"We are a funding organisation that ships £90m around the world - the last thing you want to do is open up your systems to anybody to have a look at to deal with bugs," he said.
I really don't follow this logic.. That doesn't make any sense.
He seems to think that if you are using open source software, it means your data server's admin account is available to anyone?
Hands up those who think that Microsoft created the Zune specifically for this purpose... What a jerk move, setting the bar lower so Apple will have to stoop. Way to be a team player. I hate to repeat this annoying phrase, but: "And this benefits the consumer, how?"
If someone knows the position of even one Republican candidate on your ballot, then they can deduce the remainder of the ballot (at least as far as Republicans are concerned--so they know, by looking at your receipt, when you did or did not vote Republican).
One would assume that if ballots are randomized, they do not know "the position of even one Republican candidate." What you're saying here is, if they know something about the order of the ballot, they can deduce the order of the ballot. Wow, nice insight. The whole point is that the order is randomized. If it's randomized between ballots, I don't see how they could know anything about the vote on that particular ballot. All they would see, if the person votes consistantly for the same party, is, "A A A A", or "B B B B". They still have no idea what that means, and thus can't see whether they voted Republican or Democrat or whatever. All they know is that the person voted for the same party in each section.
Your points are based on problems with the current voting system in some states. This is suggestion a NEW voting system. So yes, order would have to be randomized. This is a change that would have to be made. I don't see the problem..
jpeg compression is nontrivial. The guy(s) that came up with it should be able to make a living off their hard work.
While I do agree with you, it's kind of funny how the only reason it's really worth anything is because it's used so much. And the only reason it's used so much is because people used it without paying the license fee.
Same can be said for gif and mp3... I recognize that that's no excuse, but it's kind of funny anyways. Had the patent been enforced from day zero, it wouldn't have nearly as much worth.
For some reason this reminds me of the movie Office Space. You know the part where he intended to hack the system to put all the little tiny sub-cent transactions into a savings account, but he fucked up and put the decimal point in the wrong place and suddenly they were transferrings hundreds of dollars instead of cents..?
This "changing the votes" thing is just too obvious to have been done on purpose. I bet there was a hack in place to change some of the votes, but someone fucked up and it starting changing WAY too many of the votes and it's become blarringly obvious that there's a something wrong...
It's all about the virtual desktop switching
on
How Many Windows?
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· Score: 1
I've gotten so used to virtual desktops, it's really ideal. It's a feature I just can't believe is still not built into Windows or OS X. But under Windows I now always install VirtuaWin right away and use it constantly. I set it up to switch between desktops with Alt-Ctrl-Left and Alt-Ctrl-Right. Under OS X there is a program called Desktop Manager that does the same thing, but with pretty switching effects.:)
Seriously, I got hooked on using multiple desktops under Linux and I can't go back. It's one of the few GUI "features" I honestly feel has increased my productivity. Right up there with the mouse scroll wheel. I can't believe I lived without it for so long back in the Windows 2000/98 days. And to think that it's been on Unix/Linux for years without being "copied" yet! (By the first party vendor, that is.)
To answer the original question, I usually about 1 or 2 windows open per desktop, with 4 desktops configured. But it depends what I'm doing. I am one of those "close it when I'm done" kind of people, but memory caching does wonders... starting up FireFox after it's been closed is quite quick, no matter what operating system you're using.
MySpace will review all music audio recordings uploaded by community members to their profiles, identifies that which is copyrighted, and blocks the uploading of such music as appropriate.
It says NOTHING about how this will be implemented. For all we know, they are not cutting the human out of this process. It's very, very possible that they'll be using fingerprinting to flag potential copyright violations, and have a human review it before deciding to reject an upload.
Besides this, audio fingerprinting is not a binary process: "is a known track / is not a known track". Many implementations return a "confidence" value, or even the top 3 "best guesses". Thus, it could automate the process for, say, hits where the system is 98% sure that it's a copyright violation or above, but notify a human for hits that are between 80% and 98%.
I really don't see a problem with utilizing statistical techniques to determine whether or not a song is likely copied off of a CD. There's nothing unethical about identifying music. I'm really surprised at the number of negative posts here...
well, since pretty much EVERY SINGLE COMMENT thus far has been either "duh its not halloween yet" or "nerdcore is shitty music made by wannabes in their basements", I thought I'd try to offer a positive comment here...
