The whole sex offender registration concept is cruel and unusual punishment as far as I'm concerned. It's the crime that keeps on giving - oh and retroactively too.
Slashdotters should not forget however that not all registered sex offenders are child molesters, and that there is a scale of severity of the crime which is not a consideration in the registration program. How long before google maps is crowded with so many little, red sex offender X's spread across America's neighborhoods that there is nowhere safe to live any more?
It's ludicrous. Registered sex offenders are denied their right to the pursuit of happiness even though they served their time. As someone once expressed it to me, "the United States does not believe in or recognize the potential of -rehabilitation-."
My employer is doing this same thing, only we're going from a 2.1.x and going to 4.0.1. We're not doing it because of the stigma of 1.0; rather it's because we want to look like our product is just as mature/evolved as our competitors who all have 4.x and 5.x products out. (I think marketers all read the same periodicals or something).
The public perception, according to marketing, is that we are neck and neck with the competition. The engineer in me thinks this is a load of crap - I mean wishful thinking. The businessman in me thinks there is some amount of non-empirical voodoo to marketing efforts that are difficult to truly know whether they really work or not and that we developers just need to nod and smile because perception of our products and services is their job, not ours.
According to Google, "beta" is defined as having mathematical relevance; perhaps there is some intensive underlying algorithm to all their software of which we are all blissfully unaware.
PowerDNS -> run it yourself with the convenience of doing mass updates in SQL statements instead of maintaining a few dozen zone files on disk. If you think 50 domains is hard, try running several thousand on a shared hosting cluster. You either need scripted automation, or some type of DB-managed solution like PowerDNS. It's by no means the only one like it, but in my experience has worked reasonably well.
Just a couple constructive additions to the parent post here with regard to security:
1) Deactivate unused socket services
2) Master iptables for regulating what socket services may send/receive connections
3) Make sure you understand and strictly check and apply user/group management/filesystem permissions such that your socket service daemons only have read/write access to exactly what they should and nothing more (newly discovered escalation exploits notwithstanding).
4) never run cron events as root - set up a user with the necessary permissions including sudo access to specific action if necessary, but don't exec as root; there's no sensible need to open this exposure.
While I would not be inclined to disagree, it is worth noting that possibly the most daunting conundrum facing humanity for the twenty first century is the fact that while the number of transistors packed into an IC is approaching infinity, the annual reduction in miniskirt lengths is rapidly approaching zero; we are in desperate need of a global miniskirt paradigm shift to offset this most disturbing reality.
IIRC, in the days following 9/11/2001 when all flights were grounded in the U.S., there was some of the cleanest, clearest air conditions observed in decades. That was after only several days of activity change. Look how hard Beijing tried to clear the skies for the Olympic games, and what they were able to pull off. It is unclear what amount of time would be required to fully recover from the effects of greenhouse gases, however it is clear that measurable differences are present after a very short period of time.
If we're going to run blindly toward lofty goals, I'd personally rather put my money behind preventative measures than reactionary ones like the absurdity presented in this article.
There is data out there, but I'm lazy at the moment. Here's one simple thing labeling the Insight as the Most deadly Car in America, reviewed independently of NHTSA and other "official" channels, though their data does come in to play.
Speaking as a former Insight owner who knows cars, I was nervous in the car. Your comment above suggests that an aluminum structure could be an equal to a steel one; I would have to disagree with that for malleability alone, not to mention other factors.
Furthermore, asking for references on a small car being more dangerous than a bigger one is like demanding proof that fire burns newspaper just like regular paper; it should go without saying that a small, low mass vehicle with sub-par handling capabilities is going to have higher than average injurious results. Even so, the information is around if you dig.
I liked the car so, as I said in my other post in this thread, I am looking forward to seeing the bigger, 4-door version and hope that it can be improved safety-wise.
