Like the poster states, the biggest problem with the encryption tools is how well we use them. The safety of today's encryption standards are very good. For the average user, and even most users with high security needs, today's encryption tools provide enough safety to make any attempts at decryption just not worthwhile.
But, the only way to make it work is to make the encryption just one part of a total privacy methodology. It has to become a habit and not an afterthought. Because if it's not a central part of you practice, mistakes will be made, and data will be compromised.
Don't rely on defaults. Know where your data is. Know what's encrypted and what isn't. Know who has access to your information. Yes, it's difficult, but it's necessary. We are in the middle of entering a stage of humanity when the free flowing of information will be both a blessing and a curse. The information we need to survive will be easier to find, but at the same time, the information we need to keep from others will be harder to secure. Rather than thinking of security and encryption as just a "Spy thing" we have to think of it as a normal part of our everyday lives, much like shopping online has become a regular thing, when it was just a novelty a few years ago.
It will be hard, and not everyone will care, but eventually we'll get there.
The ISP apocolypse is similar to what has happened in nearly every other industry: start off with thousands of little operations which compete fiercly for customers and market share. Eventually only a few will be left. After a while the service stops being differentiated from company to company and they compete on price. Once that happens, the company with the best economics - the most efficient - wins.
True, true. This happes all the time, it just appears to be new to this person because they have no sense of history.
One point on your comment. Machines don't save you from doing more labor, but they save your company from paying for more labor.
This is not true. The companies are still paying for more labor, they're just paying the machines to do it. So, in effect the machines take over and save you, the employee, from the doing more labor.
This poster pretty much embodies everything that is wrong with the U.S. justice system and the American mentality of "Sue, Sue, Sue! I don't care what it's about, just let me Sue!"
Maybe we should step back a bit and actually figure out what this is really accomplishing. What's the bigger picture here, you know?
It's one thing to have complaints against a product or service that has causes you loss, grief, pain, etc. It's another thing to have a vendetta against someone or something for no real reason except that you like hating them. And let's not even talk about the quest for money that drives most lawsuits. But, hey, it's a capitalist society, and so everything revolves around the individual and his quest for the moolah. What can you do?
The one great thing about Slashdot is that you can get "personal anecdotes" about up and coming technology. You can get contacts to meet or talk to in person. You can get "insider information" on the tech news you hear or read about. The list goes on. It's great that we can go do a search on the web and find some text documents on some technology and then read up on it. It's another thing to actually discuss the technology with other people interested in the same thing and even get first-hand accounts of people's experiences with it.
I can understand that some people question the articles that get posted to Slashdot. But if the admins listend to all those whiners, nothing would ever be posted.
Hey Jon, this is actually a good editorial, and (gasp) it was too short. I was actually expecting more to read.
You had good firsthand accounts, excellent quotes, nice newspaper references and insightful (yet short and sweet) comments. I would say, however, that even more of these would have made an even better editorial. You just might turn into a good journalist!
Hey, I'm a liberal and I understand that people are responsible for their own actions, so quit the generic potshots.
But also remember that everyone is not like you, and some people are definitely swayed by the media, by books they read, by people they hang out with, by words that they hear, by group mentalities... And a website that praises the killing of doctors is going to lead some people to commit acts of violence. Yes, they make the final decision, but what led them to that decision?
I wish they had shown displays of the screen while the product was in use. Rather than just seeing the hardware and the "6 computers" in their different configurations (oooh, you mean if I turn the screen 90 degrees, I get a whole new computer?), I'd like to see how that lovely screen actually looks with something running on it. That might make me a bit more interested. Until that happens, it's just another piece of junk.
...now it's good enough for you. How come it wasn't good enough 3 days ago when I submitted it?;-b
2001-03-20 17:00:47 Graphics Programming Black Book now online at Dr. Dobb's Journal (articles,programming) (rejected)
Who takes the bribes here? Give me some names...
Seriously, though, Abrash is a god, and if you are at all interested in programming fast and furious graphics applications, he is definitely one of the best reads out there. There's just so much good solid foundation knowledge you can gain from his books that will help you not only create better graphics and games programs, but also better apps in general. Just going through some of the problem solving steps that he takes when discussing his stuff can make you into a smarter developer. Go get your coffee, curl up with a good computer in front of the fireplace and start reading this fantastic piece of work.
