I've been known to sit outside, under a tree, with the dog running around and a laptop on my lap, and get some work done.
However, since I live in Minnesota, I won't be doing that for the next 4-5 months.
You can go to a Starbucks, pay the $2-$4 they charge for a drink and nurse it for hours and hours. It's not really that big a deal.
Yeah, that's true--they'll even refill it within a half an hour (cough*fill a thermos*cough) But some nice guy came in to my Starbucks and was surprised to find out that the hotspots aren't free, they're for T-Mobile customers only. So not just do you have to buy stuff there, you have to also pay T-Mobile!
Or you can go to a library. Libraries are also awesome. Being surrounded by books... well, maybe that's just me (:
Yeah, libraries are nice places. But for surfing the web, most have strict computer policies so all the elementary school kids don't spend hours on Neopets, the middle school kids don't spend hours playing games, the high school kids don't spend hours on AIM, and the adults don't spend hours surfing porn or harassing little kids.
Try getting a wireless access point, a chair, and a card table and sit outside and get some fresh air, if you don't want to walk around all day or spend your life's fortune on triple grande mocha decaf latte-chinos.
I was just thinking to use it more for troll filtering and such. But that's a really good idea. Maybe if it has multiple moderations, put it in a bucket once for each time; for example, if a message is moderated +3 Interesting and -1 Redundant (see mine above) it would be put 3 times into the Interesting bucket and once into the Redundant bucket.
Someone should make a program that when you ask it to, downloads a story (showing all comments and with the number per page at max so it doesn't have to spider and piss off slashcode) and splits the comments into -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "buckets" and creates a spam filter. Then, you can apply it to other stories. Sorting by topic would be good, since saying Windows in an Apple story has a good chance of being a flame (or maybe a comparison), but saying it in a story about Longhorn [sucks] probably is less important.
However, it seems like one of the big things in Longhorn will be the WinFS--which I understand to the the database-as-a-filesystem.
Not a new idea. MS will be the first to try to put it into a popular OS, though.
I'm prettty sure that PalmOS qualifies as a popular OS. It uses a database as a file system, and in my opinion it works amazingly well.
Sorta. It keeps a normal file system, but until recently the "files" were databases. Given the power of the original Palms, it was a necessity for applications to be able to efficiently access data, and, given the applications the Palm ran, databases were a good match. (One notable exception is the Memo Pad, which is stuck with a 4K limit due to this format, which can be frustrating [but can be fixed with a Doc editor].) Recently they have introduced a File Stream API, which allows software to create "regular" files.
Personally, I think the solution to all of this is for someone to write a shell application that doesn't replace the normal OS shell, but just runs as an application. The ability to assign keywords and other metadata to files, or have it detected automatically, would be the main source of data. Customization to allow it to create, open, print, and understand any format of file (by launching the program in some cases) would allow it to at least understand the "tasks" you might want to perform; the way it presents them could be user-customizable. An included set of file type descriptions would allow it to find all your files and allow you to work with them without having to put in the locations of all your programs.
An application called Chandler implements an organization system similar to Lotus Agenda, which was a free-form database which allowed (among gazillions of other features) the storage of snippets of text in any number of locations on a hierarchical tree. It also allowed you to create categories as if they were fields: in a view of contacts, you could add a column named Company, and when you enter a value, it would create a category for that, which could also be used for other information about the company. It also had a text-matching system that allowed it to pick out keywords in a piece of text and use the context around that word as a category or something else.
Side note: I actually once wrote a program for my TI-89 that was basically a small memo pad with a list of categories. When a second program was run and the calculator was given a couple minutes, it would update a word frequency list with any newly-categorized memos, and that information would be available to the memo pad. Once enough information had accumulated, it would select a few consistently representative words and put them in a separate list, so the memo pad program itself would categorize a memo when you close it if you hadn't yet.
