Start ordering bombings of the populace of thier home out of hand, and I'd hazard a guess that the military would soon be rebelling too. That would put a serious crimp (and a lot of lead) in any politician's day.
I think this is a dead on comparison on attitudes to day, and in years gone by. 50 years or so ago, the analogue (trespass charges from the article) would have been a bunch of schoolkids wandering off and stealing apples from some local orchard/garden. Just a handful, and just as it's 'the rebellious thing to do'.. That stage that many kids go through. And hey, adults do too. Technically, it may be illegal, but common sense tells you it's a light hearted prank. Someone blowing off steam You didn't just lump them in with somone who broke in your house and stole all your prized possessions.
If it were reported to the headmaster/headmistress of your school, you'd get a stern talking to, a series of detentions, lines to write, and probably a week kicking your heels in your bedroom. All of which would say very strongly "It's really not worth the waste of your time to do it!".
An eminently sensible, and time tried solution. Everybody forgets about it in a few weeks, apart from maybe a slightly elevated reluctance on the part of the kids to 'scrump' for apples like that again. Exactly as it should be.
Now: We get people like the teachers who went screaming to the police department at the first sign that somebody may have done something they didn't like. Now, a suitable punishment would have been a series of detentions, letters home to the parents who would most likely have grounded the kids. And everyone would have gone on as usual.
Now, instead, you have a set of scared (and intensly angry) kids who if they do it again, are going to be much more careful, and if it looks like they're going to get caught, will likely cause collateral damage to hide their activities in. And a series of shocked and angry parents who have suddenly lost faith in the ability of teachers to even try and keep some semblance of common sense in and out of the classroom. Then, of course, the media, who love this, sending word far and wide to a generally disbelieving population, most of who are going to be shaking their heads at how far stupidity and knee jerk reaction has pervaded socicety and become the norm. One thing's for sure: The image of that school is very badly damaged. I'd hazard a guess that several students will be moving (voluntarily) to another educational establishement. The intake will likely be down (hey, would you prefer a school that'll give your kids a felony charge for a prank, or one that'll give them a detention and teach them pragmatism?). The cost in PR and face for this action is incredible. If the school holds it's current position, it'll likely cut off any possible stream for kids with a prankish side (who often tend to be highly creative; note this isn't just kids who misbehave just to be disruptive. Difference between Ferris Bueler and Bart Simpson) coming into the school. And most other kids whose parents just don't want to risk it. If they turn it around, and quash the teacher's wishes so completely, the administration will just never be treated as a joke, and it's authority will be seriously undermined (can you imagine, every small action a kid gets pulled up for, they'll be saying 'what are you going to do? Report it to the police?').
Maybe I'm just getting old, but all this leaves me with is the wish that things would go back to before the politically correct and lawsuit hungry era back to times when common sense was actually held in esteem. When you could actually learn to respect someone for being harsh but fair, rather than having them try to force respect by waving the threat of a lawsuit in your face at every corner.
What it means is that MS will probably be releasing the next version of DirectX within weeks (or days) of the expiry of Windows 2000. All the games coming out from this date will have the latest DX as a requirement. The latest Video drivers will require the latest DX version. Probably the latest sound card drivers will require the latest DX version.
Security patches will still be around, so the corporate environment will be ok (as long as you don't get a hardware upgrade on either video or audio). For a home user that wants to keep up to date with drivers, and play the odd new game? This is the thing that caused the mass upgrades from windows 98 (which many people still had, comfortably running on their machines with few issues) to 2k or XP. Most of those would have happily run on 98 for years to come, coprolith that it was. The inability to play new games (or much of the new educational software) on it forced the issue, and a new OS (or in many cases a whole new machine as the old hardware just couldn't handle the new load) was bought.
Ahh.. Repairing Windows makes you sterile and subject to mutation. Always wondered why going through all that reinstallation and reactivation always made me feel drained and twitchy!
The problem MS has with this, is that software patents have been so badly screwed, that people have taken out all kinds of obvious and trivial patents, hoping to screw someone out of some money by holding them up in courts.
Having the ability to challenge the patent/get it closely examined is a step in the right direction. MS, I think, are a little worried now, after having so many patent suits brought against them, that someone may well have a critical submarine patent that could apply to their core business tucked away somewhere.
Having it enshrined that you can actually challenge the patent before having the patent used to drain you dry could perhaps change the whole IP arena, and make the IP only hoarding companies much more expensive to maintain (no more fishing trips if they really have to pay for each patent they want to apply, and stand the chance of losing their cherished patent at the same time).
