"To use an analogy: think of movie piracy in the US vs Asia. Yes, it happens in the US as well, and there are street corners in most larger towns where you can buy pirated DVDs for dirt cheap. But if you think the US laws in that respect make absolutely no difference, you obviously haven't travelled to Asia or Russia recently."
It's a flawed analogy because there's no real need for Asia to enforce American copyright laws. The country gains nothing by cracking down on DVD pirates. In the case of India, criminal activity in the outsourcing industry could harm a relationship that is of huge benefit to India at many levels. It's in their best interests to put a stop to it.
"The reason it would be safer is because if someone were to sell my information working at a company here in the US then they would be held accountable to the laws we have against that and they would pay the price because I certainly would go after them myself if necessary."
You can't be serious. You're trying to tell me that your data is safer because you have laws and accountability? People commit murders, traffick in drugs, break into homes, and yes, STEAL DATA, in the U.S. all the time, even though it's illegal to do so. Do you think India has no enforceable laws against IT workers stealing data? They are enjoying the economics of being a prime outsourcing provider right now, and they'll defend that.
"If the person who sells my data happens to be in another country then I would not have the choice to go after them myself and even though they most likely would lose their job their home country may not have any laws against what they did with my information so they could basically get away with it."
We're talking about India. Not some hypothetical lawless frontier.
"So while there truly are "bad apples" everywhere there would be MUCH more deterent to sell someones personal information in a country that has laws against it than in a country where those laws do not exist."
Gee. What a completely correct, but utterly pointless statement.
"I don't see a legitimate reason for gambling to be illegal. If someone wants to gamble, smoke, shoot themselves in the foot, or whatever, let them. "
The problem is that people who gamble online are usually doing so with somebody elses money - i.e. their credit card providers.
One of the problems targeted by this bill is the rising volume of uncollectable debts related to gambling. I agree with you - gambling should not be illegal. But I also think gambling with borrowed, unsecured funds should not be allowed without the expressed consent of the lender.
Rallisport Challenge 2 for the XBOX was one of my favorite games of all time. I loved it. But I believe MGS retains the rights to the series, and DICE was the developer... so no sequel.
If RC3 (developed by DICE) was to come out, I would buy a next-gen console.
Since the bill will make it illegal for credit card companies and other financial institutions to be involved in such transactions, it seems to be a refinement of target. Formerly the individual could be targeted, but that would be expensive and ineffective. Ten thousand charges could be brought forth without impacting the number of violations significantly.
If you shut down the payment options, you will greatly reduce the number of violators. It's an effective way of achieving their goal.
"Outsourcing is certainly not new, however one could argue that massive outsourcing is new for white color jobs that require a significant level of very specific education. Traditional manufacturing jobs do not necessarily require a university degree."
So are you saying non-whites are incapable of reaching that significant level of education, and should therefore seek traidtional manufacturing jobs?
I know it's a typo. I just find it hilarious. Thanks - you made my day.
"Mind your icons, not your buffer overflows. Great! Will exploits follow the Vista guidelines too ?"
You know, I looked and looked, but I fail to see the part where they say "Don't bother fixing the crashing bug". Allow me to quote again:
"Perception is reality, and if your customers don't experience quality in your product throughout, they may conclude there is lack of quality everywhere. A visual bug seen by all your customers might do more damage to your program's reputation than a rarely occurring crashing bug."
Yep. Pretty sure they aren't advising you to ignore the crashing bug. They're just saying that an in-your-face dumb graphical bug will make your program look amateurish.
Just like how modding somebody who misses the point "insightful" makes the moderator look amateurish.
My dream computer case is a beautiful oak desk, made to my specifications. There is a slot in the middle where my ultra-flat monitor rises when I call upon it. Another elevation of wood hides the trayless loader for the optical drive. The rest is completely hidden away in the recesses of the desk.
I think computer equipment is inherently ugly. Mac designs are less ugly. In the end I don't want any of them visible.
The comment from this poster about "IT workers often can't be trusted"... Well... I'm really disappointed that someone that claims to be an IT person would actually say that.
