The people who defend this kind of system want to believe the myth that this only happens to lazy people who don't have health care and can't be bothered with finding a better job. Irregardless of the flawed logic that there are only so many "good jobs" with health care. The more you are willing to do, the more you will have to do. It is a race to the bottom. Health Care and Sarbanes Oxley are two very big reasons American companies are having a hard time competing. A Ford car has more health care than steel.
I really feel for your plight. What people don't understand about the greater good -- is WE as a people gain nothing from your family taking it on the chin like this. It's very hard to keep a family together with such an economic struggle, with such bills -- it's hard to be productive. Nobody chooses to have catastrophic health problems -- so our willingness to sacrifice people like yourself, only means that the rest of us are next.
America already pays for Socialized medicine. 54% of the money going into Health Care is from the tax payer -- and a big portion of that is the uninsured filling up the ER to get a $600 ear check up. I don't think the poor want to be in the ER -- it's the Hospital that loves this cash cow -- and they wring their hands, blame it on the poor, and collect the Billions. A pregnant woman who has health care costs on average are $10,000, and an uninsured pregnant woman's birth costs on average $100,000 and that is paid by taxes.
Of the money that goes into health care, 50% goes to insurance. Of the money left over that goes to actual health -- the administrative costs are around 43%. So, we have Twice the Money going to cover Half the people. After the money from yours and my pocket goes to insurance, and then we pay a co-pay, and then our employer and government kick in -- we are only getting 1/4th of the Health Care system that the money paid for.
Again, half goes to health, then 43% goes to administration. That leaves us with a huge rip-off. And the Public debate up until now on the Corporate News has been Doctors blaming patients, and over-hyping lawsuits and torte reform. Where they've introduced torte reform the savings have been on average a whopping 2%.
It supersedes States Rights -- which are the issuers of most IDs and permits.
Creates a national Database from which to blacklist people.
We already have laws that can deal with the Immigration problem. Besides, any employer properly paying SS, taking out Withholding and Employee taxes is going to know if they have an illegal or not. So we don't have "illegal workers" sponging off the government -- everyone who works adds value, and every HONEST employer is providing TAXes.
We have a criminal employer problem in America masquerading as something else.
>> Besides, I don't want it to be impossible to be anonymous in America. People should be good because we've empowered them and their neighbors to be good. Perfect security only results in tyranny. It would be very difficult to rebel against a corrupt government with a perfect, National ID in place.
Just imagine them going into a crowd of protesters and forcing them to hand over IDs.
I just read that the actual XBox failure rate is around 35%.
And over time ALL XBoxs will eventually fail (true of everything I suppose) -- but most will probably fail over 4 years, due to design and heat issues.
I suspect that where this man is putting the XBox is not getting enough air flow and is around other components. So these XBox's are all getting too hot.
That, and buying stuff off Ebay on discount ought to guarantee an XBox not lasting more than a month.
No -- those two examples were EXACTLY what I was talking about.
1) There isn't any proof that anything was lost with Wen Ho Lee. The alleged problems continued AFTER he left. So, either the FBI got the wrong guy, there was another mole, or someone was doing something the FBI was OK with, and accusing Wen Ho Lee was a smoke screen (I know, that's a big deal -- but not beyond the realm of the scullduggery we are seeing today). I was reading some follow-up of the Wen Ho case -- that's what got me sort of suspicious in the first place.
2) I think the Missing Hard drives were also, not missing. They had a record error that said there was some data that should be there and wasn't. The glich was in the false record.
What I'm saying that people should consider the possibility that a desire from some factions in our government to Privatize our weapons industry, and perhaps there are agents or moles put in by politically connected people to discredit these agencies. Our Nuclear production has been privatized -- and the issues of security have increased at that company. 500 security guards went on strike, because of poor security conditions, and workers pulling 36-hour shifts. Of course, this doesn't make the evening news anymore, because it isn't a government affair anymore to make THERMONUCLEAR BOMBS.
We are talking about the novice home user that Apple is trying to capture. People want virtualization so they can run some shovelware program with all their postcards in it that uses Visual Basic and some activeX control. Intel/Macs now allow for a seamless transition. You can still run all your apps and look at your old data -- that's a big deal.
For video, graphics, multimedia, and web development -- the Mac already rocks. Its only weakness is in Games.
Some of the complaints about missing features may be missing the paradigm;
No printer connection -- perhaps they expect people to have WiFi to take advantage of this phone in the office or at home, that way you are always attached but not tethered by a USB connection.
