It seems that the services shut down were user-comment driven. Presumably there's no problem with setting up a blog in the I-post-things-and-you-read-them sense. This was more of a wiki/message board. This is yet another argument for slashdot-style moderation. Why hasn't it caught on elsewhere?
A while back I was calling for the creation of a service that would create a slashdot-style thread corresponding to any website, which would be viewable in a browser frame at the bottom as you browsed. The site itself would in no way support or give permission for this -- it would be entirely independent. You'd just click the button on the bottom of your browser and view the thread for the page. This would be an incredibly useful service, and I almost guarentee that it will exist before too long. Imagine being able to read slashdot-type threads on any news story, immediately see feedback on any website deal, online store, or interesting site you run into on. Wanna know if it's a scam? Check what people are saying about it.
Basically, this is a wikipedia with an entry for every website, with the information in the form of moderated posts (which is much better if you want to avoid having information deleted; people can only respond and moderate, not edit.)
There is absolutely no technical barrier to it, someone just has to make it. I've taken a few cracks at it but I'm not a programmer and don't really know how to do this. If one of you builds it, they will come.
With moderation, the problems described in the Washington Post story could fade to the background, and suddenly every website and major news story would have blog comment threads attached. It would be valuable in the same way that Slashdot, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, and blogs on the whole are -- that is, it would show you what other people have to say about a topic, and it would fit perfectly around the structure of the web.
Someone build this, then in time add paid services, and get rich. I just want to use it.
Cue the 500 posts about "haha, sucks for those Livejournal-using emo fucks" which help (a) put me off of Slashdot for a few days, and (b) obscure the actual information about how I should secure my account or what vulnerabilities these break-ins made use of.
I'm taking a deep breath and trying not to get in an argument with the "Livejournal is stupid" crap that will get modded funny. Just be aware that it gets on the nerves of those of us who use it, and there will inevitably be posts by people defending LJ, and then ridiculous anti-LJ evangelizing posts (as if anyone commenting on Slashdot doesn't know their way around blogs).
If you're posting anti-LJ jokes, please try to make them funny. And if you see useful information about the exploits, mod it up.
The fact that you use duct tape to get everything "light tight" put a good smile on my face
Although this can be problematic. At one point, I was trying to make a pair of 'blindness goggles' for some experiments, and I wanted to block absolutely ALL light reaching the eye, so there would be nothing external stimulating the vision centers. I tried layering duct tape on a pair of swim goggles, but it seemed that no matter how much I added, a little light would get through from bright sources. I ended up putting a layer of modeling clay over the outer surface of the goggles to get a light seal, which worked pretty well.
Odds are good that some Slashdot readers are involved in producing and propagating spyware. (Lots of us, lots of it. You do the math.)
How about you fake your IP, make a new account, post as Anonymous Coward -- whatever you need to do -- and give us an insight into your world, and the attitudes of the people you work for?
It just so happens I work for a large spyware/malware company, and I'd like to blow the whistle. My report on our industry is available here. (To access my tell-all, you should all click "yes" on whatever dialogues come up.)
The book The Design of Everyday Things discusses horrible design decisions in appliances, doors, locks, gadgets, computers, and basically anything with a user interface. The book shows how the same mistakes are made over and over by each new designer, issues of user interfaces as simple as buttons and levers, which many engineers know little to nothing about.
In this book, the author repeatedly criticizes designs with the phrase "It probably won an award." He attacks design awards as being given out to aesthetically pleasing or structurally innovative designs, but without sufficient consideration and testing by people who actually have to use the device.
When you're stressed, do you smoke or drink? [read: do you smoke or drink? This is an awful question for establishing a link. Possible alternate question: "do you like a massage when you're stressed?"]
What stresses you? Do crashing computers stress you? ["Yeah." Of course they do.]
Therefore, computers drive people to drink.
Nowhere have they established a causal link between the group that is stressed and the group that drinks, aside from what you'd expect from pretty random overlap. This has the smell of a bad study and results blown up to sound outrageous. The article reads like a bunch of observations about overlapping groups concluding with inflammatory statements about two of the groups which are only vaguely linked in the actual data.
Another analogy: IT problems lead to sex. Well, IT problems lead to stress, stressed people are more likely to get massages, and a nontrivial number of massage parlors offer sex services. IT problems lead to prostitution! Please give us more funding.
One of the provisions I agree with [. ..] has already infringed on many peoples freedom, but has also opened up the government to be more scrutinous in the case of certain suspicious entities. Has it overall had a positive or negative effect? Since we as the general public cannot easily gauge what information they have collected entirely as a result, who can say for sure.
Please read this paragraph carefully, as I think it speaks volumes.
I'm not really qualified to comment on this (this admission may be a first in Slashdot history) since I've never coded in Java, but I will note that the CS programs at both my university and my brother's high school have recently switched from C++ to Java. I'm not sure what exactly this signals, though.
