Seriously, this is a great thing. But considering that no record existed previously, it's not exactly earth-shattering.
I look to see this record broken with subsequent launches, as more and more people have access to the internet, and as Mozilla gains more share.
Also, 7.7 million of the total came from the US. It would be great to see a larger overseas distribution, especially considering the pledges that were signed in places like Africa.
I would love to inform myself. Can you provide any examples, or links to such information?
I know of many examples of evidence of 'missing link' type species (Archeopterix, etc) being found in the fossil record, and DNA evidence pointing toward a common genetic past, and other such evidence that really really suggests that evolution of species occurs. But I have not (until now) heard of an example where we actually saw the population of one specie genetically mutate and develop into a separate specie. When has this happened before?
My real hope is that this study will open some dialogue between those who believe in Creation/Intelligent Design and the scientific community, and that the C/IDers are willing to listen. Personally, I find this fascinating as the first documented example of evolution actually witnessed by humans, and a way to open paths of inquiry to further understand the interaction between species, and the nature of natural selection of traits.
This experiment also makes me impressed by the way in which God has created life to be so versatile and adaptable. Although why God 'plays dice' with the world (to paraphrase Einstein on a different subject) is beyond me, I think it is his right to do so, and suppose that He does so in a way that is understandable to us (ie. Scientific method).
Them's my thoughts. I welcome any (thoughtful) critiques of my beliefs that I might refine them and be consistent in my beliefs.
Disclosure: I'm a Christian, and I believe in the account of Creation as it is put forth in Genesis, that God created the universe by his will and directed the way it would turn out. I also believe that it is entirely possible that he did so by means of evolution. (This is not a new idea, Augustine had it long before me. 1-paragraph explanation at bottom of the first page.) I do not believe that science disproves religion, nor that the idea of Creation precludes the possibility of evolution.
While I'm sure I'm not alone in this belief, I know I'm in the minority, neither purely materialist as many in the science community are, nor 'Miraculous' in the vein of Intelligent Design folks or Creationists, nor goofy in the vein of those who believe the FSM said 'ramen' and the world came to be out of the formless wheat...
How does this thing do anything that cannot be done by either:
1) Calling an individual
2) Holding a videoconference?
TFA references that "The company had already considered and discarded video conferencing as too expensive and less convenient. That led to the birth of POGO at a cost of about $8,000 to $9,000, said Jim Sheehan, the chief operations officer at PowerObjects."
How is $9k (plus maintenance and cost of use) less expensive or more convenient? Is there a manager in the US whose job it is to move the robot around the India office with a joystick? If that level of oversight is needed, shouldn't they just hire someone to manage in person?
This makes no sense to me. Someone please explain.
A better analogy (and a bit of a 'social experiment' I actually did once out of boredom):
It's not illegal to destroy your own property when you're done with it. Say, to tear up old, out-of-date travel guide books about Spain. It's your property, you can do what you want with it. It's not even illegal to do so on public property. I could do that and throw out the pieces in a public park, for instance.
However, if you try to do that in a public library, some old(er) ladies will have a fit...
When I was in college, I took several old travel guides to the library and started shredding out pages in the main reading area. Several people noticed and, I assume, told the staff. They approached me quickly and freaked out, telling me to stop. I said, "It's OK. They're my books. No harm to your books at all." And they responded by demanding that I leave, which I quickly did.
The point? Even if you're not committing any sort of crime, the appearance of doing so is likely to get you under close scrutiny. In the RIAA's case in this instance, they gave out Take Down Notices. In the situation given, they are ridiculous because no downloads had occurred. However, without actually filing suit against the authors of the study, this is just analogous to 'higher scrutiny'.
If I had been actually destroying the public library's books, I would have not only been a bad citizen, but also in violation of some misdemeanor vandalism charges most likely. If the authors of the study had been actually illegally downloading copyrighted materials (over against not downloading anything, downloading materials under fair use, etc etc), they would have been making themselves liable for civil suit(s), and the RIAA would likely have gone after them with a lawsuit.
The big difference is that the RIAA seems to be blanketing everyone who is mistreating the books in any way, shape, or form, rather than looking for people who are actually destroying actual library books. It's the throw-it-all-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach to filing suit. And it's about the least responsible way to do it (if not the least effective).
