your comment on the resolution of CD access is not true. There is a frame boundary on a CD, and each frame/sector is 1/75th of a second, giving you a timing resolution of that size.
You could just carry a small dish and do packet digipeating off of one of the amsats... though, since they're LEOs, you won't have much time... but it's free! =P
good assessment of the hearing... I agree, and think that Ford will indeed get the injunction.
one important, and somewhat reassuring, element of the hearing was that Judge Cleland was able to distill the essence of the argument to one of whether or not a hyperlink constitutes an implicit attribution or commercial agreement with the linked-to party. this is a double edged sword -- if the injunction is granted, it risks setting up a precedent for further restriction of hyperlinks in future cases unless the judicial opinion is challenged successfully in an appeals court.
finally, it seemed to me that Ford's lawyers were presenting evidence that strongly supported a defamation argument, one which they were NOT MAKING, as they lack sufficient evidence to prove it. On the other hand, they are pursuing a seemingly inapplicable argument on the grounds of trademark dilution and false attribution which the evidence poorly supports, but requires a lower burden of proof than a defamation or slander accusation.
after chatting with Eric Grimm (2600's hired counsel) on the way back from lunch in greektown, I was impressed at his comfort with technical concepts and the nuances and subtleties of the technical aspects of the case. I think that with a little more time for preparation (as many of the early papers were rushed due to Ford's late notice), he's got the wherewithal to present a solid, strong case to prevent this from moving beyond a preliminary injunction.
I am incredibly shocked by the loss a man who wrote the seminal works in satire and science fiction. The Hitchhiker books were incredibly formative in my younger years, and it completely amazes me to hear that he has passed on.
Truly, 42 seconds of silence should be taken in his memory.
But, as with all other grieving processes, we will need to move on. Sure, read HHGttG once again in memoriam, but I would urge you all to continue on with another wonderful writer... although I don't believe that they were ever friends, Terry Pratchett has the same witty, sharp, satiric edge with which Adams captured the minds of his readers.
Celebrate Adams, and even moreso, celebrate the wonderful literature from those crazy Brits.
This is certainly a sad day, but it should be one that we all can take blessing in that Adams gave to us for much of his life, and we should celebrate the others who do similar sacrifice for the entertainment of others.
Recent NIDA studies have shown the immense addictive potential of marijuana, as well as the long-term health risks through the highly carcinogenic makeup of marijuana. Studies showing damage to the serotinogenic systems in the brain have been carried out several times, and recent evidence links MDMA usage with long-term memory impairment. And these are what you call the softer drugs!
On the other hand, alcohol and cigarettes which are legal are amongst the leading causes of death in the U.S. either directly (lung and liver related diseases) or indirectly (drunk driving and second hand smoke).
True, but a) Prohibition didn't work, we tried it before and b) alcohol certainly has medical benefits if consumed in moderation. Drugs don't. I will admit that tobacco is evil however, but it is a necessary evil to many farmers.
Point me to some studies showing the medical benefits of drugs if you can. And not ones conducted by fronts for organisations like NORML which advocate making drugs available to everyone.
No, the war on drugs is expensive because there's money to be made off of it by our nations politicians and their croneys. This nation has a habit of declaring "war" on the most mindless shit in order to drum up public support. Since drugs are an emotionaly charged topic they get draged up around election time every year.
Are you really this paranoid about your Government? Whilst the X-Files was fairly enjoyable to watch, it has to be remembered that it was a work of fiction, and not a documentary on the secret workings of those in power.
Drugs are an emotionally charged subject because they kill people. It's as simple as that. Guns are also an emotionally charged subject because they kill people.
Fundamentaly the Drug problem represents a choice that this country must make. The people clamor for the government to "protect" them from this menace, but how?
Quite simply by ensuring that sentances are tough enough to make people think twice. People like Rockerfeller tried, but various liberals have been attempting to thwart such valiant efforts, making the penalties disproportional to the crime.
Singapore doesn't have hardly any drug use after all. So much for those that say harsh punishments don't work.
In short, you must choose between your freedom as it currently exists, or a drug free society.
I want to be free to raise my children without having to have them exposed to drugs. Simple as that.
