Re:But does SP2 take out the trash as well?
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Latest SP2 News
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· Score: 1
Yes, you can do something convoluted to get something to misbehave (save the file, open up a command prompt, run the file) etc, but seriously, if a normal user does this, then they are beyond help that we can expect an OS to provide.
How about a.cmd or.bat file? I bet that is also vulnerable since this "security fix" is only in Explorer, a stupid decision. Security should be at the foundation, not tacked over the windows (pun intended). So all you need is the user to get a bad file to run, and off they go..
Bad security is worse than no security, because the users think they're more secure. Even a clueful admin may mistake this patch for a real security patch and think he's invulnerable to certain attacks just because he made the exe-file "non-executable". That's REALLY bad..
Re:I'd actually be surprised if there are no bugs
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Latest SP2 News
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· Score: 1, Flamebait
n SP2. They've gone through pretty much everything, re-hashed a lot of stuff, sometimes on a very deep level. Tons of bugs were fixed. There's not a software company in the world that could release something like this with zero bugs. Not even demi-god Linus Torvalds is capable of such a monumental technological feat as releasing code without bugs.
It can't be very deep when you allow this "bug" to go through a command-window. Then it's just a patch to explorer, and explorer-alternatives like Litestep and others will still be vulnerable.
I think it's all hype, and an afterthought to security when you allow these kinds of "bugs". It's not a bug, it's a fundamental wrong way of fixing things.
It sounds like you're reasonably clueful... but just put yourself in the place of an average windows user who's probably been trained by the torrents of popups and warnings just to press yes on everything: how much would this new torrent of warnings that you have to click yes on without reading annoy you?
It's important that the user is aware what those popups means, or if you disable popups, that you leave instructions on how to read the log-files and open up applications. A nice manual can do wonders for 90% of your users. I do agree though, for most users, popups is not the answer, as they click on OK to everything they can (popups should not behave like they do anyways).
But I was speaking more of myself and my needs than that of the average man in the street. Somebody who doesn't have a clue, will always be able to break your scheme, or they will have so little power that they rely on you to fix everything on their system.
We should educate people, leave a nice manual or recommend books that will help them. Just fixing things and leaving it at that, will just make the root of the problem grow worse with time. They also become dependent on your help. Educating helps them and yourself, in time. If they don't want to be educated, they don't want your help.
Obvious question here (and no disrespect or anything) but why do you use IE and Outluck when you know they're absolutely riddled with security holes? The only time I ever fire up IE is when I really need to see a site that won't work with firefox or opera... admittedly it's slightly more effort for me to fire up IE since I have to power up a windows machine, but the same would apply if I was using windows on my workstations.
It's possible to remove Outlook Express and to some extent Internet Explorer from Windows, it's by no means easy though (no automatic script for it), and sometimes you need to fire up IE just to view a webpage. I don't consider myself a user of those programs though, but I can't trust Windows to NOT start them automatically because it tries to open a mime-type or some other nonsense. With Kerio, I can get a pop-up asking if I REALLY want to open them up or I can deny it outright. I feel more in control than with XP suddenly firing up IE even though I have FireFox as the default WWW-application. Kerio will also lock down most of IE for those processes using only the IE dll-files to create "mini-browsers".
I know, I shouldn't use Windows, but it's for my work and it's still more convenient than Linux, although that is slowly changing.
I'd disagree here - you can buy standalone firewalls that will give you a nice GUI you can access through your web browser. Although I will admit that having the firewall identify what application is trying to access the port is useful.
I was talking about application- and device-level blocking, ie. allowing a virtual VPN device to always be trusted, and other neat stuff that you can only do inside the OS. I know the GUI are nice enough on the HW-firewalls, but they simply don't offer the same level of flexibility and control that a firewall inside the OS can offer. You also don't have plugins or other extensions, and if you want a feature that is not supported (ie. dynamic DNS), you'd have to buy a new hardware firewall unless a firmware upgrade can fix it.
I think this is probably one of the biggest problems - you wouldn't let a drunk drive your car, why let an untrustworthy OS drive your computer?
For my work, and because there's still many applications/games that need Windows. I also want to minimize time spent in front of the computer. I wouldn't be rude to estimate time spent in front of Linux to be 5 times greater than in front of XP at this time, because that's my experience, but then I want EVERYTHING to be setup right.. But it can be argued, when everything is Right, it stays so, as long as you're careful about upgrading. Ie, I had to change some firewall-scripts to allow for reading syslog and
I can explain why I use a personal firewall (Kerio PF) on my XP box at home, and what advantages I think it offers over a standalone hardware firewall:
Control: Even though I have broadband, I want control over what applications connect in and out. When a popup box appears, I am immediately informed what part of Windows or program is trying to access the outside world. I start the PF by locking everything, then clicking yes to everything I want to access the Internet and no to the others (making quick rules). I get a quick and easy overview. This gives an extra control over potential spyware and applications that shouldn't connect remotely.
While a broadband router is more secure, it's not as easy to configure, it doesn't block on the application-level neither on the device level (for VPNs etc), it doesn't implement "web-filters" or other goodies. A very interesting feature of Kerio is that you can deny, or question wether programs should start up at all.. Nice to lock down Internet Explorer and Outlook that way for extra security.
Fast & Easy: Getting a pop-up box, I am immediately informed and may quickly make an automatic rule, or specify a more advanced rule. When the ruleset is mature, the boxes disappear.
While a hardware firewall is quick to setup in the LAN. Setup and configuring simply doesn't compare to a PF with a nice GUI. It's almost as fast as having an automatic firewall. A PF is also more convinient for newbies and lazy users. You don't always know what application or service is using what port, and have to spend time searching. Not everybody thinks it's fun or have the skills to search for port-numbers.
