I've been wondering about all of the publicity SL has been getting too. It makes me wonder if CNet's masters have some underlying financial interest in Second Life.
There's no such thing as bad publicity. Hormel really needs to get smart and leverage the mindshare that spam has to sell some real SPAM. Yeah, nobody likes the email variety, but everyone knows the name now, so use it to sell some meat!
So can we look forward to the new Intel Ganges, Hoogly and Yamuna processors?
Well actually, I think they are just laying the ground work for future Indian companies that will compete with them in the processor sector. I'm not saying that this is bad, just that Intel, and others, are not going to be able to leverage low wages indefinitely and they may well be opening the vault of their family jewels. Someday in the not too distant future, the PC may have Ganges Inside!
Heh! And we all thought nobody would ever see those snide comments we left in the code. Perhaps the next version of Visual Studio will include a profanity filter. Is there an Eclipse plugin for this? Sounds like a fun afternoon project!
This purchase makes me wonder if this is just the beginning of big acquisitions for Google. While YouTube is not Google's first acquisition, up until now most have generally thought of Google as a company that prefers to build its own stuff. Indeed, Microsoft has often faced derision for being a company that has grown by buying up companies with innovative products/ideas. Personally, I don't think there's any evidence that Google has abandoned the build it ourselves attitude. Given the buzz and interest in YouTube, the acquisition may be more of a defensive buy than anything else to keep it out of the hands of Microsoft or Yahoo.
While I'm no fan of offshoring, in all fairness, it is true that data theft as described is not a problem unique to India. The real question is, how are these things handled by the courts and laws of the countries in which they occur? If there is some assurance that perpetrators will be brought to justice and things put to rights, as much as possible, then it may not be as big a deal. However, if the courts or laws are weak/corrupt and the penalties associated with data theft are laughable compared to the benefits, then you have a big problem. Many companies have been attracted to India and other countries by relatively cheap labor, but they really need to look at the rule and culture of law in any country they plan to do business in as well. This of course assumes that they are truly interested in benefitting the customer and haven't just added in data theft as a cost of doing business.
I know it's always fashionable to bash Windows here on/., but stories like this really do beg the question of why the government is not seriously looking at a more secure operating platform. In particular, while Linux is not perfect, it would be much less likely to fall prey to the ills that are epidemic on Windows without much, if any, added cost post transition. I suppose someone will have to die before getting off of Windows is seriously considered, if even then.
Detecting nuclear explosions on an extrasolar planet would certainly be challenging, but I suspect that it is possible with the proper spectral analysis. Given the talk of doing spectral analysis of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets, picking up the spikes created by nuclear detonations may not be so far fetched. The real trick would probably be to be actually observing when they occured. Though I imagine that if a spectral analysis of the atmosphere is possibly, the elements left behind by a global nuclear exchange could probably be detected.
This may be heresy, but the SQL injection problem makes one wonder if it might be a better idea to make use of flat files for data storage more often. That might be overkill, just to avoid SQL injection issues, but for simple systems intended to allow set up and maintenance by novices, this might reduce the number of vulnerable sites considerably.
As for us seeing other intelligent life, just watch for planets to spontaniously blow themselves up.
Sadly, that may not be a bad idea. So assuming that we do not ourselves generate this kind of signature, we may be able to see something in a decade or two. Looking for extraterrestrial nuclear detonations would probably make a fine grad school project!
Wow, this is great! One of the things I use Google for most during the day is hunting for example code whenever I'm trying to use something new to me. This code search should make that a lot easier now. With that in mind, I'll have to be more mindful of posting my own code examples in a searchable format!
Most of the time the stuff I look for isn't anything special as near as I can tell. But I'd ultimately prefer that my search data is not saved. What's innocuous today, could get one landed in jail, embarassed, or worse years later. When I browse a real bookstore, no one is following me around noting every book I pick up or cover I glance at. I'd like the same consideration given to my online searches. I have nothing to hide (right now), but I still don't want to be spied on, unless it's by attractive women with amorous intent!;)
Sadly, I can see this sort of story being used to make an endrun around constitutional free speech protections in the name of national security. I wouldn't at all be surprised to see the likes of Jack Thompson take this approach once the "video games are harmful to children" approach to banning/restricting games runs its course in the courts.