What on Earth have you been smoking Roblimo? What makes you think that the War on Drugs is nothing more than a silly game? For the millions of people whose families have been torn apart through the destructive nature of drugs, trivializing their plight is hardly sensitive is it?
Yes, the War on Drugs is expensive, but that's because drugs are so addictive that people can't seem to stop taking them. It takes a firm commitment on the part of the US for us to make any progress, and indeed progress has been made over the last few years, with the rates of drug use amongst high schoolers dropping each year. Suggesting that this is is a waste of time is tantamount to saying that these children should be taking drugs!
If we let up in any way, the rampant use of drugs will be seen to be accepted, and children, always willing to try new things, will invariably become addicted to the filthy wares peddled by the drugmongers outside schools and playgrounds. And if you think this would never happen in your lovely suberb, think again. Already the latest drug to hit our youth, ecstacy, is striking hardest in white, middle class areas where drug addiction and the downwards spiral was previously unknown.
The only danger is sending out the wrong message. Drugs kill, and anyone advocating their use is little better than a killer.
Jesus, why on Earth can't these people charge for a timely and useful service they provide to people? Is there really anything wrong with... making money! Come on, this isn't Cuba people, and providing a service, especially a real-time service like bug notifications and security updates that require significant technical expertise, cost money to run. Technical people do seem to need large sums of cash before they'll move their pizza-bloated backsides after all.
And as for the complaining about delayed advisories. Simply put, CERT spend their time validating what they produce rather than posting at the first opportunity. This is why they are the top resource for security people online, and why amateur offerings like BugTraq don't get the same recognition from serious organisations.
Honestly, shame on/. for running such a biased story slamming CERT. We're in a free market economy, and expecting things for free is tantamount to socialism. And we all know how that has worked, don't we:)
Wow, thanks for that information. Are you an idiot? Did you read any of the information posted in the links provided with this article? No, of course not. You just spouted crap.
In future, you might want to keep your mouth shut. It'll save everyone hassle.
This isn't really against the laws of physics of course:) Basically if you've ever done any electromagnetism then you'll have heard of the right-hand rule which governs the interactions of the electric and magnetic fields and the directions of their wave velocities. But for this new class of composite materials we instead get a left-hand rule, meaning that Snell's law (which governs the change of angel caused by the change of velocity of EM radiation through materials) is essentially reversed...
The really unusual thing about these materials is that they exhibit negative electric permittivity and negative magnetic permeability, never seen before in any material. There are sure to be plenty of interesting applications to follow.
This is great! I was on team Team 190 with the Mass Academy for Math and Science (along with WPI) for two years during high school... the program was a blast, and we traveled to the New England and Mid Atlantic regionals and the finals, both years... it was a phenomenal experience, and was a total blast
I've missed out on seeing the competitions since I came to college in '98, and might be attending the Great Lakes regional in Ypsilanti, MI (I go to college in Ann Arbor) next weekend... having this on RealVideo is awesome! I hope someone brings the bright idea to Epcot in April so I can watch the finals. =)
More ideas that came to me... oh, also... one of the best games I've ever played was 'TRACON', where you took the role of an air traffic controller in a regional TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach CONtrol) in LA, NY, or any of tons of other regions (available as expansion maps). You were armed with nothing more than your scope and a set of commands that you could issue to aircraft. Certainly, one of the most addictive and engaging games I've ever played... and it ran on an 286 DOS PC with a VGA card.
Some other nifty possible games...
TERROR: a multiplayer (or vs. AI) game where you create your own terrorist network, including managing cells, and Making Your Point. Individual terrorist nets being controlled by different players then battle for some purpose on a fearful and unsuspecting public. Consult with some real terrorist researchers for technical details, and make it as real as possible.
POL: You're the campaign manager for a politician attempting to sway public opinion and get elected. Deal with marital infidelity, character assassination, real assassination, and fickle public opinion.
SNIPER: You play the role of a Navy SEAL team countersniper. You're given an assignment, as a scout, an assassination, or as support for an assault. You must work with your spotter (or, have a gameplay mode where you *are* the spotter, working with the sniper) to stalk, deceive, survive, and succeed.