No SDK -- I think this is part of why Safari was released for Windows. But, yeah, a real SDK will come out with Leopard.
No Flash Support -- that one is kind of annoying. It was allegedly taken out because they've got dedicated chips for h.264 that concerves battery life. Hopefully, at least, the iPhone will support Quartz Composer and Core Graphics. That should allow for some really nice eye candy.
Edge Sucks -- that's probably true for now. But my guess is AT&T will probably fix it, and that real-world performance will be similar to actual 3G performance. For myself, I would think that where I could use this the most -- about half the time there will be a WiFi network (home or office -- I know, portable phone, but that's reality). On the road, unless I'm a passenger, I suppose I'd be fine with Modem-like speeds on web browsing. Other than a video, which I will most often be downloading on iTunes anyway -- I'm guessing that Edge might not be TOO awful most of the time. Hopefully, the WiFi connections will be seemless.
No Video Capture -- OK, of all the bells and whistles I could want on a phone, this is probably the least. If you wanted to add another $50 for the price, then add on Video capture. I think it's more important to do a few things well, than to throw every gimmick in the world at a phone and make it almost work. Most of these full featured phones suck. I don't use half the features on mine. I've taken maybe 4 photos and never listened to music -- perhaps because I didn't bother to attach some bluetooth head phones.
>> Anyway, I really want to investigate this as a presenatation/communication platform for salespeople. It could really replace a laptop for many people on the road.
It seems reality is flying in the face of your very well laid out facts.
It sounds great and all that all these protocols and information are available. But I doubt that a security guard who only gets a warning once in a while would ignore "wear protective gear and detain."
The Watch Lists are probably causing this problem. They need a name and a detailed discription of the suspect. So that "John Doe" doesn't get stopped. Too much detailed information on everyone is wrong, but too little information about a suspect so that you are tracking the wrong people doesn't make sense. That's why they stop 5-year-olds.
Can I guess at the system? Low-wage security guard puts in passenger name; "beep, warning!" Which he saw 500 times already today. Does he go to the manager for a detailed assesment? No, the passenger seems calm and suprised by the detention. Yes it's protocol to take every warning seriously, but his manager would have kicked him to the midnight work shift if he bothered him 500 times a day. There might have been a flag by the CDC on the cursory warning, but knowing bureaucrat, they have a lot of standard boilerplate notice, and that CDC flag would be appended to the end. So a page-full of data that you'd actually have to read and have long since learned to gloss over. Much like the standard software EULA that we all click "agree" to without noticing the clause about our first-born child.
With Homeland Security putting up warning flags for Hippy Muscicians, and a million other people. I can understand someone ignoring a flag from the CDC.
Any human system works best with "targeted" warnings. Yet the HS system seems designed to scan everything. It's like finding a needle in a haystack by ordering more hay.
So the man with Tuberculosis got through, because a lot of people who shouldn't be on a watch list break the system. We probably have worse security response now than before 9/11. I certainly think the quality of suspects paraded into court right now have gone down.
It turns out that a lot of the Security breaches at Los Alamos in the past were mistakes of the FBI. Due to a database reporting error, they "lost" documents that didn't exist, and still others were recovered inside the area.
So the "Los Alamos security breach" stories got big headlines and the "FBI screws up" got little headlines. Maybe there is a pattern there. As the newly privatized single-source nuclear weapons manufacturing company for the USA had a walk-out of 500 security guards over 36-hour work shifts and poor security protocols that didn't make headlines.
I think there is a dangerous move to privatize a lot of key military functions. And the FBI seems to bring up a lot of accusations before verifying the actual security risk.
Couple this with their seeming lack of interest in securing laptops and databases of American citizens. The rates is about a few million records a month. No biggie if some third party has your SSN right? The government can't have a Total Information Awareness database, but it appears that a private company can. Check out what John Poindexter (Iran/Contra felon) is still up to these days. Who knew he was such a great database expert?
Los Alamos is now privatized, and the good old "employee takes laptop with sensitive files and gets it stolen" oops is happening at rapid pace. Anyone want to be whether THAT particular employee gets reprimanded? My bet they will get a promotion. As does everyone who seems to fail upwards in this current administration. http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2007/05/los_alamos _blocks_researcher_a_1.html
Great point about DRM. I agree that is why Microsoft is so embracing DRM... because then they have a captive market. That HDTV works great, and those 300 videos you downloaded still play for sure, with MS-DRM!
And Apple is offering DRM-free music for a little more money.
