Did anyone else expect (hope?) that this was an underwater camera disguised as a giant squid? It would be great for capturing those evil giant-squid hunters in the act. Maybe Greenpeace could use it to attack evildoers such as pirates, whalers, and Exxon tankers.
The solution lies in a computer science problem called the digital cash problem. The question goes something like: How can you create electronic money where... - The money cannot be forged or copied - The money cannot be spent twice - Both parties are anonymous to each other and to any 3rd-party bank or management system - (optional) The network is disconnected (no need to connect to the bank immediately)
I forget what the other requirements are, if any. It turns out, that this set of criteria applies to things other than digital cash. Voting is the next biggest one. The way you worded your question, I now realize that it applies to licensing as well. If a universal digital cash system existed, it could be used for any token such as a vote, or a license. In theory, you could anonymously take your drivers exam, yet the police could verify your license even so.
This reminds of me a book Vectors by Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell where a scientist uses something like this to determine a fingerprint for every human being. His research wound up finding a link between the soul and the mind. I wonder if such a device will cause problems for any religions? At least it doesn't draw blood.
But few consumers actually have to know what it means before they buy it. That's what marketing takes care of. Most consumers don't know what HD is except that it is better because it means peoples faces look more squished and that must be good for some reason.
1) Most home users get annoyed at having to click on the options to allow outgoing connections, and they generally aren't concerned about applications "calling home."
2) The biggest culprit for applications that call home is Microsoft, and the Windows firewall doesn't block Microsoft applications anyway. (The biggest reason I have a 3rd-party firewall is to block outgoing connections from IE, Explorer, and Windows Media player)
3) Serious attacks come from incoming connections (or Trojans, which a traditional firewall can't stop anyway.) so this doesn't matter for them.
Is the NFC system that they are talking about a true digital cash implementation? There are solutions to the digital cash problem that allow security and protect privacy, but all I have ever seen are credit or debit systems. Can anyone here explain what they are doing?
The flip-side to this is that it tends to create an opening for a service-only business. After it became impossible to build computers for a profit, I found a niche recommending Dells and helping small businesses setup their computer, network it, and maintain software.
There is definitely a market for smart helpful people, but I find that most people smart enough to help don't have the patience or interest in doing it.
Why wouldn't apple just contribute to the Wine package? It is the sort of thing that is perpetually "almost there" and always will be, since it can never keep-up with something that is ever-changing. But if Apple started with Wine and continued on, there would be a chance of catching-up.
Wow, you are right! Ads, terms & conditions, and a privacy policy. What the hell happened???? It has been a long while since I visited their site.
They used to be known as RSAC who just put out a simple comma-delimited blob that you could put in a meta tag. It worked a lot like robots.txt. This really pisses me off.
It looks like our next best hope is the W3C group on the subject. But the W3C will take years to do what really is only a few minutes of real work.:-(
Why is it that every few months I hear someone clamor for a standard to do this, when there already is one, and it is already supported by 90% of the PCs on the planet?
Check out the ICRA which has been around since the late 90s. A standard which is already supported by Internet Explorer and most commercial internet filtering software.
If the machine is broken, then the device is equally rejecting all applicants. On the other hand, if it doesn't work for visually impaired people then you may have a claim.
I'm not sure I understand your story: if the company's photocopier was broken and they couldn't give you a paper form, would you post to Slashdot about it being unequal? Or would you just wait until they fixed it? Did the manager refuse to fix the machine? Is the problem a broken machine or a bad design? If you are critiquing software, maybe a job at Krogers isn't for you. Alternatively, if you tried to be 31337 and broke the machine, then it is discriminating against hackers.:-)
Whenever you have a niche market, you attract those people who are most willing to overcome the barriers of entry. They are the people who are most fanatically interested in the topic. And they are going to be jaded toward the general population.
For example, a Libertarian must always be on the defensive because people ask questions alike "Did you vote for Bush or Kerry?" and they have to explain why those weren't the only two options and why you might want to consider an alternative. It's frustrating and wearying to try to champion something. Thus, they tend to be defensive, judgemental, and don't want to waste their time on people who aren't obviously going to join their camp.
A Mac user won't bother explaining to a gamer why Macs are better. A green-party member won't waste their time trying to persuade a Texas Baptist why Ralph Nader is cool. An Indie musician isn't going to explain to a Britney Spears fan why the Sony and the RIAA are bad.
That said, if the fan wants to grow the fan base, they need to appeal to the wider audience.
I tried compiling an application for 64-bit, and the problem I found is that many libraries weren't available in 64-bit versions. I don't mind compiling something for 64-bit, but I do mind compiling the application and a few libraries, and the libraries they depend on, recursively ad nauseum.