INFERNO: First-Person firefighting game. You start off in training, running hose, doing drills. As you get better, you're put onto real duty. Your rank in the Fire Department goes up, the buildings get tougher. Scenarios could include a chemical factory, high-rise apartment building, or Detroit on Hell Night.
When a bunch of people came out with "Kha0S Linux", I got lots of contact from people on IRC and elsewhere... I just took it in stride, and made sure that everyone knew that I wasn't the writer of it.
Oh, except for a few people. I pretended I wrote it and told them that I had special anti-lamer code that would destroy their hard drive if they tried to install it.
... and only by the good graces of folks like Jay Estabrook at DEC did it manage to stay in decent condition. I've become so frustrated with Linux/Alpha and its instabilities (including utterly broken IPv6 and major toolchain issues) that I moved to NetBSD/Alpha a little over a week ago. It's been wonderful.
I'd suggest that unhappy PPC people do the same. You'll find the NetBSD community to be a lot more responsive to issues with portability, and are on top of bugs very quickly.
first off, I agree... the game was weak. the so-called "matrix-style" graphics were weaker. however, they were a step... about 70 more cameras, better tracking, and a little bit of tweening, and it'd be much better.
as far as the commercials were concerned, my favorites:
1. eTrade ghost-town of dead.com's
- the pets.com puppet made me fall off the couch with laughter
2. EDS "running of the squirrels"
- weren't these the same guys who did the cowboy cat round-up a year or two ago?
3. Budweiser's yuppies
- I'll be getting a lot of mileage with "how are you doing!"
4. Volkswagen's car-stuck-in-tree
- it was silly. 'nuff said.
5. Snickers and the satisfyingly crushable "voodoo dolls"
- your sister is pretty. and it happens to lots of guys.
all told, the commercials were decent, but not incredible. someone had better give the guys on madison ave. a good kick in the arse.
Re:Screw Katz ... I LIKED Antitrust!
on
Antitrust
·
· Score: 2
Again, totally agreed.
Look -- if Hollywood came out with a true, straight up, accurate portrayal of anything in computers, whether it be open source, system cracking, or anything else, it will be a four hour long pile of boring drivel that I sure as hell wouldn't want to sit through.
It's fun to live vicariously through the eyes of Hollywood -- Bill Gates Could Be Watching You! You might, someday, screw over a company like Microsoft and make a contribution to the world! Someday, every geek will be accompanied by a beautiful mate who loves him or her very much!
Until then, we can all only live our own little worlds, where we might have one or two of the above. Lighten up. Enjoy it as a movie, not as a screenplay generated from a Stephen Levy book.
Katz, get your head out of your ass.
on
Antitrust
·
· Score: 1
Okay, I went to see this movie with two fellow computer enthusiasts. We went in expecting a pile of pointless, inaccurate drivel. We left laughing, impressed by the technical accuracy, and generally entertained. My friend Ryan and I have been making NURV jokes all week.
Point being? Have some fun, fer chrissakes. You seem to expect every movie to be an Oliver Stone epic (his recent Any Given Sunday excluded) worthy of an Oscar. The fact is, this movie won't win any awards. It certainly won't further the careers of any of the acting talent. What it *will* do is earn a spot next to my copy of Hackers on my video rack, vying for the humorous foil to other entertaining computer flicks like Sneakers on nights of gathering with other geeks.
This might be blasphemy, around here, but screw it -- I had more fun watching this than I did watching The Matrix.
... or, sabotaging his competitors. Katz has put a link up to the downloadable file without the pay-interface -- why? Not out of any altruistic intent, I can guarantee -- he's personally attempting to sabotage King's attempts.
Why?
If Big Publishing(tm) died, what would Katz have to bitch about? He'd be out of a job.
Way to go, Jon... sacrificing an interesting experiment for your own greedy ends.
As long as trusted systems are evaluated in a many-month long process as defined in the Red Book (NCSC Trusted Systems Evaluation Criteria), most Open Source OS's will continue to fall, simply because they cannot afford to have the testing or certification performed.