Yes, MS get to benefit from this. There again, so does the 'little guy'. It may not cure all ills, but it stands a good deal more in the right direction.
The limit on time is a very good move also, as it prevents a 'big fish' from holding a valid patent holder in court forever and a day challenging their patent, and making it for all intents and purposes irrelevant.
Funnily, I come from the UK. You know, the place America split from a few hundred years ago, simply because the regime was too oppressive. Nowadays:
We don't have to arbitrarily register with a city hall, just because we live there, that gets passed to anywhere (apart from to pay local taxes, and even that database is so screwed, they can't work out a correct bill, let alone identify anyone with it).
We don't have to carry any ID whatsoever. Some places (banks, video hire shops etc. require a letter saying you're resident at an address).
When you stay at a hotel here, you don't need to provide any ID whatsoever.
The police can request whatever info they want from anywhere. But they make the request to a court, which decides whether the request is a reasonable one, before the police turn up with their warrant.
About 10 years ago, I really wanted to emigrate to America. From travels, it seemed like a vibrant, forward thinking place. These days, again from travels and experience, those same places are now seeming far more fearful, and closed minded..
These days, I'm always reminded of the old slogans "No taxation without representation" that led the (very justified) revolt. These days, people just accept the 'tax' on blank media, and all kinds of goods, that just ends up filling the pockets of corporations, with no representation at all..
It sometimes looks as though it's merely taken a few hundred years for the US to get away from what it hated so much to such a point, it's become exactly what it fought against in the first place.
More like it being a case of giving the record companies more money, so they don't have to find new talent for the next 50 years.
Every other business out there needs to stay competitive by creating new products, and actually use their brains to work out how to do this.
The recording industry just says "We once got someone to make a good product, took it over and made a killing from it. We need you to keep giving us money for it so we don't have to think about how to make another decent product in the future. That's too much like hard work.".
Being in business used to mean you needed to be able to think quickly and make things people wanted, and adapt to the market place. These days it's more like a case of not wanting to adapt, so create laws to stop a market changing.
Hell, they've had over 50 years of distributing music etc. when it cost FAR more to produce and distribute than it does now. You'd think that they'd know what they were doing by now.
I see the traditionaly business practice of a Loss Leader. In the long term, this will likely cost Novell more than they got. However, to get a good track record in a market sector, you first need to get into that sector. Novell seem to be doing this with a high profile agency, whose requirements (government agencies don't usually have the latest and greatest stuff unless forced to by external pressure, such as MS upgrade paths) are likely to be reasonably mild.
That way, they get PR, and visibility in the sector far above what it's cost them in loss by taking on the contract.
Hmm.. You seem to be associating basic web access with having an anonymous email account (sending threatening letters to fellow students). If the cost is worth it (investigation into a scammer/phisher/harasser), you know the ip address it came from (library) the time of day, so you examine the proxy logs, and identify the terminal. Many places have security cams nowadays. Get those and you have the person. Others, well, you can ask for the description of the person using the terminal at that time of day. Those are the things that'll actually capture a criminal. Otherwise you may well end up on the doorstep of some old chap who's had his identity appropriated, and the library account set up in his name. The point is that the electronic trawling won't catch you the people you're saying you think it will. It'll only net you the ones that are net illiterate (the average user who just wants a few minutes on the net). There are way way way too many other, less public ways of getting into the net if you don't want to be found. Wardialling, wardriving, Net cafes with appropriated identities, anonymous net cafes etc. Libraries are just too much of a risk.
And actually, from the story headline (and the article about the anonymous cards), we are talking about who's borrowing which books, DVDs and everything else borrowable. I don't think the article once mentioned net access, which is a whole other story.
I don't believe it's the anonymity, per se, that's the issue. Back in the "Good ol' days" of paper cards, if an agency wanted to know who was reading particular books, they'd have to send an agent round, look through the files, and note the names down on paper. Frequently, libraries didn't actually keep a reference of who HAD borrowed a book in the past, merely who has it at the moment (at least that's the way it worked in the UK). To monitor it would take a lot of agent time, work and effort, meaning that those in power needed to think very very carefully about what they did keep an eye on.
If it really was something threatening to national security, and a life or death thing, you can bet they'd hang the expense and give the cat a goldfish, so to speak, and put in the time and effort.
These days, with little to no cost to themselves, govenment agencies can put a bill up attached to something else, and at a stroke force places to keep any kind of information they can think of. And give the agencies access to it simply and easily.
