Something definitely needs to be done because I can vouch that very few programmers even consider security, especially embedded software developers. It is worse than average in the medical industry since the idea of putting a medical device on a network is totally new to them. To put it in perspective, many new medical devices being built today use 9600 baud serial ports for communication.
Alternatively, you could change the law so that if someone hacks a medical device the hacker is not liable - the designer is. That way, when someone remotely sets off a defibrillator or stops a heart pump the companies will pay attention to security. The way things are today they will just hire extra lawyers to avoid liability and marketing to cover it up.
Pretty soon built-in netflix support will be annoying as hell because I'll have 15 ways to watch Netflix on my monitor: built-in monitor, XBOX, PS3, PC, and phone (docked with the TV of course), So when grandma comes over to watch Netflix there will be 15 ways to get to it, all with slightly different UIs, and a different controller for each one.
Math textbooks are basically just a listing of basic proofs.
It sounds like you were educated in the 60s - 70s, because that is what textbooks were at the time. No decent math textbook today just lists basic proofs. That would be a reference book, intended for someone who already knew the math and needed to look-up the steps. A good textbook is more explanatory, breaks out the steps, includes historical anecdotes, footnotes, examples of applications, etc. Since the 60s we have learned that drilling proofs into people's mind is not the optimal way to teach math.
Not that education or textbooks today are perfect, but there have been advances.
"This morning, President Obama is set to unveil a new executive order that will allow the U.S. to specifically target sanctions against individuals, companies or countries who use technology to enable human rights abuse. Especially as repressive regimes more effectively monitor their dissidents online (rather than simply blocking access), the sanctions focus on companies that help them do that."
And in case the irony wasn't already obvious, he actually is sanctioning the Syrian telephone companies themselves:
Those include the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, the Syriatel phone company and Ali Mamluk, the director of Syria’s general intelligence services.
I would love to hear him speak out on this issue! Of course, he already granted US telecom companies immunity, so this law would have no effect on them anyway.
None of your points support the statement that you originally made, which was that enterprise features require constant network connectivity. You are adding FUD by implying that a company phone couldn't make phone calls unless it is connected to the domain, and by bringing up theft issues which also have nothing to do with connecting to Windows domains.
The article reveals frightening things about how colleges are structured:
They talk about how accurate the robo-graders are:
Computer scoring produced “virtually identical levels of accuracy, with the software in some cases proving to be more reliable,” according to a University of Akron news release.
That's amazing! So let us see why they are so good:
Graders working as quickly as they can — the Pearson education company expects readers to spend no more than two to three minutes per essay— might be capable of scoring 30 writing samples in an hour.
Aha! So it isn't that the robo-graders are as good as human graders. The robo-graders are as accurate as a person who is not given enough time to read the actual essay. So if I create a robo-surgeon that is as good as a surgeon who has only 5 minutes to perform open-heart surgery, can I then say that my robo-surgeon is as good as a real surgeon? Of course not - they gamed the metrics to make the robo-graders look good. Is anyone else concerned that the dean of University of Akron only cares about how fast the tests are graded?
Later on in the article:
They [E.T.S] say Mr. Perelman is setting a false premise when he treats e-Rater as if it is supposed to substitute for human scorers.
So the robo-graders are not a substitute for human scorers. That isn't what the schools seem to think.
This is great: students will be graded by robots, so they will get degrees with no real writing skills. Then those students become the teachers, who cannot grade essays, compounding the problem with each generation. I fear this is how Idiocracy will come to pass: Everyone will be trained and educated in professional nonsense.
Windows on tablet did not get those features because they require uninterrupted network connectivity with a "mothership" domain controller. What does not happen on handhelds.
None of the missing features listed require uninterrupted network connectivity. Corporations do this all the time with laptops that travel around. You can login and use local resources just fine without connection to the domain controller.
...because of the increased number of thimerosal containing vaccines that had been added to the infant immunization schedule, concerns about the use of thimerosal in vaccines and other products have been raised... Thimerosal has been removed from or reduced to trace amounts in all vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and younger, with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine
So it is rarer, and in lower amounts, but it is still present. And that only applies to "routinely recommended" vaccines but not all childhood vaccinations. Sorry if it sounds like I am nitpicking, but I don't want people to believe that it is totally gone.
