None of this would be an issue if AT&T was just selling BANDWIDTH. But, they're not. They plan on selling SERVICES as well, including television and telephone. Both of those are regulated by franchise agreements and AT&T is trying to do an end-run here.
I wonder if AT&T's U-Verse service will be tariffed? Will I be able to purchase that 20+ Mbps link as just an Internet link and without the additional TV & telephone services? Will they be required to make that band available to competitors?
Charles (Residing in one of those suburbs mentioned in the article.)
All of it helps, because it leaves nice big footprints in your logs. Monitor them in real time.
To help prevent them from getting root, use patches like grsecurity which add address randomization and specifically deals with/dev/kmem direct patching.
If someone has root on your server, you've already lost. You need to go into "containment" and "cleanup" mode.
Impractical, because it requires you to dedicate a drive to the stuff that can be mounted RO. Just mount the PARTITION read-only, instead.
If you have more than one machine, get a dedicated syslog server and send the logs from the other machines over to it. This way logs aren't on the main machines and it is much harder to compromise the audit trail.
For businesses, get something like a Trigeo appliance and keep an eye on the behavior of everything.
Make sure all your permissions/rules are based off the concept of "default deny, explicit allow".
You could also built a monolithic kernel and not allow modules at all. Kind of hard to insert a corrupt module if the kernel isn't modular!
HTTP and HTTPS both use TCP, not UDP. Voice programs use UDP, for the most part. A large stream of UDP over those ports won't look like a large download to a properly configured firewall because it would be a large stream of UDP.
If Skype switches to TCP, then it becomes more difficult. It still wouldn't look like a stream because of the back-and-forth nature of voice conversation. (Yes, I know web surfing is also back-and-forth but they have distinctly different patterns.)
Deep Packet Inspection was all the rage a few years ago, and as a result all of the major firewall vendors offer it on their enterprise-class equipment. It isn't hard to find as an option if you are looking for a corporate firewall.
...is deep packet inspection. Instead of just letting packets thru based on "I'm just returning so-and-so's request", look to see what their payload contains and what type of stream it is. Yes, encryption can hide the payload. But, you can still prohibit non-SSH/HTTPS/SFTP streams from originating. If it isn't an approved protocol, make it go away.
Want to REALLY torque off the Skype guys? Let it thru, just add random packet delays to each UDP packet that goes out and comes in. A few ms each should do it. Their call quality will go to hell. Things like mail, web surfing, and other non-realtime protocols won't even notice the difference.
His skill at turning someone with zero musical performance skill into something entertaining and presentable shows he could get a job as a pop music producer. Hell, he can't do any worse than the pimps who churn out the pop tarts we see on stage today!
People are too conditioned against trying things for fear of screwing something up. Assume Google can "just do it" and enter what you want in the little box. The big problem is people thing of Google as a "search engine", when it is more than that. And, they keep adding features so they really can't keep adding crap to the front page or it'll end up looking like Yahoo. [shudder]
And this is a great case for the "Help" link that Norman derided as "not necessary".
But, you're right. I've had a couple of "I didn't know Google could do that!" moments myself.
No, the reason Java didn't take off for web stuff is the massive hit you take when first firing up the JVM. The first time the JVM initializes you can add 3-10 seconds to the web page load. It also chews memory disproportional to what it was used for -- little applets.
Don't get me wrong, for larger programs and projects Java can be an excellent tool. When you fire up the JVM with system boot, or once a week or so, then no problem. But using Java to give you an automatic clock, roll-over buttons, or pretty water effects on pictures is just wrong on so many levels.
"True, but that's because you can only do one thing from their home page: search."
Ummm...that is because almost everything you're doing from one of those portal pages can be called a search.
If you want a map at Google, just type the address or location into the search bar. The top links will be maps of the location. After all, you're searching for a map.
If you want to check something on Scholar, just type the info into the search bar. The top links will most likely be answers from Scholar. After all, you're searching for scholarly information.
You can also do things like basic math, currency conversions, get dictionary definitions, find books, etc. all from the search box.
The other services you mention give you an array so you have to think "what tool does what I want", whereas most of the time Google *just does it*.
At no time did I say that I thought weapons should not be regulated at all.
I have no problem with restricting ownership of fully-automatic weapons. Nor do I have a problem with requiring Carry & Conceal permits. I also don't have a problem with 3-5 day waiting periods, nor background checks to make sure the purchaser isn't a convicted felon.
