Hurrah, lets throw up another barrier to prevent needy people from accessing information. Way to help bridge the digital divide.:/
On a more serious note though.... a lot of analogies that compare real world objects or rules don't really work in computer terms.
"A car has to pass an inspection, and a driver has to pass a test," he said. "We need to be moving in the direction that machines are certified in some ways and users are certified in some ways."
I know quite a few people in computer science that gets through the program and receives a degree, and are dangerous unqualified to program. Yet their degree certifies that they've got what it takes to program. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in these pieces of papers that certify that the individual is competent.
One has to also take into account that prestigious universities will sometimes inflate student grades just to make themselves look good. *COUGH* Harvard *COUGH*. This article speaks for itself here.
Using a foreign degree in North America could be a risky thing. I will derive anecdotal evidence from 'The National' which is a show aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The article can be found here, and you'll have to find the phrase, "Designer Immigrants" within the article.
The evidence does not completely fit with your question, but it is definitely an eye opener.
The article talks about a man coming from England who has a degree from Middlesex University. In addition, this man has five accounting certificates. In short, he has a recognized skill.
He speaks English and has a brother in Canada. So, he decided to move to Edmonton in search of a better life.
Upon arriving, he sends off 3,000 resumes for entry level accounting positions. Four years later, not a single job offer for a permanent position. Why? Because his foreign degree and skills were not recognized.
A direct quote from the article, "Doctors, engineers and other people are facing the same problem. So, I mean, what's the point of increasing the point level and either of them have to have a PhD. What do they want PhD to come here and clean the toilet or deliver the pizza or run the mini-cab or something like that?"
Another quote that's interesting, "One study of skilled immigrant incomes shows that a foreign education is valued at only half of what a Canadian education nets on the job market. Foreign work experience is valued by Canadian employers at approximately zero....My analysis has shown that it is getting more severe over time. That immigrant skills are being discounted today more heavily than they were in the past."
This doesn't completely answer your question as the evidence presented deals with immigrants. Nevertheless, it does show that foreign degrees are not viewed equally and are deeply discounted by employers in North America.
Interesting that the RIAA suddenly "cares" that child porn is being distributed over P2P. This HAS to be a noble endeavour to creating a better, safer world... and they have no other motives. Right.....
But on a more serious note....
I believe all technology can be used for good and evil purposes. To merely condemn a technology because of its potential bad seems rather illogical.
One could argue that VHS or DVD acts as a carrier of child porn since it is a medium that can distribute child porn.... but I don't see the RIAA linking DVD == child porn. I don't see DVD players have a warning label saying that you MAY be exposed to child porn while using this system. I don't see stores selling DVDs taking down your personal information (except Radio Shack) and verifying your age before using the system. Hmmm.... i wonder why the RIAA doesn't take out these other technologies.
By induction, lets do case n+1. With the same logic, one could argue that the Internet is a medium for child porn; therefore, we should verify age and stick warning labels onto the Internet. Lets all jump on the anti-technology band wagon and ban computers, broadband, etc since they are all guilty of possibly distributing child porn. Oh, and electricity has to go since it's used in the creation of child porn.
This seems like a pretty good proof. End of proof, QED!
If the RIAA is *SO* concerned about the moral state of our world... why do they continue producing music and videos that promote violence, sex, drugs, money, etc.
Okay........and Kazaa's anti-virus won't destroy this virus because?
I also have a feeling that if this virus did break out, and caused the RIAA headaches in court, they'd just call in the FBI and say this was a malicious virus spreading across the Internet. It'd be great to have the FBI after the 18 year old kid who wrote this virus. But hey, at least we'll have a martyr. I'm sure we the media could make it a public relations nightmare for the RIAA.............. er, more so than usual.
All the security precautions you take are rendered useless if the weakest link is broken. For example, if a script kiddy gets a root password via packet sniffing, dictionary password cracking, grabbing password off a sticky note on your computer, etc.. all your security is compromised because one link has failed. Notice that some of these weak links are not even dependent on operating system, it's human error.
Script kiddies also have a lot of sources of information these days for hacking the gibson. For example, all script kiddies would know that the most common passwords are god, sex, and love if they have seen the movie hackers. These great reference materials are turning script kiddies into hardcore black hats. Hollywood has captured the nature of hacking with suprising accuracy which can be used against us. IE wearing flashy clothes with rollerblades to hack while being highly mobile and trendy, using GUIs that simulate a computer system as a digital city, visualizing how a worm actually works. Scary.j/k
Actually, I'm suprised that the Canadian government hasn't bailed out Corel in order to keep it a Canadian owned company. This is actually very un-canadian.
