Jesus Christ man, are you retarded? Go back and read the thread again.
When Windows boots from a fresh install, it has vulnerabilities that have since been patched. The problem is that before you can get to Windows Update to install the patches, you are infected over the net, and you can't start the software firewall in XP (which would also protect you) until the system has booted first time.
Therefore, you leave the net unconnected until XP has booted the first time, then start the software firewall, then connect the net, then run Windows update which updates your machine so that you are no longer vulnerable the next time the machine boots.
I don't even use any Windows machines, and I understand the process!
On a related note, I was thinking much the same thing about American documentaries the other day.
I've been watching a lot of the Discovery/History-esque channels recently, and one trend that's become clear is that a large percentage of the documentaries made in America have one or more of: Over the top graphics, pointless superimposed sound effects, over-hyped, gung-ho narrator who insists on presenting the entire film in the style of that guy who does the voice over for the trailers for Hollywood action films.
The engineering programmes are bad enough, but watch anything about combat or, even worse, martial arts, and you could be forgiven for thinking you'd turned on an episode of Power Rangers by mistake.
To be fair, it's probably under 50% of the shows that suffer from this, but it's telling that NO documentaries from any other countries use these tricks at all.
I am totally stunned at how easy it sounds to qualify for a driving licence in the US. Having just qualified in the UK a few months ago, here's an account of our current test, for comparison purposes:
Firstly, you have to pass a theory test. The theory test is 35 questions selected from a library of many hundreds (possibly >1000), and you have to score over 30. A recently introduced (and controversial) addition to the theory test is the hazard perception test, which involves watching numerous (I can't remember how many there were) video clips on a computer. At some point in the clip (each clip is a minute or two long) something relatively unexpected (ie. not a traffic light changing, or another car slowing in front of you to turn off the road) on screen will occur which will create a hazard (The Driving Standards Agency defines a hazard as 'something which causes a driver to have to change speed or direction'). The sooner you indicate that you've identified the hazard by clicking the mouse, the more points you get. There are 75 on offer in total, and I believe the pass mark is 50ish.
As an aside, the test is entirely conducted on Windows running PCs with touchscreens.
The second part of the qualification process is the practical exam. You cannot even apply for this until you've passed the theory test, and there is normally a several month wait for an appointment. The practical test involves roughly 40 minutes of driving on as many diffent types of road as are accessible from the test centre within the time. Aside from just the driving, you have to demonstrate that you can do a randomly selected 3 out of: reverse around a corner, parallel park, 3 point turn, emergency stop and a hill start. During the entire test, if you create a hazard (as defined above) that affects another driver, you will fail. If you commit more than 15 minor faults (not sure what the actual definition of these is, but it's something that doesn't affect another road user, such as gently touching the kerb during a maneuver) you will fail. If the examiner has to intervene at any point, either verbally or physically, other than issuing directions, you will fail big time.
Another new component to the test that was just coming in when I took mine was that now they also ask you a few questions about basic car maintenance (how do you check your tires, how can you check your oil, etc).
As a footnote: we have a system of penalty points for driving offences in the UK, eg: being caught speeding a little will get you three points. If you accrue 6 points in the first 2 years of driving, you lose your licence and you have to requalify by passing an even longer and tougher test.
OpenOffice does not have a dedicated development or support rteam. Consequently, if bugs go unresolved, users have the option to resolve problems by[...]
Let's hope the dedicated support team are a bit better than the dedicated proof-reading guys, eh? Come on! It's only a 2 page document for gods sake.
I fly a lot in the course of my home business, but I'm too cheap to pay for air tickets, and too lazy to learn to fly a plane. Flying by flapping my arms around is making them really tired and I'm often late for meetings, so business is suffering. I've tried taping thousands of hummingbirds to my body, but they can rarely be persuaded to fly in the same direction at the same time. Since I've systematically ruled out all of the most sensible solutions to my self-created problem, I'm hoping the Slashdot community can bail me out.
As a more common example, take PGP. PGP uses a well known algorithm, but that does not make PGP insecure. Even if you steal a person's private key - you can only compromise their date, other PGP users are safe.
Maybe I'm the possessive type, but if you try and compromise my date, I'll kick your ass.
One question I never see asked is WHY are there so many Linux(/OSS) zealots?
I mean, so many people have independantly come to loathe Windows (and MS) despite all the marketing and the fact that it is everywhere, and we've all discovered Linux and decided we love it.
A lot of posters criticise the fact that there are Linux zealots without stopping to ask why they are there. Linux doesn't really have marketing, so we can't have been seduced by that. Other big companies generally don't have such a large group of people who hate them with a passion, so it can't just be that we're all adolescent 'rebels' who hate The Man.
As someone who would probably be described as a Linux zealot by the anti-zealots (I consider the day I switched to Linux to be the defining moment of my computing experience to date), I'd like to see some of the anti-zealots explain why they think this situation exists, if it's not (as they imply) because MS and Windows deserve the criticism they receive.
"It looks like you're trying to funnel money to your corporate buddies and turn the country into a police state by 'liberating' the shit out of some foreign country. Would you like any help?"
