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User: Tom

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  1. Re:Marketing over content on HBO Exec Proposes DRM Name Change · · Score: 1

    Not for nothing, but a POW is a uniformed soldier from an enemy army, and an enemy combatant is a person fighting against your forces who doesn't wear a uniform and tries to look like a non-soldier. During WW2 these people were called "Resistance"...

    We are talking about people defending their home country against a foreign invading army here, remember that.
  2. Re:Marketing over content on HBO Exec Proposes DRM Name Change · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No, it ain't, and that's the problem. Read Whorf or Korzybski for some insight into just how much language shapes our thinking.

    Do you think the Germans would have joined into a "brutal extermination of a random pseudo-religiously defined group of citizens"? Nope, but they went for "cleansing of the aryan society of the evil jews which destroy the german people".

    Or look to more recent history - an "enemy combatant" is still the same thing as a prisoner of war, just by a different name, right? Well, turns out no. Or the fact that Bush didn't need congress to approve his war because it wasn't a war, just an "armed conflict".

    Words are powerful. Politicians and marketing drones understand that.

  3. Re:standard? on Microsoft is Screwing Up Live on Vista · · Score: 2, Informative

    For Vista to not become the standard, Dell and the other main suppliers will have to sell XP standard, and I just don't see that happening. Funny that you should mention Dell:

    Dell has reintroduced PCs running Windows XP on its website due to customer demand.

    Dell To Offer Win XP On Consumer PCs Again

    Sure it's a test on some models, but imagine what Dell will do if these models (with XP) sell considerably better than the comparable other models (with Vista).
  4. Re:Hakim Bey was right on Germans Pursuing Kiddie Porn In Second Life · · Score: 1

    You ignored the part "does it matter?". It doesn't to me. But you are right, there are borderline cases thrown in there. Heck, most of us are pedophiles by the broadest definition. I know when I was 16, I wanted to screw a few 15 and even (horror!) 14 year old girls. ;-)

  5. 1984 on HBO Exec Proposes DRM Name Change · · Score: 1, Informative

    War is peace.

  6. Re:The security model is all wrong.. on Vista's Troublesome UAC is Developer's Fault? · · Score: 1

    Want to sandbox something? Run it under a VM! You, Sir, missed the point by approximately 23 miles.

    I want everything to run in a sandbox, unless I explicitly tell the butler (OS) that this guy is allowed into the house (my private data).

    VMs have too much overhead for that, even if you automate their launch. It ain't that hard to do, really. Give me a weekend and I can write a policy for SELinux that does it.

    Over complicated security models fail, this is why unix (outside large corporates) still commonly uses basic file permissions instead of ACL's. Learn the lesson. I refer to my original post. Complex security models fail because the user doesn't understand them. Build them with the user in mind instead of some abstract security concept, and you'll get a security model that works.

    Users don't "get" type $1_home_t, file_type, sysadmfile, home_type; - but they do get "grant access to my personal data". Just like on holidays, you'll be surprised at the amount of understanding and cooperation if you speak to people in their language instead of insisting that yours is the only valid one.

  7. Re:Did they fix the cltreq.asp query nonsense? on Microsoft Patches 19 Flaws, 6 in Vista · · Score: 1

    In what way is it the same as spam? It is unsolicited crap I don't want that I can not turn off.

    Just ignore those requests on your web server and move on with your life. Why stress out over something so petty? Funny, when spam was "invented" lots of people said the virtually same thing.

    I'll tell you why: Because it's a bad trend. It started with favicon. Why does every stupid browser try to access that file without having received the slightest hint as to whether exists or not? Now the toolbar thing. A few years down this road, your server logs (and bandwidth) will go largely to bogus requests for stuff that's not there and never will be.

    If they want additional "out of band" information to be passed, ad standard way to query for it and then only grab what the server offers. While that's still unnecessary requests (though you can put it into HTTP headers and ask only on the first page from a domain you access), it's one, standard way to do it, which statistics programs and maybe even apache's logfile routines, will quickly adapt to.

    But no, MS has to invent their own crap again, shitting all over everyone. I wouldn't complain if they'd only shit over themselves or their users, but no they don't, they always put the burden on others, just because.
  8. standard? on Microsoft is Screwing Up Live on Vista · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    and Vista becomes the standard And how, exactly, is that going to happen with people actively turning back to XP in droves?
  9. Re:Anyone surprised it began in Germany? on Germans Pursuing Kiddie Porn In Second Life · · Score: 1

    Anyone surprised it began in Germany? Actually, yes.

