The same people who wail about abortion and stem cell research seem blind to the genetic engineering of their food all around them. "What? Monsanto genetically modified soybeans and screwed up the soybean market to the point where finding organic non-GMO soy is nearly impossible? Tell me it ain't so!"
I just have to laugh every time I see an article about protests concerning abortion and stem-cell research when there is virtually no air time given to GMOs.
Hopefully, that will change soon.
If you don't like software patents, consider abolishing patents on life, too. I can just see the argument in the PTO:
PTO: Sorry, sir. We can't patent life.
Monsanto: But, but, but...we spent hundreds of millions on this. And besides, there's no prior art on this!
PTO: Sir, the prior art *is* life.
The seed is the new bomb at the rate we're going with GMOs.
How about that. I recently "built" a Dell 530N PC with Ubuntu and without a monitor for $259. I did that after someone wrote about how they were getting serious in promoting Ubuntu.
This wasn't a celeron machine, either. Duo Core, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, too. Intel Graphics.
So true. I'm not a programmer. I use free software everyday.
Why? For years, I was able to keep up with the security issues in Windows. Then one day, when Service 3 for XP came out, I saw the advisories saying to wait until certain bugs had been cleared up.
So on the one hand, I needed to install a new update, but on the other hand, I couldn't until the rebooting issues had been clarified. During the time I waited, we got hit by a virus and the computer froze up.
Luckily, I had a Linux workstation running already and I was not stopped in what I was doing. But when I got around to re-installing Windows, it took me 4 hours to just do the base. Then the applications, and then the updates for the applications.
Never again. Now when I help people to fix their computers, I offer Linux for free and charge market rates for Windows for a re-install.
And when I see that they have pirated software installed, I never offer support for it unless they pay the license for it.
I've read enough about the bsuiness practices of MS to know that I don't want to support their products. Unfortunately, they're everywhere I want to work. So I have to find open minded employers who want to make a change and are willing to work with me to do it.
How interesting that you say that. I was watching Miro TV yesterday and saw a video from MIT where they did an experiment to show that when you take two different bacterium and put them in the same dish together they fight with antibiotics.
What came out of the experiment was that most of the time, bacterium A would win and kill off the other. But after hundreds of tests, one time, bacterium B won.
After that test, they did a sequence on bacterium B and found that it had "stolen" part of the DNA from bacterium A.
I agree with what you're saying, even if the act appears futile. I can remember talking to people who were Republican who just hated Bush, and wanted to vote libertarian, but didn't. Why? Because the libertarian guy would never win. Duh.
Everyone wants to be on the winning side. So instead of voting for the guy they want, they vote for the guy most likely to win.
That's why it's so hard for 3rd party candidates to win.
I'm thinking real hard about voting for someone else. Maybe Kucinich, too. I liked him for his bill requiring strict liability for the manufacturer of and labeling of GMOs.
Thank you for confirming my suspicions about McCain. Though I must admit, after the Waco Massacre, I haven't had that much confidence in Democrats, either.
So true, but having a lock on the information stream is the wrong way to do the business. When all the information is available, then Realtors will have to compete on a level playing field like the rest of us.
Then perhaps the rest of us will see the *true* value of a realtor.
Only a geek would know this. A fairly educated person would search for the answer in the forums. But someone who is only interested in something that works is not willing to mess with that stuff.
So you definitely saved the day. Did she use that WUMU thing to install it or did you whack the windows install and do a fresh install using the whole disk for Linux?
I would love it if I could get Yahoo Chat with Video to work on this ubuntu computer. I know there are clients that support it, but my webcam just does a blue screen on the video.
I wonder what Yahoo will do once they see their user base moving to Linux? Perhaps they will help the community to build a bullet-proof Linux client that supports voice and video properly.
This case was stayed, but the bk court on motion from Novell, allowed the district to proceed on the question of how much SCO owes Novell. The whole bk mess was to avoid this trial completely.
