Posts by Paul Crawford
1000 posts • joined Thursday 15th March 2007 16:58 GMT
Posted in Opera: Can someone free Korea from IE?
Oh really?
You really think that IE + ActiveX, that fabulous method of virus propagation and OS tie-in, has helped in some way?
You don't think it has anything more to do with the nation actually making a lot of successful products and building national infrastructure to suit? And do said plug-ins work with a sensibly secured Win7 box as well, or do you have to weaken you security settings (and allowing users to say 'yes' to any web-initiated plugin counts here) to allow them to run?
Web standards should be the norm, and OS-specific or browser-specific web sites forced out of use.
Indeed he would.
He mistakes success with quality, "the best compute architecture" is not true, but the legacy of Windows and its applications being x86-only (to all intents and purposes) pushed the x86 to be the dominant architecture with economies of scale following its mind-boggling investment over the past couple of decades.
But what Apple have shown with the iPad (for all its non-tech features) is you can achieve a great deal with ARM in terms of a usable product with very good battery life, much more than any current x86 model could, and people like it.
Most importantly is the fact it is not Windows but still accepted, showing that most folk don't actually care what OS it uses. The lack of a real need for AV that Windows suffers from avoids that power/resource hog as well.
Will the tablet be the item that finally puts serious cracks in the 'wintel' model, at least in consumer product space?
Other way round?
"an engineer for example may have a main Windows PC but have some custom applications that run on Linux"
Far more likely to run Linux as the host OS and have the odd Windows-specific application in a VM. Also the use of VM technology along with capricious HDD allows you to have a number of simple Windows VMs, each with a minor selection of applications (and no AV in most cases to screw things up!) and less problems of conflicts.
No sh*t Sherlock
"protection methodologies and best practices will have to be reassessed"
Start by firing all of the muppets who were responsible for the lamentable security of the Siemens system perhaps (remember the 'un-changeable passwords')?
Then make insurance of said devices mandatory, and allow the financial penalties of using Windows with its impressive history of exploitation become a financial factor in deciding what OS(s) to use.
Now please note that I have said before, and will repeat again it for hard of thinking, there is no perfect OS from a security point of view, and if said muppets can be persuaded to install something with more holes than Swiss cheese you are facing game over irrespective of the OS choice.
But really, given Windows' legacy of exploits, and the established expertise in black-hat circles for penetrating it from all manner of orifices, only Paris would think it a smart move for critical infrastructure.
Specifications?
All very nice, but the "speed class 4" info in the article's link has no information about the speed at all! Just how fast is "Full HD video recording" and on what standard?
Horrible position
You are right in the technical sense, given the recent figures for win32 versus *nix malware (> 99.9% for Windows), but the problem is those behind the PC.
They struggle to use windows as supplied with their PC, are generally clueless about what actually can/needs to be done to secure it, and in a lot of cases simply don't care! Installing a patch is way too much for most, let along booting a new OS. Add to this a whole new system of warning and you get the perfect opportunity for scamming them (and others who are free of infection, but gullible).
As already said, WTF is messing with web responses doing here? BT already screwed over its business customers with this trick to promote a help service, much the the irritation of their customers (broken backup systems, failed customer presentations, etc) and you really have to ask why and how they are able to intercept and modify in this way. Privacy anyone?
Why not include a letter with the paper bill telling folk if traffic is suspicious? And a good explanation of what they look at, and record, and why...
Posted in iPhone apps put user privacy at risk
Routed?
I believe the MAC address is not routed, so only your ISP's modem has your home router's MAC (maybe reported), and only it has your PC's MAC.
@Old Lasers
I have a 12 year old LaserJet 6MP that just keeps going. Expensive when new (£600 I think) but I can't complain about the value for money over its life! Getting one cheap and adding a parallel port card (as needed) to your PC is a worthwhile thing to consider.
Also I got an OKI C3600 colour laser for my sister as it is networked and supports postscript and that "just works" with Linux, so quite happy with that.
Cost per page?
