A real demonstration of the flaw makes a much better impression than theoretical discussion. If I have access to the tools, I can demonstrate the issue myself.
As for shaming being helpful? Bureaucracies, especially Government bureaucracies, are greatly motivated by CYA. Nothing will move them to action like embarrassment.
That's today's sales. This "story" (such as it is) is just as much about tomorrow's sales as well. And in an even bigger scheme of things, it's about tomorrow's technology.
Future sales are much easier to achieve, and predict, if you control the future. You control the future by being the one to deliver it. You do that by laying the foundation of that tech today and getting everyone to follow along.
Incremental changes today lead to overall change tomorrow. And that means your predictions today is tomorrow's reality. Take that, pundits!
That's why marketshare and, ultimately, mindshare is so important in the IT industry - and especially to Microsoft. The industry is rough. It is littered by the corpses of companies and tech that didn't make it despite whatever advantages it had (real or imagined) at the time. Throw in distruptive technologies and a few hardball business tactics and you end up with a very volatile business offering considerable challenge to succeed in. But it helps if you have an inside track on where the industry is going and a reasonable assurance it's going where you predict it will. That is the key to Microsoft's business.
It is clearly Microsoft's intent for the industry to move to Vista. However, this is a rare time when momentum and marketing is faltering for Microsoft. That could have rather startling repercussions not just for Microsoft but also for businesses that have sought shelter under Microsoft's product lines. It could also mean significant change for just about everyone in the IT industry.
That's what makes this whole thing so interesting. It's not about today. It's about tomorrow... and who can tell what that will bring?
Naw. They'll be able to read it fine. It'll pop up as a payload in the infected PowerPoint presentation. The presentation would be one that was greatly hyped for several months, therefore increasing the chance of it being widely read after being published.
What hasn't yet been revealed is the zero-day exploit for PowerPoint. But don't worry - steps have already been taken to get the word out. At the appropriate time.
Hmmm. I wonder what happens when the lead gets mind-controlled. You could do the same lemming trick. But it would also be interesting if you could get the Array's totems to take out the lead.
I play in the Shadowburn battle group. Occasionally there's this redundant array of shaman that show up in the AV games (from a different server - I forget which). They always appear in the same 5-man group and have the same initial letters in their names. I've seen them wreck havok. Immediate heals on each other, concentrated firepower, occasional res on a fallen component. Totems times five adds to the effect. All component shaman are decked out in near identical PvP gear.
I've been able to tell which component shaman has the player behind it by two ways. First, when addressed, the player will occasionally give simple responces in BG chat. Secondly, when moving, the player-controlled character will be out front followed by a group of 4 that move on top of each other.
I would imagine setting up a 5-box group like this would be kind of interesting from a technical angle. However, after watching this redundant array of shaman in action, I'm convinced the reward is being a considerable force on the battlefield.
Several years ago, a relative of mine had a MRSA infection in her ear lobe. They initially tried to treat her with a antibiotic shot and pills. A couple days later, she was in the hospital undergoing the (if I remember right) 3-day IV Vancomycin treatment. That seemed to do the trick and she made a full recovery. Six months later, infection flares up. IV treatment. Recovery. Approx 8 months later, same flare-up same ear... yet again.
An infectious disease specialist saw her and suggested that the issue was that the MRSA was hiding out in the cartilage in her ear which is particularly difficult to properly dose. Apparently cartiledge has a simular issue as bone where little blood flow means a lot less of the antibiotic can penetrate the area of the infection. The doctor ordered a (again - if I remember right) 3 week treatment of IV Vancomycin (home treatment using these interesting little pressurized balls).
The condition has not returned in the last approx. 2 years.
Those search boxes have been around for years now, and we've yet to see anything like an "enterprise strategy" from Google. Not saying it won't happen, but it looks like they're entirely unrelated.
The appliances have been around for awhile. I think I first saw one in 2000 (maybe 2001). You'd think more people would know about them.
