"Should the law give DJ Danger Mouse the right to remix without permission? I think so, though I understand how others find the matter a bit more grey."
Actually, he can. He is simply required to pay royalties as laid down by the courts and guilds (AMA, BMI, ASCAP, etc.) The bug infringment cases that get to court (like Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure" vs "Ice, Ice, Baby" from Vanilla Ice) are the result of the "offending" artist not following the legal process and paying royalties, or, as in Ice's case, denying any infringment took place.
That's how Weird Al go away with "Amish Pardise". Coolio refused when he asked for permission (which is the polite way), but Al did it anyway. While Weird Al can also claim the right of lampooning, he simply paid the royalties and Coolio couldn't stop him from doing his parody of "Gangsters Paradise".
I say this is flat out wrong. Creative people of all walks of life, in all societies have always been able to make a living.
Sure, I've always been able to make a living waiting tables, or working in some entry level factory job. I'm a contemporary folk musician, and while I get invited to play the benefit festivals (charity events - no-ones getting paid) trying to do a "show" at a bar or coffee shop is tough. People complain about a dollar of two covercharge, so you're lucky if you can come out with $30 - $40 bucks. While bands (I solo) can charge a little more, it has to get split. Of course, they don't think twice about spending $80 to see a "big name" band who is no better than the one playing at the corner bar.
Artists who create things that people like will be elevated in status and supported by those who want to see them continue to create art.
NOT! Corrected version is: Artists who create things that people will buy will be elevated in status and supported by record labels who want to see them continue to create profit.
It costs tens of thousands of dollars to record an album, or these days, a disc. The studio is often over $100 per hour to record (a good studio with a history of recording professionnal quality music), and that doesn't cover the engineer and producer's time to mix, remix, etc to get the best (from a commercial point of view) sounding album. It cost's hundreds of thousands of dollars to put on a major tour, what with equipment, staging, lights, trucks, busses, crew. Yet, without that disc (engineered to be radio friendly) and that big show (choreographed by who ever's in fashion this year) you won't ever be elevated to superstar status. You will never be rich, or anything close to it. You may be able to pay the rent without a day job, but don't expect to own a house, or even a new car. Tell your kids they won't be getting any help with college.
It's not just the music buisiness, either. Movies and even books are governed by the same principle. The entertainment industry in general is very "feast or famine" with a very sharp division of wealth. Doing away with copyrights will only mean no more labels, no more chance at the big time for any-one. There won't be a division of wealth because we (artists) will all be broke.
That being said, I don't support the extensions and stuff. Give me (as a copyright holder) a chance to make some money for ten, or twenty years tops. I also don't like labels (parasites who routinely sign people to contracts that would be illegal in any other line of work). They seem to say "We'll take a chance on you and in return we'll take most of the profits and take the expenses out of your share" A modern record company is really just a legal loan shark.
You call it anal, I call it properly following the standards set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium.
IE is fault-tolerant.
You call it fault tolerant, I call it faulty. As does the Computer Emergency Response Team (See link below, and try a google search for information in IE's broken CSS support, lack of support for.png transparancy, and other failures to follow the official web standards)
The gaming industry has developed a reputation for writing extremely clean (so it can execute in reat time) code, good RT graphics, and some of the most advanced AI out there (Black and White even won an award from a "real" (not game associated) comp sci group, IIRC). That makes it perfect for teaching in College.
It's about time that Colleges started turning out grads with real world skills - I'm tired of having to lead grads by the hand (like small, blind children) when they get paid more than me, but can't actually do anything. Except, of course, take credit for my ideas and work.
Tommy
Re:Parent is flamebait and trollish. Mod down.
on
LokiTorrent Shut Down
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Copyright law strictly defines that it's not the media that you pay for, it's the content.
In other words, you aren't paying $20 for a disc (the media), you're paying for the movie/music/software (the content).
Since content is intellectual (rather than physical) property, you cannot purchase the actual content, only a license to use the content, subject to whatever restrictions the content provider makes.
The policy of "fair use" introduced by Sony vs Betamax is just that - a POLICY. Not a law. It could easily be reversed at any time, and will if the *AA of software companies have their way.