That said, a broadband router is usually the best solution for a home-network, as you don't need a computer up-and-running all the time to have secure Internet access. But why not have both? In my eyes, not trusting XP or its applications, a PF is absolutely nescessary for control over your computer. Of course, if you don't like the pop-up dialogs, you can turn them off. That's just a GUI-event, you can read the logs instead.
I'll recommend to stay far away from ZoneAlarm though and use Kerio PF instead. It is very powerful, tidy and secure to use. ZoneAlarm gives me the creeps, what a good example on bad and bloated design!
To argument against PF I would say that it is very complex and located on the same host, which IS bad for security. It is also harder to know what rules are implemented, maybe the automatic rules are bad or too broad? Also, bad users will easily make the PF worthless by allowing everything. It's certainly no silver-bullet, except for letting users shoot themselves in their feet.
An additional argument FOR PF is that security can be enhanced by making it easier for clueful users to setup a firewall with high enough level of restriction to prevent most attacks.
Use what fits the job best, often it's a balance between convenience and security. But as said earlier, you CAN use both!
I do agree about the false sense of security though, but most people just want to do their work/play, not have a complete network in their home. Many will never be able to figure out a hardware firewall in this lifetime. If you want security, best not use XP either, but OpenBSD or something similar. By being proprietary, XP simply cannot be relied upon and may give a "false sense of security" when everything goes OK for a while.
Read your post again. Yes, your own post. I'll wait.
Heard it a thousand times before?
Sounds like regurgitation of something old and stale?
Perhaps a bit anger/bitterness in there..
The post your replied to had an excellent point: Namely, play the "Blame Game". It doesn't matter who's fault it really is, as long as you can tell it's an IBM/Oracle/Microsoft software, you're MUUCH better off than if you say it's custom patched software you found on the net.
While your reply is really just Flamebait and Off Topic. It's just something you say whenever a topic comes up, you didn't even really hear the point the other guy was making. It doesn't have to be that way.
Think before you spout, then you don't have to spout anymore;-)
With the newer KDEs, I scream "bloat!". It takes forever to boot and the user-interface is completely different from application to application. Gnome, I don't like the looks of, and the themes don't help and there are no real standards to rely on. Of course, you can use fvwm or something, but nothing can replace Microsoft Office yet due to Microsofts proprietary Word-"format". The DOJ should have fixed that one..
2K seems very stable, also abit slow on older hardware but usable. A little boring though when you have got to know XP.
XP is quicker than 2K in my experience, but you need 256-512 Mb memory for it to happen. The boot is over in 20-30 seconds and the hibernate uses 8-10 seconds and then the OS is ready for you. Of course, older hardware tend not to have enough memory.. But XP _is_ alot more optimized than 2K on the right hardware, trust me on that.
I happen to like the new UI of XP. I just turn off all the other animations, as I experience them as "slowness". I like things snappy, and configure EVERYTHING including tons of "must-have" applications.
Of course, you may disagree, but as long as we're both happy, what's the point?
If all this seems meaningless, just skip it. It's not a big thing.
Reincarnation? As far as I can see, your response requires an assumption of something I simply don't believe. I am trying to show him that not all endings are good, and not all things need to end. I never said things don't change.
That's ok, it was just a way of showing that _everything_ will change sooner or later. Without spirituality it's hard to see the bigger meaning of that, e.g if you think you only have one experience - in your current body and that's it. But you are free to have your opinion, as I am to have mine, so it's okay. I'm not here to enforce any mental constructs or concepts, as these are useless by themselves anyways. When they are not experienced and truly _lived_, they are just a way to control other people.
No, I'm saying that his attitude lends itself to less than perfect relationships. He has not let himself compromise, so has accepted substandard relationships as a substitute to better ones. There is nothing perfect in this world, but his relationships will end far quicker than normal ones. While he may be unharmed through his non-compromising attitude, he will form far fewer deep and rewarding relationships, and may hurt more others through it.
This is beautiful. You didn't state that in the other posts like that, although you meant it so.
I agree with you, that without making compromises, you will tend to have shorter and more turbulent relationships. However, it is completely up to him to chose his experience. You can show him the consequences of his behaviour, but you cannot "condemn" him saying your way is "better". I get the impression you look down on him for being who he is.. Of course, you're free to do it, but do you really want to? He will certainly oppose you for looking down on him, and not really listen.
About hurting others. You cannot really hurt others, wether intentionally or unintentionally, and I doubt he sets out to do this intentionally anyways. The girls will attract to this type of personality, until they see that this is not who they want to be with. What is this "hurt" you're talking of? It's just a way of not taking resposibility for your own choices and actions, thus rendering yourself a victim. Taking full responsibility, you can never be hurt or you will see that they are always temporary. Freed from internal anxiety you are able to observe the events more objectively and do more about them.
Now why do you say the whole point of the world is to have different experiences? What philosophy is this that says the greatest good is to have a different experience?
Think beyond good and bad. This is just how the world is. I'm not stating what is "right" or "wrong" here. But obviously, it would be quite boring to have the same experiences?
In fact, your whole philosophy is foreign to me - and you aren't doing a good job of explaining it. I'm suspecting you have a strong Buddhist influence, but you are assuming way too much in your response about my underlying philosophy and assumptions. The original poster should be able to understand, I think, that compromise is necessary for forming deeper, better, relationships. Your post, however, I find confusing and foreign.
I follow truth and heart, which I've found in an organisation called Art of Living. You can check out the link in my sig. for more information if you're truly interested.
