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Microchips With Multiple "Selves"
Stony Stevenson brings news from Rice University about designing integrated circuits with multiple distinct identities, which could be used in new types of hardware-based DRM, among other things. From the news release:
"'With "n-variant" integrated circuits, it is possible to design portable media players that are inherently unique,' said Farinaz Koushanfar, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice and principal investigator on the project. 'New methods of digital rights management can be built upon such devices. For example, media files can be made such that they only run on a certain variant and cannot be played by another.' Koushanfar said content providers could also use n-variant chips to sell metered access to software, music or movies because the chips can be programmed to switch from one variant to another at a particular time or after a file has been accessed a certain number of times."
So they finally made the MAGI system?
A System with a multiple personality disorder. I'll never know what it will boot to, a whole new substitute for grub.
Why not pass a worldwide law that upon birth (or on the date the law goes into effect), every single person in the world must have an implant that detects whenever that person sees, hears, or otherwise experiences any form of copyrighted material, and on each occurrence, transfers money from their bank account directly into the accounts of the RIAA, MPAA, and Microsoft. This would solve the problem of people downloading illegally, as it would become legal to download copyrighted material for free. You would pay each time you hear/see/use the material. This would be a form of Pay-Per-Use, and to the RIAA's, MPAA's, and Microsoft's huge advantage, they'll get to charge you even when you pull up to a stoplight and you hear a song being blasted on the radio of the car next to you. Violation of the law by not having the implant will be punishable by weeks of inhumane torture, followed by the death penalty, without wasting anyone's time with nonsense like trials, legal proceedings, due process, or any of that other pesky stuff.
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
Why the hell would I want a chip with multiple personality disorder?
cptnapalm sits down to work at his computer
*a message pops up on the screen*
"Hello, Dave."
cptnapalm: "My name's not... Oh shit..."
How about we call this an 'FPGA'? Now all we need is a backronym....
The article seems to be written in Buzzwordian, and while I've got a passing acquaintance with it I'm not at all familiar with the Academentian dialect.
Seriously, what the hell do they mean?