Perhaps the MPAA would get more sympathy for "losses" due to piracy if they hadn't also bragged about setting new sales (and profit) records last year. Somehow it's hard to believe that piracy is really hurting them that much.
Personally, I think the *AA hurts themselves by shutting down filesharing. Record sales DROPPED after Napster was shut down. In reality, most file sharers are using P2P as a way to try before they buy. Who wants to pay $9 to see a movie if they have no idea if it's any good? On the other hand, I've seen LOTR a few times, and would pay to see it again in a theatre even though I bought the box set. Quality sells - garbage smells.
Tommy
Re:Parent is flamebait and trollish. Mod down.
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LokiTorrent Shut Down
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· Score: 1
Actually, hacking your X-box IS illegal under US law. In order to hack an X-box you have to disable / bypass the chip that prevents you from playing "non-approved" software, etc. That is illegal under the DMCA, as is anything which bypasses/alters/disables ANY kind of copy protection.
Having read the article, we was pretty sure he could get at the card numbers. My guess is that he didn't because if he had it would look like he was out to steal them. It was a matter of how much legal risk he was willing to take. Stealing a couple minutes of access is one thing - raiding the credit card db is another.
# With So Few Vulnerabilites, You'd Think They'd Be Fixed By Now 10/19/2004 6:56 AM Randy Wilson
IIS 6, 3 vulnerabilities, 1 patched, 2 still open.
Apache 2, 22 vulnerabilities, 21 patched, 1 still open.
Since Apache is Open Source it's much easier for people to spot the vulns before they get used, hence there APPEAR to be more vulns for Apache. With proprietary software the vulns remain hidden until some cracker stumbles upon them.
And it's obvious that Bill was full of something when he claimed MS could fix flaws faster!
Since it's a day off and I also have too much time on my hands...
1. Windows has more security flaws than Linux - anyone who says differently is counting all the software that runs on linux also (but not all windows software). Linux also releases patches for critical vulns MUCH faster than MS. For instance, take the discovery a few years ago that SSL didn't work (on any platform). MS took over three months to come up with a fix, Linux to just over 30 minutes. MS still has unpatched critical vulns in IE dating back to August of 2003!
2. No, I don't.
3. Sure, hardware vendor support for Linux would be nice, but it's starting to happen. And Linux runs on more different hardware platforms than Windows.
4. No Windows Emu here - just Wine (free) so I can run a couple windows-only apps.
5. Funny, how many city and national governments - not to mention major corporations like HP and IBM - are switching to Linux on the desktop?
6. While that may have been true a year or two ago, now they ask me how it's different from Windows.
7. My printer works just as well on Linux as Windows. I am a musician and there is NO windows software that can create a manuscript as well as Lilypond.
8. I never play with scripts - Linux already has the functionality I need. At least I could script if I needed to - Windows scripting is a joke. As to recompiling - what's easier:
A) typing emerge openoffice then being able to use my computer while the software builds and installs itself.
B) driving to the store, spending $400 on MS Office, driving home, inserting disc, having to close ALL other programs, reading a 10,000 word EULA, then waiting, unable to use my computer, while the software installs.
9. You can't admit professional desktop publishing is mostly done on Macintosh.
10. Video editing is still a little rough, Cinellera is pretty much the only pro quality editor out there. However - when it comes to effects and post processing Linux rules. The post processing software of choice in Hollywood is Cinepaint, used on Perfect Storm, Harry Potter, Star Wars (the new ones), etc. Maya runs very well on Linux, and Massive (written for LOTR) only runs on Linux. The major effects houses (Weta Digital, ILM and Pixar) are all Linux shops.
11. Less games are available now, but that is changing. Doom 3 and Medal of Honor are out for Linux, just to name a couple. With Cedega even more are available, including GTA Vice City. As for education, there are actually more rescources available since most Universities software was written for Unix and is easily ported to Linux. As far as Entertainment, I only need two players (one for music, one for video) to play ANYTHING. Windows needs a different player for almost every format. And try playing music compressed with Shorten (a lossless codec) without first decompressing on Windows.
12. I understand Windows very well, and make good money fixing it for people. I hope MS never gets any better or I'll lose a lot of income.
