Now you can do a no recipt return, but they take down your drivers license number
So, this means a prolonged scam requires the ability to hack Wally World's computer system to generate bogus receipts (non-trivial), the abililty to make a variety of fake drivers licenses (more practical), or the ability to reliably pick out improperly trained employees (varies by scam artist, and more profitably used elsewhere).
...as there are certain times of year when accidents are more likely, EG, Labor Day weekend and around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The partial year nature of the numbers given in the linked reference lead to a biased average. I suspect a chi-square regression wouldn't show anything measurable above noise, but feel free to do the math to show me wrong.
first of all ISP's need to create a sort of credit-clearing company for all internet users.
Zeroth, all ISPs need some way to uniquely identify each member of the populace. Social Security number isn't necessarily usable, as they lack statutory authority for access. OTOH, they could probably work out a deal for this to be a recorded factor for current commercial consumer credit records, as there's probably at least a one-way correlation between easy marks and people who are bad financial risks.
This last cruel election further seals our fate as a generation and as a country.
Your worries are perhaps too localized. The economic collapse in 1929 was global, and the world economy hasn't been getting less connected meanwhile-- as is the point of this discussion. Not to mention that the mix in the US gives real potential towards a Balkan-style civil war... truly a worrisome prospect in a nuclear power.
And His Imperial Majesty, Norton I, by Grace of God Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico, ordered a bridge be built across San Francisco bay more or less where the Bay Bridge now runs... which just shows interesting lunatics sometimes have interesting ideas. =)
Could a terrorist set off a bomb large enough to trigger the slide?
Interesting, but hopefully impractical. Even modest tectonic events are in the multi-kiloton range. (1 Megaton is ballpark 4 to 5 Richter, IIR.) Any conventional weapon would need to be used only as a trigger for a seismic release, which would require an unusually skilled geologist to determine placement-- this isn't the sort of thing they usually work on.
Nonetheless, if you have just one nuke, and want to use it against the US, this could be the most effective spot if you don't mind incidental damage. Mecca should be perfectly safe. =|
People either have ancidotal stories of how Macs don't play nice with Windows (which was never really true)
Wrong. It hasn't been true for a long time-- since the advent of the Mac "superfloppy" drive, compatible with both 800K weird-Mac and 1.44M PC-standard floppies, and the death of the 720K floppy. I date the former to 1988, and the latter very roughly 1995. (I still have a 720K and 2.88M floppy drive in my elder-seals drawer; I also maintain a 800K drive machine at work, Just In Case.)
Macs did not like reading PC disks in Days of Yore, and file formats were sometimes different from the same program on different platforms.
These days, however, are (mostly) long gone. I will snail mail $2 US to the first person who can name me a program whose Windows and Mac data file versions are incompatible, provided that (a) the program's current version is sold brick-and-order retail (special order allowed) for both native Mac OS X and Windows XP, (b) the program costs under $1000, so I can affordably verify.
The G3 came out in 1998 or so, and they didn't retire it until the end of last year.
Largely due to cooling issues for laptop production; the G4 was way hotter than the G3, and the G5 is reported comparably worse. I expect Apple to follow the PC lead within 2-5 years, and start having different lower-power dissipation chip series(es?) for mobile (laptop) processors.
Yesterday there was a story about a priacy ring and people being sentance to 15 years for charging for access to pirated materials.
There is a slight moral difference between charging for access to a pirate WAR3Z site for stolen software, and fraudulently selling stolen software as your own product. In the former case, you're a slimeball coordinating with other slimeballs, and ripping off the owner; in the latter, you're a slimeball potentially fooling other mostly honest citizens, who might prefer keeping their integrity over the marginal cost between a pirate copy and a legal one. In my view, the former at least has the merit of being an honest crook.
DMCA, like RICO, is an overpowered law that can be grossly abused. Unlike RICO, discretion rests with a corporate or citizen owner, not with even the minimally wiser judgement of a Court Prosecutor.
There are some limited cases where near-DMCA powers are appropriate. Unfortunately, the DMCA is not limited to those cases. (And there would be a major debate even on Slashdot for where the limits should lie. However, there are too few Congresscritters who have studied Midaeval history and too many in corporate pockets for the current law to have been wisely crafted.)
1. New technology that only American Inventiveness and Individualism can come up with creates a boom of new jobs for a short time.