Apparently that didn't work and the authorities are not amused.
Speaking of that, I'm of the opinion that Hilary Huckabee's primary purpose to ensure that McCain wins if Obama wins the nomination. She's dividing the party much as Huckabee divided the Republicans forcing Romney out. I think that she'd rather have McCain win than Obama if she is not nominated.
The motivation for this question seems to be a desire to divine the notion of "math can be patented" from a debate. Aside from the philosophical ventures expressed in replies to the story, I'd like to point something else out.
Let's take something like a bridge, as an example. This is most surely an invention. But the invention employs many well understood principles, or laws of nature.
People who want to patent math will often say "look at all the effort we put into this wonderful mathematical expression. We have a patent on it now, and you can't use it without paying us for it."
But, like the bridge, the math expresses an observation of principles which existed before consciousness. The patentee will say that his math expression is elegant, and special. What makes it special to him is that he thought of patenting it first. And now he excludes all others.
Several posts here have noted that different theorems using different equations can arrive at the same solution to the same problem. So it logically follows that patenting math is like patenting a bridge. When you patent the bridge, you patent all paths to the goal of supporting travel over a river or valley. It doesn't matter how you build the bridge, it's covered by the patent.
Once you have a claim on a space in math, it's pretty tough for others to work around it because the patent is on the solution, not the method used to arrive at the solution.
The point of free software was to be "good enough", not necessarily to be the high quality software that people get for money on Windows or Mac.
I use OpenOffice because it's good enough, not because it's got all the bells and whistles that Word has. If wanted something "professional grade" that wasn't available for free, I'd pay for it. But that time hasn't come yet since I made the switch.
For the people who choose to steal the software, they will never realize the true cost of the software in terms of migrating their documents to another software. People who write software for money and keep their code closed like closed formats, too. Closed formats are like crack, they keep the customer coming back.
Once it becomes generally recognized what closed formats do to business and government, they will adopt and the rest will follow. It's only a matter of time.
I"m an American and I would like it to happen for the simple reason that our JustUs Dept. wimped out on it when they had the chance to bring MS to heel.
Another reason is that every competitor they eliminated is every choice I could have had for software. God, how I miss the Amiga.
Hardly a fair comparison. Japan vs. the US is a much better comparison. In some parts, they are offering 1Gbps. In most places, the average is 60 Mbs for about $35/mo.
Republicans have never been big on competition. Just ask their friends who helped to write the 1996 Telecommunications Act. That whole "Republican Revolution" was really a revolution for their *Republican* investor friends.
Bear Stearns will quietly tell you that Bush just wanted to bail his friends out. That's the free market for ya.
Until the market gets *really* free from the incumbents, we aren't going to see very high speeds on our internet connections. Here's a great link on the subject of how Bush and his friends let it happen:
Yes, Republicans like free markets, as long as its free for *Republican* investors to pillage, rape and burn.
So the next time you wonder why you're still using DSL at 1.5 Mbs, just ask Bush. At least he knows what a checkout scanner in s supermarket looks like. (Or does he?) Or you can go here: www.speedmatters.org
All that I knew was that a woman was singing it and that had an influence on attitudes at my school. To what extent, I don't know. It was certainly enough to reinforce my cynical thinking at the time.
Slashdot Mirror
I heard about this in the 90s. I didn't think anyone was still interested in it.
Good show.
Yes, that was the Highly Available Times. I read about it there.
The same people who wail about abortion and stem cell research seem blind to the genetic engineering of their food all around them. "What? Monsanto genetically modified soybeans and screwed up the soybean market to the point where finding organic non-GMO soy is nearly impossible? Tell me it ain't so!"
I just have to laugh every time I see an article about protests concerning abortion and stem-cell research when there is virtually no air time given to GMOs.
Hopefully, that will change soon.
If you don't like software patents, consider abolishing patents on life, too. I can just see the argument in the PTO:
PTO: Sorry, sir. We can't patent life.