Depends - the other thing Honda had against the Insight was that it was a coffin on wheels. Bend over and kiss your ass goodbye in a high speed frontal collision - with an all aluminum chassis, the integral "roll cage" isn't going to do squat against the kinetic energy of an SUV at speed. If they duplicate this problem on the new car, but this time with more passengers (children?), it will fail miserably.
"[from] $70 a week -> $3640 year [to] $30 a week -> $1560 a year"
If you're going to compare economics, you need to start with good numbers. I own a full size truck and a Honda Insight. The truck gets 14 MPG (maximum). The Honda gets 60 (minimum). That's a 4:1 or better difference, not the nearly 2:1 figure you propose above. And in fact I DID start at $70/week with the higher gas prices for the truck, but if you do a little math, you'll find I paid nowhere near $30/week for the Insight driving the same route.
Furthermore, again apples-to-apples, if you're going to assume my truck is paid off, then assume my Insight is too. In fact mine was paid off because I bought it used from a private party. Anyone else making payments on a regular car who would rather be making the same payment on a hybrid will pay less every month.
All that AND the new Honda has a lower than average targeted MSRP - I'm looking forward to seeing it. As for the article submitter scratching their head over why the Toyota Prius won out over the Insight, the answer is simple: few people are willing to buy a two-seater vehicle over a 4-door with comparable price, performance, efficiency and fugliness.
I think the digital world should be treated quite like the physical world.
There should be a clear distinction between the liability of a company who has made reasonable efforts according to typical industry practices (a bank with a brick & mortar facility, armed guard, surveillance, and timed locking vault) and one who makes no effort at all (keeps customer assets in a cardboard box marked "keep out" in a Public Storage facility). Despite all efforts, no system is completely secure - this is slashdot: you KNOW that.
What if the system administrator who allowed the system to be compromised were the one on the hook? The fact is that the bad guys are ALWAYS determined to find something that the good guys haven't thought of and eventually will get in and make off with the materials. At some point you have to stop looking for someone else's ass to burn and just chase the crooks themselves.
"many panhandlers [...] are truly needy! Your rationalisation [...] is punishing those who really need your $1 for the laziness(?) of a tiny minority."
Perhaps in your experience - in mine, they are predominantly hustlers. It is not my job to care for the needy - there are social programs for that. If you really want to support the truly needy, support the social programs.
I don't believe my attitude is a problem just because I choose not to take responsibility for the problems of others. You could give away every last red cent you own and still not make a dent - and then you would join them.
Extremists exist on both sides of every issue. Three sides to every story, right? Your version, my version, and the truth. It sure would be nice if out a group of people discussing a topic, the left and right most 25% could be filtered out (and/or pitted against each other in a mud-slinging match on pay per view) and the remaining 50% could have rational discussions without wasting time arguing amongst one another over the extremist idiots' comments.
"In some areas, fake panhandlers live better than the people that they con"
True that! I had a friend in San Francisco offer a homeless man $15/hr to come in and paint his apartment - he declined saying he could make more on the street corner. That attitude is exactly why I never dole out cash to pan handlers, though perhaps will offer a morsel of food on occasion.
To your point, something I've long wondered is why there seems to have been little to no interest to date in an array of heads per surface. Sweeping a single head across the entire surface surely takes twice as long as moving two heads half the distance. They could even share the same actuator by covering different, possibly partially overlapping, sections of disk area.
How about a ladder structure with 8 heads that translate 1/8th the platter width instead of the whole thing? How about using opposing sides of the available disk surface instead of just one pie slice in the corner? I'm sure that some relatively minor adjustments could be made mechanically to achieve such a thing and that it would come down to load-splitting electronics which they already have a start on with the ability to split between platters.
It just seems to me that a head aptly placed 180 degrees away is equivalent to 100% RPM increase performance-wise and probably lower power requirement.
Same reason any inept manager wants their product prices removed from price comparison sites: because it shows who is lower than them and leads customers away. The sites are designed to drive down consumer prices and the fact is that airlines can't afford to lower prices. They're already stripping meals, movies, headphones, pillows and blankets - what's next, the seat belts?
