As to the sony rootkit, it was in a gray area of the law, so it would take somebody with more lawyers they can throw than sony can to win that kind of lawsuit.
This is utterly not a grey area. This is clearly an attempt to commit fraud, identity theft, and intrusion into a remote computer without permission. Every single person in that company who had anything to do with this needs to be dragged in to criminal court and charged with numerous felonies.
Completely unacceptable. No company should be allowed to get away with this. This company needs to be made example of.
This is one of those rare instances where I actually wish I was a lawyer with prosecutor-powers, I'd charge head first into this and rip that company to shreds.
Code embedded in its A320-X module contained a mechanism for detecting 'pirate' serial numbers distributed on The Pirate Bay, which then triggered a process through which the company stole usernames and passwords from users' web browsers.
If any individual was found to be installing this kind of malware on remote computers, they would be charged with all kinds of computer hacking crimes, just as a start.
Where's the criminal charges? This company needs to be made example of, this kind of behavior is utterly unacceptable.
The fundamental problem is that the barrier between using a computer and programming a computer is getting higher.
No, it's not. It's never been easier. Visual Studio is free, for Windows development. The Android SDK, free. GCC and Linux development, all free. In the era you're referring to, you had to pay Microsoft quite a hefty sum to get your hands on their C compiler. Linux didn't exist. Development for computers was never as difficult as the early days. And I'm afraid referring to the BASIC interpreter on the C64 doesn't count.
1. Computer retailers stopped installing development environments by default.
And for good reason. Those development tools and environments are costly in terms of storage. Most people don't use them. Why waste all that space on something 99% of end-users won't ever touch. This is a good thing.
2. User interfaces shifted from command-line interfaces (CLIs) to graphical user interfaces (GUIs). GUIs are generally easier to use, but they hide information from users about what's really happening. When users really don't need to know, hiding information can be a good thing. The problem is that GUIs hide a lot of information programmers need to know. So when a user decides to become a programmer, they are suddenly confronted with all the information that's been hidden from them. If someone just wants to learn to program, they shouldn't have to learn operating system concepts first.
Really? Someone shouldn't learn about the environment they're intending to develop code for? This is so stupid I don't even have words. It's kind a given, if you wanna do development, you need to be a power-user first, and understand the underlying systems if you ever hope to manipulate them into doing something. This is soooooo wrong. Couldn't be any further from the mark.
3. Cloud computing has taken information hiding to a whole new level. People using web applications often have only a vague idea of where their data is stored and what applications they can use to access it. Many users, especially on mobile devices, don't distinguish between operating systems, applications, web browsers, and web applications. When they upload and download data, they are often confused about where is it coming from and where it is going. When they install something, they are often confused about what is being installed where. For someone who grew up with a Commodore 64, learning to program was hard enough. For someone growing up with a cloud-connected mobile device, it is much harder.
If a person had a basic understanding of the operating systems they're intending to develop for, it being remotely located is a non-issue. This is just dumb for dumb sake. This doesn't even belong here. It's irrelevant -where- your application is running, be on your machine, someone elses, or a remote (Cloud) server. It's all computers. You should be learning the basics so these new concepts are easier to grasp and understand.
Bottom line: Whoever wrote this is brain-dead. They don't know anything about computers or the software development cycle. I'd be surprised if they ever did anything other than load Archon on that C64 he's getting all nostalgic about.
TL:DR version: non-digestible input means your guts work less better. Get it?
If that's too difficult for you to cope with, then try supplementing your diet with 20% decomposed plastic bags and get back to us.
Um. If something is non-digestible, doesn't that mean you just shit it out? If you can't digest it, it just passes through. Much like when you feed corn to dogs. They can't digest corn, so it comes out looking much the way it did going in, yellow kernels, unaffected by digestion.
Also, I'd like to point out, if it can't be digested and somehow remains lodged in the gut, that wouldn't affect the parts we'd be interested in for eating. We don't eat the entrails. Now I suppose there is the matter of it somehow becoming stuck within the digestive system, but I haven't seen anything like that mentioned. Why would it get stuck in there? You'd think, as I already said, it'd just pass through like any other non-digestible matter.
...That DRM is a complete waste of time, effort and resources. Give it up already, dump the DRM, make people happy. Keep the DRM, get cracked again.. and again.. and again. Same old insanity: Deploying DRM expecting it can't be cracked, but every time it is cracked. Yawn.
Please find me the equivalent of Visual Studio for Linux.
