Exactly -- if they think it's okay to spy on us then why can't we "spy" on the information they obtained from us? With a new non-civilian intelligence head, things don't look good for American civil liberties. I don't see any form of oversight keeping the government in check from abusing/misusing information. Power corrupts -- absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The beauty is in the simplicity. Messages are extremely small so it helps congestion (traffic would be better if everyone drove a Geo Metro versus if everyone drove a stretch Hummer) - even on 33.6 kbps I was able to read e-mails like mad. The article proposes no solutions, just buzzwords and "we have the technology" babbling. Yeah, we have the technology to layer encryption on and assign keys to every e-mail address we want to communicate with and have a reverse-DNS lookup and this would help to reduce spam... but it would never stop anything... not spamming, viruses, phishing, or anything else the author mentioned. It would, however, increase the size of e-mails and make e-mailing a hassle. SMTP is a great technology; it's simple and it works -- I don't foresee anything better in the near future.
Taxpayer funded services? Like schools, roads, Police Dept, Fire Dept, emergency medical, and aid programs? Also, "it's only illegal because there is a bad law"... bad law says who? The U.S. actually has some of the most relaxed immigration policies -- that's right, we take in a lot of LEGAL immigrants. I have several friends who legally came to the country -- because they're legal, they pay taxes and therefore pay for the services they use. If they stayed in Mexico they could work to improve things there -- nothing's going to get better in Mexico if every able-bodied worker up and leaves.
Agreed. I don't see the economic efficiency offered to the home user. Last time I checked, I think Netflix was $30 a month... for unlimited (well, for the sake of arguement let's say one movie a day) movies out of a HUGE selection. That's $30 / 30 DVD's = $1 per movie. With the DVD you can watch it ANYWHERE that has a DVD player (i.e. computer, t.v., portable DVD player), you can make a "backup copy" (only if you own the original *wink*), and I've never seen a DVD that requires you plug it into a phoneline. So $1 per movie with GREAT features versus "buy our proprietary hardware" and "$2-$4" per movie for watching it at your T.V. out of a selection of only 100 and then hooking it up to a phoneline every 2 weeks... I don't see how it's suppossed to be so "great and new".
This ruling was very unclear on what "effective barriers" are. Stating a term and having a user click to accept it isn't good enough? What about porn sites that make you click a box that says "I'm 18, now gimme-gimme pr0n!!", is that not considered an "effective barrier"? If so, isn't that considered something along the lines of "child endangerment"? The court case suggested verifying every user... what good is that going to do if the court says that the information they provided doesn't have to be correct (i.e. lying about not being a DirecTV person)? If they lie about that and it's acceptable they can just use a fake name... are they going to fill in the name field with "Direc" "TV"? I don't think so -- an admin manually accepting every user just isn't effective (unless maybe it was a combination of providing verifiable information [social security #], phone verification, etc...). What if someone tried this against a corporation? As previous posters have stated, I'm sure the corporation would be successful in filing claims against anyone who even thought about accessing "publicly available" (according to the courts) information.
Blogging is wonderful. Owww, I just got bit by a mosquito. mo...squi... to... RAAAWWRRR I feel... http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/outrage.gif Honestly, don't people have better things to do with their lives than argue about things that happened well over 10 years ago and that didn't affect their own lives at all? Oh, that's right, it's the internet.
YESYESYES I DO I get my ADHD meds from these sites and they ship it so faaaaaaaaaassssst weeeeeeeeeeeee... and for some reason I don't get all depresssssed like when I'm on my regular meds weeeeeeeeeee yay!!!!!01!10!11!!100!!!101!!!110!!111!!!1000!!! weee, counting in binary weeeeee!! weeeeee!!! *dies*
Because then they would feel bad about lying and wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Just because they're HUGE MISLEADING BAGS 'O DOUCHE doesn't mean they don't care. Honest.
