Take your conspiracy theories and brainwashed talking points on "evil corporations" elsewhere.
First of all, all we're talking about when discussing "controlling" the internet is the name --> numbering mapping system known as DNS.
Secondly, "corporations with money" don't run the DNS system, ICANN does. ICANN is a non-profit organization (it's organized as a corporation, but it's not a "corporation with money", as you put it) whose purpose is to be the authority on DNS. The U.S. Commerce department simply said "we don't want to mess with it. you do it". The U.S. goverment hasn't done *anything* at all to regulate the internet in 20 years because there's been no need for it.
Lastly, the nature of DNS itself prevents any "corporation with money" from becoming this orwellian monster you fantasize about --- if Microsoft bought ICANN and started "blackmailing us to the limit" then people would just start ignoring the root DNS servers and depend on local DNS. This isn't optimal for DNS operation, but it does make it so that the scenario above can't come to fruition.
If you had thought about it, you would have known that and you wouldn't have wasted the bandwidth of 50,000,000 individuals, not to mention/.'s.
You really want to hand control of something so economically vital to the U.N.? You really want to allow the U.N. to impose taxes? Talk about taxation without representation...
I tend to agree with most everyone else here: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I don't agree with the idea that "the US invented it, therefore we should control it". I don't think that's a good approach or attitude, but I also think that the internet has been humming along just fine without any real government control.
Really...what would *anyone* have to gain from allowing the UN to control the internet from a practical standpoint (no, "sticking it to the US" doesn't count)? I think it's pretty obvious that the cost/benefit ratio is really, really bad in that scenario.
No, the problem on/. is that there are any number of clueless folks who get an article summary past the editors, and then another large number of dickweeds who are on the same page as the original numbskulls, while those of us who actually know a thing or two have to suffer drivel like the above both coming and going.
They're all fiddling around trying to get their buggy Verilog tools to work, while this guy just goes and wire wraps it in a few evenings.
A few evenings? I think not. Probably more on the order of "a few months", although I can't really say because the site got slashdotted within 5 minutes (not that I didn't contribute:-)).
Don't forget that engineers fiddling with Verilog are the ones that make high-quality, commercial electronics. This is a neat project, but let's not get carried away, eh?
So - in your posting you say "OpenSource" - on the webpage you write that you may publish the source in the future, but that it will only be free for non-commercial users. This is NOT OpenSource - see http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php for the definition what OpenSource means.
I think "OpenSource" should be changed to "EmancipatedSource". If being considered open-source requires that the ideology of RMS be accepted hook, line, and sinker, then it should at least be called by an ideological name. When I refer to open-source software, I mean it in a much more broad sense (as the term implies).
Indeed...just like anything you can play over speakers or on a screen is inherently copiable, and there's nothing that DRM or anyone else can do about it in a technical sense.
The encouraging thing is that for the forseeable future, there's a fundamental problem with DRM: anything that can be played or viewed electronically can be copied.
I don't really condone piracy, but I do hope eventually that popular and market forces force the MPAA/RIAA and others to make the badly needed changes to their business model rather than force major changes in the way we consume our multimedia.
Oh when will the web email services have integrated PGP support????
This is an opportunity for companies like Microsoft, who have a disproportionately large share of certain markets, to do some good. If the Outlook (and Outlook Express) setup wizard included 2-3 dialogs for setting up a PGP key and a dummy's intro on how to use it, it would go a long way to making privacy invasions much more difficult.
Even more interesting (because it has a name, not just TOH or AIS):
Registrant:
AIS
4613 University Dr Number 311
Coral Springs, Florida 33067
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com
Domain Name: JESUSISNOTGOD.COM
Created on: 09-Apr-03
Expires on: 09-Apr-05
Last Updated on: 09-Apr-04
Administrative Contact:
Ensley, N dnr@theasi.net
AIS
4613 University Dr Number 311
Coral Springs, Florida 33067
United States
3863165425 Fax --
Technical Contact:
Ensley, N dnr@theasi.net
AIS
4613 University Dr Number 311
Coral Springs, Florida 33067
United States
3863165425 Fax --
The Supreme Court of the United States indicated...[it] isn't in the mood to to legislate from the bench...
Well, that's good news when one considers that the court has no constitutional authority to do so anyway.
It's almost like a guy walking around saying to himself "well, I *could* steal that car, but I'm not going to because I'm such a good person" and letting it go to his head.
What? And miss out on the opportunity to do political/intellectual battle with linguini-spined Europeans?
Nonsense. Living in another country means I have to respect the views of the people I interact with and have an understanding of the culture in general (and try not to be obnoxious), but it doesn't mean I have to acquiesce.
