Actually, the problem of defining species has occupied quite a bit of research. The best they have been able to come up with (as far as I can see, I'm not a scientist of any sort) is to define it differently for a ton of different specialties.
For a ton of information about this stuff go to: http://wbar.uta.edu/resources/!resourc.htm
Well, if self-mutation requires intelligence, isn't the immune system idea ifself currently impossible? With new viruses being created so quickly, it would take a whole lot of people manning those analysis centers to respond to the viruses. Apologies for the inexact phrasing, from now I'll say detect instead of see. Here's a scenario for detection of scanning: Virus A has a list of major "immune system" analysis centers. It monitors the system it has infected, and if it detects data headed for one of these centers, it changes. I'm not sure why it has to grow to change (as you seem to imply by saying this virus would have to be bigger than the checker), but I'll concede that point. Anyway, better safe than sorry (for a virus), so it would even unnecessary changes would be a big detriment. At worst, this would seem to reduce the immunity scheme to a situation similiar to the current antivirus one: antivirus vendors strive to setup analysis centers (or change them) as quickly as possible and virus makers strive to update their viruses. You're right about the worm not changing after a bird eats it. But most birds know whether this is a poisonous worm or not already (or if they don't Darwin makes sure their descendants will), and don't have to fly away to check some bird worm center. If it did (and if the worm could make instant copies of itself) then worms would have much better chances.
Seems to me that this same technology (if it works at all) could be used to write even deadlier viruses. Imagine viruses that behave as if the antivirus program is the intruding agent, and use measures such as these to defend against them. For example, how about a virus that detects what key parts of itself a scanner was looking for. Once it did that, it could mutate itself, and additionally, strip e-mail addresses from address books and send a description of the changes out to other computers. This probably wouldn't even have to be an executable, just a text file saying something like "Hi. How's the weather?" with the scanner description hidden in it. If a person wasn't infected, nothing would happen (hence no need to send suspicious executables). If a person was infected, the virus would read the description, and modify itself accordingly. Eventually, all surviving copies of the virus would be immune to all the scanners. If it propagated as fast as Melissa, and was a bit stealthier (more stealthy?), it could infect a whole lot of computers, sitting right under the nose of scanners that thought their systems were clean. Disclaimer: I don't write viruses, so I don't know if what I propose is possible or even has been done already.
You've hit the nail right on the head. It's always annonying to hear anti-communists rants from people who have obviously never read the Communist Manifesto. Additionally, there is a big difference between big-c Communists, and small-c communists. Big-c Communists are members (or supporters) of the traditional Communist Parties in China and the former USSR. Neither of these parties have exactly adhered closely to the ideals laid down by Marx. Small-c communists, on the other hand, are simply people who believe that the society Marx proposed would be a good one to work towards. This is analogous to the relation between small-d democrats and big-d Democrats. Just about everybody in America calls themselves democrats, but not everybody votes for the Democratic Party.
You're exactly right when you say Snow Crash is comedy, and comparing it to something as serious as Neuromancer is absurd. The strange thing is, almost every review I've ever read of Snow Crash does exactly that, and usually ends up panning Snow Crash for being "unrealistic", or having "absurd characters" like Raven. God, he's a giant mutant, who throws harpoons and uses glass knives, and has a nuclear bomb wired to his head. How could that not be humor?
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Actually, the problem of defining species has occupied quite a bit of research. The best they have been able to come up with (as far as I can see, I'm not a scientist of any sort) is to define it differently for a ton of different specialties.
For a ton of information about this stuff go to:
http://wbar.uta.edu/resources/!resourc.htm
Well, if self-mutation requires intelligence, isn't the immune system idea ifself currently impossible? With new viruses being created so quickly, it would take a whole lot of people manning those analysis centers to respond to the viruses. Apologies for the inexact phrasing, from now I'll say detect instead of see. Here's a scenario for detection of scanning: Virus A has a list of major "immune system" analysis centers. It monitors the system it has infected, and if it detects data headed for one of these centers, it changes. I'm not sure why it has to grow to change (as you seem to imply by saying this virus would have to be bigger than the checker), but I'll concede that point. Anyway, better safe than sorry (for a virus), so it would even unnecessary changes would be a big detriment. At worst, this would seem to reduce the immunity scheme to a situation similiar to the current antivirus one: antivirus vendors strive to setup analysis centers (or change them) as quickly as possible and virus makers strive to update their viruses.
You're right about the worm not changing after a bird eats it. But most birds know whether this is a poisonous worm or not already (or if they don't Darwin makes sure their descendants will), and don't have to fly away to check some bird worm center. If it did (and if the worm could make instant copies of itself) then worms would have much better chances.
Seems to me that this same technology (if it works at all) could be used to write even deadlier viruses. Imagine viruses that behave as if the antivirus program is the intruding agent, and use measures such as these to defend against them. For example, how about a virus that detects what key parts of itself a scanner was looking for. Once it did that, it could mutate itself, and additionally, strip e-mail addresses from address books and send a description of the changes out to other computers. This probably wouldn't even have to be an executable, just a text file saying something like "Hi. How's the weather?" with the scanner description hidden in it. If a person wasn't infected, nothing would happen (hence no need to send suspicious executables). If a person was infected, the virus would read the description, and modify itself accordingly. Eventually, all surviving copies of the virus would be immune to all the scanners. If it propagated as fast as Melissa, and was a bit stealthier (more stealthy?), it could infect a whole lot of computers, sitting right under the nose of scanners that thought their systems were clean. Disclaimer: I don't write viruses, so I don't know if what I propose is possible or even has been done already.
You've hit the nail right on the head. It's always annonying to hear anti-communists rants from people who have obviously never read the Communist Manifesto.
Additionally, there is a big difference between big-c Communists, and small-c communists. Big-c Communists are members (or supporters) of the traditional Communist Parties in China and the former USSR. Neither of these parties have exactly adhered closely to the ideals laid down by Marx. Small-c communists, on the other hand, are simply people who believe that the society Marx proposed would be a good one to work towards. This is analogous to the relation between small-d democrats and big-d Democrats. Just about everybody in America calls themselves democrats, but not everybody votes for the Democratic Party.
You're exactly right when you say Snow Crash is comedy, and comparing it to something as serious as Neuromancer is absurd. The strange thing is, almost every review I've ever read of Snow Crash does exactly that, and usually ends up panning Snow Crash for being "unrealistic", or having "absurd characters" like Raven. God, he's a giant mutant, who throws harpoons and uses glass knives, and has a nuclear bomb wired to his head. How could that not be humor?