Perhaps it is just me, but these seem as though they would be an obvious target for next generation marketing campaigns.
As per the article, they are triggered into action via RF. I am in Tokyo right now and the sheer magnitude of visual input from everything from neon to big screen televisions to giant posters is almost paralyzing at times. I am afraid to even contemplate how this annoyance would be compounded thru the use (and surely abuse) of this type of technology by the marketing drones of the world.
And then, there is always the conspiracy theorist angle. What if subversive powers (governmental or otherwise) tapped into this type of technology to recruit and/or spread propaganda. It would completely redefine everything from armed forces and/or terrorist recruitment all the way up to presidential elections.
Even worse, with the subliminal nature of this tech, you might not even realize at first why purchasing a copy of M$ Office 2003 seems like such a great idea all of a sudden, why you are suddenly craving some KFC only minutes after eating, or why you have completely changed your opinion of Dubya...
To start your own "home business", an individual only requires two primary means of contact...
(1) An Address - that can be satisfied via a PO box at your local post office (2) A Phone Number - this can be accomplished through something as simple as a dedicated cell phone which comes standard with caller ID and VM...
The issue of location rarely, if ever, has come up as I am always more than willing to meet potential customers either at their location or often times over lunch. Seriously, when was the last time you went to the home office of a small-scale software vendor!
Beyond that, I would suggest starting a relationship with a good attorney and create some high-quality (not home printed) business cards!
Of course, you will certainly bomb if you don't have the tallent to back up your aspirations, but that is a different 'Ask Slashdot' topic all together...
Sure...97.8 Trillion might sound like quite a bit upfront...
However, after all of the lawyers take their cut, the appropriate RIAA officials remove their share and court costs are assessed, I calculate the net gain for the actual artists to be somewhere in the neighborhood of about $20 bucks and smack on the ass!:-)
Now, instead of the slashdotting the RedHat FTP sites and mirrors, the BitTorrent web site (the site distributing the client) will get the onslaught of RedHatters in search of the latest version...
Alls well from my perspective, though -- I have already installed the BitTorrent client and have the new ISO's! As such, go nuts...:-)
As another poster commented earlier, there are few, if any, features that the mainstream Unices can or do offer that cannot be ported in some fashion to Linux...it is simply a matter of time & effort!
From my perspective, the primary components that Linux lacks over the commercial brands is more in the realm of "soft features"...aka non-technical features!
The two biggest I would estimate as being (1)a unified product offering and (2) an active sales force...
To address the first issue, I would submit that it is both a strength and a weakness (depending on your perspective) in have the Linux operating system splintered into the many unique distributions. An obvious technical strength is in the niche-filling capacity of the several flavors of Linux that can and do meet the needs of an extremely diverse market... Alternatively, a "soft" weakness exists in the sense that branding/commercialization of a product with so many various "names" is difficult if not impossible! Linux in and of itself is a generalization of the group of OS's that are build upon the Linux kernel...that is not an easily sold concept to a manager who wants someone to blame should things go south!
As for the second concern of a non-existent sales force, that is a rather obvious (at least to me) down fall of widespread corporate adoption of Linux! Sure...every I/T department has a Linux zealot or two and can read positive write-ups on the benefits of Linux. However, this is not quite equivalent to the polished sales professionals (snake-oil salesmen?) who live, breath and die with the sole purpose of peddling their specific flavor of Unix!
Anyways...just some food for thought! As always, I could be completely off base and living in my own happy little world!:-)
1. Condoms 2. More condoms 3. Did I mention rubbers?
Prophylactics are a great gift for any college kid - male or female! They show that you are cool and hip to their scene, that you acknowledge that they are now an adult and able to make their own choices, they send a good message (practice safe sex), and you can never, ever have too many of them...
Definitely a win-win situation, if you ask me! I would just make sure that whatever card you send with this care package is no suggestive in the least...:-)
Perhaps you should visit this site to gather more information your OCD condition...after all, it is now considered a treatable disease...:-)
Seriously, though, that is a great regimen you have proposed in your comment for maintaining the cleanliness of your workstation if you have tons of time or only one, maybe two, personal workstations that you come in contact with. However, for someone such as myself that has a basement full of no less than eight workstations/servers and is in constant contact with other peoples' computers at work, the practices you outlined in you comment are not exactly viable options...
Ultimately, to live a productive and happy life that doesn't include the wearing of latex gloves and continually living in fear for my own good health, I will just assume this risk (as we all do with so many others...) and pretend I never read this article!!!
"And though there are certainly people in the Southern California area who might be able to afford their own spaceplane -- Tom Cruise has been suggested in particular -- auction organizers are not really expecting it to sell."
Tom Cruise...why Tom Cruise?
Perhaps this reporter took his piloting abilities demonstrated in Top Gun a bit too seriously...