13. I point and click just fine - ever heard of Gnome, or KDE?
14. Right back at ya!
15. You can't admit that naming of windows components, packages, and others are weird and fits profiles of troubled teenagers..dll, msvcrt,.net
16. I'd rather not have MS's DRM crippled crap media on my PC, thank you very much. I can already play MPEG, AVI, WMV, MOV, RM, WAV, MP3, OGG, etc.
17. There are several front-ends to MySQL that are as easy and powerfull as Access. They just aren't as exploitable, so I guess they are harder - for criminals to crack.
18. Which is why HP, IBM, and countless other corporations, cities, and national governments are switching to Open Office?
19. K3b (frontend for mkisofs and cdrecord) has the same features as Nero (and can handle more different types of image files) and has never made a coaster for me.
Let's see, I go to the START button to STOP my computer.
Opps, theres another BSOD because windows page faulted because it didn't like the SIGNED driver for my video card. Guess I'll have to toss it in the pile with the soundcard, printer, and scanner that stopped working when I upgraded to XP.
"Fairly stable" doesn't cut it. Linux is "just plain" stable on AMD 64, and it won't just stop working (unless you shell out whatever MS demands for XP64) next year.
A $20 router/firewall is all you need to protect you long enough to get Windows patched. The bots are fairly dumb and easily stopped. Ad-aware and AVG free edition protect from spyware and viruses. Using Firefox over Internet Exploiter eliminates the browser hijacks.
In which case there should be a warning on the box that this is not a "stand-alone" product. Kind of like with electronics and batteries, windows should have a "security sold seperately" label.
The biggest problem with Windows is that Microsoft gave a very powerful OS to Joe Servicepack who has NO CLUE how to get it stable and keep it stable.
Of course Joe don't know, it's not like Windows comes with a manual he could read first.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but (barring big security holes) you can't actually get one of these nasties passively. I mean that you must run something on your computer, or give an ActiveX control permission, or something like that, right? You're not going to get one of these things just from browsing HTML and Javascript.
You can catch several worms simply by being connected to the internet - you don't even have to be using it - just connected. You can get even more malware (viral, spy, trojan, etc) simply by surfing the net. Some, like Cool Web Search, are brilliant at evading ALL anti-virus, and anti-spyware systems available. In fact, the guy who wrote the software to get rid of Cool Web Search (CWSShredder) GAVE UP maintaining the project because he couldn't keep up with the hundreds of variants that come out each year.
Tommy
So does my PC running Linux - it enabled iptables before it enabled the net - and downloaded all the updates DURING the install and BEFORE enabling any sevices.
Last time I installed WinXP (or any other version) it couldn't even find the internet (standard cable modem connected through NIC) without some directions from me, yet I still managed to pick up a worm - Windows couldn't find the internet but the internet found Windows.
I used to work at an office supply store, and more than half my customers didn't even know what a firewall was. Most homes still only have one computer so they don't get a router. In fact, most people think getting a second computer means they need a second cable/dsl modem. They have no idea what a router even is, or how its different from a switch or a hub.
At least the latest PC's are shipping with SP 2 installed so the ICF (better than no firewall at all) is enabled by default.
Legacy support? Give me a break! Most of the games I have that run on 98 won't on XP. In fact, some of MS's own games (like Close Combat for example) won't even install on XP.
And NO, the "compatibility" settings don't help. In fact I've only seen one app that will work with those settings but not without, and it suffers random crashes anyway.
Backwards compatibility is a pipe dream - any significant change to an OS (any OS) like a complete kernel change (Dos vs NT, etc) will break old apps. The only thing MS did wrong (IMHO) was lie and say the old stuff would still work. I wouldn't have upgraded to XP had I known NONE of my music software would work on XP and I would have to drop $1200 US replacing it with "new versions", when the old versions were sufficient for my needs.
I have an ATI video card. It's allegedly XP certified, but not fully supported by Linux.
So why is it that it works flawlessly in Linux, including hardware 3d accelleration, but STILL causes a BSOD in Windows for no apparent reason? I can't leave windows on for 24 hours (sitting idle) without returning to a preety blue screen complaining about page fault errors.
