1 smartcard would replace all that junk. I'm surprised the banks are all just deploying One Time Password (OTP) authentication. They really should be skipping it and going to smartcards which store the customer's digital cert on the card. They also manage passwords, store your private key (for PGP), and provide physical access. The OTP stuff is for 2 factor auth (something you have and something you know), but smartcards can carry it even further with 3 or even 4 factor authc.
Vivato is several orders of magnitude more interesting than its competition. If they could sell an antenna merely one order magnitude more interesting, but for $100, maybe integrated into the back of a laptop screen...
Even the most optimistic deployments of WiFi pale compared to the effects of the cool glow of cell phone towers...imagine them as gigantic spotlights covering all inhabited spaces, and you'll get an idea of how they could be used for passive radar work.
SDR is no panacea, but WiFi is no wonder jammer either.
Okay, I have to agree that the hype surronding the PS2 is ridiculous. I wish people would realize that its not all it's cracked up to be.
First and foremost, the games suck right now. So, what's the rush, people? You're going to get barely to no enjoyment out of it because of your limited choices on the games. So, just relax, wait for some good games, and hopefully by then PS2's will be readily available.
Second, there's other consoles to consider. True, the PS2 probably beats the pants off Dreamcast (once good games start being developed for it), but from the research I've done, the PS2 is way underpowered compared to the upcoming consoles... namely the X-Box. What can I say about X-Box... it's going to kick ass. It has the best video chip in the making (from nVidia), will be easy to develop for (it's got PC hardware for crying out loud), and is not aimed at being the center entertainment console (like the PS2 was suppossed to be). That's the short and sweet version of my X-Box promo. Trust me... it will kick ass.
I think we should be worried about the PS2. It is supposedly the hardest platform to develop for EVER. Ever wonder why PS2 has lost most of its exclusive titles to the X-Box? Well, one of the main reasons is the PS2 is such a bitch to develop for, I'm not sure whether or not we're going to see enough quality games for it. Anyways, that's just some thoughts...
Actually, the swap space isn't used all that much anymore. Everyone usually has enough memory to handle running these OS' and never even come close to touching their swap space. In most of my machines I don't ever go near my swap. It's only relevant for older machines and those are slow anyways, what's a few more microseconds? =)
I happened to have lived in Indonesia for 10 years (just moved 2.5 years ago), which to my knowledge is still considered a third world country. When I moved there, in 1990, there were no ISPs and most of the country had never heard of a thing called the internet. Most of the businesses and small sections of the government had some kind of connection, but it all was very limited. The government wasn't too enthusiastic about the net since it posed a problem of uncensored materials entering the country (the Wall Street Journal used to arrive with stories about Irian Jaya and the conflicts there blackened by permanent marker). When I finally got hooked up at home by the first ISP in Indonesia, in 1994/5, things were starting to take a turn for the better. For instance, I happened to notice that an ISDN service was offered along with other higher bandwidth services. By the time I left, in 1997, you could almost browse the web on a Sunday morning at a bearable (alas modem) speed. More ISPs had sprung up to accompany Radnet (website: http://www.rad.net.id) and more and more people were being connected. Most of these people were expatriats, however, who had the money for a computer and could pay for the luxury of internet access. The problem with third world countries, however, is not hooking people up to the net (even though the phone lines tend to be incredibly bad), but getting enough people that have computers to sign up (since the cost of computers is about double of that here in Silicon Valley). Anyways, that's just my 2 cents.
Where I worked at Equifax, all you had to do was call and say you think there were some problems with your credit report and would like to dispute them, but need a copy... I worked at RCA (Regional Credit Association in Sacramento, CA) and they just sent you a free one if you said that. I figured that was a standard policy of credit reporting agencies. Hope it works wherever you are!!!
I happen to have worked at a Credit Reporting Agency one summer. Granted it was an extension of Equifax (which the article correctly points out does not subsribe to the same standards as Trans Union), but it's not really all that easy to obtain another person's credit report (obtaining your own is as simple as asking for one... you get a free copy each year, but you have to ask for it). At my job we were able to access the Trans Union database of credit reports to compare to our own. The article doesn't seem to mention that a credit report tells more about people than most other documents ever could (ie resumes, biographies, etc). Looking at a person's credit report tells you if that person has ever tried to buy a car (because all car places do credit checks before they sell), how many credit cards they have (and whether they pay them on time), how many loans a person has (and when they've paid those on time as well), and what bank accounts that person has. It's actually quite a revealing document that should never be sold to third-party companies that have no right knowing that kind of information. Most people get their first form of credit when they're about 18, right? That's when they get a credit card, take out a loan, or buy something (car, house, etc). From then on they are tracked by credit and the trail is easy to follow. I'm glad to see the courts get after Trans Union for selling credit reports because no one but the person who's credit it is should be able to see these things!!!