Don't forget that for occasional users the ink jet types tend to dry up, so you can waste a lot of expensive ink cartridges just cleaning the printer's nozzles. Laser printers just sit there and fire up months later as if nothing has happened.
Also for some applications the lack of smudging with damp fingers is a key advantage (e.g. forms and maps used out doors or in a garage, etc).
Posted in Opera shrugs off Google Native Client
ActiveX problems?
Is this 'native code' a bit like ActiveX, but not quite so MS-specific?
You know, non-portable code with a whole load of OS-level hooks to "do stuff efficiently" that ends up a security nightmare and alienates users of certain OS/CPU/etc?
I had hoped to see the end of that sort of thing on the web.
@Who cares if open means open anymore
Sadly you are probably right :(
However, I still try to educate friends (and anyone who will listen) about the implications of their choices in terms of who "owns" their digital future, and why data sovereignty and open standards will eventually matter to them both for the freedom to choose, and the resulting costs.
Outsourced? Tested?
The most obvious thing to wonder about is the details of who and how the out sourced system is managed, do they have sufficient calibre of staff?
But more fundamentally, from our experience, is did anyone actually test/simulate hardware failures on the system before deployment to find out (a) if the system properly detected/handled the errors properly, and (b) to verify the procedure to recover the system both exist and actually work.
The fact a vendor tells you they are fault-tolerant, can fail-over to a backup/cluster member, blah-blah-blah, counts for SFA - test each step yourself!
@Fraser
While it is true that no OS is free of bugs and potential exploits, Windows has been such a basket case it beggars belief that you would use it for a safety critical role! In fact, I think MS specifically exclude its use in potentially dangerous applications.
Yes, there is a lot you can do to harden windows, such as firewalling it off to the point it can't auto-update, locking down all USB ports, etc. But you must ask why it is needed, rather than being safe by default, for an industrial application.
Then we get on to the other major issue here: the monkeys in charge at Siemens had HARD_CODED PASSWORDS that you could not change (or more precisely, would brake it if you did). That is just so WTF it also beggars belief.
Realy security comes from very tight restrictions on access, but it also helps to start with something that has a good history few exploits and well-structured modular separation of code. Basically most things OTHER than Windows.
@Mark 65
"...but general staff should be able to use the OS. Logon, find app, do shit. It has a start menu, a programs section, pinned items and an ability to search for an application. All but one of those are in XP. You'd have to be a bit thick to not be able to make the switch as an end-user as the same old apps will be there."
I take it you have not had to deal with a lot of end users then?
Tech folk will adapt quite easily, but sadly a lot of others get stuck if an icon has moved across the desktop!
Any change for a medium-big company needs a lot of thought, planning, and training to work happily. Going from XP to 7 is one of them, you could more or less change to Ubuntu as easily (assuming all business tasks could be solved with Linux equivalents and/or an XM VM) but most folk would realise that is not trivial.
It is not just the droids who can't/won't apply some initiative to find and solve minor problems, it is also all of the other issues of compatibility (user management, networks, applications and data) that need thorough testing before roll-out.
Yes, you have to move from XP eventually, but why rush if there is no compelling reason for your business? And when it comes, why assume Windows must be your next move? Maybe it will be, but analyse all you actually *need* to do, and consider the bigger picture of license costs, long term data/application sovereignty, system security and user training first. You just might find Apple or Linux are a better bet overall...
@Repulsion?
That could be a factor as well. However, I would like to put my name down to study the "embulgen" factor for American female students in more detail. Please? Pretty please?
@IE9 ? Win7 ?
"And if your major big business is XP + IE6 with no plans to upgrade ?"
Then slap linux on the PCs, and run XP in a VM with IE6. You can firewall it so it only connects to your corporate Intranet IP range, forcing users to use modern/safer browsers on the host OS to access the wild web of wibbles.
@Nanny state
It is actually quite good, and not the chilled horse-piss one expects of a weak (in alcohol terms) beer.
The Tactical Nuclear Penguin is also good, but in a 'dont drink too much' sort of way, slightly fizzy (due to the freezing process removing CO2) and a strong but not too sweet flavour.