I could really use something like this, since making deep directory structures and navigating them like a maze is not my idea of fun.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but does this just take the energy from the ground of a component and pull it back into a power source? Couldn't you just do this by putting a capacitor on the ground and switching to it occasionally instead of... (train of thought derailed) So it basically takes electricity and pushes it between a capacitor and a circuit? That's clever, but I thought the heat just came from all the electricity "moving around" so much--won't this just make it move back in the same direction instead of to ground? And, if done right, couldn't this make really energy-efficient processors? And if you made a multi-processor system where one processor runs off positive voltage and the other runs of negative voltage, could you wire this up to be *really* efficient?
Disclaimer: This is my first and only router, and I haven't used any others!
Personally, I have a Microsoft "Wired Base Station" (i.e. router) model MN-110. It's pretty nice--there are no annoying redirects--but other things too.
The configuration screens are easy to use, but remember a few years ago when someone figured out that Microsoft browsers and servers collaborate in ignoring the TCP/IP protocol? Well, I have an inkling the router does so. When I view pages in Mozilla, they refresh a second time, showing "Content-type: text/html" in the upper-left corner. Either way, it's still easy to use, and pretty good feature-wise.
There are port-forwarding features, pretty simple, except you can't redirect to a different port, i.e. if you map external port 80 to a box, it has to go to that box's port 80. Not much of a problem. There's also application-triggered port forwarding, which opens certain inbound ports when an outbound connection is made. Personally, I don't see a point in this, since most users are too stupid to figure out port forwarding, and if they figure it out, maybe since their firewall software doesn't suck, why would they go to the trouble of figuring out what outbound port the app uses first? Anyway, it's also got rudimentary firewall features and a "Virtual DMZ," which is simply a default port-forwarding setting.
I have no complaints--of course, I will receive several Slashdot-generated emails pointing me to flame-replies about how Microsoft sucks, but it works. And it was $10 cheaper than the Linksys router next to it, and it looks cooler!
I just think BlueTooth could've been great, but its complexity and the lack of certain levels of standards doomed it.
I actually looked at the specs once, thinking maybe it would be interesting. After getting through the actual modulation used, which I didn't care about, I got to the part about establishing connections and stuff. It's horribly complex, and everything seems to be overdone, like someone had a grand vision, but couldn't figure out exactly how to make it work.
My other main problem with it is that it is missing a certain level of standards, which is the set of standards that would define the services a device offers. It does have a mechanism for indicating the type of device to which you are connected, but it seems only enough to pick an icon, not to decide what to actually say.
What it needs is a set of protocols, preferably XML-based, since XML is 31337, that can transfer files, send/receive photos, take pictures, record audio, dial/talk on phone calls, etcetera. These would be organized into a menu on the device, like "Files", "Pictures", "Voice Recorder", "Phone", etcetera, so devices that do some or all of these would simply show a choice (tabs, maybe) for what feature to use.
Yeah, everyone makes Linux-based access points and such that boot off CompactFlash. Why do access points always use CompactFlash but routers use a real disk?
Anyway, most people I know (granted, most geeks know mostly non-geeks) at school use floppy disks. The library sells CD-R's and CD-RW's, but only the smart geeks use those. Apparently, Windows 2000 doesn't automate the CD-burning process in Teletubbies (Windows XP) fashion, so it's "too hard".
Thanks. Most people just say stuff like, "Yeah, go ahead and partition your hard drive without backing it up, just don't breathe the wrong way on the keyboard or it might accidentally pipe/dev/random into the new partition.";-)
Besides, I'm using Knoppix, so it's all in RAM =D.
It's pretty cool being on the computer long enough to get email when people reply and then being able to reply right then. It's like IRC but people spend more time using the letter keys and less time using the ENTER key.
PS: I think Adaptec DirectCD can use CD-RWs as read-write discs. I wouldn't know, though, because I don't use Windows.
Theoretically. Those programs (packet writing in general) are buggy as hell.
Do you know any way (using Linux) to automatically download a tarball at logon from an FTP server and expand it into a user's home directory, then tarball the home directory back up and upload it back at logoff? I want to set something like that up with Knoppix so I can use my personalized Linux system anywhere without toting a second disk. I get 10 MB FTP/web space from Earthlink, so I can keep small stuff in the tarball.
