It's incredible that you guys are not fed up with it.
That is the point. Paraphrasing another article about P2P, people are playing a cat and mouse game and the mouse may keep evading the cat almost indefinitely, via encryption and other tools. It is a waste of time and resources, I agree, gaming the network admins should not be a student's concern. What I was trying to say is that their snooping may be borderline illegal, but on the other hand, fighting the system has its costs, too. My sympathy goes for your situation in Croatia, but I'm pessimistic about the U.S. and overall.
As the GP suggests, keeping the sensitive material in an encrypted VM which accesses the net via VPN should be enough, unless the so called "Client Security Engine" includes keylogging or screen capturing functionalities, begging the question: how far can they spy on their students? Shouldn't they have privacy to do their online banking, exchange private e-mail, access medical records, or many other *perfectly legal* activities?
Point taken, perhaps "artificial" wasn't the best way to put it. But again, with few exceptions, the high-end technology of today becomes the mainstream of tomorrow.
From a technological point of view, it is not rocket science: some components have to be better protected against corrosion, the engine has to withstand higher compression rates, and the ignition has to be remapped. (Disclaimer: I am not a mechanical engineer.)
Adapting current U.S. cars may or may not be viable, but all major automakers do have access to the technology and could start selling flex-fuel cars in the U.S.
There are many open questions about ethanol: sugarcane vs. corn vs. whatever as a source, ethanol vs. biodiesel vs. electricity vs. hydrogen, etc. Technology is not one of them, and that's why TFA is a poor attempt at trolling.
In Brazil, ethanol fueled cars reached parity with gasoline-fueled ones still in the 1980's. Brazilian gasoline has about 24% ethanol, and properly designed engines work flawlessly. Nowadays, most cars are flex-fuel, i.e., can take ethanol, gasoline or anything mix of both.
The kind of fear-mongering from TFA = not invented here syndrome + troll.
Isn't that wishful thinking? A scenario where most if not all ISPs become copyright enforcers (maybe under new laws), and just a handful of scapegoats (paying costumers) are sacrificed once in a while - just enough to keep the masses fearful - seems as possible.
A single genial paper may have more value than several (even infinitely many) mediocre ones. However, the majority will define the rules - funding, "peer" review, etc - so individual genius is eventually suppressed anyway.
True, but even people who hate to learn were forced to learn Windows at some point in the past. Today, inertia what is keeping Windows rolling, but as Linux becomes more and more mainstream, those people will have to learn something new. And if not Linux, then something else, after all at some point Windows will have to be replaced, it's just a matter of time. A paradigm shift can be delayed, but not avoided forever.
Disclaimer: I'm half kidding, half serious here.
Which of the world's governments? All of them? Yes, all of them. Some people would rather welcome "alien overlords" than obeying "authorities" who partitioned this planet in so called "countries" for purposes like profiting from taxation or wars.
(Of course I'm aware that the mere detection of an alien signal is far from effective contact, for better or for worse.)
Seriously, take a moment and think about it. SETI isn't under constant observation from the government and it's full of people who want others to know, not to mention the historic value of having your name associated with the greatest discovery of all time. I don't know how SETI is organized, but in scientific and academic environments in general it's very easy to destroy reputations, and without one it's very difficult to make oneself heard, no matter how good the evidence.
This whole "People couldn't handle it" crap has no basis in fact, and is utterly ridiculous. I disagree. Of course there are people who can handle it. We may even argue that most people could handle it, but if a sizable minority can't, they have the potential to disrupt society (e.g. creationism vs. evolution theory? State and religion were supposedly separated a long time ago...)
I am somewhat at a loss as to how exactly mandatory pay-per-play is their next move. It isn't even a possible move.