There's some really interesting articles in this month's daemon news. Most notable are the configuration of FreeBSD as an ATM firewall and the setting up of a Compaq Proliant server with BSD. Definetely worth a read!!!
You're right... there are more programs, more drivers, and arguably more support for Linux. I disagree on the support aspect because the FreeBSD Handbook is the one-stop shop for info on how to do almost anything in FreeBSD (what I primarily use). And yes, there are more programs and drivers written explicitly for Linux, but I think you'd find that with a little bit of work you can get just about anything you run under Linux to run under BSD. Plus, at least FreeBSD, runs Linux binaries so smoothly you'd never notice you were on a BSD machine. I think that Linux has a lot going for it, but is still a little bit behind BSD in a lot of places that count. Just my 2 cents. Eric
The reason that this post doesn't appear on the main Slashdot page is that Slashdot is a little slanted. Those of you that are reading this have probably figured this out by now, but I'll say it anyways, for those still not in "the know". Slashdot readers are predominantly Linux users that have a lot in common with Mac users; they are very loyal and have extremely closed minds (especially when it comes to using different operating systems). I first found the BSDs about 9 months ago when I got extremely frustrated installing Mandrake Linux (probably one of the easiest to install) and figured, "There's got to be an easier way!!!" Well, I was right. Unfortunately, most Slashdotters (who are loyal to Linux) don't understand that there is anything better out there and us BSDers take a lot of @#$% for that. Oh well, we all know who's running the superior OS!!! =)
Personally, I think cloning a human raises a whole bunch of moral issues... what rights does a clone have? Are they still part of the human race? How exactly is their relationship to the original described (different relationship, different rights: ex: married, sibling, no affiliation)? Besides, I thought some high council on human rights met and discussed this issue (of human cloning) when Dolly was created and deemed that cloning humans was illegal. Forgive me, I don't remember who or what that body of members was, but I thought it was kind of the last word. It is weird to see a religious group so for cloning and actually providing the service. I wonder what added benefits the organization has (ie having the clone be a religious fanatic) that isn't transparent at this point? I think cloning would be interesting because the clone would have a different life from there on and it would be kind of cool to see how the two humans, although genetically the same, develop as they take on different lives and experiences. I'm sure whoever is the first human clone will soon be sick of all the media following them around constantly... but, hey that's the price you pay for being first! =)
Despite the general consensus around here, BSD is a very worthwhile operating system, that in many ways is much easier to use than Linux. I am curious what BOF stands for, though? Anyone figured that out yet? Despite what might be said, however, BSD is not "jumping" on the linux bandwagon at all. It's just that when people start looking around for alternatives to Windoze they see Linux... and if they look a bit further they bump into BSD. I run both Mandrake and FreeBSD (with my primary gateway being FreeBSD for stability) and I would highly recommend some Slashdotters to try out both (if you have the machines and the chance to hook both up as gateways/firewalls... even not connected to the net, it's an interesting experience) because the differences between the two are both interesting and informative. Yes, BSD is at a Linuxworld conference, but that's only because there's no BSDworld. All I'm saying is it's good to see both great operating systems represented.
So is this guy gonna start doing this professionally? I'd love one... only he might have to do some things different to get the wood to fit around my Visor. Plus, he'd probably have to have it for awhile, huh? Oh well, it'd still be cool... custom wood finishes for Palms.
I hope Hemos didn't have a Compaq running some sort of Windows because I've seen those things spontaneously combust. No joke... one of my friend's network cards blew up while his machine was on... could've burned down the place if no one was home. =)
Cebit 2000 is before the Expo, not in cooperation. But it's on the same place. SuSE had two stands. One was close to the other Linux distributors, the other one was bigger. Comdex is tiny compared to Cebit. You can browse everywhere on the CeBIT. No problem to find an unused computer. SuSE had the best giveaway of the CeBIT. A small penguin. (Everybody wanted to have mine.) Who cares for giveaways anyway? Boring stuff. I didn't search for it, but I got a whole bag full of mouse pads etc... Anybody want one?
