I'm 60 and I have about 20 passwords. Some are to my wife's accounts.
I memorize them. BUT they are all memorable to me.
Let's say I had a very memorable event - my first kiss at an amusment park in 1969 - i'll create a password 'mfkaaapi69' and then switch it up a little bit so it ends up mFka&api6(
This pasword might be resused for a few accounts, that I consider low level security (ie no money, no real identity). Banking/financial logins are unique and are longer mnemonics.
Work is a pain - every 60 days we have to come up with a new one, so my work password is has a number I increment. KISS since they force the changing. Strangely some of my work logins still have the original password, while other logins are crazed about the changing. Must be different admins controling some of the domains and accounts.
I do write my personal ones down, but that list is in our family papers stash, and it's clearly labeled what the accounts are - in case I kick the bucket.
I've had a few scares and changed all passwords to all account at once. I had to rely on that written list for a few days.
Well I'm oldish and I'm a coder. Here's what I'm doing.
I researched the question "How to find out what you want to be when you grow up?". I expected to find an answer, but whoa is me, only more questions.
So I just took that question, which is 'What do you like to do?' and made a big list. Go off somewhere no one will bother you, to do this. Just make a list of what you like or think you'd like to do.
Then pick one and do it. Do it long enough to find out if you like it or not.
For example, some people think, "I'd like to write a novel." - so start writing one. After a few weeks or even longer of diligent effort, again sit down and ask. Did I like that? Good. Continue writing. If not, then pick something else off that list. Repeat Until Liked.
I'm testing my idea to host a web based application for managers who have to create schedules for staff. So I'm writing an app for that and plan to launch it over the web. It's got me pumped about learning. Yes it's been done, but I think I'd like to do this, so I'm trying it out.
If that doesn't work, then next on the list is "Total World Domination", yeah...I think I'd like that....
Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series
James P Hogan - The Giant series starting with Inherit the Stars
Poul Anderson - Polesotechnic League series; Hoka series; The Psychotechnic League series; Time Patrol series; Harvest the Stars series; etc (100 or so books)
James Blish - Cities in Flight
Gordon Dickenson - Childe Cycle - Soldier, Ask Not is one of favorites
and one that captivated me and blew my mind - Robert Silverberg - Across A Billion Years
These should keep you busy for a few weeks. Or years.
Nice try their insurance man. I think you're wrong. Here's an example;
NOW: 10 insureds each paying $100 a month.
TOTAL Premiums/month = $1,000
AFTER: 10 insureds
5 are average drivers, they pay $100/month
2 are safe drivers, they pay $ 96/month
3 are unsafe drives, they pay $110/month
TOTAL Premiums/month = $ 1,022 PROFIT!!!!
This has nothing to do with actually helping their customers.
Now let's pretend you have a "black box" or any kind of monitoring device. You get in an accident may involve significant (to the insurance company amount of) damages, do you think they will use that data to help you, or protect themselves?
Hmmm....ding! ding! ding! We have a winner, they will screw you 12 ways into next year!
Don't forget that in the wake of the Challenger Disaster, there was a Commission that was tasked with the investigation.
ONLY the last minute theatrics of Dr Feynman with the ice-water and the O-Ring material succeeded in getting his conclusions included in the official report. As an Appendix. His findings were not even going to be reported; findings which supported Robert Boisjoly.
So not only did Asshattery lead to the Disaster, it continued in full force undiminished after it. This Asshattery lead to Robert Boisjoly and some of his colleges being "banished", ironically for being right.
There is NO EXCUSE for this. None. If this is common everywhere and not just in NASA, even less excuse as then EVERYONE should be on guard.
Robert Boisjoly is a hero, we lack people of his caliber. I mourn his loss.
On the person. With the person. Let the person control access to that data.
Do not aggregate data about a person with other persons' data in one place. If the purpose of the data is to help the person, then aggregation into big data bases is NOT required.
The storeage of such data off your personal device is strickly limited to time-frame necessary to interact with that person, and just the sub-set of data needed. For example, data about a single credit card that the person owns that is used to buy a pair of shoes. Then the store after charging that person's account, destroys their copies of that persons credit card data. They dont' need it to get paid after the charge is made.
The social service agency that wants to see if the child has a pattern of "accidents" could see that on the personal device. For example, reviewing all health care data, to see if the child has had multiple broken bones.