The only reason floppy drives are still around is that they are the only removable drive that doesn't need a driver and can be accessed at the lowest system level. ZIP drives are pretty nice, but they're as slow as floppies, and the bigger size makes filling them impractical. CD drives are great, but need drivers, and, worst, no CD-R/RW drives can treat the disc as a huge read-write device. I want a CD drive that simply shows up as a read-write filesystem.
Oh, I have some great stories to tell about the wonderful NET SEND command...
A couple of years ago, our school got a great new library, with 42 new IBM NetVistas, running Windows 2000. I had noticed the NET command running as part of my logon script, and tried running it. Soon I discovered NET SEND, and after that NET NAME, which, used properly, lets you spoof a user name to receive messages destined for it.
Being the nice person I am, I went and made a map of the computer names in Excel after figuring out the naming pattern ($computer =~/^libx40([abcdefg]0[123456]|s0[123456789])$/). This map was widely distributed, and it contained a small piece of text at the bottom explaining how to use NET SEND. This, in effect, put an "invisible" IM tool into the hands of many students--an IM tool that had no visible window when sending, that disappeared soon after receiving, and--worst of all--couldn't be turned off.
Side Note: Back then, users were allowed to edit their own folders' permissions; i.e., I could create a public folder within my network drive. This meant anyone could access my "file server" by typing \\bls-fp\925582\public into a run box.
Then, being the code poet I am, I coded up a couple of sloppy Microsoft Word macros (later placed in the public folder) that could send messages to multiple people. (This was before I discovered NET SEND *; I discovered that after the school system went citywide, and it was useless after that since the ensuing chaos would certainly get me in trouble--sending a message to the whole city is BAD!) Unfortunately, one of my "friends" started pretending to "stalk" people. It was basically a bad variant of a prank I would play: I would send a message to a few people in a row saying something like "There's gum on your shoe." and watch a row of students look at their shoes in turn. You should have heard their theories as to where the messages came from.
This was fun, and at first it was only between me and some friends, but it started spreading a little too wide, and became a nuisance. Fortunately, there was a critical mass of these maps required to keep NET SEND "working"--if I stopped handing enough out, most people would forget or not know about it, and the problem would be solved.
I did do this, but in the mean time, some kid got suspended (parents got involved--not good for my reputation as NET SEND Wizard!) for harassing another kid with it, and some other "geek" figured out NET SEND *, and proceeded to NET SEND * "Hello, world!" the entire school. It was sorta cool, since the messages last several days and it took a while to wipe the messages away.
Well, that's about it--I only use it now to annoy people or to chat with "smart" people. Anyone else have a similar story?
I'm one of those people--I use telnet to check pop3 mail. Most of the teachers know me and understand my mad 'leet skillz (I wish...), but most people think "console = hacking".
No, it was one of the old Pentium's with the floating point bug.
Re:This is old news, here's the original
on
Can You Raed Tihs?
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· Score: 1
Does anybody know if they type these transcripts live?
It depends on the show.
Live segments, like "breaking news" or "on location" stories, are usually captioned as they run. Other parts, like the overview of stories, are sometimes captioned live, and sometimes captioned with the text on the teleprompter. The latter is called Electronic Newsroom (ENR) captioning and is notorious for leaving in phrases like "Toss " which tells who talks next.
The reason captions have errors like that is that captioners actually use stenographic keyboards instead of real computer keyboards. These keyboards allow them to type a whole syllable by presing 2-4 keys at once, but they are phonetic; there is a K key and an S key, but no C key. (There are actually three sets of keys: consonants on the left, vowels in the middle, and consonants on the right; This allows them to type a whole syllable.) The output from the keyboard is sent to a laptop computer running software that can match a steady stream of syllables with a word list and figure out that and/now/the/we/ther is "And now the weather". Errors like "Loss Alamos" occur when the captioner didn't have the word "Los" programmed in the dictionary. Usually they have a chance to add words before a job to prepare for any unusual words used, but sometimes they don't have time, they forget, or the computer picks the wrong word.
