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Brain Surgery Robot Running Linux
hherb writes "Singapore has developed a robotic brain surgeon. The interesting bit: based on a Linux platform. Well, what else? Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?"
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first reply, anyway though, imagine this. Your loved one undergoing brain surgery, half-way through the docter comes out and says, "Sorry, we had a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)"
If there is nothing left worth living, what are you willing to die for?
I only want a human fondling my brain, thank you.
GF.
Lots of petrified grits
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a Linux product, come to that?
a blue screen of death
The Microsoft press release title will be...
"Using Linux causes death!"
Is the software open-source? Then we could all write apps to drill into other various body parts. Sounds like fun!
You call this a signature?
If Linux messes up there's nobody to sue. At least Microsoft will give me more money to shut up.
Who wants his brain fondled by a MS product? Not me. Nor any other organ.
.
Though we joke about how lousy MS is (I know, I have to use it constantly), using an OS system for something this vital really should be the open option. Programmers need direct access to the code, and one wants to keep things updated as much as possible - which the OS community provides.
There's also been a breakthrough with an amazing robotic heart surgeon. (http://www.msnbc.com/news/837416.asp), and I expect more in the future.
Which brings up the point about what software and OSes such important devices will run . .
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
Surely if you're in your right mind you dont _need_ brain surgery, be it Linux, Windows, or steam-powered!
Baz
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?" I think MS could do it. It's just brain surgery, not rocket science.
I think people undergoing brain surgery aren't in their right mind to begin with... :)
If you were having your wetware fondled, you'd probably care more about the track record of the application than the OS.
Linux != crashproof, as my recent www.linuxfromscratch.org efforts demonstrated.
Great to see Linux proliferating, sad to see it used for a completely gratuitous bashing.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
...to the term Kernel Panic.
OOPS is not something I want a brain surgeon or his computer to utter.
Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
Anothe nicely misleading title... after reading the article, the robot is used to drill through the porous bone of the skull. This is no mean feat by itself, reducing a 6-hour drill to a 3-hour drill, but surgeons still have to feed the robot all information on blood vessels, nerves, and sensitive areas.
That being said, it's still pretty impressive. And I thought dentists were bad enough...
Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggie" whilst looking for a rock
I was considering Laser realignment on my eyes, but when I went to talk to the eye doc, I found out his machine was running windows (NT IIRC).
I left immediately.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?
Err.. the depressed and suicidal.
$5 to the first surgeon to type that in.
"You're anurism operation was a complete success and while that was going on your surgeon discovered the RC5-72 key!"
Trolling is a art,
People generally have brain surgery because their mind is malfunctioning.
'Most men would sooner die than think, and most men do.'
"The programmers can then map the access path, program the robotic arm to hold the drilling tool and begin the surgery. The program is written on a Linux platform."
Looks like the "setup" program is written for some Linux distro , no actual surgery is done using a machine running Linux.
I would neither have Bill or Linus software poking around in my head, neither OS is deterministic or suited for an operation like that.
http://www.intellipool.se/ - Intellipool Network Monitor
... matters most. It is the software that do the drilling, cutting etc.
From the article:
The speed and precision hinge on the software program written by researchers at NTU's department of mechanical and production engineering.
Now you can crack the os and the skull over the Internet!
We're sorry ma'am, your husband died on the table, the windows update dioloug came up and the whole thing crashed, i was sure i had it set to remind me later in 3 days....
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
anyways, they already have their brain washed everyday...
Brain surgeon in a vending machine!
"Let's see... Coke, Diet Coke, Mountain Dew, or a Frontal Lobotomy. Hmmm... I got 50 for the coke, but I need another 10,000 quarters for the lobotomy."
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?
My PHB. It happened a long time ago...
Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
Anybody who thinks that getting brain surgery from a computer driven robot is a good idea(be it powered by Linux or M$) is probably beyond what could be fixed by brain surgery :-)
In this case I would prefere a human...
... to let this thing operate on him if he were ever diagnosed with a brain tumor?
Would any of you kernel hackers feel safe if your own code operated on your brain?
"We want to avoid distortions of facial expression," he added.
Well obviously it says "It runs on a linux platform" which means it obviously runs on a linux kernel.