Eclipse isn't bad. It's not Visual Studio, but it's open source and a good start. Open Source simply doesn't have the resources to rapidly develop stuff like a corporation like Microsoft. Corporations can throw massive resources at a project and get it super shiny in very little time. Open Source evolves at a much slower pace cuz most people working on Open source do it in their free time, without pay or compensation.
new law that would require websites and Internet services to use automated filtering to enforce copyrights.
Given the rise of pretty much every websites flipping on HTTPS, the prevalence of VPN's and other measures to obscure what's really being transmitted to any given IP address, they got a hell of a tall order there to try to 'stomp' on copyright infringement on the fly. You're talking about cracking/decrypting HTTPS on-the-fly, add analysis and comparison to samples. I'm not saying it's impossible, our computers are getting disturbingly fast, but what a fucking waste of resources. All that effort so Joe can't download a copy of your movie? Epic waste of resources, for little-to-no gain whatsoever. Haven't these people learned yet? People who pirate content are rarely people who would EVER buy your stuff.
Simply put, automated filters censor lawful and important speech
Collateral damage due to protecting copyrights. The media companies that are encouraging DMCA get replaced don't care about this. They just want their material protected. Hell, they probably would very much like 'fair use' to go away. Anything to tighten the screws, damn the legitimate usages!
This is a very American response to the issue: Shoot first, ask questions later. Automated filters are basically this mentality encoded. Censor first, ask questions later. Protect copyrights first, ask questions later.
Why the hell is it that values that Americans seems to cherish are left at the entrance when they go to work? Fucking disgraceful.
I just don't get this. I keep reading (and hearing) people saying all these things that Windows 10 does without permission, like change settings, install Apps, etcetc... WTF are you people doing? Because I've been running Win10 for 2 years now and.. it never does anything I didn't tell it to. Ever. I don't understand, how are people getting it to do weirdness? I'm genuinely curious! Does Microsoft just 'sense' I'm a poweruser by what I have installed and leaves my system alone?
What's worse is that Microsoft, which owns Skype, won't fix the flaw because it would require the updater to go through "a large code revision." Instead, Microsoft is putting all its resources on building an altogether new client.
Man I gotta hand it to whomever at Microsoft actually convinced their boss to go this route. There was a MSN messenger once, you know, Microsoft's IM client, they dumped it and bought Skype. Now they're dumping Skype for inhouse MSN messenger 2.0? Hahahahaha nice job.
This is the result of jokers, idiots and people possibly too smart (and hateful) for their own good.
Google is simply showing what it thinks you're trying to type, based on what others have put in. Now imagine a bored someone writes a script to peg Google search with some undesirable search terms and has the bot hammer Google 24/7/365. So Google naturally learns 'people like to search for this term, I'll suggest it to others cuz it's so popular.'
With botnet armies at their disposal, anyone with some know how can retrain Google's autocomplete. Working as intended.
The problem is, the SoC market isn't healthy at all. Qualcomm has a monopoly on smartwatch chips and doesn't seem interested in making any smartwatch chips.
I was trying to reconcile "monopoly" and "does not want to make the chips." Is this a patent issue then? Is that why they have a monopoly? Is that why no one else will make the chips. I know the smartwatch market isn't huge, but it does exist. There are people who like those things.
The problem is, the SoC market isn't healthy at all. Qualcomm has a monopoly on smartwatch chips and doesn't seem interested in making any smartwatch chips.
They have a monopoly, but won't make decent chips? That's just a malfunction of language. They can't have a monopoly if they're not interested in making the chips. Why is no one else stepping up to the plate here? Maybe it's cuz no one wants a smartwatch? Hell, I've never worn any watch. I don't need a clock on my body. I can slip my phone out of my pocket just as fast as I can pull my sleeve back to see a watch.
If YouTube suggestions work so well for you, you probably have very mainstream interests. For me personally they not once have been of any relevance.
You must not be trying very hard. There are videos covering just about -any- topic (except porn) on YouTube. I don't really consider my interests terribly mainstream. I mostly watch the electronics stuff, like bigclive, AvE and mikeselectronics (but not EEVBLOG, that guy has an informerical voice, so annoying!) Watching people take stuff apart is amusing, it's all the fun without the mess and effort. Beyond that, I watch mostly educational stuff, especially phyiscs related material. World Science Festive talks are really interesting, as well as lectures from numerous other sources and on a wide variety of subject matter. Stanford posts a lot of a good lectures. Oddly, even though I've never touched a lockpick in my life, I thoroughly enjoy watching bosnianbill's and lockpickinglawyer's videos on picking and locks. Spinkle in current events, PBS, Al Jazeera and other news sources (including late night comedy monologues)
Stuff I don't really watch? Music videos, animal videos, anything that's "Trending," stupid stuff, stupid for stupid sake. Not interested. Mr. Puzzle has a pretty cool channel though!
