Shawn Woolley - who was overweight, worked in a pizza restaurant and lived alone in an apartment the last months of his life - may have depended on EverQuest to provide the life he really wanted to live.
Couldn't have been that he was a schizoid depressive maniac who didn't have any friends. Must be the game.
(Leaves comparisons to Black Sabbath and D&D to other posters....)
It's good to see everyone's getting back to normal
on
Carnivore Update
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Ahhhh...it's comforting to see the usual self-important paranoids coming out of the woodwork. Yes, someone in the world gives two shits about how much porn you download or how many mp3's you download. Well....actually, they do care, if its kid porn(sicko bastards) or if you're pulling down things you can't legally have(DMCA-style fu). Blah. It's good to see everyone thinking that the only good reason THE MAN is watching THEM(yeah, you...and you too!) is so the rights of the people can be trampled. Hmm. I'd love to join in this happy return to self-absorption and gleefully naive elitism, but there's something wrong about this.
Perhaps I'm not so likely to jump back on the bandwagon because the situations that existed before 9/11 that brought about the events of 9/11 are for the most part unchanged.
There's a good deal of moneyed hate for all that is Western culture. Don't think those in the EU get a pass. It's only a matter of irrational fortune that the London Stock Exchange or the Eiffel Tower didn't get nailed. What was the plan...50 airplanes all over the world? Something along those lines.
Theocratic warfare is still quite prevalent in the middle east. Theocratic states don't play along national lines or rules. If God says it, screw your Geneva Convention, buddy.
We haven't disproved the efficiency of non-state based warfare. In fact, all we've done is hope it goes away before something else happens. Of course, EVERYONE is worried about the unstated concern that the international organizations are really just fronts for foreign governments. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a half dozen methods for causing billions of dollars worth of damage in ANY major metropolitan area around the world with no possibility of being stopped.
We don't know what was planned to go off, where it was planned to go off, and with whom it is to go off. If the terrorists had any forethought at all, they would've allowed for the possibility of a communications crackdown after the first strike. Carnivore is based on the hope that the terrorists weren't this prepared. Given that the people who carried out the hijackings were in the U.S. for years, this isn't something to count on. Then again, Richard Reid was so butt-loving stupid(he missed his first flight for crying out loud!) we may yet snap up the idiot in the enemy ranks.
To sum up: we don't know who the enemy exactly is, but we do know that the enemy does exist. To pretend the enemy doesn't exist is insanely moronic and, in the end, suicidal. Get over the concept that any inconvenience is a victory for the enemy, and at least allow for the possibility that the government may just be trying to save your pampered ass.
Maybe you should try reading the article without your blinders next time. If you had done so this time, you would've seen that the article does NOT address the gaming platforms, but rather individual games. Get a clue. Use it to get a life.
If we wanted awesome graphics, we would use a computer.
If we wanted complex story development or AI, we would use a computer.
If we wanted real tactical or strategic challenges, we would use a computer.
But we don't. We own consoles because:
We don't want to have to read a fucking manual to start playing the game
We want it to work in our living room
We want to be able to enjoy ourselves immediately
We want to have easy fun
We own consoles because the games are easy and fun to play. Any development shop that misses these points is bound for the garbage heap of business history. The article hits this right on the head. Anyone who claims this is about any one console missed the point.
Back in my day, they didn't care if we ate paint chips, they didn't care if there was asbestos in the schools. Cancer builds character, ah tell ya!
Give it a rest, moron. Most parents aren't the nightmare scenario, especially those who could actually afford the $400 and recurring fees. Media-fueled paranoia, bah bullshit. The only people that think this are those who weren't worrying it about it when their kid was born. Yeah, you don't want to live in a paranoid society. That's why you took the time to deliver your paranoid rant regarding this device. Riiiiiight.
Do the world a favor. Don't have kids. Helps the gene pool, ya know.
While I posted above saying its great news that Linux made news by being Microsoft's foil on the front page of the marketing section of the WSJ, I can't help but come to the rather pessimistic conclusion that it doesn't matter one fly fuck what a single administrator says he will or won't do. Bullshit, I call. Unless you're willing to lay down your job(yeah right) you are going to do what you're told to do. If Linux is to be brought mainstream, it will NOT be done by the circle jerk of techies here on slashdot. It will be done by the future stuffed suits of the corporate world. So.....
