This would, for most slashdotters, be nothing to worry about. For those of you who didn't RTFA, the entire attack is limited by this particular little gem of info:
He had to send himself thousands of copies of the same message each one holding an encoded chunk of HTML that reported back to him when it got past the filter.
The concept is that the spammer has to find words that are so common in a person's ham that including them in spam would fool the filter. However, as those words are unique to each person, a lot (thousands or more) of spam must be sent to test the filter. The problem for the spammer is to figure out which spam actually got through (in order to identify the important words) - something s/he's not able to do for users with a decent email client...
I still feel quite confident that SpamBayes will keep my inbox free from spam.
[...] but I will argue that the large amount of time it takes to get [some distro of] Linux up and running can make Linux unusable. There is a treshold; any user, no matter how committed, will stop trying to get Linux working after N hours of trying and failing, where N varies with the individual.
Obviously. My point is that there are distros around nowadays that drop below this number N, for most users. This is of course entirely subjective, but I can say for sure that there are definately (this I know from personal experience) distros around where this time is lower than it is for Windows XP. So, the user who wouldn't have the patience to install said Linux distro, wouldn't have the patience to install Windows either.
Anyway, I don't think we're getting anywhere. You are obviously a happy windows user (puzzling as it is), and there's no reason you should stop being that. I believe we're starting to repeat ourselves (I more so than you, I'm afraid), and that's usually a good time to drop an argument;)
Last time I wanted to try Linux, it took several distros before I found one that would even install and boot without errors.
This, I think, is the real problem. You look at linux as something homogenous - and then you attribute the problem of <any distro> to them all. I personally run Debian, because it's what I'm comfortable with. I would probably not suggest that to anyone who hasn't got a lot of unix/linux experience. What I believe that you ignore (or simply do not know!), is that there are a number of Linux distributions out there that solve these problems. I mentioned Knoppix, as it's the only one I've ever tried. There are sever others - and according to second hand knowledge, some are even better. The only problem, I'd say, is that it's not obvious to most people which distro to use, and picking the wrong one is sure to end in, as you say "a HUGE waste of time" for first time users. This is unfortunate, but it doesn't really equal "Linux is unusable for everyone who isn't a programmer".
I do find it interesting that someone working in tech support at a major university condones piracy, but I'm not going to deny that you have a point there. OTOH, non technical users seldom have the knowledge to locate pirated copies of the software they'd need (if they even know the software exists!), so I honestly think the point (disregarding the fact that it essentially says "You have to be a criminal to use Windows - but that's alright") is disqualified anyway.
works out of the box (possibly given a visit to Windows Update),
If we consider pre installed machines, so does Linux. If you don't - well, I had a lot easier time installing Knoppix than I had installing Windows XP.
autodetects all your hardware (some Linux distros do this yes, but not nearly as well),
A (the only) valid point.
does NOT get you rooted because the security is there if you know how to use it (and not use IE/Outlook),
What you're saying is "If I do all the right things, and keep patching all the time, it's fairly secure.". Please name a modern OS this isn't true for.
does play all the latest games and software which I need (the alternatives suck, try comparing Photoshop with GIMP),
Silly comparison. Adobe costs $650. GIMP is free. For most people $650 is a bit too much to cough up. So yes - most (far from all) software is available. Paying for all the software I need however, would consume most of my income.
does have free and competent technical support available which does not have "STFU NOOB" in its vocabulary,
Again, a silly and very subjective statement. I've found technical linux support extremely helpful and accessible. I don't know where you look, or how you behave, to be treated like that - but I can assure you that similar places can be found when looking for Windows help.
does not require me to devote a significant amount of my free time just to get it installed and working semi-well.
Well, this is pretty much reiterating your first point (sure looks better with a longer list though). But please, tell me how much amount of your free time is consumed by inserting a boot CD and then asking it to install the working system to HD. Granted, if you're on the net Knoppix does ask for some IP config parameters - so that's more than a two step procedure...
I don't have the patience to bother with Linux, so I don't use it, simple as that. People who think everyone can and should switch today are idiots and don't deserve a +5 moderation.
One could of course argue that people who have so strong opinions about how something works, even though they they admit that they don't use it are idiots too...:)
It is, all by itself, a compelling reason to learn C++ if you don't already know it.
And even if you for some reason want to avoid C++, there's a good chance that you'll be able to use it. I spend my days coding a QT application in Python using PyQT. I have, on occasion, had to read a couple of lines of C++ code (in the rare case when the QT documentation lacks some detail), but never needed to produce a single line of C++ myself.
