I already own the PS3, and am going to try and get as much enjoyment out of it as I can (with the games already installed and playable without logging in)... but will be the last thing I (knowingly) buy from Sony.
I have no illusions that this will go noticed. Even if the entire slashdot crowd stopped doing business with Sony, I doubt they would notice. And of course outside the geek community, very few people are aware of these issues, or if they are aware, don't care. Remember, for the vast majority of customers who's personal data and CC info was leaked, the biggest concern was that the network was down.
Dunno if this is a troll or not, but I'll bite anyway.
The notification thing, which you've underplayed substantially, was only part of the problem.. the rest was negligence in guarding the data in the first place.
The point about lawyers getting most of the money, with the actual victims ending up with some kind of token compensation definitely stands though.
The fact that you can agree to it by clicking a button, but waiving it involves letters and stamps and writing is very telling.
Obviously this is on purpose. They could very easily have an extra button (or website somewhere) to opt out, but by requiring users to mail in a letter... they are banking on the fact that most people won't bother (and they are probably right).
I don't see why the processing would be THAT expensive.
The cynic in me says they'd find a way. The legitimate stuff is probably produced to very high specifications and probably goes through some kind of rigorous certification process. For general consumption they could of course skip all that, but then as was said above by AC, it’s just freeze-dried food that is already readily available.
I wish NASA would finance future missions by selling interestingly packaged astronaut foods in general
I suspect it probably costs more to produce than one could sell it for... and probably tastes like crap. Interested parties would buy it once for the novelty, then that would probably be it.
This is how I do it for my irreplacable and frequently changing files (except substitute USB for drive tray) and it works great. I keep one plugged into my machine, and one elsewhere, and periodically swap them (every few months or so). Drives are encrypted (using dm-crypt) and I use rsnapshot for the actual backups (such that I have several previous versions of the files on each drive).
My backup system is actually pretty damn solid.
I use an internal file server, with my desktop and a few other boxes doing full sync backups to the file server daily... so everything is all centrally located and easy to backup. I additionally have a second file server used purely as a complete backup (it's made from scavanged hardware and those cheap green drives so was significantly cheaper than my main file server) that syncs with my main one every 2 weeks. Both systems are raid6. So I basically have a chain of failure something along the lines of:
- if I lose a drive (or even 2) I can pretty much keep working and recover at my leisure, no files lost - if the array fails, or recovery fails, or file system gets corrupted (that is, all the reasons people will scream RAID IS NOT A BACKUP), I have a complete mirror of everything that is at most 2 weeks old, plus a backup of my irreplacable and rapidly changing files (that is, most of the stuff from my home dir) that is at most a day old. - if that fails, I hopefully have the daily irreplacable backup, but have lost all my replacable stuff (mainly rips of my huge DVD collection.. months of work) - if that fails, I have a backup of my irreplacable stuff that is probably a few months old... - and if all that fails, something really bad has probably happened and this is the least of my concerns;p
They can probably do it, but they risk starting a huge incident if they happen to make an error and stray into the wrong airspace... safer to just go home. I would suspect this is a safety consideration more than a "oh no, our equipment is useless" situation.
I have a really great idea and here is how I think it will become profitable... I need a metric ass-tonne of money to get going though!
this looks like a solid idea, here is some money to get going in exchange for a small chunk of your company... if it takes off.. this chunk will be worth more than I am giving you now
But I agree, it has become so abstract from this with so much bullshit that just skims off the top that we should just start over, with regulations like "you are limited to 50 trades over the course of your lifetime".
The way it was supposed to work.. where people would invest in ideas they thought were good in the hopes that they would take off and make a profit... made sense.
It's so abstract from that and there is so much skimming off the top (don't give me "market liquidity" crap...) now that we ideally should just wipe it and start fresh from the basics, with regulations in place to prevent the kind of bullshit that is happening at present.
Problem is the people who could make this kind of thing happen are bringing in so much money from the way things currently are, that they have little motivation to do so.
Ventilation might be an issue.. also you'd have to tailor your desktop such that it doesn't leave any logs/history of the connection (assuming they would go that far).