Really, it's a police state dream, of being able to watch everyone all the time (C.F. 1984).
Solutions like the 'anonymous library card' are simply a way of returning to days when people were treated as people, in the main, not as 'security threats' and 'potential copyright infringers' by govenment and commerce respectively. What it does is force the powers that be to sit back, and for once, actually THINK about what information they really need, because all of a sudden, it'll cost them to collate it. And yes, this anonymous is only so anonymous. If it's important, they'll get you in the end. It'll just cost more than it's worth to identify a few 'potential political dissidents'.
Maybe if enough of them actually had to think instead of waving pens to create new data gathering laws, more of the ranks of government would turn round and say "Well, actually, we think it's a little paranoid, and a daft idea at the end of the day. What's next on the agenda?".
All I can say is Guild Wars.
The girlfriend enjoys the game as much as I do.
Can be played single player (with henchmen to bulk out a party) or co-op.
A great solution to Co-Op games. Have a peer, if you haven't already.
Interesting take. Wonder where you got that from? I run databases and building servers on a large regional hospital these days.. Largely MS, though I have Linux boxes in there for various tasks.. Been using Windows for over 15 years now, so.. How does that map with not wanting to 'learn how to use it'? As for 'stealing' the software? I have fully paid licenses for Win2k, I pay the sub to Mandriva (because I use it), I pay for whatever software, music and vids I use, simply because I LIKE to pay my way through life. I simply refuse to tolerate being beholden to any company to use something I've already purchased. Would you buy a DVD that you had to call the manufacturer every time you bought a new DVD player? Would you accept having to call up the manufacturer of your car every time you had maintenance done on it, read off the chassis numbers, have them check it's ok for you to use that car before you can drive it again? Personally, I'd vote with my wallet, and not buy from people like that. Which is what I did with XP. I don't have it because I refuse to accept it's terms. No cracked version. Just staying with what terms I'm willing to accept. I don't like their terms, I don't buy or use their software.
I just don't buy your view of 'for many, it's just an excuse'.. I call bullshit on that one. An awful lot of people I know are increasingly disenchanted by that activation scheme. All paid up, but never again while that lasts.
Activation requires a really annoying call (I have to call to INSTALL an operating system?). I've made several in my time. I've done upgrades on hardware for people who HAVE got XP on there (came with the machine), and it's a case of reading a whole bunch of numbers down the phone at them. Anything goes wrong, and you can end up making the same call all over again. So, to me, the call was neither short, nor painless. It was irritating and pointless. I happily pay for any software I use (and although I use Linux heavily, I like having windows as a backup OS for when Linux can't do something). I have no 'cracked' software. I just refuse to have that constraint placed on me that I'm at the mercy of Microsoft every time I want to install an OS.
64 bit OS would be nice in the Windows Arena for me.. I can happily run the 64bit Linux distros, but have been sitting around on Win2k for games playing... A large part of the reason I didn't get XP was the 'activation' after sizable hardware rebuilds (about a 12 month cycle for me, unless something breaks).. If it's on the 64 bit Windows release, I guess I won't be getting that either.
When the kid leaves school, they'll be saying "Yes, I am proficient at wordprocessing, spreadsheets, databases, etc. And yes, Microsoft is included in those".
Unless you're going for a role that involves writting extensive macros in MS Office, it doesn't matter one jot.
Free, but single vendor. There are stories from both sides of this. Linus is probably annoyed about losing his favoured tool, Tridge is likely upset that he's being called for doing exactly what he's been lauded for in the past. I must say, that for once, my opinion is different to Linus'.. But it's just that. An opinion, and an uninformed one at that.
Weird that. After travelling extensively, and having a goodly degree of contact with various countries, I tend to find that the Nordic countries have among the best science degree programmes, and the Europeans as a whole have the best language/art courses. Russia tends to have the superior math/theoretical courses. On the whole, I guess you could say "Among the best" only in the way that Germany, France, England, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Spain, Italy etc. have among the best degree courses in the world".
Actually, it was MS that turned Software into a Commodity by releasing things like Visual Basic. Something that in essence you need half a brain and one finger, and you're now a 'Developer'. Sure, the low end stuff done by people that don't know what being a Developer really entails are crap, fall over all the time, and are usually really shoddy.. But, a lot of the time they get things done, sufficiently to make people not want to pay for the real thing.
In the 'early days', before coding became popular (I started in the early 80's), you did it because it was a passion. Then in the 'Golden Age', you could, and did, make shed loads of cash for being good.
