Very useful. I work in the financial industry. Not only are we starting to be required by regulators to prepare for this kind of thing, many of us feel it's our responsibility to ensure that Banks can continue to process financial transactions to serve the community. If you ask the question today: "How do we perform our nightly processing if half of our operations staff is home sick and another quarter is stuck in quarantine somewhere," the answer will be pretty thin. If you ask the same question in a year, you'll find we're on the road towards contingency plans, better automation, and secure remote control of the nightly posting process, if I may hazard a guess. Think how many different questions like the one above can be asked in a day. This drill will kick off a lot of plans, which will be tested and further improved in future tests & exercises.
This exercise will not be a one-time thing. It will be taken seriously by the better managed institutions, and in a few years your local economy will have much better odds at surviving such an event.
I know it's easy to write these kinds of things off as frivolous, but my personal experience is that this headline has substance behind it.
I have to take issue with your attempt to liken posting copyrighted material with leaving your back door open. The parallel would be stronger, if you borrowed your friend's stuff, left your back door open, and posted that fact at a place you know to be frequented by people who would feel no compunction about taking the stuff. This would not result in back doors or local bulletin boards becoming illegal. However, a judge would make you pay your friend for everything that was taken.
Why is it that some people think someone's program, ebook, or music is different than a physical item? They are both the product of time, talent, and effort.
Dump the self-righteous attitude and try on some compassion for a change.
Sounds like it was a virtual writer, writing a virtual article. He insulated himself in a virtual reality, where everything is simple and easy. The guy he interviewed about Xen probably got five minutes to talk about it a starry-eyed manner. All the hurdles were forgotten. (I'm not excusing this, just guessing at an explanation.)
The question for me: Is it better to launch a thousand techies enthusiastically at a new technology, or 500 of them with mis-givings? The article may have left out some warnings, but I've come to expect that from this type of publication.
To be honest, I haven't read this article. The comments about it in Slashdot have been very informative, and I don't feel the need!
If this article at Open Source Energy Network is to be believed, a new alternative form of turbine will solve a lot of problems and might get them all on the same page.
I wonder how long it would have taken 1.5 million zombie PCs.
New reality show: "The Astronaut"
on
Space Tourism?
·
· Score: 1
I can see it now: The physicals, the training to perform a few tasks in space, practice with zero-grav eating, and the rides in the vomit comet. It would be a wonderful way to expose the world to the life of an astronaut. Right there on prime time. A way for anybody to get up there.
I've heard that the IBM AS/400 (they call it the iSeries now) will pass NSA ratings, and that a Windows box can only pass these same ratings if it's turned off. It's a different platform, so you have several other challenges, but properly administered, it's secure. Check it out.
Six ports and wireless in one Linux box? Sounds like the perfect place to run IPCop.
The challenge is to split the six switch ports into red, green, and orange (different subnets with different firewalling, for those who don't know IPCop).
Unfortunately, you can't enclose campaign contributions in emails, so they won't have any effect.
The owners of the web sites below would beg to differ. I believe they have enough successful email campaigns under their belts to know. I have signed petitions online with MoveOn.org then had them reply a couple weeks later that the petition was successful.
MoveOn.org - most famous for their anti-Bush efforts.
Defenders of Wildlife - bringing pressure on Exxon and others who would destroy our ecosphere for profit.
Nice juxtaposition - this article immediately following the one about the UK prosecuting an illegal WiFi hijacker (article). What's next, one about how to secure your AP?
I may have been a little too generic about that, but the concern is still valid: individuals may loose the right to choose thair favorite ISP. Sonic simply shines in some of the areas where SBC (or it's previous incarnation as Pac Bell) provides atrocious service.
Okay, you have another phone company. But who provides and maintains the hardware and infrastructure your telco uses to deliver service to you? (rampant assumptions to follow:) And, if they're successful in returning to a monopoly in broadband, might they use the precedent to eliminate your telco?