You want to make a difference while you're in college? Convert two or three business/accounting/marketing majors to Linux. Set them up, provide free support, make them comfortable. Keep up said support. Recruit your geek friends to do the same. Do for the future stuffed shirts what Microsoft does for the present stuffed shirts. If and only if this is possible(no idea if it is) will it be possible for Linux to make REAL progress in infiltrating Microsoft's home world....the working world.
No, dipshit. That is offtopic....this is a report on an article in the Wall Street Journal. What is interesting is that the WSJ named Linux in front of all the cxo's as a real competitor to Windows. Get it straight, and take off the tin foil hat.
Can't get any better advertisement for Linux than to have on the first page of the marketing section a reference to the Linux craze, and how its growing becauses its easily available and free. Now....follow that up with an application and gui that people can sell to those who read the WSJ everyday....lo and behold, change can happen.
Maybe I'm being overly optimistic...but it could happen.
You are jumping to a very specific sub-set of omnific beings by only diffusing the possibility of a theistic being with anecdotal evidence.
As a finite being, you have no way of gathering enough knowledge and understanding of that knowledge to even comment on the possibilities available to all the kinds of infinite beings. If a worm in my backyard refuses to believe in the existance of the space shuttle, that doesn't mean the space shuttle doesn't exist. Hell, I'm sure the worm would have no direct knowledge of said space shuttle. I'm pretty sure that worm doesn't even know I'm around except in the most basic terms. You are overstating the value of your own capabilities for understanding if you are comparing something that by definition transcends your capacity to understand it to a non-sensical apparition.
If this leaves you shaking your head, let me ask you a question in leaving. Why wouldn't an infinite being appear paradoxal to you?
You're right. It does take a very strong reason. Money is just such a reason. Not in small form. Not money as in hundreds or thousands or dollars. Millions of dollars in fines, extra workers, extra equipment and time investment to either comply with the new laws, fight the lawsuits, or both.
Most industries will choose to stay in the US. This is true. Them problem is that the minority that doesn't will choose to do so when money drives them to move. Heavy levies and fines will cause heavy polluters to at least consider the move. Cheap labor and easily bought local officials will convince them.
If it was legal to pollute in China, but not in the U.S., industries with high pollutant generation would be moved to China. Pollution would not be reduced.
Quite frankly, bullshit. At several of the companies I used to consult, I get calls for references to people I think could do a job they have open, experience or not. The pay will vary, but I have still gotten four such calls in the last 10 months. Hell, at Kraft Foods they have a huge job posting board. Yes, most of the jobs require experience, but not all of them. Not the entry positions. Will there be competition? Yes. So what. At the company where I work, we're still hiring, because we're still culling the herd, so to speak. People get hired, people get fired.
People like you who blame the "recession" quite frankly don't know a fucking thing about the actual state of things beyond what you see on CNN. In truth, the recession(in manufacturing, the only one to truly get hit that hard) ended at the end of last year. Did a lot of bozo's with certifications and giant-sized ego's find themselves in a hard spot? Oh yeah. Is there still opportunity, especially for the young with no children, no spouse, no responsibilities that tie them down? Yes. Do they need dicks like you discouraging them? No. Shut the fuck up, unless you want to put up some hard non-anecdotal numbers(no friend of a friend BS) and quit bringing people down with your end of the world chicken little talk. There are roads in, even now.
I seem to recall, in big bold letters, a statement at the end of the standard EULA that says without question that installing the software makes the user assume any and all responsibility for loss due to the installation or use of the software being licensed. Even if the law generally requires people to give reasonable disclosure, I don't see how someone can't use the EULA and say,"Sorry bud. You read the agreement, and there's your notice."
Blah blah blah. Excuses. If your degree hasn't gotten you anywhere, its because you haven't applied to the companies that care. Obvious, yes. Something you seem to not know, I think so.
Hate to tell you this, but people tend to take years to figure out things about themselves that other people catch in the first 10 minutes of interacting with them. What you accept as a default and thus trivial is a characteristic that others attribute to you.
Well, it does seem like you are genuinely desperate for a way out/up, so I'll try to give you some rough gems you can cut to custom.
