I don't feel that this is a problem in the year 2000. Currently, there is lots of money to go around, and I think that for the most part, H1B Visas are paying pretty well, so salary issues aren't a concern. I can't imagine what it will be like in, say, 2005, when the economy has slowed down, and we've allowed 200,000 new immigrants into the country each year. At that point, there are going to be 1 million extra people fighting for a job, which *will* be able to bring down the salaries...
Supposedly, Sun is (was?) having a hard time ramping up production of the higher-speed Ultra Sparc III's (heh, kinda like Motorola & their 7400 (aka G4)), so they were planning on selling several of the lower-speed models (like 550-650MHz) on Ebay. (Here is a CNET News.com link that confirms possible eBay sales...)
First, I'd have to know what the source code "looked" like for every version of every compiler. So instead I make sure that the binary that gcc compiles to using gcc will have this code put in.
I disagree with that. You could create an artificial intellegence type gcc (you point that out later in your post), but I think that is too difficult:
When you build gcc, there is most likely going to be a file called "gcc.c" or whatever, regardless of what version of the software you are using. Also, you know that there is going to be a function called main. That's probably all the software needs to look for.
Also (Disclaimer: I'm far from a being a compiler expert), there are likely to be some segments of code that will be present that could give away the fact that it's a compiler that you are compiling...
But what if I use cc from Sun or HP to cross-compile gcc
This method certainly isn't fool-proof (nobody would have the power to convice those companies to do something like that, except the NSA...oops, that's who we're talking about =-) I believe that his article was intended to get us to think about how secure our system really is.
we should remember that unless we compile the software we use ourselves from our own source that we ourselves have checked, then we can never be sure if there exists a backdoor into our software.
How do you know that there isn't some special login that's universal? Ok, you say, "well, I'll just compile the source & run it myself".
His response would be, "how do you know that I didn't put something in gcc that figured out if it was compiling the login program and automatically added that one entry into the code?"
You would respond "So, I'll just recompile gcc"
And of course he'd say, "How do you know that I haven't put code into the compiled gcc that checks to see if your compiling gcc & add that code into the gcc binary?"
Why do people get the MP3 players? Because, again, they are *easier* than burning CDs. (Or because they are geeks who like the shiny aspect of a MP3 player, but we're discussing the AOLers).
While I do agree with your post, I wanted to point out that I purchased an MP3 Player so I can jog & listen to music at the same time. Because everything is loaded into memory, I never have to worry about skipping like I would with a CD player.
The US is now working on an alternative standard though, even though DAB works perfectly. Reminds me of GSM all over again
The issue about the US creating a new cell-phone standard as opposed to adopting GSM is that the FCC made several requirements that a digital replacement technology had to have. For example, for a system that replaced the analog system (AMPS), it should have 10 times the capacity of AMPS. (I realize that my next statement will have a bunch of people up in arms telling me how stupid I am, but it's *sorta* correct (enough for this context)) GSM, at best, can only support 8 times the callers (at the same time) as AMPS. CDMA on the other hand, has a capacity of just over 10 times the AMPS standard, which is part of the reason it's so popular today in the USA...
I realize I'm being nit-picky, but I just had to say something =-)
I doubt that the processor will be too slow. Remeber, that at an absoulte maximum, your standard TV will be able to show 640x480 pixels, so a 733Mhz PIII w/ a GeForce Video card should be able to hold 100FPS...now for HDTV, that's a different story, but I'm willing to bet that we see the next generation of consoles (after this one) well before we see HDTV...
If I recall correctly, Bungie no longer owns the rights to the Myth Series. When Microsoft bought out Bungie, Take Two owned like 20% of Bungie, and as part of the deal, Take Two gets to own all rights to the Myth series, so it should be a null point which OS the Myth servers run on. Check Section II
I think that you miss the entire point here. Through this form of intimidation, the abortion doctors lose their rights to free speech (ie...their jobs...I realize that calling their work spech might be excessive, but the abortion doctors are expressing themselves (and their views on abortion) by going to work every morning.) Intimidation is one of the biggest inhibiators of speech!
a large enough bomb (or more then one bomb)could be used to turn the asteroid into small enough chunks of rubble that they will burn up in the atmosphere
The only problem with this is that those little chunks would burn up in our athmosphere, creating tons of heat that would be passed around the athmosphere. Granted, if the asteriod was small enough, it wouldn't be a big deal, but a huge asteriod would certainly heat the Earth's athmosphere up significantly...
