"Another thing to worry about is that in 10+ years we will have a whole generation of games (not just MMOs) that will no longer be able to be played on emulators, etc. because the networks they connect with will be gone."
There is an easy fix for this situation.
Don't buy a game unless there is a crack for it somewhere. Most cracked games get around the "phone-home" syndrome. TPB is a good place to start.
I've got two games that I haven't even taken out of the box as I prefer to use the non-DRM versions available as a torrent.
The developers have a work-around for this though. It is called the "MMO".
Personally, I just think the Warden doesn't want them having FUN.
And when you get down to brass tacks, it is a fucking PRISON.
When I looked at this from that perspective, it makes quite a lot of sense. Prison isn't supposed to be fun, folks.
"Hey! I never have to work again, my room and board are provided for me and I get to play D&D all fucking day!" This is most old-school gamers wet dream. The only thing missing is Mom cleaning up the basement for you once a month.
C'mon folks. We have to make it a deterrent, not something to look forward to. The only reason this is fucked up is because they don't just come out and state it that way. Instead, they rationalize and tie this shit up in a courtroom. They could have just said "No fucking games" and been done with it.
The fact that I am on a cellphone means that I can NOT answer any calls and effectively screen calls without worry of "hurting someone's feelings".
I don't answer my cell phones unless I am expecting the call and/or know the caller...ever. And, because of this, all callers to my phone either leave a message or fuck off. In either case, I can call them back as I feel like it...without offending anyone around me.
But then again, I am not so reliant on the constant interaction with friends that my life will go to hell unless I talk to them NOW. Fucking pathetic.
As an ex-Alaskan automotive mechanic, I will try to correct some of the misinformation I am seeing here.
First off, unless the temperatures in your area REGULARLY drop below -10F. there is no reason to do this (or any sort of remote starting) other then for pure comfort of having a pre-warmed car interior. ONE minute of an engine running is plenty to get things seated properly(piston rings and valves are the most important here).
That being said, in places like Alaska and northern Canada it perfectly reasonable to install some form of auto-start.
The idea suggested is idiotic. Having to rely on so much other tech when a simple infrared keyfob (just like the one that locks/unlocks your car) works just as well. Just point it out the window, push a button and your car starts. Sure, you cannot start it from across town, but who the fuck would want to? Commercial auto-start systems are fully programmable with start times, so if your hiking in from the bush and want a warm car when you get to it, just program in your start time.
For this circumstance, there is a better solution, a Webasto coolant pre-heater. It is a small furnace that essentially heats up the coolant (and turns on the interior heating fan, if you like) and only uses.5-.9 OUNCES of fuel an hour. You could keep your engine warm for a most of a day for less then a gallon of fuel (yes, they run on the fuel from your main tank).
But, back to auto-start systems, I never used one myself. They are mostly for the lazy. It isn't that hard to go outside and start your car normally then go back inside for 20 mins. I usually started my car right before I hopped in the shower.
The main reasons for pre-warming a car in severely cold climates are many.
1. Seating of internal components. These components were designed to function properly at RUNNING temperatures. You would be surprised how much piston ring blow-by occurs until those rings seat. Running an engine under a load before this occurs is the biggest cause of engine oil dilution and engine wear as the crankcase is just being loaded up with raw fuel that escapes past the rings into the crankcase.
2. Pre-warming of other under-hood components. Other components such as accessory drive belts do NOT like flexing when very cold. A warm engine raises the temperature of everything under the hood, but it takes some time for this to occur. Most of the heat is initially coming from the exhaust manifolds. People that just get in and drive were my best customers. They hop in, fire it up and drive off, causing cracks to form in seals, drive belts, CV boots etc. I had one customer (military, from Georgia, but stationed in Fairbanks) and I replaced the CV boots on her car 3 times before I finally asked her some questions. She was getting in her car, firing it up, then immediately backing up through a 90 degree turn unto the street, then driving away. The CV boots could not handle the stress of a full rotation of the steering wheel while frozen to -35F. After another inspection, it turns out she had lots of other associated problems.
