After reading other messages, It's probably worth me being explicit about the fact that this is essentially a One Time pad with several of the safety features compromised.
1) A OTP requires the secrecy of the key, this *unbreakable* system suggests broadcasting the key stream from a satellite, and completely ignores how it might be secured.
2) To remain secure (not uncrackable) a OTP, must be used only once, since the same key stream would be used globally this would not hold true.
Either of these are massive flaws; individually capable of compromising the whole system, together they make it worthless.
one time pads, as long as they are generated using true random numbers, and that each pad is used only once, are provably unbreakable.
The word unbreakable is meaningless in Cryptography, a message (or system) is secure or insecure.
It is impossible to *proven* that your conditions hold true, it is therefore impossible to *prove* that even a one-time pad is secure.
The way a one time pad is compromise
is through the key (pad) production or distribution. Since is no way to *prove* this security even a One time pad cyrto system is not provable secure.
Finally read some crypto history before repeating this claim, because this FACT has cost people their liberty and lives.
A Cipher and a Code are not the same thing, and this guy repeated say's code when meaning a Cipher. Also a Crypto system is only as strong as it?s weakest link and typically the weakest link of a Crypto system is the key production and distribution, and he offers no description on how this would be achieved securely.
There is also no such thing as a provable secure Cipher, you can prove it?s insecure, or it?s degree of insecurity, (by compromising it) but it cannot be *proven secure. Even a One-Time-Pad can be compromised, by compromising the key (pad) production or distribution.
This has all the hallmarks of silicon snake oil.
Anybody that does not believe this should read the Silicon Snake Oil FAQ from the news:sci.crypt
It's worth emphasising the point that skilled Software Engineer's are so much in demand that you can pretty much name your own terms.
So this fact leaves you have a number options, you need to decide if you want the job enough to bother negotiating if not, just walk away and don?t look back. If you do want the position, name your terms and stick to them. If you concede more than you want, it will make you unhappy in the long term and reduce your effectiveness, so everybody losses.
Some have suggested that this could be just an over zealous corporate lawyer but I'd still be concerned that the bad attitude was prevalent at the managerial level, otherwise the onerous nature of the contract would have already been flagged.
Try these links for the Best of Scrapheap challenge.
http://www.choicesdirect.co.uk/cgi-bin/ChoicesDire ct.storefront/1170493668/Product/View/71 245
http://www.blackstar.co.uk/video/item/700000005853 6
My Particular favourite was the trebuchet, it got hammered by a simple catapult, but still.
Java seems, to my mind, to almost be a subset of C++, one in which the most dangerous features of C++ have been removed--pointers, generic programming, multiple inheritance, etc. There's something to be said for this approach, in that very few C++ programmers can use multiple inheritance, generics and so on well. But those of us who can use them well get really annoyed that Java denies them to us.;)
There is more than 'something' to be said about the absence of multiple inheritance. No programmer can use MI well. It's a cludge of the highest order, If a programmer has to use MI, the design is wrong!
This could work, in the UK, petitions to the Houses of Parliament are "read" into the public record. The US must have a similar procedure.
Recently a UK Animal Rights group used this idea to humiliate MPs who publicly supported fox hunting, they sent them petitions which they had to read into the public record even though they personally disagreed with the subject. It made the national news, and is also a pretty cool wetwork (Socially Engineered) Hack.
The wording of the petition should make broad appeals to US citizens about free speech / fair use etc, anything that could be used to attach an air of authority to it.
Since the obvious solution is too host these sites outside of USA. US Geeks could use the Brain Drain argument, to attack the DMCA. Just broadcast the fact that draconian law is driving high tech resources Offshore. The politicians will quickly change this policy if they can be made to believe that this is really happening.
No one's going to let a bunch of morons drive around in billion dollar ships capable of leveling cities.
I think recent history proves you wrong on this count.
Two that come readily to mind are; Macarthur in Korea (Truman had to remove him to stop him making war with China) & Clarke in Kosova (Jackson disobeyed his order to attack the Russians at Pristina Airport),
Two obvious morons in charge of huge war machines who very nearly started wars with nuclear powers.
This article about the Navy cruiser was widely discredited as it relates to the problem being a fault with NT.
Where & How was it discredited ?
A divide-by-zero error is an application issue(sic) not the operating system, unless it were to have occured in a device driver or in the kernel itself. Which seems highly unlikely given that the articles talk about the fault being caused by bad input data.
Generally only partly true, because it's also a hardware and OS issue. What you seem to confusing is cause and effect, the cause is the divide by zero, the server crash is the effect.
