Right click a banner ad and look at Settings. I don't like my camera and microphone being a choice there.
Neither do I, but I have to wonder. Has anyone ever tried leaving these settings ON be default, just to see if anyone, anywhere even attempts to exploit them?
I know the dataset is kinda skewed-- no one tries because everyone already has blocked them-- but I'd be curious how many Flash games / ads / crap / etc has code to try to use the mic & cam JUST IN CASE
If a sufficient number of people wanted to screw this up, they could easily poison the data. Before attending the games, get together en-mass, and randomly exchange the tickets. A group of folks do this with reward points cards to mess with the demographic information / purchasing patterns data. They could do the same at the Olympics. Suddenly, no one who shows up at the gate matches their State Approved ID. The government can either arrest 10,000 tourists over the course of an hour, or make an executive decision to say 'screw it' and ignore the ticket information.
Do you remember the last time you had a steak? A really big, thick juicy steak. Yeah, that was great, wasn't it. That was XP.
And then you remember how it clogged up your colon, and you couldn't do anything for a day or two? That was Vista
And then you remember how it all finally came out, when you spent a half-hour on the can, insides being stretched to Hello.jpg proportions, tears laced with internal-bleeding running down your face, screaming and punching holes in the bathroom drywall, until finally at last everything was right again, and wave of adrenalin-induced euphoria washed over you once the pain was gone, finally gone? That was Vista SP1
Don't you want to experience that wonderful feeling of eventually bliss all over again? Windows 7, coming soon to a colon, urr, computer near you*.
That is a good idea, I pity the fool who decides to host the rating server. It's bad enough when a server gets hit with a metric Slashdot of traffic for one article. Can you imagine having that happen every time an article is posted?
Sure, it would be a reduced load-- only the people who use the plugin, and only rating traffic. But still, you'd need some powerful server to handle it. Almost as powerful as, say, the Slashdot servers. And since those servers are powerful enough, why not have them run the code anyways? In fact, they could get it all done in one http request if they bundle the plug-in into the main code.
I've always thought that in a case like this, no one should win. "You can share? Fine, everyone out. No one gets it."
The same should be applied to IP. Two patent trolls arguing over who invented some trivial thing, and rather than settle it like adults, they're both being whiny little bitches? Fine, public domain. Everyone gets it.
And in a case like this, where you have an obvious troll who is either lying or trying to claim prior art on something trivial-- you just public domain that patent and every other patent they hold, past, present or future. Then you put them in a corner so they can think about what they've done. If they ever manage to invent AND produce something useful, they can have their privilege's back.
Though, they'll still have to eat their brusssle sprouts.
Sure, there's no reason why someone should read an Idle story if they don't want to. But on the exact same hand, there's no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to filter them. It's Weeb 2.0 and all that, isn't it?
I call this the "one city councilor..." effect. Watch your local news report on any given day of the week, and chances are you'll see a story like this. It's always about some sensational, radical idea that offends the sensibilities or makes you shake your head at "those crazy government people"-- something like "How would you feel if you couldn't wash your dishes more than once a week?" or "Leaving the windows open while you park your car. We all do it. But that may soon change."
And the tagline is always, always followed up by the sentence "One city councilor...".
"Snowmen with carrot noses has been a familiar sight since we were all kids. But a proposed ban on food products as art, citing health risks, may keep this from happening this winter. One city councilor has brought the legislation up for debate..."
And there you have it. As soon as that magic phrase occurs, you know you can tune out. It isn't policy. It isn't even being considered. It's one guy/girl who just happened to mention the idea at one point. Maybe they're a bit more serious, and they've written a one-page brief in a binder with a blue cover about it. Quite possibly, they've talked to a reporter over lunch (for which the reporter or taxpayers pick up) about this new idea of theirs. But that's all what it is. One dude with a stupid idea, and no official backing or clout to even bring it close to policy.
A story like this may be on a slightly higher echelon of power than a city councilor, but it's the exact same thing.
Of course the Apples will have a larger market share in the >$1000 sector-- because the equivalent PC will cost less that $1000!
