The real problem with Snort, and this is coming from someone that has administrated Snort systems in two major companies, is management's lack of understanding that it takes labor to maintain these systems. They want something that they can just pay for up front and will work with no additional tuning or labor costs.
This is the true failing of Snort and other IDS systems as well. They require labor to tune the ruleset and configuration to a network. They require constant updates and someone that can create signatures on the fly. They require someone that has a knowledge of TCP/IP protocols, routing, networking and the ability to analyze data and follow leads.
Working with Snort is kind of like being a detective. The alerts are clues and you have to dig through a lot of other logs, traceroutes, whois, calling people on the phone and find out what they are doing, etc. It's all labor intensive and no one in management wants to dedicate the resources necessary to make it really work.
I could spend all day working on Snort, but I have to monitor firewalls, email, viruses, go to meetings, train people and type on slashdot once in a while. And IPS is no different, it is not something you can just put in and leave forever and feel safe.
Management needs to realize they need people on site to deal with the New World Order of constant hacking attempts. IDS admins are jobs needing to be filled, that's why Snort is not living up to the "promise". Management somehow twisted the promise of Intrusion Detection into some automaticlly, always upgraded intrusion prevention system that requires no labor, no upkeep and you never have to spend any more on it. They continue to live in a fantasy world and one day will end up hacked even though they got a raise for cutting their security budgets by 25% for the year.
I predict that within the next 10 years we will be living in a new dream. A nightmare of biometrics and photographic detection. They won't just know what you are saying over the phone, email and teletype. They will know when you jacked off and whether or not you swallowed it.
Hey if you're going to pay people to sit around all day and surf the net, chat on Yahoo with their online sex partner, send email to their mom and shop at Amazon, you might as well just go with Linux. Probably cheaper and less virus prone.
While that is a nice marketing statement designed to get your attention, a visit to the Yamaha CRW-F1 web page reveals that this is not the only thing it is being marketed as. You seem bent on attacking me for pointing out that it is legal to make copies of CD's in a certain way. However, the legal downfall of Napster hinged around the argument that computers and CD-ROM devices are NOT covered under this law and that makes using them to copy digital audio illegal. I'm not saying I like or dislike the way it is, that's just the way it is. Burn away. I don't care what you use.
Actually burning a friend's CD with an approved device and approved media is completely legal as long as you are not selling the CD's. The Audio Home Recording Act was basically the government giving into the music lobby. They record companies (many owned by the makers of the recorders) realized that there was nothing they could do about home taping and the manufacturers of recording devices agreed to levy a tax on their product and everyone would look the other way. If you are using a device that is made specificaly for copying, then copy away!!
There is a catch though, you must use a device that is "commonly distributed to individuals for use by individuals" and for which the primary purpose of the device is to make such recordings. What are these devices? Well they are DAT tape recorders, Cassette recorders, and CD recorders sold in places like Best Buy that are set top units. CD-ROM drives and computers are not "marketed for the primary purpose" of making digital audio copies, so they don't fit the law. You must also use blanks that are for the express purpose of copying music. They must also contain the SCMS (serial copy management system) that prevents you from making copies of copies. Source disks must be originals in these devices. Obviously, these controls do not exist on CDROM drives or computers.
There is a tax on these devices and blanks that is distributed out to the artists as royalties based on their popularity, etc. That's the crux of the issue - CD-ROM drives are not marketed as primarily CD copying devices, nor are computers and they do not contain the record copyright controls. But these set top boxes have only one real function, and there is a additional tax levied on them in the U.S. to legitimize their use.
Section 1001 defines a "digital audio recording device" as: "Any machine or device of a type commonly distributed to individuals for use by individuals, whether or not included with or as part of some other machine or device, the digital recording function of which is designed or marketed for the primary purpose of, and that is capable of, making a digital audio copied recording for private use...".
Section 1008 says "No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital audio recording device, a digital audio recording medium, an analog recording device, or an analog recording medium, or based on the non-commercial use by a consumer of such a device or medium for making digital musical recordings or analog music recordings."
Has the original Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Raptor (a personal fave), etc. Check it out. They look great running on my little FIC Ice Cube on my 36" RCA with SVGA inputs at 800x600.
This is a Reiner Knizia, Lord of the Rings two player game that is easy to learn, quick to play and has a lot of replayability. My 10 year old daughter picked it up real quick and has gotten quite good.
Essentially each player takes the white (good) or black (evil) pieces. Each piece is of a character from the books and each has a special ability. Good players try to get Frodo into Mordor and the bad player tries to eliminate Frodo or get three of its pieces into the Shire. Since there is no set order in placing the pieces initially and each piece has an ability that breaks the basic rules, it can be replayed many times without duplicating the game. There are also cards that each player has that are played to influence the outcome of each confrontation of pieces.
My adult friends also found it engaging as well although it won't hold their attention for more than a few games.
See it here on Amazon. Only $14.95
Just a simple mis-typing of disney.com and you get redirected to a site that has lots of female star pics. I looked at a few of the links and while the pics themselves aren't porn, I was concerned with some of the links on the page like "Cheerleader Luv - 1000's of girls posing". You know what, most kids aren't very good typers so this kind of things probably happens a whole lot. This is the main reason we restrict access for my daughter at this point.