If people like you, they will train you for the position they want you in. It is pointless to learn the skill of the month/year without knowing people who can help you get a job where you can use it. I don't use a single practical skill I learned in college(well, sometimes I need to see what the big iron is doing with the data I send it...so sometimes I'll tinker in COBOL...not too often though.) Rather, I jumped on every opportunity to join the teams that are being built at the job I had. I learned quickly, and kept a positive attitude. People liked being around me, so they brought me into the team. If you're working at a company with a robust development staff, see if you can cheerfully and gleefully take any of the work the senior developers see as mundane shit off their hands. Need me to edit that document for you? Gladly. Need me to proofread that design requirement? With pleasure, Sir! Want someone to test and retest an application? Where do I sign up! Need someone to document the current procedure for migrating code? Need someone to copy your notes into legible form so they can be put into a memo with your name on it? Need someone to go through the code and make the names standard to company requirements? Thank you very much!
Do it after hours if need be. You will aquire friends and experience. Your foot will be in the door.
One question...how far out from school are you? I don't know, you do. It might be that you need some patience. You're right, the environment has changed to a large degree. Whereas a senior developer a couple years ago had a year and a half experience(boggle), now they come in the four to seven year category, and that's if they're really fucking good.
Don't focus on technology. Focus on listening, picking up people's cues. If you can do this, you will be ahead of 95% of the techies out there.
Who exactly do you support? Is it all in one department? Get to know those "dumb users" and change them into contacts and friends. After all, work for the IT department doesn't grow in a vacuum. Projects are started and completed for those users of your's. They can be your head's up on what projects are coming down the pike. Hell, if you're lucky, you support someone senior that you can at least tolerate. It won't hurt to become VERY familiar with a project that said senior person is sponsoring. You will be a business asset, and can then sell yourself as such to the techies, who usually have minimal contact with the senior. They will value what you bring to the table. Once again, getting your foot in the door.
Honestly, I'm no troll. I just don't think anyone young and bright needs to be hopeless. Sometimes they just need a good smack to get out of it.
You keep telling yourself that...but keep it to yourself. The younger fellow who responded to you had it right. Either get in as an intern in high school, or do a co-op/internship during EACH AND EVERY summer semester while in college.
The doors do open, for those who really look for them. Just because you don't want to do the work necessary, doesn't mean you should discourage individuals(like the guy who responded to you) from doing their best. In a year or two I'll be in the hiring position, and I'll be looking for people like him while passing up excuse-makers like yourself.
Maintanance of old code is 80%-100% of the work, cap'n. People are still maintaining big iron for big companies, and there are a TON of jobs maintaining software written in house or modified for in house use. Oh, and by the way, I think you mean become "obsolete", not "redundant".
Someone who has a goal of being intellectually stimulated. This person is obviously not you. Here's a clue. In fact, here's several:
Your attituded towards your users sucks. Your "dumb users" are the people keeping you from flipping burgers, asshole. They deserve your respect, curtesy, and thought. Yes, people in support are supposed to think.
If you don't know if you want to go into being a DBA or into web development(a vaporous job description if I've ever heard one...what, you know a scripting language or two, and you want to just care about the front-end? What good are you!?!) then you aren't focused enough to know how to get to the next level.
People will only snicker at your degree if you do.
Sure...you know how, but you don't have experience. Well....maybe I'm flaming you a bit, but it sounds like you probably have a bit of time on your hands. What's holding you back from donating to the open source movement, and then bringing it to work as proof? You can't say it won't work if you haven't done it.
Your job is not meaningless. You help other people. It won't matter to others how persistent and confident you are if you come across as a dick because you see helping them as worthless. Oh, and yes, it does come shining right through. You're not nearly as subtle as you think you are.
Your attitude seems to be exactly the attitude to which Katz is referring.
I was about to post something to this effect, but I saw that you posted it first. Let me add something to this, please.
If you ask my 18 year old brother if he's technically proficient, he'll answer that he's looking for a job as a tech support. If you ask my 49 year old step father, he'll say hell no, he's an electrician, not a computer guru. Who fucks their computer up time and time again? My brother. Who knows to call me when the brother has fucked everything up? My stepfather. Older people know themselves, and thus their limits a hell of a lot better than than youngin's. (Am I old enough to use that phrase yet? Maybe not...hrm.) I'd put more faith in an experience to knowledge relationship than anything age-related.
