Re:PS3? No thanks, Sony; you screwed the pooch
on
Bad Day To Be Sony
·
· Score: 1
I wouldn't be so sure about that comment. If your tinfoil hat were properly fastened, you could understand how this DRM could be used as some sort of leverage in the pending PS3-XBOX360 wars. Granted, I have nowhere near the insight to know how this could be used, but it could, right?
To me, a rootkit is a hacker's toy, period. Why wouldn't Sony want their foot in the door (or Window)? They could really wreak some havoc, and who doesn't love that?
Let's say the new 360 allows a user to take music files from your computer (running XP) and play them on your 360. Now let's say Sony's servers (accessed by the rootkit) issue a command saying, "not with OUR music you can't" - and suddenly this becomes some sort of compatibility issue for M$ to figure out. If M$ had discovered this rootkit later on, they would say, "It's Sony's fault that XYZ compatibility fault is occurring!"
I have to say that I agree with you - on the surface, it appears that poor countries have bigger issues to deal with, such as arable land, clean water, adequate food, etc.
But these problems cannot be solved by first-worlders who mean well, yet have no understanding of the local knowledge base. That's why this laptop idea is great - it allows people living in the third world access to first world ideas - think engineering, innovation, etc. And it has the added bonus of connecting people who often have similar problems, but perhaps live hundreds of miles away, which encourages working together to solve mutual problems. But it does not impose a first-world solution to a problem, but rather offers tools to help those in the third world diagnose and fix their own problems.
1. Introduce innovative product to market
2. Gain market share
3. Cripple features which made your product innovative in the first place
4. ???
5. Profit!
Your comment also needs to be tempered. I still own a 350MHz K6, and it runs Windows 2000 about as well as it runs KDE - that is, not all that well. I remember my 8MB 66MHz 80486 laptop running Win98 and Word competently enough, but barely able to run X by itself, nevermind OpenOffice.
Point is, to a certain extent, a computer is stuck with its contemporary software. Linux is certainly more usable with more recent software, but the difference is not night and day. What does your 400 MHz P2 actually run when you say "Linux"? I very much doubt that OpenOffice "works great" on that box.
My main point is that just because a computer is low-end by today's standards doesn't mean that it can't be just as functional as the day it came out. I am currently running Ubuntu, and yes, I also tried the KDE distro and there was enough of a performance difference to make me go back to GNOME. But to me, the beauty of linux is being able to install a distro that can be functional, and not have to worry about pirating software (like an OS, but also productivity software), checking system requirements, let alone worry about getting any current support. It just works, so why should I go fish for a copy of Windows 98 and go driver hunting?
And while I won't say that OpenOffice, for example, works perfectly (though word processing isn't all that intensive anyway), the fact that it is free productivity software made the decision to switch to linux that much easier for me. I would never purchase Word or Photoshop and expect it to run smoothly on this computer, but the fact that I can tinker around in GIMP for free makes the choice worth it, along with knowing that I will have updates, bugfixes, etc. And yes, I know that these are both available for Windows (OoO and GIMP), but there are many other great programs that will never have open-source alternatives, unless you completely dive into the open-source arena.
Well, I guess it's just another series of "starter" articles regarding open source. My main beef with the articles is that none of them compare Windows with Linux very directly. Are most of the people reading this article aware of the copious amounts of spyware/adware their machine is riddled with (security issues)? How about the fact that my P2 400 MHZ computer works great under Linux and could barely chug along with Win2k (i.e. don't worry about buying a new computer every time a new version of Windows comes out)? And I don't care if Yahoo wants to play favorites with certain distros, but can they please explain what a Live CD is and link to Knoppix or Ubuntu?
Yes, I do realize they're not in the business of OSS advocacy, but it would be so easy for the author to engage the average computer user (i.e. "get your pale-faced neighbor to burn you this Live Linux CD - it will NOT change the rest of your computer in any way")
I agree with you that the final decision is usually going to be made by an ill-informed PHB (I hate that term, but tis appropriate here).
What I'm more interested in is the possibility of more programming positions opening up at smaller firms (who would presumably be quicker to adopt OS solutions). I mean, what are the reasons against a firm hiring X number of programmers, having them sift through possible OS software, making a few modifications, then providing support for that software for everyone else within the firm? Surely it must be cheaper than licensing software, and adds to flexibility (pick-n-choose products, avoid lock-in, etc.)
I don't think FF developers are making "news" out of this, rather someone just stumbled across this page and said, "WTF! No version 1.1?? Unleash the/. masses!!"
For example, U.S. company Flyi.com handles about 90 percent of travel reservations through their online portal, which they run on Linux and Apache.
The systems were running fine until the company had a huge spike in traffic, and there were all kinds of downtime issues. So they did the upgrades, added a few servers, some hardware, some memory and new technologies around the Web site to do more customer relationship database tracking. It was all very complex, and some of the seams of the Linux architecture were beginning to show.