The motivation makes sense to me. The decision to go ahead with is just, plain stupid though, will hurt in the long run, and ultimately brings no net gains. A travel agent serves the same function - are they going to start suing agents next?
"I still can't figure out why people are so fascinated with video"
Some people are visually stimulated, others audibly - not everyone shares your personal enthusiasm for one part of the EM spectrum.
Personally I have worked in the HD D-Cinema field as a systems architect with incredible audio/video (and a healthy spending budget) and I greatly enjoy the complete experience. However I'm not willing to spend my money on it.
These are trying times financially. Discretionary spending is down across the board. If people have a working solution (SDTV + DVD) and things are tight, why would they even consider going out and dropping a small fortune on this stuff.
I have over 500 DVD's. They're cheap (I even buy used ones sometimes for < $5), have reasonable quality 6 channel sound, and appear acceptable on a progressive scan player over my component video projector. I get enjoyable entertainment experience from my set up that would cost $1000's to replace with the latest fad - not going to happen.
Also (at the risk of being to your point) if you consider the popularity of silly hand-held gadgets like the video iPod and whatever all else plays movies, music videos, etc on tiny portable screens, it should be more apparent than ever that the size & quality of the image is not what consumers are after. I think BluRay & HD-DVD were an experimental foray into an unestablished market and that there was some amount of "if you build it, they will come."
All I'm saying is that maybe the demand didn't exist before this supply came along so... why are they crying about it?
"I still can't figure out why people are so fascinated with video"
Some people are visually stimulated, others audibly - not everyone shares your personal enthusiasm for one part of the EM spectrum.
Personally I have worked in the HD D-Cinema field as a systems architect with incredible audio/video (and a healthy spending budget) and I greatly enjoy the complete experience. However I'm not willing to spend my money on it.
These are trying times financially. Discretionary spending is down across the board. If people have a working solution (SDTV + DVD) and things are tight, why would they even consider going out and dropping a small fortune on this stuff.
I have over 500 DVD's. They're cheap (I even buy used ones sometimes for
Also (at the risk of being to your point) if you consider the popularity of silly hand-held gadgets like the video iPod and whatever all else plays movies, music videos, etc on tiny portable screens, it should be more apparent than ever that the size & quality of the image is not what consumers are after. I think BluRay & HD-DVD were an experimental foray into an unestablished market and that there was some amount of "if you build it, they will come."
All I'm saying is that maybe the demand didn't exist before this supply came along so... why are they crying about it?
"The lack of overtime compensation is not forcing people into poverty, and it's not even abuse. It's apparently a condition of the employment at Apple"
Strange though it may seem, as a person eligible for employment in the U.S.A. you do not have the right to decline the labor code. The labor code for both state and federal define in black and white what constitutes employee overtime exemption status. If your employment conditions do not satisfy BOTH state and federal exemption criteria, then you are non-exempt, period.
There does happen to be a "Computer Professional" exemption provision, however the minimum salary required is over $100K (I would have to look up the exact amount - it changes). "Highly skilled" and "highly compensated" technical employees performing the same functions as a Computer Professional at $90K are non-exempt and are due over time. They have no right to waive that and their employer has no right to strike that right in an employment contract.
It's not a matter of "should I or shouldn't I" type choices that you suggest - there is a clear definition and that is exactly the foundation of the lawsuit. Take it or leave it, it's the law.
No disagreement on that point. However comparisons to slavery and indentured servitude diminish the true gravity of those realities and makes the person drawing the analogy look like a drama queen. It's a little like my kid telling mom, "we almost died!" when we get home from a nice drive because we had to navigate around an obstacle.
By no means am I making light of uncompensated overtime or labor code violations. But the use of these terms does history an injustice.
Slashdot Mirror
The whole sex offender registration concept is cruel and unusual punishment as far as I'm concerned. It's the crime that keeps on giving - oh and retroactively too.