I work in a SOx-affected company as well, although we are on the Canadian side. Every year we go through auditing.
So yesterday I'm looking into an open problem issue, one that has to go through several channels, and that must be tracked. And you know what the UNIX guy has put for the sum total of information relating to his part of the call?
Auditors are necessary because IT workers often can't be trusted.
I'm not saying they are crooked... I'm saying a lot of them rebel against structure, employ "fly by the seat of the pants" methodology, refuse to participate in process tracking, avoid completing paperwork, and think that the "art" of their business means they should be able to do things their way.
I think IT workers in general (probably including me) need to be watched like hawks. Otherwise we end up with broken chains of approval, unmaintainable code, and important things resting on the shoulders of "the guy in the room". You know, that guy who never provides status reports and vanishes for months at a time, emerging with a completed product that may or may not do what is intended.
Re:prof.dr.Edsger W.Dijkstra Is An Idiot
on
Why Johnny Can't Code
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
"Yes, I think he overstated the case against BASIC (although I believe BASIC was much worse when he wrote that than by the time Commodore came along), but he's probably one of the top ten or so computer science figures of all time, along with John Bachus, John McCarthy, Tony Hoare, John Von Neuman, Alan Turing and a few others."
I know who he is. But if some guy tells me that the sky is normally a lovely shade of salmon, I don't care if he has a list of credits a mile long. When he says that, he's being an idiot. At least at that point in time.
I'm a pretty smart guy. My IQ is comfortably nestled around 140. But occasionally I, too, am an idiot.
It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.
-- prof.dr.Edsger W.Dijkstra
Countless people got their programming start on a Vic-20/C64/C128 in BASIC, and a great many of them went on to learn to program well. If this guy thinks it's practically impossible to teach them good programming, it's because he's a spectacularly bad teacher. His statement sounds like typical elitism-based jackassery.
These days computer users take a few things for granted. For instance, if a mistake is made, there should be ways to correct it.
Before the days of the iconic trash can and/or recycle bin, we lived in fear of accidentally deleting an important file. But now, first you are asked, "Are you sure you would like to delete this file?" And if you lose your brain momentarily and say "yes" when you should have said "no", you can pull it right back out of the trash.
Basic user interface design.
Now lets pretend we're designing the control centre for an industrial facility that has to sit in the middle of a lava flow for some reason.
Where exactly would you put the "destroy this facility" button? I mean, if you had the audacity to create one in the first place. Most people would avoid designing a control so sensitive as to turn "stable" into "complete structural failure".
If you're Lucas, apparently you put it right smack in the middle of the console, so that when two people are fighting, they can bump into it and send the structure to a fiery death.
No, "Are you sure you would like to destroy this facility?" At the very least if they really wanted to complete the destruction they should have had to empty their trash icon.
I can accept a lot of things, but seriously... for a guy who embraces technology at the expense of storytelling and style, Lucas makes some surprisingly poor choices for script devices.
"So, let them compete. With history as a guide, do you really think MS's AV software will be good enough to replace all AV products on the market?"
Maybe not for every single user. However, it doesn't have to be the best product on the market - it just has to be good enough. If the large majority of users are successfully protected, then that'll do nicely from their standpoint. The "power" users who continuously surf free porn and pirate web sites will probably benefit from using the most secure protection possible. The others will get by just fine with the built-in product. And those are the customers the antivirus companies are terrified of losing.
I agree though. Let them compete. If it destroys the business of the Nortons of the world, well... their product pisses me off anyway.
Come one, people. Now you're modding on autopilot. "The solution is to use linux and open everything" is NEVER insightful on Slashdot. It's the automatic response.
"How long until we get some Blu-ray or HD-DVD pr0n? That's when the formats will explode, pardon the pun."
The LAST thing porn needs is High Definition. Nobody needs to see every pimple (or, heaven forbid - genital wart) on a porn actresses body. Ditto for surgery-based stretch marks and razor burn.
I've never been more ashamed to be a Canadian right now.
This is the worst thing Canada has ever done to earn your disgust? Wow. What a truly amazing country.