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1 smartcard would replace all that junk. I'm surprised the banks are all just deploying One Time Password (OTP) authentication. They really should be skipping it and going to smartcards which store the customer's digital cert on the card. They also manage passwords, store your private key (for PGP), and provide physical access. The OTP stuff is for 2 factor auth (something you have and something you know), but smartcards can carry it even further with 3 or even 4 factor authc.
Vivato is several orders of magnitude more interesting than its competition. If they could sell an antenna merely one order magnitude more interesting, but for $100, maybe integrated into the back of a laptop screen...
--Dan
Even the most optimistic deployments of WiFi pale compared to the effects of the cool glow of cell phone towers...imagine them as gigantic spotlights covering all inhabited spaces, and you'll get an idea of how they could be used for passive radar work.
SDR is no panacea, but WiFi is no wonder jammer either.
--Dan
Okay, I have to agree that the hype surronding the PS2 is ridiculous. I wish people would realize that its not all it's cracked up to be.
First and foremost, the games suck right now. So, what's the rush, people? You're going to get barely to no enjoyment out of it because of your limited choices on the games. So, just relax, wait for some good games, and hopefully by then PS2's will be readily available.
Second, there's other consoles to consider. True, the PS2 probably beats the pants off Dreamcast (once good games start being developed for it), but from the research I've done, the PS2 is way underpowered compared to the upcoming consoles... namely the X-Box. What can I say about X-Box... it's going to kick ass. It has the best video chip in the making (from nVidia), will be easy to develop for (it's got PC hardware for crying out loud), and is not aimed at being the center entertainment console (like the PS2 was suppossed to be). That's the short and sweet version of my X-Box promo. Trust me... it will kick ass.
I think we should be worried about the PS2. It is supposedly the hardest platform to develop for EVER. Ever wonder why PS2 has lost most of its exclusive titles to the X-Box? Well, one of the main reasons is the PS2 is such a bitch to develop for, I'm not sure whether or not we're going to see enough quality games for it. Anyways, that's just some thoughts...
Actually, the swap space isn't used all that much anymore. Everyone usually has enough memory to handle running these OS' and never even come close to touching their swap space. In most of my machines I don't ever go near my swap. It's only relevant for older machines and those are slow anyways, what's a few more microseconds? =)
I happened to have lived in Indonesia for 10 years (just moved 2.5 years ago), which to my knowledge is still considered a third world country. When I moved there, in 1990, there were no ISPs and most of the country had never heard of a thing called the internet. Most of the businesses and small sections of the government had some kind of connection, but it all was very limited. The government wasn't too enthusiastic about the net since it posed a problem of uncensored materials entering the country (the Wall Street Journal used to arrive with stories about Irian Jaya and the conflicts there blackened by permanent marker). When I finally got hooked up at home by the first ISP in Indonesia, in 1994/5, things were starting to take a turn for the better. For instance, I happened to notice that an ISDN service was offered along with other higher bandwidth services. By the time I left, in 1997, you could almost browse the web on a Sunday morning at a bearable (alas modem) speed. More ISPs had sprung up to accompany Radnet (website: http://www.rad.net.id) and more and more people were being connected. Most of these people were expatriats, however, who had the money for a computer and could pay for the luxury of internet access. The problem with third world countries, however, is not hooking people up to the net (even though the phone lines tend to be incredibly bad), but getting enough people that have computers to sign up (since the cost of computers is about double of that here in Silicon Valley). Anyways, that's just my 2 cents.
Where I worked at Equifax, all you had to do was call and say you think there were some problems with your credit report and would like to dispute them, but need a copy... I worked at RCA (Regional Credit Association in Sacramento, CA) and they just sent you a free one if you said that. I figured that was a standard policy of credit reporting agencies. Hope it works wherever you are!!!
I happen to have worked at a Credit Reporting Agency one summer. Granted it was an extension of Equifax (which the article correctly points out does not subsribe to the same standards as Trans Union), but it's not really all that easy to obtain another person's credit report (obtaining your own is as simple as asking for one... you get a free copy each year, but you have to ask for it). At my job we were able to access the Trans Union database of credit reports to compare to our own. The article doesn't seem to mention that a credit report tells more about people than most other documents ever could (ie resumes, biographies, etc). Looking at a person's credit report tells you if that person has ever tried to buy a car (because all car places do credit checks before they sell), how many credit cards they have (and whether they pay them on time), how many loans a person has (and when they've paid those on time as well), and what bank accounts that person has. It's actually quite a revealing document that should never be sold to third-party companies that have no right knowing that kind of information. Most people get their first form of credit when they're about 18, right? That's when they get a credit card, take out a loan, or buy something (car, house, etc). From then on they are tracked by credit and the trail is easy to follow. I'm glad to see the courts get after Trans Union for selling credit reports because no one but the person who's credit it is should be able to see these things!!!