The Brew Dog promotion videos for TNP and Sink The Bismark are well worth watching!
@Ku...
I personally see little point in a Windows 7 phone, but then I don't have a MS-based back-end to interface a significant number of corporate users to. Realistically, that is the big (maybe only?) market MS can go for with any confidence and that, as you say, will be the decision making factor for a lot of big customers.
Tux - just because I like him/her.
Posted in 15in Notebooks: Best Buys
No windows please
For penguin aficionados out there you should add Novatech to the short list being considered, as they do a 15.6" AMD based laptop with 2GB RAM, Radeon X1200 mobile graphics, and best of all, without any OS for around £280.
Its not great in battery life (but comparable to the times shown here) or very fast, and it is rather plasticy, but excellent value for money if you don't want/need Windows.
@No flames here
"Starting flame wars and acting like geeks isn't going to help."
Everyone who reads these boards is a geek, more or less by definition: We care about the details of computers and argue over the finer points because, to us, it matters. The majority of the world does not care or understand, which is why they consider us geeks for doing so.
"As IT professionals we ought to note that and realise that we have to work harder/better to provide services that protect them from their own naivety."
How?
Do we let the woeful inadequacies of the average PC go uncommented? Either way, no one listens as they typically don't care (until bitten), don't have the extra money for Apple-based alternatives, or the geekiness needed for the Linux alternatives.
We could sell AV snake oil, but we all know here that is pretty useless against 0-day vulnerabilities and social engineering. Of course it helps a bit, but it is a plaster over a gunshot wound.
We could push for mandatory training and certification to be allowed PC access, but that sort of fascism wont cut it politically or economically. We could hope that schools and businesses would train people correctly so this was unnecessary, but we know the majority don't and realistically won't.
Maybe we could push for TV news programs to cover scams in a bit more detail so most PC users will see it, think and learn, as they won't be watching any geeky 'technical' TV programs that do help.
In the grand scheme of things, all that virtually anyone reading these comment boards can *actually do* is help a couple of family/friends (if they will listen) and, in a professional capacity, lock down and protect the system(s) under our control as best we can.
If anyone has a genuinely better suggestions I welcome them.
Convenient stick
Yes, well the USA and companies like MS (via FACT and similar groups, or pressure via the WTO in Russia's case) always push for "tough IP laws" and have truly become the 'useful idiot' here.
I had thought of suggesting free software using my Linux-tard hat, but the reality here is the authorities don't care and would just find another option to intimidate them.
@all web sites affected?
I don't know, but given that the whole *purpose* of the company concerned was to identify individuals based on the IP address, then ruling that IP addresses can be considered personal data is reasonable.
But as already pointed out, in most cases all it identifies is the home NAT router, not which machines are behind it (wired or wifi), and more importantly, not who is actually using them.
That was one of the rather nasty aspects of the recent "Digital Economy Act" and elsewhere, to make the subscriber liable for abuse of their internet connection. Something that may initially appear to be reasonable, but one that on closer inspection is not. For example, who is responsible for:
(1) OS holes and similar that lead to a machine becoming a botnet, and abusing the connection?
(2) AV software that fails to identify malware leading to (1)?
(3) Security protocol flaws that lead to ease of abuse of wifi (e.g. original WEP), who then pays for replacing otherwise good equipment that can no longer be considered "secure"?
(4) Actions of children. After all, if the parents of child killers don't face gaol for their child's actions, why should they for something as trivial as copyright infringement?
@So Windows not so bad then?
You have a valid point there, but then again, I guess you don't get called out to clear up the mess very often?
Hmm, and now for the icon choice...well, this is going to be a great flame war, so I might as well help stir it?
Tux!
Posted in Best Buys: Budget DSLR Cameras
AA = good
Yes, I know a lot of folk say they want smaller batteries and/or bigger capacity, but I greatly miss the use of the AA cells for things. For example, my flash gun takes AA, my (old) GPS takes AA, and would much rather my Nikon camera took them as well.
