Indexing has nothing to do with sniffing data. Obfuscated TCP is opportunistic, which means that it only happens if the client requests it. It is not required.
This doesn't change indexing at all, except that if you really wanted, you could encrypt your spider traffic when spidering compatible web servers.
How curious. I go to a high school near this one (just outside Chicago), and we've had a couple similar incidents recently. One kid (a gray hat at best) busted into something because he could, did no damage, and brought it to the administration's (or perhaps IT staff's) attention. He was disciplined.
In another case, a student was cleaning up a messy computer lab, and accidently plugged both ends of the same cable into two network ports. He thought that the second end was leading to a computer (the room was cluttered). It brought down the entire network (>1000 nodes) for at least 12 hours, and he was nearly punished (the wizened up and let him off with a wrist-smacking).
Some students were found with command prompts on their student folders (stored on a school server). It was shown by the IT staff that they neither did nor intended any damage, and the IT staff saw no reason to punish them. While this was obviously stupid on the students' part, they were still punished (initally the school tried to suspend them but after administrative appeals settled for two Saturday detentions).
Just food for thought. It's obviously important that the IT in a high school keep up a secure network, and they should not trust students 100% (at least from the get-go). But punishing students for pointing out security flaws? The school should be thankful. It has always seemed to me that they could save a bundle by letting five or ten students come in over a weekend and, with supervision, try to crack the network. Rumor is that the IT department there instead hired independent consultants to evaluate their systems, and were told they needed either more consultants, or a larger IT staff. It's a tough job to administer a secure, functional network in a school. Especially a big high school.
I must disagree with the statement in the parent post that There is nothing added by adding a computer, but much is taken away. I attend a public high school, and while we have a computer lab, there is at least one computer in almost ever classroom. Some classes even have a screen and projector built in, and any teacher can request a cart with a laptop, projector and VCR. While it could be argued that some teachers deserve a built-in projector more than others, all the teachers I've had with one of them use it very well.
I'm in a multivariable calculus and linear algebra class, and the teacher uses a combination of laptop, LCD projector, calculator projector, and overhead projector to the class's advantage every day. He has problems and explanations queued up on a powerpoint, and then works them out on the overhead, occasionally showing us syntax and things on the calculator. This is very helpful and has never detracted from my learning experience.
As far as computers in the classroom go, they are also very helpful to the learning environment. Teachers do grades and attendance electronically, which expedites the process considerably. They can also easily distribute documents by posting them in an "info" folder accessable by their students on other computers in the school, and can collect files from those students in a "drop" folder. They even subscribe to a service that lets teachers check papers for plagerism. I have never seen a student try to changes grades with this system (though some have messed up the network a couple times).
The greatest problems that have arisen from computers in the classroom are those that stem from network downtime - teachers can't get as much done, and neither can students. Unfortunately, the IT department is not terribly adept (someone plugged a cat5 cable into two different network jacks, and it took down the entire network for a weekend). Computers in the classroom definitley augment, not detract from, kids' education.
I do believe the parent post was agreeing with your standpoint - mocking the people that "need" Hummers, and justifying such a purchase with the fact that it was already the End Of The World (or at least that The End Is Near).
As is clear from many other comments, there are lots of people out there who think (recognize?) that some analog media are in fact superior to their digital counterparts. While this is certainly true in some cases, the line is blurrier in others.
I was at a local high-end home audio and video store, where they had a number of large-screen TVs showing HDTV signals. I watched one for a little bit, and noticed considerable compression artifacts (looked like a JPEG). I asked one of the salespeople where the signal was from, and he said that it was digital HDTV. I asked why they used digital if it had artifacts like these, and his response was that consumers instinctively think "digital == better!" and so they run digital HDTV. And this was at a place with shelves of tube amps and speaker cables costing in the triple digits.
I guess it's the common ignorance/trend that's pusing digital everything, regardless of quality.
As a student at a public high school, I think there would be a very high interest (and quality of submissions) if you sponsored a contest of some sort. A robotics competition would be fun, but poorer schools (and many private schools, which usually tend to have less money) would be at a severe disadvantage. Perhaps a programming contest (though this would also require computers) or a purer math/physics competition would be good.
I know here in Illinois, there is a math league math league organized by the ICTM (I think - Illinois Council of Mathematics). You might want to sponsor a regional competition for something like this (ask around at local high schools to see if they have programs in place). This would probably be easier than sponsoring a competition from scratch.
Additionally, at least where I come from, there is a significant push to "close the minority achievement gap." Considerable efforts are made to get kids involved in science at an early age (one such program is called Project Excite.) You might want to get involved with one of these programs, too.
On a smaller scale, it would be cool just to see how an IT department is run - to get a sort of tour of your facilities, with an explanation of how they work, and how everything is run. Or, even better, you could invite high school kids to come try and break your security, as a sort of free security test. (Obviously, make sure they're not in a posistion to do any damage if they do get somewhere.
Good luck!
