By most people's definition, RSA is "security through obsurity" - all you need is the proper key, and you bust the code. Unfortunately, to bust a 1024-bit key, there's a lot of possible codes. This system provides security through obscurity (the key being the obscure part.)
Disregarding any way to step around the system, this seems secure. Let's say we can use 5 ports to knock, and these are between 1000-9999. That's 9000 different ports. That gives us 9000*8999*8998*8997*8996 = 58,983,415,510,950,216,000 ~= 2^66 different ways to have a secret knock. Now this is not that great, but I would guess (here's where I might be wrong) that it has the around the same strength as a 128-bit RSA key, since you only need to divide the key by sqrt(2^128)=2^64 numbers to break it.
I mean, not to mention a sysadmin might notice 2^66 * 5 port accesses. Now, that's only 5 ports; the number of ports "knocked" could be much greater, increasing the amount of security. In fact the example in the posting uses 7.
There are only three exceptions to the draconian new typographical rules: telegrams
Telegrams?! They still use telegrams? If so, where can I still send one from? I'm sure a telegram to a Senator might get more attention than a letter and certainly more than an email. Plus sending telegrams sounds cool.
What's odd is that you don't see this kind of negative Linux stuff as often as you would expect from Microsoft. I know that if I were Microsoft and had billions of dollars at my disposal, I'd be sowing a hell of a lot more FUD as well as anti-Linux marketing right now. "You gotta nip it in the bud," as the saying goes, and I'm surprised that, counting all technical publications, Linux has gotten just about as much good press as bad.
Is there any reason that I'm not seeing Windows commercials on TV that are the opposite of IBMs? Like, why haven't I seen a commercial where a bunch of executives are confused and losing productivity because "Linux sucks" and it's "not compatible with everyone else?" You'd think an 800lbs gorilla would throw its weight around a little more.
Perhaps Linux really does have the edge on Windows. Or maybe Windows is taking the view of "if we ignore it, consumers will think it has gone away" or something. But I must know!
Assuming I'm not wrong about this, why then aren't recipes allowed to be patented? Certainly most very popular recipes are certainly non-trivial and involve a process for making a certain type of food. Really part of my point was sort of an open-ended question: where do ideas end and inventions begin? Could the first guy who siphoned gas out of a gas tank with a rubber hose apply for a patent for "Gas Transfer System?" Hypothetically speaking, could the first person who thought of arranging files in alphabetical order patent it? One of the nephew posts said that Microsoft got a patent for a "scoring system." Should that be allowed? I can think of no software patents that aren't simply another way of using the computer for what it's meant to do. In my opnion, they are all trivial. Perhaps I'm wrong, and I just don't know what out there has been patented that really should be, but besides that, the whole idea stinks.
If you want to get philosophical about it, everything the human race does is a method. The difference comes when some thing is created that is new and non-trivial, rather than re-using something we already have.
Finally, someone has admitted (and I would say emphasized) that they have the right to do such things. Huzzah to Lieberman for at least leaving censorship and "stricter video game laws" out of it and merely decrying the video game itself. Rare to see such politics these days.
Most patents are good, yes. But not software patents. At least, not in their current form. When you deal with software patents, the line between obvious and invention becomes very, very blurry. Look at Microsoft's XML patent: it is at first glance very trivial; storing data as XML is the reason XML was invented. But some of the ways that it does it aren't trivial. For example, I saw someone on here wrote that nobody writes raw base64 in XML code.
The real difference between invention and software patent is that software patents are mostly methods. An invention involves creating something non-trivial, where as methods only tell you how to use something already invented in a different manner. Examples: The telephone? Perfectly good invention. "Method for cat exercise" or "Method for maximum fun on a swing?" Not inventions at all, and should not be allowed by the Patent Office. Methods are the same thing as ideas, and you cannot patent ideas. As far as I'm concerned, patenting methods makes as much sense as patenting a recipe, which - as The Simpsons taught us - cannot be patented.
Almost all software patents should also be considered methods, because they're simply different uses of a tool that we already have: the computer. They are, if you will, different recipes for getting work done on a computer.
As far as this patent is concerned, coming up with a new ranking system is not an invention, it's an idea. I'm also fairly certain no one would be able to patent a specific method of tournament elimination, or alternate method of scoring for baseball or any other sport for that matter.
The USPO needs some serious re-vamping, sort of the opposite of the 1976(?) Copyright Act.
Looking at the picture, it looks like they make: - Cable Modems - Router/Hubs - Breakout Audio/Video Box - Those artificial flowers that dance when they hear noises
One thing I always wondered in these patent discussions on Slashdot is this: if we find a patent has been filed with the US Patent Office, and we get all uppity and upset and up in arms about it, is there a way to contact the Patent Office concerning prior art? There must be some way that the American public can help out the poor disgruntled workers there.