Gee you mean that latest -ac patch to the kernel tree includes the new brainsurgery-o-matic module?!
duh. of course the software isn't linux but the platform it runs on is linux based...
reading, it's fundamental and shit.
about Microsoft (OMG BLUESCREEN LOL) to issue a token anti-Lunix wisecrack:
What the submission doesn't make clear is that the Lunix machine is used only to drill the hole in the patient's head.
Three weeks after learning unnecessarily obscure and arcane command-line stuff, YOU'D end up with a hole in your head too. From a bullet.
GUIs forever!
-- Multics
(ducks)
...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
This person did, at least for a while
The team hopes to begin human trials by the middle of next year, following the completion of animal tests. Trials have been successfully conducted on cadavers.
"So far, no animals have volunteered, but since we're using Linux we expect lots of penguins to sign up." said Dr Yeo Tseng Tsai. In a subsequent interview RMS pointed out that if they had used the correct term GNU/Linux, they might have had more volunteers from the Gnu community. "I told you so. That's what happens when you leave out the GNU part.", explained RMS.
"I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy"
You should have stayed!
If it screwed up you would lose at most 1 eye.
But you could sue microsoft for LOTS and LOTS of CASH!
Shit even if you're not greedy you could just give all the money to the FSF or something. Shit who wouldn't give up an eye to transfer 40 million from microsoft bank account to the fsfs bank account. I sure would! (of course i keep a few mil for myself!)
I am not sure how comfortable with this i am, not becuase i at all think linux is prone to fail but becuase linux is capable of failing. Kernel panics still happen, like, once in a billion years. Linux just never struck me as an OS you need when, like, it is absolutely essential that absolutely nothing go wrong ever. Like when you are running some kind of control system for an airplane, or controlling a robot drilling holes in people's skulls. I don't think linux or even bsd would be a great choice in those cases, though i sure as hell don't think windows should even be considered given their track record in such situations.
Aren't there any OSes about at the moment that are like all redundant and correctness-proven and stuff, like with NASA-like failure margins? Wouldn't it be better to be using those instead?
Is this reasonable of me to say?
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
I find it odd that even though the story has nothing to do with microsoft the company still gets mentioned. Will the linux community ever get over their penis envy of the more successful counterpart? I doubt it.
"*xpto* uses linux" news are getting quite boring :P
anyways, I believe (with nothing to back this up) that in spite linux/*BSD beeing much favorable platforms to develop such computer controlled systems, windows still outbeats linux in the quantity of serious projects beeing deployed with the said OS.
Dont't take this as a troll, it's just the idea I have about this subject.
Moderators: Don't agree? pray tell why.
"Singapore has developed a robotic brain surgeon. The interesting bit: based on a Linux platform. Well, what else? Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?"
A robotic brain surgeon isn't interesting? How is the fact that it is based on a Linux platform more interesting than that? Personally, I would have thought it would run on a custom OS.
www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
Me have brain fixed by MS robot. Me no see what so funny.
From the article it seems to be more of a high precision drill than a "Brain Surgery Robot". At least it's not poking around in patients brains.
after you've had brain surgery you will be called GNU/yourname.
Doctor: "Why is it trying to upload a shitload of spam and warez to this guys brain?!"
Assistant: "Oops i must have forgot to patch sendmail, bind, openssh or wu-ftpd, oh well sucks to be him"
Submit a story with an anti-MS jab in the write-up, even if the story has nothing to do with Microsoft (such as this one), michael will probably post it (and frequently throw in his own misguided opinion).
...a Beowulf cluster of these!!!
Can I help you:
* Saw the skull open?
* Find the front lobes?
* Adjust the frontal lobes so that Microsoft products seem to be a good idea?
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Also, can you imagine if Bill Gates had a brain tumor and had his life saved by Linux? Or do you really think he'd sit under the scapel of a WinXP Surgical Edition box?
I'm not sure what the secret to success is, but the secret to failure lies in trying to please everyone -Bill Cosby
Wow, now I can say that Linux is "boring" without getting modded down!
OK, so this app runs Linux. There's a saying in sports relating to how one reacts to a positive event,
"act like you've been there"
Meaning, if you're a defensive end and just tackled the rb for no gain, don't break out into your "we just won the Superbowl" dance. You just did your job, be happy yes, but realize you've only really done what you were paid to do.
