This is rather old news for Slashdot. MSR's IPv6 release for Win2K happened this last April, replacing a functional alpha IPv6 release for WinNT (which I still have and still run on our work research IPv6 net and 6Bone connection).
In fact, the only major OS we've found lagging seriously in IPv6 was Linux. Out of the box, it's stable on freeBSD and Win2K (no idea of the status on MacOS since we don't have any of those around to play with). Cisco's release works well, though it's missing much of the layer 5+ elements.
Per interpretations of plagiarism, it'd seem like this web developer might have wanted to take a look at his university's definition of it:
http://student-rules.tamu.edu/rules20.htm
Of course, even though colleges and universities are supposed to be keen on the matter of plagiarism, there've been more than a handful of problems with material coming from the Internet. In Nebraska last spring, we had a chancellor resign from a college due to his unattributed use of an Internet email in a speech.
Perhaps this is something that ought to be covered in freshman "research ethics 101"... how to handle Internet sources.
I'd have to believe that, if confirmed and tested to be viable, it could open up broader uses of existing wireless allocations, as well as help focus some others (e.g. UHF TV frequencies).
As an avid ham, I've been watching each new commercial wireless application drool over expanded frequency space. Having the ability to expand the efficiency of existing allocations seems like a godsend.
Tis a shame it's already patented - open source radio, anyone?
Actually, I worked at the same company and while not under the noncompete provision, I ended up dealing with attorneys for way too long afterwards (at my expense, of course!). Too many folks go into companies thinking everything will work out well - only to end up paying thousands of dollars to a lawyer later on. I guess the lesson I walked away with is that everything is negotiable (including NDAs, noncompetes) and the more valuable you are to a company, the better your negotiating position.
I told the last company I'm at to not even think about a noncompete - they can't afford it. After the little HR dweeb got done ranting (only to be ignored by senior managers who apparently had a similar attitude as mine towards noncompetes), the matter got dropped.
So, to the previous poster who made the observation that failing to sign an NDA would result in one being shuffled into a trivial, low responsibility position, my experience has been the opposite. The only ones who signed the NDAs at my current employer are the clerical and lower-ranking technical people who didn't know better.
Now what we need is an open source NDA that says things like:
company must provide compensation into escrow account for every day of noncompete to be purchased
noncompete provision of contract becomes null and void if company fails to make any payment
etc.
Then we can hand out the open source NDA or simply refer to it on the website. "Cost of doing business, Mr. Employer." (BTW, I own a small business on the side that has several full time and part time technical employees and still would be satisfied with such an agreement; but then, your stuffy Fortune 50 with armies of HR and legal drones might balk).
A lifetime employment clause is a good idea, except it leaves the employee's financial dependence upon the viability of the employer.
I had one network engineer friend who was under a noncompete with an Omaha ISP. He got let go when the company blew apart (thanks to a merchant banker that stole both the investment money and the company's assets) but was warned by company attorneys over the next year that he'd be sued if he violated his noncompete terms. His contract specified that he'd be paid for the duration of his noncompete except for commission of a felony leading to his non-employment, but since the company had no money to pay, he was stuck in a non-paying, non-compete.
Since he had brought a suit against the company for payment of the money he was owed (payroll for the noncompete period plus his last two paychecks which were reported to IRS as payroll but never given, plus expenses), he couldn't go get employed or end up breaking the contract and his claim to the money. Took him about a year to wade through the muck.
Lesson learned: Companies that want noncompetes and NDAs that extend post-employment must prepay up front into an escrow account that is yours unless they can prove you were terminated for committing a felony (which is pretty easy: is there a conviction on record? no? fork over the money, bank!).
Exactly! EULAs and other contracts have already suckered many folks into the process of signing away rights without even reading the fine print. NDAs in job interviews represents further encroachment.
However, simply saying "no" puts you into the role of the spoiler in any negotiation. As I've had NDAs and noncompetes (they tend to be bundled these days post-hiring), dropped on my desk as an afterthought (they should have been negotiated up front), I've remained one of the only employees not required to sign one in the past three companies I've been in by simply responding that I'd have my attorney review it and send back responses - of course, I'd need the company to authorize my attorney expenses in writing, in advance. (Keeping this open ended is important - it might only take $200-$300 of his/her time to review the initial document, but by keeping it open ended, you can keep negotiating things until they are satisfactory and this can cost several thousand by the time you're done).