They only reason I can see this not being the case is if an evil competing business (or Slashdotter) decided to delay the patent indefinitely by doing some sort of the equivalent of a DoS attack on the patent office by sending so much material that it never all gets reviewed. Such an action of course would be made (or is) illegal.
I'm asleep already. I rest my case. The only interesting part about what you said is the design and implementation of a hierarchical database. And that's the only thing interesting about databases: creating the underlying structure, then the implementation. Everything else is the worst possible assignment I can possibly think of.
Yes, we all know he's full of nonsense. Yes, we all know he's off his rocker. But the 60 year olds in Congress aren't going to know that. Those people don't read slashdot, and if they do, they certainly don't read the comments. The real question is, who is lobbying for us besides OSAIA? Where are Red Hat's lobbyists? What about OSDN? The EFF? IBM? Especially IBM. Why don't these companies get started? Congress listens to lobbyists a bit more than they listen to individuals. However, don't let that stop you from sending a letter to your congressperson.
True, it doubles the force. But I would venture to guess even a few hits from the pelvis up from an AK-47 would incapacitate most soldiers (I note you didn't compare the AK to sniper rifles, which are the two main weapons in CS. I'd be more interested in that). Have you played these games? Even in Counter-Strike, you have to fill your opponent with a LOT of bullets to take them out. It would probably take a magazine full from a pistol to kill someone in that game (barring a head shot). I'm not sure; it's been a while since I've played it. But the sniper rifle will kill someone behind a wall with one shot, IIRC. I'm not saying that sniper rifles should be weaker, but other weapons should be stronger.
Good post, but the reason the sniper gun is unfair in most video games is because of its unreasonable strength compared to the other weapons. The sniper in modern ground combat is deadly because the enemy has you totally within their sights - while you have no idea of their presence. This total control is why the sniper is feared. Their gun is no more deadly than an AK-47 in real life - a bullet is a bullet, and the author says this in the article. What we really need to do is to bring up the strength of other weapons if we want to make an attempt at a "realistic" shooter.
...I wish this article had been titled "Brannon Braga and Rick Berman in Danger of Being Fired." These two have done more than anyone to ruin the Star Trek franchise and transform it into mediocre garbage. Brannon Braga suffered some sort of writing downward spiral... his peak was "All Good Things..." then went on to write "First Contact," then went on to write most "important" episodes of Voyager to being the Executive Producer of Enterprise.
I argue differently. Evangelion is a very well thought out show, and while Asuka and Rei are actual names, there is a reason that they weren't given actual characters. There is some significance behind that decision.
This, more than anything, is an argument for open source. The problem? Thousands of software bugs threaten our daily lives because important systems rely on them. The soultion? Certainly not letting a single company from Seattle control all code. True, this is pretty much the same argument against "security through obscurity," argument for open source development, etc., but I think it really outlines the case well here.
What really bothers me is that if somehow a virus was released on the internet that managed to take it down, that all of a sudden, banks would shut down, gas companies would shut down, causing chaos. If your company is providing a Very Important service that would be crippled by an attack on the internet, get your goddam important information OFF the internet. I think it's that simple. If financial records rely exclusively on that sort of thing, then we are in for one hell of a catastrophe if we are ever physically attacked in the United States.
Secondly, this "software development freeze" is probably the worst idea I've ever heard. I cannot believe these people are "security experts." Apparently, they want to "lock in" all software functions at Maximum Security Level. This is a horrific display of hubris. No one can say that this program or that computer is perfectly, unquestionably secure. There will be a problem, and what they are proposing is to make all computers the same. I think there was an article last week about how the uniformity of computers might in fact cause this "Digital Pearl Harbor."
Really, the name chosen for this er, "event," seems more like Terrorist FUD than any serious analysis of the situation.
--Stephen
See, the names aren't all Japanese, it's just that most of them are Japanese sounding, i.e. "Asuka" and "Rei" have no kanji associated with them. The fact also remains that many people in the U.S. have seen Evangelion, and an English translation already exists - with character names in tact.
I can also understand that LOTR might be a moot point because Tolkien claimed that his names were "translated" from whatever Middle Earthen common tounge he "translated" the books from. However, his translations were clever, and maintained the original feel of the character's name. These names seem to be chosen out of a hat to sound awesome.
In fact, Ray is probably the best one. However, I hope her last name remains in tact because it actually had a small amount significance.
Here's another one for you: Nobody changes the name of Genji in the Tale of Genji, do they? Do Don Quixote or Sancho Panza's names get changed?
