| "Information security is a hot career area and is among the strongest fields within IT for growth and opportunity. With excellent long-term career prospects, increasing cybersecurity vulnerabilities and an increase in security & privacy regulations and legislation, the demand for security professionals is significant..." |
Sounds like you have an easy job, Chris. Like the kind robots will be doing soon.
This really isn't an attempt to protect intellectual property, it's actually a very sophisticated attempt to create a new class of Lawyer Businessmen (ambulance chaser derivatives). Think about it:
1. We have a new set of laws that proscribes MASSIVE penalties for intellectual property violations. People need to defend themselves from this new threat!
2. We have tens of thousands of bored lawyers in this country, not to mention the ones graduating from college. They need money and swanky cars because they are Lawyers!
3. We have an industry that wants to make money off of music. All music. Everywhere. They need people to go after these infringers!
So, if these laws go into effect, we have two sets of lawyers, the Defenders and the Aggressors. The Defenders are primarily concerned with making money defending copyright infringer. If your max fine for violating copyright is around, say $50,000, wouldn't you rather spend $10,000 on a lawyer who guaranteed he would win, or your money back? Or if you are a business, wouldn't you shell out $150,000 for a lawyer to avoid the publicity and likely 1 Million in damages?
Aggressors would be the ones who actively go after the infringers, and would basically be mercenaries under the employ of the MPAA or RIAA. Investigations would net infringers, which would be passed on to the Aggressors. Considering their take-home on a trial would be a portion of the damages awarded, they would file as many cases as possible. If a few get settled, so be it, but may would go through and they would collect.
And here's the kicker, both Defenders and Aggressors have to serve the best interests of their client, which means settlement, and a lot of it. If a Defender manages to settle for $20k, he's just saved his client $30K. If an Aggressor settles for $20K, his client gets $20K free and clear on the ILLEGAL USE OF A SINGLE INFRINGEMENT without the hassle of a trial. Less attorney fees of course. If these guys file 30 cases like this a year, they are pulling back enough money to live on easily. If they build a firm around it, they have enough money to become tin gods.
When are we going to learn that in the nation of Capitalism, nothing is a law, it's just another business opportunity? Once, a long time ago, lawyers were defenders of freedom and justice, providing a check against government corruption and abuses of power. While some still are, the majority are so in bed with the government they have batter on hand for pancakes in the morning.
~Sticky /First, the lawyers. //Then, the politicians.. ///When the revolution comes...
Good point, if it "apparently" defies the laws of physics, then it DOES defy the laws of physics. I guess the writer should have said something like "All of this is thanks to a property that appears like it defies the laws of physics, but doesn't."
~Sticky /Grammar Nazi //Withheld my Karma Bonus, my post doesn't deserve it.
the Radialpoint Software[me:the security advisor maker], in its default configuration, does not block ads from third parties or Verizon or its affiliates and business partners, and may not identify as spyware certain websites and applications from Verizon and its affiliates or business partners, Radialpoint Inc. and/or Verizon and its affiliates have the right and do access and modify the Software as well as the software (including registry settings on your computer) and/or your hardware for various purposes in connection with the Verizon Internet Security Suite (e.g. for the installation and implementation of the Software and updates to it) as well as to download, install and/or gather, obtain, collect and then use, in relation to the delivery and operation of Verizon Internet Security Suite, various information and data, including information necessary to identify you and your computer to ensure that Verizon Internet Security Suite is received as well as information necessary for the reporting of this service, and (iii) use of such information and data by Verizon will be in accordance with Verizon's privacy policy.
Lemme translate: This software collects data about you when you run it, will continue to collect data about you, and if Verizon's business partners happen to be skeeze, they won't warn you about their spyware. Do. Not. Want. By the way, by using their security advisor, I agree to use their "Internet Security Suite" as well. Which reports on me, and allows Verizon to edit settings on my computer. Sounds a little like remote access, yes?
Here's another thing: On the installation page itself, it says "Administrator rights are required to install this software." So that means that this ActiveX has access to ALL KINDS of fun functions and methods. Who is to say this can't be hijacked and turned into a mal-ware infection source?
~Sticky /Cannot believe this made the front page of Slashdot.
the SAFE Act's additional requirement of retaining all the suspect's personal files if the illegal images are "commingled or interspersed" with other data.
So, let me get this straight. If a pedophile starts up an open Wi-Fi access point, then he connects to it with a laptop that can't be traced to him, he can monitor the traffic, and save all the images that go across the wire. Then he tosses the laptop, reports it, and then he has a perfectly legal excuse as to why he's holding kiddie porn on his computer.
