(especially a behaviour that has generated a multi-billion dollar industry!)
The acceptability of a behavior has nothing to do at all with how much money it generates. Cigarette smoking, bogus lawsuits, and crappy operating systems generate a hell of a lot of money, but that don't make it right.
Embedding information in a URL doesn't carry from one session to the next, and can only carry from one page to another with a direct link. Completely different than what is possible with cookies.
PETA, Greens, and other luddite bastards are the natural enemies of anyone who likes technology and/or believes in liberty.
Ah, no. I'm a vegan, I've donated to PETA, and voted Green; I'm also a software developer and technophile who is anti-censorship, anti-prohibition, and gun-owning - and I've also voted Libertarian. (That's right, I am an armed radical vegetarian, the beef council's worst nightmare B-) )
Being opposed to ethical anthrocentrism isn't a Luddite view, it's the only one in keeping with science and logic. And understanding that certain technologies have a negative environmental impact, and preferring the development of those that don't, isn't a Luddite view, it's the proper application of scientific and technical knowledge for the best long-term benefit.
Combining science, logic, long-term thinking, and compassion is no threat to the human speicies - it's the only hope our species has for survival.
(Since this has nought to do with lovelorn geeks, if anyone wants to discuss these points further I suggest e-mail - remove "spambefuddler-" from the address above.)
Well, you might not really want a Sandman movie...
I saw Neil read from his latest novel at a local megabookstore a few months back, and he talked about the Sandman movie and the horrid, terrible, very very sad scripts that Warner Brothers had come up with. Think of the Corinthian as Dream's brother and the lord of bad dreams (as opposed to the Sandman who's the lord only of good dreams); the Corinthian traps Dream and steals his power, but with his own two fists and the love of a good woman Dream wins back his kingdom. Dreck dreck dreck. Hope it never comes to pass (unless, maybe, studio execs at WB are suddenly possessed by good spirits and hire Harlan Ellison to script it...I can dream, can't I?) He did drop hints about a Good Omens film being a possibility, though.
I just re-read my complete Gaiman collection - the whole Sandman series, Black Orchid, the two Death stories, and The Books of Magic (the first two Books of Magic followups by another author are also good - are there any more?), so I'm definitely ready for more!
Go to a site like securityfocus.com - then look at cDc's site. Both of them are in the same "business" - computer security.
I think the point was that the cDc's "business" isn't computer security. It's cDc'ing, which is defined as "whatever the fsck the cDc feels like doing."/\/\00.
The CoSource model has a group of businesses or individuals all chip in to pay the developer.
For instance, you say, "Gee, I'd really like a GPL'd foobar client with a built-in spam filter." You put up an RFP, I see it and say, "I'll write one when there's a commitment of $1000". You guarantee $200. Your competitor sees the RFP, thinks, "Hey, I could use a foobar client like that!" and puts up $150. Someone else pledges $20, and so on until there's a total commitment of $1000. Then I write the program, it goes through the approval mechanism, everybody pays up their pledges, I get paid, the code gets released, and everyone's happy.
There are other projects where it's difficult for your competition to benefit, at least immeditately, from the new code. If I do an open source port of something to the AIX architecture for IBM, Sun won't benefit.
I'm not sure that our current economic systems can survive such a situation.
Naturally, the optimistic Star Trek fans will suggest that we will all lead idyllic communal lives in harmony with nature and wealth will be completely abolished, but such does not seem consistent with human nature.
No, our economic systems couldn't survive. That's because our current economic systems are stupid. B-)
This isn't a new problem. "Overproduction", or "underdemand", has been on the horizon for years now as a trend of the Industrial Revolution. I recall stories by Kurt Vonnegut (Player Piano) and Frederick Pohl (The Midas Plauge) about it. The American response has been basically to prop up demand by social pressure to "keep up with the Jonses", by planned obsolescence, and by the introduction of new products that no one really wanted, but we are duped into thinking we can't live without; the trap of the consumption lifestyle.
They are molecules and according to the article, they aren't even big molecules. 3 atoms wide? A nm (nanometer) is about three atoms. Nanotech machines would have features on that scale - that doesn't mean that they'd only be 1 nm across. Think maybe more like a few hundred nanometers across.
Could a machine on that scale handle problems of power, propulsion, etcetera? Yep. They're doing it now. We call them - or maybe more properly, assemblies of them - bacteria.
Nature's already solved all the problems you cite. It took billions of years of trial and error, but we have an existence proof that solutions are possible. Now the task is just to create more efficient solutions, and to apply the solutions to new problems.
The heart of Slashdot is zdnet, cnn, wired, salon and a handful of other places. When an outside editorial is requested, such as Jon Katz or a book reviewer, it's generally hosted on the Slashdot site itself.