That usually sends the HR types scurrying away, to never be heard from again (e.g. making them go get financial approval, which if obtained, sets a precedent that might just blow their budget, with every employee running up possibly uncapped legal bills! Don't forget, HR isn't exactly a profit center and they don't usually have a lot of power with the money folks in a company).
The best thing is that the response is fully reasonable - in fact, if they don't permit you to review it with counsel, have this documented by them that the respective NDA/noncompete was required and any review was not permitted. (That's about the quickest way to nullify that kind of document). I had peers who were given surprise noncompetes they had to sign to receive their paycheck on payday - no attorney review permitted. "Here's your paycheck - but you have to sign this first. Don't worry about reading it if you want to be paid." Seriously.
One other suggestion: if you're asked for a noncompete, recognize what it means. In many cases, you're being asked to keep yourself and your knowledge off the market for a period after your termination, presumably to protect the company from your knowledge coming back to bite them through competition. My response has been that this protection is insurance, and insurance always costs money; the appropriate cost for this insurance is my salary for the period being purchased in escrow, to be mine upon any termination other than for committing a felony.
In every case, this ended up in the issue being dropped.
> For instance, what if you want Microsoft to open up Win 3.1? It's old code, right? Well, Win 3.1 is still capable of being a competitor to Win 9x if it evolves in the right direction.
If Microsoft is still supporting and maintaining Win3.1, that's fine. I'll bet having Win3.1 in abandonware status and available to open source improvements might motivate Microsoft to move on the ball with Win9X, NT, Win2K, etc. developments.
Plus, it'd do a great job at resolving the antitrust issues through the market rather than requiring the impartial Dept. of Justice to do it for us.
*scoove*
Re:Great ideas, horrible book
on
Selfish Society
·
· Score: 2
For those who have a hard time understanding or handling more than 1,000 pages, you might try The Virtue of Selfishness.
Everything is diced up into shorter essays that two-dimensional readers might find easier to swallow. Then again, thinking is a prerequisite to understanding this material.
Interestingly, people either absolutely love or hate Rand's writing. Usually that's an indication that the issue has to do with the philosophy represented than a name-calling slam (usually by one who hasn't even read the material).
Exactly! Remember what the RHIC folks were saying about the possibility their collider could destroy the earth? "Oh, the chances of accidentally creating a black hole that would rapidly sink to the center of the earth and then eat it all up is rather quite small..." And now they want to intentionally make one? Someone take away their keys, quick! *scoove*
The only way for a domain that is not renewed to be auctioned is for it to legally be transferred to NSI to own and sell - as referenced by their "all proceeds will remain in the coffers of NSI" statement. How does ICANN permit an expired, unregistered and unused (by definition) domain to be owned by NSI? Isn't that grounds for the death penalty under the Cybersquatting provisions? I was annoyed when NSI unilaterally implemented $100 domain fees while under government contract and payment back in ~95. I was amused when NSI adopted a domain transfer policy where a domain essentially had to be paid for twice - e.g. a 2-week old domain, fully paid in advance, would have to be paid for again by the new entity. Now I'm completely stupified that this beltway insider corporation has managed to define unregistered domain space as theirs to auction - not for $35/year, but at the highest price possible. Orrin Hatch must be on the board of directors. *scoove*
Mall of American = BioCentral?
on
Living Terrors
·
· Score: 1
Funny you should mention Minneapolis being a plausible ground-zero -
Many of us hams in my part of the Midwest participated in an Air Force bioterrorism exercise a few months ago that was based on a ficticious biological-based terrorist attack in Minneapolis. They sent plane-loads of people to places throughout the midwest to receive treatment since in the scenario, the local hospitals were overloaded. They relied upon local ARES amateur radio groups to provide for the communications logistics.
If you read about the US's FEMA and related NBC-related civil defense programs, you'll be surprised to see how much of a role volunteer geeks get to play.
I'd suggest for anyone interested in the topic to check out their local ham group and if in the US, learn about their area's ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) or RACES programs.
Building a backup voice and data infrastructure through spare parts on spare time for fun can be a heck of a challenge!
*scoove*
Re:The Solution is Quite Clear but very unpleasant
on
Living Terrors
·
· Score: 1
So, I the summary of my point is far *.* is dangerous. The far left and far right are both equally ludicrous and dangerous.
Agreed!