Who really wants to take half a dozen different chargers on a trip? And why can't they get together and have a single charging system, ideally taking a laptop into account as well.
Jacket with big pockets for all those damn chargers & spare batteries :(
Posted in HP Pavilion dv6-3085ea 15.6in notebook
Expensive toy?
Must say its a lot of money for a laptop that seems to have no *useful* advantage over the competition. Fingerprint reader on a home laptop, in particular when it seems so easy to bypass? WTF? At that price point, going for Apple to avoid Joe Average's typical issues with Windows' security makes sense.
Just got myself a Novatech Xplora E16 which offers a decent 15.6" screen, and NO OPERATING SYSTEM as choice, for about a tenner over 1/3 of the HP's cost!
OK, the AMD dual core CPU is not fantastically powerful, and battery life is distinctly average, but if you want a good screen size and plan of using Linux, it is a great choice!
Tux, as my new laptop loves him/her.
Posted in Dell Streak causes user fury
@Sorta
Hmm, "corporate machine" and "I'm a software developer" suggests to me you are not likely to install all sorts of crap from the internet just because you can, and I doubt very much if you are fooled by the fake AV / "scan you system" type scams that pop up. Could be a factor here?
I also don't know quite how the drivers come about, I guess some Windows ones are MS-created for generic products (e.g. USB mass storage) while others will need hardware-specific inputs. Maybe the problems with manufacturer supplied ones on CD is they are old, and MS is shipping / updating with ones that have been fixed?
I too would like a simple life, but have moved to Linux as I found the hassle of me setting things up initially was much less than the on-going battle to keep them up and running with Windows and certain family members. YMMV.
Cheers! Still, this is all very off-topic from Dell's failings!
Posted in Dell Streak causes user fury
@Off Topic
"No it doesn't. MS Product design means you can install the OS in a manner that means you will likely have to reinstall periodically"
Which agrees with my observation: a poorly designed OS that has lead to poorly designed applications being created that cause Joe Average's box to get slower and sicker with time.
For example, a lot of products have background updaters that soak up resources (and still often don't work - Adobe are you listening?), then there is the need for AV in most cases due to such a range of factors in the OS design (e.g. no 'execute' permission in common use), etc.
"If you want something complex done, you don't just let any monkey do it, you find someone who actually knows what they are doing."
Very, very true! Windows need not become crap, but unfortunately in the hands of the average user (and their family) that is just what happens.
Worse than that...
..is that they wanted to invade our privacy, by proxy (any one wonder why BT/Phorm were not prosecuted under existing laws?) and by the infamous NIR part of the ID card/passport scheme they backed.
When a politician complains about their own privacy, I have little sympathy as they tried to cover up the expenses scandal by attempting to get parliament to exclude the FOIA from their business, while it applies to myself and millions of others in a whole range of public-funded work.
Yes, privacy matters, but when it comes to laws for it I trust politicians as far as I can comfortably spit out a rat.
Posted in Dell Streak causes user fury
I agree - report is trolling
Has anyone managed an error-free upgrade of, say, Windows XP to Vista with everything 'just working' afterwards?
Hell, MS product design often demands you periodically re-install the OS just to keep the same thing working in an acceptable manner!
Yes, Dell have screwed up by not testing properly before releasing an upgrade, and there may be issues with app development that is not designed up follow a common practice for supporting OS upgrades, but to say MS do it well is simply not true.
As for hardware support, in general MS don't do that either, it is only lots of hard work by the manufacturers with a vested interest in selling to the market's dominant OS that achieves any sort of coverage.
@Will they ever learn
Do they care? They never will displace windows, but I would be chuffed to see them reach 20% (with Apple & MS battling out the remaining 80% vaguely equally).
My reasons for not wanting it come down to the rot that comes with being #1 by a big margin, not just the legacy Windows carp, but the underlying problem of not innovating and becoming hackers #1 target. So while Linus is small enough to skip the bad guy's attention, but big enough to get decent hardware support, I am happy :)
I would dearly like MS to pay fair and make the Windows API sufficiently transparent, and their products well designed, that Wine (or similar) would allow my to *buy* Office and have it safe on Linux, but I don;t see it happening.