2. Baby boomers retiring/dying off create the last labor shortage ever, starting in 2008.
3. Robots create such a human labor surplus that the economy crashes to the point that all that is left is substinence farming of organic gardening to sell to the elites who have laid off all the rest of us. Another option is for the government to tax robotics to the point that we're all on welfare.
(1) is unconvincing. American I-I memes are very good for promoting creativity, but IP is very easy to export once created. Also, copying is cheap and easy if you ignore IP laws, as Slashdotters are well aware. "Equitable" competition only occurs when social forces besides the Invisible Hand act to equalize. I fail to see the necessary forces for counterbalance.
(2) is even more problematic, as the Social Security system will be under the most strain at that time... and the transfer of the unsupportable burden to those still working will be solved (or not) by our Democratically elected representatives in DC. Even prior to this election my hopes for a solution were minimal.
(3) overlooks the continuing increase of mechanization of farming over the last 200 years, and neglects the limiting capital cost of robotics when compared to the cross elasticity of outsourced foreign labor. Which leaves a scenario someone going by a "Marxist Hacker" should easily recognize as a recipe for the proletariat rioting in the streets. =)
Also, outsourcing is not the only way that jobs will be lost with increasing competition, so 3.7M may be low.
Me, pessimistic? Nah. I just listened during AP American History and ECON 201. Would you like Fries with that?
As technology increases though, so to[o] should our quality of life.
The overall quality of life for the majority of people should, yes; however, there's a LONG way to go before the majority of the planet can have, say, a computer; and the adjustment timescale may be beyond normal human lifespan. All Slashdotters are in the rich minority, simply by virtue of having access to a computer of some sort.
So: "If you can read this, you should be worried about the coming global economic readjustment."
[T]he first time I heard about a tsunami hitting Sri Lanka, my first thought was, "I wonder if Arthur Clarke is ok?"
Welcome to the club. Although the news report I heard merely said that the epicenter was from a Richter Scale 9 quake off the coast of Sumatra, having played around with the Asteroid impact calculator from last week's stories gave me some instant idea of the affected area... and that Clarke might have been in-range.
What we are likely seeing is increasing globalization causing a long overdue correction in the equity of global wealth distribution. Developing nations grew by an unprecedented 6.1 percent real GNP in 2004. Globalization is having an vital beneficial impact on the bottom part of the world population. For those of us who have been used to rare luxuries like indoor plumbing and vaguely reliable electric power, it's going to suck.
Of course, it would be nice if it impacted the richest of the rich in the US as noticably as "Middle Class Americans", but I'm not holding my breath.
All I need to know I learned from Star Trek:
"Four-hundred years ago on the planet Earth, workers who felt their livelihood threatened by automation flung their wooden shoes, called 'sabot', into the machines to stop them. Hence the word...'sabotage'."
Of course, Santayana doesn't hurt either: "Those who do not study their history are doomed to repeat it." Such tactics are sometimes short term effective, but long term... probably useless. If the current US administration's attitudes on corporations, terrorism, and civil liberties remain representative... laughably useless.
Given we have over two decades to work on the problem, it's just as well they don't start the yokels panicking yet. Not to mention that as of 6:30 PM EST, the story-given NASA URL has dropped the odds to about 2 in a billion.
Anyway, it's only around 1.5 Gigaton potential yield....
15 minutes after you attach a (pre-SP2) winbox to the 'net it's likely already infected.
There's a world of difference between "vulnerable at installation" and "compromised at installation". The former may be mitigated or eliminated with with third party hardware (such as anti-virus software and definitions or sneakernet installed patch CDS prior to network connection, and/or a dedicated cheapo NAT box). The latter, especially with a well designed root kit, can't be solved without use of a different, non-compromised clean install on the hardware.
designed to be used on computers that run Windows XP.
Indeed. Listed System Requirements: 600MHz processor (800MHz recommended), 128MB RAM (256MB recommended), Windows XP SP1 or later (all editions),.NET Framework 1.1. However...
meant to be a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with all Windows operating systems.
If the requirements are XP, it can only be a replacement for the MS Paint Software that comes with XP, not for the MS Paint Software for any other MS OS. Yes, I think I know what they mean; no, that's not what they said.
Wouldn't you just know it.. the one place Microsoft has effective security is the place that keeps people from doing something useful.
As much as it would be nice to have the graphing calculator on Windows, I shudder to think how much worse Windows could be if random people were able to sneak into Redmond to include "useful" software they had written.
New Windows FU (TM), now with SpamBot(TM), PR0NServer(TM), and Versions 5, 7, 22, and 47 of RootKit(TM) undetectably preinstalled!