I can see the feasability of iPod accessories in a vending machine (headphones / chargers / cases), but if you've waited five years and thought it through, why not just buy it online for cheaper [don't say "because you might need it right then" because it's an empty iPod and it's useless without music [no, the games don't count, they suck"]. If you don't want to buy it online, buy it at a store (even a trendy Apple store). Buy it someplace where you can point your finger at someone and get some help if something gets screwed up. What are you going to do to a vending machine, kick it? They don't have feelings... trust me, I tried to love one once, but it broke my heart.
Mario is a BAD influence. Jumping on turtles? Eating mushrooms? Playing with fire? I don't want my kid around that. When I drop my 12 year old off and give him $60 (~price of a new game) at the mall to do whatever he wants for 12 hours while I go spend the day at my crackhouse, I don't want him buying garbage like that Mario character!
Honestly... there is already a rating system in place - enforcing that is easy and it is actually based on real criteria (rather than saying "any game that we think at any place and time is bad"). Last time I checked, no one under 16 could drive a car -- so how the heck are kids getting to these game stores to buy violent video games? And how are they paying for it (I don't know many places that load up on little kids as employees)? Oh, that's right... parents. But why actually be a good parent when you can have laws do your work for you? Go-go-gadget-government!
I agree that there should be a bigger emphasis on stopping spammers / bots than there is at putting up "ID checkpoints". Shooting might help a little, but spammers are good at blending in to the population (except they usually drive a car that costs more than four years of college). The technology we have is capable of things to stop spammers/bots... but no one seems to be taking an initiative in harnessing the technology to stop them. I like ideas like Blue Security's Blue Frog... but as we all saw, they were too small to fight the spammers. Why don't some major ISP's take on spammers with something innovative like Blue Frog (oh, that's right, because the spammers are their customers)? Attack the cause, not the effect.
Cute toy -- but it doesn't seem practical... yet. While this seems like a decent thin-client (some of the ones I've seen come with horrid built-in displays and they still are a box -- if I'm going to have a box on my desk either way, I'd rather have it be a fast one) it's still a little too expensive. As the price comes down I can expect these to be a little more popular -- these are not the right kind of machine for everyone (or probably even most people)... but for a business I can see this working if the price came down enough.
Thin clients can definitely be useful -- if you have a powerful server you can still run high-end programs while saving costs (it is usually more cost efficient to invest in beefy servers that will serve everyone's computing needs than to buy every user a super powerful desktop [or laptop] especially from a support stance).
The TSA apparently thought my computer (in an Antec SuperLANboy aluminum case) was a bomb -- they ripped off the heatsink and processor and pulled the video card out of its AGP slot (while it was still screwed in). Not to mention the once-shiny case with an easy-to-see-through side window panel now has tons of scratches and dents on it from them improperly trying to open it (it appears they tried prying it open with a screwdriver -- there are 2 thumb screws on the back [can you say "duhhhh"]). Seems like airport security people are monkeys who couldn't tell a bomb from someone's mom. Still haven't seen any money for it either.
Winter sports are the games that require extreme amounts of computer muscle -- that way you can put your computer in a pile of snow for cooling. All the other games get put into the Summer category. Also, it would have to be internet-integrated so the athlete's could compete in the real-life conditions of having 13 year olds talking about girls and "pwning".
Speaking of laptops starting fires, why is it no one's talking about this: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2607
Why does an 11 year old have a brand new iBook anyway!!! I didn't even get a freakin' Speak'n'Spell until my 16th birthday.