Yes, but will this sort of study ever make it to trial in any shape or form that is likely to put the kibosh on the MAFIAAs strongarm tactics?
Unless the little guys can pony up the cash to get these guys as expert witnesses, the MAFIAA will simply commission their own, contradictory study in order to discredit this one.
I hope at some point (and some point SOON) we get a critical mass of people and evidence against the big industry players so that they'll stop this crap. I don't think it'll happen though--there's just too many dollars at stake for them to give up.
For all the Google talk about organizing information and their 'open platform' push with Android, it's about time they start taking Linux platforms seriously.
...what they're essentially saying with that lawsuit is that they want their content available for free, but they want to be the ones handing it out.
This makes sense. If I'm going to give away a resource for free, I want to be the one (and the only one!) who makes money off it. If that means I have to restrict who/where/when this free content can be distributed, so be it.
Trouble is, trying to give something away for free and then restrict where and how that something is used, doesn't quite work. They're not losing any money off the sale of that product.
...So how can they sue YouTube for damages when they're planning on giving it away free anyway?
Viacom's case seems to be based on the fact that it's too hard for them to keep up with all the copyright infringing materials posted on YouTube, and therefore YouTube should bear the burden of distinguishing what is and is not infringing. This is just silly. The burden under the DMCA is clearly on the part of the copyright holder, and that's the only thing that makes sense for companies who simply offer services of hosting.
The only other point Viacom has is that YouTube transfers all video into their own 'proprietary' format and then 'copies' it (by which, I assume, they mean "show it on multiple instances of XYZ web browser"--or maybe backups). This is akin to saying that WordPress has its own proprietary format for blogs, by which it copies and distributes information. What a joke!
And things get funny toward the end of the response, too. YouTube denies point #24, which reads:
Defendant YouTube, Inc., is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in San Bruno, California.
If you can't even get that right, you may as well just give up!
My prediction (and hope) is that Viacom loses this one quickly and effectively.
The Telltale consists of a gallows that is mounted on the top of the Meteorological Mast of the Lander. The active element of the instrument is an extremely lightweight Kapton tube hanging in Kevlar fibres. Images taken of the instrument will show the deflection of the Telltale due to the wind. A mirror is mounted below the active part to enable better direction information. (My emphasis)
The wonderful addition of a high-tech "mirror" allows multiple perspectives that would allow you to detect direction. Looks like some overpaid engineer already thought of this.
When you're sending something into orbit or further, payload weight is a concern. Cutting weight, moving parts, and simplifying things is generally a good idea on this sort of thing.
This price competition is because of services like Priceline and Kayak.com that only allow you to compare based on price and time, and don't include any of the other amenities that carriers may/may not offer.
If there are any enterprising developers out there, there may be a market for this...
The HTC X7510 Advantage is a hard device to label. Technically it is a smartphone, because it runs the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS and has the ability to make voice calls. But the fact that calls can only be made with the built-in speakerphone or a headset hint at the fact that it was not designed primarily as a voice device. Its size drives the point home even further, since it weighs as much as 3 normal sized smartphones at 375g (13.2oz). Thatâ(TM)s a lot of hardware, no question.
So what is the Advantage? It is a media and data-centric device that also happens to make calls. Think of it as one part smartphone, one part laptop, and a dash of media player voodoo for good measure. Its 134mm x 98mm x 20.5mm (5.3â x 3.9â x.8â) size without the keyboard means it is pocketable, but only barely. Compared to a laptop computer, though, the Advantage will run for hours without a charge (300 hours of standby, 5-6 hours of talk time) and can be easily toted around. And it can make that emergency phone call if you need it to.
The X7510â(TM)s large 5â VGA resolution touchscreen display is great for web browsing or video watching. The included Opera 9 browser makes the most of the huge touchscreen, allowing users to scroll with a finger or stylus and double tap to zoom in or out. It is a true laptop-like browsing experience, though perhaps a bit less zippy at times.