[rant]BTW, when I was using Mandrake I NEVER had to tweak a config file, but I've been all over the windows registry following advice from (gasp) the USER FORUM that Microsofts tech support referred me to (and for $300 I kinda expected an answer, not "look it up yourself in our knowelege base - oh by the way it helps if you know the number of the article you need to read cuz you won't find it any other way")[/rant]
Well let's see - there's the new Office 2003 that's already had several vuln's found, and now we learn the encryption is lame.
In 2003 Microsoft also brought us SP2's new security Center which gives continuous false alarms about Anti-virus definitions being out of date (for the two most common AV solutions out there - Norton and McAffey. In fact, only PC-Cillin actually works correctly with security center) resulting in people just ingnoring ALL warnings. You, know - crying wolf and stuff. They brag about how the firewall starts sooner, but the Windows firewall STILL doesn't regulate outbound traffic. Internet Exploder STILL has exploits deemed "minimal" that have existed since the 90's. In 2003 several of those old "minor" vulns were combined to create a real problem (the russian website bug - forget what it's official name is) which STILL ISN'T FULLY FIXED. Microsoft's "patch" for this vuln essentially was to place that one web address into the host-deny file. Nothing prevents someone from using a similar expliot with a different url to hook up to.
Microsoft isn't truly worried about security. It's worried about looking worried about security. They don't really care if it's secure - as long as it APPEARS secure and they can convince the public.
That day is really not far away. The latest Beastie Boys disc (among others) has something similar - it only affects computers, of coarse (windows and Mac computers to be precise). While the band and their label deny it installs any software (in one press release they both claimed it installed no software AND mentioned that there's an uninstaller included on the disc?) the disc contains an uninstaller program, and if you have autoplay enabled when you insert the disc it will install some files (some executable.dll's) and make several registry changes on a window pc, not sure what all it does to a Mac. This can be bypassed by holding down the shift key, if I recall, on a windows box or by disableing autoplay in general.
As usual, this has absolutely no effect on *nix or BSD users
This technology would work on a DVD also, of coarse only if you played it on a computer. However, one of Bill's (Gates) plans for DRM under the DCMA is to require this type of thing built into the hardware of all media capable devices, and could get that into congress this year.
So, I take it that never attempting to make things better for yourself or others is part of your personal belief system?
Do you mean like America has made Iraq better? It's not for most Iraqi citizens.
The problem with "making things better" for other people is that your version of what's better isn't always the same as the other person's. Imposing your values on another is just plain wrong, and as far as you know the majority of chinese people are happy that pr0n sites (and the malware/viruses many of them contain) are blocked.
AFAIK the United States Government still runs a proxy site specifically for chineese people who want to access the non-pr0n sites the Chinese government restricts. Not sure what the URL is these days, it's changed a couple times when the Chinese government has added it to the restricted list.
"Windows video device drivers that are WHQL certified are typically rock solid and stable for general non-gaming use."
What fantasy world do you live in? The WHQL certified drivers for my video card routinely cause a BSOD, often while I'm simply staring at an empty desktop, much less actually doing anything.
The non- certified, older drivers are more stable (but still cause the occasional page fault error).
Or at least Microsoft Support CLAIMS it's the video drivers, and not just a lousy OS.
I had SBC for a while and the minimal instructions they sent claimed it was pppoe. Their tech support said it was pppoe. I finally got online by setting everything back to what I used when I had cable (dhcp, etc). My guess is SBC doesn't know what they're using.
They sure don't know how to provide the bandwidth they promise - I typically got less than half what I was supposed to. Of course, if I was a normal (non-geek) customer with a normal (Windows standard install) computer I wouldn't have known I was getting shorted. When I complained they said that's why they don't support Linux (because us tuxheads can figure this stuff out and realise we're getting screwed). Oh, don't forget you MUST have windows to reset the modem every time it crashes (two to three times weekly).
They do know how to get paid, I had to have my lawyer threaten suit to get them to drop the $200 disconnect fee (since they broke contract first by shorting my bandwidth)
Slashdot Mirror
I've installed them on my XP desktop before, though they were both casualties of the last format.
If you have to continously reformat your drive, you need a different OS.
Tommy
"Should the law give DJ Danger Mouse the right to remix without permission? I think so, though I understand how others find the matter a bit more grey."