Per your Canadian perspective, I'm compelled to add a few thoughts from a Midwest USA (or as Al Gore operative Paul Begalla says, "fly over country") perspective.
It would seem that urbanization increases the impact of the NBC threat. Putting 90% of the population in a few convenient locations (complete with quick air transportation in and out for the "biotourist") seems as practical as an e-commerce merchant storing most of the credit card numbers on the public web server. "Well, that's where the transactions are" isn't always the best excuse.
This puzzles me every time I drive thru northeast Kansas, for example, and see one after another abandoned farm houses. Besides being a better place to raise families, facilitating greater awareness of the environment, and reducing demand on the monolithic food distribution system, it reduces the impact of a NBC threat by distributing the population.
Hopefully with broadband wireless connections, at least technology workers can get out of the cities and mitigate the risk.
Just imagine: a post-NBC catastrophy world mostly comprised of Slashdot geeks...
Re:The Solution is Quite Clear but very unpleasant
on
Living Terrors
·
· Score: 1
It seems to me that we might be missing much of the threat by assuming such NBC-related events would come from some extremist overseas terrorist group.
Wasn't it an American reporter and Democratic party advocate (Dan Savage, of Salon) who engaged in his own highly targeted and primitive version of bioterrorism in his attempt to make presidential candidate Gary Bauer sick with the flu?
How is this different than some green party luddite cooking up some new germs in a basement lab as a means of forcing society to return to a primative "ideal" (in their assessment, perhaps) state?
How fitting that the BATF and FBI types are breaking down doors of survivalists who might have a few positive thoughts on protection from these harms, while possibly ignoring the more probable, internal threat from the far left.
As in enterprise network security, more often than not, your greatest threat is from within...
Of course we'll always need USPS... look at Greyhound's presence in an era of aviation, 2 car families, etc. Someone has to haul the trash.
Heck, a half year ago, I had a $25K AT&T PBX that another business had abandoned and defaulted on the lease - leaving it in our warehouse. AT&T wanted it back (badly) but refused to give a FedEx or UPS account - and even threatened our company if we didn't return their property (that they wouldn't pay to pick up).
To get rid of the annoyance, we lugged the box down the street to the USPS and mailed it the lowest class possible - uninsured. I sure hope it got jostled a bunch on the way!
Slashdot Mirror
This is rather old news for Slashdot. MSR's IPv6 release for Win2K happened this last April, replacing a functional alpha IPv6 release for WinNT (which I still have and still run on our work research IPv6 net and 6Bone connection).
In fact, the only major OS we've found lagging seriously in IPv6 was Linux. Out of the box, it's stable on freeBSD and Win2K (no idea of the status on MacOS since we don't have any of those around to play with). Cisco's release works well, though it's missing much of the layer 5+ elements.
*scoove*
Per interpretations of plagiarism, it'd seem like this web developer might have wanted to take a look at his university's definition of it:
http://student-rules.tamu.edu/rules20.htm
Of course, even though colleges and universities are supposed to be keen on the matter of plagiarism, there've been more than a handful of problems with material coming from the Internet. In Nebraska last spring, we had a chancellor resign from a college due to his unattributed use of an Internet email in a speech.
Perhaps this is something that ought to be covered in freshman "research ethics 101"... how to handle Internet sources.
*scoove*
I'd have to believe that, if confirmed and tested to be viable, it could open up broader uses of existing wireless allocations, as well as help focus some others (e.g. UHF TV frequencies).
As an avid ham, I've been watching each new commercial wireless application drool over expanded frequency space. Having the ability to expand the efficiency of existing allocations seems like a godsend.
Tis a shame it's already patented - open source radio, anyone?
*scoove*
Actually, I worked at the same company and while not under the noncompete provision, I ended up dealing with attorneys for way too long afterwards (at my expense, of course!). Too many folks go into companies thinking everything will work out well - only to end up paying thousands of dollars to a lawyer later on. I guess the lesson I walked away with is that everything is negotiable (including NDAs, noncompetes) and the more valuable you are to a company, the better your negotiating position.
I told the last company I'm at to not even think about a noncompete - they can't afford it. After the little HR dweeb got done ranting (only to be ignored by senior managers who apparently had a similar attitude as mine towards noncompetes), the matter got dropped.
So, to the previous poster who made the observation that failing to sign an NDA would result in one being shuffled into a trivial, low responsibility position, my experience has been the opposite. The only ones who signed the NDAs at my current employer are the clerical and lower-ranking technical people who didn't know better.
