Their 100Mb/s pipe is not 100% full 100% of the time.
This is becoming less true as time goes on - due to more (legitimate) p2p, itunes, netflix downloads, with more legitimate companies actually using p2p as their distribution channel etc.
If I am a customer and I pay for a 10mbps connection and I chose to use it only for a p2p (paid or free & legitimate) service, Why should my traffic be throttled compared to someone who is downloading music or TV from itunes or whoever is partnered with Comcast.
If Comcast has 1000Mb/s of bandwidth for 500 subscribers, Then Comcast should not be selling more than 1000Mb/s in service. Lets just say they offer 2Mbps service to all 500 (or any combination therein), that allows each user to flood their own 2mbps connection with *whatever the hell they want*, and it will not affect other users. Of course little old lady Jones only uses it for e-mail, (so first she might prefer a 100Kbps connection), and she will not use it all the time leaving extra bandwidth on the pipe: so Comcast could offer a 'STEP-UP' plan which allows those users that want pay for access to the unused BANDWIDTH***, *when and if* it is available on a metered basis (and perhaps charge accordingly) So if no body was on for a 10 minute period, you'd get full 1000Mbps for 10 minutes, but you'd pay for that speed/period as you'd agreed over your basic 200mbps).
Or offer a plan where you *only* have access to 50kbps + any spare BANDWIDTH on a metered (Kb/s)basis. Perfect for people who only use the net to check e-mails once a day. Or, have those that use the step-up plan, to discount the services of those that are not using their full BANDWIDTH***.
My point is there are plenty of options, but they basically involve not overselling your bandwidth (which is a common but dirty practice) - and allow each customer to chose what they want to use their connection for. This DOES require Comcast to upgrade their network (or downgrade service) to existing customers so each customer can use their connection to meet their needs.
Everyone else can flood their 200Mbps connection with *whatever the hell they want*. That means if i've set my p2p to use the max BW available and given it a high QOS because it is important to me, then I have to put up with slow or interrupted Http/FTP connections. - but I've affected NOBODY ELSE'S service.
(*** Note: what I suggested is NOT an "XXXGB/Month" style plan)
This is kind of like an all-you-can-eat buffet having the local pro football team stopping by for supper after practice five times a week. After a while, the restaraunt starts to loose money. They then have three choices:
1) Raise prices.
2) Put limits on the service.
3) Go out of business.
None of the three are great options, #1 hurts everybody, not just the heavy users. #2 keeps the prices low for most, at the expense of the heavy users, and #3 hurts everybody in general.
I'm not sure I agree 100% with your analogy. It's more like you only have 100 seats, and every night paying customers are filling them, leaving cues of people waiting outside. The answer is get more seats -i.e spend some more of their 13 billion gross profit on infrastructure to meet the growing demand.
Interesting fact: The same number of Old people eat FAR more than a football team. This comes directly from a friend who ran a restaurant with a lunchtime buffet. I said to him I thought young people would take advantage, but he reckons young people tend to eat during the day, so 'all you can eat' is less. Old people however: They *plan* to go to an all you can eat and get the most for their money. They don't eat breakfast, and make that their only meal of the day - and they're usually have much larger stomachs from years of practice and riding those little cart things. He had busloads of sports teams stopping in, but was much more fearful of bus loads of oldies on a tour coach. - He tried serving more slowly, but they just stayed longer till they were full. - same as p2p. Someone downloading at their full rate will do so even if that rate is lower - just for longer. p2p downloading a movie will still 'eat' the same number of bits. If you want to sell more bandwidth, then you have to *have more to sell*. So more seats - more pipes.
Of course not. Linux is a "hacker" operating system that is only used by people who try to circumvent safeguards that are used only for the protection of the children and good of the economy.
You jest, but a colleague of mine has accused me of being a Pirate (copyright, not ARRR) just because I use Linux.
IIRC crypto was transfered from the munitions list to the restricted commerce list by Bill Clinton (was later amended to provide stronger controls for said commerce list, but is no longer on the munitions list - as far as i am aware).
Wow, thanks that is good info. Wasn't aware of those vectors until now, I guess I should have thought a bit harder. Interesting about the firewire too.
For some reason, the thought of keeping a laptop powered while transporting it reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where George is trying to keep the arcade machine powered... (not that the latter had a battery)..