I got inspired by the other poster, since I found similar strains of thought in what he wrote. I saw that it went straight past you that he indeed have conscious and thought-provoking views on life (although a bit egocentric), so I wanted to add my thoughts on this.
My take on people are that everybody think they know it all, but most people have only pieced together some bits here and there, a few scraps that they cling on to. Sometimes you need to let go of the scraps to grasp something more. But of course, y
So then you agree with me that not all things end, and not all endings are good.
I think you should listen to your own advice and listen to this guy. You both have very good points.
Here you're trying to persuade him to agree that something doesn't end. Everything is changing. What can you say is never changing? Virginity? How about in your next life, you start enjoying sex after a nice life of virginity? Everything is always changing, you don't really have to believe in reincarnation to understand it, but spirituality helps..
You may not agree with his choice of life, but fact is that's how he is, now. He'll change, and you'll change too. In a distant future, you might encounter eachother again and have the same discussion, just from the opposite poles.
You state e.g rape as some absolute evil or bad. I agree it is propbably not a pleasurable experience. However, the more "bad" you label it, the more problems you will have with it. While if you just look at the good and bad in life as just events, clouds passing by, they won't touch you in the same way. You won't get dragged down in the mud. This is not to say you don't follow through with persecution, but the faster you can accept that the event _happened_, the better off _you_'ll be.
You seem to think a relationship should last forever, or that if it only lasts for some time, it wasn't perfect. Nothing is perfect in this world (except in its own inner perfection), everything will end or change, and everybody will have different experiences (that's the whole point!).
And remember, just because something is rejected, doesn't mean it has no value. People reject the true gems of life all the time.
Now the real wisdom is to see them all, exposing the drama folding out in the world. There are NO bad guys, at worst, there is tremendous ignorance and blindness. Everyone does what they do according to love, however twisted and distorted. Now let's start identifying with the WHOLE of humanity, instead of just our own families, nations and soccerteams, which only creates conflict.
I have yet to find ONE alternative that will even display ONE document with a little complexity right. Often everything is mangled beyond repair, I have NO clue how people can survive on Open Office or 630 or whatever name it had. It was a number anyways, it didn't work either.
And don't get me started on RTF-documents and images.. Brrrr. Huge documents due to lousy compression..
I have yet to find ANY alternative. Would be glad for a tip, but everything I've tried hasn't come near dechiphering the proprietary Word-blob. Not even Word itself can rescue some files;-)
You can even say it's part of the Imperial Legion Quest, just a post-finale.
The more stuff like that is coded though, the more fun. However, it's not like the persons in the game made a decision themselves (which is needed for more interactivity - and a HELL of balancing it all;).
Take it up with the headmaster. You can accept the situation internally while doing all you can externally to fix it. Some teacher on your school should be able to tell you what you can improve on.
I can just imagine our "intellectual and advanced" society trying to fathom how to operate a vehicle operated by spiritual energy. Where you harness your oneness with the universe and God to drive it to anywhere you want.
I have no doubt the same kind of people would make the same remarks 200 years back too.. "It's impossible! We know all there is to know! Heresy! Now we're pretty much as advanced as we can get. We smart, old people stupid. etc. etc."
Wise men says they know nothing.
Re:My Biggest PC Annoyance...
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PC Annoyances
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· Score: 1
I'd much rather have...
!!! The Shredder !!!
You could even include a special option for special documents you want to wipe, instead of just unlinking.
What you hold sacred is your own choice. It's plain by reading the posts here that very little is sacred anymore. I do not agree with that choice, though I respect everyone to make their own choices as long as it doesn't affect me in a negative way.
You can still hold everything sacred, live, breathe and not being fanatical. You read my words litterally: Summarizing the text in rules and logical meanings, deducting any wisdom out of it.
Every wisdom and knowledge can be turned on its head. The wise finds the wisdom, while the fool search for flaws and counter-attacks.
But, NTFS uses several inventions, and some code to tie them all together. Whereas you should be able to determine all the patentable bits, it may be REALLY tough to figure out all the details.
I read the Sorenson video codec patents once, to see how they encode video. It was a nearly useless endeavor.
Then what is the use for having patents in the first place?
Look up on horizontal genetransfer. DNA-transfers across species do happen, which means you actually can "become what you eat". In another sense, you really ARE what you have eaten. Every seven years, most of our bodies have been replaced with new material. From where? The food we eat, it's not just passing through us you know, you ARE that genetically engineered food of yours.
I'm amazed at the ignorance here. This is supposed to be an intelligent discussion.. But he asked you to prove it's safe. Of course, that impossible as you can't prove anything. You can never satisfy him.
What could possibly go wrong you ask? Lots and lots of things have gone wrong before because of human manipulations of nature for short-sighted gains. The GM food can outgrow natural foods, stop insects from eating it, thereby killing off the birds that live on the insects. GM food might have other chemicals and traits, which over time could give more diseases or impact our bodies in unfavourable ways.
Why do we need more food? Why do we need more people? Bigger and larger, no matter the cost? Why, why, WHY???
In our ignorance we've transformed this planet into an ugly place, with cities, pollution, stress, sickness and squareness. We've lost contact with nature, with our own bodies and with joy. Nobody stops and recognize the beauty of life.
Don't worry about nature. There are plenty of examples that we'll make it worse for ourselves by continuing being ignorant and claiming to be backed up by science (it's NOT, science cannot back up something that is unknown and unproven).
When you hold nothing sacred, you are reduced to a pile of mud. You are not worth anything, besides the salesvalue of flesh, bones and meat. Of course, since you can do labour, that is worth more, so we keep you alive.
Is this the world you want to live in, where nothing is sacred?