3. Plastic cars. Most of the interior of cars are plastic these days. Try hopping into a -40F car and start playing with dash buttons and knobs. Some will eventually break right off in your hand. Simply sitting in a vinyl seat at such temps will usually mean severely cracked seats. The plastic literally shatters if you sit on it at low temps. Buying leather seats solves this issue to some extent.
In short, the discussed method is ridiculous. You can do the same thing, with far more safety, by simply using a commercial auto-start system and having it properly installed. Simply hooking into the starter circuit is downright foolish. You need to have system safety checks as well, such as the device making sure the vehicle is in Park/Neutral before starting, a crank signal needs to be checked to tell the device when to DISengage the starter, etc, etc. Some will even look at your fuel tank level to make sure the fucking th
I am getting sick and tired of all the people I hear complaining about China and it's human rights abuses.
Why? Because whining does nothing. Our government does nothing. Forcing their hand, ala Google, does nothing.
So what to do? DO IT YOURSELF! STOP BUYING CHINESE PRODUCTS until they change their policies. Money is all they will respond to (or rather the lack of it). Just because our government treats China with "Most Favored" trading status doesn't mean WE have to.
It really is as simple as flipping over a product, looking for the sticker that says "Made in China" and putting the thing back on the shelf if the sticker is there.
And please, don't give me any guff about "Think about the poor peasants with no money to buy food because we don't buy their products!" Ask any dissident what they think about that. I sure most would agree that you don't get major changes in government without paying the piper.
So, continue the complaining, but at least back it up with some effort.
It all depends on what government agency you are talking about. If sensitive information is at stake, you could have serious problems.
A scheduled P2P application uploading the contents of a hard drive as a torrent would be a worst case scenario. Judging by the logs, it would seem that if this IS a P2P app, a LOT of people are interested in that torrent.
It wouldn't be that hard to script a drive imaging application to create an.iso of the drive then another script to periodically upload the newest image as a torrent.
Unless his gives up some more data, hard to tell for sure.
But, I agree, it sounds like someone is using their employer's (government)bandwidth to torrent. Could be a machine that someone shuts off the monitor on but P2P downloads overnight with a scheduled P2P app.
The peaks/valleys might be explained by reset packets introduced by the ISP temporarily killing the outbound requests and it takes the inbound requests awhile to trickle off.
You can see this same type of log traffic by simply starting a torrent, waiting a little bit, then stopping the P2P client, waiting awhile again, then restarting it. Rinse, repeat and you will see something that looks awfully close to what you have.
Reset packets essentially create the same traffic pattern, but for a different reason (ISP- introduced traffic "shaping").
"It would be interesting indeed if militaries around the world started giving their vets MDMA and marijuana once they have returned home from battle."
I was thinking exactly the same thing.
The problem is exactly as you stated. The FDA approval process will be the biggest hurdle as everyone from public policing entities to the Big Pharma will fight it tooth and nail as they cannot make any money from either drug. They tried with Marinol, but for some reason, it doesn't have the same effects as natural THC, and in many cases, actually makes the person ill (think thalidomide).
It may be that since we are talking about the military here, they might have some means of fast-tracking such things, but the uphill battle against special interests will be a tough one that no amount of military hardware will help with (although, I must admit, it would be entertaining to see them try...the hardware, that is. On special interest groups).
In some cases, ground troops are already given amphetamines for "alertness", not to treat ADD, so they got around the legal/FDA drug restrictions in place there. Why couldn't they do it with other drugs? It would certainly lend some legitimacy to medical marijuana if the military suddenly started using it.
Alas, I doubt it will happen. Big Pharma would rather nobody benefits from it rather then them not make money from the situation.
This line from the Wikipedia entry for THC caught my eye...
"It also has anti-emetic properties, and also may reduce aggression in certain subjects."
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't spousal abuse one of the biggest problems with PTSD? A joint might fix that? But then again, when you are trying to maintain a force that can KILL effectively, a reduction in aggression is probably not a good idea.
I am assuming that since they call it "GPS" navigation that it doesn't use cell towers for location information but satellites, so this shouldn't be a problem.
