I like the quote about the FedEx guy trying to walk through a linear accelerator. It makes me wonder two things:
a) Why is the linear accelerator near the reception desk where packages are dropped off?
b) It's generally a Bad Thing when you don't bother marking the doors where high radiation equipment is.
I mean, I don't know about you, but I question a place where they mark the bathroom doors appropriately, but not the doors where lethal radiation is...
article talks about working at room temperature -- it sounds like if the temperature changed, the computer would stop working, or might even lose data.
And this doesn't happen to existing computers? We're putting so much energy into such a little space that the heat is phenomenal. 50 watts of heat over an tiny little 50mm x 50mm cube? That's incredible. If the case temperature rises above about 90 or so, most systems get/very/ unstable. Most modern computers are (or should be!) kept below room temperature - at around 68-72.
At the rate we are accelerating at, radical new solutions will need to be devised to keep up with heat output of newer chips.
Personally, I think a molecular computer would be easier to manage than our own. If it were possible to assemble a system that could function at -20C, I would try to get on-board their project to help with the HVAC equipment... it would be more energy efficient in the long run.
What I have to wonder is whether the ports will be done correctly. I recall several other products having been "ported" to linux (wordperfect?) which weren't done correctly - rather than adapt to the OS, they tried to adapt the OS and underlying libraries to their program, often resulting in massive breakage and gaping holes in the code, as well as a non-uniform interface.
This is a major contract for them, but I have my doubts on their ability to produce. First, it won't be done in the next few years. I mean, you don't just port apps as complex as what Microsoft puts out to another *platform* in a few weeks. I also have to wonder about the quality once it will be done - if they "do it right", a proper port could take 3-4 years.. which means whatever they're porting now could very well be out of date. They'll need continual contact with MS to keep their code up to date.. that's alot of extra work for both of them.. adding a huge cost.
Finally, what if it fails - what if a bug-ridden copy of MS Office ships under the linux banner? MS people will *OF COURSE* run to get the first copy, first release, of it. And they'll be very disappointed with what they see. They won't see this as a failure of Microsoft, who has provided a perfectly working copy under Windows, but as a failure of Linux for not supporting their favorite app "the way they wanted it to".
Terrorism is a joke. No, seriously - when was the last time you heard about a terrorist using his quad xeon box and e-commerce software to take over the world? Terrorists, by and far, use low-tech solutions. Bombs, death threats, taking hostages - none of these require web access, cell phones, or even computers.
Even "biowarfare", the latest buzzword law enforcement is using to scare us (before it was "The Bomb" - which had school children crouching under their desks to avoid "The Bomb".. really useful, that). Let's think about it for a moment:
There's alot of substances out there that can cause serious health problems. Many of them are in your house. Uncontrolled. This doesn't concern the FBI or law enforcement a bit. Take two common things you probably have in your laundry room - bleach and chlorine. Everyone knows what mixing those does. The FBI is woefully underpreparing for its latest "threat".
So, I think I've managed to demonstrate reasonable doubt over who our government's targets are. Now, let's take all the recent legislation and put it together. You'll probably notice a pattern: it's all targetted at high-tech groups.. groups, like us. Computers can be used to "terrorize" people? Take down wall street? Crash planes? We've heard it all. Yet, despite all the hype, none of these things have happened. Most errors out there are due to human stupidity - but rather than blame themselves, many organizations choose to use the hype to create their own escape goat. Enter, "The Hacker". A mystical entity nobody can see that seems to have no motivations for anything, yet goes out on wonton destruction. The image falls apart under any scrutiny, yet most people are willing to just accept it - who cares, just gimme my SUV and big screen TV.
Our government DOES have a target - it is the computer industry. They want to regulate it. By regulate, I mean control. They understand, as do we, that technological progress is the way the wealth of various countries are generated. I can't blame them for wanting to control it.. but I think it's misplaced. I recall the USSR had a similar method of control.. with disasterous results. The first step in that control, however, is to demonize the people and technology which will make it easy for people to swallow the lie that it is "for their protection".