Excepting FPE, a divide by zero error is trapped at the hardware/CPU level. It generates a hardware exception. This *must* be handled by the OS. If an OS fails to trap an application error, then it is also faulty.
This article about the Navy cruiser was widely discredited as it relates to the problem being a fault with NT.
Where & How was it discredited ?
A divide-by-zero error is an application issue not the operating system, unless it were to have occured in a device driver or in the kernel itself. Which seems highly unlikely given that the articles talk about the fault being caused by bad input data.
Generally not true (excepting FPE), A divide by zero error is trapped at the hardware/CPU level. It generates a hardware exception. It *must* be is handled by the OS.
If an OS fails to trap an application error, then it is also faulty.
What you seem to confusing is cause and effect, the cause is the divide by zero, the server crash is the effect.
I've just tried to install the release, downloaded from
ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/netscape6/english/6_PR2 /windows/win32/N6Setup.exe
and it appears to be a trojan, which attempts to make an HTTP connection to
sweetlou.mcom.com/.../
Re:Read alt.computer.consultants about striking
on
Hacker Crackdown?
·
· Score: 1
A frequent topic of discussion in alt.computer.consultants is the idea of forming a programmers union
UNION sounds very Working Class (Blue Collar) to me.
and going on strike over such things as loose H1-B visa laws in the US.
A computing Degree and 3 years experience, don't sound that loose to me, sounds more qualified that most MCP's:)
A number of people are actively trying to organize such things, but the results so far haven't been promising and the consensus on the reason way is that programmers are just a bunch of pussies too concerned with bringing home the immediate bacon rather than lift a finger to look after their future.
Very Blue Collar, insult your intended allies.
Yeah, that's right - you. Pussies. You may have the balls to post anonymously on Slashdot, but when was the last time you not only voted, but gave money to a political campaign whose position you supported, and did volunteer work for it.
Well since most Politicians are ex-lawyers I can't say I have much faith in any of them.
If you really want to succeed, stop calling it a union, its way too blue collar, call it a chartered/professional association (i.e. Accountant/Lawyers), you then you get a government mandated closed shop.
No, because the primary purpose of SETI is to advance scientific knowledge, it's not *simply* to find ET, if it was then it would almost certainly fail; because any alien culture sufficiently advanced/developed to create intelligent signals, would probably encrypt them. Therefore ET's call home would indistinguishable from white noise.
They are not your enemy. THey spent 2billion dollars a year on research. that has to result in something good,
Such blind faith! I would say that that is 2 billion wasted dollars, judging by the quality of the output!
plus in some environments their products are better than other products.
Whilst I'd concede this is possible I can't envisage an environment where poor quality might be an advantage, you'll just have to enlighten me as to which environments you mean exactly?
It's also sad that the majority here who tends to post articles OR replies won't bother to look into what.NET is all about and when there is something useful to adopt and include in Open Source projects.
Well I'm not one of them.NET is simply marketing speak for DCOM version II, which is COM v3, which is OLE version what ever.
The majority focusses on DETAILS like...
Two majorities! it's that type of sloppy thinking that gets the Microsofties into trouble in the first place.
...DETAILS like the C# vs Java thing (both proprietry languages designed by 1 company. what's the difference?)
Could it be Java's platform independence?
or fud that MS isn't capable of cooking up such an environment.
Microsoft seem capable of cooking up all sort of things, most of them unpalatable.
I don't care if this gets moderated down because some anti-microsoft moderator hates what I write...
It will probably get moderated down because it's full of holes, just like M$ software.
Microsoft releases a LOT OF sourcecode, free for all.: The duwamish bookstore, a complete e-commerce application ready to roll (a complete online store), with code, docs etc. numerous examples, tutorials and docs.
In my experience the sample software supplied with M$ development tools is very poor, poorly designed [if at all] its buggy, and normally contains more lines of copyright than comment. Indeed if one of my programmers produced code as poor, he would not make it past his next assessment.
I developed a lot in java but I'm very willing to swap to C# once it's there.
Why because Bills marketing tells you or you've done a proper critical evaluation of each option and chosen the best.
Why? because the tradition of well done documentation (not generated CRAP like Sun gives us), lots of examples and full applications, complete in sourcecode will be extended when.NET is fully released.
Tradition of well done documentation? Amateurs might find step by step tutorials useful, but properly skilled Software Engineers need the details to be correct and that's what JavaDoc provides. Accurate and timely documentation not some random musings of Microsoft Marketing spiel.
