So you don't worry about being mugged by a guy in the alley, or targetted with bio-weapons. Instead you get to worry about being picked up by guys in dark coats and shipped off somewhat to 'discuss' those disparaging remarks about government you posted yesterday.
No government ever GIVES human rights, they only take them away, just like they do with your money.
Sure they do, that's how you got that somewhat beaten piece of paper that the current government is currently treating like toilet paper (and many governments before, but moreso recently).
The problem is, that such sweeping pushes for citizens' rights usually come at the foot of a revolution, and today's citizens are much too happy with their poofy couches, SUV's, and TV remotes to bother with that. That and others are just too afraid of ending up at gitmo...
Oh and by the way, Windows has a "safe"(well, safer) operating mode in the form of a user account, but nobody uses it because it's a PITA
Nobody uses it because it doesn't work. In some limited instances you could run as a non-privilaged user and get on the 'net etc... but as soon as you need to install software there isn't really a proper way to handle the secure privilage escalation in windows (perhaps they'll have something in vista).
And really you, me, and the guys at Secunia/SARC/SANS/ISC/etc all know that's where this is headed.
Hmm, well in my case it would end up likely being blocked a network-level, as my IPtables log it's unusual activity. Of course, I don't run as root most times... so the best it could do is create infection in files writable by my user.
I suppose it *could* try connecting to outside locations to send email or something of the like... assuming it could find a server to connect to (my webmail address book wouldn't exactly be easily sniffable by a virus), but in that case it would have to find a usable host or open-relay to do so anyhow.
No, linux-capable viruses have been around for awhile, and multi-OS is no more scary than those were.
Related to this, I've been trying to figure out how to get Asian input (Japanese/Chinese) working in 'nix for some time now. I can *see* the characters fine, but trying to find+configure some programs that work similar to the existing windows apps (in KDE) has just been a pain. SKIM and others were just not functional (or at least not how I'd expect).
My first step towards typing Japanese would be in getting the input layer to work for me in my OS of choice. Anyone
It isn't just American's traffic being sent in this case. At the least, it's very likely any communication between American's and their non-USA counterparts. In the bigger picture, it's not unlikely that any traffic passing through AT&T's routers might be suspect. This includes traffic passing between two non-US entities (say, from Canada to another country through USA).
And of course, this doesn't just affect communication between individuals but also persons and businesses, meaning that if you do business with a US entity that routes through AT&T, then you may be getting sniffed.
The American gov't and related entities have their fingers deep in a big f*'ing cookie jar. Worldwide communications are at risk, and we need to see a strong action to curb this invasion.
Right now such things are pretty rudimentary, requiring external power and an external device. In the end, as microtechnology and knowledge of the human body progresses, one would hope that such technology could be more of a "drop in" replacement (that is to say, perhaps they could put it right in the eye socket and then allow for normal eye movement, etc).
In addition, rather than relying on external power sources, perhaps in the future it can use something like a dracucell to power it, which would probably remove a certain portition of weight/size currently used for batteries.
Many of the animes I've heard with english dubs were painful. The ones that were worst, however, were generally when I'd heard the (better) original Japanese voice-acting while watching with subtitles.
I do remember that the voices on Trigun were actually decent.
However, in this - the day of DVD's - one should be able to get a disk with subtitles and voice-tracks in both English and the original Japanese.
I know of Ubisoft as a game developer, but what is their relation to the creators of StarForce. It mentioned that they're being used for using it, not developing it... sound really it sounds more like they should be sueing the creators of StarForce or at least have a suit against both. On the other hand, Sony used bought DRM and they're usually the ones held as reponsible for its nasty rootkit, soooo.
I do know that other game developers use StarForce though, to the same effect. Why sue UbiSoft in particular?
Last time I heard copyright didn't do much to concerts, and they're still where many artists make the bulk of their money (the rest mostly going to the RIAA etc equivilents)
Well, at our last company Christmas gathering we had a little get-together with a gift exchange (or rather, a gift lotto). It was mentioned that several women at our main office had been wishing that they could have more painting projects as apparently one of our painters had a rather nice butt.
They awarded him a little name plaque attesting to his nice-assedness at Chistmas. Now if the environment were totally PR, or likely if he were a woman, this would have caused problems. However, as a guy he blushed a bit and really didn't seem that bothered. Personally, if it were me being nominated for nice-assedness (or having women ask me to get on a ladder to reach that "missed spot up there") I would take it as more compliment than insult.
