...you do realize that the entire reason they're doing this is to KEEP a monoculture, right? Because a monoculture is easy to admin. Having 15 different OS, while likely good from a security standpoint, is never going to be a viable option for any business (or government). Just look at Linux - its extreme diversity and customizability has always been its greatest strength and greatest weakness; I can almost guarantee you that the only way Linux will ever have a hope of stealing the crown from Windows will be to have a single distribution so consolidate market share that it's a monoculture of its own.
What's really funny is that, at least based on the look they give in the article, the article (and, even worse, the summary) is far more overreactive and emotionally charged than the campaign itself.
"Like many new gaming technologies, the Wii's wireless internet capabilities make it a portal to porno. 'Parents think the computer is the only way for their kids to get porn on the internet. Unfortunately, they are dead wrong,' says Mike Foster, founder of ThePornTalk.com. 'Gaming devices like the Wii and the PSP aren't just for fun games anymore. You're able to surf the net, chat with friends, email, and view porn because of its internet access. Kids know this but parents don't!'" ...
So the solution lies in parents getting the facts and then talking to their children about expectations for online activity. Foster believes that, "Whether it is the home computer or these new gaming consoles, porn is easily accessible. The Wii is an amazing console and tons of fun but parents need good info on how to keep kids safe."
My Gord! That's so... so... rational, unemotional, and largely objectively (or "empirically", if you prefer) true. Compare to
targeting the console with a smear campaign
Saying the truth in a calm, collected manner is called smearing, now? When did that start? Or
I find it funny that a site that seems to go to so much effort to hide its ties to religion and ministry work is using the phrase dirty little secret.
Wait, was that an implication that religion is a dirty little secret? Damn submarine Jews.
the story's caustic tone
Is that more or less caustic than calling religions dirty little secrets?
Seriously. I may think the anti-porn campaign is a bit unnecessary (in a "don't you have something better to do?" way), but the campaign is surprisingly (at least after reading the beginning of the article) docile and rational. Who cares what they think, really? And who cares if they tell parents that kids can surf porn on the Wii? I mean, you can surf porn on the Wii, right? The most emotional (as opposed to rational) appeal in the whole thing is the title of the campaign ("The Wii's Dirty Little Secret"), and even that's less emotional/sarcastic/caustic (or "witty", as we prefer to say) than the average Slashdot catch-phrase. Hell, this paragraph has more sarcasm than that whole campaign.
You're kidding, right? Ever heard of Fraunhofer? Can you name a company that DOESN'T have the exact same MP3 license with Fraunhofer that MS has? Do you really think ALL those companies have total disregard for the MP3 IP? Your hate-filled eyes see MS as the only target of this suit. But it's not; it's merely the first (and perhaps the largest). We'll see what you have to say when the court and jury finish with all the others (assuming MS' appeal doesn't succeed and save all the other companies; wouldn't that be ironic?).
The great irony in all of this is that M$ themselves has little respect for the IP of others and regularly violates patents, trademarks and copyrights, while simultaneously calling for fanatical protection and enforcement. Their recent loss to Actel/Lucent, and the $1,500,000,000.00 judgment highlights this. M$ themselves are more venerable to the litigation monster they helped create than free software makers who are much more careful. Ballmer has no more to offer than SCO did and I mean that in every way.
That's both factually wrong and logically wrong. The fact that MS was vulnerable to suit by Actel/Lucent despite doing everything legally and by the book (and respecting the IP in question) should make companies using Linux all the more worried. It shows that anyone can be sued for IP infringement, regardless of whether they actually did. Do you really think MS can't legally cover its ass (or hand someone else's to them) better than a large number of nobodies (not counting IBM and Novell)? That's almost amusingly arrogant (amusing in a "pride goeth before the fall" kind of way). Seeing how abusable the patent system is should make you afraid; very afraid.
Hmm. I'm pretty sure that I could produce at least 2000 kids without really trying. Given enough attractive women (assuming 100% inception rate) and still having a day job. Without a day job, if I made it my only effort in life, I could possibly hit 3 times that.
Now there's an interesting thought. The priesthood is having all these problems with priests molesting kids because of the requirement for celibacy and the basic problem of fundamental sexual desire. But what if this desire could be overridden? If they made initiates have sex 18 times a day for a few weeks straight, that might completely kill the desire for sex (yes, you can indeed have too much sex). Hmmmmm...
