Of course the interesting question is what happens on the interface where your rights and my rights collide... your right to freedom of speech and my right to live without being put in fear, for instance.
I'm a Vet Med student. In what we call the *Real World*, we have viruses too.
We have human viruses, and canine viruses ( like Canine Distemper Virus - CVD), and porcine viruses (like Porcine Parvo Virus PPV). You name viruses for what they infect first, and for what they are and what they do second.
These 'viruses' and 'worms' all infect Windows. Not MacOS, not Linux, not BSD. Not Soliaris, or RISK OS, or any of the other OSes that have been or are in use.
I think being a subject of the Queen is sufficient - so Canadians and Australians count, Americans don't. There's a sub-knighthood thing that non-subjects can be awarded, I suppose Bill'll be getting one of those. Doesn't entitle him to be called 'Sir Bill' for a start, though I'm sure the Americans will go right ahead and call him that anyway.
In fact, at least 13% [cyber-dyne.com] of Alzheimer's cases are indeed CJD caused by mad cow.
A citation. Please. A *real* one, not the drivel that appears on that website you linked to, which I can only presume is your own. Go on, find that article in PubMed and let us read more than that. That's not evidence, it's a statement. I'm convinced that you're a hysterical idiot without the first bloody idea what you're on about. You might just convince me that your brains aren't completely rotted if you can at least produce a proper citation for this fact of yours.
*deep breath*
I don't normally lose my rag with people like this, but *pul-lease*. As a science graduate and clinical Vet student, this kind of thing really really does my nut. Hysterical, unfounded, poorly argued pseudo-scientific bullshit. You might as well argue that gastric ulcers and appendicitis are the same thing 'cos they both cause acute stomach pain. Come back when you have the first idea what you're on about, or better, don't come back at all.
That said, the BBC Radiophonics Workshop were producing *genius* work for the time, as anyone who's heard the BBC Radio Series will vouch - amazing sound effects, produced in the real world and just recorded, for the most part... very very very little computer-generated sound at the time.
The BBC *radio* series was the original. I believe you can buy it now as mp3 CDs. The BBC TV series was basically just a filming of the radio script, with a few minor adjustments. And then in the books he fine-tuned many of the jokes to absolute perfection.
For me the radio plays will always be the highlight, though, with the books in second place. The animations on the TV series were *wonderful* but everything else looked wrong. Trillian is a sight classier than that, for a start (she's an astrophysicist ffs, not an airhead Essex blonde). Ford and Arthur looked nothing like they did in my head. And Zaphod... spare us. And as someone else said, Marvin doesn't really look like *that* does he?!
As such, it's not really a criticism of Axiom's security policies . It is, however, a criticism of their hiring and monitoring policies.
I'd argue that human and physical security are probably the two *most* important aspects of information security. It's pretty obvious that the person with physical access to the machines on which information is stored has rather an impressive leg up in compromising any security proceedures that might be in place, let alone systems where users can saunter straight into the sensitive data. Security policies, if considered and properly created, should put great stress on the importance of the human element.
Yes, I guess that's the bottom line - there's likely *someone* out there who can use the extra power... I think the comment made by someone else about killer apps is right, though - right across the board, Macs, PCs, apart from the odd game (not really my thing) there's nothing really pushing the hardware envelope at the moment. Photoshop runs very nice, thank you, CDs encode to MP3 in less than the time it takes to play the first track, and I'm still not using more than 60% of my CPU, ever.
There needs to be something else - iDVD is cute, but not mass-market enough. There's nothing right now that the average user needs more CPU for.
From the article on The Register: candidate processors include the MPC7457, which has yet to ship but is set to take Motorola's G4 family beyond 1GHz.
I don't know where they've been looking but under my desk just here is a dual 1.25GHz G4 tower... there are 1.42s out there, too...
Honestly, I don't know what I'd do with a dual 2GHz G4 at the moment... apart from the two folding@home clients I'm running, I'm using perhaps 10 - 20% of the CPU on this machine, and that's running OS X and a heap of graphics apps...
