It'll happen; computers have the advantage of scaling much better than our wetware can. You could build a huge computer in orbit *far* easier than you could build a better human brain. Given that kind of scalability, it'll only be a matter of time and some pretty remarkible programming before we come up with a computer that's smarter than any human.
At that point, it'll be interesting to see if Darwin takes over. I don't foresee a "Terminator"-type war or anything like that; chances are we'd just get nervous and lobotomize or power off the thing.
I'm thinking that the evolutionary imperatives hardcoded into our wetware will probably eventually doom any really generally intelligent system. Instead, you'll probably see a Star Wars-type solution where you have systems that do one or two things really well, but are functionally inept in other places (C3P0 can understand 10 million forms of communication, but a unilingual battle droid could kick his shiny metal ass). That was, we can remain the masters (which, as a human, is the way I prefer it).
If they fully implement PNG tomorrow, it'll still be 1-2 years before I can justify using it in site design (because you gotta let the don't-wanna-upgrade sect catch up). I don't wanna use UNISYS's.gifs anymore, but.jpgs don't work in all situations.
Another thing: let me shut off the ability for sites to spawn new windows. It don't want every damn site I go to sending me to porn sites and casino sites so the damned site owner can make a few cents. Shut it off, I'll turn it back on if I ever feel like smacking gophers.
But I gotta be honest -- I'm really unhappy with the last few versions of Netscape. They've been pulling a MS: building tonnes of extra (and, IMHO, unneeded) features in and sacrificing stability.
Netscape is the *only* application on my desktop that crashes chronically. I have to pull up a command line and kill -9 it at least 3-4 times a day. It's not like I'm doing anything but surfing/. and a few HOWTOs.
So, if there's anybody out there who has any pull at Netscape reading this: FIX THE STABILITY. This is your last chance with me and (I'm sure) a lot of other users.
Otherwise, hopefully Mozilla will be good when it finally comes out (anyone have any idea when that'll be?).
Yeah, bud. The next time I build a Linux server for one of my buddies with a cable modem who wants IP masq, I'll be sure to bring in some consultant at $120 and hour to do an "official" review of my security.
Besides, the *only* way to really know how to secure systems is by trying to bust into them. Some of us call it White Hat Cracking, other just call it common sense. The first thing I do when I think I'm done setting up a network is to pound the hell out of it every way I know how. Generally, if I can't get in, neither can 99% of the baddies out there.
You'll never stop the script kiddies from having access to this info -- making it illegal will only keep it out of the hands of people who need it the most - admins. Security through obscurity is BS; read Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg" if you need an object lesson as to why.
The best thing I know to do (short of a counterstrike, which raises liability issues) is to block 'em at the router. It's a pain, but it's not really difficult. This is probably the problem of your upstream provider, unless you're MCI or something.
I dunno, a lot of the really smart people I know who fit this stereotype have fairly sad lives; overfocus, I suppose. I saw a NOVA about Einstein which suggested he was the worst case yet -- brilliant, yet profoundly devoid of a life outside his work.
Of course, what ever toots your horn is fine. Me, I like a little peace every so often (take off and wander, leave the beeper/cell phone at home).
That's it; forget about these boys, I'm starting my own orbiting hotel. In a few years, you'll be able to get a clean, comfortable room for a price lower than any other national chain in orbit.
Forget about artificial G's or overpriced little shampoos in the bathroom; my orbiting hotel will consist of a few retread dumpsters I'll lead line and spray with plastic to make air-tight. Plus you'll get free local calls.
If I need additional revenue, I'll farm out a section to spy/military agencies from various countries. That's right! Set your wake up call for when we're over the enemy city of your choice, then just chuck those warheads out the window.
Of course, if you get too noisy and get tossed out of the hotel, you have serious problems...
When I saw the beta announcement here on slashdot, I surfed immediately to my E*Trade account and dumped a whole lot of money into CORL. Now, that big earnings shocker they pulled off was a bonus, and the strategic alliences with Loki and Phillips and those other businesses is a plus, too...
