Although I think it's another facet of the "think of the children" thing (my routes weren't exactly "safe", either, although the worst problems I usually faced were weather and hostile dogs) I fail to see what your comments have to do with the necessity of learning basic math.
Your last sentence, that I entirely agree with... and not because some of the publishers are going under.
In my early school days, we called that a pad of paper, and a pencil or pen. One could even "share" one's work, by showing it to someone else, and they could copy it, using the same technology./sarcasm not directed at the parent poster
More seriously, until computer technology has settled somewhat, there's not likely to be any easily ubiquitous interface that can replace the blackboard and the notebook.
I would not be surprised if it is something related to motor control and short term memory similar to the well known phenomenon of "death by powerpoint".
Indeed. The simple act of engaging motor control to actually write things down often seems to result in longer memory retention of the content. I don't have any handy links but I've read more than a few studies over the last ten years in that respect. It makes sense - the more parts of the brain that get engaged in "storing" a memory concept, the more links to that information will be created within the structure of the brain.
Especially basic mathematics. I've been running into more and more high school grads and college students who can't even make change without a calculator or register to tell them how to do so.
That's just shameful. Perhaps I had a better education than most, but I started doing paper routes when I was 10 years old - in the 1970s! - and I already knew how to do basic arithmetic, I learned it in school.
Now there are plenty of other things that are important to know, spelling/grammar being the next I'd rate (although the way the language is changing with the advent of the internet makes reading comprehension possibly more important than spelling or grammar) but the ability to do basic addition/subtraction without the aid of an electronic device trumps all other things, in my eyes. It's especially important in view of our increasingly greedy consumer culture.
I never said anything about not cutting them off; simply about sending them notices (phone calls or letters, if you cut them off and send them an email, they aren't going to receive it. )
You seriously can't expect the average user to secure their own networks and machines, tho. I've been doing tech support at the home level a lot longer than you have, and I know better.
Avast! and Malwarebytes - the free versions - require home user use only - well, that's what they get used for, as I install them on customer's machines, clean the machine once, and tell the user how to use them. The registration of Avast goes to the user.
No, none of them have per-system license fees for home users. Combofix and HijackThis are freeware.
I've never, EVER, in more than 12 years of working on Windows computers, paid for any sort of antivirus/antimalware/antirootkit solution. If you are paying for them, you aren't doing your research, and you are getting screwed.
I am bonded, and it's a pretty reasonable annual fee; that's what insurance or a bond is for, to protect one against assholes. But then I've been doing computer repair work more or less constantly for over 12 years now, and not ever had a single angry customer in the way you describe. Maybe it's in how one works with the customer, eh?
BTW, two of the other outfits I deal with have office space, employees, etc, and they still don't charge outrageous rates either. Of course they don't pay their employees even half of what I make, which is probably why they end up calling me when their employees can't fix a machine...
ISPs should be responsible for filtering out bot activity
So the bot is using a common port that is necessary for internet access at all... you do realize what an impossible (or at the least, prohibitively expensive!) task it is to content filter all the packets that go thru even a small ISPs servers?
This is the same sort of thinking that various people use when they demand that content is filtered to remove access to [place your value here, porn, copyrighted material, politically objectionable material, etc]
Malware/botnet/virus/etc activity can be detected by ISPs, IF THEY HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE.
I agree that ISPs, if they detect something they feel is such activity, should have the right to cut off a user - WITH PROPER NOTIFICATION and suggestions for help - but it's nearly impossible to "filter malware" activity in general. Even the most knowledgeable people in the field sometimes won't know what they are looking at.
In some senses it's just like the problem with antibiotics - cut it's access to the system off, and somewhere a better bug breeds to take advantage of the opportunities you didn't see.
The best long term solution, just like evolution uses with living beings, is to breed better immune systems - ie, design operating systems that are harder to hack. Short term solutions often make the problem worse.
Your last sentence at least indicates a partial understanding of the problem. (Sorry, not necessarily preaching at you in particular;-)
Won't work if the infection is redirecting their internet access thru a proxy belonging to the malware author. The user's computer would likely not even see the subnet - and it'd be relatively easy for a malware author to work around this.
If you take care of your network, you won't run into this.