That's exactly the point: it is both impractical and outrageous. Will the police break into people's homes, and search their computers, mp3 players, etc? No. But they will turn most people into criminals, at least as far as DMCA and other laws they (RIAA, MPAA, patent trolls and the like) lobbied for are concerned. Next thing we'll see are stories like "John Doe took his computer to be repaired but the technician found child pr0n^W^W illegally ripped mp3's in his hard disk" ("pirate" = pedophile) or "if you rip this CD, the terrorists win". People will accept the new status quo, and another right is subtracted from consumers: that's how they (the real bad guys) win.
from where was zap2it getting its guide information? Isn't it possible to fetch it directly from, say, the tv networks themselves? If not, why?
<rant> As far as I see it, digital tv has been a trojan horse for anti-consumer abuse: broadcast flag, encryption now this? How long until they completely forbid recording (or make it a "premium service" - read paid, DRM'd privilege?) </rant>
On the other hand, if you already own a fully functional but non FOSS-friendly equipment, why be wasteful?
How much of your time is it worth to avoid spending $30 on a new wireless card? Are you going to waste other people's time too by complaining on the community support forums that your known-dysfunctional card doesn't work?
When I said "wasteful", I wasn't thinking solely in terms of monetary value. Of course, if you make $5/hr then a $30 card costs you 6 hours of work; on the other hand, if you make $180/hr, the card isn't worth more than 10 min. But this is only part of the problem. First, do you measure someone's worth by his or her salary only? $30 isn't exactly chump change for most of the people in the the world, certainly not for the factory worker somewhere in China who built the card, nor for the kids awaiting the so-called $100 laptop. Secondly, what about the costs for the environment? Electronic waste is not exactly eco-friendly, you know. Oil and raw resources are spent in manufacturing, not to mention transportation costs. All this things matter, too. Should we dismiss all those concerns because some "businessman" and his "lawyers" decided not to release one stupid spec sheet because of "greed" (read "protecting our intellectual property" or some other lame excuse)?
If you're actually going to personally reverse engineer the card and write a FOSS driver, that's great. My guess is that you're not going to do that - instead you're going to spend two days discovering new and interesting bugs in ndiswrapper, and then you're going to post a four page rant on the Ubuntu forums (or Slashdot) about how "Linux isn't ready for the desktop" because you wasted 2 days on dysfunctional hardware. If I'm right, just go buy the supported hardware now - seriously.
Since you decided to make a personal attack here, let me tell you something: I will not enter in a engineering skills competition with you. I have in fact worked with hardware and done some low-level coding in the past, but I am no FOSS developer. But seemly you fail to understand that some people have fun tinkering with hardware and/or software, and if they can make a living from their "hobbies" they are happy. Other people see an engineering or cs degree solely as an investment, believing that by itself it will bring them a lot of money: in general, they end up bitterly disappointed. If I'm "wasting" my time "ranting" here on Slashdot, that's because it amuses me. What is your "business case"?
On one hand, if you are going to buy some piece of hardware, by all means prefer FOSS-friendly products: less trouble for you and a nudge to the market in the right direction. On the other hand, if you already own a fully functional but non FOSS-friendly equipment, why be wasteful? Reverse-engineering and/or demanding FOSS support are legitimate ways to put pressure in the market too.
I'm curious: except for wireless support (not built in, but 3rd part support works fine), I never had any problem with USB or networking in 2000. The only real problem with are artificial version checks on many installers - programs that "require" XP, but should work (and sometimes do work) fine in 2000, but do not install...
You have a valid point. However, the transition from W2K to XP was less painful because both are quite similar. W2K would have won by inertia if they were equally supported , but then only XP is supported now. Vista, on the other hand, is not a trivial upgrade from XP: cut the latter's support too soon and businesses may realize that the transition to Linux or even Apple might make more sense than "upgrading" to Vista. Remember, MS has failed at least once before with ME. Vista may be on its way to becoming ME II...
He works at Microsoft now and does, um, well, err something usefull no doubt.
