Here's a thought to all the anti-gun-law people. How about doing away with drug laws? That way people can buy dope from the local farmer's market, it'll be cheap, and all the 'crackheads' and 'potheads' won't need to be armed, and won't need to rob people to pay the criminals for their addictions. Criminals who are 'created' by laws that make drugs illegal.
Well, certain drugs. Tobacco and liquor and cafeine are all OK. Oh, and prescription medication like prozac and ritalin for kids, but not dope for kids. Those damn drug dealers!
MacOs is known to leave old systems behind. When Apple upgrades MacOs they often build the system around newer hardware as a result older Macs can not run the new operating system. This of course expected from a company that makes money from hardware.
Actually, Mac OS 7.6, released in the late 90s, was the very first OS release from Apple that excluded any Mac hardware. Mac OS 7.6 would not run on the Mac SE, which was first sold in 1985. It is true that Macs cannot run older versions of the OS. I'm not sure how any of this pertains to the fact that Macs make money from hardware.
Although I agree that I'd love to see Microsoft disappear, I'd also like to point out that I don't think that Linux/Macintosh machines are totally invunerable to this sort of attack."
Macs are totally vulnerable to this sort of thing.
How hard would it be for me to write a simple shell script (Mac users replace shell script with AppleScript) that finds all of the email addresses in a users pine/elm folders (Mac users, again, replace this with Eudora, Look-out (oops, I mean outlook), Emailer, etc) and then mail a copy of the script to every one of those users and then execute a command such as "rm -rf *"
On the Mac, it's not hard at all. In fact it's trivial. Given an email client with a high level of AppleScript support, you could actually 'record' the application by doing all the GUI stuff, and Apple's Script Editor would write the code for you. You can even go one better than Windows, since extensions mean little to Macs. You can call your application called "Topless Marina Sirtis.jpeg" and give it a PhotoShop icon, and it will still do its thing.
Granted, this would probably only affect a single user's directory (unless someone was really dumb enough to run everything as root), but there are tons of morons out there that will run anything they get from a friend.
The Mac OS stops users from doing fundamentally stupid things like formatting their entire start-up drive, but does not provide the same protection from applications, so once again, ILOVEYOU could be trivially implemented for Macs.
I've never tried something like that, and it may be easier said than done, but I don't think that Linux/Mac users should be proclaiming that they are immune from such an attack. I do partially blame Microsoft for the ILOVEYOU virus, and I think that it might be excessive that a scripting language as access to modify the registry...
Again, I agree, but I think the important point is not that it cannot happen to Linux/Mac, but that it usually does not happen. Why not? Mac users, like Linux users, choose from a much wider variety of email clients than Windows users, especially corporate Windows users. Macs in use on the internet today are running half a dozen versions of the Mac OS, from 7 through to 9. This variety gives a natural immunity to the Mac community. The homogeneous Windows crowd are highly inbred, and so very susceptible to virii. Also, Mac programs are 100% GUI, so you would notice, for instance, that your email program just launched and is sending 100s of emails, and you could simply click the Cancel button.
"It's been promised for long enough, and with wireless links should be able to do this seamlessly. Or will we never see this technology?"
Doesn't this actually smell a lot like VCR Plus? A lot of trouble with few benefits. I'd like to see a user who can't type in a URL, but can install a barcode reader and use it. "I really want to go to www.cisco.com to read more about this new switch, but I'm too fucking stupid to type a URL into Netscape."
I think that we will see this sort of technology, but it won't be used in the ways described in the article. Hopefully, someone somewhere is working on a useful application.
How about encrypted snail mail? Or business cards with public keys? Or as security devices for cheques or cash?
Anyway, it won't be accepted by business until Microsoft embraces and extends it.
"What, you mean babelfish.altavista.com isn't GOOD enough for you?"
It's not great right now, but will keep getting better and better. Think about Star Trek, with the universal translator, is there any need for people to settle on a common language? I think the internet is just as likely to allow for an explosion of languages than an eradication.
"And then there's the fact that no American is going to bother to learn another language."
Why bother? If you speak slowly and loudly enough, everyone can understand English. Right?
I often feel that people who speak English as a first language have a far greater tolerance communicating with people for whom English is a second language. Maybe this is because people in England, Singapore, India, Canada and the U.S. all speak English, but their local versions can be quite different. If English ultimately triumphs as the universal language, I think it will be because it is the language coincidentally attached to the most liberal and democratic nations.
"I don't know if it is best to respond to product changes from another company when you're not fully ready to release your latest product."
That's Microsoft's usual tactic.
The key difference is that the BlackBerries are always on, while the Palm needs a login/check-your-email sequence. RIM is tagging datebook stuff onto a pager interface, while Palm is tagging wireless onto an organizer.