Actually, he can. He is simply required to pay royalties as laid down by the courts and guilds (AMA, BMI, ASCAP, etc.) The bug infringment cases that get to court (like Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure" vs "Ice, Ice, Baby" from Vanilla Ice) are the result of the "offending" artist not following the legal process and paying royalties, or, as in Ice's case, denying any infringment took place.
That's how Weird Al go away with "Amish Pardise". Coolio refused when he asked for permission (which is the polite way), but Al did it anyway. While Weird Al can also claim the right of lampooning, he simply paid the royalties and Coolio couldn't stop him from doing his parody of "Gangsters Paradise".
Tommy
Sure, I've always been able to make a living waiting tables, or working in some entry level factory job. I'm a contemporary folk musician, and while I get invited to play the benefit festivals (charity events - no-ones getting paid) trying to do a "show" at a bar or coffee shop is tough. People complain about a dollar of two covercharge, so you're lucky if you can come out with $30 - $40 bucks. While bands (I solo) can charge a little more, it has to get split. Of course, they don't think twice about spending $80 to see a "big name" band who is no better than the one playing at the corner bar.
Artists who create things that people like will be elevated in status and supported by those who want to see them continue to create art.NOT! Corrected version is:
It costs tens of thousands of dollars to record an album, or these days, a disc. The studio is often over $100 per hour to record (a good studio with a history of recording professionnal quality music), and that doesn't cover the engineer and producer's time to mix, remix, etc to get the best (from a commercial point of view) sounding album. It cost's hundreds of thousands of dollars to put on a major tour, what with equipment, staging, lights, trucks, busses, crew. Yet, without that disc (engineered to be radio friendly) and that big show (choreographed by who ever's in fashion this year) you won't ever be elevated to superstar status. You will never be rich, or anything close to it. You may be able to pay the rent without a day job, but don't expect to own a house, or even a new car. Tell your kids they won't be getting any help with college.Artists who create things that people will buy will be elevated in status and supported by record labels who want to see them continue to create profit.
It's not just the music buisiness, either. Movies and even books are governed by the same principle. The entertainment industry in general is very "feast or famine" with a very sharp division of wealth. Doing away with copyrights will only mean no more labels, no more chance at the big time for any-one. There won't be a division of wealth because we (artists) will all be broke.
That being said, I don't support the extensions and stuff. Give me (as a copyright holder) a chance to make some money for ten, or twenty years tops. I also don't like labels (parasites who routinely sign people to contracts that would be illegal in any other line of work). They seem to say "We'll take a chance on you and in return we'll take most of the profits and take the expenses out of your share" A modern record company is really just a legal loan shark.
Tommy
Firefox is anal,
You call it anal, I call it properly following the standards set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium.
IE is fault-tolerant.
You call it fault tolerant, I call it faulty. As does the Computer Emergency Response Team (See link below, and try a google search for information in IE's broken CSS support, lack of support for .png transparancy, and other failures to follow the official web standards)
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3 374931
TommyThe gaming industry has developed a reputation for writing extremely clean (so it can execute in reat time) code, good RT graphics, and some of the most advanced AI out there (Black and White even won an award from a "real" (not game associated) comp sci group, IIRC). That makes it perfect for teaching in College.
It's about time that Colleges started turning out grads with real world skills - I'm tired of having to lead grads by the hand (like small, blind children) when they get paid more than me, but can't actually do anything. Except, of course, take credit for my ideas and work.
Tommy
Copyright law strictly defines that it's not the media that you pay for, it's the content.
In other words, you aren't paying $20 for a disc (the media), you're paying for the movie/music/software (the content).
Since content is intellectual (rather than physical) property, you cannot purchase the actual content, only a license to use the content, subject to whatever restrictions the content provider makes.
The policy of "fair use" introduced by Sony vs Betamax is just that - a POLICY. Not a law. It could easily be reversed at any time, and will if the *AA of software companies have their way.
Perhaps the MPAA would get more sympathy for "losses" due to piracy if they hadn't also bragged about setting new sales (and profit) records last year. Somehow it's hard to believe that piracy is really hurting them that much.