Finally, when I did get it working, the maintainer didn't have a 64-bit OS so they weren't interested in hosting the RPM I built. It seems like until enough people have 64-bit systems, nobody really cares about it.
Despite all the rumors about Google and how it will topple Microsoft,
The only place I hear such silliness is in Slashdot editori^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hheadlines.
Google makes a search engine, a mapping tool, and some related portal-esque stuff. Microsoft makes operating systems, office products, servers, video games, developer tools, PVR software, home finance software, an encyclopedia, computer hardware and accessories, a search engine, and a mapping tool.
So how do you get that can Google topple Microsoft? Especially since the revenue generating things at Microsoft are not the ones Google is attacking?
Perhaps Slashdot will tell me that Mattel will topple Toyota because both make cars. Or maybe Hormel will topple Taco Bell because they both make meat products. (hmmm... well, maybe neither of them do.)
1) X10 doesn't work with modern wiring. It started degrading 10+ years ago, when building wiring improved and circuits and outlets started becoming more isolated. I've seen homes built as much as 20 years ago where the X10 signal only propogates from the upper outlet to the lower one, not to any other outlet. Plus, it never worked on surge protectors.
2) The workarounds are worse Current X10 solutions get around this by having a wired-to-wireless bridge. This complication adds to the expense and defeats the entire purpose of having the electrical wiring propogate the signal. We need an all wireless solution.
3) X10 is too limited X10 is limited to on/off/up/down. For example, you can't fade-up the lights on a home theater room if they were turned off. They first must "pop" to full brightness then fade down. There are complicated ways around this, but they really isn't worth it.
Now, with all that said, I've not seen the alternatives. But I imagine anythnig would be better.
This attack would already require the malicious software to already be running on the machine and already have super-user access. Once you get there, it doesn't matter. The attack is worthless. Unfortunately, the article is short on details - so you can't tell if there is nothing to see, or if the report is just bad. I suspect there is nothing to see.
Along a similar vein, I have developed a martial art where I can kill anyone in one blow. It requires that my opponent is already tied-up, asleep, and I have a gun.
I am amazed at how many people don't realize this cycle. I was taught it in school during history class, but apparently many people skipped that day.
I was trying to explain to someone that the right to bear arms is in the second ammendment not for hunters, but because the founding fathers knew that no democracy can last forever without the threat of violence from the populus. They were shocked and appalled that I believed in revolution! As though it was some philosphical belief or opinion of mine. They immediately branded me a (whatever party was the opposite of theirs) and refused to listen any further.
It is amazing that historical fact is considered blasphemy to so many people. I blame education for the current state of affairs.
A lot of people are replying to this post pointing out why it is absurd. I won't restate their points, but I will point out that this attitude reflects most of the population.
Humans seem to think that it is okay if we cover most of the land mass and reserve the remaining bits for the other billion species on this planet. Just like American pioneers who wanted to spread the US all the way to the other coast, humans want to cover the entire planet wit their species. It is animal nature. And even today most people don't consider it a problem.
This needs to be looked at scientifically. What percentage of the Earth is it safe for humans to populate, and at what population density? Countries like China have already seen what happens if you overpopulate. India may be next. But this is an issue the entire world needs to address eventually.
You are right, I don't expect that my snail mail or my email is truly secure. But then again, I don't expect that my post office or my local ISP is CCing all my snail mail and email to a third party. AT&T should not be able to give that information to the the government without a warrant. And giving it to a third party for screening is just as bad, although I'm not sure what laws that violates. Privacy laws? Copyright? I'm not sure.
You are correct, which is what makes this a great opportunity to change patent law. For every dollar Blockbuster spends on this suit, they should put a dollar toward changing patent law. Informing people, lobbying, etc. In the long run it will pay off since they will avoid similar suits like this.
Ignoring the obvious VMWare comparison, this is really good for the Microsoft shops. Many shops use Virtual Server, but there are very few tools for working with the partition file format. On several occassions, I've wanted to copy a file to a virtual server without booting it up. In some cases, it was a server that couldn't boot up. It's really quite funny to insert a virtual Linux CD into a Microsoft Virtual Server so that you can access the hard drive. Plus, there's no good tools for building and creating virtual server images, which makes it nearly useless for enterprise testing or debugging.
People used to say the same thing about encryption: If it was open, then anyone could break it easily. But we have learned that for encryption to be ubiquitous and reliable, the algorithm must be open.
Perhaps it will turn out that DRM is the same way. Has anyone read any serious research into DRM strategies and algorithms? Does this turn out to be the case that it must be closed to be secure? Isn't it really just a key distribution question?
Slashdot Mirror
Did anyone else expect (hope?) that this was an underwater camera disguised as a giant squid? It would be great for capturing those evil giant-squid hunters in the act. Maybe Greenpeace could use it to attack evildoers such as pirates, whalers, and Exxon tankers.