Then again, perhaps Mr. Cruise was merely cited as being a feasible candidate due to the simple fact that his illustrious Hollywood career has afforded him the wealth and fame to receive all of the best things in life...including his gorgeous girlfriend Penelope Cruz!
While the old adage that 'money can't buy you happiness' may be true, this is proof that it may be able to assist in the purchase of an opportunity to be one of the first to join the "Ten-Mile High Club" with a beautiful actress - if that isn't happiness, I don't know what is!
But then again, perhaps I am simply missing the point...
Perhaps the Aibo could be programmed to relieve itself on unsuspecting trees and fire hydrants... Of course this would require the engineering of a specialized hardware "bladder mod".
I think the comedic value of a robot dog taking a piss on a tree (or perhaps a disliked neighbors porch) would be worth the time invested! But then again, maybe that's just me...:-)
What a flawed technology and business model... I believe this to be yet another exhibition of the M$ philosophy of not allowing anyone (least of all paying customers) to wholly own a given product - simply allowing them to pay for the limited use of it!
Amongst other obvious consequences, technology and business processes such as this will one day greatly heighten the cost of identity theft. Not only will criminals of the future be able to assume your identity for the purposes of credit card fraud and the like - but they will also get your damn music and windows OS privileges...
Slashdot Mirror
More informational links about DIMES that aren't slashdotted...well, at least not yet:
f
d f
- http://dawn.cs.umbc.edu/INFOCOM2005/shavitt-sl.pd
- http://dawn.cs.umbc.edu/INFOCOM2005/shavitt-abs.p
Thanks, dude... I always said that Slashdot needed a spell checker for comments.
Since you obviously have nothing better to do in your life, I would say you should get the job!
I am sure that the admission of guilt was in no way a coherced condition of the settlement terms... :-)
From a previous slashdot article.
However, as per this this article, Microsoft does not intend on pushing any new security patches throughout the month of December. But then again, apparently Microsoft can even manage to NOT patch correctly...
I think I'll be off to bed now!
Perhaps it is just me, but these seem as though they would be an obvious target for next generation marketing campaigns.
As per the article, they are triggered into action via RF. I am in Tokyo right now and the sheer magnitude of visual input from everything from neon to big screen televisions to giant posters is almost paralyzing at times. I am afraid to even contemplate how this annoyance would be compounded thru the use (and surely abuse) of this type of technology by the marketing drones of the world.
And then, there is always the conspiracy theorist angle. What if subversive powers (governmental or otherwise) tapped into this type of technology to recruit and/or spread propaganda. It would completely redefine everything from armed forces and/or terrorist recruitment all the way up to presidential elections.
Even worse, with the subliminal nature of this tech, you might not even realize at first why purchasing a copy of M$ Office 2003 seems like such a great idea all of a sudden, why you are suddenly craving some KFC only minutes after eating, or why you have completely changed your opinion of Dubya...
Scary shit if you ask me...
- n2q
To start your own "home business", an individual only requires two primary means of contact...
(1) An Address - that can be satisfied via a PO box at your local post office
(2) A Phone Number - this can be accomplished through something as simple as a dedicated cell phone which comes standard with caller ID and VM...
The issue of location rarely, if ever, has come up as I am always more than willing to meet potential customers either at their location or often times over lunch. Seriously, when was the last time you went to the home office of a small-scale software vendor!
Beyond that, I would suggest starting a relationship with a good attorney and create some high-quality (not home printed) business cards!
Of course, you will certainly bomb if you don't have the tallent to back up your aspirations, but that is a different 'Ask Slashdot' topic all together...
Hope this helps...and good luck!
n2q
For those whom are not aware of this technology, I gladly provide the following linkage:
:-)
-- Article @ Network World Fusion
-- Article @ Comms Design
-- Published Standards & Drafts
Enjoy!
Sure...97.8 Trillion might sound like quite a bit upfront...
:-)
However, after all of the lawyers take their cut, the appropriate RIAA officials remove their share and court costs are assessed, I calculate the net gain for the actual artists to be somewhere in the neighborhood of about $20 bucks and smack on the ass!
- n2q
Now, instead of the slashdotting the RedHat FTP sites and mirrors, the BitTorrent web site (the site distributing the client) will get the onslaught of RedHatters in search of the latest version...
:-)
Alls well from my perspective, though -- I have already installed the BitTorrent client and have the new ISO's! As such, go nuts...
n2q
As another poster commented earlier, there are few, if any, features that the mainstream Unices can or do offer that cannot be ported in some fashion to Linux...it is simply a matter of time & effort!
:-)
From my perspective, the primary components that Linux lacks over the commercial brands is more in the realm of "soft features"...aka non-technical features!