For those who are remotely familiar with Canadian politics, you'll know that each election, Ontario and Quebec basically dictates which party will be in power because they have the majority of seats for representatives.
Typically the Liberal party (who is in power now) strongly protects any company that is in Ontario or Quebec. *COUGH* Bombardier* *COUGH* AIR CANADA *COUGH*. They have a political interest to keep their voters in these key provinces happy. Heaven forbid a single job or company be lost in Quebec or Ontario!
I'm suprised that the Canadian government hasn't bailed out Corel. Government intervention always solves problems because if we throw more money at a problem it will be fixed.............. right?:|
Shrug, maybe Corel wasn't bilingual enough, and it pissed off the voters in Quebec j/k.
I think SCO should hire the Iraqi Information Minister to spread propaganda. A portfolio of the Minister's work is available here
Here are some sample answers he could be giving in an interview:
Question: What do you think are your chances of winning a lawsuit against an industry giant like IBM?
"We are not afraid of [IBM]. Allah has condemned them. They are stupid. They are stupid" (dramatic pause) "and they are condemned."
"I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of [the courts]. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly."
"My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all"
Question: Could you elaborate on the perceived media attacks being launched against SCO? "I blame Al-Jazeera - they are marketing for [IBM]!"
"Lying is forbidden in [SCO]. President [McBride] will tolerate nothing but truthfulness as he is a man of great honor and integrity. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes and hearts."
Question: What do you think will be a result of your lawsuit against Linux users?
"Our estimates are that none of them will come out alive unless they surrender to us quickly."
Well, one way to easily DDOS spammers is to use slashdot as an offensive weapon against spammers. Open a slashdot section called spammers. Each day we could have a list of daily spammers, similar to daily news stories. The effect, the target site gets slashdotted. (Huzzah)
In theory, we won't have to worry about targeting an incorrect site as slashdot admins would verify that the target site is infact a spammer site.
Slashdot Mirror
Hurrah, lets throw up another barrier to prevent needy people from accessing information. Way to help bridge the digital divide. :/
On a more serious note though.... a lot of analogies that compare real world objects or rules don't really work in computer terms.
"A car has to pass an inspection, and a driver has to pass a test," he said. "We need to be moving in the direction that machines are certified in some ways and users are certified in some ways."
I know quite a few people in computer science that gets through the program and receives a degree, and are dangerous unqualified to program. Yet their degree certifies that they've got what it takes to program. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in these pieces of papers that certify that the individual is competent.
One has to also take into account that prestigious universities will sometimes inflate student grades just to make themselves look good. *COUGH* Harvard *COUGH*. This article speaks for itself here.
Using a foreign degree in North America could be a risky thing. I will derive anecdotal evidence from 'The National' which is a show aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The article can be found here, and you'll have to find the phrase, "Designer Immigrants" within the article.
The evidence does not completely fit with your question, but it is definitely an eye opener.
The article talks about a man coming from England who has a degree from Middlesex University. In addition, this man has five accounting certificates. In short, he has a recognized skill. He speaks English and has a brother in Canada. So, he decided to move to Edmonton in search of a better life.
Upon arriving, he sends off 3,000 resumes for entry level accounting positions. Four years later, not a single job offer for a permanent position. Why? Because his foreign degree and skills were not recognized.
A direct quote from the article, "Doctors, engineers and other people are facing the same problem. So, I mean, what's the point of increasing the point level and either of them have to have a PhD. What do they want PhD to come here and clean the toilet or deliver the pizza or run the mini-cab or something like that?"
Another quote that's interesting, "One study of skilled immigrant incomes shows that a foreign education is valued at only half of what a Canadian education nets on the job market. Foreign work experience is valued by Canadian employers at approximately zero....My analysis has shown that it is getting more severe over time. That immigrant skills are being discounted today more heavily than they were in the past."
This doesn't completely answer your question as the evidence presented deals with immigrants. Nevertheless, it does show that foreign degrees are not viewed equally and are deeply discounted by employers in North America.
Interesting that the RIAA suddenly "cares" that child porn is being distributed over P2P. This HAS to be a noble endeavour to creating a better, safer world... and they have no other motives. Right.....
But on a more serious note....
