Book review : You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto
You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto is a 2010 book by Jaron Lanier. Lanier argues that Web 2.0 doesn’t interactivity, customization, and participation. According to the author, the unfettered–and anonymous–ability to comment results in cynical mob behavior, the shouting-down of reasoned argument, and the devaluation of individual accomplishment. Lanier traces the roots of today’s Web 2.0 philosophies and architectures (e.g. he posits that Web anonymity is the result of ’60s paranoia), persuasively documents their shortcomings, and provides alternate paths to “locked-in” paradigms. Though its strongly-stated opinions run against the bias of popular assumptions, You Are Not a Gadget is a manifesto, not a screed; Lanier seeks a useful, respectful dialogue about how we can shape technology to fit culture’s needs, rather than the way technology currently shapes us.
Lanieralso argues that the problem is not inherent in the Internet or the Web. Deterioration only began around the turn of the century with the rise of so-called “Web 2.0” designs. These designs valued the information content of the web over individuals. It became fashionable to aggregate the expressions of people into dehumanized data. There are so many things wrong with this that it takes a whole book to summarize them. Here’s just one problem: It screws the middle class. Only the aggregator (like Google, for instance) gets rich, while the actual producers of content get poor. This is why newspapers are dying. It might sound like it is only a problem for creative people, like musicians or writers, but eventually it will be a problem for everyone. When robots can repair roads someday, will people have jobs programming those robots, or will the human programmers be so aggregated that they essentially work for free, like today’s recording musicians? Web 2.0 is a formula to kill the middle class and undo centuries of social progress.
Java 4-Ever trailer
I mostly work with Microsoft technologies but this is quite funny 🙂
What is Cloud Gaming?
Cloud gaming, also called gaming on demand, is a type of online gaming that allows direct and on-demand streaming of games onto a computer through the use of a thin client, in which the actual game is stored on the game company’s server and is streamed directly to computers accessing the server through the client. This allows access to games without the need of a console and largely makes the capability of the user’s computer unimportant, as the server is the system that is running the processing needs. The controls and button presses from the user are transmitted directly to the server, where they are recorded, and the server then sends back the game’s response to the input controls. This process works swiftly, with “less than a millisecond of lag, allowing for an almost seamless gaming experience.” Furthermore, a low-level internet connection will also work with the server connection, with only a “DSL connection of 1.5 mbps” needed for a standard-definition television.
Oracle SQL*Loader
SQL*Loader is a bulk loader utility used for moving data from external files into the Oracle Database and it comes with planty of formating and loading options.
You can use SQL*Loader by executing the sqlldr utility (sqlload on some platforms).
The format required is :
sqlldr username@server/password control=loader.ctl
Invoking sqlldr without any parameters displays a short help screen.
The loader.ctl is a control file that must be created before starting sqlldr.
Here is a sample loader.ctl file
OPTIONS (SKIP=1)
load data
infile ‘mydata.csv’
TRUNCATE INTO table MY_DATA
fields terminated by ‘;’ optionally enclosed by ‘”‘
TRAILING NULLCOLS
(dummy1 FILLER,
PLDAMRN “trim(:PLDAMRN)”,
ARTIKEL “trim(:ARTIKEL)”,
dummy2 FILLER,
KANTOOR “trim(:KANTOOR)”,
NCTSKANTOOR “trim(:NCTSKANTOOR)”,
BRUTO “replace(:BRUTO,’,’,’.’)”,
NETTO “replace(:NETTO,’,’,’.’)”,
COLLI,
TYPE “trim(:TYPE)”,
NCTSMRN “trim(:NCTSMRN)”,
NCTSLOCATIE “trim(:NCTSLOCATIE)”,
NAAM “trim(:NAAM)”,
POST “trim(:POST)”,
STAD “trim(:STAD)”,
CONTACT “trim(:CONTACT)”,
SID “AUT_CO_SID_SEQ.NEXTVAL”)
The loader will load the comma-separated values file mydata.csv into table MY_DATA.
The comma-separated values file can be created using Excel.
In the example the table MY_DATA will first be truncated and then loaded with the new data.
If you are interested in learning more on SQL*Loader, here is Oracles’s online documentation http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14215/part_ldr.htm
Oracle SQL*Loader: The Definitive Guide
Sweden is most ICT-wired country
Sweden and Singapore are the most competitive countries in the digital economy, according to a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Nordic and Asian economies are best at using information and communications technologies (ICT) to boost their growth, the WEF said.
Finland is in third place, Switzerland fourth and the United States fifth.
The WEF said ICT was “a key enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world”.
Innovation
It said the use of information communications technology was especially important “in the aftermath of one of the most serious economic crises in decades”.