SO, when do articles like this start becoming meaningless. So SOMEcompany or SOMEperson SOMEwhere uses Linux to do SOMEthing. So what. If the DOD or Citibank chucks all their M$ stuff and goes Linux, hell yah, post that. But must we hear about every single little use (and this is a insignificant one at that). Just look at the "quality" of posts on this article, why, because there really isn't anything to say.
A lot of smart people, for sure.
Think of it this way:
If said robot surgeon screws up and renders me a veggie for the rest of my life, I'd rather have Microsoft with their untold billion$ behind it, due to the massive lawsuit I'd file.
With a Linux system, who would be responsible, the open source community, or the red-zone closed source firm that developed the software? Either way, I'm sure they wouldn't have the amount of cash that Microsoft has on hand to make me happy.
Granted, the ultimate goal is to -not- get my brain minced in the first place. That being said, this was an entirely uncalled for cheap shot at Microsoft. The fact is, Microsoft makes some perfectly reliable software, and developing for Windows does not automatically make one 'evil' or any other childish term thrown around here.
This type of behavior is all too comon here on Slashdot, and immature pot-shots like this are one of the many reasons that Linux acceptance is not as great as it could be.
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
I don't think Linux is the right choice.
Even the stable considered kernels contain bugs (do you remember the 2.2 update in the last months?) I'd feel better if my brain would get repaired by one of these 99.99% relieable boxes.
After all Linux aims to be very fast and so they always hack it and may introduce bugs - as in every other general purpose operating system - I don't care about the new hyperfast VM when the kernel OOPS while fucking in my head...
But before you are brought to the operating theatre, you'll probably have to click "I accept"! And the EULA will probably limit damages to 5 (five) dollar...
"Hey, I didnt' touch the guy's brain. It was the robot!"
But then, I suppose, doctors and patients would be required to invest in some robot insurance.
I think you're a little misguided on what is interesting. The fact that there is such a thing is interesting. What OS it runs is really of little consequence.
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
11 Because this operation is licensed free of charge, there is no warranty for the operation, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Except when otherwise stated in writing the copyright holders and/or other parties provide the operation "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed of implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the operation is with you. Should the operation prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction.
12. In no event unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing will any copyright holder, or any other party who may modify and/or dedistribute the operation as permitted above, be liable to you for damages, including any general, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of inability to use the operation (including but not limited to loss of data or data being rendered inaccurate or losses sustained by you or third parties or a failure of the operation to operate with any other operations), even if such holder of other party has been advised of hte possibilty of such damages.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Just as long as it doesn't crash while it's doing something delicate. That would give a new meaning to the term Core Dumped
Summation 2
DETROIT, MI (Jan. 16) -- Embedded Open Source applications achieve a new pinnacle of success. My steak knife is running Linux! Soon this technology will be ported to my electric nose-hair clipper! Unbelievable!!!
Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
At least if it ran MS Windows Brain Surgery Edition then you could try sueing microsoft when it went wrong.
your favorite B.S.O.D. joke here.
Setting his threshold to 5, Sparky eliminated most of the trolls on /.
A decent result for a first try, perhaps?
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
If they drop a sponge inside you and sew you up, is that a GPF (General Protection Fault)?
So are we going to see "Holy shit!!!" replace "kernel panic" as the error message of choice for the next generation Linux kernel?
"Well, what else? Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?"
There are more than Linux and MS out there.... How about QNX for example?
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
This is a perfect example of the wrong tool being used for the wrong job. I'm going to assume that in surgical devices, high reliability is a Good Thing(TM), and I think that's a safe assumption. Linux is a best effort UNIX clone, Linux is not a high reliability or real time operating system.
Who wants to have the drill stuck in your head because the robot has a kernel panic, or even worse the drill bit just keeps on going through the skull and into your brain since the operating system thinks that doing some disk swapping is more important than letting the drill software run.
Funny! I saw this just yesterday while booting a ThinkPad a21m (reported by Donald Becker's 3com driver):
I love these cookies! Maybe the PCMCIA committee should volunteer? :-)
zWhat would an EWOULDBLOCK block, if an EWOULDBLOCK could block would? -- me
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?