But I'm betting on their Linux distro. I'm betting that when they release it, all the media dimwits will think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread 'cause it's easy to install and use (Windows-like, but I don't mean that in a bad way).
All they can do to mess it up is get a lot of bad press and lawsuits, and that's the way we're headed unless this thing gets GPLed but quick...
Here's a legal clarification for all the good/.'ers out there siding with the child molester:
The Man can provide the opportunity to do a crime. What they cannot do it provide encouragement or somehow otherwise force or draw someone into performing an illegal act that they wouldn't do without the Fed's involvement.
For example, providing an opportunity for someone to solicit a 13 year old is not entrapment, because the scumball in question took the initiative. Note that what's important here is the subject's intent and their belief -- I don't actually have to intend to kill a guy's wife for him o break the law by hiring me to do so, so long as he believed that I was a professional killer. I add this in because some moron actually posted that this was roleplaying. Yeah.
In any event, everyone protesting that this pedophile's rights were violated really needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves where their "privacy" rights end and the rights of their 13 year old daughter or sister or whatever not to be sexually fsck'ed up for life begin.
This guy needs to be removed from any position to hurt kids. I know some of you are so jaded from hearing politicians talk about "protecting children" that you can't see the forest for the trees anymore, but this is actually a case of protecting children from a sick individual.
Good. Man, I can stomach consenting people doing anything they want sexually so long as it doesn't involve kids or animals (the two groups who can't really give consent).
You're going to hear a lot of bull about how this is somehow a violation of his privacy, but anyone trying to lure 13 year-old girls to his house deserves to be put away for a long, long time.
My only beef is that they'll probably just lock him up for a few years and then release him without trying to give him the help he obviously needs.
>..but why create a new unit under the FBI, when the NSA probably has significant numbers of >mathematicians and computer scientists, and the clock cycles to help 'em?
Be afraid.
The FBI is chartered for domestic survailance. The NSA is not. This new unit is to spy on you.
The law enforcement folks probably struck some kind of deal they're not telling us about yet -- something they'll sneak in added to a bill like "The Baby Seal Protection Act" which will allow them to continue treating us like residents in a police state.
Or maybe I'm just a bit cynical about our government *ever* giving an inch and letting US citizens have rights...
When Wall St. gets wind of the fact that Corel is coming out with their own Linux distro, will it's stock (which is currently at something like 5 3/4) suddenly become really really valuable? I mean, even if the distro ends up sucking ass, won't it increase like gangbusters just on what RHAT did?
I for one am betting it will; I'm taking some of my profit from RHAT and putting it into CORL and crossing my fingers -- the worst that can happen is I'll have to pay less taxes next year.
Hopefully Wall Street is as much on crack as I think it is, and I'll see ya'll while I'm flying over in my private jet. =)
Actually (and somewhat surprisingly), it's from a video game(!) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri -- I like it so much that I've got it committed to memory. I actually use it a lot -- I keep hoping that other people will pick it up. As far as I can tell, it's original to the game. My girlfriend thinks it sounds like Toqueville (you know, the author of Democracy in America), but it's not.
There's one other quote from the game that I like almost as much, on the subject of genome:
To look into the very stuff of life -- to stare into the looking glass and watch a thousand generations march by -- that, friends, is both our greatest curse and our proudest achievement.
Better yet, place it in orbit. Throw up a few satilites and set it up so anyone with a few hundred bucks worth of gear can talk to them. It'll take some tinkering with the protocols and would be fairly expensive, but the nations of the world wouldn't figure out the legalities behind shutting you down in a thousand years...
It's good to see a story like this on occassion to remind you that the US isn't the only place on earth where personal freedom is dead.
So, who wants to raise a billion from an IPO and use it to set up a real off-shore data haven? Maybe set up in the Cayman Islands or somesuch, run a few fat pipes in, and give the finger to all those in the world who would deny you access to information.
As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free access to information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, while the free nation gradually constricting its grip on free discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism.
Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
Am I the only one remembering the end of Sneakers here? The part about the NSA being able to read everybody's mail?
Of course the White House wants to go open source -- do you seriously think that the security-paranoid folks who work there really want the NSA reading all about the next Monica and using it to get more funding? I think not.
Ever noticed how nothing gets moderated about 3 anymore? I mean, I've seen some really great stuff lately that gets stuck at 3 and stays there. I wonder if there could be some incentive to moderate up...
Psiren's.sig gave me a flash of inspiration concerning the new series. ATTN: Rick Berman -- it's not too late to put out the best Trek series ever! This fall, prepare yourself for: Star Trek: Red Dwarf
That's right, we follow the adventures of the intrepid crew of the USS Red Dwarf, a ship crewed entirely by (for some reason) the english. And a cat. And a hologram. And (later) a mechanoid. And (even later) a woman.
OK, you guessed: Actually, we just retread the old Red Dwarf episodes with a new Trek-type opening sequence (the voiceover would be dymanic, featuring Holly's introduction to the series and the requisite joke about gym teacher's IQ).
Disadvantages: Lack of women in skin-tight outfits. Advantages: Lack of women, surplus of beer.
So, it's cheap to produce and Rick Berman wouldn't be able to fsck it up. Any takers?
What happens after six months? It seems to me when the Federation's horde of Defiant-class starships show up and beat the living daylights out of everything in the quadrant (pursuant to the prime directive, of course), the meat of the story would be gone. Not a recipe for a long-running series (unless of course they get blasted into the Epsilon quadrant or the prophets disappear the Fed fleet or whatever).
Also: The USS Excellent? What, is this in homage to that 20th century classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure? How about the USS Homicidal Insanity, the USS Asswhupper? Hell, why not just have the Enterprise show up and save the day (neither the Voyager nor the Defiant look as cool as the old Galaxy class did).
In any case, so long as they don't wait three or four series to get cool like the last three series have, this plot looks promising.
Man, from the day that Loki started announcing their ports, I've been saying that what we really really need is the next Warcraft game to run native under Linux.
To be honest, the games Loki ports haven't been blockbusters. They've been good games and I'm sure that Loki made a pretty penny off them, but no real killers -- Quake 3 will blow them all out of the water. Warcraft, however, might put them on the map with a real winner that would attract a serious amount of attention.
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SCO might be worse press in the short-run that MS
on
SCO Talks About Linux
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· Score: 3
Those idiots.
SCO's words bring to mind the image of a man standing on railroad tracks, complaining about how trains are just a fad while one approaches from behind at 80 MPH.
Let's face it, SCO Unix has no future; they haven't had a future for years now. Of all the UNIXes, SCO will be the first one to die. Their management can't seem to grasp this, or if they do understand, they seem to think that they can turn the tide back in their favor without some sort of major effort.
Fortunately, we don't need SCO (or any other UNIX) to recognize the error of their ways in order to succeed. One vendor, or even all vendors, can't stop the Second Coming of UNIX that is Linux. Smart vendors, like SGI, are dealing with the changes and embracing them. Mark my words, it's these companies that will come out on top from all this.
You don't need to kill somebody -- just clone yourself a brainless body and move into that.
The only problem is that you'd have to have some lee-time, say about 21 years (you want to be able to drink, right?) before you could move in and your head would start looking *really* old after a while.
You can't rely on common sense here -- this is business. For example, common sense might say that a smaller company isn't in the position to swallow a larger company, but the business reality is that a small company with a high value on Wall Street can act like a much larger company.
Besides, the other poster at this level is right: Red Hat needs a sturdy foundation, and SGI could provide that for them. SGI has a low stock value because they'd percieved as a company without anything really exciting going on that's being managed by a bunch of chimps with typewriters (having worked there, I can tell you this isn't far from the truth).
Red Hat or another Linux company (and again I'm thinking specifically of VA Systems) would benefit from SGI's rep with users and its core of developers. They'd have to prune their new acquisition a *lot*; get rid of Cray and the NT division, for starters. But it still could work with effective management.