I suspect that goes for Google's enterprise strategy. They seem to have one. There's a while section on google.com touting various offerings. But there's no, for example, gmail-in-a-box (more like "gmail-in-a-box and we'll carry the box for you").
So - is this all enterprise tech that escapes notice because of Google's advertising success? Is it a fall-back strategy in case advertising bottoms out? Or is it more dabbling that Google seems wont to do on occasion?
Once I saw the Google search appliance in action, I started to wonder about Google's business. Sure - they're making money with advertising. But I also wonder if all these beta web apps aren't just proving grounds / test beds for enterprise services. What better way to test out your tech than ask the public to throw every conceivable (and even unimagined) kind of data at it and see how it works (as well as watch how they're making their data and your system work for them).
If they copied ideas from Apple how is open source community any different when it blatently copies Microsoft products?
When the OSS community copies, they don't call it "innovation".
This is a subtle point that seems to be missed by a lot of folks. People copy. It's to be expected. That's how technology works; you build on ideas that have come before yours.
OSS embraces this (as do others - but we're making this a binary conversation). Microsoft claims they exist in a vacuum, developing things that wouldn't exist without their efforts alone.
Open source companies do not have enough funding to invest in RnD and thats true. There IS RnD done in OS community but not as much as Google, Yahoo or Microsoft does.
Who do you think funds this OSS RnD? There's a mixture of big and small names that contributes to this stuff.
Just because you express an opinion that you perceive to be contrary, doesn't mean you're particularly insightful. And even worse, it's often hard to tell the difference between a genuine contrary viewpoint and simple flamebait (and no - every troll is not Thomas Swift).
Sure - moderation does its own damage. Theres some indistinct, tenuous balance needed for interesting conversation to happen. But keep in mind that there are plenty of these "Slashdot is wearing no clothes" comments that get modded up.
Give people what they want to play and you have no problem with bots. Simple as that. When you have a problem with people botting through your game, all it says is that you installed something in the game that should keep the people occupied but they generally hate to do it (aka time sink).
I'm not so sure it's that simple. There's a couple reasons for this.
The first problem is the nature of the game. There's supposed to be some limit to what you can do in the game that can be overcome to achieve some goal. That's what these little grinds are all about. Remove the grinds and remove the game.
That's not to say that all grinds are good. Players are often pointing out when a grind is particularly onerous. And a good game administrator pays attention and tries to tweak the grind so that the grind is suitable for the reward provided (as they would adjust any other challenge in the game).
The grind is supposed to be a challenge. It can represent several aspects of the game. It provides a way to slowly build to a special reward (epic mounts are expected to be gained after a period of wealth generation - gold essentially being tokens of that effort). It represents time spent in an area or efforts towards a faction (rep grinds / other types of tokens). It can also represent role-played skill (whether the player themselves have gained any skill).
These are pretty fundamental aspects of the roleplaying game. But it also leads to another interesting observation on cheating. What if we weren't roleplaying but rather relying entirely on the skill of the player?
Outside having an innate talent, most players gain this skill with practice. A common example is the FPS genre. There are (debatably) small advantages provided by having a fast system and low latency. But outside that, you can tell when you encounter a skilled opponent.
Or are they? Are they running a bot? Are they running wall hacks? Are they using one of numerous other cheats? And there we have it - no built in game grind but we still see cheats.
One could make the argument that practice is itself a grind. And sure enough, that's usually the excuse given; "I've got a life - I don't have time to get good to play this game." But if you aren't going to be willing to deal with the challenge of a skilled player - why bother playing against another person? Why bother playing the game if you're not going to actually play the game? Cheating is not playing the game.
This is the second issue. The real reason these cheats exist is the players who use them. Not the game itself.
I'm sure there's tons of really great people working at Microsoft. It's easy to put a kind face on Microsoft when you think of the examples of nice people who work there. But when it comes to business, Microsoft is not that nice guy.
The wikipedia article indicates that people think the device was designed with compactness in mind. So why would you add the feature of calculating when 4 years had passed? It's already keeping track of the months, so couldn't you just count them as they went past? Did I miss something?
