There never was a prior art search. First of all lets clairify what a provisional patent is... It's not a patent and does not hold the same teeth as a patent does. Simply put, it gives you the right to put Patent Pending on some technology that you are developing. In addition, if you apply for a patent in a years time from time of the filing of the provisional patent, the effective date of the patent (assuming it's approved... not all patents are) is the date of provisional patent filing. Oh, the date of provisional patent filing is the date you drop it off at the post office and send it via registered mail. So, today you could write up a provisional patent document (not as formal as an actual patent application but it helps to keep it formal if you are going after the patent), enclose a check for $100.00 if you are an individual, send it via registered mail (not fedex, ups, but usps) and BAM, Patent Pending. It doesn't mean you are going to get the patent. It's meant for smaller inventors to potentially apply for patents and decide if they want to invest the $10,000 it typically takes to possibly get a patent. The gives you protection of prior art no matter what so some company can't patent the technology even if you decide not to pursue a patent (as the provisional patent application counts as prior art and assuming the technology is "new and novel"). If you do decide to pursue a patent the effective date of the patent is the date you sent it via registered mail.
It should also be noted that currently Ham Radio has currently shown itself to be the only reliable form of communications in New Orleans. People who say that Ham Radio is dead need to understand that it is not dead, it's currently evolving and still provides an essential service from providing early warning on severe weather incidents (skywarn) to disaster recovery to simply talking to interesting people. Cell phones simply do not provide adequate coverage and reliablity during emergency situations. It currently is also evolving within the digital realm to provide everything from high speed data over the air (HSMM working group in the ARRL) to VoIP interconnects between repeaters over the Internet. Hopefully something can be reached that provides for a BPL system that does not cause interferenece with Ham Radio (this system might... didn't read the spec). If it does, I would rather have Ham Radio over BPL simply because it really doesn't bring very much to the table.
Well I agree, that under certain circumstances, commercial could save over open source. However I have worked with many an OS vender on embedded projects (true embedded systems that have real-time contraints) and found that all too often, not having the code to the library or OS really shoots you in the foot! In many cases embedded applications are very, very specialized and there is a signifigant learning curve of months to years for the platform in development. The problem is vendor x who you purchased the libary from has to learn your platform (there are often things like ASICs that have to be interacted with, unique bus archectecures, etc, etc) and then fix the problem. It's often much easier to go in and fix it yourself. In most cases some degree of customization will be required to get an embedded OS to work on your archectecture (drivers for ASICs, unique bus archectecures, removing some feature that is reducing determinism, etc). Here is where having the code comes in handy. All the embedded projects I've worked on has had one of more OS guys who's sole purpose is to get the OS working properly for the embedded application. Simply abstracting everything away often does not work in memory/processor limited applications (read an embedded systems primer for more info on the limitation of this environment). That's part of the fun of working in the embedded world. You really, really have to think about your code. There is no such thing (as of today) as a one size fits all OS for embedded systems. If there was, then I guarentee that it would be used in the embedded systems industry.
Whoops posted this originally as an Anonymous coward (disregard the previous posting). Sorry/.:)
As bad as this sounds, this is where the original spirit for DRM lies. We all too often look at the negative side of legislation but when it comes down to it, if properly deployed, a DRM solution would insure the issue of giving artists their due. Unfortunatly DRM is currently being used for scorched earth campaigns that do not benefit the consumer. If properly deployed and developed (here is the hard part) DRM could serve to benefit, instead of inconvience, the end consumer. Right now, DRM is not being done correctly. In fact I know someone who worked on some of the watermarking technology (will remain nameless for obvious reasons). The engineers involved in developing the technology pretty much ended up getting pushed to the back of the meetings (until they decided not to go anyome because they felt they were not welcome) and the technology and implementation of said technology was developed by the remaining Lawyers and Marketeers. Just as most engineers would not even try to write a legal document, it probably wasn't the best idea to leave the development of this new technology to the Lawyers in the meeting (not to say that they are not bright people, just different knowledge domain).
What would be nice is DRM that benefits both sides of the equation by giving artists/corporations their due (after all we need to insure a market that can continually fund the development of new works) within the bounds of benefiting the consumer. This means a stable, secure DRM that doesn't destroy whatever machine it is installed on. This does not mean passing legislation that forces DRM on everything with and Analog to Digital converter on it (yikes!).
Hmmm... let me think about this comment.... BuHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Microsoft secure AHHHAHAHAHA!!!
But seriously, I respect the fact you made some of these comments. But I think some of the reasoning is flawed. Windows is simply not a secure platform from both a quality and archectecture standpoint. I know this from experience (heavy amounts of development for many, many different operating systems... not just Windows/Linux)
I do agree with your comment on researching the target market and that is often what is forgotten when using the latest wiz bang technology. Pick the best tool for the job. Just because it's today's buzzword does not mean it's the best tool.
I simply do not think that Windows can hold up to HIPAA. Would you trust Windows to cover your legal butt? I am not saying this as a Linux/BSD/Solaris/MacOS/VXWorks/PSOS/etc zealot but simply from experience. Security wise, Windows still has a ways to go (i.e. allowing arbitrary code execution from a web page, email, etc). When it gets there then I will trumpet Windows as a secure OS.
My advice (and it's/. advice so don't take it too seriously;) ), look at your target market, pick the best tool for the job, always have a backup plan if that tool doesn't work.