This is just a case of selectively interpreting data. I can take this exact same data set-- even using the ridiculous and arbitrary "$1000" cutoff point, and make the following conclusion:
High-end PC dominate marketplace in sub-$1000 range
Or how about "Apple market share of affordable high-end PCs negligible"
It isn't even a reasonable cut-off point for the mid-high barrier. A mid-range computer these days can easily be had for $600 or less. Even putting the point at $750 would be generous. The last high-end gaming rig I put together for someone ran ~$830-- and that was because he wanted a frag-normous teh awz0m monitor.
An additional feature about using a laptop as a webserver: built-in UPS. Even if the battery will only hold a few minutes of charge. Monitor the computer for a "on-battery" state, and respond accordingly. (Wait x seconds to see if the power comes back up, if not perform a clean shutdown...).
And, laptops are low-profile. Shove them in a closet or under your desk. If they'll run too hot, spend $5 and get one of those cooling-pads with fans built in. remote control the laptop server whenever you need to. If you need console access-- it has a built-in keyboard, mouse and screen.
If you can fit 2 nics in them, they'll make excellent firewall appliances. Most laptops will come with a NIC built-in. Add a second PC-MCIA nic. If they're P2/P3, they might even have a modem built in. You can add fax-capabilities onto the server. Heck, if you're ambitious enough, set it up as a PBX. Have fun automatically routing telemarketers to an eternal on-hold "Chocolate Rain" message. Automatically reply to fax-spam with Hello.JPG.
If you are going to go the donation route, then look into making a portable lab for a school. Install wireless nics on each computer, and configure them to talk nicely to a wireless router. Then donate the whole shebang to a school. Schools need a computers for a lot of students, but not necessarily all at once. A lab of 10-20 computers that can be moved room-to-room is perfect for a lesson that needs computer access in a place other than a computer lab. (Taking it into a science lab so they can run spreadsheet calculations on experiment results, eg).
If it's a P3, it should be powerful enough to make a usable HTPC out of. Most P3 laptops I've seen have TV-Out built into them. Hook them up to a TV. Transfer media files to it as needed (I assume they have a 8-12GB HDD). Alternately, slap a large-capacity USB hard drive onto it and make it double as a fileserver.
Modern copyright is so fucktarded that it's damned near impossible to write and perform a song without infringing someone's copyright.
The Ongoing History of New Music did a good show about this, called "Plagiarism or Unfortunate Cosmic Coincidence?". They're the 2nd and 3rd entry down the list. Worth a listen to.
Give the floppies to someone else. Then, sue them for copyright infringement. In the filing, insist that all the infringed-upon data is stored on the floppies-- then demand the courts pay to have the evidence recovered...
A note: Before you start looking down this path, be sure think long and hard about how much your nostalgia is really worth.
I recently did just this with all my old 5 1/4" disks. I had about 200 disks full of old games, programs, and some Basic work I did. The whole "514" project took me an afternoon, and 34.6MB of space. I was surprised about how many of the disks were still viable after 10-15 years.
Except for one particular brand name of disks. I don't recall which one-- but let me tell you this: Of the 200 disks, there were maybe 4 I really, really wanted to recover. The ones that had some Basic programs and animations I had done. And wouldn't you know, the only three that were corrupt were from that pool of four.
I still have them, just in case. But a cursory glance at data recovery places let me know that they'd charge anywhere from $75-$300 per disk. If they don't get it right (or if they're a crappy place as screw up the procedure) the data is for-sure gone forever.
The problem with OOXML is that it cannot be implemented by anyone other than a single vendor because the format as defined contains references to specific behavior without actually specifying said behavior.
I ask the following question not as a troll, but as someone curious about this whole thing. I've heard this statement several times, and I was wondering if you could point out a concrete example of it. (I'd like to have such an example to point out to those who ask the same question as a troll =) )
I think Ed the Sock said it better when he pointed out that the date on the lead-in to the St. Anger video proves that it was shot several days after the video itself claims to take place.
I think the point is whether they win or lose, RIAA will have to submit to discovery, which should have the effect of uncovering all sorts of dirt about their legally questionable methods of finding people to sue.