So for now I will use OpenOffice as it is "good enough" and runs natively on Linux. MS, if you are listening, here is a Linux user who is not a complete freetard, and will pay for *good* software that does not piss me off with malware features (unwanted toolbars, etc).
I don't agree with all of Ubuntu's moves, some things are backward/dumb, but overall they deserve support for making Linux a bit friendlier to Joe/Jane public, and providing competition to MS that is not in Apple's price range (or restriction policy).
Nope, he got it right
You seem to have missed the point that this is not about such data/actions being available, but about the systematic and organised use of it without a warrant in a manner that in the past would have demanded one, and in most cases the public should expect so.
If you film someone in public, that is no big deal unless you then post it on-line, or are doing so as part of a deliberate process of targeting an individual (or group).
Similarly with phones, the fact you are carrying a 'tracking device' that is a by product of wanting to have emergency phone access or business access is NOT an excuse for the tracking data to be made freely available.
Any yes, the police often do have legitimate reasons for access. All the judge is saying as far as I can tell is that the process of accessing such private data should be done with judicial oversight, and not as a trawling process that world+dog can do.
Crash?
No, more likely they had problems with their Newtonian reaction drive (aka 'rocket') and decided to take of using warp drive, making a bit of a mess of the planet's surface...
For f*ks sake!
These are cartoons, a picture version of a fairy story, etc. The original Brothers Grimm stories had terrible things that, if turned in to a film, would be unlikely to pass an 18 rating!
And funnily enough, children found them OK and life went on...
Today, with so little of real note to worry about in life as we have food, shelter and good medical care, there is a need for a terrible bogeymen to distract the public from the real threats and politician's impotence to deal with them (e.g. pathetic balance of trade with China, pension timebomb ticking away, fuel costs rising and going to rise MUCH more in the coming decades, etc) so they need things to distract us, and to allow them to be "tough on crime" even if there is none committed. Hence the extreme porn laws, criminalisation of cartoons, jokes, etc.
If you don't like this, just ignore it. As already pointed out, there are a LOT of things people do that do not lead to crime. Is drawing a dick on a Bart Simpson cartoon really the sign of a budding paedophile?
No, it is utter rubbish and those who press for such law have nothing to back up the claims, other then their own sense of moral outrage and their impotence (a deliberate choice of word) at fixing the bigger problems facing society.
Beer icon, as there is little else to do when faced with this western fundamentalism than drink yourself stupid.
How they have fallen
We have some old monochrome Lexmark laser printers, long lasting, good cost per page. But now, they are crap! A friend of mine got one of their ink jets as part of a PC deal, and it was cheaper to buy an Epson replacement printer than two new cartridges!
Advice for anyone: Never buy a printer without good 3rd party supplies, even if you intend sticking to the original (and often best) product. If they litigate (like Lexmark) then dump them! Otherwise you are just lining up with the lube ready...
Oh dear!
I doubt I am the first commentard to point and laugh, but sadly this is all so predictable. While the fault is not directly due to MS in most cases, they share a lot of the blame for the architecture and generally lax security approach.
I run a w2k PC occasionally which, of course, is no longer supported but at least I have always blocked all but essential out-going ports (e.g. DNS, http/https, NTP) at my router, so it is not such a worry. But it is something to ponder upon, a long standing vulnerability that is not ever going to be fixed, as for the link parsing one uncovered recently. For XP it is the case that without SP3, no support. No doubt to the wailing and gnashing of some companies' IT folk's teeth.
Tux, since if it matters, I could (or pay someone more competent) to back-port any necessary open source fixes.
Posted in Intel swallows McAfee: Why?
Some thoughts
While the reasons given kind of makes sense, they do so only in a world of really crap software. Yes, we all know that is the common place, and one has to wonder why we have the approach of throwing lots of resources at the symptoms, and not dealing with the causes in the same manner.