Now what we need is an open source NDA that says things like:
Then we can hand out the open source NDA or simply refer to it on the website. "Cost of doing business, Mr. Employer." (BTW, I own a small business on the side that has several full time and part time technical employees and still would be satisfied with such an agreement; but then, your stuffy Fortune 50 with armies of HR and legal drones might balk).
*scoove*
A lifetime employment clause is a good idea, except it leaves the employee's financial dependence upon the viability of the employer.
I had one network engineer friend who was under a noncompete with an Omaha ISP. He got let go when the company blew apart (thanks to a merchant banker that stole both the investment money and the company's assets) but was warned by company attorneys over the next year that he'd be sued if he violated his noncompete terms. His contract specified that he'd be paid for the duration of his noncompete except for commission of a felony leading to his non-employment, but since the company had no money to pay, he was stuck in a non-paying, non-compete.
Since he had brought a suit against the company for payment of the money he was owed (payroll for the noncompete period plus his last two paychecks which were reported to IRS as payroll but never given, plus expenses), he couldn't go get employed or end up breaking the contract and his claim to the money. Took him about a year to wade through the muck.
Lesson learned: Companies that want noncompetes and NDAs that extend post-employment must prepay up front into an escrow account that is yours unless they can prove you were terminated for committing a felony (which is pretty easy: is there a conviction on record? no? fork over the money, bank!).
*scoove*
Exactly! EULAs and other contracts have already suckered many folks into the process of signing away rights without even reading the fine print. NDAs in job interviews represents further encroachment.
However, simply saying "no" puts you into the role of the spoiler in any negotiation. As I've had NDAs and noncompetes (they tend to be bundled these days post-hiring), dropped on my desk as an afterthought (they should have been negotiated up front), I've remained one of the only employees not required to sign one in the past three companies I've been in by simply responding that I'd have my attorney review it and send back responses - of course, I'd need the company to authorize my attorney expenses in writing, in advance. (Keeping this open ended is important - it might only take $200-$300 of his/her time to review the initial document, but by keeping it open ended, you can keep negotiating things until they are satisfactory and this can cost several thousand by the time you're done).
That usually sends the HR types scurrying away, to never be heard from again (e.g. making them go get financial approval, which if obtained, sets a precedent that might just blow their budget, with every employee running up possibly uncapped legal bills! Don't forget, HR isn't exactly a profit center and they don't usually have a lot of power with the money folks in a company).
The best thing is that the response is fully reasonable - in fact, if they don't permit you to review it with counsel, have this documented by them that the respective NDA/noncompete was required and any review was not permitted. (That's about the quickest way to nullify that kind of document). I had peers who were given surprise noncompetes they had to sign to receive their paycheck on payday - no attorney review permitted. "Here's your paycheck - but you have to sign this first. Don't worry about reading it if you want to be paid." Seriously.
One other suggestion: if you're asked for a noncompete, recognize what it means. In many cases, you're being asked to keep yourself and your knowledge off the market for a period after your termination, presumably to protect the company from your knowledge coming back to bite them through competition. My response has been that this protection is insurance, and insurance always costs money; the appropriate cost for this insurance is my salary for the period being purchased in escrow, to be mine upon any termination other than for committing a felony.
In every case, this ended up in the issue being dropped.
*scoove*
> For instance, what if you want Microsoft to open up Win 3.1? It's old code, right? Well, Win 3.1 is still capable of being a competitor to Win 9x if it evolves in the right direction.
If Microsoft is still supporting and maintaining Win3.1, that's fine. I'll bet having Win3.1 in abandonware status and available to open source improvements might motivate Microsoft to move on the ball with Win9X, NT, Win2K, etc. developments.
Plus, it'd do a great job at resolving the antitrust issues through the market rather than requiring the impartial Dept. of Justice to do it for us.
*scoove*
For those who have a hard time understanding or handling more than 1,000 pages, you might try The Virtue of Selfishness.
Everything is diced up into shorter essays that two-dimensional readers might find easier to swallow. Then again, thinking is a prerequisite to understanding this material.
Interestingly, people either absolutely love or hate Rand's writing. Usually that's an indication that the issue has to do with the philosophy represented than a name-calling slam (usually by one who hasn't even read the material).