(Though, by now, I guess I've realized that if you think you can post something creative to slashdot and actually get something other than knee-jerk reactions and bitter, jaded comments, you're just asking for it... If there's one thing I've learned, it's that Slashdotters can be mean.)
So I just wanted to say: Here are some people who've gotten together and made some music, and published it on the web under a creative commons license, just being happy if people listen and enjoy their stuff. Here's a big THANK YOU for having a great attitude in your work. Tip 'o the hat.
(Actually I don't see a license on their site... I guess that means its Public Domain by default? In any case..)
and the next new release will be called...
on
Ubuntu 6.10 is Out
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· Score: 1
You know, I really am not one to complain about Linux naming schemes. I actually LIKE all those crazy names for applications and operating systems, I think it's kind of fun. I think Dapper Drake sounds okay, and Edgy Eft sounds great. But I received the Ubuntu newsletter recently...
Did anyone notice the name for the next version???
Anyone??
wait for it..... "The Feisty Fawn".
Seriously. What.. the.. fuck?
It makes it rather difficult for me to talk about my operating system with people... you know..
"Hey, yeah I just installed the latest version of Feisty."
Cool! As a Montreal resident, not only is this possibly the first time I've seen Quebec in a Slashdot headline, but it's announcing something I agree with, too! Hurray!
.. just waiting for the day that bittorrent is built into Firefox..;-)
(yes i tried it myself a bit but got distracted..)
But seriously, even for automatic updates, it would certainly take a load off the servers. (Perhaps falling back to http if it's not available through a firewall or whatever.) Bittorrent's not restricted to only files over 500MB, it works fine for smaller files too. Azureus, for example, uses this technique (somewhat obviously, I guess.)
Plus, it's pretty stupid to encrypt myspace browsing or slashdot or whatever the kids do these days.
Hm, looks like I should have been more specific in my post.. I really just intended to mean connections for sessions where you log in, presumably where it matters a little more. I didn't mean to suggest encrypting my browsing of myspace or the like. (Not that I ever do.)
I meant primarily with email servers, bank stuff (which does it already I guess), and maybe certain forums or whatnot. Anywyas, it was just a thought.
I pretty much always connect to my university's VPN server whenever I connect to an unencrypted wireless access point.
Mostly just so my email doesn't go over the airwaves unencrypted, otherwise I don't care much, since most sites I use that ask for passwords use SSL at least for transmitting the password.
Why is it that more sites don't operate completely on SSL, by the way? I've noticed that a lot of sites use SSL just for the password and then drop to a regular HTTP connection after you log in. Why not just keep the encryption for the entire session?
Both of these products, and Norton too, piss me off to no end when trying to debug problems on my friends' computers. I would never install them on my own computer, and haven't needed anything like it in ages on any other operating system. Since I end up having to reinstall Windows ANYWAYS, I always just tell people not to worry so much about viruses. I just tell them, don't click something stupid, don't use IE, you'll be fine. It's just one more "fear factor" that is so abundant in people's lives these days. Viruses are the last thing anyone should be afraid of.
Anti-virus software is nothing but leeches on CPU time, memory, and network speed.
All I know is that when I get a phone call in the middle of the day and it's a MACHINE on the other end, I hang up RIGHT AWAY. The LAST thing I need is machines calling me, something that seems to be happening more and more often lately. Frankly I don't care if its a message, a survey, or if they're trying to sell me something, have a PERSON call me. There's nothing more offensive that getting a phone call from a freaking ROBOT. DAMN ROBOTS!!! *shakes fist in the air*
So who the hell is actually clicking on all these online advertisements? Who is actually responding to and buying things from spam emails?
I just don't understand how these kinds of things can be profitable, given that I've never met anyone dumb enough to fall for them. I certainly have almost NEVER seen an internet ad and said, "hey that's just what I'm looking for! CLICK."
I mean, I understand that it has value in the sense that it puts logos in front of peoples faces and reminds them about products and such, but where is the direct value in online advertising? No one honestly clicks on website ads on purpose.
This is brilliant. I can imagine some sort of program which could archive all your files and configuration information, and then.. perhaps some sort of compression could be applied to allow for greater portability. Great idea! Someone should try implementing this for Linux.
