I think it was that dreadful UK tabloid, The Mail on Sunday, which created this "your bin is bugged" hysteria last week. They stirred up lots of fear and doubt by using terms like "bug" to describe something that is just a serial number. I bet if the new bins had a bar code, nobody would care less. Instead the media is making out that this RFID chip can somehow directly spy on what you are throwing away.
In my town, local newspapers like the Daily Echo http://www.thisisbournemouth.co.uk/display.var.903 767.0.whats_bugging_you.php have jumped on the Mails fear-mongering bandwagon and are doing that all too common trick... publish over-the-top scare stories one day, then run a 2nd story with feedback from 'horrified readers' the next. A sure sign of media hype.
But what baffles me with this situation is the tabloid press in the UK say very little about the real privacy issues of the day.... the ID card scheme, this new national database of childrens details, DRM seeping into our products and purchases. But garbage containers that have a number - oh the horror! Jeez!
Ok just one more thing... I know RFID tags are not liked by slashdot. I'm no fan of them either. Making bins identifiable is a step towards a new form of non-recycled refuge taxation. I don't think thats a bad thing if it causes people to recycle more. But these new taxes tend to be on top of existing taxes. So its not like we'd get a local tax offset first. This angle is generating concern as represented by the public feedback. But the mdeia spin on the capabilities of the technology amaze me. Though it if makes the ID card scheme falter, its a good thing.
... but google earths measure tool lets you see what 15000ft across your neck of the woods looks like. Its likely to be quite a lot further than you think.
Si
The number of car-jackings in the UK has been increasing as modern cars are a lot harder to steal. This system will just increase the value of a legitamate vehicle to the point where criminals will be more willing to use increasing violence to obtain one.
I can't help thinking that a lot of public money will be spent on something that the criminals will find ways around. Creating cloned vehicles being the obvious way. The system might be able to detect multiple cars with the same number plate in different places. But probably not before sending the registered keeping a speeding ticket for travelling from Birmingham to London (>140miles) in 2 minutes!!!
Also... living in the UK I had my car MOT'd recently (MOT=compulsory annual roadworthyness test). The garage had just starting using a terminal that gave them access to some database of car details so they can inform the ''system' that a car has passed its MOT. I was chatting to the garage owner and he said they almost always get several hundred results on a number plate search rather than just one! So it could be that the underlying data is in such a state that the whole system won't work. I DO think that single APNR cameras are good at catching crims. But I'm not convinced that system can scale.
Si
Is anyone else worried about touching a surface that thousands of other folks would have touched? I understand that hand-to-surface-to-hand is by far the most common vector for the common cold and flu virus to be transmitted. Also some much nastier germs.
On a vacation to San Francisco my son accessed a web based online game at an internet cafe on the Wharf. When he later used the hotel's internet his character started at a different location. A sign his account had been comprimised (and more telling than a "you last logged in at XX:XX" message!)
Later that day, or rather earlier the next morning, 4am to be precise, I suddenly woke up and realised my hotmail account might be have been compromised in the same way (as I'd used a different PC in the internet cafe). Strange how your brain works when you sleep. I had to go down to the lobby to reset my password. Strange looks from the night porter!
When I typed the password in I assumed that the hotel machine was also compromised and changed window focus between each character and mixed in delete keys to try and confuse any key-logger log file. Not sure I'd rely on that but it seemed a reasonable precaution to my tired brain. Typing the same new password twice was a challenge this way though!
For the rest of my stay I watched other guests access their banking services from the same PC. I have no reason to believe the hotel's PC was key-logged. But it would have been an extremely juicy target.
No apple is making computers extremely slick. Don't confuse simple to use with dumb. I got my wife an iBook (so she wouldn't hassle me with windows questions) in January. Now I love MacOS. I have copied data from my 3 PC's just so that spotlight can index it. Its very very neat.
The car analogy is not a single joystick - its a mind interface that makes driving a car a pleasure.
Get a Mac and try it. But beware, windows will feel bad afterwards. To me using windows is like driving cars use to be - with no synchromesh, hand throttles and manual engine retardation controls. Constant tweeks, mis-fires and repeatitive chores that just get in the way!