I don't think this is as good as you think it is. I'm all for breaking DRM (and was extremely pleased when they broke the AACS process key), but I think releasing a player key was a BAD idea. I'm betting the MPAA's logic in regards to this will look like one of these two:
- WinDVD is not handling its device key in a secure manner - WinDVD cannot be trusted - WinDVD won't be getting another player key
Or even worse:
- WinDVD did its best to protect its device key - It's impossible to protect a device key in a program that people can reverse-engineer [true] - We'd better not allow any software to read AACS-protected content
Although this may all be moot anyway, as they can extract future process keys with relatively little effort (though it'll be a lot more effort if hackers have to break hardware systems instead of software).
The only way you could get that kind of yield is through artificial insemination, which would cost an insane amount for that many times. You can only produce sperm at so great a rate, and I'm nearly positive that the most fertile man to ever live could not produce enough sperm for 2000 productive intercourses a year.
The only way your post makes any sense is if you completely misunderstood me. By "you only have so much sperm" I meant you can only produce sperm at so great a rate. And the optimal rate for fertility is sex 2-3 times per week, hence the 150 children a year statistic mentioned previously.
No. Bad analogy. Sexuality is simple evolutionary psychology. Given enough females, a male could produce perhaps 150 children a year, while a female could at most produce 1 (assuming no twins or other such anomalies). But for men to pass on their genes they require women. Thus, female sexuality IS a scarce commodity; there's nothing artificial about it.
This was posted by an AC earlier, which apparently nobody saw; so let me attempt to be loud enough to get heard.
This is a bad thing. B-A-D.
Many, MANY companies have this same deal with Fraunhofer. MS is only the first to be sued. It's very likely that those companies large enough to be worth suing will also be sued in large numbers, after this. The fact that you guys hate MS so much you consider many, many companies getting sued a "haha" matter shows you have a profoundly sick sense of humor.
Try to run win XP and see if you can get along with it without root permissions for one day.
The programmers concept for windows is just wrong! you can not require root privileges to run Acrobat Reader, Adobe Photoshop or who knows what
What in the name of all that is holy are you talking about? I have two computers - one used by me, one by family (oh, and don't forget my computer at work) - that have been running solely (apart from installing programs and running admin things like defrag) on limited user for all accounts (including mine) for over a year now. They are used every day. My job is a Windows programmer, and I also program a substantial amount for fun, all using Visual Studio. Other apps I use on an almost daily basis are MS Office (several programs in it), Firefox, Azureus, World of Warcraft, Acrobat, just to name a few. I also use Photoshop a fair amount. Of those, the ONLY program that required any tweaking WHATSOEVER to get it to run flawlessly as limited user was World of Warcraft (had to set its program directory as writable from my account); actually, I installed Photoshop so long ago I can't remember whether I had to run it once in admin to let it configure itself before using it in limited user (I know there was one program like that, I just can't remember which).
Reading your post, it's like you're from another planet or something. I can only conclude that neither you nor anyone you have gotten any information whatsoever about Windows from has EVER tried running as a limited user, even for one day. I further conclude that those who modded you up have not attempted to do so, either.
The really sad thing about parent is that, despite looking like a knee-jerk troll reaction when first posted, based on this thread, it ended up being downright prophetic. Makes you want to cry.
So, a friend and I flew to Kansas. As we were going through security at the departing airport, my friend got pulled aside for quite some time, as they dismantled his luggage, and I waited, watching the time. Eventually they packed everything up and let him go. When I asked what that was all about, he said that they thought his hard drive was a bomb.
Other experts said the hackers appeared to disguise their origin, but vast amounts of rogue data in the attacks were traced to South Korea.
Somehow that doesn't surprise me. This is the same country that uses insane amounts of ActiveX, and has the effect of conditioning people to click "Yes" whenever any site tries to install something, right? Wouldn't be any surprise if South Korea was one big botnet.
Slashdot Mirror
...you do realize that the entire reason they're doing this is to KEEP a monoculture, right? Because a monoculture is easy to admin. Having 15 different OS, while likely good from a security standpoint, is never going to be a viable option for any business (or government). Just look at Linux - its extreme diversity and customizability has always been its greatest strength and greatest weakness; I can almost guarantee you that the only way Linux will ever have a hope of stealing the crown from Windows will be to have a single distribution so consolidate market share that it's a monoculture of its own.
