Just be thankful that this plot didn't involve explosive buttplugs...
Oh, if Linux's key is ok, GPLv3 doesn't stop Tivo.
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The FSF, GPLv3 and DRM
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· Score: 1
Verifying the code (the TiVo portion that RMS hates) is equivelent to verifying Linus's key: Is this code released by the entity you trust. The only major difference is TiVo is more concerned, so it only RUNS code that has been signed by the trusted entity.
I fear a repeat of the Bison fiasco...
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The FSF, GPLv3 and DRM
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Bison (GNU's version of YACC) used to have the restriction that the output of Bison, since it was a large amount of code, was GPL. As a result, nobody used Bison except for GCC, because the liscence was untenible.
I fear that GPLv3, by trying to force RMS's notion of "Liberty" more strongly (anti-DRM provisions, anti-closed-hardware provisions) will be a repeat: GPLv3 based software will only be used by the real FSF zealots. Everyone else will avoid it.
Let us be thankful that Linus Torvald has more of a "tit for tat" notion rather than a liberty notion, and thus selected GPLv2 only.
The text block spam is very common WITH images . I suspect that what happened is some lame spammer got a BIG botnet contract, sent out his spam, and forgot to include the image.
I'm going to buy the Wii. Not the PS2. Not the XBox 360...
Its gameplay, man. The Wii promises "good enuf" graphics and unique gameplay.
Its the same reason I got the DS over the PSP: The games have better gameplay (even if the graphics are far more limited). Innovative input -> innovative gameplay.
And this is indeed a serious problem with EBay...
on
How to Win on Ebay: Snipe
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Proxy bidding is supposed to allow easy auctions with fairness. The problem is the sniping phenomenon. And there is an easy fix: A bid will extend the auction by ~10 minutes if received in the last 10 minutes. Voila, no more sniping.
The problem is, this strategy is not only ineffective, it can be counterproductive.
There is plenty out there on the "Strength of weak links", where past associations (old roommates, sleeper cells), with not contact can be very strong service links when reinitiated.
There is also plenty out there on how this is DoSing the FBI.
And the tin foil hat crowd (a very popular piece of headware these days) will point out that this tool is far more useful for targeting individuals than searching for patterns. And what if you are the target?
Anyone using an FPGA would use a smaller hardcore built into the FPGA or something like a MicroBlaze softcore. You couldn't fit a synthesized, OOO SPARC on all but the biggest FPGA.
Anyone doing an ASIC which has a use for a high performance CPU would just buy the IP anyway, as it gets into the noise compared with all the other costs.
Wikipedia appears to be founded on the principle that "with enough participants, you converge on correctnenss".
This seems similar to stock market theory and other areas (the "wisdom of crowds").
But this is obviously not always the case. You have market bubbles. You have widely believed fallicies (Eg, if you survey in Kansas on evolutionary theory). Etc.
The question: Is there any thought on how to deal with the situations where enough participants will converge on the consistantly wrong answer? There appears to be no mechanism for the correct minority to eliminate the large ignorant majority.
Slashdot Mirror
When the parents take the console away from the kid to play games of their own, thats a success...
Just be thankful that this plot didn't involve explosive buttplugs...
Verifying the code (the TiVo portion that RMS hates) is equivelent to verifying Linus's key: Is this code released by the entity you trust. The only major difference is TiVo is more concerned, so it only RUNS code that has been signed by the trusted entity.
Bison (GNU's version of YACC) used to have the restriction that the output of Bison, since it was a large amount of code, was GPL. As a result, nobody used Bison except for GCC, because the liscence was untenible.
I fear that GPLv3, by trying to force RMS's notion of "Liberty" more strongly (anti-DRM provisions, anti-closed-hardware provisions) will be a repeat: GPLv3 based software will only be used by the real FSF zealots. Everyone else will avoid it.
Let us be thankful that Linus Torvald has more of a "tit for tat" notion rather than a liberty notion, and thus selected GPLv2 only.
The text block spam is very common WITH images . I suspect that what happened is some lame spammer got a BIG botnet contract, sent out his spam, and forgot to include the image.
My speculation: The DS doesn't have the hugely sophisticated firmware that the PSP has, instead it is mostly in the game cartridge itself.
Thus there is no real need for updating the firmware, as the game includes the libraries that work with it.
Damn, there goes my winning strategy: Embezzlement!
Its amazing how much easier Monopoly is to win when you steal a few $500s from the bank before the start of the game...
