Most of what I tend to see in my inbox (or SeaMonkey junk folder) are various variants of the "Nigerian Scam". I dont see all that much actual commerical spam for some reason.
I second the mention of the electronics lab linked to there, I had one when I was a kid (it wasnt that one, it was one that was simpler with less components and I liked it. The springs and breadboard on that one make it simple to use and since its a breadboard, you can use any normal components that fit to expand it later on.
If TPG have ADSL2 DSLAMS in whatever exchange you are on, you should consider giving them a go. They have decent download quotas on their ADSL2 plans and VoIP service. Customer support is good too
Note that I have no relationship with TPG other than being a satisfied customer of their ADSL1 plan (there is no ADSL2 available in my area from anyone I would give any money to)
I think the digital TV mandate is a GOOD thing, digital TV allows you to put more data in the same spectrum (or the same data in less spectrum) and frees up the valuable space used by analog TV in the UHF/VHF spectrum for other uses.
I just wish the FCC et al were more vigilant in enforcing the "all TVs sold must have digital tuners" rule (or whatever it is) so that companies like Best Buy and Walmart couldn't dump dirt cheap analog 4:3 CRT sets on unsuspecting consumers (who are going to need to buy converter boxes to make those sets work with digital TV)
Its all the fault of Telstra (the company that owns all the phone wires). During the 80s and 90s and up to today, as all the many new housing estates were being built, Telstra took the cheap way out and installed RIMs. A RIM is a box which takes a whole pile of copper wires from the local area and combines them into a fatter pipe (which may be a copper wire or more likely these days is a fiber optic link) back to the exchange. Thing is, if you are one of the unfortunate people stuck on these RIMs, you generally cant get ADSL. Some RIMs have had ADSL DSLAMs installed into them by Telstra but they only have a small hand full of available ports so you have to be VERY lucky to get a port.
Microsoft will not replace the IE rendering engine with something else. Here are reasons why: 1.Lots of stuff out there that relies on quirks of IE (both quirks in the way it parses/renders/etc the HTML and quirks in the way it works internally where apps poke into IE memory to do undocumented stuff) 2.Too closely tied into the OS to be replaced 3.Too many apps embedding IE rendering engine (MS and otherwise) and relying on it and how it works
Set up some end points in the USA. Given that Barack Obama has stated that he is in favor of net neutrality, the USA is unlikely to start filtering its internet connections anytime soon. They may pass through NSA snooping gear though (but if its encrypted, even the NSA cant listen to it in real time)
Fact is, bandwidth ain't free. As long as the caps (and what happens if you exceed the caps) are CLEARLY stated BEFORE you sign up, all changes to the caps are CLEARLY communicated to customers and ISPs stick to the caps (and remove the traffic shaping of BitTorrent etc), there is nothing wrong with them.
They also need truth in their advertising (including not advertising this stuff as unlimited)
Not necessarily, here in Australia I see a lot of DVDs and CDs and stuff in plastic lock boxes which open using a gizmo fixed to the counter at each register. All registers have them and all staff are able to open them. Some times they have some kind of special mod to the DVD case that makes it hard for thieves to open without a lot of effort (and without risk of damaging the DVD and/or causing a LOT of attention in the store)
1.Change the tax system and other laws so that you can switch away from employer provided health funds and get the same tax benefits. Make it simple to shop around and find the health fund that is offering the best coverage for their needs and encourage consumers to do so. 2.Get rid of any red tape and make it easy for new players to enter the market. 3.Require health funds to be more up front with regards to what you do and dont get coverage for. 4.Prohibit health funds from dictating what treatments get used. They would be allowed to continue specifying which providers (hospitals etc) you go do and could set limits on how much they will pay out but they cant dictate treatment (e.g. situations where the fund has mandated option X even when option Y is not only better for the patient but CHEAPER) and 5.Prohibit any conflict of interest or cross-ties between health funds and health providers. Health funds would be prohibited from owning any kind of health care provider.
These measures would hopefully lead to insurance companies doing more to compete with each other since if consumers are unhappy with the level of coverage at fund A, they can switch to fund B very easily.
