Pointing out one edge case negative isn't convincing.
With paperbacks:
Pay for shipping, gas, etc to get the book. Store it somewhere - takes space, buy bookshelf, etc. Time wasted shopping for it compared to downloading, etc. Inability to search text or view on other device. Cannot be backed up. Trouble of taking more than a couple of books on a flight.
I'll take the risk of getting it wet or whatever for the benefits. I also can't imagine that reading in the tub is a common use scenario. Thats like saying "Laptop? No way, I'll drop it in the tub! I'll just keep using this clunky desktop and be out of a computer when traveling."
But tech companies don't fold like investment firms. Look at how failed businesses that produced hardware have been repurposed by a community. The old CueCat barcode scanner comes to mind. Heck, I could boot up a C64 or Amiga right now and find quite a few new-ish programs written for it. Or some no-name router made by a fly-by-night Chinese company that now runs dd-wrt and is quite useful. Old generation one/two Tivos being used as stand-alone recorders, some mated with ethernet cards.
Hardware is different than investments. It still exists after the fold and people are eager to keep using it. Considering the Nook is android based, I really don't expect it to become a useless brick, ever. Wifi + epub and pdf will be with us for a long time even if no one ever updates the ROM.
This is the same mentality that keeps millions of smtp servers using unencrypted plain-text. I really don't think adding basic encryption should be seen as such an extravagant request. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take security seriously and they are in charge of some pretty major corporations and popular products.
>the browser support for ftp is typically intended for anonymous browsing.
Except its not. Even Firefox allows non-anonymous browsing (uses username/passwords) and IE can do uploads. For 99.9% of FTP users, the FTP client is the browser.
Add-ons arent a solution. Unless a huge install base has it then its not worth using for a general audience. That like saying "Here's an add-on for HTTPS, toodles!" At that might you might as well spend those 30 seconds just installing a stand-alone FTP client that supports FTPS/SFTP instead of trying to shoehorn it into the bloat that is your browser.
How dare they capture my unencrypted logins?!?! Seriously, its a shame SFTP or FTPS isn't more supported, and by 'more supported' I mean supported by IE and Firefox. I hate how adding encryption to FTP is suddenly "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we only provide basic support on browsers." Funny how they don't say the same thing about HTTPS.
I bought one too and I'm not worried. B&N will not fold, its too valuable of a brand. Most likely someone like Amazon buys it and supports the nook. If it truly gets abandoned a lot of people won't even notice. I have yet to buy a book from B&N. I just buy the cheapest epub book I can find. Unlike the Kindle, I'm not locked into one vendor. Oh and my library supports lending books straight to my Nook.
>Which is exactly why they should not have bowed to ms demands in the first place.
Who is "they?" The governments that buy OLPCs make these demands. Tell them "no, you must use linux" is the same as saying "Sorry, no sale." I think you'll find that in life people generally don't have the same OSS zeal people on slashdot do - and its a good thing.
I suspect this is whats really going on for most people. Most games have a framerate cap in place, so they don't notice how unstable their overclock is until they run into something uncapped.
Not to mention this article gets rewritten every time a new popular game is released for the PC. Last time it was "Is BC2 breaking PCs?" Sometimes a driver update takes care of things, but usually its just an overclock issue.
Its incredible that MS doesnt force a UAC check on signed drivers install. That's really the fix, not this patch. These companies will never be able to properly secure their keys. Its time we started admitting that the trust in signed code is forever broken.
This attack can only use the credentials of the logged in user. Running as limited user limits its ability to do anything outside of your profile. That and basic AV means Win2000 is usable for a long time in the future.
But it has. I don't know anyone with an MP3 player. It seems crazy to carry one around when our phones play MP3s just as well. I do see people still organizing their collections with itunes, but I don't see many ipods. Phones have leap over mp3 players and unless you really need a feature that only specializing hardware carries then you don't need an mp3 player if you have a smartphone.