...which I believe, for the most part, is considered to end at death. While IANAL, I do remember being told by one that a basic principle of law is: "You can neither libel nor slander the dead." (Trying do so is rude, but not illegal.)
you don't think about throwing your yahoo password in your will for your significant other...
No, no. The password list should be a distinct document, separate and distinct from your will. You should change your passwords more often than your will.
For myself, I try to remember with every e-mail I send that there is a chance that it will end up headlines on the NYTimes. Doing so helps with avoiding embarassing incidents when alive, as well as worries about what people will find out about me after I'm dead. If I overlooked something... well, a number of my mistakes are well known to those around me, one more won't be too shocking.
Slashdot Mirror
So, this means a prolonged scam requires the ability to hack Wally World's computer system to generate bogus receipts (non-trivial), the abililty to make a variety of fake drivers licenses (more practical), or the ability to reliably pick out improperly trained employees (varies by scam artist, and more profitably used elsewhere).
There are lies, damn lies, and _______.
Zeroth, all ISPs need some way to uniquely identify each member of the populace. Social Security number isn't necessarily usable, as they lack statutory authority for access. OTOH, they could probably work out a deal for this to be a recorded factor for current commercial consumer credit records, as there's probably at least a one-way correlation between easy marks and people who are bad financial risks.
Not quite; it seems to first glance an AI-Complete problem, which class is currently unsolved, but not necessarily unsolvable.
I, for one, will welcome our new Phishing-preventing AI overlords....
Your worries are perhaps too localized. The economic collapse in 1929 was global, and the world economy hasn't been getting less connected meanwhile-- as is the point of this discussion. Not to mention that the mix in the US gives real potential towards a Balkan-style civil war... truly a worrisome prospect in a nuclear power.
And His Imperial Majesty, Norton I, by Grace of God Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico, ordered a bridge be built across San Francisco bay more or less where the Bay Bridge now runs... which just shows interesting lunatics sometimes have interesting ideas. =)
Interesting, but hopefully impractical. Even modest tectonic events are in the multi-kiloton range. (1 Megaton is ballpark 4 to 5 Richter, IIR.) Any conventional weapon would need to be used only as a trigger for a seismic release, which would require an unusually skilled geologist to determine placement-- this isn't the sort of thing they usually work on.
Nonetheless, if you have just one nuke, and want to use it against the US, this could be the most effective spot if you don't mind incidental damage. Mecca should be perfectly safe. =|
Wrong. It hasn't been true for a long time-- since the advent of the Mac "superfloppy" drive, compatible with both 800K weird-Mac and 1.44M PC-standard floppies, and the death of the 720K floppy. I date the former to 1988, and the latter very roughly 1995. (I still have a 720K and 2.88M floppy drive in my elder-seals drawer; I also maintain a 800K drive machine at work, Just In Case.)
Macs did not like reading PC disks in Days of Yore, and file formats were sometimes different from the same program on different platforms.
These days, however, are (mostly) long gone. I will snail mail $2 US to the first person who can name me a program whose Windows and Mac data file versions are incompatible, provided that (a) the program's current version is sold brick-and-order retail (special order allowed) for both native Mac OS X and Windows XP, (b) the program costs under $1000, so I can affordably verify.
Largely due to cooling issues for laptop production; the G4 was way hotter than the G3, and the G5 is reported comparably worse. I expect Apple to follow the PC lead within 2-5 years, and start having different lower-power dissipation chip series(es?) for mobile (laptop) processors.
There is a slight moral difference between charging for access to a pirate WAR3Z site for stolen software, and fraudulently selling stolen software as your own product. In the former case, you're a slimeball coordinating with other slimeballs, and ripping off the owner; in the latter, you're a slimeball potentially fooling other mostly honest citizens, who might prefer keeping their integrity over the marginal cost between a pirate copy and a legal one. In my view, the former at least has the merit of being an honest crook.
DMCA, like RICO, is an overpowered law that can be grossly abused. Unlike RICO, discretion rests with a corporate or citizen owner, not with even the minimally wiser judgement of a Court Prosecutor.
There are some limited cases where near-DMCA powers are appropriate. Unfortunately, the DMCA is not limited to those cases. (And there would be a major debate even on Slashdot for where the limits should lie. However, there are too few Congresscritters who have studied Midaeval history and too many in corporate pockets for the current law to have been wisely crafted.)
