Talkings of a Tyrant

The WMF security vulnerability in Windows (all versions of Windows) has really got Microsoft running.

What the vulnerability boils down to (if you want more details, try some other site) is by simply viewing an image (or rather, a Windows Metafile disguised as an image), a hacker has the potential to do anything the user can do. For most people, who are pretty much admins of their PC, this includes everything. Wipe your hard drive? Sure. Whatever.

By “viewing an image,” this means: viewing an image on the web, viewing an image in an email client, or however else you look at images. No downloading required.

Huge security vulnerability.

Microsoft, however, moved and worked with the quickest speed I’ve ever seen them, and have created a patch that fixes this problem. It is currently still being “quality tested” to make sure it doesn’t open up any other security vulnerabilities.

If you really can’t wait, you can download an unofficial vendor patch. I’m going to take my chances and wait.

I’m still trying to figure out if this vulnerability can be exploited in Firefox.

If you don’t know what Reddit is, then check out my review of Reddit. It is an awesome site that allows you to submit and rank links.

Now, they’ve added comments!

However, presumably to curb the vile and flame infested comment system of digg (seriously, don’t read the comments there when you’re in a happy mood, especially about a site you like), they’ve added a reddit-like voting system.

Comments people like and are thoughtful are rated higher, whereas spam, and random hate comments seem to be in the crud levels of ratings.

Regardless of what a surprising number of people say, I think they did the Reddit comments very well. It is functional, yet easy to use.

This is an example of an excellent comment by “afabian.” You can see the rating arrows (I liked it, so I gave it a point), the number of points, etc.

It is indeed remarkably like the normal Reddit system, except you’re judged by what you write, not what you link to. And, yes, the ratings on your comments affect your karma, so don’t write crap.

As you can see here, there are three different modes of commenting, and they are very similar to their normal Reddit counterparts.

“Hot” comments are ones people really seem to like right now, “New” comments are just that, and “Top” comments are the comments of that topic that are ranked the highest.

Within each of these, you can easily switch between “Nested” and “Flat” by clicking in the top-right corner.

“Nested” comments are more-or-less chronological, with the first near the top, and the latest near the bottom. Exceptions are made for when a reply to a specific comment is made, but otherwise…

“Flat” ordered comments are shown regardless of context (by which I mean, you can’t tell what someone is replying to) and sorted from highest rank to lowest.

Conclusions

I’ve wanted reddit to have comments for quite a while, and now it is here. While it isn’t perfect, this is an excellent step for reddit. Reddit has now been opened for debate, with the karma and rating system to keep it from getting out of hand.

Good job reddit. You’ve just found yet another way to keep sucking up my free time on your site!

What would happen if, suddenly, half of the US was laid off in favor of machinery or low-wage workers in Asia? What would happen if all of the current jobs became obsolete?

In the past, people had to upgrade, so to speak, when social changes like this happened. Frequently throughout history, farmers moved en masse to the cities when they lost their land or were out-sold. Someone who worked in the factory might become a technician for the machine that now does his/her job. But now, what will our nation do?

Moving from blue-collor workers to something higher requires, at the moment, a heck of an education. People would probably have to return to college, as college degrees are what really matter these days. The next few generations would have to go to college to have any chance.

Otherwise, they would be out of a job. They would encounter something called… boredom (dun…dun….dunnnnn!) !

What do people do when they’re bored? They play, or when they don’t have the money to do that, they riot. Seriously, that is (in a very simple sense) why the rioting is happening in France (aside from all of that racial discrimination, repression, and social differences, that’s all that’s happening). Hopefully, our government, with its infinite wisdom and reason (*hacking cough*) will give us all broadband connections and computers!!

It would be a good arrangement. People wouldn’t riot, they wouldn’t be bored, and they could, perhaps, find jobs on the Internet. Web designing, programming and advertising are all good ways to make money off the Internet.

In a perfect world, the average intelligence level would (hopefully) increase. Web developers would get rich (rich!), while people would learn, research ideas, play around with del.icio.us and surf other Web 2.0 websites. Oh, and world peace would happen (the US wouldn’t have any money to do anything, right?), the Easter Bunny is proven to exist and everyone sings kumbaya while they’re at it.

In a realistic view: We’re all doomed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Loosely based off/inspired by a Reasons Unbeknownst post about the Economics of Boredom.

Reddit has added a few more things in the last several days:

1. The ability to view post in a frame with a Reddit bar at the top. I don’t really like this one, and neither do most people (there were so many complaints that they had to switch it to ‘off’ by default). It is still useful though - you can rank the site from the Reddit bar.
2. A “recommended” page that has learned from how you rank things. This is excellently done, especially since there are upwards of 130 articles I’ve ranked. The relevence is astounding - just about all of the submittions on that page are articles I’m interested in.
   

   I still use the main page, though. I don’t trust Reddit to read my mind, and I’d never know if I missed some interesting articles if they were on a completely different topic.

3. A “Stats” page. I think it was always there, but I didn’t notice it until recently. It lists both the top 8 people in karma rankings, as well as the top 8 in what their average submittion got ranked as. I’m proud to say I’m number 3 of the top Redditors for rankings per submittion (for now…)

If you haven’t already, go check out Reddit. I’ve given it a review already, so for more information check out my review!

Reddit
Reddit - A Review :: Talkings of a Tyrant

Reddit is a rather unique site. I’ve never come across any other site that is quite like it, though Digg comes close.

When I say “Digg comes close,” I really mean, “this is Digg with a few extra steps.” It is more manageable than Digg, simpler, easier, and, strangely, funner.

Reddit is set up like so: Someone submits a website that they like. It shows up on the “Newest” list, and if people like it, they click on the up arrow. If people don’t like it, they click on the down arrow. It is a pseudo-voting system on websites.

This is most certainly web 2.0 software, as there is very little site restrictions. Anyone can post anything (as long as it isn’t adult content) and people will promote it, or demote it into oblivion. The good stuff ends up on the “Hottest” page, and the really good stuff ends up on the “top all-time” page.

Seriously, don’t visit Reddit if you value your free time on the computer. It will suck up your productivity and focus. It is that addictive.

Unlike Digg, it doesn’t have hoards of fans and users. This is probably one of reddit’s main assets, as people can more easily review and judge new links.

Also unlike Digg, instead of ranking users by simply rank (1 is the best, 1000 is the 1000th best, etc.), Reddit has a karma system. If the stuff you submit is good and people rank it highly, then you get good karma. If it is bad, you get bad karma.

Reddit does need more subscribable feeds. I would like to subscribe to other people’s submissions or something.

Just a note, you do have to register, but it is quick, painless, and asks for very little personal information.