Then everyone and their dog became a 'Developer' with the visual tools, and especially web front ends. The market got saturated with a lot of low skilled developers that were good enough to be 'fit for purpose'. Then supply outstripped demand. And wages plummeted.
So, it's not open source that's causing "Starving Artist" syndrome. It's your hallowed Closed Source businesses lowering the bar of entry, and creating the equivalent of a nearly automated software factory.
In a short time, AI should be able to code better than a skilled developer. Then all that'll be left is getting the spec right, and doing the design abstraction.
I'm sure that the Monks felt the same way when the printing press was invented.
What the "Idiots giving it away for free" are doing is simply making sure that there's more than one printing press out there. So at least people that want to learn, get to do so. This way, the entry bar pushes more towards having the skill and aptitude to perform a task, rather than having to have massive funding. And the meritocracy is beginning to reappear.
The Free software that's extremely good will get used. If it's that good that it gets used, it WILL need support in enterprise/business. If you don't want to do it, make a company, and hire some people that DO want to do support (and you only support them, as you'd have to do with ANY software you write, if you're serious about it). You pay the support staff less than the customer pays you.. And lo and behold! You get a salary (big if the code is something wonderful and useful) for coding! And you've created jobs for people that DO want to do the support too!
So, in reality those "Idiots" are rather smart, and quite able to make a sizable wad of money out of it. If you want to make a lot of money writing software, go do it. But working out how to do it is the trick.
At a rough guess, a combination of Architecture, Mech Engineering, Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering are the main culprits. Get your degree, then spend 10 years doing the legwork to get you enough experience, and maybe, just maybe, you'll end up designing a small part of a building like that.
People know I'm a geek. So buying my computer parts isn't a problem. Don't care if they monitor that. Buying my weekly shopping's not a problem. I really don't care that they know what brand of washing powder I buy, or the soaps or food.. Bills. Everyone has to pay them, and the paper trail there is so obvious, it's not worth obfuscating. Now, paying for the half pound or so of semtex or vial of anthrax on the cred card may be just another matter. They're useful for most things, but sometimes a cash deal is useful. The trick is in knowing just when to use which item. Never use a cred card, and I'll bet someone will take interest in your transactions another way (just why aren't you using one, they'll wonder). Use one for everything, and you're easy to track. Use one for most things, and it's like the magician's rule. Show them what you want them to see, and they'll never know what's hidden.
So, in admission, you've wilfully broken copyright to submit a patch to the Linux kernel. And you've admitted to it in a public forum. Now, perhaps those same patches may be noticed by someone who can trace your email address, and also, possibly bring legal action against you, for wilfully attempting to bring the Linux kernel (and the OSS movement) into disrepute.
However, as you've proven that you're perfectly happy to insert copyright code (patents on software aren't universal across the globe, so that's a moot point) into the Linux kernel, I'm sure you're just as happy to take GPL code and put it into your employer's code. And insert any of your current employers patented ideas, and copyright code into the product of your next employer.
The point being that the Open Source movement isn't a ticking timebomb. Untrustworthy people are. And the whole legal timebomb applies just as readily to closed source applications as it does to open source.
I was just mentioning that the sheer effort to write an application (and yes, it would require a sizable application) to compromise in the first place would be hideous. Yes, CMOS can be written in the first place, to boot the regular drive. But as you can't write to the drive in the first place when it's not mounted for write, you can't have a boot sector code section in place to handle booting the CD. You'll just boot the regular HDD (or whatever). The complexity you're trying to say can be done is to actuall rewrite the flash ram comprising the BIOS, which is the level you'd have to work this at. The 'software' you're mentioning would be cleared from memory at the point you reboot the machine otherwise. So, now you're at the level of not just having an application that's gathered all the CMOS maps for all the bios revisions of all the motherboards out there, you also have to have a working, patched bios that you can upload after inserting a kernel module by dint of a security hole in a browser from a non-priveliged user for each and every board out there. And has code to run a virtual machine from this area of flash ram. Now, I'm not saying 'impossible', but having worked with embedded systems (building from chips up, building bootstrap code and trivial operating systems), I'd say you were in for a real struggle. If you've got the nonce to do that, you'd make FAR more using the brain to do something legitimate and raking in millions.
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Start ordering bombings of the populace of thier home out of hand, and I'd hazard a guess that the military would soon be rebelling too.
That would put a serious crimp (and a lot of lead) in any politician's day.
I think this is a dead on comparison on attitudes to day, and in years gone by.
