"Even if the issue is only a slight one, at Sony BMG we are very clear that any software security issues are taken with the utmost seriousness," said Mr Hesse.
Slight issue? Then that must be why we got to bash Sony twice/day everyday for the past month or so. That is why if you type "Sony Rootkit" you get 1,630,000 hits. We're just all overreacting to your illegal attempt to hijack our computers against our will with an auto-installing rootkit.
BTW does anyone know what the patch does to the rootkit ? Does it remove it? Or does it "patch" the gaping hole it represents but keep all the other effects it had i.e the 3-copy limiter?
Some analysts have estimated Merck's potential liability in the tens of billions of dollars. Others say that the risk to the drugmaker, once the most esteemed name in the pharmaceutical business, is impossible to know. The news that the once-popular arthritis drug may have caused thousands of heart attacks led to a firestorm about drug safety.
Could this be the drug industry's "Firestone"? Yet another example of he classic irresponsible/corrupt/greedy corp. that tries to cover up its own blunders.
Actually what I was referring to was the Sony Rootkit limiter which doesn't let you copy from the CD more than 3 times, whatever the use. So if you are the type that frequently puts songs on your iPod, removes them, and puts them back, you're in big trouble. This is especially true for those with the dinky iPods where space matters.
To be honest I don't know if the Sony ro0tkit limits the number of copies you can run from the CD to the track or to the CD itself. In other words, am I limited to 3 copies of each track from the CD, or to 3 copy-sessions off the CD, even if I took only track 1 the first time, track 2 the second, and track 3 the third? In both cases it's pretty fscked up of Sony...
The fact is, Microsoft is addressing their security problems, just as they did their stability problems, and that scares you guys to death.
Not really... I'm very happy with my *nix box and I haven't actually cared for whatever M$ has done lately for security, and I bet a lot of other *nix and Mac users don't give a damn whether Windows ever becomes secure. What you're accusing us is for rooting (ro0ting?) for the underdog, which last time I checked WASN'T a crime.
You lost your stability argument
I disagree. Windows is still more unstable than Linux, doesn't require restarts everytime you change fonts.
you're losing your security argument
Yes, that's why we rushed to go download the Sony ro0tkit remover. Or cared when yet another IE flaw was revealed.
Face the facts that you're going to have to find another argument
We'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, and IMHO for a while things aren't getting MUCH better for Windows. Better, yes, but not enough.
Some people write to TV channels to complain about the programs they run. Some people change the channel. A lot of us were unhappy with Windows, and took matters into our own hands. Also, many people turned away from M$ because of OSS, so it's also a matter of principle as well as dissatisfaction with Windows.
So, obviously, when M$ commits a blunder, we'll always be on the corner rubbing our hands and snickering, the same way children point and laugh at the poor kid who tripped and fell in the mud puddle, instead of helping him get up. Everytime M$ fvcks up,it makes us happier of the effort we put to turn away from Windows (because it does take a substantial time investment, even for the best).
Shouldn't it be something along the lines of "Microsoft removes yet another feature that proved to be a security threat"? It's not like they added a new security measure that beefs up Internet security. They just disabled the intranet zone, not too different than that feature that doesn't let you access/programfiles/ or/windows/ from the local network (dunno if you can circumvent that, but it is what happened to me by default)->(I think it's from SP2), which IMO is extremely annoying, because it makes me HAVE to change rooms to copy something from those folders.
when I buy my first HD DVD player, the rest of you should breathe a collective sigh of relief and buy the Blu-ray gear, because it'll be guaranteed that I chose incorrectly.
Waitasec...What if you're one of those HD-DVD sellers trying to use reverse psychology on us geeks, the people whose opinion is usually solicited for these purchases? I call shenanigans!
"In the long run all of this trouble is a good thing. Sony is galvanizing people against DRM."
I disagree. Even though in theory this should happen, I feel that anyone who understood the nature and purpose of DRM was already against it in every way. I don't think that this fiasco attracted anyone's attention except of those who are already pretty much against DRM. This isn't really a M$ Vs. Linux Vs. Mac debate, where each party has its own arguments. I think that even the people who are against piracy kinda see how pointless these types of measures are, especially those that harm the innocent (i.e. the thing about not being able to copy more than 3 times screwing over iPod users?).