Slashdotters should not forget however that not all registered sex offenders are child molesters, and that there is a scale of severity of the crime which is not a consideration in the registration program. How long before google maps is crowded with so many little, red sex offender X's spread across America's neighborhoods that there is nowhere safe to live any more?
It's ludicrous. Registered sex offenders are denied their right to the pursuit of happiness even though they served their time. As someone once expressed it to me, "the United States does not believe in or recognize the potential of -rehabilitation-."
My employer is doing this same thing, only we're going from a 2.1.x and going to 4.0.1. We're not doing it because of the stigma of 1.0; rather it's because we want to look like our product is just as mature/evolved as our competitors who all have 4.x and 5.x products out. (I think marketers all read the same periodicals or something).
The public perception, according to marketing, is that we are neck and neck with the competition. The engineer in me thinks this is a load of crap - I mean wishful thinking. The businessman in me thinks there is some amount of non-empirical voodoo to marketing efforts that are difficult to truly know whether they really work or not and that we developers just need to nod and smile because perception of our products and services is their job, not ours.
N/M - it's the same one. doh! :)
Yeah, silliness all around. The one I was looking at is above that though where it reads:
...
Web definitions for Beta
is a mathematical measure of a stock's risk in relation to the overall market usually as measured against an index.
According to Google, "beta" is defined as having mathematical relevance; perhaps there is some intensive underlying algorithm to all their software of which we are all blissfully unaware.
PowerDNS -> run it yourself with the convenience of doing mass updates in SQL statements instead of maintaining a few dozen zone files on disk. If you think 50 domains is hard, try running several thousand on a shared hosting cluster. You either need scripted automation, or some type of DB-managed solution like PowerDNS. It's by no means the only one like it, but in my experience has worked reasonably well.
They should give the next one wings or a para-sail or something.
Just a couple constructive additions to the parent post here with regard to security:
1) Deactivate unused socket services
2) Master iptables for regulating what socket services may send/receive connections
3) Make sure you understand and strictly check and apply user/group management/filesystem permissions such that your socket service daemons only have read/write access to exactly what they should and nothing more (newly discovered escalation exploits notwithstanding).
4) never run cron events as root - set up a user with the necessary permissions including sudo access to specific action if necessary, but don't exec as root; there's no sensible need to open this exposure.
While I would not be inclined to disagree, it is worth noting that possibly the most daunting conundrum facing humanity for the twenty first century is the fact that while the number of transistors packed into an IC is approaching infinity, the annual reduction in miniskirt lengths is rapidly approaching zero; we are in desperate need of a global miniskirt paradigm shift to offset this most disturbing reality.
IIRC, in the days following 9/11/2001 when all flights were grounded in the U.S., there was some of the cleanest, clearest air conditions observed in decades. That was after only several days of activity change. Look how hard Beijing tried to clear the skies for the Olympic games, and what they were able to pull off. It is unclear what amount of time would be required to fully recover from the effects of greenhouse gases, however it is clear that measurable differences are present after a very short period of time.
If we're going to run blindly toward lofty goals, I'd personally rather put my money behind preventative measures than reactionary ones like the absurdity presented in this article.
There is data out there, but I'm lazy at the moment. Here's one simple thing labeling the Insight as the Most deadly Car in America, reviewed independently of NHTSA and other "official" channels, though their data does come in to play.
Speaking as a former Insight owner who knows cars, I was nervous in the car. Your comment above suggests that an aluminum structure could be an equal to a steel one; I would have to disagree with that for malleability alone, not to mention other factors.
Furthermore, asking for references on a small car being more dangerous than a bigger one is like demanding proof that fire burns newspaper just like regular paper; it should go without saying that a small, low mass vehicle with sub-par handling capabilities is going to have higher than average injurious results. Even so, the information is around if you dig.
I liked the car so, as I said in my other post in this thread, I am looking forward to seeing the bigger, 4-door version and hope that it can be improved safety-wise.