BUT, it is going to generate *18.2 MILLION kilowatts* of power, indefinitely, with no ongoing pollution.
Assuming it doesn't silt up horribly (and it will, the silt levels in these rivers are something to behold). Assuming that all the raw sewage and industrial pollutants flowing into it don't accumulate to such horrific levels that they scorch a sterile streak from the damn to the sea. Assuming the engineering holds in the face of earthquakes, despite the vast number of corners that appear to have been cut in its construction.
Meanwhile all your displaced peasants to what for a living exactly in their concrete apartment blocks on higher ground...?
Not much of a loss... Safari is *wonderful* and must be coming out of beta pretty damn soon now. Hell, I prefer it to Mozilla already - it's just as stable, much cleaner interface and just plain nicer to use.
And if this is a DRM thing, well, with iTMS and such, I don't think figuring out how to build compatible DRM into the system is likely to take Apple very long...
Put IE officially where it actually is - tangled medusa-like in an incestuous muddle somewhere in the bowels of Windows, and hopefully leave it there to die a slow painful death.
It's interesting that you say that about teaching, and I think you have a point. I'm a CS student at Cambridge University (currently avoiding finals revision) where Java is the fundamental teaching programming language, the one they teach you right up front, the examples language for code fragments in algorithms situations (well, along with ML) etc.
Actually though I think for this kind of teaching you can just use the simple subset of Java that's been about since 1.1 - after all, you're teaching principles of programming and OO - you can teach actual Java *development* down the line and cover the complexities, bells, whistles and dongles then...
My impression is that even the good professor's fellow astronomers regard him as a bit of a nutcase on this topic;
And this of course is also key - a bit of a nutcase, sure, but not even a *biologist* with nutty views on evolution. At least they have a chance of finding a slippery grasp on biological principles with two blind grabs...
This article from the BBC illustrates the current problems with the donation of computer hardware rather nicely. Seems to me a bit of know-how is exactly what's needed.
Actually, with so much old computer kit being donated to the third world by companies etc (there must be a tax break or something - that and it saves paying to dispose of it) there's a lot to be said for sharing expertise, especially if those doing it are competent in working with Free software so that basic things like all the machines in a school running the same stuff can be taken care of. At the moment these machines run with what they came with and are nearly always next to useless. Well, unless you count the ones being used as doorstops and steps.
Of course there are other important things to do in these parts of the world, but the way I see it, sharing out expertise never did anyone any harm - it's a comodity both free and invaluable.
Dunno, what do you reckon the % of Windows users with properly licenced and registered products is...?
Re:Techincal Lords...
on
Spam, Milord
·
· Score: 1
Not actually true - the Lords debate all kinds of things, all the time. In particular there are 'Questions' for representatives of different government departments, which is where the discussion of Spam came from. It's just that the only time they get in the news is when they're overturning Bills from the Commons. A house of scrutiny they may be, but that extends to talking about things and becoming informed about them *befrore* a Bill turns up on their doorstep.
Re:Techincal Lords...
on
Spam, Milord
·
· Score: 1
*heh*
Yes, that sounds about right...
Re:Techincal Lords...
on
Spam, Milord
·
· Score: 1
No, sorry, the rest is already spoken for:)
Techincal Lords...
on
Spam, Milord
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Actually, I heard this debate on the radio late at night and I was impressed with the Lords taking an interest in something which as far as I know the House of Commons hasn't yet bothered to devote any time to. It seems to me a wonderful illustration of the Lords coming kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Long may it continue!
Oh, very true. I guess my point was that their response (canning the service), though surely the only good first response, doesn't justify 'stop having a go at Microsoft, look how well and quickly they've fixed it' type responses. Amputation != Cure.
The depressing thing is, it's such a simple exploit...
Oh dear. When are people going to start *thinking* before they add usability features to web services willy-nilly...? Hopefully at least the fact that this is so high-profile will make others think hard about their own password-resetting systems.
When I was working on an e-commerce site, I remember us all sitting around spending literally hours plotting out exactly what who would be able to do what with it. It's just commonsense, surely?