Not running out of IPv4 space.. not logic.. but the ability to identify traffic as coming from a specific computer vice "it came from that network". (yes I know there is IPv6 NAT.. but we are talking about the masses).
The problem is, at least here in Canada, a 2 year comunity college diploma that probably prepares you better for an actual job writing actual software for actual real world people is looked down upon by most employers. There is a noticable pay difference and the large number of jobs will just shred your resume if it doesn't have a university degree on it.
This is the attitude that needs to change. I think a fairly large chunk of university students would much prefer a "no bullshit" education in the field they hope to make a living in.. but end up going the university route for resume food.
Devices don't connect to the satellite.. so how is the GPS system providing tracking info to anyone? The logical assumption is they are talking about GPS tracking devices being used... but the article is written as if they are pulling the data off the satellites or something.
The clumsy wording completely distracted me from the actual point of the article!.. I'm such a geek:(
Should add, my file server is RAID6. In the most likely failure (drive failure) I can probably just keep working and replace the disk at my leisure. If this fails (never happened to me, but I realize it can).. then you just start at the top of my recovery chain:)
What I ended up doing for backup is creating a second, much lower end file server. Those cheap green drives, low end (but usable) hardware from a previous desktop, and a few cheap SATA interface cards makes that second 12TB a whole lot cheaper. Plus you have much more redundancy.
I have a script that uses wake on lan to start the box up, remotely unlocks it (it's encrypted.. I have dropbear installed and set up so I can remotely unlock the volume via ssh), and rsyncs everything over, then finally shuts it down.. runs every two weeks.
My desktop and a few other boxes do full backups to the file server (very little on them, so backups are easy), so they are captured in the backup.
I also have additional backups of irreplacable stuff using rsnapshot to one of two external drives. I keep one external plugged into the system (and it gets synced up daily) and I keep another elsewhere. I swap them every once in a while.
The result is I have a kind of disaster recovery chain if my file server goes down: - first and most convinient, I have a complete file for file backup of everything that is at most 2 weeks old - if that has gone tits up, I have a backup of my irreplacable stuff that is at most a day old - if _that_ has gone bad.. I have the currently offsite external that is probably a few months old - and if all that has failed, chances are something has major has happened and I've got much bigger problems to worry about;p
Rips of my fairly massive DVD collection actually!
Ok, I won't lie, I do have some pirated content.. but I do pay for most of my media these days.
It adds up fairly quickly... most are in H.264 with fairly high settings.
And yes, I have seen everything in my collection. I almost always have something playing in the background while I work. I probably make it through my collection every few years..
First time those programs are loaded is blazing fast. Moving to SSD dramatically increased boot time. Yes subsequent loads are from cache.. but having stuff load damn near instantly the first time is significant.
In addition to that, I'm a Gentoo user, and that SSD makes building those program files a hell of a lot faster.
Big powerful 12TB file server using traditional disks for the bulk of my data.
Performance for the stuff where the SSD makes a difference (program files), cheap storage for the stuff where it doesn't (just about everything else).
And if that 32GB drive dies (unproven technology.. MTBF is still a guess).. I'll buy another cheap (probably cheaper at that point) one and restore from my daily backup.
The cadence in which that whole dialog happened was absolutely perfect, to the point of almost being funnier than the lines themselves.
Thinking about it, the scene where he is telling his wife they they are gonna die was perfect for the same reason. "They're gonna shoot us in the head or torture us to death or leave us here with the bomb..." (ok, I can't quote from memory like _some_ people, but we all know the scene!)
Definitely one of Schwarzenegger's better movies:)
Slashdot Mirror
Pretty much this.
I already own the PS3, and am going to try and get as much enjoyment out of it as I can (with the games already installed and playable without logging in)... but will be the last thing I (knowingly) buy from Sony.
I have no illusions that this will go noticed. Even if the entire slashdot crowd stopped doing business with Sony, I doubt they would notice. And of course outside the geek community, very few people are aware of these issues, or if they are aware, don't care. Remember, for the vast majority of customers who's personal data and CC info was leaked, the biggest concern was that the network was down.
Dunno if this is a troll or not, but I'll bite anyway.
