every argument i've read about splitting up microsoft uses the logic that the split will somehow help the economy and spur competition. for example, one argument claims that the office company would port MS office to linux and thus make linux a more attractive OS. i think this is a bogus argument. MS office is built on MS infrastructure like COM that is not readily available on other OSs. the sheer amount of effort necessary to get MS office working on a non-MS operating system could not be justified, especially given the very low penetration rate for linux on the desktop. the MS office company would not be a charity and would not port office to other platforms unless it made economic sense. why doesn't the DOJ just admit that the only real reason for splitting up MS is to punish bill gates for his behavior over the last 20-odd years? at least this would be the honest truth. all the rest of the crap about spurring innovation is just a smoke screen for the real truth and motivation behind the split.
i think there is a much better and flexible way to check security than lugging around a personal fingerprint scanner. since many of the new mobile devices are going to contain some kind of built-in camera, couldn't these devices either take a snapshot of your finger and use the picture to determine your identity, or alternatively use a picture of your iris to do the same thing? this way, you're using a useful generic piece of technology to achieve the same thing that otherwise requires a separate piece of hardware. it's bad enough carrying around a palm pilot and a cell phone, without needing yet another piece of generic hardware.
intelligence, the universe, and darwinian survival
on
The Mind of God
·
· Score: 1
i think an interesting way to look at the evolution of intelligence in the universe is from a darwinian "survival of the fittest" perspective. that is, does the existence of intelligent life forms within the universe lead to a "fitter" *universe* or not? it's quite possible that the universe as a whole will survive best when it's filled with intelligence, especially if that intelligence eventually tries to figure out answers to questions like "how do we stop the universe from gradually dispersing thru entropy?" and "how to we create new universes from the current one?"
here's a variation based on a james bond movie
on
Living Terrors
·
· Score: 2
here's a variation which is scarier IMHO
because it doesn't lead to world destruction but
could make some bad guys a lot of money. it is
like the james bond movie "on her
majesty's secret service" where the bad guy wants
to kill all the chickens, but in this case its
people.
step 1:
you create a custom virus that spreads easily,
has no obvious symptoms, and lurks in your body
for a pre-programmable amount of time before
suddenly springing into action and killing you.
it is only activated if your body contains
certain characteristic genes. for example, you
could create a version of this virus that only
targets people with fair skin, or those with
a chinese background.
step 2:
you release several versions of this virus, one
for each major targeted group that you want to
hold for ransom. we're talking nations here, like
india, china, australia, etc. for most of these
groups, set the gestation time for about 2 years,
but for one "demonstration" group, set the time for just 1 year.
step 3:
wait a year.
step 4:
when the millions of people in your demonstration
group start to die quickly, announce that you're
responsible and that you'll license the antidote
to each targeted group for $100,000,000+ a pop.
step 5:
hope you can spend the money before you're
killed by the SAS;-)
this scenario is of course predicated on the
ability to create such custom viruses, but the
rapid advancement in genetics, especially within
the context of the human genome project lead me
to believe that this is quite possible.
i think that germ warfare is much scarier than
traditional warfare because it allows targeted
groups to be killed without affecting others,
and in a much simpler and cheaper way.
quite honestly, the quicker we figure out how
to get colonies set up on other planets, the more
chance humankind has of surviving this kind of
nightmare scenario.
Given Sun's message of "write once, run anywhere", it seems odd that they need to port StarOffice at all! Wasn't this one of the main objectives of Java? It seems that a company that's touting this strength should be living by their own mantra.
Slashdot Mirror
every argument i've read about splitting up microsoft uses the logic that the split will somehow help the economy and spur competition. for example, one argument claims that the office company would port MS office to linux and thus make linux a more attractive OS. i think this is a bogus argument. MS office is built on MS infrastructure like COM that is not readily available on other OSs. the sheer amount of effort necessary to get MS office working on a non-MS operating system could not be justified, especially given the very low penetration rate for linux on the desktop. the MS office company would not be a charity and would not port office to other platforms unless it made economic sense. why doesn't the DOJ just admit that the only real reason for splitting up MS is to punish bill gates for his behavior over the last 20-odd years? at least this would be the honest truth. all the rest of the crap about spurring innovation is just a smoke screen for the real truth and motivation behind the split.
i think there is a much better and flexible way to check security than lugging around a personal fingerprint scanner. since many of the new mobile devices are going to contain some kind of built-in camera, couldn't these devices either take a snapshot of your finger and use the picture to determine your identity, or alternatively use a picture of your iris to do the same thing? this way, you're using a useful generic piece of technology to achieve the same thing that otherwise requires a separate piece of hardware. it's bad enough carrying around a palm pilot and a cell phone, without needing yet another piece of generic hardware.
i think an interesting way to look at the evolution of intelligence in the universe is from a darwinian "survival of the fittest" perspective. that is, does the existence of intelligent life forms within the universe lead to a "fitter" *universe* or not? it's quite possible that the universe as a whole will survive best when it's filled with intelligence, especially if that intelligence eventually tries to figure out answers to questions like "how do we stop the universe from gradually dispersing thru entropy?" and "how to we create new universes from the current one?"
here's a variation which is scarier IMHO
;-)
because it doesn't lead to world destruction but
could make some bad guys a lot of money. it is
like the james bond movie "on her
majesty's secret service" where the bad guy wants
to kill all the chickens, but in this case its
people.
step 1:
you create a custom virus that spreads easily,
has no obvious symptoms, and lurks in your body
for a pre-programmable amount of time before
suddenly springing into action and killing you.
it is only activated if your body contains
certain characteristic genes. for example, you
could create a version of this virus that only
targets people with fair skin, or those with
a chinese background.
step 2:
you release several versions of this virus, one
for each major targeted group that you want to
hold for ransom. we're talking nations here, like
india, china, australia, etc. for most of these
groups, set the gestation time for about 2 years,
but for one "demonstration" group, set the time for just 1 year.
step 3:
wait a year.
step 4:
when the millions of people in your demonstration
group start to die quickly, announce that you're
responsible and that you'll license the antidote
to each targeted group for $100,000,000+ a pop.
step 5:
hope you can spend the money before you're
killed by the SAS
this scenario is of course predicated on the
ability to create such custom viruses, but the
rapid advancement in genetics, especially within
the context of the human genome project lead me
to believe that this is quite possible.
i think that germ warfare is much scarier than
traditional warfare because it allows targeted
groups to be killed without affecting others,
and in a much simpler and cheaper way.
quite honestly, the quicker we figure out how
to get colonies set up on other planets, the more
chance humankind has of surviving this kind of
nightmare scenario.
cheers,
graham
Given Sun's message of "write once, run anywhere", it seems odd that they need to port StarOffice at all! Wasn't this one of the main objectives of Java? It seems that a company that's touting this strength should be living by their own mantra.