Absolutely, I'd be willing to pay as much as $30 or $40, but if it came out at the Ron Popeil friendly price of $19.95, I'd be even happier. I have a lot of old PSX games lying around that I'd love to be able to sneak off into some room in the house, away from the kids, and play without too many interruptions. Yes, I'm a baaaad man!
Cool! Now I'll have one more platform not to finally finish Final Fantasy VII on! I love the homebrew scene, but I really wish Sony would build this stuff and make it easy for people to do all of this stuff. I'd even be willing to pay for the software if it was good, easy to use, and not too expensive. Oh well, a guy can dream.
Funny, but I'll bet it won't be too long before we see just that. But God help us if furry fashions catch on in First Life! That's just a joke, no really...
Big losses or not, the big question for Sony is whether or not the second batch of 6 million consoles sell out or gather dust on the shelves. The first batch of consoles is going to sellout regardless of the retail price and of course games will be sold too. But if the price really is too high for the majority of consumers who would have an interest in the PS3, then that second batch could be in trouble. I just keep thinking about how the PSP has turned out, going from a lot of hype and excitement initially to relatively flat sales later and a dearth of compelling software. If that happens to the PS3, then the future of the company may well be in doubt. Though I doubt Microsoft would be the buyer simply because there may be a number of Japanese companies, and perhaps some Korean ones too that may take an interest in all or part of Sony. This is just pure speculation though.
Meh. I've read the complaints, but I'm tired of waiting. Getting 2-DVD sets for $20USD a pop is a good deal, and I put my VCR (original trilogy on VHS) away a long time ago. So I'm going to go ahead and pick them up. If a remastered version of the original ever comes out, I'll probably pick it up. But life is too short to wait around for perfection.
I am taking action to ensure that inappropriate investigative techniques will not be employed again. They have no place in HP
Urr, isn't this just stating the obvious since she's the one responsible for the inappropriate techniques in the first place. Or at least, she signed off on them in some fashion. Isn't this a little like a thief retiring from thievery so that no more robberies will be committed?
The Chinese people are not stupid. They already know that the government controls the information they get through local sources whether they be Chinese or foreign. So these latest measures are not really going to have much effect since people who want it are already getting information from sources beyond the government's control using a variety of devices. Instead, I would say that the latest information crackdown is aimed at saving some political figure's butt (or indeed their life) due to the embarassment of some of the bad news that has come out over the last year.
There have been a number of stories that have leaked out over the last months about unrest and even uprisings in various parts of China. These disruptions have at their root economic disparities, environmental disasters, and political corruption. There are places where the government is losing control, ironically because they've failed to listen to and act on legitimate complaints of citizens. The news of these things has probably caused the loss of a lot of face within the government. So now some kind of tough looking action is needed to save someone's neck.
As far as access to unfiltered information is concerned, the genie is already out of the bottle. Any real efforts to put it back, like banning SMS on cell phones altogether, or pulling the plug on all internet access, would probably push people over the edge and start a real revolution. The revolution wouldn't start because of some abstract love of freedom, but simply because a lot of Chinese people have come to depend on these things for their livelihood and they are a part of what makes them happy. Just imagine what would happen if Chinese World of Warcraft players (mostly young and male) suddenly had it taken away from them. The government doesn't want that kind of trouble.
While others note that in some cases the information Google seeks to sell may be available somewhere on the net for free, time searching for it is not free. Serious researchers or people who are just plain impatient, will gladly pay for the convenience of one stop shopping from a source they trust. As for the newspapers, a number of them already have paid archive access services, but any arrangement with Google is likely to net them more business and more money without too much more effort.
It seems a cheap trick, but I understand why they'd choose not to ship with cable. Depending on whose numbers you believe, the sale of peripherals like this may significantly cut the money lost selling the console itself. I'm assuming that the peripherals are not sold at a loss.
This is just another reason to behave on the web as if everyone knows who you are and what you are doing. As long as companies like Google, your ISP, and thousands of other players, are logging your login ids and search habits via cookies, or your IP address, governments have few barriers to finding out who you are. So while there are techniques that the technically knowledgeable can use to cover some of their tracks, unless you have a price on your head, it's ultimately not worth the effort. Sometimes the best way to hide something is to place it in plain sight. The real solution to problems like this is not technical, but socio-political.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been wondering about all of the publicity SL has been getting too. It makes me wonder if CNet's masters have some underlying financial interest in Second Life.