Mike van Lammeren
Re:I wish we had DSL here...
on
Homebrew S/ADSL
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· Score: 1
I noticed that he used a cross-over cable to get the modem to the hub. Why not just use the uplink port, like you would for a Cable Modem? Mike van Lammeren
"That's gonna be 2 generations old by the time it hits the stores next year..."
That's true--if it hits the stores next year. Microsoft is projecting a release date in "Late 2001." That translates into 2004, in human years.
Sony, Nintendo, and maybe even Sega will be replacing the PS2, Dolphin, and DreamCast, before Microsoft ever gets their shit together on this one. I think that the X-Box is going to turn into the Microsoft Bob-Box.
Apple already 'pulled off' handwriting recognition with the original Newton, several years ago. They even made it work really well with the last Newton that was released. It's not much of a stretch to think that they can do it.
"Handwriting recognition in computers still is poor at best."
Maybe you mean non-existant. What desktop computer has attempted handwriting recognition?
You're right, it is just like Real Life, and that's the problem. In real life, people are trying to legislate, sue or pay others to raise their children. Every plastic bag imprinted with "This is Not a Toy" is testament, as is every lawsuit suing heavy metal bands for responsibility for teen suicides.
The difference is the fragility of the internet. In Real Life, you can't wave a magic wand and make the porno shops in the seedy part of town disappear, along with the gay bookstores, abortion clinics, women's resource centers, etc, etc. Unfortunately, this is done very efficiently on places like AOL.
Even more unfortunately, a lot of Americans seem to LIKE IT. I guess this post just turned into a rant. Well, so be it. Some days I think that Margaret Atwood's The HandMaid's Tale is where things are headed.
"Basic shape; yep, been done. Its an almost exact clone of several terminal types, and pretty close to a shrunken version of several computer types that have been around since late 80's early 90's."
Care to give a few examples?
"Transparent cases (in colors); yep, been done. Been around since a loooong time."
I'm going to wait for the time-machine cpu. This will be a cpu that sends itself far enough back in time for each process to complete just after it has started. That way, I can start a job that will take years and years of cpu-time, but to me will finish instantaneously.
Where am I going to get such a machine? Well, I'm sure that they are available in the future, so I'll just wait for a future-me to send one back. Hey, a package just appeared on my desk...
Mike van Lammeren
Re:Why shuld Apple do more than this ?
on
PPCLinux.Apple.Com
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· Score: 1
"Isn't it surprizing how badly I spell ?"
Actually, it's the grammar I find most surprising.
"4. Put of a site look like a customer loving corporation."
The problem is not the telescopes. There is so much data flowing in to the radio telescopes that the problem is getting enough cpu's together to process it all.
I haven't formulated an opinion on this, but here is something to think about. The/. article that immediately precedes this one points to a link on Salon.com for a Top 10 Reasons Bill Gates Stepped Down list. The blurb on/. invites us to supply our own Top Ten ideas. So does the actual list on Salon.
Morally, ethically, whatever, to which site should one post additional Top Ten items? Without/., I never would have read the Salon Top Ten article, but without Salon, it would not have been written.
Just something to think about. I haven't made my mind up yet, so I don't offer an opinion.
"Remember, Palm devices are the only devices that can use anything like graffi, why?"
You might want to check your facts on that one. Graffiti was an independent company, and the original software was sold as a third-party add-on to the Newton. USR bought Graffiti and implemented it on their Palm Pilot.
If you open a LEGO box and dump it in a bowl, which of the following would you say.
a) the bowl contains MUCH lego. b) the bowl contains many legos.
I would say "why aren't you dumping that much lego on the floor, where it belongs?"
Hey, if you're really an English Teacher, then maybe you should do a class on this instruction, which is quoted from the Top 10 Gadget list:
Electric Hand Dryers.
You follow the instructions, press the big chrome button, place your hands underneath the air outlet and rub them gently.
In every public washroom I have been in, the tin instruction sheet has been vandalized. "Hands" is replaced with another word, which, if rubbed gently in public, will get you arrested. (This is what ACTUALLY happened to George Michaels.)
Please, for the sake of all humanity, bring up this subject in your next English class. It could save a pop music career.
Mike van Lammeren Mike van Lammeren
Re:I've already seen problems...
on
Apocalypse Not
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· Score: 1
For God's sake, man, don't let your mother connect to the internet! She'll bring it all down!
Slashdot Mirror
You say 'crackhead' like it's a bad thing.
Here's a thought to all the anti-gun-law people. How about doing away with drug laws? That way people can buy dope from the local farmer's market, it'll be cheap, and all the 'crackheads' and 'potheads' won't need to be armed, and won't need to rob people to pay the criminals for their addictions. Criminals who are 'created' by laws that make drugs illegal.
Well, certain drugs. Tobacco and liquor and cafeine are all OK. Oh, and prescription medication like prozac and ritalin for kids, but not dope for kids. Those damn drug dealers!