The WEF report focuses on the power of ICT to transform society in the next decade through modernisation and innovation.
Other highly-placed Nordic countries include Denmark in seventh spot and Norway in ninth place, with Iceland ranked in 16th position.
Meanwhile, led by Singapore in second place, the other Asian Tiger economies highly placed are Taiwan and South Korea in sixth and tenth position respectively, and Hong Kong following closely in 12th.
Canada completes the top 10 in eighth position.
The report, which covers 138 economies, looks at three areas.
They are the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholder sectors – individuals, businesses and governments – to use and benefit from ICT; and the actual usage of available ICT.
MySQL.com compromised via blind SQL injection (!)
MySQL.com (the official site for the MySQL database) was compromised via (shocking!) blind SQL injection. A post sent today to the full disclosure list explaining the issue and dumping part of their internal database structure.
Vulnerable Target : http://mysql.com/customers/view/index.html?id=1170
Host IP : 213.136.52.29
Web Server : Apache/2.2.15 (Fedora)
Powered-by : PHP/5.2.13
Injection Type : MySQL Blind
Current DB : web
It seems their customer view application was used as the entry point. This is where the attackers were able to list the internal databases, tables and password dump. If you have an account on MySQL.com, we recommend changing your passwords ASAP (especially if you like to reuse them across multiple sites).
What is worse is that they also posted the password dump online and some people started to crack it already. Some of the findings are pretty bad, like the password used by MySQL’s Director of Product Management, it is only 4 numbers long. Multiple admin passwords for blogs.mysql.com were also posted.
The folks at MySQL have yet to say anything about this attack, but we will post more details as we learn more about it.
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Amazon’s profits are small publishers’ losses
Each time Linen Press sells a book through Amazon, it costs the company more than £2
Linen Press, my imprint, is probably the smallest independent publisher in the UK, dwarfed by giants like Macmillan with their multiple imprints and worldwide sales. I publish four or five books a year by women writers. I’m not interested in celebs or footballers or chefs. I’m looking for beautifully-crafted writing, hidden and minority voices and bold experiments. From the slush pile, I pick manuscripts that show unusual promise but need so much editing that they stand no chance of instant acceptance by the big publishers.
So why do I groan when an order for a Linen Press book comes in from Amazon?
I should be grateful that I’ve been given the same space as the big boys to display my covers and my reviews. I should say thank you for the sale. But I don’t. Because each time I sell a book on Amazon, I lose money.
Amazon don’t tell their customers how much they take from a small publisher like me, nor do they advertise the fact that I have to pay the postage on the books sent to them.
Linen Press books cost £4 a copy to produce, for several reasons. Firstly, because the small print runs of 1,000 books that I commission aren’t cost-effective. Secondly, because I want to produce books that are visually stunning and pay a brilliant designer to do that. And thirdly because I pay a better-than-average copy editor, because if you skimp at this stage, you end up with typos and a bad reputation. Linen Press produces classy books; anything less would be a compromise. I have just published three novels about colonialism by Nigerian, Indian and British authors. I’m gambling on unknown writers here, so this venture is a financial risk before I even get to the Amazon sales. The books are big in every sense of the word. The RRP is £11.99. The postage is £2.50. On my website I sell the books for £8.99, so I’m not ripping you off; I’m just trying to persuade you not to buy from Amazon.
Here are the scary sums:
Amazon takes 60% of my RRP (in the book trade, the bigger the sales outfit, the bigger the discount they demand from the publisher: Amazon 60%; Waterstones 50%; independent bookshop 35%). On a £11.99 book, Amazon’s takings are￡£7.20. Mine are £4.80.
Out of this comes £2.50 to pack and post the book to Amazon, and the author’s royalties on a heavily discounted book reduced to 50p. My writers lose out on an Amazon sale, too. That leaves 82p for Linen Press, but the book cost £4 to produce. So I lose £2.18 on every sale by Amazon.
Of course, the big publishers can produce their books much more cheaply because they print them in their thousands, and have in-house design and PR staff. They can afford those coveted places on the piled-high tables and the 3-for-2 deals at Waterstone’s. I can’t.
For all its vast catalogue, Amazon’s market domination is is actually reducing choice by squeezing out publishers small publishers who are prepared to take risks.
I avoid looking into the abyss of financial disaster. I’m trying to remain upbeat. If Linen Press lands a bestseller that is reprinted and wins the Orange prize and sells in thousands and is translated into several languages and is made into a Hollywood film with Kiera Knightley and Colin Firth …
But the best I can hope for, realistically, is a mixture of Amazon, bookshop and website sales with Linen Press just scraping by for another year with modest debts.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/apr/07/amazon-profits-small-publisher-losses
Manos Theocharopoulos
George Anagnostaros
code2hell 