Slashdot Mirror
Of course the interesting question is what happens on the interface where your rights and my rights collide... your right to freedom of speech and my right to live without being put in fear, for instance.
I'm a Vet Med student. In what we call the *Real World*, we have viruses too.
We have human viruses, and canine viruses ( like Canine Distemper Virus - CVD), and porcine viruses (like Porcine Parvo Virus PPV). You name viruses for what they infect first, and for what they are and what they do second.
These 'viruses' and 'worms' all infect Windows. Not MacOS, not Linux, not BSD. Not Soliaris, or RISK OS, or any of the other OSes that have been or are in use.
Funny, that.
I think being a subject of the Queen is sufficient - so Canadians and Australians count, Americans don't. There's a sub-knighthood thing that non-subjects can be awarded, I suppose Bill'll be getting one of those. Doesn't entitle him to be called 'Sir Bill' for a start, though I'm sure the Americans will go right ahead and call him that anyway.
In fact, at least 13% [cyber-dyne.com] of Alzheimer's cases are indeed CJD caused by mad cow.
A citation. Please. A *real* one, not the drivel that appears on that website you linked to, which I can only presume is your own. Go on, find that article in PubMed and let us read more than that. That's not evidence, it's a statement. I'm convinced that you're a hysterical idiot without the first bloody idea what you're on about. You might just convince me that your brains aren't completely rotted if you can at least produce a proper citation for this fact of yours.
*deep breath*
I don't normally lose my rag with people like this, but *pul-lease*. As a science graduate and clinical Vet student, this kind of thing really really does my nut. Hysterical, unfounded, poorly argued pseudo-scientific bullshit. You might as well argue that gastric ulcers and appendicitis are the same thing 'cos they both cause acute stomach pain. Come back when you have the first idea what you're on about, or better, don't come back at all.
Oh, I've got 'em too :) Everyone should. It's a fundamental requirement for civilised life...
That said, the BBC Radiophonics Workshop were producing *genius* work for the time, as anyone who's heard the BBC Radio Series will vouch - amazing sound effects, produced in the real world and just recorded, for the most part... very very very little computer-generated sound at the time.
The BBC *radio* series was the original. I believe you can buy it now as mp3 CDs. The BBC TV series was basically just a filming of the radio script, with a few minor adjustments. And then in the books he fine-tuned many of the jokes to absolute perfection.
For me the radio plays will always be the highlight, though, with the books in second place. The animations on the TV series were *wonderful* but everything else looked wrong. Trillian is a sight classier than that, for a start (she's an astrophysicist ffs, not an airhead Essex blonde). Ford and Arthur looked nothing like they did in my head. And Zaphod... spare us. And as someone else said, Marvin doesn't really look like *that* does he?!
As such, it's not really a criticism of Axiom's security policies . It is, however, a criticism of their hiring and monitoring policies.
I'd argue that human and physical security are probably the two *most* important aspects of information security. It's pretty obvious that the person with physical access to the machines on which information is stored has rather an impressive leg up in compromising any security proceedures that might be in place, let alone systems where users can saunter straight into the sensitive data. Security policies, if considered and properly created, should put great stress on the importance of the human element.
Yes, I guess that's the bottom line - there's likely *someone* out there who can use the extra power... I think the comment made by someone else about killer apps is right, though - right across the board, Macs, PCs, apart from the odd game (not really my thing) there's nothing really pushing the hardware envelope at the moment. Photoshop runs very nice, thank you, CDs encode to MP3 in less than the time it takes to play the first track, and I'm still not using more than 60% of my CPU, ever.
There needs to be something else - iDVD is cute, but not mass-market enough. There's nothing right now that the average user needs more CPU for.
From the article on The Register:
candidate processors include the MPC7457, which has yet to ship but is set to take Motorola's G4 family beyond 1GHz.
I don't know where they've been looking but under my desk just here is a dual 1.25GHz G4 tower... there are 1.42s out there, too...
Honestly, I don't know what I'd do with a dual 2GHz G4 at the moment... apart from the two folding@home clients I'm running, I'm using perhaps 10 - 20% of the CPU on this machine, and that's running OS X and a heap of graphics apps...