Mike van Lammeren
MacOs is known to leave old systems behind. When Apple upgrades MacOs they often build the system around newer hardware as a result older Macs can not run the new operating system. This of course expected from a company that makes money from hardware.
Actually, Mac OS 7.6, released in the late 90s, was the very first OS release from Apple that excluded any Mac hardware. Mac OS 7.6 would not run on the Mac SE, which was first sold in 1985. It is true that Macs cannot run older versions of the OS. I'm not sure how any of this pertains to the fact that Macs make money from hardware.Mike van Lammeren
Although I agree that I'd love to see Microsoft disappear, I'd also like to point out that I don't think that Linux/Macintosh machines are totally invunerable to this sort of attack."
Macs are totally vulnerable to this sort of thing.How hard would it be for me to write a simple shell script (Mac users replace shell script with AppleScript) that finds all of the email addresses in a users pine/elm folders (Mac users, again, replace this with Eudora, Look-out (oops, I mean outlook), Emailer, etc) and then mail a copy of the script to every one of those users and then execute a command such as "rm -rf *"
On the Mac, it's not hard at all. In fact it's trivial. Given an email client with a high level of AppleScript support, you could actually 'record' the application by doing all the GUI stuff, and Apple's Script Editor would write the code for you. You can even go one better than Windows, since extensions mean little to Macs. You can call your application called "Topless Marina Sirtis.jpeg" and give it a PhotoShop icon, and it will still do its thing.Granted, this would probably only affect a single user's directory (unless someone was really dumb enough to run everything as root), but there are tons of morons out there that will run anything they get from a friend.
The Mac OS stops users from doing fundamentally stupid things like formatting their entire start-up drive, but does not provide the same protection from applications, so once again, ILOVEYOU could be trivially implemented for Macs.I've never tried something like that, and it may be easier said than done, but I don't think that Linux/Mac users should be proclaiming that they are immune from such an attack. I do partially blame Microsoft for the ILOVEYOU virus, and I think that it might be excessive that a scripting language as access to modify the registry...
Again, I agree, but I think the important point is not that it cannot happen to Linux/Mac, but that it usually does not happen. Why not? Mac users, like Linux users, choose from a much wider variety of email clients than Windows users, especially corporate Windows users. Macs in use on the internet today are running half a dozen versions of the Mac OS, from 7 through to 9. This variety gives a natural immunity to the Mac community. The homogeneous Windows crowd are highly inbred, and so very susceptible to virii. Also, Mac programs are 100% GUI, so you would notice, for instance, that your email program just launched and is sending 100s of emails, and you could simply click the Cancel button.Mike van Lammeren
"Gnu is Not Unix / Linux Is Not UniX"
I was drinking Iced Tea when I read this, and laughed so hard that Iced Tea almost came out my nose.
Mike van Lammeren
"It's been promised for long enough, and with wireless links should be able to do this seamlessly. Or will we never see this technology?"
Doesn't this actually smell a lot like VCR Plus? A lot of trouble with few benefits. I'd like to see a user who can't type in a URL, but can install a barcode reader and use it. "I really want to go to www.cisco.com to read more about this new switch, but I'm too fucking stupid to type a URL into Netscape."
I think that we will see this sort of technology, but it won't be used in the ways described in the article. Hopefully, someone somewhere is working on a useful application.
How about encrypted snail mail? Or business cards with public keys? Or as security devices for cheques or cash?
Anyway, it won't be accepted by business until Microsoft embraces and extends it.
Mike van Lammeren
"What, you mean babelfish.altavista.com isn't GOOD enough for you?"
It's not great right now, but will keep getting better and better. Think about Star Trek, with the universal translator, is there any need for people to settle on a common language? I think the internet is just as likely to allow for an explosion of languages than an eradication.
"And then there's the fact that no American is going to bother to learn another language."
Why bother? If you speak slowly and loudly enough, everyone can understand English. Right?
Mike van Lammeren
I often feel that people who speak English as a first language have a far greater tolerance communicating with people for whom English is a second language. Maybe this is because people in England, Singapore, India, Canada and the U.S. all speak English, but their local versions can be quite different. If English ultimately triumphs as the universal language, I think it will be because it is the language coincidentally attached to the most liberal and democratic nations.
Mike van Lammeren
We're all the same race--homo sapien sapien.
Mike van Lammeren
"I don't know if it is best to respond to product changes from another company when you're not fully ready to release your latest product."
That's Microsoft's usual tactic.
The key difference is that the BlackBerries are always on, while the Palm needs a login/check-your-email sequence. RIM is tagging datebook stuff onto a pager interface, while Palm is tagging wireless onto an organizer.
Mike van Lammeren
I noticed that he used a cross-over cable to get the modem to the hub. Why not just use the uplink port, like you would for a Cable Modem?