Right. The normal case appears to be that people allow MS products to interact violently with their rectum, not their brains.
Then again, this could be symptomatic of something about that brain, couldn't it?
Full text at http://madogre.com/Interviews/Library/Bicentennia
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!
The Raven
Just when I think Slashdot editors are finally edging to some level of objectivity (no quips about only booting into Windows to play Diablo, no references to Windows blue-screening) an article like this comes along and puts Slashdot back into sophomoric mediocrity.
I expect garbage like that to be expressed in comments, but could you please limit the article summaries to not have any kind of bashing or hyperbole? Is this really too much to ask?
I use both Windows and Linux. They both have their strengths and weaknesses (here's a hint: Windows doesn't just have to be used for games). The word Linux is in the mainstream now. Get over it. Accept this as another example of Linux entering the mainstream, be happy, and move on.
I can picture some of you 40 years from now, at age 73, roaming your local city parks muttering jokes like "My watch doesn't Blue-screen, I guess it's running Linux," to anyone who approaches you to ask you what time it is.
This has all the makings of a hollywood movie... Man is operated by Windows 2003 Cranial Edition and must learn to face the World while dealing with an overwhelming urge to purchase anything M$ releases... It all begins to unfold when he purchases 100 software assurance programs to SQL Server and doesn't understand why. Let's not forget the fact that everytime he uses the microwave he pisses his pants and forgets his name for 10 minutes.
Who says compiling a Linux kernel isn't brain surgery?!
BA-DUM-CHA!
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
Honestly people... would you want ANY ROBOT DOING BRAIN SURGERY ON YOUR BRAIN RUNNING ANY DAMN OS? That shit better be engrained in the circuitry and it better have a qualified surgeon at the other end of it. I don't care if it's linux/unix/windows ... no robot is touching any part of me if it's not embedded in the silicon.
just imagine let's say the process hangs.. what are you goign to do?... kill -9? might as well kill -me
Even though it's such a bad movie. I love the scene where he is eating the guy's brain and feeding it to him. Just hope the computer won't decide to get some sort of sick pleasure and start feeding your brain to you.
Understanding is a three-edged sword. -- Kosh Naranek
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?"
:-D
Well, obviously if you're in your right mind you don't need surgery.
Hmmm, MS Brain-Surgery-Windows: What do you want to think today?
--- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
What are you talking about? We get our brains fondled all the time by Microsoft.
The ______ Agenda
Think about it. The little robot arm would go to incise and it would get:
If it made the right decision, no problem. But if it does something like
I'm not sure they needed to re-invent the wheel here...
My
Limekiller
I'm intrigued by the assertion that "the interesting bit" of this is that it's running Linux. So just plain old robotic brain surgeons on their own are pretty boring, hmmm?
Funny post, Buddy! And original, too! (Not like all the other rehashed corny-as-hell cracks that have been posted so far....)
Are any mods awake yet? Sheesh! Sorry Phil, Being AC, I can't give ya any points but surely there's a Mod out there that hasn't had the surgery yet!
Cool. When will /dev/brain become a part of the official kernel release?
GNU/Brain
Does this mean after an operation all of my thoughts have to be released under the GPL?!
Damn, when will the GPL ever end?!
Free Brain Surgery Distribution, or FreeBSD for short? :o)
Resistance is futile. Reactance buggers it up.
It might even be more misleading:
.... this does not imply it actually runs on Linux.
The program is written on a Linux platform.
It's likely it does, but in essence the article is not specific enough.
You are in a maze of twisty little neurons, all alike. -> Fix Brain I don't know how to Fix Brain. ->Doh!
Lump lingered last in line for brains, and the ones she got were sorta rotten and insane.
You are in a maze of twisty little neurons, all alike.
-> Fix Brain
I don't know how to Fix Brain.
->Doh!
Lump lingered last in line for brains, and the ones she got were sorta rotten and insane.
> BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)
What the hell is a BSOD? I have been living under a rock for the last 8 years...
How about use NO OS. Write your own system for control. Best way to do it.