Beware of any legislator who claims something is necessary "for your protection". Be very, very wary.
Security through obscurity is a perfectly fine LAYER to add to a security regimen.
No, it's not, it lulls you into a false sense of "extra" security.
You don't have a little sticker on your house door which says "Dudley EX-145 model lock" now do you?
No, it says "Keyless entry system". Not that I need the sticker, the keypad should be obvious enough (with that nice red LED glowing above it). I'd like to see *you* bypass a magnetically-controlled deadbolt...
Tell me, what's so insecure about that, if you've got all your other defences built up?
Simple.. anyone with a sniffer can get that information, and then scan behind it. Even worse, you may not detect it because the firewall now views that scan as "authorized". If you do it alot, the attempt may show up in your logs and you'll miss it because you thought it came from you. Or maybe that trigger port can be tickled the wrong way and lock YOU out. Or maybe the server on that port can be crashed, thus accomplishing the same.
Not only that, but having a single port open on an otherwise oblique firewall is going to attract alot of extra attention to that port.
Besides, you're neglecting human nature - by making something obscure and hidden, you're piquing people's curiosity.
Call me cynical, but why is it that the first game they ported has pictures of daemons chasing linus torvalds and his evil team of ninja penguins?
I have to admit, however, the "Code Dungeon" looks kinda cool... fight flaming perl zealots and FUD-wielding slashdotters. Can't wait for the playable demo!
I just reviewed their AUP for Mediaone up here in minnesota.. they no longer have that clause in their AUP. It would appear they have backed off.. substantially.
Your biggest threat won't be the script kiddies. It'll be Time Warner probing your system. they've decided to take it upon themselves to police YOUR system. I had someone get kicked off the network for having telnet open.. apparently it's "windows or mac only" - with a vengance. My firewall is rather peculiar in that instead of blocking everything, it's open to the public *except* for my ISP's blocks. If you want, I can provide you with my script, e-mail me and I can fill you in on the 411 for making your system stealth to their scans.:/
What they don't realize is that alcohol is a dielectric - they could *soak* their mobo in the stuff without problems and get substantially better cooling too!
Incase the RIAA and the rest of the world hasn't noticed, electronics in general has gotten very good at most every aspect of signal production and reproduction, as well as transmission.
That means, by definition, the tools we create can be used to retransmit information. You cannot remove the ability to retransmit information without also removing the ability to receive it. They are one and the same.
We already have ways to interface audio and video to people - no matter how you encrypt or alter the data, the space between the black box and your head is where it's sent unencoded.. perfect for interception.
The RIAA complains that you can create "digitally perfect" copies of a work. But why does that matter? MP3's are a lossful compression scheme. People used audio tape for years before CDs became available. It's obvious the quality is "good enough" for most consumers - that was the state of technology ten years ago.
Who bloody cares how they encrypt it at this point, or what use it is put toward? We're past the point of controlling the media. If the industry wants to go back to using handwritten scrolls then *maybe* it'll have a chance at control.. but as certain religious texts have leaked out despite the church's enormous grip on the world at the time some scrolls were found.. I have my doubts to even that.
Give it up. Take your ball and go home, you're obsolete. You have been for a thousand years.
I'm rather depressed over the thought that the so-called geek community is losing touch with its roots. It wasn't long ago that we took pride in how we were different. No geek I know will ever forget what the price of that difference was - it changed who they were. Whether it was getting in trouble with authority in high school, the law, the community, or their family, most every person I consider a geek had a trial they had to endure. It's the distinctive mark that sets them apart from other people. And they were better for it.
But beyond that, I see little in common from geek to geek beyond creativity, a playful spirit, and a drive to create.
Yes, maybe anime appeals to a certain type of geek, but it isn't representative of the whole. Nothing can be representative of the whole, not even alittle. We seem to have forgotten the lesson of what it was like to be labelled and compartmentalized. Comeon people, don't forget your roots - we are all unique, even from each other. Make it a point of mentioning this, and reflect it in how you say things.