Personally, I think the *AA hurts themselves by shutting down filesharing. Record sales DROPPED after Napster was shut down. In reality, most file sharers are using P2P as a way to try before they buy. Who wants to pay $9 to see a movie if they have no idea if it's any good? On the other hand, I've seen LOTR a few times, and would pay to see it again in a theatre even though I bought the box set. Quality sells - garbage smells.
Tommy
Actually, hacking your X-box IS illegal under US law. In order to hack an X-box you have to disable / bypass the chip that prevents you from playing "non-approved" software, etc. That is illegal under the DMCA, as is anything which bypasses/alters/disables ANY kind of copy protection.
Tommy
Having read the article, we was pretty sure he could get at the card numbers. My guess is that he didn't because if he had it would look like he was out to steal them. It was a matter of how much legal risk he was willing to take. Stealing a couple minutes of access is one thing - raiding the credit card db is another.
Tommy
I think this post on his blog says it all -
# With So Few Vulnerabilites, You'd Think They'd Be Fixed By Now 10/19/2004 6:56 AM Randy Wilson
IIS 6, 3 vulnerabilities, 1 patched, 2 still open.
Apache 2, 22 vulnerabilities, 21 patched, 1 still open.
Since Apache is Open Source it's much easier for people to spot the vulns before they get used, hence there APPEAR to be more vulns for Apache. With proprietary software the vulns remain hidden until some cracker stumbles upon them.
And it's obvious that Bill was full of something when he claimed MS could fix flaws faster!
Tommy
Since it's a day off and I also have too much time on my hands...
.dll, msvcrt, .net
1. Windows has more security flaws than Linux - anyone who says differently is counting all the software that runs on linux also (but not all windows software). Linux also releases patches for critical vulns MUCH faster than MS. For instance, take the discovery a few years ago that SSL didn't work (on any platform). MS took over three months to come up with a fix, Linux to just over 30 minutes. MS still has unpatched critical vulns in IE dating back to August of 2003!
2. No, I don't.
3. Sure, hardware vendor support for Linux would be nice, but it's starting to happen. And Linux runs on more different hardware platforms than Windows.
4. No Windows Emu here - just Wine (free) so I can run a couple windows-only apps.
5. Funny, how many city and national governments - not to mention major corporations like HP and IBM - are switching to Linux on the desktop?
6. While that may have been true a year or two ago, now they ask me how it's different from Windows.
7. My printer works just as well on Linux as Windows. I am a musician and there is NO windows software that can create a manuscript as well as Lilypond.
8. I never play with scripts - Linux already has the functionality I need. At least I could script if I needed to - Windows scripting is a joke. As to recompiling - what's easier:
A) typing emerge openoffice then being able to use my computer while the software builds and installs itself.
B) driving to the store, spending $400 on MS Office, driving home, inserting disc, having to close ALL other programs, reading a 10,000 word EULA, then waiting, unable to use my computer, while the software installs.
9. You can't admit professional desktop publishing is mostly done on Macintosh.
10. Video editing is still a little rough, Cinellera is pretty much the only pro quality editor out there. However - when it comes to effects and post processing Linux rules. The post processing software of choice in Hollywood is Cinepaint, used on Perfect Storm, Harry Potter, Star Wars (the new ones), etc. Maya runs very well on Linux, and Massive (written for LOTR) only runs on Linux. The major effects houses (Weta Digital, ILM and Pixar) are all Linux shops.
11. Less games are available now, but that is changing. Doom 3 and Medal of Honor are out for Linux, just to name a couple. With Cedega even more are available, including GTA Vice City. As for education, there are actually more rescources available since most Universities software was written for Unix and is easily ported to Linux. As far as Entertainment, I only need two players (one for music, one for video) to play ANYTHING. Windows needs a different player for almost every format. And try playing music compressed with Shorten (a lossless codec) without first decompressing on Windows.
12. I understand Windows very well, and make good money fixing it for people. I hope MS never gets any better or I'll lose a lot of income.
13. I point and click just fine - ever heard of Gnome, or KDE?
14. Right back at ya!
15. You can't admit that naming of windows components, packages, and others are weird and fits profiles of troubled teenagers.
16. I'd rather not have MS's DRM crippled crap media on my PC, thank you very much. I can already play MPEG, AVI, WMV, MOV, RM, WAV, MP3, OGG, etc.