It states the poor-quality idea right in the article: "This vending machine was spotted at the Atlanta airport. So you're getting ready for your long, grueling flight across the country by purchasing an iPod from the vending machine, then on the plane what do you do? Oh, nothing, because it doesn't have any damn music on it. Lets say by chance you actually have a laptop full of music and iTunes to sync with your new purchased iPod, well then why did hell did you buy it to begin with. Damnit!" Buying a portable media player should be a THOUGHT-OUT decision, considering is is a substantial investment (well, unless you're Bill Gates... BUT YOU'RE NOT! ohh burn). There is no sense in thinking through the process or research and planning, coming to the conclusion that "the iPod is the best choice for me", then buying it from a vending machine! Any sensible person would be able to plan, research, and - through research - find a good deal on the internet or in a store (somewhere that can actually offer support if you open up your $300 iPod and go "hey, this box just had candy in it"). Vending machines are great for sudden-satisfaction items like candy, soda, and even CD's... but portable media players are not the type of thing they should carry....if these do become popular, I can bet there well be another thing that becomes popular -- breaking the glass and grabbing some iPods to support your coke habit (break the window with some blunt object and grab an iPod or five in less than a minute).
Working at a University helpdesk, I saw a looooot of laptops... all shapes and sizes, young and old. Battery technology has progressed a long way -- but there's only so far it can be pushed. I find the best way to have a long battery life in a modern laptop is to NOT have a giant screen. Too many companies are sticking huge screens on laptops -- adding on to weight AND power consumption. Leave the huge screens to desktops please. As for the Dell laptops having short battery life? I'm guessing they are P4 laptops (Dell's lappy's only use Intel chips) -- the processor is a main determinant in battery life. P4's are energy hogs -- Intel's Centrino is more longevity friendly (and the new Yonah chip... WOW!). AMD has some good high-efficiency chips as well. When looking for a laptop, decide what you really need -- if it's a desktop replacement, go for the huge screen and whatever you want, but if you NEED a laptop to do work on the go (i.e. you can't plug-in), choose something with a reasonably sized screen, an efficient processor, and most importantly -- a second bay for an extra battery.
If anything, wouldn't internet censorship just raise the bar and cause bloggers to become... protestors? Where there's a will, there's a way -- a two-tiered internet would take away the way of the blogger, but increase the bloggers will (i.e. they'll find another way). I think corporations making "the people"'s blogs unreachable would just make the bloggers even angrier -- maybe even angry enough they'll stop away from their keyboard and do something about it. The corporations depend on the people to stimulate them (stimulation!!!), the people have the REAL power -- they just don't know how to use it. Two-tiered internet antics could prove to be the spark that lights the powder-keg....or it might just make people complain to others via telephone:P
it's easy to indentify the terrorists -- they'll be the only ones who don't call in to vote on American Idol! (completely sarcastic, never even saw the show)
I thought the use of the phone was GREAT. I didn't write it down, but one of the numbers you can dial is for "bacon soap" (the "poster" is underneath a box on top of a desk in the big office building)... dialing the number treats you to a rendition of part of an Invader Zim episode (obviously the "bacon soap" episode). In addition to Invader Zim, there were many other pop-culture excursions found through the use of the phone. One final thought -- I'm totally with you on the greatness of the body parts flying (if only 'sploding bodies were in every game!).
Sounds interesting, but for the cost of the book ($25) I could buy a decent used game (or rent several). I'd rather be PLAYING video games than reading about them (don't get me wrong, I love a good book, but $25 for a 7/10 just doesn't seem worth it).
I like my solution better: a flashlight gun! It shoots flashlights. Better yet, you have small AAA flashlights for standard baddies... and for big baddies you whip out the extra large double-D-battery-flashlight bullets. I think, if anything, it would make for some amazing lighting affects.
My spirits were dampened when I stormed through it in 5 hours, but I still came away from the game with a feeling of satisfaction. The idea to go with an adjusting AI that tailored itself to your gameplay was GREAT. Too many shooters have an element where you find one good technique and use it on every single enemy: "headshot...headshot...headshot", but in SiN, after a few headshots the enemies come equipped with helmets (the weapons they carry, body armor, and even their numbers differ on how you're playing). I wish more companies would take this approach -- it seems like it makes for a very versatile experience.
