In the interview referenced in the article, there is a paragraph that states
When contacted Microsoft, was unable to commit to a timescale for correcting the flaw but issued the following statement by way of a spokesperson: "Microsoft is still investigating this report of a possible vulnerability in Microsoft Office. When that investigation is complete, we will take the appropriate actions to protect customers. This may include providing a security update through our monthly release process."
Using my handy M$ anti-spin ray on the response from M$, I found that the response actually said, "Nothing to see here, move along please."
This is just a ruse to get folks to pay less attention to the fact that the MS OS is generally less secure for most people than it should be...
I would not be surprised that when this new method of getting updates from MS is up and running they start blaming the non-legal copies for the propogation of problems with MS. They will say, even if it is not completely true, that the problems began with computers that were not properly and legally updated. The average computer user will believe it because they don't know any better.
Seriously though, giving it a quick look, it seems that is it thorough. As I know something about Shannon and his work, I am interested to see what the implications of quantum computing are wrt channel capacity, entropy, and error correcting codes in general. I have a feeling that will take a more involved reading that I have time for at this moment.
No, what I was trying to say--in a somewhat sarcastic manner--is that the kids I see more and more of today spend too much time being assaulted by pixels and have no clue how to climb a tree or the million other little things that I think you learn if: (a) You spend more time with other kids outside doing stuff (snowball fights, building forts, etc.) (b) You actually read a freaking book every once in awhile instead of waiting for it to come out as a movie.
These scientists are full of crap. First of all, you can't seem to get too many kids involved in a game that does not have you carjacking someone or killing aliens. Second of all, you can't get the depth and breadth of knowledge you get when reading. Sorry, I just don't buy the premise.
Kids need less video games, more playing outside in the real world. Little Jimmy is going to learn a hell of a lot more falling out of a tree every once in awhile then he will playing some educational version of Halo 2.
Hell, I drink one or two of the 20 oz bottles every week day, so assuming the promotion goes for something like 60 days--I could be wrong on that number--I have a chance to win between 20 and 30 songs. I will probably end up with more from coworkers and others who do not redeem their caps. Last year I ended up with almost 70 songs. But I have had a few coworkers migrate to Apple this year, so they may hold on to them.
Kind of win-win for me.
I would'nt really call it irrelevant. I am working with some people who are researching ways to embed household devices with bluetooth. Now, there are some who would cry that this is geek-driven tech and on some accounts I would agree. However, the focus of much of this research is to utilize technology to increase the accessibility for those who are mobility impaired. Creating these bluetooth networks would make independent living for these individuals more of a reality. Bluetooth modules embedded into lighting, heating and air conditioning, doors and door locks, media devices, etc. is a large improvement in the quality of life for these individuals.
Why bluetooth? 1. There are a lot of bluetooth products out there. 2. There are a lot of software libraries for bluetooth. 3. It runs on the ISM band. 3. With bluetooth, you can create a scatternet. 4. Its relative short range is a plus in terms of interference in these applications. The list could really go on from there.
While this is certainly a niche market, it is a large market. I think part of the problem with bluetooth is that some developers have been unable to exapnd their minds beyond the cellphone paradigm into other areas that could make a huge difference.
Yea, they are pretty ugly. But look at the guy wearing them. Are those his real teeth? Maybe those caps are part of the antenna. God, I hope not, the guy looks like some reject from a hip-hop video
Actually, I think they are working to embed the bluetooth (BT) technology in the sunglasses for things like BT enabled phones. There would be some type of earpiece on the glasses and the mic would be built into the frame.
I own and use several BT devices. I have a wireless mouse for my PowerBook. Also, my mac is configured to accept BT from my phone, so I can completely turn off the ringer and the caller ID shows up on my monitor. Very nice for meetings. The lab I work in has a G5 PowerMac with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Not having all those wires helps clean the desk up nicely.
Yes. MS recommends that when this happens you remove the glasses, fold them up, put them in the case, get them back out, and them put them back on...oh yea, and they recommend installing SP2.
Let me clarify the email a little. PC's in a designated engineering computer lab here at the university do require a user login/password and are tight in terms of not allowing the loading/saving of software, etc. The email details PC's that have been added to hardware labs. There are generally only a half-dozen to a dozen in each hardware lab. They were initially not connected to the network. Later, network connections were added allowing a student, who could be working on some project and may need a data sheet for a component, to access the internet and examine the data sheet. Also, if they were working on a project and wanted to do a little research on say amplitude modulation via the internet, they would be able to. Also, some classes post assignments on websites and, if they needed to download the assignment to be performed in the lab, they could. However, this unfettered access in these hardware labs led to the computers being infested.
The actual PC and Sun Workstation labs require logins and nothing can be saved permanently. Once the computer is rebooted, anything saved to a temp folder is lost.
The Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska is even seeing the effect of all the crap on the internet. The problem is trying to offer students access to the internet in the labs and classrooms. Most of these computers use MS products. Students seems to feel it is their duty to install as much crap on these computers as possible--mostly screen savers, tool bars, etc. The problem is that more and more of these programs are infested. So, in response to that, electrical engineering students at the University of Nebraska received this email this week:
The year 2004 was something of a milestone in computer history for "rogue" software like
viruses (virii?) , "trojans", and "spyware" of various types. Computer technicians
here and everywhere are flooded with users complaining that their Windows-based PCs
are crippled, slow, and almost unusable. Almost always it is due to infection by such "malware".
Many of these beasties arrive on our computers when we install software "toys" like extra
screensavers, "fun" cursors, shopping tools, casino software, extra toolbars, messengers,
games, and especially peer-to-peer file sharing software. Some can attack a system
through the web browser simply by having a user visit a particular website, or can exploit
instant messengers.
As a result, it's not unusual to have computers that students are being asked to
use for classwork be crippled and unstable. Infected systems can also "nuke" our University
network bandwidth and, when file sharing has been done, our department has been
threatened with lawsuits by movie studios protesting distribution of hacked DVDs on
our classroom and research computers. You read the news as well as I and know that these are
not idle bluffs: real people are paying real fines.
The upshot is, that in 2005, the rules about how classroom computers may be used by students
will change. The full brunt of these changes may not come about until the fall term.
In brief: some instructional lab computers may no longer accomodate all possible
computing tasks. E.E. lab computers are there for very specific instructional
purposes, and our priority is to keep those classroom applications working. In some cases,
faculty have requested that certain machines have network access restricted to UNL-campus-only
mail and web servers (which we are able to do.) In ALL cases, classroom computers will require
a unique log-in and password, that will be explained to you at a later date. And with very few exceptions,
only system administrators will be able to install new software on Windows computers. Under
no circumstances is recreational peer-to-peer file sharing permitted on University-owned PCs.
You would have hoped engineering students would be saavy enough not to have been loading this crap. It is a shame to limit access in these situations, but it is the only way to ensure the computers with windows will perform the main tasks needed to be performed for the students.
I am recommending to all my friends and family who are fed up with the problems with windows to either get Linux or get a Mac. If they cannot do that, I am recommending they get rid of IE, use Firefox or Mozilla, and stop downloading things they are unsure of.
I have to wonder if people who tell me that a Mac is not worth the extra money value their time. I am willing to pay more for my Mac(s) because they simply work. I do not spend time worrying about it. I occassionally have to work on a Dell machine at work. It might only be a $500 machine, but I have to spend so much more time ensuring it is free from viruses, adware, spyware, malware, etc. In my opinion, all that time I have to spend babysitting this Dell could be better spent on my actual task.
I too am glad they dropped the TechTV name. I had stopped watching TechTV when they started getting rid of people who knew what the hell they were talking about or would bring people on who knew the what they were talking about. Replacing these true techies with rejects from 'The OC' was a bad move. And, not surprisingly, with these rejects you started to see a younger client base that wanted more game crap.
I was not aware how bad it was until a few weeks when I switched in on and it was all gaming stuff. That was enough for me. Sorry to see the old TechTV go, it was pretty cool having a station like that--although my wife appreciated it much less than I did.
I tried to get on the Macworld Expo site all day to no avail, but I did get on apple.com. It was a little slower than I am used to, but it was available. I don't know if I would attribute that to one server using Windows and another using Apple's server software--however much I would like to. Rather, it could be that people Googling Macworld Expo were more inclined to go to the Expo site versus apple.com. I Googled it myself and the first couple of items on Google were for Expo pages. Simply could be a matter of numbers and not software--no matter how much I'd like to point at the Windows server and say, 'HA!'
I have pretty much switched to exclusively to Firefox. I agree with some of the previous posts that Mozilla was a little bloated for my tastes. I am sure there is a population it serves well, but I am not among them.
I think the problem with Mozilla is that it already has too many functions for me. I really don't want my email tied to my browser, so I did not use that part of Mozilla. I rarely use chat services, so that was useless to me. Again, I am sure Mozilla serves a certain market very well, just not the market I am in.
Firefox on the other hand serves my purposes very well. It is a sleek, fast browser. Obviously tabbed browsing is nice. I like its security. I like the clean layout of the menu and tool bars.
I am wondering if they had a basement full of monkeys picking this list. First of all, Star Wars being behind MIB...wow. Then, the inclusion of The Mummy and X2(X-Men II) on a list of the Top 50 that does not include either Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, or Stripes just boggles the mind.
I know what you mean about the plates. I get the Husker plates to at least not have to deal with blatently ugly plates (the orange ones) or any plate with a freaking covered wagon, chimney rock, or some other cliché they use when they run out of innovative ideas--which pretty much means every plate they put out.
