I have yet to find a robust IDE in Linux, one that does not crash when it feels like it, doesn't keep closing useful panels like Class List, has some syntax completion and context sensitive (or any kind of) help that does work.
Jerry Springer? Isn't that too tame? A Jeremy Clarkson/Jay Leno add-on would be much more fun!
"Oh you have problems with your boyfriend? Why not go buy this Porsche 959 then? It's a bargain for £300k, and you will get as many boyfriends as you like!"
The difference is that the stream is now really flowing, so now it is time to write all those small and simple tools that handles the bread&butter functions that you want.
On the other hand, Fedora Core 2 was really good when it comes to user experience, and I'm still planning to take on Fedora Core 3 (mostly lack of time, too much/.;-> )
One script language for writing simple UI:s is TCL/Tk. (OK, there are others too...)
In my opinion, most of the laser abuse are done by kids not knowing what they are doing. In some cases the abuse is by adults with the mind of a kid. (either permanently or induced by some artificial means like alcohol etc.)
Only a few are actually using the lasers for a more sinister purpose, but they are dangerous to the public in any case since they are blinded by hate, mental illness or confusion and will probably be dangerous with any hard object (and some soft objects) in their hands.
It is of course not acceptable to point lasers at people in other vehicles (airborne or not) and it shall be punished according to intention. The step from using the laser as a device itself to the combination with other weapons like laser-seeking missiles is fairly large.
The problem as I see it is that the lasers with visible light aren't that dangerous to others, since the light is visible. The infrared lasers are much more dangerous, since the light is invisible. You wouldn't notice any eye injury until it's too late. Injury caused by visible light is normally limited by the normal reflexes of the eye.
In the near future we will also have UV-lasers, and they pose a threat too, since the radiation they are emitting is of a fairly high energy that can cause permanent damage to the eyes. UV damage to eyes is actually a risk even today for those that are sunbathing. Not all sunglasses are actually protecting against UV, some are even transparent to UV radiation!
Not many cashiers really thinks about what they are selling in a supermarket. "red box, red box, green box, blue box, cucumber, thingamajing, blob... etc..."
So if a box that normally costs $225 is sold for $65, they actually don't notice (in most cases). Same goes for things like meat that is sold on a weight basis, where the UPC/EAN code contains the actual price instead.
I have had an idea about changing the barcode on a box of cornflakes and set a barcode pricing it to about $100 or so and then try to see the reaction, but the hard thing is to first apply the label and then track the box. A typical candid camera trick!
In my opinion, this is only the tip of an iceberg. I'm not at all surprised, and this is probably occuring on a daily basis. On the other hand, some vendors are trying to rip off their customers too.
---
"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." - Lazarus Long
So you actually have a normal password when you are doing your bank transaction? If my bank only had that I would change bank directly.
My current bank has a little calculator sized password generator that uses a mathematical algorithm where the bank generates an eight-digit code that I enter into the device, which then calculates a response code of eight digits. I then enter that code and get access to the bank. The code that the bank has generated is only valid for three minutes, which means that even if anybody actually can intercept the codes they are useless fairly soon. (all traffic is of course over https too).
In addition to this the sum of all transactions made during the session with the bank has to be signed too, which means that even if somebody gained access to my bank login they are still not able to transfer any money out of my bank account.
The gadget is protected by a pin code and will lock up after three failed attempts, so in that case it's necessary to beat the PIN code out of me first.
It is a little cumbersome sometimes with this gadget, but to get higher authentication security will probably require something that is even more complicated. Biometrics are out of the question - it's not safe enough (maybe if you can make a challenge/response of brainwave patterns, but who want to have a D-Sub implanted in their skull?)
Other methods are one-time passwords by checking off a list of passcodes, but that is not good enough. Same goes for thoes RSA gadgets with a number generator, the numbers aren't protected, so anybody that can get hold of that gadget is able to do anything.
Another reason for password aging is to be able to lock out users that has ended their employment. I know it's a lazy way to do it, but it is at least catching some cases in a large organization.
In most cases the password aging system is only having a buffer of your five last passwords or so, which means that you can cycle through five dummies and then go back to your pet password again!
I have also been working some with different security systems, and I have found a device that is fairly nice to have and fits onto your keyring. It is the Aladdin eToken. The only disadvantage I have found this far is that Windows XP doesn't support it with device drivers automatically. You need to install from a CD. It's somewhat annoying for something that is supposed to be a key to the system.
This token allows you to use a full password, not only a PIN code as most smartcards do, and you can install your own certificates on it.
For the security paranoid, the maximum key size is only 1024 bits, which may be considered a little low in some applications.
I "downgraded" OS from Palm OS4 (m505) to WinCE 2003 (QTEK 2020 this spring and got a Windows look&feel and a mobile phone in the same device.