Slashdot Mirror
Exactly -- if they think it's okay to spy on us then why can't we "spy" on the information they obtained from us? With a new non-civilian intelligence head, things don't look good for American civil liberties. I don't see any form of oversight keeping the government in check from abusing/misusing information. Power corrupts -- absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The beauty is in the simplicity. Messages are extremely small so it helps congestion (traffic would be better if everyone drove a Geo Metro versus if everyone drove a stretch Hummer) - even on 33.6 kbps I was able to read e-mails like mad. The article proposes no solutions, just buzzwords and "we have the technology" babbling. Yeah, we have the technology to layer encryption on and assign keys to every e-mail address we want to communicate with and have a reverse-DNS lookup and this would help to reduce spam... but it would never stop anything... not spamming, viruses, phishing, or anything else the author mentioned. It would, however, increase the size of e-mails and make e-mailing a hassle. SMTP is a great technology; it's simple and it works -- I don't foresee anything better in the near future.
Taxpayer funded services? Like schools, roads, Police Dept, Fire Dept, emergency medical, and aid programs? Also, "it's only illegal because there is a bad law"... bad law says who? The U.S. actually has some of the most relaxed immigration policies -- that's right, we take in a lot of LEGAL immigrants. I have several friends who legally came to the country -- because they're legal, they pay taxes and therefore pay for the services they use. If they stayed in Mexico they could work to improve things there -- nothing's going to get better in Mexico if every able-bodied worker up and leaves.
Agreed. I don't see the economic efficiency offered to the home user. Last time I checked, I think Netflix was $30 a month... for unlimited (well, for the sake of arguement let's say one movie a day) movies out of a HUGE selection. That's $30 / 30 DVD's = $1 per movie. With the DVD you can watch it ANYWHERE that has a DVD player (i.e. computer, t.v., portable DVD player), you can make a "backup copy" (only if you own the original *wink*), and I've never seen a DVD that requires you plug it into a phoneline. So $1 per movie with GREAT features versus "buy our proprietary hardware" and "$2-$4" per movie for watching it at your T.V. out of a selection of only 100 and then hooking it up to a phoneline every 2 weeks... I don't see how it's suppossed to be so "great and new".
This ruling was very unclear on what "effective barriers" are. Stating a term and having a user click to accept it isn't good enough? What about porn sites that make you click a box that says "I'm 18, now gimme-gimme pr0n!!", is that not considered an "effective barrier"? If so, isn't that considered something along the lines of "child endangerment"?
The court case suggested verifying every user... what good is that going to do if the court says that the information they provided doesn't have to be correct (i.e. lying about not being a DirecTV person)? If they lie about that and it's acceptable they can just use a fake name... are they going to fill in the name field with "Direc" "TV"? I don't think so -- an admin manually accepting every user just isn't effective (unless maybe it was a combination of providing verifiable information [social security #], phone verification, etc...).
What if someone tried this against a corporation? As previous posters have stated, I'm sure the corporation would be successful in filing claims against anyone who even thought about accessing "publicly available" (according to the courts) information.
Blogging is wonderful. Owww, I just got bit by a mosquito. mo...squi... to... RAAAWWRRR I feel...
http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/outrage.gif
Honestly, don't people have better things to do with their lives than argue about things that happened well over 10 years ago and that didn't affect their own lives at all? Oh, that's right, it's the internet.
YESYESYES I DO I get my ADHD meds from these sites and they ship it so faaaaaaaaaassssst weeeeeeeeeeeee... and for some reason I don't get all depresssssed like when I'm on my regular meds weeeeeeeeeee yay!!!!!01!10!11!!100!!!101!!!110!!111!!!1000!!! weee, counting in binary weeeeee!! weeeeee!!! *dies*
Because then they would feel bad about lying and wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Just because they're HUGE MISLEADING BAGS 'O DOUCHE doesn't mean they don't care. Honest.
