I don't want to get into whether or not America has or doesn't have the right to operate the root servers. As far as I can see, they're doing a good enough job, and to base operations on ideology is not usually the most efficient way to keep those operations running successfully (The Soviet Union anyone?). Having said that, from a Brit's point of view, the Bush administration is getting very scary, and our own leaders just seem to be following along with their tongues hanging out.
However from a totally practical point of view, having one country operating the globally-accepted authoritative servers creates a single (albeit very large and well-protected) point of failure. Maybe we should come up with a way for each country to operate its' own root servers in such a way that they *must* all be synchronised with everyone else's, and they must all contain *identical* mappings.
Redundancy == Good.
Sadly, that glorious shining vision requires a lot more international co-operation than is feasible at the moment.
I did an MCSA at one of those fly-by-night training schools, and while I studied hard and passed my exams when I got a *real* job, I was shocked at how much I didn't know! (I have been making up for that since!)
My first IT job was sysadmin at a company that SELLS IT training, and this gave me a huge insight into how much of a *scam* IT training is. Hard selling, cold calling, incorrect information ("Never touched a computer before? Well, that's OK you can still pass the CCNA in three months!" "Ping is the language computers use to talk to each other" - I kid you not). The training material was mostly inaccurate and the prices were inflated to about 300% of what the training CDs actually cost. Nobody actually cared whether a course was suitable for a candidate - it was all about selling the most expensive stuff as much as possible.
The fact is that neither the vendors who design the vendor-specific exams or the shysters who sell them *care* about you or your career. They're just out to make money. The certs worth doing are the vendor-neutral CompTIA (A+, Net+, Security+ etc) as they actually teach the underlying technology not just the "point-and-click" sequence of the M$ crap.
I don't blame her. I'm a smart woman, and I have been on the receiving end of a lot of hostility - both from men and women - because of it. As in "what are you doing messing around with computers when you should be at home ironing?" from a senior developer. In this day and age!!!
My view is that being smart (whether male or female) is a mixed blessing. Joy can be found from a deeper level of understanding of stuff than most people have - but that often leads to frustration and contempt when others "just don't get it". Besides - if we were *all* really smart, who would flip the burgers?
IQ tests are b****cks anyway. In my personal view intelligence is *not* "how much you know" but "how fast you LEARN". Some people are smart. Some aren't. Some women are smarter than men. Some men are smarter than women. Why do we keep lumping people together in groups and totally forgetting that every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses?
I had a friend who was working in the automotive industry, and who had to have weekly meetings with the American team (he is a Brit in the UK) to report on the project's progress.
They had so many buzz-phrases that my friend decided to invent one and see how long it took before it became part of the everyday corporate-speak of the American team.
So, at the next meeting he was like "Yeah, we really have to get our *noses against the windshield on this one*!!!
Three days later.......he receives an email from the (American) project head saying "good idea etc etc modifications etc etc - let's all get our noses against the windshield and make it happen"!!!
If someone else is paying, go for it. If not, spend your money more wisely on a cert that will actually test your knowledge and troubleshooting skills, instead of a cert that will have you parrot the M$ party line and give you *NO* actual technical knowledge at all.
I did my MCSA (never finished the MCSE - couldn't face those pointless design exams) and thought I knew loads. I have since discovered I knew *nothing*. In fact, I had to un-learn everything M$ had taught as I came to realise that the exams were nothing more than a tool to indoctrinate more people into the M$ party line, and to make loads more cash for M$.
I used to sysadmin at a company that sold IT training courses, and comparing the M$ stuff to...say...the Cisco or CompTIA stuff, it's ludicrous. Most of my 2000 exams were nothing more than memorising default settings and learning to say "hardware compatibility list". Useless. Pointless. No actual technical information there at all.
Trouble is, most HR and clueless managers revere the M$ certs as some kind of gospel. Sigh. If only they knew.
"....If we could somehow stop people believing in this crap we would stop the problem."
Dude, that is so never going to happen. Religion of one form or another has always been a part of human history. People need something to believe in for reassurance and because it's human nature to want to find reasons for the universe etc.
Most religions have very good principles - forgiveness, charity, loyalty, honour of family etc. It's the *people* that are the problem! Religion is being used as a tool for control, just as economics and politics are used in other places.
There will always be people that hate others, for whatever reason regardless of whether they are religious or not. What can you do?
Love, be loyal, kind, generous and tolerant. Defend your family and friends. Stand up for others rights before your own. Take action when you see wrong being done (and by "take action", I don't just mean posting on Slashdot!). This is all you can do.
Slashdot Mirror
Yup. GATTACA, here we come.
I saw a truly great one once. It was in the "Lonely Hearts" section of a local free newspaper. It went something like:
"Psychotic dwarf with hunchback and axe seeks 6" female Amazonian model-type with sports car for fun and Morris dancing."
Wonder how many replies he got???!!!!!!
PS - For you non-Brits, this is morris dancing.
Excuse me if I'm being ignorant, but:
Jail time?
As I understand it, copyright infringement is a *civil* matter, not criminal.