There's no such thing as bad publicity. Hormel really needs to get smart and leverage the mindshare that spam has to sell some real SPAM. Yeah, nobody likes the email variety, but everyone knows the name now, so use it to sell some meat!
So can we look forward to the new Intel Ganges, Hoogly and Yamuna processors?
Well actually, I think they are just laying the ground work for future Indian companies that will compete with them in the processor sector. I'm not saying that this is bad, just that Intel, and others, are not going to be able to leverage low wages indefinitely and they may well be opening the vault of their family jewels. Someday in the not too distant future, the PC may have Ganges Inside!
Heh! And we all thought nobody would ever see those snide comments we left in the code. Perhaps the next version of Visual Studio will include a profanity filter. Is there an Eclipse plugin for this? Sounds like a fun afternoon project!
This purchase makes me wonder if this is just the beginning of big acquisitions for Google. While YouTube is not Google's first acquisition, up until now most have generally thought of Google as a company that prefers to build its own stuff. Indeed, Microsoft has often faced derision for being a company that has grown by buying up companies with innovative products/ideas. Personally, I don't think there's any evidence that Google has abandoned the build it ourselves attitude. Given the buzz and interest in YouTube, the acquisition may be more of a defensive buy than anything else to keep it out of the hands of Microsoft or Yahoo.
While I'm no fan of offshoring, in all fairness, it is true that data theft as described is not a problem unique to India. The real question is, how are these things handled by the courts and laws of the countries in which they occur? If there is some assurance that perpetrators will be brought to justice and things put to rights, as much as possible, then it may not be as big a deal. However, if the courts or laws are weak/corrupt and the penalties associated with data theft are laughable compared to the benefits, then you have a big problem. Many companies have been attracted to India and other countries by relatively cheap labor, but they really need to look at the rule and culture of law in any country they plan to do business in as well. This of course assumes that they are truly interested in benefitting the customer and haven't just added in data theft as a cost of doing business.
I know it's always fashionable to bash Windows here on /., but stories like this really do beg the question of why the government is not seriously looking at a more secure operating platform. In particular, while Linux is not perfect, it would be much less likely to fall prey to the ills that are epidemic on Windows without much, if any, added cost post transition. I suppose someone will have to die before getting off of Windows is seriously considered, if even then.
Detecting nuclear explosions on an extrasolar planet would certainly be challenging, but I suspect that it is possible with the proper spectral analysis. Given the talk of doing spectral analysis of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets, picking up the spikes created by nuclear detonations may not be so far fetched. The real trick would probably be to be actually observing when they occured. Though I imagine that if a spectral analysis of the atmosphere is possibly, the elements left behind by a global nuclear exchange could probably be detected.
This may be heresy, but the SQL injection problem makes one wonder if it might be a better idea to make use of flat files for data storage more often. That might be overkill, just to avoid SQL injection issues, but for simple systems intended to allow set up and maintenance by novices, this might reduce the number of vulnerable sites considerably.
As for us seeing other intelligent life, just watch for planets to spontaniously blow themselves up.
Sadly, that may not be a bad idea. So assuming that we do not ourselves generate this kind of signature, we may be able to see something in a decade or two. Looking for extraterrestrial nuclear detonations would probably make a fine grad school project!
Wow, this is great! One of the things I use Google for most during the day is hunting for example code whenever I'm trying to use something new to me. This code search should make that a lot easier now. With that in mind, I'll have to be more mindful of posting my own code examples in a searchable format!
Most of the time the stuff I look for isn't anything special as near as I can tell. But I'd ultimately prefer that my search data is not saved. What's innocuous today, could get one landed in jail, embarassed, or worse years later. When I browse a real bookstore, no one is following me around noting every book I pick up or cover I glance at. I'd like the same consideration given to my online searches. I have nothing to hide (right now), but I still don't want to be spied on, unless it's by attractive women with amorous intent! ;)
Sadly, I can see this sort of story being used to make an endrun around constitutional free speech protections in the name of national security. I wouldn't at all be surprised to see the likes of Jack Thompson take this approach once the "video games are harmful to children" approach to banning/restricting games runs its course in the courts.