The answer is in the nature of the RIAA. The RIAA is about money, and the way it does that is through public relations. No amount of money can reverse the bad PR that is being generated by their high-profile attacks on Napster. That has led people to ask a few questions.. and they found a few answers buried in how the RIAA works.
I suspect the RIAA very much wants to maintain it's good PR image and it knows if it continues on its present course it will annhilate any good relations it might have had with the public. And once a reputation is built, it's hard to remove.
They'll still try for it - in a few years after the controversy has died down. But for now, it needs to get brownie points with the public and sedate the law makers so they don't level sanctions against them. They need to pull together and concentrate on which front they want to fight out first.
I have something growing in this old carton of king tao's chicken that may be able to help. It's a sentient slime mold, but it also has a slight attit#$*_$ NO DON'T PUSH THAT BUTTO
Don't just sit here and hit submit, go contact the press. Here's what I sent to CNN:
400+ people have been arrested so far at the republican convention, some are being held for almost a million dollars in bail - more than most people who are taken into custody for robbing banks. The police are arresting people wearing black, riding bicycles, or even talking on certain types of cell phones.
Where's the coverage? Where's the unbiased reporting?
I like the idea of a "throttlable" file copier. 4am, you've been downloading for 8 straight hours.. 98% done, 5 minutes to go.. and BZZZZZZt! *Connection reset by peer* Now is the time to use the feature you've been wanting to.. and throttle the crap out of the program. Be sure to download the optional boxing gloves.. they help when you hit sharp edges...
Well, the GOP nominee George Bush had the following to say over the arrest today of the 2600 staffer:
When asked whether this violated the civil liberties of the press, Mr. Bush responded -
Reach out to minorities, but without quotas. (Jun 1999) When asked what the 2600 staffer was arrested for, Bush's response was that the Miranda should be waived in some situations. (Jun 28) as well as uphold law on death penalty; and think of the victims. (Jun 22) One member of the press wondered aloud whether this was fair punishment for someone merely talking on a cell phone, Bush replied that More searches and less parole for criminals (Jan 1997) should be enforced - especially in cases like this.
2600 reports that they intend to sue over this. Bush responded quickly with Stop hurting business with excessive punitive damage awards.(Dec 1999) A visibly upset 2600 staffer replied with Assault weapon OK; waiting period not OK. (Apr 1999)
The reason that servers are getting knocked offline like this is because nobody is taking advantage of the 'net's distributed architecture. With a system like Freenet you could easily ramp-up to accomodate demand.
There is no threat.. there's thousands of geeks out there who won't let such brain-damaged behavior occur. This is our playground - I'll be damned if I'm going to let the toys I'm used to playing with be outlawed or sectioned off by any force, public or private. They can kiss my curvy butt, because there will always be atleast one of us out here who will fight to keep the 'net open.
So chill, ok? The imminent death of the 'net has been predicted since the early 80's.. it hasn't happened yet, it won't happen anytime soon.
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a) Why is the linear accelerator near the reception desk where packages are dropped off?
b) It's generally a Bad Thing when you don't bother marking the doors where high radiation equipment is.
I mean, I don't know about you, but I question a place where they mark the bathroom doors appropriately, but not the doors where lethal radiation is...
And this doesn't happen to existing computers? We're putting so much energy into such a little space that the heat is phenomenal. 50 watts of heat over an tiny little 50mm x 50mm cube? That's incredible. If the case temperature rises above about 90 or so, most systems get /very/ unstable. Most modern computers are (or should be!) kept below room temperature - at around 68-72.
At the rate we are accelerating at, radical new solutions will need to be devised to keep up with heat output of newer chips.
Personally, I think a molecular computer would be easier to manage than our own. If it were possible to assemble a system that could function at -20C, I would try to get on-board their project to help with the HVAC equipment... it would be more energy efficient in the long run.
I want to work in an environment where the managers will respect my request to TURN OFF THE FLOURESCENT LIGHTS!!!!
Just use a UV laser and a high power coil. Put the lead so it touches the laser output beam.. viola.. instant wireless taser.