What we really have to remember is that Open Source OS's simply don't have the features that the trusted system evaluation criteria dictate -- it has nothing to do with whether or not they're secure in practice, but has *everything* to do with if they're secure in theory, such that a poor implementation can't break the security model.
Memory that's segmented in hardware such that even increasing your process priveleges doesn't allow access to the memory space of another process? Filesystems that log every transaction (including read/stat operations)? Systems that log every system call reliably, in an untamperable state? These are the features of government critically evaluated trusted systems, and until Open Source OS's support them, we shouldn't gripe. =)
The Internet has brought totally new versions of business, entertainment, and information exchange to the world -- and the algorithms that help run it are certainly some of the most influential ones in existence. Such as:
1) TCP algorithms -- Reno? Tahoe? Any of the algorithms that help keep our packets flowing have helped the network flourish as a reliable means for getting packets from Here to There.
2) Dijkstra's Shortest Path -- Everyone's favorite link state routing protocols use Dijkstra's algorithm to get your packets from Here to There as quickly and reliably as possible. It's helped make the Internet scalable and reliable enough for real work to get done.
These are just the first few that popped into my sleep-deprived brain -- I'm sure that the initiated reader could merely read through their nearest TCP reference (I suggest Comer's texts...) and get a real idea for some of the most important algorithms around today, even if some uppity article doesn't acknowledge them.
I'm a student at the University of Michigan, and I write code for our CAVE here in the Virtual Reality Lab... CAVE's have been around for many years, especially in educational institutions (UIC and UIUC have had CAVEs for at least 5 years). Yes, you can play Quake in it. Yes, it's damned immersive. Unfortunately, the display takes an SGI Onyx2 with at *least* 2 InfiniteReality pipes to drive it -- US$500,000 worth of hardware on top of the already expensive price of actually getting a CAVE built and aligned by a company like Pyramid Systems.
Slashdot Mirror
your comment on the resolution of CD access is not true. There is a frame boundary on a CD, and each frame/sector is 1/75th of a second, giving you a timing resolution of that size.
d ro m/95x8.htm
See a good explanation of the data format at:
http://www.ee.washington.edu/conselec/CE/kuhn/c
/Andrew
You could just carry a small dish and do packet digipeating off of one of the amsats... though, since they're LEOs, you won't have much time... but it's free! =P
/Andrew
heh... I was the guy in the 2600 shirt.
good assessment of the hearing... I agree, and think that Ford will indeed get the injunction.
one important, and somewhat reassuring, element of the hearing was that Judge Cleland was able to distill the essence of the argument to one of whether or not a hyperlink constitutes an implicit attribution or commercial agreement with the linked-to party. this is a double edged sword -- if the injunction is granted, it risks setting up a precedent for further restriction of hyperlinks in future cases unless the judicial opinion is challenged successfully in an appeals court.
finally, it seemed to me that Ford's lawyers were presenting evidence that strongly supported a defamation argument, one which they were NOT MAKING, as they lack sufficient evidence to prove it. On the other hand, they are pursuing a seemingly inapplicable argument on the grounds of trademark dilution and false attribution which the evidence poorly supports, but requires a lower burden of proof than a defamation or slander accusation.
after chatting with Eric Grimm (2600's hired counsel) on the way back from lunch in greektown, I was impressed at his comfort with technical concepts and the nuances and subtleties of the technical aspects of the case. I think that with a little more time for preparation (as many of the early papers were rushed due to Ford's late notice), he's got the wherewithal to present a solid, strong case to prevent this from moving beyond a preliminary injunction.
cheers...
/Andrew
I am incredibly shocked by the loss a man who wrote the seminal works in satire and science fiction. The Hitchhiker books were incredibly formative in my younger years, and it completely amazes me to hear that he has passed on.
Truly, 42 seconds of silence should be taken in his memory.
But, as with all other grieving processes, we will need to move on. Sure, read HHGttG once again in memoriam, but I would urge you all to continue on with another wonderful writer... although I don't believe that they were ever friends, Terry Pratchett has the same witty, sharp, satiric edge with which Adams captured the minds of his readers.
Celebrate Adams, and even moreso, celebrate the wonderful literature from those crazy Brits.
