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Pirates, Web 2.0, and Hundred Dollar Laptop
Update on the One Laptop per Child Project. dominique_cimafranca writes "Ethan Zuckerman gives a report on his visit to the headquarters of the One Laptop per Child project. Some details on practical design considerations such as the hinge, the rabbit ears, and why the hand crank was ultimately left out (apparently, Kofi Annan broke the crank on a prototype). Several pictures, and a look at the motherboard of the OLPC laptop."
TOR Calls Out Torvalds, Stallman on Web 2.0. theodp writes "In an unusual defense of partner CMP's trademarking of Web 2.0, Tim O'Reilly points a finger at Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman in his rebuttal posts. TOR also says the blogger who posted the O'Reilly-approved cease-and-desist letter from CMP 'owes us an apology for the way he responded' (he got one)."
Fallout from The Pirate Bay Raid. Tyler Too writes "The Swedish national police website has been taken offline by a denial of service attack which started Thursday night. That's not the only fallout from the raid on The Pirate Bay: there's a demonstration planned in Stockholm on Saturday."
U.S. Government Ordered The Pirate Bay Shutdown? mkro writes "According to the Swedish government sponsored tv channel SVT, U.S. government officials -- after being approached by the MPAA -- requested the Swedish justice department to take down The Pirate Bay. According to the story, the Swedish justice department asked police and prosecution to act, but when they explained the laws are too vague, they turned directly to the state attorney and the chief of the national police force."
I sincerely hope that other governmental bodies of the world come to realize that the political influence of the U.S. is simply poison to them. They threaten every democratic society they influence with their agenda. I am increasingly ashamed, embarassed and angered by the tactics used by our government. While I believe it would be painful or maybe just disruptive, but I think that, for starters, the US should be excommunicated from the U.N. and N.A.T.O. alliances for their behavior. Talk about your "monopoly abuse" cases...
It's time other nations started to shun the US even more than they already do. Perhaps then some sort of balance could come from this. The next bout of elections will not come soon enough but even then I'm unsure of how much damage will be reversed.
And that's how these things should be handled. Tim O'Reilly doesn't deserve an apology. The people with the fulltime lawyers need to learn that they can't send out threats and expect that mistakes are not made public. These actions have a tremendous chilling effect. Therefore any abuse must be brought to light. I can't believe Mr. O'Reilly thinks he deserves confidentiality after his lawyers sent an unjustified letter that could very well kill another man's business.
Days of the US hegemony are numbered. The writing is on the wall. At the moment soverign states pay lip service but when the Euro shift comes and the dollar tanks US arrogance is going to be left screaming at the skies. Don't be ashamed of your govenment, do something about it. The USA was once a bastion of liberty and freethought, it's not too late to save your nations reputation from the ugly minority that weild disproportionate power.
The Swedish national police website has been taken offline by a denial of service attack which started Thursday night.
Because nothing increases support for your cause like DoSing a police website...
Uttering logically derived and empirically supported truths to the disciples of the orthodox establishment.
I can't be the only one who first read that as TOR Publishing. I almost had a heart attack. I mean, I can deal with boycotting eBay, MPAA, RIAA, for their IP idiocy, but TOR? Do not play so cruelly with my fragile nerdy heart.
Seriously, I have never heard any one abbreviate Tim O'Reilly TOR.
They threaten every democratic society they influence with their agenda.
Because the concepts of intellectual property and copyright were invented by the US, and the only people who benefit from those concepts are Americans (it's funny that you are actually implying that Americans are the only ones who produce decent intellectual property).
I think that, for starters, the US should be excommunicated from the U.N. and N.A.T.O. alliances for their behavior.
The US is supposed to pay 1/4 of the UN's expenses, and they get what in return? I don't think they'd mind all that much. As for NATO, the US provides almost all the logistical support for most NATO missions; it would be quite funny to see NATO try to operate without the US. Considering how and why NATO was formed, it would also be quite humorous to see the US kicked out of that one.
Uttering logically derived and empirically supported truths to the disciples of the orthodox establishment.
I cannot get to the blog; it appears to be suffering from its own DOS attack at the moment.
Thus, I must assume that the blog is a general description of the product specifications, not a detailed, technical presentation. (My apologies if I am wrong.)
That said, the portion you cited is an acceptable simplification of the actual product specs, when the target audience is non-techincal. It may have been more accurate to say the following:
"The current prototype accepts input voltages from 2.25 to 23 Volts, including sources with high noise components. It can also correct for inverted supply inputs, allowing it to effectively support -2.25 to -23 Volts."
However, a non-technical person (perhaps even just a non-electrical engineer) would get little to no additional information from my quote than from his. Why should he write overly-complicated blog posts above the technical comprehension level of his intended audience?
Again, I cannot verify the blog post's intended audience, as I cannot access it. However, this is not the first time I've seen people on Slashdot react to non-technical writing by technical people, and attack those people for that writing. Instead of doing this, the correct response is to examine both the writer and his intended audience. If people on Slashdot are not the intended audience of the post, then the Slashdot reader should judge the technical level as the intended reader would, not as he or she does.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
Did you intentionally miss the posters point?
The fact is the US pressured another government to take down a site that was LEGAL in the country it was in.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
If you were to follow the project (or just think about it for a few minutes) then you would realize the point of this thing. There is no Windows requirement. It doesn't have tons of moving parts (like a hard drive) or generate tons of heat (which requires a fan to cool) or have a 1 1/2 hour battery life. It is designed to be RUGGED, last a LONG TIME, and be VERY energy efficient.
A $300 laptop you buy at Best Buy won't fit those criteria. It will break down easy. It will suck energy. You won't be able to run it by powering it with a foot pedal, it will need too much energy. It won't run well in sub-Saharan Africa due to the heat and the dust and sand and whatever. It doesn't weight just a little bit, it weighs 6-8 pounds. It doesn't have a easy cary handle.
Yep, that $300 laptop you talk about would easily work.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
They don't have that many friends either! Apart from the UK and even thats restricted to Mr Blair. The population / Media here in the UK are very critical of Tony Blair and Gerorgy Bush's close "Relationship". Often it's the butt of jokes.
America would find it very hard to embargo (blockade) Sweden because it's illegal to prevent free trade between EU member nations. Sweden will just import goods via another EU country. America would have to cut trade with the whole of the EU. I don't see that winning many friends.
Yes and now Iraq is in turmoil to the point of near civil war. Al-Qaeda now has a new base of operation (Saddam as brutal as he was, was no friend of Osama). The Muslim world is enraged at the West making the world a far more dangerous place and the US has left itself impotent in the face of Iran's Weapons program.
Either you are ignorant of world affairs. A Republican with a Nationalist complex or I've just fed a troll. Either way your statements are so far from reality they can't even see it.