In my case specifically it is my daughter who's been directly responsible for my staying out of jail on 2 seperate occasions. Once would have been classic "hacking for fun and prophit" the other would have likely been murder 2. -nB
Actually I have plenty business sense. If my product is better supported than all of my competitors products then I'm likely to sell more. I work for a hardware company. The more chips we sell the bigger my profit sharing check is. -nB
"Open-source them, or publish open specs." I'd love to, I can't. It's really that simple. I can either provide no support to OSS or basic support. In time I may be able to provide better code but not right now. -nB
I've got to disagree here. I think that the best thing a genuine hacker can do is to join into the industry as a position of influence. While a single individual has little influence preaching to the choir here on/. we [hacker community] do have power and influence once we enter the professional world. While we can not make single huge altruistic decisions that affect the world in a big way, we can steer our small portion of the world into the right direction, one little nudge at a time.
Think of it this way: The Exploratorium in San Francisco is a museum dedicated to science (recommended visit if you are ever in the city). They have an exhibit where a one ton concrete pillar is suspended by a chain from an arched support. A steel band girdles the pillar. All around the exhibit is a handrail so you can not touch the pillar directly. There are many small/weak refrigerator magnets on strings at the handrail. The "object" is to effect a movement on the pillar using these weak magnets. It takes time and patience, but I've successfully made the pillar nearly hit the handrail (it's designed so the pillar will not reach the rail to prevent the real possibility of injury).
We hackers in industry, @stake included, are those little magnets. Given time and direction we can achieve anything. For example I am nudging the division of my employer I work at to provide OSS drivers and code for the one product family I work with. The fear is that by OS'ing our drivers we'll allow competitors too much visibility into our product. My response was that we can release a binary and an OSS layer of source to interface that binary to the kernel. I've been gaining ground slowly, but I work in a very large company so change is slow. Eventually I hope to propagate this to other groups.
That we do. My only solace about the way things were is that I can raise my daughter with the hacker ethic and hopefully she can help the next generation become great. I tend to avoid living in the past too much, but this was one of the few things which defined who I am. I still have a copy of LC1.? somewhere around here. I still hack as part of my job, and I love what I do . . . Yet, I miss the "glory days" of the late 80's and early 90's. My first Modem was a wierd 4800 baud deal and I was stoked when tech got us all the way to 14.4 I spent over $100 for that damn modem and I used it for almost 5-6 years. The late nights on various BBS's and the difficulty of 'financing' the phone bills for some of the longer sessions. Up until 98 Intel had a BBS hosted that I would call every night and lock up my phone line for 6 hours downloading specs. Once the Web took off all the feeling of subterfuge vanished. [/long winded trip down memory lane] -nB
The EULA is scary (but honest I suppose):
"I understand and agree the software product will modify, remove, and add entries to my computer operating system, network parameters, and other installes files that will change the prior default settings, and/or install software from third parties without user intervention, and/or to install software to display electronic advertisements and third party web pages of every kind and nature and/or monitor my actions and report them to the company and/or undisclosed third parties, without user intervention."
According to this EULA it is possible for them to install everything from a mailbot all the way to a kiddie-pr0n server on your machine and when you cause too much trouble for them they can turn you in to the FBI to get rid of you. (Of course I don't think that's what they had in mind). I think that the lawyer who made this airtight EULA that can be summarized as: WE OWN YOUR BOX should be tourtured to as close to death as possible, allowed to heal up and have the process repeated . . . often.
-nB
it's the other way round. I can't afford a personal copy of server so I'm running pro as a server. Since I never (almost anyway) initiate a user session on the box it runs many weeks on end without trouble. -nB
if we were to take a look at the professional usage only, where there are IT depts and such supposedly taking care of the machines
That is a funny joke, yes?
Sadly this is more true than anything. Everyone expects that the IT depts. are watching over everything and will fix all ills. If the (general non-geek) userbase realized how much they hold their own computing destiny in their own hands they would have far less problems.
-nB
What's funny is our IT dept. reccomends that we install the google toolbar for it's pop-up blocking. I simply used Firefox instead, but can not access any intranet sites with it. So for the internal stuff I use IE.
As to the crashing, my XP laptop and Win2K home machines need about a reboot a week on average. My linux boxes and my Win2K "server" (client build) which sees little to no console activity, run for weeks and up without reboots, and all the reboots I've neede to do were because of me.
This leads me to believe that the bulk of Windows is fine and that explorer and the other UI programs are the source of most problems (sans spyware).