Each use of the person's personal data device could cause an update (to lower your credit limit, etc). Hash totals could be kept on the "main database" such that changing the personal device limit, without connected to the "main database" would invalidate the use of the bit of data. That person would need to go the credit card office (or it's affiliate's) to fix the problem.
This "main database" would not be totally aggregated, if you have a credit card at Bank One and a Discover card, each would have their own hash total about you - and only that.
Same with healthcare records. Your detailed records and x-rays (or whatever) are on the person device. When the MD wants to see some x-rays (or whatever) that MD gets your personal device.
Yes you could lose or damage your data device. You could give it to someone who steals your identity. That's YOUR problem then. Stupid is as stupid does. What do we do, start being required to protect you from gravity too?
Once your personal data is in some database, you no longer control that data. The owners of the database have UNRESTRICTED access to it, as do bad people (crackers).
If I could I would make these kind of data bases a crime punishable by immediate death of the president of the company, or lead official of the government agency that even tries to creates such a database. No trial just immediate death. (I'll keep track of it all in a database - doh!)
USB devices are fairly rugged already and can hold MB's of data. Let's stop the madness already.
If the UT started to charge students an extra fee based on useage. Somekind of reading fee, like Stallmans scary article......or if the UT started editting out 'non-politically correct' information and adding 'politically correct' corrections into the electronic document. It is hard to tell, impossible for the causual user, if the electronic version has been changed.
I realize that the UT is sort of a business and if they don't provide what the customers want, the customers (the students) go somewhere else. But who says that undereducation students (they are going to get educated) know or even can know what they want.
It would far easier to increase library useage by assigning more out-of-classroom work that requires the library, than to turn the library into a coffee house.
Anyway how can anyone study and concentrate in the midst of a social gathering?
This is a really bad idea, even if it increases useage of the "library" it will no longer be a library and will non-conducive to learning.
First of all, you have to support your current IT infrastucture. Hard-drives will fail, tapes wear out, classes/books for learning stuff, etc. etc. This budget is the easiest to make, look at historical spending.
Second of all, will the company grow, stay the same or shrink (yikes!). Talk with the managers - what do they see. This is your projection for new workstations, switches, increased tape backup, more hard drive space, etc. etc.
Thirdly you go sit somewhere and *think* about what IT can do to help the company. Growth, increased efficiency, competitive advantages, alignment with a big customer's needs, etc. etc. Basically it's what you can do with technology you don't use, or under use, or mis-use. This project (or projects) will have costs and benefits. Sell the project on it's return, or on the benefit for being able to do something your competitors can't do.
Then add 10 to 15%. That's what your boss will take out. Unless he's a saint.
I am now just a worker bee nerd. I've been THE boss, running a software company. Both are/were fun, both were/are stressful in different ways.
And I've been middle manager boss, stuck in-between bosses and employees. This wasn't fun. It was just stress and not-fun.
In all cases, measuring results ends up being soooo subjective I could scream. The most subjective is being the middle manager (and also the most stressful).
Stress sucks the fun out work and life, and I suspect that stress comes from unmeasured and undeterminable outcomes.
So why can open source projects be fun? When you're on an open source project, you just KNOW if you are being productive.
When you have a boss hanging off your ass-handle-bars, and that boss can't/won't make it clear what he wants and then tell you if you're doing it - major stress.
Unmeasured results leads to stress. Stress leads to not-fun. Not-fun leads to suffering.
Working at home, not working at home, open/closed source it doesn't matter. People WANT to do well . Even the worst guy on your team NEVER gets up and says to himself, "I think I'll do a real bad job at work today."
But give him a reasonable expectation that is clear, and he'll either do it or not do it. He'll know why he is being fired if he is incapable of completing it. He'll work diligently at suceeding too, at whatever level he can, because people want to suceed.
So how can we measure results?
That's the key - can you and I tell if we're doing what is expected? More than expected? When are done with today's work?
...Microsoft's difficulty in competing with the popularity of its own software platform,...
It's not popularity that keeps us on Win2K, it's the ginourmous expenses of purchasing hundreds of XP upgrades; the support staff time of installing it; getting our applications working on XP; getting all our networking and printing going; and re-training/support the end-user's with XP "is different" issues.
