A lot of interesting people have learning problems with issues like style. If you put each of them at a typewriter, however...
Kurzweil's poetry engine seems to be little more than a wham-o-dyne Dissociated Press script. The inclusion of pronounciation parsing is cute, but hardly a leap in AI sciences.
From another point of view, this has got to be the best documented piece of software I've ever seen. Maybe the GNU Project should start patenting everything they write. Would be interesting to see the GPL "hereby incorporated by reference".
Unfortunately, a great many companies require documents to be in MS Word format. I have heard horror stories about people being required to submit MS Word resumes for jobs working with open/free software. What/is/ the attraction of that particular file format, anyway?
The receipts I shred. I used to have a shredder that could handle credit cards, but I left it at a previous place of employment. Now I just burn my old cards. It stinks, but it works. You only have to burn enough to annihilate half of the numbers or so. Alternatively, one could toss an old card on top of the bed of charcoal when lighting a barbecue. By the time the coals are ready, there will be nothing left of the card but a bit of carbon.
Has anybody else actually read (well, browsed) this thing? It describes any PalmPilot or Handspring (they come with email software) that has a cellular modem! Or any pager that can receive text.
In my experience, Wine is a great way to use Windows-only tools under Linux (e.g. the 7-zip tools ) when you need to. However, using it consistently is a lot of work. From the Wine FAQ, "Wine is chasing a moving target since every new release of Windows contains new API calls or variations to the existing ones." Ergo, Wine will never be "finished" or "complete". Our favorite Wine still needs to age a bit before it is ready to be served. Even so, it is wonderfully valuable when needed.
As was mentioned above, any network can be penetrated once physical access is obtained. Most network security is designed around the concept of trusted portions of the network; an attacker must either break through a firewall, gain control of a machine within the trusted portion of the network, or add a machine under his control to the network. Under 802.2 and related networking protocols, physical access is limited to a wire; to add a machine to the network, an attacker must at least be in the building. Under 802.11, physical access is anywhere within a certain range of a node. With the right equipment, this range can be extended considerably. Suddenly, that firewall isn't quite so effective.
My opinion hasn't changed since the first time I read about 802.11: great, useful, whatever, but NOT TO BE TRUSTED. I have an 802.11 hub on my network, but it sits in the DMZ. Wireless users around the house can still get access to the Internet and some network services, but unauthenticated machines can't get into my happy safe zone. If I needed something like that, I could set up VPN to let my wireless machines become part of the safe zone. VPN uses much better authentication and encryption than 802.11, and VPN implementations can be easily patched as the protocol improves. AFAIK, VPN authentication would defeat the attack described above.
Phoenix probably did not officially announce the connection between their spiffy BIOS and the similarly-named Mozilla project. To do so would have announced their project before it was more than vaporware. Sometimes companies slip up and make *ethical* business decisions...
To understand what happened and why, look at the two related events: the lawsuit and the BIOS release. Add some logical speculation, observation, and assumption: Phoenix Technologies wanted to name their brower the Phoenix Browser (speculation). Phoenix Technologies did not (AFAIK) sue the Project Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, Phoenix Contact, or any immortal flaming birds(observation). Phoenix Technologies is staffed by humans(assumption). Humans tend to be jealous and illogical(observation).
Stir until mixed. Bake until done. Remove conclusion from head. Mine looks like this: Phoenix Technologies planned to release a browser under the name 'Phoenix Browser', but someone beat them to the name. Rather than pick a different name, they convinced themselves that they had more right to the name than the other guy. Then, they send hordes of marauding Vikings to pillage and plunder. Or something like that.
Was there a connection? Probably. Will they admit it? Probably not. Am I done ranting? Reply hazy; try again.