17. There are several front-ends to MySQL that are as easy and powerfull as Access. They just aren't as exploitable, so I guess they are harder - for criminals to crack.
18. Which is why HP, IBM, and countless other corporations, cities, and national governments are switching to Open Office?
19. K3b (frontend for mkisofs and cdrecord) has the same features as Nero (and can handle more different types of image files) and has never made a coaster for me.
20. Yes it does - see above.
21. Th
Let's see, I go to the START button to STOP my computer.
Opps, theres another BSOD because windows page faulted because it didn't like the SIGNED driver for my video card. Guess I'll have to toss it in the pile with the soundcard, printer, and scanner that stopped working when I upgraded to XP.
"Fairly stable" doesn't cut it. Linux is "just plain" stable on AMD 64, and it won't just stop working (unless you shell out whatever MS demands for XP64) next year.
Tommy
You shouldn't have to periodically reinstall an OS just to keep it working. Heck, you shouldn't even have to reboot it to keep it working.
Tommy
A $20 router/firewall is all you need to protect you long enough to get Windows patched. The bots are fairly dumb and easily stopped. Ad-aware and AVG free edition protect from spyware and viruses. Using Firefox over Internet Exploiter eliminates the browser hijacks.
In which case there should be a warning on the box that this is not a "stand-alone" product. Kind of like with electronics and batteries, windows should have a "security sold seperately" label.
The biggest problem with Windows is that Microsoft gave a very powerful OS to Joe Servicepack who has NO CLUE how to get it stable and keep it stable.
Of course Joe don't know, it's not like Windows comes with a manual he could read first.
TommyCorrect me if I'm wrong, but (barring big security holes) you can't actually get one of these nasties passively. I mean that you must run something on your computer, or give an ActiveX control permission, or something like that, right? You're not going to get one of these things just from browsing HTML and Javascript. You can catch several worms simply by being connected to the internet - you don't even have to be using it - just connected. You can get even more malware (viral, spy, trojan, etc) simply by surfing the net. Some, like Cool Web Search, are brilliant at evading ALL anti-virus, and anti-spyware systems available. In fact, the guy who wrote the software to get rid of Cool Web Search (CWSShredder) GAVE UP maintaining the project because he couldn't keep up with the hundreds of variants that come out each year. Tommy
My mom's new imac works just fine out-of-the-box.
So does my PC running Linux - it enabled iptables before it enabled the net - and downloaded all the updates DURING the install and BEFORE enabling any sevices.
Last time I installed WinXP (or any other version) it couldn't even find the internet (standard cable modem connected through NIC) without some directions from me, yet I still managed to pick up a worm - Windows couldn't find the internet but the internet found Windows.
Tommy
I used to work at an office supply store, and more than half my customers didn't even know what a firewall was. Most homes still only have one computer so they don't get a router. In fact, most people think getting a second computer means they need a second cable/dsl modem. They have no idea what a router even is, or how its different from a switch or a hub.
At least the latest PC's are shipping with SP 2 installed so the ICF (better than no firewall at all) is enabled by default.
Tommy
Legacy support? Give me a break! Most of the games I have that run on 98 won't on XP. In fact, some of MS's own games (like Close Combat for example) won't even install on XP.
And NO, the "compatibility" settings don't help. In fact I've only seen one app that will work with those settings but not without, and it suffers random crashes anyway.
Backwards compatibility is a pipe dream - any significant change to an OS (any OS) like a complete kernel change (Dos vs NT, etc) will break old apps. The only thing MS did wrong (IMHO) was lie and say the old stuff would still work. I wouldn't have upgraded to XP had I known NONE of my music software would work on XP and I would have to drop $1200 US replacing it with "new versions", when the old versions were sufficient for my needs.
Tommy
I have an ATI video card. It's allegedly XP certified, but not fully supported by Linux.
So why is it that it works flawlessly in Linux, including hardware 3d accelleration, but STILL causes a BSOD in Windows for no apparent reason? I can't leave windows on for 24 hours (sitting idle) without returning to a preety blue screen complaining about page fault errors.