There's some really interesting articles in this month's daemon news. Most notable are the configuration of FreeBSD as an ATM firewall and the setting up of a Compaq Proliant server with BSD. Definetely worth a read!!!
You're right... there are more programs, more drivers, and arguably more support for Linux. I disagree on the support aspect because the FreeBSD Handbook is the one-stop shop for info on how to do almost anything in FreeBSD (what I primarily use). And yes, there are more programs and drivers written explicitly for Linux, but I think you'd find that with a little bit of work you can get just about anything you run under Linux to run under BSD. Plus, at least FreeBSD, runs Linux binaries so smoothly you'd never notice you were on a BSD machine. I think that Linux has a lot going for it, but is still a little bit behind BSD in a lot of places that count. Just my 2 cents. Eric
The reason that this post doesn't appear on the main Slashdot page is that Slashdot is a little slanted. Those of you that are reading this have probably figured this out by now, but I'll say it anyways, for those still not in "the know". Slashdot readers are predominantly Linux users that have a lot in common with Mac users; they are very loyal and have extremely closed minds (especially when it comes to using different operating systems). I first found the BSDs about 9 months ago when I got extremely frustrated installing Mandrake Linux (probably one of the easiest to install) and figured, "There's got to be an easier way!!!" Well, I was right. Unfortunately, most Slashdotters (who are loyal to Linux) don't understand that there is anything better out there and us BSDers take a lot of @#$% for that. Oh well, we all know who's running the superior OS!!! =)
Personally, I think cloning a human raises a whole bunch of moral issues... what rights does a clone have? Are they still part of the human race? How exactly is their relationship to the original described (different relationship, different rights: ex: married, sibling, no affiliation)? Besides, I thought some high council on human rights met and discussed this issue (of human cloning) when Dolly was created and deemed that cloning humans was illegal. Forgive me, I don't remember who or what that body of members was, but I thought it was kind of the last word.
It is weird to see a religious group so for cloning and actually providing the service. I wonder what added benefits the organization has (ie having the clone be a religious fanatic) that isn't transparent at this point?
I think cloning would be interesting because the clone would have a different life from there on and it would be kind of cool to see how the two humans, although genetically the same, develop as they take on different lives and experiences. I'm sure whoever is the first human clone will soon be sick of all the media following them around constantly... but, hey that's the price you pay for being first! =)
Despite the general consensus around here, BSD is a very worthwhile operating system, that in many ways is much easier to use than Linux. I am curious what BOF stands for, though? Anyone figured that out yet? Despite what might be said, however, BSD is not "jumping" on the linux bandwagon at all. It's just that when people start looking around for alternatives to Windoze they see Linux... and if they look a bit further they bump into BSD. I run both Mandrake and FreeBSD (with my primary gateway being FreeBSD for stability) and I would highly recommend some Slashdotters to try out both (if you have the machines and the chance to hook both up as gateways/firewalls... even not connected to the net, it's an interesting experience) because the differences between the two are both interesting and informative. Yes, BSD is at a Linuxworld conference, but that's only because there's no BSDworld. All I'm saying is it's good to see both great operating systems represented.
So is this guy gonna start doing this professionally? I'd love one... only he might have to do some things different to get the wood to fit around my Visor. Plus, he'd probably have to have it for awhile, huh? Oh well, it'd still be cool... custom wood finishes for Palms.
I hope Hemos didn't have a Compaq running some sort of Windows because I've seen those things spontaneously combust. No joke... one of my friend's network cards blew up while his machine was on... could've burned down the place if no one was home. =)
Cebit 2000 is before the Expo, not in cooperation. But it's on the same place. SuSE had two stands. One was close to the other Linux distributors, the other one was bigger. Comdex is tiny compared to Cebit. You can browse everywhere on the CeBIT. No problem to find an unused computer. SuSE had the best giveaway of the CeBIT. A small penguin. (Everybody wanted to have mine.) Who cares for giveaways anyway? Boring stuff. I didn't search for it, but I got a whole bag full of mouse pads etc... Anybody want one?