I'm glad you asked.
The solution lies in a computer science problem called the digital cash problem. The question goes something like: How can you create electronic money where...
- The money cannot be forged or copied
- The money cannot be spent twice
- Both parties are anonymous to each other and to any 3rd-party bank or management system
- (optional) The network is disconnected (no need to connect to the bank immediately)
I forget what the other requirements are, if any. It turns out, that this set of criteria applies to things other than digital cash. Voting is the next biggest one. The way you worded your question, I now realize that it applies to licensing as well. If a universal digital cash system existed, it could be used for any token such as a vote, or a license. In theory, you could anonymously take your drivers exam, yet the police could verify your license even so.
This reminds of me a book Vectors by Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell where a scientist uses something like this to determine a fingerprint for every human being. His research wound up finding a link between the soul and the mind. I wonder if such a device will cause problems for any religions? At least it doesn't draw blood.
But few consumers actually have to know what it means before they buy it. That's what marketing takes care of. Most consumers don't know what HD is except that it is better because it means peoples faces look more squished and that must be good for some reason.
1) Most home users get annoyed at having to click on the options to allow outgoing connections, and they generally aren't concerned about applications "calling home."
2) The biggest culprit for applications that call home is Microsoft, and the Windows firewall doesn't block Microsoft applications anyway. (The biggest reason I have a 3rd-party firewall is to block outgoing connections from IE, Explorer, and Windows Media player)
3) Serious attacks come from incoming connections (or Trojans, which a traditional firewall can't stop anyway.) so this doesn't matter for them.
Is the NFC system that they are talking about a true digital cash implementation? There are solutions to the digital cash problem that allow security and protect privacy, but all I have ever seen are credit or debit systems. Can anyone here explain what they are doing?
The flip-side to this is that it tends to create an opening for a service-only business. After it became impossible to build computers for a profit, I found a niche recommending Dells and helping small businesses setup their computer, network it, and maintain software.
There is definitely a market for smart helpful people, but I find that most people smart enough to help don't have the patience or interest in doing it.
Why wouldn't apple just contribute to the Wine package? It is the sort of thing that is perpetually "almost there" and always will be, since it can never keep-up with something that is ever-changing. But if Apple started with Wine and continued on, there would be a chance of catching-up.
You just disagreed with yourself.
1) Nobody could duplicate the Windows API.
2) Wine duplicates the Windows API.
???
Wow, you are right! Ads, terms & conditions, and a privacy policy. What the hell happened???? It has been a long while since I visited their site.
:-(
They used to be known as RSAC who just put out a simple comma-delimited blob that you could put in a meta tag. It worked a lot like robots.txt. This really pisses me off.
It looks like our next best hope is the W3C group on the subject. But the W3C will take years to do what really is only a few minutes of real work.
Why is it that every few months I hear someone clamor for a standard to do this, when there already is one, and it is already supported by 90% of the PCs on the planet?
Check out the ICRA which has been around since the late 90s. A standard which is already supported by Internet Explorer and most commercial internet filtering software.
If the machine is broken, then the device is equally rejecting all applicants. On the other hand, if it doesn't work for visually impaired people then you may have a claim.
:-)
I'm not sure I understand your story: if the company's photocopier was broken and they couldn't give you a paper form, would you post to Slashdot about it being unequal? Or would you just wait until they fixed it? Did the manager refuse to fix the machine? Is the problem a broken machine or a bad design? If you are critiquing software, maybe a job at Krogers isn't for you. Alternatively, if you tried to be 31337 and broke the machine, then it is discriminating against hackers.
Whenever you have a niche market, you attract those people who are most willing to overcome the barriers of entry. They are the people who are most fanatically interested in the topic. And they are going to be jaded toward the general population.
For example, a Libertarian must always be on the defensive because people ask questions alike "Did you vote for Bush or Kerry?" and they have to explain why those weren't the only two options and why you might want to consider an alternative. It's frustrating and wearying to try to champion something. Thus, they tend to be defensive, judgemental, and don't want to waste their time on people who aren't obviously going to join their camp.
A Mac user won't bother explaining to a gamer why Macs are better. A green-party member won't waste their time trying to persuade a Texas Baptist why Ralph Nader is cool. An Indie musician isn't going to explain to a Britney Spears fan why the Sony and the RIAA are bad.
That said, if the fan wants to grow the fan base, they need to appeal to the wider audience.
I tried compiling an application for 64-bit, and the problem I found is that many libraries weren't available in 64-bit versions. I don't mind compiling something for 64-bit, but I do mind compiling the application and a few libraries, and the libraries they depend on, recursively ad nauseum.