The great jobs go to those with solid experience, and for those people (and the people hiring them), the degree they have is considered decoration rather than the meat of the resume. Perhaps this is different in the development field, but I doubt it; I'm coming from the infosec side of things and I imagine things are much the same for programmers.
I've been looking for a job pretty intensely over the last few months (I'm a graduating graduate student), and with few exceptions, every software engineering job I've looked at has a bachelor's degree listed as a minimum requirement. Also, it goes without saying that you'd have to have a college degree to get a job with one of the "superstar" companies like Sun, IBM, Microsoft, Google, etc. or any kind of university/research type of gig.
As far as the original question goes though, I don't think you'd *necessarily* do yourself any favors by transferring to a bigger or more well-known school. I strongly believe that the value of a person's education is determined largely by that individual. Just be excellent where you are and be pro-active, and you'll be fine.
I think ISP filtering is a *much* more desirable mechanism for stopping spam. Really, I even prefer individual filtering over ISP filtering (the perfect mix is when the ISP has a simple interface for the user to enter in filtering rules for their inbox), but either is better than a first-amendment-violating-law against spam.
Yes, I read it as Return of the King: Electrical Engineer.
Aragorn defeats Sauron with long-range sensors, radar, and rail guns. Also, he hacked into Saurons crystal-ball network and defaced the flaming eye thing by making it blue and writing "OWNAD1!!! OMG WTF GRETZ 2 MAH BOYS L3GOLAS GIMLI GANDALF FRODO AND MAH BABY ARW3N!!1! WTF LOL" across the middle.
Proportionality be damned. They're out for blood and need to make an example of him.
I think this is exactly what's happening, and I think it's a valid strategy. This is the first case of its type under a new law, and in a sense it would strip the law of any effectiveness to not seek maximum penalties. Just wait another 10 years and I imagine that either a) the law will have been amended or stricken or b) you'll be seeing a lot more plea bargains. I know if I were on trial under this law and thought I might be convicted, I'd be pleading like crazy to not go to jail for 15 years.
I think b) is more likely, and it would be a good result because we would get some justice and save a lot of money on prosecution and court costs as well as prison costs.
Though, to the average voter it doesn't matter, many think Microsoft is the best thing since sliced bread and really wont be told otherwise. (These are the same people that say Firefox is auwful before even trying it).
Is this to say that only people who won't try Firefox out of their own ignorance could possibly think much of Microsoft's accomplishments? I find that to be a highly unreasonable point of view.
I'm not a big Microsoft apologist (there are plenty of things that MS does or has done that I find objectionable) but I do think it's best to give credit where credit is due. Microsoft deserves credit both technically and from a business perspective.
Ironically, I don't think OSS would have ever happened in the way and scale that it has if Microsoft had never tried to "put a desktop computer in every household". Hardware would still be too expensive for most individuals to own a computer, and even if they did, available operating systems would have been completely inadequate.
...they very specifically say that they will ban proprietary software in government unless there is no OSS alternative.
This would be a really bad policy; this particular issue is one of the horses that's been beat to death on this website.
And I thought the purpose of intellectual property was to encourage innovation. With talented people now forced to investigate potential issues, I can't see how IP does anything but slow progress. Time for revision?
Actually, I think in this case, far more development would be done if MS actually did have patents that allowed them to control the core internet protocols.
The reaction of a lot of the internet world would be this: 1) put fist in crook of elbow and shake at microsoft 2) make a whole new spate of protocols and don't let microsoft participate (i.e., SCTP)
Slashdot Mirror
Take your conspiracy theories and brainwashed talking points on "evil corporations" elsewhere.
/.'s.
First of all, all we're talking about when discussing "controlling" the internet is the name --> numbering mapping system known as DNS.
Secondly, "corporations with money" don't run the DNS system, ICANN does. ICANN is a non-profit organization (it's organized as a corporation, but it's not a "corporation with money", as you put it) whose purpose is to be the authority on DNS. The U.S. Commerce department simply said "we don't want to mess with it. you do it". The U.S. goverment hasn't done *anything* at all to regulate the internet in 20 years because there's been no need for it.
Lastly, the nature of DNS itself prevents any "corporation with money" from becoming this orwellian monster you fantasize about --- if Microsoft bought ICANN and started "blackmailing us to the limit" then people would just start ignoring the root DNS servers and depend on local DNS. This isn't optimal for DNS operation, but it does make it so that the scenario above can't come to fruition.