Granted, a popular smartphone is the iphone, but the phone market is much more competitive than the mp3 player market. I see all sorts of phones, but really only one type of mp3 player. I think Apple only went in the phone business because they knew the ipod's day was end much quicker than anyone suspected.
I'll argue that things like iphone and kindle are people's first smartphone and ebook readers, in general. As the market ages and as people become more sophisticated with their tastes and needs, the market will explode as "one size fits all" simply doesn't work. We're seeing it now with Android and other competitors. When people see what the EVO or Nook can do compared to what they know they tend to feel a little ripped off.
I'd say that the first generation devices have huge advantages because consumers are naive at first. That doesn't usually last and they'll flee the walled garden in time. See also thin clients, managed services, etc.
Right, and the functionality is worse than open office, which costs zero dollars. I'm not sure what enormous public funds are being saved here. MS Office for non-profits isn't much more expensive over three years. Something tells me this is politics as usual - selling out to a large local contractor who promises the moon and undelivers. The cloud horror stories are already out there and will continue.
>If IT wins, expect a plant to randomly shut down because they push an incompatible Windows patch.
What a load. A responsible IT department would be doing testing of patches without going live and I can't remember the last time a patch failed in the last several years I've been patching Windows machines in the enterprise with all manner of hardware and software combination. Lots of organlizations manage to figure this out, why yours can't seems to be a problem with either you or the companies you work with.
>At least conficker was obvious to detect on a thumb drive or running computer.
It should be trivial to detect the Stuxnet shortcut and the Realtek signed driver it installs. The latter moreso because its not going to be easy to have different versions of it.
Windows 7 and Vista offer protected mode to any developer who wants to use it. Acrobat doesn't currently use it but other applications do and it seems they'd rather roll their own sandbox, which is fine, but the mode is available as an OS feature. This is separate from running as a limited user or enabling the UAC, both of which can be done on top of it.
This is a good point and I was wondering the same thing. Why would we need more government security guys? Its in private industry that we need better security. Sure, the government could play a hand in that, but if your company isn't taking security seriously and using vendors that tie their hands, then all the government help in the world isn't going to help.
There's no real cyberwar going on. There's just a bazillion skirmishes between hundreds of thousands of players. The government is just one player. Private industry must up its game.
>All that's needed is to install the DSLAM and it's done.
Why would you bother with vanilla DSL? At least do ADSL2+ or VDSL. The fact that telecoms still roll out DSL is part of the problem. Encouraging them to do so isn't helping.
>It's hard to point to openness as the reason with Apple's walled garden as a ready counterpoint, but what did go wrong?
This has nothing to do with openness and has everything to do with MS giving up on improving their products. The WinMobile line, at the time, was pretty hot stuff. You could install whatever program you wanted and there was no shortage of apps. I remember owning a Treo on Sprin't EVDO network and calling Russia on Skype on EVDO. I'm not sure what phone lets me do that today. iPhone has AT&T imposed limitations on VOIP and there's no official Skype client for Android.
Windows Mobile got the same treatment IE6 got. MS felt it was good enough and its main competitors like Palm and Blackberry were doing a worse job than them somehow. It wasn't until the iphone came out that MS was forced to up its game, but it was a little too late. They tried to bank on WinMo 6.1/6.5 but it just had too many legacy limitations. Or at least polish 6.5 to the point where people would buy it while 7 was being developed, but competing products like the Pre, Droids, and iPhones were just much better. The 7 rewrite is turning into a Vista fiasco that's just taking too long and no one wants to wait, especially with native ActiveSync on iPhone and Android.
In other words Android/iPhone are like Firefox to MS's IE. MS can't sit on products in competitive markets. Someone will always eat their lunch.
I swear we get this article every couple of months. The google researcher patch was released this patch cycle after slashdot gave us a dozen breathless articles about how MS won't fix it. Its our two minute's hate. Yet, people still buy it. I guess if you're so anti-corporate you'll believe anything that is compatible with your bias. Its like guys who are into 9/11 conspiracy theories who later talk to you about UFO abductions and the hushed-up car that gets 100 mpg or somesuch. They want to believe bullshit.
