Sadly, the third part of the report's summary - 'Controlling the Internet' - is much easier than the EFF report on the BPDG suggests.
All it would require is a law banning all ISPs from forwarding incoming TCP connections, UDP packets etc on to a subscriber, unless such subscriber has a license to operate as a 'server'.
Similarly, anyone directly connected to the backbone would need a license to accept incoming connections.
The US could threaten trade sanctions against any other country that doesn't pass similar laws.
The licensing regime for 'servers' would be onerous, and include things such as mandatory logs with IP addresses, times etc going back 3 years, also a cache of the last 200GB of data transferred. Anyone trafficking in unauthorised protocols, or using unauthorised cryptography, would lose their license.
That way, only medium-large sized companies would have the funds and resources to fulfil the administrative requirements of license compliance.
This is war - no sooner has the internet exploded onto the world stage, than the powers that be are fighting tooth and nail to protect their monopoly.
The most powerful way to fight - stop going to movies, even 'Star Wars' etc - discourage your friends - boycott Hollywood.
I also have seen my share of other people's code. Quality of comments varies. I've seen code from the 'hardcore hacker', who believes that the statements themselves suffice as comments - 'the code is intuitively obvious, and it comments itself'. I've also seen code from complete lamers, who dilute the code terribly with irrelevant shit:
i++;// increment i
Over the years, I've noticed that composition of code, and commenting/documentation of code, tend to draw on two different parts of the brain. Often, I find myself in a 'zone', where the code flows freely, and where commenting code feels like a total distraction. Other times - for instance, when I'm hunting an elusive bug, I find a different part of the brain kicking in - and at that stage, I find it easier, even pleasurable, to add meaningful comments, to change indenting, variable names etc, as if I'm narrating the code to someone else. I guess it's a matter of balance, and using the right mental faculties at the right time. A good rule of thumb is to imagine that someone else is sitting beside you, someone less acquainted with the task than yourself (eg a non-technical manager). Imagine you're explaining to him/her how the code works, and put these explanations in the code as succinct yet clear comments. Imagine this person asking you, 'what's that variable'. Don't be afraid of global search'n'replace of identifier names across all the applicable files. And imagine this person sometimes getting up and leaving you in peace, so you can have those precious moments to hack to your heart's content. In conclusion, I feel that much of a person's personality can be read from one's code. Is someone fundamentally easygoing and helpful, and caring about others? Or is someone a complete egotist, emotionally shut down almost to the point of autism? In my mind, the ability of code to communicate its intent and methods to other programmers is almost as important as the code successfully performing its task, since its communicability directly affects the ability and interest of others in working on it, and thus its openness to manpower leverage.
Something that rang my alarm bells about the 'modular embedded windows' is the fact that it doesn't have an automatic mechanism for installing additional programs.
I can't rule out that some unscrupulous hardware vendors may customise an 'embedded/modular Windows' to only allow installation of certain apps, namely apps supplied through the hardware vendor.
So you don't like the browser on the computer you bought from Acme Discounts Inc? You don't like the advert bars, and your browsing history being periodically sent to their servers? Tough shit! You're not allowed to install another browser.
Solution would be to install another OS. But, surprise surprise! Acme Discounts Inc has done some weird shit on the motherboard that requires a special driver, only available as a part of their custom cut of 'modular windows'. It won't take any other OS. Attempts to write a driver to work around this are forbidden under the DMCA!
Welcome to the death of the standard PC, and the birth of the corporate controlled 'computing appliance'! Imagine Acme Discounts Inc selling such hobbled machines below cost for years to kill the competition.
Yes, M$ are bad bastards, yes, they have a history of unconscienable conduct in the marketplace, but there are people who are just waiting for the first opportunity to do much worse!
I just compiled Konqueror and pointed it to www.goatse.cx. Damned if I know how, but the QT engine rendered the image therein as clean, crisp ASCII art. Perhaps the trollers who posted the ascii version to/. in months passed were using a beta of QT/console.
I strongly suspect that early in the development cycle, Sun planned to charge for StarOffice. All they needed to do was get a few stable releases out the door, win some acceptance for the product and, above all, get users accustomed to it and reluctant to learn yet another office suite.
I wonder how many people would have downloaded and invested the time to learn Star Office if they had known from the outset that Sun was planning to charge for it.