Or better yet, You could go out and film yourself stomping on spiders, encode it, save it as spiderman.mpg, and post it to your website. Then you would be the owner of it! Just another wild idea:)
Sunbird could very well be one of the more important open source projects out there! At least, important for the corporate adoption of Linux. While Linux remains awesome in the server/development arena (after all, it's all I use to write code at work), it still lacks in the "Management" desktop area. Before I get lots of flames about this one, I know about openoffice.org but still, if you look at the dominiance and reliance on Outlook in the corporate environment, you will see why Linux needs a good, integrate calendar application. One CEO even mentioned this to me. He loves Linux from what he has been shown/played with but finds it hard to lose the integrated calendar feature of Outlook. For him, that's what is holding back the adoption of Linux. Believe it or not, he hates the quality of Outlook. The only reason he is tied to it is because it is the only viable solution with the proper features. The more we look at what our targeted users are using, the better off we will be. This is what Microsoft often does well. They look at who makes the decision to deploy their product, like any good company does, and tailor their product around that user. I simply cannot believe that we, as an open source community, have not yet duplicated the todo/email/calendar application that managers so love (with good reason too, their jobs often involve quite a few meetings/action items/communications). Hopefully this will fill the void of an integrated calendar/scheduling application (though there could be something already out there... I just don't know about it;) ).
Ahh... but there is something that needs to be considered here. The "internal justification" aspect of marketing. I assume (and it may be a bad assumption) that most of the PS2s & XBoxen that are out there are not used for any sort of DVD playback even though they have that feature.
But when it comes to either justifying the price to your spouse, signifigant other, parents, self, dog, goldfish, etc, it helps to be able to say "Well I'm not just using it for games... We can use it as our DVD player as well" It tends to make the $300 price tag hurt a little less. So while the feature will likely never be used, it has a marketing aspect to it (plus you don't want the "other" guy to be able to one up you with features). Marketing often tends to be what sells technology, not the other way around (though it would be nice if things sold based on their technical merit).
Before everyone invests a lot of energy posting with the usual "this sucks" and "In Soviet Russia" quote (I bet they will all follow my post now that I said that:) ), those of us that are Americans need to exercise our rights. Often your Congressman/woman and Senator will have "town meetings" when they are in your state. Go to these! Even if there isn't a hot topic at the time (there always is with technology), we, as a Slashdot community, have the oppertunity to provide and gather valuable insight and let our voices be heard. Do you wonder why Medicare, Social Security, etc is always such a hot topic in elections? Well most of the people that I see at these meetings are elderly.
There are very few people under the age of 50 there and as a result, our elected officials only get a small piece of the story. Often bad bills make it through because people spend too much time complaining to their friends and not enough time educating the government. Most of the people that I have met in that line of work are not malicous with these bills, they just simply have a skewed view given to them by some lobbyist.
It is up to us, the people, to educate on the potential ramifications of these poorly written bills. We simply cannot assume that Senator X sits in his office and rebuilds his Linux Kernal all day. These men and women work on running this country and not on running their computers (though some of them do have a techie streak in them).
The best advice here is to do what the article says. Everyone set as their first task tommorow afternoon (I belive Senate is in session until mid afternoon tommorow, you can check on senate.gov), before the ADHD kicks in;), to call your Senator AND Congressman. Be polite, address them properly (though you will probably only speak to one of their office staff members), and explain the situation in terms the general public can understand (none of "Well it contains and A to D converter and if you stream an analog signal in then..."). Often you will find your Senator and Congressman/woman to be very rational and understanding of the situation.
It's kinda funny, a few years ago (back in the 80s) my dad actually did this. Believe it or not, he was the first one to grow a neuron on silicon (a Motorola chip for those interested). The poster with the electon micrograph of it was absolutly everywhere (we had 1000s of the posters in the basement). I even rememeber going to highschool science and, sure enough, there was my dad's poster. The hype surrounding this was insane mostly due to fact that everyone thought this was the true start to cybernetics. In the end, the hype died down, My dad's lab got a ton of grants and he got back to doing more research. Ironically enough, the most publicisied research that he did (the neuron on a chip) probably had the least impact. Such is the world of science at times:) So, yes, it's nothing new. Just repackaged.
OK... so the other day I called the Patent Office and asked them about how one would challenge a Patent based on the latest DNS Patent fiasco.
After talking to someone who seemed to discourage me from challenging a Patent that has signifigant prior art ("well it costs a lot of money, etc") he mentioned that the whole basis for a Patent is it's Claims section. If the Claims section is, in fact, something brand new then a patent will go through.
The interesting part is that a challenge to a patent will cost you $2,500 and $8,000+ if you want to have a part in the challenge. It seems to me that Congress should step in and regulate the USPTO as it seems as though they are becoming a potential hinderance to innovation by allowing prior art patents where they should be protecting innovation.
Now I don't know about any other United States based/.ers but my Congressman/woman holds "town meetings" about once a year. I went to one and they actually proved somewhat helpful when I needed to get my point across. The key when speaking at these is to not be confrontations, have facts ready to go, and speak to the audience. In speaking to the audience, I mean finding something that will make them nod their heads in aggreement with you. That was you make the issue "hot" to that Congressman/woman. If you seem like a lone wolf with an issue, it won't become one. The Congressman/woman's job it to represent the population and the more that this issue represents, the hotter the issue it will become.
Don't get pissed, lobby for change. I know we (as in my fellow geeks) like to avoid politics, but we need to start becoming more of a voice of change...
