... the Borg might be here a lot sooner than that!
Does the name Kevin Warwick ring any bells?
From the above link:
In 1998 he shocked the international scientific community by having a silicon chip transponder surgically implanted in his left arm. A series of further implant experiments have taken place in which Kevin's nervous system was linked to a computer. This research led to him being featured in February 2000, as the cover story on the US magazine wired. Kevin also presented the Year 2000 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures with great success. Kevin's new implant experiment called 'Project Cyborg' got underway in March 2002 and is providing exciting results.
Fusistance is retail. Your ass will be laminated...
I dunno about Roman dice, but I seem to recall some notion dating from around the same time, in either the Bible or the Torah, which said that God plays dice with the universe. If memory serves, the person who imparted this information to me X number of years ago was correcting Einstein...
What would other/.ers like to see auctioned off from the annals of computer mythology? (And no, don't ask for a stable and secure version of Windows - Christie's won't take your soul in payment)
In fact, I just had an idea. Head over to this entry in my journal and let's get some ideas of geek relics and the bids they might attract...
Thanks for the info, Dr. Z!
As I said,/me != g33k - I don't fully understand the tech, I just applied the bits I do know and a little supposition.
I'm going to stay cynical, though - I reckon we'd need an awful lot of extra DNS servers to cope if someone put Star Wars Episode III on BitTorrent via DNS.
Time for me to go do some reading. I have a lot of catching up to do with you guys!
(Or maybe I should go watch my bootleg DVD of that cult musical, Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!!)
*grin*
Thanks, man. I've been writing a paper on Jane Eyre (no tattooist jokes, please) and researching another on double negatives this afternoon, and I needed a laugh.
Two days here and already/.ers are making me smile, without having to resort to photoshopping the goatse guy.;-)
I read the article... it just occurred to me that, with a WiFi card installed or if motherboards ever feature full WiFi, as they have come to do with graphics and sound, there could be security issues.
You and I are lucky. We know about turning off onboard stuff via the BIOS, or putting up a firewall, or disabling network connections. But not everyone does. That's the point I was making; my parents have a PC, and they sure as heck don't know about internet security. Three years, no antivirus software, no patches, no maintenance - I spent three days with various tools, bringing their Win98 up to date and getting rid of Gator and other stuff that they installed purely because they didn't know any better.
So, to sum up: my opinion is it's good tech if you can run your OS of choice on it and if you can deal with the security issues should you have a WiFi card installed. Otherwise, it's possibly a bad choice.
Seriously. I don't pretend to understand 100% of the technology involved, but it seems pretty clear even to me that:
DNS servers, as the name implies, are for serving DNS information.
For information to be propagated at a good speed, we don't want DNS servers to be bogged down.
If we start using DNS servers to send information larger than the usual DNS information, we bog them down.
That isn't to say that I think BitTorrent cacheing isn't possible. I just don't think it's a good idea to use existing DNS servers for it, although perhaps something could be built on similar technology, or dedicated Torrent users could run their own DNS servers if they're that determined to do something so bandwidth-intensive...
Just be grateful it wasn't the goatse guy again - saw that one for the first time yesterday and almost lost my lunch. Jeez, but these things are turning into the/. equivalent of Fark photoshop contest cliches...
What about security issues?
I like my router (at home, I share a cable internet connection between two desktop PCs and, occasionally, my laptop). It has an inbuilt firewall according to the manufacturer, and I know if I ever do have a serious problem which I suspect originates from the internet, I can physically disconnect it. Sure, cables are archaic, but they're cheaper and more secure than wireless networks - especially for the novice (like myself).
But if you enable a CPU to act as a wireless hub - or, eventually, if WiFi comes as a full onboard feature (rather like many motherboards now have onboard sound and graphics) - would that not open up your PC and network to security issues? My parents would not be best pleased if someone warchalked on the fence, but since they have little idea of technology or computer security, I think if they bought a new machine enabled with this kind of tech, every l33t hax0r in a two mile radius would be camping out to leech their access.
It clearly states on the website that they're guidelines, not rules.
... and they're not all that new, either. I seem to recall that Jennifer Niederst wrote about government accessibility guidelines in her book, Web Design in a Nutshell (O'Reilly, 2001).
Not that I do much web design myself, but I bought this book instead of HTML for Dummies purely on the basis that I resented the idea of purchasing a book that implied I was stupid. I was actually pleasantly surprised that Niederst's book was written for the intelligent individual, at a level accessible to beginners.