I think its more like police deploying a stinger to deflate tyres.
If you cannot drive sensibly and in a way that keeps other drivers safe then you should be stopped from driving.
If you cannot keep your computer operating in a way that does not threaten other computer users then you should not have a computer.
Okay its slightly harsh to wipe drives. I used that example to make a point. As others have said, a less drastic immunisation might be beneficial.
1. Get every compromised PCs to join the same botnet.
2. White-hat hack into the botnet.
3. Tell all compromised PCs to wipe their hard drives.
4. No more compromised PCs! Well... not for a while anyway!
I used to share your views to some extent. I still think Apple err... lets call them advocates, can be annoying. But the thing is, I bought an iBook at the start of the year and MacOS is simply soooo much better than Windows XP.
Really, market forces will do the rest and its going to be a very interesting time.
My understanding was that Sony were pressured by the record companies into not using the recordability features of MiniDisc in their advertising. Otherwise the record companies would not release material on MiniDisc.
In turn this limited the take up of the technology. Most people, even today, do not realise that MiniDisc is proper random access. So if you delete a track you could re-use all of the space for future recordings.
Some years after MiniDisc first appeared Sony did start promoting the format using the idea of making your own compilations. But the ads always positioned this as a way to manage your paid-for music.
The early MiniDisc ad where a music exec tosses a MiniDisc out of his window - that symbolism always made me smile. But at the time the durability of the media was about all Sony could talk about.
Don't forget that the UK endures 17.5% VAT (sales tax) on almost all purchases made with already-taxed-once income. Not to mention additional tax (duty) on a range of other goods such as fuel and alcohol.
Strange that they criticised Mac OS for its poor help files. I've been using Mac OS X for a couple of weeks now and I have been very impressed with its comprehensive and accessible help.
Shame that the report does not say how they tested the help systems.
I just got a bottom of the range iBook. It was for my wife who wanted a cheap laptop for email and surfing. We already had 3 PC's in the house - main one and kids have one each. I built these PCs myself. I also run Linux and have 15yrs IT experience (unix sys admin.)
Basically did not want another XP system in the house. I spend too much time updating XP, zonealarm, adaware, spybot etc etc etc etc on the 3 existing PCs. Then checking no nasties have sneaked past. Simply did not want a forth system to hassle me.
I did consider a cheap laptop with Linux but the windows tax put me off. Also from playing with employers laptops and linux I know that not everything works - like power management - without tinkering. I know how to fix that kind of thing but did not want to have to, if that makes sense.
For my wife I wanted a simple appliance. Zero admin overhead. The iBook fitted the bill.
All I can say is that it is fantastic. Its only the 12inch lowest spec (with a 60Gb drive.) Not even put extra memory in it yet. But its plenty fast enough for everyday use. Battery life is amazing. The iLife programs are a lot of fun. No registry. Whole apps are single files. Not files spewed all over the system. Mac OS has proper multi-user with fine user privilege controls. So no worries about the kids accidently resetting the wep key - even if they are using an admin account (it prompts to re-enter passwd.) Lots of interesting and useful features that are so easy to find. I felt at home with Mac OS immediately. I was pleasantly surprised to find there is no shortage of software out there - for example, I found a great DVD ripper within 5mins of looking. I love it. Now we fight over who gets to use the iBook! I did not expect to be even using it.
Thats how pub quizzes tend to work in the UK.
A set of questions is read out. Each team answers all questions. The winning team is the one that answers the most correctly.
Hence no buzzers.
Looks to me like the Steam distribution mechanism could turn out to be quite a cool thing. It did get some fairly negative press due to the performance issues and being associated with the policing of HL2 licences, but its looking to me more like a games distribution channel now. I know thats probably not exactly news, but its quite cool to see how Steam has started to add value.
I bought a retail copy of HL2. But I've ended up with HL2, the other game the name of which escapes me at this moment, an SDK and now HL2 multiplayer with the hope of future map downloads, map editors plus additional games and demos. I think thats quite neat.
BUT... if every computer games company starts doing this it won't be so neat - trying to work out which of the dozen client programs do what!