My ten year old has been using the computer since she was 2 (had one of those wonderful Microsoft Easy Ball mice for her). She has her own computer in her room, but it is not connected to the internet. She uses it to do art, make music with a Ejay, write reports and of course play games (loves Heroes of Might and Magic 4). We have two other PC's one in office and one hooked to TV (yeah, 36" with SVGA inputs!!!) that do have internet access.
She is starting to bring home assignments from school that require her to do research on the internet for reports and such. Sometimes she just has information she wants to know about. We insist that she get us to help her or be around whenever she uses one of the other computers to get on the internet. She doesn't mind at all, in fact, I think she likes being with us. I know that will probably change in a few years, but right now it feels good to still think she wants us to help and be there for her. We've talked about the fact that there are bad things for little girls out there and that's why we restrict her. It's really no different than determining which movies and TV shows to let her watch. She has learned what is inappropriate and I've seen her actually turn off the TV is something on the Disney channel is a little too racy or violent.
I love my daughter and want her to grow up to be a thoughtful, kind, questioner of authority. I encourage her to ask why and to understand that someday she will have to make her own choices. We are trying to give her a foundation to make good ones by explaining the choices we make regarding what she can and cannot do. It really is all about choices and accepting the consequences of your actions.
So if you choose to allow your children to access the internet, you have a choice about whether you educate them or punish them. 14-16 year olds are going to be curious about sex and if you think they haven't found your old stash of Playboys or your wife's vibrator in the nightstand, you've got to be kidding yourself. You might as well face up to it, that they will get the information from somewhere. Shouldn't it be from someone they love and trust.
Sports & college radio is still good!!
on
Who Needs Radio?
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· Score: 2, Informative
Essentially the only time I listen to the radio is for sporting events that I cannot get on my television or while I'm in the car. So radio still has some uses.
Also there are still quite a few good college stations around like KJHK in Lawrence, KS which was recently voted by the local paper as one of the best reasons to live in Lawrence. Check the link and catch the stream!
I find it very interesting that a Google search for "Dimensional Associates LLC" returns NOTHING! Looks to me like somebody with deep pockets (read music industry heavy hitters) got tired of the emusic.com business model and decided to kill it off. And I was just thinking about resubscribing.
It states quite clearly at the bottom of page three, "CCIA and the report's authors have arrived at their conclusions independently. Indded, the views of the authors are their views and theirs alone."
you will definitely want to check out the Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. The cosmosphere features an IMAX theater, collections of NASA spacecraft and space memorabilia, German V1 and V2 rockets, an SR-71A Blackbird spy plane, the actual Apollo 13 command module and a planetarium featuring a laser light show.
If you head on towards Topeka, there is the Combat Air Museum which has a large assortment of combat aircraft from around the world.
In Kansas City, the Kansas City Zoo has undergone major renovations over the past 5 years and is quite a place to visit. The African veldt exhibit is huge and loaded with animals. You can also catch the Matrix Reloaded on IMAX while you are there. KC has a lot of other good attractions, perhaps get to the see the Royals actually leading their division in the fall too! Don't forget to stop by the Hereford House for the best steak in the country.
For instance, any operating system software that allows you to connect to another PC and share file systems would be affected as well as programs like ssh, ftp, etc. They would all have to carry notices saying they could be used to commit felonies. Never thought of Windows as equivalent to a gun. Very scary.
"Notice and consent relating to certain software
``(a) Whoever knowingly offers enabling software for download over the Internet and does not--
``(1) clearly and conspicuously warn any person downloading that software, before it is downloaded, that it is enabling software and could create a security and privacy risk for the user's computer; and
(2) obtain that person's prior consent to the download after that warning; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.
``(b) As used in this section, the term `enabling software' means software that, when installed on the user's computer, enables 3rd parties to store data on that computer, or use that computer to search other computers' contents over the Internet.''
Another interesting item is that the networks must be:
"accessible to members of the public who are able to copy the work through such access shall be considered to be the distribution, during a 180-day period, of at least 10 copies of that work with a retail value of more than $2,500.''
So if your server is not accessible to the public, read as private, password protected P2P or ftp server perhaps, then it would not be subject to the law??
Auctions for Magic the Gathering Online cards have been allowed since the game first went live. In fact, it is an encouraged source of after market cards by Wizards of the Coast. It is an easy way to get into (and out of) the game.
With the current ease of transmitting encrypted electronic documents, schematics, designs, etc, how has your caseload with regards to corporate espionage and theft of trade secrets been impacted. Isn't this a much more serious threat to U.S. business than any P2P music sharing violations? Can you provide any examples that might aid a network security administrator in monitoring internal traffic for these kinds of violations?
I was in a local Electronics Boutique on buying the expansion to NWN on Saturday. I noticed there wasn't a single display ad for SQG. I asked the clerk when it was coming out and he said he didn't know, but he would look it up. He appeared shock when he looked up from his screen and said, "Thursday". I laughed and said, "well you better get busy, you don't even have any signs up saying it's coming". He grimaced.
Part of the lack of pre-launch advertising is the fact that they are selling a reduced number of copies initially. Why spend a bunch on advertising when you have a 100,000 Star Wars geeks salivating for it's release and you can cash in on them quick. If it all folds tomorrow, they still pocket a few million dollars and turn the servers off.