Obligatory bash.org:
<Alanna> Saying that Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders
'My sense is that Microsoft is in transition from an engineering-led company to as much a design-led company'
Good. Now that they've got the engineering programs solved, having created what everyone agrees is the most solid and bug-free operating system on the market, they can start trying to catch up to Linux in ease-of-use and UI flashiness.
the worst thing a cartoon or animation can do is start to repeat itself. I think think of a few huge ones that have fallen into that trap and should have been put down years ago.
I went back and watched most of the run of Futurama recently when my little brother got into it, and I noticed something interesting: the final season is by a good margin the best. A lot of the memorable episodes are there. The Sting, where Leela gets stabbed by that bee, Fry dies, and then Leela starts to lose it -- was it just me, or was that actually a real trip of an episode? I remember stumbling out of that one feeling a little freaked out. And I'm a fan of weird.
And Requiem for a Dream, Monster, Boys Don't Cry -- I thought those were sad and depressing to watch. But they don't hold a candle to the end of the episode with Fry and his dog.
The Family Guy came back because of the demand of the fans. Futurama can do it too! Too bad FOX wasn't smart enough to realize they should have never cancelled either of them.
Fox cancels Family Guy, Futurama, and Firefly, each of which is critically acclaimed and later brought back in some way.
Perhaps they should just realize that they should never cancel shows beginning with "F".
Announcer: "Hey, kids of America, it's hand painted wooden ball-in-a-cup, Mexico's favorite toy for over 340 years. Who needs constant video game stimulation when theres ball-in-a-cup? You just toss the ball, catch it in the cup, dump it out of the cup, toss it, and catch it in the cup again. The ball is on a string and attached to the cup, so there's no worry if you dont catch the ball in the cup. And cleanup is as easy as catching a ball in a cup. So why spend another day not catching a ball in a cup when you can be catching a ball-in-a-cup?" Jingle:" Ball in a cup, Ball in a cup, it's a ball in a cup!" Kid: "Ball in a cup!" Jingle: "Ball in a cup!"
Slashdot Mirror
It seems that the services shut down were user-comment driven. Presumably there's no problem with setting up a blog in the I-post-things-and-you-read-them sense. This was more of a wiki/message board. This is yet another argument for slashdot-style moderation. Why hasn't it caught on elsewhere?
A while back I was calling for the creation of a service that would create a slashdot-style thread corresponding to any website, which would be viewable in a browser frame at the bottom as you browsed. The site itself would in no way support or give permission for this -- it would be entirely independent. You'd just click the button on the bottom of your browser and view the thread for the page. This would be an incredibly useful service, and I almost guarentee that it will exist before too long. Imagine being able to read slashdot-type threads on any news story, immediately see feedback on any website deal, online store, or interesting site you run into on. Wanna know if it's a scam? Check what people are saying about it.
Basically, this is a wikipedia with an entry for every website, with the information in the form of moderated posts (which is much better if you want to avoid having information deleted; people can only respond and moderate, not edit.)
There is absolutely no technical barrier to it, someone just has to make it. I've taken a few cracks at it but I'm not a programmer and don't really know how to do this. If one of you builds it, they will come.
With moderation, the problems described in the Washington Post story could fade to the background, and suddenly every website and major news story would have blog comment threads attached. It would be valuable in the same way that Slashdot, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, and blogs on the whole are -- that is, it would show you what other people have to say about a topic, and it would fit perfectly around the structure of the web.
Someone build this, then in time add paid services, and get rich. I just want to use it.
Cue the 500 posts about "haha, sucks for those Livejournal-using emo fucks" which help (a) put me off of Slashdot for a few days, and (b) obscure the actual information about how I should secure my account or what vulnerabilities these break-ins made use of.
I'm taking a deep breath and trying not to get in an argument with the "Livejournal is stupid" crap that will get modded funny. Just be aware that it gets on the nerves of those of us who use it, and there will inevitably be posts by people defending LJ, and then ridiculous anti-LJ evangelizing posts (as if anyone commenting on Slashdot doesn't know their way around blogs).
If you're posting anti-LJ jokes, please try to make them funny. And if you see useful information about the exploits, mod it up.
I didn't have paint handy. It also didn't seem obvious to me that paint wouldn't let through bright light spots.
The fact that you use duct tape to get everything "light tight" put a good smile on my face
Although this can be problematic. At one point, I was trying to make a pair of 'blindness goggles' for some experiments, and I wanted to block absolutely ALL light reaching the eye, so there would be nothing external stimulating the vision centers. I tried layering duct tape on a pair of swim goggles, but it seemed that no matter how much I added, a little light would get through from bright sources. I ended up putting a layer of modeling clay over the outer surface of the goggles to get a light seal, which worked pretty well.
Odds are good that some Slashdot readers are involved in producing and propagating spyware. (Lots of us, lots of it. You do the math.)
How about you fake your IP, make a new account, post as Anonymous Coward -- whatever you need to do -- and give us an insight into your world, and the attitudes of the people you work for?