I actually made another post when I realized I forgot to clairify why I was calling it life critical... Space systems are often test at a life critical level since if you mess up... you might not be able to fix it. Sorry of the confusion:)
To answer your question, there was probably a watchdog timer that caused it to go into a reset loop. Yes modern PCs have all of these wiz bang features but let me ask you this... would you want to be on an airplane where it's fly by wire system was controlled with your PC? No probably not. Systems that fly and are life critical (yes there is no one on it, but space systems are held to that standard) cannot have a bunch of wiz bang features on board. The more you add, the more potential for failures. So you try to mitigate your risks as much as possible. You can't go out there to simply tweak the chip that failed because it got zapped by radiation as it was heading over to Mars.
Ok ok ok... chill out everyone... VXWorks is not that bad (I use it on almost a daily basis). Every single OS has its problems. Before we all go and start calling VXWorks or Spirits software a crappy piece of code, you have to understand what goes into writing space qualified software. This is not some thing you hack together over the weekend. In fact something you wrote for a space system over the weekend would be tested over a period of months and possibly even years depending on the criticality of the code. We're talking life critical system testing here. That means all paths for you code heads out there. That said, even when you hit rubber to the road, there are always unexpected situations. Something that you didn't anticipate, a bug that made its way through under circumstance x. Hands up for everyone here who has written a complex bug free system right out of the gates. Anywone who just lifted their hand does not understand what a complex system is or a bug. Though stuff that flies tends to be pretty darn close to bug free. We are dealing with many complex unknowns when we land something on another planet. VXWorks is actually very popular with the space program. It's not perfect but neither is Linux (though someday it will be right;) ). In fact the whole system that they are using on the rover has flown quite a few times (VXWorks running on rad hardened PowerPCs with a VME bus for it's backbone). Trust me, the software running on the rover is not crappy. In fact, the fact they can bring it back to life like they did says a lot.
I say this for a simple reason... Larger scale adoption of Linux. Ok... So how does buying an XBox help Linux become more widely adopted. Let's look at what motivate 99% of Computer hardware changes and upgrades.... games. No one needs a hardcore graphics card with an overclocked, liquid cooled CPU to run Word. The primary purpose for upgrading one's computer (OS and Hardware) tends to be for games. Linux simply does not have the same game base as Windows does (yes I know that this is changing... but there still is not enough). Microsoft really wants to win with the XBox and the more money that we all sink into the XBox, vendors will have less motivation for targeting PCs for game development. Comparitivly, porting is the easy part (budget wise)... it's testing that kills your budget. With the PC platform, you have to take into account the wide range of systems out there, tech support for those different systems, etc. With the XBox, they have to worry about 1 platform and only 1. The widespread adaptation of console games could be really good for Linux. IMHO, there would be less motivation to deal with Windows as it appears as though games are a big selling point of Windows. If Microsoft has tunnel vision with the XBox (most large companies tend to suffer from this), it will probably be too late before they realize that the XBox is cutting into their OS market share. Though games could be a bigger marketshare for MS. So buy up those XBoxen and encourage MS in it's game console venture.
Just a quick comment here... The Carnegie Mellon CMM Level 5 rating that a lot of these firms receive is not always related to overall quality. Like the ISO 9000 standard, you can have a poor product come out of a CMM Level 5 shop. The CMM is supposed to improve overall software development process but, for example, there is nothing in the CMM that says "Don't use unprotected globals" or "Avoid goto's and labels". Code written in CMM Level 5 shops can be good or it can be utter crap. The CMM states that you have a process which meets all of these different criteria. That's not to say it's bad to pursue a CMM rating. In some cases it helps. A lot of it can be common sense. Though what is one person's common sense is another's undiscovered fronteer. Do not let a CMM rating wow you just as an ISO rating should wow you. It can be a factor in deciding a contract but there should _never_ be a single factor to decided a contract!
VXWorks is an embedded OS. WindRiver (the makers of VXWorks) offers training but it's pretty $$$. If you go to college or have an employer that would foot the bill, all the better. Search around for VXWorks or Tornado (the development environment for VXWorks). I would also say that embedded Linux might be making waves on the mission systems end but probably not real time control apps as it's not a RTOS (Real Time Operating Systems). A good quick into to programming for embedded systems is Oreilly's "Programming Embedded Systems in C and C++". You might also want to learn assembly if you don't already know it. I had a professor in college that said we would never have to use it but sometimes you do need it! Don't worry, it's just yet another language. Get familiar with processor archectecture (i.e. differences between Big Endian/Little Endian, RISC vs CISC, registers, etc). Even if you don't have to get as deep as the processor level, it still helps to understand the constraints. I, personally, think it's fun to work around embedded constraints when given the oppertunity. As for VXWorks, it's yet another OS. You don't have anything like a command line or a Windows manager (though you can put it in). Think of embedded OSs as Lego... ya gotta build it yourself. If you want a little embedded OS training, download something like TRON. Unfortunatly VXWorks costs a lot of money. Try to also get some hardware to run it on, as that's half the fun of embedded OS programming. As for me, I was lucky, I went to work for an embedded systems company right out of college (Lucent AccessPoint 450/1000 series IP Servieces Routers) so my training was on the Job.