Popularity is not a factor in IT decisions here, if it where the boss would have us on Linux, but alas our mission app won't run on Linux.
I assume that other companies also don't have as an IT decision point "popularity". It's the drain bamage of converting (it's not an upgrade) to XP from Win2k.
RealmForge from www.realmforge.com is open source. They just released v0.6.1 but are not yet to a beta version, (Puts on Tinfoil Suit) and it is.NET based quickly points out runs on Mono.Net. Very complete feature set (many yet to be implemented however).
People you get these appointed positions owe the appointer. If Pres. Clinton appointed these folks, then of course they support values and ideals that Clinton (and then Kerry) are likely to support.
BECAUSE THEY WERE PICKED TO SUPPORT THOSE IDEALS.
Now these guys/gals are under Pres. Bush's appointment authority, and they obviously do not agree with him. In fact they publically opposed him and his ideals. So as an *authority* figure, he removed them.
THIS IS HOW IT WORKS. Not just politics but real life too. You are in fact beholding to whoever is your *authority* figure.
Let's assume your boss is your *authority* figure. Now try disagreeing with your boss publicly. Do it once and you're in trouble. Do it three times and unless your boss is a moron you will be gone.
If you run your own company, and some one of your people start disagreeing with you, you'll be concerned and rightfully so. Is this person loyal? Will they follow your policies and rules? Will they steal from you and try to date your daughter?
If that person persists in his disagreemnt, it will eventually become insubordination - and out they go. If you are a Saint, they might last a while longer, but even God cast out Lucifer.
Don't get on his back because Pres. Bush is replacing these guys. Any leader, Pres. Clinton, Pres whoever, GOD it doens't matter - they want supportive people around them.
If you feel the need to disagree with your boss, do it privately and assure him/her you will respect and support their decision(s) even if you do disagree. And before you disagree, decide if you want to die in that ditch first, cause even one disagree can lead to an "unappointment".
Now feel free to heap scorn and disagreement with Pres. Bush, but he might be watching you! **Deploys tin-foil body suit**.
Years ago I heard about a concept called "Single Sign-on" (by Novell) and I suppose other technologies have something similar.
I didn't however see anyone bring this up as a possible solution for the end-users. (Admin gods and godesses still have all those servers to deal with).
The idea was that the end-user signed on with one secure password, which authentics them to all their applications for that session. No more passwords to remember for the various apps, just one main password, that can be strong.
Seems like a reasonable idea - one strong password to rule them all, one strong password to bind them.
The user then has to deal with only one password, and if and when they leave employment access to ALL applications the user formerly had access to are deactivated from that one strong password.
I would be interested in what any thinks about this idea? Is it even possible on non-Novell or mixed networks?
It must be remembered that there
is nothing more difficult to plan,
more doubtful of success, nor more
dangerous to manage than the creation
of a new system. For the initiator has
the emnity of all who would profit by
the preservation of the old institution
and merely lukewarm defenders in those
who would gain by the new ones.
Please stop using the building something as an analog to software "construction".
There are hugh differences between building something and building software; 1. The bridge goes from point A to B and is x units long and y units wide and carries z amount of weight etc etc
2. The bridge is made of steel and concrete and other physical substances with known properties. Steel of composition blah, will hold up a known amount of weight, bending a known amount per unit of length, etc.
Software has to do what? I don't know we'll tell you as you go, and change it if we do tell you.
Software is made up of what, other software. What does IE do when run on this M$ OS running that plug-in - who knows?
You might as well compare fire to THE SUN, they after all are both "hot".
Software projects are late because of bad management. PERIOD.
Unless and until the PHB recgonize themselves as the problem, there will be no fix, just more blame cast at those weird IT folk.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm 60 and I have about 20 passwords. Some are to my wife's accounts.
I memorize them. BUT they are all memorable to me.
Let's say I had a very memorable event - my first kiss at an amusment park in 1969 - i'll create a password 'mfkaaapi69' and then switch it up a little bit so it ends up mFka&api6(
This pasword might be resused for a few accounts, that I consider low level security (ie no money, no real identity). Banking/financial logins are unique and are longer mnemonics.
Work is a pain - every 60 days we have to come up with a new one, so my work password is has a number I increment. KISS since they force the changing. Strangely some of my work logins still have the original password, while other logins are crazed about the changing. Must be different admins controling some of the domains and accounts.