This is my favorite part...it seems like a perfect opportunity to launch into a "switched from Linux back to MS" story, but he actually only points out that they bought new hardware, and the kink was ironed out...
"It was all very complex" - so essentially, you're saying that no one should try anything complex without the assistance of MS? No thanks.
I agree that's there's no chance in hell there will be a firmware update, probably not even for the iPod photo. I also have to wonder at what kind of battery longevity/efficiency will go into the 5th gen. Is the goal going to be playing short music videos (requiring less battery), or will it move on to watching longer shows (my bus ride home is exactly long enough for one episode of ATHF)?
Okay, I'm lying - there's no way I'll ever be able to afford one of these, but my real hope is that it will drive down the price of the "old" ipods - no self-respecting, constantly-hip ipod owner will be caught dead listening to one of those old rickety things!
If this is any indication, BBC is taking the concept of Internet broadcasting *very* seriously.
Now if only we could get the same brains behind the BBC to take over the operations of another possibly doomed TV/tech venture, maybe something good like this could happen in my own backyard!
I have to agree that this Tierney guy (who bears a striking resemblence to Regis) cannot be serious about the death penalty. Clearly comparing hackers and murderers is apples and oranges for most of us, but the disruptive effect they both have upon society is nothing to be scoffed at.
The idea of unconventional sentencing is what the issue is here - there should be some sort of deterrent to future, similar crimes. If you're a murderer, you should be locked up so you cannot murder again. If you're a hacker, you should not be rewarded with a great high-paying gig just because you don't have the moral werewithal to know right from wrong. Granted, writing and releasing a virus or worm yourself may be a good way to separate yourself from the pack, but whose fault is it that this type of behavior is rewarded?
I hate to say it, but those who disrupt should have their own lives disrupted - take away their computers and see how well they fare without them. Perhaps a bit of perspective outside of their world of programming could do them a bit of good - apply those skills elsewhere...hopefully with less malice!
This project is doomed to stagnate. The People are satisfied with their little flag bumper stickers and patriotic country music. They have little interest in the minutiae of government.
I have to disagree...from the reports I've read so far, they are all concise and direct, not the wonkish 80-page reports that other gov't-related offices churn out. Remember, the CRS is writing for congressmen, not policy wonks!
Slashdot Mirror
I wouldn't be so sure about that comment. If your tinfoil hat were properly fastened, you could understand how this DRM could be used as some sort of leverage in the pending PS3-XBOX360 wars. Granted, I have nowhere near the insight to know how this could be used, but it could, right?
To me, a rootkit is a hacker's toy, period. Why wouldn't Sony want their foot in the door (or Window)? They could really wreak some havoc, and who doesn't love that?
Let's say the new 360 allows a user to take music files from your computer (running XP) and play them on your 360. Now let's say Sony's servers (accessed by the rootkit) issue a command saying, "not with OUR music you can't" - and suddenly this becomes some sort of compatibility issue for M$ to figure out. If M$ had discovered this rootkit later on, they would say, "It's Sony's fault that XYZ compatibility fault is occurring!"
And we would all laugh at them.
Anytime your story ends with:
The internet will never be the same again.
You've already lost the battle against melodrama.
I have to say that I agree with you - on the surface, it appears that poor countries have bigger issues to deal with, such as arable land, clean water, adequate food, etc.
But these problems cannot be solved by first-worlders who mean well, yet have no understanding of the local knowledge base. That's why this laptop idea is great - it allows people living in the third world access to first world ideas - think engineering, innovation, etc. And it has the added bonus of connecting people who often have similar problems, but perhaps live hundreds of miles away, which encourages working together to solve mutual problems. But it does not impose a first-world solution to a problem, but rather offers tools to help those in the third world diagnose and fix their own problems.
1. Introduce innovative product to market
2. Gain market share
3. Cripple features which made your product innovative in the first place
4. ???
5. Profit!
Your comment also needs to be tempered. I still own a 350MHz K6, and it runs Windows 2000 about as well as it runs KDE - that is, not all that well. I remember my 8MB 66MHz 80486 laptop running Win98 and Word competently enough, but barely able to run X by itself, nevermind OpenOffice.
Point is, to a certain extent, a computer is stuck with its contemporary software. Linux is certainly more usable with more recent software, but the difference is not night and day. What does your 400 MHz P2 actually run when you say "Linux"? I very much doubt that OpenOffice "works great" on that box.
My main point is that just because a computer is low-end by today's standards doesn't mean that it can't be just as functional as the day it came out. I am currently running Ubuntu, and yes, I also tried the KDE distro and there was enough of a performance difference to make me go back to GNOME. But to me, the beauty of linux is being able to install a distro that can be functional, and not have to worry about pirating software (like an OS, but also productivity software), checking system requirements, let alone worry about getting any current support. It just works, so why should I go fish for a copy of Windows 98 and go driver hunting?