Yup VXWorks it is. It's amazing how much info you can get on their space archectecure. But, yes, most space systems are not as complex as the motherboard in your PC. In fact, the last rover we successfully landed on Mars used 386 processors I believe. Before everyone begins to snicker at this fact, Space systems development is often about playing the numbers game... keep as low risk as possible since the risks are so high! You also don't want the latest Pentium 4 (or AMD) w/ hyperthreading on board for several reasons: 1. High power consumption (a biggie) 2. Larger surface to expose therefore more radiation issues 3. Heat dissapation issues 4. Stability (issues with '386's are known) 5. Profit! (sorry had to throw this one in)
Yes you can go to the local store and pick up a miniITX board, throw it in a spacecraft, hack together some software, and watch it come right back to Earth. Space programs are expensive for a reason. This is not about throwing stuff together in a weekend. It's about designing, testing, designing again, testing, reviewing, coding, testing, testing, testing (get the picture). Once it goes up, it becomes much harder, if not impossible, to fix! (Yes the shuttle has fixed Hubble but it lies in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) to the tune of billions). Besides, try finding a radiation hardened miniITX board;) Case modders anyone... I just thought I would throw out my 2 cents since there is often a lot of ignorance that gets thrown around with the Space program. Space is not easy... we can't push a button and have everything work perfectly. In fact it's amazing so much works as is.
There is a simple reason here... It's cheaper to send a space craft to Mars that it is to send it to the Moon believe it or not. When it comes to sending manned missions, that's another story. I would rather not get into all of the nitty gritty here since I have somewhere to be right now but if you are interested, hunt a little on the web about "gravitational slingshots" for lack of a better term.
Do you have a link to that? Now that would be cool to see. I would be interested in seeing the code benchmarks.
Man, people think the moment you bring up an older technology, you're a nut;)
To answer an anonymous coward, it doesn't take 9+ years to write a server in C/C++ vs 9 months in Java . Granted if you were to do it in asm then, yes, it would take you a loooooong time:)
But the point is that in a fly-by-wire system, you want to keep things somewhat predictable. Java adds too many layers to the system. In fly-by-wire systems, you need to be able to get to every layer, test all paths, test again, etc. Again, I'm not knocking Java here. Just some tools have their uses in some places but not others.
Considering that the EULA forbids from using Java to operate Nuclear Plant and Air Traffic systems, you will never fly in a Java powered Boeing. But that's in the License, so your rant is useless.
I have knowledge of mission critical systems and I will tell you right now, just because the EULA forbids something, or its not certified, doesn't mean that doesn't happen. VXWorks is a very popular RTOS and used on flight systems but it's not "certified for flight systems". It was used on the pathfinder mission, but it was not space certified... etc.
I'm not bashing Java here. I'm just saying that not enough due diligence is performed before people jump at a new technology (yes I know that Java has been around for many years). Java, IMHO, is used for applications that it should not be used for. There are different tools for different applications. Yes you can use a crecent wrench as a hammer, but why not use a hammer.
I have seen many instances of technologys getting deployed because it's new and cool (and there are quite a few new and cool technologies that fit their applications) but sometimes things are deployed that are trying to fit a round peg and a square hole.
In fact I have a feeling that after the release of project Barcelona (this will allow to have just one full set of Java classes to be loaded, with every additional VM using the shared classes, reducing the memory use by every new application) it will be very reasonable to rewrite every network service available on a linux machine using Java. Without buffer overflows, integer overflows and other insecurities inevitably present in pointer-based languages removed you could have an even more secure Linux system.
It would probably not be a good idea to rewrite every network service avaliable on Linux in Java. Linix _is_ used in mission critical systems! Yes you may reduce the amount of buffer overflows but VMs are not immune to buffer overflows either. Nothing can make up for good programming practices. Besides C is still faster than Java and in my experience, works very well for OS level networking routines. Some people forget to cross their t's and dot their i's simply because we are human. That's why it helps to have a second set of eyes look at things and test your code (and test more even after that!).
I'm not trying to bash you or Java here, I'm just trying to say that different tools have different uses.
I doubt that there will ever be a one thing fits all applications. I'm remided of my programming languages class when the prof said "Here is assembly language, you will never have to use it". Guess what, 2 years later I was using it:)
One issue with Java is it all depends on the Virtual Machine. I, for one, would _never_ trust Java in a mission critical embedded environment. In fact you still see assembly in those envrionments from time to time. Imagine using Java for a fly by wire system. Would you fly on a plane that was using Java for fly by wire? I, for one, would not. Java is great for some things. But you get too many cases where companies use a new technology without adequate due diligence simply because its the NTOW (New Technology Of the Week). I still say that a server written in C (written properly of course) will outperform a server written in Java.
I hear that! Well actually my mom. When I was younger ( 10 years old) my dad used to bring home dead circuit boards for me to play with. You know, the kind with the socketed ICs. Well combine that with Lego, a bunch of ICs with razor sharp leads, a messy bedroom floor, and my mom walking into my room in the dark... Yup, she claims that there are _still_ scars on her foot from my childhood years.
Actually it could be worse if you had to start a job in construction. I have quite a few "blue collar" friends in auto body and construction and they make more than me as a software engineer! I even have a friend of my who went from becomming an accountant to a carpenter because it makes him happy. I chose my profession because I enjoy it, not to make a ton of money (though that doesn't hurt:) ). But even though a job is blue collar, it doesn't make it bad.
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There never was a prior art search.