I live in Nebraska and this hit the local news over the weekend. My first thought was, "I wonder how long until I see this on/.?" What a great way to make a state that already has a backwoods reputation seem even more backwoods.
I think an appropriate message would be, "Will work for brains."
Slashdot Mirror
They obviously saved a load of cash by getting rid of that expensive code debugging department.
In the interview referenced in the article, there is a paragraph that states
When contacted Microsoft, was unable to commit to a timescale for correcting the flaw but issued the following statement by way of a spokesperson: "Microsoft is still investigating this report of a possible vulnerability in Microsoft Office. When that investigation is complete, we will take the appropriate actions to protect customers. This may include providing a security update through our monthly release process."
Using my handy M$ anti-spin ray on the response from M$, I found that the response actually said, "Nothing to see here, move along please."Of course it changed all of the internet setting, and default program settings back to the official MS versions which was a pain in the ass.
Isn't it lovely when MS does that to you. I am caught between thinking it is a glitch in the system or it is by design.
\begin{sarcasm} Because you obviously cannot possibly know how you want your computer configured \end{sarcasm}.This is just a ruse to get folks to pay less attention to the fact that the MS OS is generally less secure for most people than it should be...
I would not be surprised that when this new method of getting updates from MS is up and running they start blaming the non-legal copies for the propogation of problems with MS. They will say, even if it is not completely true, that the problems began with computers that were not properly and legally updated. The average computer user will believe it because they don't know any better.
is my first response after looking at the PDF.
Seriously though, giving it a quick look, it seems that is it thorough. As I know something about Shannon and his work, I am interested to see what the implications of quantum computing are wrt channel capacity, entropy, and error correcting codes in general. I have a feeling that will take a more involved reading that I have time for at this moment.
No, what I was trying to say--in a somewhat sarcastic manner--is that the kids I see more and more of today spend too much time being assaulted by pixels and have no clue how to climb a tree or the million other little things that I think you learn if: (a) You spend more time with other kids outside doing stuff (snowball fights, building forts, etc.) (b) You actually read a freaking book every once in awhile instead of waiting for it to come out as a movie.
These scientists are full of crap. First of all, you can't seem to get too many kids involved in a game that does not have you carjacking someone or killing aliens. Second of all, you can't get the depth and breadth of knowledge you get when reading. Sorry, I just don't buy the premise. Kids need less video games, more playing outside in the real world. Little Jimmy is going to learn a hell of a lot more falling out of a tree every once in awhile then he will playing some educational version of Halo 2.
Hell, I drink one or two of the 20 oz bottles every week day, so assuming the promotion goes for something like 60 days--I could be wrong on that number--I have a chance to win between 20 and 30 songs. I will probably end up with more from coworkers and others who do not redeem their caps. Last year I ended up with almost 70 songs. But I have had a few coworkers migrate to Apple this year, so they may hold on to them. Kind of win-win for me.
Thanks for the mirror. That must have been the fastest /. effect I have seen.
Now, about the pictures. It looks like a spread for a geek porn mag. It almost looks like he is ready to dry-hump the monitor.
That might be the most stable MS GUI around he is fawning over.
I would'nt really call it irrelevant. I am working with some people who are researching ways to embed household devices with bluetooth. Now, there are some who would cry that this is geek-driven tech and on some accounts I would agree. However, the focus of much of this research is to utilize technology to increase the accessibility for those who are mobility impaired. Creating these bluetooth networks would make independent living for these individuals more of a reality. Bluetooth modules embedded into lighting, heating and air conditioning, doors and door locks, media devices, etc. is a large improvement in the quality of life for these individuals.
Why bluetooth? 1. There are a lot of bluetooth products out there. 2. There are a lot of software libraries for bluetooth. 3. It runs on the ISM band. 3. With bluetooth, you can create a scatternet. 4. Its relative short range is a plus in terms of interference in these applications. The list could really go on from there.
While this is certainly a niche market, it is a large market. I think part of the problem with bluetooth is that some developers have been unable to exapnd their minds beyond the cellphone paradigm into other areas that could make a huge difference.
Yea, they are pretty ugly. But look at the guy wearing them. Are those his real teeth? Maybe those caps are part of the antenna. God, I hope not, the guy looks like some reject from a hip-hop video
Actually, I think they are working to embed the bluetooth (BT) technology in the sunglasses for things like BT enabled phones. There would be some type of earpiece on the glasses and the mic would be built into the frame.
I own and use several BT devices. I have a wireless mouse for my PowerBook. Also, my mac is configured to accept BT from my phone, so I can completely turn off the ringer and the caller ID shows up on my monitor. Very nice for meetings. The lab I work in has a G5 PowerMac with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Not having all those wires helps clean the desk up nicely.