What might a set of safety criteria be like (I am just now most interested in criteria for computer systems that would address such issues as vulnerability to worms, viruses and crackers)?
While there may not be a body of standards regarding security, there are some de facto standards regarding redundancy of data, the breakdown of different methods of communication(connection versus connectionless protocols) are quite well defined as standards, and the general structure of professional applications. Taking these as a starting point, one could build a list of vulnerabilities for each of these standards. For example, in a connectionless environment, one would be worried about DDOS attacks, and methods for identifying the assailant. In a connection-based environment, physical issues such as allowing someone to get access to a LAN line with a laptop inside the company building would be something that would require at least some preventative measures(ID cards at the door, social policies about bringing in computers, etc.)
How should one go about to find competent and interested people who would like to be part of a body like I describe, or consultants to one?
Be very careful. You will need to find people who are trustworthy AND brilliant. Good luck.
Good to see we can keep it on a moderately intelligent level. Fine, you can't take the next step, so let me lay it out for you. All it takes is one faked physics/education/sports/religion site to be linked into for all the spammy sites to be brought into the web. Granted, most of the faked sites won't get into the web. But all it takes is one. Hell, are you telling me, you arrogant AND stupid fuck, that you can't see a computer science student of physics student linking to a semi-obnoxious site?
Oh one more facet. It may not add as much to link as it does to be linked to, but if I'm link to enough high quality sites, what my site lacks in quality of relevancy will be more than made up for in the quantity of the links, buried on the site behind an image.
Try behaving like a human, rather than a bastard troll who has no friends. Yes, I know, its a stretch.
So...the engine crawls through, looking at links, goes to those sites, and looks at more links. So on and so on, until it has a web of links defined. The problem with this approach is that they have to have a VALID starting point OR a valid ending point in order for this method to be of use. In other words, either they have to manually start from a good site for physics, such as Stephen Hawking's homepage, or wind up at a good site for physics, such as oh, Stephen Hawking's website, in order to determine what's a good physics site. In the end, the content still has to be managed, or a porn site manager can still get around all this by linking to all kinds of sites, rather than stuffing their text/metatags. In the end, this solves nothing.
Whether we like it or not, there are people who fear, loath and hate the western view of life, or at least the materialistic and individualistic aspects of it. Life will not be cozy when these people realize that the internet is yet another way that western thought is invading their culture.
If I was one of these individuals, I would do everything in my power to either destroy or neuter the liberating effects(or as they see it, perverting) of such a worldview. As I see it, we should concentrate on infrastructure security now, before these individuals realize the threat that comes knocking via the net. Instead of worrying about content provisions(yes they are important, but the market rules the people you fear) we should be more concerned with methods for shutting down DDOS's and tracking and stopping of virus makers who would want nothing more than to bring this medium to its grave.
Slashdot Mirror
I was given a playstation2 for christmas from one of my best buds the year it came out.
Shawn Woolley - who was overweight, worked in a pizza restaurant and lived alone in an apartment the last months of his life - may have depended on EverQuest to provide the life he really wanted to live.
Couldn't have been that he was a schizoid depressive maniac who didn't have any friends. Must be the game.
(Leaves comparisons to Black Sabbath and D&D to other posters....)
Perhaps I'm not so likely to jump back on the bandwagon because the situations that existed before 9/11 that brought about the events of 9/11 are for the most part unchanged.
- There's a good deal of moneyed hate for all that is Western culture. Don't think those in the EU get a pass. It's only a matter of irrational fortune that the London Stock Exchange or the Eiffel Tower didn't get nailed. What was the plan...50 airplanes all over the world? Something along those lines.
- Theocratic warfare is still quite prevalent in the middle east. Theocratic states don't play along national lines or rules. If God says it, screw your Geneva Convention, buddy.
- We haven't disproved the efficiency of non-state based warfare. In fact, all we've done is hope it goes away before something else happens. Of course, EVERYONE is worried about the unstated concern that the international organizations are really just fronts for foreign governments. It doesn't take a genius to figure out a half dozen methods for causing billions of dollars worth of damage in ANY major metropolitan area around the world with no possibility of being stopped.