Even if you cannot call for help, you at least know which direction to go to find it.
Considering that 911 service requires the use of GPS, and has for YEARS, this is long overdue and should have been on the market years ago.
I can only assume that some back-room deals/agreements have been the only thing preventing it for so long--and that those agreements have been tossed in the name of profit.
From a consumer perspective, it's a win-win situation. The next question would be one of battery consumption.
Oh, man. To be a fly on the wall when Ballmer reads THIS little line...
"Within that field, Red Hat topped that chart with 12%, followed by Inte with 8%, IBM and Novell with 6% each, and Oracle 3%. Despite the clear commercial rivalry between those players, central kernel development worked well, Corbet noted."
And everyone thinks the Faraday Cage around his office was to keep his signals safe. The boys in Security know it is really to keep the chairs in his office...well, in his office.
"Right of free speech + right of association = right of groups, as corporations, to speak freely."
Well put, but still flawed in the bigger picture.
The problem here is not freedom of speech, but rather the speech of money. Money talks. We all know this. Equating one with the other, as equals, is disingenuous...and dangerous.
The problem lies in the fact that Corporations have far more money then the average citizen. In short, this takes the power of a vote and throws it out the window until such time you can buy another, much larger one. It devalues the vote of each individual citizen, if by no other mechanism, by dilution.
On a more base level, this essentially allows individuals to "double vote" by adding corporate contributions on top of INDIVIDUAL contributions.
The exchange of "favors" and pork-swaps should also be patently illegal for the same reasons.
"Capt. Joe W. Kittinger achieved the highest and longest (14 min) parachute jump in history on August 16, 1960 as part of a United States Air Force program testing high-altitude escape systems. Wearing a pressure suit, Capt. Kittinger ascended for an hour and a half in an open gondola attached to a balloon to an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,330 m), where he then jumped. The fall lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds, during which Capt. Kittinger reached speeds of 1142 km/h (714 mph) [9]. The air in the upper atmosphere is less dense and thus leads to lower air-resistance and a much higher terminal velocity."
The device is an old technology with many predecessors.
How these people figure they can license something the Germans were launching at England is beyond me. Maybe it is some sort of Israeli entitlement program.
This thing is simply a Pulse Jet engine that has had the combustion chamber tuned to direct the sound pressure at a distance rather then use it for thrust.
One thing that the wiki article does not focus on (and it should) is that pulse jet engines derive much of their thrust from propagated sound pressure waves that are directed by the walls of the combustion chamber back at the valve plate, in effect increasing thrust.
The device being discussed simply directs that sound pressure at a focused location, outside of the device rather then inside it.
"Yes, really, Watson. I'm sure the Traveler will allow us the use of his machine."
"Is there no other way, sir? This seems most excessive..." Watson trailed off, fully aware of the futility in trying to sway Holmes from his conviction. Perhaps Holmes is right. Nip this in the bud while the opportunity still remained.
"Sir, how do you suggest we approach this matter? Surely you cannot expect to drop in from a century in the future and expect tea and scones? The matter of that rather scary looking contraption you wish to employ needs to be addressed as well, sir."
"Quite simple, Watson. I intend that we should mount this "contraption", as you put it, and set the controls to precisely 19 feet in elevation, the corner of Glasshouse and Regent, on the morning of August 16 in the year 1974. Then return." Holmes removed his spectacles and gave them a quick rubbing with the bottom edge of his smoking vest, closely watching Watson from the corner of his eye. The smoke from his pipe cloaked his gaze from Watson.
Watson's eyes glazed slightly as he took in what Holmes had just said. Then they widened. Then they widened more.
"You cannot be serious, sir! You mean to crush Ms. Nina under that contraption?" Watson said, his astonishment tinged with an obvious air of distaste. "Sir, I implore you. Have we really come to this? Time traveling assassins?"
Holmes, more tired then he had ever been in his life, gave Watson a sad, almost regretful smile. "If we are ever to live the life Arthur intended, to solve the riddles that require solving, to live up to our potential, she must die. Then all will be right in the world of Sir Doyle."