If you had thought about it, you would have known that and you wouldn't have wasted the bandwidth of 50,000,000 individuals, not to mention
You really want to hand control of something so economically vital to the U.N.? You really want to allow the U.N. to impose taxes? Talk about taxation without representation...
I tend to agree with most everyone else here: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I don't agree with the idea that "the US invented it, therefore we should control it". I don't think that's a good approach or attitude, but I also think that the internet has been humming along just fine without any real government control.
Really...what would *anyone* have to gain from allowing the UN to control the internet from a practical standpoint (no, "sticking it to the US" doesn't count)? I think it's pretty obvious that the cost/benefit ratio is really, really bad in that scenario.
Perhaps the EU's actions were unnecessary?
Aren't they always?
The problem here on /. is that there are any number of clueless folks here where the following is true:
/. is that there are any number of clueless folks who get an article summary past the editors, and then another large number of dickweeds who are on the same page as the original numbskulls, while those of us who actually know a thing or two have to suffer drivel like the above both coming and going.
Patently Absurd Notion + Deadpan Delivery = Numbskull Actually Believes That Shit
No, the problem on
"Hey loser! Think there's anything on Uranus? Let's find out..."
They're all fiddling around trying to get their buggy Verilog tools to work, while this guy just goes and wire wraps it in a few evenings.
:-)).
A few evenings? I think not. Probably more on the order of "a few months", although I can't really say because the site got slashdotted within 5 minutes (not that I didn't contribute
Don't forget that engineers fiddling with Verilog are the ones that make high-quality, commercial electronics. This is a neat project, but let's not get carried away, eh?
China should have more subscribers to *everything* than the United States.
Oh and BTW: "illegal" is not the same as "wrong".
I couldn't disagree more. In my view, "wrong" is a superset of "illegal".
So - in your posting you say "OpenSource" - on the webpage you write that you may publish the source in the future, but that it will only be free for non-commercial users. This is NOT OpenSource - see http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php for the definition what OpenSource means.
I think "OpenSource" should be changed to "EmancipatedSource". If being considered open-source requires that the ideology of RMS be accepted hook, line, and sinker, then it should at least be called by an ideological name. When I refer to open-source software, I mean it in a much more broad sense (as the term implies).
I nearly fell out of my chair reading that...too funny.
Good point though...Linux is per se a legacy platform, even though it has benefitted from lots of technological advancements.
One other thing I'd like to point out: there are no "risk adverse" organizations. The phrase the original poster was looking for is "risk averse".
See definition of averse.
Indeed...just like anything you can play over speakers or on a screen is inherently copiable, and there's nothing that DRM or anyone else can do about it in a technical sense.
Amen to that. Born here from a long line of true Texans, and Bush ain't one.
So, how many generations of your family had to live here before you became a true Texan? Are there gradations of "true"?
Hell, he drives around his ranch in an F-250 with the windows rolled up and the air conditioner on.
What is that supposed to mean? "True" Texans don't drive F-250 trucks or use air conditioning?
Yes, this state was solidly D, and I firmly believe we were the better for it.
Texas has *always* been conservative, political affiliation notwithstanding.
Now, in the name of "no new taxes, not even closing the loopholes in existing taxes," we have:
- blah blah blah
What have you done about those things? Have you been involved in local politics and institutions? Did you even vote in your local elections?
The encouraging thing is that for the forseeable future, there's a fundamental problem with DRM: anything that can be played or viewed electronically can be copied.
I don't really condone piracy, but I do hope eventually that popular and market forces force the MPAA/RIAA and others to make the badly needed changes to their business model rather than force major changes in the way we consume our multimedia.
PGP, PGP, PGP!!!!
Oh when will the web email services have integrated PGP support????
This is an opportunity for companies like Microsoft, who have a disproportionately large share of certain markets, to do some good. If the Outlook (and Outlook Express) setup wizard included 2-3 dialogs for setting up a PGP key and a dummy's intro on how to use it, it would go a long way to making privacy invasions much more difficult.
Even more interesting (because it has a name, not just TOH or AIS):
Registrant:
AIS
4613 University Dr Number 311
Coral Springs, Florida 33067
United States
Registered through: GoDaddy.com
Domain Name: JESUSISNOTGOD.COM
Created on: 09-Apr-03
Expires on: 09-Apr-05
Last Updated on: 09-Apr-04
Administrative Contact:
Ensley, N dnr@theasi.net
AIS
4613 University Dr Number 311
Coral Springs, Florida 33067
United States
3863165425 Fax --
Technical Contact:
Ensley, N dnr@theasi.net
AIS
4613 University Dr Number 311
Coral Springs, Florida 33067
United States
3863165425 Fax --
The Supreme Court of the United States indicated...[it] isn't in the mood to to legislate from the bench...