50 years or so ago, the analogue (trespass charges from the article) would have been a bunch of schoolkids wandering off and stealing apples from some local orchard/garden. Just a handful, and just as it's 'the rebellious thing to do'.. That stage that many kids go through. And hey, adults do too.
Technically, it may be illegal, but common sense tells you it's a light hearted prank. Someone blowing off steam
You didn't just lump them in with somone who broke in your house and stole all your prized possessions.
If it were reported to the headmaster/headmistress of your school, you'd get a stern talking to, a series of detentions, lines to write, and probably a week kicking your heels in your bedroom.
All of which would say very strongly "It's really not worth the waste of your time to do it!".
An eminently sensible, and time tried solution. Everybody forgets about it in a few weeks, apart from maybe a slightly elevated reluctance on the part of the kids to 'scrump' for apples like that again.
Exactly as it should be.
Now: We get people like the teachers who went screaming to the police department at the first sign that somebody may have done something they didn't like.
Now, a suitable punishment would have been a series of detentions, letters home to the parents who would most likely have grounded the kids. And everyone would have gone on as usual.
Now, instead, you have a set of scared (and intensly angry) kids who if they do it again, are going to be much more careful, and if it looks like they're going to get caught, will likely cause collateral damage to hide their activities in.
And a series of shocked and angry parents who have suddenly lost faith in the ability of teachers to even try and keep some semblance of common sense in and out of the classroom.
Then, of course, the media, who love this, sending word far and wide to a generally disbelieving population, most of who are going to be shaking their heads at how far stupidity and knee jerk reaction has pervaded socicety and become the norm.
One thing's for sure: The image of that school is very badly damaged. I'd hazard a guess that several students will be moving (voluntarily) to another educational establishement.
The intake will likely be down (hey, would you prefer a school that'll give your kids a felony charge for a prank, or one that'll give them a detention and teach them pragmatism?).
The cost in PR and face for this action is incredible.
If the school holds it's current position, it'll likely cut off any possible stream for kids with a prankish side (who often tend to be highly creative; note this isn't just kids who misbehave just to be disruptive. Difference between Ferris Bueler and Bart Simpson) coming into the school.
And most other kids whose parents just don't want to risk it.
If they turn it around, and quash the teacher's wishes so completely, the administration will just never be treated as a joke, and it's authority will be seriously undermined (can you imagine, every small action a kid gets pulled up for, they'll be saying 'what are you going to do? Report it to the police?').
Maybe I'm just getting old, but all this leaves me with is the wish that things would go back to before the politically correct and lawsuit hungry era back to times when common sense was actually held in esteem. When you could actually learn to respect someone for being harsh but fair, rather than having them try to force respect by waving the threat of a lawsuit in your face at every corner.
What it means is that MS will probably be releasing the next version of DirectX within weeks (or days) of the expiry of Windows 2000.
All the games coming out from this date will have the latest DX as a requirement.
The latest Video drivers will require the latest DX version.
Probably the latest sound card drivers will require the latest DX version.
Security patches will still be around, so the corporate environment will be ok (as long as you don't get a hardware upgrade on either video or audio).
For a home user that wants to keep up to date with drivers, and play the odd new game?
This is the thing that caused the mass upgrades from windows 98 (which many people still had, comfortably running on their machines with few issues) to 2k or XP.
Most of those would have happily run on 98 for years to come, coprolith that it was.
The inability to play new games (or much of the new educational software) on it forced the issue, and a new OS (or in many cases a whole new machine as the old hardware just couldn't handle the new load) was bought.
does some genetic damage
Ahh.. Repairing Windows makes you sterile and subject to mutation. Always wondered why going through all that reinstallation and reactivation always made me feel drained and twitchy!
Yep, I think a $79 space flight would count as a brown box experience.
The smile would have to be a rictus though..
The problem MS has with this, is that software patents have been so badly screwed, that people have taken out all kinds of obvious and trivial patents, hoping to screw someone out of some money by holding them up in courts.
Having the ability to challenge the patent/get it closely examined is a step in the right direction.
MS, I think, are a little worried now, after having so many patent suits brought against them, that someone may well have a critical submarine patent that could apply to their core business tucked away somewhere.
Having it enshrined that you can actually challenge the patent before having the patent used to drain you dry could perhaps change the whole IP arena, and make the IP only hoarding companies much more expensive to maintain (no more fishing trips if they really have to pay for each patent they want to apply, and stand the chance of losing their cherished patent at the same time).