Surely if one applies occams razor to the question, we must believe strongly in the possibility that Mars does indeed have the capability of supporting some forms of primitive life.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is a misuse of Occam's Razor. The principle basically says that the solution that requires the fewest number of variables is most likely to be correct. So in this case, the existance of life on mars is a big "extra", if the presence of methane can be explained without it.
Slashdot Mirror
I really don't follow this logic..
That doesn't make any sense.
He seems to think that if you are using open source software, it means your data server's admin account is available to anyone?
Hands up those who think that Microsoft created the Zune specifically for this purpose...
What a jerk move, setting the bar lower so Apple will have to stoop.
Way to be a team player.
I hate to repeat this annoying phrase, but: "And this benefits the consumer, how?"
One would assume that if ballots are randomized, they do not know "the position of even one Republican candidate." What you're saying here is, if they know something about the order of the ballot, they can deduce the order of the ballot. Wow, nice insight. The whole point is that the order is randomized. If it's randomized between ballots, I don't see how they could know anything about the vote on that particular ballot. All they would see, if the person votes consistantly for the same party, is, "A A A A", or "B B B B". They still have no idea what that means, and thus can't see whether they voted Republican or Democrat or whatever. All they know is that the person voted for the same party in each section.
So... maybe I just don't understand your point.
Your points are based on problems with the current voting system in some states. This is suggestion a NEW voting system. So yes, order would have to be randomized. This is a change that would have to be made. I don't see the problem..
I assume that the order is consistant within ballots, but randomized between voters.
I'm actually kind of surprised no one's started a wiki like this... :)
While I do agree with you, it's kind of funny how the only reason it's really worth anything is because it's used so much. And the only reason it's used so much is because people used it without paying the license fee.
Same can be said for gif and mp3... I recognize that that's no excuse, but it's kind of funny anyways. Had the patent been enforced from day zero, it wouldn't have nearly as much worth.
For some reason this reminds me of the movie Office Space. You know the part where he intended to hack the system to put all the little tiny sub-cent transactions into a savings account, but he fucked up and put the decimal point in the wrong place and suddenly they were transferrings hundreds of dollars instead of cents..?
This "changing the votes" thing is just too obvious to have been done on purpose. I bet there was a hack in place to change some of the votes, but someone fucked up and it starting changing WAY too many of the votes and it's become blarringly obvious that there's a something wrong...
I've gotten so used to virtual desktops, it's really ideal. It's a feature I just can't believe is still not built into Windows or OS X. But under Windows I now always install VirtuaWin right away and use it constantly. I set it up to switch between desktops with Alt-Ctrl-Left and Alt-Ctrl-Right. Under OS X there is a program called Desktop Manager that does the same thing, but with pretty switching effects. :)
Seriously, I got hooked on using multiple desktops under Linux and I can't go back. It's one of the few GUI "features" I honestly feel has increased my productivity. Right up there with the mouse scroll wheel. I can't believe I lived without it for so long back in the Windows 2000/98 days. And to think that it's been on Unix/Linux for years without being "copied" yet! (By the first party vendor, that is.)
To answer the original question, I usually about 1 or 2 windows open per desktop, with 4 desktops configured. But it depends what I'm doing. I am one of those "close it when I'm done" kind of people, but memory caching does wonders... starting up FireFox after it's been closed is quite quick, no matter what operating system you're using.
It says NOTHING about how this will be implemented. For all we know, they are not cutting the human out of this process. It's very, very possible that they'll be using fingerprinting to flag potential copyright violations, and have a human review it before deciding to reject an upload.
Besides this, audio fingerprinting is not a binary process: "is a known track / is not a known track". Many implementations return a "confidence" value, or even the top 3 "best guesses". Thus, it could automate the process for, say, hits where the system is 98% sure that it's a copyright violation or above, but notify a human for hits that are between 80% and 98%.
I really don't see a problem with utilizing statistical techniques to determine whether or not a song is likely copied off of a CD. There's nothing unethical about identifying music. I'm really surprised at the number of negative posts here...
Right. That makes more sense. :)
Thanks.
well, since pretty much EVERY SINGLE COMMENT thus far has been either "duh its not halloween yet" or "nerdcore is shitty music made by wannabes in their basements", I thought I'd try to offer a positive comment here...