Well, that's good news when one considers that the court has no constitutional authority to do so anyway.
It's almost like a guy walking around saying to himself "well, I *could* steal that car, but I'm not going to because I'm such a good person" and letting it go to his head.
I have three kids that will be starting school soon...
:-)
Heh..I have a baby on the way, and I'm going to teach him "dividing is bad, modular arithmetic is good" before I teach him "daddy"
Ok, maybe not. But I'm going to try.
(In case some of you missed that, it's sort of an inside joke. The idea is to show my kids that math is fun in its own way.)
What? And miss out on the opportunity to do political/intellectual battle with linguini-spined Europeans?
Nonsense. Living in another country means I have to respect the views of the people I interact with and have an understanding of the culture in general (and try not to be obnoxious), but it doesn't mean I have to acquiesce.
The great jobs go to those with solid experience, and for those people (and the people hiring them), the degree they have is considered decoration rather than the meat of the resume. Perhaps this is different in the development field, but I doubt it; I'm coming from the infosec side of things and I imagine things are much the same for programmers.
I've been looking for a job pretty intensely over the last few months (I'm a graduating graduate student), and with few exceptions, every software engineering job I've looked at has a bachelor's degree listed as a minimum requirement. Also, it goes without saying that you'd have to have a college degree to get a job with one of the "superstar" companies like Sun, IBM, Microsoft, Google, etc. or any kind of university/research type of gig.
As far as the original question goes though, I don't think you'd *necessarily* do yourself any favors by transferring to a bigger or more well-known school. I strongly believe that the value of a person's education is determined largely by that individual. Just be excellent where you are and be pro-active, and you'll be fine.
I think ISP filtering is a *much* more desirable mechanism for stopping spam. Really, I even prefer individual filtering over ISP filtering (the perfect mix is when the ISP has a simple interface for the user to enter in filtering rules for their inbox), but either is better than a first-amendment-violating-law against spam.
Yes, I read it as Return of the King: Electrical Engineer.
Aragorn defeats Sauron with long-range sensors, radar, and rail guns. Also, he hacked into Saurons crystal-ball network and defaced the flaming eye thing by making it blue and writing "OWNAD1!!! OMG WTF GRETZ 2 MAH BOYS L3GOLAS GIMLI GANDALF FRODO AND MAH BABY ARW3N!!1! WTF LOL" across the middle.
Proportionality be damned. They're out for blood and need to make an example of him.
I think this is exactly what's happening, and I think it's a valid strategy. This is the first case of its type under a new law, and in a sense it would strip the law of any effectiveness to not seek maximum penalties. Just wait another 10 years and I imagine that either a) the law will have been amended or stricken or b) you'll be seeing a lot more plea bargains. I know if I were on trial under this law and thought I might be convicted, I'd be pleading like crazy to not go to jail for 15 years.
I think b) is more likely, and it would be a good result because we would get some justice and save a lot of money on prosecution and court costs as well as prison costs.
Though, to the average voter it doesn't matter, many think Microsoft is the best thing since sliced bread and really wont be told otherwise. (These are the same people that say Firefox is auwful before even trying it).
...they very specifically say that they will ban proprietary software in government unless there is no OSS alternative.
Is this to say that only people who won't try Firefox out of their own ignorance could possibly think much of Microsoft's accomplishments? I find that to be a highly unreasonable point of view.
I'm not a big Microsoft apologist (there are plenty of things that MS does or has done that I find objectionable) but I do think it's best to give credit where credit is due. Microsoft deserves credit both technically and from a business perspective.
Ironically, I don't think OSS would have ever happened in the way and scale that it has if Microsoft had never tried to "put a desktop computer in every household". Hardware would still be too expensive for most individuals to own a computer, and even if they did, available operating systems would have been completely inadequate.
This would be a really bad policy; this particular issue is one of the horses that's been beat to death on this website.
And I thought the purpose of intellectual property was to encourage innovation. With talented people now forced to investigate potential issues, I can't see how IP does anything but slow progress. Time for revision?
Actually, I think in this case, far more development would be done if MS actually did have patents that allowed them to control the core internet protocols.
The reaction of a lot of the internet world would be this:
1) put fist in crook of elbow and shake at microsoft
2) make a whole new spate of protocols and don't let microsoft participate (i.e., SCTP)
I think he (Ballmer) meant that monitor and keyboard would be included (and a mouse, no doubt) for a total of $100 .