Yes, MS get to benefit from this. There again, so does the 'little guy'.
It may not cure all ills, but it stands a good deal more in the right direction.
The limit on time is a very good move also, as it prevents a 'big fish' from holding a valid patent holder in court forever and a day challenging their patent, and making it for all intents and purposes irrelevant.
Funnily, I come from the UK. You know, the place America split from a few hundred years ago, simply because the regime was too oppressive.
Nowadays:
We don't have to arbitrarily register with a city hall, just because we live there, that gets passed to anywhere (apart from to pay local taxes, and even that database is so screwed, they can't work out a correct bill, let alone identify anyone with it).
We don't have to carry any ID whatsoever. Some places (banks, video hire shops etc. require a letter saying you're resident at an address).
When you stay at a hotel here, you don't need to provide any ID whatsoever.
The police can request whatever info they want from anywhere. But they make the request to a court, which decides whether the request is a reasonable one, before the police turn up with their warrant.
About 10 years ago, I really wanted to emigrate to America. From travels, it seemed like a vibrant, forward thinking place.
These days, again from travels and experience, those same places are now seeming far more fearful, and closed minded..
These days, I'm always reminded of the old slogans "No taxation without representation" that led the (very justified) revolt.
These days, people just accept the 'tax' on blank media, and all kinds of goods, that just ends up filling the pockets of corporations, with no representation at all..
It sometimes looks as though it's merely taken a few hundred years for the US to get away from what it hated so much to such a point, it's become exactly what it fought against in the first place.
More like it being a case of giving the record companies more money, so they don't have to find new talent for the next 50 years.
Every other business out there needs to stay competitive by creating new products, and actually use their brains to work out how to do this.
The recording industry just says "We once got someone to make a good product, took it over and made a killing from it. We need you to keep giving us money for it so we don't have to think about how to make another decent product in the future. That's too much like hard work.".
Being in business used to mean you needed to be able to think quickly and make things people wanted, and adapt to the market place. These days it's more like a case of not wanting to adapt, so create laws to stop a market changing.
Hell, they've had over 50 years of distributing music etc. when it cost FAR more to produce and distribute than it does now. You'd think that they'd know what they were doing by now.
I see the traditionaly business practice of a Loss Leader.
In the long term, this will likely cost Novell more than they got.
However, to get a good track record in a market sector, you first need to get into that sector.
Novell seem to be doing this with a high profile agency, whose requirements (government agencies don't usually have the latest and greatest stuff unless forced to by external pressure, such as MS upgrade paths) are likely to be reasonably mild.
That way, they get PR, and visibility in the sector far above what it's cost them in loss by taking on the contract.
Hmm.. You seem to be associating basic web access with having an anonymous email account (sending threatening letters to fellow students).
If the cost is worth it (investigation into a scammer/phisher/harasser), you know the ip address it came from (library) the time of day, so you examine the proxy logs, and identify the terminal.
Many places have security cams nowadays.
Get those and you have the person.
Others, well, you can ask for the description of the person using the terminal at that time of day.
Those are the things that'll actually capture a criminal.
Otherwise you may well end up on the doorstep of some old chap who's had his identity appropriated, and the library account set up in his name.
The point is that the electronic trawling won't catch you the people you're saying you think it will. It'll only net you the ones that are net illiterate (the average user who just wants a few minutes on the net).
There are way way way too many other, less public ways of getting into the net if you don't want to be found.
Wardialling, wardriving, Net cafes with appropriated identities, anonymous net cafes etc.
Libraries are just too much of a risk.
And actually, from the story headline (and the article about the anonymous cards), we are talking about who's borrowing which books, DVDs and everything else borrowable. I don't think the article once mentioned net access, which is a whole other story.
I don't believe it's the anonymity, per se, that's the issue.
Back in the "Good ol' days" of paper cards, if an agency wanted to know who was reading particular books, they'd have to send an agent round, look through the files, and note the names down on paper.
Frequently, libraries didn't actually keep a reference of who HAD borrowed a book in the past, merely who has it at the moment (at least that's the way it worked in the UK).
To monitor it would take a lot of agent time, work and effort, meaning that those in power needed to think very very carefully about what they did keep an eye on.
If it really was something threatening to national security, and a life or death thing, you can bet they'd hang the expense and give the cat a goldfish, so to speak, and put in the time and effort.
These days, with little to no cost to themselves, govenment agencies can put a bill up attached to something else, and at a stroke force places to keep any kind of information they can think of. And give the agencies access to it simply and easily.