Of course, I might be wrong - that book is about 40 miles away, in a box in my parents' attic, so I can't check to see if I remember right about any chapter on accessibility guidelines. But I liked it so much that I've gone on to buy O'Reilly books whenever I need a useful reference, like the time I considered switching to Linux. And when (if?) I get around to making a website, you can bet I'll be using WDiaN as my guide.
It surely can't be as bad as those brightly-coloured "food cubes" that Captain Kirk and his crew used to eat (such as in Journey to Babel).
On the other hand, in Charlie X, I seem to recall Kirk ordering the galley to make a fake Thanksgiving turkey out of meatloaf. And real food was seen on occasion, emerging from those little slots in the rec room.
Star Trek notwithstanding, I've always been kinda fond of that freeze-dried "space icecream". As for pastes - great for practicality (and very futuristic-sounding), but I think the astronauts would quickly get bored of mush-in-a-tube. Real food is probably better for morale, not to mention their health.
Yep, I hate to bring up bodily functions, but if you just ate blended mush and no fibre, you'd probably get constipated pretty darn quick. Plus, in addition to morale, sitting down to eat like other co-workers is probably good for the crew's mental health.
... hey, waitasec, I think I just figured out why those little grey men like to anal-probe people...:-P
This makes me think about development possibilities for Ray Kurzweil's virtual alter-ego, Ramona.
It seems that/.ers are divided on the issue of whether the poetry produced by the software is any good, but just think what will happen as similar things are developed and refined.
Take a look at Ramona's bio and songs (MP3 format). They are, in the fictional context, her own compositions.
Now, Ray has an avatar that can hold fairly simple conversations with online visitors (and can even, with an IE plug-in, become animated and speak), and a piece of software that can write poetry. Music can be expressed in mathematical terms. How much does anyone want to bet that Kurzweil Labs may be able to develop a "creative AI", one that's able to write its own music and lyrics, and possibly evolve them much as a real musician does?
IMHO, it's just a matter of time until movies like "S1m0ne" become closer to reality. Do you guys/girls/geeks think that the possibility of true artificial intelligence is getting closer?
I never expected to see a development like this; as a sci-fi aficionado, it's quite interesting to see some of the other methods that have been highlighted both fictionally and in the news.
The first thought that entered my mind was that this could be used, if sufficiently refined, in a similar manner to a USB "keyring drive" - you just carry all your data with you and snap it into a workstation wherever you go. This could well be the same deal... or it could be the basis for those goofy wood-block circuit elements they used in the original Star Trek;-)
Or you could make smart cards "smarter"... more info, possibly with a tamperproof MD5 someplace so the information carried on the card can't be faked.
I do realise that data and Information Technology is becoming an increasing part of our lives, and there's a great drive towards more power and more storage - but what about reducing bloat, increasing security, and making data and software (whether for work, entertainment, whatever) of better quality? It's almost like something out of Philip K. Dick - eventually, we'll drown in our own digital kipple (not to mention landfills consisting wholly of old PC components and AOL CDs)
Anyone got any idea how this method of storage stacks up against (real and theoretical) things like magnetic, optical, quantum, holographic and crystalline?
Mozilla itself (the integrated suite) is. I was referring to Mozilla Firebird, the new web browser, which I think is currently at 0.7.
Though I do agree, the original Mozilla suite is complete (and very nice, fully functional etc.). Strangely, people are still reluctant to touch it. Do you think I should give them a ten foot barge pole?:-P
IMHO, it's a double-edged sword. If I found a big security hole, I could either sit on it and suffer a guilty conscience, or try to make people aware of it.
If M$ (or any other OS or software manufacturer) ignore people sending them info on new vulnerabilities, at least by putting it on a mailing list or website, you're making the public aware of the issue.
The problem is, what happens if a black-hat gets hold of the exploit before the manufacturer and does something destructive? I guess it would make the manufacturer sit up and take notice.
So really, MS (and Apple) should be grateful that there are still white-hats out there to find these holes and propagate information, even if their methods are a little unorthodox.
Mildly OT note: The first computer I ever bought was an Amiga. Nice to see someone remembers them!:-)
Re:I've been trying my best to switch people away
on
New IE Holes Discovered
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I use Mozilla Firebird, myself, and like you, I've tried to encourage my friends to switch.
Doesn't help much when I'm forced to use a university workstation (like today), but I find it's a better quality browser than IE. Renders faster, blocks pop-ups, and I find tabbed browsing to be pretty much invaluable.
Of course, the best thing about Firebird is, I can still watch Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka;-)
There are, of course, some times when you have to use IE (like Windows Update, though I guess I could always just download each update manually).
The big problem I've hit is that, even with all these MSIE vulnerabilities that come out on a near-weekly basis - not to mention annoying pop-ups and pop-unders, and other little security-related issues - I don't seem to have any success.
