Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Dilemma, Privacy, Chess
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."
Just about EVERYTHING is illegal under HIPAA. I've never seen such ridiculously stringent specs. If you want a good laugh, check out www.hipaacomply.com and read through the technology FAQ's. Even faxing is restricted.
What's your damage, Heather?
How do I get privacy while playing chess on the internet while making sure I don't get the bugbear virus?
Kramnik gets $1,000,000 if he wins, $800,000 if he draws, and $600,000 if he loses. I knew I wasn't spending all that time on Yahoo! Chess for nothing...
It's laughable to say that Deep Fritz is the strongest computer programme - Deep Blue (that defeated Kasparov) evaluated 200 million positions per second compared to Deep Fritz's 3-4 million. Deep Blue was running on an IBM-made supercomputer. Fritz isn't.
Grr! Arg!
But Uzi Nissan, whose family name is also the name of a month in Hebrew and Arabic[...]
"We've always seen this case as protecting the Nissan brand and not about money," he said. "What we are saying is the word Nissan by itself is our registered trademark and we're the only ones with the right to use the name Nissan by itself."
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?
If Nissan Motors wanted to have an exclusive name, they should have made one up.
They took an existing word (in 2 languages, nonetheless) which also happens to be a surname. Now, they can't expect exclusive rights over that name.
While this isn't man vs machine as the casual observer may think, but chess playing man vs programming man, how long until programming man is able to win soundly all the time? I don't mean to offend the chess players out there, but I find it very hard to believe that the advances in both processing power and programming knowledge will eventually catch up to chess knowledge. According to Moore's law processing powers is doubling every 18 months, and I would venture that programming knowledge of AI's is progressing faster than chess knowledge given the youth of the former's frield and the extensive history of the latter's.
That said, even while as a programmer I'm somewhat rooting for Deep Fritz, as a fellow man I can't help but be in awe of the fact that Kramnik is able to think better than a machine that "thinks" millions of times faster than him.
- Bugbear actually uses one of forty different subject lines. It also sometimes throws in some random data, just for fun.
- Bugbear is a descendant of Badtrans, a nasty but not particularly widespread virus from earlier this year. The keystroke logger seems to have been borrowed bit-for-bit (at least in the copy I isolated and analysed).
JousterThere is no way to save users from themselves. If a sizable part of the population need to use computers, there will always be a significant number of those who do stupid things from them. These problems will continue no matter how secure Windows becomes. These problems will occur on any software platform that is simple enough for the general population to use.
Actually, with a certain class of user, Windows' automatic updates make Windows more secure than Linux. Amoung windows users, that class is rather large. We may see less of the Code Red Viruses, but the Shoot Yourself in the Foot Viruses will continue.
Linux does have one advantage though. It is intensely hard to install programs for Linux. It is so complicated that it is very hard to automate. And as long as users have to install viruses by hand, and download the correct libraries to get them to run, you can be sure that Linux users won't have to worry much about a Linux virus spreading like wildfire across the net.
Can I register a domain name SomeCompany.com and then do the following:
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?"
"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."
Bring on anti-NASA the conspiracy theories...
forget it.
Does it annoy anyone else that NASA spent $750,000 on the technical equivalent an X-10 webcam?
And it failed! I mean, what the hell?
Private space enterprises deserve to eat NASA's breakfast, dinner AND lunch once they get started.
Interesting. I wonder if they'll be requiring Uzi Nissan to change his last name as well... after all, Nissan owns it...
Also, it bear mentioning that Uzi has spent well in excess of one million dollars defending his own last name from these assholes who didn't even use the name "Nissan" in the States until well after Uzi had registerred the domain and used it for his own business.
The corporate swines have also been using dirty tricks like filing suit across the county from where Uzi lives, in an attempt to sap his finances so he can't defend himself. (These are things Uzi himself talked about at H2K2, if you're curious about my sources)
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.
...the scariest part has to be that they let a Windows operating system anywhere near brain surgery....
During the feed, it looked like the ejection of the solid rocket boosters damaged or obscured the camera...
That can be a problem for the crew too, or used to be. Each SRB has rocket motors that separate it from the external tank at around two minutes MET. Debris from these motors can get on the forward orbiter windows. Not too many years ago the shuttle flight software was changed - a "window washer" mod - to fire the FU RCS jets for a few seconds at SRB seperation to keep the windscreen clear of debris.
Just thought you'd be interested to know...
--JIm
I believe Clark has the right idea
"...the health care industry needs to go to Microsoft with a joint NDA (nondisclosure agreement) and indemnification agreement, requiring Microsoft to hold their HIPAA-compliant customers harmless should patient information be leaked via this mechanism."
Not a prayer that MS would agree, but it will be interesting when they get pulled into court the first time a provider claims it was the update and MS forced them to allow it.
The regulatory oversight may do more to open MS software than the DOJ. Logic, reason, and innovation are not the watch words of these organizations. Regulations were passed, comply or be destroyed.
It is hard for me to decide who I want to win. MS or the regulators...
Agreed on this. You're not allowed to trademark common words, like orange, hand or March. If your company name happens to be the name of a month in another language, you shouldn't be allowed to go into a fit everytime someone uses it.
Further,
The auto company didn't sue until 1999, but the judge said that five-year wait wasn't too long because Nissan didn't initially know the impact the Internet would have on business.
Then looks like Nissan should have had a little more foresight. IANAL but if you don't defended your trademark when you become aware of someone else using it, then it's become diluted.