You are right about horizontal genetransfer, but it's not done by egotistical humans and companies-out-of-control. That makes all the difference, to me at least!
YOU might BELIEVE evolution is random and not directed by any higher intelligence. That's an assumption you have made.
I don't believe that and I'm not a christian, or religious.
Have you ever stopped and WONDERED, just once in your life, how could all this around you not be directed by an intelligence, and not just random permutations? A small virus could easily kill off the whole planet, we've created several of them ourselves. Why didn't evolution create one?
In a sense everything is natural, and you're right that we're part of nature. However, we should start ACTING more like we are and not exploit everything around us for egotistical gains. We WILL sleep in the bed we're made..
Try to survive on a self-sustained farmland. If you pillage and rape the earth, you will not survive. Extrapolate that to the earth, and you're on the right track..
Ignorance has nothing to do with being christian or so-called "scientific". It has something to do with the ability to open the mind up for new possibilities.
The problem is that with genetical engineering we're in a downwards spiral. As the food gets worse and worse, it's already losing its minerals and vitamins at an alarming rate, so will we. "You become what you eat" is not just a phrase, after seven years most of the molecules that you would call 'you' are gone. People are already docile, engaging in stupid activities and destroying their own bodies.
Then there's no way to stop the madness and stupidity. Do you think you can outsmart evolution/God/whatever you want to call it? You don't even know WHO you really are, how can you control evolution? Tuning nature into serving our own selfish goals will only lead to our own destruction.
Dude, soon that will be 60 years ago. Most of the people from that time will have died. If all you can learn from them is bitterness and blind patriotism, I feel very sorry for you.
War is madness, there is no glory to be found. Those who think they are "heroes" or "saved" anyone are blind. We're all going to the same place within a 100 years.
Stop living in the past and demand everyone to dance to your pipes. You get the respect you give.
Right now Google doesn't kill any Microsoft revenue: with Google or without same users are buying OS with IE.
You don't understand megalomaniac thinking: Google is standing in the way of Microsoft Becoming the 'Net, which is what they planned while the Internet grew out of their control. With $50B in cash, nobody can stand in the way of Microsoft for too long. At least not without a good fight! If Google IPOs, it's probably doomed in this regard. Microsoft could just buy it all up, and Google has no recourse then.
I read an AC post that really hit the mark in my mind.. You are getting good answers my friend. Listen to them well. Read the posts again including your own, carefully. Save them down for later reading. You'll be doing yourself the biggest favour.
Please believe me, if you really WANT change and not just complain and maintaining status quo, what you're telling us is ALL IN _YOUR_ MIND. It is thought-patterns belitteling yourself, MAKING you who you think you are and limiting who you can be. There are SO many "ugly" people that are in relationships, you wouldn't believe it.. If you just opened up your eyes, you would easily see it! That beauty really comes from within.
It ALL depends on your state of mind. You see, first comes the thought, then the physical action. Every human activity stems from thought, so we should observe them carefully.
To become free of limiting and negative thoughts is easy and cheap, just become more CONSCIOUS that you're doing it when you do it and allow it to be, relax. This starts a process that doesn't stop until we're under the ground, but can turn your life into something more enjoyable very fast. We don't have time to go on murmuring about how "unfair" life is anymore!
Yes, there are girls that are that superficial they will never talk to you or me (except if we become friend with their friends!). However, those girls are trouble anyway. Stay clear, beware! You are only interested in such girls, because you yourself are interested in their superficial attributes.. Or your friends have somehow convinced you they are worth "possessing". Such people will easily give up short-time trouble and long-term pleasure, for short-time pleasure and long-time trouble.
Instead, become conscious about the real people all around you. Maybe there's a girl with a crush on you you never really noticed? Join some genuine activity you love to do, something more physical than sitting in front of a computer. Perhaps some volunteering. With computer-knowledge, they will truly appreciate you. If you love to do this activity, people will be attracted to you naturally. Become more conscious, maybe there's a someone you should get to know better? Become friends with a new person every day, wether male or female. Show some interest in other people but yourself! Your Life will become more interesting, then You become interesting. The quickest way to get depressed and spiteful is becoming self-absorbed.
You claim alot, happily debunking anything out of the ordinary. Truth is that a conscious person can see right through you. There's no magic needed to be involved. Just experience, especially similar experiences.
Your idea of "normal" people is completely off target, and is also just a concept in your mind blurring your worldview. Is your mind saying "No" at this moment? Be conscious of that, and stay with ME. No need to gather counter-arguments in your own mind, just become conscious of this and then REALLY listen to what I say.
You don't know me and how many years I spent depressed because I never had a girlfriend. Then I discovered I could love myself and my life first. Suddenly girls became more interested in me. If I didn't love myself and my life, why would anybody notice me but similarly depressed people? Misery loves company.. Before I knew it I became friend with a girl that I'm together with now. She's not a "conquest" or somebody I "possess", but a person that might become my life-mate and friend that I respect very much. I met her just after I dropped "chasing" girls in my head and started enjoying life itself instead. She's mirrors my new state of mind in that she is a genuine, deep and loving person. Just like we all really are, as soon as we drop the self pity and lesser identifications.
So I'm talking out of my own experience here and knowledge that I have been given by others. Your mind probably now has a list of counter-arguments. Please don't bother posting them. Save them down into a file on your HD instead, and reread it in a few months. I won't answer any replies in this thread.
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Yes, you can do something convoluted to get something to misbehave (save the file, open up a command prompt, run the file) etc, but seriously, if a normal user does this, then they are beyond help that we can expect an OS to provide.