Absolutely, I'd be willing to pay as much as $30 or $40, but if it came out at the Ron Popeil friendly price of $19.95, I'd be even happier. I have a lot of old PSX games lying around that I'd love to be able to sneak off into some room in the house, away from the kids, and play without too many interruptions. Yes, I'm a baaaad man!
Cool! Now I'll have one more platform not to finally finish Final Fantasy VII on! I love the homebrew scene, but I really wish Sony would build this stuff and make it easy for people to do all of this stuff. I'd even be willing to pay for the software if it was good, easy to use, and not too expensive. Oh well, a guy can dream.
Funny, but I'll bet it won't be too long before we see just that. But God help us if furry fashions catch on in First Life! That's just a joke, no really...
Big losses or not, the big question for Sony is whether or not the second batch of 6 million consoles sell out or gather dust on the shelves. The first batch of consoles is going to sellout regardless of the retail price and of course games will be sold too. But if the price really is too high for the majority of consumers who would have an interest in the PS3, then that second batch could be in trouble. I just keep thinking about how the PSP has turned out, going from a lot of hype and excitement initially to relatively flat sales later and a dearth of compelling software. If that happens to the PS3, then the future of the company may well be in doubt. Though I doubt Microsoft would be the buyer simply because there may be a number of Japanese companies, and perhaps some Korean ones too that may take an interest in all or part of Sony. This is just pure speculation though.
Meh. I've read the complaints, but I'm tired of waiting. Getting 2-DVD sets for $20USD a pop is a good deal, and I put my VCR (original trilogy on VHS) away a long time ago. So I'm going to go ahead and pick them up. If a remastered version of the original ever comes out, I'll probably pick it up. But life is too short to wait around for perfection.
Apologies! My bad. Perhaps I should step down so that...nah, been done already. Sorry about that.
Urr, isn't this just stating the obvious since she's the one responsible for the inappropriate techniques in the first place. Or at least, she signed off on them in some fashion. Isn't this a little like a thief retiring from thievery so that no more robberies will be committed?
The Chinese people are not stupid. They already know that the government controls the information they get through local sources whether they be Chinese or foreign. So these latest measures are not really going to have much effect since people who want it are already getting information from sources beyond the government's control using a variety of devices. Instead, I would say that the latest information crackdown is aimed at saving some political figure's butt (or indeed their life) due to the embarassment of some of the bad news that has come out over the last year.
There have been a number of stories that have leaked out over the last months about unrest and even uprisings in various parts of China. These disruptions have at their root economic disparities, environmental disasters, and political corruption. There are places where the government is losing control, ironically because they've failed to listen to and act on legitimate complaints of citizens. The news of these things has probably caused the loss of a lot of face within the government. So now some kind of tough looking action is needed to save someone's neck.
As far as access to unfiltered information is concerned, the genie is already out of the bottle. Any real efforts to put it back, like banning SMS on cell phones altogether, or pulling the plug on all internet access, would probably push people over the edge and start a real revolution. The revolution wouldn't start because of some abstract love of freedom, but simply because a lot of Chinese people have come to depend on these things for their livelihood and they are a part of what makes them happy. Just imagine what would happen if Chinese World of Warcraft players (mostly young and male) suddenly had it taken away from them. The government doesn't want that kind of trouble.
Heh heh heh! You beat me to the Lexx reference!
While others note that in some cases the information Google seeks to sell may be available somewhere on the net for free, time searching for it is not free. Serious researchers or people who are just plain impatient, will gladly pay for the convenience of one stop shopping from a source they trust. As for the newspapers, a number of them already have paid archive access services, but any arrangement with Google is likely to net them more business and more money without too much more effort.
It seems a cheap trick, but I understand why they'd choose not to ship with cable. Depending on whose numbers you believe, the sale of peripherals like this may significantly cut the money lost selling the console itself. I'm assuming that the peripherals are not sold at a loss.
This is just another reason to behave on the web as if everyone knows who you are and what you are doing. As long as companies like Google, your ISP, and thousands of other players, are logging your login ids and search habits via cookies, or your IP address, governments have few barriers to finding out who you are. So while there are techniques that the technically knowledgeable can use to cover some of their tracks, unless you have a price on your head, it's ultimately not worth the effort. Sometimes the best way to hide something is to place it in plain sight. The real solution to problems like this is not technical, but socio-political.