I. Call. Bull. Shit.
~Sticky /First, all the politicians. //Then, the lawyers. ///Then, the pedophiles.
Let's say that I were to acquire a square mile of undeveloped land in downtown Manhattan, and I have no freaking clue what to do with it. Does that make me an idiot? NO. I will have people hammering down my door with ideas on how to use it, and will be able to make money without a problem.
Let me sum up the business plan of Google, cause it's a variation of one that has been used for hundreds (maybe thousands) of years:
1. Buy large tract of undeveloped land in an area that is incredibly congested.
2. Invite people to propose ideas for the use of said land.
3. Charge the people with the best ideas for the priviledge of using the land.
4. Let idea people build on the land, charge for it.
5. Charge people who use the new infrastructure on the land.
6. When the idea gets old, evict the old idea people, and start over at Step 2.
Now, replace "land" with "Spectrum". Welcome to Money City, now owned by Google.
~Sticky /Don't have a business plan? COME ON!! //Seriously, DUH!
What wireless plans? Seriously, this is the modern equivalent of a land grab, buy up the largest tract of contiguous land you can, and sit on it until people come along and ask to use it for something. Google is buying the spectrum to let people come and make money using it. Sound familiar? Kinda like building a search engine and a fantastic intelligent ad system so that marketers can come and make money using it? And because they own it, they can charge a small fee('rent') to those who want to use the spectrum. Large amount of users, equals large amount of fees, which equals smaller fees for users and large profits for Google.
They have no wireless plans, it's all about the oldest fact of life in the book: Whoever controls the most territory wins. Google may develop a product or two, but the idea is that they will rent the 'land', and let people build on it. And in this kind of game, the guys with the best implementation, the best business plan, the best technological expertise, the best of breed software, and the best ideas will be able to use this spectrum to it's fullest extent. This is why I'm hoping Google gets the spectrum.
It's better than what the others will do. They will get the spectrum, they will define the protocols, they will build the chips and the antennas to interact with it, the software that can be deployed on it, the people they will allow to access it, all at 500% markup and no guarantee that everything is best of breed and a product of a free-market. Look at the history of Sprint, Qualcomm, Motorola, and the others, and you'll see what I mean.
~Sticky /Looking to lease a piece of the spectrum to build dream house....
Step 1: Buy Google Stock.
Step 2: Wait for Google to Announce intent to Bid
Step 3: Sit on Google stock
Step 4: Sell Google stock after successful acquisition of 700 MHz Spectrum
Step 5: Profit!!
~Sticky /You think it's funny, but isn't this what you should be doing? //Currently on Step Dumb@ss: Kick self for not buying Google stock last week.
Let's see, smoking increases the risk of death. Video games increase the risk of aggression.
Hmm. Smoking, attributable as a direct cause to around 500,000 deaths a year. Video games, attributable as a direct cause to around...none. Well, maybe a few, I'm sure somebody choked on one at some point or tripped over some cables.
So if smoking is #1 and video games are #2, what is #3? Terrorists?
This example was brought up in a previous comment, I'm expanding on it.
Assume the resistance of steel to pressure is X. So, I decide to put a weight that exerts a pressure of X/2 and leave it there. NOTHING HAPPENS, ever. So I conclude that due to the structure of the steel, it is immune to pressure effects. OOPS, wrong.
Then, I decided to beat it with a hammer with an impact pressure measured at X/2. Nothing happens, for a long time, likely a very long time. However, eventually there will appear small deformations in the steel that slowly over long periods of repetitive stress turn into massive fissures and eventually cause the steel to buckle.
This type of testing is conducted all the time in mechanical design for macro-sized components. Once again, it is NOT a new type of stress (or fatigue), it is simply that they never subjected it to a repetitive type of pressure scenario. Temperature, pressure, and friction, until you get to the atomic level, they exist and will forever be factors in design.
I'm sorry you had a quibble with the word "NEW", it was meant to signify that the discovery of the stress was new. In my book, it wouldn't merit an "Informative".
The answer is no, but it could be subject to other types of mechanical stress. The difference is that the experiment was done to gauge damage from differing direct pressure, DLP use something called a micro mechanical torsion spring. The experiment doesn't quite scale to the spring. However, the way the torsion spring works is that it allows twisting, kind of of like the old "bird in the cage" persistence of vision trick. It's designed to accept a degree of stress from the pressure of twisting. Conceivably, if the crystal layers were aligned in a way that put differing stresses on different layers, it could be an issue. Kind of like if you do the bird trick too long you start seeing small bits of thread pop off from the main string.