You've never done user tech support, have you?
Tell that to Jo(e)(sephine) Average User, who has no idea what a virus, or even a network, is. Or even what an operating system is.
Proper and prompt notification of why you've been cut off - and perhaps suggestions as to local techs who can properly clean your system - are at least fair.
...and if there's a local tech who isn't going to horridly over charge you for removing infections.
It's incredible what some of these people charge for a few hours of running a few tools on a computer. I've seen prices upward of $250 for removing simple (non-rootkit) infections (Geek Squad, I'm thinking of you). That's insane. I capped my virus/rootkit cleaning charge at $75 over five years ago, and I rarely make less than $20/hr doing so, considering the actual time I spend in front of the computer. $20/hr might not sound like much to some people, but when I am working on four or five computers at once, it adds up. I'm not getting rich on it - in this small town, ten calls a week is good - but it's a damned sight better money than I make working for anyone else. (I do carpentry/remodeling/maintenance work to fill in the gaps; and for fun)
In case anyone is wondering, I have a very simple toolkit that I've used for three years now with near 100% success: Combofix, Avast!, Malwarebytes, and HijackThis.* With knowledge of how those work and what they detect, and how to use them, there is (currently) no computer I've run across that can't be cleaned. Other than the ocasional stubborn porn-site/screensaver surfing morons (hosts file blocks work for them) I've not had a callback in over five years for any infected system that I've cleaned. (Now I have to find a bit of pristine lumber to bruise my knuckles on *g*, or perhaps a tree)
Combofix and HijackThis do require that one have a fairly intimate knowledge of how Windows works, which is why I don't recommend that the average person uses them.
Host file blocks are nice for some of the worst users, but I generally don't use them on most customer's computers, I prefer to give them a lecture the first time.;-)
Remember, folks, also purge the System Restore, Temp files (both user and system)** and downloads folder/recycle bin; and take a quick look at the user's browsing history; sometimes you can find where they are getting infected from (more often not, but it's worth a look) and look at EVERY user's folders, not just the commonly logged in user. Oh, and passwords, passwords, passwords... particularly on the admin account.
* Live Windows Bootcds are also your friend; especially those with remote registry editing programs. Just make sure you know what you are doing.
** Saves time on the antivirus scans
I'm not paid to do advertising for Avast!, but I do have to say that I've found it the best free antivirus solution out there for home users. YMMV, opinion, etc, but it works great for my customers....and yes, I pass my knowledge on locally, as well. That is what being a geek is all about. Any infinitesimal damage to my own business income is far outweighed by the knowledge that somewhere, I helped someone else solve a problem. I share what I discover with all the other tech outfits in town who are willing to share back with me (three out of the five, one of the other two is a suit&tie outfit, and the other one "does it for fun"). We each have our strengths and weaknesses, and in sharing back and forth we help our customers out more - and generates more business for all of us.
Yes, I run Linux at home and build my own boxes;-) my home machines have to be reliable. I have no time for downtime.
This post probably contains immodest material, or perhaps something approaching boasting. I don't give a good goddamn.
From my experiences with it from the tech side, it's a good idea IF the ISP makes a good faith attempt to notify the user why their access has been cut off. Back about six years ago one of our two local cable providers instituted just such a policy, but DID NOT contact users as to why it was cut off - which resulted in a lot of home users spending unnecessary time and money trying to figure out what happened to their internet connection (I had a huge increase in tech calls during that year). (given the ISP in question, this was probably a communications problem between the company and their outsourced techs overseas, but it's still the ISPs responsibility to inform the users)
If the ISP will contact the user, and tell them they have been cut off, and suggest they contact a local technician - and NOT try to walk them thru disinfecting their computers ON THE BLOODY PHONE, then yes, I think it's a good thing - it's a win-win for both sides.
OTOH, if the ISP does not take action, and the user doesn't realize they are infected, both sides suffer.
(I realize that there are infections that the ISP can't afford the resources to detect; however, spambot and botnet infected computers are pretty obvious)
It's possible that biological evolution could produce eyes that could "see" X-rays, but not here on Earth. The atmosphere absorbs them too quickly.