You should try it sometimes.
I already did, and I've decided I prefer Java as my after bloat beverage.
IANAL so, I wonder how, the fact that these Windows Users elected to click the link would effect the Legal case, (in the World at large.)?
AIUI, in the UK with the Computer Misuse Act requires the prosecution to demonstrate that the suspect "caused" the Computer to perform the operations which compromised its security. This would seem to make Trojans legal ?
This is not first, the best tech or the cheapest; so how come it's made/. ?
Kingston Communications (BT's only realistic competitor in the UK) introduced ADSL onto it's network over a year ago (Oct/Nov 98).
Kingston Vision launched an Interactive Digital Television Service for subscribers under the Kingston Interactive Television brand (~£12pcm) over ADSL including a high speed Internet connection for an addition (£15 pcm).
So with Kingston you get more (DTV + Internet) for less (~£27 vs £40)
The Kingston service uses IP over 10Base-T, so it's not limited to Windows PC's, the 3Com modem even includes a 4 port Hub, and provides as much bandwidth as your ADSL line will carry; in practice this will be above the min 4.5Mbps need to carry VOD.
The BT ADSL offering is by comparison lousy, expensive and poor tech.
This service is also being rolled out Nationally as soon as OFTEL force open BT's monopoly.
So prepare to say good bye to BT.
Check out the KITV.CO.UK and/or Kingston-Vision.co.uk for more info.
I work for Kingston Vision, but these comments are my personal opinion..
" I'm wondering how they're gonna fit a thousand-page novel into the framework of a feature-length movie."
I always wondered how he managed to stretch this short story to a thousand pages:) and still keep the reader interested.
Re:We need restrictions on what TLD you can regist
on
Master Of Your Domain
·
· Score: 2
Almost all network providers are also commercial organizations. In their view, they have a perfect right to both a.com and a.net address. I find it hard to disagree with them.
IMHO half right:) this should not change the fact that each name space has it's own uses.
The {ISP}.COM name space should encapulate the commercial side of the organisation, ie, advertising, press releases, investor relations, etc.
The {ISP}.NET name space should encapsulate the network services, say DNS, email, ftp/web spaces, etc.
Possibly the Prof.'s problem is that by choosing an open OS such as Linux over some obscure proprietary system, they could very easily be trumped by there students?
The scope could be readily limited by confining study to the Kernel and since Linux (the Kernel) was written AFAIK as a finalist project, I'd say that a study of the Linux is an excellent idea for a 3rd Year computer science Operating Systems course.
I certainly wished I'd have had that opportunity:) because I had to study Op'S's without source. This was too theoretical; there should be room on a CS grad course for both theory and practice of such an important subject.
Linux would be great for comparing the theoretical ideals against practical compromises, an area where CS grad's (including myself) are traditionally weak, and since the first step in doing a task properly is understanding, given a little time could pay dividends for Linux as well as the grad's.
It depends. Certainly, for those people who have a PC to run games on, as consoles get more powerful, the PC won't be needed any more.
Games are only part of the convergence of Interactive TV & Games consoles
Internet
Email
E-commerce
Video & Music on demand.
Games (Software) on demand.
Interactive TV.
However there's more to a PC than that. What about those that want to word process? I've yet to see a web based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, configurable database, graphics design etc. etc.
Your right, On Demand Software is one of the hold up's. However packages are starting to become available, Sun produce the Java Personal Productivity Suite, which includes a browser, email, PIM and text editor. It not Word Perfect but is aimed at the lower end market and is available today on the latest STB's. They've also announced the thin client version of Star office.
On-Demand Software also provides good revenue stream, avoids the issue of piracy and also provides a good opening for Open Source solutions, people are more inclined to rent the solution on a daily rate of; say £/$1 a day than pay £/$2-400 to purchase a licence right off.
There's more to home usage than games and PDA functions.
Quite right and there is more to this convergence than these functions.
Now maybe a PC that plugs into the TV at a decent resolution might push most PCs outwards to the fringes.
Whilst digital STB's are currently limited by a TV's relatively poor resolution, thing's are changing here too. HDTV is starting to become reasonable priced and a lot of other home video/cinema options are also entering the market.
This is not about geeks and hackers, it's about the effect of a disruptive technologies on rank and file consumers.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, one time pad crypto systems are provably secure.
I dispute that the it's *provably* secure. If you you have a proof, or a reference please post.
And I mean a real formal mathmatical proof, not just a description of WHY a OTP is secure, such as that found in Schineier's Applied Crypto.