Mike van Lammeren
"That's gonna be 2 generations old by the time it hits the stores next year..."
That's true--if it hits the stores next year. Microsoft is projecting a release date in "Late 2001." That translates into 2004, in human years.
Sony, Nintendo, and maybe even Sega will be replacing the PS2, Dolphin, and DreamCast, before Microsoft ever gets their shit together on this one. I think that the X-Box is going to turn into the Microsoft Bob-Box.
Mike van Lammeren
"How do you eat soup in the matrix...?"
The truth? There is no soup.
Mike van Lammeren
"If apple can actualy pull this off "
Apple already 'pulled off' handwriting recognition with the original Newton, several years ago. They even made it work really well with the last Newton that was released. It's not much of a stretch to think that they can do it.
"Handwriting recognition in computers still is poor at best."
Maybe you mean non-existant. What desktop computer has attempted handwriting recognition?
Mike van Lammeren
You're right, it is just like Real Life, and that's the problem. In real life, people are trying to legislate, sue or pay others to raise their children. Every plastic bag imprinted with "This is Not a Toy" is testament, as is every lawsuit suing heavy metal bands for responsibility for teen suicides.
The difference is the fragility of the internet. In Real Life, you can't wave a magic wand and make the porno shops in the seedy part of town disappear, along with the gay bookstores, abortion clinics, women's resource centers, etc, etc. Unfortunately, this is done very efficiently on places like AOL.
Even more unfortunately, a lot of Americans seem to LIKE IT. I guess this post just turned into a rant. Well, so be it. Some days I think that Margaret Atwood's The HandMaid's Tale is where things are headed.
Mike van Lammeren
"Basic shape; yep, been done. Its an almost exact clone of several terminal types, and pretty close to a shrunken version of several computer types that have been around since late 80's early 90's."
Care to give a few examples?
"Transparent cases (in colors); yep, been done. Been around since a loooong time."
What's a loooong time to you? A year?
Mike van Lammeren
"So why bother with the old stuff?"
I'm going to wait for the time-machine cpu. This will be a cpu that sends itself far enough back in time for each process to complete just after it has started. That way, I can start a job that will take years and years of cpu-time, but to me will finish instantaneously.
Where am I going to get such a machine? Well, I'm sure that they are available in the future, so I'll just wait for a future-me to send one back. Hey, a package just appeared on my desk...
Mike van Lammeren
"Isn't it surprizing how badly I spell ?"
Actually, it's the grammar I find most surprising.
"4. Put of a site look like a customer loving corporation."
Mike van Lammeren
Error: Expecting ")" after: "(in terms of getting all..."
Mike van Lammeren
The problem is not the telescopes. There is so much data flowing in to the radio telescopes that the problem is getting enough cpu's together to process it all.
Mike van Lammeren
I haven't formulated an opinion on this, but here is something to think about. The /. article that immediately precedes this one points to a link on Salon.com for a Top 10 Reasons Bill Gates Stepped Down list. The blurb on /. invites us to supply our own Top Ten ideas. So does the actual list on Salon.
/., I never would have read the Salon Top Ten article, but without Salon, it would not have been written.
Morally, ethically, whatever, to which site should one post additional Top Ten items? Without
Just something to think about. I haven't made my mind up yet, so I don't offer an opinion.
Mike van Lammeren
"Remember, Palm devices are the only devices that can use anything like graffi, why?"
You might want to check your facts on that one. Graffiti was an independent company, and the original software was sold as a third-party add-on to the Newton. USR bought Graffiti and implemented it on their Palm Pilot.
Mike van Lammeren
I see this situation as analogous to the memory crunch in the days when 512K RAM was "enough for anybody".
What? That's not enough! 640k is enough!
Mike van Lammeren
How about a Sir Clive Sinclair interview? Is he still alive? My first computer was a Sinclair ZX-81, known in the U.S. as a Timex-Sinclair 1000.
Mike van Lammeren
If you open a LEGO box and dump it in a bowl, which of the following would you say.
a) the bowl contains MUCH lego.
b) the bowl contains many legos.
I would say "why aren't you dumping that much lego on the floor, where it belongs?"
Hey, if you're really an English Teacher, then maybe you should do a class on this instruction, which is quoted from the Top 10 Gadget list:
Electric Hand Dryers.
You follow the instructions, press the big chrome button, place your hands underneath the air outlet and rub them gently.
In every public washroom I have been in, the tin instruction sheet has been vandalized. "Hands" is replaced with another word, which, if rubbed gently in public, will get you arrested. (This is what ACTUALLY happened to George Michaels.)
Please, for the sake of all humanity, bring up this subject in your next English class. It could save a pop music career.
Mike van Lammeren
Mike van Lammeren
For God's sake, man, don't let your mother connect to the internet! She'll bring it all down!
Mike van Lammeren