First of all lets clairify what a provisional patent is... It's not a patent and does not hold the same teeth as a patent does. Simply put, it gives you the right to put Patent Pending on some technology that you are developing. In addition, if you apply for a patent in a years time from time of the filing of the provisional patent, the effective date of the patent (assuming it's approved... not all patents are) is the date of provisional patent filing. Oh, the date of provisional patent filing is the date you drop it off at the post office and send it via registered mail.
So, today you could write up a provisional patent document (not as formal as an actual patent application but it helps to keep it formal if you are going after the patent), enclose a check for $100.00 if you are an individual, send it via registered mail (not fedex, ups, but usps) and BAM, Patent Pending.
It doesn't mean you are going to get the patent. It's meant for smaller inventors to potentially apply for patents and decide if they want to invest the $10,000 it typically takes to possibly get a patent. The gives you protection of prior art no matter what so some company can't patent the technology even if you decide not to pursue a patent (as the provisional patent application counts as prior art and assuming the technology is "new and novel"). If you do decide to pursue a patent the effective date of the patent is the date you sent it via registered mail.
It should also be noted that currently Ham Radio has currently shown itself to be the only reliable form of communications in New Orleans. People who say that Ham Radio is dead need to understand that it is not dead, it's currently evolving and still provides an essential service from providing early warning on severe weather incidents (skywarn) to disaster recovery to simply talking to interesting people. Cell phones simply do not provide adequate coverage and reliablity during emergency situations.
It currently is also evolving within the digital realm to provide everything from high speed data over the air (HSMM working group in the ARRL) to VoIP interconnects between repeaters over the Internet.
Hopefully something can be reached that provides for a BPL system that does not cause interferenece with Ham Radio (this system might... didn't read the spec). If it does, I would rather have Ham Radio over BPL simply because it really doesn't bring very much to the table.
Well I agree, that under certain circumstances, commercial could save over open source. However I have worked with many an OS vender on embedded projects (true embedded systems that have real-time contraints) and found that all too often, not having the code to the library or OS really shoots you in the foot! In many cases embedded applications are very, very specialized and there is a signifigant learning curve of months to years for the platform in development. The problem is vendor x who you purchased the libary from has to learn your platform (there are often things like ASICs that have to be interacted with, unique bus archectecures, etc, etc) and then fix the problem. It's often much easier to go in and fix it yourself.
In most cases some degree of customization will be required to get an embedded OS to work on your archectecture (drivers for ASICs, unique bus archectecures, removing some feature that is reducing determinism, etc). Here is where having the code comes in handy. All the embedded projects I've worked on has had one of more OS guys who's sole purpose is to get the OS working properly for the embedded application. Simply abstracting everything away often does not work in memory/processor limited applications (read an embedded systems primer for more info on the limitation of this environment). That's part of the fun of working in the embedded world. You really, really have to think about your code.
There is no such thing (as of today) as a one size fits all OS for embedded systems. If there was, then I guarentee that it would be used in the embedded systems industry.
Whoops posted this originally as an Anonymous coward (disregard the previous posting). Sorry /. :)
As bad as this sounds, this is where the original spirit for DRM lies. We all too often look at the negative side of legislation but when it comes down to it, if properly deployed, a DRM solution would insure the issue of giving artists their due. Unfortunatly DRM is currently being used for scorched earth campaigns that do not benefit the consumer.
If properly deployed and developed (here is the hard part) DRM could serve to benefit, instead of inconvience, the end consumer.
Right now, DRM is not being done correctly. In fact I know someone who worked on some of the watermarking technology (will remain nameless for obvious reasons). The engineers involved in developing the technology pretty much ended up getting pushed to the back of the meetings (until they decided not to go anyome because they felt they were not welcome) and the technology and implementation of said technology was developed by the remaining Lawyers and Marketeers. Just as most engineers would not even try to write a legal document, it probably wasn't the best idea to leave the development of this new technology to the Lawyers in the meeting (not to say that they are not bright people, just different knowledge domain).
What would be nice is DRM that benefits both sides of the equation by giving artists/corporations their due (after all we need to insure a market that can continually fund the development of new works) within the bounds of benefiting the consumer. This means a stable, secure DRM that doesn't destroy whatever machine it is installed on. This does not mean passing legislation that forces DRM on everything with and Analog to Digital converter on it (yikes!).
Hmmm... let me think about this comment.... BuHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Microsoft secure AHHHAHAHAHA!!!
/. advice so don't take it too seriously ;) ), look at your target market, pick the best tool for the job, always have a backup plan if that tool doesn't work.
But seriously, I respect the fact you made some of these comments. But I think some of the reasoning is flawed. Windows is simply not a secure platform from both a quality and archectecture standpoint. I know this from experience (heavy amounts of development for many, many different operating systems... not just Windows/Linux)
I do agree with your comment on researching the target market and that is often what is forgotten when using the latest wiz bang technology. Pick the best tool for the job. Just because it's today's buzzword does not mean it's the best tool.
I simply do not think that Windows can hold up to HIPAA. Would you trust Windows to cover your legal butt? I am not saying this as a Linux/BSD/Solaris/MacOS/VXWorks/PSOS/etc zealot but simply from experience. Security wise, Windows still has a ways to go (i.e. allowing arbitrary code execution from a web page, email, etc). When it gets there then I will trumpet Windows as a secure OS.