Sun, you are a pretty good company in most respects, but I don't think this tactic will benefit your reputation. It would have been better if you kept the basic Star Office suite free, and offered some corporate-targeted optional add-ons (that private users and small companies don't need) at a price. Similar to your Forte Java IDE suite (Free 'Community Edition' through to pricey 'Enterprise Edition'). That would have kept people's trust in your company.
Hopefully, you'll write this off as a mistake, and offer 'Community Editions' of SO 6 and beyond.
While visiting astalavista to, um, get a serial number that I'd previously lost from a program I'd bought, I followed a link to a site http://www.cracks.am. When I clicked on the link to download the serial, a dialog popped up asking for my permission to install a program from C2 Media, and certifying that the program had a certificate from Verisign. Stupidly, I clicked yes, and promptly regretted it. A whole day of browser abuse followed. * My desktop got taken over by an 'affiliates' homepage * My desktop got swarmed with icons for adult and gambling sites * If a site took a long time to load, or got a 404, my browser would end up at the portal http://www.lop.com, part of the 'affiliates' network. The program didn't leave a listing in the add/remove window. It wasn't in c:\program files. It had buried itself deep into my windows folder.
Instinctively I searched my disks and registry for lop.com and removed all references. No cure. My browser still kept going to lop.com.
My only cure was radical action. I ran Win2k in a VMware box with disks set to non-persistent. Immediately before saying 'yes' to the installation, I ran the 'InCtrl' install tracker program. Thank God for InCrtrl - after the install was done, I had a list of all files added by this nasty piece of scumware, and had the utmost pleasure in removing it once and for all.
While he was falling onto the rocks below, Scott Safran thought:
"Oh shit, outta fuel, no time to turn and blast this huge fuckin asteroid hurtlin' towards me!"
RIP Linux - '1984' achieved through stealth
on
SSSCA Editorials
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
This SSSCA is laying the infrastructure for mass control, not only of software, but also expression.
I can forsee that the SSSCA will be applied so that ISPs are forbidden from accepting connections from non-'trusted' client computers. 'Trusted' computers would contain hardware-based digital certificates, so it would be easy for the ISP to determine if an open-source computer is trying to connect. That's Linux gone in one fell swoop.
Next, the SSSCA will wipe out all independent software developers - 'trusted' OSs simply won't run software that doesn't have a digital license. Digital licenses will only be available to approved companies, after passing a thorough security examination, and paying a fortune.
On trusted computers, programming tools will only be available to security-certified corporations. Any software written will have to pass an expensive security audit at source-level before being granted a release certificate (which would allow it to run on other people's PCs).
Media creation tools, such as desktop publishers, audio/video editors etc will produce secure media files that will only be able to play on the computer on which they were created - or, for an extra license fee, up to 5 other designated computers. Licenses to create media for mass distribution will cost a mint, and require security clearance.
Websites are next. Web browsers will only be able to access certified websites. Webmaster security certification will cost a fortune.
Email too - email clients will vet outgoing email messages through an 'Intellectual Property Clearance Server', which will scan the message's text against a huge database of copyrighted texts. So if an email contains more than a few words that happen to appear in the IP database, it won't get sent. The 'IP Clearance Servers' will also scan for phrases which are too controversial.
This is WAR, folks!!!!!
The most significant event in US history since the Declaration of Independence and the Civil War.
Time for everyone to kick up the biggest fuss the country has ever seen.
Or else!
"He loved Big Brother" -- last words of '1984' by George Orwell
I've owned a Cassiopeia E105 (WinCE 2.11), and now own an iPaq 3730 (Formerly PocketPC 2002, now Familiar Linux). I tried nearly all the 'PDA Web' software out there - AvantGo, Mazingo, MobiPocket, but got really pissed off with them. The synchronisation was flaky at best, and downright broken at worst. As an end consumer, I really appreciate websites that offer PDA-friendly versions of their pages. Surprisingly, Slashdot is very PDA-friendly - the middle column with all the text just fits into the 240 pixel screen width. My take on 'synchronisation'? For the developer - go for a 'site download' model that downloads known PDA-friendly sites into a tarball, copies the tarball onto the PDA, which then uncompresses it and browses locally, using the native browser. Or even skip the tarball - just provide an app which 'rsync's a tree of PDA-sized pages onto the PDA. For the content publisher - if your site is PDA-friendly, and you promote it well, content-starved PDA users will find you, don't worry. All the WindowsCE and Linux-based PDAs have a free web browser available (built-in or freeware).
