I've been using Conkeror for a while now and I love it. Even if everything else sucked (and it doesn't) being able to use emacs keybindings in textboxes would make it worth it.
There are "open" CAs out there, the one that I know of is CAcert.org and they are currently trying to get into more browsers/OSs etc. This CA provides signed certs at no cost.
http://wiki.cacert.org/wiki/InclusionStatus
The way to solve this issue is the same way that we approach the closed-source/proprietary software issue; a free, open, community alternative.
Agreed. Looking at how some computing resources are set up, there is as much (maybe?) of an emphasis on high-throughput computing as on parallel computing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Throughput_Computing ). As in "how do we make all these long-running jobs complete reliably and so as to use the available hardware efficiently?"
I went to a talk at Fermilab a while ago about this project. I nerded-out over the different technologies that'll be brought to bear on it (it is a superconducting tokamak, for starters). If I were the president of the world, this is what I'd spend my money on. I would fund the crap out of fusion research until fusion happened.
If a user has physical access to a machine, she owns it. I haven't seen anyone mention this amid talk of locking down systems. Let me elaborate:
No root access? Boot to single user, reset root password. You own it.
No root access and BIOS password? (varies by platform) Pull motherboard battery/modify amount of RAM (iBook, all Macs?)/remove jumper (most enterprisey Dells). Boot to single user, reset root password. You own it.
If people have desktops, as in machines on their desks and in their offices well then they own these machines.
For truly long term storage you're going to have to leave the realm of computer tech and look at archival methods. Microfilm may have a shelf life of up to 500 years if stored correctly (according to Wikipedia). You could convert binary data to a visual representation with something like Optar (http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/), and then microfilm that. Optar has a data density of around 200kB/page and around 2,400 letter-sized pages can be stored on a spool of microfilm, leading to a storage density of roughly 450MB per spool. Not great, but this is data that you *really* don't want to lose.
One-fifth of an atmosphere is a vacuum? That's pretty high pressure if you ask me. Most modern areas of science need much much lower pressures than that to be viable (10^-3 torr at the very least).
But, hey, isn't it *fun* to know that there are some cheap (tabletop) experiments that are still out there waiting to be done?
Many of the really good cheap science has been done already, but that isn't to say that it's all used up! You could always win an Ig noble by studying beer froth
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I've been using Conkeror for a while now and I love it. Even if everything else sucked (and it doesn't) being able to use emacs keybindings in textboxes would make it worth it.
There are "open" CAs out there, the one that I know of is CAcert.org and they are currently trying to get into more browsers/OSs etc. This CA provides signed certs at no cost. http://wiki.cacert.org/wiki/InclusionStatus The way to solve this issue is the same way that we approach the closed-source/proprietary software issue; a free, open, community alternative.
Agreed. Looking at how some computing resources are set up, there is as much (maybe?) of an emphasis on high-throughput computing as on parallel computing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Throughput_Computing ). As in "how do we make all these long-running jobs complete reliably and so as to use the available hardware efficiently?"
I went to a talk at Fermilab a while ago about this project. I nerded-out over the different technologies that'll be brought to bear on it (it is a superconducting tokamak, for starters). If I were the president of the world, this is what I'd spend my money on. I would fund the crap out of fusion research until fusion happened.
Exactly. I just wanted to mention that "lock down" can't be a purely technical solution.
If a user has physical access to a machine, she owns it. I haven't seen anyone mention this amid talk of locking down systems. Let me elaborate: No root access? Boot to single user, reset root password. You own it. No root access and BIOS password? (varies by platform) Pull motherboard battery/modify amount of RAM (iBook, all Macs?)/remove jumper (most enterprisey Dells). Boot to single user, reset root password. You own it. If people have desktops, as in machines on their desks and in their offices well then they own these machines.
For truly long term storage you're going to have to leave the realm of computer tech and look at archival methods. Microfilm may have a shelf life of up to 500 years if stored correctly (according to Wikipedia). You could convert binary data to a visual representation with something like Optar (http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/), and then microfilm that. Optar has a data density of around 200kB/page and around 2,400 letter-sized pages can be stored on a spool of microfilm, leading to a storage density of roughly 450MB per spool. Not great, but this is data that you *really* don't want to lose.
reflective metal sheet
One-fifth of an atmosphere is a vacuum? That's pretty high pressure if you ask me. Most modern areas of science need much much lower pressures than that to be viable (10^-3 torr at the very least).
But, hey, isn't it *fun* to know that there are some cheap (tabletop) experiments that are still out there waiting to be done?
Many of the really good cheap science has been done already, but that isn't to say that it's all used up! You could always win an Ig noble by studying beer froth