My point about the chemistry was that the knowledge and tools were there if you knew where to look. You can't regulate it worth a damn because they are made from common ingredients like bleach, ammonia, fertilizer and diesel fuel.
And your logic about weapon ownership degenerating society flies in the face of historical fact. Firearm ownership didn't exist AT ALL in the U.S. until about the 1920s, and we didn't degenerate into chaos. Personal weapon ownership *is* the American Way.
You're forgetting the effectiveness of IEDs. Also, most of the rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon and the PT are "home made".
I don't know about you, but my High School Chemistry class had an entire segment on what household chemicals could be used to create very nasty poisons and explosives. Most of it was geared towards "don't EVER mix these two chemicals", but was followed up with "because if you mix 2 parts this, with 1 part that, stir, drain, separate and then let sit, you'll have a nice plastique".
Fully-automatic weapons are over rated and usually very inaccurate. SEMI automatic can be very useful, though.
The Second Amendment has nothing to do with protecting yourself from criminals or with hunting and everything to do with keeping your government in check.
You were using circular logic. Everything you mentioned -- novel, music, software -- revolves around copyright. What happens if you have a job like plumber, carpenter, electrician, mechanic, accountant, doctor, lawyer, nurse, cop, firefighter, etc.?
The problem isn't with you making money on a creation after you stopped, it is sitting on your ass and making money for almost a CENTURY after you stopped. Or making money after you're dead.
Copyright has ONE purpose, to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. If you are dead, you aren't promoting the progress of science or useful arts -- you're dead.
LIMITED time was meant as a prod, meaning that after a SHORT period whatever you created would belong to everyone and you could then create something new. If you live off your past successes for you entire life, you are not promoting the progress of science and useful arts, thus not deserving of a government enforced monopoly.
Don't like it? Create something new.
As far as passing more than liquid cash assets to your kids, that is a great idea. May I suggest real estate, vehicles, stocks, bonds, investments, boats, airplanes and most importantly, a solid work ethic that doesn't involve the idea of living off the imagination of a long dead relative.
Can you back up your stats to show that ~70% of Americans have more than $61,000 in Net Equity in their home?
Wealth is assets minus debt. If you own a house valued at $100,000, you would need to have > $80,000 in equity and only ~$20,000 in mortgage to surpass that number. (I used $100,000 for the math simplicity. Feel free to multiply that up to whatever you believe is median home value.)
I don't believe most Americans have >80% equity in their homes.
Subtract from that equity the amount of credit card and other debt, and you're looking at a very sad number.
PostgreSQL it is still missing the SQL:2003 Window Functions that are critical in business reporting, so Oracle and DB2 will still win out for OLAP/data warehouse applications.
Bullshit, pure and simple. This is nothing more than marketing-speak and you should be ashamed.
I'm not saying that SQL-2003 Window Functions are useless, I'm saying your statement about them being "critical" in business reporting is bullshit. Did no one do business reporting before this standard came out? What the hell did people do in 2002? Are all those MS-SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 8i servers going to fall down in shame? I think not.
I see these comments all the time, usually in marketing brochures from a software vendor touting a new feature. They make it sound like all other products are steaming piles of shit if they don't have whiz-bang-feature #16. They like avoiding any conversation that goes "But, I've been using your product and it works great. Are you telling me your product (last rev) is a steaming pile of shit? That implies if I upgrade, next year you're going to be telling me how THIS rev you are so loudly praising is also a steaming pile of shit."
Charles (had enough marketing-speak for this year)
Lucent (now Alcatel-Lucent) is in the middle of a hardware refresh. I still have a 5-year old laptop running Win2000. The current refresh will run thru about March 2007, when everyone has brand-new Thinkpads with WinXP.
Vista will, most likely, come with the NEXT hardware refresh -- 5 years down the road. Big companies don't give a damn what OS comes pre-loaded, because the first step on all new hardware is to install the approved image.
A kernel isn't an OS and you can't compare the two.
Vista RCs have been available to businesses for months. There is not a compelling reason to switch a business to Vista from XP. At least from 2000 to XP there were some noticeable advantages but right now switching to Vista looks like work just for the sake of work. Ugh.