So you're talking about ISP's, many notorious for telco-like fee-per-computer-online behavior (Earthlink has a fee-based home networking system, and they won't support you at all if you get your own router) giving customers more than 1 IPv6 address? Either the standard has to end up giving each user a 256-sized block of addresses, or something like that, without a fee, or it's going to end up NATted, since nobody wants to buy multiple IP addresses.
I'm not sure if you're thinking about Lego Mindstorms, which is a graphical language. (You drag blocks together to form a flow chart-esque diagram of the program.) You could also tell them about the FIRST Lego League, which is a yearly contest where students are given a challenge and have to build and program a Lego robot to follow it.
I know in fifth grade I would have soaked up any language you could have shown me, but my account on Slashdot proves most people would do the opposite. If you have a while, you could show the fifth graders how to write a rock, paper, scissors game, but you've gotta have a short-range goal for them that is worth the effort, or it won't be fun.
Oh my god, this is really starting to scare me, I'm having a logical discussion on Slashdot! Bring in the men with the white coats...
RTFA
I did
Sorry, didn't mean to be rude.
...it's for keeping people from reading the tags after you buy something, not to let you shoplift!
Yes, but how do you tell the anti-tags not to work in stores?
Just as people can hear a pirate radio station that's broadcasting over a legitimate station, stores could have a system that sets off an alarm if it receives a jammed signal. If all it hears is the jammer, you're fine, but if it hears the jammer mixed with another signal, it sets off the alarm. It is a problem with this. However, the "old" kind of antitheft tags could be used insetad--RFID is better (IMHO) for identification and not anti-theft.
So if I go and buy two FRS radios and have them jam each other, do I have to sue myself?
You don't sue anybody, you've broken a federal law. If you turn yourself in, the FCC may want to chat.
In theory, this is true, but the FCC has many other things to worry about. But, legally, can the FCC really sue/fine you for messing with your own radio signals? Wouldn't it be a bit illogical, and a waste of time? IANAL, I don't know, can anyone quote the FCC rules and regs?
However, jamming RFID tags means transmitting a jamming signal in response to a tag reader to make the responses from other tags in your personal space unreadable. This can't really be compared to jamming radar guns at all, since police and security system owners have a legal right to check the speed your car is moving or see if someone is breaking in, but nobody (except storeowners, this will be illegal when used to shoplift) has the legal right to read an RFID tag--there's nothing to stop them, but there's no law that says you can't return gibberish.
...or are you saying it's not interfering with anybody else's receiver, just your own?
No, I'm saying that it only blocks receivers reading tags nearby, it doesn't try to wipe out signals to all RFID receivers in a 300-foot radius or something. It only blocks specific tags from being read.
Also, what would you say to wrapping RFID tags in aluminum foil? Is that legal? It serves the same purpose. (Disclaimer, don't use this idea to shoplift)
Your disclaimer speaks volumes against your entire argument. Shoplifters love privacy. So do terrorists. Ergo, if you want privacy, you must be a shoplifting terrorist.
That's true... Most people, especially those in authority, picture everyone as their worst possible self, unless they make campaign contributions. My point wasn't that wrapping RFID tags in aluminum foil is a good thing to do, especially for nefarious purposes, but that there are other ways to achieve privacy without jamming signals.
However, jamming RFID tags means transmitting a jamming signal in response to a tag reader to make the responses from other tags in your personal space unreadable. This can't really be compared to jamming radar guns at all, since police and security system owners have a legal right to check the speed your car is moving or see if someone is breaking in, but nobody (except storeowners, this will be illegal when used to shoplift) has the legal right to read an RFID tag--there's nothing to stop them, but there's no law that says you can't return gibberish.
I'd say a pretty good case could be made that the return signal is part of the original radio communication. I'd also say that you're going to start seeing shrink wrap license type things where you're only licensing, not owning, the RFID tag, just to prevent the sole possible defense
RTFA, it's for keeping people from reading the tags after you buy something, not to let you shoplift!
You'll be intentionally jamming radio transmissions.
So if I go and buy two FRS radios and have them jam each other, do I have to sue myself? It would be another tag that generates interference only when read so people can't read the tags. It's not to prevent others from using the technology for their own uses, or to jam receivers everywhere. It's a privacy issue! Also, what would you say to wrapping RFID tags in aluminum foil? Is that legal? It serves the same purpose. (Disclaimer, don't use this idea to shoplift)
If you get caught with a jammer for police radar, you are screwed.