The whole situation is an exact recreation of what has happened in the Collectible Card Game industry over the past 10 years. When Magic the Gathering appeared 10 years ago, it's success took most people by surprise with the original Beta and Unlimited releases selling out faster than anyone could have predicted.
Along come the clones, some from Magic's maker Wizards of the Coast. There were some very interesting games early on - Spellfire (an AD&D game from TSR who was bought later by WOTC), Middle Earth-the Wizards from ICE, ShadowFist, NetRunner (an excellent 2 player game) and many, many more suddenly appeared on store shelves. The only problem is that many people who play these games are on a limited budget. Hmmm, I have boxes of MtG cards and people to play with, do I buy ShadowFist cards and try to get my friends to play that game too? Well, some of these people bought the cards, but found that their friends were unwilling to shell out the cash to join them. Result, boxes of never-used cards from games that will never see the light of day again. There must have been 30-40 games out between 1994-1998. How many are still around? Magic is, can you name another?
The same thing is happening to MMORPGs. The success of Everquest has deluded executives and others into believing that there is a vast untapped legion of people waiting to play these games. The reality is that most of the people out there are already playing EQ and have invested heavily in it over the past 4 years. It took me a year and a half to convince my friends to try EQ. Then they were hooked, some even getting two computers and accounts. Think these people are going to be easily swayed into starting a new game where they can only have one character on a server when they have 12 on one now and a very mature game to boot? Just to kill rats for another 20-40 hours, I don't think so.
So where is your player base going to come from? I think the average gamer has a budget and way too many choices. And what is Sony thinking anyway releasing PlanetSide and SWG so close together? It seems like bad, bad marketing. And in a couple of months they will have EQ2 on the shelves. Do you really think all those EQ players are going to play SWG while they are waiting for that? Get real.
There will be an extreme shakeout of these games very soon, just like there was in the CCG market. Only companies with a lot of cash will be able to put out a game, and there will only be a few left standing. EQ will remain. They are adding some new content that sounds fantastic. But will any of the others? They will have to appeal to a whole new market because there is only so much time and money a person has to spend on these things. It will have to be something like SEX - THE MMORPG. Now you would get people crawling out of the woodwork for something like that I bet.
The real issue regarding Netflix patent is how similar the the competition's DVD rental system is to Netflix. I have recently changed from a 3-disc Netflix ($20/mo) subscription to a 4-disc Walmart subscription ($21.94/mo). Why did I switch?
Firstly, I am located in Little Rock and the nearest Netflix distribution center was in Houston. Walmart has a distribution center about 4 hours away in Bentonville. Walmart is also the master of distribution and has facilities all over the world. I was finding that even though I would receive a DVD from Netflix and return it the next day, I was only receiving about 3-4 movies a week at most due to shipping delays. I am hoping to improve on that by subscribing to Walmart's service.
Secondly, there is a minimal price difference. For approximately $2.00 a month I could keep out a 4th DVD on loan over the price of a 3 disc Netflix account. Assuming that I will be able to receive them quicker, I should get 5-6 a week from Walmart. So instead of getting 12-15 a month from Netflix, I should get 20-25 a month from Walmart for only $2.00 a month more. Of course, my turn-around time on these must be swift to achieve this goal.
In comparing the delivery, Walmart uses the exact same envelopes to mail as Netflix. Where Netflix uses a coated paper sleeve, Walmart is using a clear plastic sleeve. The queue on your account screen is nearly identical and in fact uses the same terms for how long a wait you'll have to get that hot new DVD (now, short wait, long wait). Movie selection is not as good on Walmart's site. For instance I was looking for the movies Alien, Aliens and Aliens3. These are nowhere to be found on Walmart's site. All you get is some cheapo alien movies from their bargain bin.
In reality, the sites, delivery methods, and rental agreements are nearly identical. I believe that Walmart has a problem. And for them to be quoted as saying they were unaware of any patent pending from Netflix, well it is either stupidity on their part not to have checked it out or a case of who cares we will bury them in red tape if they sue.
Really this is not a case of someone coming out of the woodwork like the Ebay case, but rather a first to market, successful firm patenting their business model. Nothing wrong with that and Walmart is probably scrambling in Bentonville trying to figure out what they are going to do.
I had been trying to get AdvanceCD to work on my old PC for a couple of weeks without success. I can tell you however, that you need to use Linux cdrecord and mkisofs to add roms to the ISO image. If you do it in Windows, you lose all the file permissions. There are good instructions on how to add them here http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/doc-advcd.html in sections 6 and 7.
I finally gave up on using AdvanceCD with my televsion and old TNT2 Ultra card. I went with Mame32 and turned the TV on it's side and tell MAME32 to rotate some of the games clockwise and they look great on my 27" TV. Just ask my co-workers that I took how over lunch to play a little Donkey Kong, Galaga, Scramble, etc. I think the term they used was "Sweet".
Good luck.
These laws are not just "proposed", but a reality in Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and by now is law in Arkansas (it was sitting on the governor's desk two weeks ago and he hadn't signed it, but becomes law after so many days anyway). Coming soon to a state near you - Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Texas! You can throw your Nat'ing firewalls, Honey Pots, routers and internet connection sharing out the window folks! Act now in those states before it is too late.