As for "new machines coming with Vista", that is easy to take care of. Just install your MSDN copy of XP on top of it and save the license. This was done all the time when machines came with XP and companies weren't ready to upgrade from 2000.
Why would I want that? The only place I can think this might be good is on shared computers, but other than public machines I haven't seen a lot of those and they aren't on a domain. Well, if they are, it is with a generic user and they don't switch.
The ONE time I've seen this be useful was terminals on a manufacturing floor. Not for shift workers, as they log in and out on their shift, but for when a supervisor comes over to do something. This is because Windows doesn't have decent support for something like SU, and it shows.
Actually, that is exactly what "fast user switching on Domains" is, a version of SU. WTF took them so long?
Because implementing network awareness at "open this file for reading" level is not the responsibility of the high reaches of the app layer. That's the operating system's job.
Kioslaves are usable everywhere in KDE, the main GUI. That is part of the OS, depending on your definition of OS.
If you mean back down to the non-GUI level, then you need to use the correct tool for the job. Interpreting every protocol known to man is NOT the job of the kernel, it is a user-land exercise. So, when you ask to do "cat http://slashdot.org/" you really need to just do "curl -O http://slashdot.org/ | cat". Or more likely "curl -O - http://slashdot.org/", but I can't remember the curl syntax off the top of my head.
Feel free to do "curl -O - http:///{slashdot,pbs,npr}.org" to get them all at once.
The man page would be a good start, because curl is one of the most powerful command-line network tools there is for file manipulation.
And I'll second his complaint about not being able to type a URI directly in the dialog box. Having to fucking point, click, point, click, point, click, ad infinitum to get to a deeply nested folder was the last straw for me and Gnome.
Having a GUI that is friendly to noobs is fine, but making it actively hostile to power users is bone-headed. Those two things are NOT mutually exclusive, but Gnome seems to think so.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, I know. I also read the fine print on how they won't unbundle Internet service and you HAVE to purchase television to get anything else.
If all they're offering is 1 Mbps up, they can count me out.
None of this would be an issue if AT&T was just selling BANDWIDTH. But, they're not. They plan on selling SERVICES as well, including television and telephone. Both of those are regulated by franchise agreements and AT&T is trying to do an end-run here.
I wonder if AT&T's U-Verse service will be tariffed? Will I be able to purchase that 20+ Mbps link as just an Internet link and without the additional TV & telephone services? Will they be required to make that band available to competitors?
Charles
(Residing in one of those suburbs mentioned in the article.)
All of it helps, because it leaves nice big footprints in your logs. Monitor them in real time.
/dev/kmem direct patching.
To help prevent them from getting root, use patches like grsecurity which add address randomization and specifically deals with
If someone has root on your server, you've already lost. You need to go into "containment" and "cleanup" mode.
Impractical, because it requires you to dedicate a drive to the stuff that can be mounted RO. Just mount the PARTITION read-only, instead.
If you have more than one machine, get a dedicated syslog server and send the logs from the other machines over to it. This way logs aren't on the main machines and it is much harder to compromise the audit trail.
For businesses, get something like a Trigeo appliance and keep an eye on the behavior of everything.
Make sure all your permissions/rules are based off the concept of "default deny, explicit allow".
You could also built a monolithic kernel and not allow modules at all. Kind of hard to insert a corrupt module if the kernel isn't modular!
Charles
HTTP and HTTPS both use TCP, not UDP. Voice programs use UDP, for the most part. A large stream of UDP over those ports won't look like a large download to a properly configured firewall because it would be a large stream of UDP.
If Skype switches to TCP, then it becomes more difficult. It still wouldn't look like a stream because of the back-and-forth nature of voice conversation. (Yes, I know web surfing is also back-and-forth but they have distinctly different patterns.)
Deep Packet Inspection was all the rage a few years ago, and as a result all of the major firewall vendors offer it on their enterprise-class equipment. It isn't hard to find as an option if you are looking for a corporate firewall.
...is deep packet inspection. Instead of just letting packets thru based on "I'm just returning so-and-so's request", look to see what their payload contains and what type of stream it is. Yes, encryption can hide the payload. But, you can still prohibit non-SSH/HTTPS/SFTP streams from originating. If it isn't an approved protocol, make it go away.
Want to REALLY torque off the Skype guys? Let it thru, just add random packet delays to each UDP packet that goes out and comes in. A few ms each should do it. Their call quality will go to hell. Things like mail, web surfing, and other non-realtime protocols won't even notice the difference.