I can see the feasability of iPod accessories in a vending machine (headphones / chargers / cases), but if you've waited five years and thought it through, why not just buy it online for cheaper [don't say "because you might need it right then" because it's an empty iPod and it's useless without music [no, the games don't count, they suck"]. If you don't want to buy it online, buy it at a store (even a trendy Apple store). Buy it someplace where you can point your finger at someone and get some help if something gets screwed up. What are you going to do to a vending machine, kick it? They don't have feelings... trust me, I tried to love one once, but it broke my heart.
Mario is a BAD influence. Jumping on turtles? Eating mushrooms? Playing with fire? I don't want my kid around that. When I drop my 12 year old off and give him $60 (~price of a new game) at the mall to do whatever he wants for 12 hours while I go spend the day at my crackhouse, I don't want him buying garbage like that Mario character! Honestly... there is already a rating system in place - enforcing that is easy and it is actually based on real criteria (rather than saying "any game that we think at any place and time is bad"). Last time I checked, no one under 16 could drive a car -- so how the heck are kids getting to these game stores to buy violent video games? And how are they paying for it (I don't know many places that load up on little kids as employees)? Oh, that's right... parents. But why actually be a good parent when you can have laws do your work for you? Go-go-gadget-government!
I wonder if he got those quotes from bugs he planted on people.
I agree that there should be a bigger emphasis on stopping spammers / bots than there is at putting up "ID checkpoints". Shooting might help a little, but spammers are good at blending in to the population (except they usually drive a car that costs more than four years of college). The technology we have is capable of things to stop spammers/bots... but no one seems to be taking an initiative in harnessing the technology to stop them. I like ideas like Blue Security's Blue Frog... but as we all saw, they were too small to fight the spammers. Why don't some major ISP's take on spammers with something innovative like Blue Frog (oh, that's right, because the spammers are their customers)? Attack the cause, not the effect.
Cute toy -- but it doesn't seem practical... yet. While this seems like a decent thin-client (some of the ones I've seen come with horrid built-in displays and they still are a box -- if I'm going to have a box on my desk either way, I'd rather have it be a fast one) it's still a little too expensive. As the price comes down I can expect these to be a little more popular -- these are not the right kind of machine for everyone (or probably even most people)... but for a business I can see this working if the price came down enough.
Thin clients can definitely be useful -- if you have a powerful server you can still run high-end programs while saving costs (it is usually more cost efficient to invest in beefy servers that will serve everyone's computing needs than to buy every user a super powerful desktop [or laptop] especially from a support stance).
The TSA apparently thought my computer (in an Antec SuperLANboy aluminum case) was a bomb -- they ripped off the heatsink and processor and pulled the video card out of its AGP slot (while it was still screwed in). Not to mention the once-shiny case with an easy-to-see-through side window panel now has tons of scratches and dents on it from them improperly trying to open it (it appears they tried prying it open with a screwdriver -- there are 2 thumb screws on the back [can you say "duhhhh"]). Seems like airport security people are monkeys who couldn't tell a bomb from someone's mom. Still haven't seen any money for it either.
Winter sports are the games that require extreme amounts of computer muscle -- that way you can put your computer in a pile of snow for cooling. All the other games get put into the Summer category. Also, it would have to be internet-integrated so the athlete's could compete in the real-life conditions of having 13 year olds talking about girls and "pwning".
Speaking of laptops starting fires, why is it no one's talking about this:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2607
Why does an 11 year old have a brand new iBook anyway!!! I didn't even get a freakin' Speak'n'Spell until my 16th birthday.
Skynet controls the internet... haven't they seen the documentary "Terminator 3"?
It states the poor-quality idea right in the article: "This vending machine was spotted at the Atlanta airport. So you're getting ready for your long, grueling flight across the country by purchasing an iPod from the vending machine, then on the plane what do you do? Oh, nothing, because it doesn't have any damn music on it. Lets say by chance you actually have a laptop full of music and iTunes to sync with your new purchased iPod, well then why did hell did you buy it to begin with. Damnit!" ...if these do become popular, I can bet there well be another thing that becomes popular -- breaking the glass and grabbing some iPods to support your coke habit (break the window with some blunt object and grab an iPod or five in less than a minute).
