My MP is a member of the labour party, and a very loyal one at that. Chances of her rebelling against any measure the government propose is somewhere close to zero.
I'm not going to go searching on Google now but there are already loads of malware toolkits out there being used by script kiddies, some of which are rather easier to use than "First learn to code in C". This doesn't change anything.
Though to be perfectly honest I'd still stick the computer in it's own little/29 subnet with a firewall blocking all traffic in both directions except that which is explicitly allowed.
If the computer being used is compromised, it follows you can't trust anything on it. You certainly can't trust that "lock down mode" is as locked down as you'd like.
Labour have been going completely mental in terms of putting new laws in place since they came to power.
Myself, I think they were out of power for so long that suddenly being in went to their heads and they got all giddy. Like a small child being taken to a sweetshop and told "You can have as much as you like".
Well, in a manner of speaking we do, insofar as there are a number of laws which form the basis of how everything else hangs together, but there's no single document you can point to and say "There. That's the constitution".
People asked the same question about why IBM didn't buy out SCO at the beginning.
The argument against, IIRC, pointed out that in so doing they'd be sending a strong message to the IT industry: "Fuck with us, and we'll buy your company for enormous gobs of cash and all your directors will be able to retire with massive golden parachutes!".
Throw in some Windows / Linux / Open Source / freeware to read the data (don't do a BBC Domesday project and have to decode the software as well as find the hardware).
Hmmm... therein lies the problem.
I wouldn't like to bet that a given piece of software produced in 1993 - even if it was produced for a well-known system like Windows - would work on a modern Windows XP machine. It should - but I'm sure we've all seen cases of software not being quite as backward-compatible as we'd like.
Linux doesn't usually aim for binary compatibility across very long periods of time - that's what source code exists for. And a live CD such as Knoppix (so they don't need to worry about OS compatibility) simply changes it from being a software compatibility issue to a hardware compatibility issue.
On an OS whose users like to brag about how shitty and old their PC is.
Do you not see a contradiction between that and a brand new game engine which by the developer's own admission 'pushes a lot of paths that are not usually optimized' ?
Doesn't work everywhere, unfortunately, as I've seen some with a keypad on the ticket machine and you have to enter the numeric part of your car's registration for a ticket.
Just so we're clear on this, exactly how long is "an extra block"?
Here in the UK we have a system similar to this in many big cities and I agree with the GP, to me this entire article sounds like "call the waaahmbulance". The city I live in has a similar system in many areas and generally speaking each meter is about 30-40 yards apart so you never need to walk much more than 20 yards.
Agree entirely. Others (indeed, an AC already has) will go on about improved algorithms, but ATEOTD there's only ever so much improvement that can be made and IMO if there's that much headroom that can be fixed in firmware, it's an immature technology.
There are a variety of kernel issues (think wireless drivers and other hardware support)
Wireless drivers are the kind of thing that aren't really going to happen in the near future, however, seeing as so many wireless cards can alter their power output through software.
This isn't necessarily a problem in itself but at least one (probably many) countries' radio licensing regulations explicitly forbid selling a radio transmitter of that form to the general public without somehow preventing Joe Bloggs from fiddling with the power output.
The answer, when faced with an update to terms of service that you don't like, is to say "That's absolutely fine, you obviously don't want my business any more so I'll go find someone else who does."
To be fair, a lot depends on the kind of thing you're buying.
If you're buying products for a very specific hobby, ebay is generally not too bad - mainly because the scammers tend to go for selling products with a broad appeal.
If you're buying something fairly generic - well, I'd be inclined to go with "Buyer collects, cash on collection". (Oh, except you can't do that any more, you have to accept Paypal).
There's two guys taking on the (nowadays) unheard of task of writing an Assembly OS, and all people go on about is that you can run Quake on it? WTF... The last Assembly-OS I used (well, to a big part anyway) was my trusty ol' Amiga... and it ran circles around many systems that came later with more CPU power...
Hardware has become so cheap now that a lot of software houses don't dedicate much effort to speeding up their code, instead taking the approach that it'll be a lot easier to recommend the customer goes out and buys the latest, greatest piece of tin to run their software on.