What, you think anyone's going to want to come back to Earth after those achievements?
Journal Entry, 3/19/4265 - Today I touched the face of God. What a rush! But I'm psyched to finally be done with this mission so I can get home and see the new season of E.R. What a show! I hope they bring back the reincarnated Dr. Hathaway. Dude, she is so hot! I am not excited about cleaning the gutters, though. Hopefully, I can get the kids to take care of it so I can spend some more time trying to beat my previous timed-run in Doom 4000
The SAG (as well as AFTRA, WGA, AEA, etc) are not just about "multi-millionaires." There are lots and lots of actors who are living project to project, paycheck to paycheck, barely able to squeak by month to month, and having the unions assures them the ability to make a decent living.
If it weren't for the unions, there'd be plenty more artists who wouldn't even be able to afford a decent apartment, much less have the ability to afford a house, buy their groceries, send their kids to college and actually make a fair living. Have a little more respect please!
Yeah, and in the story, the townspeople stopped believing the boy who cried "wolf," just liked you've stopped believing the media who are all calling "Global Warming!" (Actually the scientists are the ones spotting the so-called "wolf," but who can tell the difference. Scientists, journalists, politicians - they're all the same) But when the wolf finally does come, what're you gonna do?
Now, who's political agenda is being pushed? Explain that one to me.
Plus, why don't we proactively try and create a better environment? Maybe we're causing Global Warming, maybe we're causing Global Cooling. Maybe it's all part of the natural process. But there sure as hell is a lot of shitty stuff we definitely are doing that creating a horrible environment on this Earth, and instead of trying to debunk every environmentalist who shouts in you face, maybe you should at least listen to them and maybe think about affecting change for the better. Why not just try to care... At least a little.
But that doesn't mean we should totally ignore it. Just because it's unproven doesn't mean it's false. For Christ's sake (haha), Evolution is also an unproven theory, but it still has plenty of merit.
I don't really care, I'd get taxed if I bought it locally
Yes, you don't care, but the state of California does. They just lost tax that they would have received had you made your purchase from a local retailer.
in the world of copyright law, "public performance" includes the act of transmitting a copyrighted work to the public
Many people have been defending Napster use as falling under the sharing realm of "Fair Use" but really it's not... Napster is really distributing the music you hold to the general public. (your 5 close friends are different than your 50 million "friends"). Therefore, it falls under the "Public Performance" category.
Now, what this means is that, in theory, Napster should be able to allow this by paying the correct royalty fees like performance groups do when they cover another artist's song. Unfortunately, the problem is that noone's ever had this kind of distribution methodology before and so figuring out what those royalty fees should be is a little difficult. Who should pay what, how much and to whom?
I think once we figure these things out, this whole distribution scheme will end up taking off like crazy.
...two things I see here that we should all seriously think about.
1. There are actually a lot of really good people in government who do care about our well-being, contrary to popular, media-driven beliefs. They actually do want to learn about these issues from more than their own viewpoints. They want to see all sides of the picture.
2. We need to bring more technology-oriented consulting firms into Washington to help them with this! Everything government does is dictated by information and oftentimes that information is garnered from 3rd-party sources, whether they be personal experts in their field, like Dave here, or they be organizations with a team of experts and advisors. I bet if some people opened up some more tech-consulting firms in downtown D.C., they'd get a lot of business. Does anyone know of a list of the current consulting agencies that focus on tech-related stuff for government agencies?
Yeah, and the problem with Slashdotters is that they believe every social problem requires a technical solutions, and that they should be the ones giving it.
Just a few notes. IE crashes on me in Win98. It always has. It displays things differently in Mac and Windows. It doesn't run in Linux or any other OS at all. If Microsoft was working to provide a standards based WWW browser on every platform it could, well I would say great. But to suggest that the IE saga has been somehow faster and more efficient than Mozilla, while offering the same quality of product, well you are wrong.
True
One question I have for you is "Do you use Mozilla?" and "Have you ever had a bug report to them?" I have done both, and my experience has been that in most situations the organization of the Mozilla developers is quite sophisticated in closing out significant bugs. Whether Microsoft is similiarly efficient is impossible to know, since you can't watch and track bug reports made about IE.