My advice (and it's
Or better yet, :)
You could go out and film yourself stomping on spiders, encode it, save it as spiderman.mpg, and post it to your website. Then you would be the owner of it! Just another wild idea
Sunbird could very well be one of the more important open source projects out there! At least, important for the corporate adoption of Linux. While Linux remains awesome in the server/development arena (after all, it's all I use to write code at work), it still lacks in the "Management" desktop area. Before I get lots of flames about this one, I know about openoffice.org but still, if you look at the dominiance and reliance on Outlook in the corporate environment, you will see why Linux needs a good, integrate calendar application. ;) ).
One CEO even mentioned this to me. He loves Linux from what he has been shown/played with but finds it hard to lose the integrated calendar feature of Outlook. For him, that's what is holding back the adoption of Linux. Believe it or not, he hates the quality of Outlook. The only reason he is tied to it is because it is the only viable solution with the proper features.
The more we look at what our targeted users are using, the better off we will be. This is what Microsoft often does well. They look at who makes the decision to deploy their product, like any good company does, and tailor their product around that user.
I simply cannot believe that we, as an open source community, have not yet duplicated the todo/email/calendar application that managers so love (with good reason too, their jobs often involve quite a few meetings/action items/communications).
Hopefully this will fill the void of an integrated calendar/scheduling application (though there could be something already out there... I just don't know about it
Ahh... but there is something that needs to be considered here. The "internal justification" aspect of marketing. I assume (and it may be a bad assumption) that most of the PS2s & XBoxen that are out there are not used for any sort of DVD playback even though they have that feature.
But when it comes to either justifying the price to your spouse, signifigant other, parents, self, dog, goldfish, etc, it helps to be able to say "Well I'm not just using it for games... We can use it as our DVD player as well"
It tends to make the $300 price tag hurt a little less. So while the feature will likely never be used, it has a marketing aspect to it (plus you don't want the "other" guy to be able to one up you with features). Marketing often tends to be what sells technology, not the other way around (though it would be nice if things sold based on their technical merit).
Before everyone invests a lot of energy posting with the usual "this sucks" and "In Soviet Russia" quote (I bet they will all follow my post now that I said that :) ), those of us that are Americans need to exercise our rights. Often your Congressman/woman and Senator will have "town meetings" when they are in your state. Go to these! Even if there isn't a hot topic at the time (there always is with technology), we, as a Slashdot community, have the oppertunity to provide and gather valuable insight and let our voices be heard. Do you wonder why Medicare, Social Security, etc is always such a hot topic in elections? Well most of the people that I see at these meetings are elderly.
;), to call your Senator AND Congressman. Be polite, address them properly (though you will probably only speak to one of their office staff members), and explain the situation in terms the general public can understand (none of "Well it contains and A to D converter and if you stream an analog signal in then..."). Often you will find your Senator and Congressman/woman to be very rational and understanding of the situation.
There are very few people under the age of 50 there and as a result, our elected officials only get a small piece of the story. Often bad bills make it through because people spend too much time complaining to their friends and not enough time educating the government. Most of the people that I have met in that line of work are not malicous with these bills, they just simply have a skewed view given to them by some lobbyist.
It is up to us, the people, to educate on the potential ramifications of these poorly written bills. We simply cannot assume that Senator X sits in his office and rebuilds his Linux Kernal all day. These men and women work on running this country and not on running their computers (though some of them do have a techie streak in them).
The best advice here is to do what the article says. Everyone set as their first task tommorow afternoon (I belive Senate is in session until mid afternoon tommorow, you can check on senate.gov), before the ADHD kicks in
Good Luck!
It's kinda funny, a few years ago (back in the 80s) my dad actually did this. Believe it or not, he was the first one to grow a neuron on silicon (a Motorola chip for those interested). The poster with the electon micrograph of it was absolutly everywhere (we had 1000s of the posters in the basement). I even rememeber going to highschool science and, sure enough, there was my dad's poster. :)
The hype surrounding this was insane mostly due to fact that everyone thought this was the true start to cybernetics. In the end, the hype died down, My dad's lab got a ton of grants and he got back to doing more research. Ironically enough, the most publicisied research that he did (the neuron on a chip) probably had the least impact.
Such is the world of science at times
So, yes, it's nothing new. Just repackaged.
OK... so the other day I called the Patent Office and asked them about how one would challenge a Patent based on the latest DNS Patent fiasco.
/.ers but my Congressman/woman holds "town meetings" about once a year. I went to one and they actually proved somewhat helpful when I needed to get my point across. The key when speaking at these is to not be confrontations, have facts ready to go, and speak to the audience. In speaking to the audience, I mean finding something that will make them nod their heads in aggreement with you. That was you make the issue "hot" to that Congressman/woman. If you seem like a lone wolf with an issue, it won't become one. The Congressman/woman's job it to represent the population and the more that this issue represents, the hotter the issue it will become.
After talking to someone who seemed to discourage me from challenging a Patent that has signifigant prior art ("well it costs a lot of money, etc") he mentioned that the whole basis for a Patent is it's Claims section. If the Claims section is, in fact, something brand new then a patent will go through.
The interesting part is that a challenge to a patent will cost you $2,500 and $8,000+ if you want to have a part in the challenge. It seems to me that Congress should step in and regulate the USPTO as it seems as though they are becoming a potential hinderance to innovation by allowing prior art patents where they should be protecting innovation.
Now I don't know about any other United States based
Don't get pissed, lobby for change. I know we (as in my fellow geeks) like to avoid politics, but we need to start becoming more of a voice of change...