As for the geeks... well it's not geeks chasing her out, it's juvenile males. Certainly I have no objections to striking female figures at work, and between my various locations there are quite a few to whom I'm always happy to trade a smile and hello. I wouldn't, however, go attempting to put somebody in an uncomfortable position, and if such a thing was happening it would be dealt with be management if mentioned.
So really, I wouldn't pin the problems on geeks in general, but rather the fine line between what's acceptable for the various genders, and how well it's controlled. And given that I don't wear my white-collar-and-tie for the very reason that I do some under-desk-crawling amongst the dust-bunnies, perhaps a skirt really isn't the best attire for a workplace where such activities can be required. I personally prefer to save my sleeveless shirts, ass-hugging jeans, and various other clothing for outside of my workplace.
Well, while there are a goodly number of geek males that would qualify as acceptable. The range of ones that would qualify as gorgeous (to females, or gay males I suppose) are probably rather smallish. However, were there to be a geek of bodybuilder scale, I wouldn't mind at all if it were mentioned as many here seem to equate that brains and brawn must run opposite to each other (or in the case of females, brains and beauty).
In my books, it's always nice to see geeks who can qualify as both intelligent and attractive. Not that it should comprise a whole topic of discussion, but at least they serve to show that you don't have to compromise in one area to develop another.
Maybe some of the Enron executives had kids too. How about corrupt government officials. Hmmm
Maybe there's somebody else with kids to feed that can do a better job than Mr. City Manager. Certainly there are a whole lot of people that could at the very least be more professional about it...
It's much more about the users than the OS. This could just as easily have been about how setting you root password to "admin" with SSH-as-root enable can be a dumb thing. Or how, as in my case, a server can be hijacked (or at least attempted-hijacked) when your roomate with an SSH accounts has a password that is his own name (his account name also being his name).
Windows is often less secure by design, but PHP attacks could just as easily affect windows machines running PHP (their just less common). One should never assume invincibility with any OS, and the risk goes up with the greater number of applications you install.
who are tired of screaming kids, sticky floors, and inconsiderate boob
There are those that go to theatres for the same reason. Having a big-screen TV and surround at home is nice, but for some home is where the screaming-brats, naggy-longterm-visit mother-in-law, and various other family woes live. Depending on the movie, sometimes the theatre is still a more relaxing part of a "night out"
Or this might make way for a new market. How about a mini-theatre with rooms fitting about 8-12 people, and projection units with surround. If the movie are coming out on DVD anyhow it should be cheaper/easier for the theatre to snag the DVD copy. Then , you can drop in with a bunch of buddies and watch it on a not-quite-so-big-screen-but-better-than-mine environment. Throw in some comfy seats, cut down the commercials, and reduce the price of bloody popcorn and I'd be sold on that.
It's not just the crap content in movies. It's the damn "downloading is stealing", car, and etc etc advertisements that are a pain in the ass. You could lump previews in there too sometimes, but for myself I do tend to find those somewhat imformative about what's coming out (sometimes too much for those previews that show all the best scenes at the get-go).
Sorry theatre-owners, but sitting at home with my TV, surround, and a DVD unit capable of skipping previews is often enough a better bargain for my cash. Drop the shitty previews and I might consider going to more shows.
Move to Canada? The problem here is healthcare tends to fix doctors at certain rates. Despite them still being paid well, many skilled physicians would rather try to be millionaires, and move to places like the USA. The hospitals themselves become large burocracies (sp?), with corners being cut everywhere to meet a budget.
Having a countrywide health plan is a good idea in theory, the problem is the concept of everyone actually accepting said plan. Medicaire here depends on your family size (if not paid by the employer) and we still do have 'extended medical' for over-and-above coverage, pills, etc - usually paid by the employer.
Perhaps a better system might be a tiered-level government medical system. If you pay more, you're covered for more. The current system charges based on the number of people in the family unit, not the wealth/coverage of the person himself/herself, and some people under a certain bracket pay nothing at all. Good for them, but not useful for those that pay for the unemployed chain-smoking dope addicts who work for minimum at age 32 or possibly just collect welfare (not to imply that all people in minimum-wage jobs are such, nor are all welfare recipients undeserving).