That isn't what happened. In this case, only the defense didn't show up. Since they provided no defense, they are guilty. If both parties don't show-up then there is no evidence of a crime so common law jurisprudence requires that the judge rule in favor of the defendant.
This story summary ends with "Excerpt continues below" but there is no link to click on to read it. I clicked on the "Read the 25 comments" link, but that doesn't make sense unless you are a Slashdot veteran. It would make more sense for the text "Excerpt continues below" itself to be a link, or do what other sites do like Engadget's "Read more -->" link.
The ICANN solution seems to use seemingly sound logic to conclude the exact opposite of what makes legal and practical sense. They require the new TLDs owners to be trademark holders. Instead, they should forbid them from being trademark holders. The word "apple" is trademarked by a consumer electronics company, a cruise company, a famous musician, various fruit growers, a bank, etc. So it does not make sense to give.apple to Fiona Apple, Apple Vacations, Apple Computers, the Washington Apple grower's association, the New York Apple Country, Apple Federal Credit Union, or any other apple-related entity.
Intead, a 3rd-party should be able to hold.apple, and license it for computers.apple, fiona.apple, vacations.apple, wa.growers.apple, ny.growers.apple, etc. That's how DNS was designed to work, how trademarks work, and it is completely fair. By giving.apple to Apple Computers it makes the DNS system a mix of hierarchy and non-hierarchy, while assigning one trademark holder special rights over another trademark holder. I foresee *lots* of new jobs for lawyers thanks to ICANN.
Allow me to play devil's advocate here: what is to say they don't arrest you for giving the information out? Asking for it probably doesn't violate the TOS. Either giving it out, or using it are more likely to violate it.
It takes about a train car full of coal to power your house for 30 years.
That doesn't sound right... but after doing the math I see it is. I'll post this anyway for other doubters:
Thermal energy of coal: 6,150 kWh/ton. Average US household energy use per year: 10,000 kWh Result: 1.6 tons of col per year, over 30 years = 48 tons of coal
Firemen don't get a warrant to knock down the door to put out a fire either. I don't think either example violates the 4th amendment. If you think it does, I suggest proposing an amendment to fix that.
Each provider has a different system for authorizing police use of location information and we comply with whatever that cell phone provider requests.
How does law enforcement make a request to track a cell phone? Is it a phone call? A web-based system? If cell companies are giving out this information without warrants, hopefully they have some security to prevent someone from impersonating a police officer and tracking someone.
A limitation of the US Constitution is that it requires the government to get warrants for things, but it does not force civilians to ask for those warrants. So if companies or individuals voluntarily choose to provide this information then there is no need to obtain a warrant. People must make a stand if they really care. But what incentive do corporations have to do this?
The O/B only knows what the packets say. This is a promising area of research but unless they are a research doc, or someone very well read, they don't have any more knowledge than you do. I remember an OB staffer telling us all the wonderful things they can do with stem cells. They were very surprised and conflicted when I brought in some printouts saying otherwise. The pamphlets read like "You would do the best for your child's future, right?" so guilt you into doing it. It makes the docs feel good. Apply caution and skepticism as needed (including here at Slashdot!)
Do not pay to store your own cord blood: 1) You cannot use your own stem cells any current stem cell therapies. If you have a genetic condition that can be solved with stem cells, you must use cells that do not have the condition. But someone else could use them. It is more likely that you will use someone else's stem cells. The only reason to use your own is in the theoretical future where you can regrow an organ. 2) It is more likely that someone else will need those stem cells. Paying to have it held for you denies someone else a potentially lifesaving therapy. Imagine paying a company to store your own blood in case you needed it after an accident/surgery. Better to bank it for anyone to use. 3) Donating the cord blood for anyone to use is free. 4) Many of the companies that offer umbilical cord blood banking prey on people's fears and operate in unethical ways. Organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics have called-out specific companies for questionable behavior.
Many hospitals and birthing centers promote cord blood banking because they are convinced by salespeople that it is a smart thing to do. But they often don't know much about it. Do some reading on this before making a decision. Often times doctors give advice about medical treatments that they are not trained on. (Ex: Don't ask an OB/GYN about stem cell procedures any more than you would ask a licensed electrician about a plumbing problem, or a criminal lawyer about copyright law.)