This can backfire - I have seen software which recommended buying a Pentium 4 CPU of such speed that Intel never actually released it, instead moving towards the Core architecture. The scary bit was the software did actually need such a fast CPU, even though it wasn't doing anything intrinsically complicated.
On the contrary, I think you've just proven that if Apple will at some point in the next 1-3 years release something that's the exact opposite of what they're announcing.
In fact, now I think of it I'm sure Jobs announced that the iPod would never have video because there was no point in such a small device.
You'd think when people used screenshots of something they threw together in a word processor they'd at least turn off auto-spell check underlining so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
Get a law passed that criminalizes The leakage of private information by Govt or its supreme "Yes, Minister" servants. That way, the next time some MP or minister or a civil servant loses a hard disk containing private information, he/she faces hard time in a Federal Prison: for 10 years or more. Why doesn't someone get the stupid ministers to pass a law like this?
There already is such a law - the Data Protection Act forces organisations to keep data secure and a major mortgage company were fined for losing a laptop which had a whole lot of personal information on it. (They later announced that they'd pass this fine on to customers because they "didn't think it was fair" to pass it onto the executives, and nobody raised a stink. Go figure.)
There is the minor issue that AFAICT the only thing they can do is fine an organisation - and of course there's only one place government can get money from to pay such a fine...
Slashdot Mirror
Write to your member of parliament. Vote smart.
Yep, done this. Several times, in fact.
My MP is a member of the labour party, and a very loyal one at that. Chances of her rebelling against any measure the government propose is somewhere close to zero.
You're naive.
I'm not going to go searching on Google now but there are already loads of malware toolkits out there being used by script kiddies, some of which are rather easier to use than "First learn to code in C". This doesn't change anything.
Adobe have to do this. If you allow your trademark to slip into common use as a word, it can stop being your trademark.
Kleenex, Xerox and Hoover are all examples of where this has either happened or come very close to happening.
Since 99.99[ad nauseum]% of the users wouldn't know a hardened secure computer (I'm pretty sure Windows is categorically eliminated)
Not true, actually. You most certainly can lock down Windows fairly heavily - in fact, Microsoft provide a tool to help you do it.
Though to be perfectly honest I'd still stick the computer in it's own little /29 subnet with a firewall blocking all traffic in both directions except that which is explicitly allowed.
If the computer being used is compromised, it follows you can't trust anything on it. You certainly can't trust that "lock down mode" is as locked down as you'd like.
Labour have been going completely mental in terms of putting new laws in place since they came to power.
Myself, I think they were out of power for so long that suddenly being in went to their heads and they got all giddy. Like a small child being taken to a sweetshop and told "You can have as much as you like".
We don't have a written constitution in the UK.
Well, in a manner of speaking we do, insofar as there are a number of laws which form the basis of how everything else hangs together, but there's no single document you can point to and say "There. That's the constitution".
People asked the same question about why IBM didn't buy out SCO at the beginning.
The argument against, IIRC, pointed out that in so doing they'd be sending a strong message to the IT industry: "Fuck with us, and we'll buy your company for enormous gobs of cash and all your directors will be able to retire with massive golden parachutes!".
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" -- Salvor Hardin, Foundation (Isaac Asimov)
"The competent make it their first refuge." -- jimicus, Slashdot
Throw in some Windows / Linux / Open Source / freeware to read the data (don't do a BBC Domesday project and have to decode the software as well as find the hardware).
Hmmm... therein lies the problem.
I wouldn't like to bet that a given piece of software produced in 1993 - even if it was produced for a well-known system like Windows - would work on a modern Windows XP machine. It should - but I'm sure we've all seen cases of software not being quite as backward-compatible as we'd like.
Linux doesn't usually aim for binary compatibility across very long periods of time - that's what source code exists for. And a live CD such as Knoppix (so they don't need to worry about OS compatibility) simply changes it from being a software compatibility issue to a hardware compatibility issue.