Surly spending $7 billion on a OS-agnostic compiler with built in checking and blocking of the majority of security blunders would be a good idea?
As for cloud security, my worry is not with viruses, etc, but with (a) the management of the supplier, both in terms of accidental disclosure and in terms of it being subject to foreign law (e.g. the USA's un-PATRIOT act) and (b) with the ease in the future of migrating my established multi-TB data sets and services painlessly to a better (or just less suck-y) supplier.
Given the demands for the small, possibly battery and/or solar powered, embedded network connected devices, using a big CPU x86-style and all sorts of security hardware looks like a bad idea, compared to simple safe software and an ARM processor.
@Glass
In some countries they do recycle the *bottle* by cleaning out and refilling it, that is a major energy saving effect! Recycling the martial less so, but it is (as you say) still useful and worth doing.
@Craziness?
Remember the UK is unusual in having wall sockets with a switch. If this is a USA report, then unplugging is probably the only way to stop the power.
However, stopping the AC supply is usually a good idea - lots of older devices are really crap in terms of 'standby' power (10W or more!), and of course there is a *small* improvement in product life and/or reduction in fire hazards from doing so.
But the tone of the article is questionable, yes there is a lot of ignorance, but that is not an excuse for not doing things, it is a reason for educating folk about what they are using and why!
Posted in DARPA funds Mr Spock on a Chip
Neural network anyone?
From this article it sounds a lot like the sort of semi-analogue implementation of neural network blocks, with weighted inputs making the decisions for subsequent steps, and one 'neuron' in effect replacing a whole lot of multiply/accumulates and the simple end threshold step. Anyone know more?
@What needs to be done
Generally you make a number of valid points, but the issue of "making Linux easier" is one that is more complicated than you seem to be suggestion.
Yes, I am in favour of better GUI management tools that do what they should, and things that just work out of the box, but what I *do not* want to see is the MS approaches of:
1) Turn everything on by default to save people having to configure what they actually need.
Result = hackers & port-scanner's paradise. Most folk don't need a whole range of things, and not having unnecessary stuff enabled is always a good security point.
2) Make things. happen automatically with little or no questioning. (Result = you get rooted by a CD, USB stick, etc with malware).
Yes it may sound arrogant, but anyone who can't learn the basic steps to run something should NOT be running anything they find on external media or downloads! That is why you have 'administrators' who can install stuff and 'users' who can't. Few in any family are suitable for the 1st case.
3) Tell me what I can and cannot do, and keep resetting things to what I DID NOT WANT.
This just pi**es me off big time. It is my PC, and if I want to do something as administrator it should bloody well do it. Maybe warn me, and yes please have a 'reset to defaults' option to save me from my own stupidity, but it is still my PC and my right to do as I please.
Tux, cause I like him/her (how do you tell with a penguin?)
Was familiar, and becoming irrelevant
I agree, when I got XP at work the first thing I did was to put it in the old w2k mode, and was still irritated by the largely pointless changes in where things were. I believe win 7 is worse. When it came to adopting Ubuntu, the same irritation was there to begin with, but at least it is now *my* OS to do as I please with.
To be honest, I could see little benefit in XP from w2k other then ongoing support and newer software compatibility. In fact, the only definite advantage to me of w2k over NT4 was USB support. Where is MS "adding value" to justify buying their new OS?
And while I am happy to enter endless and probably very dull debates on the merits (or otherwise) of Windows, Linux and Macs, the point already made in this comments section is that for most people it DOSE NOT MATTER. Yes, getting their PC infested is something to complain about, but for 80% of folk they just want web mail and Facebook, and browsing for pr0n.
What OS is *needed* for that? Any will do. For the rest of us, we have something that we need/prefer that is OS-specific (e.g. CAD software, video editing, development tools, etc) so we end up with a specific machine or VM solution.
Sadly the only reason that MS is still doing so well is the lock-in they have with PC suppliers and big business dating from the time they were the only viable desktop operating system. I think times will get harder for MS as the likes of Google's Android & ChromeOS, the Apple iPad, and geek friends with Linux, etc, show the mass of people that windows is not necessary, and there are choices that are neater, maybe cheaper, and less hard work to maintain.