Go to the EFF site here.
On the Everquest server where I play, I tend to meet more adults than teenagers. Most of the the people I have made aquaintance with are over 30, many are single, but some, like myself are married with children. I tend to find more instances of single over 25 adults, married couples playing or parents and children (yes that includes mother's and sons) than I do lone teenagers.
Many of us are geeky, sure. But we lead real, productive lives where we are IT security admins, high-end speaker designers, reps for Coca-Cola, nurses, health food store owners, etc. To dismiss us as geeks because we play Everquest fails to get to the heart of the matter. We live in disparate places, yet have come together from across the world to PLAY.
That's what we are doing, playing. That's it. When you are playing Everquest, you get a sense of accomplishment, companionship, even friendship that many times is lacking in real life. Now, many of you will say, why aren't you out doing things to help society and other such drivel; get your feeling of accomplishment from that. I can't speak for anyone else, but I have my hands and mind full all day from saving my own little corner of the world. Let me enjoy my freetime a little, okay.
I haven't been on this planet for very long, but I've experienced quite a bit of piracy in the past 30 years and here's a quick recap of some of those experiences.
Age 12 - My mother, never one to be really interested in music at all, acquires an 8-track tape player. She soon discovers that there is a store - yes a legitimate business here folks - where you can walk in, select the 8-track of your choice and bring it to the counter and for a meager $4 they will make you a copy in less than 2 minutes. Did I say copy, damn right! They had several high speed 8-track duplicators sitting right behind the counter. These guys were printing money and you had to shove your way to the counter on several occaisions we visited. There was nothing like getting that crappy Neil Diamond record for only $4.00 and my mom was hooked.
This lasted for several months before they were shut down - hmm...wonder how that happened. But not before the whole town was rocking and rolling with these illegal copies. So let's go skip to the next track here.
Age 16 - Mom finally breaks down and let's me get a stereo - receiver, big ass speakers and record player. A few months later I discover cassette tapes, man I gotta get one of those!! So I acquire a cassette tape recorder and some blanks. Hey guys, can I borrow your LP of Styx or that new Van Halen. I hear they're smoking! We traded LP's and cassettes back and forth for years - I think if I opened all the boxes of tapes I have laying around there must be at least 500 blanks I recorded at one time or another.
Fast forward to 1984, CD's are looking like the next big thing, great sound, compact, portable, wow. So I get a CD player! Guess what, I still have that tape deck too. Ooh that Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon CD sounds so much better on CD (wonder if they'd really have ever sold anymore of that one if it hadn't been remastered on CD) gotta borrow it and tape it off.
We really hadn't thought of duplicating a CD onto another CD at that time, PC's just couldn't deal with the amount of data and commercial duplicator's were way too expensive. But boy those record companies were really raking it in! $17 bucks for Dark Side of the Moon and guess what - they don't have to spend any more on art work, the artist, recording or any of that crap, but they can sell it to you all over again! Now who was printing the money. They were laughing all the way to the bank!
About this time, I walk into my neighborhood video store and guess what - yeah that's right I can rent the latest audio CD's from them for $1.00 a day. I did a double take and thought to myself - I want that one and that one and hey that looks good too. I taped like there was no tomorrow. Why spend $17 on a new CD when I could get 13 on tape after buying the blanks. I had more music than I could possibly listen to - still do for that matter. And now the record companies were starting to feel the pinch from home taping so they got Congress to enact the taping tax on blanks. The bastards!
About this time I started working at a radio station - reviewing records. "Hey, Sire how about sending out copies of that new Talking Heads album for us to give away and anything new you might have going so we can play it out here." I was in taping heaven - a direct fix from the record companies on an almost daily basis. I didn't have to rent it anymore because they would just send it to me and pay the postage too. I was taping things almost 12 hours a day, there was always something laying around that looked interesting. God I loved that job!
It really wasn't until about '98 that CD-burners and the internet caught up with the record companies technology. While they were too busy counting their profits to invent new technology to prevent this, THE PEOPLE got tired of paying the same $17 for a cd they now know costs about a quarter to make. Now we could make a perfect digital copy - in the privacy of our own homes. Hey dude, can I borrow that Floyd disc again - I just got a burner. It was no different with software and porn - burning night and day, while asleep, while at work. And by the way, where are the porn and game developer people in this debate, how come they aren't right up there on the front row screaming with the rest of them, "They're stealing my god damn avi's of Brittany naked!!"
Now with the advent of compression schemes like MP3, we can steal that song in seconds. Ooh there's that Dark Side of the Moon track on MP3. Yeah I know I own 3 copies (lp, cassette, CD and soon to be DVD video) of the damn record already and I'm too lazy to rip it, just download it and be done with it.
You know where I'm getting most of my CD's to burn these days? The freakin' public library!! Oh yeah and there's that cool DVD I've been wanting but didn't want to shell out $25 for, I think I'll check it out and rip that over to VCD too. I can keep it for a week, no problem, thanks. And now with shn, you can compress the tracks and not worry about quality loss like with MP3. Watch out BMG, I'm coming for your whole damn catalogue next!