If the names were the only thing to go, I wouldn't care. But judging from the willingness to change something as stupid as character names, just so it can roll off the tounge easier or something, makes me realize they'll scrap everything else important about the series. The ages of the children, Shinji's character type, all the important themes of the series, etc etc etc. All gone. It's going to be bad. Very bad.
But the worst part is that no one will want to actually watch the series anymore. The series is a true masterpiece; it's really a work of art. It's certainly better than any television series I've ever seen in America, especially since it creates a complete narrative from beginning to end. American TV just doesn't work like that, instead choosing a "premise" and writing stories from there. I don't think anyone out there can come up with a series that is better.
Most people out there who don't like it either haven't seen it, don't get it, or just have a prejudice of either science-fiction or cartoons.
Slashdot Mirror
By most people's definition, RSA is "security through obsurity" - all you need is the proper key, and you bust the code. Unfortunately, to bust a 1024-bit key, there's a lot of possible codes. This system provides security through obscurity (the key being the obscure part.)
Disregarding any way to step around the system, this seems secure. Let's say we can use 5 ports to knock, and these are between 1000-9999. That's 9000 different ports. That gives us 9000*8999*8998*8997*8996 = 58,983,415,510,950,216,000 ~= 2^66
different ways to have a secret knock. Now this is not that great, but I would guess (here's where I might be wrong) that it has the around the same strength as a 128-bit RSA key, since you only need to divide the key by sqrt(2^128)=2^64 numbers to break it.
I mean, not to mention a sysadmin might notice 2^66 * 5 port accesses. Now, that's only 5 ports; the number of ports "knocked" could be much greater, increasing the amount of security. In fact the example in the posting uses 7.
--Stephen
Dear Mister President STOP
There are too many states nowadays STOP
Please eliminate three STOP
P S I am not a crackpot STOP
END
--Stephen
(lameness filter won't let me do all caps like it should be)
Telegrams?! They still use telegrams? If so, where can I still send one from? I'm sure a telegram to a Senator might get more attention than a letter and certainly more than an email. Plus sending telegrams sounds cool.
--Stephen
What's odd is that you don't see this kind of negative Linux stuff as often as you would expect from Microsoft. I know that if I were Microsoft and had billions of dollars at my disposal, I'd be sowing a hell of a lot more FUD as well as anti-Linux marketing right now. "You gotta nip it in the bud," as the saying goes, and I'm surprised that, counting all technical publications, Linux has gotten just about as much good press as bad.
Is there any reason that I'm not seeing Windows commercials on TV that are the opposite of IBMs? Like, why haven't I seen a commercial where a bunch of executives are confused and losing productivity because "Linux sucks" and it's "not compatible with everyone else?" You'd think an 800lbs gorilla would throw its weight around a little more.
Perhaps Linux really does have the edge on Windows. Or maybe Windows is taking the view of "if we ignore it, consumers will think it has gone away" or something. But I must know!
--Stephen
Assuming I'm not wrong about this, why then aren't recipes allowed to be patented? Certainly most very popular recipes are certainly non-trivial and involve a process for making a certain type of food. Really part of my point was sort of an open-ended question: where do ideas end and inventions begin? Could the first guy who siphoned gas out of a gas tank with a rubber hose apply for a patent for "Gas Transfer System?" Hypothetically speaking, could the first person who thought of arranging files in alphabetical order patent it? One of the nephew posts said that Microsoft got a patent for a "scoring system." Should that be allowed? I can think of no software patents that aren't simply another way of using the computer for what it's meant to do. In my opnion, they are all trivial. Perhaps I'm wrong, and I just don't know what out there has been patented that really should be, but besides that, the whole idea stinks.
--Stephen
--Stephen
Finally, someone has admitted (and I would say emphasized) that they have the right to do such things. Huzzah to Lieberman for at least leaving censorship and "stricter video game laws" out of it and merely decrying the video game itself. Rare to see such politics these days.
--Stephen
The real difference between invention and software patent is that software patents are mostly methods. An invention involves creating something non-trivial, where as methods only tell you how to use something already invented in a different manner. Examples: The telephone? Perfectly good invention. "Method for cat exercise" or "Method for maximum fun on a swing?" Not inventions at all, and should not be allowed by the Patent Office. Methods are the same thing as ideas, and you cannot patent ideas. As far as I'm concerned, patenting methods makes as much sense as patenting a recipe, which - as The Simpsons taught us - cannot be patented.
Almost all software patents should also be considered methods, because they're simply different uses of a tool that we already have: the computer. They are, if you will, different recipes for getting work done on a computer.
As far as this patent is concerned, coming up with a new ranking system is not an invention, it's an idea. I'm also fairly certain no one would be able to patent a specific method of tournament elimination, or alternate method of scoring for baseball or any other sport for that matter.
