I think both sides are playing fast and loose in this game.
P2P users tend to justify their actions by saying that they're just sharing music and video with their friends (whom they've never met and who number in tens of thousands) or that there's some legitimate P2P traffic (most of it is illegal, though, which led to all-out ban on P2P at our university).
I am so frightened (and by frightened I mean extremely excited) at how fast we are evolving technologically
I'd say that while we're making good progress in certain fields of science and technology, we're not making enough progress in vital fields such as aerospace enginering and spaceflight (hypersonic planes, cheap and reliable manned spaceflights) or in the manipulation of genome and biochemistry in general.
It's kind of sad that the biggest obstacle at present is the irrational fear of modifying the fundamental building blocks of life and the lack of political courage to accept human casualties in space exploration.
The problem was known 4 years ago, but it was marked confidential. I'm not familiar with BugZilla,so I didn't even know there could be a "confidential" bug.
Me neither. The exploit itself appears to be relatively insignificant, but the way it has been kept buried for 4 years is not.
If this cover-up is indeed true, how can we be sure that there aren't other, confidential and perhaps even more serious bugs and exploits in all Mozilla family products?
They'd waste a lot of time and effort reformatting documents sent to them, resending documents to others, etc.
I was just about to post the same thing.
I've tried using OpenOffice as a substitute for MS Word in two real-life projects (joint grant applications) with disasterous results. Any embedded images were floating all around the two-column document and equations were not imported/exported at all.
With Word, I've never had such problems before or as of today.
They're a horrible idea for the very same reasons letting MS automatically push upadates onto your computer without your knowledge or permission are a bad idea.
As far as I know, the MS update can be set to download the patches automatically but it still asks you for a permission to install them. At least that's how it works on my system.
It's not for someone who "knows better" to decide for me how to "Secure" my computer.
I used to think the same way several years ago. Now I have neither the time or inclination to secure my computer regardless of the OS. That's why automatic updates (cronned emerge -uD world on Linux or full auto updates in Windows) are a good thing.
Ah, but the real question is whether they'll be keeping an eye on our lower horn.
Re:Is this a good idea?
on
Black Hat
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
isn't going to instill too much confidence, or desire to go online at all.
Uh... so?
Should we just sugarcoat everything?
"Oh no, sir, if you choose our information superhighway services you don't run into red, gaping, dilated anuses or any other similar pictures that would scar and twist your and your childrens' fragile little minds forever. No, we don't have identity theft even if you splash you credit card number around the net. We promise you won't receive 200 penis enlargement spams per day, numerous 419 scams on a daily basis or viruses and porn dialers to spice up your internet experience. Bestiality, child porn, liberal ideas, fisting, chix-with-dix? What are you talking about, sir? Oh no, sir. We are here to simply provide you and your family with good, clean, christian family entertainment on the information superhighway".
If you really need 100% compatibility you can run Office with Wine
Uhhuh? Can you give me a link to simple instructions on how one accomplishes that miracle?
I've never been able to run anything more complicated than Minesweeper or Notepad on Wine out-of-box. Set up the config-file? No thanks. I won't do that and Joe Sixpack can't do that. It's just easier to install Windows.
Painless like not enabling the firewall until after the internet is up?
Uh. What exactly is the problem? Just don't plug in the cable until you've got everything installed from a CD. You can buy service packs, burn them at work or, hell, you can buy a firewalling/NATting switch. They're pretty inexpensive these days.
Please, theres tons of nice graphical firewall config apps for linux too.
Yes. Unfortunately none of the half a dozen hacks I tried could cope with samba and/or nfs. Oh yeah, I forgot. I should have read the manual...
(Damn the lack of "Edit Post"-option on Slashdot...)
Just to add to my earlier post, I don't see how the apt-get install upgrade would help with the problem of Joe Sixpacks.
Windows has an option for automatic updates already and it is clearly not working. So what makes you think that casual PC user would regularly update his/her Linux/OSS machine via apt-get or emerge or whatever? Or are you suggesting compulsory automated updates?
Yes. I do have Gentoo on my Linux server and emerge works might fine, so I do get the concept.
I only quoted free windows updates because there are plenty of people around who do not know that Windows too has automatic (semi-automatic, if you wish) updates.
Script kiddes would take advantage of idiots running old versions of programs.
Ok, I already got moderated down as a troll, but answer me this (which I already pointed out in my original post):
How do the new versions get on peoples' machines?
Heck, even Windows has an automatic free update these days but still ordinary PC users and system administrators in corps get bitten by exploits for which patches were available ages ago.