It just so happens I work for a large spyware/malware company, and I'd like to blow the whistle. My report on our industry is available here. (To access my tell-all, you should all click "yes" on whatever dialogues come up.)
The book The Design of Everyday Things discusses horrible design decisions in appliances, doors, locks, gadgets, computers, and basically anything with a user interface. The book shows how the same mistakes are made over and over by each new designer, issues of user interfaces as simple as buttons and levers, which many engineers know little to nothing about.
In this book, the author repeatedly criticizes designs with the phrase "It probably won an award." He attacks design awards as being given out to aesthetically pleasing or structurally innovative designs, but without sufficient consideration and testing by people who actually have to use the device.
The logic distilled:
When you're stressed, do you smoke or drink? [read: do you smoke or drink? This is an awful question for establishing a link. Possible alternate question: "do you like a massage when you're stressed?"]
What stresses you? Do crashing computers stress you? ["Yeah." Of course they do.]
Therefore, computers drive people to drink.
Nowhere have they established a causal link between the group that is stressed and the group that drinks, aside from what you'd expect from pretty random overlap. This has the smell of a bad study and results blown up to sound outrageous. The article reads like a bunch of observations about overlapping groups concluding with inflammatory statements about two of the groups which are only vaguely linked in the actual data.
Another analogy: IT problems lead to sex. Well, IT problems lead to stress, stressed people are more likely to get massages, and a nontrivial number of massage parlors offer sex services. IT problems lead to prostitution! Please give us more funding.
We've got meta moderation, why not story moderation? Why not have the concept of Poster Karma?
The book Emergence has a chapter on Slashdot and discusses this.
Mod parent "wow, that's something."
I think you just convinced me
A Slashdot first!
Religious fundamentalism?
All I have to say to that is Merry Christmas.
So, did somebody finally flat-out lie?
What we need is a christmas lights display that's visible on the zoomed-out Google Maps (hybrid or satellite) simply by virtue of brightness.
. . . so I'm a troll?
Please read this paragraph carefully, as I think it speaks volumes.
who needs an extension to the PATRIOT act, when the President can just issue an executive order?
Moderation: +1 Funny
What we really need is a mod for "Funny, but it's that sort of awkward laugh, where you're not sure if you should be crying instead."
I'm not really qualified to comment on this (this admission may be a first in Slashdot history) since I've never coded in Java, but I will note that the CS programs at both my university and my brother's high school have recently switched from C++ to Java. I'm not sure what exactly this signals, though.
Obligatory bash.org:
<Alanna> Saying that Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders
Sony is complaining that although they declined the offer to be sued, the Texas AG is still pursuing the case.
Does this mean I can run 3D Pipes as an OS?
Yes. However, we have examined your pipes, and find that you are using stolen SCO gaskets and elbow joints.
'My sense is that Microsoft is in transition from an engineering-led company to as much a design-led company'
Good. Now that they've got the engineering programs solved, having created what everyone agrees is the most solid and bug-free operating system on the market, they can start trying to catch up to Linux in ease-of-use and UI flashiness.
Long live Arrested Development!
My friend got me to watch that for the first time last night, and I have to admit it's pretty good.
However, as it doesn't begin with an "F", it's obviously not gonna be one of the Fox shows that are in one way or another brought back.
A shame.
the worst thing a cartoon or animation can do is start to repeat itself. I think think of a few huge ones that have fallen into that trap and should have been put down years ago.
I went back and watched most of the run of Futurama recently when my little brother got into it, and I noticed something interesting: the final season is by a good margin the best. A lot of the memorable episodes are there. The Sting, where Leela gets stabbed by that bee, Fry dies, and then Leela starts to lose it -- was it just me, or was that actually a real trip of an episode? I remember stumbling out of that one feeling a little freaked out. And I'm a fan of weird.
And Requiem for a Dream, Monster, Boys Don't Cry -- I thought those were sad and depressing to watch. But they don't hold a candle to the end of the episode with Fry and his dog.
The Family Guy came back because of the demand of the fans. Futurama can do it too! Too bad FOX wasn't smart enough to realize they should have never cancelled either of them.
Fox cancels Family Guy, Futurama, and Firefly, each of which is critically acclaimed and later brought back in some way.
Perhaps they should just realize that they should never cancel shows beginning with "F".
Announcer: "Hey, kids of America, it's hand painted wooden ball-in-a-cup, Mexico's favorite toy for over 340 years. Who needs constant video game stimulation when theres ball-in-a-cup? You just toss the ball, catch it in the cup, dump it out of the cup, toss it, and catch it in the cup again. The ball is on a string and attached to the cup, so there's no worry if you dont catch the ball in the cup. And cleanup is as easy as catching a ball in a cup. So why spend another day not catching a ball in a cup when you can be catching a ball-in-a-cup?"
Jingle:" Ball in a cup, Ball in a cup, it's a ball in a cup!"
Kid: "Ball in a cup!"
Jingle: "Ball in a cup!"