I guess the point of this whole rant is that we've been stealing your music for years and you're still making plenty of money. Get over it! We will find a way to do it. It's human nature to rise to that challenge. It's the little kid in all of us that likes to do exactly what he's told not to do just to be rebelious. And besides, 90% of the stuff I taped was CRAP. I listened to it maybe once. I look through it now and it's like, "man why did you tape that shit."
The record moguls need to worry less about us copying their music and more about coming up with a replacement for the CD. And besides, me and millions of others that have been downsized/layed off and otherwise unemployed think there is currently a recession going on - that couldn't be the cause of a drop in cd sales now could it??? They got themselves into this mess with their new technology and that's the only way they are going to get out. Like Janis Ian said, they need to come up with something that is so far beyond our computer's power to duplicate, so far beyond consumer electronics and so superior to compact discs that we can't say no. That's the only way out for them.
Laws are made to be broken. And besides, I bet they find that they are going to get hacked a whole bunch more than they will ever be able to hack us consumers. What a pea-brained idea anyway! This was probably the second great idea of the guy who thought up the copy protection scheme you can defeat with a sharpie!
Sorry, the mail man just delivered those VCD's of the Rush - Vapor Trails tour show on 8/24/02 in Colorado I traded for, gotta go check it out. Oh yeah, and what are they going to start doing now, checking my mail? Give me a break and get a life you RIAA idiots!
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The real problem with Snort, and this is coming from someone that has administrated Snort systems in two major companies, is management's lack of understanding that it takes labor to maintain these systems. They want something that they can just pay for up front and will work with no additional tuning or labor costs.
This is the true failing of Snort and other IDS systems as well. They require labor to tune the ruleset and configuration to a network. They require constant updates and someone that can create signatures on the fly. They require someone that has a knowledge of TCP/IP protocols, routing, networking and the ability to analyze data and follow leads.
Working with Snort is kind of like being a detective. The alerts are clues and you have to dig through a lot of other logs, traceroutes, whois, calling people on the phone and find out what they are doing, etc. It's all labor intensive and no one in management wants to dedicate the resources necessary to make it really work.
I could spend all day working on Snort, but I have to monitor firewalls, email, viruses, go to meetings, train people and type on slashdot once in a while. And IPS is no different, it is not something you can just put in and leave forever and feel safe.
Management needs to realize they need people on site to deal with the New World Order of constant hacking attempts. IDS admins are jobs needing to be filled, that's why Snort is not living up to the "promise". Management somehow twisted the promise of Intrusion Detection into some automaticlly, always upgraded intrusion prevention system that requires no labor, no upkeep and you never have to spend any more on it. They continue to live in a fantasy world and one day will end up hacked even though they got a raise for cutting their security budgets by 25% for the year.
I predict that within the next 10 years we will be living in a new dream. A nightmare of biometrics and photographic detection. They won't just know what you are saying over the phone, email and teletype. They will know when you jacked off and whether or not you swallowed it.
Hey if you're going to pay people to sit around all day and surf the net, chat on Yahoo with their online sex partner, send email to their mom and shop at Amazon, you might as well just go with Linux. Probably cheaper and less virus prone.
While that is a nice marketing statement designed to get your attention, a visit to the Yamaha CRW-F1 web page reveals that this is not the only thing it is being marketed as. You seem bent on attacking me for pointing out that it is legal to make copies of CD's in a certain way. However, the legal downfall of Napster hinged around the argument that computers and CD-ROM devices are NOT covered under this law and that makes using them to copy digital audio illegal. I'm not saying I like or dislike the way it is, that's just the way it is. Burn away. I don't care what you use.
There is a catch though, you must use a device that is "commonly distributed to individuals for use by individuals" and for which the primary purpose of the device is to make such recordings. What are these devices? Well they are DAT tape recorders, Cassette recorders, and CD recorders sold in places like Best Buy that are set top units. CD-ROM drives and computers are not "marketed for the primary purpose" of making digital audio copies, so they don't fit the law. You must also use blanks that are for the express purpose of copying music. They must also contain the SCMS (serial copy management system) that prevents you from making copies of copies. Source disks must be originals in these devices. Obviously, these controls do not exist on CDROM drives or computers.
There is a tax on these devices and blanks that is distributed out to the artists as royalties based on their popularity, etc. That's the crux of the issue - CD-ROM drives are not marketed as primarily CD copying devices, nor are computers and they do not contain the record copyright controls. But these set top boxes have only one real function, and there is a additional tax levied on them in the U.S. to legitimize their use.
Find a copy of the law here.
Section 1001 defines a "digital audio recording device" as: "Any machine or device of a type commonly distributed to individuals for use by individuals, whether or not included with or as part of some other machine or device, the digital recording function of which is designed or marketed for the primary purpose of, and that is capable of, making a digital audio copied recording for private use ...".
Section 1008 says "No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital audio recording device, a digital audio recording medium, an analog recording device, or an analog recording medium, or based on the non-commercial use by a consumer of such a device or medium for making digital musical recordings or analog music recordings."
Has the original Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Raptor (a personal fave), etc. Check it out. They look great running on my little FIC Ice Cube on my 36" RCA with SVGA inputs at 800x600.