2. Baby boomers retiring/dying off create the last labor shortage ever, starting in 2008.
3. Robots create such a human labor surplus that the economy crashes to the point that all that is left is substinence farming of organic gardening to sell to the elites who have laid off all the rest of us. Another option is for the government to tax robotics to the point that we're all on welfare.
(1) is unconvincing. American I-I memes are very good for promoting creativity, but IP is very easy to export once created. Also, copying is cheap and easy if you ignore IP laws, as Slashdotters are well aware. "Equitable" competition only occurs when social forces besides the Invisible Hand act to equalize. I fail to see the necessary forces for counterbalance.
(2) is even more problematic, as the Social Security system will be under the most strain at that time... and the transfer of the unsupportable burden to those still working will be solved (or not) by our Democratically elected representatives in DC. Even prior to this election my hopes for a solution were minimal.
(3) overlooks the continuing increase of mechanization of farming over the last 200 years, and neglects the limiting capital cost of robotics when compared to the cross elasticity of outsourced foreign labor. Which leaves a scenario someone going by a "Marxist Hacker" should easily recognize as a recipe for the proletariat rioting in the streets. =)
Also, outsourcing is not the only way that jobs will be lost with increasing competition, so 3.7M may be low.
Me, pessimistic? Nah. I just listened during AP American History and ECON 201. Would you like Fries with that?
The overall quality of life for the majority of people should, yes; however, there's a LONG way to go before the majority of the planet can have, say, a computer; and the adjustment timescale may be beyond normal human lifespan. All Slashdotters are in the rich minority, simply by virtue of having access to a computer of some sort.
So: "If you can read this, you should be worried about the coming global economic readjustment."
Welcome to the club. Although the news report I heard merely said that the epicenter was from a Richter Scale 9 quake off the coast of Sumatra, having played around with the Asteroid impact calculator from last week's stories gave me some instant idea of the affected area... and that Clarke might have been in-range.
What we are likely seeing is increasing globalization causing a long overdue correction in the equity of global wealth distribution. Developing nations grew by an unprecedented 6.1 percent real GNP in 2004. Globalization is having an vital beneficial impact on the bottom part of the world population. For those of us who have been used to rare luxuries like indoor plumbing and vaguely reliable electric power, it's going to suck.
Of course, it would be nice if it impacted the richest of the rich in the US as noticably as "Middle Class Americans", but I'm not holding my breath.
Of course, Santayana doesn't hurt either: "Those who do not study their history are doomed to repeat it." Such tactics are sometimes short term effective, but long term... probably useless. If the current US administration's attitudes on corporations, terrorism, and civil liberties remain representative... laughably useless.
Anyway, it's only around 1.5 Gigaton potential yield....
Tell me, why does the phrase "damning with faint praise" spring instantly to mind? =)
There's a world of difference between "vulnerable at installation" and "compromised at installation". The former may be mitigated or eliminated with with third party hardware (such as anti-virus software and definitions or sneakernet installed patch CDS prior to network connection, and/or a dedicated cheapo NAT box). The latter, especially with a well designed root kit, can't be solved without use of a different, non-compromised clean install on the hardware.
Fair enough, but your statement presumes she is still living; those deceased are normally only spoken of in the past tense. =P
Indeed. Listed System Requirements: 600MHz processor (800MHz recommended), 128MB RAM (256MB recommended), Windows XP SP1 or later (all editions), .NET Framework 1.1. However...
meant to be a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with all Windows operating systems.
If the requirements are XP, it can only be a replacement for the MS Paint Software that comes with XP, not for the MS Paint Software for any other MS OS. Yes, I think I know what they mean; no, that's not what they said.
(Sorry, my mother was a retired English teacher.)
As much as it would be nice to have the graphing calculator on Windows, I shudder to think how much worse Windows could be if random people were able to sneak into Redmond to include "useful" software they had written.
New Windows FU (TM), now with SpamBot(TM), PR0NServer(TM), and Versions 5, 7, 22, and 47 of RootKit(TM) undetectably preinstalled!
No thank you.
you don't think about throwing your yahoo password in your will for your significant other...
No, no. The password list should be a distinct document, separate and distinct from your will. You should change your passwords more often than your will.
For myself, I try to remember with every e-mail I send that there is a chance that it will end up headlines on the NYTimes. Doing so helps with avoiding embarassing incidents when alive, as well as worries about what people will find out about me after I'm dead. If I overlooked something... well, a number of my mistakes are well known to those around me, one more won't be too shocking.