Charles
His skill at turning someone with zero musical performance skill into something entertaining and presentable shows he could get a job as a pop music producer. Hell, he can't do any worse than the pimps who churn out the pop tarts we see on stage today!
Ha ha ha! You're funny!
:-)
No.
Apparently the submitter has an aversion to useful information, like release notes.
People are too conditioned against trying things for fear of screwing something up. Assume Google can "just do it" and enter what you want in the little box. The big problem is people thing of Google as a "search engine", when it is more than that. And, they keep adding features so they really can't keep adding crap to the front page or it'll end up looking like Yahoo. [shudder]
And this is a great case for the "Help" link that Norman derided as "not necessary".
But, you're right. I've had a couple of "I didn't know Google could do that!" moments myself.
No, the reason Java didn't take off for web stuff is the massive hit you take when first firing up the JVM. The first time the JVM initializes you can add 3-10 seconds to the web page load. It also chews memory disproportional to what it was used for -- little applets.
Don't get me wrong, for larger programs and projects Java can be an excellent tool. When you fire up the JVM with system boot, or once a week or so, then no problem. But using Java to give you an automatic clock, roll-over buttons, or pretty water effects on pictures is just wrong on so many levels.
"True, but that's because you can only do one thing from their home
page: search."
Ummm...that is because almost everything you're doing from one of
those portal pages can be called a search.
If you want a map at Google, just type the address or location into
the search bar. The top links will be maps of the location. After
all, you're searching for a map.
If you want to check something on Scholar, just type the info into the
search bar. The top links will most likely be answers from Scholar.
After all, you're searching for scholarly information.
You can also do things like basic math, currency conversions, get
dictionary definitions, find books, etc. all from the search box.
The other services you mention give you an array so you have to think
"what tool does what I want", whereas most of the time Google *just
does it*.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html
Google is what simplicity SHOULD be. Not just doing one thing, but
just doing what you want -- whatever you want.
At no time did I say that I thought weapons should not be regulated at all.
I have no problem with restricting ownership of fully-automatic weapons. Nor do I have a problem with requiring Carry & Conceal permits. I also don't have a problem with 3-5 day waiting periods, nor background checks to make sure the purchaser isn't a convicted felon.
My point about the chemistry was that the knowledge and tools were there if you knew where to look. You can't regulate it worth a damn because they are made from common ingredients like bleach, ammonia, fertilizer and diesel fuel.
And your logic about weapon ownership degenerating society flies in the face of historical fact. Firearm ownership didn't exist AT ALL in the U.S. until about the 1920s, and we didn't degenerate into chaos. Personal weapon ownership *is* the American Way.
You're forgetting the effectiveness of IEDs. Also, most of the rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon and the PT are "home made".
I don't know about you, but my High School Chemistry class had an entire segment on what household chemicals could be used to create very nasty poisons and explosives. Most of it was geared towards "don't EVER mix these two chemicals", but was followed up with "because if you mix 2 parts this, with 1 part that, stir, drain, separate and then let sit, you'll have a nice plastique".
Fully-automatic weapons are over rated and usually very inaccurate. SEMI automatic can be very useful, though.
The Second Amendment has nothing to do with protecting yourself from criminals or with hunting and everything to do with keeping your government in check.
You were using circular logic. Everything you mentioned -- novel, music, software -- revolves around copyright. What happens if you have a job like plumber, carpenter, electrician, mechanic, accountant, doctor, lawyer, nurse, cop, firefighter, etc.?
The problem isn't with you making money on a creation after you stopped, it is sitting on your ass and making money for almost a CENTURY after you stopped. Or making money after you're dead.
Copyright has ONE purpose, to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. If you are dead, you aren't promoting the progress of science or useful arts -- you're dead.
LIMITED time was meant as a prod, meaning that after a SHORT period whatever you created would belong to everyone and you could then create something new. If you live off your past successes for you entire life, you are not promoting the progress of science and useful arts, thus not deserving of a government enforced monopoly.
Don't like it? Create something new.
As far as passing more than liquid cash assets to your kids, that is a great idea. May I suggest real estate, vehicles, stocks, bonds, investments, boats, airplanes and most importantly, a solid work ethic that doesn't involve the idea of living off the imagination of a long dead relative.