I installed Ubuntu recently, and out of about 4-5 packages I tried to use, I got exactly zero working correctly.
They should conduct a survey to find out how many people consider Ubuntu as "THE Linux distro that got them converted". I have 3 of my friends using it, only 1 of them dual-boots. I personally use Ubuntu exclusively. All four of us have near-zero programming experience, only common sense and a minimum of patience. And from my experience, Ubuntu is quite different from most of the other distros, so don't shoot down the whole OSS thing based on your experience with Ubuntu =>it's called "hasty generalization" fallacy:P
Apple has been very adamant and has stuck by their guns for a long, long time and they put everything at risk in the company many times to basically say that we're going to be a proprietary operating system and you're going to have to buy our hardware to run it.
Well at least he's honest about it. But don't be shocked if a lot of people refuse to purchase anything from your company because of it.
"CNET News.com and MSNBC report that a survey of home personal computer (P.C.) users found 81 percent lacked at least one of three critical types of security
Amazing... now who was surveyed? Are Linux and Mac users concerned by the survey? Or they aren't worthy of the title "home PC users"? That's like 10% of the home PC userbase that would probably answer "no" to all three types of security. But wait, the report is carried by MSNBC ? Ah, all makes sense now.
Bah, methinks the whole article is shameless self-promotion, marketing bullsh*t if you will:
The improvements were attributed to the default firewall that is installed with Windows XP Service Pack 2, according to the survey.
Saudi Arabia has a special version of the internet, one that not only blocks you from accessing pr0n sites, but that also registers your name and IP if you attempt to access it. Urban legend says that if you attempt to access "illegal" sites too many times you get a phone call. According to this article:"the Saudi government maintains an active interest in filtering non-sexually explicit Web content for users within the Kingdom." Well guess what, Saudis can get their hands on pr0n all the time. It's harder, more time-consuming, but they end up with what they want. They started using "anonymizer" sites, and for a time it was a race between the pr0nsters looking for new unblocked anonymizers and the ISP (notice the use of the word "the") blocking them. Now you have P2P, and in the worst case you have a contact outside the kingdom who sends you "the goods".
So if Australia wants to block pr0n, go ahead, adults won't give a sh*t they'll register their names to get access. However, the teenagers who'll be craving for pr0n will also find ways to access it through the internet, but in process will probably learn a lot more shady techniques than if they had access to it like they do now.
Hell they might end up with the same situation as in the States, where adults buy beer for the teenagers who want to drink:
- For just $19.99, a Lumenlab Premium Membership will show you how!
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- Don't go to the movies, bring them home! The popcorn is cheaper and there's never a line for the bathroom!
For a 1-page article that's a lot of exclamation marks! Somebody count them! I counted 21 !'s ! That's lot when you take into consideration that the whole article is like 15 sentences ! Seriously it becomes annoying after a while ! Somebody should tell these marketing morons that.!=! !
Balsemao said consumers were drawn online by free content but this needed to change, he said.
Of course it does... Why should people get things for free? I mean you are depriving their site of valuable advertisement income.
I can get news info for free on television. At any point in time, CNN, BBC, Euronews, Fox News, and tens of other channels are running news content for FREE, 24/7. We consumers are giving the online people the privilege of our attention for a short moment when we visit their sites.
Next up: people shouldn't be allowed to breathe for free... I mean everytime you breathe you're depriving someone else of the oxygen you just inhaled. And that somebody might've been dumb enough to PAY for it.
I'm pretty shocked to see the number of posts that are actually calling the guy who bought the 360 an idiot 'cause he should "raise it one inch from the floor". I mean come on, the fact is that he was sold a lemon, and an expensive one too. The XBox 360 has a major problem, one that is VERY HARD to believe that it was overseen by the team of engineers, playtesters etc... Unless testing today means, turning the machine on, checking if left=left, the start button works, and the controller works after dropping it twice on the floor.