I havent written a cheque in my life and I get along fine. Why do we still need a system based around sending bits of paper around when I can log onto my internet bank and transfer money to any other Australian bank account in a couple of minutes (although the money doesn't actually end up in the other account right away unfortunatly)
Big deal about all this GCC4 stuff, let me know when GCC 4.x becomes available for MingW as an official build (or better yet, when the GCC community stops treating Windows builds of GCC as second class citizens)
Maximum speed within the residence halls (to encourage people to grab files, legal or otherwise, from someone else in the residence halls) Speed to the rest of the university network is capped at whatever speed makes most sense
Traffic within the residence halls and out to the wider university network is 100% free (lecture notes and anything else they need) Run a university provided mirror server for non-copyright-violating files that are large/popular (e.g. linux ISOs, Microsoft service packs, game updates, files available through MSDNAA etc) which is also free. Certain sites out in the wider world which are essential for certain students to access for their studies and which may require large bandwidth use can also be added to the free list if its deemed that they are only useful for legitimate university business. Students then get a fixed amount of traffic to the internet at large every month as part of whatever it is they pay for living on campus. If they exceed that, they get restricted (e.g. speed down to 64kbps or so). If they need or want more, they can pay extra for it.
No the Russian Mafia wont cooperate with this. Which is why you tell Moscow and Putin and Medvedev that if they dont do something about all the internet garbage (malware, spam, botnets, viruses, phishing etc) coming from their country, Russia wont join WTO (if it can work for AllOfMP3, it can work for this crap)
Russia needs the WTO more than the western governments need Russia in the WTO. The question is, does Russia need the WTO more than they need the Mob?
The way around that is to buy a large hard sided metal case (big enough for all your crap) thats strong enough to legally count as a gun case for TSA/goverment purposes and put everything in there.
Its not a lie if you don't tell Apple. Just restore the phone before you return it for warranty and don't say anything one way or the other about whether you have used unauthorized software on the phone.
Its a bit hard to "stop electing these people" when EVERYONE with a chance of getting into power is supporting this in order to placate conservative church groups etc (I am sure that if the Liberal party had won the last election they would be doing something just as bad if not worse)
And what happens when I have a file that is NOT child pornography but happens to hash to the same hash as a file that IS?
Or what about the fact that the child pornographers will simply alter their images slightly (in a random way each time) so that the hash values never match up. Or put them in a zip file. Or a rar file. Or encrypt them (if they use a different key each time and put the key alongside the image, each file will hash differently)
Or use a file sharing protocol and client which does encryption on the fly (such as those being used to disguise content from ISP traffic shaping gear)
Or (even simpler), use a file sharing protocol this block system doesn't know how to parse.
Perhaps its time for a checklist for filtering much like that checklist for SPAM that gets posted to every anti-spam article. But instead of something people post to slashdot, this would be something you can show to the people who want the filtering in the first place to show why it can never work.
I for one would LOVE to see Diablo II go open source. You would still need a legitimate copy of the game to get the data files and you would still need a legitimate CD key to play on battle.net.
Starcraft 1 would be nice too (it IS one of the best selling RTS games of all time)
I concur here, I have been to LAN parties in the past which dont even HAVE any kind of internet access. Not being able to play Diablo III in multiplayer on a network with no internet access is going to hurt the game IMO.
Someone needs to make some devices that can be used as USB drives but that a customs guy isn't going to recognize as a data storage device (and therefore wont seize)
Put all your sensitive data on it and then use a clean laptop with nothing on value on it. Customs seize the laptop, just get another one.
Putting the data on an iPod or other MP3 player wont work, customs may seize those (especially if the RIAA can get a bill passed making the customs people government copyright cops for the big record companies). Mobile phones are also out (they may take your phone and read out all the phone numbers to look for any number on their "hit list"). Ditto with digital cameras, they may well seize those too to look for something they can use against you.
So someone needs to invent (or find) something which can store data but which is not something the feds would steal. How about an electric shaver with USB storage. Or, better yet, make something like those talking teddy bears for kids (complete with the talking story) but which also has on-board flash storage to store stuff. Or what about a Lego Mindstorms NXT, that already has flash storage on it and looks nothing like a computer. Have it built up with a motor and some wheels or something and if they ask about it, you can put it on the table and press the buttons and make it drive around.
Slashdot Mirror
Most of what I tend to see in my inbox (or SeaMonkey junk folder) are various variants of the "Nigerian Scam". I dont see all that much actual commerical spam for some reason.
