However, caving to the demands of a business sets a precedent for other businesses. This is much like the bailouts of the financial companies last year. We did it for the good of the country and all that, however it absolved the businesses from their bad choices. Allowing MS tax avoidance in Washington is good in that we keep the jobs here. However, it encourages other businesses to also find creative ways to avoid taxes. So while the short-term result is good, the long-term result is bad.
Also possible that Paltalk offered to settle for some trivially small amount of money, in order to make their claims look more legit. If they can claim they sued MS and settled it may scare others, even if the settlement was $0.02. Just keep the amount confidential and nobody has to know.
Wow, I never thought about that. I'm going to start work on my "finger-twister" game. I'll use pastels to avoid it being a copy of Hasbro's floor mat based game.
as such why do people think health insurance is prohibitively expensive when bought outside an employer, granted its not cheap through an employer either.
People think it's cheap when purchased through an employer because the true cost is hidden. My individual coverage through a previous employer "cost" me $50/month if I opted for it. The portion paid by employer was not disclosed and since it's not taxed it was not included on my W-2. The average American would assume the $50/month is the real cost, or maybe 50% of the real cost. In actuality, my healthcare plan was over $500/month (number acquired from Cobra premium information), and the employer covered by far the majority of the cost.
While gas guzzlers will remain more expensive, the difference as a percentage of total vehicle cost is reduced by implementing flat per mile taxes.
For example, two cars - one that gets 15 mpg the other that gets 30 mpg. If gas with taxes is $2 and I drive 10,000 miles per year I'll spend $1,333 on gas at 15mpg or $667 on gas at 30mpg. Paying only 50% as much with the more fuel efficient vehicle. If they add a $0.10 per mile tax, my total gas + tax cost will be $2,333 at 15mpg or $1,667 at 30mpg. Now I'm paying 71% as much with the more fuel efficient vehicle. So the % savings is reduced.
Back when I took gym in highschool we had what amounted to a 1 size fit all program. I'll admit it, I was a fat kid. So every Wednesday when we had aerobics and you had to run around the gym so many times, run up/down the stairs so many times, jump rope so many times, etc... and your grade was based on the number of times you completed the cycle I did terrible and got a bad grade. Assuming they make proper use of this heart rate monitor they could grade based on effective exercising per person instead of trying to fit everyone into one category.
While the code may very well be 15 years old, that does not really matter to the user. What matters is how long ago Microsoft sold the product. If they sell software today that uses some code written 15 years ago you should be able to expect security updates for some period of time. Now, had they decided not to patch software they haven't sold in 15 years that would be totally OK.
I know when I was living on campus at a state university my computer was caught in one of their malware scans. I was running Linux and had firewalled ping requests among other things. Their scanning system automatically assumed if a computer did not respond to ping it was infected.
The education system continues to redefine words in order that their accomplishments appear to be progress. In another 10 years you'll be able to jump high enough to take photos from space.
I know with my Nuvi GPS if I report it stolen (not sure if a police report is required, but I have no issue with that anyway) the new owners will not be able to update it. I also like the security features where you have to enter a code each time it starts. My JVC stereo has a similar feature, if it loses power you have to enter a code to use it. I assume there are ways around these security features, but for the common thief (which seems to be adolescents in my area) I doubt they go through the trouble. Then again, until the majority of devices start using features like this the kids will steal the stuff anyway not knowing they can't use it. The pawn shops might not be smart enough to test the goods before buying either.
I was trying to find out myself...
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=775966
That thread seemed to have the most information but I'm still left wondering what the heck it is. Some kind of command queue system that can prioritize?
A lot of what google does is control the data and information produced by others. Google news for example, which I check daily, does not really generate it's own news. It's just a listing of top stories over a bunch of different news sites. If those news sites run into real fiscal issues and are at risk of ceasing operations Google would be harmed. So I see Google's stance here as nothing more than a "If you guys start going bankrupt we've got ideas." In the mean time I don't expect anything to change.
With the big names now owning significant amounts of Spotify and the discontinuation of non-invite free service it appears that Spotify is moving on to phase 2: Profit. Get the people hooked on free service using community open source tools and p2p technology. Then stop allowing new members to get the service for free. Then promote the paid service. Then jack up the rates on the paid service over time.
Looks like business as usual.
