On Fri, 2002-12-13 at 07:28, J-F C. (Jefsey) Morfin wrote: > > Encryption has nothing to do with security. Security is about > spoofing. Internet is a spoofing system. Well... let's just say encryption is but one tool in a total security solution. On a wide-open public network, it's a prerequisite for transactional security. I don't understand the Minitel architecture enough to know whether it's more POTS style (circuit-based) or more Internet style, but it doesn't sit well with me if credit card bits, etc. are not encrypted. Anyway, you're preaching to the choir about encryption not equaling security. I agree with that. :) > America is fucking by phone and payng through ceditcards. Other style. True, but I'm saying that I'd be worried an American-tel network would not be content neutral if it were run by U.S. Congress. I demand content neutrality from my networks (TV, Internet, telephone, etc.). While French gov't censors Nazi propaganda, U.S. Congress would be censoring sexually explicit material. so, I agree with you that we have different styles, Minitel and Internet, France and U.S. (and China, Canada, etc.). As a programmer, I don't see why these all cannot coexist and I think they should be, at least at the network level, "compatible", or at least "able to be compatible with some software hand-holding". > main application is telephone directory, then e-government, local life, > cinema, etc. etc.. quick, cheap, millions of simple users. Minitel set is > free. You cannot do that in a country where you have several operators. I have to beg to differ, here. I can name several U.S.-wide Internet telephone directories that all have slightly different "perks". The free press have always covered cinema, local life, etc. so we've never bothered centralizing that data -- it's unnecessary. Texas has an open government initiative that has been putting gov't information and services online for several years now. The same is true of the national gov't... I can file my taxes online, collect unemployment without waiting in line at the office downtown, etc. Minitel may have done it _first_, but it's not true that "You cannot do that in a country where you have several operators". It may be true that the Minitel system is simpler (i.e., has less choices, though the choices may be higher quality). I cannot speak to that. > That lead to the real thing: to network the French people. Machines, > applications, etc.. are nothing, what really count is noosphere, the > people, the habitus. exactly. Some people decry the downfall of the neighborhood, but the fact is, my neighbors are idiots for the most part. I *don't* want to hang out with them. I'd rather talk to and code with friends across the globe than have a neighborhood barbecue. for example, see the Debian developers' map: http://www.debian.org/devel/developers.loc > The secret of Minitel is that anyone can host a system for you, software to > build and load pages are ofthen free, hosting cheap and connecting a > service makes you gain money. You may not pay and make very stable money. > > Try to beat that :-) actually, this is the promise of broadband for small businesses here in the States. unfortunately, broadband companies have been mismanaged (overselling) and hamstrung by government-sponsored monopolies (i.e., the ILEC problem) seeking to expand their control over the wired 'Net. my DirecTV DSL service has 160,000 customers and they can't turn a profit so they're closing shop. I had my personal website running off my box here and now I've got to move it. I imagine many business customers of theirs will be doing the same thing. > There are several "TLDs". equivalent to ORG is free, COM is cheap, NET os > more expensive, etc... This permits very sophisticated expensive services > to be in direct access. You just modulate the speed of display and short > cut to make casual users to pay more than regular users or even direct > computer access. that must be a French thing cause it violates my sensibility that QoS should be content neutral. If QoS is a problem, that tells me you need to upgrade the network, not just hack it to give priority to X customer's data over Y customer's data. To use an extreme example, remote surgery should not cause a slowdown in porn downloads, or vice versa. In the long run, your system may be better. It just doesn't sit well with me, that's all. :) -s
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