True, but my comment about the x86 referred to TFA where they said it was on an Intel platform. I kinda assumed the form factor part and my DVD player comment was to illustrate that linux can run on darn near anything. -nB
Sure why not? It's an x86 so there is no reason you can't boot up a main distro. If you wanted you can run linux on many DVD players too (those that use a DSP) -nB
If they're not factual then why does the Kerry camp not shut them down in the legal arena. The press would have a field day and when Kerry won it would effectively undo all the negative PR. Since this has not happened I assume the ads are truthful enough that Kerry doesn't want to risk a legal battle. my 2c on that part. -nB
Hmmm... good idea. We should make sure that Fox News, Limbaugh, Coulter and all the other right-wing loon-a-whacks don't get aired in October at all as well considering how biased they are.
I agree. Personally I dislike Kerry about as much as you appear to dislike Bush (I dislike Bush too, just less so than Kerry). I'm in a prediciment I think many Americans are: I know what I DON'T want, but can not come up with a good enough idea to replace it.
Thus I'm in a position of saying "That sucks" and when the come back of "you've got something better then?" inevetably comes I can only wimper out a little "not really". That is what really chafes me . . . and it's even my fault (to some extent at least).
Moore even said in all his interviews that of course the movie is biased
And with that in mind I think it is poor judgment to air the movie prior to the elections. I firmly believe in Moore's freedom of speech and expression (even though I personally detest him), but anything on either side of the fence with this much political spin added should not air within a month before the election. If he wants to air it this month I'd have no problem with it, but too close to the election and you end up with spin wars rather than any fact at all.
To explain: F911 airs, someone else slams Kerry, another group comes back with slander about Bush, wash, rinse, repeat. All of this will be done by soft money (like Moore and Swift Boat Vets for Truth), all outside of normal controls or candidate influence/approval.
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In my case specifically it is my daughter who's been directly responsible for my staying out of jail on 2 seperate occasions. Once would have been classic "hacking for fun and prophit" the other would have likely been murder 2.
-nB
you forgot the obvious: RTFA
-nB
" I was definitely hoping that I didn't come across like a complete prick"
:)
Naw, that was a rather incomplete prickishness
-nB
Actually I have plenty business sense. If my product is better supported than all of my competitors products then I'm likely to sell more. I work for a hardware company. The more chips we sell the bigger my profit sharing check is.
-nB
"Open-source them, or publish open specs."
I'd love to, I can't.
It's really that simple. I can either provide no support to OSS or basic support. In time I may be able to provide better code but not right now.
-nB
Sell-outs.
/. we [hacker community] do have power and influence once we enter the professional world. While we can not make single huge altruistic decisions that affect the world in a big way, we can steer our small portion of the world into the right direction, one little nudge at a time.
I've got to disagree here. I think that the best thing a genuine hacker can do is to join into the industry as a position of influence. While a single individual has little influence preaching to the choir here on
Think of it this way: The Exploratorium in San Francisco is a museum dedicated to science (recommended visit if you are ever in the city). They have an exhibit where a one ton concrete pillar is suspended by a chain from an arched support. A steel band girdles the pillar. All around the exhibit is a handrail so you can not touch the pillar directly. There are many small/weak refrigerator magnets on strings at the handrail. The "object" is to effect a movement on the pillar using these weak magnets. It takes time and patience, but I've successfully made the pillar nearly hit the handrail (it's designed so the pillar will not reach the rail to prevent the real possibility of injury).
We hackers in industry, @stake included, are those little magnets. Given time and direction we can achieve anything. For example I am nudging the division of my employer I work at to provide OSS drivers and code for the one product family I work with. The fear is that by OS'ing our drivers we'll allow competitors too much visibility into our product. My response was that we can release a binary and an OSS layer of source to interface that binary to the kernel. I've been gaining ground slowly, but I work in a very large company so change is slow. Eventually I hope to propagate this to other groups.
[/soapbox]
-nB
That we do. My only solace about the way things were is that I can raise my daughter with the hacker ethic and hopefully she can help the next generation become great. I tend to avoid living in the past too much, but this was one of the few things which defined who I am. I still have a copy of LC1.? somewhere around here. I still hack as part of my job, and I love what I do . . . Yet, I miss the "glory days" of the late 80's and early 90's. My first Modem was a wierd 4800 baud deal and I was stoked when tech got us all the way to 14.4 I spent over $100 for that damn modem and I used it for almost 5-6 years. The late nights on various BBS's and the difficulty of 'financing' the phone bills for some of the longer sessions. Up until 98 Intel had a BBS hosted that I would call every night and lock up my phone line for 6 hours downloading specs. Once the Web took off all the feeling of subterfuge vanished.