Somewhat off-topic, but got me thinking: how many brilliant people do work at Microsoft, yet their contribution does not show up (at least in an obvious, awe-inspiring way) in the company's products? It's almost as if they hire such people only to prevent their hiring by the competition.
Slashdot Mirror
It's incredible that you guys are not fed up with it.
That is the point. Paraphrasing another article about P2P, people are playing a cat and mouse game and the mouse may keep evading the cat almost indefinitely, via encryption and other tools. It is a waste of time and resources, I agree, gaming the network admins should not be a student's concern. What I was trying to say is that their snooping may be borderline illegal, but on the other hand, fighting the system has its costs, too. My sympathy goes for your situation in Croatia, but I'm pessimistic about the U.S. and overall.
As the GP suggests, keeping the sensitive material in an encrypted VM which accesses the net via VPN should be enough, unless the so called "Client Security Engine" includes keylogging or screen capturing functionalities, begging the question: how far can they spy on their students? Shouldn't they have privacy to do their online banking, exchange private e-mail, access medical records, or many other *perfectly legal* activities?
Point taken, perhaps "artificial" wasn't the best way to put it. But again, with few exceptions, the high-end technology of today becomes the mainstream of tomorrow.
For what it is worth, looks like artificial market segmentation = bad for upgraders. AMD is guilty of that, too.
From a technological point of view, it is not rocket science: some components have to be better protected against corrosion, the engine has to withstand higher compression rates, and the ignition has to be remapped. (Disclaimer: I am not a mechanical engineer.)
Adapting current U.S. cars may or may not be viable, but all major automakers do have access to the technology and could start selling flex-fuel cars in the U.S.
There are many open questions about ethanol: sugarcane vs. corn vs. whatever as a source, ethanol vs. biodiesel vs. electricity vs. hydrogen, etc. Technology is not one of them, and that's why TFA is a poor attempt at trolling.
In Brazil, ethanol fueled cars reached parity with gasoline-fueled ones still in the 1980's. Brazilian gasoline has about 24% ethanol, and properly designed engines work flawlessly. Nowadays, most cars are flex-fuel, i.e., can take ethanol, gasoline or anything mix of both.
The kind of fear-mongering from TFA = not invented here syndrome + troll.
is way cooler.
Isn't that wishful thinking? A scenario where most if not all ISPs become copyright enforcers (maybe under new laws), and just a handful of scapegoats (paying costumers) are sacrificed once in a while - just enough to keep the masses fearful - seems as possible.
Because XP64 was so much trouble...
Seriously, though, what kind of Windows 64-bit compatibility is provided, XP or Vista?
... for sufficiently large values of n.
A single genial paper may have more value than several (even infinitely many) mediocre ones. However, the majority will define the rules - funding, "peer" review, etc - so individual genius is eventually suppressed anyway.
True, but even people who hate to learn were forced to learn Windows at some point in the past. Today, inertia what is keeping Windows rolling, but as Linux becomes more and more mainstream, those people will have to learn something new. And if not Linux, then something else, after all at some point Windows will have to be replaced, it's just a matter of time. A paradigm shift can be delayed, but not avoided forever.
Amen, brother! ;-)
(BTW, nice sig)
(Actually, there should be more exclamation points to express my utter disgust, yet I got "Filter error: Too much repetition.")
My very own internets?
(Of course I'm aware that the mere detection of an alien signal is far from effective contact, for better or for worse.) Seriously, take a moment and think about it. SETI isn't under constant observation from the government and it's full of people who want others to know, not to mention the historic value of having your name associated with the greatest discovery of all time. I don't know how SETI is organized, but in scientific and academic environments in general it's very easy to destroy reputations, and without one it's very difficult to make oneself heard, no matter how good the evidence. This whole "People couldn't handle it" crap has no basis in fact, and is utterly ridiculous. I disagree. Of course there are people who can handle it. We may even argue that most people could handle it, but if a sizable minority can't, they have the potential to disrupt society (e.g. creationism vs. evolution theory? State and religion were supposedly separated a long time ago...)
