This reminds me of a website called Virtual Midway, which features some defunct attractions at Cedar Point. No fancy CGI but still fascinating (to me, at least).
This English ISP weirdness might surprise some people, but then, Britain also requires an annual license to watch broadcast TV -- what we in the US take for granted (can you imagine having to pay to watch 'The Bachelor?')
That fee is up to £112 (about $178 USD), although it applies to all sets in the house. The amount seems to vary depending on whether it's color or black & white reception.
The UK government actually has a fleet of vans roaming around neighborhoods, with inspectors brandishing handheld gizmos to detect "rogue" televisions behind closed doors.
The fine for unlicensed TVs can be up to £1000. Even if you kept the TV off all the time (hoping to defeat EM detection equipment), the "TV license office" has a database of every residence, showing when a license has not been purchased or renewed. Plus, all new TV sales in the UK are reported along with the purchaser's address.
That amount is patently ridiculous. My friend's brother designed and sold his own descramblers, too. Recently he was raided by US Marshals on DirecTV's behalf... he settled with them for $50,000 and no jail.
Incidentally, his latest project is modifying a Toyota MR2 to put snow skis on front, and snowmobile tracks on back. I kid you not.
The new store had half the cashiers, but was twice as big. In the place of half of the cashiers were "self-checkout" counters, with one person watching all of them (about 10 in all).
My most recent visit to a Kmart in Troy, Michigan was a surprise. They're actually removing every single self-checkout lane. Signs were posted around these now-closed machines, claiming it's an attempt to "improve customer service". I myself do believe they're slower than human-staffed lanes.
But what I find really odd is that Kmart's soon-to-be-removed system isn't the common "U-Scan" variety at Meijer and Kroger -- ostensibly, it's a bit friendlier to use.
As I see it, there are two separate issues to worry about there. Living in Michigan myself, and not only using an IPtables/NAT script but also offering it to the public, I'm following this law with considerable interest:
"Conceal the existence or place of origin or destination of any telecommunications service"
MCL 750.540c(1)(b)
The first issue: As a NAT user, I might technically obscure the "place of origin"... namely, local 192.168.0.0/24 IPs. But if I send spam from any of these machines, my public IP is still quite visible. Now, I would like to see this law applied to spoofing, bouncing off open relays/proxies, etc -- in those cases, you are indeed concealing the place of origin, and with malicious intentions.
What concerns me isn't the state government (yet), it's the ISP. Therein lies the second issue: theft-of-service allegations, via this bit about "concealing the existence". Ergo, a firewall/NAT/router splits one IP into something multiple machines can use, and I don't pay Comcast for each separately. Don't think they wouldn't try to sue you... see "Buckeye Cable".
Both of these are markedly different applications than in the original story, which goes to show how broadly this law could be interpreted.
In 1988, a brand-new Air France Airbus A320 crashed into trees during maneuver at an airshow in France. The aircraft failed to gain height during a low-altitude pass with the landing gear extended. Three of the 136 passengers were killed.
The A320 was the first civilian aircraft to use fly-by-wire, which replaces conventional stick and rudder control with 3 computers and miles of electronic cables. The pilot uses a game-like joystick to his side.
Some good video of this accident is available here, among other places.
Ultimately, the pilot was blamed (when in doubt, claim human error). But you have to wonder what role the computer played in this crash, even if it simply confused the pilots or acted differently than they expected. Apparently, this wasn't the only A320 crash where its flight control system was suspected, either.
It's interesting to note that Airbus has a different design philosophy vis-à-vis fly-by-wire: they believe the computer should restrict the pilots from putting any undue stresses on the airframe, or doing anything that the system thinks is "unsafe". This is contrary to Boeing, who program their computers to allow even the most dangerous manuever, with the intention of giving the pilots ultimate control over the aircraft.
...would seem to be the norm down there. I remember a couple years back, I was tracking down a luser on IRC who was bouncing off open proxies all over the world. One of them was that machine, IIRC. I sent e-mail (futile, I know) to various SAs telling them what the problem was. The only reply I got back, besides the automated responses, was from someone at that domain. He proceeded to bitch me out, accusing me of spreading FUD -- because of something HIS machine allowed. But he did claim to have plugged the hole afterwards.:P
Before anyone flames, let me proclaim that I'm pro-open source, and relatively anti-Microsoft. But I have to say, as I read this story, I found myself nodding in agreement. In fact, I didn't find ANYthing to disagree with.