The zip factor depends largely on how the Advantage is getting its connectivity. On WiFi or an HDSPA 3G network (850/1900/2100MHz), it is pretty quick. HSDPA can provide 1000Kbps data downloads, while WiFi can double that as long as the X7510â(TM)s 624MHz processor and generous 128MB of RAM arenâ(TM)t juggling too many other tasks. If there is no high speed data available, youâ(TM)ll be stuck with quad-band GSM/EDGE support and sub-100Kbps download speeds. That might not be awe inspiring, but it will keep you in touch with the world. it is worth mentioning that the Opera 9 browser appears to ignore the WiFi connection if the WiFi system was enabled after Opera was already running, which is unlike how the Pocket IE and other apps behave.
Of course there is more to a device like the Advantage than just downloading web pages. Sometimes you need to give back a little. To that end, Advantage users can create and edit Word, Excel, and OneNote documents, and view PowerPoint presentations. To get the most of such abilities, though, you need more than the Windows Mobile on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Thatâ(TM)s where the X7510â(TM)s 104g (3.7oz) detachable keyboard comes in. It connects to the main body of the Advantage through a few brass contacts, and the keyboard is held in place with a pretty strong magnet. I am always surprised at how easy it is to get the keyboard into position - it just wants to go to the right place on its own.
Compared to the earlier Advantages, the keyboard that comes with the X7510 is quite different. For starters, the keys are molded into the top membrane of the keyboard (think Atari 400 for those of you old enough to remember back that far). There are ridges that separate each key, and a soft click and accompanying vibration greet each key press. It seems that the sound itself is somehow causing the haptic vibration, and as such there is no way to get the reassuring vibration feedback when the keyboard sound is muted. The click might be annoying to others when in a quiet room, but when there is any kind of ambient noise around at all, nobody will be the wiser.
Like all Windows Mobile smartphones, the X7510 Advantage supports over the air synchronization of email, contacts, tasks, and calendar appointments when linked up to a Microsoft Exchange server. I use a hosted Exchange account for email, and I love having push email delivered to the Advantage. It supports other push email systems when loaded with the appropriate software, and can also
$1000 for a beefed-up, over-sized smartphone? Unlikely. For this price, I can get a Blackberry Curve and a Eee PC.
I can bet this thing will almost certainly flop when it comes to market. Heck, even the US rebate check isn't enough to cover the cost of one of these!
This is another example of how politicians screw up what could otherwise be a good idea.
One could introduce an idea of how a terrorist might attack the country. If others think it's viable/vulnerable/highly possible, they buy the 'share'. As the share price goes up, it gets more attention (and hopefully response). When the response negates the risk, the viability/vulnerability/etc. goes down and people start to want to sell.
Seems a good way to use market forces to address real issues. Politicians saying, "Gosh! You're going to be proactive and creative in addressing terrorism rather than using the politically expedient FUD?! We can't have that!"
...they're just harvesting data from a lot of people.
As far as I can see, this is not making computers smarter. That is, it's not helping to teach them how to do the tasks given novel situations in the future. It's simply using aggregate human interaction to do tasks that are poorly suited for computers to do still--CAPTCHAs and image recognition.
This is just a way for the company to get hundreds (thousands?) of people to do menial tasks under the guise of having fun. Wouldn't it be better if we actually worked on automating these actions instead?
I'll be impressed when computers are able to take my tags on, say, a photo of my dog, and apply the same tag to other photos of dogs. Until then, this is just distributed work being done by a bunch of people.
The demonstration was given by an RIAA employee who would speak only on condition of anonymity because of concern that he would receive hate e-mail.
If you risk getting hate mail simply because you work at a certain company, perhaps it's time to look for a different job?
On the other hand, if this guy actually stuck his neck out and shared how the RIAA really finds their suckers, he'd probably get thank you letters rather than hate mail.
In either case, he probably needs to do some deep self-examination to see why he stays at this job.
Bravo to California, Bastion of Democracy...
It does raise a question though:
How do FOIA requests match up with HIPAA regulations?
FOIA generally allows you information on government happenings; HIPAA gives strict guidelines about privacy of Personal Health Information. Which takes precedence?
Slashdot Mirror
Seriously, this is a great thing. But considering that no record existed previously, it's not exactly earth-shattering. I look to see this record broken with subsequent launches, as more and more people have access to the internet, and as Mozilla gains more share. Also, 7.7 million of the total came from the US. It would be great to see a larger overseas distribution, especially considering the pledges that were signed in places like Africa.