Your company email passes unencrypted through dozens of relays, regardless of what email provider you use. Any one of those relays could be copying and storing those messages. So what would make Google any bigger risk than any one of them?
I worked at a software company that produced the software used by an unnamed nation-wide tax preparation company. While returns moving from office to office or to the IRS filing centers were sent securely, if any problems came up with a return it was standard operating procedure to email the tax returns. This is a document that includes your current name, address, SSN, the amount of money you made, and your banks routing and account numbers (for direct deposit.) Usually it was the program specific file which wasn't clear text, but wasn't that hard to decipher. Occasionally it was simply a PDF of the tax return itself. The security issue was raised constantly by the lower level employees but those that made the decisions would not listen. On the other hand, there was company policy against the faxing of tax returns because of the risk they would be sent to a wrong number. As far as I know, the company still operates this way.
I sure thought they did. I know when I was in highschool in the 90's my school had only two computer classes. One was "web design" (code for "how to use microsoft front page"), and the other was "keyboarding". Now, you could take a test to get a waiver out of keyboarding but otherwise it was required. To pass the test you had to do at least 30wpm.
When so many of the job postings today want you to have PhD in their field as well as 10 years experience using programs that have only existed for 5 years you have to lie. The honest non-lying people simply don't apply. And if you're willing to lie on one thing, you're willing to lie on another. I'm confident that if you auditted all the resumes and then verified the claims the majority would contain lies.
The first step to fix this is to post realistic job requirements.
That being the case, it seems an easy strategy for corporations to make money for their investors would be to intentionally mismanage the company. So that the shareholders can sue the company they own and the insurance pays out.
Yes, I agree. Article seems to be more focused on hiring crackers. As any hacker knows, crackers are not generally skilled geniuses. I don't see why you'd want to hire one anyway, at least not for their cracker experience.
With as much crap as Dell includes on it's default computers, certainly something is always in need of an update. They must have new images several times a year to keep the versions all current. One more image doesn't seem like such a big deal.
The fact this made news at all is not a sign of how broken the SSN is, but rather how stupid the target audience is. The methodology of social security number assignment is not a secret. The "research" paper is simply repeating known information that anyone could do.
Step 1: Get zip code of origin (city of birth works well for anyone born after 88.) - you got the first 3 numbers. Step 2: Get date of issuance (usually date of birth) - you got the 4th and 5th number almost guaranteed. The final 4, you can narrow down to a range by looking at the publicly available SSN of the deceased. If the date was May 15 and you have on record a SSN ending in 3485 issued May 14th and 3809 on May 16th for the same first 5 digits you know the last 4 are between 3485-3808.
If all these ISPs realized advertising unlimited internet use would sell people on the idea they could use unlimited internet use maybe they should have built their infrastructure to handle it, or not market it as such. If they have anyone to whine to, it's themselves and their own short sightedness.
Even if MD does face the music on this one, they'll still have done their job. That is to shield the RIAA and MPAA. The RIAA and MPAA can then start up "MediaDefender 2 Inc." and continue the abuse under a new company.
ISPs are often seen as big bad guys when they do this but the reality is it does cost more to support a user who actually uses their connection pretty significantly than someone's grandma who checks email 2x a month.
It's not the fact that they filter/etc... that's the problem. They shouldn't even need to filter. It's the marketing dept. If they didn't sell the internet connection as "unlimited" they wouldn't have problems at all. Say $20/month for 2 gigs of transfer with an extra $5 per gig or a similar pricing structure. Suddenly the bittorrent/P2P problems vanish.
Of course they could no longer advertise as "unlimited" but they aren't delivering that as it is.
I agree, and an amazed at how many/. people are not even questioning whether this happened. I guess if it's MS that did it, it *must* be true (rolleyes.)
AMD did it to thsemelf
on
Is AMD Dead Yet?
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
When AMD came out with low priced CPUs that were highly overclockable and great performance at stock they became *the* CPU for any serious geek.
When they changed their mind and decided to price-match Intel causing massive price increases they alienated their primary sales force. Geeks selling to family & friends was a great system and without that AMD has been hurting.
It's possible they would have died anyway sticking to the cheap, but they've never made a sufficient argument to their customers of why they can't keep the prices low like in the past without letting it on that they like all big business care more about short term cash than long term relationships.
