It is the function of the police, not only to apprehend criminals, but to prevent if possible criminal acts from taking place.
Hmm, I can see a cop liking this:
"OK sir, I'm going to confiscate your car to prevent you fro exceeding the sped limit Or how about castration to prevent rape? Or - sheesh there are so many laws you could break I guess I'd better just execute you to be on the safe side, after all it's my job to prevent criminal acts." ----
If I also recall, part of this case originated with much higher than normal consumption of electrcity in the guys home. That information was not private.
Really? Here in the UK we don't have access to other peoples electricity bills. I would be surprised if the police were routinely given copies either, why is electricity consumption not private in the US ----
Since people writing websites are often engaging in practices such as closed sites (where there aren't any external links, keeping novice users within their system of sites - i.e. AOL or Freeserve) then we should applaud this feature, as it will allow millions to finally venture out into the web as a whole, and increase connectivity massively.
Great, now instead of being limited to AOL sites, you can be limited to AOL and MS sites - or even just deflected from AOL sites to only MS sites.
What worries me about this is that MS could, and not necessarily would, take it even further. Technically there is nothing preventing a browser writer (e.g.MS) from scanning for links to non-favoured sites (e.g. redhat) and replacing the authors intended URL with another (e.g the MS linux myths page) with no indication to the browser user that such redirection has been done? There is nothing to prevent these 'smart tags' from having the same appearance as a 'proper' hyperlink with the users browser preferences on colour etc. It doesn't have to look different. Links could be edite/replaced as well as added. This re-written page can then be presented to the user if the option is taken to view the page source so that's no use.... Is this not the time to start explaining this to the press and pointing out the disadvantages of closed source, and that this is unlikely to be possible with open source (providing you use a comopiler which doesn't have a back door..)
I have a bad dream about a combination of censorware and hidden smart tag technology - wouldn't it be great to have some software in libraries which doesn't just block access to some sites but totally blanks them out (404) and also removes any links to them as well. They might as well not be on the net. ----
And I've seen a way to use emacs as the editor in Visual Studio too.... Sorry I can't remember the URL but if you start at GNU and then look at the emacs ring you'll find it. ----
No, I didn't have to be a member of the O'Reilly Network to read the article, and I don't have to be a member of the O'Reilly Network to read/. and post this.
How would you like to be unable to read/. or Kur05hin or whatever unless you have a PassPort? ----
Didn't he set up a company to make the first ballpoint and name the company after himself? And didn't he also trademark that invention with the same name? ----
While I don't disagree with you it sounds a bit too PC to be true. If left handed bluebearded women of 23 are more likely to have accidents then they should have higher premiums, and they will. Otherwise why should low risk groups subsidise high-risk ones?
Your post reminds me of 2 things, the story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, and the introduction to It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier by Tom Lehrer. In the intro Lehrer talks (in the 50s) about how the US Army has eliminated discrimination on grounds of Race,Creed,Colour or Ability. ----
You're overlooking something re: insurance.
It's not just the likelihood of accident that determines premium, a significant factor is the cost of parts and labour - if a big engine costs more to fix it will cost more to insure, regardless of accident probability. That's not to say that the likelihood of accident sin;t a factor - it obviously is, it's just not the only one. ----
I have back pain, my muscles are NOT weak, in fact this has made things worse. I have compacted discs and swollen ligaments, particualrly in the L5 area (lumbar region). This had been getting worse for the past 8-10 years. I just lived with it until it got bad enough for me to lose whole nights sleep. The wrong sort of exercise will only make it worse. In my case the right sort of exercise in conjunction with physiotherapy (traction in particular) is getting it better. If I lift any weight, even my baby son, it makes my back worse. Eventually I'll be able to behave relatively normally but until then I daren't lift anything. The original cause was a couple of injuries that I didn't know enough to get seen to when it would have been easy to fix.
If you have back pain, SEE A DOCTOR, don't take medical advice from/. - that is even dumber than taking legal advice here. Having said that, losing weight won't do most people any harm (unless they're too thin already etc) and swimming and bicycling are normally safe if not doen to excess. Again - SEE A DOCTOR. ----
There were plenty of Canadians in the RAF, and the army, probably the RN too. And don't forget the Canadians in the Normandy Landings. I'm not Canadian, just grateful. Thank you Canada. And Australia and New Zealand. And India and South Africa, etc.