.cmd or .bat file? I bet that is also vulnerable since this "security fix" is only in Explorer, a stupid decision. Security should be at the foundation, not tacked over the windows (pun intended). So all you need is the user to get a bad file to run, and off they go..
How about a
Bad security is worse than no security, because the users think they're more secure. Even a clueful admin may mistake this patch for a real security patch and think he's invulnerable to certain attacks just because he made the exe-file "non-executable". That's REALLY bad..
n SP2. They've gone through pretty much everything, re-hashed a lot of stuff, sometimes on a very deep level. Tons of bugs were fixed. There's not a software company in the world that could release something like this with zero bugs. Not even demi-god Linus Torvalds is capable of such a monumental technological feat as releasing code without bugs.
It can't be very deep when you allow this "bug" to go through a command-window. Then it's just a patch to explorer, and explorer-alternatives like Litestep and others will still be vulnerable.
I think it's all hype, and an afterthought to security when you allow these kinds of "bugs". It's not a bug, it's a fundamental wrong way of fixing things.
And so fantastically predictable too!!
It sounds like you're reasonably clueful... but just put yourself in the place of an average windows user who's probably been trained by the torrents of popups and warnings just to press yes on everything: how much would this new torrent of warnings that you have to click yes on without reading annoy you?
It's important that the user is aware what those popups means, or if you disable popups, that you leave instructions on how to read the log-files and open up applications. A nice manual can do wonders for 90% of your users. I do agree though, for most users, popups is not the answer, as they click on OK to everything they can (popups should not behave like they do anyways).
But I was speaking more of myself and my needs than that of the average man in the street. Somebody who doesn't have a clue, will always be able to break your scheme, or they will have so little power that they rely on you to fix everything on their system.
We should educate people, leave a nice manual or recommend books that will help them. Just fixing things and leaving it at that, will just make the root of the problem grow worse with time. They also become dependent on your help. Educating helps them and yourself, in time. If they don't want to be educated, they don't want your help.
Obvious question here (and no disrespect or anything) but why do you use IE and Outluck when you know they're absolutely riddled with security holes? The only time I ever fire up IE is when I really need to see a site that won't work with firefox or opera... admittedly it's slightly more effort for me to fire up IE since I have to power up a windows machine, but the same would apply if I was using windows on my workstations.
It's possible to remove Outlook Express and to some extent Internet Explorer from Windows, it's by no means easy though (no automatic script for it), and sometimes you need to fire up IE just to view a webpage. I don't consider myself a user of those programs though, but I can't trust Windows to NOT start them automatically because it tries to open a mime-type or some other nonsense. With Kerio, I can get a pop-up asking if I REALLY want to open them up or I can deny it outright. I feel more in control than with XP suddenly firing up IE even though I have FireFox as the default WWW-application. Kerio will also lock down most of IE for those processes using only the IE dll-files to create "mini-browsers".
I know, I shouldn't use Windows, but it's for my work and it's still more convenient than Linux, although that is slowly changing.
I'd disagree here - you can buy standalone firewalls that will give you a nice GUI you can access through your web browser. Although I will admit that having the firewall identify what application is trying to access the port is useful.
I was talking about application- and device-level blocking, ie. allowing a virtual VPN device to always be trusted, and other neat stuff that you can only do inside the OS. I know the GUI are nice enough on the HW-firewalls, but they simply don't offer the same level of flexibility and control that a firewall inside the OS can offer. You also don't have plugins or other extensions, and if you want a feature that is not supported (ie. dynamic DNS), you'd have to buy a new hardware firewall unless a firmware upgrade can fix it.
I think this is probably one of the biggest problems - you wouldn't let a drunk drive your car, why let an untrustworthy OS drive your computer?
For my work, and because there's still many applications/games that need Windows. I also want to minimize time spent in front of the computer. I wouldn't be rude to estimate time spent in front of Linux to be 5 times greater than in front of XP at this time, because that's my experience, but then I want EVERYTHING to be setup right.. But it can be argued, when everything is Right, it stays so, as long as you're careful about upgrading. Ie, I had to change some firewall-scripts to allow for reading syslog and
I can explain why I use a personal firewall (Kerio PF) on my XP box at home, and what advantages I think it offers over a standalone hardware firewall:
Control: Even though I have broadband, I want control over what applications connect in and out. When a popup box appears, I am immediately informed what part of Windows or program is trying to access the outside world. I start the PF by locking everything, then clicking yes to everything I want to access the Internet and no to the others (making quick rules). I get a quick and easy overview. This gives an extra control over potential spyware and applications that shouldn't connect remotely.
While a broadband router is more secure, it's not as easy to configure, it doesn't block on the application-level neither on the device level (for VPNs etc), it doesn't implement "web-filters" or other goodies. A very interesting feature of Kerio is that you can deny, or question wether programs should start up at all.. Nice to lock down Internet Explorer and Outlook that way for extra security.
Fast & Easy: Getting a pop-up box, I am immediately informed and may quickly make an automatic rule, or specify a more advanced rule. When the ruleset is mature, the boxes disappear.
While a hardware firewall is quick to setup in the LAN. Setup and configuring simply doesn't compare to a PF with a nice GUI. It's almost as fast as having an automatic firewall. A PF is also more convinient for newbies and lazy users. You don't always know what application or service is using what port, and have to spend time searching. Not everybody thinks it's fun or have the skills to search for port-numbers.
That said, a broadband router is usually the best solution for a home-network, as you don't need a computer up-and-running all the time to have secure Internet access. But why not have both? In my eyes, not trusting XP or its applications, a PF is absolutely nescessary for control over your computer. Of course, if you don't like the pop-up dialogs, you can turn them off. That's just a GUI-event, you can read the logs instead.