Yes, but there have been exceptions. I think the "webserver on a PIC" story was on a site without even name service, wasn't it? And there have been a number of stories from.edu sites - best bet might be to crack a box in an open workstation lab (all you need is a Linux boot floppy) and pretend that it's Professor X's web server. (Of course, why not just grab a few of these open boxes and SYN flood the fsck out of your target? Maybe that would lack style, though.)
Or crack somebody's account on the CS department's server - the Doom as a sysadmin tool story was posted at a URL of the form "http://www.cs.xyz.edu/~somebody/a/b/c.html". All you need is a subdirectory with write privs.
This is just idle speculation to stretch the brain, I don't think it's very practical. But...
Let's say there existed a web server that was not of particular interest to geeks, but which an 3V1L H4X0R wanted to Slashdot. (You know, I just realized that it's awkward to end a sentance with/. - do you end it "/.."?)
3V1L H4X0R sets up a web page of interest to geeks (most likely with false information - say, make up something about Linux running on an Atari 2600) and puts it up on a server somewhere. And maybe the server is some clueless newbie's PC that happens to have a cable or DSL connection. 3V1L H4X0R submits the page, anonymously, to Slashdot.
When accesses to the page start to come in and get heavy, 3V1L H4X0R replaces his page with one that has a redirection URL to the target page.
In fact, I think if he was sneaky enough, he could make his orginal page load the target in a non-visible frame - or several targets in several non-visible frames - and not even bother with the switch! If 3V1L H4X0R picks small target URLs (say, some small images on the target site), the brower user won't notice the network activity; but of course that would be less load on the target server per browser.
"Vote Tom Swiss (Independent) for Galactic Emperor, I mean President. He promises to completely shirk his duties, never even come to the White House, and return his Presidental salary to the Federal Treasury."
There, I've now made a political statement using/.'s computers, which undoubtedly cost more than $1000. Is/. a PAC? Am I? Are you, if you're reading this on a $1000+ machine?
I recently sent a customized RH distribution for my 14-year old brother install Linux. I think it's progress when that's possible. But he complains about the lack of a "Shutdown Picture" and "Bootup Picture".
Well, you might take the lad aside and patiently explain that these "pictures" take up space in the software, that the boot messages of a Unix-type system give important diagnostic information, and that displaying the pictures wastes time during system boot and shutdown.
Or you might just whack the whining brat across the side of the head with an old basketball shoe and make him use an old blue-screen VT100 with an acoustic coupler modem until he learns Real Computing. Whatever works.
I knew the situation with patents was bad, but this makes it sound like the only thing to do is take the folks from the Patent Office (or maybe the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) out back of the barn and put them out of our misery.
What do we do? The only organization I've ever heard of to oppose this sort of thing is the League for Programming Freedom, which is not much more than some web pages at the moment (no formal organization, no budget). Who else is there to co-ordinate actions against SW patents?
Finally, anyone who thinks they have something worth patenting, feel free. If you believe in free software, maybe you can GPL your patent.:)
I've had a few ideas that are, IMHO, at least as patentable as some of the more recent and well-publicized software patents. I'd love to patent one and GPL it, so I could a) have a patent on my resume, and b) be a more authoritative voice against software patents. But the cost! Hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in patent office fees alone, plus the services of a good attorney.
On the other hand, if you like nudity,don't play games - browse the web... Better yet, get off the stupid computer and go find a willing and attractive member of the appropriate sex who'll let you do more than look...
(I know, I know, I should take my own damn advice.)
I never understood the allure of pornography for adults. Sex is a participatory sport, not a spectator event. It's much more fun to be on the field than in the stands.
but they have no right selling my kids something objectionable.
And once again we have the question, who decides what's objectionable? Your answer and mine are likely to be quite different. For instance...
Would you say that it's okay for Sam Goody's to sell a porno to a 12 year old?
I may be sliding into devil's advocate mode here, but...doesn't bother me in the least. It neither "picks my pocket nor breaks my leg", as Jefferson said in a different context. C'mon, if he wants to see one he's going to do so whether you approve of it or not. Back in the pre-VCR days, I think we'd all discovered Penthouse thru someone's father's collection by the time we were around that age.
If a kid's old enough to be interested in sex, the only thing to do is to start teaching them the biological and ethical knowledge they'll need to become sexually healthy adults.
Of course not! If you did, I'd say you're a sicko.
Not the first, probably not the last.
A parent depends on outlets to be responisible in what they sell. It's not a crutch for parenting, it's just assistance.
I'm not responsible for assisting you in raising your kid in the manner you choose, especially if I disagree with it.