- We don't know what was planned to go off, where it was planned to go off, and with whom it is to go off. If the terrorists had any forethought at all, they would've allowed for the possibility of a communications crackdown after the first strike. Carnivore is based on the hope that the terrorists weren't this prepared. Given that the people who carried out the hijackings were in the U.S. for years, this isn't something to count on. Then again, Richard Reid was so butt-loving stupid(he missed his first flight for crying out loud!) we may yet snap up the idiot in the enemy ranks.
To sum up: we don't know who the enemy exactly is, but we do know that the enemy does exist. To pretend the enemy doesn't exist is insanely moronic and, in the end, suicidal. Get over the concept that any inconvenience is a victory for the enemy, and at least allow for the possibility that the government may just be trying to save your pampered ass.Maybe you should try reading the article without your blinders next time. If you had done so this time, you would've seen that the article does NOT address the gaming platforms, but rather individual games. Get a clue. Use it to get a life.
If we wanted complex story development or AI, we would use a computer.
If we wanted real tactical or strategic challenges, we would use a computer.
But we don't. We own consoles because:
We own consoles because the games are easy and fun to play. Any development shop that misses these points is bound for the garbage heap of business history. The article hits this right on the head. Anyone who claims this is about any one console missed the point.
Back in my day, they didn't care if we ate paint chips, they didn't care if there was asbestos in the schools. Cancer builds character, ah tell ya!
Give it a rest, moron. Most parents aren't the nightmare scenario, especially those who could actually afford the $400 and recurring fees. Media-fueled paranoia, bah bullshit. The only people that think this are those who weren't worrying it about it when their kid was born. Yeah, you don't want to live in a paranoid society. That's why you took the time to deliver your paranoid rant regarding this device. Riiiiiight.
Do the world a favor. Don't have kids. Helps the gene pool, ya know.
CSFB's Yatko was just as direct. "We don't treat Linux as a toy. We've got real business problems that we need to solve."
This is what you tell your boss, the next time you get the chance to pitch "the alternative".
While I posted above saying its great news that Linux made news by being Microsoft's foil on the front page of the marketing section of the WSJ, I can't help but come to the rather pessimistic conclusion that it doesn't matter one fly fuck what a single administrator says he will or won't do. Bullshit, I call. Unless you're willing to lay down your job(yeah right) you are going to do what you're told to do. If Linux is to be brought mainstream, it will NOT be done by the circle jerk of techies here on slashdot. It will be done by the future stuffed suits of the corporate world. So.....
You want to make a difference while you're in college? Convert two or three business/accounting/marketing majors to Linux. Set them up, provide free support, make them comfortable. Keep up said support. Recruit your geek friends to do the same. Do for the future stuffed shirts what Microsoft does for the present stuffed shirts. If and only if this is possible(no idea if it is) will it be possible for Linux to make REAL progress in infiltrating Microsoft's home world....the working world.
No, dipshit. That is offtopic....this is a report on an article in the Wall Street Journal. What is interesting is that the WSJ named Linux in front of all the cxo's as a real competitor to Windows. Get it straight, and take off the tin foil hat.
Can't get any better advertisement for Linux than to have on the first page of the marketing section a reference to the Linux craze, and how its growing becauses its easily available and free. Now....follow that up with an application and gui that people can sell to those who read the WSJ everyday....lo and behold, change can happen.
Maybe I'm being overly optimistic...but it could happen.
You are jumping to a very specific sub-set of omnific beings by only diffusing the possibility of a theistic being with anecdotal evidence.
As a finite being, you have no way of gathering enough knowledge and understanding of that knowledge to even comment on the possibilities available to all the kinds of infinite beings. If a worm in my backyard refuses to believe in the existance of the space shuttle, that doesn't mean the space shuttle doesn't exist. Hell, I'm sure the worm would have no direct knowledge of said space shuttle. I'm pretty sure that worm doesn't even know I'm around except in the most basic terms. You are overstating the value of your own capabilities for understanding if you are comparing something that by definition transcends your capacity to understand it to a non-sensical apparition.
If this leaves you shaking your head, let me ask you a question in leaving. Why wouldn't an infinite being appear paradoxal to you?
You're right. It does take a very strong reason. Money is just such a reason. Not in small form. Not money as in hundreds or thousands or dollars. Millions of dollars in fines, extra workers, extra equipment and time investment to either comply with the new laws, fight the lawsuits, or both.
