I think the article wasn't so much focusing on profits, but more on culture. Fun hip coffee shops have turned into places where people bury themselves in the internet. No one talks, no one interacts, most people have headphones on. What was a very social place has become a very unsocial place, due to Wi-Fi.
I live just a few block from the Victrola, and they're right. Often times 75%-90% of the people in there have laptops open. Often time I'm guilty myself.
It used to be a great place were you could go drink a great cup of coffee and probably meet a cute indy chick, but ever since WiFi, everyone is so buried in their iBooks updating their MySpace page that no one talks to each other.
The best part is watching the the Seattle Craigslist Missed Connection page fill up with "You are a cute 20 that something redhead sitting over there in the corner. Damn I wish you'd close your iBook so I could talk to you." posts.
I agree that having very strict laws against bodies that hold critical information is not something that should be quickly jammed through congress with no foresight. I also agree that the IT nobodies (like myself) would be the first to have their asses on the line.
But... On the other hand, these companies have libraries full of very valuable data, and they are having a very hard time controlling it. If they need to have the data then they need to be able to protect it.
Once your data has been stolen, it's gone forever. The value of the data is not the actual names/numbers/adresses, but the privacy of those names/numbers/addresses.
I essentially see this as the banks keeping my money on a big counter behind the tellers. Someone runs in, hops the counter and then runs out with a fistful of my cash. "Oops, we're sorry.", they say. Is it the teller's fault what happened? No, but whoever decided it was most convenient to leave my cash (or data) some place accessible better have some answers.
Here's an easy way to protect customer data. Unplug the network cable.
I really feel like that these security breaches are criminal negligence. So far it's been 'All of our customer info has been stolen, we're really sorry."
Holders of mass amounts of critical info need to learn that if they lose it, or mismanage it, that they will be held liable for hundred of millions of dollars in civil penalties, and years in prison for the most egregious cases of negligence.
I was reading the license agreement for OS 10.4 last week, and I stumbled upon this.
Section 2.c. The Apple software is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control systems, life support machines or other equipment in which the failure of the Apple software could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage.
Maybe the Prius Kernel has the should have the same warning?
Some of our users have 5+ GB in each mailbox, which sucks because most mail clients aren't very good at maintaining databases of that size. It's not unusual for a user to lose lots of email due to corruption.
It's sad to see such a great pasttime die out. With the advent of super slick console gaming systems the industry has really fallen apart. It doesn't help that the best pinball manufacturers make a lot more money developing slot machines than pinball machines.
An iPod scrollwheel on the front face of a device like that would be a nightmare to use. The scrollwheel on the iPod is useful because of the orientation of your hand.
Trying to use the wheel with the tip of your index finger, especially while the unit is not at chest height would prove to be very annoying, very quickly.
I'd love to have an Apple built set top box. Apple's thoughts on UI design and the importance of functionality would make a product with these features a great addition to my living room.
Too bad it's April 1st.
I think taxing technology because one industry has been harmed by it is a bad habit to get started. Soon we'll be paying 1% to the record companies,.7% to the travel agents union, and 5% to phone companies (VOIP).
This seems marginally like sending out acceptance/denial letters in envelopes that say "Do not open until 5/1/05", and then being able to track who opened their envelopes too soon.
Security is not just for one party or the other. The school should have taken reasonable precautions to protect the data, and the students shouldn't take unreasonable efforts to discover the info.
There's no excuse for hacking, but there's also really no excuse for keeping private data where it can be easily accessed.
The biggest problem is that Tivo has pretty much stopped innovating. Over that last 2 or 3 years, very little has changed in the core abilities of the Tivo. They've added small bells and whistles like playing MP3s and pictures on your TV and streaming shows from one Tivo to another, but the box hasn't really gotten better. Basic functionality hasn't gotten better at all in the last 2+ years I have it. Not even on the new units.
Back in college I did it for free for friend and friends-of-friends for a long time. It was a great way to meet girls, you get to be the guy who saved my 8 page paper, worked out pretty well as long as I did my best to not be a total nerd when I showed up. I got paid in beer pretty frequently.
