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Slashback: Dilemma, Privacy, Chess

Slashback tonight with updates on Deep Fritz, the interaction of Microsoft service packs and privacy laws, and the view from the shuttle tank-cam, and a depressing update on the Nissan squatting case. Read on for the details.

Front-row seats. zer0vector writes "The previously mentioned camera that was attached to the external fuel tank on Atlantis gave some great shots of launch this afternoon on NASA TV. During the feed, it looked like the ejection of the solid rocket boosters damaged or obscured the camera, leading to a fuzzy image during the fuel tank separation stage."

SkyNet has not yet achieved consciousness. DrEnter writes "According to this Yahoo article, Vladimir Kramnik has defeated 'Deep Fritz' (apparently the world's most powerful chess computer) to take the lead, 2.5-0.5 (the first game was a draw). You can find out more details at the contest site."

Damned if you do, but also if you don't. cybaea writes "A recent article in InfoWorld argues that the latest Windows 2000 and Windows XP Service Packs may be illegal for health care providers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. To make matters worse, not installing the Service Packs may also be illegal. Damned if you do, damned if you don't ..."

Dad, please switch to a real operating system. It's still spreading. deego writes " An e-mail-borne computer virus that lets crackers control infected Windoze machines remotely continues to spread and constitutes the most severe attack this year. The worm, known as W32.Bugbear, or I-Worm.Tanatos, infects computers that use Microsoft's Windows operating systems. It was first spotted a week ago and has spread to dozens of countries. Article here."

Please sit down first. calib0r writes "CNN.com is running an article on the most recent events dealing with the nissan.com lawsuit. Salon.com ran an article about this a few months ago. More information can also be found here."

6 of 340 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Great... english is the only language in the wo by beebware · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It gets better - Nissan Motor has registered the domain name nissancomputer.com which they'll "give" to Nissan Computers if Nissan Motor get given the nissan.com domain name. Now, if they've brought nissancomputer.com with the express purpose of squatting on it for exchange of monies, services or goods (for example, a domain name) - surley that's a blatant case of cybersquatting by Nissan Motor?

  2. Nissan.... by BrodieBruce · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Prior to my hearing about this case, if you had asked me

    Can I register a domain name SomeCompany.com and then do the following:

    • Talk about how much I dislike the company
    • Feature ad banners for sites related to that company
    • Talk trash about the management of the company
    • Post numerous comments on the low quality of the company's products (thereby "diluting their image")

    My response would have been, "damn right, freedom of speech..."

    But now, I'm just confused.

    What did he do that violated any laws?

    He's paid $2.2 million in legal fees. It's not like he had a choice about showing up in court to defend himself.

    Now Nissan motors can take his domain name after all the legal bills? And if not, he'll be ordered to give them financial reparations for "diluting their brand name?"

  3. Re:Chess by Jouster · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Deep Blue (that defeated Kasparov) evaluated 200 million positions per second compared to Deep Fritz's 3-4 million.
    Let's run with your comparison of computing power based solely on number of evaluated positions per move.

    If evaluating a chess position takes 150 units of processor time, and eliminating a position from consideration takes 1 unit of processor time, we shouldn't prune the decision tree at all! Never mind that as we get a little above a dozen moves into the future, we are considering (and tracking in some sort of memory) more moves than there are molecules in the universe. Posh! All that matters is the number of moves evaluated.

    Also:
    1. Kramnik defeated Kasparov.
    2. A supercomputer from ten years ago is compressed into a $2,000 box under my desk as I type this.

    Jouster
  4. Re:Bugbear by Psx29 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The problem that bugbear exploits was patched back in march. Only retards are susceptible

    That is a ridiculous statement! If you read through all the things listed maybe you would realise some people _can't_ install microsoft's patches because of there EULA requirements.

  5. Re:Give me a break... by pla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course, he might actually have a spine (or independant wealth), and wanted the domain more than the money.

    This strikes me as no different than the McDonalds (the junk-food chain) vs McDonalds (the family owned restaurant that predates the fast food chain) a while back. The bigger business considers itself more important, and has the money to throw at lawyers to make that delusion a reality.

    If *you* had a family domain, and some company offered you what you consider a pittance for it, how would you feel? Would you consider yourself an informed "hardball" player? Would you "cackle with glee" at your great luck in having a valuable name?

    It really disgusts me that companies consider themselves more important than individuals. It disgusts me even more that the legal system mostly agrees with them. Neither of those comes *close*, however, to the disgust I feel about actual individual *humans* who agree that companies have more rights than everyone else, and actually criticize other humans for standing up for what few rights we have left.

  6. Re:Chess by damiam · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So? Kramnik can only evaluate three moves per second, and he's kicking Fritz's ass. Moves per second has very little to do with how good a player is.

    --
    It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.