Are the free lawyers actually any good in Norway? Speaking as someone with experience in being charged with a crime I didn't commit, I had the choice of going with the public defender (who, to quote from a movie whose name I can't remember, "Will personally escort you to the electric chair") or coughing up the $150/hr to get a real lawyer I coughed up the money.
And this, my friend, is exactly why I've decided to stay in northern Europe, rather than moving to the US.
I agree, C is better for science, but in the real world who cares where water boils or freezes.
When water freezes is extremely relevant in "the real world". Whether there will be rain/wet or snow/ice outside is extremely relevant - at least where I live. Having 100 as the boiling point of water isn't quite as important, but still pretty sensible. Usually, one degree C is small enough to be sufficient in accuracy (I have really never seen anyone change the thermostat by half a degree, as you claim), and having two points on a scale that sort of relates to the same thing (water, in this case) is pretty intuitive...
I'm quite sure it was 1994, but it could have been 93 or 95 too (my most active BBS days)
It was definately not something that was pirated off a CD. Rather, the sysop of one of the local Amiga BBSs introduced a number of mp3s as an alternative to the.mod format which was dominating the Amiga music scene. This essentially means they contained music someone had produced on his Amiga and distributed in much the same way demos were distributed - primarily to show off that they were cool:)
Photoshop is a tool for professionals. Professionals can afford it. If you're not a professional you don't need it and it's not being marketed to you anyway.
Not only is this a very elitist statement, it also ignores the fact that in order to become good at something (which a professional should be, right?) you need experience and practice. How are you going to aquire experience and practice, if you're unable to use the necessary tools?
Now, I'm biased, of course, as I'm Swedish, but what strikes me as odd whenever I leave the Nordic countries, and in particular when I decided to live in the UK for half a year or so is how everything elsewhere tend not to work properly. Something is always broken. Once a week there's no hot water, once a month there's no water at all. The wind blows right through gaps between windows and frames, trains are regularly late, the elevator seems to always be broken, and you'll have to take the stairs... the list is endless...
Oh well... that's probably one of the main reasons I moved back. Heck, it's even warmer here in the winter than in the UK. Why? Because once you're inside, the house actually keeps a different temperature than outside;)
...but an empty Amiga screen (the one that appeared when Workbench couldn't load properly in at least 1.3) being aired on a local (Oppna kanalen, Gothenburg, Sweden) TV channel. I guess this was related to the fact that they used to play old Amiga modules (as in the music files -.mod) during downtime...
Software should be as easy to edit as a PowerPoint presentation
I don't know... I'm capable of programming in a handful of different languages. But I've never been able to spend less than three hours on a bloody PowerPoint presentation and produce more than a single slide. I say programming is much simpler;)
I want something that's exactly like a T1, except I only want to pay $60 a month. TIA.
Funny thing is that this exists. Dunno about the US, but my ISP in Sweden offers a.5/2.5 Mbps line (soon to be upgraded to 26/26) and several static IP-numbers. No ports blocked. Well, the differance is that it's more like $40 a month.
The QT online documentation is not easy to navigate. They should take a lesson from the Java API docs and reorganize the QT docs along those lines.
Read the doc in the QT Assistant, an application designed specifically for the task. You'll notice that soon you find your way around about as easily as you do with the online Java doc. Maybe not the optimal solution for you (it sure ain't for me), but it works.
Heh, ITV is reporting that Computer experts are investigating whether a worm that takes advantage of a flaw in the Windows operating system might be to blame. [last paragraph in article right now]
when you have *free* alternatives... utterly *free*, suddenly that $1500 is a whole lot of money.
But you don't. Seriously, what alternatives to QT do you suggest? If you need something with a configurable look, looks sort of like native Windows apps on Windows, is supported on Linux, OS X, Windows and Solaris, and is fairly mature and stable.
Slashdot Mirror
This would, for most slashdotters, be nothing to worry about. For those of you who didn't RTFA, the entire attack is limited by this particular little gem of info:
He had to send himself thousands of copies of the same message each one holding an encoded chunk of HTML that reported back to him when it got past the filter.
The concept is that the spammer has to find words that are so common in a person's ham that including them in spam would fool the filter. However, as those words are unique to each person, a lot (thousands or more) of spam must be sent to test the filter. The problem for the spammer is to figure out which spam actually got through (in order to identify the important words) - something s/he's not able to do for users with a decent email client...
I still feel quite confident that SpamBayes will keep my inbox free from spam.