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this post is too small to contain.
Does no one else get this reference? This should definitely be modded 5, Funny. A reference to Fermat's last theorem was scribbled in the margins of one of his notebooks, saying the above post. It has so far not been proven if there any powers n >2 such that a^n + b^n = c^n for integers a b and c and n.
Sheesh, people! It should be so clear - if a person is causing a problem, you send them the bill. Just charge the suspect. Make sure to get the money before you do it. You could tell them it was for... I don't know, a nation-wide iPod purchasing campaign.
Slashdot Mirror
It's so that it costs more to index the web
No.
Indexing has nothing to do with sniffing data. Obfuscated TCP is opportunistic, which means that it only happens if the client requests it. It is not required.
This doesn't change indexing at all, except that if you really wanted, you could encrypt your spider traffic when spidering compatible web servers.
In another case, a student was cleaning up a messy computer lab, and accidently plugged both ends of the same cable into two network ports. He thought that the second end was leading to a computer (the room was cluttered). It brought down the entire network (>1000 nodes) for at least 12 hours, and he was nearly punished (the wizened up and let him off with a wrist-smacking).
Some students were found with command prompts on their student folders (stored on a school server). It was shown by the IT staff that they neither did nor intended any damage, and the IT staff saw no reason to punish them. While this was obviously stupid on the students' part, they were still punished (initally the school tried to suspend them but after administrative appeals settled for two Saturday detentions).
Just food for thought. It's obviously important that the IT in a high school keep up a secure network, and they should not trust students 100% (at least from the get-go). But punishing students for pointing out security flaws? The school should be thankful. It has always seemed to me that they could save a bundle by letting five or ten students come in over a weekend and, with supervision, try to crack the network. Rumor is that the IT department there instead hired independent consultants to evaluate their systems, and were told they needed either more consultants, or a larger IT staff. It's a tough job to administer a secure, functional network in a school. Especially a big high school.
Note to self: buy powerbook, not IBM.
I'm in a multivariable calculus and linear algebra class, and the teacher uses a combination of laptop, LCD projector, calculator projector, and overhead projector to the class's advantage every day. He has problems and explanations queued up on a powerpoint, and then works them out on the overhead, occasionally showing us syntax and things on the calculator. This is very helpful and has never detracted from my learning experience. As far as computers in the classroom go, they are also very helpful to the learning environment. Teachers do grades and attendance electronically, which expedites the process considerably. They can also easily distribute documents by posting them in an "info" folder accessable by their students on other computers in the school, and can collect files from those students in a "drop" folder. They even subscribe to a service that lets teachers check papers for plagerism. I have never seen a student try to changes grades with this system (though some have messed up the network a couple times).
The greatest problems that have arisen from computers in the classroom are those that stem from network downtime - teachers can't get as much done, and neither can students. Unfortunately, the IT department is not terribly adept (someone plugged a cat5 cable into two different network jacks, and it took down the entire network for a weekend). Computers in the classroom definitley augment, not detract from, kids' education.
I do believe the parent post was agreeing with your standpoint - mocking the people that "need" Hummers, and justifying such a purchase with the fact that it was already the End Of The World (or at least that The End Is Near).
I was at a local high-end home audio and video store, where they had a number of large-screen TVs showing HDTV signals. I watched one for a little bit, and noticed considerable compression artifacts (looked like a JPEG). I asked one of the salespeople where the signal was from, and he said that it was digital HDTV. I asked why they used digital if it had artifacts like these, and his response was that consumers instinctively think "digital == better!" and so they run digital HDTV. And this was at a place with shelves of tube amps and speaker cables costing in the triple digits.
I guess it's the common ignorance/trend that's pusing digital everything, regardless of quality.
I know here in Illinois, there is a math league math league organized by the ICTM (I think - Illinois Council of Mathematics). You might want to sponsor a regional competition for something like this (ask around at local high schools to see if they have programs in place). This would probably be easier than sponsoring a competition from scratch.
Additionally, at least where I come from, there is a significant push to "close the minority achievement gap." Considerable efforts are made to get kids involved in science at an early age (one such program is called Project Excite.) You might want to get involved with one of these programs, too.
On a smaller scale, it would be cool just to see how an IT department is run - to get a sort of tour of your facilities, with an explanation of how they work, and how everything is run. Or, even better, you could invite high school kids to come try and break your security, as a sort of free security test. (Obviously, make sure they're not in a posistion to do any damage if they do get somewhere. Good luck!
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this post is too small to contain. Does no one else get this reference? This should definitely be modded 5, Funny. A reference to Fermat's last theorem was scribbled in the margins of one of his notebooks, saying the above post. It has so far not been proven if there any powers n >2 such that a^n + b^n = c^n for integers a b and c and n.
Sheesh, people! It should be so clear - if a person is causing a problem, you send them the bill. Just charge the suspect. Make sure to get the money before you do it. You could tell them it was for... I don't know, a nation-wide iPod purchasing campaign.