Heh...what are we going to do once we find an Asteriod that's coming to crash into earth in the next 3 to 4 years? I don't think that we have the technology to either divert the asteriod or destroy it...
Good Point. At the university that I attended, all of the students claimed: "D stands for Diploma!"
Re:Who really needs a lesson
on
Lawsuits Suck
·
· Score: 1
I have a strong belief that juries are intelligent people, and can distinguish what is true and what isn't
Too bad that isn't the case (at least in the US) During trials, Lawyers are routinely told to try and pick a jury that is lacking eduction, because they tend to get confused and they decide cases based on the tone of the lawyers voice.
Actually, the mass of an electron being 0.5 MeV. An electron of 200 GeV is going at something like 99.999999999% of the speed of light
Since I am just a computer programmer, please excuse my ignorace, but since an electron's mass is 0.5 MeV standing still (if they ever stand still), doesn't the mass of the electron increase as it approaches the speed of light? (I know the numbers are probably wrong) but say that as it approaches 99.999% the speed of light, according to relativity, wouldn't the mass of the particle go up to say 2.0Mev, therefore slowing the particle down to like 90% the speed of light?
It's kinda hard to explain how Vinge acts & sounds like as a professor (it has been a year since I've taken a class with him), but I'll give it a shot. He has a deep voice, and he doesn't change the pitch of it much. Occasionally, he shows a hint of a studder, but it has never become annoying (IMHO)
The course I took from him was a systems programming class. He was a standard (at least at SDSU) lecture style professor, but he did encourage student feedback. He also liked to interact with his students via office hours & email (I had sent him several emails at 2AM, and received a reply by 3AM) He was always very prepared for class, and it was well known that he spent hours preparing for each of his classes beforehand.
He was an open source advocate, and encouraged the students to copyleft their assignments (see assignment #1 toward bottom of the page) Also, when the class was discussing compilers, a student raised a question (I don't exactly remember what it was) and Vinge gave an answer to the question. Vinge could tell that the student wasn't totally satisfied with his answer, so during the next class session, he brought in a segment of the gcc code & showed the class how the GNU people tackled the issue. He then went on to explain how that was one of the benefits of open source software.
Unfortunatley, that is no longer the case. He retired from SDSU last spring. I had the honor of taking a class with him, and he was a wonderful professor. Although he will be sorely missed at SDSU, he did leave to pursue writing books full time!
Why are you all being so negative about what Verant is going to do? Everone just assumes that they will sue the authors of this software! What if they don't and instead spend the money they would have spent on lawyers improving their protocol & game so that it is worth paying for, as opposed to using the presumably free service.
I agree that recently corporations have been quick to sue, but until they sue, I don't think that we should become negative about a company. Let's give them a chance to react first!
Let's clarify the difference between a technology and an implementation. Many different systems could be based on the principle of code
division multiplexing, but that doesn't mean they'll interoperate. CDMA as in use in the US is no standard at all, if I'm not mistaken there are
several CDMA implementations even in the US. I seriously doubt you can take a Qualcomm phone, go to Asia or wherever else CDMA is
popular, and start using it
I think that the biggest obstacle to have CDMA phones (and all phones in general) interoperate around the world is the frequency allocation. Europe and America (maybe Asia & South America, too?) have different frequencies allocated for cell phone use (in the USA (& Canada), we use the 800MHz band (actually close to 840MHz) & 1900MHz, while in Europe, they use a slightly different (and larger frequency range) 800 MHz & 1800MHz range (don't quote me on this, I don't have a spec sheet here in front of me))
This is hard to explain to Americans that have never experienced GSM in action. It's not that the quality is superior, or the power requirements
less, or the data rate higher. But a Brit can take his cell phone with him on holiday to Greece, buy a prepaid $25 card locally, stick it in the
phone, and for the next two weeks he can make local calls just like he bought the phone locally. Try doing that in the US.
This is one huge advantage the GSM has. It could be implemented in the US, but the cell phone companies have been reluctant to implement something like that more infavor of Nationwide roaming.
I'm confused here now. Are you arguing that US companies are the only ones capable of implementing CDMA technology, and that they have
to be able to export it in order to "spread the word"?
Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Some of the fundamental ideas of CDMA (including digital spread spectrum) were originally created by the military to prevent radio jamming. Also, the US government is really sensitive about protecting the technology created in this country (although not exactly the same thing but similiar idea, Apple was able to market the G4 as unexportable)
US companies aren't the only ones who can implement CDMA, but to export an American CDMA, the companies have to be from a "friendly" country and have to promise not to illegally distribute the technology to other countries (I know about a person, who is working on implementing CDMA in China, and according to that person, the government regualtions are a nightmare.)
On an off-topic note, I want to say I really apprecate you keeping this discussion civil. Too often on Slashdot discussions often turn into shouting matches
I disagree. GSM came out in 1991 (or something like that), while CDMA came out didn't come out until 1995. US carriers have picked up CDMA and have distributed it across the country (except AT&T (which does TDMA) and PacBell Cellular (GSM...at least out here on the west coast...I'm sure other providers across the US use GSM, too) Anyway, CDMA is rapidly growing as a technology (currently, there are about 70 million users to GSM's 300 million) At the end of the year 2000, marketing "experts" are predicting 90 million CDMA users to 320 million GSM
The *entire* world is slowly switching to CDMA...While GSM isn't going anywhere for a long while CDMA provides *so many* clear benefits to the cell phone providers (better use of the bandwidth, better call security, less power required, more simulatanous users, true soft handoff, etc) Ericsson (formerly only a GSM company) has announced plans for both WCDMA & CDMA Systems. I think that you'll notice that GSM's writing is on the wall.
The only real downside to CDMA is the US Government. They consider it as a "weapon" (just like encryption), so exporting it is really inconvient. I currently work for a major cell-phone company, and I am familiar with both technologies (more so CDMA than GSM). To learn about CDMA, I had to sign agreements that I wouldn't export the knowledge to any non-authorized people, etc. When I was learning about GSM, I just went to my class and no one cared about spreading the technology. That will be CDMA's biggest obstacle.
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I don't feel that this is a problem in the year 2000. Currently, there is lots of money to go around, and I think that for the most part, H1B Visas are paying pretty well, so salary issues aren't a concern. I can't imagine what it will be like in, say, 2005, when the economy has slowed down, and we've allowed 200,000 new immigrants into the country each year. At that point, there are going to be 1 million extra people fighting for a job, which *will* be able to bring down the salaries...
Supposedly, Sun is (was?) having a hard time ramping up production of the higher-speed Ultra Sparc III's (heh, kinda like Motorola & their 7400 (aka G4)), so they were planning on selling several of the lower-speed models (like 550-650MHz) on Ebay. (Here is a CNET News.com link that confirms possible eBay sales...)
First, I'd have to know what the source code "looked" like for every version of every compiler. So instead I make sure that the binary that gcc compiles to using gcc will have this code put in.
I disagree with that. You could create an artificial intellegence type gcc (you point that out later in your post), but I think that is too difficult:
When you build gcc, there is most likely going to be a file called "gcc.c" or whatever, regardless of what version of the software you are using. Also, you know that there is going to be a function called main. That's probably all the software needs to look for.
Also (Disclaimer: I'm far from a being a compiler expert), there are likely to be some segments of code that will be present that could give away the fact that it's a compiler that you are compiling...
But what if I use cc from Sun or HP to cross-compile gcc
This method certainly isn't fool-proof (nobody would have the power to convice those companies to do something like that, except the NSA...oops, that's who we're talking about =-) I believe that his article was intended to get us to think about how secure our system really is.
we should remember that unless we compile the software we use ourselves from our own source that we ourselves have checked, then we can never be sure if there exists a backdoor into our software.
This reminds me of Ken Thompson's Reflections on Trusting Trust Basically, he was talking about the login program in Unix.
How do you know that there isn't some special login that's universal? Ok, you say, "well, I'll just compile the source & run it myself".
His response would be, "how do you know that I didn't put something in gcc that figured out if it was compiling the login program and automatically added that one entry into the code?"
You would respond "So, I'll just recompile gcc"
And of course he'd say, "How do you know that I haven't put code into the compiled gcc that checks to see if your compiling gcc & add that code into the gcc binary?"
I wish that this was posted on the Main page, because I feel that more people really need to know about this type of abuse!
Never trust anyone over 90000
Heh, I realize that this is way off topic, but the immortal John Carmack is UID 101025...
Why do people get the MP3 players? Because, again, they are *easier* than burning CDs. (Or because they are geeks who like the shiny aspect of a MP3 player, but we're discussing the AOLers).