The Window of opportunity is closing. But Apple, Amazon, WalMart and many other companies are offering video downloads. Will people go for a platform, that allows them to keep and manage content and perhaps look at other people's content -- or will they go for the DRM model? Everything being equal, you have to force DRM down people's throats.
Even with a little less than HD quality, I'd prefer an entertainment system that left me the owner. I think, anyone with enough money, goes for furniture they own, rather than "rent to own."
So, if Microsoft doesn't lock up the DRM on Vista and get enough customers in the "entrance only" lock-in, then the Vista-on-Mac looks much more compelling, allowing Users to bypass DRM pergatory. iTunes becomes the preferred platform for targeting media over Windows Media.
Did you notice that u-Tube is re-optimizing their videos for h.264 to be compatible for the iPhone?
>> We already have DRM-less HDTV. People are already adopting video downloads. I think the window is closing on Hollywood, Microsoft, and others two control the "whole package" for entertainment delivery. And I think people will opt for DVD quality rather than have lock-in.
I think Microsoft is NOT concerned about supporting a virtualized Vista, because of the following reasons;
#1 -- they will Blame Apple or Parallels or whomever, and tell the user "have a nice day." #2 -- the virtualized "hardware" and the limited number of Mac models, is going to make the environment pretty simple. There are more versions of Dell they have to contend with than all of Apple -- and that's one vendor. Just a few Intel-only CPUs of high perfomance. Maybe a dozen models of Nvidia or ATI graphics card. Couple that with a device manager that probably emulates the most standard devices possible. So if they wanted to, it would be pretty easy. #3 -- Frustrated customers will turn to Apple equivalents anyway. Most PC users don't know that Office is available for the Mac. #4 -- A good portion of the people will call Parallels or Apple. They will probably be well versed in the issues.
Microsoft is worried about mindshare -- and that equals control. I've looked into web hosts that offer Exchange services, and they seem to on average cost about $50 a head per month. People moving to Macs will learn that they can have almost all these services for free -- or at most $99 per year. Albeit not as well integrated as Outlook -- but I'm sure that will change pretty soon.
What Microsoft is worried about, is getting a call from a Mac convert conscerning; "Pages won't print this BMP file."
If Apple tried to make a.NET alternative and have it run on Windows and Mac -- it would be financial suicide.
Better to make.NET run on an Intel Mac, let third parties work on the compatibility. And just keep improving XCode to be better and have all the.NET functionality.
Developers will follow the market. And that is going to be iPhone + iTunes + iWork juggernaut. Just wait.
I agree that virtualization is the killer strategic App for Apple.
Yes, some coders will just develop for Windows.
But once people become accustomed to the Mac interface,.. the hurdle of transition is over. Perhaps that is the reason Apple has adopted the iTunes interface into parts of the finder in their Leopard OS. To sync with the iPhone -- you use iTunes. So the customer is already becoming acquainted with the Mac interface on Windows. The Safari browser, I'd expect, will probably be bundled with iTunes in the future. Not that it will blow people away on Windows... but when people are nervous about trojan horses, and are already used to the iPhone... well then, the browser becomes secondary to the services WITHIN the browser that people will become used to with the iPhone (and of course, developers get Safari as a platform to build for iPhone).
Other than Video and 3D games, the performance of a Mac or PC is secondary now to the experience. Even virtualized apps will be fine. But once a person has a Mac -- they are unlikely to go back. And will probably upgrade to the Mac version of the populare applications when they next upgrade. I don't think the thousands of "shovel-ware" applications that Windows brags about, are anything people will miss. They are like the impulse purchases at a shopping checkout counter -- exciting to get, useless to have. And you can still run the things in virtual mode (they don't always run in native Windows -- like about half of my shovel-ware educational apps do now).
But for 90% of the tasks of the average person, they will find the Apple iWork and iLife apps great alternatives. Though Apple needs to push a cheaper, or even free version of FileMaker -- which would make the average user realize they can use a database and that Access is dreadful. Apple also bundles QuickBooks NUE... but most people will stay with whatever solution they already have. That's why virtualization is so important.
Apple needs a better "Get started for PC users" automated video to get some people over the hump.
Apple also needs a bit more functionality in Mail.app to compete with Outlook. They already have a superior (more easy to access) webDav solution in.Mac. But they really need scheduling and calendering and the rest "bundled" into one interface so you can "see your day." I don't think anyone has done this perfectly. But Apple has all the infrastructure to get it done. This, more than Visual Basic, is the major hurdle for Apple in the office.