Much of this information is pseudo-health information. Many of these articles/videos have the gist of "OMG! Radiation found in X!" Before Fukushima, before Chernobyl, 1000 years ago: Milk had radiation in it. And arsenic. And today, it still does. Fortunately now, we take readings of it and make sure it is safe. The ones that are bad are tossed out. But the sensationalists will never be quelled by a measured response. When one farm reads radiation levels 10x the allowed amount, and the other 99 farms read 1/10th the allowed amount, it isn't sensible to just ban all milk.
Similarly, you get these videos and infographics that say "15 states detected radiation from Fukushima" which is intended to alarm the reader, but the statement is meaningless. They prep on the assume that if it can be detected thousands of miles away that it must be dangerous. Yet I have a device sitting on my desk that releases radiation that can be detected on the moon - does that mean it is not safe? No: it's a short wave radio. But that kind of sensible response is ignored. Combined with people's fear of the unknown people get panicky.
The ultimate silliness is when the authors quote some EPA expert who says some thing like "Oh, that level is 1000 times lower than the safe threshold." The editorial reply is "See, even the politicians are out to get you! They are all in on it!" They want you to make sure you don't listen to the experts, instead listen to the reporters.
If you shrink the width of your window, the Slashdot TV icon "wraps" and goes over top of the user name link. At that point if you click on your user name it takes you to Slashdot TV. This is on Firefox 11.0.
Normally the upper-right of Slashdot looks like this;
[TV icon] Library Newsletter Jobs Submit Options Account Mobydisk [Power icon] if I shrink the window I see:
Library Newsletter Jobs Submit Options Account [MESS] [Power icon] where [MESS] is my account name and the TV icon on top of each other.
Slashdot Mirror
Something definitely needs to be done because I can vouch that very few programmers even consider security, especially embedded software developers. It is worse than average in the medical industry since the idea of putting a medical device on a network is totally new to them. To put it in perspective, many new medical devices being built today use 9600 baud serial ports for communication.
Alternatively, you could change the law so that if someone hacks a medical device the hacker is not liable - the designer is. That way, when someone remotely sets off a defibrillator or stops a heart pump the companies will pay attention to security. The way things are today they will just hire extra lawyers to avoid liability and marketing to cover it up.
Pretty soon built-in netflix support will be annoying as hell because I'll have 15 ways to watch Netflix on my monitor: built-in monitor, XBOX, PS3, PC, and phone (docked with the TV of course), So when grandma comes over to watch Netflix there will be 15 ways to get to it, all with slightly different UIs, and a different controller for each one.
Math textbooks are basically just a listing of basic proofs.
It sounds like you were educated in the 60s - 70s, because that is what textbooks were at the time. No decent math textbook today just lists basic proofs. That would be a reference book, intended for someone who already knew the math and needed to look-up the steps. A good textbook is more explanatory, breaks out the steps, includes historical anecdotes, footnotes, examples of applications, etc. Since the 60s we have learned that drilling proofs into people's mind is not the optimal way to teach math.
Not that education or textbooks today are perfect, but there have been advances.
I like Obama's solution for this. It is time to impose sanctions against the United States.
http://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/04/23/1453201/new-sanctions-to-target-syrian-and-iranian-tech-capacity
"This morning, President Obama is set to unveil a new executive order that will allow the U.S. to specifically target sanctions against individuals, companies or countries who use technology to enable human rights abuse. Especially as repressive regimes more effectively monitor their dissidents online (rather than simply blocking access) , the sanctions focus on companies that help them do that."
And in case the irony wasn't already obvious, he actually is sanctioning the Syrian telephone companies themselves:
Those include the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, the Syriatel phone company and Ali Mamluk, the director of Syria’s general intelligence services.
I would love to hear him speak out on this issue! Of course, he already granted US telecom companies immunity, so this law would have no effect on them anyway.
None of your points support the statement that you originally made, which was that enterprise features require constant network connectivity. You are adding FUD by implying that a company phone couldn't make phone calls unless it is connected to the domain, and by bringing up theft issues which also have nothing to do with connecting to Windows domains.
The article reveals frightening things about how colleges are structured:
They talk about how accurate the robo-graders are:
Computer scoring produced “virtually identical levels of accuracy, with the software in some cases proving to be more reliable,” according to a University of Akron news release.
That's amazing! So let us see why they are so good:
Graders working as quickly as they can — the Pearson education company expects readers to spend no more than two to three minutes per essay— might be capable of scoring 30 writing samples in an hour.