However, the kind of tolerance is *probably* already present in the DLP chips. The forces that the spring is subjected to were carefully calculated, and the technology has been in use since the 60s. You could probably take a look at the older types of DLPs and compile evidence that a large amount of cycles won't harm it.
Caveat: I am not a micro-mechanical device engineer, but I follow developments. I figure micro-mechanical devices will need control systems of some sort someday.
~Sticky /It's all about temperature, pressure, and friction.
Study was conducted on the micro-mechanical objects modeled after mechanical objects in the macro- world. So, in essense, small gears will wear down and break just like big gears do. This isn't really a discovery, all large mechanical devices are subjected to a rigorous set of conditions that they will encounter. Just because a group of scientists never subjected the micro-versions to the macro-equivalent test doesn't mean this is new type of stress, it means that nobody though to check it.
And before anybody posts anything about flash memory or processors, this doesn't apply. Memory and processors are "solid state electronics", not "Micro mechanical devices", and are not vulnerable to the same type of stresses (i.e. those caused by friction, shear, or centrifugal forces).
...you are a weenie. Seriously, a big weenie. This "Stolen" code had better be along the lines of Nuclear Missile coordinate mapping functions, and not "how to use Javascript to read the contents of forms as they are entered". Luckily, the very fact that someone was able to copy code directly from a website means your company isn't doing anything important, so I think I can let it slide.
That being said, REAL stolen code is a difficult matter. There are lots of common things that need to be done that don't necessitate a full library to be developed, but are important all the same. I'm thinking mainly of one-off kind of code, examples would be most regular expressions, a lot of parsing, some file i/o that is common but needs tweaking. Plus, there's always the "How do I use this object" kind of stuff.
Stolen code would be on the lines of the optimization technique for sorting and optimizing access to Russian->English translations, or an intelligent determination algorithm for fast and efficient calculation of road directions on a GIS based web application, or maybe a combination of CSS, javascript, xml, and some flash that imitates the behavior of the host windowed environment in a browser. That is stolen code, and is likely the product of many many hours of work and a serious investment in time and money. Usually, this doesn't find it's way into forum posts, though I'm sure there have been embarrassing exceptions.
Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but you seem to be a young developer, maybe this is even your first development gig. The very fact you labeled this "Stolen Code" means you are coming to conclusions way too fast. To use a common corporate phrase, "This kind of decision is a little above your pay grade". I suggest you report this 'finding' to management as a something you need guidance on. Don't use "stolen", don't use "copied", don't use any words that indicate a judgment on your part, simply state that you found company code on a forum website and you thought someone should know. That's CYA, and it's the responsible thing to do.
Well, it was the point to show a quote that *might* apply, after interpretation. Also, there are many Bibles... I'm not sure which one you are looking at, cause I haven't been able to find any reference to stoning children. My original quote, Mark 7 verses 5-7 came from the New International Version, which isn't the one used by the Creation Museum. They use the New King James Version, which would be Mark 7, verses 6-7. It's close:
He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
' This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
Amazing the differences between the two... You'd think the word of God would have a definitive source. On the site I used to get this quote(which is a "Gateway to the Bible"), there are 21 versions, all of them different. Maybe he should talk to the RIAA about infringement.
Absolutely ID is a crock of shiat. Repackaged Creationism, with no basis or at best very little basis in fact. The PROBLEM is that the majority of the United States believes in God, and takes the Bible at near absolute authority. These people have been citing science as the main reason that they have trouble believing in God, and will jump at the idea of a scientific explanation for his existence. And churches will pour money into this, and scientists of dubious authority will take that money and "prove" God's existence.
It's Science verses Religion, luckily religion doesn't make as much money and Science has the advantage of being able to provide an explanation that is supported by something more than an old book. There was a time when Religion did, and it was the dominant. Welcome to the world.
~Sticky /I swear this isn't flamebait. //So help me God. *snicker*
"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" Mark 7:5-7
"Intelligent Design = Rules taught by men
"Evolution" = Man's attempt at understanding the rules put in place by God.
If ever there was a place and time for an open code review between all nations, it would be the safety mechanisms protecting nuclear weapons from accidental triggering or malicious tampering.
Imagine it, all the nuclear nations in the world get together and define the standard way to secure the complex weapons of destruction. The minimum amount a pin code has to have, the dual key system, all of it. Oh, and while they are talking, maybe we should talk about nuclear disarmament too.