And don't forget that a large number of Americans somehow managed to join the RAF, probably posing as Canadians, well before the US joined the war. In WWI there were even special American squadrons flying for the French (the Lafayette Espadrille). I think that it's illegal for a US citizen to join a foreign army but an awful lot seem to have found a way. ----
And according to Gore Vidal, whose family were in the Washington elite at the time, FDR had also been provoking the Japanese into war. I'm not sure I believe it but there are apparently a reasonable number of historians (US) who also hold this view. ----
That's the first time I've seen "American car" and "sytle"(sic) in the same sentence! Assuming you meant good attractive design by style. And while this may not be of interest to many Americans I bet the Mercedes (Brabus) goes round corners rather better. ----
I remember being impressed and somewhat taken aback a few years ago when Mercedes brought out the previous E class. It had 3 litre engines in both petrol and diesel forms, the impressive thing being that the diesel cost less to buy, had a much better mpg and had better acceleration. ----
A faggot is also some sort of meatball. And I've never heard a ciggie referred to as a faggot, just a fag - which is also a younger pupil acting as a servant to an older boy at some English public schools - which may or may not bring us back to the other usage of faggot (US not UK).
WRT your sig... some babies do actually need to be taught how to suckle at a nipple, so that takes us down to zero intuitive interfaces:-( ----
I used to have a Microwriter Agenda, an early PDA, laughably primitive by todays standards, display was two lines of 24(?) chars etc. It came with a very small alphabetic keyboard and a host of function keys, very busy. BUT it had those 7 blank keypads where you could enter any character by chording.
I could take notes during meetings while keeping my hand in my pocket on this thing and 'touch type'. It was incredibly efficient and accuracy was 90%+, plenty good enough for what I was doing.
They claimed it would take half an hour to get familiar enough with microwriting to start using it for real and that was about right. It had a PC connection so I could use it for entering data ihto the PC too, I wish I could find the cable now.
And it was easier to learn and use, and more accurate than graffiti on the palm, as I've done that too. I'd love to switch to a microwriter keypad for the left hand so I can use my right on a graphics tablet or trackball. ----
Sholes' solution was to calculate which letters were most often used in English and then position them as far from one another as possible.
Then he failed in one or other of those tasks. The most common letters used in English are ETAIONSHRDLU - in decreasing order of frequency, a quick perusal of the QWERTY keyboard reveals that these aren't 'as far frm one another as possible' after all. I suspect that Sholes design was 'good enough' and won the timing/price/marketing battle. Sort of the VHS of keyboards, maybe not the best but it's ok. ----
Easy with analog, I think you need specialised hardware to snoop GSM signals. Ditto cordless phones, analog is easy but DECT is significantly better. I don't know if either technology is common in the US yet:-)
How about TFT panels using digital connections - are they easy to sniff?
I have a logitech wireless KB and mouse and I was well aware of what I was transmitting before this story, that's why I use my laptop for anything important - I know it's still snoopable but it has no keyboard, monitor or mouse leads to acts as RF antennae so it would make life harder for a snooper. ----
Er, is that MPEG2 or MPEG4?
If MPEG2 is specified then build a MPEG4 device - that should be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art. If they are claiming all MPEG compressions then the patent is surely over-broad. ----
Oh agreed, that's why I said interesting, not surprising:-) I was really thinking about the bike nuts who claim bikes are faster - they probably are by but not by as much as is claimed, especially if you don't ride suicidally between moving traffic etc...
The other nice thing about cars is that you can usually have at least two people and their luggage and still blast around and have fun. ----
Here in the UK Top Gear magazine had some fun by comparing the lap times of a BTCC Honda and a competition bike (sorry can't remember which) with their usual driver/rider. The interesting thing was that there was very little difference in the lap times - the bike hit higher top speeds on the straights but the car had to slow down much less for the corners. ----
Slashdot Mirror
"OK sir, I'm going to confiscate your car to prevent you fro exceeding the sped limit
Or how about castration to prevent rape?
Or - sheesh there are so many laws you could break I guess I'd better just execute you to be on the safe side, after all it's my job to prevent criminal acts."
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What worries me about this is that MS could, and not necessarily would, take it even further. Technically there is nothing preventing a browser writer (e.g.MS) from scanning for links to non-favoured sites (e.g. redhat) and replacing the authors intended URL with another (e.g the MS linux myths page) with no indication to the browser user that such redirection has been done? There is nothing to prevent these 'smart tags' from having the same appearance as a 'proper' hyperlink with the users browser preferences on colour etc.
It doesn't have to look different. Links could be edite/replaced as well as added. This re-written page can then be presented to the user if the option is taken to view the page source so that's no use....
Is this not the time to start explaining this to the press and pointing out the disadvantages of closed source, and that this is unlikely to be possible with open source (providing you use a comopiler which doesn't have a back door..)
I have a bad dream about a combination of censorware and hidden smart tag technology - wouldn't it be great to have some software in libraries which doesn't just block access to some sites but totally blanks them out (404) and also removes any links to them as well. They might as well not be on the net.
----
And I've seen a way to use emacs as the editor in Visual Studio too....