*scoove*
1. Visit Amazon.com - Atlas Shrugged
2. Buy it.
3. Read it.
4. Either understand it or bug off and continue to be a parasite.
*scoove*
"But I don't think of you."
Exactly! Remember what the RHIC folks were saying about the possibility their collider could destroy the earth? "Oh, the chances of accidentally creating a black hole that would rapidly sink to the center of the earth and then eat it all up is rather quite small..." And now they want to intentionally make one? Someone take away their keys, quick! *scoove*
The only way for a domain that is not renewed to be auctioned is for it to legally be transferred to NSI to own and sell - as referenced by their "all proceeds will remain in the coffers of NSI" statement. How does ICANN permit an expired, unregistered and unused (by definition) domain to be owned by NSI? Isn't that grounds for the death penalty under the Cybersquatting provisions? I was annoyed when NSI unilaterally implemented $100 domain fees while under government contract and payment back in ~95. I was amused when NSI adopted a domain transfer policy where a domain essentially had to be paid for twice - e.g. a 2-week old domain, fully paid in advance, would have to be paid for again by the new entity. Now I'm completely stupified that this beltway insider corporation has managed to define unregistered domain space as theirs to auction - not for $35/year, but at the highest price possible. Orrin Hatch must be on the board of directors. *scoove*
Funny you should mention Minneapolis being a plausible ground-zero -
Many of us hams in my part of the Midwest participated in an Air Force bioterrorism exercise a few months ago that was based on a ficticious biological-based terrorist attack in Minneapolis. They sent plane-loads of people to places throughout the midwest to receive treatment since in the scenario, the local hospitals were overloaded. They relied upon local ARES amateur radio groups to provide for the communications logistics.
If you read about the US's FEMA and related NBC-related civil defense programs, you'll be surprised to see how much of a role volunteer geeks get to play.
I'd suggest for anyone interested in the topic to check out their local ham group and if in the US, learn about their area's ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) or RACES programs.
Building a backup voice and data infrastructure through spare parts on spare time for fun can be a heck of a challenge!
*scoove*
So, I the summary of my point is far *.* is dangerous. The far left and far right are both equally ludicrous and dangerous.
Agreed!
Per your Canadian perspective, I'm compelled to add a few thoughts from a Midwest USA (or as Al Gore operative Paul Begalla says, "fly over country") perspective.
It would seem that urbanization increases the impact of the NBC threat. Putting 90% of the population in a few convenient locations (complete with quick air transportation in and out for the "biotourist") seems as practical as an e-commerce merchant storing most of the credit card numbers on the public web server. "Well, that's where the transactions are" isn't always the best excuse.
This puzzles me every time I drive thru northeast Kansas, for example, and see one after another abandoned farm houses. Besides being a better place to raise families, facilitating greater awareness of the environment, and reducing demand on the monolithic food distribution system, it reduces the impact of a NBC threat by distributing the population.
Hopefully with broadband wireless connections, at least technology workers can get out of the cities and mitigate the risk.
Just imagine: a post-NBC catastrophy world mostly comprised of Slashdot geeks...
It seems to me that we might be missing much of the threat by assuming such NBC-related events would come from some extremist overseas terrorist group.
Wasn't it an American reporter and Democratic party advocate (Dan Savage, of Salon) who engaged in his own highly targeted and primitive version of bioterrorism in his attempt to make presidential candidate Gary Bauer sick with the flu?
How is this different than some green party luddite cooking up some new germs in a basement lab as a means of forcing society to return to a primative "ideal" (in their assessment, perhaps) state?
How fitting that the BATF and FBI types are breaking down doors of survivalists who might have a few positive thoughts on protection from these harms, while possibly ignoring the more probable, internal threat from the far left.
As in enterprise network security, more often than not, your greatest threat is from within...
*scoove*
Of course we'll always need USPS... look at Greyhound's presence in an era of aviation, 2 car families, etc. Someone has to haul the trash.
Heck, a half year ago, I had a $25K AT&T PBX that another business had abandoned and defaulted on the lease - leaving it in our warehouse. AT&T wanted it back (badly) but refused to give a FedEx or UPS account - and even threatened our company if we didn't return their property (that they wouldn't pay to pick up).
To get rid of the annoyance, we lugged the box down the street to the USPS and mailed it the lowest class possible - uninsured. I sure hope it got jostled a bunch on the way!
Thank goodness for last class USPS!!!
*scoove*