On an OS whose users like to brag about how shitty and old their PC is.
Do you not see a contradiction between that and a brand new game engine which by the developer's own admission 'pushes a lot of paths that are not usually optimized' ?
Doesn't work everywhere, unfortunately, as I've seen some with a keypad on the ticket machine and you have to enter the numeric part of your car's registration for a ticket.
Just so we're clear on this, exactly how long is "an extra block"?
Here in the UK we have a system similar to this in many big cities and I agree with the GP, to me this entire article sounds like "call the waaahmbulance". The city I live in has a similar system in many areas and generally speaking each meter is about 30-40 yards apart so you never need to walk much more than 20 yards.
Agree entirely. Others (indeed, an AC already has) will go on about improved algorithms, but ATEOTD there's only ever so much improvement that can be made and IMO if there's that much headroom that can be fixed in firmware, it's an immature technology.
There are a variety of kernel issues (think wireless drivers and other hardware support)
Wireless drivers are the kind of thing that aren't really going to happen in the near future, however, seeing as so many wireless cards can alter their power output through software.
This isn't necessarily a problem in itself but at least one (probably many) countries' radio licensing regulations explicitly forbid selling a radio transmitter of that form to the general public without somehow preventing Joe Bloggs from fiddling with the power output.
I stand corrected. There are about 35 garages left that do sell four star, aimed mainly at classic cars.
Yes, that's quite correct.
The answer, when faced with an update to terms of service that you don't like, is to say "That's absolutely fine, you obviously don't want my business any more so I'll go find someone else who does."
Oh, wait....
To be fair, a lot depends on the kind of thing you're buying.
If you're buying products for a very specific hobby, ebay is generally not too bad - mainly because the scammers tend to go for selling products with a broad appeal.
If you're buying something fairly generic - well, I'd be inclined to go with "Buyer collects, cash on collection". (Oh, except you can't do that any more, you have to accept Paypal).
There's two guys taking on the (nowadays) unheard of task of writing an Assembly OS, and all people go on about is that you can run Quake on it? WTF ... The last Assembly-OS I used (well, to a big part anyway) was my trusty ol' Amiga ... and it ran circles around many systems that came later with more CPU power ...
Hardware has become so cheap now that a lot of software houses don't dedicate much effort to speeding up their code, instead taking the approach that it'll be a lot easier to recommend the customer goes out and buys the latest, greatest piece of tin to run their software on.
This can backfire - I have seen software which recommended buying a Pentium 4 CPU of such speed that Intel never actually released it, instead moving towards the Core architecture. The scary bit was the software did actually need such a fast CPU, even though it wasn't doing anything intrinsically complicated.
No they don't.
They may sell lead replacement petrol (quite a few garages marketed "4* LRP" for a time, most have since stopped), but it isn't plain 4 star.
By all accounts, the BSA doesn't care about certificates of authenticity, they care about invoices.
Heck last time I checked you can still get leaded fuel in the UK!
It therefore follows that the last time you checked was more than 10 years ago.
On the contrary, I think you've just proven that if Apple will at some point in the next 1-3 years release something that's the exact opposite of what they're announcing.
In fact, now I think of it I'm sure Jobs announced that the iPod would never have video because there was no point in such a small device.
You'd think when people used screenshots of something they threw together in a word processor they'd at least turn off auto-spell check underlining so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
Get a law passed that criminalizes The leakage of private information by Govt or its supreme "Yes, Minister" servants.
That way, the next time some MP or minister or a civil servant loses a hard disk containing private information, he/she faces hard time in a Federal Prison: for 10 years or more.
Why doesn't someone get the stupid ministers to pass a law like this?
There already is such a law - the Data Protection Act forces organisations to keep data secure and a major mortgage company were fined for losing a laptop which had a whole lot of personal information on it. (They later announced that they'd pass this fine on to customers because they "didn't think it was fair" to pass it onto the executives, and nobody raised a stink. Go figure.)
There is the minor issue that AFAICT the only thing they can do is fine an organisation - and of course there's only one place government can get money from to pay such a fine...