Watson, always the one to find some solace in the worst of circumstances, flashed Holmes a quick grin of highly polished teeth. "Can I bring a camera?"
I think the success of this machine will be decided by marketing.
If the company is aiming at the techy types, this is a big fail. Most of us already know how to build something like this. The only advantage they have is buying power as it applies to component acquisition.
Now, on the other hand, if they are aiming at Governments/Corporations, such as the ones that are telling their citizens/employees to stop using Microsoft products due to security flaws, then I think they might be in for more then most of you give them credit.
The big question is how well these things play with others. Do they work well in such large-scale networked environments? Can someone order 500 of them, network them and get down to business?
Re:And we're trusting you because....
on
Hiding From Google
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
"What real benefit would they get from treating each user individually vs analyzing everyone's collective habits?"
Because they CAN use the information in a non-statistical fashion?
It is not so much the motives of Google that I question, but rather those that would have more sinister motivations and are in a position to force the hand of Google, or simply steal the data.
Data from one source can be cross-referenced with data from another source to great effect. The sum of such data is greater then it's parts.
The only true protection is simply not gathering the data at all. This is what I strive for when I protect my computer and myself (as well as anyone willing to listen and learn).
I am sure Blizzard is fully aware of the "tangible" in all of this.
An economy that is, if even only in part, based on virtual currency is also HIGHLY susceptible to having the carpet yanked out from under them. Something as simple as turning off servers, or the deletion of all virtual funds owned by a given country, could have serious real life economic consequences.
Think about that for a moment. Real economic changes being brought on under the auspices of a game EULA?
New tag please./tooweirdforsciencefiction
Re:And we're trusting you because....
on
Hiding From Google
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
"How is Google invasive?"
Have you ever used the NoScript extension for Firefox? Have you ever paid attention to what NoScript is blocking?
I'd say that 80-90% of the websites I end up at have at least www.google-analytics.com or www.google.com trying to run script. I'd call the unauthorized running of script on my computer invasive. Regardless of what they say to the contrary, I have not given them permission to run script on my computer, and have had to resort to actions to prevent it.
Learned use of NoScript is probably THE best way (even better with ABP and a harsh cookie policy) of making sure that Google does not have you in their evil clutches.
Replacing an ECU (PCM, same thing) is a tricky venture sometimes.
Being the honest mechanic, I usually offered an alternative to my customers. I let them decide after explaining.
I had a roughly 50% success rate of fixing these cars--cars that all testing seemed to indicate a wonky/bad ECU--by simply taking the circuit board out of the ECU housing (carefully!) and giving it a gentle twist on two different axis, then re-installing it.
50% of the time the problem went away, never to return. The other 50% of the time it ended up needing replacement eventually. If the customer didn't mind the risk of the problem re-occuring they usually went for the twist test. Saved my customers thousands of dollars.
I have no idea why this fixes some ECUs. Since all the connections are board-soldered, I can olny assume stressing the internals of some component on the board was enough to get it back in spec. Weird, I know.
My own Chrysler Town and Country had this "repair" done to it to solve an intermittent turn signal loss...4 years ago...and it still works.
Since figuring this out, I do this on ANY malfunctioning device with circuit boards...take them out, give 'em a twist and re-install them. It often fixes the problem. Fixed a laptop, two PCs, a stereo amplifier and a snowmachine this way.
Slashdot Mirror
"Another thing to worry about is that in 10+ years we will have a whole generation of games (not just MMOs) that will no longer be able to be played on emulators, etc. because the networks they connect with will be gone."
There is an easy fix for this situation.
Don't buy a game unless there is a crack for it somewhere. Most cracked games get around the "phone-home" syndrome. TPB is a good place to start.
I've got two games that I haven't even taken out of the box as I prefer to use the non-DRM versions available as a torrent.
The developers have a work-around for this though. It is called the "MMO".
Personally, I just think the Warden doesn't want them having FUN.
And when you get down to brass tacks, it is a fucking PRISON.
When I looked at this from that perspective, it makes quite a lot of sense. Prison isn't supposed to be fun, folks.