You're not blocking someone else's traffic. To continue your radar gun example... by transmitting radar signals back, you are jamming their receivers, but the signal they are trying to hear is theirs, so you are preventing them from hearing a signal they transmitted. However, jamming RFID tags means transmitting a jamming signal in response to a tag reader to make the responses from other tags in your personal space unreadable. This can't really be compared to jamming radar guns at all, since police and security system owners have a legal right to check the speed your car is moving or see if someone is breaking in, but nobody (except storeowners, this will be illegal when used to shoplift) has the legal right to read an RFID tag--there's nothing to stop them, but there's no law that says you can't return gibberish.
...who benefits from RFID?
Many people! Not just the stores that get lower prices, but the people to whom those lower prices are (hopefully) passed on, and then can get useful information out of it. Take, for example, the classic RFID scenario: the fridge that keeps your shopping list up-to-date and warns you of ancient food, and the microwave that reads cooking instructions off of food. This is obviously helping the consumer.
Who benefits from blocking RFID?
Both sides, again! By making it clear that the creators of this technology and others are dealing with the privacy issue, it is less likely to get rejected by consumers. Take, again, for example, another privacy question: Can someone with an RFID tag walk by you and read the ID of medication bottles you carry, or see if a briefcase or such is a cheap imitation or if it is a good thing to steal from you? By dealing with this issue, the people who will be using these tags in stores will get a better response from consumers.
Please feel free to respond; I'm not trying for -1 Flamebait, just respectfully disagreeing.
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Yeah, that's true--they'll even refill it within a half an hour (cough*fill a thermos*cough) But some nice guy came in to my Starbucks and was surprised to find out that the hotspots aren't free, they're for T-Mobile customers only. So not just do you have to buy stuff there, you have to also pay T-Mobile!
Yeah, libraries are nice places. But for surfing the web, most have strict computer policies so all the elementary school kids don't spend hours on Neopets, the middle school kids don't spend hours playing games, the high school kids don't spend hours on AIM, and the adults don't spend hours surfing porn or harassing little kids.
Dogs are awesome.
Try getting a wireless access point, a chair, and a card table and sit outside and get some fresh air, if you don't want to walk around all day or spend your life's fortune on triple grande mocha decaf latte-chinos.
Yeah, that's true...
I was just thinking to use it more for troll filtering and such. But that's a really good idea. Maybe if it has multiple moderations, put it in a bucket once for each time; for example, if a message is moderated +3 Interesting and -1 Redundant (see mine above) it would be put 3 times into the Interesting bucket and once into the Redundant bucket.
It's an idea...
Someone should make a program that when you ask it to, downloads a story (showing all comments and with the number per page at max so it doesn't have to spider and piss off slashcode) and splits the comments into -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "buckets" and creates a spam filter. Then, you can apply it to other stories. Sorting by topic would be good, since saying Windows in an Apple story has a good chance of being a flame (or maybe a comparison), but saying it in a story about Longhorn [sucks] probably is less important.
Sorta. It keeps a normal file system, but until recently the "files" were databases. Given the power of the original Palms, it was a necessity for applications to be able to efficiently access data, and, given the applications the Palm ran, databases were a good match. (One notable exception is the Memo Pad, which is stuck with a 4K limit due to this format, which can be frustrating [but can be fixed with a Doc editor].) Recently they have introduced a File Stream API, which allows software to create "regular" files.
Personally, I think the solution to all of this is for someone to write a shell application that doesn't replace the normal OS shell, but just runs as an application. The ability to assign keywords and other metadata to files, or have it detected automatically, would be the main source of data. Customization to allow it to create, open, print, and understand any format of file (by launching the program in some cases) would allow it to at least understand the "tasks" you might want to perform; the way it presents them could be user-customizable. An included set of file type descriptions would allow it to find all your files and allow you to work with them without having to put in the locations of all your programs.
