From the article it sounds like this hack is very similar to the XBox360 DVD firmware hack in that it tricks the system into thinking the disc is a different type than it really is (pressed as opposed to DVD-R). However, the executables are still signed and the only thing this enables is "back ups" aka piracy.
This strategy will not enable custom user applications which is what a lot of us really want. However, this is definitely a step in the right direction. Even though the executables are signed, it is likely that the data on DVDs is unencrypted. Maybe by modifying this data a more effective exploit can be found?
Does anyone else question why we are taking user interface advice from a guy whose website looks like it was designed in notepad?
The Minority Report user interface was actually designed by industry professionals at Microsoft Research, MIT, and Sun. These people all have a great pedigree in usability. The author suggests using a 3D interface is tiring but in the movie the police are required to parse through a large amount of 4-dimensional data in very short periods of time. This is because they need to stop the crime before it occurs. That interface is built around speed and control which is not something the critic considers.
I find it ironic how the author derides gestural input while Slashdot has stories almost every day about how great that interface has worked for the Wii.
This hack is kinda limited in functionality since it uses only the tilt data for input as opposed to the pointer functionality.
Although the site is hammered, someone has already supported this functionality in Linux as shown in this amazing demonstration.
The functionality in that video is so good I can easily see people buying a wiimote without having the wii (although they would have to create their own LED bar).
Voting third party in our election system IS effectively throwing your vote away. Suppose you prefer Democrat over Republican but your favorite candidate is Green. If you vote strategicly and vote Democrat then you hurt the Republican's chances which is good since that is your least favorite.
If you vote according to your preference you vote Green, even though Green has no chance of winning. This effectively helps the Republican candidate since his opponent gets fewer votes.
Essentially by voting according to your preference and not strategically you help your least favorite viable candidate get elected. Pretty messed up. Note that this is not a feature of all election systems as others such as Instant Runoff do more accurately capture the voter's preferences.
It is very easy for a propaganda article to quote an "anonymous Israeli source".
If Hezbollah actually had cracked Israeli radio codes why would they admit it? Isn't that just giving information to the other side?
The only purpose in saying this is to boost morale and cause doubt for the opposition. Neither of those requires actually breaking a code and Hezbollah is known for making boasts without anything to back it up.
Until their is actual evidence, or at least a quote from a non-anonymous Israeli military official, I don't see why I should believe this.
Just because it's on the internet, doesn't make it true.
If it were really so easy to destroy the world it would have happened long ago.
For example, there are as yet little-understood phenomena that can accelerate particles six orders of magnitude faster than anything achievable in a lab.
Try reading about Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
More specifically read the story of the Oh-My-God Particle. This was a proton detected in October of 1991 that had an energy of 3.2 * 10^20 eV. The equivalent energy of a baseball thrown at 55 mph... all in a single proton travelling at 99.99999999999999999999951% the speed of light!
While something travelling that fast has little probability of interacting with anything you could imagine the surprise if one of those hit you! I think that the fact we are alive with such powerful forces already at work in our universe means we have little to fear.
I've been trying to discern meaning out of the numbers for quite a while with no real help. Logically a chart for a controlled experiment should have a comparison between the control and experimental data. The chart though only has one set of numbers for ping and one for fps. I noticed that some of these numbers have minus so I suspect these are differentials.
Any clue then as to what the colors mean? I noticed that negative numbers appear in red and green but not blue. Im not sure what that means though.
1) No. First off, while at one point Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune and all 2D maps show the orbits crossing, in 3D the orbits do not intersect. Secondly Pluto is in a resonance with Neptune (I think 2:3), so any orbital deviations will be "corrected" by Neptune resulting in a stable solution for billions of years.
Eventually they will lose enough energy through gravitation radiation to start migrating inward towards the sun's dead corpse but who knows what the solar system will look like by then.
2) Pretty cool. Probably cooler than the Shoemaker-Levy impact on Jupiter (and that was very impressive).
3) No... Pluto is basically the size of China and Neptune is considerably bigger. Neptune will come out of it not significantly changed.
4) Colliding worlds might have been relatively common in the early system. You might be interested to know that the most popular current theory of the origin of the moon involves a trojan mars-sized planet striking an early earth with the debris collecting into the moon. This is called the Giant impact hypothesis.
If they are getting this free energy they should use the device to power a particle accelerator. With all of the relativistic collisions plenty of particles will be created and as the mass accretes eventually it will have to collapse through gravitation into a black hole.
Heck they could use the mass to create duplicates of the device automatically and fill the universe with black holes asymptoticly at the speed of light, piece of cake.
I mean I doubt there is anything to stop them from driving the universe towards infinite density.
Does anyone else think that these terrorists' true purpose is not to kill the passengers on a few planes but to inconvenience travellers for years to come? Blowing up a plane is a one-time deal but scaring people into not taking drinks onto planes, making people take off their shoes before boarding, checking their ipods in with their luggage, these annoyances are going to be with us for decades to come! Why terrorize when irritating is so much easier?