MS is always careful with its wording. If there's no patch approved right now then that's what they say. I'm just sick of slashdot's scare tactics. This isn't helping readership at all and just makes me want to read Ars or Reddit. I really see slashdot folding sooner than later. I feel that they just aren't doing a good job and can't imagine them getting new readers.
You're surprised that you are seeing through GOP bullshit? "Government cant do anything right" == "Get rid of social programs and get rid of business regulations." They will also continue to beg for more pork because it brings in money. This party represents the business owning class, little else.
I love how the "liberal" party is the one finally trying to privatize space while the GOP is whining about the antiquated shuttle system.
Re:Every windows application
on
Wine 1.2 Released
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Right, along with a native windows manager. Perhaps some kind of "task-bar" where we can see those windows and what they are doing. Of course we'll need a "task-manager" to control them. We'll also need some way to explore all those files, perhaps a "explorer." I'd also like a built in browser, or some way to "explore" the "internet." When we're done we should change the name of the project to reflect its new capabilities. How about a new acronym:
W ine I is N not a D dumb O open-source W windows S simulator
Yes! That's the ticket! Now lets charge $199 a copy and get rich!
By gaming capable I mean the ability to buy ANY game and play it without it looking terrible or being at a competitive disadvantage. With consoles this is true out of the box. With your budget beater gaming PC, this is absolutely not true.
You're looking at this from the wrong perspective. Yes, you can do these things, but Joe Average can't and won't. PC gaming is hurting because it has a technical barrier to entry. Joe Average isn't opening his case and pulling out his ps and putting in a $150 video card. He's simply going to buy a console.
Slashdot Mirror
Except the alternatives to capitalism have been horribly oppressive, dehumanizing, and found not to really work at all.
I can handle that rich guys buy rare comics. No biggie. I also get to eat, sleep in my own bed, and buy trite shit myself.
Please go start your super society on some island somewhere. I'll give you 6 months before it becomes a new Jonestown or at best a new Cuba.
Pointing out one edge case negative isn't convincing.
With paperbacks:
Pay for shipping, gas, etc to get the book.
Store it somewhere - takes space, buy bookshelf, etc.
Time wasted shopping for it compared to downloading, etc.
Inability to search text or view on other device.
Cannot be backed up.
Trouble of taking more than a couple of books on a flight.
I'll take the risk of getting it wet or whatever for the benefits. I also can't imagine that reading in the tub is a common use scenario. Thats like saying "Laptop? No way, I'll drop it in the tub! I'll just keep using this clunky desktop and be out of a computer when traveling."
But tech companies don't fold like investment firms. Look at how failed businesses that produced hardware have been repurposed by a community. The old CueCat barcode scanner comes to mind. Heck, I could boot up a C64 or Amiga right now and find quite a few new-ish programs written for it. Or some no-name router made by a fly-by-night Chinese company that now runs dd-wrt and is quite useful. Old generation one/two Tivos being used as stand-alone recorders, some mated with ethernet cards.
Hardware is different than investments. It still exists after the fold and people are eager to keep using it. Considering the Nook is android based, I really don't expect it to become a useless brick, ever. Wifi + epub and pdf will be with us for a long time even if no one ever updates the ROM.
This is the same mentality that keeps millions of smtp servers using unencrypted plain-text. I really don't think adding basic encryption should be seen as such an extravagant request. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take security seriously and they are in charge of some pretty major corporations and popular products.
>the browser support for ftp is typically intended for anonymous browsing.
Except its not. Even Firefox allows non-anonymous browsing (uses username/passwords) and IE can do uploads. For 99.9% of FTP users, the FTP client is the browser.
Add-ons arent a solution. Unless a huge install base has it then its not worth using for a general audience. That like saying "Here's an add-on for HTTPS, toodles!" At that might you might as well spend those 30 seconds just installing a stand-alone FTP client that supports FTPS/SFTP instead of trying to shoehorn it into the bloat that is your browser.