Monsanto: But, but, but...we spent hundreds of millions on this. And besides, there's no prior art on this!
PTO: Sir, the prior art *is* life.
The seed is the new bomb at the rate we're going with GMOs.
I agree with you. How about these guys?
http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/dgn/www/research/e_conversion.html
They bounced into the news a few weeks ago.
Hey guys, if you want, check this out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQmOGOgaiOk
This is a video about the SoundExchange. Might be a good place to post your opinion.
XBox360 runs the Cell. Are you sure about that?
How about that. I recently "built" a Dell 530N PC with Ubuntu and without a monitor for $259. I did that after someone wrote about how they were getting serious in promoting Ubuntu.
This wasn't a celeron machine, either. Duo Core, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, too. Intel Graphics.
Perfect for what I'm doing and more.
What do you think?
So true. I'm not a programmer. I use free software everyday.
Why? For years, I was able to keep up with the security issues in Windows. Then one day, when Service 3 for XP came out, I saw the advisories saying to wait until certain bugs had been cleared up.
So on the one hand, I needed to install a new update, but on the other hand, I couldn't until the rebooting issues had been clarified. During the time I waited, we got hit by a virus and the computer froze up.
Luckily, I had a Linux workstation running already and I was not stopped in what I was doing. But when I got around to re-installing Windows, it took me 4 hours to just do the base. Then the applications, and then the updates for the applications.
Never again. Now when I help people to fix their computers, I offer Linux for free and charge market rates for Windows for a re-install.
And when I see that they have pirated software installed, I never offer support for it unless they pay the license for it.
I've read enough about the bsuiness practices of MS to know that I don't want to support their products. Unfortunately, they're everywhere I want to work. So I have to find open minded employers who want to make a change and are willing to work with me to do it.
Arrrrghhhh!
Scott
How interesting that you say that. I was watching Miro TV yesterday and saw a video from MIT where they did an experiment to show that when you take two different bacterium and put them in the same dish together they fight with antibiotics.
What came out of the experiment was that most of the time, bacterium A would win and kill off the other. But after hundreds of tests, one time, bacterium B won.
After that test, they did a sequence on bacterium B and found that it had "stolen" part of the DNA from bacterium A.
Now that was interesting.
Thanks. If I were modding today, I'd give you "insightful".
I agree with what you're saying, even if the act appears futile. I can remember talking to people who were Republican who just hated Bush, and wanted to vote libertarian, but didn't. Why? Because the libertarian guy would never win. Duh.
Everyone wants to be on the winning side. So instead of voting for the guy they want, they vote for the guy most likely to win.
That's why it's so hard for 3rd party candidates to win.
I'm thinking real hard about voting for someone else. Maybe Kucinich, too. I liked him for his bill requiring strict liability for the manufacturer of and labeling of GMOs.
I like the write-in idea, too.
Thank you for confirming my suspicions about McCain. Though I must admit, after the Waco Massacre, I haven't had that much confidence in Democrats, either.
Green Tea Party, anyone?
Damn straight. And since we're talking about
"Federal" jurisdiction, you might like this, too.
http://home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/FEDJurisdiction.html
It's by Larry Becraft, a very interesting attorney who makes a pretty good case that the feds have a shorter arm into American than they think.
As I said before: enjoy the reading.
So true, but having a lock on the information stream is the wrong way to do the business. When all the information is available, then Realtors will have to compete on a level playing field like the rest of us.
Then perhaps the rest of us will see the *true* value of a realtor.
Only a geek would know this. A fairly educated person would search for the answer in the forums. But someone who is only interested in something that works is not willing to mess with that stuff.
So you definitely saved the day. Did she use that WUMU thing to install it or did you whack the windows install and do a fresh install using the whole disk for Linux?
Just wondering.
I would love it if I could get Yahoo Chat with Video to work on this ubuntu computer. I know there are clients that support it, but my webcam just does a blue screen on the video.