Microsoft didn't make the list? How disappointing.
What's really funny is that, at least based on the look they give in the article, the article (and, even worse, the summary) is far more overreactive and emotionally charged than the campaign itself.
...
"Like many new gaming technologies, the Wii's wireless internet capabilities make it a portal to porno. 'Parents think the computer is the only way for their kids to get porn on the internet. Unfortunately, they are dead wrong,' says Mike Foster, founder of ThePornTalk.com. 'Gaming devices like the Wii and the PSP aren't just for fun games anymore. You're able to surf the net, chat with friends, email, and view porn because of its internet access. Kids know this but parents don't!'"
So the solution lies in parents getting the facts and then talking to their children about expectations for online activity. Foster believes that, "Whether it is the home computer or these new gaming consoles, porn is easily accessible. The Wii is an amazing console and tons of fun but parents need good info on how to keep kids safe."
My Gord! That's so... so... rational, unemotional, and largely objectively (or "empirically", if you prefer) true. Compare to
targeting the console with a smear campaign
Saying the truth in a calm, collected manner is called smearing, now? When did that start? Or
I find it funny that a site that seems to go to so much effort to hide its ties to religion and ministry work is using the phrase dirty little secret.
Wait, was that an implication that religion is a dirty little secret? Damn submarine Jews.
the story's caustic tone
Is that more or less caustic than calling religions dirty little secrets?
Seriously. I may think the anti-porn campaign is a bit unnecessary (in a "don't you have something better to do?" way), but the campaign is surprisingly (at least after reading the beginning of the article) docile and rational. Who cares what they think, really? And who cares if they tell parents that kids can surf porn on the Wii? I mean, you can surf porn on the Wii, right? The most emotional (as opposed to rational) appeal in the whole thing is the title of the campaign ("The Wii's Dirty Little Secret"), and even that's less emotional/sarcastic/caustic (or "witty", as we prefer to say) than the average Slashdot catch-phrase. Hell, this paragraph has more sarcasm than that whole campaign.
Overall rating of the article: Troll.
I work at Microsoft.
You are now public enemy #1 at Slashdot
....a Beowulf cluster of these!
Urge to kill you... fighting with... urge to laugh...
You're kidding, right? Ever heard of Fraunhofer? Can you name a company that DOESN'T have the exact same MP3 license with Fraunhofer that MS has? Do you really think ALL those companies have total disregard for the MP3 IP? Your hate-filled eyes see MS as the only target of this suit. But it's not; it's merely the first (and perhaps the largest). We'll see what you have to say when the court and jury finish with all the others (assuming MS' appeal doesn't succeed and save all the other companies; wouldn't that be ironic?).
The great irony in all of this is that M$ themselves has little respect for the IP of others and regularly violates patents, trademarks and copyrights, while simultaneously calling for fanatical protection and enforcement. Their recent loss to Actel/Lucent, and the $1,500,000,000.00 judgment highlights this. M$ themselves are more venerable to the litigation monster they helped create than free software makers who are much more careful. Ballmer has no more to offer than SCO did and I mean that in every way.
That's both factually wrong and logically wrong. The fact that MS was vulnerable to suit by Actel/Lucent despite doing everything legally and by the book (and respecting the IP in question) should make companies using Linux all the more worried. It shows that anyone can be sued for IP infringement, regardless of whether they actually did. Do you really think MS can't legally cover its ass (or hand someone else's to them) better than a large number of nobodies (not counting IBM and Novell)? That's almost amusingly arrogant (amusing in a "pride goeth before the fall" kind of way). Seeing how abusable the patent system is should make you afraid; very afraid.
Hmm. I'm pretty sure that I could produce at least 2000 kids without really trying. Given enough attractive women (assuming 100% inception rate) and still having a day job. Without a day job, if I made it my only effort in life, I could possibly hit 3 times that.
Now there's an interesting thought. The priesthood is having all these problems with priests molesting kids because of the requirement for celibacy and the basic problem of fundamental sexual desire. But what if this desire could be overridden? If they made initiates have sex 18 times a day for a few weeks straight, that might completely kill the desire for sex (yes, you can indeed have too much sex). Hmmmmm...