Slashdot Mirror
dim me as Person;
dim wife as Person;
me = (father.output()).insert(mother);
me.treatmentOf(gettype(Spouse)) = father.treatmentOf(mother);
while (me) {
if (wife) {
me.treat(wife)
}
else{
wife = me.findWife();
}
}
Neither do I, but I have to wonder. Has anyone ever tried leaving these settings ON be default, just to see if anyone, anywhere even attempts to exploit them?
I know the dataset is kinda skewed-- no one tries because everyone already has blocked them-- but I'd be curious how many Flash games / ads / crap / etc has code to try to use the mic & cam JUST IN CASE
If a sufficient number of people wanted to screw this up, they could easily poison the data. Before attending the games, get together en-mass, and randomly exchange the tickets. A group of folks do this with reward points cards to mess with the demographic information / purchasing patterns data. They could do the same at the Olympics. Suddenly, no one who shows up at the gate matches their State Approved ID. The government can either arrest 10,000 tourists over the course of an hour, or make an executive decision to say 'screw it' and ignore the ticket information.
It'll be simple for the marketing drones:
Do you remember the last time you had a steak? A really big, thick juicy steak. Yeah, that was great, wasn't it. That was XP.
And then you remember how it clogged up your colon, and you couldn't do anything for a day or two? That was Vista
And then you remember how it all finally came out, when you spent a half-hour on the can, insides being stretched to Hello.jpg proportions, tears laced with internal-bleeding running down your face, screaming and punching holes in the bathroom drywall, until finally at last everything was right again, and wave of adrenalin-induced euphoria washed over you once the pain was gone, finally gone? That was Vista SP1
Don't you want to experience that wonderful feeling of eventually bliss all over again? Windows 7, coming soon to a colon, urr, computer near you*.
(c)Windows(tm) Marketing(tm) Team(tm) 2008)(tm)
*Steak not included
Sure, it would be a reduced load-- only the people who use the plugin, and only rating traffic. But still, you'd need some powerful server to handle it. Almost as powerful as, say, the Slashdot servers. And since those servers are powerful enough, why not have them run the code anyways? In fact, they could get it all done in one http request if they bundle the plug-in into the main code.
They could call it a feature!
The same should be applied to IP. Two patent trolls arguing over who invented some trivial thing, and rather than settle it like adults, they're both being whiny little bitches? Fine, public domain. Everyone gets it.
And in a case like this, where you have an obvious troll who is either lying or trying to claim prior art on something trivial-- you just public domain that patent and every other patent they hold, past, present or future. Then you put them in a corner so they can think about what they've done. If they ever manage to invent AND produce something useful, they can have their privilege's back.
Though, they'll still have to eat their brusssle sprouts.
Sure, there's no reason why someone should read an Idle story if they don't want to. But on the exact same hand, there's no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to filter them. It's Weeb 2.0 and all that, isn't it?
Good video. But once-- just once-- I'd like to watch a music video on Youtube where the sound was actually in sync with the video.
; DROP DATABASE--
Dear Impatient Sub-editor, One behalf of the infinite number of monkeys, can I point out that we haven't been given an infinite amount of time bleq.
I call this the "one city councilor..." effect. Watch your local news report on any given day of the week, and chances are you'll see a story like this. It's always about some sensational, radical idea that offends the sensibilities or makes you shake your head at "those crazy government people"-- something like "How would you feel if you couldn't wash your dishes more than once a week?" or "Leaving the windows open while you park your car. We all do it. But that may soon change."
And the tagline is always, always followed up by the sentence "One city councilor...".
"Snowmen with carrot noses has been a familiar sight since we were all kids. But a proposed ban on food products as art, citing health risks, may keep this from happening this winter. One city councilor has brought the legislation up for debate..."And there you have it. As soon as that magic phrase occurs, you know you can tune out. It isn't policy. It isn't even being considered. It's one guy/girl who just happened to mention the idea at one point. Maybe they're a bit more serious, and they've written a one-page brief in a binder with a blue cover about it. Quite possibly, they've talked to a reporter over lunch (for which the reporter or taxpayers pick up) about this new idea of theirs. But that's all what it is. One dude with a stupid idea, and no official backing or clout to even bring it close to policy.