Really, it's a police state dream, of being able to watch everyone all the time (C.F. 1984).
Solutions like the 'anonymous library card' are simply a way of returning to days when people were treated as people, in the main, not as 'security threats' and 'potential copyright infringers' by govenment and commerce respectively.
What it does is force the powers that be to sit back, and for once, actually THINK about what information they really need, because all of a sudden, it'll cost them to collate it. And yes, this anonymous is only so anonymous. If it's important, they'll get you in the end. It'll just cost more than it's worth to identify a few 'potential political dissidents'.
Maybe if enough of them actually had to think instead of waving pens to create new data gathering laws, more of the ranks of government would turn round and say "Well, actually, we think it's a little paranoid, and a daft idea at the end of the day. What's next on the agenda?".
All I can say is Guild Wars.
The girlfriend enjoys the game as much as I do.
Can be played single player (with henchmen to bulk out a party) or co-op.
A great solution to Co-Op games. Have a peer, if you haven't already.
Hey, what's wrong with living somewhere where you can pick up a quick snack whenever you feel like it?
Interesting take. Wonder where you got that from? I run databases and building servers on a large regional hospital these days.. Largely MS, though I have Linux boxes in there for various tasks..
Been using Windows for over 15 years now, so.. How does that map with not wanting to 'learn how to use it'?
As for 'stealing' the software? I have fully paid licenses for Win2k, I pay the sub to Mandriva (because I use it), I pay for whatever software, music and vids I use, simply because I LIKE to pay my way through life.
I simply refuse to tolerate being beholden to any company to use something I've already purchased.
Would you buy a DVD that you had to call the manufacturer every time you bought a new DVD player?
Would you accept having to call up the manufacturer of your car every time you had maintenance done on it, read off the chassis numbers, have them check it's ok for you to use that car before you can drive it again?
Personally, I'd vote with my wallet, and not buy from people like that.
Which is what I did with XP. I don't have it because I refuse to accept it's terms.
No cracked version. Just staying with what terms I'm willing to accept.
I don't like their terms, I don't buy or use their software.
I just don't buy your view of 'for many, it's just an excuse'..
I call bullshit on that one. An awful lot of people I know are increasingly disenchanted by that activation scheme.
All paid up, but never again while that lasts.
Activation requires a really annoying call (I have to call to INSTALL an operating system?).
I've made several in my time.
I've done upgrades on hardware for people who HAVE got XP on there (came with the machine), and it's a case of reading a whole bunch of numbers down the phone at them. Anything goes wrong, and you can end up making the same call all over again.
So, to me, the call was neither short, nor painless.
It was irritating and pointless.
I happily pay for any software I use (and although I use Linux heavily, I like having windows as a backup OS for when Linux can't do something).
I have no 'cracked' software.
I just refuse to have that constraint placed on me that I'm at the mercy of Microsoft every time I want to install an OS.
64 bit OS would be nice in the Windows Arena for me.. I can happily run the 64bit Linux distros, but have been sitting around on Win2k for games playing...
A large part of the reason I didn't get XP was the 'activation' after sizable hardware rebuilds (about a 12 month cycle for me, unless something breaks)..
If it's on the 64 bit Windows release, I guess I won't be getting that either.
When the kid leaves school, they'll be saying "Yes, I am proficient at wordprocessing, spreadsheets, databases, etc. And yes, Microsoft is included in those".
Unless you're going for a role that involves writting extensive macros in MS Office, it doesn't matter one jot.
Free, but single vendor.
There are stories from both sides of this. Linus is probably annoyed about losing his favoured tool, Tridge is likely upset that he's being called for doing exactly what he's been lauded for in the past.
I must say, that for once, my opinion is different to Linus'.. But it's just that. An opinion, and an uninformed one at that.
Weird that.
After travelling extensively, and having a goodly degree of contact with various countries, I tend to find that the Nordic countries have among the best science degree programmes, and the Europeans as a whole have the best language/art courses.
Russia tends to have the superior math/theoretical courses.
On the whole, I guess you could say "Among the best" only in the way that Germany, France, England, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Spain, Italy etc. have among the best degree courses in the world".
Actually, it was MS that turned Software into a Commodity by releasing things like Visual Basic.
Something that in essence you need half a brain and one finger, and you're now a 'Developer'.
Sure, the low end stuff done by people that don't know what being a Developer really entails are crap, fall over all the time, and are usually really shoddy..
But, a lot of the time they get things done, sufficiently to make people not want to pay for the real thing.