The drawbacks with this is that on my Palm I was able to adjust sounds and alarms much better than on the CE device. On the CE there are only two volumes, and if I turn down the volume to avoid annoying my close vicinity while playing games I also turn off the sound for alerts in my calendar and other notifications. Most annoying.
On the positive side is that the CE device comes with a fairly decent GSM/GPRS phone. This means that I can keep down the number of devices in my pockets.
Anyway, what I really want is a device that is a phone that can take two SIM cards (Work and Private), monitoring both and at the same time be a PDA. Since I'm running around with the PDA and phone in my shirt pocket I would appreciate if the PDA actually was equipped with a detachable handsfree "handset" on the top section using bluetooth, since I'm not fond of running around with an oversized hearing aid all the time.
If the device also would be running Linux it would be really nice.
It's probably too much to hope for that anybody designing PDA-Phones will read this, but what the heck...
One slight annyance is that now is the QTEK 9090 available, which has a keyboard, built-in WLAN and is quad-band. If it only came with Linux!
The QTEK 2020 is identical to the O2 Xda II, and is actually manufactured by the same company in china that also manufactures a lot of other PDA:s with Windows CE.
As long as they don't create some real mishap like a sheep with a human brain!
Or worse - A grizzly with a human brain employed as a tax collector!
---
Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house. - Lazarus Long
But for (insert your favourite suitable word here) sake I hope that they try to find something better than FAT as a filesystem. Something more modern like EXT3 or ReiserFS would be a lot better.
I would actually wait to buy one until there are HDTV camcorders around for a reasonable price.
Well, we don't have to agree on everything Heinlein wrote, but he gave us a rather large dose of common sense. Often with some humor. I actually like the idea of Pay it forward instead of pay back.
So far, I have some thoughts about copyright:
In the case of computer software, copyright shall only be valid as long as the company in question gives support for the software.
Anyone that actually rigs a movie camera and tapes a movie at the cinema should be forced to endure his own videotaping for the next 48 hours continously.
If you claim copyright on anything, make sure that anyone that want to contact you (or your descendants) can do so.
Don't put too much effort in fighting your existing land (copyright), you may miss the opportunity to break some new land!
I have checked an assortment of devices, among them smartcards of various types. The conclusion is that we will have to stick with passwords, even if they are used to unlock the smartcard. Recently I have been trying a USB thumb device that works as a smartcard. Really neat, and is easy to keep on your keyring. It actually accepts real passwords, and not only the digit PIN code normally used for smartcards.
Using biometrics is actually as said not that secure. That is since it's possible to fool any system with a fairly simple technique.
Maybe fingerprint checking, using the right sequence of fingers? But what happens if you have had a bad day injuring any of your fingers? Same goes for retina scans, how will they do the day after one heck of a party?
Brainwaves could maybe be something better, then you might have to think of something to create the right brainwave pattern!:-)
1. Ignore the whole thing and wait for FCC to really do something.
2. Everybody writes a letter to FCC and requests that they provide you with sufficient information about what to do.
Even though alternative 1 would be the most likely, alternative 2 will be more fun, just to see FCC unable to do anything due to the workload it creates to handle all mails.:-)
Sounds to me that the system was crappy from the beginning and was ripe for a complete re-install. One re-install of Windows per year is what I have found out keeps it reasonable stable. (OK, depends on what tricks you have been doing with the system.)
to see who is Zaphod Beeblebrox! It must be a challenge to do a guy with two heads unless you're a siamese twin!
Just too bad that Mr. Adams died too early! He had a lot of satiric writing left to do! Or as a friend of mine that I lent a book of Adams to stated; "I wonder what he smoked..."
This is probably only the top of an iceberg. All printer manufacturers are trying by different means to keep up the incomes by secondary sales in some way. Some more intrusive than others.
Personally I dislike inkjet printers since they usually are causing a mess by spreading the ink everywhere, and the printouts are normally not water-resistant either! Another thing is that the ink cartridges tends to dry up and cause messy pritouts if any if you leave the printer unused for some months. Only way out is to buy a new cartridge.
Laser Printers are a little better, as long as you have a decent vacuum cleaner arond to catch any excess toner. At least they don't mind being offline for a year in decent conditions. (maybe you will have to shake down the toner in extreme cases)
In all, tracking printer use should only be acceptable if the user is notified beforehand, and that the data communicated is easy for anybody to check regarding it's content. The user must be able to disallow any usage tracking.