A story like this may be on a slightly higher echelon of power than a city councilor, but it's the exact same thing.
Of course the Apples will have a larger market share in the >$1000 sector-- because the equivalent PC will cost less that $1000!
This is just a case of selectively interpreting data. I can take this exact same data set-- even using the ridiculous and arbitrary "$1000" cutoff point, and make the following conclusion:
High-end PC dominate marketplace in sub-$1000 range
Or how about "Apple market share of affordable high-end PCs negligible"
It isn't even a reasonable cut-off point for the mid-high barrier. A mid-range computer these days can easily be had for $600 or less. Even putting the point at $750 would be generous. The last high-end gaming rig I put together for someone ran ~$830-- and that was because he wanted a frag-normous teh awz0m monitor.
And, laptops are low-profile. Shove them in a closet or under your desk. If they'll run too hot, spend $5 and get one of those cooling-pads with fans built in. remote control the laptop server whenever you need to. If you need console access-- it has a built-in keyboard, mouse and screen.
If you can fit 2 nics in them, they'll make excellent firewall appliances. Most laptops will come with a NIC built-in. Add a second PC-MCIA nic. If they're P2/P3, they might even have a modem built in. You can add fax-capabilities onto the server. Heck, if you're ambitious enough, set it up as a PBX. Have fun automatically routing telemarketers to an eternal on-hold "Chocolate Rain" message. Automatically reply to fax-spam with Hello.JPG.
If you are going to go the donation route, then look into making a portable lab for a school. Install wireless nics on each computer, and configure them to talk nicely to a wireless router. Then donate the whole shebang to a school. Schools need a computers for a lot of students, but not necessarily all at once. A lab of 10-20 computers that can be moved room-to-room is perfect for a lesson that needs computer access in a place other than a computer lab. (Taking it into a science lab so they can run spreadsheet calculations on experiment results, eg).
If it's a P3, it should be powerful enough to make a usable HTPC out of. Most P3 laptops I've seen have TV-Out built into them. Hook them up to a TV. Transfer media files to it as needed (I assume they have a 8-12GB HDD). Alternately, slap a large-capacity USB hard drive onto it and make it double as a fileserver.
Lots of uses.
The Ongoing History of New Music did a good show about this, called "Plagiarism or Unfortunate Cosmic Coincidence?". They're the 2nd and 3rd entry down the list. Worth a listen to.
Sending legal threats to the Pirate Bay, MPAA? Yeah, how's that working out for you?
A better solution:
Give the floppies to someone else. Then, sue them for copyright infringement. In the filing, insist that all the infringed-upon data is stored on the floppies-- then demand the courts pay to have the evidence recovered...
I recently did just this with all my old 5 1/4" disks. I had about 200 disks full of old games, programs, and some Basic work I did. The whole "514" project took me an afternoon, and 34.6MB of space. I was surprised about how many of the disks were still viable after 10-15 years.
Except for one particular brand name of disks. I don't recall which one-- but let me tell you this: Of the 200 disks, there were maybe 4 I really, really wanted to recover. The ones that had some Basic programs and animations I had done. And wouldn't you know, the only three that were corrupt were from that pool of four.
I still have them, just in case. But a cursory glance at data recovery places let me know that they'd charge anywhere from $75-$300 per disk. If they don't get it right (or if they're a crappy place as screw up the procedure) the data is for-sure gone forever.
wtf? Did I just hear you say that???
I ask the following question not as a troll, but as someone curious about this whole thing. I've heard this statement several times, and I was wondering if you could point out a concrete example of it. (I'd like to have such an example to point out to those who ask the same question as a troll =) )
Which one of you fuckers if fake-lifting?!?
I always thought the big three were the Solder, the Fun, and the Magic Smoke. (amen)
I think Ed the Sock said it better when he pointed out that the date on the lead-in to the St. Anger video proves that it was shot several days after the video itself claims to take place.
"The contents of the Standard In buffer have been modified, and the computer must restart for these changes to take effect."
I call dibbs on the Prof. X avatar.
Or they could, y'know, lie.