There are programs and scripts out there to break into various types of computers. I'm sure this jerk just used whichever ones he could find until one of them worked,then started messing around. That's how this type of thing almost always goes. If he'd had the skills to do this without help, do you think he'd have bothered with AOL?
What skills? Lusers like this have no skills, just programs they found somewhere. They have no idea how the programs work, couldn't write one if they did and have minimal computer skills. They're just young punks doing the computer equivalent of spray-painting graffiti, or tagging.
Before reading the comments, I took a moment to RTFM. (Yeah, yeah, I know, this is Slashdot, but we all slip up once in a while.) In the second paragraph, they mention "...an esteemed array of global experts -- including former Vice President Al Gore..." What did Al Gore do to deserve being called a "global expert?" I mean, besides producing a heavily-slanted "documentary" filled with questionable "facts" and spending more each month on his electric bill than I earn?
I may be wrong, but I thought Firefox won't work with ActiveX because it's a security hole, not because it can't. I seem to remember it working just fine in Netscape at one point.
I've seen webshytes that are even worse! Not are they entirely in Flash, they display a static image! No animation, no changes, just links to click on just like in real HTML.
The millions I'm talking about would be spent only on finding out how much effect humans are having on the warming, and which things we need to change. As far as cleaner technology, I agree; there's no good reason to cause more pollution than we have to, and we should be doing what we can to clean up our mess.
If it was an "incredibly stupid idea," why did the farmers stay there for several hundred years? It was a fine idea when the colony started, and it stayed a good idea right up until the climate changed and the weather got too cold for them to keep going. Then, the sensible ones left and the stubborn ones died.
Right now, it's getting warmer; in the '70s it was getting cooler. The "remedies" suggested would cost billions. Before spending those billions, wouldn't it be a good idea to take a few months, maybe a year or so and spend a few million finding out more about exactly what's going on so that when we do spend those billions (if it turns out to be needed) we spend them on The Right Thing?
This was at about the middle of the Early Medieval Warm Period, when the Vikings had a colony on the west coast of Greenland, supporting itself as dairy farmers. I specify the west coast because, although the Gulf Stream reaches Greenland, it goes up the east coast, and wasn't a factor. I might add, that with all the foofrah about how hot it's getting, we still don't have dairy farms there.
stop squabbling about what is and isn't happening, and why. Worry instead about What Should Be Done.
If we don't know (and we don't) just what is happening for sure and haven't proven (scientifically, that is) why it's happening, how can we possibly know what should be done?
What interests me is that they have my bandwidth capped and even that cap seems to fluctuate with how much my neighborhood is using.
This isn't a bandwidth cap but a consequence of the way cable internet works. The cable company doesn't promise so much bandwidth per customer, but so much per segment of cable. If you're the only person on that segment using a cable modem, you get it all. As others join in, it gets divided up evenly among all, so your bandwidth goes down as others join in. There's nothing you or your cable company can do about it, it's just the way the service works. I know, as I used to do broadband support for an ISP that worked with several cable companies, and had to explain this regularly to callers.
And as we find out later, it's impossible to have both the question and the answer in the same universe. We know that 42 is the answer; "What do you get when you multiply six times nine?" is a question, but it can't be the question.
I'm a great believer in caution too, but have a different way of making sure the filespec for delete is Just Right. First, I run this:
ls $FILESPEC
then, if $FILESPEC shows me exactly what I want I use the up arrow to bring back the previous command and change the ls to rm.
"Applicants are also responsible for disclosing any prior art."
Nice thought, but that's not going to work. Prior art makes something less patentable, so it's not exactly in the applicant's best interest to report it. It's like expecting politicians to police their own ethics. Oh, wait, isn't that what Congress already does?
I'm not exactly sure how Ms. Seltzer could show sizeable monetary damages to create the basis for a large enough settlement to matter.
I take it, then, that you've never heard of something called "punitive damages?" They're intended not to reimburse the plaintiff for actual damages done but to punish the defendant for misdeeds. In this case, the lawyers who filed the second take-down notice might well be subject to sanctions for their actions. IANAL and all that, but I do know enough to know such things are possible.
Once we strip out the shell, the graphics, and most of the managed code we will have a nice version that will run on a fraction of the resources required on the desktop.
And at that point, you'll have a kernal that's almost half as fast as XP instead of the current one third as fast.
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In Soviet Russia, overlord posters hate you!
How about people living on remote farms? Do they have a polling place within 200 meters?