It's amazing, all this hubbub over open voting machines, and no-one knows how easy it is to brute force a nuke.
This guy is not IT, don't insult him like that. This was an systems engineering job, taking many different disciplines like mechanical design, controls, computer programming, networking, electrical engineering, and computations/algorithms and rolling it into one. Now, he seems like more of an operations engineer, as he is running what is essentially operations, support, and maintenance for the rover. NOT IT.
Don't kid yourselves, IT is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to tech jobs. The vast majority of IT workers debug problems with Windows security profiles, or check that a port is open on a firewall, or make sure that some top level manager can view his porn through the corporate Web filters. Higher level IT jobs involve putting in a network switch, or maybe making a web site to streamline a business process. Half the network engineers I meet don't know what negative voltage is, and most of the programmers look at assembler and see gibberish. Trained monkeys could do the job if they didn't throw $hit everywhere.
This guy is not a code monkey, he is not a TCP/IP whore, he's an engineer and a scientist. He works on systems that would make an IT guy say, "I only know how to configure Cisco, I don't know how to do that". Or maybe "You can make code turn wheels at a certain speed? WOW!".
Best learn it now, IT (non-management of course) in 5 years is going to be one step above assembly line worker, designated paper pusher, and secretary.
~Sticky /Go ahead, mod it down. It doesn't make it any less true.
Well, Yeah it is Worth It.
on
Is SETI Worth It?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
It is worth it. It employs a large amount of scientists, engineers, laborers, you name it. Many advancements have SETI money as part of their base. Just a couple of things off the top of my head:
1. If you can build a receiver to pick up a faint transmission from the depths of outer space, you can also build a receiver to pick up faint transmissions from Mars, or the Moon, or orbit, or on Earth. This leads to advancement in receiver technology, which means lowered energy costs for transmitting messages here, which leads to lower prices for consumers, and a win for everyone!
2. If you can build a transmitter powerful enough to reach the depths of space, you can do it here on earth as well. Leads to the capability for long distance communications at low costs, win for everyone here too!
3. Searching for signals in the noise of space requires some serious Digital Signal Processing capability to pick out a real signal from the crap. This can be utilized on Earth to increase the range of wireless transmissions outside normal bounds, reduce costs, etc etc etc. Win for everyone!
4. Radio dishes that powerful require some serious engineering to ensure they can survive stress from the electromagnetic forces and physical forces acting on them. This means better engineering techniques for building radios on earth, plus the structural elements too. Win for Everyone!
5. There is a massive amount of data being fed through SETI computers that needs to be analyzed, correlated, and extracted into a usable, readable, and verifiable format. The techniques for doing this are adaptable to large scale computer simulations. Not to mention it gave birth to the first distributed grid computing and networking, which was the direct inspiration for many of the distributed math, science, and statistics programs we see now (think FoldingAtHome or the search for Mersenne Primes).
6. The kind of antenna design needed to pick up a large range of communications can be harnessed on earth to build multipurpose antennae for transmission and receiving. Think cell towers, tv stations, GPS. Win for Everyone!
Now, I'm not going to say that SETI has been the sole driver in a lot of the previous pieces, but research into SETI related projects has provided catalyst into other areas. Computational methods, digital signal processing, radio transmission and receiving are only few that I could think of. Fact is, the scientists and engineers who participate in SETI do so because there is money available for use, they use this money to make advances in science that all of us enjoy today.
Maybe we should compile a list of researchers involved in SETI and see what else they have contributed to. I bet we would be surprised at some of the advances that have come out of it, much the same as the space program has provided leaps in aerospace technology.
~Sticky /Oh, and finding aliens is important too... //Hope they don't mind us beaming signals into space...
Even better would be to put a system in at the South Pole. Cloud cover and atmospheric interference there is small, it's already in an area where it can view a great degree of the sky, and we already have a research station and several telescopes proven in that area. Plus, it's currently cheaper than putting another massive piece of ridiculously advanced and finicky technology into space where we have to rely on cowboys strapped to rockets to repair or retrofit it.
Win-Win.
~Sticky /They call them space-cowboys, satellite-wranglers, and homo-nauts. //*Nods to the Brokeback boys..*
The issue wasn't with a DDoS, the issue was that when you sent an email to the listserve, it was sent with your email in the "To:" header. Which means that all the out of office messages came back directly to the sender. I saw several SIPRNET and NIPRNET addresses in the contact information for these people. Even better were the "I'm out of the office until November 15th, please forward all billing questions to So and So".