But having used Applescript -- it's "seeming ease with common language" just makes it more of a PIA without making it easier. It has a lot of limitations and a need for a built in interface (that works for novices). That's another Hurdle Apple has not addressed for 3rd-party developers. Scheduling and automating the computer are "pretty good" but really not as reliable as I would like.
But without Microsoft's control; goodbye Exchange. Which is their real cash cow.
>> One very important thing I want to discover about the iPhone is if it will be useful for running KeyNote and Quartz compositions. Why, you might ask? Because with that, I can soup up any PowerPoint presentation and make the iPhone the next presentation system. We have lots of salespeople at my company -- and technolust is important for anyone wanting to make an impression. These people buy Mercedes before houses. So it has to be Uber-cool, which is why many have blackberry phones they can't use.
If I can reformat presenations, to have a simple svideo pin-out from the iPhone to show on any projector, then the perfect communication/sales device will be the iPhone. I've already put up 6 kiosks in a PC-only company because of Quartz Composer. Once you add that to KeyNote, you have the movie-star glitz that will make presentation envy.
Envy sells computers. It will also sell the iPhone if Apple is smart enough to make it accessible to hooking up presentations.
What, you have a problem with the Cult of Personal Responsibility?
Individuals must keep track and protect their own privacy and images. Just like they should be carrying their own pavement instead of leeching off the public road system -- which is the most obscene part of the welfare state.
Every person in America needs a led test for their water. An e-coli sample kit for their meat. And a UV sterilizer for their vegetables. Of course, you also need to have a amperage-regulator and do a few days testing the UV sterlizer to make up for getting rid of Underwriters Laboratories.
Please keep your curtains up if you don't want the invisible Google street camera to photograph you and your cat.
Actually, I'm using Parallels on the Mac because of very draconian security Policies at our Windows ONLY workplace.
I build Kiosks that grab data from the web, and make great eye candy.
We have an IT department that doesn't support Macs - which means it's the only way to not be forced to log in for guests, or to demo applications at our office. It's because, to make Windows Systems secure for a financial services company -- everything has to be locked down -- most people can't even install software.
So, we get an Image of Windows to run all the apps our visiting agents use, while the Mac handles connections to the Internet. All problems can be solved by overwriting the image with the original locked image.
>> I think this is a break from the conventional reason -- but perhaps will become more common. If you want to do any sort of "insecure" and multimedia work at an office that is "locked down" -- having a Mac is a refuge BECAUSE there is little support. No support means nobody breathing down your neck, I've rarely needed help on a Mac problem so I'm very fine with this.
So, in a Windows environment -- you sometimes need a Mac to run Windows, because it is impossible to change security policies.
You actually install Windows on the Mac on a drive, or in a virtual drive volume. So any emulation would be on the hardware end. It's not virtual, but passing calls to the equivalent IDE or redirect for hardware. A few things like 3D are probably virtualized to Open GL -- so that would make it slow.
This breakthrough is either an IDE that translates Windows Media 9 (or 10) to OpenGL, or they've found some way to get WM to work.
It's different in that with a private company, they can spy on anyone. The only accountability would be the courts -- but if they are staffed with evangelicals and the Foundation loyalists, then nobody will call them to account.
For instance, the outrage over the Total Information Awareness program put the kibosh on the government doing it. But, convicted felon Poindexter is starting it up in the private sector... notice all those databases that keep getting broken into? Notice the ho-hum reaction of the government that probably over 20% of us now have our Social Security and private info in the hands of God knows who?
This stinks, and it is a great way to abuse Americans -- not provide security for us -- but against us.
No, the "doubts" were from the issue of whether Man is causing the Global warming -- THAT is only at 90%. The idea that the earth is warming, is at something like 99%.
Anyway, you can read the peer reviewed study -- or just keep repeating the "there is still doubt" meme. As if that is going to get America Energy independent or give anyone outside of Big Energy concerns a good economy in the future.
I just need to get some cheese, so I can dine on it while reading your WHINE one more time. Man, seeing a NeoCon meltdown is, I don't know, making me enjoy shadenfraude like a NeoCon.
Slashdot Mirror
This isn't OK with me.
The people who defend this kind of system want to believe the myth that this only happens to lazy people who don't have health care and can't be bothered with finding a better job. Irregardless of the flawed logic that there are only so many "good jobs" with health care. The more you are willing to do, the more you will have to do. It is a race to the bottom. Health Care and Sarbanes Oxley are two very big reasons American companies are having a hard time competing. A Ford car has more health care than steel.