Has any Windows XP source code turned up in there yet?
A step forward for tactile peripherals...
on
To The Pain
·
· Score: 1
Next, will be peripherals to different parts of the body that can deliver all kinds of sensations - warm, cool, wet, dry, all manner of touch... The porn sites will make a killing. Welcome to the era of cyber-hookers! At least it's safe sex:)
I put 8 months of hard work into Freenet - in particular, developing the W--dows FreeWeb client program and the multi-platform FCPtools library. It's very possible that I will return to the project at some time in the near future.
In my mind, Freenet is still very much in its infancy. At present, it's mostly a prototype, suffering severely from being written in J---, but if gcj gets into a fit state (or some hard-assed hackers re-code it in C), the major problems will be overcome.
But to me, one of Freenet's greatest strengths is almost totally unknown - the bottom layer is designed so that almost anything can be easily slotted in and used as a transport - not just plain TCP/stream sessions, but UDP, or tunnels, or anything.
Because of this design foresight, it's very straightforward to write and plug in a few steganographic transport drivers which traffic keys in devious ways, eg usenet groups with graphics file carriers, or whitespace/grammatical stego in plaintext mailing lists or IRC, hidden packets within webcam feeds, even pirate radio (note that Freenet is high on redundancy and very fault-tolerant).
The way I see it, any determined effort at stamping Freenet out will bring the project alive like never before, and cause it to attract legions of talented and inspired developers to keep n steps ahead in the arms race.
"Repress a religion, and it will flourish"
-- James Herbert
I would not consider to purchase any product that met the required compliance. I'd buy everything I could from Taiwan--mostly b/c you damn well know they are going to capitalize on any openings in the market that they can.
So with the SSSCA plus amendments in place, how do you propose to get such equipment in past Customs?
Oh wait! ** NEWS FLASH **
San Diego, Aug 22 - In one of the biggest piracy raids so far, a 23-year old man faces 18 years' prison for masterminding a large scale hardware smuggling operation.
In crates consigned to this man, Customs agents discovered more than 300 hard disk drives. Customs technicians confirmed that these drives lacked the mandatory anti-theft protections, and that some of these drives contained copies of the now-outlawed Linux software, an operating system used by pirates, criminals and hackers, which allows the use of non-compliant software and dissemination of child pornography.
"I hope this sends a strong message to the public", said San Diego District Attorney Mike Anthoniz. "The American public demands safety on the internet, and will no longer tolerate online criminals".
virus, n. 1. A computer program intended to replicate itself throughout multiple computers without the user's consent. 2. A licensing condition applied to computer software which allows users to understand and modify the programming code used. 3. virii, pl. Computer programs written without the express support or approval of Microsoft Corporation or its strategic partners, which threatens national security by undermining Microsoft's ability to control the global use of software in personal computers.
(Source: Microsoft - New Employees' Orientation Handbook)
I worry about SSSCA. If it goes through, virii would definitely fall under the category of 'interactive digital devices'. It will be illegal to write or transmit a virus unless it contains 'approved security measures'. Any attempt to circumvent a virus' protection mechanism, or communicate to others the nature of a virus or possible defences against it, will be a criminal offence punishable by law
As a former software engineer, and now a counsellor helping people to resolve childhood issues, I feel that the very first years of education should be devoted to helping children develop their humanity.
Time after time I've seen the permanent foundations of human character being laid in the first 5 years of life, even by the events surrounding birth.
In this early time, it's crucial that young people learn to:
* interact with the real world
* acnowledge the full spectrum of human emotion
* relate meaningfully with other people
* distinguish at depth between people and objects
* nurture their faculties of creativity and imagination
While computers have come a long way in recent decades, they still lean heavily on the left-brain, and encourage their users (particularly children) to 'objectify' other people in their lives. Yes, there are nerds/dorks (as opposed to 'geeks' - humans with technical expertise), and many of these nerds/dorks got introduced to technology later in their childhood. But is this something we want to exacerbate by exposing people to technology even earlier?
One of these days, it's possible that computers may achieve genuine sentience, but in the meantime, I feel strongly that children should only be introduced to computers once they've mastered basic human and cognitive skills, and can recognise a computer as just a tool, instead of jumping into it as a reality in itself.
In this climate of IT layoffs, I reckon it would prove cheaper and better to hire a programmer to take the GPL'ed ht://dig code and hack in some Google-like improvements.