Every point he makes is valid, at least from my experience. I've run various Linux distros on several machines for a couple years now, but never as my "production" workstation, and frankly I can't imagine doing it at this point in time.
The sad truth is that you often can't find the same great applications native to Linux that exist for Windows or Mac. Yes, there are alternatives -- say, OfficeXP vs StarOffice -- or you can use WINE (yikes) or VMware I guess. OTOH, games are a different story, with the rare port or else lackluster performance with an emulator. The irony here is that you can download some really great Linux software for free, yet I think sometimes that's exactly what hinders its development to the fullest potential. The almighty buck speaks volumes.
I have to admit, WinXP has some wonderful eye candy from the moment you boot. Some of it's kinda corny, but it basically works like it's supposed to and can almost be fun to use. The Linux GUIs I've seen are close, but not equivalent (yet), pretty much equal to Win2K at this point. Plus, all MS bashing aside, XP is pretty damned stable now, IMHO. The only time I've ever seen it crash is due to hardware problems. Last but not least, it seems the entire internet is written for IE, and surfing is a big part of my PC use. Now, security is another story entirely....
As this guy says, Linux's true strength is its rock-solid stability in server environments. I couldn't imagine running my gateway/firewall on anything but Debian, and the grace of apt-get is remarkable. I also like that I know what the hell is going on behind the scenes, and I'm ultimately in control.
Great article, it's nice to see an honest evaluation of how things stand today.
I've played with all the major desktops in my couple of years with Linux. Gnome is pretty slick, with a lot of "neat" factor, yet manages to avoid being a Windows GUI clone. So I'll probably support it. It's just too bad they only accept online donations via the evil that is PayPal. *shudder*
Slashdot Mirror
This reminds me of a website called Virtual Midway, which features some defunct attractions at Cedar Point. No fancy CGI but still fascinating (to me, at least).
A large graphic at the bottom of the home page is quite clear:
Indeed.
On a completely unrelated yet interesting note, the company's address is listed as 'Palestine'.
This English ISP weirdness might surprise some people, but then, Britain also requires an annual license to watch broadcast TV -- what we in the US take for granted (can you imagine having to pay to watch 'The Bachelor?')
That fee is up to £112 (about $178 USD), although it applies to all sets in the house. The amount seems to vary depending on whether it's color or black & white reception.
The UK government actually has a fleet of vans roaming around neighborhoods, with inspectors brandishing handheld gizmos to detect "rogue" televisions behind closed doors.
The fine for unlicensed TVs can be up to £1000. Even if you kept the TV off all the time (hoping to defeat EM detection equipment), the "TV license office" has a database of every residence, showing when a license has not been purchased or renewed. Plus, all new TV sales in the UK are reported along with the purchaser's address.
That amount is patently ridiculous. My friend's brother designed and sold his own descramblers, too. Recently he was raided by US Marshals on DirecTV's behalf... he settled with them for $50,000 and no jail.
Incidentally, his latest project is modifying a Toyota MR2 to put snow skis on front, and snowmobile tracks on back. I kid you not.
My most recent visit to a Kmart in Troy, Michigan was a surprise. They're actually removing every single self-checkout lane. Signs were posted around these now-closed machines, claiming it's an attempt to "improve customer service". I myself do believe they're slower than human-staffed lanes.
But what I find really odd is that Kmart's soon-to-be-removed system isn't the common "U-Scan" variety at Meijer and Kroger -- ostensibly, it's a bit friendlier to use.
FWIW there's a comparison of the two here.
Regarding your question of routers:
As I see it, there are two separate issues to worry about there. Living in Michigan myself, and not only using an IPtables/NAT script but also offering it to the public, I'm following this law with considerable interest:
The first issue: As a NAT user, I might technically obscure the "place of origin"... namely, local 192.168.0.0/24 IPs. But if I send spam from any of these machines, my public IP is still quite visible. Now, I would like to see this law applied to spoofing, bouncing off open relays/proxies, etc -- in those cases, you are indeed concealing the place of origin, and with malicious intentions.