Buying a portable media player should be a THOUGHT-OUT decision, considering is is a substantial investment (well, unless you're Bill Gates... BUT YOU'RE NOT! ohh burn). There is no sense in thinking through the process or research and planning, coming to the conclusion that "the iPod is the best choice for me", then buying it from a vending machine! Any sensible person would be able to plan, research, and - through research - find a good deal on the internet or in a store (somewhere that can actually offer support if you open up your $300 iPod and go "hey, this box just had candy in it"). Vending machines are great for sudden-satisfaction items like candy, soda, and even CD's... but portable media players are not the type of thing they should carry.
Working at a University helpdesk, I saw a looooot of laptops... all shapes and sizes, young and old. Battery technology has progressed a long way -- but there's only so far it can be pushed. I find the best way to have a long battery life in a modern laptop is to NOT have a giant screen. Too many companies are sticking huge screens on laptops -- adding on to weight AND power consumption. Leave the huge screens to desktops please. As for the Dell laptops having short battery life? I'm guessing they are P4 laptops (Dell's lappy's only use Intel chips) -- the processor is a main determinant in battery life. P4's are energy hogs -- Intel's Centrino is more longevity friendly (and the new Yonah chip... WOW!). AMD has some good high-efficiency chips as well. When looking for a laptop, decide what you really need -- if it's a desktop replacement, go for the huge screen and whatever you want, but if you NEED a laptop to do work on the go (i.e. you can't plug-in), choose something with a reasonably sized screen, an efficient processor, and most importantly -- a second bay for an extra battery.
If anything, wouldn't internet censorship just raise the bar and cause bloggers to become... protestors? Where there's a will, there's a way -- a two-tiered internet would take away the way of the blogger, but increase the bloggers will (i.e. they'll find another way). I think corporations making "the people"'s blogs unreachable would just make the bloggers even angrier -- maybe even angry enough they'll stop away from their keyboard and do something about it. The corporations depend on the people to stimulate them (stimulation!!!), the people have the REAL power -- they just don't know how to use it. Two-tiered internet antics could prove to be the spark that lights the powder-keg. ...or it might just make people complain to others via telephone :P
it's easy to indentify the terrorists -- they'll be the only ones who don't call in to vote on American Idol! (completely sarcastic, never even saw the show)
I thought the use of the phone was GREAT. I didn't write it down, but one of the numbers you can dial is for "bacon soap" (the "poster" is underneath a box on top of a desk in the big office building)... dialing the number treats you to a rendition of part of an Invader Zim episode (obviously the "bacon soap" episode). In addition to Invader Zim, there were many other pop-culture excursions found through the use of the phone. One final thought -- I'm totally with you on the greatness of the body parts flying (if only 'sploding bodies were in every game!).
Sounds interesting, but for the cost of the book ($25) I could buy a decent used game (or rent several). I'd rather be PLAYING video games than reading about them (don't get me wrong, I love a good book, but $25 for a 7/10 just doesn't seem worth it).
I like my solution better: a flashlight gun! It shoots flashlights. Better yet, you have small AAA flashlights for standard baddies... and for big baddies you whip out the extra large double-D-battery-flashlight bullets. I think, if anything, it would make for some amazing lighting affects.
My spirits were dampened when I stormed through it in 5 hours, but I still came away from the game with a feeling of satisfaction. The idea to go with an adjusting AI that tailored itself to your gameplay was GREAT. Too many shooters have an element where you find one good technique and use it on every single enemy: "headshot...headshot...headshot", but in SiN, after a few headshots the enemies come equipped with helmets (the weapons they carry, body armor, and even their numbers differ on how you're playing). I wish more companies would take this approach -- it seems like it makes for a very versatile experience.