I'm going to hazard a guess that it has something to do with this:
Dr. Freeth, who is also associated with Images First Ltd., in London, explained in an e-mail message that the Metonic calendar was designed to reconcile the lengths of the lunar month with the solar year. Twelve lunar months are about 11 days short of a year, but 235 lunar months fit well into 19 years.
âoeFrom this it is possible to construct an artificial mathematical calendar that keeps in synchronization with both the Sun and the Moon,â Dr. Freeth said.
The Metonic calendar today, he noted, is the basis for the Jewish religious calendar and in calculations to date Easter in the Christian calendar.
Both Easter and the original Olympic games were based on astronomy - not a calendar. The device is (apparently) attempting to keep date calculations in sync with various astronomic events - reconciling them to a calculable cycle. Since the Olympiad is one of those cycles, it's no surprise that it would be included. And it explains why the exact date and month of each 4yr cycle would shift from cycle to cycle.
What part of that sounds like a "piss-poor selection" of "crippled" flicks? Fandango and Movietickets, at least, aren't exactly DRM purveyors. And Apple's DRM is one of the least onerous options out there, for "legit" viewing.
Doesn't Fandango and Movietickets sell... tickets? Do they also sell video?
As for Apple's iTunes, I agree; least onerous. But still onerous. I pass.
Here's an example. I got a kick out of Dr. Horrible. Partly because I thought it was kinda neat. Partly because it might part of an Internet dream many have talked about for years. I plan to throw some dollars at the project but I'm not purchasing from iTunes. I'm waiting for the DVD. When I get said DVD, I'm ripping it and putting the media on my shelf. The DVD provides me with much superior options for use of media I've purchased (not by intent of course - I'm sure the DVD Consortium rues the day CSS was cracked).
Slashdot Mirror
A real demonstration of the flaw makes a much better impression than theoretical discussion. If I have access to the tools, I can demonstrate the issue myself.
As for shaming being helpful? Bureaucracies, especially Government bureaucracies, are greatly motivated by CYA. Nothing will move them to action like embarrassment.
Many moderators don't know how to spell "incite."
That's today's sales. This "story" (such as it is) is just as much about tomorrow's sales as well. And in an even bigger scheme of things, it's about tomorrow's technology.
Future sales are much easier to achieve, and predict, if you control the future. You control the future by being the one to deliver it. You do that by laying the foundation of that tech today and getting everyone to follow along.
Incremental changes today lead to overall change tomorrow. And that means your predictions today is tomorrow's reality. Take that, pundits!
That's why marketshare and, ultimately, mindshare is so important in the IT industry - and especially to Microsoft. The industry is rough. It is littered by the corpses of companies and tech that didn't make it despite whatever advantages it had (real or imagined) at the time. Throw in distruptive technologies and a few hardball business tactics and you end up with a very volatile business offering considerable challenge to succeed in. But it helps if you have an inside track on where the industry is going and a reasonable assurance it's going where you predict it will. That is the key to Microsoft's business.
It is clearly Microsoft's intent for the industry to move to Vista. However, this is a rare time when momentum and marketing is faltering for Microsoft. That could have rather startling repercussions not just for Microsoft but also for businesses that have sought shelter under Microsoft's product lines. It could also mean significant change for just about everyone in the IT industry.
That's what makes this whole thing so interesting. It's not about today. It's about tomorrow... and who can tell what that will bring?
Naw. They'll be able to read it fine. It'll pop up as a payload in the infected PowerPoint presentation. The presentation would be one that was greatly hyped for several months, therefore increasing the chance of it being widely read after being published.
But it will, of course, use Comic Sans.
What hasn't yet been revealed is the zero-day exploit for PowerPoint. But don't worry - steps have already been taken to get the word out. At the appropriate time.
Hmmm. I wonder what happens when the lead gets mind-controlled. You could do the same lemming trick. But it would also be interesting if you could get the Array's totems to take out the lead.