Yes. MS recommends that when this happens you remove the glasses, fold them up, put them in the case, get them back out, and them put them back on...oh yea, and they recommend installing SP2.
I got a Laplander for a gift. It is available from Levenger. One of the best tech related gifts I have ever gotten. No nut burning going on here.
Let me clarify the email a little. PC's in a designated engineering computer lab here at the university do require a user login/password and are tight in terms of not allowing the loading/saving of software, etc. The email details PC's that have been added to hardware labs. There are generally only a half-dozen to a dozen in each hardware lab. They were initially not connected to the network. Later, network connections were added allowing a student, who could be working on some project and may need a data sheet for a component, to access the internet and examine the data sheet. Also, if they were working on a project and wanted to do a little research on say amplitude modulation via the internet, they would be able to. Also, some classes post assignments on websites and, if they needed to download the assignment to be performed in the lab, they could. However, this unfettered access in these hardware labs led to the computers being infested.
The actual PC and Sun Workstation labs require logins and nothing can be saved permanently. Once the computer is rebooted, anything saved to a temp folder is lost.
The Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska is even seeing the effect of all the crap on the internet. The problem is trying to offer students access to the internet in the labs and classrooms. Most of these computers use MS products. Students seems to feel it is their duty to install as much crap on these computers as possible--mostly screen savers, tool bars, etc. The problem is that more and more of these programs are infested. So, in response to that, electrical engineering students at the University of Nebraska received this email this week:
You would have hoped engineering students would be saavy enough not to have been loading this crap. It is a shame to limit access in these situations, but it is the only way to ensure the computers with windows will perform the main tasks needed to be performed for the students.
I am recommending to all my friends and family who are fed up with the problems with windows to either get Linux or get a Mac. If they cannot do that, I am recommending they get rid of IE, use Firefox or Mozilla, and stop downloading things they are unsure of.
They still have the death penalty in Texas, right?
I have to wonder if people who tell me that a Mac is not worth the extra money value their time. I am willing to pay more for my Mac(s) because they simply work. I do not spend time worrying about it. I occassionally have to work on a Dell machine at work. It might only be a $500 machine, but I have to spend so much more time ensuring it is free from viruses, adware, spyware, malware, etc. In my opinion, all that time I have to spend babysitting this Dell could be better spent on my actual task.
For those who would like to read a similar article without having to give out information:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5 ?nn20050112a1.htm
and here:
http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=bluele dinventorse1105540939&area=news
Pretty nice chunk of change for this guy. Although the company made quite a cunk themselves off of his work.
I too am glad they dropped the TechTV name. I had stopped watching TechTV when they started getting rid of people who knew what the hell they were talking about or would bring people on who knew the what they were talking about. Replacing these true techies with rejects from 'The OC' was a bad move. And, not surprisingly, with these rejects you started to see a younger client base that wanted more game crap.
I was not aware how bad it was until a few weeks when I switched in on and it was all gaming stuff. That was enough for me. Sorry to see the old TechTV go, it was pretty cool having a station like that--although my wife appreciated it much less than I did.
I tried to get on the Macworld Expo site all day to no avail, but I did get on apple.com. It was a little slower than I am used to, but it was available. I don't know if I would attribute that to one server using Windows and another using Apple's server software--however much I would like to. Rather, it could be that people Googling Macworld Expo were more inclined to go to the Expo site versus apple.com. I Googled it myself and the first couple of items on Google were for Expo pages. Simply could be a matter of numbers and not software--no matter how much I'd like to point at the Windows server and say, 'HA!'
I have pretty much switched to exclusively to Firefox. I agree with some of the previous posts that Mozilla was a little bloated for my tastes. I am sure there is a population it serves well, but I am not among them.
I think the problem with Mozilla is that it already has too many functions for me. I really don't want my email tied to my browser, so I did not use that part of Mozilla. I rarely use chat services, so that was useless to me. Again, I am sure Mozilla serves a certain market very well, just not the market I am in.
Firefox on the other hand serves my purposes very well. It is a sleek, fast browser. Obviously tabbed browsing is nice. I like its security. I like the clean layout of the menu and tool bars.
I am wondering if they had a basement full of monkeys picking this list. First of all, Star Wars being behind MIB...wow. Then, the inclusion of The Mummy and X2(X-Men II) on a list of the Top 50 that does not include either Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, or Stripes just boggles the mind.
I know what you mean about the plates. I get the Husker plates to at least not have to deal with blatently ugly plates (the orange ones) or any plate with a freaking covered wagon, chimney rock, or some other cliché they use when they run out of innovative ideas--which pretty much means every plate they put out.
I live in Nebraska and this hit the local news over the weekend. My first thought was, "I wonder how long until I see this on /.?" What a great way to make a state that already has a backwoods reputation seem even more backwoods.
I think an appropriate message would be, "Will work for brains."