It's not an accident that living things here on earth can see in the wavelengths most readily transmitted by the atmosphere (yes, including some of the infrared).
so what would happen if my body put He3 in the cones/rods of my eyes? how would my brain read the data?
He3 is incredibly rare.
i'd like to meet some of the people that can see "aura"s and have them actually demonstrate it repeatedly and consistently.
Those experiments have been done repeatedly for many decades, and in the properly controlled experiments have always resulted in zero evidence for auras or the detection of such. I don't have any links for you, but there's plenty on google if you can get past the hype.
It's also possible that relieving the strain on one fault can trigger another one - injection isn't necessarily the only thing that can cause earthquakes.
However, it's difficult to gain an understanding of how manipulation of fault systems can change their dynamics without attempting to do so. Fault systems are often fiendishly complicated, and even with modern tools and the terabytes of data they produce, we still don't have adequate enough models nor enough computer resources.
(Disclaimer: I'm not a geologist but I correspond with a few of them and read voraciously)
I'm right along with you when it comes to incompetence by the plant officials; they should be storing those heavy metals adequately, particularly in one of the most seismically active regions of the country. But I would like to point out that most active, near surface, geo-thermally usable areas tend to have high seismic activity naturally, so it's kind of tough to build plants where there isn't earthquake activity.
You're right about the EPA not having any teeth, but that really isn't the fault of the EPA per se, now is it?
GIven the population demands out there, I suppose the only other short-term option would be nuclear...
(BTW, I'm not the anonymous coward you were responding to; this is something of an interest, I was out that way in '91 and loved the country there, almost moved there and would have if I hadn't been saddled with college debt. Beautiful country, for the most part really great people. )
Any potential employer who has a decent understanding of how internet search engines work, that is. There's an astounding amount of ignorance out there.
High or low crime area? I'm not privy to the local retailers estimates, so couldn't say. Given what I know of my area, however, I'd say that shoplifting is probably no more prevalent here than in most other places. I know I can leave my door unlocked pretty much all the time, and nothing gets ripped off, and most of the retailers I deal with say that shoplifting is fairly minor here. Extremely small town, BTW, 10k.
I used to work a lot of retail jobs, so I'm pretty familiar with the stunts people pull in order to rip something off, even people who can afford to spend what they need to.
Still would like a cite. If even a significant minority of Walmart stores had cameras watching public changing rooms, I suspect that the lawsuits regarding privacy rights would be easy to find, given that Walmart is a major corporation with a lot of stores.
No cite, no joy.
I had to think about it a bit, but I remember that the other three Walmart SS's in other towns that I've been in recently (recently being the last five years or so) - none of them had open top changing rooms, either. I don't shop department stores much, but I think I would have noticed;-)
I imagine there were probably a few idiots in the publishing industry who did so. They probably got kicked in the ass by their grandmothers, who asked them "Grandson, so would you ban recipe cards and pens/pencils, too? Well, you're going to have shoe soup tonight, and like it. ";-)
I agree with your second paragraph, but have to say that the Walmart superstore in my area has tops on the changing rooms. I was just in one of those rooms a few days ago. The department employee did check on what I brought in and brought out carefully, however, and didn't allow me to take my backpack in, which I thought was reasonable as long as I got it back and it wasn't searched outside of my presence.
Doing some google searches I see quite a few hits for lawsuits involving Walmart and bathroom surveillance, but not for changing room surveillance. Got a cite?
Any humor regarding sex. Or anything approaching honesty wrt sex, for that matter. It's not exactly new as a cultural phenomenon, but it still remains very fucked up, in the irrational sense. It's getting worse, in the national/media/political/legal sense. In the local/trust_friends/humor sense, perhaps better - but we don't make policy, and much prefer to stay un-advertised.
To anyone who can't parse that paragraph, well, you just ain't Old enough yet.
Sorry for the topical condensation; it happens. I'm about ready to hermit myself. Avoiding "those" sorts of jobs leads to a sort of employment singularity.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll suggest planetariums for every class.
+ a good teacher... Seconded.
I grew up in a little farm town, but still had three good science teachers in my primary schools. I owe much to them.
Thank you, Terry Dorsett, Brody, and Rick Sala.
SB
Although I think it's another facet of the "think of the children" thing (my routes weren't exactly "safe", either, although the worst problems I usually faced were weather and hostile dogs) I fail to see what your comments have to do with the necessity of learning basic math.