You're quite right. Opps. THey are a total ripoff. I guess I gave a bad example, but the idea of using cheap SD cards is still a reasonable one. (with an n800 at approx $250 leaves you about $750 to spend on SD cards before you equal the price of a decent mini-laptop.... ) The other guy that posted in this thread uses his wi-fi to send his pics home from his n800.
I'm a kiwi and I've worked with the Scott Base deployments out of Christchurch, but never made it there myself. Take care mate, and hope you make the news again soon!
Assuming all of the other accounts on that machine also have strong passwords and there aren't any unpatched-and-exploitable services running.
Other accounts true,
Also, good point about services running. That'd probably be the easiest way in - plug into a router and see what shares are available, then start attacking services via a network vector - so many options!!!. I never thought of that.
I'm one of the 4 UNSW scientists who designed PLATO.
Lets hope you did a good job.... and are nice to your boss.
Nothing worse than overhearing a conversation in the hallway " um', yeah, ok, well it looks like we're sending Michael down there to sit with PLATO, and um, you know, push the red button once a day at 8am...and yeah, we'll be wanting him to be there all winter. ok?"
Im not sure how good the windows lock is but if its good enuth that someone would have to reboot to get around it then the disk should become encrypted as soon as the system loses power for the reboot.
The disk is encrypted the whole time - truecrypt decrypts what it needs on-the-fly in RAM.
Its not so much about "How good the Windows lock is", but "how guessable your password is". Even if an attacker stole your notebook and plugged it in to wake it up from 'sleep', then they should be faced with the standard windows login. If you've got a strong password, then they'll be there forever. There is no way I now of that would allow them to launch an automated attack either.
If they wanted to get data off your machine, and are faced with the standard windows login if stolen while it was asleep, they probably wouldn't know it's hard drive is encrypted. The best way for them to try to get your data is to power down the machine and reboot into a live CD, or pull the drive and put it in another machine. Once they've done that, they'll discover the disk is encrypted. While they can now launch automated Brute Force attacks, it is the strength of your password (and the strength of the encryption algorithm) keeping them out.
A good place to learn more about encryption is the "Security Now" podcast at www.GRC.com/security now (also free through iTunes). Look back at the old truecrypt episode, as well as those with Crypto in the title etc...
I have code that I've written for my current company that I'd like to open-source. The only problem is that my company has the usual clause that says that anything I write belongs to them.
Then it's their code. You may as well be asking them to open source code you didn't write.
That is exactly what they want to do. To me, this is just the network providing their own tax on top of what I'm purchasing. If I purchase a movie rental download from Netflix, why should I pay TWC *another* fee for transferring the quantity of bits.
They want to change the billing so they make more money with existing infrastructure. That is it. People who think it will offer cheaper service are kidding themselves. It might work out cheaper for some old lady who only pings yahoo once a month, but not for the average user.
Pricing on a GB/Month is also a nasty tactic for the cable provider to reduce the pervasiveness of torrents, if they bill for total/uploaded traffic not just downloads.
...we need to be able to plug that in and play," an FBI spokesman is quoted.
plug and what?
This is not a fucking game.
I think the spokesman has been reading too many Microsoft boxes. FBI:"If my USB drive is 'plug and play' why cant a thumbprint, or a tattoo, or a piece of ear. Heck they do it on CSI all the time!"
I'm all for catching bad guys, but "plug and play", you've got to be fucking kidding.
They are compatible, and certain configurations of h.264 can be the same as MPEG-4, but h.264 is not part of the MPEG-4 standard - as you correctly pointed out it is an ITU standard.
From the GP post (and patent):
.... comprising the steps of: accepting television (TV) broadcast signals, wherein said TV signals are based on a multitude of standards, including, but not limited to, National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) broadcast, PAL broadcast, satellite transmission, DSS, DBS, or ATSC; tuning said TV signals to a specific program; providing at least one Input Section, wherein said Input Section converts said specific program to an Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) formatted stream for internal transfer and manipulation;
PAL and NTSC cannot carry an MPEG formated stream being analogue, so encoding using a different standard than the one outlined in the patent (say h.263) offers no difference in overhead (compared to converting to mpeg - if done with a hardware encoder).