The two biggest I would estimate as being (1)a unified product offering and (2) an active sales force...
To address the first issue, I would submit that it is both a strength and a weakness (depending on your perspective) in have the Linux operating system splintered into the many unique distributions. An obvious technical strength is in the niche-filling capacity of the several flavors of Linux that can and do meet the needs of an extremely diverse market... Alternatively, a "soft" weakness exists in the sense that branding/commercialization of a product with so many various "names" is difficult if not impossible! Linux in and of itself is a generalization of the group of OS's that are build upon the Linux kernel...that is not an easily sold concept to a manager who wants someone to blame should things go south!
As for the second concern of a non-existent sales force, that is a rather obvious (at least to me) down fall of widespread corporate adoption of Linux! Sure...every I/T department has a Linux zealot or two and can read positive write-ups on the benefits of Linux. However, this is not quite equivalent to the polished sales professionals (snake-oil salesmen?) who live, breath and die with the sole purpose of peddling their specific flavor of Unix!
Anyways...just some food for thought! As always, I could be completely off base and living in my own happy little world!
n2q
Actually, I believe that the GPL would only require that the cake you eat be made from a mix that lists the ingredients on the box...
:-)
If said box provides good cooking directions (a.k.a. commenting) that is just a bonus!
Per your prediction, I just found the two following auction items at ebay:
t tp%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcI SAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSor t&query=shuttle+debris
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=h
However, in the defense of eBay and our morality as human beings, it appears that at least one of the auctions has been pulled from the site...
I don't remember the last story having a dead link at the end pointing to here! :-)
n2q
At least the DOD has been kind enough to post best practices for registering your new .mil domain name through the use of a standard format...
For more info, help yourself to RFC 1956
n2q
The secret government TLD .bush was recently discover by a small group of drunken frat boys while searching for new free prOn sites...
:-)
Early reports indicated that Jenna was involved, but this has to be corroborated!
n2q
What exactly does Levi Spear Parmly (1790-1859) - the inventor/developer of dental floss - have to do with open source software!
:-)
Or then again, maybe I am just missing something...
1. Condoms
:-)
2. More condoms
3. Did I mention rubbers?
Prophylactics are a great gift for any college kid - male or female! They show that you are cool and hip to their scene, that you acknowledge that they are now an adult and able to make their own choices, they send a good message (practice safe sex), and you can never, ever have too many of them...
Definitely a win-win situation, if you ask me! I would just make sure that whatever card you send with this care package is no suggestive in the least...
"A bit overkill[...]"
:-)
Perhaps you should visit this site to gather more information your OCD condition...after all, it is now considered a treatable disease...
Seriously, though, that is a great regimen you have proposed in your comment for maintaining the cleanliness of your workstation if you have tons of time or only one, maybe two, personal workstations that you come in contact with. However, for someone such as myself that has a basement full of no less than eight workstations/servers and is in constant contact with other peoples' computers at work, the practices you outlined in you comment are not exactly viable options...
Ultimately, to live a productive and happy life that doesn't include the wearing of latex gloves and continually living in fear for my own good health, I will just assume this risk (as we all do with so many others...) and pretend I never read this article!!!
Per the article:
"And though there are certainly people in the Southern California area who might be able to afford their own spaceplane -- Tom Cruise has been suggested in particular -- auction organizers are not really expecting it to sell."
Tom Cruise...why Tom Cruise?
Perhaps this reporter took his piloting abilities demonstrated in Top Gun a bit too seriously...
Then again, perhaps Mr. Cruise was merely cited as being a feasible candidate due to the simple fact that his illustrious Hollywood career has afforded him the wealth and fame to receive all of the best things in life...including his gorgeous girlfriend Penelope Cruz!
While the old adage that 'money can't buy you happiness' may be true, this is proof that it may be able to assist in the purchase of an opportunity to be one of the first to join the "Ten-Mile High Club" with a beautiful actress - if that isn't happiness, I don't know what is!
But then again, perhaps I am simply missing the point...
Perhaps the Aibo could be programmed to relieve itself on unsuspecting trees and fire hydrants... Of course this would require the engineering of a specialized hardware "bladder mod".
:-)
I think the comedic value of a robot dog taking a piss on a tree (or perhaps a disliked neighbors porch) would be worth the time invested! But then again, maybe that's just me...
What a flawed technology and business model... I believe this to be yet another exhibition of the M$ philosophy of not allowing anyone (least of all paying customers) to wholly own a given product - simply allowing them to pay for the limited use of it!
Amongst other obvious consequences, technology and business processes such as this will one day greatly heighten the cost of identity theft. Not only will criminals of the future be able to assume your identity for the purposes of credit card fraud and the like - but they will also get your damn music and windows OS privileges...
Be afraid, Slashdotters...be very afraid!