This is a major contract for them, but I have my doubts on their ability to produce. First, it won't be done in the next few years. I mean, you don't just port apps as complex as what Microsoft puts out to another *platform* in a few weeks. I also have to wonder about the quality once it will be done - if they "do it right", a proper port could take 3-4 years.. which means whatever they're porting now could very well be out of date. They'll need continual contact with MS to keep their code up to date.. that's alot of extra work for both of them.. adding a huge cost.
Finally, what if it fails - what if a bug-ridden copy of MS Office ships under the linux banner? MS people will *OF COURSE* run to get the first copy, first release, of it. And they'll be very disappointed with what they see. They won't see this as a failure of Microsoft, who has provided a perfectly working copy under Windows, but as a failure of Linux for not supporting their favorite app "the way they wanted it to".
Am not! I made no references to columbine.
Even "biowarfare", the latest buzzword law enforcement is using to scare us (before it was "The Bomb" - which had school children crouching under their desks to avoid "The Bomb".. really useful, that). Let's think about it for a moment:
There's alot of substances out there that can cause serious health problems. Many of them are in your house. Uncontrolled. This doesn't concern the FBI or law enforcement a bit. Take two common things you probably have in your laundry room - bleach and chlorine. Everyone knows what mixing those does. The FBI is woefully underpreparing for its latest "threat".
So, I think I've managed to demonstrate reasonable doubt over who our government's targets are. Now, let's take all the recent legislation and put it together. You'll probably notice a pattern: it's all targetted at high-tech groups.. groups, like us. Computers can be used to "terrorize" people? Take down wall street? Crash planes? We've heard it all. Yet, despite all the hype, none of these things have happened. Most errors out there are due to human stupidity - but rather than blame themselves, many organizations choose to use the hype to create their own escape goat. Enter, "The Hacker". A mystical entity nobody can see that seems to have no motivations for anything, yet goes out on wonton destruction. The image falls apart under any scrutiny, yet most people are willing to just accept it - who cares, just gimme my SUV and big screen TV.
Our government DOES have a target - it is the computer industry. They want to regulate it. By regulate, I mean control. They understand, as do we, that technological progress is the way the wealth of various countries are generated. I can't blame them for wanting to control it.. but I think it's misplaced. I recall the USSR had a similar method of control.. with disasterous results. The first step in that control, however, is to demonize the people and technology which will make it easy for people to swallow the lie that it is "for their protection".
Beware of any legislator who claims something is necessary "for your protection". Be very, very wary.
Sure, if they could get over their natalie portman infatuation long enough to organize said party.........
No, it's not, it lulls you into a false sense of "extra" security.
You don't have a little sticker on your house door which says "Dudley EX-145 model lock" now do you?
No, it says "Keyless entry system". Not that I need the sticker, the keypad should be obvious enough (with that nice red LED glowing above it). I'd like to see *you* bypass a magnetically-controlled deadbolt...
Tell me, what's so insecure about that, if you've got all your other defences built up?
Simple.. anyone with a sniffer can get that information, and then scan behind it. Even worse, you may not detect it because the firewall now views that scan as "authorized". If you do it alot, the attempt may show up in your logs and you'll miss it because you thought it came from you. Or maybe that trigger port can be tickled the wrong way and lock YOU out. Or maybe the server on that port can be crashed, thus accomplishing the same.
Not only that, but having a single port open on an otherwise oblique firewall is going to attract alot of extra attention to that port.
Besides, you're neglecting human nature - by making something obscure and hidden, you're piquing people's curiosity.
I thought a sentient computer was as far up the ladder as you could go...
I have to admit, however, the "Code Dungeon" looks kinda cool... fight flaming perl zealots and FUD-wielding slashdotters. Can't wait for the playable demo!
It's just another example of security through obscurity, that's what's wrong with it. IP-based authentication is worthless.
Well, presumably you would use a closed-loop system otherwise the alcohol would evaporate.
I just reviewed their AUP for Mediaone up here in minnesota.. they no longer have that clause in their AUP. It would appear they have backed off.. substantially.
