 1000, try and recycle the parts on the other two for $10. Profit: $110. Not terribly great. And lots of used electronics businesses go under for exactly that reason.
Pawn shops have lots of useless inventory. Stuff they'll often have to trash. There's value in a guaranteed sale. Ever look at how much a car dealer offers you for a car, compared to what you can get if you sell it yourself? The dealer's offering less because he's also offering the service of a zero-hassle sale.
My point is that risk is a major factor in price. A $300 laptop is only worth $1200 if you can sell it. Did this guy even know it was working? A laptop with a flaky LCD is suddenly worth a lot less.
"I want colleges to train my employees for everything I need now. Actual education is a waste."
Quite honestly it's shortsighted antielitism like this that's been fucking our industry and country over for the last decade. Man, I've gotta start looking at foreign software companies...
* A floating nuclear power plant design, under development by OKBM in Russia, uses the KLT-40s reactor system, and involves a "special-purpose non-self-propelled ship" (a barge) intended for operation in a protected water area. There are plans to build a nuclear heat and power generating plant with a floating power-generating unit in the area of Pevek, Chukot Peninsula, in northeastern Siberia, and in Severodvinsk (Archangelsk region). The technical and economic characteristics of this power plant are: * Electric power - 60 MW * Heat output - 50 Gcal/h * Number of reactor systems and main turbogenerators - 2 * Overall plant lifetime - 40 years
These power plants are multipurpose in terms of possible applications, since they provide electric power generation while also providing heat supply for various purposes, including seawater desalination.
[Source: Georgy M. Antonovsky (Chief Specialist, OKBM-the Experimental and Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) et al., Table IV - "Technical and economic characteristics of a floating nuclear power station with the KLT-40s", in "PWR-type reactors developed by OKBM", Nuclear News, March 2002, p. 33]
* The KLT-40s is based on the KLT-40, which the US DOE has called a proven, commercially available, small PWR system because its design is based entirely on the nuclear steam supply system used in Russian icebreakers. The KLT-40 is a portable, floating, nuclear power plant intended mainly for electric power generation, but it also possesses the capability for desalination or heat production. The reactor core is cooled by forced circulation of pressurized water during normal operation, but in all emergency modes, the design relies mainly on natural convection in the primary and secondary coolant loops.
The KLT-40 is mounted on a barge, complete with the nuclear reactor, steam turbines, and other support facilities. It is designed to be transported to a remote location and connected to the energy distribution system in a manner similar to the Mobile High Power nuclear power plant operated by the U.S. Army in the 1970s. The designer and supplier of the KLT-40 is the Russian Special Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering (OKBM).
Fuel for the KLT-40 is a uranium-aluminum metal alloy clad with a zirconium alloy. 200 kg of U-235 gives a core power density of 155 kW per liter on average (that's relatively high for a reactor, according to the DOE report), and the fuel may be high-enriched uranium (U-235 content at or above 20 percent). The fuel assembly structure and manufacturing technology are proven, and its reliability has been verified by the long-term operation of similar cores.
The KLT-40's primary system involves four coolant pumps feeding four steam generators. The secondary system uses two turbogenerators with condensate pumps, main and standby feed pumps, and two steam condensers. As much as 35 MWt energy can be transferred from the condensers to a desalination plant via an intermediate circuit.
The KLT-40 includes a steel containment vessel designed to withstand overpressure conditions. A passive-pressure suppression system condenses steam that might escape into the containment building.
The KLT-40 has a variety of "inherent safety characteristics". One involves the prodigious use of "burnable poison" in the fuel such that cold shutdowns are assured (because any increase in core temperature results in a lowering of core power -- it's what's called having a large negative temperature coefficient for the reactor core).
The KLT-40 is designed using a plug-and-play philosophy. It gets built at the factory and is able to be transported over water to remote locations. Although the KLT-40 requires refueling every two to three years, the transportability of the entire plant to maintenance centers provides enhanced pro
Are the "stupid people" really procreating that much? Think about it, everyone goes to school for some time in their life in a good portion of the world. Those who many/.ers would think of as stupid are pretty high up there, relative to three generations ago. Most jobs require some set of skills and cognitive work. Hell most starbucks baristas I know have a few years of college under their belt.
~49% of the workforce in Northern VA (my town) has a college degree.
While we can look at TV and think "Oh my God this shit is terrible," it does provide some mental stimulation. Not much by our heavily educated standards, but it's certainly better than looking at a rock. People do learn a lot through the media they absorb, and that media does make people think -- not ponder quantum physics think, but I think the butler killed Mr Plum think.
With that frame of reference for who's smart and who's not, we don't really have that many dumb people around. They're relegated to the corners of society, or equally often, simple errand jobs. Even the stereotype of the "brute" isn't really too valid (IMHO). For example, most laborers I know, while uneducated, are fundamentally thinking people who can hold a good conversation (usually about engine displacements, quarter mile times, etc).
