Interesting reply. While I can generally agree with your statment "Putting the knowledge out there doesn't turn people into thieves, either they're already a thief or not", I cannot agree that the publishing of the how-to-steal-this-car article didn't directly affect an increase in that make of car getting stolen.
I still say it's important that the public is made aware of issues such as poor security in Dodges, but I maintain that it could be done more responsibly (Such as full report on a variety of cars, incorporating theft data, input from professional thieves, input from locksmiths, data from insurers, etc). I think the message can be delivered in an accurate and impactful way, without resorting to the how-to guide.
But I know that this is the real-world, and journalism doesn't always work that way (nor do people's interest level)... sometimes putting the information out there is what needs to be done. But it sure hurts when that info comes back to bite you.
Though your argument is a bit scrambled and uses very charged language, I think I see your basic point. To address it: You *should* want to know that your car is easy to steal. I would want to know the same about mine. However, would you be happy that a step-by-step guide with photos is published in the newspaper for the make of car that you just bought? Would you not prefer that a journalist did a responsible job by doing a make-by-make comparison and providing high-level data rather than a pictoral how-to on one random make of car?
Again, considering the timing of the theft of my buddy's car with the article in the paper (basically same day), how would your feelings on the argument change if you were in his shoes?
Wrongo. He fell on the "Why the hell would the Sun publish a step-by-step guide with pictures on how to break into my car?!?! Surely they must have known that information would only be used by criminals!?!?! Could it not have gotten the message across with out a paint-by-numbers guide on how to do it?!?!? Fuckers!!"
Well, he's right in a way. I agree that security flaws in cars need to be exposed so consumers can be aware... however in this case, the journalism was easy and sloppy. Rather than doing a make-by-make comparison and exposing Dodges as easy to break into, they simply published a how-to guide. Terrible.
When it was recovered that night, and after the car was returned to him, we could see the exact pattern of damage on the door and lock. This pattern of damaged matched exactly the method used in the article. Duh!:)
In August, a local newspaper (Winnipeg Sun) published basically step-by-step intstructions as to how do break into Dodge Intrepids. This was done in the name of 'alerting owners as to how easy it is to break into and steal those cars'. Guess what. My buddy's Intrepid was stolen that night, using the exact techniques described in the article.
Now, which side of this argument do you think he would fall on?
After reading it again, it IS funny and I can see your point. Sometimes the analytical thinker in me just takes over. Ok, group hug... er... I mean... firm handshakes all around!
Your comment should be funny, but somehow isn't. The point of LEGO building is doing things within a set of tight rules and achieving things nobody would think possible. Think LEGO grandfather clock.
Excellent point. I've protested (peacfully) at various events where I couldn't take photos of those who were physically assaulting me because i knew my camera would be smashed to smithereens as soon as they saw the flash.
This idea would allow me to take photos instead of beatings.
I think the main point of the original article is lost... Wikipedia needs to embrace, encourage and protect experts.
When anybody can edit, differences in opinion/fact are going to arise... there's no escaping that. But I would rather have 20 experts conflicting, than 20 ignoramuses. In the end, the content will be far more robust.
Right now, most Wikipedia entries wind up being cursory at best. That can be a good thing because it can often be a spring-board into more research, but how can encouraging/protecting the knowledge of the expert be a bad thing?
Experts know they're experts and generally weigh-in carefully on subject-matter... ignoramuses don't know they're ignoramuses and contribute with wild abandon.
Re:Am I correct...
on
Games Knoppix
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Good man, michael! Being a Christmas rebel myself, it can be a bit hard when you feel like others don't understand your motivation and generally call you a scrooge or grinch (or mod you down:P ). I too have had enough of the crass commercialism of Christmas (note that marketers don't even use the C word anymore... now it's the "season" or the "holidays").
In October, I made up my own little notes based on ideas I found on xmasresistance.org, and sent them out to my family and friends.
They basically read "Dear family/friends/loved ones, I am truly looking forward to sharing in the friendship and togetherness of Christmas this year, however, I will not be buying gifts and I kindly ask that you do not buy a gift for me. I sincerely look forward to spending time with everyone close to me. If you feel compelled to make a gesture of giving, in lieu of a gift to me, please make a small donation to the charity of your choice on my behalf. Love Chris."
I know we're already OT...
For all of those wishing to know about the Jewish faith/nation/religion, check out http://www.jewfaq.org
This site helped me immensley in the beginning of my relationship with a Jewish woman.
Oh... and to address the post... when somebody says "merry Christmas" and you're not Christian... just return the sentiment. Be happy that you're being included.