This is certainly a sad day, but it should be one that we all can take blessing in that Adams gave to us for much of his life, and we should celebrate the others who do similar sacrifice for the entertainment of others.
/Andrew
IIRC, at some point the words "intercourse" and "discourse" had the reverse meanings in English, but they then swapped for some reason.
Recent NIDA studies have shown the immense addictive potential of marijuana, as well as the long-term health risks through the highly carcinogenic makeup of marijuana. Studies showing damage to the serotinogenic systems in the brain have been carried out several times, and recent evidence links MDMA usage with long-term memory impairment. And these are what you call the softer drugs!
On the other hand, alcohol and cigarettes which are legal are amongst the leading causes of death in the U.S. either directly (lung and liver related diseases) or indirectly (drunk driving and second hand smoke).
True, but a) Prohibition didn't work, we tried it before and b) alcohol certainly has medical benefits if consumed in moderation. Drugs don't. I will admit that tobacco is evil however, but it is a necessary evil to many farmers.
Point me to some studies showing the medical benefits of drugs if you can. And not ones conducted by fronts for organisations like NORML which advocate making drugs available to everyone.
No, the war on drugs is expensive because there's money to be made off of it by our nations politicians and their croneys. This nation has a habit of declaring "war" on the most mindless shit in order to drum up public support. Since drugs are an emotionaly charged topic they get draged up around election time every year.
Are you really this paranoid about your Government? Whilst the X-Files was fairly enjoyable to watch, it has to be remembered that it was a work of fiction, and not a documentary on the secret workings of those in power.
Drugs are an emotionally charged subject because they kill people. It's as simple as that. Guns are also an emotionally charged subject because they kill people.
Fundamentaly the Drug problem represents a choice that this country must make. The people clamor for the government to "protect" them from this menace, but how?
Quite simply by ensuring that sentances are tough enough to make people think twice. People like Rockerfeller tried, but various liberals have been attempting to thwart such valiant efforts, making the penalties disproportional to the crime.
Singapore doesn't have hardly any drug use after all. So much for those that say harsh punishments don't work.
In short, you must choose between your freedom as it currently exists, or a drug free society.
I want to be free to raise my children without having to have them exposed to drugs. Simple as that.
What on Earth have you been smoking Roblimo? What makes you think that the War on Drugs is nothing more than a silly game? For the millions of people whose families have been torn apart through the destructive nature of drugs, trivializing their plight is hardly sensitive is it?
Yes, the War on Drugs is expensive, but that's because drugs are so addictive that people can't seem to stop taking them. It takes a firm commitment on the part of the US for us to make any progress, and indeed progress has been made over the last few years, with the rates of drug use amongst high schoolers dropping each year. Suggesting that this is is a waste of time is tantamount to saying that these children should be taking drugs!
If we let up in any way, the rampant use of drugs will be seen to be accepted, and children, always willing to try new things, will invariably become addicted to the filthy wares peddled by the drugmongers outside schools and playgrounds. And if you think this would never happen in your lovely suberb, think again. Already the latest drug to hit our youth, ecstacy, is striking hardest in white, middle class areas where drug addiction and the downwards spiral was previously unknown.
The only danger is sending out the wrong message. Drugs kill, and anyone advocating their use is little better than a killer.
Jesus, why on Earth can't these people charge for a timely and useful service they provide to people? Is there really anything wrong with... making money! Come on, this isn't Cuba people, and providing a service, especially a real-time service like bug notifications and security updates that require significant technical expertise, cost money to run. Technical people do seem to need large sums of cash before they'll move their pizza-bloated backsides after all.
And as for the complaining about delayed advisories. Simply put, CERT spend their time validating what they produce rather than posting at the first opportunity. This is why they are the top resource for security people online, and why amateur offerings like BugTraq don't get the same recognition from serious organisations.
Honestly, shame on /. for running such a biased story slamming CERT. We're in a free market economy, and expecting things for free is tantamount to socialism. And we all know how that has worked, don't we :)
Wow, thanks for that information. Are you an idiot? Did you read any of the information posted in the links provided with this article? No, of course not. You just spouted crap.
In future, you might want to keep your mouth shut. It'll save everyone hassle.