The notification thing, which you've underplayed substantially, was only part of the problem.. the rest was negligence in guarding the data in the first place.
The point about lawyers getting most of the money, with the actual victims ending up with some kind of token compensation definitely stands though.
The fact that you can agree to it by clicking a button, but waiving it involves letters and stamps and writing is very telling.
Obviously this is on purpose. They could very easily have an extra button (or website somewhere) to opt out, but by requiring users to mail in a letter... they are banking on the fact that most people won't bother (and they are probably right).
The reason someone torrents from work is because they can do it while hiding behind someone else's liability.
Good point, although parent's VPN idea is still moot as that infringing traffic is now coming from the connection owned by the infringer.
I agree that would block most possibilities for infringement...
would just note that you do still have rapidshare and friends
True but pointless.
The reason someone torrents from work is to use their employers bandwidth, which is usually substantially more than they have at home.
If you are going to ultimately be transfering the data from your home connection.. why not just do it from home...
I don't see why the processing would be THAT expensive.
The cynic in me says they'd find a way. The legitimate stuff is probably produced to very high specifications and probably goes through some kind of rigorous certification process. For general consumption they could of course skip all that, but then as was said above by AC, it’s just freeze-dried food that is already readily available.
I wish NASA would finance future missions by selling interestingly packaged astronaut foods in general
I suspect it probably costs more to produce than one could sell it for... and probably tastes like crap. Interested parties would buy it once for the novelty, then that would probably be it.
This is how I do it for my irreplacable and frequently changing files (except substitute USB for drive tray) and it works great. I keep one plugged into my machine, and one elsewhere, and periodically swap them (every few months or so). Drives are encrypted (using dm-crypt) and I use rsnapshot for the actual backups (such that I have several previous versions of the files on each drive).
My backup system is actually pretty damn solid.
I use an internal file server, with my desktop and a few other boxes doing full sync backups to the file server daily... so everything is all centrally located and easy to backup. I additionally have a second file server used purely as a complete backup (it's made from scavanged hardware and those cheap green drives so was significantly cheaper than my main file server) that syncs with my main one every 2 weeks. Both systems are raid6. So I basically have a chain of failure something along the lines of:
- if I lose a drive (or even 2) I can pretty much keep working and recover at my leisure, no files lost ;p
- if the array fails, or recovery fails, or file system gets corrupted (that is, all the reasons people will scream RAID IS NOT A BACKUP), I have a complete mirror of everything that is at most 2 weeks old, plus a backup of my irreplacable and rapidly changing files (that is, most of the stuff from my home dir) that is at most a day old.
- if that fails, I hopefully have the daily irreplacable backup, but have lost all my replacable stuff (mainly rips of my huge DVD collection.. months of work)
- if that fails, I have a backup of my irreplacable stuff that is probably a few months old...
- and if all that fails, something really bad has probably happened and this is the least of my concerns
They can probably do it, but they risk starting a huge incident if they happen to make an error and stray into the wrong airspace... safer to just go home. I would suspect this is a safety consideration more than a "oh no, our equipment is useless" situation.
The original idea made sense!
Here is how it was supposed to go:
I have a really great idea and here is how I think it will become profitable... I need a metric ass-tonne of money to get going though!
this looks like a solid idea, here is some money to get going in exchange for a small chunk of your company... if it takes off.. this chunk will be worth more than I am giving you now
But I agree, it has become so abstract from this with so much bullshit that just skims off the top that we should just start over, with regulations like "you are limited to 50 trades over the course of your lifetime".
Agreed.
The way it was supposed to work.. where people would invest in ideas they thought were good in the hopes that they would take off and make a profit... made sense.
It's so abstract from that and there is so much skimming off the top (don't give me "market liquidity" crap...) now that we ideally should just wipe it and start fresh from the basics, with regulations in place to prevent the kind of bullshit that is happening at present.
Problem is the people who could make this kind of thing happen are bringing in so much money from the way things currently are, that they have little motivation to do so.
Ventilation might be an issue.. also you'd have to tailor your desktop such that it doesn't leave any logs/history of the connection (assuming they would go that far).
and more draconian identifying methods by ISPs.