Interestingly enough, notice how the poorer classes tend to take in more unhealthy foods? Usually due McDonalds and the like. And of course, level of healthcare is another issue. Either way, it seems that there's a good correlation between health and income. And I think there are darwinian repercussions to better health in one group over another.
SDK? It'll have to be a new engine. Separating the various tasks out 8 ways (cpu +spes) and 3 ways (xbox360) is something the talented developers have to do themselves -- requiring that their code keep control.
Welcome to lots and lots of data files, scripts, and callbacks. Which for many game developers, is already the reality.
I've written several comments on/. regarding security, and I'm starting to come up with a trend: it isn't possible to really secure the computer if the end-user doesn't understand and/or care about security. Here on/. there are many, many people who care and understand. I run multiple firewalls on my systems AT HOME, plus antivirus and antispyware programs. I actually review my logs. I don't run any program that was written more recently than my AV updates. I'm what most "normal" people would consider paranoid. And I still run into issues.
Well, I think you hit the nail on the head, even better than you know. The definition of 'security' depends on the user - what do they want the computer to do and not to do? And, the problem is, the user usually doesn't have a good answer for that. They'll know what, abstractly, what they want the computer to do and not do (e.g. talk to only my bank, and never give any personal information to anyone else), but not how to describe that in terms of technology (e.g. only talk to a bank with a valid certificate from a trusted CA, etc).
SysAdmins will want to educate the users about that gap. That's the best that can be done by a sysadmin, they can't change the terminology of the computer, just make it understood by the user. But, as computers continue to increase in complexity, the amount of education required will be too much of a burden....
However, the programmers can change the terminology. And finally, my little thought on the topic. Software should work hard, very, very hard, to make it easy to stay secure. And I think they're trying, just not aggressively enough. I think it's ridiculous that users have to accept code from Microsoft, when they're already running Windows -- usually, you can't really say no, as there will always be dependencies. Making the user say yes, without honestly having a real choice in the matter, is a deep insult (e.g. "Who's your daddy?" "Please sir, may I have another?").
The idea that normal users ever see the word 'certificate' on their screen is absurd -- hell most programmers don't understand digital signatures.
Only time will tell if this gets any better. Thankfully the attackers aren't getting much more sophisticated than the programmers right now, so the software has a chance to strengthen without losing all of the user's confidence.
For code signing, the computer's asking you two questions about the signing party when it asks you to accept a segment of code: 1) Do you think these guys have good intents in the software they write? 2) Do you think they have their shit together?
For the entire industry, the answer to #2 is No. Which was Bruce's point. Most people here argued that the #1 is often true, and thusly code signing has its uses. Sadly, until #2 starts becoming true, #1 doesn't really matter. But, I do think that it will, as we get lots of hardcover $50-for-300-pages-of-large-type books about how to do it.
So, my opinion is that code signing will be useful later, when it actually means something.
There's a difference between being friendly and being a sucker. Mentioning the way to fix a problem (e.g. tell them to reinstall or get a firewall) and going to their house to fix it are different things.
Disposable phones? There was some.com talk about paper-circuit phone cards with built-in phones for $10 with some number of minutes built in. Great idea for emergencies. No idea how the battery would be integrated.
I simply tell people that IE's been discontinued for the macintosh. Everyone recognizes the Mac as a different platform that other people use, and the fact that IE is no longer shipping on it is a good motivator. Simple, easy to understand for non-techs, and respectful.
I'm not a big fan of desktops, despite their upgradability. Laptops' portability are incredibly useful to me, and the loss of upgradability isn't a problem for me. I just upgrade the RAM when I need an additional lease on its life (it usually buys me another year). My last powerbook lasted me three wonderful years and I expect the same from my current one. Hell I miss the old one due to its form factor, and never would've upgraded if the GPU wasn't getting so long in the tooth (computer graphics are key to my dissertation topic).
I believe that computers are getting 'fast enough' for more and more common needs.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, I was thinking about normal retail. Retail often has 5-10x markup on its products, just to cover operating costs.
Also, game shops that buy back your old games have the same problem. They won't call you back if your game doesn't sell.
Indirectly, MS is in porn too. They did a lot of backdoor deals with porn vendors to make sure their video codecs got used.
I'm not trying to take sides in this, but a lot of businesses that do that, take in a fraction of its worth, do it because they're not sure they can sell it.
Buy 3 laptops @ 300, sell 1 @ 1000, try and recycle the parts on the other two for $10. Profit: $110. Not terribly great. And lots of used electronics businesses go under for exactly that reason.
Pawn shops have lots of useless inventory. Stuff they'll often have to trash. There's value in a guaranteed sale. Ever look at how much a car dealer offers you for a car, compared to what you can get if you sell it yourself? The dealer's offering less because he's also offering the service of a zero-hassle sale.