"Hey! I never have to work again, my room and board are provided for me and I get to play D&D all fucking day!" This is most old-school gamers wet dream. The only thing missing is Mom cleaning up the basement for you once a month.
C'mon folks. We have to make it a deterrent, not something to look forward to. The only reason this is fucked up is because they don't just come out and state it that way. Instead, they rationalize and tie this shit up in a courtroom. They could have just said "No fucking games" and been done with it.
The fact that I am on a cellphone means that I can NOT answer any calls and effectively screen calls without worry of "hurting someone's feelings".
I don't answer my cell phones unless I am expecting the call and/or know the caller...ever. And, because of this, all callers to my phone either leave a message or fuck off. In either case, I can call them back as I feel like it...without offending anyone around me.
But then again, I am not so reliant on the constant interaction with friends that my life will go to hell unless I talk to them NOW. Fucking pathetic.
As an ex-Alaskan automotive mechanic, I will try to correct some of the misinformation I am seeing here.
First off, unless the temperatures in your area REGULARLY drop below -10F. there is no reason to do this (or any sort of remote starting) other then for pure comfort of having a pre-warmed car interior. ONE minute of an engine running is plenty to get things seated properly(piston rings and valves are the most important here).
That being said, in places like Alaska and northern Canada it perfectly reasonable to install some form of auto-start.
The idea suggested is idiotic. Having to rely on so much other tech when a simple infrared keyfob (just like the one that locks/unlocks your car) works just as well. Just point it out the window, push a button and your car starts. Sure, you cannot start it from across town, but who the fuck would want to? Commercial auto-start systems are fully programmable with start times, so if your hiking in from the bush and want a warm car when you get to it, just program in your start time.
For this circumstance, there is a better solution, a Webasto coolant pre-heater. It is a small furnace that essentially heats up the coolant (and turns on the interior heating fan, if you like) and only uses .5-.9 OUNCES of fuel an hour. You could keep your engine warm for a most of a day for less then a gallon of fuel (yes, they run on the fuel from your main tank).
But, back to auto-start systems, I never used one myself. They are mostly for the lazy. It isn't that hard to go outside and start your car normally then go back inside for 20 mins. I usually started my car right before I hopped in the shower.
The main reasons for pre-warming a car in severely cold climates are many.
1. Seating of internal components.
These components were designed to function properly at RUNNING temperatures. You would be surprised how much piston ring blow-by occurs until those rings seat. Running an engine under a load before this occurs is the biggest cause of engine oil dilution and engine wear as the crankcase is just being loaded up with raw fuel that escapes past the rings into the crankcase.
2. Pre-warming of other under-hood components.
Other components such as accessory drive belts do NOT like flexing when very cold. A warm engine raises the temperature of everything under the hood, but it takes some time for this to occur. Most of the heat is initially coming from the exhaust manifolds. People that just get in and drive were my best customers. They hop in, fire it up and drive off, causing cracks to form in seals, drive belts, CV boots etc. I had one customer (military, from Georgia, but stationed in Fairbanks) and I replaced the CV boots on her car 3 times before I finally asked her some questions. She was getting in her car, firing it up, then immediately backing up through a 90 degree turn unto the street, then driving away. The CV boots could not handle the stress of a full rotation of the steering wheel while frozen to -35F. After another inspection, it turns out she had lots of other associated problems.
3. Plastic cars.
Most of the interior of cars are plastic these days. Try hopping into a -40F car and start playing with dash buttons and knobs. Some will eventually break right off in your hand. Simply sitting in a vinyl seat at such temps will usually mean severely cracked seats. The plastic literally shatters if you sit on it at low temps. Buying leather seats solves this issue to some extent.
In short, the discussed method is ridiculous. You can do the same thing, with far more safety, by simply using a commercial auto-start system and having it properly installed. Simply hooking into the starter circuit is downright foolish. You need to have system safety checks as well, such as the device making sure the vehicle is in Park/Neutral before starting, a crank signal needs to be checked to tell the device when to DISengage the starter, etc, etc. Some will even look at your fuel tank level to make sure the fucking th
I am getting sick and tired of all the people I hear complaining about China and it's human rights abuses.