With the streams that do use MPEG data - i.e ATSC & DVB which do use MPEG as its transport stream, as the other reply pointed out, just record the raw stream - or the parts of that stream you want -i.e leave the header there. - or some method herein.
Or DirecTV could just not be tight-wads and negotiate a tivo licence to use tivo's method.
wherein said Input Section converts said specific program to an Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) formatted stream for internal transfer and manipulation; providing a Media Switch, wherein said Media Switch parses said MPEG stream, said MPEG stream is separated into its video and audio components; storing said video and audio components on a storage device; providing at least one Output Section, wherein said Output Section extracts said video and audio components from said storage device; wherein said Output Section assembles said video and audio components into an MPEG stream; wherein said Output Section sends said MPEG stream to a decoder; wherein said decoder converts said MPEG stream into TV output signals;
IANA Patent Lawyer, or a lawyer of anykind:
1. Don't use an MPEG standard. Use an ITU standard (e.g some iteration of H.263), or other;
2. Do not seperate the audio and video stream when reading from the device; and/or
3. Do not put the output into a "TV" output. (are HDMI, DVI, VGA considered "TV output"?)
The most obvious way around is to avoid the use of MPEG. Obviously this screws current hardware that has MPEG hardware encoders and decoders though. Dish are big enough to have something made using a different standard, and there is plenty of hardware out there that uses non MPEG streams. Where I work we have a system that does almost what a tivo does, but it uses a modified H.263.
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If I am a customer and I pay for a 10mbps connection and I chose to use it only for a p2p (paid or free & legitimate) service, Why should my traffic be throttled compared to someone who is downloading music or TV from itunes or whoever is partnered with Comcast.
If Comcast has 1000Mb/s of bandwidth for 500 subscribers, Then Comcast should not be selling more than 1000Mb/s in service. Lets just say they offer 2Mbps service to all 500 (or any combination therein), that allows each user to flood their own 2mbps connection with *whatever the hell they want*, and it will not affect other users. Of course little old lady Jones only uses it for e-mail, (so first she might prefer a 100Kbps connection), and she will not use it all the time leaving extra bandwidth on the pipe: so Comcast could offer a 'STEP-UP' plan which allows those users that want pay for access to the unused BANDWIDTH***, *when and if* it is available on a metered basis (and perhaps charge accordingly) So if no body was on for a 10 minute period, you'd get full 1000Mbps for 10 minutes, but you'd pay for that speed/period as you'd agreed over your basic 200mbps).
Or offer a plan where you *only* have access to 50kbps + any spare BANDWIDTH on a metered (Kb/s)basis. Perfect for people who only use the net to check e-mails once a day. Or, have those that use the step-up plan, to discount the services of those that are not using their full BANDWIDTH***.
My point is there are plenty of options, but they basically involve not overselling your bandwidth (which is a common but dirty practice) - and allow each customer to chose what they want to use their connection for. This DOES require Comcast to upgrade their network (or downgrade service) to existing customers so each customer can use their connection to meet their needs. Everyone else can flood their 200Mbps connection with *whatever the hell they want*. That means if i've set my p2p to use the max BW available and given it a high QOS because it is important to me, then I have to put up with slow or interrupted Http/FTP connections. - but I've affected NOBODY ELSE'S service.
(*** Note: what I suggested is NOT an "XXXGB/Month" style plan)
Interesting fact: The same number of Old people eat FAR more than a football team. This comes directly from a friend who ran a restaurant with a lunchtime buffet. I said to him I thought young people would take advantage, but he reckons young people tend to eat during the day, so 'all you can eat' is less. Old people however: They *plan* to go to an all you can eat and get the most for their money. They don't eat breakfast, and make that their only meal of the day - and they're usually have much larger stomachs from years of practice and riding those little cart things. He had busloads of sports teams stopping in, but was much more fearful of bus loads of oldies on a tour coach. - He tried serving more slowly, but they just stayed longer till they were full. - same as p2p. Someone downloading at their full rate will do so even if that rate is lower - just for longer. p2p downloading a movie will still 'eat' the same number of bits. If you want to sell more bandwidth, then you have to *have more to sell*. So more seats - more pipes.
Only then you're handed over to some other feds for copyright infringement......
Wow, I really thought this article was going to have some real meat to it. Unfortunately it left me wanting more.
Def not want anymore from Zonk.