In the vast history of governmental screwups, this is hardly even a footnote. It's not like they've been tapping your phones without a warrant...
Disclaimer: I'm Canadian.
While Apple and Microsoft will grapple for dominance of client and server spaces, Linux will be 'the de facto choice for embedded solutions.' And by 'embedded,' Yager means 'specialized.' With a push of a button and a flip of switch, he predicts, you'll be able to create a configured database and a mated J2EE server -- all thanks to Linux."
All thanks to linux? Wow. So "Linux" built the j2ee server, the database, and the scripts becessary to create them? Why do people say stupid things like this?
If I had a concrete building inside which I invented a cure for cancer, I wouldn't claim that the cancer cure was all thanks to the concrete provider.
"I believe that more research needs to be done to determine whether human activities are having any effect on the global climate. As history tells us, it is usually the best course of action in the face of uncertainty to do nothing. For example, during the Cold War there was a great deal of uncertainty about what he intentions of the Soviet Union in East Germany were, and due to this fact we made sure to not "rock the boat" b,y sending any troops or weapons of any kind to West Germany. It was of course our steadfast dedication to non-involvement and careful scientific study, examination and research over many decadesof the massive arms buildup behind the Iron Curtain that eventually allowed us to witness the collapse of the Soviet Union and Germany's reunification."
Say what? I can't connect the dots here. Help me understand how these are comparable.
Sentient rivals may both choose to do nothing. That's dandy. But in the confrontation between man and environment, the environment IS changing. It's putting missiles in Cuba right now. Do we let them launch, or do we rally? We don't have a passive situation - it's deteriorating. Now is not the time for the collective doing of bugger all.
Slashdot Mirror
"To use an analogy: think of movie piracy in the US vs Asia. Yes, it happens in the US as well, and there are street corners in most larger towns where you can buy pirated DVDs for dirt cheap. But if you think the US laws in that respect make absolutely no difference, you obviously haven't travelled to Asia or Russia recently."
It's a flawed analogy because there's no real need for Asia to enforce American copyright laws. The country gains nothing by cracking down on DVD pirates. In the case of India, criminal activity in the outsourcing industry could harm a relationship that is of huge benefit to India at many levels. It's in their best interests to put a stop to it.
"The reason it would be safer is because if someone were to sell my information working at a company here in the US then they would be held accountable to the laws we have against that and they would pay the price because I certainly would go after them myself if necessary."
You can't be serious. You're trying to tell me that your data is safer because you have laws and accountability? People commit murders, traffick in drugs, break into homes, and yes, STEAL DATA, in the U.S. all the time, even though it's illegal to do so. Do you think India has no enforceable laws against IT workers stealing data? They are enjoying the economics of being a prime outsourcing provider right now, and they'll defend that.
"If the person who sells my data happens to be in another country then I would not have the choice to go after them myself and even though they most likely would lose their job their home country may not have any laws against what they did with my information so they could basically get away with it."
We're talking about India. Not some hypothetical lawless frontier.
"So while there truly are "bad apples" everywhere there would be MUCH more deterent to sell someones personal information in a country that has laws against it than in a country where those laws do not exist."
Gee. What a completely correct, but utterly pointless statement.
"I don't see a legitimate reason for gambling to be illegal. If someone wants to gamble, smoke, shoot themselves in the foot, or whatever, let them. "
The problem is that people who gamble online are usually doing so with somebody elses money - i.e. their credit card providers.
One of the problems targeted by this bill is the rising volume of uncollectable debts related to gambling. I agree with you - gambling should not be illegal. But I also think gambling with borrowed, unsecured funds should not be allowed without the expressed consent of the lender.
Rallisport Challenge 2 for the XBOX was one of my favorite games of all time. I loved it. But I believe MGS retains the rights to the series, and DICE was the developer... so no sequel.
If RC3 (developed by DICE) was to come out, I would buy a next-gen console.
Since the bill will make it illegal for credit card companies and other financial institutions to be involved in such transactions, it seems to be a refinement of target. Formerly the individual could be targeted, but that would be expensive and ineffective. Ten thousand charges could be brought forth without impacting the number of violations significantly.