I do write my personal ones down, but that list is in our family papers stash, and it's clearly labeled what the accounts are - in case I kick the bucket.
I've had a few scares and changed all passwords to all account at once. I had to rely on that written list for a few days.
Well I'm oldish and I'm a coder. Here's what I'm doing.
I researched the question "How to find out what you want to be when you grow up?". I expected to find an answer, but whoa is me, only more questions.
So I just took that question, which is 'What do you like to do?' and made a big list. Go off somewhere no one will bother you, to do this. Just make a list of what you like or think you'd like to do.
Then pick one and do it. Do it long enough to find out if you like it or not.
For example, some people think, "I'd like to write a novel." - so start writing one. After a few weeks or even longer of diligent effort, again sit down and ask. Did I like that? Good. Continue writing. If not, then pick something else off that list. Repeat Until Liked.
I'm testing my idea to host a web based application for managers who have to create schedules for staff. So I'm writing an app for that and plan to launch it over the web. It's got me pumped about learning. Yes it's been done, but I think I'd like to do this, so I'm trying it out.
If that doesn't work, then next on the list is "Total World Domination", yeah...I think I'd like that....
One Net to rule them all, One Net to find them,
One Net to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Cable where the Hulu lies.
Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series
James P Hogan - The Giant series starting with Inherit the Stars
Poul Anderson - Polesotechnic League series; Hoka series; The Psychotechnic League series; Time Patrol series; Harvest the Stars series; etc (100 or so books)
James Blish - Cities in Flight
Gordon Dickenson - Childe Cycle - Soldier, Ask Not is one of favorites
and one that captivated me and blew my mind - Robert Silverberg - Across A Billion Years
These should keep you busy for a few weeks. Or years.
Nice try their insurance man. I think you're wrong. Here's an example;
NOW: 10 insureds each paying $100 a month.
TOTAL Premiums/month = $1,000
AFTER: 10 insureds
5 are average drivers, they pay $100/month
2 are safe drivers, they pay $ 96/month
3 are unsafe drives, they pay $110/month
TOTAL Premiums/month = $ 1,022
PROFIT!!!!
This has nothing to do with actually helping their customers.
Now let's pretend you have a "black box" or any kind of monitoring device. You get in an accident may involve significant (to the insurance company amount of) damages, do you think they will use that data to help you, or protect themselves?
Hmmm....ding! ding! ding! We have a winner, they will screw you 12 ways into next year!
It's ALWAYS about the money.
Don't forget that in the wake of the Challenger Disaster, there was a Commission that was tasked with the investigation. ONLY the last minute theatrics of Dr Feynman with the ice-water and the O-Ring material succeeded in getting his conclusions included in the official report. As an Appendix. His findings were not even going to be reported; findings which supported Robert Boisjoly. So not only did Asshattery lead to the Disaster, it continued in full force undiminished after it. This Asshattery lead to Robert Boisjoly and some of his colleges being "banished", ironically for being right. There is NO EXCUSE for this. None. If this is common everywhere and not just in NASA, even less excuse as then EVERYONE should be on guard. Robert Boisjoly is a hero, we lack people of his caliber. I mourn his loss.
Why did you summon me?
I you are posting on Slashdot, then both those women are blow-up dolls. Keep them both.
...the money will follow.
Two years ago had almost this same decision to make.
I switched. I love it. Now as just a nerd, I make more than I did as the "big fish in the little pond" manager.
On the person. With the person. Let the person control access to that data.
Do not aggregate data about a person with other persons' data in one place. If the purpose of the data is to help the person, then aggregation into big data bases is NOT required.
The storeage of such data off your personal device is strickly limited to time-frame necessary to interact with that person, and just the sub-set of data needed. For example, data about a single credit card that the person owns that is used to buy a pair of shoes. Then the store after charging that person's account, destroys their copies of that persons credit card data. They dont' need it to get paid after the charge is made.
The social service agency that wants to see if the child has a pattern of "accidents" could see that on the personal device. For example, reviewing all health care data, to see if the child has had multiple broken bones.
Each use of the person's personal data device could cause an update (to lower your credit limit, etc). Hash totals could be kept on the "main database" such that changing the personal device limit, without connected to the "main database" would invalidate the use of the bit of data. That person would need to go the credit card office (or it's affiliate's) to fix the problem.