I really feel for your plight. What people don't understand about the greater good -- is WE as a people gain nothing from your family taking it on the chin like this. It's very hard to keep a family together with such an economic struggle, with such bills -- it's hard to be productive. Nobody chooses to have catastrophic health problems -- so our willingness to sacrifice people like yourself, only means that the rest of us are next.
America already pays for Socialized medicine. 54% of the money going into Health Care is from the tax payer -- and a big portion of that is the uninsured filling up the ER to get a $600 ear check up. I don't think the poor want to be in the ER -- it's the Hospital that loves this cash cow -- and they wring their hands, blame it on the poor, and collect the Billions. A pregnant woman who has health care costs on average are $10,000, and an uninsured pregnant woman's birth costs on average $100,000 and that is paid by taxes.
Of the money that goes into health care, 50% goes to insurance. Of the money left over that goes to actual health -- the administrative costs are around 43%. So, we have Twice the Money going to cover Half the people. After the money from yours and my pocket goes to insurance, and then we pay a co-pay, and then our employer and government kick in -- we are only getting 1/4th of the Health Care system that the money paid for.
Again, half goes to health, then 43% goes to administration. That leaves us with a huge rip-off. And the Public debate up until now on the Corporate News has been Doctors blaming patients, and over-hyping lawsuits and torte reform. Where they've introduced torte reform the savings have been on average a whopping 2%.
It supersedes States Rights -- which are the issuers of most IDs and permits.
Creates a national Database from which to blacklist people.
We already have laws that can deal with the Immigration problem. Besides, any employer properly paying SS, taking out Withholding and Employee taxes is going to know if they have an illegal or not. So we don't have "illegal workers" sponging off the government -- everyone who works adds value, and every HONEST employer is providing TAXes.
We have a criminal employer problem in America masquerading as something else.
>> Besides, I don't want it to be impossible to be anonymous in America. People should be good because we've empowered them and their neighbors to be good. Perfect security only results in tyranny. It would be very difficult to rebel against a corrupt government with a perfect, National ID in place.
Just imagine them going into a crowd of protesters and forcing them to hand over IDs.
Yes,
Finally a statement that makes sense.
Mod parent up.
I just read that the actual XBox failure rate is around 35%.
And over time ALL XBoxs will eventually fail (true of everything I suppose) -- but most will probably fail over 4 years, due to design and heat issues.
I suspect that where this man is putting the XBox is not getting enough air flow and is around other components. So these XBox's are all getting too hot.
That, and buying stuff off Ebay on discount ought to guarantee an XBox not lasting more than a month.
No -- those two examples were EXACTLY what I was talking about.
1) There isn't any proof that anything was lost with Wen Ho Lee. The alleged problems continued AFTER he left. So, either the FBI got the wrong guy, there was another mole, or someone was doing something the FBI was OK with, and accusing Wen Ho Lee was a smoke screen (I know, that's a big deal -- but not beyond the realm of the scullduggery we are seeing today). I was reading some follow-up of the Wen Ho case -- that's what got me sort of suspicious in the first place.
2) I think the Missing Hard drives were also, not missing. They had a record error that said there was some data that should be there and wasn't. The glich was in the false record.
What I'm saying that people should consider the possibility that a desire from some factions in our government to Privatize our weapons industry, and perhaps there are agents or moles put in by politically connected people to discredit these agencies. Our Nuclear production has been privatized -- and the issues of security have increased at that company. 500 security guards went on strike, because of poor security conditions, and workers pulling 36-hour shifts. Of course, this doesn't make the evening news anymore, because it isn't a government affair anymore to make THERMONUCLEAR BOMBS.
You can get PhotoShop natively.
We are talking about the novice home user that Apple is trying to capture. People want virtualization so they can run some shovelware program with all their postcards in it that uses Visual Basic and some activeX control. Intel/Macs now allow for a seamless transition. You can still run all your apps and look at your old data -- that's a big deal.
For video, graphics, multimedia, and web development -- the Mac already rocks. Its only weakness is in Games.
Some of the complaints about missing features may be missing the paradigm;
No printer connection -- perhaps they expect people to have WiFi to take advantage of this phone in the office or at home, that way you are always attached but not tethered by a USB connection.
No SDK -- I think this is part of why Safari was released for Windows. But, yeah, a real SDK will come out with Leopard.
No Flash Support -- that one is kind of annoying. It was allegedly taken out because they've got dedicated chips for h.264 that concerves battery life. Hopefully, at least, the iPhone will support Quartz Composer and Core Graphics. That should allow for some really nice eye candy.