Alright, perhaps I shouldn't have said 'Goofy' in regards to FSM. Perhaps 'entertaining' would have been a better adjective? :)
And does anyone actually believe in the FSM? Or is it just a joke? Like, does anyone list FSM as their religion for the census?
I would love to inform myself. Can you provide any examples, or links to such information?
I know of many examples of evidence of 'missing link' type species (Archeopterix, etc) being found in the fossil record, and DNA evidence pointing toward a common genetic past, and other such evidence that really really suggests that evolution of species occurs. But I have not (until now) heard of an example where we actually saw the population of one specie genetically mutate and develop into a separate specie. When has this happened before?
This is not intended as flamebait.
My real hope is that this study will open some dialogue between those who believe in Creation/Intelligent Design and the scientific community, and that the C/IDers are willing to listen. Personally, I find this fascinating as the first documented example of evolution actually witnessed by humans, and a way to open paths of inquiry to further understand the interaction between species, and the nature of natural selection of traits.
This experiment also makes me impressed by the way in which God has created life to be so versatile and adaptable. Although why God 'plays dice' with the world (to paraphrase Einstein on a different subject) is beyond me, I think it is his right to do so, and suppose that He does so in a way that is understandable to us (ie. Scientific method).
Them's my thoughts. I welcome any (thoughtful) critiques of my beliefs that I might refine them and be consistent in my beliefs.
Disclosure: I'm a Christian, and I believe in the account of Creation as it is put forth in Genesis, that God created the universe by his will and directed the way it would turn out. I also believe that it is entirely possible that he did so by means of evolution. (This is not a new idea, Augustine had it long before me. 1-paragraph explanation at bottom of the first page.) I do not believe that science disproves religion, nor that the idea of Creation precludes the possibility of evolution.
While I'm sure I'm not alone in this belief, I know I'm in the minority, neither purely materialist as many in the science community are, nor 'Miraculous' in the vein of Intelligent Design folks or Creationists, nor goofy in the vein of those who believe the FSM said 'ramen' and the world came to be out of the formless wheat...
How does this thing do anything that cannot be done by either: 1) Calling an individual 2) Holding a videoconference?
TFA references that "The company had already considered and discarded video conferencing as too expensive and less convenient. That led to the birth of POGO at a cost of about $8,000 to $9,000, said Jim Sheehan, the chief operations officer at PowerObjects."
How is $9k (plus maintenance and cost of use) less expensive or more convenient? Is there a manager in the US whose job it is to move the robot around the India office with a joystick? If that level of oversight is needed, shouldn't they just hire someone to manage in person?
This makes no sense to me. Someone please explain.
Seems that all the other sites I found that link to the /.'ed article say either "Rated G" or SFW.
I'm not going to be the first to try though, the VP's office is right behind my cube.
A better analogy (and a bit of a 'social experiment' I actually did once out of boredom):
It's not illegal to destroy your own property when you're done with it. Say, to tear up old, out-of-date travel guide books about Spain. It's your property, you can do what you want with it. It's not even illegal to do so on public property. I could do that and throw out the pieces in a public park, for instance.
However, if you try to do that in a public library, some old(er) ladies will have a fit...
When I was in college, I took several old travel guides to the library and started shredding out pages in the main reading area. Several people noticed and, I assume, told the staff. They approached me quickly and freaked out, telling me to stop. I said, "It's OK. They're my books. No harm to your books at all." And they responded by demanding that I leave, which I quickly did.
The point? Even if you're not committing any sort of crime, the appearance of doing so is likely to get you under close scrutiny. In the RIAA's case in this instance, they gave out Take Down Notices. In the situation given, they are ridiculous because no downloads had occurred. However, without actually filing suit against the authors of the study, this is just analogous to 'higher scrutiny'.
If I had been actually destroying the public library's books, I would have not only been a bad citizen, but also in violation of some misdemeanor vandalism charges most likely. If the authors of the study had been actually illegally downloading copyrighted materials (over against not downloading anything, downloading materials under fair use, etc etc), they would have been making themselves liable for civil suit(s), and the RIAA would likely have gone after them with a lawsuit.