Your last sentence, that I entirely agree with... and not because some of the publishers are going under.
SB
or television.
SB
Ah, yes, the classic whiteboard.
In my early school days, we called that a pad of paper, and a pencil or pen. One could even "share" one's work, by showing it to someone else, and they could copy it, using the same technology. /sarcasm not directed at the parent poster
More seriously, until computer technology has settled somewhat, there's not likely to be any easily ubiquitous interface that can replace the blackboard and the notebook.
I would not be surprised if it is something related to motor control and short term memory similar to the well known phenomenon of "death by powerpoint".
Indeed. The simple act of engaging motor control to actually write things down often seems to result in longer memory retention of the content. I don't have any handy links but I've read more than a few studies over the last ten years in that respect. It makes sense - the more parts of the brain that get engaged in "storing" a memory concept, the more links to that information will be created within the structure of the brain.
SB
Especially basic mathematics. I've been running into more and more high school grads and college students who can't even make change without a calculator or register to tell them how to do so.
That's just shameful. Perhaps I had a better education than most, but I started doing paper routes when I was 10 years old - in the 1970s! - and I already knew how to do basic arithmetic, I learned it in school.
Now there are plenty of other things that are important to know, spelling/grammar being the next I'd rate (although the way the language is changing with the advent of the internet makes reading comprehension possibly more important than spelling or grammar) but the ability to do basic addition/subtraction without the aid of an electronic device trumps all other things, in my eyes. It's especially important in view of our increasingly greedy consumer culture.
SB
Teach them how to think for themselves first.
SB
I never said anything about not cutting them off; simply about sending them notices (phone calls or letters, if you cut them off and send them an email, they aren't going to receive it. )
You seriously can't expect the average user to secure their own networks and machines, tho. I've been doing tech support at the home level a lot longer than you have, and I know better.
SB
Avast! and Malwarebytes - the free versions - require home user use only - well, that's what they get used for, as I install them on customer's machines, clean the machine once, and tell the user how to use them. The registration of Avast goes to the user.
No, none of them have per-system license fees for home users. Combofix and HijackThis are freeware.
I've never, EVER, in more than 12 years of working on Windows computers, paid for any sort of antivirus/antimalware/antirootkit solution. If you are paying for them, you aren't doing your research, and you are getting screwed.
SB
I am bonded, and it's a pretty reasonable annual fee; that's what insurance or a bond is for, to protect one against assholes. But then I've been doing computer repair work more or less constantly for over 12 years now, and not ever had a single angry customer in the way you describe. Maybe it's in how one works with the customer, eh?
BTW, two of the other outfits I deal with have office space, employees, etc, and they still don't charge outrageous rates either. Of course they don't pay their employees even half of what I make, which is probably why they end up calling me when their employees can't fix a machine...
SB
ISPs should be responsible for filtering out bot activity
So the bot is using a common port that is necessary for internet access at all... you do realize what an impossible (or at the least, prohibitively expensive!) task it is to content filter all the packets that go thru even a small ISPs servers?
This is the same sort of thinking that various people use when they demand that content is filtered to remove access to [place your value here, porn, copyrighted material, politically objectionable material, etc]
Malware/botnet/virus/etc activity can be detected by ISPs, IF THEY HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE.
I agree that ISPs, if they detect something they feel is such activity, should have the right to cut off a user - WITH PROPER NOTIFICATION and suggestions for help - but it's nearly impossible to "filter malware" activity in general. Even the most knowledgeable people in the field sometimes won't know what they are looking at.
In some senses it's just like the problem with antibiotics - cut it's access to the system off, and somewhere a better bug breeds to take advantage of the opportunities you didn't see.
The best long term solution, just like evolution uses with living beings, is to breed better immune systems - ie, design operating systems that are harder to hack. Short term solutions often make the problem worse.
Your last sentence at least indicates a partial understanding of the problem. (Sorry, not necessarily preaching at you in particular ;-)
SB
Won't work if the infection is redirecting their internet access thru a proxy belonging to the malware author. The user's computer would likely not even see the subnet - and it'd be relatively easy for a malware author to work around this.