Depends - the other thing Honda had against the Insight was that it was a coffin on wheels. Bend over and kiss your ass goodbye in a high speed frontal collision - with an all aluminum chassis, the integral "roll cage" isn't going to do squat against the kinetic energy of an SUV at speed. If they duplicate this problem on the new car, but this time with more passengers (children?), it will fail miserably.
"[from] $70 a week -> $3640 year [to] $30 a week -> $1560 a year"
If you're going to compare economics, you need to start with good numbers. I own a full size truck and a Honda Insight. The truck gets 14 MPG (maximum). The Honda gets 60 (minimum). That's a 4:1 or better difference, not the nearly 2:1 figure you propose above. And in fact I DID start at $70/week with the higher gas prices for the truck, but if you do a little math, you'll find I paid nowhere near $30/week for the Insight driving the same route.
Furthermore, again apples-to-apples, if you're going to assume my truck is paid off, then assume my Insight is too. In fact mine was paid off because I bought it used from a private party. Anyone else making payments on a regular car who would rather be making the same payment on a hybrid will pay less every month.
All that AND the new Honda has a lower than average targeted MSRP - I'm looking forward to seeing it. As for the article submitter scratching their head over why the Toyota Prius won out over the Insight, the answer is simple: few people are willing to buy a two-seater vehicle over a 4-door with comparable price, performance, efficiency and fugliness.
I think the digital world should be treated quite like the physical world.
There should be a clear distinction between the liability of a company who has made reasonable efforts according to typical industry practices (a bank with a brick & mortar facility, armed guard, surveillance, and timed locking vault) and one who makes no effort at all (keeps customer assets in a cardboard box marked "keep out" in a Public Storage facility). Despite all efforts, no system is completely secure - this is slashdot: you KNOW that.
What if the system administrator who allowed the system to be compromised were the one on the hook? The fact is that the bad guys are ALWAYS determined to find something that the good guys haven't thought of and eventually will get in and make off with the materials. At some point you have to stop looking for someone else's ass to burn and just chase the crooks themselves.
"many panhandlers [...] are truly needy! Your rationalisation [...] is punishing those who really need your $1 for the laziness(?) of a tiny minority."
Perhaps in your experience - in mine, they are predominantly hustlers. It is not my job to care for the needy - there are social programs for that. If you really want to support the truly needy, support the social programs.
I don't believe my attitude is a problem just because I choose not to take responsibility for the problems of others. You could give away every last red cent you own and still not make a dent - and then you would join them.
Extremists exist on both sides of every issue. Three sides to every story, right? Your version, my version, and the truth. It sure would be nice if out a group of people discussing a topic, the left and right most 25% could be filtered out (and/or pitted against each other in a mud-slinging match on pay per view) and the remaining 50% could have rational discussions without wasting time arguing amongst one another over the extremist idiots' comments.
"In some areas, fake panhandlers live better than the people that they con"
True that! I had a friend in San Francisco offer a homeless man $15/hr to come in and paint his apartment - he declined saying he could make more on the street corner. That attitude is exactly why I never dole out cash to pan handlers, though perhaps will offer a morsel of food on occasion.
Yes, please - and missions and story. The shroud thing sounds ridiculous.
To your point, something I've long wondered is why there seems to have been little to no interest to date in an array of heads per surface. Sweeping a single head across the entire surface surely takes twice as long as moving two heads half the distance. They could even share the same actuator by covering different, possibly partially overlapping, sections of disk area.
How about a ladder structure with 8 heads that translate 1/8th the platter width instead of the whole thing? How about using opposing sides of the available disk surface instead of just one pie slice in the corner? I'm sure that some relatively minor adjustments could be made mechanically to achieve such a thing and that it would come down to load-splitting electronics which they already have a start on with the ability to split between platters.
It just seems to me that a head aptly placed 180 degrees away is equivalent to 100% RPM increase performance-wise and probably lower power requirement.
Same reason any inept manager wants their product prices removed from price comparison sites: because it shows who is lower than them and leads customers away. The sites are designed to drive down consumer prices and the fact is that airlines can't afford to lower prices. They're already stripping meals, movies, headphones, pillows and blankets - what's next, the seat belts?