If the OS with the program driving the robot "crashes", the robot will certainly turn itself off. (It is unimaginable that such a product would be designed otherwise.) So nothing dangerous will happen, the operation will just be delayed by a minute until the computer is re-booted.
Having said that, one might go a different route and produce all the software needed (including the driver itself) using formal methods, if you want 100.00% safety (minus epsilon for human errors in the formal requirement descriptions).
Design a surgeon robot that runs Windows, then keep it locked up until Mr. Gates needs some minor/major surgery (it'll happen eventually).
See if he trusts a robot running his own OS, that should be the nail in the coffin I would think.
(errmmm not literally... I wish no actual HARM to Mr. Gates, he's kinda cute and cuddley anyways)
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?
Who, in his right mind, would like to have his brain fondled?
So what happens when the mod_ssl bug gets exploited and some 11 year old prick in South Dakota is running the thing?
scott
Aww that's BUNK. It's not gonna be a brain surgeon..
If it can't break the 5-foot barrier.. it can't be a BRAIN SURGEON.
Yes it CAN. If Hesh can be a giant tiger-bot, well that's a little.. -
-Hesh is gonna stay human... he'll die in the first wave.
Kewl we could make our own extension plugins with shell scripts like:
/dev/body /mnt /mnt/knee 2>/dev/null
:p
#/bin/sh
mount -t leg
csplit --quiet
for knee operations
Okay, maybe I'm just a nut.
But when someone goes and builds a robot that performs brain surgery (or even, as in this case, parts of brain surgery), how on earth is "The Interesting Part" that it runs Linux?! I, personally, would suppose that the interesting part is that it Does Brain Surgery.
"Hey, I just designed a program that can perfectly predict storm patterns across north america a year in advance!"
"Yeah, well, if it runs on Microsoft, go tell someone who cares."
-d
=== "Some people see the glass as half-empty. Others see it as half-full. I see the glass as too big." -G. Carlin.
Look at it this way, the only thing the software does is drill holes. I thought you'd be more supportive of an MS based unit after complaining how well it augers...
Don't forget to tip your Waitress on the way out!
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Very appropriate in the context of this story.
Best Slashdot Co
Moer keli a ulBe enSerc fo! iaBnr gaDmae
"You'll be OK after we get the next service pack, honest!"
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Do they really need a computer to do this? I mean it isn't...oh, wait...never mind.
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
Common Factors that effect human brain bt not linux:
;-)
*Fear [success or failure]
*Sleepiness [due to long hour surgery]
*Wobbly concentration [average: 20m an hour]
I dono abt windos do u
Sign.(rypto*
#3 pencils and quadrille pads.
OK, I don't know if the robot runs Linux but I doubt it. The article says it was developed on Linux. The robot likely runs an an embedded processor with no OS per se.
The team hopes to begin human trials by the middle of next year, following the completion of animal tests. Trials have been successfully conducted on cadavers.
:P
Unfortunately, none of the human patients survived the procedure.
A speaker at a programming conference asked the audience who would trust enough to get in a plane that was flown by his company's code.
One gentlemen raised his hand.
The speaker asked why he would trust the plane.
He replied: "It would never get off the ground."
To get a medical device approved by the FDA (in the USA), the manufacturers have to guarrantee that it works. This also applies to software & computers.
No weaseling out by saying that no warranty applies. I've used software (Mathcad) where the user manual says in big, bold type, "Do not use this software for analyzing medical data. It is not approved for medical use."
Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?
;-)
Well, if you're in your right mind, you probably don't need brain surgery!
Meep meep
...would want their brain fondled with by Linux? Linux is far from crash proof.
You know, come to think of it, I think I know why Windows crashes so much. People install so much crap in Windows. New drivers, new games, new freeware that could be complete crap, etc. On Linux, there is a lot less crap you can actually install. Perhaps that is why Linux crashes less than Windows.
Well, it'll impress the hospital administrator...
This looks just like code reuse. Of course they can slap real-time stuff into the kernel, as long as the R&D costs are acceptable.
Also, I have heard of some RT patches to the kernel. Or even the stock kernel's latency may be good enough if they eliminate the worst cases?