Several were group email accounts at Security Operations Centers, NOCs, and I think I saw a few power plants as well(one woman said that is was the "Command Center", speaking about the operations center at a major insurance company. Not to mention I'm still getting unanswerable emails back from email servers giving me the exact email address. I'd estimate I have around 1000 sets of contact information for people in the security industry, how many of those are actual LOGINS as well?
I'll put up a page with a breakdown of the information in the next week, then maybe Slashdot will put up my submission "DHS Email List Exposes Private User Data".
~Sticky
/Grousing about rejected submissions is typically offtopic.
//Which is why I said some other stuff first.
It is possible. First, control systems are connected to a public network because the way electricity is traded among generators, transmission owners, and other members of the electric power community. They use the Internet as the common communications infrastructure for the business side, which gives orders to the production side (the generators). This is the way of the unregulated market, and it's starting to be run a lot like other industries. Because the production side is run by the business side, the connections between the two are inevitable, due to various benefits (lowered costs due to increased process intelligence, proactive maintenance, and a host of others).
Second, quick patching on control systems is a no-no. These systems run for 24x7, and are running highly customized and tested software. If a patch exists, it likely isn't under warranty from the vendor. This means that if a patch is applied, the vendor is well within their rights not to support the system anymore. Also, these systems typically can't just be rebooted, they are running real-time calculation and monitoring to ensure the process variables stay within controlled range. Shutting them down is often tantamount to shutting down the plant, which costs a metric f%&k-ton of money if it stays down.
Parent comment is not insightful, and certainly not intelligent, how about some corrective action Mods? Read the Blackout Report, it has perhaps the best explanation of how the power system function from top to bottom.
..the bankruptcy had something to do with the de-emphasis on the marketing, development, support, and other attributes of OpenServer and UnixWare, and the emphasis on filing lawsuits. Surprisingly enough, they didn't start doing this till Darl McBride became CEO.
Slashdot Mirror
Sounds like you have an easy job, Chris. Like the kind robots will be doing soon.
~Sticky
1. We have a new set of laws that proscribes MASSIVE penalties for intellectual property violations. People need to defend themselves from this new threat!
2. We have tens of thousands of bored lawyers in this country, not to mention the ones graduating from college. They need money and swanky cars because they are Lawyers!
3. We have an industry that wants to make money off of music. All music. Everywhere. They need people to go after these infringers!
So, if these laws go into effect, we have two sets of lawyers, the Defenders and the Aggressors. The Defenders are primarily concerned with making money defending copyright infringer. If your max fine for violating copyright is around, say $50,000, wouldn't you rather spend $10,000 on a lawyer who guaranteed he would win, or your money back? Or if you are a business, wouldn't you shell out $150,000 for a lawyer to avoid the publicity and likely 1 Million in damages?
Aggressors would be the ones who actively go after the infringers, and would basically be mercenaries under the employ of the MPAA or RIAA. Investigations would net infringers, which would be passed on to the Aggressors. Considering their take-home on a trial would be a portion of the damages awarded, they would file as many cases as possible. If a few get settled, so be it, but may would go through and they would collect.
And here's the kicker, both Defenders and Aggressors have to serve the best interests of their client, which means settlement, and a lot of it. If a Defender manages to settle for $20k, he's just saved his client $30K. If an Aggressor settles for $20K, his client gets $20K free and clear on the ILLEGAL USE OF A SINGLE INFRINGEMENT without the hassle of a trial. Less attorney fees of course. If these guys file 30 cases like this a year, they are pulling back enough money to live on easily. If they build a firm around it, they have enough money to become tin gods.
When are we going to learn that in the nation of Capitalism, nothing is a law, it's just another business opportunity? Once, a long time ago, lawyers were defenders of freedom and justice, providing a check against government corruption and abuses of power. While some still are, the majority are so in bed with the government they have batter on hand for pancakes in the morning.
~Sticky
/First, the lawyers.
//Then, the politicians..
///When the revolution comes...
Good point, if it "apparently" defies the laws of physics, then it DOES defy the laws of physics. I guess the writer should have said something like "All of this is thanks to a property that appears like it defies the laws of physics, but doesn't."
~Sticky
/Grammar Nazi
//Withheld my Karma Bonus, my post doesn't deserve it.
Lemme translate: This software collects data about you when you run it, will continue to collect data about you, and if Verizon's business partners happen to be skeeze, they won't warn you about their spyware. Do. Not. Want. By the way, by using their security advisor, I agree to use their "Internet Security Suite" as well. Which reports on me, and allows Verizon to edit settings on my computer. Sounds a little like remote access, yes?