Zipper(tm) was a trademarked brand for the longest time.
Can you back up your stats to show that ~70% of Americans have more than $61,000 in Net Equity in their home?
Wealth is assets minus debt. If you own a house valued at $100,000, you would need to have > $80,000 in equity and only ~$20,000 in mortgage to surpass that number. (I used $100,000 for the math simplicity. Feel free to multiply that up to whatever you believe is median home value.)
I don't believe most Americans have >80% equity in their homes.
Subtract from that equity the amount of credit card and other debt, and you're looking at a very sad number.
Dude, we're talking about the SQL 2003 standard, NOT Microsoft SQL Server 2003. The last standard was SQL 1999.
http://www.wiscorp.com/SQLStandards.html
PostgreSQL it is still missing the SQL:2003 Window Functions that are critical in business reporting, so Oracle and DB2 will still win out for OLAP/data warehouse applications.
Bullshit, pure and simple. This is nothing more than marketing-speak and you should be ashamed.
I'm not saying that SQL-2003 Window Functions are useless, I'm saying your statement about them being "critical" in business reporting is bullshit. Did no one do business reporting before this standard came out? What the hell did people do in 2002? Are all those MS-SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 8i servers going to fall down in shame? I think not.
I see these comments all the time, usually in marketing brochures from a software vendor touting a new feature. They make it sound like all other products are steaming piles of shit if they don't have whiz-bang-feature #16. They like avoiding any conversation that goes "But, I've been using your product and it works great. Are you telling me your product (last rev) is a steaming pile of shit? That implies if I upgrade, next year you're going to be telling me how THIS rev you are so loudly praising is also a steaming pile of shit."
Charles (had enough marketing-speak for this year)
Lucent (now Alcatel-Lucent) is in the middle of a hardware refresh. I still have a 5-year old laptop running Win2000. The current refresh will run thru about March 2007, when everyone has brand-new Thinkpads with WinXP.
Vista will, most likely, come with the NEXT hardware refresh -- 5 years down the road. Big companies don't give a damn what OS comes pre-loaded, because the first step on all new hardware is to install the approved image.
I think SCO is gonna get a nice visit from Robot Santa this year. They've been naughty.
A kernel isn't an OS and you can't compare the two.
Vista RCs have been available to businesses for months. There is not a compelling reason to switch a business to Vista from XP. At least from 2000 to XP there were some noticeable advantages but right now switching to Vista looks like work just for the sake of work. Ugh.
As for "new machines coming with Vista", that is easy to take care of. Just install your MSDN copy of XP on top of it and save the license. This was done all the time when machines came with XP and companies weren't ready to upgrade from 2000.
Why would I want that? The only place I can think this might be good is on shared computers, but other than public machines I haven't seen a lot of those and they aren't on a domain. Well, if they are, it is with a generic user and they don't switch.
The ONE time I've seen this be useful was terminals on a manufacturing floor. Not for shift workers, as they log in and out on their shift, but for when a supervisor comes over to do something. This is because Windows doesn't have decent support for something like SU, and it shows.
Actually, that is exactly what "fast user switching on Domains" is, a version of SU. WTF took them so long?
Because implementing network awareness at "open this file for reading" level is not the responsibility of the high reaches of the app layer. That's the operating system's job.
Kioslaves are usable everywhere in KDE, the main GUI. That is part of the OS, depending on your definition of OS.
If you mean back down to the non-GUI level, then you need to use the correct tool for the job. Interpreting every protocol known to man is NOT the job of the kernel, it is a user-land exercise. So, when you ask to do "cat http://slashdot.org/" you really need to just do "curl -O http://slashdot.org/ | cat". Or more likely "curl -O - http://slashdot.org/", but I can't remember the curl syntax off the top of my head.
Feel free to do "curl -O - http:///{slashdot,pbs,npr}.org" to get them all at once.
The man page would be a good start, because curl is one of the most powerful command-line network tools there is for file manipulation.
And I'll second his complaint about not being able to type a URI directly in the dialog box. Having to fucking point, click, point, click, point, click, ad infinitum to get to a deeply nested folder was the last straw for me and Gnome.
Having a GUI that is friendly to noobs is fine, but making it actively hostile to power users is bone-headed. Those two things are NOT mutually exclusive, but Gnome seems to think so.
Charles