My point is that risk is a major factor in price. A $300 laptop is only worth $1200 if you can sell it. Did this guy even know it was working? A laptop with a flaky LCD is suddenly worth a lot less.
He should be arrogant! I mean, he has a giant penis...
Wait, correction, he *is* a giant penis. My mistake.
(for unmounted drives)
/dev/random if you've got the time and paranoia.
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdb bs=16384
Or, use
"I want colleges to train my employees for everything I need now. Actual education is a waste."
Quite honestly it's shortsighted antielitism like this that's been fucking our industry and country over for the last decade. Man, I've gotta start looking at foreign software companies...
Don't look at me man, I just copy-pasted the motherfucker.
Remember this is with Russian labor and parts costs. Vastly different from the US.
From: http://www.nuclear.com/n-plants/index-Floating_N-p lants.html :
* A floating nuclear power plant design, under development by OKBM in Russia, uses the KLT-40s reactor system, and involves a "special-purpose non-self-propelled ship" (a barge) intended for operation in a protected water area. There are plans to build a nuclear heat and power generating plant with a floating power-generating unit in the area of Pevek, Chukot Peninsula, in northeastern Siberia, and in Severodvinsk (Archangelsk region). The technical and economic characteristics of this power plant are:
* Electric power - 60 MW
* Heat output - 50 Gcal/h
* Number of reactor systems and main turbogenerators - 2
* Overall plant lifetime - 40 years
These power plants are multipurpose in terms of possible applications, since they provide electric power generation while also providing heat supply for various purposes, including seawater desalination.
[Source: Georgy M. Antonovsky (Chief Specialist, OKBM-the Experimental and Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) et al., Table IV - "Technical and economic characteristics of a floating nuclear power station with the KLT-40s", in "PWR-type reactors developed by OKBM", Nuclear News, March 2002, p. 33]
* The KLT-40s is based on the KLT-40, which the US DOE has called a proven, commercially available, small PWR system because its design is based entirely on the nuclear steam supply system used in Russian icebreakers. The KLT-40 is a portable, floating, nuclear power plant intended mainly for electric power generation, but it also possesses the capability for desalination or heat production. The reactor core is cooled by forced circulation of pressurized water during normal operation, but in all emergency modes, the design relies mainly on natural convection in the primary and secondary coolant loops.
The KLT-40 is mounted on a barge, complete with the nuclear reactor, steam turbines, and other support facilities. It is designed to be transported to a remote location and connected to the energy distribution system in a manner similar to the Mobile High Power nuclear power plant operated by the U.S. Army in the 1970s. The designer and supplier of the KLT-40 is the Russian Special Design Bureau for Mechanical Engineering (OKBM).
Fuel for the KLT-40 is a uranium-aluminum metal alloy clad with a zirconium alloy. 200 kg of U-235 gives a core power density of 155 kW per liter on average (that's relatively high for a reactor, according to the DOE report), and the fuel may be high-enriched uranium (U-235 content at or above 20 percent). The fuel assembly structure and manufacturing technology are proven, and its reliability has been verified by the long-term operation of similar cores.
The KLT-40's primary system involves four coolant pumps feeding four steam generators. The secondary system uses two turbogenerators with condensate pumps, main and standby feed pumps, and two steam condensers. As much as 35 MWt energy can be transferred from the condensers to a desalination plant via an intermediate circuit.
The KLT-40 includes a steel containment vessel designed to withstand overpressure conditions. A passive-pressure suppression system condenses steam that might escape into the containment building.
The KLT-40 has a variety of "inherent safety characteristics". One involves the prodigious use of "burnable poison" in the fuel such that cold shutdowns are assured (because any increase in core temperature results in a lowering of core power -- it's what's called having a large negative temperature coefficient for the reactor core).
The KLT-40 is designed using a plug-and-play philosophy. It gets built at the factory and is able to be transported over water to remote locations. Although the KLT-40 requires refueling every two to three years, the transportability of the entire plant to maintenance centers provides enhanced pro
Remember that DHS blocked the red cross for a while from getting into NOLA.
The whole radio thing, however, is part of a larger press blackout. If you can't fix it, try and cover it up and hope people forget.
Are the "stupid people" really procreating that much? Think about it, everyone goes to school for some time in their life in a good portion of the world. Those who many /.ers would think of as stupid are pretty high up there, relative to three generations ago. Most jobs require some set of skills and cognitive work. Hell most starbucks baristas I know have a few years of college under their belt.
~49% of the workforce in Northern VA (my town) has a college degree.
While we can look at TV and think "Oh my God this shit is terrible," it does provide some mental stimulation. Not much by our heavily educated standards, but it's certainly better than looking at a rock. People do learn a lot through the media they absorb, and that media does make people think -- not ponder quantum physics think, but I think the butler killed Mr Plum think.