The major improvement needed is the ability to search on phrases, and to do boolean searches.
Such a beefed up search/indexing system would not be subject to licensing fees, and would be freely redistributable (say, to other company offices).
I look forward to reading of someone making millions off this idea.
Something for romantic geeks whose work causes them to spend long nights hacking separately.
Perfect especially if one or both are putting in late nights apart slaving over hot workstations...
2 x wireless linux PDAs
Each PDA has a harness and can be worn inconspicuously under clothing.
Eash PDA is connected to several unique peripherals.
Each such peripheral is thin, flat, about 4-9 square inches, consisting of pressure pads on the top, and vibrating pads on the bottom, and can also be worn inconspicuously under clothing.
When one geek touches one of the peripherals, the pressure pad senses the touch, and sends a message to other geek's PDA, which triggers the vibrating function of corresponding peripheral on their own body, and vice versa.
For instance, male geek can stroke just below his navel, and in response, female geek feels caressing vibrating sensation just below her navel. Female geek then rubs below her left armpit, and male geek feels vibrating sensation under his left armpit.
Advanced software configuration could cause random mappings between geeks, even sending telemetry about blood pressure, body temp etc.
With Carnivore boxes being installed in ISPs, and ISP s now under pressure to intervene to clamp down on communications that don't serve the powers that be...
With the Almighty Buck working tirelessly to turn the Internet into one huge shopping mall...
With the Internet Common being inexorably eroded, and the voice of the masses being relentlessly silenced...
It's time to start cutting ISPs out of the loop, so that people (yes - real two-legged, flesh and blood people, not corporations) can take back their power.
To me, wireless anarchy is the next step.
Powered by a grassroots groundswell of brave and resourceful people, cunning enough to stay one step ahead of the Man.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the bigots starting to put click-through licenses on their websites, committing the reader to not disclose or take any action against the material therein.
Could this kind of shit hold up legally?
Slashdot Mirror
"Turn on, JACK IN, drop out!"
-- ghost of Timothy Leary
http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/000113.html
Sadly, the third part of the report's summary - 'Controlling the Internet' - is much easier than the EFF report on the BPDG suggests.
All it would require is a law banning all ISPs from forwarding incoming TCP connections, UDP packets etc on to a subscriber, unless such subscriber has a license to operate as a 'server'.
Similarly, anyone directly connected to the backbone would need a license to accept incoming connections.
The US could threaten trade sanctions against any other country that doesn't pass similar laws.
The licensing regime for 'servers' would be onerous, and include things such as mandatory logs with IP addresses, times etc going back 3 years, also a cache of the last 200GB of data transferred. Anyone trafficking in unauthorised protocols, or using unauthorised cryptography, would lose their license.
That way, only medium-large sized companies would have the funds and resources to fulfil the administrative requirements of license compliance.
This is war - no sooner has the internet exploded onto the world stage, than the powers that be are fighting tooth and nail to protect their monopoly.
The most powerful way to fight - stop going to movies, even 'Star Wars' etc - discourage your friends - boycott Hollywood.
I also have seen my share of other people's code.
// increment i
Quality of comments varies.
I've seen code from the 'hardcore hacker', who believes that the statements themselves suffice as comments - 'the code is intuitively obvious, and it comments itself'.
I've also seen code from complete lamers, who dilute the code terribly with irrelevant shit:
i++;
Over the years, I've noticed that composition of code, and commenting/documentation of code, tend to draw on two different parts of the brain.
Often, I find myself in a 'zone', where the code flows freely, and where commenting code feels like a total distraction.
Other times - for instance, when I'm hunting an elusive bug, I find a different part of the brain kicking in - and at that stage, I find it easier, even pleasurable, to add meaningful comments, to change indenting, variable names etc, as if I'm narrating the code to someone else.
I guess it's a matter of balance, and using the right mental faculties at the right time.
A good rule of thumb is to imagine that someone else is sitting beside you, someone less acquainted with the task than yourself (eg a non-technical manager). Imagine you're explaining to him/her how the code works, and put these explanations in the code as succinct yet clear comments. Imagine this person asking you, 'what's that variable'. Don't be afraid of global search'n'replace of identifier names across all the applicable files. And imagine this person sometimes getting up and leaving you in peace, so you can have those precious moments to hack to your heart's content.