I'll recommend to stay far away from ZoneAlarm though and use Kerio PF instead. It is very powerful, tidy and secure to use. ZoneAlarm gives me the creeps, what a good example on bad and bloated design!
To argument against PF I would say that it is very complex and located on the same host, which IS bad for security. It is also harder to know what rules are implemented, maybe the automatic rules are bad or too broad? Also, bad users will easily make the PF worthless by allowing everything. It's certainly no silver-bullet, except for letting users shoot themselves in their feet.
An additional argument FOR PF is that security can be enhanced by making it easier for clueful users to setup a firewall with high enough level of restriction to prevent most attacks.
Use what fits the job best, often it's a balance between convenience and security. But as said earlier, you CAN use both!
I do agree about the false sense of security though, but most people just want to do their work/play, not have a complete network in their home. Many will never be able to figure out a hardware firewall in this lifetime. If you want security, best not use XP either, but OpenBSD or something similar. By being proprietary, XP simply cannot be relied upon and may give a "false sense of security" when everything goes OK for a while.
Read your post again. Yes, your own post. I'll wait.
;-)
:-))
Heard it a thousand times before?
Sounds like regurgitation of something old and stale?
Perhaps a bit anger/bitterness in there..
The post your replied to had an excellent point: Namely, play the "Blame Game". It doesn't matter who's fault it really is, as long as you can tell it's an IBM/Oracle/Microsoft software, you're MUUCH better off than if you say it's custom patched software you found on the net.
While your reply is really just Flamebait and Off Topic. It's just something you say whenever a topic comes up, you didn't even really hear the point the other guy was making. It doesn't have to be that way.
Think before you spout, then you don't have to spout anymore
And relax, life is good
I have used both Linux, 2K and XP.
With the newer KDEs, I scream "bloat!". It takes forever to boot and the user-interface is completely different from application to application. Gnome, I don't like the looks of, and the themes don't help and there are no real standards to rely on. Of course, you can use fvwm or something, but nothing can replace Microsoft Office yet due to Microsofts proprietary Word-"format". The DOJ should have fixed that one..
2K seems very stable, also abit slow on older hardware but usable. A little boring though when you have got to know XP.
XP is quicker than 2K in my experience, but you need 256-512 Mb memory for it to happen. The boot is over in 20-30 seconds and the hibernate uses 8-10 seconds and then the OS is ready for you. Of course, older hardware tend not to have enough memory.. But XP _is_ alot more optimized than 2K on the right hardware, trust me on that.
I happen to like the new UI of XP. I just turn off all the other animations, as I experience them as "slowness". I like things snappy, and configure EVERYTHING including tons of "must-have" applications.
Of course, you may disagree, but as long as we're both happy, what's the point?
If all this seems meaningless, just skip it. It's not a big thing.
Reincarnation? As far as I can see, your response requires an assumption of something I simply don't believe. I am trying to show him that not all endings are good, and not all things need to end. I never said things don't change.
That's ok, it was just a way of showing that _everything_ will change sooner or later. Without spirituality it's hard to see the bigger meaning of that, e.g if you think you only have one experience - in your current body and that's it. But you are free to have your opinion, as I am to have mine, so it's okay. I'm not here to enforce any mental constructs or concepts, as these are useless by themselves anyways. When they are not experienced and truly _lived_, they are just a way to control other people.
No, I'm saying that his attitude lends itself to less than perfect relationships. He has not let himself compromise, so has accepted substandard relationships as a substitute to better ones. There is nothing perfect in this world, but his relationships will end far quicker than normal ones. While he may be unharmed through his non-compromising attitude, he will form far fewer deep and rewarding relationships, and may hurt more others through it.
This is beautiful. You didn't state that in the other posts like that, although you meant it so.
I agree with you, that without making compromises, you will tend to have shorter and more turbulent relationships. However, it is completely up to him to chose his experience. You can show him the consequences of his behaviour, but you cannot "condemn" him saying your way is "better". I get the impression you look down on him for being who he is.. Of course, you're free to do it, but do you really want to? He will certainly oppose you for looking down on him, and not really listen.
About hurting others. You cannot really hurt others, wether intentionally or unintentionally, and I doubt he sets out to do this intentionally anyways. The girls will attract to this type of personality, until they see that this is not who they want to be with. What is this "hurt" you're talking of? It's just a way of not taking resposibility for your own choices and actions, thus rendering yourself a victim. Taking full responsibility, you can never be hurt or you will see that they are always temporary. Freed from internal anxiety you are able to observe the events more objectively and do more about them.
Now why do you say the whole point of the world is to have different experiences? What philosophy is this that says the greatest good is to have a different experience?
Think beyond good and bad. This is just how the world is. I'm not stating what is "right" or "wrong" here. But obviously, it would be quite boring to have the same experiences?
In fact, your whole philosophy is foreign to me - and you aren't doing a good job of explaining it. I'm suspecting you have a strong Buddhist influence, but you are assuming way too much in your response about my underlying philosophy and assumptions. The original poster should be able to understand, I think, that compromise is necessary for forming deeper, better, relationships. Your post, however, I find confusing and foreign.
I follow truth and heart, which I've found in an organisation called Art of Living. You can check out the link in my sig. for more information if you're truly interested.
I got inspired by the other poster, since I found similar strains of thought in what he wrote. I saw that it went straight past you that he indeed have conscious and thought-provoking views on life (although a bit egocentric), so I wanted to add my thoughts on this.
My take on people are that everybody think they know it all, but most people have only pieced together some bits here and there, a few scraps that they cling on to. Sometimes you need to let go of the scraps to grasp something more. But of course, y
So then you agree with me that not all things end, and not all endings are good.