I don't get pissed of when Jews say "happy chanukkah", I am pleased that they are choosing to include me.
People tend to view weather accuracy on a micro scale, but meteorologists can only work on a macro scale. If you look at satellite images from Canada's weather service, you can see that the city you live in is less than 1/20th the size of a pin-prick relative to a weather system.
When a weather report going out 24 hours into the future says it will rain, it WILL rain... just not perhaps overtop of your little pin-prick. Considering the complexity of weather, realistically how effective can we expect a 3-day outlook to be?
All I'm saying is think big, and you'll realize that meteorology is an inexact science, but is so very valuable as a critical service. Nobody will ever be able to 'stick their head out the window' and have a hope of predicting anything. Meteorologic science deserves a hell of alot more credit than the farmer's almanac.
The number one reason people buy new PCs (usually with a bundled version of Windows) is because 'the old one is so slow'. They don't realize that a wipe and re-install of their current OS will solve this 95% of the time. (I know this, as my side-business is 'mr friendly computer fixer guy' - I have people asking me if they should upgrade their 900MHz email/web-browsing machines)
Now, are you going to tell me that M$ is going to release a piece of software that prevents or delays the above scenario? I think not.
The AV and spyware products will NOT make it into any incarnation of Windows (EVER) and they will all be shelved permanently.
When M$ buys a company that produces software that reduces the requirement to 'upgrade', it is merely for the purposes of making that software 'go away'.
Very interesting concept! Could it ever work for the variances in the thousands of human languages?
Funny story: My Iranian uncle (by marriage - not blood) had just immigrated to Canada, and was caught in a motor vehicle violation (running a stop sign) and repeatedly shouted at the police officer "I ate shit! I ate shit!", which is actually Persian slang for "Boy is my face red. I admit I made a mistake and I ask your forgiveness".
True story. I wish I could remember the Persian phrase right now...
(He got out of the ticket because the officer was laughing so hard)
What they are selling is essentially a 2 player X-Arcade joystick, minus the wood box to hold all the components together.
Board 59.95 + Joysticks/Buttons 19.95 + PC Adapter 19.95 = $99.85 VS. Buying it pre-assembled and paying $149.95
And as for quality... I have an X-Arcade and I have beaten the stuffings out of playing SF-style games and Metal Slug 1-5, and all the components still work perfectly after a year of abuse. When I originally bought it, I had concerns about quality and switch life, so I ordered 20 extra buttons and 2 extra joysticks... and they all sit in their unopened packages because I haven't had to replace one yet.
In a finding rich with irony, the results show that even if Mr. Gore had succeeded in his effort to force recounts of undervotes in the four Democratic counties, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Volusia, he still would have lost, although by 225 votes rather than 537
Please, somebody with mod points please mod the parent down... do not waste your mod points on me.
You took the words out of my mouth. I think arguing that you can build a better computer cheaper is obvious and is missing the point.
What caught my eye was how small it is. I'm looking at their picture, and looking down at my desk... well i'll be darned if that thing isn't about the size of my Dell Axim X5 (in case w/ wireless CF card)!
I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation of these has a fold-up screen + stylus/typepad which would make it a very useful unit. It would be a desktop / laptop / pda all in one.
I see what you're trying to say, but you make the erroneous statement that it's ok for other animals like raccoons. It's not OK, at least not in my city and probably not in yours either.
According to my city by-laws, as a homeowner I can deal with vermin (racoons, rabbits, mice, etc) by trapping or killing them (not that I would choose the latter but it's ok by city by-law). If I tried to do that with the neighbor's cat I would be arrested.
I thought this was/. Why is everybody doing flying cart-wheels over such mundanity? All this excitement because the interface appears as a drive icon in Explorer. Well I say big whoop.
Do it for free with the tech you have at hand, and if ya can't do that: Register a domain, get cheap hosting, and stop being a tool of the marketing machines of AOL, Gmail, MSN, Yahoo, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Interesting reply. While I can generally agree with your statment "Putting the knowledge out there doesn't turn people into thieves, either they're already a thief or not", I cannot agree that the publishing of the how-to-steal-this-car article didn't directly affect an increase in that make of car getting stolen.
Here's just one of myriad examples of how discussing an illegal idea generally promotes that illegal action.
December 10 - Homeland Security sends memo warning about terrorists possibly aiming lasers at planes (though it's never happened yet).
December 30 - Bunch of boners who got the idea planted in their head start firing laser pointers at planes.