So what's your persuasive technique for getting people onto pre-1.0, non-MS, reliable-but-not-100%-complete software?
Slashdot Mirror
... the Borg might be here a lot sooner than that!
Fusistance is retail. Your ass will be laminated...Does the name Kevin Warwick ring any bells?
See also:
Stupid White Men and Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore
I dunno about Roman dice, but I seem to recall some notion dating from around the same time, in either the Bible or the Torah, which said that God plays dice with the universe. If memory serves, the person who imparted this information to me X number of years ago was correcting Einstein...
Makes you wonder what'll go under the hammer next...
- a clue-by-four
- a LART
- a grue
What would otherIn fact, I just had an idea. Head over to this entry in my journal and let's get some ideas of geek relics and the bids they might attract...
Thanks for the info, Dr. Z! /me != g33k - I don't fully understand the tech, I just applied the bits I do know and a little supposition.
As I said,
I'm going to stay cynical, though - I reckon we'd need an awful lot of extra DNS servers to cope if someone put Star Wars Episode III on BitTorrent via DNS.
Time for me to go do some reading. I have a lot of catching up to do with you guys!
(Or maybe I should go watch my bootleg DVD of that cult musical, Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!!)
*grin* /.ers are making me smile, without having to resort to photoshopping the goatse guy. ;-)
Thanks, man. I've been writing a paper on Jane Eyre (no tattooist jokes, please) and researching another on double negatives this afternoon, and I needed a laugh.
Two days here and already
I read the article... it just occurred to me that, with a WiFi card installed or if motherboards ever feature full WiFi, as they have come to do with graphics and sound, there could be security issues.
You and I are lucky. We know about turning off onboard stuff via the BIOS, or putting up a firewall, or disabling network connections. But not everyone does. That's the point I was making; my parents have a PC, and they sure as heck don't know about internet security. Three years, no antivirus software, no patches, no maintenance - I spent three days with various tools, bringing their Win98 up to date and getting rid of Gator and other stuff that they installed purely because they didn't know any better.
So, to sum up: my opinion is it's good tech if you can run your OS of choice on it and if you can deal with the security issues should you have a WiFi card installed. Otherwise, it's possibly a bad choice.
Seriously. I don't pretend to understand 100% of the technology involved, but it seems pretty clear even to me that:
- DNS servers, as the name implies, are for serving DNS information.
- For information to be propagated at a good speed, we don't want DNS servers to be bogged down.
- If we start using DNS servers to send information larger than the usual DNS information, we bog them down.
That isn't to say that I think BitTorrent cacheing isn't possible. I just don't think it's a good idea to use existing DNS servers for it, although perhaps something could be built on similar technology, or dedicated Torrent users could run their own DNS servers if they're that determined to do something so bandwidth-intensive...Just be grateful it wasn't the goatse guy again - saw that one for the first time yesterday and almost lost my lunch. Jeez, but these things are turning into the /. equivalent of Fark photoshop contest cliches...
What about security issues?
I like my router (at home, I share a cable internet connection between two desktop PCs and, occasionally, my laptop). It has an inbuilt firewall according to the manufacturer, and I know if I ever do have a serious problem which I suspect originates from the internet, I can physically disconnect it. Sure, cables are archaic, but they're cheaper and more secure than wireless networks - especially for the novice (like myself).
But if you enable a CPU to act as a wireless hub - or, eventually, if WiFi comes as a full onboard feature (rather like many motherboards now have onboard sound and graphics) - would that not open up your PC and network to security issues? My parents would not be best pleased if someone warchalked on the fence, but since they have little idea of technology or computer security, I think if they bought a new machine enabled with this kind of tech, every l33t hax0r in a two mile radius would be camping out to leech their access.
Any other thoughts, opinions or predictions?
It clearly states on the website that they're guidelines, not rules.
... and they're not all that new, either. I seem to recall that Jennifer Niederst wrote about government accessibility guidelines in her book, Web Design in a Nutshell (O'Reilly, 2001).
Not that I do much web design myself, but I bought this book instead of HTML for Dummies purely on the basis that I resented the idea of purchasing a book that implied I was stupid. I was actually pleasantly surprised that Niederst's book was written for the intelligent individual, at a level accessible to beginners.
Of course, I might be wrong - that book is about 40 miles away, in a box in my parents' attic, so I can't check to see if I remember right about any chapter on accessibility guidelines. But I liked it so much that I've gone on to buy O'Reilly books whenever I need a useful reference, like the time I considered switching to Linux. And when (if?) I get around to making a website, you can bet I'll be using WDiaN as my guide.
Anyhow, that went a little OT. YMMV, of course.