In conclusion, I feel that much of a person's personality can be read from one's code. Is someone fundamentally easygoing and helpful, and caring about others? Or is someone a complete egotist, emotionally shut down almost to the point of autism? In my mind, the ability of code to communicate its intent and methods to other programmers is almost as important as the code successfully performing its task, since its communicability directly affects the ability and interest of others in working on it, and thus its openness to manpower leverage.
Something that rang my alarm bells about the 'modular embedded windows' is the fact that it doesn't have an automatic mechanism for installing additional programs.
I can't rule out that some unscrupulous hardware vendors may customise an 'embedded/modular Windows' to only allow installation of certain apps, namely apps supplied through the hardware vendor.
So you don't like the browser on the computer you bought from Acme Discounts Inc? You don't like the advert bars, and your browsing history being periodically sent to their servers? Tough shit! You're not allowed to install another browser.
Solution would be to install another OS. But, surprise surprise! Acme Discounts Inc has done some weird shit on the motherboard that requires a special driver, only available as a part of their custom cut of 'modular windows'. It won't take any other OS. Attempts to write a driver to work around this are forbidden under the DMCA!
Welcome to the death of the standard PC, and the birth of the corporate controlled 'computing appliance'! Imagine Acme Discounts Inc selling such hobbled machines below cost for years to kill the competition.
Yes, M$ are bad bastards, yes, they have a history of unconscienable conduct in the marketplace, but there are people who are just waiting for the first opportunity to do much worse!
for the phrase "domino effect" to change completely from a powerfully negative meaning to a positive one.
I just compiled Konqueror and pointed it to www.goatse.cx. Damned if I know how, but the QT engine rendered the image therein as clean, crisp ASCII art. /. in months passed were using a beta of QT/console.
Perhaps the trollers who posted the ascii version to
I strongly suspect that early in the development cycle, Sun planned to charge for StarOffice. All they needed to do was get a few stable releases out the door, win some acceptance for the product and, above all, get users accustomed to it and reluctant to learn yet another office suite.
I wonder how many people would have downloaded and invested the time to learn Star Office if they had known from the outset that Sun was planning to charge for it.
Sun, you are a pretty good company in most respects, but I don't think this tactic will benefit your reputation. It would have been better if you kept the basic Star Office suite free, and offered some corporate-targeted optional add-ons (that private users and small companies don't need) at a price. Similar to your Forte Java IDE suite (Free 'Community Edition' through to pricey 'Enterprise Edition'). That would have kept people's trust in your company.
Hopefully, you'll write this off as a mistake, and offer 'Community Editions' of SO 6 and beyond.
While visiting astalavista to, um, get a serial number that I'd previously lost from a program I'd bought, I followed a link to a site http://www.cracks.am. When I clicked on the link to download the serial, a dialog popped up asking for my permission to install a program from C2 Media, and certifying that the program had a certificate from Verisign.
Stupidly, I clicked yes, and promptly regretted it. A whole day of browser abuse followed.
* My desktop got taken over by an 'affiliates' homepage
* My desktop got swarmed with icons for adult and gambling sites
* If a site took a long time to load, or got a 404, my browser would end up at the portal http://www.lop.com, part of the 'affiliates' network.
The program didn't leave a listing in the add/remove window. It wasn't in c:\program files.
It had buried itself deep into my windows folder.
Instinctively I searched my disks and registry for lop.com and removed all references. No cure. My browser still kept going to lop.com.
My only cure was radical action. I ran Win2k in a VMware box with disks set to non-persistent. Immediately before saying 'yes' to the installation, I ran the 'InCtrl' install tracker program. Thank God for InCrtrl - after the install was done, I had a list of all files added by this nasty piece of scumware, and had the utmost pleasure in removing it once and for all.
While he was falling onto the rocks below, Scott Safran thought:
"Oh shit, outta fuel, no time to turn and blast this huge fuckin asteroid hurtlin' towards me!"
This SSSCA is laying the infrastructure for mass control, not only of software, but also expression.
I can forsee that the SSSCA will be applied so that ISPs are forbidden from accepting connections from non-'trusted' client computers.
'Trusted' computers would contain hardware-based digital certificates, so it would be easy for the ISP to determine if an open-source computer is trying to connect.
That's Linux gone in one fell swoop.
Next, the SSSCA will wipe out all independent software developers - 'trusted' OSs simply won't run software that doesn't have a digital license.