Do I use Mozilla? No, I don't. It's not good enough for me yet. I'm not going to use a product until I can download it, install it with out bother and have it run smoothly. The product that best suits my personal needs on my platform is currently IE. Whether that changes remains to be seen. I was a devoted Netscape user from 1994-2000, but once they brought out the new Netscape last spring, I switched to IE because it worked better.
Like I said in my original post, I'm not dissing open source. I like the development model, for SOME things. The one thing I DON'T like about it is its tendency to take a much longer time to release a product that is the same or better quality than what's already out there. And in that time, the product will lose market share and even though it may be a better product when it finally does get released, it's going to need more marketing muscle to get people to switch from what they already use to the new product.
How to solve this? I don't know, but having strong leadership helps and I don't believe the leadership in many products is strong enough. And from my perspective, it seems that this is true of the Mozilla team. They don't know when to say "no" and are trying to appease everyone who sends in bugs reports or feature requests.
Slashdot Mirror
Encryption is secure, people aren't.
Like the poster states, the biggest problem with the encryption tools is how well we use them. The safety of today's encryption standards are very good. For the average user, and even most users with high security needs, today's encryption tools provide enough safety to make any attempts at decryption just not worthwhile.
But, the only way to make it work is to make the encryption just one part of a total privacy methodology. It has to become a habit and not an afterthought. Because if it's not a central part of you practice, mistakes will be made, and data will be compromised.
Don't rely on defaults. Know where your data is. Know what's encrypted and what isn't. Know who has access to your information. Yes, it's difficult, but it's necessary. We are in the middle of entering a stage of humanity when the free flowing of information will be both a blessing and a curse. The information we need to survive will be easier to find, but at the same time, the information we need to keep from others will be harder to secure. Rather than thinking of security and encryption as just a "Spy thing" we have to think of it as a normal part of our everyday lives, much like shopping online has become a regular thing, when it was just a novelty a few years ago.
It will be hard, and not everyone will care, but eventually we'll get there.
--
True, true. This happes all the time, it just appears to be new to this person because they have no sense of history.
One point on your comment. Machines don't save you from doing more labor, but they save your company from paying for more labor.
This is not true. The companies are still paying for more labor, they're just paying the machines to do it. So, in effect the machines take over and save you, the employee, from the doing more labor.
--
Maybe we should step back a bit and actually figure out what this is really accomplishing. What's the bigger picture here, you know?
It's one thing to have complaints against a product or service that has causes you loss, grief, pain, etc. It's another thing to have a vendetta against someone or something for no real reason except that you like hating them. And let's not even talk about the quest for money that drives most lawsuits. But, hey, it's a capitalist society, and so everything revolves around the individual and his quest for the moolah. What can you do?
--
--
I can understand that some people question the articles that get posted to Slashdot. But if the admins listend to all those whiners, nothing would ever be posted.
--
--
So in order for them to survive they rely on selling proprietary software, support, services, books, tee shirts, penguins etc.
Funny, man, real funny. hehehe. Too bad he didn't answer the question...
--
--
You had good firsthand accounts, excellent quotes, nice newspaper references and insightful (yet short and sweet) comments. I would say, however, that even more of these would have made an even better editorial. You just might turn into a good journalist!
Thanks.
--
But also remember that everyone is not like you, and some people are definitely swayed by the media, by books they read, by people they hang out with, by words that they hear, by group mentalities... And a website that praises the killing of doctors is going to lead some people to commit acts of violence. Yes, they make the final decision, but what led them to that decision?
--
#ifdef _WIN32
- Smack some bitch-ass
#else- Troll like there's no tomorrow
#endif--
--
--
2001-03-20 17:00:47 Graphics Programming Black Book now online at Dr. Dobb's Journal (articles,programming) (rejected)
Who takes the bribes here? Give me some names...
Seriously, though, Abrash is a god, and if you are at all interested in programming fast and furious graphics applications, he is definitely one of the best reads out there. There's just so much good solid foundation knowledge you can gain from his books that will help you not only create better graphics and games programs, but also better apps in general. Just going through some of the problem solving steps that he takes when discussing his stuff can make you into a smarter developer. Go get your coffee, curl up with a good computer in front of the fireplace and start reading this fantastic piece of work.