Edge Sucks -- that's probably true for now. But my guess is AT&T will probably fix it, and that real-world performance will be similar to actual 3G performance. For myself, I would think that where I could use this the most -- about half the time there will be a WiFi network (home or office -- I know, portable phone, but that's reality). On the road, unless I'm a passenger, I suppose I'd be fine with Modem-like speeds on web browsing. Other than a video, which I will most often be downloading on iTunes anyway -- I'm guessing that Edge might not be TOO awful most of the time. Hopefully, the WiFi connections will be seemless.
No Video Capture -- OK, of all the bells and whistles I could want on a phone, this is probably the least. If you wanted to add another $50 for the price, then add on Video capture. I think it's more important to do a few things well, than to throw every gimmick in the world at a phone and make it almost work. Most of these full featured phones suck. I don't use half the features on mine. I've taken maybe 4 photos and never listened to music -- perhaps because I didn't bother to attach some bluetooth head phones.
>> Anyway, I really want to investigate this as a presenatation/communication platform for salespeople. It could really replace a laptop for many people on the road.
No. That's probably AT&T.
Apple just wants you to set up an account with them by Credit Card.
Perhaps the artist looked at modern-day Peruvian Penguins, which are also black (to brown) and white;
t =safari&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=en&q=peruvian%20peng uin
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&tab=wi&clien
It seems reality is flying in the face of your very well laid out facts.
It sounds great and all that all these protocols and information are available. But I doubt that a security guard who only gets a warning once in a while would ignore "wear protective gear and detain."
The Watch Lists are probably causing this problem. They need a name and a detailed discription of the suspect. So that "John Doe" doesn't get stopped. Too much detailed information on everyone is wrong, but too little information about a suspect so that you are tracking the wrong people doesn't make sense. That's why they stop 5-year-olds.
Can I guess at the system? Low-wage security guard puts in passenger name; "beep, warning!" Which he saw 500 times already today. Does he go to the manager for a detailed assesment? No, the passenger seems calm and suprised by the detention. Yes it's protocol to take every warning seriously, but his manager would have kicked him to the midnight work shift if he bothered him 500 times a day. There might have been a flag by the CDC on the cursory warning, but knowing bureaucrat, they have a lot of standard boilerplate notice, and that CDC flag would be appended to the end. So a page-full of data that you'd actually have to read and have long since learned to gloss over. Much like the standard software EULA that we all click "agree" to without noticing the clause about our first-born child.
With Homeland Security putting up warning flags for Hippy Muscicians, and a million other people. I can understand someone ignoring a flag from the CDC.
Any human system works best with "targeted" warnings. Yet the HS system seems designed to scan everything. It's like finding a needle in a haystack by ordering more hay.
So the man with Tuberculosis got through, because a lot of people who shouldn't be on a watch list break the system. We probably have worse security response now than before 9/11. I certainly think the quality of suspects paraded into court right now have gone down.
It turns out that a lot of the Security breaches at Los Alamos in the past were mistakes of the FBI. Due to a database reporting error, they "lost" documents that didn't exist, and still others were recovered inside the area.
s _blocks_researcher_a_1.html
So the "Los Alamos security breach" stories got big headlines and the "FBI screws up" got little headlines. Maybe there is a pattern there. As the newly privatized single-source nuclear weapons manufacturing company for the USA had a walk-out of 500 security guards over 36-hour work shifts and poor security protocols that didn't make headlines.
I think there is a dangerous move to privatize a lot of key military functions. And the FBI seems to bring up a lot of accusations before verifying the actual security risk.
Couple this with their seeming lack of interest in securing laptops and databases of American citizens. The rates is about a few million records a month. No biggie if some third party has your SSN right? The government can't have a Total Information Awareness database, but it appears that a private company can. Check out what John Poindexter (Iran/Contra felon) is still up to these days. Who knew he was such a great database expert?
Los Alamos is now privatized, and the good old "employee takes laptop with sensitive files and gets it stolen" oops is happening at rapid pace. Anyone want to be whether THAT particular employee gets reprimanded? My bet they will get a promotion. As does everyone who seems to fail upwards in this current administration.
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2007/05/los_alamo
@hey!
... because then they have a captive market. That HDTV works great, and those 300 videos you downloaded still play for sure, with MS-DRM!
Great point about DRM. I agree that is why Microsoft is so embracing DRM
And Apple is offering DRM-free music for a little more money.
The Window of opportunity is closing. But Apple, Amazon, WalMart and many other companies are offering video downloads. Will people go for a platform, that allows them to keep and manage content and perhaps look at other people's content -- or will they go for the DRM model? Everything being equal, you have to force DRM down people's throats.