Maybe this is what will finally get us to IPv6.
Not running out of IPv4 space.. not logic.. but the ability to identify traffic as coming from a specific computer vice "it came from that network". (yes I know there is IPv6 NAT.. but we are talking about the masses).
The problem is, at least here in Canada, a 2 year comunity college diploma that probably prepares you better for an actual job writing actual software for actual real world people is looked down upon by most employers. There is a noticable pay difference and the large number of jobs will just shred your resume if it doesn't have a university degree on it.
This is the attitude that needs to change. I think a fairly large chunk of university students would much prefer a "no bullshit" education in the field they hope to make a living in.. but end up going the university route for resume food.
I thought GPS was a one way thing?
Devices don't connect to the satellite.. so how is the GPS system providing tracking info to anyone? The logical assumption is they are talking about GPS tracking devices being used ... but the article is written as if they are pulling the data off the satellites or something.
The clumsy wording completely distracted me from the actual point of the article! .. I'm such a geek :(
Should add, my file server is RAID6. In the most likely failure (drive failure) I can probably just keep working and replace the disk at my leisure. If this fails (never happened to me, but I realize it can) .. then you just start at the top of my recovery chain :)
What I ended up doing for backup is creating a second, much lower end file server. Those cheap green drives, low end (but usable) hardware from a previous desktop, and a few cheap SATA interface cards makes that second 12TB a whole lot cheaper. Plus you have much more redundancy.
I have a script that uses wake on lan to start the box up, remotely unlocks it (it's encrypted.. I have dropbear installed and set up so I can remotely unlock the volume via ssh), and rsyncs everything over, then finally shuts it down.. runs every two weeks.
My desktop and a few other boxes do full backups to the file server (very little on them, so backups are easy), so they are captured in the backup.
I also have additional backups of irreplacable stuff using rsnapshot to one of two external drives. I keep one external plugged into the system (and it gets synced up daily) and I keep another elsewhere. I swap them every once in a while.
The result is I have a kind of disaster recovery chain if my file server goes down: ;p
- first and most convinient, I have a complete file for file backup of everything that is at most 2 weeks old
- if that has gone tits up, I have a backup of my irreplacable stuff that is at most a day old
- if _that_ has gone bad.. I have the currently offsite external that is probably a few months old
- and if all that has failed, chances are something has major has happened and I've got much bigger problems to worry about
Rips of my fairly massive DVD collection actually!
Ok, I won't lie, I do have some pirated content.. but I do pay for most of my media these days.
It adds up fairly quickly... most are in H.264 with fairly high settings.
And yes, I have seen everything in my collection. I almost always have something playing in the background while I work. I probably make it through my collection every few years ..
Oh grow up...
First time those programs are loaded is blazing fast. Moving to SSD dramatically increased boot time. Yes subsequent loads are from cache.. but having stuff load damn near instantly the first time is significant.
In addition to that, I'm a Gentoo user, and that SSD makes building those program files a hell of a lot faster.
Small (and cheap) 32GB SSD for my desktop...
Big powerful 12TB file server using traditional disks for the bulk of my data.
Performance for the stuff where the SSD makes a difference (program files), cheap storage for the stuff where it doesn't (just about everything else).
And if that 32GB drive dies (unproven technology.. MTBF is still a guess) .. I'll buy another cheap (probably cheaper at that point) one and restore from my daily backup.
The cadence in which that whole dialog happened was absolutely perfect, to the point of almost being funnier than the lines themselves.
Thinking about it, the scene where he is telling his wife they they are gonna die was perfect for the same reason. "They're gonna shoot us in the head or torture us to death or leave us here with the bomb..." (ok, I can't quote from memory like _some_ people, but we all know the scene!)
Definitely one of Schwarzenegger's better movies :)
By getting clocked in the head with a really sturdy looking phone no less! Talk about a mood killer!
I love that movie.. but damn... If you quoted that from memory, please help yourself to a free internet on the way out the door!
Either it's a joke I'm not getting.. or that is one of the best typing failures I've seen in a while @ comment title :D
As to your comment.. I actually did read the article and think "hmm, pizza would be nice". I didn't go Dominoes though.