Most industries will choose to stay in the US. This is true. Them problem is that the minority that doesn't will choose to do so when money drives them to move. Heavy levies and fines will cause heavy polluters to at least consider the move. Cheap labor and easily bought local officials will convince them.
You're being naive.
If it was legal to pollute in China, but not in the U.S., industries with high pollutant generation would be moved to China. Pollution would not be reduced.
Quite frankly, bullshit. At several of the companies I used to consult, I get calls for references to people I think could do a job they have open, experience or not. The pay will vary, but I have still gotten four such calls in the last 10 months. Hell, at Kraft Foods they have a huge job posting board. Yes, most of the jobs require experience, but not all of them. Not the entry positions. Will there be competition? Yes. So what. At the company where I work, we're still hiring, because we're still culling the herd, so to speak. People get hired, people get fired.
People like you who blame the "recession" quite frankly don't know a fucking thing about the actual state of things beyond what you see on CNN. In truth, the recession(in manufacturing, the only one to truly get hit that hard) ended at the end of last year. Did a lot of bozo's with certifications and giant-sized ego's find themselves in a hard spot? Oh yeah. Is there still opportunity, especially for the young with no children, no spouse, no responsibilities that tie them down? Yes. Do they need dicks like you discouraging them? No. Shut the fuck up, unless you want to put up some hard non-anecdotal numbers(no friend of a friend BS) and quit bringing people down with your end of the world chicken little talk. There are roads in, even now.
I seem to recall, in big bold letters, a statement at the end of the standard EULA that says without question that installing the software makes the user assume any and all responsibility for loss due to the installation or use of the software being licensed. Even if the law generally requires people to give reasonable disclosure, I don't see how someone can't use the EULA and say,"Sorry bud. You read the agreement, and there's your notice."
Lawyers please reply.
Hate to tell you this, but people tend to take years to figure out things about themselves that other people catch in the first 10 minutes of interacting with them. What you accept as a default and thus trivial is a characteristic that others attribute to you.
Well, it does seem like you are genuinely desperate for a way out/up, so I'll try to give you some rough gems you can cut to custom.
- If people like you, they will train you for the position they want you in. It is pointless to learn the skill of the month/year without knowing people who can help you get a job where you can use it. I don't use a single practical skill I learned in college(well, sometimes I need to see what the big iron is doing with the data I send it...so sometimes I'll tinker in COBOL...not too often though.) Rather, I jumped on every opportunity to join the teams that are being built at the job I had. I learned quickly, and kept a positive attitude. People liked being around me, so they brought me into the team. If you're working at a company with a robust development staff, see if you can cheerfully and gleefully take any of the work the senior developers see as mundane shit off their hands. Need me to edit that document for you? Gladly. Need me to proofread that design requirement? With pleasure, Sir! Want someone to test and retest an application? Where do I sign up! Need someone to document the current procedure for migrating code? Need someone to copy your notes into legible form so they can be put into a memo with your name on it? Need someone to go through the code and make the names standard to company requirements? Thank you very much!
- One question...how far out from school are you? I don't know, you do. It might be that you need some patience. You're right, the environment has changed to a large degree. Whereas a senior developer a couple years ago had a year and a half experience(boggle), now they come in the four to seven year category, and that's if they're really fucking good.
- Don't focus on technology. Focus on listening, picking up people's cues. If you can do this, you will be ahead of 95% of the techies out there.
- Who exactly do you support? Is it all in one department? Get to know those "dumb users" and change them into contacts and friends. After all, work for the IT department doesn't grow in a vacuum. Projects are started and completed for those users of your's. They can be your head's up on what projects are coming down the pike. Hell, if you're lucky, you support someone senior that you can at least tolerate. It won't hurt to become VERY familiar with a project that said senior person is sponsoring. You will be a business asset, and can then sell yourself as such to the techies, who usually have minimal contact with the senior. They will value what you bring to the table. Once again, getting your foot in the door.
Honestly, I'm no troll. I just don't think anyone young and bright needs to be hopeless. Sometimes they just need a good smack to get out of it.Do it after hours if need be. You will aquire friends and experience. Your foot will be in the door.