We've been told at my University that we (as system administrators) can go ahead and click the "I accept" on any Microsoft service pack or hotfix, our licensing agreement with M$ overrides anything they put in a EULA.
Microsoft could actually wind up violating their own agreement if they take action not specified in the big license.
And then for 99% of a REAL operating systems programs...
Double click.
Yes.
Next.
Next.
Next.
wait...
Next.
Finnish.
So after clicking "Next" we turn into Linus? GREAT!
Come play Heroes of Might and Magic Mini online.
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.
While plenty of web sites, blogs, and usenet discussions informatively describe and criticize the heavy handed tactics of companies like Nissan, Molson Canadian, and Gateway (2000), these companies need to start hearing vocally from consumers who will not buy their brands based on their overbearing legal tactics and we should compile and distribute a list of companies to target. More important than a boycott itself, the average joe and especially these company's dealers, sales, and marketing people need to know WHY we're upset.
Whenever these cases come up we read the lawyers and spokespeople telling us they have to do this to "protect the brand", or to "prevent consumers from being confused". Real squatters aside, this is generally total crap. Consumers in any demographic able to buy a car will quickly realize Nissan Computer != Nissan Motors and while brands need to be protected to a certain extent in order to avoid becoming generic (like kleenex, or xerox) the chance of "nissan" becoming a generic term is slim to none (and not just because it doesn't have an 'x'). Trademarks apply to specific categories only, and this limitation should help to prevent dilution happening from unrelated uses of the same mark. Companies that try to over extend their marks should do so only at their own risk, and I bet that willy nilly suing other users probably does more to imply dilution than just leaving things be (Ob.IANAL but this should be true even if it's not the actual law).
Actually, I doubt any of these cases stem from the marketing department, more likely the lawyers are trying to justify their salaries and budgets. But if the sales and marketing people thought these tactics were hurting their brand they could override legal in a second. Enough slashdotters are young professionals with a well paying job and interest in new products to present a very attractive demographic to these people. Let them know you're pissed!
My next sig will be ready soon, but friends can beat the rush!
What I don't understand about the whole lawsuit is how Nissan (motors) can prove that they own the rights to that name. Uzi was apparently around before Nissan became any sort of MAJOR advertising spender ($400 million last year).
.02
The judge decided that the Internet wasn't that big of a deal in 1994, so the 5 year span between the registration of nissan.com and 1999 when they sued was ok. WHAT? Explain to me how this is ok? Uzi had it first, tough shit if they didn't decide that the Internet wasn't all that important.
Early bird gets the worm. Money should have no bearing on who gets what domain.
If I were Uzi, I would tell them to use nissancomputer.com for themselves.
Just my worthless
Press releases touting this week's match boast that Fritz has beaten both Kasparov and Deep Blue. The win over Kasparov came, however, in a super fast kind of chess, where computers have a decided edge. And Fritz didn't really beat Deep Blue-it beat an early version of its software running on slower hardware.
Do I think that there is an added value to better algorithms and pruning methods over pure computational firepower? Sure, but you need to keep in mind that now that Deep Blue has been disassembled, there is no way to get an honest, head to head comparison.
As if it matters, I still get my but kicked by good old GNU Chess.
So who is naming these viruses? :)
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
The fact that this has gone to court tells me that Mr. Nissan played hardball when they were negotiating a payoff;
Or maybe Mr. Nissan said, "No. I'm not selling it at all. It's MY name!"
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Since neither Hebrew nor Arabic is written with Latin characters, I find the "it's the name of a month" argument rather weak. Furthermore, the owner of www.nissan.com is incorporated in the United States, where "Nissan" cannot be considered a common word
As far as the "waiting until 1999" argument goes, it sounds like Nissan is claiming he didn't infringe until 1999 when he started linking to car sites, meaning he was generating revenue based on visitors who were looking for www.nissanmotors.com.
I think this argument holds water.
However, the remedy the company is asking for is way out of proportion. Nissan Motors should be granted an injunction against www.nissan.com being used to adverstise cars.
Just the tank camera, no cutaways, all the way from launch to SRB seperation.
Play it fast (hold the frame advance button down) for another cool view of the whole launch in about 15 seconds.
One simple rule for its versus it's
Since neither Hebrew nor Arabic is written with Latin characters, I find the "it's the name of a month" argument rather weak.
Erm... if you want to take that tack... "Nissan" in Japanese isn't written with Latin characters either.
---
Dum de dum.
Freedom is not the license to do what we like, it is the power to do what we ought.
This is probably posted already buy you can view this video on Space.com Here.
It's pretty sweet.
I've only taken Japanese for five weeks, but that's enough to know that your analysis of "Datsun" is BS. You may not have made it up, but someone obviously did.
"Datsun" is three characters in hiragana: da tsu n. "Dat" is not a well-formed Japanese word. "sun" is not pronounced like English "sun", and does not mean "son". Amazingly enough, you seem to be correct that "son" means something like "to lose money" (WWWJDIC has it as "loss; disadvantage"), but if the name were "Datson" it would break up as "da tso n", and there's no such syllable as "tso".
Win dain a lotica, en vai tu ri silota
Yeah, right.
Someone is wrong on the Internet!
A friend of mine pointed out that Domino.com could be easily claimed by any one of several companies: A pizza company, a sugar company, or a software company.
This is a very sordid and very nasty issue. If you want a view from the front lines look here.
Nearly fifty percent of all graduates come from the bottom half of the class!