Besides, high on hopes counts for something -- the money I made riding RHAT up is still real money. The real test now is to see if Red Hat can use that huge advantage to grow their business before those hopes dry up.
If Red Hat wants to keep their stock price up, they've got to start acting like the 500-pound gorilla that Wall Street obviously thinks they are.
Yes, this means acquisitions. I like the Borland idea -- sure they make other products, but who doesn't? In any event, well-planned and managed acquisitions are a great way to grow the business and have it not seem like your company is standing still. Of course, a poorly-handled acquisition (SGI's handling of the Cray situation stands out in my mind) can be fatal to your company, so make sure you get some serious business experts in line before going this route.
I'm actually beginning to think that SGI might not be such a bad target -- their stock price is relatively low, the morale of their shareholders has got to be at an all-time low after Rick's defection. If Red Hat were to buy SGI (and complete the spin-off of the Cray and NT lines to narrow its focus a bit), they'd gain access to all the goodies IRIX has to offer, a huge foot in the door of the server market (sure, they'd have to keep shipping with IRIX for a few years), and the chance to port some neat-o "wow" type packages to Linux.
The drawback is that Red Hat probably doesn't want to move into the hardware market as well -- this is likely a Good Thing(tm). Of course, my logic still holds for VA Systems once they're worth a mint...
Slashdot Mirror
At that point, it'll be interesting to see if Darwin takes over. I don't foresee a "Terminator"-type war or anything like that; chances are we'd just get nervous and lobotomize or power off the thing.
I'm thinking that the evolutionary imperatives hardcoded into our wetware will probably eventually doom any really generally intelligent system. Instead, you'll probably see a Star Wars-type solution where you have systems that do one or two things really well, but are functionally inept in other places (C3P0 can understand 10 million forms of communication, but a unilingual battle droid could kick his shiny metal ass). That was, we can remain the masters (which, as a human, is the way I prefer it).
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If they fully implement PNG tomorrow, it'll still be 1-2 years before I can justify using it in site design (because you gotta let the don't-wanna-upgrade sect catch up). I don't wanna use UNISYS's .gifs anymore, but .jpgs don't work in all situations.
Another thing: let me shut off the ability for sites to spawn new windows. It don't want every damn site I go to sending me to porn sites and casino sites so the damned site owner can make a few cents. Shut it off, I'll turn it back on if I ever feel like smacking gophers.
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But I gotta be honest -- I'm really unhappy with the last few versions of Netscape. They've been pulling a MS: building tonnes of extra (and, IMHO, unneeded) features in and sacrificing stability.
Netscape is the *only* application on my desktop that crashes chronically. I have to pull up a command line and kill -9 it at least 3-4 times a day. It's not like I'm doing anything but surfing /. and a few HOWTOs.
So, if there's anybody out there who has any pull at Netscape reading this: FIX THE STABILITY. This is your last chance with me and (I'm sure) a lot of other users.
Otherwise, hopefully Mozilla will be good when it finally comes out (anyone have any idea when that'll be?).
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Besides, the *only* way to really know how to secure systems is by trying to bust into them. Some of us call it White Hat Cracking, other just call it common sense. The first thing I do when I think I'm done setting up a network is to pound the hell out of it every way I know how. Generally, if I can't get in, neither can 99% of the baddies out there.
You'll never stop the script kiddies from having access to this info -- making it illegal will only keep it out of the hands of people who need it the most - admins. Security through obscurity is BS; read Cliff Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg" if you need an object lesson as to why.
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Of course, what ever toots your horn is fine. Me, I like a little peace every so often (take off and wander, leave the beeper/cell phone at home).
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Forget about artificial G's or overpriced little shampoos in the bathroom; my orbiting hotel will consist of a few retread dumpsters I'll lead line and spray with plastic to make air-tight. Plus you'll get free local calls.