So the guy is wrong in suing MS, maybe. But somewhere I hope this will make the major manufacturers avoid selling crap they haven't properly tested first. [The following sentence is not flamebait so please] If they can actually sell a console that overheats in less than 20 minutes without knowing of the problem, it's scary to think how they handled their OS design, where flaws are less visible but can be just as bad.
Wieseltier told authorities that she received a Trojan-infested e-mail message bearing the address of gur_r@zahav.net.il, which she believed came from a friend.[...]But her friend's e-mail was actually gur-r@zahav.net
See why whitelisting your contacts is important ? The problem is that people want to use they computer the way they use their washing machine. They think that just because they have "auto-update on" for Windows and Norton, then they're safe. Unfortunately, they're not. If they use emails irresponsibly, they will get spammed/phished/worse. There is no miracle cure, but good internet "security" habits can help a lot. No amount of software can replace good habits and experience.
However, I feel that this is a battle that is already lost. How can I convince strangers to pick up good habits if I can't even convince my sister and father? All they care about is having a functional computer to send their emails and type their.docs whenever they need to do so. Any downtime is unacceptable, yet they refuse to acknowledge the fact that any downtime is usually their fault. PCs have become the 'automobiles' of the 21st century:" I don't care how it works, as long as it gets me to where I want to be."
Bah, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I have too much free time, others don't have the luxury to care about these things. Still I'm the one who ends up fixing the PC/ taking the car to the mechanic....
This has to be the most to-the-point, and insightful comment I've read in a while. Nice one:)
Still, even if having a car is a "basic" necessity in the US, removing the cars that are only good for the scrapyards, like the jewels we get to see on Pimp My Ride (pre-pimping, obviously) can improve road safety by miles. Just last week I hit an exhaust pipe that had fallen off one of "those" cars. It was just there, in the middle of the highway. Thankfully, I only got minor tyre damage. Necessity or not, those cares shouldn't be allowed on the road.
I will lose all respect of the Canadian government if they actually try to implement such a device. I thought that the German Autobahn should've been a lesson to the world that it's not speed in itself that is dangerous, it's having unsafe cars being driven on unsafe roads by irresponsible people.
What do the Germans have that we don't? Are they smarter (don't answer that), are they better drivers, do they have better roads ? Well the answer is IMHO yes. They aren't smarter, but they are more responsible behind the wheel... they aren't better drivers, their driving license is MUCH harder to get; they have better roads, but they also have WELL MAINTAINED CARS.
So in essence, the Germans are happily driving at 250+ Km/h on their autobahns without having significantly more accidents than us, because they have much higher standards when it comes to issuing drivers' licenses, they have suited roads, and their cars go through a very strict mechanical check-up every year, to make sure they are road-legal.
So stop pointing fingers at just speed, and start admitting that the reason we crash as much as we do is because we have too many sh*tty cars with sh*tty drivers. Period.
It's just another sleazy attempt by Sun to acquire money in exchange for goods and services.
And how do you expect them to acquire money if it's not in exchange for goods and/or services ? At least they're offering "something" in exchange for your dollars, it's not OUTRIGHT extortion like some other companies *cough*IwillresistthetemptationtobashM...*cough*
The example they used in the screenshots is the same one used
here!
There must be a deeper meaning to this blatant plagiarism. I mean, even the phone number is the same... Yep, definitely a terrorist plot in the making somewhere here...
Slashdot Mirror
Slight issue? Then that must be why we got to bash Sony twice/day everyday for the past month or so. That is why if you type "Sony Rootkit" you get 1,630,000 hits. We're just all overreacting to your illegal attempt to hijack our computers against our will with an auto-installing rootkit.
BTW does anyone know what the patch does to the rootkit ? Does it remove it? Or does it "patch" the gaping hole it represents but keep all the other effects it had i.e the 3-copy limiter?
Could this be the drug industry's "Firestone"? Yet another example of he classic irresponsible/corrupt/greedy corp. that tries to cover up its own blunders.