There is no mechanism in YourTube to block a channel.
While this is technically true, if you pound that dislike button on a video you don't like, not only is it MUCH less likely you'll ever be recommended a video from that channel again, you are less likely to get suggested any similar content from other channels.
I personally am pretty amazed at how good YouTube's algorithms are at suggesting stuff I might actually want to see. And almost never suggests anything I probably wouldn't like.
However, I am aware, as everyone should be, once you 'train' YouTube, it's going to give you a very narrow world view. You're not going to see much that might challenge your views or opinions once it learns what you like and don't like.
If you take a peek over here you will see they have pretty well defined what is going to be a problem. Sure it's not going to be perfect, but it's a pretty comprehensive list what sort of material they're going to.. discourage.
Yes, some videos may toe the line on some of these rules, and subjective opinion could play a part, but, for the most part, I think a video is going to be fairly easy for any normal person to classify, given those parameters.
Everyone know one of the true signs of nerddom is the love to read, with scifi and fantasy at the top. I don't know one true nerd that doesn't have a well stock library, physical or virtual. One of the reasons I got my android tablet was so I could have all my favorite books with me at all times, and have access to an infinite supply at the touch of a button.
Oh I love to read, just not books. I just... I just would rather read my screen or play video games, or do something at my computer, rather than sit down with a dead tree. I enjoy books, I like to listen to audio books while gaming. Not that I really need to justify my existence to you or anyone else. I'm fine not being a 'nerd', I'm just a computer guru whom doesn't really like to sit with a book. I think labels are for fools anyway. I'm just a disgruntled human, nothing more or less.
Slashdot Mirror
As to the sony rootkit, it was in a gray area of the law, so it would take somebody with more lawyers they can throw than sony can to win that kind of lawsuit.
This is utterly not a grey area. This is clearly an attempt to commit fraud, identity theft, and intrusion into a remote computer without permission. Every single person in that company who had anything to do with this needs to be dragged in to criminal court and charged with numerous felonies.
Completely unacceptable. No company should be allowed to get away with this. This company needs to be made example of.
This is one of those rare instances where I actually wish I was a lawyer with prosecutor-powers, I'd charge head first into this and rip that company to shreds.
Code embedded in its A320-X module contained a mechanism for detecting 'pirate' serial numbers distributed on The Pirate Bay, which then triggered a process through which the company stole usernames and passwords from users' web browsers.
If any individual was found to be installing this kind of malware on remote computers, they would be charged with all kinds of computer hacking crimes, just as a start.
Where's the criminal charges? This company needs to be made example of, this kind of behavior is utterly unacceptable.
Maybe you're using "Enterprise" or the "Education" version that comes with a way to disable these update "features"?
Nope. Windows 10 Pro on all my machines that run Windows.
The fundamental problem is that the barrier between using a computer and programming a computer is getting higher.
No, it's not. It's never been easier. Visual Studio is free, for Windows development. The Android SDK, free. GCC and Linux development, all free.
In the era you're referring to, you had to pay Microsoft quite a hefty sum to get your hands on their C compiler. Linux didn't exist. Development for computers was never as difficult as the early days. And I'm afraid referring to the BASIC interpreter on the C64 doesn't count.
1. Computer retailers stopped installing development environments by default.
And for good reason. Those development tools and environments are costly in terms of storage. Most people don't use them. Why waste all that space on something 99% of end-users won't ever touch. This is a good thing.
2. User interfaces shifted from command-line interfaces (CLIs) to graphical user interfaces (GUIs). GUIs are generally easier to use, but they hide information from users about what's really happening. When users really don't need to know, hiding information can be a good thing. The problem is that GUIs hide a lot of information programmers need to know. So when a user decides to become a programmer, they are suddenly confronted with all the information that's been hidden from them. If someone just wants to learn to program, they shouldn't have to learn operating system concepts first.
Really? Someone shouldn't learn about the environment they're intending to develop code for? This is so stupid I don't even have words. It's kind a given, if you wanna do development, you need to be a power-user first, and understand the underlying systems if you ever hope to manipulate them into doing something. This is soooooo wrong. Couldn't be any further from the mark.
3. Cloud computing has taken information hiding to a whole new level. People using web applications often have only a vague idea of where their data is stored and what applications they can use to access it. Many users, especially on mobile devices, don't distinguish between operating systems, applications, web browsers, and web applications. When they upload and download data, they are often confused about where is it coming from and where it is going. When they install something, they are often confused about what is being installed where. For someone who grew up with a Commodore 64, learning to program was hard enough. For someone growing up with a cloud-connected mobile device, it is much harder.