I wonder what Yahoo will do once they see their user base moving to Linux? Perhaps they will help the community to build a bullet-proof Linux client that supports voice and video properly.
Scott
This case was stayed, but the bk court on motion from Novell, allowed the district to proceed on the question of how much SCO owes Novell. The whole bk mess was to avoid this trial completely.
Apparently that didn't work and the authorities are not amused.
Speaking of that, I'm of the opinion that Hilary Huckabee's primary purpose to ensure that McCain wins if Obama wins the nomination. She's dividing the party much as Huckabee divided the Republicans forcing Romney out. I think that she'd rather have McCain win than Obama if she is not nominated.
go figure.
The motivation for this question seems to be a desire to divine the notion of "math can be patented" from a debate. Aside from the philosophical ventures expressed in replies to the story, I'd like to point something else out.
Let's take something like a bridge, as an example. This is most surely an invention. But the invention employs many well understood principles, or laws of nature.
People who want to patent math will often say "look at all the effort we put into this wonderful mathematical expression. We have a patent on it now, and you can't use it without paying us for it."
But, like the bridge, the math expresses an observation of principles which existed before consciousness. The patentee will say that his math expression is elegant, and special. What makes it special to him is that he thought of patenting it first. And now he excludes all others.
Several posts here have noted that different theorems using different equations can arrive at the same solution to the same problem. So it logically follows that patenting math is like patenting a bridge. When you patent the bridge, you patent all paths to the goal of supporting travel over a river or valley. It doesn't matter how you build the bridge, it's covered by the patent.
Once you have a claim on a space in math, it's pretty tough for others to work around it because the patent is on the solution, not the method used to arrive at the solution.
This question is a red herring.
Scott
The point of free software was to be "good enough", not necessarily to be the high quality software that people get for money on Windows or Mac.
I use OpenOffice because it's good enough, not because it's got all the bells and whistles that Word has. If wanted something "professional grade" that wasn't available for free, I'd pay for it. But that time hasn't come yet since I made the switch.
For the people who choose to steal the software, they will never realize the true cost of the software in terms of migrating their documents to another software. People who write software for money and keep their code closed like closed formats, too. Closed formats are like crack, they keep the customer coming back.
Once it becomes generally recognized what closed formats do to business and government, they will adopt and the rest will follow. It's only a matter of time.
Columnity Illuminocity
I"m an American and I would like it to happen for the simple reason that our JustUs Dept. wimped out on it when they had the chance to bring MS to heel. Another reason is that every competitor they eliminated is every choice I could have had for software. God, how I miss the Amiga.
Hardly a fair comparison. Japan vs. the US is a much better comparison. In some parts, they are offering 1Gbps. In most places, the average is 60 Mbs for about $35/mo.
Republicans have never been big on competition. Just ask their friends who helped to write the 1996 Telecommunications Act. That whole "Republican Revolution" was really a revolution for their *Republican* investor friends.
Bear Stearns will quietly tell you that Bush just wanted to bail his friends out. That's the free market for ya.
Until the market gets *really* free from the incumbents, we aren't going to see very high speeds on our internet connections. Here's a great link on the subject of how Bush and his friends let it happen:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/AR2007082801990_pf.html
Yes, Republicans like free markets, as long as its free for *Republican* investors to pillage, rape and burn.
So the next time you wonder why you're still using DSL at 1.5 Mbs, just ask Bush. At least he knows what a checkout scanner in s supermarket looks like. (Or does he?) Or you can go here: www.speedmatters.org
Enjoy.
I don't know because I've never asked. I see spirituality as intensely private and respect that of other people.
BTW, I meant to say the *word* "no" is not in their vocabulary.
Do you have an observation regarding Hindi?
All that I knew was that a woman was singing it and that had an influence on attitudes at my school. To what extent, I don't know. It was certainly enough to reinforce my cynical thinking at the time.
Thanks for that interesting bit of trivia.