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A lot of interesting people have learning problems with issues like style. If you put each of them at a typewriter, however... Kurzweil's poetry engine seems to be little more than a wham-o-dyne Dissociated Press script. The inclusion of pronounciation parsing is cute, but hardly a leap in AI sciences. From another point of view, this has got to be the best documented piece of software I've ever seen. Maybe the GNU Project should start patenting everything they write. Would be interesting to see the GPL "hereby incorporated by reference".
What /are/ you ranting about?
Unfortunately, a great many companies require documents to be in MS Word format. I have heard horror stories about people being required to submit MS Word resumes for jobs working with open/free software. What /is/ the attraction of that particular file format, anyway?
I know. Vendor lock-in. Still hadda ask.
The receipts I shred. I used to have a shredder that could handle credit cards, but I left it at a previous place of employment. Now I just burn my old cards. It stinks, but it works. You only have to burn enough to annihilate half of the numbers or so. Alternatively, one could toss an old card on top of the bed of charcoal when lighting a barbecue. By the time the coals are ready, there will be nothing left of the card but a bit of carbon.
And we all know the US Judicial System never makes errors in judgement. (pun intended)
Innovation by litigation is a lot like security by obscurity. Oxymorons, both, and financially profitable.
Has anybody else actually read (well, browsed) this thing? It describes any PalmPilot or Handspring (they come with email software) that has a cellular modem! Or any pager that can receive text.
That does it. I'm moving to New Zealand.
In my experience, Wine is a great way to use Windows-only tools under Linux (e.g. the 7-zip tools ) when you need to. However, using it consistently is a lot of work. From the Wine FAQ, "Wine is chasing a moving target since every new release of Windows contains new API calls or variations to the existing ones." Ergo, Wine will never be "finished" or "complete". Our favorite Wine still needs to age a bit before it is ready to be served. Even so, it is wonderfully valuable when needed.
As was mentioned above, any network can be penetrated once physical access is obtained. Most network security is designed around the concept of trusted portions of the network; an attacker must either break through a firewall, gain control of a machine within the trusted portion of the network, or add a machine under his control to the network. Under 802.2 and related networking protocols, physical access is limited to a wire; to add a machine to the network, an attacker must at least be in the building. Under 802.11, physical access is anywhere within a certain range of a node. With the right equipment, this range can be extended considerably. Suddenly, that firewall isn't quite so effective.
My opinion hasn't changed since the first time I read about 802.11: great, useful, whatever, but NOT TO BE TRUSTED. I have an 802.11 hub on my network, but it sits in the DMZ. Wireless users around the house can still get access to the Internet and some network services, but unauthenticated machines can't get into my happy safe zone. If I needed something like that, I could set up VPN to let my wireless machines become part of the safe zone. VPN uses much better authentication and encryption than 802.11, and VPN implementations can be easily patched as the protocol improves. AFAIK, VPN authentication would defeat the attack described above.
Some people will do almost anything to avoid listening to the truth.
"La. La. La. My machine is secure. La. La. La."
Phoenix probably did not officially announce the connection between their spiffy BIOS and the similarly-named Mozilla project. To do so would have announced their project before it was more than vaporware. Sometimes companies slip up and make *ethical* business decisions...
To understand what happened and why, look at the two related events: the lawsuit and the BIOS release. Add some logical speculation, observation, and assumption: Phoenix Technologies wanted to name their brower the Phoenix Browser (speculation). Phoenix Technologies did not (AFAIK) sue the Project Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, Phoenix Contact, or any immortal flaming birds(observation). Phoenix Technologies is staffed by humans(assumption). Humans tend to be jealous and illogical(observation).
Stir until mixed. Bake until done. Remove conclusion from head. Mine looks like this: Phoenix Technologies planned to release a browser under the name 'Phoenix Browser', but someone beat them to the name. Rather than pick a different name, they convinced themselves that they had more right to the name than the other guy. Then, they send hordes of marauding Vikings to pillage and plunder. Or something like that.
Was there a connection? Probably. Will they admit it? Probably not. Am I done ranting? Reply hazy; try again.