This is a Reiner Knizia, Lord of the Rings two player game that is easy to learn, quick to play and has a lot of replayability. My 10 year old daughter picked it up real quick and has gotten quite good. Essentially each player takes the white (good) or black (evil) pieces. Each piece is of a character from the books and each has a special ability. Good players try to get Frodo into Mordor and the bad player tries to eliminate Frodo or get three of its pieces into the Shire. Since there is no set order in placing the pieces initially and each piece has an ability that breaks the basic rules, it can be replayed many times without duplicating the game. There are also cards that each player has that are played to influence the outcome of each confrontation of pieces. My adult friends also found it engaging as well although it won't hold their attention for more than a few games. See it here on Amazon. Only $14.95
My ten year old has been using the computer since she was 2 (had one of those wonderful Microsoft Easy Ball mice for her). She has her own computer in her room, but it is not connected to the internet. She uses it to do art, make music with a Ejay, write reports and of course play games (loves Heroes of Might and Magic 4). We have two other PC's one in office and one hooked to TV (yeah, 36" with SVGA inputs!!!) that do have internet access.
She is starting to bring home assignments from school that require her to do research on the internet for reports and such. Sometimes she just has information she wants to know about. We insist that she get us to help her or be around whenever she uses one of the other computers to get on the internet. She doesn't mind at all, in fact, I think she likes being with us. I know that will probably change in a few years, but right now it feels good to still think she wants us to help and be there for her. We've talked about the fact that there are bad things for little girls out there and that's why we restrict her. It's really no different than determining which movies and TV shows to let her watch. She has learned what is inappropriate and I've seen her actually turn off the TV is something on the Disney channel is a little too racy or violent.
I love my daughter and want her to grow up to be a thoughtful, kind, questioner of authority. I encourage her to ask why and to understand that someday she will have to make her own choices. We are trying to give her a foundation to make good ones by explaining the choices we make regarding what she can and cannot do. It really is all about choices and accepting the consequences of your actions.
So if you choose to allow your children to access the internet, you have a choice about whether you educate them or punish them. 14-16 year olds are going to be curious about sex and if you think they haven't found your old stash of Playboys or your wife's vibrator in the nightstand, you've got to be kidding yourself. You might as well face up to it, that they will get the information from somewhere. Shouldn't it be from someone they love and trust.
Also there are still quite a few good college stations around like KJHK in Lawrence, KS which was recently voted by the local paper as one of the best reasons to live in Lawrence. Check the link and catch the stream!
If it wasn't broke, why the hell did you fix it!
I find it very interesting that a Google search for "Dimensional Associates LLC" returns NOTHING! Looks to me like somebody with deep pockets (read music industry heavy hitters) got tired of the emusic.com business model and decided to kill it off. And I was just thinking about resubscribing.
It states quite clearly at the bottom of page three, "CCIA and the report's authors have arrived at their conclusions independently. Indded, the views of the authors are their views and theirs alone."
it must be $hit.
Here is a the actual Cosmosphere link, other one sucks.
If you head on towards Topeka, there is the Combat Air Museum which has a large assortment of combat aircraft from around the world.
In Kansas City, the Kansas City Zoo has undergone major renovations over the past 5 years and is quite a place to visit. The African veldt exhibit is huge and loaded with animals. You can also catch the Matrix Reloaded on IMAX while you are there. KC has a lot of other good attractions, perhaps get to the see the Royals actually leading their division in the fall too! Don't forget to stop by the Hereford House for the best steak in the country.
"Notice and consent relating to certain software ``(a) Whoever knowingly offers enabling software for download over the Internet and does not--
``(1) clearly and conspicuously warn any person downloading that software, before it is downloaded, that it is enabling software and could create a security and privacy risk for the user's computer; and
(2) obtain that person's prior consent to the download after that warning; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.
``(b) As used in this section, the term `enabling software' means software that, when installed on the user's computer, enables 3rd parties to store data on that computer, or use that computer to search other computers' contents over the Internet.''
Another interesting item is that the networks must be:
"accessible to members of the public who are able to copy the work through such access shall be considered to be the distribution, during a 180-day period, of at least 10 copies of that work with a retail value of more than $2,500.''
So if your server is not accessible to the public, read as private, password protected P2P or ftp server perhaps, then it would not be subject to the law??
Auctions for Magic the Gathering Online cards have been allowed since the game first went live. In fact, it is an encouraged source of after market cards by Wizards of the Coast. It is an easy way to get into (and out of) the game.
With the current ease of transmitting encrypted electronic documents, schematics, designs, etc, how has your caseload with regards to corporate espionage and theft of trade secrets been impacted. Isn't this a much more serious threat to U.S. business than any P2P music sharing violations? Can you provide any examples that might aid a network security administrator in monitoring internal traffic for these kinds of violations?
Part of the lack of pre-launch advertising is the fact that they are selling a reduced number of copies initially. Why spend a bunch on advertising when you have a 100,000 Star Wars geeks salivating for it's release and you can cash in on them quick. If it all folds tomorrow, they still pocket a few million dollars and turn the servers off.