Aha! So it isn't that the robo-graders are as good as human graders. The robo-graders are as accurate as a person who is not given enough time to read the actual essay. So if I create a robo-surgeon that is as good as a surgeon who has only 5 minutes to perform open-heart surgery, can I then say that my robo-surgeon is as good as a real surgeon? Of course not - they gamed the metrics to make the robo-graders look good. Is anyone else concerned that the dean of University of Akron only cares about how fast the tests are graded?
Later on in the article:
They [E.T.S] say Mr. Perelman is setting a false premise when he treats e-Rater as if it is supposed to substitute for human scorers.
So the robo-graders are not a substitute for human scorers. That isn't what the schools seem to think.
This is great: students will be graded by robots, so they will get degrees with no real writing skills. Then those students become the teachers, who cannot grade essays, compounding the problem with each generation. I fear this is how Idiocracy will come to pass: Everyone will be trained and educated in professional nonsense.
Windows on tablet did not get those features because they require uninterrupted network connectivity with a "mothership" domain controller. What does not happen on handhelds.
None of the missing features listed require uninterrupted network connectivity. Corporations do this all the time with laptops that travel around. You can login and use local resources just fine without connection to the domain controller.
I dunno. I was wondering that myself. But I won't be happy until it is removed, not just reduced.
Not according to the FDA page on it.
...because of the increased number of thimerosal containing vaccines that had been added to the infant immunization schedule, concerns about the use of thimerosal in vaccines and other products have been raised ... Thimerosal has been removed from or reduced to trace amounts in all vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and younger, with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine
So it is rarer, and in lower amounts, but it is still present. And that only applies to "routinely recommended" vaccines but not all childhood vaccinations. Sorry if it sounds like I am nitpicking, but I don't want people to believe that it is totally gone.
Because it wasn't just a server. They had to run an app on every client as well:
UMaples' client, the "UMaple Launcher," allegedly bypassed the access controls in MapleStory's client software
If both parties don't show up
That isn't what happened. In this case, only the defense didn't show up. Since they provided no defense, they are guilty. If both parties don't show-up then there is no evidence of a crime so common law jurisprudence requires that the judge rule in favor of the defendant.
Hey Editors:
This story summary ends with "Excerpt continues below" but there is no link to click on to read it. I clicked on the "Read the 25 comments" link, but that doesn't make sense unless you are a Slashdot veteran. It would make more sense for the text "Excerpt continues below" itself to be a link, or do what other sites do like Engadget's "Read more -->" link.
The ICANN solution seems to use seemingly sound logic to conclude the exact opposite of what makes legal and practical sense. They require the new TLDs owners to be trademark holders. Instead, they should forbid them from being trademark holders. The word "apple" is trademarked by a consumer electronics company, a cruise company, a famous musician, various fruit growers, a bank, etc. So it does not make sense to give .apple to Fiona Apple, Apple Vacations, Apple Computers, the Washington Apple grower's association, the New York Apple Country, Apple Federal Credit Union, or any other apple-related entity.
Intead, a 3rd-party should be able to hold .apple, and license it for computers.apple, fiona.apple, vacations.apple, wa.growers.apple, ny.growers.apple, etc. That's how DNS was designed to work, how trademarks work, and it is completely fair. By giving .apple to Apple Computers it makes the DNS system a mix of hierarchy and non-hierarchy, while assigning one trademark holder special rights over another trademark holder. I foresee *lots* of new jobs for lawyers thanks to ICANN.
Allow me to play devil's advocate here: what is to say they don't arrest you for giving the information out? Asking for it probably doesn't violate the TOS. Either giving it out, or using it are more likely to violate it.
How can I get a list of all the comments I have ever posted to Slashdot?
It takes about a train car full of coal to power your house for 30 years.
That doesn't sound right... but after doing the math I see it is. I'll post this anyway for other doubters:
Thermal energy of coal: 6,150 kWh/ton.
Average US household energy use per year: 10,000 kWh
Result: 1.6 tons of col per year, over 30 years = 48 tons of coal
Size of a train car: ~100 tons
Okay, so that is about right. The Average US household energy value seems to vary about 2-fold based on source. I picked something in the middle.