Likely they picked it up from New Scientist, as it was in there last week...
BUT, it is going to generate *18.2 MILLION kilowatts* of power, indefinitely, with no ongoing pollution.
Assuming it doesn't silt up horribly (and it will, the silt levels in these rivers are something to behold). Assuming that all the raw sewage and industrial pollutants flowing into it don't accumulate to such horrific levels that they scorch a sterile streak from the damn to the sea. Assuming the engineering holds in the face of earthquakes, despite the vast number of corners that appear to have been cut in its construction.
Meanwhile all your displaced peasants to what for a living exactly in their concrete apartment blocks on higher ground...?
Not much of a loss... Safari is *wonderful* and must be coming out of beta pretty damn soon now. Hell, I prefer it to Mozilla already - it's just as stable, much cleaner interface and just plain nicer to use.
And if this is a DRM thing, well, with iTMS and such, I don't think figuring out how to build compatible DRM into the system is likely to take Apple very long...
Put IE officially where it actually is - tangled medusa-like in an incestuous muddle somewhere in the bowels of Windows, and hopefully leave it there to die a slow painful death.
It's interesting that you say that about teaching, and I think you have a point. I'm a CS student at Cambridge University (currently avoiding finals revision) where Java is the fundamental teaching programming language, the one they teach you right up front, the examples language for code fragments in algorithms situations (well, along with ML) etc.
Actually though I think for this kind of teaching you can just use the simple subset of Java that's been about since 1.1 - after all, you're teaching principles of programming and OO - you can teach actual Java *development* down the line and cover the complexities, bells, whistles and dongles then...
My impression is that even the good professor's fellow astronomers regard him as a bit of a nutcase on this topic;
And this of course is also key - a bit of a nutcase, sure, but not even a *biologist* with nutty views on evolution. At least they have a chance of finding a slippery grasp on biological principles with two blind grabs...
This article from the BBC illustrates the current problems with the donation of computer hardware rather nicely. Seems to me a bit of know-how is exactly what's needed.
Actually, with so much old computer kit being donated to the third world by companies etc (there must be a tax break or something - that and it saves paying to dispose of it) there's a lot to be said for sharing expertise, especially if those doing it are competent in working with Free software so that basic things like all the machines in a school running the same stuff can be taken care of. At the moment these machines run with what they came with and are nearly always next to useless. Well, unless you count the ones being used as doorstops and steps.
Of course there are other important things to do in these parts of the world, but the way I see it, sharing out expertise never did anyone any harm - it's a comodity both free and invaluable.
Dunno, what do you reckon the % of Windows users with properly licenced and registered products is...?
Not actually true - the Lords debate all kinds of things, all the time. In particular there are 'Questions' for representatives of different government departments, which is where the discussion of Spam came from. It's just that the only time they get in the news is when they're overturning Bills from the Commons. A house of scrutiny they may be, but that extends to talking about things and becoming informed about them *befrore* a Bill turns up on their doorstep.
*heh*
Yes, that sounds about right...
No, sorry, the rest is already spoken for :)
Actually, I heard this debate on the radio late at night and I was impressed with the Lords taking an interest in something which as far as I know the House of Commons hasn't yet bothered to devote any time to. It seems to me a wonderful illustration of the Lords coming kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Long may it continue!
Oh, very true. I guess my point was that their response (canning the service), though surely the only good first response, doesn't justify 'stop having a go at Microsoft, look how well and quickly they've fixed it' type responses. Amputation != Cure.
Instead if you're a legitimate user who's forgotten their password you're now f*cked. *sigh*. Nice to know things have improved then...
The depressing thing is, it's such a simple exploit...
Oh dear. When are people going to start *thinking* before they add usability features to web services willy-nilly...? Hopefully at least the fact that this is so high-profile will make others think hard about their own password-resetting systems.
When I was working on an e-commerce site, I remember us all sitting around spending literally hours plotting out exactly what who would be able to do what with it. It's just commonsense, surely?