SB
If you take care of your network, you won't run into this.
You've never done user tech support, have you?
Tell that to Jo(e)(sephine) Average User, who has no idea what a virus, or even a network, is. Or even what an operating system is.
Proper and prompt notification of why you've been cut off - and perhaps suggestions as to local techs who can properly clean your system - are at least fair.
SB
followed by instructions on cleaning malware
Yeah, because cleaning modern malware is a simple procedure that can be done over the phone in a few minutes ///sarcasm
SB
It's incredible what some of these people charge for a few hours of running a few tools on a computer. I've seen prices upward of $250 for removing simple (non-rootkit) infections (Geek Squad, I'm thinking of you). That's insane. I capped my virus/rootkit cleaning charge at $75 over five years ago, and I rarely make less than $20/hr doing so, considering the actual time I spend in front of the computer. $20/hr might not sound like much to some people, but when I am working on four or five computers at once, it adds up. I'm not getting rich on it - in this small town, ten calls a week is good - but it's a damned sight better money than I make working for anyone else. (I do carpentry/remodeling/maintenance work to fill in the gaps; and for fun)
In case anyone is wondering, I have a very simple toolkit that I've used for three years now with near 100% success: Combofix, Avast!, Malwarebytes, and HijackThis.* With knowledge of how those work and what they detect, and how to use them, there is (currently) no computer I've run across that can't be cleaned. Other than the ocasional stubborn porn-site/screensaver surfing morons (hosts file blocks work for them) I've not had a callback in over five years for any infected system that I've cleaned. (Now I have to find a bit of pristine lumber to bruise my knuckles on *g*, or perhaps a tree)
Combofix and HijackThis do require that one have a fairly intimate knowledge of how Windows works, which is why I don't recommend that the average person uses them.
Host file blocks are nice for some of the worst users, but I generally don't use them on most customer's computers, I prefer to give them a lecture the first time. ;-)
Remember, folks, also purge the System Restore, Temp files (both user and system)** and downloads folder/recycle bin; and take a quick look at the user's browsing history; sometimes you can find where they are getting infected from (more often not, but it's worth a look) and look at EVERY user's folders, not just the commonly logged in user. Oh, and passwords, passwords, passwords... particularly on the admin account.
* Live Windows Bootcds are also your friend; especially those with remote registry editing programs. Just make sure you know what you are doing.
** Saves time on the antivirus scans
I'm not paid to do advertising for Avast!, but I do have to say that I've found it the best free antivirus solution out there for home users. YMMV, opinion, etc, but it works great for my customers. ...and yes, I pass my knowledge on locally, as well. That is what being a geek is all about. Any infinitesimal damage to my own business income is far outweighed by the knowledge that somewhere, I helped someone else solve a problem. I share what I discover with all the other tech outfits in town who are willing to share back with me (three out of the five, one of the other two is a suit&tie outfit, and the other one "does it for fun"). We each have our strengths and weaknesses, and in sharing back and forth we help our customers out more - and generates more business for all of us.
Yes, I run Linux at home and build my own boxes ;-) my home machines have to be reliable. I have no time for downtime.
This post probably contains immodest material, or perhaps something approaching boasting. I don't give a good goddamn.
SB
From my experiences with it from the tech side, it's a good idea IF the ISP makes a good faith attempt to notify the user why their access has been cut off. Back about six years ago one of our two local cable providers instituted just such a policy, but DID NOT contact users as to why it was cut off - which resulted in a lot of home users spending unnecessary time and money trying to figure out what happened to their internet connection (I had a huge increase in tech calls during that year). (given the ISP in question, this was probably a communications problem between the company and their outsourced techs overseas, but it's still the ISPs responsibility to inform the users)
If the ISP will contact the user, and tell them they have been cut off, and suggest they contact a local technician - and NOT try to walk them thru disinfecting their computers ON THE BLOODY PHONE, then yes, I think it's a good thing - it's a win-win for both sides.
OTOH, if the ISP does not take action, and the user doesn't realize they are infected, both sides suffer.
(I realize that there are infections that the ISP can't afford the resources to detect; however, spambot and botnet infected computers are pretty obvious)
SB
It's possible that biological evolution could produce eyes that could "see" X-rays, but not here on Earth. The atmosphere absorbs them too quickly.
