When my wife heard about this program, it inspired her to immediately sign both herself and me up as proverbial "card-carrying members of the ACLU." I highly recommend it to anyone else who is concerned but non-melodramatic.
The original theme music! It's a strong, martial-sounding composition that can hold its own with the best space opera themes. I saw this story on the front page and, immediately, the opening notes of that theme started sounding in my mind...it's so closely identified with the series, I don't see how they could not include it.
They just thought it was a cool way to write "Transportation Expansion." Of course, T-Rex is gobbling up a few businesses along I-25 through the Narrows area (from Broadway south to about Evans)...
Another helpful service for Denver commuters is MyTrafficNews.com. Sign up, and they send you a customized E-mail message every work day telling you what traffic is like out on the roads; you choose what sectors of the metro area you want reports on, and what time you want the report mailed to you. Just the thing to help you figure out your route home before you leave the office.
(The above is an unsolicited testimonial; I'm a satisfied subscriber to their service.)
Re:What this reminds me of...
on
Baked Apple
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· Score: 1
Yeah, I thought of the same thing...the headline for that old ad was even "Baked Apple."
And, as you say, a new case and keyboard, and the thing was just fine...
PocketPC? Hell with that; I'm looking at the Sharp Zaurus. Color, audio, a slide-out keyboard, takes both SD and CompactFlash cards, and it runs Linux and has a Java runtime.
"Is that a penguin in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
(Now, imagine a Beowulf clus--no, let's just not go there. Please.)
...because, IIRC, the song Weird Al made was Amish Paradise, based on Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise. The thing is, Coolio's song was based on a sample of a Stevie Wonder song ("Pastime Paradise").
Right you are. Coolio's publishing company or record company gave Al the green light, but Coolio himself wasn't happy about that, as he'd said "No" and the company hadn't followed his instructions. Al was quite embarrased by the whole episode, and has publically apologized to Coolio on several occasions.
As far as I understand it, Al isn't legally obligated to ask permission for his parodies, but he does anyway because he's a nice guy and doesn't want people upset with him. If the parody involves other pop-culture properties, like movies, he'll get permission from their owners as well. (Example: He got permission from both Don McLean and LucasArts for "The Saga Begins," his parody of "American Pie" that also rather neatly summarizes the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.)
Whereever possible, Al always tries to go to the original songwriters first to get permission. He learned this lesson when seeking permission for "Yoda." Lucasfilm gave their blessing, but the Kinks' publishing company turned him down. Then one day, Al ran into Ray Davies, and asked why he'd turned him down; it turned out Davies didn't even know Al had asked, and he straightened everything out.
Sometimes he's had to go to great lengths to get permission for a song. There's a well-known story about how, to get in touch with Kurt Cobain, Al called up his friend Victoria Jackson, then with SNL (where Nirvana was doing an appearance), and had her get Cobain on the line so he could ask for permission for "Smells Like Nirvana." Cobain was at first dubious ("Is this going to be a song about food?"), but gave his consent. (Al still plays "Smells Like Nirvana" in concert, as his own personal tribute to Cobain, who was a big fan of the song.)
And yes, Al has been turned down at least once. He's done a parody of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" ("Chicken Pot Pie"), but has never released it because McCartney, a vegetarian, said "No."
Never fear, Al will never run out of material. He's working on a new album even now...
I'm running right now with a Ricochet wireless modem plugged in via USB. No problems under Linux here, once I figured out how to make it appear as a serial device (/dev/ttyUSB0).
And then you can move up to JBoss if you want to learn about EJBs and other J2EE concepts. Still no expenditure required. Also, learn Ant; for building Java projects, it is "da bomb."
A working knowledge of SQL is also a good thing to have for Java developers, as many Java projects will involve databases. And using Java will give you a springboard to start investigating Web services, which may become increasingly important soon.
