You, I, and all other slashdot readers / users would be able to make that same statement. However I know a lot of people who are clueless about their MS Windows computer, some of those are people in my family and they call me. If they didn't have an immediate relative who has worked for years in IT (read "Free Professional Tech Support") they would call Dell, HP, Gateway or whatever manufacturer they have.
Those are the people that call Dell, the ones who are clueless, but don't have another source of Free Professional Tech Support. If I were to cut them off, my family would have to resort to calling Dell. I would never let that happen, but some people don't have that choice.
What you say is true but there is another piece to it, Xbox Live. With dashboard and XBL MS could easily pick that MAC up from the 360 and transport it to the XBL servers. Pretty simple code, I've done it on windows systems with C# for a few different reasons.
As for uniqueness, I can agree that you can't rely on 3com, netgear, etc. to always be unique when it comes to their MAC address... however if you have complete control of the hardware, MS in this case, you can easily ensure that your MACs are always unique by having it in a very simple database of information tied to the serial number.
From a programmer / former sys admin prospective I can easily see how this could be done my MS. Whats more with the Halo 2 Modding epidemic and the nightmares it caused for the beloved Halo 2 online multiplayer... I can see why they would have had the foresight to do all this up front. And with dashboard updates being pushed out on what appears to be about a semi-annual schedule it would be easy to "fix" the loopholes that they may have left in place.
I for one don't mind, I pay for my games or rent them at least. It just means I won't be as likely get pwned by a bunch of "l33t haxor" (aka script kiddies) on Halo 3:)
I can see where this would make sense and be a legitimate thing for Xbox Live aka. Live Anywhere. People on XBL who get reported consistently as bad by other gamers, or are caught cheating / modding would suffer for their actions. It would be kinda like Xbox Jail!. I for one would appreciate that self policing.
1889 Wow... I didn't know Nintendo was that old. I didn't realize they were in the card buisness way back in the late 1800s. You made me look that up and thus I learned, and we all know learning is cool!
A good point, but wouldn't you think that if everyone moves to the "safer" platforms, then those platforms are no longer safe. One of the reasons that Microsoft and AOL are such big targets is because they have a big user base. If Apple were to get all the windows users that wanted to get away from the dangers of windows, then a lot of the virus writers out there would probably start looking to the "safer" platform so their work would get more attention.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I think that the virus authors are looking to get the most bang for their buck, and if everyone spanned out to the other platforms, that bang would start being on those platforms. Then you would start to see a lot more vulnerability there as well.
Slashdot Mirror
I think you just violated copyright law with that comment
You, I, and all other slashdot readers / users would be able to make that same statement. However I know a lot of people who are clueless about their MS Windows computer, some of those are people in my family and they call me. If they didn't have an immediate relative who has worked for years in IT (read "Free Professional Tech Support") they would call Dell, HP, Gateway or whatever manufacturer they have.
Those are the people that call Dell, the ones who are clueless, but don't have another source of Free Professional Tech Support. If I were to cut them off, my family would have to resort to calling Dell. I would never let that happen, but some people don't have that choice.
What you say is true but there is another piece to it, Xbox Live. With dashboard and XBL MS could easily pick that MAC up from the 360 and transport it to the XBL servers. Pretty simple code, I've done it on windows systems with C# for a few different reasons.
:)
As for uniqueness, I can agree that you can't rely on 3com, netgear, etc. to always be unique when it comes to their MAC address... however if you have complete control of the hardware, MS in this case, you can easily ensure that your MACs are always unique by having it in a very simple database of information tied to the serial number.
From a programmer / former sys admin prospective I can easily see how this could be done my MS. Whats more with the Halo 2 Modding epidemic and the nightmares it caused for the beloved Halo 2 online multiplayer... I can see why they would have had the foresight to do all this up front. And with dashboard updates being pushed out on what appears to be about a semi-annual schedule it would be easy to "fix" the loopholes that they may have left in place.
I for one don't mind, I pay for my games or rent them at least. It just means I won't be as likely get pwned by a bunch of "l33t haxor" (aka script kiddies) on Halo 3
I can see where this would make sense and be a legitimate thing for Xbox Live aka. Live Anywhere. People on XBL who get reported consistently as bad by other gamers, or are caught cheating / modding would suffer for their actions. It would be kinda like Xbox Jail!. I for one would appreciate that self policing.
Bill O'Reilly is that you are you trying to enforce the no spin zone on slashdot :p
1889 Wow... I didn't know Nintendo was that old. I didn't realize they were in the card buisness way back in the late 1800s. You made me look that up and thus I learned, and we all know learning is cool!
Thanks!
Perhaps I am wrong, but I think that the virus authors are looking to get the most bang for their buck, and if everyone spanned out to the other platforms, that bang would start being on those platforms. Then you would start to see a lot more vulnerability there as well.