The motivation makes sense to me. The decision to go ahead with is just, plain stupid though, will hurt in the long run, and ultimately brings no net gains. A travel agent serves the same function - are they going to start suing agents next?
No, but it is electromagnetically generated. :) (oops!)
Screwed up the "<" - reposting
"I still can't figure out why people are so fascinated with video"
Some people are visually stimulated, others audibly - not everyone shares your personal enthusiasm for one part of the EM spectrum.
Personally I have worked in the HD D-Cinema field as a systems architect with incredible audio/video (and a healthy spending budget) and I greatly enjoy the complete experience. However I'm not willing to spend my money on it.
These are trying times financially. Discretionary spending is down across the board. If people have a working solution (SDTV + DVD) and things are tight, why would they even consider going out and dropping a small fortune on this stuff.
I have over 500 DVD's. They're cheap (I even buy used ones sometimes for < $5), have reasonable quality 6 channel sound, and appear acceptable on a progressive scan player over my component video projector. I get enjoyable entertainment experience from my set up that would cost $1000's to replace with the latest fad - not going to happen.
Also (at the risk of being to your point) if you consider the popularity of silly hand-held gadgets like the video iPod and whatever all else plays movies, music videos, etc on tiny portable screens, it should be more apparent than ever that the size & quality of the image is not what consumers are after. I think BluRay & HD-DVD were an experimental foray into an unestablished market and that there was some amount of "if you build it, they will come."
All I'm saying is that maybe the demand didn't exist before this supply came along so... why are they crying about it?
"I still can't figure out why people are so fascinated with video"
Some people are visually stimulated, others audibly - not everyone shares your personal enthusiasm for one part of the EM spectrum.
Personally I have worked in the HD D-Cinema field as a systems architect with incredible audio/video (and a healthy spending budget) and I greatly enjoy the complete experience. However I'm not willing to spend my money on it.
These are trying times financially. Discretionary spending is down across the board. If people have a working solution (SDTV + DVD) and things are tight, why would they even consider going out and dropping a small fortune on this stuff.
I have over 500 DVD's. They're cheap (I even buy used ones sometimes for
Also (at the risk of being to your point) if you consider the popularity of silly hand-held gadgets like the video iPod and whatever all else plays movies, music videos, etc on tiny portable screens, it should be more apparent than ever that the size & quality of the image is not what consumers are after. I think BluRay & HD-DVD were an experimental foray into an unestablished market and that there was some amount of "if you build it, they will come."
All I'm saying is that maybe the demand didn't exist before this supply came along so... why are they crying about it?
"The lack of overtime compensation is not forcing people into poverty, and it's not even abuse. It's apparently a condition of the employment at Apple"
Strange though it may seem, as a person eligible for employment in the U.S.A. you do not have the right to decline the labor code. The labor code for both state and federal define in black and white what constitutes employee overtime exemption status. If your employment conditions do not satisfy BOTH state and federal exemption criteria, then you are non-exempt, period.
There does happen to be a "Computer Professional" exemption provision, however the minimum salary required is over $100K (I would have to look up the exact amount - it changes). "Highly skilled" and "highly compensated" technical employees performing the same functions as a Computer Professional at $90K are non-exempt and are due over time. They have no right to waive that and their employer has no right to strike that right in an employment contract.
It's not a matter of "should I or shouldn't I" type choices that you suggest - there is a clear definition and that is exactly the foundation of the lawsuit. Take it or leave it, it's the law.
"This IS a serious problem"
No disagreement on that point. However comparisons to slavery and indentured servitude diminish the true gravity of those realities and makes the person drawing the analogy look like a drama queen. It's a little like my kid telling mom, "we almost died!" when we get home from a nice drive because we had to navigate around an obstacle.
By no means am I making light of uncompensated overtime or labor code violations. But the use of these terms does history an injustice.