After reading other messages, It's probably worth me being explicit about the fact that this is essentially a One Time pad with several of the safety features compromised.
1) A OTP requires the secrecy of the key, this *unbreakable* system suggests broadcasting the key stream from a satellite, and completely ignores how it might be secured.
2) To remain secure (not uncrackable) a OTP, must be used only once, since the same key stream would be used globally this would not hold true.
Either of these are massive flaws; individually capable of compromising the whole system, together they make it worthless.
one time pads, as long as they are generated using true random numbers, and that each pad is used only once, are provably unbreakable.
The word unbreakable is meaningless in Cryptography, a message (or system) is secure or insecure.
It is impossible to *proven* that your conditions hold true, it is therefore impossible to *prove* that even a one-time pad is secure.
The way a one time pad is compromise is through the key (pad) production or distribution. Since is no way to *prove* this security even a One time pad cyrto system is not provable secure.
Finally read some crypto history before repeating this claim, because this FACT has cost people their liberty and lives.
A Cipher and a Code are not the same thing, and this guy repeated say's code when meaning a Cipher. Also a Crypto system is only as strong as it?s weakest link and typically the weakest link of a Crypto system is the key production and distribution, and he offers no description on how this would be achieved securely.
There is also no such thing as a provable secure Cipher, you can prove it?s insecure, or it?s degree of insecurity, (by compromising it) but it cannot be *proven secure. Even a One-Time-Pad can be compromised, by compromising the key (pad) production or distribution.
This has all the hallmarks of silicon snake oil.
Anybody that does not believe this should read the Silicon Snake Oil FAQ from the news:sci.crypt
It's worth emphasising the point that skilled Software Engineer's are so much in demand that you can pretty much name your own terms.
So this fact leaves you have a number options, you need to decide if you want the job enough to bother negotiating if not, just walk away and don?t look back. If you do want the position, name your terms and stick to them. If you concede more than you want, it will make you unhappy in the long term and reduce your effectiveness, so everybody losses.
Some have suggested that this could be just an over zealous corporate lawyer but I'd still be concerned that the bad attitude was prevalent at the managerial level, otherwise the onerous nature of the contract would have already been flagged.
This seems to confirm last years the claims by cryptonym that Microsoft Windows CryptoAPI does contain a NSA back door.
Try these links for the Best of Scrapheap challenge.
http://www.choicesdirect.co.uk/cgi-bin/ChoicesDi rect.storefront/1170493668/Produc t/View /71 245
http://www.blackstar.co.uk/video/item/7000000058 536
My Particular favourite was the trebuchet, it got hammered by a simple catapult, but still.
Try these links for the Best of Scrapheap challenge. http://www.choicesdirect.co.uk/cgi-bin/ChoicesDire ct.storefront/1170493668/Product/View/71 245
http://www.blackstar.co.uk/video/item/700000005853 6
My Particular favourite was the trebuchet, it got hammered by a simple catapult, but still.
Java seems, to my mind, to almost be a subset of C++, one in which the most dangerous features of C++ have been removed--pointers, generic programming, multiple inheritance, etc. There's something to be said for this approach, in that very few C++ programmers can use multiple inheritance, generics and so on well. But those of us who can use them well get really annoyed that Java denies them to us. ;)
There is more than 'something' to be said about the absence of multiple inheritance. No programmer can use MI well. It's a cludge of the highest order, If a programmer has to use MI, the design is wrong!
This could work, in the UK, petitions to the Houses of Parliament are "read" into the public record. The US must have a similar procedure.
Recently a UK Animal Rights group used this idea to humiliate MPs who publicly supported fox hunting, they sent them petitions which they had to read into the public record even though they personally disagreed with the subject. It made the national news, and is also a pretty cool wetwork (Socially Engineered) Hack.
The wording of the petition should make broad appeals to US citizens about free speech / fair use etc, anything that could be used to attach an air of authority to it.
Since the obvious solution is too host these sites outside of USA. US Geeks could use the Brain Drain argument, to attack the DMCA. Just broadcast the fact that draconian law is driving high tech resources Offshore. The politicians will quickly change this policy if they can be made to believe that this is really happening.
No one's going to let a bunch of morons drive around in billion dollar ships capable of leveling cities.
I think recent history proves you wrong on this count.
Two that come readily to mind are; Macarthur in Korea (Truman had to remove him to stop him making war with China) & Clarke in Kosova (Jackson disobeyed his order to attack the Russians at Pristina Airport),
Two obvious morons in charge of huge war machines who very nearly started wars with nuclear powers.