After a while I was getting calls from people I had never even met or heard of, and it was taking up too much time. My roommate was somewhat less technically proficient, but he was more willing to do the dirty work. Sooner or later there was system where he'd check out most of the problems, and if he couldn't fix it, I'd take a look. That cut my time taken up by five fold, and I was dealing with only more interesting problems.
Now I charge a case of mirco-brew per hour. Most problems can get solved by a single rack. A reinstall earns me beer for a month.
Slashdot Mirror
I think the article wasn't so much focusing on profits, but more on culture. Fun hip coffee shops have turned into places where people bury themselves in the internet. No one talks, no one interacts, most people have headphones on. What was a very social place has become a very unsocial place, due to Wi-Fi.
It used to be a great place were you could go drink a great cup of coffee and probably meet a cute indy chick, but ever since WiFi, everyone is so buried in their iBooks updating their MySpace page that no one talks to each other.
The best part is watching the the Seattle Craigslist Missed Connection page fill up with "You are a cute 20 that something redhead sitting over there in the corner. Damn I wish you'd close your iBook so I could talk to you." posts.
But... On the other hand, these companies have libraries full of very valuable data, and they are having a very hard time controlling it. If they need to have the data then they need to be able to protect it.
Once your data has been stolen, it's gone forever. The value of the data is not the actual names/numbers/adresses, but the privacy of those names/numbers/addresses.
I essentially see this as the banks keeping my money on a big counter behind the tellers. Someone runs in, hops the counter and then runs out with a fistful of my cash. "Oops, we're sorry.", they say. Is it the teller's fault what happened? No, but whoever decided it was most convenient to leave my cash (or data) some place accessible better have some answers.
Here's an easy way to protect customer data. Unplug the network cable.
Holders of mass amounts of critical info need to learn that if they lose it, or mismanage it, that they will be held liable for hundred of millions of dollars in civil penalties, and years in prison for the most egregious cases of negligence.
Section 2.c. The Apple software is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control systems, life support machines or other equipment in which the failure of the Apple software could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage.
Maybe the Prius Kernel has the should have the same warning?
Some of our users have 5+ GB in each mailbox, which sucks because most mail clients aren't very good at maintaining databases of that size. It's not unusual for a user to lose lots of email due to corruption.
It's sad to see such a great pasttime die out. With the advent of super slick console gaming systems the industry has really fallen apart. It doesn't help that the best pinball manufacturers make a lot more money developing slot machines than pinball machines.
Too bad this one isn't an April Fools joke
Trying to use the wheel with the tip of your index finger, especially while the unit is not at chest height would prove to be very annoying, very quickly.
I'd love to have an Apple built set top box. Apple's thoughts on UI design and the importance of functionality would make a product with these features a great addition to my living room. Too bad it's April 1st.
I think taxing technology because one industry has been harmed by it is a bad habit to get started. Soon we'll be paying 1% to the record companies, .7% to the travel agents union, and 5% to phone companies (VOIP).
Security is not just for one party or the other. The school should have taken reasonable precautions to protect the data, and the students shouldn't take unreasonable efforts to discover the info.
There's no excuse for hacking, but there's also really no excuse for keeping private data where it can be easily accessed.
when using linx.
The biggest problem is that Tivo has pretty much stopped innovating. Over that last 2 or 3 years, very little has changed in the core abilities of the Tivo. They've added small bells and whistles like playing MP3s and pictures on your TV and streaming shows from one Tivo to another, but the box hasn't really gotten better. Basic functionality hasn't gotten better at all in the last 2+ years I have it. Not even on the new units.
Back in college I did it for free for friend and friends-of-friends for a long time. It was a great way to meet girls, you get to be the guy who saved my 8 page paper, worked out pretty well as long as I did my best to not be a total nerd when I showed up. I got paid in beer pretty frequently. After a while I was getting calls from people I had never even met or heard of, and it was taking up too much time. My roommate was somewhat less technically proficient, but he was more willing to do the dirty work. Sooner or later there was system where he'd check out most of the problems, and if he couldn't fix it, I'd take a look. That cut my time taken up by five fold, and I was dealing with only more interesting problems. Now I charge a case of mirco-brew per hour. Most problems can get solved by a single rack. A reinstall earns me beer for a month.