If I need additional revenue, I'll farm out a section to spy/military agencies from various countries. That's right! Set your wake up call for when we're over the enemy city of your choice, then just chuck those warheads out the window.
Of course, if you get too noisy and get tossed out of the hotel, you have serious problems...
----
When I saw the beta announcement here on slashdot, I surfed immediately to my E*Trade account and dumped a whole lot of money into CORL. Now, that big earnings shocker they pulled off was a bonus, and the strategic alliences with Loki and Phillips and those other businesses is a plus, too...
But I'm betting on their Linux distro. I'm betting that when they release it, all the media dimwits will think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread 'cause it's easy to install and use (Windows-like, but I don't mean that in a bad way).
All they can do to mess it up is get a lot of bad press and lawsuits, and that's the way we're headed unless this thing gets GPLed but quick...
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The Man can provide the opportunity to do a crime. What they cannot do it provide encouragement or somehow otherwise force or draw someone into performing an illegal act that they wouldn't do without the Fed's involvement.
For example, providing an opportunity for someone to solicit a 13 year old is not entrapment, because the scumball in question took the initiative. Note that what's important here is the subject's intent and their belief -- I don't actually have to intend to kill a guy's wife for him o break the law by hiring me to do so, so long as he believed that I was a professional killer. I add this in because some moron actually posted that this was roleplaying. Yeah.
In any event, everyone protesting that this pedophile's rights were violated really needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves where their "privacy" rights end and the rights of their 13 year old daughter or sister or whatever not to be sexually fsck'ed up for life begin.
This guy needs to be removed from any position to hurt kids. I know some of you are so jaded from hearing politicians talk about "protecting children" that you can't see the forest for the trees anymore, but this is actually a case of protecting children from a sick individual.
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You're going to hear a lot of bull about how this is somehow a violation of his privacy, but anyone trying to lure 13 year-old girls to his house deserves to be put away for a long, long time.
My only beef is that they'll probably just lock him up for a few years and then release him without trying to give him the help he obviously needs.
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>mathematicians and computer scientists, and the clock cycles to help 'em?
Be afraid.
The FBI is chartered for domestic survailance. The NSA is not. This new unit is to spy on you.
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Or maybe I'm just a bit cynical about our government *ever* giving an inch and letting US citizens have rights...
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When Wall St. gets wind of the fact that Corel is coming out with their own Linux distro, will it's stock (which is currently at something like 5 3/4) suddenly become really really valuable? I mean, even if the distro ends up sucking ass, won't it increase like gangbusters just on what RHAT did?
I for one am betting it will; I'm taking some of my profit from RHAT and putting it into CORL and crossing my fingers -- the worst that can happen is I'll have to pay less taxes next year.
Hopefully Wall Street is as much on crack as I think it is, and I'll see ya'll while I'm flying over in my private jet. =)
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Actually (and somewhat surprisingly), it's from a video game(!) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri -- I like it so much that I've got it committed to memory. I actually use it a lot -- I keep hoping that other people will pick it up. As far as I can tell, it's original to the game. My girlfriend thinks it sounds like Toqueville (you know, the author of Democracy in America), but it's not.
There's one other quote from the game that I like almost as much, on the subject of genome:
To look into the very stuff of life -- to stare into the looking glass and watch a thousand generations march by -- that, friends, is both our greatest curse and our proudest achievement.
----
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So, who wants to raise a billion from an IPO and use it to set up a real off-shore data haven? Maybe set up in the Cayman Islands or somesuch, run a few fat pipes in, and give the finger to all those in the world who would deny you access to information.
As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free access to information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, while the free nation gradually constricting its grip on free discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism.
Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
----
Of course the White House wants to go open source -- do you seriously think that the security-paranoid folks who work there really want the NSA reading all about the next Monica and using it to get more funding? I think not.
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That's right, we follow the adventures of the intrepid crew of the USS Red Dwarf, a ship crewed entirely by (for some reason) the english. And a cat. And a hologram. And (later) a mechanoid. And (even later) a woman.