With any government system, it seems there's a huge potential for it to be abused or taken advantage of, which is a bit part of the problem here in Canada. Personally I'd rather something more along the lines of a well-regulated Crown Corp.
One thing I'll add to this. I've noticed in the last few years that I have a lot of issues with certain types of background noise.
First of all, my hearing in the high-sonic range is still very acute and sensitive. I'm on of those people who can tell when a TV is running on the other side of the house (by hearing the whine), and am sensitive to other such sounds. I fix computers regularly, and often help customers spot problems when I hear that telltale "capacitor whine" that others can't quite catch.
However, through me in a room with a certain tone level and it's extremely frustrating to carry a conversation. Moreover, it's frustrating for me to even try working in such an environment even if I'm not trying to talk. While sometimes words are muffled by background noise, quite often it's more an issue of processing the conversation over the background noise. I can tell what's been said if I think on it for a moment, but I can't always seem to phase out all the other things I'm hearing that are, in effect, tying up my consciousness.
It's the same thing at work, and yet different. I work faster and more effectively with certain types of background noise. Near silence and I can hear the little annoying things, or it's just too quiet. A lot of background hum and an I get annoyed. However if I through on a decent set of earphones, and turn on some tunes (not too loud, nor distracting) and I find my work speeds noticably.
Maybe I'm a bit quacked myself, but perhaps some of the issues we have with noise is that it is, in fact, audibly in a certain way, but our brains just filter it out. In large doses, perhaps your brain is actually being tied up a bit processing and filtering all that extraneous noise. Certainly the brain does lots of thing on a semiconscious level (I breathe without thinking about it, but I can also consciously change my breathing patterns or hold my breath) so perhaps noise and sound fall along that area?
Slashdot Mirror
So you don't worry about being mugged by a guy in the alley, or targetted with bio-weapons. Instead you get to worry about being picked up by guys in dark coats and shipped off somewhat to 'discuss' those disparaging remarks about government you posted yesterday.
Yeah... that's sure an improvement.
No government ever GIVES human rights, they only take them away, just like they do with your money.
Sure they do, that's how you got that somewhat beaten piece of paper that the current government is currently treating like toilet paper (and many governments before, but moreso recently).
The problem is, that such sweeping pushes for citizens' rights usually come at the foot of a revolution, and today's citizens are much too happy with their poofy couches, SUV's, and TV remotes to bother with that. That and others are just too afraid of ending up at gitmo...
Oh and by the way, Windows has a "safe"(well, safer) operating mode in the form of a user account, but nobody uses it because it's a PITA
Nobody uses it because it doesn't work. In some limited instances you could run as a non-privilaged user and get on the 'net etc... but as soon as you need to install software there isn't really a proper way to handle the secure privilage escalation in windows (perhaps they'll have something in vista).
And really you, me, and the guys at Secunia/SARC/SANS/ISC/etc all know that's where this is headed.
Hmm, well in my case it would end up likely being blocked a network-level, as my IPtables log it's unusual activity. Of course, I don't run as root most times... so the best it could do is create infection in files writable by my user.
I suppose it *could* try connecting to outside locations to send email or something of the like... assuming it could find a server to connect to (my webmail address book wouldn't exactly be easily sniffable by a virus), but in that case it would have to find a usable host or open-relay to do so anyhow.
No, linux-capable viruses have been around for awhile, and multi-OS is no more scary than those were.
Related to this, I've been trying to figure out how to get Asian input (Japanese/Chinese) working in 'nix for some time now. I can *see* the characters fine, but trying to find+configure some programs that work similar to the existing windows apps (in KDE) has just been a pain. SKIM and others were just not functional (or at least not how I'd expect).
My first step towards typing Japanese would be in getting the input layer to work for me in my OS of choice. Anyone
millions of ordinary Americans
It isn't just American's traffic being sent in this case. At the least, it's very likely any communication between American's and their non-USA counterparts. In the bigger picture, it's not unlikely that any traffic passing through AT&T's routers might be suspect. This includes traffic passing between two non-US entities (say, from Canada to another country through USA).
And of course, this doesn't just affect communication between individuals but also persons and businesses, meaning that if you do business with a US entity that routes through AT&T, then you may be getting sniffed.