Windows will never die, Believe it oir not there are a lot of people that like Windows.
A very good point, although I suspect you (and I) will be moderated down by the/. hive-mind in no time. I run a Linux server at home, but I only access it remotely only using my desktop PC running Windows. Why?
Well, let's see. Legitimate support for a DVD playback, games, MS Office (no, OpenOffice does not import/export files properly), painless firewalling (ZoneAlarm) and free, automatic updates. That's for starters. Linux, on the other hand, is perfect for the old Pentium II server in the closet.
Ok. The present security is not bad for a browser with what... a 1-5% marketshare?
Just what do you think will happen to that security when the share hits 50% and above? Every kiddie on earth would start looking for exploits simply by taking a look at the source code. An absolute disaster.
Yes. Patches would be issued fast by the "community", but the real question is: would the stupid mob apply them? Of course not.
Re:Open mouth, insert paranoid foot
on
Bobby Fischer Found
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
As another poster pointed out, it keeps the kooks out by being so conservative that even some legitimate breakthroughs may be squashed in the process. Unorthodox ideas will resurface time after time and if they're really up to it, they will eventually be accepted.
Yes, brilliant people will be ridiculed, careers will be wrecked and our understanding of the Nature grows painfully slowly. However, if it weren't so, in the end we wouldn't have science at all.
It only promotes ordodox science and the funding of already established old man
Orthodox science is well established, well tested and a robust foundation for new science. It should be protected at any cost. No new theory should dismantle an old theory that has stood . The new theory can only be accepted if it naturally incorporates the old theory at some limit (like Newtonian mechanics is a good approximation of relativistic mechanics at low speeds/weak gravity).
Currently it takes two generations to accept a paradigm shift, to accept off-mainstream theories as better approximations of Reality.
Indeed. What's the problem? You're going somewhere?
science would move forward much faster...
Yes. In the same way as a plane that falls apart at 30000 feet.
that the evidence is being picked and then editorially filtered by very biased men.
As a Physicist I can tell you that that is exactly like science works and that it has worked well for centuries.
There is a method that, when put bluntly, is like this: "If you put forward an extraordinary, off-mainstream hypothesis you've better a) come from a respectable university/research group, b) show some extraordinary, easily reproducible evidence for it too and c) get ready for some serious ad hominem bashing, ridicule and possibly loss of funds". It all comes with the territory.
I'm glad popular science mags like SA adhere to this standard.
Slashdot Mirror
Why is that some people seem to think that it's their god-given right to flaunt the speed limits if they personally think it's appropriate?
What makes you think that the IBM lawyers would be angry?
I think they'd be more like borgs. Resistance is futile.
I'm still waiting for a Killbot running a Linux OS.
P2P users tend to justify their actions by saying that they're just sharing music and video with their friends (whom they've never met and who number in tens of thousands) or that there's some legitimate P2P traffic (most of it is illegal, though, which led to all-out ban on P2P at our university).
I'd say that while we're making good progress in certain fields of science and technology, we're not making enough progress in vital fields such as aerospace enginering and spaceflight (hypersonic planes, cheap and reliable manned spaceflights) or in the manipulation of genome and biochemistry in general.
It's kind of sad that the biggest obstacle at present is the irrational fear of modifying the fundamental building blocks of life and the lack of political courage to accept human casualties in space exploration.
Me neither. The exploit itself appears to be relatively insignificant, but the way it has been kept buried for 4 years is not.
If this cover-up is indeed true, how can we be sure that there aren't other, confidential and perhaps even more serious bugs and exploits in all Mozilla family products?
"Confidential" bugs in an open source project. Really?
I was just about to post the same thing.
I've tried using OpenOffice as a substitute for MS Word in two real-life projects (joint grant applications) with disasterous results. Any embedded images were floating all around the two-column document and equations were not imported/exported at all.
With Word, I've never had such problems before or as of today.
Look good, kick ass and get laid. That pretty much sums up what a great president is made of.
As far as I know, the MS update can be set to download the patches automatically but it still asks you for a permission to install them. At least that's how it works on my system.
It's not for someone who "knows better" to decide for me how to "Secure" my computer.
I used to think the same way several years ago. Now I have neither the time or inclination to secure my computer regardless of the OS. That's why automatic updates (cronned emerge -uD world on Linux or full auto updates in Windows) are a good thing.
By providing a complete collection of SG-1 episodes for download?
It's very kind of you to volunteer that information. As a result, Lrrr of Omicron Persei 8 will be contacting you shortly.
