As funny as this is, it would have been even funnier if you'd said it around 1976.:)
Re:Who Is the Greatest Programmer?
on
Immortal Code
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· Score: 1
Incidentally: Given Einstein's statement, "God does not play dice;" and given that most programming languages have an rnd() function; God cannot exist. When he vanishes in his "puff of theological smoke," please, blow off with him.
Re:Who Is the Greatest Programmer?
on
Immortal Code
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I don't agree with the premise that DNA is "the program that operates the brain." DNA is the hardware; my personality, what makes me who I am, is built over that. A gene in my family that predisposes me to alcoholism doesn't automatically make me an alcoholic--it simply means there's an exploit in my OS which may be exploited through excessive alcohol use. The final decision on who I am, however, rests with me.
True, some people are content to be nothing more than their DNA or their background dictates. But we can reprogram our brains, just as we can reprogram any other computer.
Re:Elegant code like this?
on
Immortal Code
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· Score: 2, Funny
Wot, no commenting?:)
Re:But how would they cover the debt....
on
[H|Cr]acker Insurance
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Better yet, how do you even determine the losses? The only science I've seen of it to date is: Company A says, "We lost $x amount when we lost our connection for 2 hours because of this attack," with nothing to back up the dollar figure.
This insurance idea could be a good one, simply because it might force businesses to justify their losses when network attacks occur. I'm not going to hold my breath, though.
There's one crucial difference that makes this comparison totally invalid: the studios make a great deal of their money--most of it, no doubt--at the box office. The recording industry doesn't have any comparable money-making mechanism; so you see all of their costs reflected in the price of the CD.
Yes, CDs are overpriced. But you can make that statement without involving DVDs--which, despite the physical similarity, operate on a different economic model altogether.
Prognosis? Will work for 6 months top. Past these point, somebody will figure out a way to crack the system.
This is being generous. I think it's more likely that we'll see a crack out for the "system," whatever it may be, within hours of its implementation. By the six-week period, there'll be too many people using the crack for the RIAA to do anything but cry about music piracy and shut it down.
Re:The thing I enjoyed the most about the Superbow
on
Superbowl XXXVII
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· Score: 1
It actually had me thinking they weren't going to sing the National Anthem. I watched the Superbowl at the Enlisted Club on my base, and made the comment, "When did 'God Bless America' become our national anthem?"
One of the folks attending the senior NCO academy answered that it was in-style now, ever since the knuckleheads in Congress all got up and sang it together. I don't think I could have said it better.
It's not enough to be loyal to one's nation anymore, apparently; now, you have to be loyal to the Christian God as well. Feh, count me out.
Re:Shania was lip syncing, I'm sure of it.
on
Superbowl XXXVII
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· Score: 1
Excellent point, and I hope whomever has modpoints today will mod the parent up. Your PC is a sieve of information even with nothing more than a web browser and E-mail client. When you install IM applications or, gods forbid, file-sharing applications like KaZaa, the sieve becomes a fount.
I've made a couple other posts regarding this in the past week or so, to point out that most applications don't need access to port 80, for example. E-mail doesn't need it, and IM programs certainly don't need it. ICQ uses a port in the 400 range somewhere, IIRC, for its message traffic; but it uses port 80 to report usage statistics to Mirabilis and to download banners. So does it really need port 80? Nope--you can save yourself bandwidth and gain privacy by blocking it.
The list goes on, of course; but my biggest gain from firewalling my PC has been the freedom to restrict outgoing traffic.
The patent may in itself be a good thing. Do we want other companies to be able to duplicate this scumminess? I think not. . . better to let the scumbags feed off one-another.
The downloaded images are a good point. A good way to defeat this, though, is to deny your E-mail client access to port 80 via firewall or router. I know Eudora's software, at least, uses port 80 to download in-line images; so shutting that down saves bandwidth and keeps the images out of any spam I might receive.
Good point. Next time, the submission needs to have a link to MonsterHut as well; that way we can counteract any benefits of their exposure with a well-deserved slashdotting.
I disagree. We don't "need laws to enforce proper behavior" on the Internet. At least, we don't need new laws. We already have laws that enforce proper behavior--we need to enforce the laws that currently govern "real-world" behavior, on the Internet. Any internet crime has a real-world equivalent--I suggest we find the parallel and make the case using what we already have.
I know the US Congress likes to look busy; but 95% of the time, they either don't know or don't care about the American public's interests or needs. Seriously, what was the last good internet law that went through Congress?
The existing recording industry power structure may be in for a rough time, and the Deccas and Polygrams and Capitols may join the likes of Studebaker and Eastern Airlines and Crossley, but people will be recording CD's and selling them to other people for quite some time.
Indeed they will; but they'll wonder why they ever needed a corporation to do it for them.
A better question is, would it do them any good to move offshore? Skylarov (sp?) lived in Russia, and the American government still managed to yank him into their "justice" system.
Speaking as a respectibly left wing Democrat, I'd vote for Jobs over Nader in a heartbeat. Nader has simply shown zero ability for that kind of a job. When he says there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans, he's either lying, or an idiot. Who is president MATTERS, no matter what he says.
Right, but what party he belongs to doesn't anymore. Where was the difference between political parties when the USAPATRIOT act went through Congress with all of one dissenting vote between both houses?
I thought the MPAA regulated the rating of movies, and that there wasn't any federal statute one way or another on that. I'm really not sure, though. In any event, why couldn't the computer game industry self-regulate in this situation?
Here's a hint: If the US military considers a project or weapon secret, as they did the F-117 in the mid-80s, you likely won't know about it until the second or third time it's used in combat.