If a person had a basic understanding of the operating systems they're intending to develop for, it being remotely located is a non-issue. This is just dumb for dumb sake. This doesn't even belong here. It's irrelevant -where- your application is running, be on your machine, someone elses, or a remote (Cloud) server. It's all computers. You should be learning the basics so these new concepts are easier to grasp and understand.
Bottom line: Whoever wrote this is brain-dead. They don't know anything about computers or the software development cycle. I'd be surprised if they ever did anything other than load Archon on that C64 he's getting all nostalgic about.
TL:DR version: non-digestible input means your guts work less better. Get it?
If that's too difficult for you to cope with, then try supplementing your diet with 20% decomposed plastic bags and get back to us.
Um. If something is non-digestible, doesn't that mean you just shit it out? If you can't digest it, it just passes through. Much like when you feed corn to dogs. They can't digest corn, so it comes out looking much the way it did going in, yellow kernels, unaffected by digestion.
Also, I'd like to point out, if it can't be digested and somehow remains lodged in the gut, that wouldn't affect the parts we'd be interested in for eating. We don't eat the entrails. Now I suppose there is the matter of it somehow becoming stuck within the digestive system, but I haven't seen anything like that mentioned. Why would it get stuck in there? You'd think, as I already said, it'd just pass through like any other non-digestible matter.
...That DRM is a complete waste of time, effort and resources. Give it up already, dump the DRM, make people happy. Keep the DRM, get cracked again.. and again.. and again. Same old insanity: Deploying DRM expecting it can't be cracked, but every time it is cracked. Yawn.
This Code of Conduct is based on the example policy from the Geek Feminism wiki.
After that laundry list of no-no's, they absolutely must change the name of the project to FeministBSD.
Please find me the equivalent of Visual Studio for Linux.
Eclipse isn't bad. It's not Visual Studio, but it's open source and a good start. Open Source simply doesn't have the resources to rapidly develop stuff like a corporation like Microsoft. Corporations can throw massive resources at a project and get it super shiny in very little time. Open Source evolves at a much slower pace cuz most people working on Open source do it in their free time, without pay or compensation.
But for the price, Eclipse is usable.
new law that would require websites and Internet services to use automated filtering to enforce copyrights.
Given the rise of pretty much every websites flipping on HTTPS, the prevalence of VPN's and other measures to obscure what's really being transmitted to any given IP address, they got a hell of a tall order there to try to 'stomp' on copyright infringement on the fly. You're talking about cracking/decrypting HTTPS on-the-fly, add analysis and comparison to samples. I'm not saying it's impossible, our computers are getting disturbingly fast, but what a fucking waste of resources. All that effort so Joe can't download a copy of your movie? Epic waste of resources, for little-to-no gain whatsoever. Haven't these people learned yet? People who pirate content are rarely people who would EVER buy your stuff.
Simply put, automated filters censor lawful and important speech
Collateral damage due to protecting copyrights. The media companies that are encouraging DMCA get replaced don't care about this. They just want their material protected. Hell, they probably would very much like 'fair use' to go away. Anything to tighten the screws, damn the legitimate usages!
This is a very American response to the issue: Shoot first, ask questions later. Automated filters are basically this mentality encoded. Censor first, ask questions later. Protect copyrights first, ask questions later.
Why the hell is it that values that Americans seems to cherish are left at the entrance when they go to work? Fucking disgraceful.
I just don't get this. I keep reading (and hearing) people saying all these things that Windows 10 does without permission, like change settings, install Apps, etcetc... WTF are you people doing? Because I've been running Win10 for 2 years now and.. it never does anything I didn't tell it to. Ever. I don't understand, how are people getting it to do weirdness? I'm genuinely curious! Does Microsoft just 'sense' I'm a poweruser by what I have installed and leaves my system alone?
"Neglecting the importance of reviews will ultimately cost jobs. If [Wild Busters] fails, Insel fails... and then we will all have no jobs next year."
Guess you guys learned a good lesson about reviews then. You should've added something about not reviewing your own products. Ooops.
Of this action? Thumbs up. Right on the money, Valve. A zero-tolerance policy on review skewing, tampering and fraud is absolutely fantastic!
Am I not surprised?
Who woulda thunk it! Facebook causes depression, proliferates fake news and hysteria and people are starting to notice? Amazing!
What's worse is that Microsoft, which owns Skype, won't fix the flaw because it would require the updater to go through "a large code revision." Instead, Microsoft is putting all its resources on building an altogether new client.