The main motoring TV program in the UK, Top Gear recently showed crash tests involving the SMART car, which is designed with a one piece, very strong passenger shell. The car stood up very well in these tests.
One of the tests shown was an offset head on impact with a Mercedes S-class. Can't recall the speeds, but the combined speed was high. The front of the s-class was seriously smashed in by the smart car. The front of the smart car too was a mess BUT crucially the passenger compartment of the smart was intact and the occupants would have escaped serious injury.
However, because the passenger shell of the SMART car is so strong and stiff, some tests have shown high passenger loads due to restraints. No doubt due to the small crumple zones on the vehicle.
So I guess if you hit something in a SMART, hit something with a crumple zone that you can share!
Whoever in Dixons had the idea for that press release must be getting a very big bonus this year. The story got onto UK national TV news and you just cannot buy advertising like that.
A relative of mine works in a small family owned consumer electronics shop and they have now been absolutely flooded with demand for DVD recorders. They are reaping some of the spoils of this publicity coup but I bet Dixons will be making a bundle as DVD recorders are suddenly the must-have purchase for the festive season.
Also, the halogen bulbs I use say 6000hrs on the packet, but I don't get anywhere near that. And yes they are on slow start dimmers to reduce the initial stress when they switch on.
I suspect that the duration of lights is a bit like the depth ratings for watches. 6000hrs isn't 6000hrs and tested to 10m doesn't mean it a watch will work after a trip into 10m of water.
I think the American News Media is very heavily censored. Not deliberately, but the effect is the same.
Having just returned to the UK from a 2 week vacation in California, I have to say I am (again) stunned by the quality of the American news media in general. It seemed to be one third Iraq, one third Iran and one third domestic. The domestic coverage was split between some trail thats happening at the moment, some kind of political scandal or other, and political stuff that was duller than dishwater.
Getting back home to the BBC is like seeing the world in color again!
Perhaps the luke warm reception for Iran may have been related to one of their competitors withdrawing from an event after being drawn to compete against an Isreali? Something to do with Iran not recognise Isreal as a state... or something like that.
Guess its not the first time something like that has happened.
I'd like to see the 2016 Olympics in either Tel Aviv or Riyadh. That would make for an interesting games.
I know what you mean. The recent Saturn mission has got almost no media coverage in the UK.
Is this society being completely uninterested in science? Or is this the media companies assuming there is no interest - something which is probably self-perpetuating. If there is no media coverage then the public don't get a change to have an opinion. Todays media seems keener to present discussion on Britney Spears visit to swimming pools. Very sad state of affairs.
Slashdot Mirror
I think it was that dreadful UK tabloid, The Mail on Sunday, which created this "your bin is bugged" hysteria last week. They stirred up lots of fear and doubt by using terms like "bug" to describe something that is just a serial number. I bet if the new bins had a bar code, nobody would care less. Instead the media is making out that this RFID chip can somehow directly spy on what you are throwing away.3 767.0.whats_bugging_you.php have jumped on the Mails fear-mongering bandwagon and are doing that all too common trick... publish over-the-top scare stories one day, then run a 2nd story with feedback from 'horrified readers' the next. A sure sign of media hype.
In my town, local newspapers like the Daily Echo http://www.thisisbournemouth.co.uk/display.var.90
But what baffles me with this situation is the tabloid press in the UK say very little about the real privacy issues of the day.... the ID card scheme, this new national database of childrens details, DRM seeping into our products and purchases. But garbage containers that have a number - oh the horror! Jeez!
Ok just one more thing... I know RFID tags are not liked by slashdot. I'm no fan of them either. Making bins identifiable is a step towards a new form of non-recycled refuge taxation. I don't think thats a bad thing if it causes people to recycle more. But these new taxes tend to be on top of existing taxes. So its not like we'd get a local tax offset first. This angle is generating concern as represented by the public feedback. But the mdeia spin on the capabilities of the technology amaze me. Though it if makes the ID card scheme falter, its a good thing.
... but google earths measure tool lets you see what 15000ft across your neck of the woods looks like. Its likely to be quite a lot further than you think. Si
... the porn industry will decide. Same as last time.