I still say it's important that the public is made aware of issues such as poor security in Dodges, but I maintain that it could be done more responsibly (Such as full report on a variety of cars, incorporating theft data, input from professional thieves, input from locksmiths, data from insurers, etc). I think the message can be delivered in an accurate and impactful way, without resorting to the how-to guide.
But I know that this is the real-world, and journalism doesn't always work that way (nor do people's interest level)... sometimes putting the information out there is what needs to be done. But it sure hurts when that info comes back to bite you.
Though your argument is a bit scrambled and uses very charged language, I think I see your basic point. To address it: You *should* want to know that your car is easy to steal. I would want to know the same about mine. However, would you be happy that a step-by-step guide with photos is published in the newspaper for the make of car that you just bought? Would you not prefer that a journalist did a responsible job by doing a make-by-make comparison and providing high-level data rather than a pictoral how-to on one random make of car?
Again, considering the timing of the theft of my buddy's car with the article in the paper (basically same day), how would your feelings on the argument change if you were in his shoes?
Wrongo. He fell on the "Why the hell would the Sun publish a step-by-step guide with pictures on how to break into my car?!?! Surely they must have known that information would only be used by criminals!?!?! Could it not have gotten the message across with out a paint-by-numbers guide on how to do it?!?!? Fuckers!!"
Well, he's right in a way. I agree that security flaws in cars need to be exposed so consumers can be aware... however in this case, the journalism was easy and sloppy. Rather than doing a make-by-make comparison and exposing Dodges as easy to break into, they simply published a how-to guide. Terrible.
When it was recovered that night, and after the car was returned to him, we could see the exact pattern of damage on the door and lock. This pattern of damaged matched exactly the method used in the article. Duh! :)
Let me give you some fodder for thought...
In August, a local newspaper (Winnipeg Sun) published basically step-by-step intstructions as to how do break into Dodge Intrepids. This was done in the name of 'alerting owners as to how easy it is to break into and steal those cars'. Guess what. My buddy's Intrepid was stolen that night, using the exact techniques described in the article.
Now, which side of this argument do you think he would fall on?
The 'modules' idea sounds very cool, but I can't seem to find anything concrete about it on Google. Do you have a link?
After reading it again, it IS funny and I can see your point. Sometimes the analytical thinker in me just takes over. Ok, group hug... er... I mean... firm handshakes all around!
Your comment should be funny, but somehow isn't. The point of LEGO building is doing things within a set of tight rules and achieving things nobody would think possible. Think LEGO grandfather clock.
Excellent point. I've protested (peacfully) at various events where I couldn't take photos of those who were physically assaulting me because i knew my camera would be smashed to smithereens as soon as they saw the flash.
This idea would allow me to take photos instead of beatings.
As long as a signal (video, audio, whatever) is sent to an output device (monitor, speaker, whatever), it will be easy to capture and duplicate.
There will never be an end to 'undesired' duplication.
- A marketing ploy
- A hoax
Sorry to be the wet blanket, but we should never allow ourselves to be fed information without credible sources. Remember The FARK hoaxI think the main point of the original article is lost... Wikipedia needs to embrace, encourage and protect experts.
When anybody can edit, differences in opinion/fact are going to arise... there's no escaping that. But I would rather have 20 experts conflicting, than 20 ignoramuses. In the end, the content will be far more robust.
Right now, most Wikipedia entries wind up being cursory at best. That can be a good thing because it can often be a spring-board into more research, but how can encouraging/protecting the knowledge of the expert be a bad thing?
Experts know they're experts and generally weigh-in carefully on subject-matter... ignoramuses don't know they're ignoramuses and contribute with wild abandon.
Good man, michael! Being a Christmas rebel myself, it can be a bit hard when you feel like others don't understand your motivation and generally call you a scrooge or grinch (or mod you down :P ). I too have had enough of the crass commercialism of Christmas (note that marketers don't even use the C word anymore... now it's the "season" or the "holidays").
In October, I made up my own little notes based on ideas I found on xmasresistance.org, and sent them out to my family and friends.
They basically read "Dear family/friends/loved ones, I am truly looking forward to sharing in the friendship and togetherness of Christmas this year, however, I will not be buying gifts and I kindly ask that you do not buy a gift for me. I sincerely look forward to spending time with everyone close to me. If you feel compelled to make a gesture of giving, in lieu of a gift to me, please make a small donation to the charity of your choice on my behalf. Love Chris."
I know we're already OT... For all of those wishing to know about the Jewish faith/nation/religion, check out http://www.jewfaq.org
This site helped me immensley in the beginning of my relationship with a Jewish woman.