You may laugh, but RISKS digest reported a computer that drove a laser for correcting shortsighedness by gently vapourising a shallow layer of the surface of the victi^h^h patient's eyeball was running Windows... Windows 95 at that! What's worse the technician casually hit ESCAPE toi clear the screen whenever a warning dialog popped up, without bothering to read what it said. I'm damn glad I've got 20/20 vision!
Friends don't let friends have their eyeballs vapourised by lasers driven by Windows 95...
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
I've only looked at fsm labs' RT linux, where RT processes run in parallel with the linux kernel, instead of on. Not to speak bad about linux, but it is really a server OS (perhaps becoming a desktop one), but for RT tasks, there are better solutions.
Like Every system has a margin of error. Like the trick is finding the one that like has a low enough margin. Linux and BSD should like function fine for this purpose.
Pardon me, but wouldn't the "interesting bit" be that it's a frickin' SIX-LEGGED ROBOTIC BRAIN SURGEON?
Someone designs a robotic brain surgeon, and the interesting part is that it's running Linux?
Jesus. Some of these posters really need to sort their priorities out.
You look beautiful! Incidentally, my favourite artist is Picasso.
just had had brain surgery [1] where I thought that some automation would have been desireable [See the setscrews and sliders on the stereotaxic frame (pages 14 & 15 of [1] )] . You can imagine my alarm when I saw one of the neurosurgeon's computers with a Windoze screen. Fortunately for me it turned out to be an off-line brain mapping tool. The "blue screen of death" could have become all too literal. It turns out that one of my surgeon's residents, Sherwin Hua, MD PhD [2] is actually working on automating some of the surgery I had. I'm looking forward to a talk that he'll be giving next month. Bill Bill.Innanen@mindspring.com [1] http://mac2.innanen.com/~bill/parkinsons/DBSSurger y/
[2] http://www.neuro.jhmi.edu/nustrn/residents/hua.htm l
Error: Brain0 ON FIRE!
Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
I realize it'd be more expensive that having someone code and compile it, but if you're dealing with something that *has* to be precise, have as low of a probability of failing as possible and be able to restart as fast as possible in case of a failure, having it all on ROM would be the best bet, in my eyes.
I mean, ROM instructions are pretty much ready to go once you flick the switch. it takes a bit of time to load an OS. In the operating room, seconds can be critical.
The World's Worst Webcomic!
I am so sick of the stupid posts "Linux can now do this!", "Linux Can now do that!". Like it really matters. Any stable OS can do anything given that software has been written for the task. Microsoft Windows has been doing crap like this for some time. Linux propoponents need to get over the novelty and start thinking of the computer as the tool it is, regardless of the OS.
While I'm not a Microsoft fan, it is really foolish to think that Linux is iherently that much better than an MS product. Honestly, I wouldn't want either doing brain surgery on me! First of all, I'd want fault-tolerant hardware. Then, the software should be designed using formal methods and stringent verification.
Would anything less be acceptible. We're talking about a bug being a life or death issue. While working for Compaq, some folks from the Tandem unit gave a talk. They run their computer hardware in lockstep *and* the operating system is designed for ultra-high reliability. Even so, they will not certify the systems for medical use because the stakes are so high.
I'm not against the concept of a robot doing surgery. However, very high standards must be observed in the design of such a system
I find it odd that even though the story has nothing to do with microsoft the company still gets mentioned. Will the linux community ever get over their penis envy of the more successful counterpart? I doubt it.
... leaving in its wake bad legislation that makes many trivial forms of computer crime now punishable with sentances longer than that a rapist or murderer can expect and wearing the hysteria-insighting label of "terrorism."
... I think it is too much to expect them to stop producing shoddy products, though if there were any real human beings working there they would at least acknowledge responsibility for their incompetence and try to repair some small amount of the damage they've wrought) they will continue to get the disrespect, ire, and mockery they deserve, from Macintosh, FreeBSD, and GNU/Linux enthusiasts alike. And rightly so.
As do I, and for good reason.
When Microsoft stops trying to take away people's choice as to whether to use their shoddy products, GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, or anything else. Thus far their track record has been to denigrate and lie about Linux and its capabilities, to call it Unamerican to share software freely, to engage in virtually every illegal anticompetative practice known to man to keep it from being preinstalled on hardware for those who wish to purchase it, and now, finally, to leverage their desktop monopoly and the clout it grants them into redesigning the hardware BIOS (c.f trusted computing and Palladium) as a prelude to making it impossible, and under the DMCA possibly illegal, to run any non-Microsoft product on an amd/intel platform, then perhaps I, and others who dislike them, will feel some inclination toward cutting them some slack. But not until then.