While I do agree with your post, I wanted to point out that I purchased an MP3 Player so I can jog & listen to music at the same time. Because everything is loaded into memory, I never have to worry about skipping like I would with a CD player.
The US is now working on an alternative standard though, even though DAB works perfectly. Reminds me of GSM all over again
The issue about the US creating a new cell-phone standard as opposed to adopting GSM is that the FCC made several requirements that a digital replacement technology had to have. For example, for a system that replaced the analog system (AMPS), it should have 10 times the capacity of AMPS. (I realize that my next statement will have a bunch of people up in arms telling me how stupid I am, but it's *sorta* correct (enough for this context)) GSM, at best, can only support 8 times the callers (at the same time) as AMPS. CDMA on the other hand, has a capacity of just over 10 times the AMPS standard, which is part of the reason it's so popular today in the USA...
I realize I'm being nit-picky, but I just had to say something =-)
I doubt that the processor will be too slow. Remeber, that at an absoulte maximum, your standard TV will be able to show 640x480 pixels, so a 733Mhz PIII w/ a GeForce Video card should be able to hold 100FPS...now for HDTV, that's a different story, but I'm willing to bet that we see the next generation of consoles (after this one) well before we see HDTV...
...but Bungie's Website says that Halo will be released for the Mac, the PC & the X-Box...
If I recall correctly, Bungie no longer owns the rights to the Myth Series. When Microsoft bought out Bungie, Take Two owned like 20% of Bungie, and as part of the deal, Take Two gets to own all rights to the Myth series, so it should be a null point which OS the Myth servers run on. Check Section II
I think that you miss the entire point here. Through this form of intimidation, the abortion doctors lose their rights to free speech (ie...their jobs...I realize that calling their work spech might be excessive, but the abortion doctors are expressing themselves (and their views on abortion) by going to work every morning.) Intimidation is one of the biggest inhibiators of speech!
a large enough bomb (or more then one bomb)could be used to turn the asteroid into small enough chunks of rubble that they will burn up in the atmosphere The only problem with this is that those little chunks would burn up in our athmosphere, creating tons of heat that would be passed around the athmosphere. Granted, if the asteriod was small enough, it wouldn't be a big deal, but a huge asteriod would certainly heat the Earth's athmosphere up significantly...
Heh...what are we going to do once we find an Asteriod that's coming to crash into earth in the next 3 to 4 years? I don't think that we have the technology to either divert the asteriod or destroy it...
Good Point. At the university that I attended, all of the students claimed: "D stands for Diploma!"
I have a strong belief that juries are intelligent people, and can distinguish what is true and what isn't
Too bad that isn't the case (at least in the US) During trials, Lawyers are routinely told to try and pick a jury that is lacking eduction, because they tend to get confused and they decide cases based on the tone of the lawyers voice.
At least this is what a lawyer told me...
Actually, the mass of an electron being 0.5 MeV. An electron of 200 GeV is going at something like 99.999999999% of the speed of light
Since I am just a computer programmer, please excuse my ignorace, but since an electron's mass is 0.5 MeV standing still (if they ever stand still), doesn't the mass of the electron increase as it approaches the speed of light? (I know the numbers are probably wrong) but say that as it approaches 99.999% the speed of light, according to relativity, wouldn't the mass of the particle go up to say 2.0Mev, therefore slowing the particle down to like 90% the speed of light?
look at all the big sports schools. georgetown has one of the best law schools in the USA. duke has good law and medical schools.
Heh...just what we need; more lawyers for RIAA/MPAA
It's kinda hard to explain how Vinge acts & sounds like as a professor (it has been a year since I've taken a class with him), but I'll give it a shot. He has a deep voice, and he doesn't change the pitch of it much. Occasionally, he shows a hint of a studder, but it has never become annoying (IMHO)
The course I took from him was a systems programming class. He was a standard (at least at SDSU) lecture style professor, but he did encourage student feedback. He also liked to interact with his students via office hours & email (I had sent him several emails at 2AM, and received a reply by 3AM) He was always very prepared for class, and it was well known that he spent hours preparing for each of his classes beforehand.
He was an open source advocate, and encouraged the students to copyleft their assignments (see assignment #1 toward bottom of the page) Also, when the class was discussing compilers, a student raised a question (I don't exactly remember what it was) and Vinge gave an answer to the question. Vinge could tell that the student wasn't totally satisfied with his answer, so during the next class session, he brought in a segment of the gcc code & showed the class how the GNU people tackled the issue. He then went on to explain how that was one of the benefits of open source software.