Slashdot Mirror
However, caving to the demands of a business sets a precedent for other businesses. This is much like the bailouts of the financial companies last year. We did it for the good of the country and all that, however it absolved the businesses from their bad choices. Allowing MS tax avoidance in Washington is good in that we keep the jobs here. However, it encourages other businesses to also find creative ways to avoid taxes. So while the short-term result is good, the long-term result is bad.
Also possible that Paltalk offered to settle for some trivially small amount of money, in order to make their claims look more legit. If they can claim they sued MS and settled it may scare others, even if the settlement was $0.02. Just keep the amount confidential and nobody has to know.
Wow, I never thought about that. I'm going to start work on my "finger-twister" game. I'll use pastels to avoid it being a copy of Hasbro's floor mat based game.
as such why do people think health insurance is prohibitively expensive when bought outside an employer, granted its not cheap through an employer either.
People think it's cheap when purchased through an employer because the true cost is hidden. My individual coverage through a previous employer "cost" me $50/month if I opted for it. The portion paid by employer was not disclosed and since it's not taxed it was not included on my W-2. The average American would assume the $50/month is the real cost, or maybe 50% of the real cost. In actuality, my healthcare plan was over $500/month (number acquired from Cobra premium information), and the employer covered by far the majority of the cost.
While gas guzzlers will remain more expensive, the difference as a percentage of total vehicle cost is reduced by implementing flat per mile taxes. For example, two cars - one that gets 15 mpg the other that gets 30 mpg. If gas with taxes is $2 and I drive 10,000 miles per year I'll spend $1,333 on gas at 15mpg or $667 on gas at 30mpg. Paying only 50% as much with the more fuel efficient vehicle. If they add a $0.10 per mile tax, my total gas + tax cost will be $2,333 at 15mpg or $1,667 at 30mpg. Now I'm paying 71% as much with the more fuel efficient vehicle. So the % savings is reduced.
Back when I took gym in highschool we had what amounted to a 1 size fit all program. I'll admit it, I was a fat kid. So every Wednesday when we had aerobics and you had to run around the gym so many times, run up/down the stairs so many times, jump rope so many times, etc... and your grade was based on the number of times you completed the cycle I did terrible and got a bad grade. Assuming they make proper use of this heart rate monitor they could grade based on effective exercising per person instead of trying to fit everyone into one category.
While the code may very well be 15 years old, that does not really matter to the user. What matters is how long ago Microsoft sold the product. If they sell software today that uses some code written 15 years ago you should be able to expect security updates for some period of time. Now, had they decided not to patch software they haven't sold in 15 years that would be totally OK.
I know when I was living on campus at a state university my computer was caught in one of their malware scans. I was running Linux and had firewalled ping requests among other things. Their scanning system automatically assumed if a computer did not respond to ping it was infected.
The education system continues to redefine words in order that their accomplishments appear to be progress. In another 10 years you'll be able to jump high enough to take photos from space.
I know with my Nuvi GPS if I report it stolen (not sure if a police report is required, but I have no issue with that anyway) the new owners will not be able to update it. I also like the security features where you have to enter a code each time it starts. My JVC stereo has a similar feature, if it loses power you have to enter a code to use it. I assume there are ways around these security features, but for the common thief (which seems to be adolescents in my area) I doubt they go through the trouble. Then again, until the majority of devices start using features like this the kids will steal the stuff anyway not knowing they can't use it. The pawn shops might not be smart enough to test the goods before buying either.
I was trying to find out myself... http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=775966 That thread seemed to have the most information but I'm still left wondering what the heck it is. Some kind of command queue system that can prioritize?
A lot of what google does is control the data and information produced by others. Google news for example, which I check daily, does not really generate it's own news. It's just a listing of top stories over a bunch of different news sites. If those news sites run into real fiscal issues and are at risk of ceasing operations Google would be harmed. So I see Google's stance here as nothing more than a "If you guys start going bankrupt we've got ideas." In the mean time I don't expect anything to change.
With the big names now owning significant amounts of Spotify and the discontinuation of non-invite free service it appears that Spotify is moving on to phase 2: Profit. Get the people hooked on free service using community open source tools and p2p technology. Then stop allowing new members to get the service for free. Then promote the paid service. Then jack up the rates on the paid service over time. Looks like business as usual.