Here's another thing: On the installation page itself, it says "Administrator rights are required to install this software." So that means that this ActiveX has access to ALL KINDS of fun functions and methods. Who is to say this can't be hijacked and turned into a mal-ware infection source?
~Sticky
/Cannot believe this made the front page of Slashdot.
~Sticky
/Removed my Karma bonus from this one, cause it's flamebait.
So, let me get this straight. If a pedophile starts up an open Wi-Fi access point, then he connects to it with a laptop that can't be traced to him, he can monitor the traffic, and save all the images that go across the wire. Then he tosses the laptop, reports it, and then he has a perfectly legal excuse as to why he's holding kiddie porn on his computer.
I. Call. Bull. Shit.
~Sticky
/First, all the politicians.
//Then, the lawyers.
///Then, the pedophiles.
Let me sum up the business plan of Google, cause it's a variation of one that has been used for hundreds (maybe thousands) of years:
1. Buy large tract of undeveloped land in an area that is incredibly congested.
2. Invite people to propose ideas for the use of said land.
3. Charge the people with the best ideas for the priviledge of using the land.
4. Let idea people build on the land, charge for it.
5. Charge people who use the new infrastructure on the land.
6. When the idea gets old, evict the old idea people, and start over at Step 2.
Now, replace "land" with "Spectrum". Welcome to Money City, now owned by Google.
~Sticky
/Don't have a business plan? COME ON!!
//Seriously, DUH!
They have no wireless plans, it's all about the oldest fact of life in the book: Whoever controls the most territory wins. Google may develop a product or two, but the idea is that they will rent the 'land', and let people build on it. And in this kind of game, the guys with the best implementation, the best business plan, the best technological expertise, the best of breed software, and the best ideas will be able to use this spectrum to it's fullest extent. This is why I'm hoping Google gets the spectrum.
It's better than what the others will do. They will get the spectrum, they will define the protocols, they will build the chips and the antennas to interact with it, the software that can be deployed on it, the people they will allow to access it, all at 500% markup and no guarantee that everything is best of breed and a product of a free-market. Look at the history of Sprint, Qualcomm, Motorola, and the others, and you'll see what I mean.
~Sticky
/Looking to lease a piece of the spectrum to build dream house....
Step 1: Buy Google Stock.
Step 2: Wait for Google to Announce intent to Bid
Step 3: Sit on Google stock
Step 4: Sell Google stock after successful acquisition of 700 MHz Spectrum
Step 5: Profit!!
~Sticky
/You think it's funny, but isn't this what you should be doing?
//Currently on Step Dumb@ss: Kick self for not buying Google stock last week.
Hmm. Smoking, attributable as a direct cause to around 500,000 deaths a year. Video games, attributable as a direct cause to around...none. Well, maybe a few, I'm sure somebody choked on one at some point or tripped over some cables.
So if smoking is #1 and video games are #2, what is #3? Terrorists?
~Sticky
/Ridiculous
~Sticky
/LEDS!!!
Me:Temperature, pressure, and friction, until you get to the atomic level, they exist and will forever be factors in design.
I deserve a dunce cap for that one.
Edit:Temperature, pressure, and friction, even when you get to the atomic level, they exist and will forever be factors in design.
~Sticky
/Dunce
Assume the resistance of steel to pressure is X. So, I decide to put a weight that exerts a pressure of X/2 and leave it there. NOTHING HAPPENS, ever. So I conclude that due to the structure of the steel, it is immune to pressure effects. OOPS, wrong.
Then, I decided to beat it with a hammer with an impact pressure measured at X/2. Nothing happens, for a long time, likely a very long time. However, eventually there will appear small deformations in the steel that slowly over long periods of repetitive stress turn into massive fissures and eventually cause the steel to buckle.
This type of testing is conducted all the time in mechanical design for macro-sized components. Once again, it is NOT a new type of stress (or fatigue), it is simply that they never subjected it to a repetitive type of pressure scenario. Temperature, pressure, and friction, until you get to the atomic level, they exist and will forever be factors in design.
I'm sorry you had a quibble with the word "NEW", it was meant to signify that the discovery of the stress was new. In my book, it wouldn't merit an "Informative".
~Sticky
/I Did RTFA.