If you shut down the payment options, you will greatly reduce the number of violators. It's an effective way of achieving their goal.
"Outsourcing is certainly not new, however one could argue that massive outsourcing is new for white color jobs that require a significant level of very specific education. Traditional manufacturing jobs do not necessarily require a university degree."
So are you saying non-whites are incapable of reaching that significant level of education, and should therefore seek traidtional manufacturing jobs?
I know it's a typo. I just find it hilarious. Thanks - you made my day.
"Mind your icons, not your buffer overflows. Great! Will exploits follow the Vista guidelines too ?"
You know, I looked and looked, but I fail to see the part where they say "Don't bother fixing the crashing bug". Allow me to quote again:
"Perception is reality, and if your customers don't experience quality in your product throughout, they may conclude there is lack of quality everywhere. A visual bug seen by all your customers might do more damage to your program's reputation than a rarely occurring crashing bug."
Yep. Pretty sure they aren't advising you to ignore the crashing bug. They're just saying that an in-your-face dumb graphical bug will make your program look amateurish.
Just like how modding somebody who misses the point "insightful" makes the moderator look amateurish.
My dream computer case is a beautiful oak desk, made to my specifications. There is a slot in the middle where my ultra-flat monitor rises when I call upon it. Another elevation of wood hides the trayless loader for the optical drive. The rest is completely hidden away in the recesses of the desk.
I think computer equipment is inherently ugly. Mac designs are less ugly. In the end I don't want any of them visible.
The comment from this poster about "IT workers often can't be trusted"... Well... I'm really disappointed that someone that claims to be an IT person would actually say that.
I work in a SOx-affected company as well, although we are on the Canadian side. Every year we go through auditing.
So yesterday I'm looking into an open problem issue, one that has to go through several channels, and that must be tracked. And you know what the UNIX guy has put for the sum total of information relating to his part of the call?
ACK
That's why IT people need auditors.
EA bought Dice, and Microsoft Game Studios owns the RC series. If there's another RC in the future, it won't be made by Dice.
I find this particularly sad because I, too, loved the second iteration.
Auditors are necessary because IT workers often can't be trusted.
I'm not saying they are crooked... I'm saying a lot of them rebel against structure, employ "fly by the seat of the pants" methodology, refuse to participate in process tracking, avoid completing paperwork, and think that the "art" of their business means they should be able to do things their way.
I think IT workers in general (probably including me) need to be watched like hawks. Otherwise we end up with broken chains of approval, unmaintainable code, and important things resting on the shoulders of "the guy in the room". You know, that guy who never provides status reports and vanishes for months at a time, emerging with a completed product that may or may not do what is intended.
"Yes, I think he overstated the case against BASIC (although I believe BASIC was much worse when he wrote that than by the time Commodore came along), but he's probably one of the top ten or so computer science figures of all time, along with John Bachus, John McCarthy, Tony Hoare, John Von Neuman, Alan Turing and a few others."
I know who he is. But if some guy tells me that the sky is normally a lovely shade of salmon, I don't care if he has a list of credits a mile long. When he says that, he's being an idiot. At least at that point in time.
I'm a pretty smart guy. My IQ is comfortably nestled around 140. But occasionally I, too, am an idiot.
"Linux Desktop Ready, Says Mainstream Media"
"World is Ending! says People in General." A lone man on a streetcorner was quoted....
It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration. -- prof.dr.Edsger W.Dijkstra
Countless people got their programming start on a Vic-20/C64/C128 in BASIC, and a great many of them went on to learn to program well. If this guy thinks it's practically impossible to teach them good programming, it's because he's a spectacularly bad teacher. His statement sounds like typical elitism-based jackassery.
"The fact that these guys have telekinetic powers and clairvoyance doesn't bother you, though?"
Clairvoyance and telekinesis are in that lovely realm of "unlikely but undebunkable". Sound in space is just wrong.
These days computer users take a few things for granted. For instance, if a mistake is made, there should be ways to correct it.