I actually made another post when I realized I forgot to clairify why I was calling it life critical... :)
Space systems are often test at a life critical level since if you mess up... you might not be able to fix it.
Sorry of the confusion
To answer your question, there was probably a watchdog timer that caused it to go into a reset loop.
Yes modern PCs have all of these wiz bang features but let me ask you this... would you want to be on an airplane where it's fly by wire system was controlled with your PC? No probably not.
Systems that fly and are life critical (yes there is no one on it, but space systems are held to that standard) cannot have a bunch of wiz bang features on board. The more you add, the more potential for failures. So you try to mitigate your risks as much as possible. You can't go out there to simply tweak the chip that failed because it got zapped by radiation as it was heading over to Mars.
Ok ok ok... chill out everyone... ;) ). In fact the whole system that they are using on the rover has flown quite a few times (VXWorks running on rad hardened PowerPCs with a VME bus for it's backbone).
VXWorks is not that bad (I use it on almost a daily basis). Every single OS has its problems. Before we all go and start calling VXWorks or Spirits software a crappy piece of code, you have to understand what goes into writing space qualified software.
This is not some thing you hack together over the weekend. In fact something you wrote for a space system over the weekend would be tested over a period of months and possibly even years depending on the criticality of the code. We're talking life critical system testing here. That means all paths for you code heads out there.
That said, even when you hit rubber to the road, there are always unexpected situations. Something that you didn't anticipate, a bug that made its way through under circumstance x. Hands up for everyone here who has written a complex bug free system right out of the gates. Anywone who just lifted their hand does not understand what a complex system is or a bug. Though stuff that flies tends to be pretty darn close to bug free.
We are dealing with many complex unknowns when we land something on another planet.
VXWorks is actually very popular with the space program. It's not perfect but neither is Linux (though someday it will be right
Trust me, the software running on the rover is not crappy. In fact, the fact they can bring it back to life like they did says a lot.
I say this for a simple reason...
Larger scale adoption of Linux.
Ok... So how does buying an XBox help Linux become more widely adopted.
Let's look at what motivate 99% of Computer hardware changes and upgrades.... games. No one needs a hardcore graphics card with an overclocked, liquid cooled CPU to run Word. The primary purpose for upgrading one's computer (OS and Hardware) tends to be for games. Linux simply does not have the same game base as Windows does (yes I know that this is changing... but there still is not enough).
Microsoft really wants to win with the XBox and the more money that we all sink into the XBox, vendors will have less motivation for targeting PCs for game development. Comparitivly, porting is the easy part (budget wise)... it's testing that kills your budget. With the PC platform, you have to take into account the wide range of systems out there, tech support for those different systems, etc. With the XBox, they have to worry about 1 platform and only 1.
The widespread adaptation of console games could be really good for Linux. IMHO, there would be less motivation to deal with Windows as it appears as though games are a big selling point of Windows. If Microsoft has tunnel vision with the XBox (most large companies tend to suffer from this), it will probably be too late before they realize that the XBox is cutting into their OS market share. Though games could be a bigger marketshare for MS.
So buy up those XBoxen and encourage MS in it's game console venture.
Just a quick comment here...
The Carnegie Mellon CMM Level 5 rating that a lot of these firms receive is not always related to overall quality. Like the ISO 9000 standard, you can have a poor product come out of a CMM Level 5 shop.
The CMM is supposed to improve overall software development process but, for example, there is nothing in the CMM that says "Don't use unprotected globals" or "Avoid goto's and labels".
Code written in CMM Level 5 shops can be good or it can be utter crap. The CMM states that you have a process which meets all of these different criteria.
That's not to say it's bad to pursue a CMM rating. In some cases it helps. A lot of it can be common sense. Though what is one person's common sense is another's undiscovered fronteer.
Do not let a CMM rating wow you just as an ISO rating should wow you. It can be a factor in deciding a contract but there should _never_ be a single factor to decided a contract!
VXWorks is an embedded OS. WindRiver (the makers of VXWorks) offers training but it's pretty $$$. If you go to college or have an employer that would foot the bill, all the better. Search around for VXWorks or Tornado (the development environment for VXWorks). I would also say that embedded Linux might be making waves on the mission systems end but probably not real time control apps as it's not a RTOS (Real Time Operating Systems).
A good quick into to programming for embedded systems is Oreilly's "Programming Embedded Systems in C and C++". You might also want to learn assembly if you don't already know it. I had a professor in college that said we would never have to use it but sometimes you do need it! Don't worry, it's just yet another language.
Get familiar with processor archectecture (i.e. differences between Big Endian/Little Endian, RISC vs CISC, registers, etc). Even if you don't have to get as deep as the processor level, it still helps to understand the constraints. I, personally, think it's fun to work around embedded constraints when given the oppertunity.
As for VXWorks, it's yet another OS. You don't have anything like a command line or a Windows manager (though you can put it in). Think of embedded OSs as Lego... ya gotta build it yourself.
If you want a little embedded OS training, download something like TRON. Unfortunatly VXWorks costs a lot of money. Try to also get some hardware to run it on, as that's half the fun of embedded OS programming. As for me, I was lucky, I went to work for an embedded systems company right out of college (Lucent AccessPoint 450/1000 series IP Servieces Routers) so my training was on the Job.
Yup VXWorks it is. It's amazing how much info you can get on their space archectecure.