It's not an accident that living things here on earth can see in the wavelengths most readily transmitted by the atmosphere (yes, including some of the infrared).
so what would happen if my body put He3 in the cones/rods of my eyes? how would my brain read the data?
He3 is incredibly rare.
i'd like to meet some of the people that can see "aura"s and have them actually demonstrate it repeatedly and consistently.
Those experiments have been done repeatedly for many decades, and in the properly controlled experiments have always resulted in zero evidence for auras or the detection of such. I don't have any links for you, but there's plenty on google if you can get past the hype.
SB
It's also possible that relieving the strain on one fault can trigger another one - injection isn't necessarily the only thing that can cause earthquakes.
However, it's difficult to gain an understanding of how manipulation of fault systems can change their dynamics without attempting to do so. Fault systems are often fiendishly complicated, and even with modern tools and the terabytes of data they produce, we still don't have adequate enough models nor enough computer resources.
(Disclaimer: I'm not a geologist but I correspond with a few of them and read voraciously)
SB
I'm right along with you when it comes to incompetence by the plant officials; they should be storing those heavy metals adequately, particularly in one of the most seismically active regions of the country. But I would like to point out that most active, near surface, geo-thermally usable areas tend to have high seismic activity naturally, so it's kind of tough to build plants where there isn't earthquake activity.
You're right about the EPA not having any teeth, but that really isn't the fault of the EPA per se, now is it?
GIven the population demands out there, I suppose the only other short-term option would be nuclear...
(BTW, I'm not the anonymous coward you were responding to; this is something of an interest, I was out that way in '91 and loved the country there, almost moved there and would have if I hadn't been saddled with college debt. Beautiful country, for the most part really great people. )
SB
Any potential employer who has a decent understanding of how internet search engines work, that is. There's an astounding amount of ignorance out there.
SB
High or low crime area? I'm not privy to the local retailers estimates, so couldn't say. Given what I know of my area, however, I'd say that shoplifting is probably no more prevalent here than in most other places. I know I can leave my door unlocked pretty much all the time, and nothing gets ripped off, and most of the retailers I deal with say that shoplifting is fairly minor here. Extremely small town, BTW, 10k.
I used to work a lot of retail jobs, so I'm pretty familiar with the stunts people pull in order to rip something off, even people who can afford to spend what they need to.
Still would like a cite. If even a significant minority of Walmart stores had cameras watching public changing rooms, I suspect that the lawsuits regarding privacy rights would be easy to find, given that Walmart is a major corporation with a lot of stores.
No cite, no joy.
I had to think about it a bit, but I remember that the other three Walmart SS's in other towns that I've been in recently (recently being the last five years or so) - none of them had open top changing rooms, either. I don't shop department stores much, but I think I would have noticed ;-)
SB
I imagine there were probably a few idiots in the publishing industry who did so. They probably got kicked in the ass by their grandmothers, who asked them "Grandson, so would you ban recipe cards and pens/pencils, too? Well, you're going to have shoe soup tonight, and like it. " ;-)
SB
I agree with your second paragraph, but have to say that the Walmart superstore in my area has tops on the changing rooms. I was just in one of those rooms a few days ago. The department employee did check on what I brought in and brought out carefully, however, and didn't allow me to take my backpack in, which I thought was reasonable as long as I got it back and it wasn't searched outside of my presence.
Doing some google searches I see quite a few hits for lawsuits involving Walmart and bathroom surveillance, but not for changing room surveillance. Got a cite?
SB
I prefer reading. No advertisements interrupting the thought train ;)
SB
I think you got it.
SB
Any humor regarding sex. Or anything approaching honesty wrt sex, for that matter. It's not exactly new as a cultural phenomenon, but it still remains very fucked up, in the irrational sense. It's getting worse, in the national/media/political/legal sense. In the local/trust_friends/humor sense, perhaps better - but we don't make policy, and much prefer to stay un-advertised.
To anyone who can't parse that paragraph, well, you just ain't Old enough yet.
Sorry for the topical condensation; it happens. I'm about ready to hermit myself. Avoiding "those" sorts of jobs leads to a sort of employment singularity.
SB