The number of car-jackings in the UK has been increasing as modern cars are a lot harder to steal. This system will just increase the value of a legitamate vehicle to the point where criminals will be more willing to use increasing violence to obtain one. I can't help thinking that a lot of public money will be spent on something that the criminals will find ways around. Creating cloned vehicles being the obvious way. The system might be able to detect multiple cars with the same number plate in different places. But probably not before sending the registered keeping a speeding ticket for travelling from Birmingham to London (>140miles) in 2 minutes!!! Also... living in the UK I had my car MOT'd recently (MOT=compulsory annual roadworthyness test). The garage had just starting using a terminal that gave them access to some database of car details so they can inform the ''system' that a car has passed its MOT. I was chatting to the garage owner and he said they almost always get several hundred results on a number plate search rather than just one! So it could be that the underlying data is in such a state that the whole system won't work. I DO think that single APNR cameras are good at catching crims. But I'm not convinced that system can scale. Si
Looks like Disney should know about this too... http://www.cbc.ca/stories/print/2002/12/03/norwalk _virus021203
On a vacation to San Francisco my son accessed a web based online game at an internet cafe on the Wharf. When he later used the hotel's internet his character started at a different location. A sign his account had been comprimised (and more telling than a "you last logged in at XX:XX" message!)
Later that day, or rather earlier the next morning, 4am to be precise, I suddenly woke up and realised my hotmail account might be have been compromised in the same way (as I'd used a different PC in the internet cafe). Strange how your brain works when you sleep. I had to go down to the lobby to reset my password. Strange looks from the night porter!
When I typed the password in I assumed that the hotel machine was also compromised and changed window focus between each character and mixed in delete keys to try and confuse any key-logger log file. Not sure I'd rely on that but it seemed a reasonable precaution to my tired brain. Typing the same new password twice was a challenge this way though!
For the rest of my stay I watched other guests access their banking services from the same PC. I have no reason to believe the hotel's PC was key-logged. But it would have been an extremely juicy target.
No apple is making computers extremely slick. Don't confuse simple to use with dumb. I got my wife an iBook (so she wouldn't hassle me with windows questions) in January. Now I love MacOS. I have copied data from my 3 PC's just so that spotlight can index it. Its very very neat.
The car analogy is not a single joystick - its a mind interface that makes driving a car a pleasure.
Get a Mac and try it. But beware, windows will feel bad afterwards. To me using windows is like driving cars use to be - with no synchromesh, hand throttles and manual engine retardation controls. Constant tweeks, mis-fires and repeatitive chores that just get in the way!
I think its more like police deploying a stinger to deflate tyres.
If you cannot drive sensibly and in a way that keeps other drivers safe then you should be stopped from driving.
If you cannot keep your computer operating in a way that does not threaten other computer users then you should not have a computer.
Okay its slightly harsh to wipe drives. I used that example to make a point. As others have said, a less drastic immunisation might be beneficial.
1. Get every compromised PCs to join the same botnet.
2. White-hat hack into the botnet.
3. Tell all compromised PCs to wipe their hard drives.
4. No more compromised PCs! Well... not for a while anyway!
Really, market forces will do the rest and its going to be a very interesting time.
My understanding was that Sony were pressured by the record companies into not using the recordability features of MiniDisc in their advertising. Otherwise the record companies would not release material on MiniDisc.
In turn this limited the take up of the technology. Most people, even today, do not realise that MiniDisc is proper random access. So if you delete a track you could re-use all of the space for future recordings.
Some years after MiniDisc first appeared Sony did start promoting the format using the idea of making your own compilations. But the ads always positioned this as a way to manage your paid-for music.
The early MiniDisc ad where a music exec tosses a MiniDisc out of his window - that symbolism always made me smile. But at the time the durability of the media was about all Sony could talk about.
Don't forget that the UK endures 17.5% VAT (sales tax) on almost all purchases made with already-taxed-once income. Not to mention additional tax (duty) on a range of other goods such as fuel and alcohol.
Shame that the report does not say how they tested the help systems.