This "main database" would not be totally aggregated, if you have a credit card at Bank One and a Discover card, each would have their own hash total about you - and only that.
Same with healthcare records. Your detailed records and x-rays (or whatever) are on the person device. When the MD wants to see some x-rays (or whatever) that MD gets your personal device.
Yes you could lose or damage your data device. You could give it to someone who steals your identity. That's YOUR problem then. Stupid is as stupid does. What do we do, start being required to protect you from gravity too?
Once your personal data is in some database, you no longer control that data. The owners of the database have UNRESTRICTED access to it, as do bad people (crackers).
If I could I would make these kind of data bases a crime punishable by immediate death of the president of the company, or lead official of the government agency that even tries to creates such a database. No trial just immediate death. (I'll keep track of it all in a database - doh!)
USB devices are fairly rugged already and can hold MB's of data. Let's stop the madness already.
If the UT started to charge students an extra fee based on useage. Somekind of reading fee, like Stallmans scary article... ...or if the UT started editting out 'non-politically correct' information and adding 'politically correct' corrections into the electronic document. It is hard to tell, impossible for the causual user, if the electronic version has been changed.
I realize that the UT is sort of a business and if they don't provide what the customers want, the customers (the students) go somewhere else. But who says that undereducation students (they are going to get educated) know or even can know what they want.
It would far easier to increase library useage by assigning more out-of-classroom work that requires the library, than to turn the library into a coffee house.
Anyway how can anyone study and concentrate in the midst of a social gathering?
This is a really bad idea, even if it increases useage of the "library" it will no longer be a library and will non-conducive to learning.
First of all, you have to support your current IT infrastucture. Hard-drives will fail, tapes wear out, classes/books for learning stuff, etc. etc. This budget is the easiest to make, look at historical spending.
Second of all, will the company grow, stay the same or shrink (yikes!). Talk with the managers - what do they see. This is your projection for new workstations, switches, increased tape backup, more hard drive space, etc. etc.
Thirdly you go sit somewhere and *think* about what IT can do to help the company. Growth, increased efficiency, competitive advantages, alignment with a big customer's needs, etc. etc. Basically it's what you can do with technology you don't use, or under use, or mis-use. This project (or projects) will have costs and benefits. Sell the project on it's return, or on the benefit for being able to do something your competitors can't do.
Then add 10 to 15%. That's what your boss will take out. Unless he's a saint.
I am now just a worker bee nerd. I've been THE boss, running a software company. Both are/were fun, both were/are stressful in different ways.
And I've been middle manager boss, stuck in-between bosses and employees. This wasn't fun. It was just stress and not-fun.
In all cases, measuring results ends up being soooo subjective I could scream. The most subjective is being the middle manager (and also the most stressful).
Stress sucks the fun out work and life, and I suspect that stress comes from unmeasured and undeterminable outcomes.
So why can open source projects be fun? When you're on an open source project, you just KNOW if you are being productive.
When you have a boss hanging off your ass-handle-bars, and that boss can't/won't make it clear what he wants and then tell you if you're doing it - major stress.
Unmeasured results leads to stress. Stress leads to not-fun. Not-fun leads to suffering.
Working at home, not working at home, open/closed source it doesn't matter. People WANT to do well . Even the worst guy on your team NEVER gets up and says to himself, "I think I'll do a real bad job at work today."
But give him a reasonable expectation that is clear, and he'll either do it or not do it. He'll know why he is being fired if he is incapable of completing it. He'll work diligently at suceeding too, at whatever level he can, because people want to suceed.
So how can we measure results?
That's the key - can you and I tell if we're doing what is expected? More than expected? When are done with today's work?
...Microsoft's difficulty in competing with the popularity of its own software platform,...
It's not popularity that keeps us on Win2K, it's the ginourmous expenses of purchasing hundreds of XP upgrades; the support staff time of installing it; getting our applications working on XP; getting all our networking and printing going; and re-training/support the end-user's with XP "is different" issues.
Popularity is not a factor in IT decisions here, if it where the boss would have us on Linux, but alas our mission app won't run on Linux.
I assume that other companies also don't have as an IT decision point "popularity". It's the drain bamage of converting (it's not an upgrade) to XP from Win2k.