This article about the Navy cruiser was widely discredited as it relates to the problem being a fault with NT.
Where & How was it discredited ?
A divide-by-zero error is an application issue(sic) not the operating system, unless it were to have occured in a device driver or in the kernel itself. Which seems highly unlikely given that the articles talk about the fault being caused by bad input data.
Generally only partly true, because it's also a hardware and OS issue. What you seem to confusing is cause and effect, the cause is the divide by zero, the server crash is the effect.
Excepting FPE, a divide by zero error is trapped at the hardware/CPU level. It generates a hardware exception. This *must* be handled by the OS. If an OS fails to trap an application error, then it is also faulty.
This article about the Navy cruiser was widely discredited as it relates to the problem being a fault with NT. Where & How was it discredited ? A divide-by-zero error is an application issue not the operating system, unless it were to have occured in a device driver or in the kernel itself. Which seems highly unlikely given that the articles talk about the fault being caused by bad input data. Generally not true (excepting FPE), A divide by zero error is trapped at the hardware/CPU level. It generates a hardware exception. It *must* be is handled by the OS. If an OS fails to trap an application error, then it is also faulty. What you seem to confusing is cause and effect, the cause is the divide by zero, the server crash is the effect.
I've just tried to install the release, downloaded from ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/netscape6/english/6_PR2 /windows/win32/N6Setup.exe
and it appears to be a trojan, which attempts to make an HTTP connection to
sweetlou.mcom.com/.../
A frequent topic of discussion in alt.computer.consultants is the idea of forming a programmers union
UNION sounds very Working Class (Blue Collar) to me.
and going on strike over such things as loose H1-B visa laws in the US.
A computing Degree and 3 years experience, don't sound that loose to me, sounds more qualified that most MCP's:)
A number of people are actively trying to organize such things, but the results so far haven't been promising and the consensus on the reason way is that programmers are just a bunch of pussies too concerned with bringing home the immediate bacon rather than lift a finger to look after their future.
Very Blue Collar, insult your intended allies.
Yeah, that's right - you. Pussies. You may have the balls to post anonymously on Slashdot, but when was the last time you not only voted, but gave money to a political campaign whose position you supported, and did volunteer work for it.
Well since most Politicians are ex-lawyers I can't say I have much faith in any of them.
If you really want to succeed, stop calling it a union, its way too blue collar, call it a chartered/professional association (i.e. Accountant/Lawyers), you then you get a government mandated closed shop.
No, because the primary purpose of SETI is to advance scientific knowledge, it's not *simply* to find ET, if it was then it would almost certainly fail; because any alien culture sufficiently advanced/developed to create intelligent signals, would probably encrypt them. Therefore ET's call home would indistinguishable from white noise.
Are M$ planning to rename C# for the UK? or are they on some kind of ethical marketing push? Ah naw!
Because here # hash means the same as "bodge", basically it means "screwed up".
They are not your enemy. THey spent 2billion dollars a year on research. that has to result in something good,
Such blind faith! I would say that that is 2 billion wasted dollars, judging by the quality of the output!
plus in some environments their products are better than other products.
Whilst I'd concede this is possible I can't envisage an environment where poor quality might be an advantage, you'll just have to enlighten me as to which environments you mean exactly?
It's also sad that the majority here who tends to post articles OR replies won't bother to look into what .NET is all about and when there is something useful to adopt and include in Open Source projects.
Well I'm not one of them .NET is simply marketing speak for DCOM version II, which is COM v3, which is OLE version what ever.
The majority focusses on DETAILS like ...
Two majorities! it's that type of sloppy thinking that gets the Microsofties into trouble in the first place.
Could it be Java's platform independence?
or fud that MS isn't capable of cooking up such an environment.
Microsoft seem capable of cooking up all sort of things, most of them unpalatable.
I don't care if this gets moderated down because some anti-microsoft moderator hates what I write ...
It will probably get moderated down because it's full of holes, just like M$ software.
Microsoft releases a LOT OF sourcecode, free for all.: The duwamish bookstore, a complete e-commerce application ready to roll (a complete online store), with code, docs etc. numerous examples, tutorials and docs.
In my experience the sample software supplied with M$ development tools is very poor, poorly designed [if at all] its buggy, and normally contains more lines of copyright than comment. Indeed if one of my programmers produced code as poor, he would not make it past his next assessment.
I developed a lot in java but I'm very willing to swap to C# once it's there.