    Germany is far more liberal when it comes to sex than the US, for example. Exposed nipples aren't exactly early afternoon TV, but you can see them easily enough in the evening and if a few shots were sent during the afternoon, very few people would complain.

    Also, "think of the chiiildren" is a less often used argument over here. It happens, but it's not standard.

    I would have expected the US to be on the forefront here. After all, they do jail kids for playing "doctor" with each other (famous case from 3-4 years back involving an 11 year old and his 9 year old sister).
  10. Hakim Bey was right on Germans Pursuing Kiddie Porn In Second Life · · Score: 1

    It's not about justice, or protecting the innocent - Stories like this reveal what's really going on. Think about it: There are pedophiles, always have been, probably always will be (at least for the forseable future). Maybe it's a mental illness, maybe just perversion. Does it matter?

    Given that pedophiles exist, and the urge is hard to suppress, shouldn't we welcome that they do their stuff in a virtual world, instead of the real one? Right now, aside from claims by the German authorities, there is no evidence that even a single child was actually involved. And living in Germany I can tell you the authorities have lost a lot of reputation recently. We've reached the point where even mainstream magazines doubt the sanity of our minister of the interior. He was assaulted some year back, has been sitting in a wheelchair since. PTSD is a very likely result of that tragedy.

    And this is what it's about. Like the razzias in several cities yesterday, it's a show of force, a spectacle, in the words of Hakim Bey.

  11. Re:United States of Scientology? on Surprise Arrest For Online Scientology Critic · · Score: 1

    some California states legislator in public speach demanded that US uses to it's p... ...

    Just have to wonder how on earth US government hasn't cracked on Scientology and hard. Why does everyone on /. answer their own questions?
  12. Re:I kinda like the concept on Vista's Troublesome UAC is Developer's Fault? · · Score: 2, Informative

    I pine for the days of being able to uninstall a program fully from my system by deleting its folder. http://www.apple.com/macosx/

    Granted, some crap comes with a windos-like "installer", but on OSX you actually "install" most programs by drag&drop to the applications folder, and you uninstall them by drag&drop from applications to trash.
  13. Re:The security model is all wrong.. on Vista's Troublesome UAC is Developer's Fault? · · Score: 1

    And the problem with all three of them is that they assume that the program will always do what the user wants and therefore the program should inherit permissions from the user. Bingo!

    Where is my "run this program but don't give it access to any of my data" option? That is something I want and that users will understand. Explicitly granting permission to syscall 0x6f03a4b loopback technobabble nonsense does not and never will fly with users who feel more intimidated than protected. Granting "permission to accept your personal data" is more like it. So run everything in a sandbox unless I explicitly allow it to read my files. Once. Because we all know that if I've given root/user/whatever to a program once, there are a billion tricks a piece of malware can and will use to make sure it keeps that access level.

  14. Re:A literal "Big Red Button" disaster on Big Red Button Disasters? · · Score: 1

    If you spot a fire, you are usually still sufficiently clear thinking.

    If your friend is just being electrocuted or munched up by some machinery, you are not in the correct state of mind to remember whether to turn the lever left or right or lift first and push then or the other way around. You need something as simple as possible. Or rather: Your friend needs you to have it.

    Two buttons like another poster suggested is about as much complication as you can handle in that situation.

  15. Re:Did they fix the cltreq.asp query nonsense? on Microsoft Patches 19 Flaws, 6 in Vista · · Score: 1

    Because I don't live in a "just ignore the 19456393562 nuissances they throw at you every day" world. You are welcome to live in one if you like, but I consider this essentially the same as spam.

  16. Re:Did they fix the cltreq.asp query nonsense? on Microsoft Patches 19 Flaws, 6 in Vista · · Score: 1

    As a server admin, I'd like to know if anyone has found a way to blast back, yet? Something to kill the discussion bar or at least overflow it with garbage? I'll take anything that makes these users realize the crap is broken.

    Please?

  17. Re:Absurd. on Thailand Sues YouTube · · Score: 1

    Any kind of speech. At all. In every form. So stop oppressing my free child porn speech already!

    Hold it, before you mod me troll. Realize that in other cultures, sexual intercourse with children isn't or wasn't as taboo as it is today. The ancient greek, for example, had quite a taste for young boys (yes, the gents, they were homos, too). Yep, the very Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle we glorify for their ideas and contributions to mankind. All child-fuckers, the lot of 'em.