Why? Because whining does nothing. Our government does nothing. Forcing their hand, ala Google, does nothing.
So what to do? DO IT YOURSELF! STOP BUYING CHINESE PRODUCTS until they change their policies. Money is all they will respond to (or rather the lack of it). Just because our government treats China with "Most Favored" trading status doesn't mean WE have to.
It really is as simple as flipping over a product, looking for the sticker that says "Made in China" and putting the thing back on the shelf if the sticker is there.
And please, don't give me any guff about "Think about the poor peasants with no money to buy food because we don't buy their products!" Ask any dissident what they think about that. I sure most would agree that you don't get major changes in government without paying the piper.
So, continue the complaining, but at least back it up with some effort.
In hind sight, this MAY be very dangerous.
It all depends on what government agency you are talking about. If sensitive information is at stake, you could have serious problems.
A scheduled P2P application uploading the contents of a hard drive as a torrent would be a worst case scenario. Judging by the logs, it would seem that if this IS a P2P app, a LOT of people are interested in that torrent.
It wouldn't be that hard to script a drive imaging application to create an .iso of the drive then another script to periodically upload the newest image as a torrent.
Fun stuff.
Bingo. My thoughts exactly.
Unless his gives up some more data, hard to tell for sure.
But, I agree, it sounds like someone is using their employer's (government)bandwidth to torrent. Could be a machine that someone shuts off the monitor on but P2P downloads overnight with a scheduled P2P app.
The peaks/valleys might be explained by reset packets introduced by the ISP temporarily killing the outbound requests and it takes the inbound requests awhile to trickle off.
You can see this same type of log traffic by simply starting a torrent, waiting a little bit, then stopping the P2P client, waiting awhile again, then restarting it. Rinse, repeat and you will see something that looks awfully close to what you have.
Reset packets essentially create the same traffic pattern, but for a different reason (ISP- introduced traffic "shaping").
I could get a dog to run the same exact patterns by placing steaks in the same configuration as the Japanese rail stations.
Slime mold, dogs, humans...you put food somewhere, most creatures will take the shortest, most energy efficient route to get to it.
I don't understand what they are trying to prove here.
That maybe Japanese designers are no more capable then slime mold? This may not be in their best interests.
"It would be interesting indeed if militaries around the world started giving their vets MDMA and marijuana once they have returned home from battle."
I was thinking exactly the same thing.
The problem is exactly as you stated. The FDA approval process will be the biggest hurdle as everyone from public policing entities to the Big Pharma will fight it tooth and nail as they cannot make any money from either drug. They tried with Marinol, but for some reason, it doesn't have the same effects as natural THC, and in many cases, actually makes the person ill (think thalidomide).
It may be that since we are talking about the military here, they might have some means of fast-tracking such things, but the uphill battle against special interests will be a tough one that no amount of military hardware will help with (although, I must admit, it would be entertaining to see them try...the hardware, that is. On special interest groups).
In some cases, ground troops are already given amphetamines for "alertness", not to treat ADD, so they got around the legal/FDA drug restrictions in place there. Why couldn't they do it with other drugs?
It would certainly lend some legitimacy to medical marijuana if the military suddenly started using it.
Alas, I doubt it will happen. Big Pharma would rather nobody benefits from it rather then them not make money from the situation.
This line from the Wikipedia entry for THC caught my eye...
"It also has anti-emetic properties, and also may reduce aggression in certain subjects."
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't spousal abuse one of the biggest problems with PTSD? A joint might fix that? But then again, when you are trying to maintain a force that can KILL effectively, a reduction in aggression is probably not a good idea.
So, what were we talking about?
"Dropped calls = dropped GPS directions"
I am assuming that since they call it "GPS" navigation that it doesn't use cell towers for location information but satellites, so this shouldn't be a problem.
Even if you cannot call for help, you at least know which direction to go to find it.
Considering that 911 service requires the use of GPS, and has for YEARS, this is long overdue and should have been on the market years ago.