A legitime use of printer usage tracking that I see is actually to let the printer manufacturer find out the most common errors occured with a printer, and which colors that are most frequently used in order to optimize coming models on the market. But as noted beforehand, the user must have his/hers last say in this. Relate this to the error reporting that Microsoft offers for Windows XP. (Not that it actually catches ALL problems)
You will inevitable lose some jobs, but you will also gain some jobs, but that isn't as obvious.
Stupid me is comparing the public transportation here in Sweden with the public transportation in the US, especially railway commuting, where I have seen that the railways in the US in general aren't used much, and are often single-track rails and are often in need of improvment.
...but it seems to me that M$ is trying to implement the Fourth Reich, trying by lawyers as an army to succeed with different methods contrary to what an infamous person failed to do trying to establish the Third Reich with an armed forces army.
"We Are Microsoft - Prepare to be Assimilated. Resistance is futile!"
I'm a Linux user and am using Java for two reasons:
Reasonable stable code (at least in the later versions).
Binaries are portable between most platforms
There are some drawbacks with Java too:
Brain-dead memory handling. - I as a programmer can't control or supervise the memory management
Resource-hungry, especially when GUI:s are present.
In all, this means that when resource consumption is not an issue, Java is a good choice, but when I want something lean&mean I'm using C, or even script-programming.
Slashdot Mirror
You haven't tried Eclipse yet?
"Oh you have problems with your boyfriend? Why not go buy this Porsche 959 then? It's a bargain for £300k, and you will get as many boyfriends as you like!"
On the other hand, Fedora Core 2 was really good when it comes to user experience, and I'm still planning to take on Fedora Core 3 (mostly lack of time, too much /. ;-> )
One script language for writing simple UI:s is TCL/Tk. (OK, there are others too...)
Only a few are actually using the lasers for a more sinister purpose, but they are dangerous to the public in any case since they are blinded by hate, mental illness or confusion and will probably be dangerous with any hard object (and some soft objects) in their hands.
It is of course not acceptable to point lasers at people in other vehicles (airborne or not) and it shall be punished according to intention. The step from using the laser as a device itself to the combination with other weapons like laser-seeking missiles is fairly large.
The problem as I see it is that the lasers with visible light aren't that dangerous to others, since the light is visible. The infrared lasers are much more dangerous, since the light is invisible. You wouldn't notice any eye injury until it's too late. Injury caused by visible light is normally limited by the normal reflexes of the eye.
In the near future we will also have UV-lasers, and they pose a threat too, since the radiation they are emitting is of a fairly high energy that can cause permanent damage to the eyes. UV damage to eyes is actually a risk even today for those that are sunbathing. Not all sunglasses are actually protecting against UV, some are even transparent to UV radiation!
So if a box that normally costs $225 is sold for $65, they actually don't notice (in most cases). Same goes for things like meat that is sold on a weight basis, where the UPC/EAN code contains the actual price instead.
I have had an idea about changing the barcode on a box of cornflakes and set a barcode pricing it to about $100 or so and then try to see the reaction, but the hard thing is to first apply the label and then track the box. A typical candid camera trick!
In my opinion, this is only the tip of an iceberg. I'm not at all surprised, and this is probably occuring on a daily basis. On the other hand, some vendors are trying to rip off their customers too.
---
"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." - Lazarus Long
The important thing is to make the ID as flexible as possible to allow for future security enhancements/variations to easier detect fraudulent ID:s
---
"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." - Lazarus Long
What I would like to see is LAN over Power, which would bean that I could monitor the coffee machine from a distance without extra cabling.
My current bank has a little calculator sized password generator that uses a mathematical algorithm where the bank generates an eight-digit code that I enter into the device, which then calculates a response code of eight digits. I then enter that code and get access to the bank. The code that the bank has generated is only valid for three minutes, which means that even if anybody actually can intercept the codes they are useless fairly soon. (all traffic is of course over https too).
In addition to this the sum of all transactions made during the session with the bank has to be signed too, which means that even if somebody gained access to my bank login they are still not able to transfer any money out of my bank account.
The gadget is protected by a pin code and will lock up after three failed attempts, so in that case it's necessary to beat the PIN code out of me first.
It is a little cumbersome sometimes with this gadget, but to get higher authentication security will probably require something that is even more complicated. Biometrics are out of the question - it's not safe enough (maybe if you can make a challenge/response of brainwave patterns, but who want to have a D-Sub implanted in their skull?)
Other methods are one-time passwords by checking off a list of passcodes, but that is not good enough. Same goes for thoes RSA gadgets with a number generator, the numbers aren't protected, so anybody that can get hold of that gadget is able to do anything.
In most cases the password aging system is only having a buffer of your five last passwords or so, which means that you can cycle through five dummies and then go back to your pet password again!
This token allows you to use a full password, not only a PIN code as most smartcards do, and you can install your own certificates on it.