    Then realize that there is no absolute "any kind of" free speech. Every culture draws boundaries. The whole thing is about where to draw the line. So the US draws it at nipples (see the super bowl incident) while Thailand draws it at insulting the king.
  18. Re:Of course he's universally adored on Thailand Sues YouTube · · Score: 1

    Whoever modded parent "insightful": Get a clue. Travel to Thailand. The causality works the other way around: Those laws exist (and are supported by almost everyone) because their king is adored, not the other way around.

    When you arrive at Bangkok airport, there are posters proclaiming "We love our king". There's no law about them being there. Taxi drivers have a picture of the royal family in their cars. People wear yellow T-Shirts (the colour of the king's birthday). No laws. Get it right and there is less confusion.

  19. Re:Union on Would You Install Pirated Software at Work? · · Score: 1

    Might be. And yes, very few bosses will give you the order in writing if there is even a slim chance that it might come back to haunt them.

    As I said: My legal training is for Germany, which has stronger employee-protection laws than the US does.

  20. Re:Writing on Would You Install Pirated Software at Work? · · Score: 1

    Not for criminal offenses. However, any judge will have an understanding for an employee who was ordered in writing to do something. It is possible (in Germany, IANAL, etc.) to take responsibility for civil matters.

    Plus, of course, in 99% of the cases, you will not get that order in writing. Your boss is most likely too much of a coward to take a personal risk.

  21. Writing on Would You Install Pirated Software at Work? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    IANAL, but I am an employee representative with legal training. However, for Germany, not the US.

    First, insist that they give you the order to install that software in writing. Tell them that you believe it is breaking the law, but as a good employee you will of course do it if ordered to do so in writing with either a) a statement from the legal department that it's legal or b) a statement from the boss that he's taking responsibility.

    Stand your ground on this one. Make sure you have a witness (a co-worker) if things get tough.

    Second, put your objections in writing as well. Sign them and mail them to a third party - a union representative, a lawyer, anyone who'll count for something in a court of law.

    That should cover your ass. If you're ok withh probably breaking the law, you're good from here. If you're not ok, do the one thing you can (and, by the way, are legally obliged to) do: Inform the authorities. Really. Stop dancing around the fire. No matter what you do, one thing is sure to not make you happy in the long run, and that's the half-assed way.

  22. Re:Make regular sex mandatory, like exercise on NASA Tackles Ethics of Deep-Space Exploration · · Score: 1

    Why is it that we can train a young child to control their bowel movements, yet expecting an adult to control their sexuality is somehow considered oppressive? It isn't. Your comparison is flawed. We don't expect children nor adults to control their bowel movements for months or years. Likewise, we do consider adults who can not control their sex drive in the moment as ill/crazy/dangerous.

    It is not merely as simple as relieving a physical urge - if it was, NASA would just tell the astronauts to masturbate and leave it at that. Which is precisely the point. Sex is more than orgasm and ejaculation (for the males). There is lots of events inside the body as well, there are hormone levels and all those other things your average right-wing born-again xian doesn't want you to know about because it wasn't really that intelligently designed.

    Simply put: Human beings have evolved as a species that reproduces through sex and reproduction (and thus sex) is very high on the list of things to do. You can suppress it (see above, we expect you to do it until the appropriate moment), but doing so for extended times has negative effects on the body and mind. Look at any religious fanatic for an example for just how much damage it does. :-)
  23. Re:Freedom to dissent? on Cryptome to be Terminated by Verio/NTT · · Score: 1

    I think you drew it in Q4 2001, when you opted for the feeling of security (not to be confused with actual security) over freedom.

  24. decline on Microsoft Games Losses Down, Still Substantial · · Score: 1

    1,700,000 down to 500,000 - that's almost a 2/3 decline in sales. So much for the "people will buy a Wii and an xbox" bullshit. People are obviously leaving the xbox in the shop in droves. In any other business, a decline of this magnitude would be called a crash.

  25. Re:It's not about the money - except when it is on Microsoft Games Losses Down, Still Substantial · · Score: 1

    The thing is: Nobody wants a PC in the living room.

    People want a media station. It must be simple, fun, easy to set up and work with and it may never, ever break down. I spot at least 4 points in there that windos is still very far away from, and at least 3 that the xbox doesn't provide.