Wow, thanks that is good info. Wasn't aware of those vectors until now, I guess I should have thought a bit harder. Interesting about the firewire too.
For some reason, the thought of keeping a laptop powered while transporting it reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where George is trying to keep the arcade machine powered... (not that the latter had a battery)..
As long as I can have shell access, then sweeeeeet!?
You're quite right. Opps. THey are a total ripoff. I guess I gave a bad example, but the idea of using cheap SD cards is still a reasonable one. (with an n800 at approx $250 leaves you about $750 to spend on SD cards before you equal the price of a decent mini-laptop.... ) The other guy that posted in this thread uses his wi-fi to send his pics home from his n800.
*slaps forehead* That should read as cheap as 49c for 128MB. You can of course get 1GB for $5 from Newegg also.
I'm in a similar position however not doing nearly as many countries, and I'm thinking the Nokia N810 is right for me. (looking at the n800 also)
It has GPS, wifi, bluetooth and all that, so you may want to pair it with a full size folding bluetooth keyboard.
As for cheap media to send photos home?, how about a bank of SD cards - you can get them as cheap as for 128MB. You can of course get 1GB for $5 from Newegg also.
I'm interested in your final decision.
Fantastic photos and interesting stuff.
I'm a kiwi and I've worked with the Scott Base deployments out of Christchurch, but never made it there myself. Take care mate, and hope you make the news again soon!
Cheers.
Russ
Also, good point about services running. That'd probably be the easiest way in - plug into a router and see what shares are available, then start attacking services via a network vector - so many options!!!. I never thought of that.
Nothing worse than overhearing a conversation in the hallway " um', yeah, ok, well it looks like we're sending Michael down there to sit with PLATO, and um, you know, push the red button once a day at 8am...and yeah, we'll be wanting him to be there all winter. ok?"
If they wanted to get data off your machine, and are faced with the standard windows login if stolen while it was asleep, they probably wouldn't know it's hard drive is encrypted. The best way for them to try to get your data is to power down the machine and reboot into a live CD, or pull the drive and put it in another machine. Once they've done that, they'll discover the disk is encrypted. While they can now launch automated Brute Force attacks, it is the strength of your password (and the strength of the encryption algorithm) keeping them out.
A good place to learn more about encryption is the "Security Now" podcast at www.GRC.com/security now (also free through iTunes). Look back at the old truecrypt episode, as well as those with Crypto in the title etc...
They want to change the billing so they make more money with existing infrastructure. That is it. People who think it will offer cheaper service are kidding themselves. It might work out cheaper for some old lady who only pings yahoo once a month, but not for the average user.
Pricing on a GB/Month is also a nasty tactic for the cable provider to reduce the pervasiveness of torrents, if they bill for total/uploaded traffic not just downloads.
This is not a fucking game.
I think the spokesman has been reading too many Microsoft boxes. FBI:"If my USB drive is 'plug and play' why cant a thumbprint, or a tattoo, or a piece of ear. Heck they do it on CSI all the time!"
I'm all for catching bad guys, but "plug and play", you've got to be fucking kidding.
(tee hee I said but plug)
From the GP post (and patent): PAL and NTSC cannot carry an MPEG formated stream being analogue, so encoding using a different standard than the one outlined in the patent (say h.263) offers no difference in overhead (compared to converting to mpeg - if done with a hardware encoder).
With the streams that do use MPEG data - i.e ATSC & DVB which do use MPEG as its transport stream, as the other reply pointed out, just record the raw stream - or the parts of that stream you want -i.e leave the header there. - or some method herein.
Or DirecTV could just not be tight-wads and negotiate a tivo licence to use tivo's method.
Good point. Storing the uncompressed stream appears to circumvent their method. Now where are those patent application forms.....? lol
1. Don't use an MPEG standard. Use an ITU standard (e.g some iteration of H.263), or other;
2. Do not seperate the audio and video stream when reading from the device; and
3. Do not put the output into a "TV" output. (are HDMI, DVI, VGA considered "TV output"?)
The most obvious way around is to avoid the use of MPEG. Obviously this screws current hardware that has MPEG hardware encoders and decoders though. Dish are big enough to have something made using a different standard, and there is plenty of hardware out there that uses non MPEG streams. Where I work we have a system that does almost what a tivo does, but it uses a modified H.263.