Sorry I can't remember the URL but if you start at GNU and then look at the emacs ring you'll find it.
----
How would you like to be unable to read /. or Kur05hin or whatever unless you have a PassPort?
----
Didn't he set up a company to make the first ballpoint and name the company after himself? And didn't he also trademark that invention with the same name?
----
Your post reminds me of 2 things, the story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, and the introduction to It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier by Tom Lehrer. In the intro Lehrer talks (in the 50s) about how the US Army has eliminated discrimination on grounds of Race,Creed,Colour or Ability.
----
You're overlooking something re: insurance.
It's not just the likelihood of accident that determines premium, a significant factor is the cost of parts and labour - if a big engine costs more to fix it will cost more to insure, regardless of accident probability. That's not to say that the likelihood of accident sin;t a factor - it obviously is, it's just not the only one.
----
I have compacted discs and swollen ligaments, particualrly in the L5 area (lumbar region). This had been getting worse for the past 8-10 years. I just lived with it until it got bad enough for me to lose whole nights sleep.
The wrong sort of exercise will only make it worse. In my case the right sort of exercise in conjunction with physiotherapy (traction in particular) is getting it better. If I lift any weight, even my baby son, it makes my back worse. Eventually I'll be able to behave relatively normally but until then I daren't lift anything. The original cause was a couple of injuries that I didn't know enough to get seen to when it would have been easy to fix.
If you have back pain, SEE A DOCTOR, don't take medical advice from /. - that is even dumber than taking legal advice here. Having said that, losing weight won't do most people any harm (unless they're too thin already etc) and swimming and bicycling are normally safe if not doen to excess. Again - SEE A DOCTOR.
----
Braveheart....
The Patriot....
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I bet that a lot of Americans think that they beat the japenese in Burma too.....
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As was Cross Of Iron. Even stars an American (playing a German). Good Film.
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And don't forget that a large number of Americans somehow managed to join the RAF, probably posing as Canadians, well before the US joined the war. In WWI there were even special American squadrons flying for the French (the Lafayette Espadrille). I think that it's illegal for a US citizen to join a foreign army but an awful lot seem to have found a way.
----
And according to Gore Vidal, whose family were in the Washington elite at the time, FDR had also been provoking the Japanese into war. I'm not sure I believe it but there are apparently a reasonable number of historians (US) who also hold this view.
----
That's the first time I've seen "American car" and "sytle"(sic) in the same sentence! Assuming you meant good attractive design by style. And while this may not be of interest to many Americans I bet the Mercedes (Brabus) goes round corners rather better.
----
I remember being impressed and somewhat taken aback a few years ago when Mercedes brought out the previous E class. It had 3 litre engines in both petrol and diesel forms, the impressive thing being that the diesel cost less to buy, had a much better mpg and had better acceleration.
----
WRT your sig... some babies do actually need to be taught how to suckle at a nipple, so that takes us down to zero intuitive interfaces :-(
----
I could take notes during meetings while keeping my hand in my pocket on this thing and 'touch type'. It was incredibly efficient and accuracy was 90%+, plenty good enough for what I was doing.
They claimed it would take half an hour to get familiar enough with microwriting to start using it for real and that was about right. It had a PC connection so I could use it for entering data ihto the PC too, I wish I could find the cable now.
And it was easier to learn and use, and more accurate than graffiti on the palm, as I've done that too. I'd love to switch to a microwriter keypad for the left hand so I can use my right on a graphics tablet or trackball.
----
----
How about TFT panels using digital connections - are they easy to sniff?
I have a logitech wireless KB and mouse and I was well aware of what I was transmitting before this story, that's why I use my laptop for anything important - I know it's still snoopable but it has no keyboard, monitor or mouse leads to acts as RF antennae so it would make life harder for a snooper.
----
Er, is that MPEG2 or MPEG4?
If MPEG2 is specified then build a MPEG4 device - that should be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art. If they are claiming all MPEG compressions then the patent is surely over-broad.
----
Mel Gibson went to acting school?
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Oh agreed, that's why I said interesting, not surprising :-)
I was really thinking about the bike nuts who claim bikes are faster - they probably are by but not by as much as is claimed, especially if you don't ride suicidally between moving traffic etc...
The other nice thing about cars is that you can usually have at least two people and their luggage and still blast around and have fun.
----
Here in the UK Top Gear magazine had some fun by comparing the lap times of a BTCC Honda and a competition bike (sorry can't remember which) with their usual driver/rider.
The interesting thing was that there was very little difference in the lap times - the bike hit higher top speeds on the straights but the car had to slow down much less for the corners.
----
Hmm, how do you do O-umlaut? (I know Goedel is acceptable in German, but won't be in a bookshop database)
----