Basically did not want another XP system in the house. I spend too much time updating XP, zonealarm, adaware, spybot etc etc etc etc on the 3 existing PCs. Then checking no nasties have sneaked past. Simply did not want a forth system to hassle me.
I did consider a cheap laptop with Linux but the windows tax put me off. Also from playing with employers laptops and linux I know that not everything works - like power management - without tinkering. I know how to fix that kind of thing but did not want to have to, if that makes sense.
For my wife I wanted a simple appliance. Zero admin overhead. The iBook fitted the bill. All I can say is that it is fantastic. Its only the 12inch lowest spec (with a 60Gb drive.) Not even put extra memory in it yet. But its plenty fast enough for everyday use. Battery life is amazing. The iLife programs are a lot of fun. No registry. Whole apps are single files. Not files spewed all over the system. Mac OS has proper multi-user with fine user privilege controls. So no worries about the kids accidently resetting the wep key - even if they are using an admin account (it prompts to re-enter passwd.) Lots of interesting and useful features that are so easy to find. I felt at home with Mac OS immediately. I was pleasantly surprised to find there is no shortage of software out there - for example, I found a great DVD ripper within 5mins of looking. I love it. Now we fight over who gets to use the iBook! I did not expect to be even using it.
Thats how pub quizzes tend to work in the UK.
A set of questions is read out. Each team answers all questions. The winning team is the one that answers the most correctly.
Hence no buzzers.
remember that the uplink speed with ADSL will be less than the downlink speed. For the UK 256kbit/s upload is common.
I bought a retail copy of HL2. But I've ended up with HL2, the other game the name of which escapes me at this moment, an SDK and now HL2 multiplayer with the hope of future map downloads, map editors plus additional games and demos. I think thats quite neat.
BUT... if every computer games company starts doing this it won't be so neat - trying to work out which of the dozen client programs do what!
One of the tests shown was an offset head on impact with a Mercedes S-class. Can't recall the speeds, but the combined speed was high. The front of the s-class was seriously smashed in by the smart car. The front of the smart car too was a mess BUT crucially the passenger compartment of the smart was intact and the occupants would have escaped serious injury.
However, because the passenger shell of the SMART car is so strong and stiff, some tests have shown high passenger loads due to restraints. No doubt due to the small crumple zones on the vehicle.
So I guess if you hit something in a SMART, hit something with a crumple zone that you can share!
A relative of mine works in a small family owned consumer electronics shop and they have now been absolutely flooded with demand for DVD recorders. They are reaping some of the spoils of this publicity coup but I bet Dixons will be making a bundle as DVD recorders are suddenly the must-have purchase for the festive season.
I suspect that the duration of lights is a bit like the depth ratings for watches. 6000hrs isn't 6000hrs and tested to 10m doesn't mean it a watch will work after a trip into 10m of water.
...these should be fitted with giant flash guns so we know when they are taking our photograph.
I think the American News Media is very heavily censored. Not deliberately, but the effect is the same.
Having just returned to the UK from a 2 week vacation in California, I have to say I am (again) stunned by the quality of the American news media in general. It seemed to be one third Iraq, one third Iran and one third domestic. The domestic coverage was split between some trail thats happening at the moment, some kind of political scandal or other, and political stuff that was duller than dishwater.
Getting back home to the BBC is like seeing the world in color again!
Perhaps the luke warm reception for Iran may have been related to one of their competitors withdrawing from an event after being drawn to compete against an Isreali? Something to do with Iran not recognise Isreal as a state... or something like that. Guess its not the first time something like that has happened. I'd like to see the 2016 Olympics in either Tel Aviv or Riyadh. That would make for an interesting games.
... when every significant action we take, good or bad, is available for the world to browse... forever. Transparency is coming. Are you ready? Si
I know what you mean. The recent Saturn mission has got almost no media coverage in the UK. Is this society being completely uninterested in science? Or is this the media companies assuming there is no interest - something which is probably self-perpetuating. If there is no media coverage then the public don't get a change to have an opinion. Todays media seems keener to present discussion on Britney Spears visit to swimming pools. Very sad state of affairs.