Before the days of the iconic trash can and/or recycle bin, we lived in fear of accidentally deleting an important file. But now, first you are asked, "Are you sure you would like to delete this file?" And if you lose your brain momentarily and say "yes" when you should have said "no", you can pull it right back out of the trash.
Basic user interface design.
Now lets pretend we're designing the control centre for an industrial facility that has to sit in the middle of a lava flow for some reason.
Where exactly would you put the "destroy this facility" button? I mean, if you had the audacity to create one in the first place. Most people would avoid designing a control so sensitive as to turn "stable" into "complete structural failure".
If you're Lucas, apparently you put it right smack in the middle of the console, so that when two people are fighting, they can bump into it and send the structure to a fiery death.
No, "Are you sure you would like to destroy this facility?" At the very least if they really wanted to complete the destruction they should have had to empty their trash icon.
I can accept a lot of things, but seriously... for a guy who embraces technology at the expense of storytelling and style, Lucas makes some surprisingly poor choices for script devices.
"So, let them compete. With history as a guide, do you really think MS's AV software will be good enough to replace all AV products on the market?"
Maybe not for every single user. However, it doesn't have to be the best product on the market - it just has to be good enough. If the large majority of users are successfully protected, then that'll do nicely from their standpoint. The "power" users who continuously surf free porn and pirate web sites will probably benefit from using the most secure protection possible. The others will get by just fine with the built-in product. And those are the customers the antivirus companies are terrified of losing.
I agree though. Let them compete. If it destroys the business of the Nortons of the world, well... their product pisses me off anyway.
Come one, people. Now you're modding on autopilot. "The solution is to use linux and open everything" is NEVER insightful on Slashdot. It's the automatic response.
"How long until we get some Blu-ray or HD-DVD pr0n? That's when the formats will explode, pardon the pun."
The LAST thing porn needs is High Definition. Nobody needs to see every pimple (or, heaven forbid - genital wart) on a porn actresses body. Ditto for surgery-based stretch marks and razor burn.
Porn, like Playboy, benefits from a soft lens.
We need to be able to mod "+1 Owned The Parent".
...why don't you marry him?
I've never been more ashamed to be a Canadian right now.
This is the worst thing Canada has ever done to earn your disgust? Wow. What a truly amazing country.
In the vast history of governmental screwups, this is hardly even a footnote. It's not like they've been tapping your phones without a warrant... Disclaimer: I'm Canadian.
While Apple and Microsoft will grapple for dominance of client and server spaces, Linux will be 'the de facto choice for embedded solutions.' And by 'embedded,' Yager means 'specialized.' With a push of a button and a flip of switch, he predicts, you'll be able to create a configured database and a mated J2EE server -- all thanks to Linux."
All thanks to linux? Wow. So "Linux" built the j2ee server, the database, and the scripts becessary to create them? Why do people say stupid things like this?
If I had a concrete building inside which I invented a cure for cancer, I wouldn't claim that the cancer cure was all thanks to the concrete provider.
"I believe that more research needs to be done to determine whether human activities are having any effect on the global climate. As history tells us, it is usually the best course of action in the face of uncertainty to do nothing. For example, during the Cold War there was a great deal of uncertainty about what he intentions of the Soviet Union in East Germany were, and due to this fact we made sure to not "rock the boat" b,y sending any troops or weapons of any kind to West Germany. It was of course our steadfast dedication to non-involvement and careful scientific study, examination and research over many decadesof the massive arms buildup behind the Iron Curtain that eventually allowed us to witness the collapse of the Soviet Union and Germany's reunification."
Say what? I can't connect the dots here. Help me understand how these are comparable.
Sentient rivals may both choose to do nothing. That's dandy. But in the confrontation between man and environment, the environment IS changing. It's putting missiles in Cuba right now. Do we let them launch, or do we rally? We don't have a passive situation - it's deteriorating. Now is not the time for the collective doing of bugger all.
Or are we supposed to be doing this naked? That's an M-Rating for sure.
This is slashdot. Make that "Rated U For Unpleasant".