Along come the clones, some from Magic's maker Wizards of the Coast. There were some very interesting games early on - Spellfire (an AD&D game from TSR who was bought later by WOTC), Middle Earth-the Wizards from ICE, ShadowFist, NetRunner (an excellent 2 player game) and many, many more suddenly appeared on store shelves. The only problem is that many people who play these games are on a limited budget. Hmmm, I have boxes of MtG cards and people to play with, do I buy ShadowFist cards and try to get my friends to play that game too? Well, some of these people bought the cards, but found that their friends were unwilling to shell out the cash to join them. Result, boxes of never-used cards from games that will never see the light of day again. There must have been 30-40 games out between 1994-1998. How many are still around? Magic is, can you name another?
The same thing is happening to MMORPGs. The success of Everquest has deluded executives and others into believing that there is a vast untapped legion of people waiting to play these games. The reality is that most of the people out there are already playing EQ and have invested heavily in it over the past 4 years. It took me a year and a half to convince my friends to try EQ. Then they were hooked, some even getting two computers and accounts. Think these people are going to be easily swayed into starting a new game where they can only have one character on a server when they have 12 on one now and a very mature game to boot? Just to kill rats for another 20-40 hours, I don't think so.
So where is your player base going to come from? I think the average gamer has a budget and way too many choices. And what is Sony thinking anyway releasing PlanetSide and SWG so close together? It seems like bad, bad marketing. And in a couple of months they will have EQ2 on the shelves. Do you really think all those EQ players are going to play SWG while they are waiting for that? Get real.
There will be an extreme shakeout of these games very soon, just like there was in the CCG market. Only companies with a lot of cash will be able to put out a game, and there will only be a few left standing. EQ will remain. They are adding some new content that sounds fantastic. But will any of the others? They will have to appeal to a whole new market because there is only so much time and money a person has to spend on these things. It will have to be something like SEX - THE MMORPG. Now you would get people crawling out of the woodwork for something like that I bet.
Firstly, I am located in Little Rock and the nearest Netflix distribution center was in Houston. Walmart has a distribution center about 4 hours away in Bentonville. Walmart is also the master of distribution and has facilities all over the world. I was finding that even though I would receive a DVD from Netflix and return it the next day, I was only receiving about 3-4 movies a week at most due to shipping delays. I am hoping to improve on that by subscribing to Walmart's service.
Secondly, there is a minimal price difference. For approximately $2.00 a month I could keep out a 4th DVD on loan over the price of a 3 disc Netflix account. Assuming that I will be able to receive them quicker, I should get 5-6 a week from Walmart. So instead of getting 12-15 a month from Netflix, I should get 20-25 a month from Walmart for only $2.00 a month more. Of course, my turn-around time on these must be swift to achieve this goal. In comparing the delivery, Walmart uses the exact same envelopes to mail as Netflix. Where Netflix uses a coated paper sleeve, Walmart is using a clear plastic sleeve. The queue on your account screen is nearly identical and in fact uses the same terms for how long a wait you'll have to get that hot new DVD (now, short wait, long wait). Movie selection is not as good on Walmart's site. For instance I was looking for the movies Alien, Aliens and Aliens3. These are nowhere to be found on Walmart's site. All you get is some cheapo alien movies from their bargain bin.
In reality, the sites, delivery methods, and rental agreements are nearly identical. I believe that Walmart has a problem. And for them to be quoted as saying they were unaware of any patent pending from Netflix, well it is either stupidity on their part not to have checked it out or a case of who cares we will bury them in red tape if they sue.
Really this is not a case of someone coming out of the woodwork like the Ebay case, but rather a first to market, successful firm patenting their business model. Nothing wrong with that and Walmart is probably scrambling in Bentonville trying to figure out what they are going to do.
I had been trying to get AdvanceCD to work on my old PC for a couple of weeks without success. I can tell you however, that you need to use Linux cdrecord and mkisofs to add roms to the ISO image. If you do it in Windows, you lose all the file permissions. There are good instructions on how to add them here http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/doc-advcd.html in sections 6 and 7. I finally gave up on using AdvanceCD with my televsion and old TNT2 Ultra card. I went with Mame32 and turned the TV on it's side and tell MAME32 to rotate some of the games clockwise and they look great on my 27" TV. Just ask my co-workers that I took how over lunch to play a little Donkey Kong, Galaga, Scramble, etc. I think the term they used was "Sweet". Good luck.
These laws are not just "proposed", but a reality in Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and by now is law in Arkansas (it was sitting on the governor's desk two weeks ago and he hadn't signed it, but becomes law after so many days anyway). Coming soon to a state near you - Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Texas! You can throw your Nat'ing firewalls, Honey Pots, routers and internet connection sharing out the window folks! Act now in those states before it is too late.
Go to the EFF site here.
Many of us are geeky, sure. But we lead real, productive lives where we are IT security admins, high-end speaker designers, reps for Coca-Cola, nurses, health food store owners, etc. To dismiss us as geeks because we play Everquest fails to get to the heart of the matter. We live in disparate places, yet have come together from across the world to PLAY.
That's what we are doing, playing. That's it. When you are playing Everquest, you get a sense of accomplishment, companionship, even friendship that many times is lacking in real life. Now, many of you will say, why aren't you out doing things to help society and other such drivel; get your feeling of accomplishment from that. I can't speak for anyone else, but I have my hands and mind full all day from saving my own little corner of the world. Let me enjoy my freetime a little, okay.
separate the average Josephine/Joe from her/his money.