;)
But, yes, most space systems are not as complex as the motherboard in your PC. In fact, the last rover we successfully landed on Mars used 386 processors I believe. Before everyone begins to snicker at this fact, Space systems development is often about playing the numbers game... keep as low risk as possible since the risks are so high! You also don't want the latest Pentium 4 (or AMD) w/ hyperthreading on board for several reasons:
1. High power consumption (a biggie)
2. Larger surface to expose therefore more radiation issues
3. Heat dissapation issues
4. Stability (issues with '386's are known)
5. Profit! (sorry had to throw this one in)
Yes you can go to the local store and pick up a miniITX board, throw it in a spacecraft, hack together some software, and watch it come right back to Earth. Space programs are expensive for a reason. This is not about throwing stuff together in a weekend. It's about designing, testing, designing again, testing, reviewing, coding, testing, testing, testing (get the picture). Once it goes up, it becomes much harder, if not impossible, to fix! (Yes the shuttle has fixed Hubble but it lies in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) to the tune of billions).
Besides, try finding a radiation hardened miniITX board
Case modders anyone...
I just thought I would throw out my 2 cents since there is often a lot of ignorance that gets thrown around with the Space program. Space is not easy... we can't push a button and have everything work perfectly. In fact it's amazing so much works as is.
There is a simple reason here...
It's cheaper to send a space craft to Mars that it is to send it to the Moon believe it or not. When it comes to sending manned missions, that's another story. I would rather not get into all of the nitty gritty here since I have somewhere to be right now but if you are interested, hunt a little on the web about "gravitational slingshots" for lack of a better term.
Do you have a link to that? Now that would be cool to see. I would be interested in seeing the code benchmarks.
;)
:)
Man, people think the moment you bring up an older technology, you're a nut
To answer an anonymous coward, it doesn't take 9+ years to write a server in C/C++ vs 9 months in Java . Granted if you were to do it in asm then, yes, it would take you a loooooong time
But the point is that in a fly-by-wire system, you want to keep things somewhat predictable. Java adds too many layers to the system. In fly-by-wire systems, you need to be able to get to every layer, test all paths, test again, etc. Again, I'm not knocking Java here. Just some tools have their uses in some places but not others.
Considering that the EULA forbids from using Java to operate Nuclear Plant and Air Traffic systems, you will never fly in a Java powered Boeing. But that's in the License, so your rant is useless. :)
I have knowledge of mission critical systems and I will tell you right now, just because the EULA forbids something, or its not certified, doesn't mean that doesn't happen. VXWorks is a very popular RTOS and used on flight systems but it's not "certified for flight systems". It was used on the pathfinder mission, but it was not space certified... etc.
I'm not bashing Java here. I'm just saying that not enough due diligence is performed before people jump at a new technology (yes I know that Java has been around for many years). Java, IMHO, is used for applications that it should not be used for. There are different tools for different applications. Yes you can use a crecent wrench as a hammer, but why not use a hammer.
I have seen many instances of technologys getting deployed because it's new and cool (and there are quite a few new and cool technologies that fit their applications) but sometimes things are deployed that are trying to fit a round peg and a square hole.
In fact I have a feeling that after the release of project Barcelona (this will allow to have just one full set of Java classes to be loaded, with every additional VM using the shared classes, reducing the memory use by every new application) it will be very reasonable to rewrite every network service available on a linux machine using Java. Without buffer overflows, integer overflows and other insecurities inevitably present in pointer-based languages removed you could have an even more secure Linux system.
It would probably not be a good idea to rewrite every network service avaliable on Linux in Java. Linix _is_ used in mission critical systems! Yes you may reduce the amount of buffer overflows but VMs are not immune to buffer overflows either. Nothing can make up for good programming practices. Besides C is still faster than Java and in my experience, works very well for OS level networking routines. Some people forget to cross their t's and dot their i's simply because we are human. That's why it helps to have a second set of eyes look at things and test your code (and test more even after that!).
I'm not trying to bash you or Java here, I'm just trying to say that different tools have different uses.
I doubt that there will ever be a one thing fits all applications. I'm remided of my programming languages class when the prof said "Here is assembly language, you will never have to use it". Guess what, 2 years later I was using it
One issue with Java is it all depends on the Virtual Machine.
I, for one, would _never_ trust Java in a mission critical embedded environment. In fact you still see assembly in those envrionments from time to time. Imagine using Java for a fly by wire system. Would you fly on a plane that was using Java for fly by wire? I, for one, would not.
Java is great for some things. But you get too many cases where companies use a new technology without adequate due diligence simply because its the NTOW (New Technology Of the Week). I still say that a server written in C (written properly of course) will outperform a server written in Java.
I hear that! Well actually my mom. When I was younger ( 10 years old) my dad used to bring home dead circuit boards for me to play with. You know, the kind with the socketed ICs. Well combine that with Lego, a bunch of ICs with razor sharp leads, a messy bedroom floor, and my mom walking into my room in the dark...
Yup, she claims that there are _still_ scars on her foot from my childhood years.
Actually it could be worse if you had to start a job in construction. I have quite a few "blue collar" friends in auto body and construction and they make more than me as a software engineer! I even have a friend of my who went from becomming an accountant to a carpenter because it makes him happy. I chose my profession because I enjoy it, not to make a ton of money (though that doesn't hurt :) ). But even though a job is blue collar, it doesn't make it bad.
How about a beo... ahhh forget it.
Mod -1 obvious