Oh... and to address the post... when somebody says "merry Christmas" and you're not Christian... just return the sentiment. Be happy that you're being included.
I don't get pissed of when Jews say "happy chanukkah", I am pleased that they are choosing to include me.
People tend to view weather accuracy on a micro scale, but meteorologists can only work on a macro scale. If you look at satellite images from Canada's weather service, you can see that the city you live in is less than 1/20th the size of a pin-prick relative to a weather system.
When a weather report going out 24 hours into the future says it will rain, it WILL rain... just not perhaps overtop of your little pin-prick. Considering the complexity of weather, realistically how effective can we expect a 3-day outlook to be?
All I'm saying is think big, and you'll realize that meteorology is an inexact science, but is so very valuable as a critical service. Nobody will ever be able to 'stick their head out the window' and have a hope of predicting anything. Meteorologic science deserves a hell of alot more credit than the farmer's almanac.
The number one reason people buy new PCs (usually with a bundled version of Windows) is because 'the old one is so slow'. They don't realize that a wipe and re-install of their current OS will solve this 95% of the time. (I know this, as my side-business is 'mr friendly computer fixer guy' - I have people asking me if they should upgrade their 900MHz email/web-browsing machines)
Now, are you going to tell me that M$ is going to release a piece of software that prevents or delays the above scenario? I think not.
The AV and spyware products will NOT make it into any incarnation of Windows (EVER) and they will all be shelved permanently.
When M$ buys a company that produces software that reduces the requirement to 'upgrade', it is merely for the purposes of making that software 'go away'.
Very interesting concept! Could it ever work for the variances in the thousands of human languages?
Funny story: My Iranian uncle (by marriage - not blood) had just immigrated to Canada, and was caught in a motor vehicle violation (running a stop sign) and repeatedly shouted at the police officer "I ate shit! I ate shit!", which is actually Persian slang for "Boy is my face red. I admit I made a mistake and I ask your forgiveness".
True story. I wish I could remember the Persian phrase right now...
(He got out of the ticket because the officer was laughing so hard)
Since Deep Blue is designed to play chess, and chess alone, I'd have to say "never".
What they are selling is essentially a 2 player X-Arcade joystick, minus the wood box to hold all the components together.
Board 59.95 + Joysticks/Buttons 19.95 + PC Adapter 19.95 = $99.85 VS. Buying it pre-assembled and paying $149.95
And as for quality... I have an X-Arcade and I have beaten the stuffings out of playing SF-style games and Metal Slug 1-5, and all the components still work perfectly after a year of abuse.
When I originally bought it, I had concerns about quality and switch life, so I ordered 20 extra buttons and 2 extra joysticks... and they all sit in their unopened packages because I haven't had to replace one yet.
And even further down the article is this...
In a finding rich with irony, the results show that even if Mr. Gore had succeeded in his effort to force recounts of undervotes in the four Democratic counties, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Volusia, he still would have lost, although by 225 votes rather than 537
Please, somebody with mod points please mod the parent down... do not waste your mod points on me.
You took the words out of my mouth. I think arguing that you can build a better computer cheaper is obvious and is missing the point.
What caught my eye was how small it is. I'm looking at their picture, and looking down at my desk... well i'll be darned if that thing isn't about the size of my Dell Axim X5 (in case w/ wireless CF card)!
I wouldn't be surprised if the next generation of these has a fold-up screen + stylus/typepad which would make it a very useful unit. It would be a desktop / laptop / pda all in one.
I see what you're trying to say, but you make the erroneous statement that it's ok for other animals like raccoons. It's not OK, at least not in my city and probably not in yours either.
According to my city by-laws, as a homeowner I can deal with vermin (racoons, rabbits, mice, etc) by trapping or killing them (not that I would choose the latter but it's ok by city by-law). If I tried to do that with the neighbor's cat I would be arrested.
It's just a bunch of really shitty voice acting. Disregard and move along.
The EULA is abundantly clear. If you don't like it, don't subscribe.
Let me say this as clearly as possible: There is nothing wrong with their EULA. It is the business model that you clearly do not like.
Get used to subscription based services.
I thought this was /. Why is everybody doing flying cart-wheels over such mundanity? All this excitement because the interface appears as a drive icon in Explorer. Well I say big whoop.
Do it for free with the tech you have at hand, and if ya can't do that: Register a domain, get cheap hosting, and stop being a tool of the marketing machines of AOL, Gmail, MSN, Yahoo, etc.