Slashdot Mirror
As funny as this is, it would have been even funnier if you'd said it around 1976. :)
Incidentally: Given Einstein's statement, "God does not play dice;" and given that most programming languages have an rnd() function; God cannot exist. When he vanishes in his "puff of theological smoke," please, blow off with him.
I don't agree with the premise that DNA is "the program that operates the brain." DNA is the hardware; my personality, what makes me who I am, is built over that. A gene in my family that predisposes me to alcoholism doesn't automatically make me an alcoholic--it simply means there's an exploit in my OS which may be exploited through excessive alcohol use. The final decision on who I am, however, rests with me.
True, some people are content to be nothing more than their DNA or their background dictates. But we can reprogram our brains, just as we can reprogram any other computer.
Wot, no commenting? :)
Better yet, how do you even determine the losses? The only science I've seen of it to date is: Company A says, "We lost $x amount when we lost our connection for 2 hours because of this attack," with nothing to back up the dollar figure.
This insurance idea could be a good one, simply because it might force businesses to justify their losses when network attacks occur. I'm not going to hold my breath, though.
Ellen Feiss, is that you?? :)
Seriously - give MacOS a look. At the very least, you don't have to worry about the "C:\" crap (no pun intended).
The woman who deleted the Internet probably shouldn't be allowed to even use a computer.
There's one crucial difference that makes this comparison totally invalid: the studios make a great deal of their money--most of it, no doubt--at the box office. The recording industry doesn't have any comparable money-making mechanism; so you see all of their costs reflected in the price of the CD.
Yes, CDs are overpriced. But you can make that statement without involving DVDs--which, despite the physical similarity, operate on a different economic model altogether.
Prognosis? Will work for 6 months top. Past these point, somebody will figure out a way to crack the system.
This is being generous. I think it's more likely that we'll see a crack out for the "system," whatever it may be, within hours of its implementation. By the six-week period, there'll be too many people using the crack for the RIAA to do anything but cry about music piracy and shut it down.
It actually had me thinking they weren't going to sing the National Anthem. I watched the Superbowl at the Enlisted Club on my base, and made the comment, "When did 'God Bless America' become our national anthem?"
One of the folks attending the senior NCO academy answered that it was in-style now, ever since the knuckleheads in Congress all got up and sang it together. I don't think I could have said it better.
It's not enough to be loyal to one's nation anymore, apparently; now, you have to be loyal to the Christian God as well. Feh, count me out.
Who was watching her lips? Honestly?
Yeah, but whether or not he'd actually say anything is a completely different story.
You want the editors to fix the grammar and typos in submissions? That's funny. . . have you seen their grammar and spelling skills lately? :)
Excellent point, and I hope whomever has modpoints today will mod the parent up. Your PC is a sieve of information even with nothing more than a web browser and E-mail client. When you install IM applications or, gods forbid, file-sharing applications like KaZaa, the sieve becomes a fount.
I've made a couple other posts regarding this in the past week or so, to point out that most applications don't need access to port 80, for example. E-mail doesn't need it, and IM programs certainly don't need it. ICQ uses a port in the 400 range somewhere, IIRC, for its message traffic; but it uses port 80 to report usage statistics to Mirabilis and to download banners. So does it really need port 80? Nope--you can save yourself bandwidth and gain privacy by blocking it.
The list goes on, of course; but my biggest gain from firewalling my PC has been the freedom to restrict outgoing traffic.
You really think Hollywood suits would know an ink cartridge if it squirted them in the face? That's generous of you. :)
The patent may in itself be a good thing. Do we want other companies to be able to duplicate this scumminess? I think not. . . better to let the scumbags feed off one-another.
Oh, what sad times are these when passing spamhausen can 'spam' at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred.
The downloaded images are a good point. A good way to defeat this, though, is to deny your E-mail client access to port 80 via firewall or router. I know Eudora's software, at least, uses port 80 to download in-line images; so shutting that down saves bandwidth and keeps the images out of any spam I might receive.
Good point. Next time, the submission needs to have a link to MonsterHut as well; that way we can counteract any benefits of their exposure with a well-deserved slashdotting.
I disagree. We don't "need laws to enforce proper behavior" on the Internet. At least, we don't need new laws. We already have laws that enforce proper behavior--we need to enforce the laws that currently govern "real-world" behavior, on the Internet. Any internet crime has a real-world equivalent--I suggest we find the parallel and make the case using what we already have.
I know the US Congress likes to look busy; but 95% of the time, they either don't know or don't care about the American public's interests or needs. Seriously, what was the last good internet law that went through Congress?
The existing recording industry power structure may be in for a rough time, and the Deccas and Polygrams and Capitols may join the likes of Studebaker and Eastern Airlines and Crossley, but people will be recording CD's and selling them to other people for quite some time.
Indeed they will; but they'll wonder why they ever needed a corporation to do it for them.
A better question is, would it do them any good to move offshore? Skylarov (sp?) lived in Russia, and the American government still managed to yank him into their "justice" system.
Speaking as a respectibly left wing Democrat, I'd vote for Jobs over Nader in a heartbeat. Nader has simply shown zero ability for that kind of a job. When he says there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans, he's either lying, or an idiot. Who is president MATTERS, no matter what he says.
Right, but what party he belongs to doesn't anymore. Where was the difference between political parties when the USAPATRIOT act went through Congress with all of one dissenting vote between both houses?
I thought the MPAA regulated the rating of movies, and that there wasn't any federal statute one way or another on that. I'm really not sure, though. In any event, why couldn't the computer game industry self-regulate in this situation?
Here's a hint: If the US military considers a project or weapon secret, as they did the F-117 in the mid-80s, you likely won't know about it until the second or third time it's used in combat.