I believe all technology can be used for good and evil purposes. To merely condemn a technology because of its potential bad seems rather illogical.
One could argue that VHS or DVD acts as a carrier of child porn since it is a medium that can distribute child porn.... but I don't see the RIAA linking DVD == child porn. I don't see DVD players have a warning label saying that you MAY be exposed to child porn while using this system. I don't see stores selling DVDs taking down your personal information (except Radio Shack) and verifying your age before using the system. Hmmm.... i wonder why the RIAA doesn't take out these other technologies.
By induction, lets do case n+1. With the same logic, one could argue that the Internet is a medium for child porn; therefore, we should verify age and stick warning labels onto the Internet. Lets all jump on the anti-technology band wagon and ban computers, broadband, etc since they are all guilty of possibly distributing child porn. Oh, and electricity has to go since it's used in the creation of child porn.
This seems like a pretty good proof. End of proof, QED!
If the RIAA is *SO* concerned about the moral state of our world... why do they continue producing music and videos that promote violence, sex, drugs, money, etc.
Okay........and Kazaa's anti-virus won't destroy this virus because?
I also have a feeling that if this virus did break out, and caused the RIAA headaches in court, they'd just call in the FBI and say this was a malicious virus spreading across the Internet. It'd be great to have the FBI after the 18 year old kid who wrote this virus. But hey, at least we'll have a martyr. I'm sure we the media could make it a public relations nightmare for the RIAA.............. er, more so than usual.
All the security precautions you take are rendered useless if the weakest link is broken. For example, if a script kiddy gets a root password via packet sniffing, dictionary password cracking, grabbing password off a sticky note on your computer, etc.. all your security is compromised because one link has failed. Notice that some of these weak links are not even dependent on operating system, it's human error.
Script kiddies also have a lot of sources of information these days for hacking the gibson. For example, all script kiddies would know that the most common passwords are god, sex, and love if they have seen the movie hackers. These great reference materials are turning script kiddies into hardcore black hats. Hollywood has captured the nature of hacking with suprising accuracy which can be used against us. IE wearing flashy clothes with rollerblades to hack while being highly mobile and trendy, using GUIs that simulate a computer system as a digital city, visualizing how a worm actually works. Scary.j/k
Actually, I'm suprised that the Canadian government hasn't bailed out Corel in order to keep it a Canadian owned company. This is actually very un-canadian.
:|
For those who are remotely familiar with Canadian politics, you'll know that each election, Ontario and Quebec basically dictates which party will be in power because they have the majority of seats for representatives.
Typically the Liberal party (who is in power now) strongly protects any company that is in Ontario or Quebec. *COUGH* Bombardier* *COUGH* AIR CANADA *COUGH*. They have a political interest to keep their voters in these key provinces happy. Heaven forbid a single job or company be lost in Quebec or Ontario!
I'm suprised that the Canadian government hasn't bailed out Corel. Government intervention always solves problems because if we throw more money at a problem it will be fixed.............. right?
Shrug, maybe Corel wasn't bilingual enough, and it pissed off the voters in Quebec j/k.
From the left coast of Canada
-CHaN
I think SCO should hire the Iraqi Information Minister to spread propaganda. A portfolio of the Minister's work is available here
Here are some sample answers he could be giving in an interview:
Question: What do you think are your chances of winning a lawsuit against an industry giant like IBM?
"We are not afraid of [IBM]. Allah has condemned them. They are stupid. They are stupid" (dramatic pause) "and they are condemned."
"I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of [the courts]. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly."
"My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all"
Question: Could you elaborate on the perceived media attacks being launched against SCO?
"I blame Al-Jazeera - they are marketing for [IBM]!"
"Lying is forbidden in [SCO]. President [McBride] will tolerate nothing but truthfulness as he is a man of great honor and integrity. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes and hearts."
Question: What do you think will be a result of your lawsuit against Linux users?
"Our estimates are that none of them will come out alive unless they surrender to us quickly."
"We will welcome them with [lawsuits] and shoes."
"Let the [Linux] infidels bask in their illusion"
Well, one way to easily DDOS spammers is to use slashdot as an offensive weapon against spammers. Open a slashdot section called spammers. Each day we could have a list of daily spammers, similar to daily news stories. The effect, the target site gets slashdotted. (Huzzah) In theory, we won't have to worry about targeting an incorrect site as slashdot admins would verify that the target site is infact a spammer site.