You keep telling yourself that...but keep it to yourself. The younger fellow who responded to you had it right. Either get in as an intern in high school, or do a co-op/internship during EACH AND EVERY summer semester while in college.
The doors do open, for those who really look for them. Just because you don't want to do the work necessary, doesn't mean you should discourage individuals(like the guy who responded to you) from doing their best. In a year or two I'll be in the hiring position, and I'll be looking for people like him while passing up excuse-makers like yourself.
Did not know that. Now I do. Thanks.
Maintanance of old code is 80%-100% of the work, cap'n. People are still maintaining big iron for big companies, and there are a TON of jobs maintaining software written in house or modified for in house use. Oh, and by the way, I think you mean become "obsolete", not "redundant".
Someone who has a goal of being intellectually stimulated. This person is obviously not you. Here's a clue. In fact, here's several:
Your attitude seems to be exactly the attitude to which Katz is referring.
I was about to post something to this effect, but I saw that you posted it first. Let me add something to this, please.
If you ask my 18 year old brother if he's technically proficient, he'll answer that he's looking for a job as a tech support. If you ask my 49 year old step father, he'll say hell no, he's an electrician, not a computer guru. Who fucks their computer up time and time again? My brother. Who knows to call me when the brother has fucked everything up? My stepfather. Older people know themselves, and thus their limits a hell of a lot better than than youngin's. (Am I old enough to use that phrase yet? Maybe not...hrm.) I'd put more faith in an experience to knowledge relationship than anything age-related.
What might a set of safety criteria be like (I am just now most interested in criteria for computer systems that would address such issues as vulnerability to worms, viruses and crackers)?
While there may not be a body of standards regarding security, there are some de facto standards regarding redundancy of data, the breakdown of different methods of communication(connection versus connectionless protocols) are quite well defined as standards, and the general structure of professional applications. Taking these as a starting point, one could build a list of vulnerabilities for each of these standards. For example, in a connectionless environment, one would be worried about DDOS attacks, and methods for identifying the assailant. In a connection-based environment, physical issues such as allowing someone to get access to a LAN line with a laptop inside the company building would be something that would require at least some preventative measures(ID cards at the door, social policies about bringing in computers, etc.)
How should one go about to find competent and interested people who would like to be part of a body like I describe, or consultants to one?
Be very careful. You will need to find people who are trustworthy AND brilliant. Good luck.
Good to see we can keep it on a moderately intelligent level. Fine, you can't take the next step, so let me lay it out for you. All it takes is one faked physics/education/sports/religion site to be linked into for all the spammy sites to be brought into the web. Granted, most of the faked sites won't get into the web. But all it takes is one. Hell, are you telling me, you arrogant AND stupid fuck, that you can't see a computer science student of physics student linking to a semi-obnoxious site?
Oh one more facet. It may not add as much to link as it does to be linked to, but if I'm link to enough high quality sites, what my site lacks in quality of relevancy will be more than made up for in the quantity of the links, buried on the site behind an image.
Try behaving like a human, rather than a bastard troll who has no friends. Yes, I know, its a stretch.
So...the engine crawls through, looking at links, goes to those sites, and looks at more links. So on and so on, until it has a web of links defined. The problem with this approach is that they have to have a VALID starting point OR a valid ending point in order for this method to be of use. In other words, either they have to manually start from a good site for physics, such as Stephen Hawking's homepage, or wind up at a good site for physics, such as oh, Stephen Hawking's website, in order to determine what's a good physics site. In the end, the content still has to be managed, or a porn site manager can still get around all this by linking to all kinds of sites, rather than stuffing their text/metatags. In the end, this solves nothing.
Whether we like it or not, there are people who fear, loath and hate the western view of life, or at least the materialistic and individualistic aspects of it. Life will not be cozy when these people realize that the internet is yet another way that western thought is invading their culture.
If I was one of these individuals, I would do everything in my power to either destroy or neuter the liberating effects(or as they see it, perverting) of such a worldview. As I see it, we should concentrate on infrastructure security now, before these individuals realize the threat that comes knocking via the net. Instead of worrying about content provisions(yes they are important, but the market rules the people you fear) we should be more concerned with methods for shutting down DDOS's and tracking and stopping of virus makers who would want nothing more than to bring this medium to its grave.