Perhaps the best advice I can give is to start an open-source project in Java, using SourceForge or a similar site. That way, you can legitimately put the project on your resume, and potential employers can actually see what kind of code you're writing. I'm pretty sure that my project was at least partially responsible for getting me my last two jobs, both in Java development.
All in all, these days, you can't go too far wrong if you're "livin' la vida Java."
Actually, I'd generalize from there and say that all the material on the Counterpane Labs site, as well as all back issues of Crypto-Gram, are good sources for anyone interested in cryptography. Schneier's papers on cipher design and his own algorithms will show you how a world-class cryptographer goes about designing an algorithm, and about making it resistant to known attack techniques. His analyses of other algorithms, in turn, will show you attack strategies.
Now, don't get me wrong; designing crypto algorithms is a decent pastime, and it's certainly a better hobby than, say, watching network TV or binge drinking. But creating an algorithm that people will want to use, and maybe even pay for, because it really is more secure than anything else out there, is something else again.
The same applies to designs of cryptographic protocols, even ones that use good, known-secure algorithms. Schneier himself has said that the computing landscape is littered with poorly-secured systems built by people who had read Applied Cryptography.
I suggest you begin by reading this, and maybe also this, both by Bruce Schneier, one of the foremost experts in cryptography and computer security today. Then re-evaluate your expectations about the potential success of your new algorithm, because it's possible you're deluding yourself.
I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but there have been a lot of great mathematicians and cryptographers that have tried to design good, secure algorithms over the past few decades. Very few have actually managed to create algorithms that'll stand up under analysis. You may think you've done so, but it's going to take a lot to convince everyone of that.
Lens replacements? Oh, Jesus, that's even scarier than LASIK. Besides, they mention that one of the potential complications is detached retinas, and I'm already at greater risk for that (my father had that happen to both his eyes, so there's a greater-than-normal chance that my own will go out of warranty in the same fashion). And my eyes aren't quite bad enough for that to be a recommended procedure (I would need to be at a -12 or so, and I'm a -10/-10.5...just checked my contact lens boxes to verify that).
Agreed! Both my mother and brother have had LASIK done, and they loved it, but I'm not going to chance it. I'll stick to my Acuvue 2 contacts, thanks, even though I have to take them out nightly; I'm used to it. Besides, my eyes are pretty bad (-10.5 in one eye, -9.5 or -10 in the other, I forget which), and I don't think LASIK works on people whose eyes are that bad. Now, what I really need is the William Gibson solution...just pull out the old eyes and replace 'em with Zeiss Ikons. But we can't do that yet...
Dr. Cerf, I'm curious to know about what security plans you're considering for the interplanetary network you propose. It's fairly obvious that there has to be something better than present-day Net security involved, otherwise it would be possible for a garden-variety script kiddie to DoS an entire planet (at least to the extent of cutting off its "upstream" link). And might these security plans offer us some possible ways of dealing with network attacks here on Earth as well?
Their user guide says you can use Linux or other Unix OS's, but they're not officially supported. And their news page says:
"For those of you who are using Linux on you computers, your computer may be at risk. Linux and other flavors of Unix are advanced operating systems. If you are going to run Linux you need to keep it constantly up-to-date. Vigilance is required for successful operation without putting yours and others data at risk." [Emphasis theirs]
So I suppose if a student ran Debian, subscribed to the announcements mailing list to keep abreast of security updates, and did "apt-get update/apt-get upgrade" frequently, and was able to prove the above to the ResNet people, they'd be OK.
So is Windows 2000 or Mac OS X, but they're the proper names.
I'd be willing to bet that you don't call Mac OS X "Mach", though that's the kernel it uses, and is a shorter name.
Do you say the full name "Microsoft Windows 2000" every time you refer to that OS? Most people would say "No, I say 'Win-two-kay.'"
Do you say the full name "Mac OS X" every time you refer to that OS? Most people would say "No, I say 'Oh-ess-ten.'" (Or maybe "Oh-ess-ecks").