Posted in Brian Blessed lends his tongue to TomTom
Other suggestions?
What about Joanna Lumley?
Or the voice of the M&S "food porn" adverts?
Santa?
Maybe he will no longer come but once a year?
Posted in UAE to cut off BlackBerry users
Trawling I guess
I can't imagine RIM ignoring a UAE court order, so this must be about unwarranted trawling by the gov. Sadly, I guess most others are doing the same, but just not so clearly on secure servers.
RIM would be dumb to give in though, as the security of the service against simple interception is one of its corporate selling points. Better to publicly give up UAE and keep the rest of business & civil service user happy(er).
As for my own suggestion
Better still, with a XP VM for IE6 use you can have it firewalled to only talk to the local IP range, so the gov numpties (of which there are obviously a lot to consider here) can't use IE6 for outside access, so they are forced to use a modern and better secured browser for the web.
The can only IE6 for decrepit internal systems that were badly planned/designed/tested early on when people believed MS' view that IE6 was the only browser you would ever need.
About time
"All deny any wrongdoing" they say, in which case they have nothing to fear from a trial, all over and done with swiftly and no problems then?
Trying to wriggle out on a centuries old law that was never intended to cover fiddling one's expenses seems to suggest they have lots to hide.
Worries?
I think as long as you have paid they don't care much about you keeping an image on your own NAS, after all there is little chance of you renting a film twice. Hell, even for the dozens of DVDs I have bought only a few end up being watched more than once and they are just sitting there!
Yes, the movie companies will bemoan your civilisation destroying act and demand you are locked up without trial (or preferable a nice Stalin-style show trial), but in the real world of IP for sale getting bums on seats, or paid rental with/without a copy being made for private use is far, far, FAR better than nothing at all.
Posted in Google sets Android on pirates
But "good enough"?
I think you may have missed the point here, much like a lot of folk, and it comes down to finding a balance that (a) keeps enough income for you, the developer, and (b) avoids pissing the legitimate customer off.
If you keep say 80% of users paying a quid or two for their apps, and no one really has trouble, then you could sell millions and you have won financially.
If, on the other hand you piss off your users but enforce 99.9% pay rates then you could end up getting a few quid from just a couple of thousand. FAIL.
Sadly a lot of companies fall in to the 2nd category because the believe their IP is so damn precious they can't allow anyone to bypass the increasingly complex, expensive, and inconvenient systems. Which often don't work for long as there need only be one hacker that is brighter, luckier, and/or more resourceful then them.
Find the right balance and you will be rewarded, maybe Android will have it? Devil in the detail though.
Posted in HP MediaSmart Server EX490
A NAS that needs AV?
So what we have is a tarted up windows box basically? So things like AV are necessary?
I use a Thecus N5200 and its fine, works with various OS since it has a web page for configuration, you can do a RAID expand (if you started with less HDD than the 5 it holds), and you get iSCSI if you want (though to be honest there are few things that a home users will do that needs that).
I can see the HP being of interest for home use due to the media stuff, but for a business just say no...
Who guards...
"Patented software that guarantees defect free behavior in software"
Firstly, maths is not patentable, at least not in civilised countries, and all formal logic is based on that.
Secondly, can this tool verify itself? Even if you have no errors in the formal specification for the system (and that is a BIG if), how can you be sure its code generation is without flaws? Had it also formally verified the compilers and libraries used to build the end applications from its auto-generated code?
And as others have already pointed out, can it in turn verify the CPU logic (even as VHDL or similar code) it will run on? Oh, and the VHDL compiler...
Remember the early Pentium's FPU bug?
Yes we need engineering and matching tools, but we also need to have projects that are of manageable complexity and where thorough testing is employed. No matter how much someone tells me a simulation works, I will not accept it until it has been demonstrated in hardware under both normal cases, and under out-of-specification cases, to see what really happens.