[...] but I will argue that the large amount of time it takes to get [some distro of] Linux up and running can make Linux unusable. There is a treshold; any user, no matter how committed, will stop trying to get Linux working after N hours of trying and failing, where N varies with the individual.
;)
Obviously. My point is that there are distros around nowadays that drop below this number N, for most users. This is of course entirely subjective, but I can say for sure that there are definately (this I know from personal experience) distros around where this time is lower than it is for Windows XP. So, the user who wouldn't have the patience to install said Linux distro, wouldn't have the patience to install Windows either.
Anyway, I don't think we're getting anywhere. You are obviously a happy windows user (puzzling as it is), and there's no reason you should stop being that. I believe we're starting to repeat ourselves (I more so than you, I'm afraid), and that's usually a good time to drop an argument
Damn well put and me without mod points.
:)
I prefer a comment (especially a positive one:) over moderation any day, so that's quite alright.
Thank you
Last time I wanted to try Linux, it took several distros before I found one that would even install and boot without errors.
This, I think, is the real problem. You look at linux as something homogenous - and then you attribute the problem of <any distro> to them all.
I personally run Debian, because it's what I'm comfortable with. I would probably not suggest that to anyone who hasn't got a lot of unix/linux experience. What I believe that you ignore (or simply do not know!), is that there are a number of Linux distributions out there that solve these problems. I mentioned Knoppix, as it's the only one I've ever tried. There are sever others - and according to second hand knowledge, some are even better.
The only problem, I'd say, is that it's not obvious to most people which distro to use, and picking the wrong one is sure to end in, as you say "a HUGE waste of time" for first time users. This is unfortunate, but it doesn't really equal "Linux is unusable for everyone who isn't a programmer".
I do find it interesting that someone working in tech support at a major university condones piracy, but I'm not going to deny that you have a point there. OTOH, non technical users seldom have the knowledge to locate pirated copies of the software they'd need (if they even know the software exists!), so I honestly think the point (disregarding the fact that it essentially says "You have to be a criminal to use Windows - but that's alright") is disqualified anyway.
works out of the box (possibly given a visit to Windows Update),
:)
If we consider pre installed machines, so does Linux. If you don't - well, I had a lot easier time installing Knoppix than I had installing Windows XP.
autodetects all your hardware (some Linux distros do this yes, but not nearly as well),
A (the only) valid point.
does NOT get you rooted because the security is there if you know how to use it (and not use IE/Outlook),
What you're saying is "If I do all the right things, and keep patching all the time, it's fairly secure.". Please name a modern OS this isn't true for.
does play all the latest games and software which I need (the alternatives suck, try comparing Photoshop with GIMP),
Silly comparison. Adobe costs $650. GIMP is free. For most people $650 is a bit too much to cough up. So yes - most (far from all) software is available. Paying for all the software I need however, would consume most of my income.
does have free and competent technical support available which does not have "STFU NOOB" in its vocabulary,
Again, a silly and very subjective statement. I've found technical linux support extremely helpful and accessible. I don't know where you look, or how you behave, to be treated like that - but I can assure you that similar places can be found when looking for Windows help.
does not require me to devote a significant amount of my free time just to get it installed and working semi-well.
Well, this is pretty much reiterating your first point (sure looks better with a longer list though). But please, tell me how much amount of your free time is consumed by inserting a boot CD and then asking it to install the working system to HD. Granted, if you're on the net Knoppix does ask for some IP config parameters - so that's more than a two step procedure...
I don't have the patience to bother with Linux, so I don't use it, simple as that. People who think everyone can and should switch today are idiots and don't deserve a +5 moderation.
One could of course argue that people who have so strong opinions about how something works, even though they they admit that they don't use it are idiots too...
It is, all by itself, a compelling reason to learn C++ if you don't already know it.
And even if you for some reason want to avoid C++, there's a good chance that you'll be able to use it. I spend my days coding a QT application in Python using PyQT.
I have, on occasion, had to read a couple of lines of C++ code (in the rare case when the QT documentation lacks some detail), but never needed to produce a single line of C++ myself.
Are the free lawyers actually any good in Norway? Speaking as someone with experience in being charged with a crime I didn't commit, I had the choice of going with the public defender (who, to quote from a movie whose name I can't remember, "Will personally escort you to the electric chair") or coughing up the $150/hr to get a real lawyer I coughed up the money.
And this, my friend, is exactly why I've decided to stay in northern Europe, rather than moving to the US.
I agree, C is better for science, but in the real world who cares where water boils or freezes.