Even with a little less than HD quality, I'd prefer an entertainment system that left me the owner. I think, anyone with enough money, goes for furniture they own, rather than "rent to own."
So, if Microsoft doesn't lock up the DRM on Vista and get enough customers in the "entrance only" lock-in, then the Vista-on-Mac looks much more compelling, allowing Users to bypass DRM pergatory. iTunes becomes the preferred platform for targeting media over Windows Media.
Did you notice that u-Tube is re-optimizing their videos for h.264 to be compatible for the iPhone?
>> We already have DRM-less HDTV. People are already adopting video downloads. I think the window is closing on Hollywood, Microsoft, and others two control the "whole package" for entertainment delivery. And I think people will opt for DVD quality rather than have lock-in.
I think Microsoft is NOT concerned about supporting a virtualized Vista, because of the following reasons;
#1 -- they will Blame Apple or Parallels or whomever, and tell the user "have a nice day."
#2 -- the virtualized "hardware" and the limited number of Mac models, is going to make the environment pretty simple. There are more versions of Dell they have to contend with than all of Apple -- and that's one vendor. Just a few Intel-only CPUs of high perfomance. Maybe a dozen models of Nvidia or ATI graphics card. Couple that with a device manager that probably emulates the most standard devices possible. So if they wanted to, it would be pretty easy.
#3 -- Frustrated customers will turn to Apple equivalents anyway. Most PC users don't know that Office is available for the Mac.
#4 -- A good portion of the people will call Parallels or Apple. They will probably be well versed in the issues.
Microsoft is worried about mindshare -- and that equals control. I've looked into web hosts that offer Exchange services, and they seem to on average cost about $50 a head per month. People moving to Macs will learn that they can have almost all these services for free -- or at most $99 per year. Albeit not as well integrated as Outlook -- but I'm sure that will change pretty soon.
What Microsoft is worried about, is getting a call from a Mac convert conscerning; "Pages won't print this BMP file."
Agreed.
.NET alternative and have it run on Windows and Mac -- it would be financial suicide.
.NET run on an Intel Mac, let third parties work on the compatibility. And just keep improving XCode to be better and have all the .NET functionality.
If Apple tried to make a
Better to make
Developers will follow the market. And that is going to be iPhone + iTunes + iWork juggernaut. Just wait.
I agree that virtualization is the killer strategic App for Apple.
.Mac. But they really need scheduling and calendering and the rest "bundled" into one interface so you can "see your day." I don't think anyone has done this perfectly. But Apple has all the infrastructure to get it done. This, more than Visual Basic, is the major hurdle for Apple in the office.
Yes, some coders will just develop for Windows.
But once people become accustomed to the Mac interface,.. the hurdle of transition is over. Perhaps that is the reason Apple has adopted the iTunes interface into parts of the finder in their Leopard OS. To sync with the iPhone -- you use iTunes. So the customer is already becoming acquainted with the Mac interface on Windows. The Safari browser, I'd expect, will probably be bundled with iTunes in the future. Not that it will blow people away on Windows... but when people are nervous about trojan horses, and are already used to the iPhone... well then, the browser becomes secondary to the services WITHIN the browser that people will become used to with the iPhone (and of course, developers get Safari as a platform to build for iPhone).
Other than Video and 3D games, the performance of a Mac or PC is secondary now to the experience. Even virtualized apps will be fine. But once a person has a Mac -- they are unlikely to go back. And will probably upgrade to the Mac version of the populare applications when they next upgrade. I don't think the thousands of "shovel-ware" applications that Windows brags about, are anything people will miss. They are like the impulse purchases at a shopping checkout counter -- exciting to get, useless to have. And you can still run the things in virtual mode (they don't always run in native Windows -- like about half of my shovel-ware educational apps do now).
But for 90% of the tasks of the average person, they will find the Apple iWork and iLife apps great alternatives.
Though Apple needs to push a cheaper, or even free version of FileMaker -- which would make the average user realize they can use a database and that Access is dreadful.
Apple also bundles QuickBooks NUE... but most people will stay with whatever solution they already have. That's why virtualization is so important.
Apple needs a better "Get started for PC users" automated video to get some people over the hump.
Apple also needs a bit more functionality in Mail.app to compete with Outlook. They already have a superior (more easy to access) webDav solution in
But having used Applescript -- it's "seeming ease with common language" just makes it more of a PIA without making it easier. It has a lot of limitations and a need for a built in interface (that works for novices). That's another Hurdle Apple has not addressed for 3rd-party developers. Scheduling and automating the computer are "pretty good" but really not as reliable as I would like.