[rant]BTW, when I was using Mandrake I NEVER had to tweak a config file, but I've been all over the windows registry following advice from (gasp) the USER FORUM that Microsofts tech support referred me to (and for $300 I kinda expected an answer, not "look it up yourself in our knowelege base - oh by the way it helps if you know the number of the article you need to read cuz you won't find it any other way")[/rant]
Tommy
Well let's see - there's the new Office 2003 that's already had several vuln's found, and now we learn the encryption is lame.
In 2003 Microsoft also brought us SP2's new security Center which gives continuous false alarms about Anti-virus definitions being out of date (for the two most common AV solutions out there - Norton and McAffey. In fact, only PC-Cillin actually works correctly with security center) resulting in people just ingnoring ALL warnings. You, know - crying wolf and stuff. They brag about how the firewall starts sooner, but the Windows firewall STILL doesn't regulate outbound traffic. Internet Exploder STILL has exploits deemed "minimal" that have existed since the 90's. In 2003 several of those old "minor" vulns were combined to create a real problem (the russian website bug - forget what it's official name is) which STILL ISN'T FULLY FIXED. Microsoft's "patch" for this vuln essentially was to place that one web address into the host-deny file. Nothing prevents someone from using a similar expliot with a different url to hook up to.
Microsoft isn't truly worried about security. It's worried about looking worried about security. They don't really care if it's secure - as long as it APPEARS secure and they can convince the public.
TommyThat day is really not far away. The latest Beastie Boys disc (among others) has something similar - it only affects computers, of coarse (windows and Mac computers to be precise). While the band and their label deny it installs any software (in one press release they both claimed it installed no software AND mentioned that there's an uninstaller included on the disc?) the disc contains an uninstaller program, and if you have autoplay enabled when you insert the disc it will install some files (some executable .dll's) and make several registry changes on a window pc, not sure what all it does to a Mac. This can be bypassed by holding down the shift key, if I recall, on a windows box or by disableing autoplay in general.
As usual, this has absolutely no effect on *nix or BSD users
This technology would work on a DVD also, of coarse only if you played it on a computer. However, one of Bill's (Gates) plans for DRM under the DCMA is to require this type of thing built into the hardware of all media capable devices, and could get that into congress this year.
So, I take it that never attempting to make things better for yourself or others is part of your personal belief system?
Do you mean like America has made Iraq better? It's not for most Iraqi citizens.
The problem with "making things better" for other people is that your version of what's better isn't always the same as the other person's. Imposing your values on another is just plain wrong, and as far as you know the majority of chinese people are happy that pr0n sites (and the malware/viruses many of them contain) are blocked.
AFAIK the United States Government still runs a proxy site specifically for chineese people who want to access the non-pr0n sites the Chinese government restricts. Not sure what the URL is these days, it's changed a couple times when the Chinese government has added it to the restricted list.
Tommyquote:
"Windows video device drivers that are WHQL certified are typically rock solid and stable for general non-gaming use."
What fantasy world do you live in? The WHQL certified drivers for my video card routinely cause a BSOD, often while I'm simply staring at an empty desktop, much less actually doing anything.
The non- certified, older drivers are more stable (but still cause the occasional page fault error).
Or at least Microsoft Support CLAIMS it's the video drivers, and not just a lousy OS.
Tommy
I had SBC for a while and the minimal instructions they sent claimed it was pppoe. Their tech support said it was pppoe. I finally got online by setting everything back to what I used when I had cable (dhcp, etc). My guess is SBC doesn't know what they're using. They sure don't know how to provide the bandwidth they promise - I typically got less than half what I was supposed to. Of course, if I was a normal (non-geek) customer with a normal (Windows standard install) computer I wouldn't have known I was getting shorted. When I complained they said that's why they don't support Linux (because us tuxheads can figure this stuff out and realise we're getting screwed). Oh, don't forget you MUST have windows to reset the modem every time it crashes (two to three times weekly).
They do know how to get paid, I had to have my lawyer threaten suit to get them to drop the $200 disconnect fee (since they broke contract first by shorting my bandwidth)
I guess you didn't know that Ticketmaster is another Bill Gates monopoly?
Yes, that's right. Bill "antitrust" Gates is getting more of your concert ticket money than the band you went to see!
Tommy