However, the kind of tolerance is *probably* already present in the DLP chips. The forces that the spring is subjected to were carefully calculated, and the technology has been in use since the 60s. You could probably take a look at the older types of DLPs and compile evidence that a large amount of cycles won't harm it.
Caveat: I am not a micro-mechanical device engineer, but I follow developments. I figure micro-mechanical devices will need control systems of some sort someday.
~Sticky
/It's all about temperature, pressure, and friction.
Study was conducted on the micro-mechanical objects modeled after mechanical objects in the macro- world. So, in essense, small gears will wear down and break just like big gears do. This isn't really a discovery, all large mechanical devices are subjected to a rigorous set of conditions that they will encounter. Just because a group of scientists never subjected the micro-versions to the macro-equivalent test doesn't mean this is new type of stress, it means that nobody though to check it.
And before anybody posts anything about flash memory or processors, this doesn't apply. Memory and processors are "solid state electronics", not "Micro mechanical devices", and are not vulnerable to the same type of stresses (i.e. those caused by friction, shear, or centrifugal forces).
~Sticky
/Duh
That being said, REAL stolen code is a difficult matter. There are lots of common things that need to be done that don't necessitate a full library to be developed, but are important all the same. I'm thinking mainly of one-off kind of code, examples would be most regular expressions, a lot of parsing, some file i/o that is common but needs tweaking. Plus, there's always the "How do I use this object" kind of stuff.
Stolen code would be on the lines of the optimization technique for sorting and optimizing access to Russian->English translations, or an intelligent determination algorithm for fast and efficient calculation of road directions on a GIS based web application, or maybe a combination of CSS, javascript, xml, and some flash that imitates the behavior of the host windowed environment in a browser. That is stolen code, and is likely the product of many many hours of work and a serious investment in time and money. Usually, this doesn't find it's way into forum posts, though I'm sure there have been embarrassing exceptions.
Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but you seem to be a young developer, maybe this is even your first development gig. The very fact you labeled this "Stolen Code" means you are coming to conclusions way too fast. To use a common corporate phrase, "This kind of decision is a little above your pay grade". I suggest you report this 'finding' to management as a something you need guidance on. Don't use "stolen", don't use "copied", don't use any words that indicate a judgment on your part, simply state that you found company code on a forum website and you thought someone should know. That's CYA, and it's the responsible thing to do.
~Sticky
/Weenie.
Amazing the differences between the two... You'd think the word of God would have a definitive source. On the site I used to get this quote(which is a "Gateway to the Bible"), there are 21 versions, all of them different. Maybe he should talk to the RIAA about infringement.
Absolutely ID is a crock of shiat. Repackaged Creationism, with no basis or at best very little basis in fact. The PROBLEM is that the majority of the United States believes in God, and takes the Bible at near absolute authority. These people have been citing science as the main reason that they have trouble believing in God, and will jump at the idea of a scientific explanation for his existence. And churches will pour money into this, and scientists of dubious authority will take that money and "prove" God's existence.
It's Science verses Religion, luckily religion doesn't make as much money and Science has the advantage of being able to provide an explanation that is supported by something more than an old book. There was a time when Religion did, and it was the dominant. Welcome to the world.
~Sticky
/I swear this isn't flamebait.
//So help me God. *snicker*
"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" Mark 7:5-7
"Intelligent Design = Rules taught by men
"Evolution" = Man's attempt at understanding the rules put in place by God.
~Sticky
/All the same mistakes, 2000 years later.
Imagine it, all the nuclear nations in the world get together and define the standard way to secure the complex weapons of destruction. The minimum amount a pin code has to have, the dual key system, all of it. Oh, and while they are talking, maybe we should talk about nuclear disarmament too.
It's amazing, all this hubbub over open voting machines, and no-one knows how easy it is to brute force a nuke.
~Sticky
/0000
//0001
/..//4242 KABOOM!
This guy is not IT, don't insult him like that. This was an systems engineering job, taking many different disciplines like mechanical design, controls, computer programming, networking, electrical engineering, and computations/algorithms and rolling it into one. Now, he seems like more of an operations engineer, as he is running what is essentially operations, support, and maintenance for the rover. NOT IT.
Don't kid yourselves, IT is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to tech jobs. The vast majority of IT workers debug problems with Windows security profiles, or check that a port is open on a firewall, or make sure that some top level manager can view his porn through the corporate Web filters. Higher level IT jobs involve putting in a network switch, or maybe making a web site to streamline a business process. Half the network engineers I meet don't know what negative voltage is, and most of the programmers look at assembler and see gibberish. Trained monkeys could do the job if they didn't throw $hit everywhere.