Likewise, most people will not use the full name "GNU/Linux" every time they refer to that OS, but will say "Lih-nucks."
When you look at it from that perspective, "Linux" is as much a valid conversational abbreviation of "GNU/Linux" as "Win2K" is of "Microsoft Windows 2000" or "OS X" is of "Mac OS X." This means that you can still call it "Linux" in conversation, but maybe you should put "GNU/Linux" on your resume rather than "Linux," just as you would put "Microsoft Windows 2000" on there rather than "Win2K."
It works similarly with distro names. The full name of the distro I use is "Debian GNU/Linux," but, in conversation, I'm likely to just say "Debian."
Hmmm. I hadn't taken into account how much the restriction on "recognized" music that the record labels could wield could hurt business.
Believe it. The record companies have a stranglehold now. They won't give it up willingly. And they will not go down easily, and they will not go down alone.
Microsoft only tried to "cut off Netscape's air supply," and they never quite finished the job. You do something with music distribution the record companies don't like, and your air supply will get cut off, if it's humanly possible.
Consider, what if there was a chain of record shops (start with a small number and grow) that allowed customers to create their own CDs by pulling songs (along with lyrics and artist info and such) from a large (and continually growing) database of artist contributed music. For each song copied from the database, the artist(s) get a royalty cut and the record shop gets expenses (CD, jewel case, personal lyric book, personal artist info book, etc.) plus a small profit. This is similar to (if I remember correctly) the Personics model of "make your own tape".
Ah, but the record industry killed off Personics, too. See this Business 2.0 article for details. Basically, even though Personics was approved by the record labels--and some of them had even invested in it--they couldn't get licenses to use many good songs in their system. (And, in order to get the licenses, they had to incorporate lots of security measures, like strict inventory control to ensure employees didn't run off extra tapes after hours.) This lack of music really hurt Personics' business, especially repeat business. In the end, although Personics tried to "do the right thing," they suffered the same fate as Napster was to suffer nearly a decade later. The parallels are striking.
It seems likely that your chain of DIY record stores would suffer a similar fate, or (if it tried to run without formal permission, like Napster did) get sued out of existence. Sorry.
OK, here's the straight story (or as straight as you're going to get in this instance).
The original Tasha Yar was indeed killed on Vagra II by Armus (aka "the Exxon Monster"). ("Skin of Evil") The alternate Tasha Yar went back in time with the crew of the Enterprise-C ("Yesterday's Enterprise"), where they rendered assistance to the Klingons in the Romulan attack at Narendra III. The Enterprise-C was destroyed, but Yar was captured alive and taken to a Romulan prison camp. A Romulan commander took a liking to her, and made her his consort. She bore him a daughter, Sela. Later, Yar tried to escape from the prison camp, carrying Sela. Sela, not understanding, cried out for the guards, and Yar was executed as a result. Sela later became a commander herself, and was behind the aid supplied to the Duras family faction during the Klingon civil war ("Redemption"), as well as the failed Romulan plot to invade Vulcan under the guise of a "peace mission" ("Unification").
Clear? I thought not. This is the most whacked-out time travel plot in the Trek universe. You are not expected to understand this.:-)
It looks like the site is running the new ColdFusion (which is Java-based), so they are running using a Java servlet-type engine...but they're using a Microsoft Access database! And that's what the problem with their site is; the database is "locked"...
You think they'd know better than to try and run a high-traffic news site on an Access database...especially since high-quality, industrial-strength databases are freely available.
Right. I thought everyone knew that part already.:-)
"Wardialing" was originally known as "tone scanning" or "demon dialing" until WarGames came out. In fact, you'll notice that the disk that David (Matthew Broderick) pulls out to start the process of looking for game company ProtoVision's computers is labeled "Modem Tone Scan." But this is getting back into prehistory now...
Slashdot Mirror
"The last time I had a milk-based product develop an 'attitude,' it was because of insufficient refrigeration."