Digital licenses will only be available to approved companies, after passing a thorough security examination, and paying a fortune.
On trusted computers, programming tools will only be available to security-certified corporations. Any software written will have to pass an expensive security audit at source-level before being granted a release certificate (which would allow it to run on other people's PCs).
Media creation tools, such as desktop publishers, audio/video editors etc will produce secure media files that will only be able to play on the computer on which they were created - or, for an extra license fee, up to 5 other designated computers. Licenses to create media for mass distribution will cost a mint, and require security clearance.
Websites are next. Web browsers will only be able to access certified websites. Webmaster security certification will cost a fortune.
Email too - email clients will vet outgoing email messages through an 'Intellectual Property Clearance Server', which will scan the message's text against a huge database of copyrighted texts. So if an email contains more than a few words that happen to appear in the IP database, it won't get sent. The 'IP Clearance Servers' will also scan for phrases which are too controversial.
This is WAR, folks!!!!!
The most significant event in US history since the Declaration of Independence and the Civil War.
Time for everyone to kick up the biggest fuss the country has ever seen.
Or else!
"He loved Big Brother"
-- last words of '1984' by George Orwell
I've owned a Cassiopeia E105 (WinCE 2.11), and now own an iPaq 3730 (Formerly PocketPC 2002, now Familiar Linux).
I tried nearly all the 'PDA Web' software out there - AvantGo, Mazingo, MobiPocket, but got really pissed off with them. The synchronisation was flaky at best, and downright broken at worst.
As an end consumer, I really appreciate websites that offer PDA-friendly versions of their pages. Surprisingly, Slashdot is very PDA-friendly - the middle column with all the text just fits into the 240 pixel screen width.
My take on 'synchronisation'?
For the developer - go for a 'site download' model that downloads known PDA-friendly sites into a tarball, copies the tarball onto the PDA, which then uncompresses it and browses locally, using the native browser. Or even skip the tarball - just provide an app which 'rsync's a tree of PDA-sized pages onto the PDA.
For the content publisher - if your site is PDA-friendly, and you promote it well, content-starved PDA users will find you, don't worry.
All the WindowsCE and Linux-based PDAs have a free web browser available (built-in or freeware).
Has any Windows XP source code turned up in there yet?
Next, will be peripherals to different parts of the body that can deliver all kinds of sensations - warm, cool, wet, dry, all manner of touch... :)
The porn sites will make a killing.
Welcome to the era of cyber-hookers!
At least it's safe sex
I put 8 months of hard work into Freenet - in particular, developing the W--dows FreeWeb client program and the multi-platform FCPtools library. It's very possible that I will return to the project at some time in the near future.
In my mind, Freenet is still very much in its infancy. At present, it's mostly a prototype, suffering severely from being written in J---, but if gcj gets into a fit state (or some hard-assed hackers re-code it in C), the major problems will be overcome.
But to me, one of Freenet's greatest strengths is almost totally unknown - the bottom layer is designed so that almost anything can be easily slotted in and used as a transport - not just plain TCP/stream sessions, but UDP, or tunnels, or anything.
Because of this design foresight, it's very straightforward to write and plug in a few steganographic transport drivers which traffic keys in devious ways, eg usenet groups with graphics file carriers, or whitespace/grammatical stego in plaintext mailing lists or IRC, hidden packets within webcam feeds, even pirate radio (note that Freenet is high on redundancy and very fault-tolerant).
The way I see it, any determined effort at stamping Freenet out will bring the project alive like never before, and cause it to attract legions of talented and inspired developers to keep n steps ahead in the arms race.
"Repress a religion, and it will flourish"
-- James Herbert
I would not consider to purchase any product that met the required compliance. I'd buy everything I could from Taiwan--mostly b/c you damn well know they are going to capitalize on any openings in the market that they can.
So with the SSSCA plus amendments in place, how do you propose to get such equipment in past Customs?
Oh wait!
** NEWS FLASH **
San Diego, Aug 22 - In one of the biggest piracy raids so far, a 23-year old man faces 18 years' prison for masterminding a large scale hardware smuggling operation.
In crates consigned to this man, Customs agents discovered more than 300 hard disk drives. Customs technicians confirmed that these drives lacked the mandatory anti-theft protections, and that some of these drives contained copies of the now-outlawed Linux software, an operating system used by pirates, criminals and hackers, which allows the use of non-compliant software and dissemination of child pornography.