This isn't really against the laws of physics of course :) Basically if you've ever done any electromagnetism then you'll have heard of the right-hand rule which governs the interactions of the electric and magnetic fields and the directions of their wave velocities. But for this new class of composite materials we instead get a left-hand rule, meaning that Snell's law (which governs the change of angel caused by the change of velocity of EM radiation through materials) is essentially reversed...
The really unusual thing about these materials is that they exhibit negative electric permittivity and negative magnetic permeability, never seen before in any material. There are sure to be plenty of interesting applications to follow.
This is great! I was on team Team 190 with the Mass Academy for Math and Science (along with WPI) for two years during high school... the program was a blast, and we traveled to the New England and Mid Atlantic regionals and the finals, both years... it was a phenomenal experience, and was a total blast
I've missed out on seeing the competitions since I came to college in '98, and might be attending the Great Lakes regional in Ypsilanti, MI (I go to college in Ann Arbor) next weekend... having this on RealVideo is awesome! I hope someone brings the bright idea to Epcot in April so I can watch the finals. =)
... a few weeks ago, a guy I knew was arraigned in Livonia, MI via videoconference.
More ideas that came to me... oh, also... one of the best games I've ever played was 'TRACON', where you took the role of an air traffic controller in a regional TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach CONtrol) in LA, NY, or any of tons of other regions (available as expansion maps). You were armed with nothing more than your scope and a set of commands that you could issue to aircraft. Certainly, one of the most addictive and engaging games I've ever played... and it ran on an 286 DOS PC with a VGA card.
Some other nifty possible games...
TERROR: a multiplayer (or vs. AI) game where you create your own terrorist network, including managing cells, and Making Your Point. Individual terrorist nets being controlled by different players then battle for some purpose on a fearful and unsuspecting public. Consult with some real terrorist researchers for technical details, and make it as real as possible.
POL: You're the campaign manager for a politician attempting to sway public opinion and get elected. Deal with marital infidelity, character assassination, real assassination, and fickle public opinion.
SNIPER: You play the role of a Navy SEAL team countersniper. You're given an assignment, as a scout, an assassination, or as support for an assault. You must work with your spotter (or, have a gameplay mode where you *are* the spotter, working with the sniper) to stalk, deceive, survive, and succeed.
INFERNO: First-Person firefighting game. You start off in training, running hose, doing drills. As you get better, you're put onto real duty. Your rank in the Fire Department goes up, the buildings get tougher. Scenarios could include a chemical factory, high-rise apartment building, or Detroit on Hell Night.
Next time your boss has you deploying a machine, put on your best Sean Connery accent, "I think the scherver needsch juscht a little SecSH!"
When a bunch of people came out with "Kha0S Linux", I got lots of contact from people on IRC and elsewhere... I just took it in stride, and made sure that everyone knew that I wasn't the writer of it.
Oh, except for a few people. I pretended I wrote it and told them that I had special anti-lamer code that would destroy their hard drive if they tried to install it.
Snicker.
... and only by the good graces of folks like Jay Estabrook at DEC did it manage to stay in decent condition. I've become so frustrated with Linux/Alpha and its instabilities (including utterly broken IPv6 and major toolchain issues) that I moved to NetBSD/Alpha a little over a week ago. It's been wonderful.
I'd suggest that unhappy PPC people do the same. You'll find the NetBSD community to be a lot more responsive to issues with portability, and are on top of bugs very quickly.
first off, I agree... the game was weak. the so-called "matrix-style" graphics were weaker. however, they were a step... about 70 more cameras, better tracking, and a little bit of tweening, and it'd be much better.
.com's
as far as the commercials were concerned, my favorites:
1. eTrade ghost-town of dead
- the pets.com puppet made me fall off the couch with laughter
2. EDS "running of the squirrels"
- weren't these the same guys who did the cowboy cat round-up a year or two ago?
3. Budweiser's yuppies
- I'll be getting a lot of mileage with "how are you doing!"
4. Volkswagen's car-stuck-in-tree
- it was silly. 'nuff said.
5. Snickers and the satisfyingly crushable "voodoo dolls"
- your sister is pretty. and it happens to lots of guys.
all told, the commercials were decent, but not incredible. someone had better give the guys on madison ave. a good kick in the arse.