When my wife heard about this program, it inspired her to immediately sign both herself and me up as proverbial "card-carrying members of the ACLU." I highly recommend it to anyone else who is concerned but non-melodramatic.
The original theme music! It's a strong, martial-sounding composition that can hold its own with the best space opera themes. I saw this story on the front page and, immediately, the opening notes of that theme started sounding in my mind...it's so closely identified with the series, I don't see how they could not include it.
Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle!
Another helpful service for Denver commuters is MyTrafficNews.com. Sign up, and they send you a customized E-mail message every work day telling you what traffic is like out on the roads; you choose what sectors of the metro area you want reports on, and what time you want the report mailed to you. Just the thing to help you figure out your route home before you leave the office.
(The above is an unsolicited testimonial; I'm a satisfied subscriber to their service.)
And, as you say, a new case and keyboard, and the thing was just fine...
"Is that a penguin in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
(Now, imagine a Beowulf clus--no, let's just not go there. Please.)
As far as I understand it, Al isn't legally obligated to ask permission for his parodies, but he does anyway because he's a nice guy and doesn't want people upset with him. If the parody involves other pop-culture properties, like movies, he'll get permission from their owners as well. (Example: He got permission from both Don McLean and LucasArts for "The Saga Begins," his parody of "American Pie" that also rather neatly summarizes the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.)
Whereever possible, Al always tries to go to the original songwriters first to get permission. He learned this lesson when seeking permission for "Yoda." Lucasfilm gave their blessing, but the Kinks' publishing company turned him down. Then one day, Al ran into Ray Davies, and asked why he'd turned him down; it turned out Davies didn't even know Al had asked, and he straightened everything out.
Sometimes he's had to go to great lengths to get permission for a song. There's a well-known story about how, to get in touch with Kurt Cobain, Al called up his friend Victoria Jackson, then with SNL (where Nirvana was doing an appearance), and had her get Cobain on the line so he could ask for permission for "Smells Like Nirvana." Cobain was at first dubious ("Is this going to be a song about food?"), but gave his consent. (Al still plays "Smells Like Nirvana" in concert, as his own personal tribute to Cobain, who was a big fan of the song.)
And yes, Al has been turned down at least once. He's done a parody of Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" ("Chicken Pot Pie"), but has never released it because McCartney, a vegetarian, said "No."
Never fear, Al will never run out of material. He's working on a new album even now...
I'm running right now with a Ricochet wireless modem plugged in via USB. No problems under Linux here, once I figured out how to make it appear as a serial device (/dev/ttyUSB0).
A working knowledge of SQL is also a good thing to have for Java developers, as many Java projects will involve databases. And using Java will give you a springboard to start investigating Web services, which may become increasingly important soon.
Perhaps the best advice I can give is to start an open-source project in Java, using SourceForge or a similar site. That way, you can legitimately put the project on your resume, and potential employers can actually see what kind of code you're writing. I'm pretty sure that my project was at least partially responsible for getting me my last two jobs, both in Java development.
All in all, these days, you can't go too far wrong if you're "livin' la vida Java."
Now, don't get me wrong; designing crypto algorithms is a decent pastime, and it's certainly a better hobby than, say, watching network TV or binge drinking. But creating an algorithm that people will want to use, and maybe even pay for, because it really is more secure than anything else out there, is something else again.
The same applies to designs of cryptographic protocols, even ones that use good, known-secure algorithms. Schneier himself has said that the computing landscape is littered with poorly-secured systems built by people who had read Applied Cryptography.
I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but there have been a lot of great mathematicians and cryptographers that have tried to design good, secure algorithms over the past few decades. Very few have actually managed to create algorithms that'll stand up under analysis. You may think you've done so, but it's going to take a lot to convince everyone of that.