Remember that Vinge teaches Computer Science.
Unfortunatley, that is no longer the case. He retired from SDSU last spring. I had the honor of taking a class with him, and he was a wonderful professor. Although he will be sorely missed at SDSU, he did leave to pursue writing books full time!
Look in the yellow pages under attorneys, there should be some free legal referral services listed.
Just be sure to avoid the ad that says "Lionel Hutz." =-)
Although I'm not any sort of overclocking wizard, I think that video cards are overclocked using software, aren't they?
Why are you all being so negative about what Verant is going to do? Everone just assumes that they will sue the authors of this software! What if they don't and instead spend the money they would have spent on lawyers improving their protocol & game so that it is worth paying for, as opposed to using the presumably free service.
I agree that recently corporations have been quick to sue, but until they sue, I don't think that we should become negative about a company. Let's give them a chance to react first!
Dan
Let's clarify the difference between a technology and an implementation. Many different systems could be based on the principle of code division multiplexing, but that doesn't mean they'll interoperate. CDMA as in use in the US is no standard at all, if I'm not mistaken there are several CDMA implementations even in the US. I seriously doubt you can take a Qualcomm phone, go to Asia or wherever else CDMA is popular, and start using it
I think that the biggest obstacle to have CDMA phones (and all phones in general) interoperate around the world is the frequency allocation. Europe and America (maybe Asia & South America, too?) have different frequencies allocated for cell phone use (in the USA (& Canada), we use the 800MHz band (actually close to 840MHz) & 1900MHz, while in Europe, they use a slightly different (and larger frequency range) 800 MHz & 1800MHz range (don't quote me on this, I don't have a spec sheet here in front of me))
This is hard to explain to Americans that have never experienced GSM in action. It's not that the quality is superior, or the power requirements less, or the data rate higher. But a Brit can take his cell phone with him on holiday to Greece, buy a prepaid $25 card locally, stick it in the phone, and for the next two weeks he can make local calls just like he bought the phone locally. Try doing that in the US.
This is one huge advantage the GSM has. It could be implemented in the US, but the cell phone companies have been reluctant to implement something like that more infavor of Nationwide roaming.
I'm confused here now. Are you arguing that US companies are the only ones capable of implementing CDMA technology, and that they have to be able to export it in order to "spread the word"?
Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Some of the fundamental ideas of CDMA (including digital spread spectrum) were originally created by the military to prevent radio jamming. Also, the US government is really sensitive about protecting the technology created in this country (although not exactly the same thing but similiar idea, Apple was able to market the G4 as unexportable)
US companies aren't the only ones who can implement CDMA, but to export an American CDMA, the companies have to be from a "friendly" country and have to promise not to illegally distribute the technology to other countries (I know about a person, who is working on implementing CDMA in China, and according to that person, the government regualtions are a nightmare.)
On an off-topic note, I want to say I really apprecate you keeping this discussion civil. Too often on Slashdot discussions often turn into shouting matches
I disagree. GSM came out in 1991 (or something like that), while CDMA came out didn't come out until 1995. US carriers have picked up CDMA and have distributed it across the country (except AT&T (which does TDMA) and PacBell Cellular (GSM...at least out here on the west coast...I'm sure other providers across the US use GSM, too) Anyway, CDMA is rapidly growing as a technology (currently, there are about 70 million users to GSM's 300 million) At the end of the year 2000, marketing "experts" are predicting 90 million CDMA users to 320 million GSM
The *entire* world is slowly switching to CDMA...While GSM isn't going anywhere for a long while CDMA provides *so many* clear benefits to the cell phone providers (better use of the bandwidth, better call security, less power required, more simulatanous users, true soft handoff, etc) Ericsson (formerly only a GSM company) has announced plans for both WCDMA & CDMA Systems. I think that you'll notice that GSM's writing is on the wall.
The only real downside to CDMA is the US Government. They consider it as a "weapon" (just like encryption), so exporting it is really inconvient. I currently work for a major cell-phone company, and I am familiar with both technologies (more so CDMA than GSM). To learn about CDMA, I had to sign agreements that I wouldn't export the knowledge to any non-authorized people, etc. When I was learning about GSM, I just went to my class and no one cared about spreading the technology. That will be CDMA's biggest obstacle.