The American gov't and related entities have their fingers deep in a big f*'ing cookie jar. Worldwide communications are at risk, and we need to see a strong action to curb this invasion.
Is this the same company that makes Lucent winmodems (often found in older laptops) etc, or a different Lucent?
Right now such things are pretty rudimentary, requiring external power and an external device. In the end, as microtechnology and knowledge of the human body progresses, one would hope that such technology could be more of a "drop in" replacement (that is to say, perhaps they could put it right in the eye socket and then allow for normal eye movement, etc).
In addition, rather than relying on external power sources, perhaps in the future it can use something like a dracucell to power it, which would probably remove a certain portition of weight/size currently used for batteries.
Many of the animes I've heard with english dubs were painful. The ones that were worst, however, were generally when I'd heard the (better) original Japanese voice-acting while watching with subtitles.
I do remember that the voices on Trigun were actually decent.
However, in this - the day of DVD's - one should be able to get a disk with subtitles and voice-tracks in both English and the original Japanese.
Excuse my ignorance, but are there any ways for the unwashed masses to convert to + burn in the UMD format?
Maybe you can't buy UMD disks, but if you wanted to take your movie on the road perhaps you could still convert existing DVD's, etc?
And find out that it was a screenshot of the FMV cutscene...
(this isn't so much a joke either, it's sadly quite common)
Will I find a gold-encrusted SD card to go with it?
I know of Ubisoft as a game developer, but what is their relation to the creators of StarForce. It mentioned that they're being used for using it, not developing it... sound really it sounds more like they should be sueing the creators of StarForce or at least have a suit against both. On the other hand, Sony used bought DRM and they're usually the ones held as reponsible for its nasty rootkit, soooo.
I do know that other game developers use StarForce though, to the same effect. Why sue UbiSoft in particular?
Last time I heard copyright didn't do much to concerts, and they're still where many artists make the bulk of their money (the rest mostly going to the RIAA etc equivilents)
Well, at our last company Christmas gathering we had a little get-together with a gift exchange (or rather, a gift lotto). It was mentioned that several women at our main office had been wishing that they could have more painting projects as apparently one of our painters had a rather nice butt.
They awarded him a little name plaque attesting to his nice-assedness at Chistmas. Now if the environment were totally PR, or likely if he were a woman, this would have caused problems. However, as a guy he blushed a bit and really didn't seem that bothered. Personally, if it were me being nominated for nice-assedness (or having women ask me to get on a ladder to reach that "missed spot up there") I would take it as more compliment than insult.
As for the geeks... well it's not geeks chasing her out, it's juvenile males. Certainly I have no objections to striking female figures at work, and between my various locations there are quite a few to whom I'm always happy to trade a smile and hello. I wouldn't, however, go attempting to put somebody in an uncomfortable position, and if such a thing was happening it would be dealt with be management if mentioned.
So really, I wouldn't pin the problems on geeks in general, but rather the fine line between what's acceptable for the various genders, and how well it's controlled. And given that I don't wear my white-collar-and-tie for the very reason that I do some under-desk-crawling amongst the dust-bunnies, perhaps a skirt really isn't the best attire for a workplace where such activities can be required. I personally prefer to save my sleeveless shirts, ass-hugging jeans, and various other clothing for outside of my workplace.
Well, while there are a goodly number of geek males that would qualify as acceptable. The range of ones that would qualify as gorgeous (to females, or gay males I suppose) are probably rather smallish. However, were there to be a geek of bodybuilder scale, I wouldn't mind at all if it were mentioned as many here seem to equate that brains and brawn must run opposite to each other (or in the case of females, brains and beauty).
In my books, it's always nice to see geeks who can qualify as both intelligent and attractive. Not that it should comprise a whole topic of discussion, but at least they serve to show that you don't have to compromise in one area to develop another.
Would be if "everyone" got April 1 mod points. Oh the chaos!
:-)
In the meantime, you can always take advantage of +1 funny
For those like me who didn't know WTF that comments was about. See here
Maybe some of the Enron executives had kids too. How about corrupt government officials. Hmmm
Maybe there's somebody else with kids to feed that can do a better job than Mr. City Manager. Certainly there are a whole lot of people that could at the very least be more professional about it...