Why because Bills marketing tells you or you've done a proper critical evaluation of each option and chosen the best.
Why? because the tradition of well done documentation (not generated CRAP like Sun gives us), lots of examples and full applications, complete in sourcecode will be extended when .NET is fully released.
Tradition of well done documentation ? Amateurs might find step by step tutorials useful, but properly skilled Software Engineers need the details to be correct and that's what JavaDoc provides. Accurate and timely documentation not some random musings of Microsoft Marketing spiel.
You should try it sometimes.
I already did, and I've decided I prefer Java as my after bloat beverage.
IANAL so, I wonder how, the fact that these Windows Users elected to click the link would effect the Legal case, (in the World at large.)?
AIUI, in the UK with the Computer Misuse Act requires the prosecution to demonstrate that the suspect "caused" the Computer to perform the operations which compromised its security. This would seem to make Trojans legal ?
Can anybody add anything to this?
This is not first, the best tech or the cheapest; so how come it's made /. ?
Kingston Communications (BT's only realistic competitor in the UK) introduced ADSL onto it's network over a year ago (Oct/Nov 98).
Kingston Vision launched an Interactive Digital Television Service for subscribers under the Kingston Interactive Television brand (~£12pcm) over ADSL including a high speed Internet connection for an addition (£15 pcm).
So with Kingston you get more (DTV + Internet) for less (~£27 vs £40)
The Kingston service uses IP over 10Base-T, so it's not limited to Windows PC's, the 3Com modem even includes a 4 port Hub, and provides as much bandwidth as your ADSL line will carry; in practice this will be above the min 4.5Mbps need to carry VOD.
The BT ADSL offering is by comparison lousy, expensive and poor tech.
This service is also being rolled out Nationally as soon as OFTEL force open BT's monopoly.
So prepare to say good bye to BT.
Check out the KITV.CO.UK and/or Kingston-Vision.co.uk for more info.
I work for Kingston Vision, but these comments are my personal opinion..
" I'm wondering how they're gonna fit a thousand-page novel into the framework of a feature-length movie."
I always wondered how he managed to stretch this short story to a thousand pages :) and still keep the reader interested.
Almost all network providers are also commercial organizations. In their view, they have a perfect right to both a .com and a .net address. I find it hard to disagree with them.
IMHO half right:) this should not change the fact that each name space has it's own uses.
The {ISP}.COM name space should encapulate the commercial side of the organisation, ie, advertising, press releases, investor relations, etc.
The {ISP}.NET name space should encapsulate the network services, say DNS, email, ftp/web spaces, etc.
Possibly the Prof.'s problem is that by choosing an open OS such as Linux over some obscure proprietary system, they could very easily be trumped by there students?
The scope could be readily limited by confining study to the Kernel and since Linux (the Kernel) was written AFAIK as a finalist project, I'd say that a study of the Linux is an excellent idea for a 3rd Year computer science Operating Systems course.
I certainly wished I'd have had that opportunity :) because I had to study Op'S's without source. This was too theoretical; there should be room on a CS grad course for both theory and practice of such an important subject.
Linux would be great for comparing the theoretical ideals against practical compromises, an area where CS grad's (including myself) are traditionally weak, and since the first step in doing a task properly is understanding, given a little time could pay dividends for Linux as well as the grad's.
It depends. Certainly, for those people who have a PC to run games on, as consoles get more powerful, the PC won't be needed any more.
Games are only part of the convergence of Interactive TV & Games consoles
However there's more to a PC than that. What about those that want to word process? I've yet to see a web based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, configurable database, graphics design etc. etc.
Your right, On Demand Software is one of the hold up's. However packages are starting to become available, Sun produce the Java Personal Productivity Suite, which includes a browser, email, PIM and text editor. It not Word Perfect but is aimed at the lower end market and is available today on the latest STB's. They've also announced the thin client version of Star office.
On-Demand Software also provides good revenue stream, avoids the issue of piracy and also provides a good opening for Open Source solutions, people are more inclined to rent the solution on a daily rate of; say £/$1 a day than pay £/$2-400 to purchase a licence right off.
There's more to home usage than games and PDA functions.
Quite right and there is more to this convergence than these functions.
Now maybe a PC that plugs into the TV at a decent resolution might push most PCs outwards to the fringes.
Whilst digital STB's are currently limited by a TV's relatively poor resolution, thing's are changing here too. HDTV is starting to become reasonable priced and a lot of other home video/cinema options are also entering the market.
This is not about geeks and hackers, it's about the effect of a disruptive technologies on rank and file consumers.