What concerns me isn't the state government (yet), it's the ISP. Therein lies the second issue: theft-of-service allegations, via this bit about "concealing the existence". Ergo, a firewall/NAT/router splits one IP into something multiple machines can use, and I don't pay Comcast for each separately. Don't think they wouldn't try to sue you... see "Buckeye Cable".
Both of these are markedly different applications than in the original story, which goes to show how broadly this law could be interpreted.
Additional information on the spacecraft that made these observation is available on the SeaWiFS site.
...the usefulness of a cool power-chair, versus why you sawed a hole into the side of your PC to peer inside.
In 1988, a brand-new Air France Airbus A320 crashed into trees during maneuver at an airshow in France. The aircraft failed to gain height during a low-altitude pass with the landing gear extended. Three of the 136 passengers were killed.
The A320 was the first civilian aircraft to use fly-by-wire, which replaces conventional stick and rudder control with 3 computers and miles of electronic cables. The pilot uses a game-like joystick to his side.
Some good video of this accident is available here, among other places.
Ultimately, the pilot was blamed (when in doubt, claim human error). But you have to wonder what role the computer played in this crash, even if it simply confused the pilots or acted differently than they expected. Apparently, this wasn't the only A320 crash where its flight control system was suspected, either.
It's interesting to note that Airbus has a different design philosophy vis-à-vis fly-by-wire: they believe the computer should restrict the pilots from putting any undue stresses on the airframe, or doing anything that the system thinks is "unsafe". This is contrary to Boeing, who program their computers to allow even the most dangerous manuever, with the intention of giving the pilots ultimate control over the aircraft.
...would seem to be the norm down there. I remember a couple years back, I was tracking down a luser on IRC who was bouncing off open proxies all over the world. One of them was that machine, IIRC. I sent e-mail (futile, I know) to various SAs telling them what the problem was. The only reply I got back, besides the automated responses, was from someone at that domain. He proceeded to bitch me out, accusing me of spreading FUD -- because of something HIS machine allowed. But he did claim to have plugged the hole afterwards. :P
Before anyone flames, let me proclaim that I'm pro-open source, and relatively anti-Microsoft. But I have to say, as I read this story, I found myself nodding in agreement. In fact, I didn't find ANYthing to disagree with.
Every point he makes is valid, at least from my experience. I've run various Linux distros on several machines for a couple years now, but never as my "production" workstation, and frankly I can't imagine doing it at this point in time.
The sad truth is that you often can't find the same great applications native to Linux that exist for Windows or Mac. Yes, there are alternatives -- say, OfficeXP vs StarOffice -- or you can use WINE (yikes) or VMware I guess. OTOH, games are a different story, with the rare port or else lackluster performance with an emulator. The irony here is that you can download some really great Linux software for free, yet I think sometimes that's exactly what hinders its development to the fullest potential. The almighty buck speaks volumes.
I have to admit, WinXP has some wonderful eye candy from the moment you boot. Some of it's kinda corny, but it basically works like it's supposed to and can almost be fun to use. The Linux GUIs I've seen are close, but not equivalent (yet), pretty much equal to Win2K at this point. Plus, all MS bashing aside, XP is pretty damned stable now, IMHO. The only time I've ever seen it crash is due to hardware problems. Last but not least, it seems the entire internet is written for IE, and surfing is a big part of my PC use. Now, security is another story entirely....
As this guy says, Linux's true strength is its rock-solid stability in server environments. I couldn't imagine running my gateway/firewall on anything but Debian, and the grace of apt-get is remarkable. I also like that I know what the hell is going on behind the scenes, and I'm ultimately in control.
Great article, it's nice to see an honest evaluation of how things stand today.
I've played with all the major desktops in my couple of years with Linux. Gnome is pretty slick, with a lot of "neat" factor, yet manages to avoid being a Windows GUI clone. So I'll probably support it. It's just too bad they only accept online donations via the evil that is PayPal. *shudder*