Your company email passes unencrypted through dozens of relays, regardless of what email provider you use. Any one of those relays could be copying and storing those messages. So what would make Google any bigger risk than any one of them?
I worked at a software company that produced the software used by an unnamed nation-wide tax preparation company. While returns moving from office to office or to the IRS filing centers were sent securely, if any problems came up with a return it was standard operating procedure to email the tax returns. This is a document that includes your current name, address, SSN, the amount of money you made, and your banks routing and account numbers (for direct deposit.) Usually it was the program specific file which wasn't clear text, but wasn't that hard to decipher. Occasionally it was simply a PDF of the tax return itself. The security issue was raised constantly by the lower level employees but those that made the decisions would not listen. On the other hand, there was company policy against the faxing of tax returns because of the risk they would be sent to a wrong number. As far as I know, the company still operates this way.
I sure thought they did. I know when I was in highschool in the 90's my school had only two computer classes. One was "web design" (code for "how to use microsoft front page"), and the other was "keyboarding". Now, you could take a test to get a waiver out of keyboarding but otherwise it was required. To pass the test you had to do at least 30wpm.
When so many of the job postings today want you to have PhD in their field as well as 10 years experience using programs that have only existed for 5 years you have to lie. The honest non-lying people simply don't apply. And if you're willing to lie on one thing, you're willing to lie on another. I'm confident that if you auditted all the resumes and then verified the claims the majority would contain lies. The first step to fix this is to post realistic job requirements.
That being the case, it seems an easy strategy for corporations to make money for their investors would be to intentionally mismanage the company. So that the shareholders can sue the company they own and the insurance pays out.
Yes, I agree. Article seems to be more focused on hiring crackers. As any hacker knows, crackers are not generally skilled geniuses. I don't see why you'd want to hire one anyway, at least not for their cracker experience.
With as much crap as Dell includes on it's default computers, certainly something is always in need of an update. They must have new images several times a year to keep the versions all current. One more image doesn't seem like such a big deal.
The fact this made news at all is not a sign of how broken the SSN is, but rather how stupid the target audience is. The methodology of social security number assignment is not a secret. The "research" paper is simply repeating known information that anyone could do.
Step 1: Get zip code of origin (city of birth works well for anyone born after 88.) - you got the first 3 numbers.
Step 2: Get date of issuance (usually date of birth) - you got the 4th and 5th number almost guaranteed. The final 4, you can narrow down to a range by looking at the publicly available SSN of the deceased. If the date was May 15 and you have on record a SSN ending in 3485 issued May 14th and 3809 on May 16th for the same first 5 digits you know the last 4 are between 3485-3808.
They took 3 years to do this?
If all these ISPs realized advertising unlimited internet use would sell people on the idea they could use unlimited internet use maybe they should have built their infrastructure to handle it, or not market it as such. If they have anyone to whine to, it's themselves and their own short sightedness.
Even if MD does face the music on this one, they'll still have done their job. That is to shield the RIAA and MPAA. The RIAA and MPAA can then start up "MediaDefender 2 Inc." and continue the abuse under a new company.
ISPs are often seen as big bad guys when they do this but the reality is it does cost more to support a user who actually uses their connection pretty significantly than someone's grandma who checks email 2x a month. It's not the fact that they filter/etc... that's the problem. They shouldn't even need to filter. It's the marketing dept. If they didn't sell the internet connection as "unlimited" they wouldn't have problems at all. Say $20/month for 2 gigs of transfer with an extra $5 per gig or a similar pricing structure. Suddenly the bittorrent/P2P problems vanish. Of course they could no longer advertise as "unlimited" but they aren't delivering that as it is.
I agree, and an amazed at how many /. people are not even questioning whether this happened. I guess if it's MS that did it, it *must* be true (rolleyes.)
When AMD came out with low priced CPUs that were highly overclockable and great performance at stock they became *the* CPU for any serious geek. When they changed their mind and decided to price-match Intel causing massive price increases they alienated their primary sales force. Geeks selling to family & friends was a great system and without that AMD has been hurting. It's possible they would have died anyway sticking to the cheap, but they've never made a sufficient argument to their customers of why they can't keep the prices low like in the past without letting it on that they like all big business care more about short term cash than long term relationships.