Man I gotta hand it to whomever at Microsoft actually convinced their boss to go this route. There was a MSN messenger once, you know, Microsoft's IM client, they dumped it and bought Skype. Now they're dumping Skype for inhouse MSN messenger 2.0? Hahahahaha nice job.
This is the result of jokers, idiots and people possibly too smart (and hateful) for their own good.
Google is simply showing what it thinks you're trying to type, based on what others have put in. Now imagine a bored someone writes a script to peg Google search with some undesirable search terms and has the bot hammer Google 24/7/365. So Google naturally learns 'people like to search for this term, I'll suggest it to others cuz it's so popular.'
With botnet armies at their disposal, anyone with some know how can retrain Google's autocomplete. Working as intended.
The problem is, the SoC market isn't healthy at all. Qualcomm has a monopoly on smartwatch chips and doesn't seem interested in making any smartwatch chips.
I was trying to reconcile "monopoly" and "does not want to make the chips." Is this a patent issue then? Is that why they have a monopoly? Is that why no one else will make the chips. I know the smartwatch market isn't huge, but it does exist. There are people who like those things.
The problem is, the SoC market isn't healthy at all. Qualcomm has a monopoly on smartwatch chips and doesn't seem interested in making any smartwatch chips.
They have a monopoly, but won't make decent chips? That's just a malfunction of language. They can't have a monopoly if they're not interested in making the chips. Why is no one else stepping up to the plate here? Maybe it's cuz no one wants a smartwatch? Hell, I've never worn any watch. I don't need a clock on my body. I can slip my phone out of my pocket just as fast as I can pull my sleeve back to see a watch.
If YouTube suggestions work so well for you, you probably have very mainstream interests. For me personally they not once have been of any relevance.
You must not be trying very hard. There are videos covering just about -any- topic (except porn) on YouTube. I don't really consider my interests terribly mainstream. I mostly watch the electronics stuff, like bigclive, AvE and mikeselectronics (but not EEVBLOG, that guy has an informerical voice, so annoying!) Watching people take stuff apart is amusing, it's all the fun without the mess and effort. Beyond that, I watch mostly educational stuff, especially phyiscs related material. World Science Festive talks are really interesting, as well as lectures from numerous other sources and on a wide variety of subject matter. Stanford posts a lot of a good lectures. Oddly, even though I've never touched a lockpick in my life, I thoroughly enjoy watching bosnianbill's and lockpickinglawyer's videos on picking and locks. Spinkle in current events, PBS, Al Jazeera and other news sources (including late night comedy monologues)
Stuff I don't really watch? Music videos, animal videos, anything that's "Trending," stupid stuff, stupid for stupid sake. Not interested. Mr. Puzzle has a pretty cool channel though!
has gotten it's targeted *advertising* so wrong that it's somewhere between comically bad and outright dumbfounding.
I wouldn't know. U-Block Origin has wiped YouTube of all its advertisements, from my perspective. I have no idea what they're advertising these days.
There is no mechanism in YourTube to block a channel.
While this is technically true, if you pound that dislike button on a video you don't like, not only is it MUCH less likely you'll ever be recommended a video from that channel again, you are less likely to get suggested any similar content from other channels.
I personally am pretty amazed at how good YouTube's algorithms are at suggesting stuff I might actually want to see. And almost never suggests anything I probably wouldn't like.
However, I am aware, as everyone should be, once you 'train' YouTube, it's going to give you a very narrow world view. You're not going to see much that might challenge your views or opinions once it learns what you like and don't like.
Subjective criterion will no be abused right?!
If you take a peek over here you will see they have pretty well defined what is going to be a problem. Sure it's not going to be perfect, but it's a pretty comprehensive list what sort of material they're going to.. discourage.
Yes, some videos may toe the line on some of these rules, and subjective opinion could play a part, but, for the most part, I think a video is going to be fairly easy for any normal person to classify, given those parameters.
Everyone know one of the true signs of nerddom is the love to read, with scifi and fantasy at the top. I don't know one true nerd that doesn't have a well stock library, physical or virtual. One of the reasons I got my android tablet was so I could have all my favorite books with me at all times, and have access to an infinite supply at the touch of a button.
Oh I love to read, just not books. I just... I just would rather read my screen or play video games, or do something at my computer, rather than sit down with a dead tree. I enjoy books, I like to listen to audio books while gaming. Not that I really need to justify my existence to you or anyone else. I'm fine not being a 'nerd', I'm just a computer guru whom doesn't really like to sit with a book. I think labels are for fools anyway. I'm just a disgruntled human, nothing more or less.
Why are the idiots multiplying in droves?
Child Tax Credit.