How dare they capture my unencrypted logins?!?! Seriously, its a shame SFTP or FTPS isn't more supported, and by 'more supported' I mean supported by IE and Firefox. I hate how adding encryption to FTP is suddenly "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we only provide basic support on browsers." Funny how they don't say the same thing about HTTPS.
I bought one too and I'm not worried. B&N will not fold, its too valuable of a brand. Most likely someone like Amazon buys it and supports the nook. If it truly gets abandoned a lot of people won't even notice. I have yet to buy a book from B&N. I just buy the cheapest epub book I can find. Unlike the Kindle, I'm not locked into one vendor. Oh and my library supports lending books straight to my Nook.
>Which is exactly why they should not have bowed to ms demands in the first place.
Who is "they?" The governments that buy OLPCs make these demands. Tell them "no, you must use linux" is the same as saying "Sorry, no sale." I think you'll find that in life people generally don't have the same OSS zeal people on slashdot do - and its a good thing.
>They are overclocking their cards.
I suspect this is whats really going on for most people. Most games have a framerate cap in place, so they don't notice how unstable their overclock is until they run into something uncapped.
Not to mention this article gets rewritten every time a new popular game is released for the PC. Last time it was "Is BC2 breaking PCs?" Sometimes a driver update takes care of things, but usually its just an overclock issue.
Its incredible that MS doesnt force a UAC check on signed drivers install. That's really the fix, not this patch. These companies will never be able to properly secure their keys. Its time we started admitting that the trust in signed code is forever broken.
This attack can only use the credentials of the logged in user. Running as limited user limits its ability to do anything outside of your profile. That and basic AV means Win2000 is usable for a long time in the future.
But it has. I don't know anyone with an MP3 player. It seems crazy to carry one around when our phones play MP3s just as well. I do see people still organizing their collections with itunes, but I don't see many ipods. Phones have leap over mp3 players and unless you really need a feature that only specializing hardware carries then you don't need an mp3 player if you have a smartphone.
Granted, a popular smartphone is the iphone, but the phone market is much more competitive than the mp3 player market. I see all sorts of phones, but really only one type of mp3 player. I think Apple only went in the phone business because they knew the ipod's day was end much quicker than anyone suspected.
I'll argue that things like iphone and kindle are people's first smartphone and ebook readers, in general. As the market ages and as people become more sophisticated with their tastes and needs, the market will explode as "one size fits all" simply doesn't work. We're seeing it now with Android and other competitors. When people see what the EVO or Nook can do compared to what they know they tend to feel a little ripped off.
I'd say that the first generation devices have huge advantages because consumers are naive at first. That doesn't usually last and they'll flee the walled garden in time. See also thin clients, managed services, etc.
Fantasy: Encourage a new industry to emerge with asteroid fighting rockets with a high level of quality while enjoying large profits.
Reality: Quietly whimpering in some cabin in the middle of nowhere while repeating "What a fool I've been!"
Right, and the functionality is worse than open office, which costs zero dollars. I'm not sure what enormous public funds are being saved here. MS Office for non-profits isn't much more expensive over three years. Something tells me this is politics as usual - selling out to a large local contractor who promises the moon and undelivers. The cloud horror stories are already out there and will continue.
>If IT wins, expect a plant to randomly shut down because they push an incompatible Windows patch.
What a load. A responsible IT department would be doing testing of patches without going live and I can't remember the last time a patch failed in the last several years I've been patching Windows machines in the enterprise with all manner of hardware and software combination. Lots of organlizations manage to figure this out, why yours can't seems to be a problem with either you or the companies you work with.
>At least conficker was obvious to detect on a thumb drive or running computer.
It should be trivial to detect the Stuxnet shortcut and the Realtek signed driver it installs. The latter moreso because its not going to be easy to have different versions of it.
Windows 7 and Vista offer protected mode to any developer who wants to use it. Acrobat doesn't currently use it but other applications do and it seems they'd rather roll their own sandbox, which is fine, but the mode is available as an OS feature. This is separate from running as a limited user or enabling the UAC, both of which can be done on top of it.