It's been a while since I read The Shockwave Rider (great, great, great book!), but from what I can recall, wasn't delphing a multiple choice voting system?
I think/.ing is similar but not quite the same. But the World vs. Kasparov match, now, that seems like an almost perfect match.
The overall service record of UPS versus USPS is very very one-sided, though, in favor of UPS...They also offer online tracking.
Ever have to deal with their customer service after they damage your shipment? It's horrible, and everyone I've talked to who had to deal with their customer service reps had similar stories.
I need online tracking like I need a hole in my head - I don't care what route my package takes, I just want it delivered quickly and undamaged. And if they can't do that (and they can't), I want a quick resolution, not to have to make eight phone calls to finally have someone come out to look at a computer with its case bashed in, shrug, and say, "Sorry 'bout your luck."
Sorry if I'm ranting, but UPS has managed to make my Permanent Shit List.
Can Micro$oft register "microsoft.gov" now, bringing the old joke about MS acquiring the US one step closer to reality?
Can the Reform, Green, Libertarian, and Communist parties get.govs? Or hey, how about an anarchist "no.gov"? Or a Lenny Bruce "fuckthe.gov"? ("If you can't say `Fuck,' you can't say, `Fuck the government.")
Most importantly, can I register EmperorNorton.gov to commemorate the first and only Emperor of the United States?
The Republican and Democratic parties are private entities with no more special legal standing than other parties, or the Church of SubGenius for that matter. If a group of them in the House want a domain, the house.gov admin can give them gop.house.gov. If the party can get a.gov, anyone should be able to.
First, a private corporation could deliver the mail at a lower cost and with greater reliability
The USPS gets it monopoly on first-class mail in return for guarnteed universal service at a single price. Doesn't matter if your correspondent is right next door to a major post office, or living in a shack on top of a mountain at the end of a twenty mile dirt road; your stamp will get your letter to them. FedEx, UPS, etcetera, are free to say, "We don't deliver to such-and-such areas," or "we charge a 2000 percent surcharge to anyone not living within twenty miles of a major city."
Is postal mail important enough to warrant government intervention to ensure universal one-price service? I dunno. Most of mine goes right to the recycling bin. (And I mean "right to" - I have a small trash can right underneath my mailbox, don't even bother bringing the junk into the house anymore.)
I tell you this, though: after my experience with UPS's abysmal customer service when they damaged two packages of mine, USPS looks a whole lot better than it used to! Their "Priority Mail" service is a pretty good deal.
Slashdot Mirror
Embedding information in a URL doesn't carry from one session to the next, and can only carry from one page to another with a direct link. Completely different than what is possible with cookies.
Being opposed to ethical anthrocentrism isn't a Luddite view, it's the only one in keeping with science and logic. And understanding that certain technologies have a negative environmental impact, and preferring the development of those that don't, isn't a Luddite view, it's the proper application of scientific and technical knowledge for the best long-term benefit.
Combining science, logic, long-term thinking, and compassion is no threat to the human speicies - it's the only hope our species has for survival.
(Since this has nought to do with lovelorn geeks, if anyone wants to discuss these points further I suggest e-mail - remove "spambefuddler-" from the address above.)
I saw Neil read from his latest novel at a local megabookstore a few months back, and he talked about the Sandman movie and the horrid, terrible, very very sad scripts that Warner Brothers had come up with. Think of the Corinthian as Dream's brother and the lord of bad dreams (as opposed to the Sandman who's the lord only of good dreams); the Corinthian traps Dream and steals his power, but with his own two fists and the love of a good woman Dream wins back his kingdom. Dreck dreck dreck. Hope it never comes to pass (unless, maybe, studio execs at WB are suddenly possessed by good spirits and hire Harlan Ellison to script it...I can dream, can't I?) He did drop hints about a Good Omens film being a possibility, though.
I just re-read my complete Gaiman collection - the whole Sandman series, Black Orchid, the two Death stories, and The Books of Magic (the first two Books of Magic followups by another author are also good - are there any more?), so I'm definitely ready for more!
For instance, you say, "Gee, I'd really like a GPL'd foobar client with a built-in spam filter." You put up an RFP, I see it and say, "I'll write one when there's a commitment of $1000". You guarantee $200. Your competitor sees the RFP, thinks, "Hey, I could use a foobar client like that!" and puts up $150. Someone else pledges $20, and so on until there's a total commitment of $1000. Then I write the program, it goes through the approval mechanism, everybody pays up their pledges, I get paid, the code gets released, and everyone's happy.
There are other projects where it's difficult for your competition to benefit, at least immeditately, from the new code. If I do an open source port of something to the AIX architecture for IBM, Sun won't benefit.