No, I think you're missing the point. It is totally irrelevant that you are unable to get any more technical insight into Linux than you are into Windows. (and I don't mean that as a slur against you personally)
we might like to think the difference is that, with Linux/OSS, we're beholden to a more likeable and deserving community (OSS developers), but that doesn't change the core issue.
The point is that anyone who can benefit from seeing the source can see the source. Literally anyone. The group of people who've seen the code could include nuns, terrorists, McDonald's workers, Chinese people, school kids, rock musicians and Slashdotters. It is simply impossible that all of the above would conspire together to mislead you about something - they have no common axe to grind.
The same cannot be said of the people who access to MS's code. The statement "Windows is a black box and Linux/Open source software isn't" IS correct, in the general case. Scream all you want;)
Seems like children in Michael Jackson's house are way ahead of the curve!
Come on, admit it... you laughed.
Re:wooooooo, so neat and pretty.....too bad
on
FBI Anti-Piracy Seal
·
· Score: 2, Funny
You'd think they had more importaint things to do like prevent another 9/11.
I know the FBI is a powerful agency, but do they really have the ability to stop dates occurring? And more importantly, if they do manage it, what will come after the 10th of September each year? Will they change the 10th so that it has 48hrs? A 10th of September, part 2?
Somebody mod the parent up! Considering anything with 'All your base...' goes straight up to 5 you would have thought something atleast a bit original would deserve a few more points..
So GPL your kernel module, submit it for inclusion and get the benefits that go with it.
What? You don't want to do that?
Well, guess what, there are drawbacks and benefits to writing drivers for Windows too. As has been stated numerous times above, the people benefiting are EVERYONE who doesn't have to cope with a crufty, inflexible kernel with a frozen API instituted to satisfy the hardware companies who want to play with OSS' toys but don't want us to play with theirs.
It's an interesting sign of the state of mobile communications in America that you even refer to a group known as 'cell phone users'.
Here in the UK mobile phones are so common that I think 'cell phone users' overlaps 'general public' so much that the distinction is no longer made.
And guess what? People that are annoying arseholes with their mobile phone are the same people who were annoying arseholes without one. Some people are arseholes. Owning a phone doesn't turn you into one.
Slashdot Mirror
Jesus Christ man, are you retarded? Go back and read the thread again.
When Windows boots from a fresh install, it has vulnerabilities that have since been patched. The problem is that before you can get to Windows Update to install the patches, you are infected over the net, and you can't start the software firewall in XP (which would also protect you) until the system has booted first time.
Therefore, you leave the net unconnected until XP has booted the first time, then start the software firewall, then connect the net, then run Windows update which updates your machine so that you are no longer vulnerable the next time the machine boots.
I don't even use any Windows machines, and I understand the process!
What's a 'teet' attitude, and how would we know if we had one?
On a related note, I was thinking much the same thing about American documentaries the other day.
I've been watching a lot of the Discovery/History-esque channels recently, and one trend that's become clear is that a large percentage of the documentaries made in America have one or more of: Over the top graphics, pointless superimposed sound effects, over-hyped, gung-ho narrator who insists on presenting the entire film in the style of that guy who does the voice over for the trailers for Hollywood action films.
The engineering programmes are bad enough, but watch anything about combat or, even worse, martial arts, and you could be forgiven for thinking you'd turned on an episode of Power Rangers by mistake.
To be fair, it's probably under 50% of the shows that suffer from this, but it's telling that NO documentaries from any other countries use these tricks at all.
Is that Linus Torvalds' Mexican half-brother?
I know this is far too late in the discussion to get this modded up, but Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man.
The founder of IKEA has overtaken him.
You see that little thing, way, way over there in the distance? That would be the joke, and it seems you've missed it by miles.
I am totally stunned at how easy it sounds to qualify for a driving licence in the US. Having just qualified in the UK a few months ago, here's an account of our current test, for comparison purposes:
Firstly, you have to pass a theory test. The theory test is 35 questions selected from a library of many hundreds (possibly >1000), and you have to score over 30. A recently introduced (and controversial) addition to the theory test is the hazard perception test, which involves watching numerous (I can't remember how many there were) video clips on a computer. At some point in the clip (each clip is a minute or two long) something relatively unexpected (ie. not a traffic light changing, or another car slowing in front of you to turn off the road) on screen will occur which will create a hazard (The Driving Standards Agency defines a hazard as 'something which causes a driver to have to change speed or direction'). The sooner you indicate that you've identified the hazard by clicking the mouse, the more points you get. There are 75 on offer in total, and I believe the pass mark is 50ish.
As an aside, the test is entirely conducted on Windows running PCs with touchscreens.
The second part of the qualification process is the practical exam. You cannot even apply for this until you've passed the theory test, and there is normally a several month wait for an appointment. The practical test involves roughly 40 minutes of driving on as many diffent types of road as are accessible from the test centre within the time. Aside from just the driving, you have to demonstrate that you can do a randomly selected 3 out of: reverse around a corner, parallel park, 3 point turn, emergency stop and a hill start. During the entire test, if you create a hazard (as defined above) that affects another driver, you will fail. If you commit more than 15 minor faults (not sure what the actual definition of these is, but it's something that doesn't affect another road user, such as gently touching the kerb during a maneuver) you will fail. If the examiner has to intervene at any point, either verbally or physically, other than issuing directions, you will fail big time.