In more recent news, botnet has controlled enough cpu power to become sentient and has renamed itself "skynet".
Torque engine from Garage Games
.NET based quickly points out runs on Mono.Net.
RealmForge from www.realmforge.com is open source. They just released v0.6.1 but are not yet to a beta version, (Puts on Tinfoil Suit) and it is
Very complete feature set (many yet to be implemented however).
Nevrax
Radan Labs
Reality Factory
3D Game Studio
but better, browse to
http://www.devmaster.net/engines/
and waste some time there!
...my Illudium Q-36 Explosive Toad Modulator.
People you get these appointed positions owe the appointer. If Pres. Clinton appointed these folks, then of course they support values and ideals that Clinton (and then Kerry) are likely to support.
BECAUSE THEY WERE PICKED TO SUPPORT THOSE IDEALS.
Now these guys/gals are under Pres. Bush's appointment authority, and they obviously do not agree with him. In fact they publically opposed him and his ideals. So as an *authority* figure, he removed them.
THIS IS HOW IT WORKS. Not just politics but real life too. You are in fact beholding to whoever is your *authority* figure.
Let's assume your boss is your *authority* figure. Now try disagreeing with your boss publicly. Do it once and you're in trouble. Do it three times and unless your boss is a moron you will be gone.
If you run your own company, and some one of your people start disagreeing with you, you'll be concerned and rightfully so. Is this person loyal? Will they follow your policies and rules? Will they steal from you and try to date your daughter?
If that person persists in his disagreemnt, it will eventually become insubordination - and out they go. If you are a Saint, they might last a while longer, but even God cast out Lucifer.
Don't get on his back because Pres. Bush is replacing these guys. Any leader, Pres. Clinton, Pres whoever, GOD it doens't matter - they want supportive people around them.
If you feel the need to disagree with your boss, do it privately and assure him/her you will respect and support their decision(s) even if you do disagree. And before you disagree, decide if you want to die in that ditch first, cause even one disagree can lead to an "unappointment".
Now feel free to heap scorn and disagreement with Pres. Bush, but he might be watching you! **Deploys tin-foil body suit**.
If they use that MRI to read my mind, they all will go blind!
Years ago I heard about a concept called "Single Sign-on" (by Novell) and I suppose other technologies have something similar.
I didn't however see anyone bring this up as a possible solution for the end-users. (Admin gods and godesses still have all those servers to deal with).
The idea was that the end-user signed on with one secure password, which authentics them to all their applications for that session. No more passwords to remember for the various apps, just one main password, that can be strong.
Seems like a reasonable idea - one strong password to rule them all, one strong password to bind them.
The user then has to deal with only one password, and if and when they leave employment access to ALL applications the user formerly had access to are deactivated from that one strong password.
I would be interested in what any thinks about this idea? Is it even possible on non-Novell or mixed networks?
It must be remembered that there
is nothing more difficult to plan,
more doubtful of success, nor more
dangerous to manage than the creation
of a new system. For the initiator has
the emnity of all who would profit by
the preservation of the old institution
and merely lukewarm defenders in those
who would gain by the new ones.
Machiavelli, The Prince, 1515.
...they be Software Pirates, matey! Arrrgg!
They be coding in Sea#! Arrrggg.
Instead of Blackberry, they be using Blackbeard. Arrrggg.
Shiver me compiler! HO YO a pirates life for me!
Please stop using the building something as an analog to software "construction".
There are hugh differences between building something and building software;
1. The bridge goes from point A to B and is x units long and y units wide and carries z amount of weight etc etc
2. The bridge is made of steel and concrete and other physical substances with known properties. Steel of composition blah, will hold up a known amount of weight, bending a known amount per unit of length, etc.
Software has to do what? I don't know we'll tell you as you go, and change it if we do tell you.
Software is made up of what, other software. What does IE do when run on this M$ OS running that plug-in - who knows?
You might as well compare fire to THE SUN, they after all are both "hot".
Software projects are late because of bad management. PERIOD.
Unless and until the PHB recgonize themselves as the problem, there will be no fix, just more blame cast at those weird IT folk.
I keep hitting RELOAD but its just the same thing over and and over. Why can't I get this Matrix to reload?
I don't understand, what is the Matrix?