(Though, by now, I guess I've realized that if you think you can post something creative to slashdot and actually get something other than knee-jerk reactions and bitter, jaded comments, you're just asking for it... If there's one thing I've learned, it's that Slashdotters can be mean.)
So I just wanted to say: Here are some people who've gotten together and made some music, and published it on the web under a creative commons license, just being happy if people listen and enjoy their stuff. Here's a big THANK YOU for having a great attitude in your work. Tip 'o the hat.
(Actually I don't see a license on their site... I guess that means its Public Domain by default? In any case..)
You know, I really am not one to complain about Linux naming schemes. I actually LIKE all those crazy names for applications and operating systems, I think it's kind of fun. I think Dapper Drake sounds okay, and Edgy Eft sounds great. But I received the Ubuntu newsletter recently...
.. fuck?
Did anyone notice the name for the next version???
Anyone??
wait for it..... "The Feisty Fawn".
Seriously.
What.. the
It makes it rather difficult for me to talk about my operating system with people... you know..
"Hey, yeah I just installed the latest version of Feisty."
"you what"?
Cool!
As a Montreal resident, not only is this possibly the first time I've seen Quebec in a Slashdot headline, but it's announcing something I agree with, too! Hurray!
(yes i tried it myself a bit but got distracted..)
But seriously, even for automatic updates, it would certainly take a load off the servers. (Perhaps falling back to http if it's not available through a firewall or whatever.) Bittorrent's not restricted to only files over 500MB, it works fine for smaller files too. Azureus, for example, uses this technique (somewhat obviously, I guess.)
Write once! Run anywhere! Woohoo!!!
Hm, looks like I should have been more specific in my post.. I really just intended to mean connections for sessions where you log in, presumably where it matters a little more. I didn't mean to suggest encrypting my browsing of myspace or the like. (Not that I ever do.)
I meant primarily with email servers, bank stuff (which does it already I guess), and maybe certain forums or whatnot. Anywyas, it was just a thought.
I pretty much always connect to my university's VPN server whenever I connect to an unencrypted wireless access point.
Mostly just so my email doesn't go over the airwaves unencrypted, otherwise I don't care much, since most sites I use that ask for passwords use SSL at least for transmitting the password.
Why is it that more sites don't operate completely on SSL, by the way? I've noticed that a lot of sites use SSL just for the password and then drop to a regular HTTP connection after you log in. Why not just keep the encryption for the entire session?
riddance.
Both of these products, and Norton too, piss me off to no end when trying to debug problems on my friends' computers. I would never install them on my own computer, and haven't needed anything like it in ages on any other operating system. Since I end up having to reinstall Windows ANYWAYS, I always just tell people not to worry so much about viruses. I just tell them, don't click something stupid, don't use IE, you'll be fine. It's just one more "fear factor" that is so abundant in people's lives these days. Viruses are the last thing anyone should be afraid of.
Anti-virus software is nothing but leeches on CPU time, memory, and network speed.
All I know is that when I get a phone call in the middle of the day and it's a MACHINE on the other end, I hang up RIGHT AWAY. The LAST thing I need is machines calling me, something that seems to be happening more and more often lately. Frankly I don't care if its a message, a survey, or if they're trying to sell me something, have a PERSON call me. There's nothing more offensive that getting a phone call from a freaking ROBOT. DAMN ROBOTS!!! *shakes fist in the air*
So who the hell is actually clicking on all these online advertisements?
Who is actually responding to and buying things from spam emails?
I just don't understand how these kinds of things can be profitable, given that I've never met anyone dumb enough to fall for them. I certainly have almost NEVER seen an internet ad and said, "hey that's just what I'm looking for! CLICK."
I mean, I understand that it has value in the sense that it puts logos in front of peoples faces and reminds them about products and such, but where is the direct value in online advertising? No one honestly clicks on website ads on purpose.
This is brilliant. I can imagine some sort of program which could archive all your files and configuration information, and then.. perhaps some sort of compression could be applied to allow for greater portability. Great idea! Someone should try implementing this for Linux.
somehow, I find myself NOT wanting to shine lasers directly into my retinas.
i dunno. maybe its just me.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is a misuse of Occam's Razor. The principle basically says that the solution that requires the fewest number of variables is most likely to be correct. So in this case, the existance of life on mars is a big "extra", if the presence of methane can be explained without it.
For some giggles, I highly recommended the following: /usr/src/linux# grep -iR fuck .