My (favorite) ISP, Sonic.net, on December 20th, filed comments at the FCC in response to BellSouth's request to exclude independent ISPs from access to DSL. The concern is that if BellSouth gets it's way, SBC may do the same. This would leave all California with just two choices for DSL: SBC or Comcast. Sonic.net is well worth the extra money I pay each month. I don't want to lose that choice.
Do you have a picture that would make a good APOD? If so, we would enjoy hearing from you. Images are most often submitted by email or by posting to a web site. Please write to Robert Nemiroff at nemiroff@mtu.edu or Jerry Bonnell at bonnell@grossc.gsfc.nasa.gov regarding image submissions.
And thanks for freezing your @ss off for all us nerds.
I'm glad that this subject is being discussed more and more in open source forums. This last year of exploring the Linux world has shown me that many creators in the open source world, with all their contempt for Microsoft and Windows-based products, don't understand its attraction for the general populace. They simply can't understand why people would pay for software when there's "free" stuff out that could do the same thing.
The "other Story" I mentioned is about the safari necessary to successfully configure CUPS. It's a great cautionary tale for all those who would create a software package they want to be well-liked and easily used.
A metaphor to help understand the frustration of neophytes just trying to get something done with their computer: "I'm sorry, but you don't get to drive your car to the store until you demonstrate that you can rebuild the transmission - with no manual."
Think of them like seatbelts in a car. They're a minor pain, and you hope/wish you'll never need their protection. But if someone ever steals your password, then your identity, you may wish you had been more careful...
Exactly. This is typical Earthlink FUD. In line with their ads a few years back, they might next tell us that this problem doesn't happen to Earthlink customers.
What this world needs is more technical savvy in the press corps. Then, maybe, some of this corporate hooey would be dismissed out of hand.
Slashdot Mirror
Very useful. I work in the financial industry. Not only are we starting to be required by regulators to prepare for this kind of thing, many of us feel it's our responsibility to ensure that Banks can continue to process financial transactions to serve the community. If you ask the question today: "How do we perform our nightly processing if half of our operations staff is home sick and another quarter is stuck in quarantine somewhere," the answer will be pretty thin. If you ask the same question in a year, you'll find we're on the road towards contingency plans, better automation, and secure remote control of the nightly posting process, if I may hazard a guess. Think how many different questions like the one above can be asked in a day. This drill will kick off a lot of plans, which will be tested and further improved in future tests & exercises.
This exercise will not be a one-time thing. It will be taken seriously by the better managed institutions, and in a few years your local economy will have much better odds at surviving such an event.
I know it's easy to write these kinds of things off as frivolous, but my personal experience is that this headline has substance behind it.
I have to take issue with your attempt to liken posting copyrighted material with leaving your back door open. The parallel would be stronger, if you borrowed your friend's stuff, left your back door open, and posted that fact at a place you know to be frequented by people who would feel no compunction about taking the stuff. This would not result in back doors or local bulletin boards becoming illegal. However, a judge would make you pay your friend for everything that was taken.
Why is it that some people think someone's program, ebook, or music is different than a physical item? They are both the product of time, talent, and effort.
Dump the self-righteous attitude and try on some compassion for a change.
Did somebody already make the joke about potentially getting sued by SCO?
Sounds like it was a virtual writer, writing a virtual article. He insulated himself in a virtual reality, where everything is simple and easy. The guy he interviewed about Xen probably got five minutes to talk about it a starry-eyed manner. All the hurdles were forgotten. (I'm not excusing this, just guessing at an explanation.)
The question for me: Is it better to launch a thousand techies enthusiastically at a new technology, or 500 of them with mis-givings? The article may have left out some warnings, but I've come to expect that from this type of publication.
To be honest, I haven't read this article. The comments about it in Slashdot have been very informative, and I don't feel the need!
Is there a "Post Of The Year" award? This one would get my vote. Thanks for articulating and expanding on my thoughts. Plus five Insightful.