Slashdot Mirror
From the article it sounds like this hack is very similar to the XBox360 DVD firmware hack in that it tricks the system into thinking the disc is a different type than it really is (pressed as opposed to DVD-R). However, the executables are still signed and the only thing this enables is "back ups" aka piracy.
This strategy will not enable custom user applications which is what a lot of us really want. However, this is definitely a step in the right direction. Even though the executables are signed, it is likely that the data on DVDs is unencrypted. Maybe by modifying this data a more effective exploit can be found?
If an interface is drag and boring I actually find it more tiring to use.
OSX's interface has a lot of eye candy that makes it appear more "friendly" encouraging the user the explore more of the interface.
The point I was trying to make was that if UIs in the movies looked like his web site it would be a disservice to the audience.
Does anyone else question why we are taking user interface advice from a guy whose website looks like it was designed in notepad? The Minority Report user interface was actually designed by industry professionals at Microsoft Research, MIT, and Sun. These people all have a great pedigree in usability. The author suggests using a 3D interface is tiring but in the movie the police are required to parse through a large amount of 4-dimensional data in very short periods of time. This is because they need to stop the crime before it occurs. That interface is built around speed and control which is not something the critic considers. I find it ironic how the author derides gestural input while Slashdot has stories almost every day about how great that interface has worked for the Wii.
This hack is kinda limited in functionality since it uses only the tilt data for input as opposed to the pointer functionality. Although the site is hammered, someone has already supported this functionality in Linux as shown in this amazing demonstration. The functionality in that video is so good I can easily see people buying a wiimote without having the wii (although they would have to create their own LED bar).
If you vote according to your preference you vote Green, even though Green has no chance of winning. This effectively helps the Republican candidate since his opponent gets fewer votes.
Essentially by voting according to your preference and not strategically you help your least favorite viable candidate get elected. Pretty messed up. Note that this is not a feature of all election systems as others such as Instant Runoff do more accurately capture the voter's preferences.
You're right! We should have seen the photos of him Trick-or-Treating weeks ago.
Also doesnt the fact that this 'study' is just some blog post give pause to the editors?
How about the fact that the "editor's pick" is a random bt site that noone has ever heard of.
1. Make website btjunkie.com
2. Write blog 'comparing' it to other bt sites.
3. ???
4. Profit!
If Hezbollah actually had cracked Israeli radio codes why would they admit it? Isn't that just giving information to the other side?
The only purpose in saying this is to boost morale and cause doubt for the opposition. Neither of those requires actually breaking a code and Hezbollah is known for making boasts without anything to back it up.
Until their is actual evidence, or at least a quote from a non-anonymous Israeli military official, I don't see why I should believe this.
Just because it's on the internet, doesn't make it true.
Kirk used a bulk handheld receiver, the button style communicators weren't around until TNG times.
For example, there are as yet little-understood phenomena that can accelerate particles six orders of magnitude faster than anything achievable in a lab. Try reading about Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
More specifically read the story of the Oh-My-God Particle. This was a proton detected in October of 1991 that had an energy of 3.2 * 10^20 eV. The equivalent energy of a baseball thrown at 55 mph... all in a single proton travelling at 99.99999999999999999999951% the speed of light!
While something travelling that fast has little probability of interacting with anything you could imagine the surprise if one of those hit you! I think that the fact we are alive with such powerful forces already at work in our universe means we have little to fear.
I've been trying to discern meaning out of the numbers for quite a while with no real help. Logically a chart for a controlled experiment should have a comparison between the control and experimental data. The chart though only has one set of numbers for ping and one for fps. I noticed that some of these numbers have minus so I suspect these are differentials. Any clue then as to what the colors mean? I noticed that negative numbers appear in red and green but not blue. Im not sure what that means though.
2) Pretty cool. Probably cooler than the Shoemaker-Levy impact on Jupiter (and that was very impressive).
3) No... Pluto is basically the size of China and Neptune is considerably bigger. Neptune will come out of it not significantly changed.
4) Colliding worlds might have been relatively common in the early system. You might be interested to know that the most popular current theory of the origin of the moon involves a trojan mars-sized planet striking an early earth with the debris collecting into the moon. This is called the Giant impact hypothesis.
If they are getting this free energy they should use the device to power a particle accelerator. With all of the relativistic collisions plenty of particles will be created and as the mass accretes eventually it will have to collapse through gravitation into a black hole. Heck they could use the mass to create duplicates of the device automatically and fill the universe with black holes asymptoticly at the speed of light, piece of cake. I mean I doubt there is anything to stop them from driving the universe towards infinite density.
Does anyone else think that these terrorists' true purpose is not to kill the passengers on a few planes but to inconvenience travellers for years to come? Blowing up a plane is a one-time deal but scaring people into not taking drinks onto planes, making people take off their shoes before boarding, checking their ipods in with their luggage, these annoyances are going to be with us for decades to come! Why terrorize when irritating is so much easier?