...or timely cover-up?
Seriously, does anyone believe this kind of discovery would ever be casually announced, if made public at all?
That's exactly the point: it is both impractical and outrageous. Will the police break into people's homes, and search their computers, mp3 players, etc? No. But they will turn most people into criminals, at least as far as DMCA and other laws they (RIAA, MPAA, patent trolls and the like) lobbied for are concerned. Next thing we'll see are stories like "John Doe took his computer to be repaired but the technician found child pr0n^W^W illegally ripped mp3's in his hard disk" ("pirate" = pedophile) or "if you rip this CD, the terrorists win". People will accept the new status quo, and another right is subtracted from consumers: that's how they (the real bad guys) win.
...the Spanish Inquisition^W^W Homeland Security!
(with apologies to the Pythons)
from where was zap2it getting its guide information? Isn't it possible to fetch it directly from, say, the tv networks themselves? If not, why?
<rant>
As far as I see it, digital tv has been a trojan horse for anti-consumer abuse: broadcast flag, encryption now this? How long until they completely forbid recording (or make it a "premium service" - read paid, DRM'd privilege?)
</rant>
When I said "wasteful", I wasn't thinking solely in terms of monetary value. Of course, if you make $5/hr then a $30 card costs you 6 hours of work; on the other hand, if you make $180/hr, the card isn't worth more than 10 min. But this is only part of the problem. First, do you measure someone's worth by his or her salary only? $30 isn't exactly chump change for most of the people in the the world, certainly not for the factory worker somewhere in China who built the card, nor for the kids awaiting the so-called $100 laptop. Secondly, what about the costs for the environment? Electronic waste is not exactly eco-friendly, you know. Oil and raw resources are spent in manufacturing, not to mention transportation costs. All this things matter, too. Should we dismiss all those concerns because some "businessman" and his "lawyers" decided not to release one stupid spec sheet because of "greed" (read "protecting our intellectual property" or some other lame excuse)?
Since you decided to make a personal attack here, let me tell you something: I will not enter in a engineering skills competition with you. I have in fact worked with hardware and done some low-level coding in the past, but I am no FOSS developer. But seemly you fail to understand that some people have fun tinkering with hardware and/or software, and if they can make a living from their "hobbies" they are happy. Other people see an engineering or cs degree solely as an investment, believing that by itself it will bring them a lot of money: in general, they end up bitterly disappointed. If I'm "wasting" my time "ranting" here on Slashdot, that's because it amuses me. What is your "business case"?
I half-agree, half-disagree here :-)
On one hand, if you are going to buy some piece of hardware, by all means prefer FOSS-friendly products: less trouble for you and a nudge to the market in the right direction. On the other hand, if you already own a fully functional but non FOSS-friendly equipment, why be wasteful? Reverse-engineering and/or demanding FOSS support are legitimate ways to put pressure in the market too.
I'm curious: except for wireless support (not built in, but 3rd part support works fine), I never had any problem with USB or networking in 2000. The only real problem with are artificial version checks on many installers - programs that "require" XP, but should work (and sometimes do work) fine in 2000, but do not install...
You have a valid point. However, the transition from W2K to XP was less painful because both are quite similar. W2K would have won by inertia if they were equally supported , but then only XP is supported now. Vista, on the other hand, is not a trivial upgrade from XP: cut the latter's support too soon and businesses may realize that the transition to Linux or even Apple might make more sense than "upgrading" to Vista. Remember, MS has failed at least once before with ME. Vista may be on its way to becoming ME II...
Somewhat off-topic, but got me thinking: how many brilliant people do work at Microsoft, yet their contribution does not show up (at least in an obvious, awe-inspiring way) in the company's products? It's almost as if they hire such people only to prevent their hiring by the competition.
dB is dimensionless, so it's appropriate for things like signal-to-noise ratios...