I'll wait for the Zeiss Ikons, thanks. :-)
Agreed! Both my mother and brother have had LASIK done, and they loved it, but I'm not going to chance it. I'll stick to my Acuvue 2 contacts, thanks, even though I have to take them out nightly; I'm used to it. Besides, my eyes are pretty bad (-10.5 in one eye, -9.5 or -10 in the other, I forget which), and I don't think LASIK works on people whose eyes are that bad. Now, what I really need is the William Gibson solution...just pull out the old eyes and replace 'em with Zeiss Ikons. But we can't do that yet...
Dr. Cerf, I'm curious to know about what security plans you're considering for the interplanetary network you propose. It's fairly obvious that there has to be something better than present-day Net security involved, otherwise it would be possible for a garden-variety script kiddie to DoS an entire planet (at least to the extent of cutting off its "upstream" link). And might these security plans offer us some possible ways of dealing with network attacks here on Earth as well?
"For those of you who are using Linux on you computers, your computer may be at risk. Linux and other flavors of Unix are advanced operating systems. If you are going to run Linux you need to keep it constantly up-to-date. Vigilance is required for successful operation without putting yours and others data at risk." [Emphasis theirs]
So I suppose if a student ran Debian, subscribed to the announcements mailing list to keep abreast of security updates, and did "apt-get update/apt-get upgrade" frequently, and was able to prove the above to the ResNet people, they'd be OK.
Do you say the full name "Mac OS X" every time you refer to that OS? Most people would say "No, I say 'Oh-ess-ten.'" (Or maybe "Oh-ess-ecks").
Likewise, most people will not use the full name "GNU/Linux" every time they refer to that OS, but will say "Lih-nucks."
When you look at it from that perspective, "Linux" is as much a valid conversational abbreviation of "GNU/Linux" as "Win2K" is of "Microsoft Windows 2000" or "OS X" is of "Mac OS X." This means that you can still call it "Linux" in conversation, but maybe you should put "GNU/Linux" on your resume rather than "Linux," just as you would put "Microsoft Windows 2000" on there rather than "Win2K."
It works similarly with distro names. The full name of the distro I use is "Debian GNU/Linux," but, in conversation, I'm likely to just say "Debian."
Microsoft only tried to "cut off Netscape's air supply," and they never quite finished the job. You do something with music distribution the record companies don't like, and your air supply will get cut off, if it's humanly possible.
It seems likely that your chain of DIY record stores would suffer a similar fate, or (if it tried to run without formal permission, like Napster did) get sued out of existence. Sorry.
Right. Dave Winer said it best: "No more pesos for Señor Bezos!"
Alternatives include Barnes and Noble and The Tattered Cover.
The original Tasha Yar was indeed killed on Vagra II by Armus (aka "the Exxon Monster"). ("Skin of Evil") The alternate Tasha Yar went back in time with the crew of the Enterprise-C ("Yesterday's Enterprise"), where they rendered assistance to the Klingons in the Romulan attack at Narendra III. The Enterprise-C was destroyed, but Yar was captured alive and taken to a Romulan prison camp. A Romulan commander took a liking to her, and made her his consort. She bore him a daughter, Sela. Later, Yar tried to escape from the prison camp, carrying Sela. Sela, not understanding, cried out for the guards, and Yar was executed as a result. Sela later became a commander herself, and was behind the aid supplied to the Duras family faction during the Klingon civil war ("Redemption"), as well as the failed Romulan plot to invade Vulcan under the guise of a "peace mission" ("Unification").
Clear? I thought not. This is the most whacked-out time travel plot in the Trek universe. You are not expected to understand this. :-)
You think they'd know better than to try and run a high-traffic news site on an Access database...especially since high-quality, industrial-strength databases are freely available.
Sounds more like just a variation of wardriving to me. How about the term "warchasing" ("war-" + "storm chasing")?
"Wardialing" was originally known as "tone scanning" or "demon dialing" until WarGames came out. In fact, you'll notice that the disk that David (Matthew Broderick) pulls out to start the process of looking for game company ProtoVision's computers is labeled "Modem Tone Scan." But this is getting back into prehistory now...