With that frame of reference for who's smart and who's not, we don't really have that many dumb people around. They're relegated to the corners of society, or equally often, simple errand jobs. Even the stereotype of the "brute" isn't really too valid (IMHO). For example, most laborers I know, while uneducated, are fundamentally thinking people who can hold a good conversation (usually about engine displacements, quarter mile times, etc).
Interestingly enough, notice how the poorer classes tend to take in more unhealthy foods? Usually due McDonalds and the like. And of course, level of healthcare is another issue. Either way, it seems that there's a good correlation between health and income. And I think there are darwinian repercussions to better health in one group over another.
And the announcement is: "It'll suck as much as you all thought! Viva la revolution!"
SDK? It'll have to be a new engine. Separating the various tasks out 8 ways (cpu +spes) and 3 ways (xbox360) is something the talented developers have to do themselves -- requiring that their code keep control.
Welcome to lots and lots of data files, scripts, and callbacks. Which for many game developers, is already the reality.
As soon as the media conglomerates start buying up game companies, everyone's going to STFU about video game violence.
Well, I think you hit the nail on the head, even better than you know. The definition of 'security' depends on the user - what do they want the computer to do and not to do? And, the problem is, the user usually doesn't have a good answer for that. They'll know what, abstractly, what they want the computer to do and not do (e.g. talk to only my bank, and never give any personal information to anyone else), but not how to describe that in terms of technology (e.g. only talk to a bank with a valid certificate from a trusted CA, etc).
SysAdmins will want to educate the users about that gap. That's the best that can be done by a sysadmin, they can't change the terminology of the computer, just make it understood by the user. But, as computers continue to increase in complexity, the amount of education required will be too much of a burden....
However, the programmers can change the terminology. And finally, my little thought on the topic. Software should work hard, very, very hard, to make it easy to stay secure. And I think they're trying, just not aggressively enough. I think it's ridiculous that users have to accept code from Microsoft, when they're already running Windows -- usually, you can't really say no, as there will always be dependencies. Making the user say yes, without honestly having a real choice in the matter, is a deep insult (e.g. "Who's your daddy?" "Please sir, may I have another?").
The idea that normal users ever see the word 'certificate' on their screen is absurd -- hell most programmers don't understand digital signatures.
Only time will tell if this gets any better. Thankfully the attackers aren't getting much more sophisticated than the programmers right now, so the software has a chance to strengthen without losing all of the user's confidence.
For code signing, the computer's asking you two questions about the signing party when it asks you to accept a segment of code:
1) Do you think these guys have good intents in the software they write?
2) Do you think they have their shit together?
For the entire industry, the answer to #2 is No. Which was Bruce's point. Most people here argued that the #1 is often true, and thusly code signing has its uses. Sadly, until #2 starts becoming true, #1 doesn't really matter. But, I do think that it will, as we get lots of hardcover $50-for-300-pages-of-large-type books about how to do it.
So, my opinion is that code signing will be useful later, when it actually means something.
-ls
There's a difference between being friendly and being a sucker. Mentioning the way to fix a problem (e.g. tell them to reinstall or get a firewall) and going to their house to fix it are different things.
Please, common sense here.
Um... or you could use your skills to help people. Help out teachers and other students alike with computer problems and suddenly everyone loves you.
In college, answer some questions on a LUG mailing list and suddenly you've got a nice rep! It's really that easy.
Sadly, for lots of the younger generation, 733+ social hacking is little more than not being a dick.
MS's DRM is more open only because apple has 90%+ of the market share.
How many years are AOL's management getting for... well, managing AOL.
While I agree that this is way too much power to put in with the government, I'm not too inclined to think our government's that competent.
Microsoft invented the iPod.
Saddam had WMDs he was going to give to Bin Laden.
Big Brother Loves You.
Denial is ugly when you see it in full effect. Most /.ers take the idea of open source software not working as the deepest heresey.
Disposable phones? There was some .com talk about paper-circuit phone cards with built-in phones for $10 with some number of minutes built in. Great idea for emergencies. No idea how the battery would be integrated.
I simply tell people that IE's been discontinued for the macintosh. Everyone recognizes the Mac as a different platform that other people use, and the fact that IE is no longer shipping on it is a good motivator. Simple, easy to understand for non-techs, and respectful.
I'm not a big fan of desktops, despite their upgradability. Laptops' portability are incredibly useful to me, and the loss of upgradability isn't a problem for me. I just upgrade the RAM when I need an additional lease on its life (it usually buys me another year). My last powerbook lasted me three wonderful years and I expect the same from my current one. Hell I miss the old one due to its form factor, and never would've upgraded if the GPU wasn't getting so long in the tooth (computer graphics are key to my dissertation topic).
I believe that computers are getting 'fast enough' for more and more common needs.