I think you should listen to your own advice and listen to this guy. You both have very good points.
Here you're trying to persuade him to agree that something doesn't end. Everything is changing. What can you say is never changing? Virginity? How about in your next life, you start enjoying sex after a nice life of virginity? Everything is always changing, you don't really have to believe in reincarnation to understand it, but spirituality helps..
You may not agree with his choice of life, but fact is that's how he is, now. He'll change, and you'll change too. In a distant future, you might encounter eachother again and have the same discussion, just from the opposite poles.
You state e.g rape as some absolute evil or bad. I agree it is propbably not a pleasurable experience. However, the more "bad" you label it, the more problems you will have with it. While if you just look at the good and bad in life as just events, clouds passing by, they won't touch you in the same way. You won't get dragged down in the mud. This is not to say you don't follow through with persecution, but the faster you can accept that the event _happened_, the better off _you_'ll be.
You seem to think a relationship should last forever, or that if it only lasts for some time, it wasn't perfect. Nothing is perfect in this world (except in its own inner perfection), everything will end or change, and everybody will have different experiences (that's the whole point!).
And remember, just because something is rejected, doesn't mean it has no value. People reject the true gems of life all the time.
There's ALWAYS one more side to a case.
Now the real wisdom is to see them all, exposing the drama folding out in the world. There are NO bad guys, at worst, there is tremendous ignorance and blindness. Everyone does what they do according to love, however twisted and distorted. Now let's start identifying with the WHOLE of humanity, instead of just our own families, nations and soccerteams, which only creates conflict.
I have yet to find ONE alternative that will even display ONE document with a little complexity right. Often everything is mangled beyond repair, I have NO clue how people can survive on Open Office or 630 or whatever name it had. It was a number anyways, it didn't work either.
;-)
And don't get me started on RTF-documents and images.. Brrrr. Huge documents due to lousy compression..
I have yet to find ANY alternative. Would be glad for a tip, but everything I've tried hasn't come near dechiphering the proprietary Word-blob. Not even Word itself can rescue some files
That's a scripted event though.
;).
You can even say it's part of the Imperial Legion Quest, just a post-finale.
The more stuff like that is coded though, the more fun. However, it's not like the persons in the game made a decision themselves (which is needed for more interactivity - and a HELL of balancing it all
Take it up with the headmaster. You can accept the situation internally while doing all you can externally to fix it. Some teacher on your school should be able to tell you what you can improve on.
I can just imagine our "intellectual and advanced" society trying to fathom how to operate a vehicle operated by spiritual energy. Where you harness your oneness with the universe and God to drive it to anywhere you want.
I have no doubt the same kind of people would make the same remarks 200 years back too.. "It's impossible! We know all there is to know! Heresy! Now we're pretty much as advanced as we can get. We smart, old people stupid. etc. etc."
Wise men says they know nothing.
I'd much rather have...
!!! The Shredder !!!
You could even include a special option for special documents you want to wipe, instead of just unlinking.
I smelled fear. I struck.
;-)
Nice trolling man!
You had me laughing more and more
What you hold sacred is your own choice. It's plain by reading the posts here that very little is sacred anymore. I do not agree with that choice, though I respect everyone to make their own choices as long as it doesn't affect me in a negative way.
You can still hold everything sacred, live, breathe and not being fanatical. You read my words litterally: Summarizing the text in rules and logical meanings, deducting any wisdom out of it.
Every wisdom and knowledge can be turned on its head. The wise finds the wisdom, while the fool search for flaws and counter-attacks.
But, NTFS uses several inventions, and some code to tie them all together. Whereas you should be able to determine all the patentable bits, it may be REALLY tough to figure out all the details.
I read the Sorenson video codec patents once, to see how they encode video. It was a nearly useless endeavor.
Then what is the use for having patents in the first place?
Look up on horizontal genetransfer. DNA-transfers across species do happen, which means you actually can "become what you eat". In another sense, you really ARE what you have eaten. Every seven years, most of our bodies have been replaced with new material. From where? The food we eat, it's not just passing through us you know, you ARE that genetically engineered food of yours.
I'm amazed at the ignorance here. This is supposed to be an intelligent discussion.. But he asked you to prove it's safe. Of course, that impossible as you can't prove anything. You can never satisfy him.
What could possibly go wrong you ask? Lots and lots of things have gone wrong before because of human manipulations of nature for short-sighted gains. The GM food can outgrow natural foods, stop insects from eating it, thereby killing off the birds that live on the insects. GM food might have other chemicals and traits, which over time could give more diseases or impact our bodies in unfavourable ways.
Why do we need more food? Why do we need more people? Bigger and larger, no matter the cost? Why, why, WHY???
In our ignorance we've transformed this planet into an ugly place, with cities, pollution, stress, sickness and squareness. We've lost contact with nature, with our own bodies and with joy. Nobody stops and recognize the beauty of life.
Nature is pretty robust.
/ home.html
Don't worry about nature. There are plenty of examples that we'll make it worse for ourselves by continuing being ignorant and claiming to be backed up by science (it's NOT, science cannot back up something that is unknown and unproven).
A simple example on the back off my head: Imported rabbits in Australia: http://rubens.anu.edu.au/student.projects/rabbits
Check out this website: http://www.alternativescience.com
DNA's not as sacred as you think it is.
When you hold nothing sacred, you are reduced to a pile of mud. You are not worth anything, besides the salesvalue of flesh, bones and meat. Of course, since you can do labour, that is worth more, so we keep you alive.
Is this the world you want to live in, where nothing is sacred?