OK, you guessed: Actually, we just retread the old Red Dwarf episodes with a new Trek-type opening sequence (the voiceover would be dymanic, featuring Holly's introduction to the series and the requisite joke about gym teacher's IQ).
Disadvantages: Lack of women in skin-tight outfits. Advantages: Lack of women, surplus of beer.
So, it's cheap to produce and Rick Berman wouldn't be able to fsck it up. Any takers?
----
What happens after six months? It seems to me when the Federation's horde of Defiant-class starships show up and beat the living daylights out of everything in the quadrant (pursuant to the prime directive, of course), the meat of the story would be gone. Not a recipe for a long-running series (unless of course they get blasted into the Epsilon quadrant or the prophets disappear the Fed fleet or whatever).
Also: The USS Excellent? What, is this in homage to that 20th century classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure? How about the USS Homicidal Insanity, the USS Asswhupper? Hell, why not just have the Enterprise show up and save the day (neither the Voyager nor the Defiant look as cool as the old Galaxy class did).
In any case, so long as they don't wait three or four series to get cool like the last three series have, this plot looks promising.
----
Man, from the day that Loki started announcing their ports, I've been saying that what we really really need is the next Warcraft game to run native under Linux.
To be honest, the games Loki ports haven't been blockbusters. They've been good games and I'm sure that Loki made a pretty penny off them, but no real killers -- Quake 3 will blow them all out of the water. Warcraft, however, might put them on the map with a real winner that would attract a serious amount of attention.
----
SCO's words bring to mind the image of a man standing on railroad tracks, complaining about how trains are just a fad while one approaches from behind at 80 MPH.
Let's face it, SCO Unix has no future; they haven't had a future for years now. Of all the UNIXes, SCO will be the first one to die. Their management can't seem to grasp this, or if they do understand, they seem to think that they can turn the tide back in their favor without some sort of major effort.
Fortunately, we don't need SCO (or any other UNIX) to recognize the error of their ways in order to succeed. One vendor, or even all vendors, can't stop the Second Coming of UNIX that is Linux. Smart vendors, like SGI, are dealing with the changes and embracing them. Mark my words, it's these companies that will come out on top from all this.
----
The only problem is that you'd have to have some lee-time, say about 21 years (you want to be able to drink, right?) before you could move in and your head would start looking *really* old after a while.
----
Besides, the other poster at this level is right: Red Hat needs a sturdy foundation, and SGI could provide that for them. SGI has a low stock value because they'd percieved as a company without anything really exciting going on that's being managed by a bunch of chimps with typewriters (having worked there, I can tell you this isn't far from the truth).
Red Hat or another Linux company (and again I'm thinking specifically of VA Systems) would benefit from SGI's rep with users and its core of developers. They'd have to prune their new acquisition a *lot*; get rid of Cray and the NT division, for starters. But it still could work with effective management.
Besides, high on hopes counts for something -- the money I made riding RHAT up is still real money. The real test now is to see if Red Hat can use that huge advantage to grow their business before those hopes dry up.
----
Yes, this means acquisitions. I like the Borland idea -- sure they make other products, but who doesn't? In any event, well-planned and managed acquisitions are a great way to grow the business and have it not seem like your company is standing still. Of course, a poorly-handled acquisition (SGI's handling of the Cray situation stands out in my mind) can be fatal to your company, so make sure you get some serious business experts in line before going this route.
I'm actually beginning to think that SGI might not be such a bad target -- their stock price is relatively low, the morale of their shareholders has got to be at an all-time low after Rick's defection. If Red Hat were to buy SGI (and complete the spin-off of the Cray and NT lines to narrow its focus a bit), they'd gain access to all the goodies IRIX has to offer, a huge foot in the door of the server market (sure, they'd have to keep shipping with IRIX for a few years), and the chance to port some neat-o "wow" type packages to Linux.
The drawback is that Red Hat probably doesn't want to move into the hardware market as well -- this is likely a Good Thing(tm). Of course, my logic still holds for VA Systems once they're worth a mint...
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