To be honest I don't know if the Sony ro0tkit limits the number of copies you can run from the CD to the track or to the CD itself. In other words, am I limited to 3 copies of each track from the CD, or to 3 copy-sessions off the CD, even if I took only track 1 the first time, track 2 the second, and track 3 the third? In both cases it's pretty fscked up of Sony...
Not really... I'm very happy with my *nix box and I haven't actually cared for whatever M$ has done lately for security, and I bet a lot of other *nix and Mac users don't give a damn whether Windows ever becomes secure. What you're accusing us is for rooting (ro0ting?) for the underdog, which last time I checked WASN'T a crime.
You lost your stability argument
I disagree. Windows is still more unstable than Linux, doesn't require restarts everytime you change fonts.you're losing your security argument
Yes, that's why we rushed to go download the Sony ro0tkit remover. Or cared when yet another IE flaw was revealed.Face the facts that you're going to have to find another argument
We'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, and IMHO for a while things aren't getting MUCH better for Windows. Better, yes, but not enough.Some people write to TV channels to complain about the programs they run. Some people change the channel. A lot of us were unhappy with Windows, and took matters into our own hands. Also, many people turned away from M$ because of OSS, so it's also a matter of principle as well as dissatisfaction with Windows.
So, obviously, when M$ commits a blunder, we'll always be on the corner rubbing our hands and snickering, the same way children point and laugh at the poor kid who tripped and fell in the mud puddle, instead of helping him get up. Everytime M$ fvcks up,it makes us happier of the effort we put to turn away from Windows (because it does take a substantial time investment, even for the best).Shouldn't it be something along the lines of "Microsoft removes yet another feature that proved to be a security threat"? It's not like they added a new security measure that beefs up Internet security. They just disabled the intranet zone, not too different than that feature that doesn't let you access /programfiles/ or /windows/ from the local network (dunno if you can circumvent that, but it is what happened to me by default)->(I think it's from SP2), which IMO is extremely annoying, because it makes me HAVE to change rooms to copy something from those folders.
Ah, spin doctors, you never cease to amaze me...
Waitasec...What if you're one of those HD-DVD sellers trying to use reverse psychology on us geeks, the people whose opinion is usually solicited for these purchases? I call shenanigans!
Now where's that tinfoil hat...
I disagree. Even though in theory this should happen, I feel that anyone who understood the nature and purpose of DRM was already against it in every way. I don't think that this fiasco attracted anyone's attention except of those who are already pretty much against DRM. This isn't really a M$ Vs. Linux Vs. Mac debate, where each party has its own arguments. I think that even the people who are against piracy kinda see how pointless these types of measures are, especially those that harm the innocent (i.e. the thing about not being able to copy more than 3 times screwing over iPod users?).
They should conduct a survey to find out how many people consider Ubuntu as "THE Linux distro that got them converted". I have 3 of my friends using it, only 1 of them dual-boots. I personally use Ubuntu exclusively. All four of us have near-zero programming experience, only common sense and a minimum of patience. And from my experience, Ubuntu is quite different from most of the other distros, so don't shoot down the whole OSS thing based on your experience with Ubuntu =>it's called "hasty generalization" fallacy :P
Well at least he's honest about it. But don't be shocked if a lot of people refuse to purchase anything from your company because of it.
Amazing... now who was surveyed? Are Linux and Mac users concerned by the survey? Or they aren't worthy of the title "home PC users"? That's like 10% of the home PC userbase that would probably answer "no" to all three types of security. But wait, the report is carried by MSNBC ? Ah, all makes sense now.
Bah, methinks the whole article is shameless self-promotion, marketing bullsh*t if you will:
The improvements were attributed to the default firewall that is installed with Windows XP Service Pack 2, according to the survey.
So if Australia wants to block pr0n, go ahead, adults won't give a sh*t they'll register their names to get access. However, the teenagers who'll be craving for pr0n will also find ways to access it through the internet, but in process will probably learn a lot more shady techniques than if they had access to it like they do now.