I second the mention of the electronics lab linked to there, I had one when I was a kid (it wasnt that one, it was one that was simpler with less components and I liked it. The springs and breadboard on that one make it simple to use and since its a breadboard, you can use any normal components that fit to expand it later on.
If TPG have ADSL2 DSLAMS in whatever exchange you are on, you should consider giving them a go. They have decent download quotas on their ADSL2 plans and VoIP service. Customer support is good too
Note that I have no relationship with TPG other than being a satisfied customer of their ADSL1 plan (there is no ADSL2 available in my area from anyone I would give any money to)
If they post the right movies.
Aren't MGM (and the movies in question) owned by Sony now?
Google groups started going downhill after they added a Yahoo! groups clone.
I think the digital TV mandate is a GOOD thing, digital TV allows you to put more data in the same spectrum (or the same data in less spectrum) and frees up the valuable space used by analog TV in the UHF/VHF spectrum for other uses.
I just wish the FCC et al were more vigilant in enforcing the "all TVs sold must have digital tuners" rule (or whatever it is) so that companies like Best Buy and Walmart couldn't dump dirt cheap analog 4:3 CRT sets on unsuspecting consumers (who are going to need to buy converter boxes to make those sets work with digital TV)
It would SUCK if it ended up being console only.
Its all the fault of Telstra (the company that owns all the phone wires).
During the 80s and 90s and up to today, as all the many new housing estates were being built, Telstra took the cheap way out and installed RIMs. A RIM is a box which takes a whole pile of copper wires from the local area and combines them into a fatter pipe (which may be a copper wire or more likely these days is a fiber optic link) back to the exchange. Thing is, if you are one of the unfortunate people stuck on these RIMs, you generally cant get ADSL. Some RIMs have had ADSL DSLAMs installed into them by Telstra but they only have a small hand full of available ports so you have to be VERY lucky to get a port.
Microsoft will not replace the IE rendering engine with something else. Here are reasons why:
1.Lots of stuff out there that relies on quirks of IE (both quirks in the way it parses/renders/etc the HTML and quirks in the way it works internally where apps poke into IE memory to do undocumented stuff)
2.Too closely tied into the OS to be replaced
3.Too many apps embedding IE rendering engine (MS and otherwise) and relying on it and how it works
Set up some end points in the USA. Given that Barack Obama has stated that he is in favor of net neutrality, the USA is unlikely to start filtering its internet connections anytime soon. They may pass through NSA snooping gear though (but if its encrypted, even the NSA cant listen to it in real time)
Fact is, bandwidth ain't free. As long as the caps (and what happens if you exceed the caps) are CLEARLY stated BEFORE you sign up, all changes to the caps are CLEARLY communicated to customers and ISPs stick to the caps (and remove the traffic shaping of BitTorrent etc), there is nothing wrong with them.
They also need truth in their advertising (including not advertising this stuff as unlimited)
Not necessarily, here in Australia I see a lot of DVDs and CDs and stuff in plastic lock boxes which open using a gizmo fixed to the counter at each register. All registers have them and all staff are able to open them.
Some times they have some kind of special mod to the DVD case that makes it hard for thieves to open without a lot of effort (and without risk of damaging the DVD and/or causing a LOT of attention in the store)
1.Change the tax system and other laws so that you can switch away from employer provided health funds and get the same tax benefits. Make it simple to shop around and find the health fund that is offering the best coverage for their needs and encourage consumers to do so.
2.Get rid of any red tape and make it easy for new players to enter the market.
3.Require health funds to be more up front with regards to what you do and dont get coverage for.
4.Prohibit health funds from dictating what treatments get used. They would be allowed to continue specifying which providers (hospitals etc) you go do and could set limits on how much they will pay out but they cant dictate treatment (e.g. situations where the fund has mandated option X even when option Y is not only better for the patient but CHEAPER)
and 5.Prohibit any conflict of interest or cross-ties between health funds and health providers. Health funds would be prohibited from owning any kind of health care provider.
These measures would hopefully lead to insurance companies doing more to compete with each other since if consumers are unhappy with the level of coverage at fund A, they can switch to fund B very easily.