For the security paranoid, the maximum key size is only 1024 bits, which may be considered a little low in some applications.
The drawbacks with this is that on my Palm I was able to adjust sounds and alarms much better than on the CE device. On the CE there are only two volumes, and if I turn down the volume to avoid annoying my close vicinity while playing games I also turn off the sound for alerts in my calendar and other notifications. Most annoying.
On the positive side is that the CE device comes with a fairly decent GSM/GPRS phone. This means that I can keep down the number of devices in my pockets.
Anyway, what I really want is a device that is a phone that can take two SIM cards (Work and Private), monitoring both and at the same time be a PDA. Since I'm running around with the PDA and phone in my shirt pocket I would appreciate if the PDA actually was equipped with a detachable handsfree "handset" on the top section using bluetooth, since I'm not fond of running around with an oversized hearing aid all the time.
If the device also would be running Linux it would be really nice.
It's probably too much to hope for that anybody designing PDA-Phones will read this, but what the heck...
One slight annyance is that now is the QTEK 9090 available, which has a keyboard, built-in WLAN and is quad-band. If it only came with Linux!
The QTEK 2020 is identical to the O2 Xda II, and is actually manufactured by the same company in china that also manufactures a lot of other PDA:s with Windows CE.
And what are the metric equivalents to your figures? ;-)
Or worse - A grizzly with a human brain employed as a tax collector!
---
Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house. - Lazarus Long
It is able to do most of the things you need. It all depends on how complex solution you want.
I would actually wait to buy one until there are HDTV camcorders around for a reasonable price.
So far, I have some thoughts about copyright:
- In the case of computer software, copyright shall only be valid as long as the company in question gives support for the software.
- Anyone that actually rigs a movie camera and tapes a movie at the cinema should be forced to endure his own videotaping for the next 48 hours continously.
- If you claim copyright on anything, make sure that anyone that want to contact you (or your descendants) can do so.
Don't put too much effort in fighting your existing land (copyright), you may miss the opportunity to break some new land!Using biometrics is actually as said not that secure. That is since it's possible to fool any system with a fairly simple technique.
Maybe fingerprint checking, using the right sequence of fingers? But what happens if you have had a bad day injuring any of your fingers? Same goes for retina scans, how will they do the day after one heck of a party?
Brainwaves could maybe be something better, then you might have to think of something to create the right brainwave pattern! :-)
1. Ignore the whole thing and wait for FCC to really do something. 2. Everybody writes a letter to FCC and requests that they provide you with sufficient information about what to do. Even though alternative 1 would be the most likely, alternative 2 will be more fun, just to see FCC unable to do anything due to the workload it creates to handle all mails. :-)
Sounds to me that the system was crappy from the beginning and was ripe for a complete re-install. One re-install of Windows per year is what I have found out keeps it reasonable stable. (OK, depends on what tricks you have been doing with the system.)
Just too bad that Mr. Adams died too early! He had a lot of satiric writing left to do! Or as a friend of mine that I lent a book of Adams to stated; "I wonder what he smoked..."
Personally I dislike inkjet printers since they usually are causing a mess by spreading the ink everywhere, and the printouts are normally not water-resistant either! Another thing is that the ink cartridges tends to dry up and cause messy pritouts if any if you leave the printer unused for some months. Only way out is to buy a new cartridge.
Laser Printers are a little better, as long as you have a decent vacuum cleaner arond to catch any excess toner. At least they don't mind being offline for a year in decent conditions. (maybe you will have to shake down the toner in extreme cases)
In all, tracking printer use should only be acceptable if the user is notified beforehand, and that the data communicated is easy for anybody to check regarding it's content. The user must be able to disallow any usage tracking.
A legitime use of printer usage tracking that I see is actually to let the printer manufacturer find out the most common errors occured with a printer, and which colors that are most frequently used in order to optimize coming models on the market. But as noted beforehand, the user must have his/hers last say in this. Relate this to the error reporting that Microsoft offers for Windows XP. (Not that it actually catches ALL problems)
My 1/2 cent opinion...
Stupid me is comparing the public transportation here in Sweden with the public transportation in the US, especially railway commuting, where I have seen that the railways in the US in general aren't used much, and are often single-track rails and are often in need of improvment.
(Flamebait :-> )
...but it seems to me that M$ is trying to implement the Fourth Reich, trying by lawyers as an army to succeed with different methods contrary to what an infamous person failed to do trying to establish the Third Reich with an armed forces army. "We Are Microsoft - Prepare to be Assimilated. Resistance is futile!"
was the worst movie I have seen. I had to quit looking since it was too bad...
There are some drawbacks with Java too:
In all, this means that when resource consumption is not an issue, Java is a good choice, but when I want something lean&mean I'm using C, or even script-programming.