An application called Chandler implements an organization system similar to Lotus Agenda, which was a free-form database which allowed (among gazillions of other features) the storage of snippets of text in any number of locations on a hierarchical tree. It also allowed you to create categories as if they were fields: in a view of contacts, you could add a column named Company, and when you enter a value, it would create a category for that, which could also be used for other information about the company. It also had a text-matching system that allowed it to pick out keywords in a piece of text and use the context around that word as a category or something else.Side note: I actually once wrote a program for my TI-89 that was basically a small memo pad with a list of categories. When a second program was run and the calculator was given a couple minutes, it would update a word frequency list with any newly-categorized memos, and that information would be available to the memo pad. Once enough information had accumulated, it would select a few consistently representative words and put them in a separate list, so the memo pad program itself would categorize a memo when you close it if you hadn't yet.
I could really use something like this, since making deep directory structures and navigating them like a maze is not my idea of fun.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but does this just take the energy from the ground of a component and pull it back into a power source? Couldn't you just do this by putting a capacitor on the ground and switching to it occasionally instead of... (train of thought derailed) So it basically takes electricity and pushes it between a capacitor and a circuit? That's clever, but I thought the heat just came from all the electricity "moving around" so much--won't this just make it move back in the same direction instead of to ground? And, if done right, couldn't this make really energy-efficient processors? And if you made a multi-processor system where one processor runs off positive voltage and the other runs of negative voltage, could you wire this up to be *really* efficient?
Just some ideas, flame/reply away...
Disclaimer: This is my first and only router, and I haven't used any others!
Personally, I have a Microsoft "Wired Base Station" (i.e. router) model MN-110. It's pretty nice--there are no annoying redirects--but other things too.
The configuration screens are easy to use, but remember a few years ago when someone figured out that Microsoft browsers and servers collaborate in ignoring the TCP/IP protocol? Well, I have an inkling the router does so. When I view pages in Mozilla, they refresh a second time, showing "Content-type: text/html" in the upper-left corner. Either way, it's still easy to use, and pretty good feature-wise.
There are port-forwarding features, pretty simple, except you can't redirect to a different port, i.e. if you map external port 80 to a box, it has to go to that box's port 80. Not much of a problem. There's also application-triggered port forwarding, which opens certain inbound ports when an outbound connection is made. Personally, I don't see a point in this, since most users are too stupid to figure out port forwarding, and if they figure it out, maybe since their firewall software doesn't suck, why would they go to the trouble of figuring out what outbound port the app uses first? Anyway, it's also got rudimentary firewall features and a "Virtual DMZ," which is simply a default port-forwarding setting.
I have no complaints--of course, I will receive several Slashdot-generated emails pointing me to flame-replies about how Microsoft sucks, but it works. And it was $10 cheaper than the Linksys router next to it, and it looks cooler!
I just think BlueTooth could've been great, but its complexity and the lack of certain levels of standards doomed it.
I actually looked at the specs once, thinking maybe it would be interesting. After getting through the actual modulation used, which I didn't care about, I got to the part about establishing connections and stuff. It's horribly complex, and everything seems to be overdone, like someone had a grand vision, but couldn't figure out exactly how to make it work.
My other main problem with it is that it is missing a certain level of standards, which is the set of standards that would define the services a device offers. It does have a mechanism for indicating the type of device to which you are connected, but it seems only enough to pick an icon, not to decide what to actually say.
What it needs is a set of protocols, preferably XML-based, since XML is 31337, that can transfer files, send/receive photos, take pictures, record audio, dial/talk on phone calls, etcetera. These would be organized into a menu on the device, like "Files", "Pictures", "Voice Recorder", "Phone", etcetera, so devices that do some or all of these would simply show a choice (tabs, maybe) for what feature to use.
Any ideas?
Yeah, everyone makes Linux-based access points and such that boot off CompactFlash. Why do access points always use CompactFlash but routers use a real disk?
Anyway, most people I know (granted, most geeks know mostly non-geeks) at school use floppy disks. The library sells CD-R's and CD-RW's, but only the smart geeks use those. Apparently, Windows 2000 doesn't automate the CD-burning process in Teletubbies (Windows XP) fashion, so it's "too hard".