Re-title: "How to Think About Global Warming, and Why We Need To Do So"
"Hello Newsweek? Time? Senators?"
I'm not kidding.
If this article at Open Source Energy Network is to be believed, a new alternative form of turbine will solve a lot of problems and might get them all on the same page.
I wonder how long it would have taken 1.5 million zombie PCs.
I can see it now: The physicals, the training to perform a few tasks in space, practice with zero-grav eating, and the rides in the vomit comet. It would be a wonderful way to expose the world to the life of an astronaut. Right there on prime time. A way for anybody to get up there.
Is anybody in Hollywood reading this? Simon?
I've heard that the IBM AS/400 (they call it the iSeries now) will pass NSA ratings, and that a Windows box can only pass these same ratings if it's turned off. It's a different platform, so you have several other challenges, but properly administered, it's secure. Check it out.
Six ports and wireless in one Linux box? Sounds like the perfect place to run IPCop.
The challenge is to split the six switch ports into red, green, and orange (different subnets with different firewalling, for those who don't know IPCop).
Go here to learn more about IPCop.
My current ISP usually gets 5 out of 5 for their customer service. The phone company has spent 20 years proving they average 2 out of five.
Phone company, understand this: kill my ISP, and you'll never again see one of my bytes on your line to my house. I'll find another way.
That's a promise.
Anybody else feel the same way? Write your congressman. Maybe it's time for an email campaign.
Nice juxtaposition - this article immediately following the one about the UK prosecuting an illegal WiFi hijacker (article). What's next, one about how to secure your AP?
Hey - what if the martians are keeping them running? Did NASA send maintenance manuals along?
Not "two for F150"! I meant "two Ford F150".
It should only take two for F150 trucks and a VW bug to show a " /. " Everyone who does this should post the coordinates.
I may have been a little too generic about that, but the concern is still valid: individuals may loose the right to choose thair favorite ISP. Sonic simply shines in some of the areas where SBC (or it's previous incarnation as Pac Bell) provides atrocious service.
Okay, you have another phone company. But who provides and maintains the hardware and infrastructure your telco uses to deliver service to you? (rampant assumptions to follow:) And, if they're successful in returning to a monopoly in broadband, might they use the precedent to eliminate your telco?
My (favorite) ISP, Sonic.net, on December 20th, filed comments at the FCC in response to BellSouth's request to exclude independent ISPs from access to DSL. The concern is that if BellSouth gets it's way, SBC may do the same. This would leave all California with just two choices for DSL: SBC or Comcast. Sonic.net is well worth the extra money I pay each month. I don't want to lose that choice.
Here's the PDF of their comments.
I'm with all the others here who think this is a really bad idea. Anybody know who all the stockholders at IBM are? We all need to email all of them.
How can we stop this? Go on strike or something?
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.h
And thanks for freezing your @ss off for all us nerds.
Next, they'll hook it up to a Midi board and teach it to sing Puttin' On the Ritz.
I'm glad that this subject is being discussed more and more in open source forums. This last year of exploring the Linux world has shown me that many creators in the open source world, with all their contempt for Microsoft and Windows-based products, don't understand its attraction for the general populace. They simply can't understand why people would pay for software when there's "free" stuff out that could do the same thing.
The "other Story" I mentioned is about the safari necessary to successfully configure CUPS. It's a great cautionary tale for all those who would create a software package they want to be well-liked and easily used.
A metaphor to help understand the frustration of neophytes just trying to get something done with their computer: "I'm sorry, but you don't get to drive your car to the store until you demonstrate that you can rebuild the transmission - with no manual."
Think of them like seatbelts in a car. They're a minor pain, and you hope/wish you'll never need their protection. But if someone ever steals your password, then your identity, you may wish you had been more careful...
Exactly. This is typical Earthlink FUD. In line with their ads a few years back, they might next tell us that this problem doesn't happen to Earthlink customers.
What this world needs is more technical savvy in the press corps. Then, maybe, some of this corporate hooey would be dismissed out of hand.