The USPO needs some serious re-vamping, sort of the opposite of the 1976(?) Copyright Act.
--Stephen
Does it connect directly to the dancing flower?
--Stephen
Looking at the picture, it looks like they make:
- Cable Modems
- Router/Hubs
- Breakout Audio/Video Box
- Those artificial flowers that dance when they hear noises
or some combination thereof.
--Stephen
One thing I always wondered in these patent discussions on Slashdot is this: if we find a patent has been filed with the US Patent Office, and we get all uppity and upset and up in arms about it, is there a way to contact the Patent Office concerning prior art? There must be some way that the American public can help out the poor disgruntled workers there.
They only reason I can see this not being the case is if an evil competing business (or Slashdotter) decided to delay the patent indefinitely by doing some sort of the equivalent of a DoS attack on the patent office by sending so much material that it never all gets reviewed. Such an action of course would be made (or is) illegal.
Is there a system like this in place?
--Stephen
But this one is still my favorite, from KitH:
Ninety-nine bottles
Of beer on the wall, ninety-
nine bottles of beer
HAIKU!! HAIKU!!
--Stephen
"I'm not on trial here!!!"
I'm asleep already. I rest my case.
The only interesting part about what you said is the design and implementation of a hierarchical database. And that's the only thing interesting about databases: creating the underlying structure, then the implementation. Everything else is the worst possible assignment I can possibly think of.
--Stephen
I really want to know what context that line was in. I can't find a transcript anywhere. I want to know what he was talking about, dagnabbit!!
--Stephen
Database work: The dullest job in all of the computer industry.
--Stephen
--Stephen
--Stephen
...I wish this article had been titled "Brannon Braga and Rick Berman in Danger of Being Fired." These two have done more than anyone to ruin the Star Trek franchise and transform it into mediocre garbage. Brannon Braga suffered some sort of writing downward spiral... his peak was "All Good Things..." then went on to write "First Contact," then went on to write most "important" episodes of Voyager to being the Executive Producer of Enterprise.
How sad.
--Stephen
I argue differently. Evangelion is a very well thought out show, and while Asuka and Rei are actual names, there is a reason that they weren't given actual characters. There is some significance behind that decision.
*POP* A new subpeona has been downloaded and is ready to be delivered to you. Please click here to review it and print it out.
What really bothers me is that if somehow a virus was released on the internet that managed to take it down, that all of a sudden, banks would shut down, gas companies would shut down, causing chaos. If your company is providing a Very Important service that would be crippled by an attack on the internet, get your goddam important information OFF the internet. I think it's that simple. If financial records rely exclusively on that sort of thing, then we are in for one hell of a catastrophe if we are ever physically attacked in the United States.
Secondly, this "software development freeze" is probably the worst idea I've ever heard. I cannot believe these people are "security experts." Apparently, they want to "lock in" all software functions at Maximum Security Level. This is a horrific display of hubris. No one can say that this program or that computer is perfectly, unquestionably secure. There will be a problem, and what they are proposing is to make all computers the same. I think there was an article last week about how the uniformity of computers might in fact cause this "Digital Pearl Harbor."
Really, the name chosen for this er, "event," seems more like Terrorist FUD than any serious analysis of the situation. --Stephen
See, the names aren't all Japanese, it's just that most of them are Japanese sounding, i.e. "Asuka" and "Rei" have no kanji associated with them. The fact also remains that many people in the U.S. have seen Evangelion, and an English translation already exists - with character names in tact.
I can also understand that LOTR might be a moot point because Tolkien claimed that his names were "translated" from whatever Middle Earthen common tounge he "translated" the books from. However, his translations were clever, and maintained the original feel of the character's name. These names seem to be chosen out of a hat to sound awesome.
In fact, Ray is probably the best one. However, I hope her last name remains in tact because it actually had a small amount significance.
Here's another one for you: Nobody changes the name of Genji in the Tale of Genji, do they? Do Don Quixote or Sancho Panza's names get changed?
--Stephen
If the names were the only thing to go, I wouldn't care. But judging from the willingness to change something as stupid as character names, just so it can roll off the tounge easier or something, makes me realize they'll scrap everything else important about the series. The ages of the children, Shinji's character type, all the important themes of the series, etc etc etc. All gone. It's going to be bad. Very bad.
But the worst part is that no one will want to actually watch the series anymore. The series is a true masterpiece; it's really a work of art. It's certainly better than any television series I've ever seen in America, especially since it creates a complete narrative from beginning to end. American TV just doesn't work like that, instead choosing a "premise" and writing stories from there. I don't think anyone out there can come up with a series that is better.
Most people out there who don't like it either haven't seen it, don't get it, or just have a prejudice of either science-fiction or cartoons.
So you can see why I might be upset.
--Stephen