Add to that the well documented and appalling shoddiness of their products, which have left naval vessels dead in the water (literally, at sea), led to such a plethora of worms and viruses that the hysterical users of their shoddy products have taken to legislatively labelling computer system crackers as "terrorists", and the quip about not wanting a Microsoft product operating on one's brain is not only humorious, it is highly apropos. Ironically, on the mass level, Microsoft's product, and its astonishingly ineffectual security, has operated on most people's minds
Until Microsoft ceases and desists in such behavior (anti-competative, thuggish and dishonest practices
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
who in his right mind would want his brain fondled with period?
Actually it does imply it runs on Linux. It doesn't explicitly say "We use Linux", but it definitely implies it.
is no time to be b-9.
I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
It's coded on a linux platform. I'm sure they're using some kind of custom RTOS, which would be much more suitable for this kind of task.
No, but those factors effect the programmer. Doubt anybody will be volunteering their noodle for that debugging process.
But then they're be only one thread!
"If anyone needs me, I'm in the angry dome."
Kind of gives a whole new meaning to Blue Screen of Death.
Greetings from Russia!
I am Zabor Rachlav of Russian Academy of Science in Moscow.
We are planing to implement heart pacemaker Linux project but are having issue with "kernel panic in swapper". Where can we get support for Linux in medical application?
We've had some people in initially clinical trials pass out due to temporary hiccups in the scheduler, and we'd like to fix it before we release to market, obviously.
Is Linux pre-emptible patch "hard realtime" compliance?
Could that be solution to our problem?
We haven't had any panics in the field, we can stop the panics by keeping the maximum heart rate under 128, but the patients feel that "cramps there style". We will liking to fix that to. Any ideas?
Should be use arm instead of x86 architecture? Battery life is short due to high draw of the current of battery. x86 use more power but code tested more.
We are as you know a poor country having economy problems so any support needs to be cheap or even better cost none.
The only information I could find wasn't very helpful.
Any help appreicated muchly!
With Warm Regards,
Zabor Rachlav
I wouldn't want MS or Linux touching my brain. I would much prefer an OS that has a proven medical track record, if I had to go through with an operation..
That's the least funny thing I've ever read.
Singapore has developed a robotic brain surgeon. The interesting bit: based on a Linux platform.
No, the fact that it's a ROBOT performing BRAIN SURGERY, is pretty banal. It's the fact that it all runs on Linux that makes it cool. HUH?? Who cares what platform they used for it? The fact that somebody has made a robot that performs brain surgery is impressive. It's nice that it's running on Linux, but is that really that important?
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
because it's so true...
"Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?"
My answer to that question depends entirely on who wrote the hardware drivers. Windows may have its flaws, but at least 99.9% of the hardware out there works with it out of the box.
To fix my brain, all I need is to eat a truckstop egg sandwich
$8.95/mo web hosting
Failure to have an original thought of their own (all seem to follow the "thinking" of a popular Linux news web site call Slashdot
Software/Music/Movie Piracy
An extreme fascination with trying to get everything including their toilet to run Linux.
And lastly... homosexuality
The article only says "Software developed on a Linux platform". It says nothing about what platform runs the drill. Which doesn't mean it's NOT Linux, of course. It's most likely an embedded OS, so possibly it's some flavor of embedded Linux, but most likely not.
Yup.
If you want to run Windows programs RUN FUCKING WINDOWS.
Best Buy can have you arrested
And actually, not even by ANY robot, driven by ANY platform.
Thank you. Run along.
With great power comes great electricity bills.
Novell is *far* ahead of Linux and Windows in this area, they are already working on the multiuser version, which is debuting soon at the BrainShare 2003 meeting.
This isn't just an RT application, it is a critical system application. I would trust neither Linux nor MSWindows with either.
http://computertimes.asiaone.com.sg/v2/images/spo
Google cache of the matching article here
1. Use Linux
2. Cut Hole in Skull
3 ????