You are right about horizontal genetransfer, but it's not done by egotistical humans and companies-out-of-control. That makes all the difference, to me at least!
YOU might BELIEVE evolution is random and not directed by any higher intelligence. That's an assumption you have made.
I don't believe that and I'm not a christian, or religious.
Have you ever stopped and WONDERED, just once in your life, how could all this around you not be directed by an intelligence, and not just random permutations? A small virus could easily kill off the whole planet, we've created several of them ourselves. Why didn't evolution create one?
In a sense everything is natural, and you're right that we're part of nature. However, we should start ACTING more like we are and not exploit everything around us for egotistical gains. We WILL sleep in the bed we're made..
Try to survive on a self-sustained farmland. If you pillage and rape the earth, you will not survive. Extrapolate that to the earth, and you're on the right track..
Ignorance has nothing to do with being christian or so-called "scientific". It has something to do with the ability to open the mind up for new possibilities.
Check out this website, found it a few days ago: http://www.alternativescience.com.
I'm not saying everything in there is true, but if you claim OTHERS to be ignorant, then I merely ask you to open up a bit more and see for yourself.
The problem is that with genetical engineering we're in a downwards spiral. As the food gets worse and worse, it's already losing its minerals and vitamins at an alarming rate, so will we. "You become what you eat" is not just a phrase, after seven years most of the molecules that you would call 'you' are gone. People are already docile, engaging in stupid activities and destroying their own bodies.
Then there's no way to stop the madness and stupidity. Do you think you can outsmart evolution/God/whatever you want to call it? You don't even know WHO you really are, how can you control evolution? Tuning nature into serving our own selfish goals will only lead to our own destruction.
I just saw a site the other day: http://www.alternativescience.com. It may contain some interesting thoughts for you.
Dude, soon that will be 60 years ago. Most of the people from that time will have died. If all you can learn from them is bitterness and blind patriotism, I feel very sorry for you.
War is madness, there is no glory to be found. Those who think they are "heroes" or "saved" anyone are blind. We're all going to the same place within a 100 years.
Stop living in the past and demand everyone to dance to your pipes. You get the respect you give.
Right now Google doesn't kill any Microsoft revenue: with Google or without same users are buying OS with IE.
You don't understand megalomaniac thinking: Google is standing in the way of Microsoft Becoming the 'Net, which is what they planned while the Internet grew out of their control. With $50B in cash, nobody can stand in the way of Microsoft for too long. At least not without a good fight! If Google IPOs, it's probably doomed in this regard. Microsoft could just buy it all up, and Google has no recourse then.
I read an AC post that really hit the mark in my mind.. You are getting good answers my friend. Listen to them well. Read the posts again including your own, carefully. Save them down for later reading. You'll be doing yourself the biggest favour.
Please believe me, if you really WANT change and not just complain and maintaining status quo, what you're telling us is ALL IN _YOUR_ MIND. It is thought-patterns belitteling yourself, MAKING you who you think you are and limiting who you can be. There are SO many "ugly" people that are in relationships, you wouldn't believe it.. If you just opened up your eyes, you would easily see it! That beauty really comes from within.
It ALL depends on your state of mind. You see, first comes the thought, then the physical action. Every human activity stems from thought, so we should observe them carefully.
To become free of limiting and negative thoughts is easy and cheap, just become more CONSCIOUS that you're doing it when you do it and allow it to be, relax. This starts a process that doesn't stop until we're under the ground, but can turn your life into something more enjoyable very fast. We don't have time to go on murmuring about how "unfair" life is anymore!
Yes, there are girls that are that superficial they will never talk to you or me (except if we become friend with their friends!). However, those girls are trouble anyway. Stay clear, beware! You are only interested in such girls, because you yourself are interested in their superficial attributes.. Or your friends have somehow convinced you they are worth "possessing". Such people will easily give up short-time trouble and long-term pleasure, for short-time pleasure and long-time trouble.
Instead, become conscious about the real people all around you. Maybe there's a girl with a crush on you you never really noticed? Join some genuine activity you love to do, something more physical than sitting in front of a computer. Perhaps some volunteering. With computer-knowledge, they will truly appreciate you. If you love to do this activity, people will be attracted to you naturally. Become more conscious, maybe there's a someone you should get to know better? Become friends with a new person every day, wether male or female. Show some interest in other people but yourself! Your Life will become more interesting, then You become interesting. The quickest way to get depressed and spiteful is becoming self-absorbed.
You claim alot, happily debunking anything out of the ordinary. Truth is that a conscious person can see right through you. There's no magic needed to be involved. Just experience, especially similar experiences.
Your idea of "normal" people is completely off target, and is also just a concept in your mind blurring your worldview. Is your mind saying "No" at this moment? Be conscious of that, and stay with ME. No need to gather counter-arguments in your own mind, just become conscious of this and then REALLY listen to what I say.
You don't know me and how many years I spent depressed because I never had a girlfriend. Then I discovered I could love myself and my life first. Suddenly girls became more interested in me. If I didn't love myself and my life, why would anybody notice me but similarly depressed people? Misery loves company.. Before I knew it I became friend with a girl that I'm together with now. She's not a "conquest" or somebody I "possess", but a person that might become my life-mate and friend that I respect very much. I met her just after I dropped "chasing" girls in my head and started enjoying life itself instead. She's mirrors my new state of mind in that she is a genuine, deep and loving person. Just like we all really are, as soon as we drop the self pity and lesser identifications.
So I'm talking out of my own experience here and knowledge that I have been given by others. Your mind probably now has a list of counter-arguments. Please don't bother posting them. Save them down into a file on your HD instead, and reread it in a few months. I won't answer any replies in this thread.