When water freezes is extremely relevant in "the real world". Whether there will be rain/wet or snow/ice outside is extremely relevant - at least where I live.
Having 100 as the boiling point of water isn't quite as important, but still pretty sensible. Usually, one degree C is small enough to be sufficient in accuracy (I have really never seen anyone change the thermostat by half a degree, as you claim), and having two points on a scale that sort of relates to the same thing (water, in this case) is pretty intuitive...
QT's license is GPL, while GNOME uses LGPL
As you most certainly know, but fail to mention is that QT is only licensed under the GPL for non commersial, non Windows use. Otherwise, you have to buy a commersial, non GPL compatible license.
I'm a QT fan, but that doesn't mean we should start hiding the truth just to make it look better.
I'm quite sure it was 1994, but it could have been 93 or 95 too (my most active BBS days)
.mod format which was dominating the Amiga music scene. This essentially means they contained music someone had produced on his Amiga and distributed in much the same way demos were distributed - primarily to show off that they were cool :)
It was definately not something that was pirated off a CD. Rather, the sysop of one of the local Amiga BBSs introduced a number of mp3s as an alternative to the
Photoshop is a tool for professionals. Professionals can afford it. If you're not a professional you don't need it and it's not being marketed to you anyway.
Not only is this a very elitist statement, it also ignores the fact that in order to become good at something (which a professional should be, right?) you need experience and practice.
How are you going to aquire experience and practice, if you're unable to use the necessary tools?
...once we get started with saving the economy ;)
That sounds a whole lot like Google fight :)
;)
This wasn't the answer I was hoping for either
The only problem is that the head of the government spends all his time playing American lapdog . . .
;)
Sounds like we (Sweden) have more in common with Japan than I thought
and everything works!!!
;)
Amen to that, brother.
Now, I'm biased, of course, as I'm Swedish, but what strikes me as odd whenever I leave the Nordic countries, and in particular when I decided to live in the UK for half a year or so is how everything elsewhere tend not to work properly. Something is always broken. Once a week there's no hot water, once a month there's no water at all. The wind blows right through gaps between windows and frames, trains are regularly late, the elevator seems to always be broken, and you'll have to take the stairs... the list is endless...
Oh well... that's probably one of the main reasons I moved back. Heck, it's even warmer here in the winter than in the UK. Why? Because once you're inside, the house actually keeps a different temperature than outside
Oh, well... congrats, J. You deserved to win.
...but an empty Amiga screen (the one that appeared when Workbench couldn't load properly in at least 1.3) being aired on a local (Oppna kanalen, Gothenburg, Sweden) TV channel. I guess this was related to the fact that they used to play old Amiga modules (as in the music files - .mod) during downtime...
The fact that MapQuest aren't accurate while MapBlast are, is hardly something that you can blame NavTech for, as both of them use NavTech map data.
Software should be as easy to edit as a PowerPoint presentation
;)
I don't know... I'm capable of programming in a handful of different languages. But I've never been able to spend less than three hours on a bloody PowerPoint presentation and produce more than a single slide.
I say programming is much simpler
I want something that's exactly like a T1, except I only want to pay $60 a month. TIA.
.5/2.5 Mbps line (soon to be upgraded to 26/26) and several static IP-numbers. No ports blocked.
Funny thing is that this exists. Dunno about the US, but my ISP in Sweden offers a
Well, the differance is that it's more like $40 a month.
Yep, a bit off topic, but there are some interesting ones in movies too. How about Pussy Galore?
[...] has concluded that the use of multiple monitors in the workplace increases productivity.
Yeah, I hate it when all developers have to share a single monitor. Sucks.
The QT online documentation is not easy to navigate. They should take a lesson from the Java API docs and reorganize the QT docs along those lines.
Read the doc in the QT Assistant, an application designed specifically for the task. You'll notice that soon you find your way around about as easily as you do with the online Java doc. Maybe not the optimal solution for you (it sure ain't for me), but it works.
There's no need for conservation if we can produce enough electricity to cover our needs...
That depends on the cost of producing it.
Heh, ITV is reporting that
Computer experts are investigating whether a worm that takes advantage of a flaw in the Windows operating system might be to blame. [last paragraph in article right now]
I mean, wtf?
when you have *free* alternatives ... utterly *free*, suddenly that $1500 is a whole lot of money.
But you don't.
Seriously, what alternatives to QT do you suggest? If you need something with a configurable look, looks sort of like native Windows apps on Windows, is supported on Linux, OS X, Windows and Solaris, and is fairly mature and stable.