4. PROFIT!!!
if this technology was tested on penguins first . . .
hi, I like pancakes -.-- -.-- --..
Just go here
Call the subliminal MS advert police!
Gee, I know Linux is good, but THAT good? Wow.
I hope they read the license though, mostly there's something like "this software is provided AS IS" in there..
And who to sue in case of a screw-up? The hospital? The doctor who pressed the 'start' button? The original author of the laser power control code? 8-{
I wouldn't want either. Just as the thing is about to go in the KDE task bar icons disspear and the mouse stops responding. Oh damn! Yeah, I'd rather have that...
Oh wait! Did I hear you say that you completely lose your disk partition if you turn the box off while the HD is powered down? Well there goes the operation! Horray Linux!
Yeah... Linux... great...
Well, what else? Who in his right mind would like to have his brain fondled by a MS product?"
What! Only two choices? What makes michael and hherb think WIndows and Linux are the only two operating systems available for embedded surgical devices?
Given a choice, I would much rather have a robosurgeon with QNX working on me than one with Linux. I've had Linux crash once on me in two years. That's fine for my desktop, but when it comes to scalpels and my brain, I just don't like those odds. If you can't even get a consensus from the major developers on what VM is best, then I sure as hell don't want it in robosurgeon.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Crow T. Robot of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" ran off of Unix for 12 seasons straight. Sure he had gotten massive upgrades from the original series that only ran on KTMA out of the twin cities area, to the final season when the sattilite of love crashed to the Earth, but his base operating system never changed. (Except maybe Evil Crow who most likey ran on a Windows system)
this has to be about the truest representation of moderation on slashdot.
shitty anti-MS jokes about bsod = +3 funny.
shitty joke about linux, casting it in a partially bad light = -1 offtopic
wtf.
That's the nice thing about it.. we don't CARE that it replaces microsoft shit! My vision on linux as a whole is fading from a powerfull system to nothing more than a stupid toy to fight microsoft these days.. FUCK IT! I prefer BSD now, if only because its not such a wannabe OS!
The robot may well run something very basic, used to guide servos and such. There's nothing here which says that Linux portion includes the robot. It may, but there's no information here to assume that.
Jennifer Aniston
"Singapore has developed a robotic brain surgeon. The interesting bit: based on a Linux platform."
Does anybody see what's wrong with the above quote. I think the interesting thing is that Singapore has developed a robotic brain surgeon, who cares what OS was used to develop it. Some people really can't see the forest for the trees.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Then explain "Jackass." Hell, explain 95% of television period.
cat /dev/random > /dev/scalpel
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
... is install Apache on it.
/. a Brain Surgeon Robot.
That way we could finally
>>Who in his right mind would like to have his brain
>>fondled by a MS product?
Whoever needs these machines is not in his right mind in the first place, so using M$ is still an option.
we need an "-1 Plain wrong" moderation option!
"The team hopes to begin human trials by the middle of next year, following the completion of animal tests. Trials have been successfully conducted on cadavers." No medical technology is ready until it has been used to torture some non-humans. What do the animal tests add, when tests have already been done on cadavers? You're talking about pure mechanics here. But, it's the law, eh?
Nope, a lot of software runs on a different OS then on which it is written.
(using hardware emulators, but it could also just be the use of another compiler)
This "brain-damaged" epithet is getting sorely overworked. When we can
speak of someone or something being flawed, impaired, marred, spoiled;
batty, bedlamite, bonkers, buggy, cracked, crazed, cuckoo, daft, demented,
deranged, loco, lunatic, mad, maniac, mindless, non compos mentis, nuts,
Reaganite, screwy, teched, unbalanced, unsound, witless, wrong; senseless,
spastic, spasmodic, convulsive; doped, spaced-out, stoned, zonked; {beef,
beetle,block,dung,thick}headed, dense, doltish, dull, duncical, numskulled,
pinhead; asinine, fatuous, foolish, silly, simple; brute, lumbering, oafish;
half-assed, incompetent; backward, retarded, imbecilic, moronic; when we have
a whole precisely nuanced vocabulary of intellectual abuse to draw upon,
individually and in combination, isn't it a little to be
limited to a single, now quite trite, adjective?
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