[/long winded trip down memory lane]
-nB
but it just doesn't have the allure it once had. I rember the l0pht and miss it.
By all means three cheers for the hackers making money at what they love, I just miss what it was.
-nB
The EULA is scary (but honest I suppose):
"I understand and agree the software product will modify, remove, and add entries to my computer operating system, network parameters, and other installes files that will change the prior default settings, and/or install software from third parties without user intervention, and/or to install software to display electronic advertisements and third party web pages of every kind and nature and/or monitor my actions and report them to the company and/or undisclosed third parties, without user intervention."
According to this EULA it is possible for them to install everything from a mailbot all the way to a kiddie-pr0n server on your machine and when you cause too much trouble for them they can turn you in to the FBI to get rid of you. (Of course I don't think that's what they had in mind).
I think that the lawyer who made this airtight EULA that can be summarized as: WE OWN YOUR BOX should be tourtured to as close to death as possible, allowed to heal up and have the process repeated . . . often.
-nB
it's the other way round. I can't afford a personal copy of server so I'm running pro as a server. Since I never (almost anyway) initiate a user session on the box it runs many weeks on end without trouble.
-nB
if we were to take a look at the professional usage only, where there are IT depts and such supposedly taking care of the machines
That is a funny joke, yes?
Sadly this is more true than anything. Everyone expects that the IT depts. are watching over everything and will fix all ills. If the (general non-geek) userbase realized how much they hold their own computing destiny in their own hands they would have far less problems.
-nB
What's funny is our IT dept. reccomends that we install the google toolbar for it's pop-up blocking. I simply used Firefox instead, but can not access any intranet sites with it. So for the internal stuff I use IE.
As to the crashing, my XP laptop and Win2K home machines need about a reboot a week on average. My linux boxes and my Win2K "server" (client build) which sees little to no console activity, run for weeks and up without reboots, and all the reboots I've neede to do were because of me.
This leads me to believe that the bulk of Windows is fine and that explorer and the other UI programs are the source of most problems (sans spyware).
-nB
True, but my comment about the x86 referred to TFA where they said it was on an Intel platform. I kinda assumed the form factor part and my DVD player comment was to illustrate that linux can run on darn near anything.
-nB
many
but that's not the real Devil. The real Devil's name is Jerry.
Note to mods: try not wasting mod points on a karma bonus eh?
-nB
Sure why not? It's an x86 so there is no reason you can't boot up a main distro. If you wanted you can run linux on many DVD players too (those that use a DSP)
-nB
If they're not factual then why does the Kerry camp not shut them down in the legal arena. The press would have a field day and when Kerry won it would effectively undo all the negative PR. Since this has not happened I assume the ads are truthful enough that Kerry doesn't want to risk a legal battle.
my 2c on that part.
-nB
whoever modded this redundant should look at the posts oldest first!
Hmmm... good idea. We should make sure that Fox News, Limbaugh, Coulter and all the other right-wing loon-a-whacks don't get aired in October at all as well considering how biased they are.
I agree.
Personally I dislike Kerry about as much as you appear to dislike Bush (I dislike Bush too, just less so than Kerry). I'm in a prediciment I think many Americans are: I know what I DON'T want, but can not come up with a good enough idea to replace it.
Thus I'm in a position of saying "That sucks" and when the come back of "you've got something better then?" inevetably comes I can only wimper out a little "not really".
That is what really chafes me . . . and it's even my fault (to some extent at least).
-nB
In case you haven't noticed, the people in America (where I live) are too stupid to elect a legit leader
I live in California (Kali?) where we elect actors . . . So there!.
I do agree with you about the legit leader thing though.
-nB
That would be Star Dust Overloards.
A crash landing, even at the capsule's relatively slow speed of 9 mph, could ruin some of the data collected during the mission. from CNN piece
So I suppose 100 Mph is pretty bad then eh?
-nB
That sucks
-nB
Moore even said in all his interviews that of course the movie is biased
And with that in mind I think it is poor judgment to air the movie prior to the elections. I firmly believe in Moore's freedom of speech and expression (even though I personally detest him), but anything on either side of the fence with this much political spin added should not air within a month before the election. If he wants to air it this month I'd have no problem with it, but too close to the election and you end up with spin wars rather than any fact at all.
To explain: F911 airs, someone else slams Kerry, another group comes back with slander about Bush, wash, rinse, repeat. All of this will be done by soft money (like Moore and Swift Boat Vets for Truth), all outside of normal controls or candidate influence/approval.
Funny, My fav series was DS9. It had a nice story line and I've always held that J. Dax was my favorite (not Troy, 7of9, or any of the others) . . .