I play in the Shadowburn battle group. Occasionally there's this redundant array of shaman that show up in the AV games (from a different server - I forget which). They always appear in the same 5-man group and have the same initial letters in their names. I've seen them wreck havok. Immediate heals on each other, concentrated firepower, occasional res on a fallen component. Totems times five adds to the effect. All component shaman are decked out in near identical PvP gear.
I've been able to tell which component shaman has the player behind it by two ways. First, when addressed, the player will occasionally give simple responces in BG chat. Secondly, when moving, the player-controlled character will be out front followed by a group of 4 that move on top of each other.
I would imagine setting up a 5-box group like this would be kind of interesting from a technical angle. However, after watching this redundant array of shaman in action, I'm convinced the reward is being a considerable force on the battlefield.
Several years ago, a relative of mine had a MRSA infection in her ear lobe. They initially tried to treat her with a antibiotic shot and pills. A couple days later, she was in the hospital undergoing the (if I remember right) 3-day IV Vancomycin treatment. That seemed to do the trick and she made a full recovery. Six months later, infection flares up. IV treatment. Recovery. Approx 8 months later, same flare-up same ear... yet again.
An infectious disease specialist saw her and suggested that the issue was that the MRSA was hiding out in the cartilage in her ear which is particularly difficult to properly dose. Apparently cartiledge has a simular issue as bone where little blood flow means a lot less of the antibiotic can penetrate the area of the infection. The doctor ordered a (again - if I remember right) 3 week treatment of IV Vancomycin (home treatment using these interesting little pressurized balls).
The condition has not returned in the last approx. 2 years.
Those search boxes have been around for years now, and we've yet to see anything like an "enterprise strategy" from Google. Not saying it won't happen, but it looks like they're entirely unrelated.
The appliances have been around for awhile. I think I first saw one in 2000 (maybe 2001). You'd think more people would know about them.
I suspect that goes for Google's enterprise strategy. They seem to have one. There's a while section on google.com touting various offerings. But there's no, for example, gmail-in-a-box (more like "gmail-in-a-box and we'll carry the box for you").
So - is this all enterprise tech that escapes notice because of Google's advertising success? Is it a fall-back strategy in case advertising bottoms out? Or is it more dabbling that Google seems wont to do on occasion?
Once I saw the Google search appliance in action, I started to wonder about Google's business. Sure - they're making money with advertising. But I also wonder if all these beta web apps aren't just proving grounds / test beds for enterprise services. What better way to test out your tech than ask the public to throw every conceivable (and even unimagined) kind of data at it and see how it works (as well as watch how they're making their data and your system work for them).
Liar!! I've seen national treasure 1 AND 2.
So the Knights Templar fortune is in... Hollywood? My God. The MPAA... and by extension, the RIAA. It all makes sense now.
You're confusing physics with anatomy
I'm pretty sure physics is involved.
Thankfully there was no swamp nearby.
If they copied ideas from Apple how is open source community any different when it blatently copies Microsoft products?
When the OSS community copies, they don't call it "innovation".
This is a subtle point that seems to be missed by a lot of folks. People copy. It's to be expected. That's how technology works; you build on ideas that have come before yours.
OSS embraces this (as do others - but we're making this a binary conversation). Microsoft claims they exist in a vacuum, developing things that wouldn't exist without their efforts alone.
Who do you think funds this OSS RnD? There's a mixture of big and small names that contributes to this stuff.
I know you don't mean to do it... but... you're kind of explaining the joke.
I'll hazard to guess the point being that federal elections are also publicly funded, yet fundamentally involve privacy.
Just because you express an opinion that you perceive to be contrary, doesn't mean you're particularly insightful. And even worse, it's often hard to tell the difference between a genuine contrary viewpoint and simple flamebait (and no - every troll is not Thomas Swift).
Sure - moderation does its own damage. Theres some indistinct, tenuous balance needed for interesting conversation to happen. But keep in mind that there are plenty of these "Slashdot is wearing no clothes" comments that get modded up.