I havent written a cheque in my life and I get along fine. Why do we still need a system based around sending bits of paper around when I can log onto my internet bank and transfer money to any other Australian bank account in a couple of minutes (although the money doesn't actually end up in the other account right away unfortunatly)
Big deal about all this GCC4 stuff, let me know when GCC 4.x becomes available for MingW as an official build (or better yet, when the GCC community stops treating Windows builds of GCC as second class citizens)
Maximum speed within the residence halls (to encourage people to grab files, legal or otherwise, from someone else in the residence halls)
Speed to the rest of the university network is capped at whatever speed makes most sense
Traffic within the residence halls and out to the wider university network is 100% free (lecture notes and anything else they need)
Run a university provided mirror server for non-copyright-violating files that are large/popular (e.g. linux ISOs, Microsoft service packs, game updates, files available through MSDNAA etc) which is also free. Certain sites out in the wider world which are essential for certain students to access for their studies and which may require large bandwidth use can also be added to the free list if its deemed that they are only useful for legitimate university business.
Students then get a fixed amount of traffic to the internet at large every month as part of whatever it is they pay for living on campus. If they exceed that, they get restricted (e.g. speed down to 64kbps or so). If they need or want more, they can pay extra for it.
No the Russian Mafia wont cooperate with this. Which is why you tell Moscow and Putin and Medvedev that if they dont do something about all the internet garbage (malware, spam, botnets, viruses, phishing etc) coming from their country, Russia wont join WTO (if it can work for AllOfMP3, it can work for this crap)
Russia needs the WTO more than the western governments need Russia in the WTO.
The question is, does Russia need the WTO more than they need the Mob?
The way around that is to buy a large hard sided metal case (big enough for all your crap) thats strong enough to legally count as a gun case for TSA/goverment purposes and put everything in there.
Its not a lie if you don't tell Apple. Just restore the phone before you return it for warranty and don't say anything one way or the other about whether you have used unauthorized software on the phone.
Its a bit hard to "stop electing these people" when EVERYONE with a chance of getting into power is supporting this in order to placate conservative church groups etc (I am sure that if the Liberal party had won the last election they would be doing something just as bad if not worse)
And what happens when I have a file that is NOT child pornography but happens to hash to the same hash as a file that IS?
Or what about the fact that the child pornographers will simply alter their images slightly (in a random way each time) so that the hash values never match up. Or put them in a zip file. Or a rar file. Or encrypt them (if they use a different key each time and put the key alongside the image, each file will hash differently)
Or use a file sharing protocol and client which does encryption on the fly (such as those being used to disguise content from ISP traffic shaping gear)
Or (even simpler), use a file sharing protocol this block system doesn't know how to parse.
Perhaps its time for a checklist for filtering much like that checklist for SPAM that gets posted to every anti-spam article. But instead of something people post to slashdot, this would be something you can show to the people who want the filtering in the first place to show why it can never work.
I for one would LOVE to see Diablo II go open source. You would still need a legitimate copy of the game to get the data files and you would still need a legitimate CD key to play on battle.net.
Starcraft 1 would be nice too (it IS one of the best selling RTS games of all time)
I concur here, I have been to LAN parties in the past which dont even HAVE any kind of internet access. Not being able to play Diablo III in multiplayer on a network with no internet access is going to hurt the game IMO.
Biggest problem is the high frequency with which DNS can change (especially for individual networks)
Someone needs to make some devices that can be used as USB drives but that a customs guy isn't going to recognize as a data storage device (and therefore wont seize)
Put all your sensitive data on it and then use a clean laptop with nothing on value on it. Customs seize the laptop, just get another one.
Putting the data on an iPod or other MP3 player wont work, customs may seize those (especially if the RIAA can get a bill passed making the customs people government copyright cops for the big record companies). Mobile phones are also out (they may take your phone and read out all the phone numbers to look for any number on their "hit list"). Ditto with digital cameras, they may well seize those too to look for something they can use against you.
So someone needs to invent (or find) something which can store data but which is not something the feds would steal. How about an electric shaver with USB storage. Or, better yet, make something like those talking teddy bears for kids (complete with the talking story) but which also has on-board flash storage to store stuff. Or what about a Lego Mindstorms NXT, that already has flash storage on it and looks nothing like a computer. Have it built up with a motor and some wheels or something and if they ask about it, you can put it on the table and press the buttons and make it drive around.