Again, totally agreed.
Look -- if Hollywood came out with a true, straight up, accurate portrayal of anything in computers, whether it be open source, system cracking, or anything else, it will be a four hour long pile of boring drivel that I sure as hell wouldn't want to sit through.
It's fun to live vicariously through the eyes of Hollywood -- Bill Gates Could Be Watching You! You might, someday, screw over a company like Microsoft and make a contribution to the world! Someday, every geek will be accompanied by a beautiful mate who loves him or her very much!
Until then, we can all only live our own little worlds, where we might have one or two of the above. Lighten up. Enjoy it as a movie, not as a screenplay generated from a Stephen Levy book.
Okay, I went to see this movie with two fellow computer enthusiasts. We went in expecting a pile of pointless, inaccurate drivel. We left laughing, impressed by the technical accuracy, and generally entertained. My friend Ryan and I have been making NURV jokes all week.
Point being? Have some fun, fer chrissakes. You seem to expect every movie to be an Oliver Stone epic (his recent Any Given Sunday excluded) worthy of an Oscar. The fact is, this movie won't win any awards. It certainly won't further the careers of any of the acting talent. What it *will* do is earn a spot next to my copy of Hackers on my video rack, vying for the humorous foil to other entertaining computer flicks like Sneakers on nights of gathering with other geeks.
This might be blasphemy, around here, but screw it -- I had more fun watching this than I did watching The Matrix.
You're quite right -- I made the mistake of thinking that it was Katz based purely on the concepts tucked into the fold.
My apologies to Katz and his minions -- my mistake.
/Andrew
... or, sabotaging his competitors. Katz has put a link up to the downloadable file without the pay-interface -- why? Not out of any altruistic intent, I can guarantee -- he's personally attempting to sabotage King's attempts.
Why?
If Big Publishing(tm) died, what would Katz have to bitch about? He'd be out of a job.
Way to go, Jon... sacrificing an interesting experiment for your own greedy ends.
As long as trusted systems are evaluated in a many-month long process as defined in the Red Book (NCSC Trusted Systems Evaluation Criteria), most Open Source OS's will continue to fall, simply because they cannot afford to have the testing or certification performed.
What we really have to remember is that Open Source OS's simply don't have the features that the trusted system evaluation criteria dictate -- it has nothing to do with whether or not they're secure in practice, but has *everything* to do with if they're secure in theory, such that a poor implementation can't break the security model.
Memory that's segmented in hardware such that even increasing your process priveleges doesn't allow access to the memory space of another process? Filesystems that log every transaction (including read/stat operations)? Systems that log every system call reliably, in an untamperable state? These are the features of government critically evaluated trusted systems, and until Open Source OS's support them, we shouldn't gripe. =)
The Internet has brought totally new versions of business, entertainment, and information exchange to the world -- and the algorithms that help run it are certainly some of the most influential ones in existence. Such as:
1) TCP algorithms -- Reno? Tahoe? Any of the algorithms that help keep our packets flowing have helped the network flourish as a reliable means for getting packets from Here to There.
2) Dijkstra's Shortest Path -- Everyone's favorite link state routing protocols use Dijkstra's algorithm to get your packets from Here to There as quickly and reliably as possible. It's helped make the Internet scalable and reliable enough for real work to get done.
These are just the first few that popped into my sleep-deprived brain -- I'm sure that the initiated reader could merely read through their nearest TCP reference (I suggest Comer's texts...) and get a real idea for some of the most important algorithms around today, even if some uppity article doesn't acknowledge them.
I'm a student at the University of Michigan, and I write code for our CAVE here in the Virtual Reality Lab... CAVE's have been around for many years, especially in educational institutions (UIC and UIUC have had CAVEs for at least 5 years). Yes, you can play Quake in it. Yes, it's damned immersive. Unfortunately, the display takes an SGI Onyx2 with at *least* 2 InfiniteReality pipes to drive it -- US$500,000 worth of hardware on top of the already expensive price of actually getting a CAVE built and aligned by a company like Pyramid Systems.
/Andrew