Thanks. Most people just say stuff like, "Yeah, go ahead and partition your hard drive without backing it up, just don't breathe the wrong way on the keyboard or it might accidentally pipe /dev/random into the new partition." ;-)
Besides, I'm using Knoppix, so it's all in RAM =D.
It's pretty cool being on the computer long enough to get email when people reply and then being able to reply right then. It's like IRC but people spend more time using the letter keys and less time using the ENTER key.
Theoretically. Those programs (packet writing in general) are buggy as hell.
Do you know any way (using Linux) to automatically download a tarball at logon from an FTP server and expand it into a user's home directory, then tarball the home directory back up and upload it back at logoff? I want to set something like that up with Knoppix so I can use my personalized Linux system anywhere without toting a second disk. I get 10 MB FTP/web space from Earthlink, so I can keep small stuff in the tarball.
The only reason floppy drives are still around is that they are the only removable drive that doesn't need a driver and can be accessed at the lowest system level. ZIP drives are pretty nice, but they're as slow as floppies, and the bigger size makes filling them impractical. CD drives are great, but need drivers, and, worst, no CD-R/RW drives can treat the disc as a huge read-write device. I want a CD drive that simply shows up as a read-write filesystem.
I second that--AdAware (I think) has a trial period, but Spybot is free, and it has some better features.
Oh, I have some great stories to tell about the wonderful NET SEND command...
A couple of years ago, our school got a great new library, with 42 new IBM NetVistas, running Windows 2000. I had noticed the NET command running as part of my logon script, and tried running it. Soon I discovered NET SEND, and after that NET NAME, which, used properly, lets you spoof a user name to receive messages destined for it.
Being the nice person I am, I went and made a map of the computer names in Excel after figuring out the naming pattern ($computer =~ /^libx40([abcdefg]0[123456]|s0[123456789])$/). This map was widely distributed, and it contained a small piece of text at the bottom explaining how to use NET SEND. This, in effect, put an "invisible" IM tool into the hands of many students--an IM tool that had no visible window when sending, that disappeared soon after receiving, and--worst of all--couldn't be turned off.
Side Note: Back then, users were allowed to edit their own folders' permissions; i.e., I could create a public folder within my network drive. This meant anyone could access my "file server" by typing \\bls-fp\925582\public into a run box.
Then, being the code poet I am, I coded up a couple of sloppy Microsoft Word macros (later placed in the public folder) that could send messages to multiple people. (This was before I discovered NET SEND *; I discovered that after the school system went citywide, and it was useless after that since the ensuing chaos would certainly get me in trouble--sending a message to the whole city is BAD!) Unfortunately, one of my "friends" started pretending to "stalk" people. It was basically a bad variant of a prank I would play: I would send a message to a few people in a row saying something like "There's gum on your shoe." and watch a row of students look at their shoes in turn. You should have heard their theories as to where the messages came from.
This was fun, and at first it was only between me and some friends, but it started spreading a little too wide, and became a nuisance. Fortunately, there was a critical mass of these maps required to keep NET SEND "working"--if I stopped handing enough out, most people would forget or not know about it, and the problem would be solved.
I did do this, but in the mean time, some kid got suspended (parents got involved--not good for my reputation as NET SEND Wizard!) for harassing another kid with it, and some other "geek" figured out NET SEND *, and proceeded to NET SEND * "Hello, world!" the entire school. It was sorta cool, since the messages last several days and it took a while to wipe the messages away.
Well, that's about it--I only use it now to annoy people or to chat with "smart" people. Anyone else have a similar story?
I'm one of those people--I use telnet to check pop3 mail. Most of the teachers know me and understand my mad 'leet skillz (I wish...), but most people think "console = hacking".
Then again, most people are idiots!
What does that do?
No, it was one of the old Pentium's with the floating point bug.
So you're talking about ISP's, many notorious for telco-like fee-per-computer-online behavior (Earthlink has a fee-based home networking system, and they won't support you at all if you get your own router) giving customers more than 1 IPv6 address? Either the standard has to end up giving each user a 256-sized block of addresses, or something like that, without a fee, or it's going to end up NATted, since nobody wants to buy multiple IP addresses.