In the 'early days', before coding became popular (I started in the early 80's), you did it because it was a passion.
Then in the 'Golden Age', you could, and did, make shed loads of cash for being good.
Then everyone and their dog became a 'Developer' with the visual tools, and especially web front ends.
The market got saturated with a lot of low skilled developers that were good enough to be 'fit for purpose'.
Then supply outstripped demand. And wages plummeted.
So, it's not open source that's causing "Starving Artist" syndrome. It's your hallowed Closed Source businesses lowering the bar of entry, and creating the equivalent of a nearly automated software factory.
In a short time, AI should be able to code better than a skilled developer. Then all that'll be left is getting the spec right, and doing the design abstraction.
I'm sure that the Monks felt the same way when the printing press was invented.
What the "Idiots giving it away for free" are doing is simply making sure that there's more than one printing press out there. So at least people that want to learn, get to do so.
This way, the entry bar pushes more towards having the skill and aptitude to perform a task, rather than having to have massive funding.
And the meritocracy is beginning to reappear.
The Free software that's extremely good will get used. If it's that good that it gets used, it WILL need support in enterprise/business.
If you don't want to do it, make a company, and hire some people that DO want to do support (and you only support them, as you'd have to do with ANY software you write, if you're serious about it). You pay the support staff less than the customer pays you.. And lo and behold! You get a salary (big if the code is something wonderful and useful) for coding! And you've created jobs for people that DO want to do the support too!
So, in reality those "Idiots" are rather smart, and quite able to make a sizable wad of money out of it.
If you want to make a lot of money writing software, go do it. But working out how to do it is the trick.
At a rough guess, a combination of Architecture, Mech Engineering, Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering are the main culprits.
Get your degree, then spend 10 years doing the legwork to get you enough experience, and maybe, just maybe, you'll end up designing a small part of a building like that.
April Fool..
Then I thought..
"Don't give 'em ideas!"
People know I'm a geek. So buying my computer parts isn't a problem. Don't care if they monitor that.
Buying my weekly shopping's not a problem.
I really don't care that they know what brand of washing powder I buy, or the soaps or food..
Bills. Everyone has to pay them, and the paper trail there is so obvious, it's not worth obfuscating.
Now, paying for the half pound or so of semtex or vial of anthrax on the cred card may be just another matter.
They're useful for most things, but sometimes a cash deal is useful. The trick is in knowing just when to use which item.
Never use a cred card, and I'll bet someone will take interest in your transactions another way (just why aren't you using one, they'll wonder).
Use one for everything, and you're easy to track.
Use one for most things, and it's like the magician's rule. Show them what you want them to see, and they'll never know what's hidden.
So, in admission, you've wilfully broken copyright to submit a patch to the Linux kernel.
And you've admitted to it in a public forum.
Now, perhaps those same patches may be noticed by someone who can trace your email address, and also, possibly bring legal action against you, for wilfully attempting to bring the Linux kernel (and the OSS movement) into disrepute.
However, as you've proven that you're perfectly happy to insert copyright code (patents on software aren't universal across the globe, so that's a moot point) into the Linux kernel, I'm sure you're just as happy to take GPL code and put it into your employer's code. And insert any of your current employers patented ideas, and copyright code into the product of your next employer.
The point being that the Open Source movement isn't a ticking timebomb. Untrustworthy people are.
And the whole legal timebomb applies just as readily to closed source applications as it does to open source.
I was just mentioning that the sheer effort to write an application (and yes, it would require a sizable application) to compromise in the first place would be hideous. Yes, CMOS can be written in the first place, to boot the regular drive. But as you can't write to the drive in the first place when it's not mounted for write, you can't have a boot sector code section in place to handle booting the CD. You'll just boot the regular HDD (or whatever).
The complexity you're trying to say can be done is to actuall rewrite the flash ram comprising the BIOS, which is the level you'd have to work this at.
The 'software' you're mentioning would be cleared from memory at the point you reboot the machine otherwise.
So, now you're at the level of not just having an application that's gathered all the CMOS maps for all the bios revisions of all the motherboards out there, you also have to have a working, patched bios that you can upload after inserting a kernel module by dint of a security hole in a browser from a non-priveliged user for each and every board out there. And has code to run a virtual machine from this area of flash ram.
Now, I'm not saying 'impossible', but having worked with embedded systems (building from chips up, building bootstrap code and trivial operating systems), I'd say you were in for a real struggle.
If you've got the nonce to do that, you'd make FAR more using the brain to do something legitimate and raking in millions.