Another new component to the test that was just coming in when I took mine was that now they also ask you a few questions about basic car maintenance (how do you check your tires, how can you check your oil, etc).
As a footnote: we have a system of penalty points for driving offences in the UK, eg: being caught speeding a little will get you three points. If you accrue 6 points in the first 2 years of driving, you lose your licence and you have to requalify by passing an even longer and tougher test.
...and what attracted you to this one?
OpenOffice does not have a dedicated development or support rteam. Consequently, if bugs go unresolved, users have the option to resolve problems by[...]
Let's hope the dedicated support team are a bit better than the dedicated proof-reading guys, eh? Come on! It's only a 2 page document for gods sake.
Dear Slashdot,
I fly a lot in the course of my home business, but I'm too cheap to pay for air tickets, and too lazy to learn to fly a plane. Flying by flapping my arms around is making them really tired and I'm often late for meetings, so business is suffering. I've tried taping thousands of hummingbirds to my body, but they can rarely be persuaded to fly in the same direction at the same time. Since I've systematically ruled out all of the most sensible solutions to my self-created problem, I'm hoping the Slashdot community can bail me out.
Signed,
mcskoufis, MSCE
As a more common example, take PGP. PGP uses a well known algorithm, but that does not make PGP insecure. Even if you steal a person's private key - you can only compromise their date, other PGP users are safe.
Maybe I'm the possessive type, but if you try and compromise my date, I'll kick your ass.
Now that's sarcasm!
- Homer
One question I never see asked is WHY are there so many Linux(/OSS) zealots?
I mean, so many people have independantly come to loathe Windows (and MS) despite all the marketing and the fact that it is everywhere, and we've all discovered Linux and decided we love it.
A lot of posters criticise the fact that there are Linux zealots without stopping to ask why they are there. Linux doesn't really have marketing, so we can't have been seduced by that. Other big companies generally don't have such a large group of people who hate them with a passion, so it can't just be that we're all adolescent 'rebels' who hate The Man.
As someone who would probably be described as a Linux zealot by the anti-zealots (I consider the day I switched to Linux to be the defining moment of my computing experience to date), I'd like to see some of the anti-zealots explain why they think this situation exists, if it's not (as they imply) because MS and Windows deserve the criticism they receive.
"It looks like you're trying to funnel money to your corporate buddies and turn the country into a police state by 'liberating' the shit out of some foreign country. Would you like any help?"
No, I think you're missing the point. It is totally irrelevant that you are unable to get any more technical insight into Linux than you are into Windows. (and I don't mean that as a slur against you personally)
;)
we might like to think the difference is that, with Linux/OSS, we're beholden to a more likeable and deserving community (OSS developers), but that doesn't change the core issue.
The point is that anyone who can benefit from seeing the source can see the source. Literally anyone. The group of people who've seen the code could include nuns, terrorists, McDonald's workers, Chinese people, school kids, rock musicians and Slashdotters. It is simply impossible that all of the above would conspire together to mislead you about something - they have no common axe to grind.
The same cannot be said of the people who access to MS's code. The statement "Windows is a black box and Linux/Open source software isn't" IS correct, in the general case. Scream all you want
Seems like children in Michael Jackson's house are way ahead of the curve!
Come on, admit it... you laughed.
You'd think they had more importaint things to do like prevent another 9/11.
I know the FBI is a powerful agency, but do they really have the ability to stop dates occurring? And more importantly, if they do manage it, what will come after the 10th of September each year? Will they change the 10th so that it has 48hrs? A 10th of September, part 2?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Well, that canal looks like it could be pretty nasty, if it gets in your eye.
Is he reforming the band?
"We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."
Well done Eric! You managed a whole post without claiming the community elected you its leader! That's very unusual for you!
Come on now, back in your padded room.
Somebody mod the parent up! Considering anything with 'All your base...' goes straight up to 5 you would have thought something atleast a bit original would deserve a few more points..
I think you mean, "Begun, the search engine war has.".
I have mod points, but I can't seem to find '-1, World's Smallest Violin'..
So GPL your kernel module, submit it for inclusion and get the benefits that go with it.
What? You don't want to do that?
Well, guess what, there are drawbacks and benefits to writing drivers for Windows too. As has been stated numerous times above, the people benefiting are EVERYONE who doesn't have to cope with a crufty, inflexible kernel with a frozen API instituted to satisfy the hardware companies who want to play with OSS' toys but don't want us to play with theirs.
It's an interesting sign of the state of mobile communications in America that you even refer to a group known as 'cell phone users'.
Here in the UK mobile phones are so common that I think 'cell phone users' overlaps 'general public' so much that the distinction is no longer made.
And guess what? People that are annoying arseholes with their mobile phone are the same people who were annoying arseholes without one. Some people are arseholes. Owning a phone doesn't turn you into one.