Hell they might end up with the same situation as in the States, where adults buy beer for the teenagers who want to drink:
Ask Babelfish . Or, since you seem so fluent in the language:
Wow, a woman with a fast car, uses Linux, AND a sharp sense of humour... No doubt about it, you must be very ugly :D
(kidding, only kidding!)
I, für eins, begrüßen unsere Nazi überlords ?
On romantic evenings I turn off the music to make sure no one's home.
For a 1-page article that's a lot of exclamation marks! Somebody count them! I counted 21 !'s ! That's lot when you take into consideration that the whole article is like 15 sentences ! Seriously it becomes annoying after a while ! Somebody should tell these marketing morons that .!=! !
I am no longer an idiot; I have an unoptimized live computation device.
Of course it does... Why should people get things for free? I mean you are depriving their site of valuable advertisement income.
I can get news info for free on television. At any point in time, CNN, BBC, Euronews, Fox News, and tens of other channels are running news content for FREE, 24/7. We consumers are giving the online people the privilege of our attention for a short moment when we visit their sites.
Next up: people shouldn't be allowed to breathe for free... I mean everytime you breathe you're depriving someone else of the oxygen you just inhaled. And that somebody might've been dumb enough to PAY for it.
So the guy is wrong in suing MS, maybe. But somewhere I hope this will make the major manufacturers avoid selling crap they haven't properly tested first. [The following sentence is not flamebait so please] If they can actually sell a console that overheats in less than 20 minutes without knowing of the problem, it's scary to think how they handled their OS design, where flaws are less visible but can be just as bad.
yes i know the quote is misrepresented, I just like the sound of it :P
See why whitelisting your contacts is important ? The problem is that people want to use they computer the way they use their washing machine. They think that just because they have "auto-update on" for Windows and Norton, then they're safe. Unfortunately, they're not. If they use emails irresponsibly, they will get spammed/phished/worse. There is no miracle cure, but good internet "security" habits can help a lot. No amount of software can replace good habits and experience.
However, I feel that this is a battle that is already lost. How can I convince strangers to pick up good habits if I can't even convince my sister and father? All they care about is having a functional computer to send their emails and type their .docs whenever they need to do so. Any downtime is unacceptable, yet they refuse to acknowledge the fact that any downtime is usually their fault. PCs have become the 'automobiles' of the 21st century:" I don't care how it works, as long as it gets me to where I want to be."
Bah, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I have too much free time, others don't have the luxury to care about these things. Still I'm the one who ends up fixing the PC/ taking the car to the mechanic....
Still, even if having a car is a "basic" necessity in the US, removing the cars that are only good for the scrapyards, like the jewels we get to see on Pimp My Ride (pre-pimping, obviously) can improve road safety by miles. Just last week I hit an exhaust pipe that had fallen off one of "those" cars. It was just there, in the middle of the highway. Thankfully, I only got minor tyre damage. Necessity or not, those cares shouldn't be allowed on the road.
What do the Germans have that we don't? Are they smarter (don't answer that), are they better drivers, do they have better roads ? Well the answer is IMHO yes. They aren't smarter, but they are more responsible behind the wheel... they aren't better drivers, their driving license is MUCH harder to get; they have better roads, but they also have WELL MAINTAINED CARS.
So in essence, the Germans are happily driving at 250+ Km/h on their autobahns without having significantly more accidents than us, because they have much higher standards when it comes to issuing drivers' licenses, they have suited roads, and their cars go through a very strict mechanical check-up every year, to make sure they are road-legal.
So stop pointing fingers at just speed, and start admitting that the reason we crash as much as we do is because we have too many sh*tty cars with sh*tty drivers. Period.
And how do you expect them to acquire money if it's not in exchange for goods and/or services ? At least they're offering "something" in exchange for your dollars, it's not OUTRIGHT extortion like some other companies *cough*IwillresistthetemptationtobashM...*cough*
The example they used in the screenshots is the same one used here! There must be a deeper meaning to this blatant plagiarism. I mean, even the phone number is the same... Yep, definitely a terrorist plot in the making somewhere here...