This guy is not a code monkey, he is not a TCP/IP whore, he's an engineer and a scientist. He works on systems that would make an IT guy say, "I only know how to configure Cisco, I don't know how to do that". Or maybe "You can make code turn wheels at a certain speed? WOW!".
Best learn it now, IT (non-management of course) in 5 years is going to be one step above assembly line worker, designated paper pusher, and secretary.
~Sticky
/Go ahead, mod it down. It doesn't make it any less true.
1. If you can build a receiver to pick up a faint transmission from the depths of outer space, you can also build a receiver to pick up faint transmissions from Mars, or the Moon, or orbit, or on Earth. This leads to advancement in receiver technology, which means lowered energy costs for transmitting messages here, which leads to lower prices for consumers, and a win for everyone!
2. If you can build a transmitter powerful enough to reach the depths of space, you can do it here on earth as well. Leads to the capability for long distance communications at low costs, win for everyone here too!
3. Searching for signals in the noise of space requires some serious Digital Signal Processing capability to pick out a real signal from the crap. This can be utilized on Earth to increase the range of wireless transmissions outside normal bounds, reduce costs, etc etc etc. Win for everyone!
4. Radio dishes that powerful require some serious engineering to ensure they can survive stress from the electromagnetic forces and physical forces acting on them. This means better engineering techniques for building radios on earth, plus the structural elements too. Win for Everyone!
5. There is a massive amount of data being fed through SETI computers that needs to be analyzed, correlated, and extracted into a usable, readable, and verifiable format. The techniques for doing this are adaptable to large scale computer simulations. Not to mention it gave birth to the first distributed grid computing and networking, which was the direct inspiration for many of the distributed math, science, and statistics programs we see now (think FoldingAtHome or the search for Mersenne Primes).
6. The kind of antenna design needed to pick up a large range of communications can be harnessed on earth to build multipurpose antennae for transmission and receiving. Think cell towers, tv stations, GPS. Win for Everyone!
Now, I'm not going to say that SETI has been the sole driver in a lot of the previous pieces, but research into SETI related projects has provided catalyst into other areas. Computational methods, digital signal processing, radio transmission and receiving are only few that I could think of. Fact is, the scientists and engineers who participate in SETI do so because there is money available for use, they use this money to make advances in science that all of us enjoy today.
Maybe we should compile a list of researchers involved in SETI and see what else they have contributed to. I bet we would be surprised at some of the advances that have come out of it, much the same as the space program has provided leaps in aerospace technology.
~Sticky
/Oh, and finding aliens is important too...
//Hope they don't mind us beaming signals into space...
Win-Win.
~Sticky
/They call them space-cowboys, satellite-wranglers, and homo-nauts.
//*Nods to the Brokeback boys..*
Several were group email accounts at Security Operations Centers, NOCs, and I think I saw a few power plants as well(one woman said that is was the "Command Center", speaking about the operations center at a major insurance company. Not to mention I'm still getting unanswerable emails back from email servers giving me the exact email address. I'd estimate I have around 1000 sets of contact information for people in the security industry, how many of those are actual LOGINS as well?
I'll put up a page with a breakdown of the information in the next week, then maybe Slashdot will put up my submission "DHS Email List Exposes Private User Data".
~Sticky
/Grousing about rejected submissions is typically offtopic.
//Which is why I said some other stuff first.
It is possible. First, control systems are connected to a public network because the way electricity is traded among generators, transmission owners, and other members of the electric power community. They use the Internet as the common communications infrastructure for the business side, which gives orders to the production side (the generators). This is the way of the unregulated market, and it's starting to be run a lot like other industries. Because the production side is run by the business side, the connections between the two are inevitable, due to various benefits (lowered costs due to increased process intelligence, proactive maintenance, and a host of others).
Second, quick patching on control systems is a no-no. These systems run for 24x7, and are running highly customized and tested software. If a patch exists, it likely isn't under warranty from the vendor. This means that if a patch is applied, the vendor is well within their rights not to support the system anymore. Also, these systems typically can't just be rebooted, they are running real-time calculation and monitoring to ensure the process variables stay within controlled range. Shutting them down is often tantamount to shutting down the plant, which costs a metric f%&k-ton of money if it stays down.
Parent comment is not insightful, and certainly not intelligent, how about some corrective action Mods? Read the Blackout Report, it has perhaps the best explanation of how the power system function from top to bottom.
~Sticky
Cause -> Effect.
~Sticky
/Just a thought, just a thought.