This has absolutely nothing to do with the article at hand, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the kind, intelligent, good-looking moderators on Slashdot.
I remember the immense enjoyment I used to get by editing my config.sys file to use EMS memory, only to change it back to not use it when I tried to run a different program 5 minutes later.
Actually, I used to use the fabulous CONED program, which allowed you to create a bunch of autoexec/config files and switch between them. This, coupled with the even fabulous-er Xtreegold meant my DOS setup was pretty much unbeatable.
It is intricate computer software, said Ralsky, that can detect computers that are online and then be programmed to flash them a pop-up ad, much like the kind that display whenever a particular Web site is opened.
"This is even better," he said. "You don't have to be on a Web site at all. You can just have your computer on, connected to the Internet, reading e-mail or just idling and, bam, this program detects your presence and up pops the message on your screen, past firewalls, past anti-spam programs, past anything.
Yeah, and it can impregnate your wife, stop your kids from doing drugs and increase the length of your penis by up to 4 inches.
I'm convinced that we posesss certain organs in our bodies which can only be explained as having been grown in a fractal way. The first thing which springs to mind is our lungs... just as we have fractal formulae to generate shapes which look like clouds, there must be a fractal which can generate lung-like shapes/tissue.
Possibly the most exciting thought is that our own brains are fractal-based. Very very minor changes in starting conditions can lead to the variety of brains we have today - and all that goes with it.
Fighting spam is like fighting crime, hackers or piracy. For every measure we put in place some spammer somewhere will find a way around it.
Take piracy, for example. As soon as someone finds a new way to stop people copying games someone else finds a way around it. It's been going on for years, and it's unlikely there'll ever be a way around it (even Palladium will have its holes).
Today, for example, I received a spam inviting me to "increase the size of my *enis". They are obviously aware that the word "penis" is blocked by many mail systems so they simply found an easy way around it.
I suppose the ideal enemy defence would consist of a mirror which could be adjusted to redirect the laser to a target of choice, along with a decent magnifying glass to add that extra bit of punch!
It's not early in the morning, it's lunchtime! Yay for Slashdot!
Multiverse Schmultiverse
on
One of Many
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· Score: 5, Informative
Dr Lee Smolin wrote an interesting (although difficult) book about the multiple universe theory.
He theorised that all of the universe's parameters (light, gravity, strong and weak nuclear etc) were self-tuned in much the same way that life is tuned for survival. Universes where the gravity was too strong, or the charge of a particle was too weak, didn't develop black holes. Our universe appears to have thousands of black holes, and we know for a fact our universe is tuned to support life, ergo, our universe will have "off-spring", with black holes being the mothers.
He's basically doing what Creationists do - merging biological evolutionary theory with cosmological evolution, something which most scientists are quick to separate. I think he might be onto something...
Slashdot Mirror
OK, carry on slagging off Microsoft.
Actually, I used to use the fabulous CONED program, which allowed you to create a bunch of autoexec/config files and switch between them. This, coupled with the even fabulous-er Xtreegold meant my DOS setup was pretty much unbeatable.
"This is even better," he said. "You don't have to be on a Web site at all. You can just have your computer on, connected to the Internet, reading e-mail or just idling and, bam, this program detects your presence and up pops the message on your screen, past firewalls, past anti-spam programs, past anything.
Yeah, and it can impregnate your wife, stop your kids from doing drugs and increase the length of your penis by up to 4 inches.
"Isn't technology great?"
Possibly the most exciting thought is that our own brains are fractal-based. Very very minor changes in starting conditions can lead to the variety of brains we have today - and all that goes with it.
Take piracy, for example. As soon as someone finds a new way to stop people copying games someone else finds a way around it. It's been going on for years, and it's unlikely there'll ever be a way around it (even Palladium will have its holes).
Today, for example, I received a spam inviting me to "increase the size of my *enis". They are obviously aware that the word "penis" is blocked by many mail systems so they simply found an easy way around it.
is the feds bugging slashdot. You ARE reading this from behind an anonymous proxy aren't you?
Fancy a game of real-life Deflektor anyone?
It's not early in the morning, it's lunchtime! Yay for Slashdot!
He theorised that all of the universe's parameters (light, gravity, strong and weak nuclear etc) were self-tuned in much the same way that life is tuned for survival. Universes where the gravity was too strong, or the charge of a particle was too weak, didn't develop black holes. Our universe appears to have thousands of black holes, and we know for a fact our universe is tuned to support life, ergo, our universe will have "off-spring", with black holes being the mothers.
He's basically doing what Creationists do - merging biological evolutionary theory with cosmological evolution, something which most scientists are quick to separate. I think he might be onto something...
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