I can only assume that some back-room deals/agreements have been the only thing preventing it for so long--and that those agreements have been tossed in the name of profit.
From a consumer perspective, it's a win-win situation. The next question would be one of battery consumption.
"Remember, these people are getting paid for their labor, not paid a million times over, every time a copy of the code is distributed."
Now only if we could apply this concept to the music industry.
Oh, man. To be a fly on the wall when Ballmer reads THIS little line...
"Within that field, Red Hat topped that chart with 12%, followed by Inte with 8%, IBM and Novell with 6% each, and Oracle 3%. Despite the clear commercial rivalry between those players, central kernel development worked well, Corbet noted."
And everyone thinks the Faraday Cage around his office was to keep his signals safe. The boys in Security know it is really to keep the chairs in his office...well, in his office.
"Right of free speech + right of association = right of groups, as corporations, to speak freely."
Well put, but still flawed in the bigger picture.
The problem here is not freedom of speech, but rather the speech of money. Money talks. We all know this. Equating one with the other, as equals, is disingenuous...and dangerous.
The problem lies in the fact that Corporations have far more money then the average citizen. In short, this takes the power of a vote and throws it out the window until such time you can buy another, much larger one. It devalues the vote of each individual citizen, if by no other mechanism, by dilution.
On a more base level, this essentially allows individuals to "double vote" by adding corporate contributions on top of INDIVIDUAL contributions.
The exchange of "favors" and pork-swaps should also be patently illegal for the same reasons.
Ask the fucking craziest of them all, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger .
Personal experience is as good as it gets...
"Capt. Joe W. Kittinger achieved the highest and longest (14 min) parachute jump in history on August 16, 1960 as part of a United States Air Force program testing high-altitude escape systems. Wearing a pressure suit, Capt. Kittinger ascended for an hour and a half in an open gondola attached to a balloon to an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,330 m), where he then jumped. The fall lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds, during which Capt. Kittinger reached speeds of 1142 km/h (714 mph) [9]. The air in the upper atmosphere is less dense and thus leads to lower air-resistance and a much higher terminal velocity."
Gives the phrase "No Fear" a whole new meaning.
The device is an old technology with many predecessors.
How these people figure they can license something the Germans were launching at England is beyond me. Maybe it is some sort of Israeli entitlement program.
This thing is simply a Pulse Jet engine that has had the combustion chamber tuned to direct the sound pressure at a distance rather then use it for thrust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_jet
One thing that the wiki article does not focus on (and it should) is that pulse jet engines derive much of their thrust from propagated sound pressure waves that are directed by the walls of the combustion chamber back at the valve plate, in effect increasing thrust.
The device being discussed simply directs that sound pressure at a focused location, outside of the device rather then inside it.
Which was pre-dated by, get this, a console game, by almost three years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox_Odyssey
"Yes, really, Watson. I'm sure the Traveler will allow us the use of his machine."
"Is there no other way, sir? This seems most excessive..." Watson trailed off, fully aware of the futility in trying to sway Holmes from his conviction. Perhaps Holmes is right. Nip this in the bud while the opportunity still remained.
"Sir, how do you suggest we approach this matter? Surely you cannot expect to drop in from a century in the future and expect tea and scones? The matter of that rather scary looking contraption you wish to employ needs to be addressed as well, sir."
"Quite simple, Watson. I intend that we should mount this "contraption", as you put it, and set the controls to precisely 19 feet in elevation, the corner of Glasshouse and Regent, on the morning of August 16 in the year 1974. Then return." Holmes removed his spectacles and gave them a quick rubbing with the bottom edge of his smoking vest, closely watching Watson from the corner of his eye. The smoke from his pipe cloaked his gaze from Watson.
Watson's eyes glazed slightly as he took in what Holmes had just said. Then they widened. Then they widened more.
"You cannot be serious, sir! You mean to crush Ms. Nina under that contraption?" Watson said, his astonishment tinged with an obvious air of distaste. "Sir, I implore you. Have we really come to this? Time traveling assassins?"