In fact there are at least two websites set up to match developers with people who will pay them to write OSS - CoSource and SourceXchange.
This isn't a new problem. "Overproduction", or "underdemand", has been on the horizon for years now as a trend of the Industrial Revolution. I recall stories by Kurt Vonnegut (Player Piano) and Frederick Pohl (The Midas Plauge) about it. The American response has been basically to prop up demand by social pressure to "keep up with the Jonses", by planned obsolescence, and by the introduction of new products that no one really wanted, but we are duped into thinking we can't live without; the trap of the consumption lifestyle.
I prefer Operation Mindfuck, myself...fnord.
Or crack somebody's account on the CS department's server - the Doom as a sysadmin tool story was posted at a URL of the form "http://www.cs.xyz.edu/~somebody/a/b/c.html". All you need is a subdirectory with write privs.
Let's say there existed a web server that was not of particular interest to geeks, but which an 3V1L H4X0R wanted to Slashdot. (You know, I just realized that it's awkward to end a sentance with /. - do you end it "/.."?)
3V1L H4X0R sets up a web page of interest to geeks (most likely with false information - say, make up something about Linux running on an Atari 2600) and puts it up on a server somewhere. And maybe the server is some clueless newbie's PC that happens to have a cable or DSL connection. 3V1L H4X0R submits the page, anonymously, to Slashdot.
When accesses to the page start to come in and get heavy, 3V1L H4X0R replaces his page with one that has a redirection URL to the target page.
In fact, I think if he was sneaky enough, he could make his orginal page load the target in a non-visible frame - or several targets in several non-visible frames - and not even bother with the switch! If 3V1L H4X0R picks small target URLs (say, some small images on the target site), the brower user won't notice the network activity; but of course that would be less load on the target server per browser.
It's a social engineering bait-and-switch.
Shoot, I didn't know /. knew me so well... B->
"Vote Tom Swiss (Independent) for Galactic Emperor, I mean President. He promises to completely shirk his duties, never even come to the White House, and return his Presidental salary to the Federal Treasury."
There, I've now made a political statement using /.'s computers, which undoubtedly cost more than $1000. Is /. a PAC? Am I? Are you, if you're reading this on a $1000+ machine?
Or you might just whack the whining brat across the side of the head with an old basketball shoe and make him use an old blue-screen VT100 with an acoustic coupler modem until he learns Real Computing. Whatever works.
What do we do? The only organization I've ever heard of to oppose this sort of thing is the League for Programming Freedom, which is not much more than some web pages at the moment (no formal organization, no budget). Who else is there to co-ordinate actions against SW patents?
(I know, I know, I should take my own damn advice.)
I never understood the allure of pornography for adults. Sex is a participatory sport, not a spectator event. It's much more fun to be on the field than in the stands.
But hey, it's your choice.
If a kid's old enough to be interested in sex, the only thing to do is to start teaching them the biological and ethical knowledge they'll need to become sexually healthy adults.
Not the first, probably not the last. I'm not responsible for assisting you in raising your kid in the manner you choose, especially if I disagree with it.Microsoft vs. Linux! C'mon, you know you want it...
I think /.ing is similar but not quite the same. But the World vs. Kasparov match, now, that seems like an almost perfect match.
I need online tracking like I need a hole in my head - I don't care what route my package takes, I just want it delivered quickly and undamaged. And if they can't do that (and they can't), I want a quick resolution, not to have to make eight phone calls to finally have someone come out to look at a computer with its case bashed in, shrug, and say, "Sorry 'bout your luck."
Sorry if I'm ranting, but UPS has managed to make my Permanent Shit List.
Can the Reform, Green, Libertarian, and Communist parties get .govs? Or hey, how about an anarchist "no.gov"? Or a Lenny Bruce "fuckthe.gov"? ("If you can't say `Fuck,' you can't say, `Fuck the government.")
Most importantly, can I register EmperorNorton.gov to commemorate the first and only Emperor of the United States?
The Republican and Democratic parties are private entities with no more special legal standing than other parties, or the Church of SubGenius for that matter. If a group of them in the House want a domain, the house.gov admin can give them gop.house.gov. If the party can get a .gov, anyone should be able to.
Is postal mail important enough to warrant government intervention to ensure universal one-price service? I dunno. Most of mine goes right to the recycling bin. (And I mean "right to" - I have a small trash can right underneath my mailbox, don't even bother bringing the junk into the house anymore.)
I tell you this, though: after my experience with UPS's abysmal customer service when they damaged two packages of mine, USPS looks a whole lot better than it used to! Their "Priority Mail" service is a pretty good deal.