I don't think this is as good as you think it is. I'm all for breaking DRM (and was extremely pleased when they broke the AACS process key), but I think releasing a player key was a BAD idea. I'm betting the MPAA's logic in regards to this will look like one of these two:
- WinDVD is not handling its device key in a secure manner
- WinDVD cannot be trusted
- WinDVD won't be getting another player key
Or even worse:
- WinDVD did its best to protect its device key
- It's impossible to protect a device key in a program that people can reverse-engineer [true]
- We'd better not allow any software to read AACS-protected content
Although this may all be moot anyway, as they can extract future process keys with relatively little effort (though it'll be a lot more effort if hackers have to break hardware systems instead of software).
The only way you could get that kind of yield is through artificial insemination, which would cost an insane amount for that many times. You can only produce sperm at so great a rate, and I'm nearly positive that the most fertile man to ever live could not produce enough sperm for 2000 productive intercourses a year.
The only way your post makes any sense is if you completely misunderstood me. By "you only have so much sperm" I meant you can only produce sperm at so great a rate. And the optimal rate for fertility is sex 2-3 times per week, hence the 150 children a year statistic mentioned previously.
Not too much more. You only have so much sperm :P
No. Bad analogy. Sexuality is simple evolutionary psychology. Given enough females, a male could produce perhaps 150 children a year, while a female could at most produce 1 (assuming no twins or other such anomalies). But for men to pass on their genes they require women. Thus, female sexuality IS a scarce commodity; there's nothing artificial about it.
This was posted by an AC earlier, which apparently nobody saw; so let me attempt to be loud enough to get heard.
This is a bad thing. B-A-D.
Many, MANY companies have this same deal with Fraunhofer. MS is only the first to be sued. It's very likely that those companies large enough to be worth suing will also be sued in large numbers, after this. The fact that you guys hate MS so much you consider many, many companies getting sued a "haha" matter shows you have a profoundly sick sense of humor.
Try to run win XP and see if you can get along with it without root permissions for one day. The programmers concept for windows is just wrong! you can not require root privileges to run Acrobat Reader, Adobe Photoshop or who knows what
What in the name of all that is holy are you talking about? I have two computers - one used by me, one by family (oh, and don't forget my computer at work) - that have been running solely (apart from installing programs and running admin things like defrag) on limited user for all accounts (including mine) for over a year now. They are used every day. My job is a Windows programmer, and I also program a substantial amount for fun, all using Visual Studio. Other apps I use on an almost daily basis are MS Office (several programs in it), Firefox, Azureus, World of Warcraft, Acrobat, just to name a few. I also use Photoshop a fair amount. Of those, the ONLY program that required any tweaking WHATSOEVER to get it to run flawlessly as limited user was World of Warcraft (had to set its program directory as writable from my account); actually, I installed Photoshop so long ago I can't remember whether I had to run it once in admin to let it configure itself before using it in limited user (I know there was one program like that, I just can't remember which).
Reading your post, it's like you're from another planet or something. I can only conclude that neither you nor anyone you have gotten any information whatsoever about Windows from has EVER tried running as a limited user, even for one day. I further conclude that those who modded you up have not attempted to do so, either.
That was a joke, right? Pretty sure that was a joke. WTFH is wrong with you mods?
Can you clarify whether that was a joke? I can't really tell.
The really sad thing about parent is that, despite looking like a knee-jerk troll reaction when first posted, based on this thread, it ended up being downright prophetic. Makes you want to cry.
Re:Cue the music (Score:2, Funny)
Well, at least one person got that it was a joke.
I just fail to understand why we should care (from a Canadian point of view). Why should we let the Americans control our internal policy?
One word: nukes. The US has them; you don't.
...was that a eulogy?
So, a friend and I flew to Kansas. As we were going through security at the departing airport, my friend got pulled aside for quite some time, as they dismantled his luggage, and I waited, watching the time. Eventually they packed everything up and let him go. When I asked what that was all about, he said that they thought his hard drive was a bomb.
True story.
Other experts said the hackers appeared to disguise their origin, but vast amounts of rogue data in the attacks were traced to South Korea.
Somehow that doesn't surprise me. This is the same country that uses insane amounts of ActiveX, and has the effect of conditioning people to click "Yes" whenever any site tries to install something, right? Wouldn't be any surprise if South Korea was one big botnet.
Since there is no -100 nonanti-Micro$oft, mods are forced to improvise with -1 flamebait and -1 troll. Blame the system, not the mods.
Oh ye of little faith