It's much more about the users than the OS. This could just as easily have been about how setting you root password to "admin" with SSH-as-root enable can be a dumb thing. Or how, as in my case, a server can be hijacked (or at least attempted-hijacked) when your roomate with an SSH accounts has a password that is his own name (his account name also being his name).
Windows is often less secure by design, but PHP attacks could just as easily affect windows machines running PHP (their just less common). One should never assume invincibility with any OS, and the risk goes up with the greater number of applications you install.
who are tired of screaming kids, sticky floors, and inconsiderate boob
There are those that go to theatres for the same reason. Having a big-screen TV and surround at home is nice, but for some home is where the screaming-brats, naggy-longterm-visit mother-in-law, and various other family woes live. Depending on the movie, sometimes the theatre is still a more relaxing part of a "night out"
Or this might make way for a new market. How about a mini-theatre with rooms fitting about 8-12 people, and projection units with surround. If the movie are coming out on DVD anyhow it should be cheaper/easier for the theatre to snag the DVD copy. Then , you can drop in with a bunch of buddies and watch it on a not-quite-so-big-screen-but-better-than-mine environment. Throw in some comfy seats, cut down the commercials, and reduce the price of bloody popcorn and I'd be sold on that.
It's not just the crap content in movies. It's the damn "downloading is stealing", car, and etc etc advertisements that are a pain in the ass. You could lump previews in there too sometimes, but for myself I do tend to find those somewhat imformative about what's coming out (sometimes too much for those previews that show all the best scenes at the get-go).
Sorry theatre-owners, but sitting at home with my TV, surround, and a DVD unit capable of skipping previews is often enough a better bargain for my cash. Drop the shitty previews and I might consider going to more shows.
Move to Canada? The problem here is healthcare tends to fix doctors at certain rates. Despite them still being paid well, many skilled physicians would rather try to be millionaires, and move to places like the USA. The hospitals themselves become large burocracies (sp?), with corners being cut everywhere to meet a budget.
Having a countrywide health plan is a good idea in theory, the problem is the concept of everyone actually accepting said plan. Medicaire here depends on your family size (if not paid by the employer) and we still do have 'extended medical' for over-and-above coverage, pills, etc - usually paid by the employer.
Perhaps a better system might be a tiered-level government medical system. If you pay more, you're covered for more. The current system charges based on the number of people in the family unit, not the wealth/coverage of the person himself/herself, and some people under a certain bracket pay nothing at all. Good for them, but not useful for those that pay for the unemployed chain-smoking dope addicts who work for minimum at age 32 or possibly just collect welfare (not to imply that all people in minimum-wage jobs are such, nor are all welfare recipients undeserving).
With any government system, it seems there's a huge potential for it to be abused or taken advantage of, which is a bit part of the problem here in Canada. Personally I'd rather something more along the lines of a well-regulated Crown Corp.
One thing I'll add to this. I've noticed in the last few years that I have a lot of issues with certain types of background noise.
First of all, my hearing in the high-sonic range is still very acute and sensitive. I'm on of those people who can tell when a TV is running on the other side of the house (by hearing the whine), and am sensitive to other such sounds. I fix computers regularly, and often help customers spot problems when I hear that telltale "capacitor whine" that others can't quite catch.
However, through me in a room with a certain tone level and it's extremely frustrating to carry a conversation. Moreover, it's frustrating for me to even try working in such an environment even if I'm not trying to talk. While sometimes words are muffled by background noise, quite often it's more an issue of processing the conversation over the background noise. I can tell what's been said if I think on it for a moment, but I can't always seem to phase out all the other things I'm hearing that are, in effect, tying up my consciousness.
It's the same thing at work, and yet different. I work faster and more effectively with certain types of background noise. Near silence and I can hear the little annoying things, or it's just too quiet. A lot of background hum and an I get annoyed. However if I through on a decent set of earphones, and turn on some tunes (not too loud, nor distracting) and I find my work speeds noticably.
Maybe I'm a bit quacked myself, but perhaps some of the issues we have with noise is that it is, in fact, audibly in a certain way, but our brains just filter it out. In large doses, perhaps your brain is actually being tied up a bit processing and filtering all that extraneous noise. Certainly the brain does lots of thing on a semiconscious level (I breathe without thinking about it, but I can also consciously change my breathing patterns or hold my breath) so perhaps noise and sound fall along that area?