In California, any police officer can already pull up any person's medical prescription
In my state, I do not need a medical prescription to get cell phone service.
Firemen don't get a warrant to knock down the door to put out a fire either. I don't think either example violates the 4th amendment. If you think it does, I suggest proposing an amendment to fix that.
From the report:
Each provider has a different system for authorizing police use of location information and we comply with whatever that cell phone provider requests.
How does law enforcement make a request to track a cell phone? Is it a phone call? A web-based system? If cell companies are giving out this information without warrants, hopefully they have some security to prevent someone from impersonating a police officer and tracking someone.
A limitation of the US Constitution is that it requires the government to get warrants for things, but it does not force civilians to ask for those warrants. So if companies or individuals voluntarily choose to provide this information then there is no need to obtain a warrant. People must make a stand if they really care. But what incentive do corporations have to do this?
I wonder if building a seawall that big around entire cities is feasible, or environmentally sound.
...breastfed baby's don't get Iron...
Wait, *double take*, what???
A quick scan reveals that the iron in breast milk is the best source, more easily absorbed than any other way.
The O/B only knows what the packets say. This is a promising area of research but unless they are a research doc, or someone very well read, they don't have any more knowledge than you do. I remember an OB staffer telling us all the wonderful things they can do with stem cells. They were very surprised and conflicted when I brought in some printouts saying otherwise. The pamphlets read like "You would do the best for your child's future, right?" so guilt you into doing it. It makes the docs feel good. Apply caution and skepticism as needed (including here at Slashdot!)
Do not pay to store your own cord blood:
1) You cannot use your own stem cells any current stem cell therapies. If you have a genetic condition that can be solved with stem cells, you must use cells that do not have the condition. But someone else could use them. It is more likely that you will use someone else's stem cells. The only reason to use your own is in the theoretical future where you can regrow an organ.
2) It is more likely that someone else will need those stem cells. Paying to have it held for you denies someone else a potentially lifesaving therapy. Imagine paying a company to store your own blood in case you needed it after an accident/surgery. Better to bank it for anyone to use.
3) Donating the cord blood for anyone to use is free.
4) Many of the companies that offer umbilical cord blood banking prey on people's fears and operate in unethical ways. Organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics have called-out specific companies for questionable behavior.
Many hospitals and birthing centers promote cord blood banking because they are convinced by salespeople that it is a smart thing to do. But they often don't know much about it. Do some reading on this before making a decision. Often times doctors give advice about medical treatments that they are not trained on. (Ex: Don't ask an OB/GYN about stem cell procedures any more than you would ask a licensed electrician about a plumbing problem, or a criminal lawyer about copyright law.)
Start with the Wikipedia article:
Much of this information is pseudo-health information. Many of these articles/videos have the gist of "OMG! Radiation found in X!" Before Fukushima, before Chernobyl, 1000 years ago: Milk had radiation in it. And arsenic. And today, it still does. Fortunately now, we take readings of it and make sure it is safe. The ones that are bad are tossed out. But the sensationalists will never be quelled by a measured response. When one farm reads radiation levels 10x the allowed amount, and the other 99 farms read 1/10th the allowed amount, it isn't sensible to just ban all milk.
Similarly, you get these videos and infographics that say "15 states detected radiation from Fukushima" which is intended to alarm the reader, but the statement is meaningless. They prep on the assume that if it can be detected thousands of miles away that it must be dangerous. Yet I have a device sitting on my desk that releases radiation that can be detected on the moon - does that mean it is not safe? No: it's a short wave radio. But that kind of sensible response is ignored. Combined with people's fear of the unknown people get panicky.
The ultimate silliness is when the authors quote some EPA expert who says some thing like "Oh, that level is 1000 times lower than the safe threshold." The editorial reply is "See, even the politicians are out to get you! They are all in on it!" They want you to make sure you don't listen to the experts, instead listen to the reporters.
If you shrink the width of your window, the Slashdot TV icon "wraps" and goes over top of the user name link. At that point if you click on your user name it takes you to Slashdot TV. This is on Firefox 11.0.
Normally the upper-right of Slashdot looks like this;
[TV icon] Library Newsletter Jobs Submit Options Account Mobydisk [Power icon]
if I shrink the window I see:
Library Newsletter Jobs Submit Options Account [MESS] [Power icon]
where [MESS] is my account name and the TV icon on top of each other.