Ah, but the real question is whether they'll be keeping an eye on our lower horn.
Uh... so?
Should we just sugarcoat everything?
"Oh no, sir, if you choose our information superhighway services you don't run into red, gaping, dilated anuses or any other similar pictures that would scar and twist your and your childrens' fragile little minds forever. No, we don't have identity theft even if you splash you credit card number around the net. We promise you won't receive 200 penis enlargement spams per day, numerous 419 scams on a daily basis or viruses and porn dialers to spice up your internet experience. Bestiality, child porn, liberal ideas, fisting, chix-with-dix? What are you talking about, sir? Oh no, sir. We are here to simply provide you and your family with good, clean, christian family entertainment on the information superhighway".
You mean guys like this?
Uhhuh? Can you give me a link to simple instructions on how one accomplishes that miracle?
I've never been able to run anything more complicated than Minesweeper or Notepad on Wine out-of-box. Set up the config-file? No thanks. I won't do that and Joe Sixpack can't do that. It's just easier to install Windows.
Painless like not enabling the firewall until after the internet is up?
Uh. What exactly is the problem? Just don't plug in the cable until you've got everything installed from a CD. You can buy service packs, burn them at work or, hell, you can buy a firewalling/NATting switch. They're pretty inexpensive these days.
Please, theres tons of nice graphical firewall config apps for linux too.
Yes. Unfortunately none of the half a dozen hacks I tried could cope with samba and/or nfs. Oh yeah, I forgot. I should have read the manual...
Thanks. I really like Stargate and my being a scientist and a sci-fi fan in real life made that episode and quote even more hilarious.
Just to add to my earlier post, I don't see how the apt-get install upgrade would help with the problem of Joe Sixpacks.
Windows has an option for automatic updates already and it is clearly not working. So what makes you think that casual PC user would regularly update his/her Linux/OSS machine via apt-get or emerge or whatever? Or are you suggesting compulsory automated updates?
I only quoted free windows updates because there are plenty of people around who do not know that Windows too has automatic (semi-automatic, if you wish) updates.
Ok, I already got moderated down as a troll, but answer me this (which I already pointed out in my original post):
How do the new versions get on peoples' machines?
Heck, even Windows has an automatic free update these days but still ordinary PC users and system administrators in corps get bitten by exploits for which patches were available ages ago.
A very good point, although I suspect you (and I) will be moderated down by the /. hive-mind in no time. I run a Linux server at home, but I only access it remotely only using my desktop PC running Windows. Why?
Well, let's see. Legitimate support for a DVD playback, games, MS Office (no, OpenOffice does not import/export files properly), painless firewalling (ZoneAlarm) and free, automatic updates. That's for starters. Linux, on the other hand, is perfect for the old Pentium II server in the closet.
Ok. The present security is not bad for a browser with what... a 1-5% marketshare?
Just what do you think will happen to that security when the share hits 50% and above? Every kiddie on earth would start looking for exploits simply by taking a look at the source code. An absolute disaster.
Yes. Patches would be issued fast by the "community", but the real question is: would the stupid mob apply them? Of course not.
Here is a more thorough article on Fischer's rise and fall.
As another poster pointed out, it keeps the kooks out by being so conservative that even some legitimate breakthroughs may be squashed in the process. Unorthodox ideas will resurface time after time and if they're really up to it, they will eventually be accepted.
Yes, brilliant people will be ridiculed, careers will be wrecked and our understanding of the Nature grows painfully slowly. However, if it weren't so, in the end we wouldn't have science at all.
It only promotes ordodox science and the funding of already established old man
Orthodox science is well established, well tested and a robust foundation for new science. It should be protected at any cost. No new theory should dismantle an old theory that has stood . The new theory can only be accepted if it naturally incorporates the old theory at some limit (like Newtonian mechanics is a good approximation of relativistic mechanics at low speeds/weak gravity).
Currently it takes two generations to accept a paradigm shift, to accept off-mainstream theories as better approximations of Reality.
Indeed. What's the problem? You're going somewhere?
science would move forward much faster...
Yes. In the same way as a plane that falls apart at 30000 feet.
As a Physicist I can tell you that that is exactly like science works and that it has worked well for centuries.
There is a method that, when put bluntly, is like this: "If you put forward an extraordinary, off-mainstream hypothesis you've better a) come from a respectable university/research group, b) show some extraordinary, easily reproducible evidence for it too and c) get ready for some serious ad hominem bashing, ridicule and possibly loss of funds". It all comes with the territory.
I'm glad popular science mags like SA adhere to this standard.