--
Journal Entry, 3/19/4265 - Today I touched the face of God. What a rush! But I'm psyched to finally be done with this mission so I can get home and see the new season of E.R. What a show! I hope they bring back the reincarnated Dr. Hathaway. Dude, she is so hot! I am not excited about cleaning the gutters, though. Hopefully, I can get the kids to take care of it so I can spend some more time trying to beat my previous timed-run in Doom 4000
Some cherished dogmas will be around forever...
--
If it weren't for the unions, there'd be plenty more artists who wouldn't even be able to afford a decent apartment, much less have the ability to afford a house, buy their groceries, send their kids to college and actually make a fair living. Have a little more respect please!
--
Now, who's political agenda is being pushed? Explain that one to me.
Plus, why don't we proactively try and create a better environment? Maybe we're causing Global Warming, maybe we're causing Global Cooling. Maybe it's all part of the natural process. But there sure as hell is a lot of shitty stuff we definitely are doing that creating a horrible environment on this Earth, and instead of trying to debunk every environmentalist who shouts in you face, maybe you should at least listen to them and maybe think about affecting change for the better. Why not just try to care... At least a little.
--
Like the article said, the greenhouse effect could cause "Global Cooling" instead because of an increase in cloud cover.
--
--
Yes, you don't care, but the state of California does. They just lost tax that they would have received had you made your purchase from a local retailer.
--
Please tell me where this is happening.
--
in the world of copyright law, "public performance" includes the act of transmitting a copyrighted work to the public
Many people have been defending Napster use as falling under the sharing realm of "Fair Use" but really it's not... Napster is really distributing the music you hold to the general public. (your 5 close friends are different than your 50 million "friends"). Therefore, it falls under the "Public Performance" category.
Now, what this means is that, in theory, Napster should be able to allow this by paying the correct royalty fees like performance groups do when they cover another artist's song. Unfortunately, the problem is that noone's ever had this kind of distribution methodology before and so figuring out what those royalty fees should be is a little difficult. Who should pay what, how much and to whom?
I think once we figure these things out, this whole distribution scheme will end up taking off like crazy.
--
1. There are actually a lot of really good people in government who do care about our well-being, contrary to popular, media-driven beliefs. They actually do want to learn about these issues from more than their own viewpoints. They want to see all sides of the picture.
2. We need to bring more technology-oriented consulting firms into Washington to help them with this! Everything government does is dictated by information and oftentimes that information is garnered from 3rd-party sources, whether they be personal experts in their field, like Dave here, or they be organizations with a team of experts and advisors. I bet if some people opened up some more tech-consulting firms in downtown D.C., they'd get a lot of business. Does anyone know of a list of the current consulting agencies that focus on tech-related stuff for government agencies?
--
Here come the flames...
--
True
One question I have for you is "Do you use Mozilla?" and "Have you ever had a bug report to them?" I have done both, and my experience has been that in most situations the organization of the Mozilla developers is quite sophisticated in closing out significant bugs. Whether Microsoft is similiarly efficient is impossible to know, since you can't watch and track bug reports made about IE.
Do I use Mozilla? No, I don't. It's not good enough for me yet. I'm not going to use a product until I can download it, install it with out bother and have it run smoothly. The product that best suits my personal needs on my platform is currently IE. Whether that changes remains to be seen. I was a devoted Netscape user from 1994-2000, but once they brought out the new Netscape last spring, I switched to IE because it worked better.
Like I said in my original post, I'm not dissing open source. I like the development model, for SOME things. The one thing I DON'T like about it is its tendency to take a much longer time to release a product that is the same or better quality than what's already out there. And in that time, the product will lose market share and even though it may be a better product when it finally does get released, it's going to need more marketing muscle to get people to switch from what they already use to the new product.
How to solve this? I don't know, but having strong leadership helps and I don't believe the leadership in many products is strong enough. And from my perspective, it seems that this is true of the Mozilla team. They don't know when to say "no" and are trying to appease everyone who sends in bugs reports or feature requests.
--