Age 12 - My mother, never one to be really interested in music at all, acquires an 8-track tape player. She soon discovers that there is a store - yes a legitimate business here folks - where you can walk in, select the 8-track of your choice and bring it to the counter and for a meager $4 they will make you a copy in less than 2 minutes. Did I say copy, damn right! They had several high speed 8-track duplicators sitting right behind the counter. These guys were printing money and you had to shove your way to the counter on several occaisions we visited. There was nothing like getting that crappy Neil Diamond record for only $4.00 and my mom was hooked.
This lasted for several months before they were shut down - hmm...wonder how that happened. But not before the whole town was rocking and rolling with these illegal copies. So let's go skip to the next track here.
Age 16 - Mom finally breaks down and let's me get a stereo - receiver, big ass speakers and record player. A few months later I discover cassette tapes, man I gotta get one of those!! So I acquire a cassette tape recorder and some blanks. Hey guys, can I borrow your LP of Styx or that new Van Halen. I hear they're smoking! We traded LP's and cassettes back and forth for years - I think if I opened all the boxes of tapes I have laying around there must be at least 500 blanks I recorded at one time or another.
Fast forward to 1984, CD's are looking like the next big thing, great sound, compact, portable, wow. So I get a CD player! Guess what, I still have that tape deck too. Ooh that Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon CD sounds so much better on CD (wonder if they'd really have ever sold anymore of that one if it hadn't been remastered on CD) gotta borrow it and tape it off.
We really hadn't thought of duplicating a CD onto another CD at that time, PC's just couldn't deal with the amount of data and commercial duplicator's were way too expensive. But boy those record companies were really raking it in! $17 bucks for Dark Side of the Moon and guess what - they don't have to spend any more on art work, the artist, recording or any of that crap, but they can sell it to you all over again! Now who was printing the money. They were laughing all the way to the bank!
About this time, I walk into my neighborhood video store and guess what - yeah that's right I can rent the latest audio CD's from them for $1.00 a day. I did a double take and thought to myself - I want that one and that one and hey that looks good too. I taped like there was no tomorrow. Why spend $17 on a new CD when I could get 13 on tape after buying the blanks. I had more music than I could possibly listen to - still do for that matter. And now the record companies were starting to feel the pinch from home taping so they got Congress to enact the taping tax on blanks. The bastards!
About this time I started working at a radio station - reviewing records. "Hey, Sire how about sending out copies of that new Talking Heads album for us to give away and anything new you might have going so we can play it out here." I was in taping heaven - a direct fix from the record companies on an almost daily basis. I didn't have to rent it anymore because they would just send it to me and pay the postage too. I was taping things almost 12 hours a day, there was always something laying around that looked interesting. God I loved that job!
It really wasn't until about '98 that CD-burners and the internet caught up with the record companies technology. While they were too busy counting their profits to invent new technology to prevent this, THE PEOPLE got tired of paying the same $17 for a cd they now know costs about a quarter to make. Now we could make a perfect digital copy - in the privacy of our own homes. Hey dude, can I borrow that Floyd disc again - I just got a burner. It was no different with software and porn - burning night and day, while asleep, while at work. And by the way, where are the porn and game developer people in this debate, how come they aren't right up there on the front row screaming with the rest of them, "They're stealing my god damn avi's of Brittany naked!!"
Now with the advent of compression schemes like MP3, we can steal that song in seconds. Ooh there's that Dark Side of the Moon track on MP3. Yeah I know I own 3 copies (lp, cassette, CD and soon to be DVD video) of the damn record already and I'm too lazy to rip it, just download it and be done with it.
You know where I'm getting most of my CD's to burn these days? The freakin' public library!! Oh yeah and there's that cool DVD I've been wanting but didn't want to shell out $25 for, I think I'll check it out and rip that over to VCD too. I can keep it for a week, no problem, thanks. And now with shn, you can compress the tracks and not worry about quality loss like with MP3. Watch out BMG, I'm coming for your whole damn catalogue next!
I guess the point of this whole rant is that we've been stealing your music for years and you're still making plenty of money. Get over it! We will find a way to do it. It's human nature to rise to that challenge. It's the little kid in all of us that likes to do exactly what he's told not to do just to be rebelious. And besides, 90% of the stuff I taped was CRAP. I listened to it maybe once. I look through it now and it's like, "man why did you tape that shit."
The record moguls need to worry less about us copying their music and more about coming up with a replacement for the CD. And besides, me and millions of others that have been downsized/layed off and otherwise unemployed think there is currently a recession going on - that couldn't be the cause of a drop in cd sales now could it??? They got themselves into this mess with their new technology and that's the only way they are going to get out. Like Janis Ian said, they need to come up with something that is so far beyond our computer's power to duplicate, so far beyond consumer electronics and so superior to compact discs that we can't say no. That's the only way out for them.
Laws are made to be broken. And besides, I bet they find that they are going to get hacked a whole bunch more than they will ever be able to hack us consumers. What a pea-brained idea anyway! This was probably the second great idea of the guy who thought up the copy protection scheme you can defeat with a sharpie!
Sorry, the mail man just delivered those VCD's of the Rush - Vapor Trails tour show on 8/24/02 in Colorado I traded for, gotta go check it out. Oh yeah, and what are they going to start doing now, checking my mail? Give me a break and get a life you RIAA idiots!