Holmes, more tired then he had ever been in his life, gave Watson a sad, almost regretful smile. "If we are ever to live the life Arthur intended, to solve the riddles that require solving, to live up to our potential, she must die. Then all will be right in the world of Sir Doyle."
Watson, always the one to find some solace in the worst of circumstances, flashed Holmes a quick grin of highly polished teeth. "Can I bring a camera?"
I think the success of this machine will be decided by marketing.
If the company is aiming at the techy types, this is a big fail. Most of us already know how to build something like this. The only advantage they have is buying power as it applies to component acquisition.
Now, on the other hand, if they are aiming at Governments/Corporations, such as the ones that are telling their citizens/employees to stop using Microsoft products due to security flaws, then I think they might be in for more then most of you give them credit.
The big question is how well these things play with others. Do they work well in such large-scale networked environments? Can someone order 500 of them, network them and get down to business?
"What real benefit would they get from treating each user individually vs analyzing everyone's collective habits?"
Because they CAN use the information in a non-statistical fashion?
It is not so much the motives of Google that I question, but rather those that would have more sinister motivations and are in a position to force the hand of Google, or simply steal the data.
Data from one source can be cross-referenced with data from another source to great effect. The sum of such data is greater then it's parts.
The only true protection is simply not gathering the data at all. This is what I strive for when I protect my computer and myself (as well as anyone willing to listen and learn).
"If by "real" you mean "non-tangible""
I am sure Blizzard is fully aware of the "tangible" in all of this.
An economy that is, if even only in part, based on virtual currency is also HIGHLY susceptible to having the carpet yanked out from under them. Something as simple as turning off servers, or the deletion of all virtual funds owned by a given country, could have serious real life economic consequences.
Think about that for a moment. Real economic changes being brought on under the auspices of a game EULA?
New tag please. /tooweirdforsciencefiction
"How is Google invasive?"
Have you ever used the NoScript extension for Firefox? Have you ever paid attention to what NoScript is blocking?
I'd say that 80-90% of the websites I end up at have at least www.google-analytics.com or www.google.com trying to run script. I'd call the unauthorized running of script on my computer invasive. Regardless of what they say to the contrary, I have not given them permission to run script on my computer, and have had to resort to actions to prevent it.
Learned use of NoScript is probably THE best way (even better with ABP and a harsh cookie policy) of making sure that Google does not have you in their evil clutches.
And, it is free. As in beer.
I checked out the links provided in the summary then started reading through Slashdotter responses and comments.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the discussion was serious, balanced and fairly constructive.
I then realized I wasn't logged in.
http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220090010962%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20090010962&RS=DN/20090010962
"Thank you, exactly what I always thought, however this is the first instance (I come across) that someone else utters this suspicion."
Well, now that I've said it and you know your not alone, feel free to say it yourself.
Amazing how many people will not say what they really think for fear of being labeled a kook or...*gasp*...a conspiracy theorist.
I've already been labeled a conspiracy theorist, so I've nothing to lose in that sense.
Replacing an ECU (PCM, same thing) is a tricky venture sometimes.
Being the honest mechanic, I usually offered an alternative to my customers. I let them decide after explaining.
I had a roughly 50% success rate of fixing these cars--cars that all testing seemed to indicate a wonky/bad ECU--by simply taking the circuit board out of the ECU housing (carefully!) and giving it a gentle twist on two different axis, then re-installing it.
50% of the time the problem went away, never to return. The other 50% of the time it ended up needing replacement eventually. If the customer didn't mind the risk of the problem re-occuring they usually went for the twist test. Saved my customers thousands of dollars.
I have no idea why this fixes some ECUs. Since all the connections are board-soldered, I can olny assume stressing the internals of some component on the board was enough to get it back in spec. Weird, I know.
My own Chrysler Town and Country had this "repair" done to it to solve an intermittent turn signal loss...4 years ago...and it still works.
Since figuring this out, I do this on ANY malfunctioning device with circuit boards...take them out, give 'em a twist and re-install them. It often fixes the problem. Fixed a laptop, two PCs, a stereo amplifier and a snowmachine this way.