Could you please tell me some more of my opinions, please?
Sure. You also think your... I mean... "the band's" talent has been greatly under-appreciated over the past few years.
Give people what they want to play and you have no problem with bots. Simple as that. When you have a problem with people botting through your game, all it says is that you installed something in the game that should keep the people occupied but they generally hate to do it (aka time sink).
I'm not so sure it's that simple. There's a couple reasons for this.
The first problem is the nature of the game. There's supposed to be some limit to what you can do in the game that can be overcome to achieve some goal. That's what these little grinds are all about. Remove the grinds and remove the game.
That's not to say that all grinds are good. Players are often pointing out when a grind is particularly onerous. And a good game administrator pays attention and tries to tweak the grind so that the grind is suitable for the reward provided (as they would adjust any other challenge in the game).
The grind is supposed to be a challenge. It can represent several aspects of the game. It provides a way to slowly build to a special reward (epic mounts are expected to be gained after a period of wealth generation - gold essentially being tokens of that effort). It represents time spent in an area or efforts towards a faction (rep grinds / other types of tokens). It can also represent role-played skill (whether the player themselves have gained any skill).
These are pretty fundamental aspects of the roleplaying game. But it also leads to another interesting observation on cheating. What if we weren't roleplaying but rather relying entirely on the skill of the player?
Outside having an innate talent, most players gain this skill with practice. A common example is the FPS genre. There are (debatably) small advantages provided by having a fast system and low latency. But outside that, you can tell when you encounter a skilled opponent.
Or are they? Are they running a bot? Are they running wall hacks? Are they using one of numerous other cheats? And there we have it - no built in game grind but we still see cheats.
One could make the argument that practice is itself a grind. And sure enough, that's usually the excuse given; "I've got a life - I don't have time to get good to play this game." But if you aren't going to be willing to deal with the challenge of a skilled player - why bother playing against another person? Why bother playing the game if you're not going to actually play the game? Cheating is not playing the game.
This is the second issue. The real reason these cheats exist is the players who use them. Not the game itself.
I'm sure there's tons of really great people working at Microsoft. It's easy to put a kind face on Microsoft when you think of the examples of nice people who work there. But when it comes to business, Microsoft is not that nice guy.
The wikipedia article indicates that people think the device was designed with compactness in mind. So why would you add the feature of calculating when 4 years had passed? It's already keeping track of the months, so couldn't you just count them as they went past? Did I miss something?
I'm going to hazard a guess that it has something to do with this:
Both Easter and the original Olympic games were based on astronomy - not a calendar. The device is (apparently) attempting to keep date calculations in sync with various astronomic events - reconciling them to a calculable cycle. Since the Olympiad is one of those cycles, it's no surprise that it would be included. And it explains why the exact date and month of each 4yr cycle would shift from cycle to cycle.
Damn you once again, Earl Grey.
Sorry - a rant about some abusive, ungrateful users isn't informative. It may, however, be funny.
What part of that sounds like a "piss-poor selection" of "crippled" flicks? Fandango and Movietickets, at least, aren't exactly DRM purveyors. And Apple's DRM is one of the least onerous options out there, for "legit" viewing.
Doesn't Fandango and Movietickets sell... tickets? Do they also sell video?
As for Apple's iTunes, I agree; least onerous. But still onerous. I pass.
Here's an example. I got a kick out of Dr. Horrible. Partly because I thought it was kinda neat. Partly because it might part of an Internet dream many have talked about for years. I plan to throw some dollars at the project but I'm not purchasing from iTunes. I'm waiting for the DVD. When I get said DVD, I'm ripping it and putting the media on my shelf. The DVD provides me with much superior options for use of media I've purchased (not by intent of course - I'm sure the DVD Consortium rues the day CSS was cracked).
Just another case of Internet anonymity gone wrong.
...Says the "bravecanadian." Ohh look! I've got a strawman too!