Where does jail fit into that?
Or the other Eddie Izzard version: "I like my women like I like my coffee - covered in BEES!"
I don't want to get into whether or not America has or doesn't have the right to operate the root servers. As far as I can see, they're doing a good enough job, and to base operations on ideology is not usually the most efficient way to keep those operations running successfully (The Soviet Union anyone?). Having said that, from a Brit's point of view, the Bush administration is getting very scary, and our own leaders just seem to be following along with their tongues hanging out.
However from a totally practical point of view, having one country operating the globally-accepted authoritative servers creates a single (albeit very large and well-protected) point of failure. Maybe we should come up with a way for each country to operate its' own root servers in such a way that they *must* all be synchronised with everyone else's, and they must all contain *identical* mappings.
Redundancy == Good.
Sadly, that glorious shining vision requires a lot more international co-operation than is feasible at the moment.
They're talking about plastic chips. Pretty impressive.
Until the oil runs out. D'oh!
I did an MCSA at one of those fly-by-night training schools, and while I studied hard and passed my exams when I got a *real* job, I was shocked at how much I didn't know! (I have been making up for that since!)
My first IT job was sysadmin at a company that SELLS IT training, and this gave me a huge insight into how much of a *scam* IT training is. Hard selling, cold calling, incorrect information ("Never touched a computer before? Well, that's OK you can still pass the CCNA in three months!" "Ping is the language computers use to talk to each other" - I kid you not). The training material was mostly inaccurate and the prices were inflated to about 300% of what the training CDs actually cost. Nobody actually cared whether a course was suitable for a candidate - it was all about selling the most expensive stuff as much as possible.
The fact is that neither the vendors who design the vendor-specific exams or the shysters who sell them *care* about you or your career. They're just out to make money. The certs worth doing are the vendor-neutral CompTIA (A+, Net+, Security+ etc) as they actually teach the underlying technology not just the "point-and-click" sequence of the M$ crap.
I don't blame her. I'm a smart woman, and I have been on the receiving end of a lot of hostility - both from men and women - because of it. As in "what are you doing messing around with computers when you should be at home ironing?" from a senior developer. In this day and age!!!
My view is that being smart (whether male or female) is a mixed blessing. Joy can be found from a deeper level of understanding of stuff than most people have - but that often leads to frustration and contempt when others "just don't get it". Besides - if we were *all* really smart, who would flip the burgers?
IQ tests are b****cks anyway. In my personal view intelligence is *not* "how much you know" but "how fast you LEARN". Some people are smart. Some aren't. Some women are smarter than men. Some men are smarter than women. Why do we keep lumping people together in groups and totally forgetting that every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses?
"For fuck sakes"
sakes - the sake of more than one
fuck - singular.
I think you mean "for fuck's sake"
Mmmmm?
I had a friend who was working in the automotive industry, and who had to have weekly meetings with the American team (he is a Brit in the UK) to report on the project's progress.
They had so many buzz-phrases that my friend decided to invent one and see how long it took before it became part of the everyday corporate-speak of the American team.
So, at the next meeting he was like "Yeah, we really have to get our *noses against the windshield on this one*!!!
Three days later.......he receives an email from the (American) project head saying "good idea etc etc modifications etc etc - let's all get our noses against the windshield and make it happen"!!!
How we laughed!!!!
If someone else is paying, go for it. If not, spend your money more wisely on a cert that will actually test your knowledge and troubleshooting skills, instead of a cert that will have you parrot the M$ party line and give you *NO* actual technical knowledge at all.
I did my MCSA (never finished the MCSE - couldn't face those pointless design exams) and thought I knew loads. I have since discovered I knew *nothing*. In fact, I had to un-learn everything M$ had taught as I came to realise that the exams were nothing more than a tool to indoctrinate more people into the M$ party line, and to make loads more cash for M$.
I used to sysadmin at a company that sold IT training courses, and comparing the M$ stuff to...say...the Cisco or CompTIA stuff, it's ludicrous. Most of my 2000 exams were nothing more than memorising default settings and learning to say "hardware compatibility list". Useless. Pointless. No actual technical information there at all.
Trouble is, most HR and clueless managers revere the M$ certs as some kind of gospel. Sigh. If only they knew.
"....If we could somehow stop people believing in this crap we would stop the problem."
Dude, that is so never going to happen. Religion of one form or another has always been a part of human history. People need something to believe in for reassurance and because it's human nature to want to find reasons for the universe etc.
Most religions have very good principles - forgiveness, charity, loyalty, honour of family etc. It's the *people* that are the problem! Religion is being used as a tool for control, just as economics and politics are used in other places.
There will always be people that hate others, for whatever reason regardless of whether they are religious or not. What can you do?
Love, be loyal, kind, generous and tolerant. Defend your family and friends. Stand up for others rights before your own. Take action when you see wrong being done (and by "take action", I don't just mean posting on Slashdot!). This is all you can do.
I think they probably closed Brighton because it is a nice fat juicy target that has been the site of bombings before.