"I hope this sends a strong message to the public", said San Diego District Attorney Mike Anthoniz. "The American public demands safety on the internet, and will no longer tolerate online criminals".
virus, n.
1. A computer program intended to replicate itself throughout multiple computers without the user's consent.
2. A licensing condition applied to computer software which allows users to understand and modify the programming code used.
3. virii, pl. Computer programs written without the express support or approval of Microsoft Corporation or its strategic partners, which threatens national security by undermining Microsoft's ability to control the global use of software in personal computers.
(Source: Microsoft - New Employees' Orientation Handbook)
I worry about SSSCA.
If it goes through, virii would definitely fall under the category of 'interactive digital devices'.
It will be illegal to write or transmit a virus unless it contains 'approved security measures'.
Any attempt to circumvent a virus' protection mechanism, or communicate to others the nature of a virus or possible defences against it, will be a criminal offence punishable by law
Web censorship implemented in the kernel.
Blocklists updated by periodical hits to the central Chinese Government servers.
As a former software engineer, and now a counsellor helping people to resolve childhood issues, I feel that the very first years of education should be devoted to helping children develop their humanity.
Time after time I've seen the permanent foundations of human character being laid in the first 5 years of life, even by the events surrounding birth.
In this early time, it's crucial that young people learn to:
* interact with the real world
* acnowledge the full spectrum of human emotion
* relate meaningfully with other people
* distinguish at depth between people and objects
* nurture their faculties of creativity and imagination
While computers have come a long way in recent decades, they still lean heavily on the left-brain, and encourage their users (particularly children) to 'objectify' other people in their lives. Yes, there are nerds/dorks (as opposed to 'geeks' - humans with technical expertise), and many of these nerds/dorks got introduced to technology later in their childhood. But is this something we want to exacerbate by exposing people to technology even earlier?
One of these days, it's possible that computers may achieve genuine sentience, but in the meantime, I feel strongly that children should only be introduced to computers once they've mastered basic human and cognitive skills, and can recognise a computer as just a tool, instead of jumping into it as a reality in itself.
... the ht://dig search engine.
In this climate of IT layoffs, I reckon it would prove cheaper and better to hire a programmer to take the GPL'ed ht://dig code and hack in some Google-like improvements.
The major improvement needed is the ability to search on phrases, and to do boolean searches.
Such a beefed up search/indexing system would not be subject to licensing fees, and would be freely redistributable (say, to other company offices).
I look forward to reading of someone making millions off this idea.
Something for romantic geeks whose work causes them to spend long nights hacking separately.
Perfect especially if one or both are putting in late nights apart slaving over hot workstations...
2 x wireless linux PDAs
Each PDA has a harness and can be worn inconspicuously under clothing.
Eash PDA is connected to several unique peripherals.
Each such peripheral is thin, flat, about 4-9 square inches, consisting of pressure pads on the top, and vibrating pads on the bottom, and can also be worn inconspicuously under clothing.
When one geek touches one of the peripherals, the pressure pad senses the touch, and sends a message to other geek's PDA, which triggers the vibrating function of corresponding peripheral on their own body, and vice versa.
For instance, male geek can stroke just below his navel, and in response, female geek feels caressing vibrating sensation just below her navel. Female geek then rubs below her left armpit, and male geek feels vibrating sensation under his left armpit.
Advanced software configuration could cause random mappings between geeks, even sending telemetry about blood pressure, body temp etc.
Something he may have said if alive today...
"If there is hope, it lies in the spectrum".
With Carnivore boxes being installed in ISPs, and ISP s now under pressure to intervene to clamp down on communications that don't serve the powers that be...
With the Almighty Buck working tirelessly to turn the Internet into one huge shopping mall...
With the Internet Common being inexorably eroded, and the voice of the masses being relentlessly silenced...
It's time to start cutting ISPs out of the loop, so that people (yes - real two-legged, flesh and blood people, not corporations) can take back their power.
To me, wireless anarchy is the next step.
Powered by a grassroots groundswell of brave and resourceful people, cunning enough to stay one step ahead of the Man.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the bigots starting to put click-through licenses on their websites, committing the reader to not disclose or take any action against the material therein.
Could this kind of shit hold up legally?
1944: Fall of Third Reich
1989: Destruction of Berlin Wall
2002: Collapse of Proprietary Software Monopoly