And while I won't say that OpenOffice, for example, works perfectly (though word processing isn't all that intensive anyway), the fact that it is free productivity software made the decision to switch to linux that much easier for me. I would never purchase Word or Photoshop and expect it to run smoothly on this computer, but the fact that I can tinker around in GIMP for free makes the choice worth it, along with knowing that I will have updates, bugfixes, etc. And yes, I know that these are both available for Windows (OoO and GIMP), but there are many other great programs that will never have open-source alternatives, unless you completely dive into the open-source arena.
Well, I guess it's just another series of "starter" articles regarding open source. My main beef with the articles is that none of them compare Windows with Linux very directly. Are most of the people reading this article aware of the copious amounts of spyware/adware their machine is riddled with (security issues)? How about the fact that my P2 400 MHZ computer works great under Linux and could barely chug along with Win2k (i.e. don't worry about buying a new computer every time a new version of Windows comes out)? And I don't care if Yahoo wants to play favorites with certain distros, but can they please explain what a Live CD is and link to Knoppix or Ubuntu?
Yes, I do realize they're not in the business of OSS advocacy, but it would be so easy for the author to engage the average computer user (i.e. "get your pale-faced neighbor to burn you this Live Linux CD - it will NOT change the rest of your computer in any way")
I agree with you that the final decision is usually going to be made by an ill-informed PHB (I hate that term, but tis appropriate here).
What I'm more interested in is the possibility of more programming positions opening up at smaller firms (who would presumably be quicker to adopt OS solutions). I mean, what are the reasons against a firm hiring X number of programmers, having them sift through possible OS software, making a few modifications, then providing support for that software for everyone else within the firm? Surely it must be cheaper than licensing software, and adds to flexibility (pick-n-choose products, avoid lock-in, etc.)
A Do-Not-Show-Me-Poorly-Written-Flash-Ads list?
FCC? Are you reading this?
I don't think FF developers are making "news" out of this, rather someone just stumbled across this page and said, "WTF! No version 1.1?? Unleash the /. masses!!"
For example, U.S. company Flyi.com handles about 90 percent of travel reservations through their online portal, which they run on Linux and Apache.
The systems were running fine until the company had a huge spike in traffic, and there were all kinds of downtime issues. So they did the upgrades, added a few servers, some hardware, some memory and new technologies around the Web site to do more customer relationship database tracking. It was all very complex, and some of the seams of the Linux architecture were beginning to show.
This is my favorite part...it seems like a perfect opportunity to launch into a "switched from Linux back to MS" story, but he actually only points out that they bought new hardware, and the kink was ironed out...
"It was all very complex" - so essentially, you're saying that no one should try anything complex without the assistance of MS? No thanks.
I agree that's there's no chance in hell there will be a firmware update, probably not even for the iPod photo. I also have to wonder at what kind of battery longevity/efficiency will go into the 5th gen. Is the goal going to be playing short music videos (requiring less battery), or will it move on to watching longer shows (my bus ride home is exactly long enough for one episode of ATHF)?
Okay, I'm lying - there's no way I'll ever be able to afford one of these, but my real hope is that it will drive down the price of the "old" ipods - no self-respecting, constantly-hip ipod owner will be caught dead listening to one of those old rickety things!
If this is any indication, BBC is taking the concept of Internet broadcasting *very* seriously.
Now if only we could get the same brains behind the BBC to take over the operations of another possibly doomed TV/tech venture, maybe something good like this could happen in my own backyard!
I have to agree that this Tierney guy (who bears a striking resemblence to Regis) cannot be serious about the death penalty. Clearly comparing hackers and murderers is apples and oranges for most of us, but the disruptive effect they both have upon society is nothing to be scoffed at. The idea of unconventional sentencing is what the issue is here - there should be some sort of deterrent to future, similar crimes. If you're a murderer, you should be locked up so you cannot murder again. If you're a hacker, you should not be rewarded with a great high-paying gig just because you don't have the moral werewithal to know right from wrong. Granted, writing and releasing a virus or worm yourself may be a good way to separate yourself from the pack, but whose fault is it that this type of behavior is rewarded? I hate to say it, but those who disrupt should have their own lives disrupted - take away their computers and see how well they fare without them. Perhaps a bit of perspective outside of their world of programming could do them a bit of good - apply those skills elsewhere...hopefully with less malice!
This project is doomed to stagnate. The People are satisfied with their little flag bumper stickers and patriotic country music. They have little interest in the minutiae of government.
I have to disagree...from the reports I've read so far, they are all concise and direct, not the wonkish 80-page reports that other gov't-related offices churn out. Remember, the CRS is writing for congressmen, not policy wonks!