There are programs and scripts out there to break into various types of computers. I'm sure this jerk just used whichever ones he could find until one of them worked,then started messing around. That's how this type of thing almost always goes. If he'd had the skills to do this without help, do you think he'd have bothered with AOL?
What skills? Lusers like this have no skills, just programs they found somewhere. They have no idea how the programs work, couldn't write one if they did and have minimal computer skills. They're just young punks doing the computer equivalent of spray-painting graffiti, or tagging.
You contradict yourself. Middle managers manage other managers, rather than directly managing workers, and report to upper management. Hence the name.
Before reading the comments, I took a moment to RTFM. (Yeah, yeah, I know, this is Slashdot, but we all slip up once in a while.) In the second paragraph, they mention "...an esteemed array of global experts -- including former Vice President Al Gore..." What did Al Gore do to deserve being called a "global expert?" I mean, besides producing a heavily-slanted "documentary" filled with questionable "facts" and spending more each month on his electric bill than I earn?
Well, if it were me, I'd just rename that file to something appropriate for financial records before letting them get their filthy little paws on it.
I may be wrong, but I thought Firefox won't work with ActiveX because it's a security hole, not because it can't. I seem to remember it working just fine in Netscape at one point.
I've seen webshytes that are even worse! Not are they entirely in Flash, they display a static image! No animation, no changes, just links to click on just like in real HTML.
Of course. In Soviet Union, jokes write you! Not only that, they surround you with ponies; lots and lots of pink ponies. OMG!!! PONIES!!!!
The millions I'm talking about would be spent only on finding out how much effect humans are having on the warming, and which things we need to change. As far as cleaner technology, I agree; there's no good reason to cause more pollution than we have to, and we should be doing what we can to clean up our mess.
If it was an "incredibly stupid idea," why did the farmers stay there for several hundred years? It was a fine idea when the colony started, and it stayed a good idea right up until the climate changed and the weather got too cold for them to keep going. Then, the sensible ones left and the stubborn ones died.
Right now, it's getting warmer; in the '70s it was getting cooler. The "remedies" suggested would cost billions. Before spending those billions, wouldn't it be a good idea to take a few months, maybe a year or so and spend a few million finding out more about exactly what's going on so that when we do spend those billions (if it turns out to be needed) we spend them on The Right Thing?
This was at about the middle of the Early Medieval Warm Period, when the Vikings had a colony on the west coast of Greenland, supporting itself as dairy farmers. I specify the west coast because, although the Gulf Stream reaches Greenland, it goes up the east coast, and wasn't a factor. I might add, that with all the foofrah about how hot it's getting, we still don't have dairy farms there.
If we don't know (and we don't) just what is happening for sure and haven't proven (scientifically, that is) why it's happening, how can we possibly know what should be done?
This isn't a bandwidth cap but a consequence of the way cable internet works. The cable company doesn't promise so much bandwidth per customer, but so much per segment of cable. If you're the only person on that segment using a cable modem, you get it all. As others join in, it gets divided up evenly among all, so your bandwidth goes down as others join in. There's nothing you or your cable company can do about it, it's just the way the service works. I know, as I used to do broadband support for an ISP that worked with several cable companies, and had to explain this regularly to callers.
And as we find out later, it's impossible to have both the question and the answer in the same universe. We know that 42 is the answer; "What do you get when you multiply six times nine?" is a question, but it can't be the question.
I'm a great believer in caution too, but have a different way of making sure the filespec for delete is Just Right. First, I run this:
ls $FILESPEC
then, if $FILESPEC shows me exactly what I want I use the up arrow to bring back the previous command and change the ls to rm.
And this would be different from what happens in what way?
Nice thought, but that's not going to work. Prior art makes something less patentable, so it's not exactly in the applicant's best interest to report it. It's like expecting politicians to police their own ethics. Oh, wait, isn't that what Congress already does?
I take it, then, that you've never heard of something called "punitive damages?" They're intended not to reimburse the plaintiff for actual damages done but to punish the defendant for misdeeds. In this case, the lawyers who filed the second take-down notice might well be subject to sanctions for their actions. IANAL and all that, but I do know enough to know such things are possible.
That's OK; just substitute Stalin, Pol Pot, Bin Laden or whatever other thug of choice you prefer and continue as before.
And at that point, you'll have a kernal that's almost half as fast as XP instead of the current one third as fast.
The story as I gave it I heard directly from Jerry one night at LASFS. And yes, thank you, they're both doing fine.