Finally, when I did get it working, the maintainer didn't have a 64-bit OS so they weren't interested in hosting the RPM I built. It seems like until enough people have 64-bit systems, nobody really cares about it.
Google makes a search engine, a mapping tool, and some related portal-esque stuff.
Microsoft makes operating systems, office products, servers, video games, developer tools, PVR software, home finance software, an encyclopedia, computer hardware and accessories, a search engine, and a mapping tool.
So how do you get that can Google topple Microsoft? Especially since the revenue generating things at Microsoft are not the ones Google is attacking?
Perhaps Slashdot will tell me that Mattel will topple Toyota because both make cars. Or maybe Hormel will topple Taco Bell because they both make meat products. (hmmm... well, maybe neither of them do.)
Your mistake is that he didn't copy the Monopoly board game. He re-sold it, so he no longer has it.
Dude, I didn't RTFA, but you really need to upgrade to X11. I haven't used X10 since the 80s.
X10 is mostly useless today.
1) X10 doesn't work with modern wiring.
It started degrading 10+ years ago, when building wiring improved and circuits and outlets started becoming more isolated. I've seen homes built as much as 20 years ago where the X10 signal only propogates from the upper outlet to the lower one, not to any other outlet. Plus, it never worked on surge protectors.
2) The workarounds are worse
Current X10 solutions get around this by having a wired-to-wireless bridge. This complication adds to the expense and defeats the entire purpose of having the electrical wiring propogate the signal. We need an all wireless solution.
3) X10 is too limited
X10 is limited to on/off/up/down. For example, you can't fade-up the lights on a home theater room if they were turned off. They first must "pop" to full brightness then fade down. There are complicated ways around this, but they really isn't worth it.
Now, with all that said, I've not seen the alternatives. But I imagine anythnig would be better.
This attack would already require the malicious software to already be running on the machine and already have super-user access. Once you get there, it doesn't matter. The attack is worthless. Unfortunately, the article is short on details - so you can't tell if there is nothing to see, or if the report is just bad. I suspect there is nothing to see.
Along a similar vein, I have developed a martial art where I can kill anyone in one blow. It requires that my opponent is already tied-up, asleep, and I have a gun.
I am amazed at how many people don't realize this cycle. I was taught it in school during history class, but apparently many people skipped that day.
I was trying to explain to someone that the right to bear arms is in the second ammendment not for hunters, but because the founding fathers knew that no democracy can last forever without the threat of violence from the populus. They were shocked and appalled that I believed in revolution! As though it was some philosphical belief or opinion of mine. They immediately branded me a (whatever party was the opposite of theirs) and refused to listen any further.
It is amazing that historical fact is considered blasphemy to so many people. I blame education for the current state of affairs.
A lot of people are replying to this post pointing out why it is absurd. I won't restate their points, but I will point out that this attitude reflects most of the population.
Humans seem to think that it is okay if we cover most of the land mass and reserve the remaining bits for the other billion species on this planet. Just like American pioneers who wanted to spread the US all the way to the other coast, humans want to cover the entire planet wit their species. It is animal nature. And even today most people don't consider it a problem.
This needs to be looked at scientifically. What percentage of the Earth is it safe for humans to populate, and at what population density? Countries like China have already seen what happens if you overpopulate. India may be next. But this is an issue the entire world needs to address eventually.
You are right, I don't expect that my snail mail or my email is truly secure. But then again, I don't expect that my post office or my local ISP is CCing all my snail mail and email to a third party. AT&T should not be able to give that information to the the government without a warrant. And giving it to a third party for screening is just as bad, although I'm not sure what laws that violates. Privacy laws? Copyright? I'm not sure.
You are correct, which is what makes this a great opportunity to change patent law. For every dollar Blockbuster spends on this suit, they should put a dollar toward changing patent law. Informing people, lobbying, etc. In the long run it will pay off since they will avoid similar suits like this.
Ignoring the obvious VMWare comparison, this is really good for the Microsoft shops. Many shops use Virtual Server, but there are very few tools for working with the partition file format. On several occassions, I've wanted to copy a file to a virtual server without booting it up. In some cases, it was a server that couldn't boot up. It's really quite funny to insert a virtual Linux CD into a Microsoft Virtual Server so that you can access the hard drive. Plus, there's no good tools for building and creating virtual server images, which makes it nearly useless for enterprise testing or debugging.
People used to say the same thing about encryption: If it was open, then anyone could break it easily. But we have learned that for encryption to be ubiquitous and reliable, the algorithm must be open.
Perhaps it will turn out that DRM is the same way. Has anyone read any serious research into DRM strategies and algorithms? Does this turn out to be the case that it must be closed to be secure? Isn't it really just a key distribution question?