I watched it! I still don't know!
(Maybe I'm just an idiot.)
What does TPS in TPS report stand for anyway? I've seen this everywhere, but nobody ever explains what it means!
I'm not sure if you're thinking about Lego Mindstorms, which is a graphical language. (You drag blocks together to form a flow chart-esque diagram of the program.) You could also tell them about the FIRST Lego League, which is a yearly contest where students are given a challenge and have to build and program a Lego robot to follow it.
I know in fifth grade I would have soaked up any language you could have shown me, but my account on Slashdot proves most people would do the opposite. If you have a while, you could show the fifth graders how to write a rock, paper, scissors game, but you've gotta have a short-range goal for them that is worth the effort, or it won't be fun.
Not true, he wrote BASIC for the Altair (the first personal computer kit) without even testing it once and memorized the source code.
It's in "Triumph of the Nerds", the PBS series on the development of the PC./p.
Oh my god, this is really starting to scare me, I'm having a logical discussion on Slashdot! Bring in the men with the white coats...
Sorry, didn't mean to be rude.
Just as people can hear a pirate radio station that's broadcasting over a legitimate station, stores could have a system that sets off an alarm if it receives a jammed signal. If all it hears is the jammer, you're fine, but if it hears the jammer mixed with another signal, it sets off the alarm. It is a problem with this. However, the "old" kind of antitheft tags could be used insetad--RFID is better (IMHO) for identification and not anti-theft.
In theory, this is true, but the FCC has many other things to worry about. But, legally, can the FCC really sue/fine you for messing with your own radio signals? Wouldn't it be a bit illogical, and a waste of time? IANAL, I don't know, can anyone quote the FCC rules and regs?
No, I'm saying that it only blocks receivers reading tags nearby, it doesn't try to wipe out signals to all RFID receivers in a 300-foot radius or something. It only blocks specific tags from being read.
That's true... Most people, especially those in authority, picture everyone as their worst possible self, unless they make campaign contributions. My point wasn't that wrapping RFID tags in aluminum foil is a good thing to do, especially for nefarious purposes, but that there are other ways to achieve privacy without jamming signals.
RTFA, it's for keeping people from reading the tags after you buy something, not to let you shoplift!
So if I go and buy two FRS radios and have them jam each other, do I have to sue myself? It would be another tag that generates interference only when read so people can't read the tags. It's not to prevent others from using the technology for their own uses, or to jam receivers everywhere. It's a privacy issue! Also, what would you say to wrapping RFID tags in aluminum foil? Is that legal? It serves the same purpose. (Disclaimer, don't use this idea to shoplift)
You're not blocking someone else's traffic. To continue your radar gun example... by transmitting radar signals back, you are jamming their receivers, but the signal they are trying to hear is theirs, so you are preventing them from hearing a signal they transmitted. However, jamming RFID tags means transmitting a jamming signal in response to a tag reader to make the responses from other tags in your personal space unreadable. This can't really be compared to jamming radar guns at all, since police and security system owners have a legal right to check the speed your car is moving or see if someone is breaking in, but nobody (except storeowners, this will be illegal when used to shoplift) has the legal right to read an RFID tag--there's nothing to stop them, but there's no law that says you can't return gibberish.
Many people! Not just the stores that get lower prices, but the people to whom those lower prices are (hopefully) passed on, and then can get useful information out of it. Take, for example, the classic RFID scenario: the fridge that keeps your shopping list up-to-date and warns you of ancient food, and the microwave that reads cooking instructions off of food. This is obviously helping the consumer.
Both sides, again! By making it clear that the creators of this technology and others are dealing with the privacy issue, it is less likely to get rejected by consumers. Take, again, for example, another privacy question: Can someone with an RFID tag walk by you and read the ID of medication bottles you carry, or see if a briefcase or such is a cheap imitation or if it is a good thing to steal from you? By dealing with this issue, the people who will be using these tags in stores will get a better response from consumers.
Please feel free to respond; I'm not trying for -1 Flamebait, just respectfully disagreeing.