This is a good point and I was wondering the same thing. Why would we need more government security guys? Its in private industry that we need better security. Sure, the government could play a hand in that, but if your company isn't taking security seriously and using vendors that tie their hands, then all the government help in the world isn't going to help.
There's no real cyberwar going on. There's just a bazillion skirmishes between hundreds of thousands of players. The government is just one player. Private industry must up its game.
The eight-year old me thought it was incredible. I remember spending a lot of hours just drawing on my parent's 512k mac. All those lost masterpieces!
>All that's needed is to install the DSLAM and it's done.
Why would you bother with vanilla DSL? At least do ADSL2+ or VDSL. The fact that telecoms still roll out DSL is part of the problem. Encouraging them to do so isn't helping.
>It's hard to point to openness as the reason with Apple's walled garden as a ready counterpoint, but what did go wrong?
This has nothing to do with openness and has everything to do with MS giving up on improving their products. The WinMobile line, at the time, was pretty hot stuff. You could install whatever program you wanted and there was no shortage of apps. I remember owning a Treo on Sprin't EVDO network and calling Russia on Skype on EVDO. I'm not sure what phone lets me do that today. iPhone has AT&T imposed limitations on VOIP and there's no official Skype client for Android.
Windows Mobile got the same treatment IE6 got. MS felt it was good enough and its main competitors like Palm and Blackberry were doing a worse job than them somehow. It wasn't until the iphone came out that MS was forced to up its game, but it was a little too late. They tried to bank on WinMo 6.1/6.5 but it just had too many legacy limitations. Or at least polish 6.5 to the point where people would buy it while 7 was being developed, but competing products like the Pre, Droids, and iPhones were just much better. The 7 rewrite is turning into a Vista fiasco that's just taking too long and no one wants to wait, especially with native ActiveSync on iPhone and Android.
In other words Android/iPhone are like Firefox to MS's IE. MS can't sit on products in competitive markets. Someone will always eat their lunch.
I swear we get this article every couple of months. The google researcher patch was released this patch cycle after slashdot gave us a dozen breathless articles about how MS won't fix it. Its our two minute's hate. Yet, people still buy it. I guess if you're so anti-corporate you'll believe anything that is compatible with your bias. Its like guys who are into 9/11 conspiracy theories who later talk to you about UFO abductions and the hushed-up car that gets 100 mpg or somesuch. They want to believe bullshit.
MS is always careful with its wording. If there's no patch approved right now then that's what they say. I'm just sick of slashdot's scare tactics. This isn't helping readership at all and just makes me want to read Ars or Reddit. I really see slashdot folding sooner than later. I feel that they just aren't doing a good job and can't imagine them getting new readers.
You're surprised that you are seeing through GOP bullshit? "Government cant do anything right" == "Get rid of social programs and get rid of business regulations." They will also continue to beg for more pork because it brings in money. This party represents the business owning class, little else.
I love how the "liberal" party is the one finally trying to privatize space while the GOP is whining about the antiquated shuttle system.
Right, along with a native windows manager. Perhaps some kind of "task-bar" where we can see those windows and what they are doing. Of course we'll need a "task-manager" to control them. We'll also need some way to explore all those files, perhaps a "explorer." I'd also like a built in browser, or some way to "explore" the "internet." When we're done we should change the name of the project to reflect its new capabilities. How about a new acronym:
W ine
I is
N not a
D dumb
O open-source
W windows
S simulator
Yes! That's the ticket! Now lets charge $199 a copy and get rich!
By gaming capable I mean the ability to buy ANY game and play it without it looking terrible or being at a competitive disadvantage. With consoles this is true out of the box. With your budget beater gaming PC, this is absolutely not true.
You're looking at this from the wrong perspective. Yes, you can do these things, but Joe Average can't and won't. PC gaming is hurting because it has a technical barrier to entry. Joe Average isn't opening his case and pulling out his ps and putting in a $150 video card. He's simply going to buy a console.