But without Microsoft's control; goodbye Exchange. Which is their real cash cow.
>> One very important thing I want to discover about the iPhone is if it will be useful for running KeyNote and Quartz compositions. Why, you might ask? Because with that, I can soup up any PowerPoint presentation and make the iPhone the next presentation system. We have lots of salespeople at my company -- and technolust is important for anyone wanting to make an impression. These people buy Mercedes before houses. So it has to be Uber-cool, which is why many have blackberry phones they can't use.
If I can reformat presenations, to have a simple svideo pin-out from the iPhone to show on any projector, then the perfect communication/sales device will be the iPhone. I've already put up 6 kiosks in a PC-only company because of Quartz Composer. Once you add that to KeyNote, you have the movie-star glitz that will make presentation envy.
Envy sells computers. It will also sell the iPhone if Apple is smart enough to make it accessible to hooking up presentations.
What, you have a problem with the Cult of Personal Responsibility?
Individuals must keep track and protect their own privacy and images. Just like they should be carrying their own pavement instead of leeching off the public road system -- which is the most obscene part of the welfare state.
Every person in America needs a led test for their water. An e-coli sample kit for their meat. And a UV sterilizer for their vegetables. Of course, you also need to have a amperage-regulator and do a few days testing the UV sterlizer to make up for getting rid of Underwriters Laboratories.
Please keep your curtains up if you don't want the invisible Google street camera to photograph you and your cat.
[/end sarcasm]
Actually, I'm using Parallels on the Mac because of very draconian security Policies at our Windows ONLY workplace.
I build Kiosks that grab data from the web, and make great eye candy.
We have an IT department that doesn't support Macs - which means it's the only way to not be forced to log in for guests, or to demo applications at our office. It's because, to make Windows Systems secure for a financial services company -- everything has to be locked down -- most people can't even install software.
So, we get an Image of Windows to run all the apps our visiting agents use, while the Mac handles connections to the Internet. All problems can be solved by overwriting the image with the original locked image.
>> I think this is a break from the conventional reason -- but perhaps will become more common. If you want to do any sort of "insecure" and multimedia work at an office that is "locked down" -- having a Mac is a refuge BECAUSE there is little support. No support means nobody breathing down your neck, I've rarely needed help on a Mac problem so I'm very fine with this.
So, in a Windows environment -- you sometimes need a Mac to run Windows, because it is impossible to change security policies.
You actually install Windows on the Mac on a drive, or in a virtual drive volume. So any emulation would be on the hardware end. It's not virtual, but passing calls to the equivalent IDE or redirect for hardware. A few things like 3D are probably virtualized to Open GL -- so that would make it slow.
This breakthrough is either an IDE that translates Windows Media 9 (or 10) to OpenGL, or they've found some way to get WM to work.
It's different in that with a private company, they can spy on anyone. The only accountability would be the courts -- but if they are staffed with evangelicals and the Foundation loyalists, then nobody will call them to account.
For instance, the outrage over the Total Information Awareness program put the kibosh on the government doing it. But, convicted felon Poindexter is starting it up in the private sector... notice all those databases that keep getting broken into? Notice the ho-hum reaction of the government that probably over 20% of us now have our Social Security and private info in the hands of God knows who?
This stinks, and it is a great way to abuse Americans -- not provide security for us -- but against us.
No, the "doubts" were from the issue of whether Man is causing the Global warming -- THAT is only at 90%.
The idea that the earth is warming, is at something like 99%.
Anyway, you can read the peer reviewed study -- or just keep repeating the "there is still doubt" meme. As if that is going to get America Energy independent or give anyone outside of Big Energy concerns a good economy in the future.
Do you have ANY evidence to back up your comments about this well researched article?
Or is this a Typical, global warming denial?
Oh great. All we need is Specter to charge into the investigation and the cover-up will be complete.
Watch him slam his fist on a table, while his witnesses are not sworn in. What a show man!
Now our only backup for US credibility is gone bye bye?
I guess, nobody outside of Fox News can speak the truth.
But, I'm guessing France will be palatable soon, now that a NeoCon has stolen the elections there.
Well, I'm starting to enjoy things.
I just need to get some cheese, so I can dine on it while reading your WHINE one more time. Man, seeing a NeoCon meltdown is, I don't know, making me enjoy shadenfraude like a NeoCon.