It surely can't be as bad as those brightly-coloured "food cubes" that Captain Kirk and his crew used to eat (such as in Journey to Babel ).
On the other hand, in Charlie X, I seem to recall Kirk ordering the galley to make a fake Thanksgiving turkey out of meatloaf. And real food was seen on occasion, emerging from those little slots in the rec room.
Star Trek notwithstanding, I've always been kinda fond of that freeze-dried "space icecream". As for pastes - great for practicality (and very futuristic-sounding), but I think the astronauts would quickly get bored of mush-in-a-tube. Real food is probably better for morale, not to mention their health.
Yep, I hate to bring up bodily functions, but if you just ate blended mush and no fibre, you'd probably get constipated pretty darn quick. Plus, in addition to morale, sitting down to eat like other co-workers is probably good for the crew's mental health.
... hey, waitasec, I think I just figured out why those little grey men like to anal-probe people ... :-P
This makes me think about development possibilities for Ray Kurzweil's virtual alter-ego, Ramona. /.ers are divided on the issue of whether the poetry produced by the software is any good, but just think what will happen as similar things are developed and refined.
It seems that
Take a look at Ramona's bio and songs (MP3 format). They are, in the fictional context, her own compositions.
Now, Ray has an avatar that can hold fairly simple conversations with online visitors (and can even, with an IE plug-in, become animated and speak), and a piece of software that can write poetry. Music can be expressed in mathematical terms. How much does anyone want to bet that Kurzweil Labs may be able to develop a "creative AI", one that's able to write its own music and lyrics, and possibly evolve them much as a real musician does?
IMHO, it's just a matter of time until movies like "S1m0ne" become closer to reality. Do you guys/girls/geeks think that the possibility of true artificial intelligence is getting closer?
I never expected to see a development like this; as a sci-fi aficionado, it's quite interesting to see some of the other methods that have been highlighted both fictionally and in the news. ;-)
The first thought that entered my mind was that this could be used, if sufficiently refined, in a similar manner to a USB "keyring drive" - you just carry all your data with you and snap it into a workstation wherever you go. This could well be the same deal... or it could be the basis for those goofy wood-block circuit elements they used in the original Star Trek
Or you could make smart cards "smarter"... more info, possibly with a tamperproof MD5 someplace so the information carried on the card can't be faked.
I do realise that data and Information Technology is becoming an increasing part of our lives, and there's a great drive towards more power and more storage - but what about reducing bloat, increasing security, and making data and software (whether for work, entertainment, whatever) of better quality? It's almost like something out of Philip K. Dick - eventually, we'll drown in our own digital kipple (not to mention landfills consisting wholly of old PC components and AOL CDs)
Anyone got any idea how this method of storage stacks up against (real and theoretical) things like magnetic, optical, quantum, holographic and crystalline?
Hmm. Am I the only one who thinks this might be a backdoor pilot for a Knight Rider revival?
Mozilla itself (the integrated suite) is. I was referring to Mozilla Firebird, the new web browser, which I think is currently at 0.7. :-P
Though I do agree, the original Mozilla suite is complete (and very nice, fully functional etc.). Strangely, people are still reluctant to touch it. Do you think I should give them a ten foot barge pole?
IMHO, it's a double-edged sword. If I found a big security hole, I could either sit on it and suffer a guilty conscience, or try to make people aware of it.
If M$ (or any other OS or software manufacturer) ignore people sending them info on new vulnerabilities, at least by putting it on a mailing list or website, you're making the public aware of the issue.
The problem is, what happens if a black-hat gets hold of the exploit before the manufacturer and does something destructive? I guess it would make the manufacturer sit up and take notice.
So really, MS (and Apple) should be grateful that there are still white-hats out there to find these holes and propagate information, even if their methods are a little unorthodox.
Mildly OT note: The first computer I ever bought was an Amiga. Nice to see someone remembers them! :-)
I use Mozilla Firebird, myself, and like you, I've tried to encourage my friends to switch. ;-)
Doesn't help much when I'm forced to use a university workstation (like today), but I find it's a better quality browser than IE. Renders faster, blocks pop-ups, and I find tabbed browsing to be pretty much invaluable.
Of course, the best thing about Firebird is, I can still watch Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka
There are, of course, some times when you have to use IE (like Windows Update, though I guess I could always just download each update manually).
The big problem I've hit is that, even with all these MSIE vulnerabilities that come out on a near-weekly basis - not to mention annoying pop-ups and pop-unders, and other little security-related issues - I don't seem to have any success.
So what's your persuasive technique for getting people onto pre-1.0, non-MS, reliable-but-not-100%-complete software?