Sad, huh?
What they don't realize is that alcohol is a dielectric - they could *soak* their mobo in the stuff without problems and get substantially better cooling too!
That means, by definition, the tools we create can be used to retransmit information. You cannot remove the ability to retransmit information without also removing the ability to receive it. They are one and the same.
We already have ways to interface audio and video to people - no matter how you encrypt or alter the data, the space between the black box and your head is where it's sent unencoded.. perfect for interception.
The RIAA complains that you can create "digitally perfect" copies of a work. But why does that matter? MP3's are a lossful compression scheme. People used audio tape for years before CDs became available. It's obvious the quality is "good enough" for most consumers - that was the state of technology ten years ago.
Who bloody cares how they encrypt it at this point, or what use it is put toward? We're past the point of controlling the media. If the industry wants to go back to using handwritten scrolls then *maybe* it'll have a chance at control.. but as certain religious texts have leaked out despite the church's enormous grip on the world at the time some scrolls were found.. I have my doubts to even that.
Give it up. Take your ball and go home, you're obsolete. You have been for a thousand years.
But beyond that, I see little in common from geek to geek beyond creativity, a playful spirit, and a drive to create.
Yes, maybe anime appeals to a certain type of geek, but it isn't representative of the whole. Nothing can be representative of the whole, not even alittle. We seem to have forgotten the lesson of what it was like to be labelled and compartmentalized. Comeon people, don't forget your roots - we are all unique, even from each other. Make it a point of mentioning this, and reflect it in how you say things.
I suspect the RIAA very much wants to maintain it's good PR image and it knows if it continues on its present course it will annhilate any good relations it might have had with the public. And once a reputation is built, it's hard to remove.
They'll still try for it - in a few years after the controversy has died down. But for now, it needs to get brownie points with the public and sedate the law makers so they don't level sanctions against them. They need to pull together and concentrate on which front they want to fight out first.
I have something growing in this old carton of king tao's chicken that may be able to help. It's a sentient slime mold, but it also has a slight attit#$*_$ NO DON'T PUSH THAT BUTTO
We already have a computer that does that.. it's called a Macintosh, and courtesy of Jobs, some programs /do/ ignore user input...
400+ people have been arrested so far at the republican convention, some are being held for almost a million dollars in bail - more than most people who are taken into custody for robbing banks. The police are arresting people wearing black, riding bicycles, or even talking on certain types of cell phones.
Where's the coverage? Where's the unbiased reporting?
I like the idea of a "throttlable" file copier. 4am, you've been downloading for 8 straight hours.. 98% done, 5 minutes to go.. and BZZZZZZt! *Connection reset by peer* Now is the time to use the feature you've been wanting to.. and throttle the crap out of the program. Be sure to download the optional boxing gloves.. they help when you hit sharp edges...
When asked whether this violated the civil liberties of the press, Mr. Bush responded -
Reach out to minorities, but without quotas. (Jun 1999) When asked what the 2600 staffer was arrested for, Bush's response was that the Miranda should be waived in some situations. (Jun 28) as well as uphold law on death penalty; and think of the victims. (Jun 22) One member of the press wondered aloud whether this was fair punishment for someone merely talking on a cell phone, Bush replied that More searches and less parole for criminals (Jan 1997) should be enforced - especially in cases like this.
2600 reports that they intend to sue over this. Bush responded quickly with Stop hurting business with excessive punitive damage awards.(Dec 1999) A visibly upset 2600 staffer replied with Assault weapon OK; waiting period not OK. (Apr 1999)
There is no threat.. there's thousands of geeks out there who won't let such brain-damaged behavior occur. This is our playground - I'll be damned if I'm going to let the toys I'm used to playing with be outlawed or sectioned off by any force, public or private. They can kiss my curvy butt, because there will always be atleast one of us out here who will fight to keep the 'net open.
So chill, ok? The imminent death of the 'net has been predicted since the early 80's.. it hasn't happened yet, it won't happen anytime soon.