Unless I hack the reader... Hmmmm.
Region Free is undoubtedly a big win (I almost, ALMOST picked up a black DS Lite when I was in europe).
The form factor is amazing: it really is pocket-comfortable.
The gameplay is innovative: The touchscreen is producing some very cool results, including a lot of non-gamer games
The price is good: About 150 euro after VAT
Battery life is better: no moving parts.
And the number of games is impressive: backwards compatibility is a big win.
No wonder the DS is kicking the PSP's butt.
I'm going to buy the Wii. Not the PS2. Not the XBox 360...
Its gameplay, man. The Wii promises "good enuf" graphics and unique gameplay.
Its the same reason I got the DS over the PSP: The games have better gameplay (even if the graphics are far more limited). Innovative input -> innovative gameplay.
Proxy bidding is supposed to allow easy auctions with fairness. The problem is the sniping phenomenon. And there is an easy fix: A bid will extend the auction by ~10 minutes if received in the last 10 minutes. Voila, no more sniping.
Redacting electronic documents right is HARD. See, for example, The NSA's guide to redacting word documents as PDF.
Subversion is your friend...
It handles binaries right (unlike CVS)
It works over a variety of transport layers (HTTP/HTTPS/SSH) with some decent authentication models.
It treast revisions as an archive-wide property.
You can't check in an inconsistant state.
It runs under *NIX, Mac, Windows, etc.
Its free software.
Try it. I switched a few months back from CVS and have been very happy.
The problem is, this strategy is not only ineffective, it can be counterproductive.
There is plenty out there on the "Strength of weak links", where past associations (old roommates, sleeper cells), with not contact can be very strong service links when reinitiated.
There is also plenty out there on how this is DoSing the FBI.
And the tin foil hat crowd (a very popular piece of headware these days) will point out that this tool is far more useful for targeting individuals than searching for patterns. And what if you are the target?
Speedpass is encrypted, they just did a really bad job of the custom cypher they decided to use for it.
A fly by wire system only requires a couple pounds of wire, can be easily rerouted for configuration changes, and doesn't have interferance issues.
Any plane which would crash if you pointed an EMF jammer at it would not be a good thing.
When the headline said "Windows media player leaks", my response was, No Duh, its a Microsoft Product, of course it will leak memory.
Can we please have a 6 month moratorium on NOT posting Dvorak's trolls on the front page of slashdot?
IE is a huge success:
The Web was threatening to become a client independent client platform.
Netscape looked like it would make a ton of money.
Microsoft had no significant web presence as a portal.
Now?
MSN is a huge portal.
Netscape is dead
And the web is a significant client-independant-client, as long as that client is Internet Explorer, which only runs on Windows...
IE preseved Microsoft's monopoly, killed a huge potential competitor, and has made microsoft a signiciant player in the Portal business.
Hardly a failure.
This actually makes the open SPARC less relevant.
Anyone using an FPGA would use a smaller hardcore built into the FPGA or something like a MicroBlaze softcore. You couldn't fit a synthesized, OOO SPARC on all but the biggest FPGA.
Anyone doing an ASIC which has a use for a high performance CPU would just buy the IP anyway, as it gets into the noise compared with all the other costs.
Open source cores for full processors are actually old news.
The LEON 2 SPARC-compatible core has been around for years.
Anyone doing a real chip design, however, can afford to pay for a real supported core.
Katamari is a COOL game. But aren't 2 sequels enough?
Given the creativity, wouldn't it be nice to see something else, rather than yet another "roll crap up" sequel?
Wikipedia appears to be founded on the principle that "with enough participants, you converge on correctnenss".
This seems similar to stock market theory and other areas (the "wisdom of crowds").
But this is obviously not always the case. You have market bubbles. You have widely believed fallicies (Eg, if you survey in Kansas on evolutionary theory). Etc.
The question: Is there any thought on how to deal with the situations where enough participants will converge on the consistantly wrong answer? There appears to be no mechanism for the correct minority to eliminate the large ignorant majority.
Just look at this past entry for "Beaver" (now corrected, but Wikipedia's history allows us to see it in the full glory)
Beaver
"Beavers explosively attack people with their menacing teeth. They are the most deadly animals alive."
My GF's system got infected by Blaster through Earthlink's dialup service.
So dialup is NOT safe.
Perhaps the greatest improvement in Microsoft's security has been the result of static analysis tools developed by Microsoft Research.
What are the different tools, and what are the plans for making the different tools available to other developers?