The big difference is that the RIAA seems to be blanketing everyone who is mistreating the books in any way, shape, or form, rather than looking for people who are actually destroying actual library books. It's the throw-it-all-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach to filing suit. And it's about the least responsible way to do it (if not the least effective).
Yes, but will this sort of study ever make it to trial in any shape or form that is likely to put the kibosh on the MAFIAAs strongarm tactics?
Unless the little guys can pony up the cash to get these guys as expert witnesses, the MAFIAA will simply commission their own, contradictory study in order to discredit this one.
I hope at some point (and some point SOON) we get a critical mass of people and evidence against the big industry players so that they'll stop this crap. I don't think it'll happen though--there's just too many dollars at stake for them to give up.
For all the Google talk about organizing information and their 'open platform' push with Android, it's about time they start taking Linux platforms seriously.
...what they're essentially saying with that lawsuit is that they want their content available for free, but they want to be the ones handing it out.
This makes sense. If I'm going to give away a resource for free, I want to be the one (and the only one!) who makes money off it. If that means I have to restrict who/where/when this free content can be distributed, so be it.
Trouble is, trying to give something away for free and then restrict where and how that something is used, doesn't quite work. They're not losing any money off the sale of that product.
...So how can they sue YouTube for damages when they're planning on giving it away free anyway?
The only other point Viacom has is that YouTube transfers all video into their own 'proprietary' format and then 'copies' it (by which, I assume, they mean "show it on multiple instances of XYZ web browser"--or maybe backups). This is akin to saying that WordPress has its own proprietary format for blogs, by which it copies and distributes information. What a joke!
And things get funny toward the end of the response, too. YouTube denies point #24, which reads: If you can't even get that right, you may as well just give up!
My prediction (and hope) is that Viacom loses this one quickly and effectively.
In response to all your claims:
"No we didn't."
When you're sending something into orbit or further, payload weight is a concern. Cutting weight, moving parts, and simplifying things is generally a good idea on this sort of thing.
This price competition is because of services like Priceline and Kayak.com that only allow you to compare based on price and time, and don't include any of the other amenities that carriers may/may not offer.
If there are any enterprising developers out there, there may be a market for this...
At least this line actually made me laugh:
By Michael Oryl â May 21, 2008
The HTC X7510 Advantage is a hard device to label. Technically it is a smartphone, because it runs the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS and has the ability to make voice calls. But the fact that calls can only be made with the built-in speakerphone or a headset hint at the fact that it was not designed primarily as a voice device. Its size drives the point home even further, since it weighs as much as 3 normal sized smartphones at 375g (13.2oz). Thatâ(TM)s a lot of hardware, no question.
So what is the Advantage? It is a media and data-centric device that also happens to make calls. Think of it as one part smartphone, one part laptop, and a dash of media player voodoo for good measure. Its 134mm x 98mm x 20.5mm (5.3â x 3.9â x .8â) size without the keyboard means it is pocketable, but only barely. Compared to a laptop computer, though, the Advantage will run for hours without a charge (300 hours of standby, 5-6 hours of talk time) and can be easily toted around. And it can make that emergency phone call if you need it to.
The X7510â(TM)s large 5â VGA resolution touchscreen display is great for web browsing or video watching. The included Opera 9 browser makes the most of the huge touchscreen, allowing users to scroll with a finger or stylus and double tap to zoom in or out. It is a true laptop-like browsing experience, though perhaps a bit less zippy at times.
The zip factor depends largely on how the Advantage is getting its connectivity. On WiFi or an HDSPA 3G network (850/1900/2100MHz), it is pretty quick. HSDPA can provide 1000Kbps data downloads, while WiFi can double that as long as the X7510â(TM)s 624MHz processor and generous 128MB of RAM arenâ(TM)t juggling too many other tasks. If there is no high speed data available, youâ(TM)ll be stuck with quad-band GSM/EDGE support and sub-100Kbps download speeds. That might not be awe inspiring, but it will keep you in touch with the world. it is worth mentioning that the Opera 9 browser appears to ignore the WiFi connection if the WiFi system was enabled after Opera was already running, which is unlike how the Pocket IE and other apps behave.
Of course there is more to a device like the Advantage than just downloading web pages. Sometimes you need to give back a little. To that end, Advantage users can create and edit Word, Excel, and OneNote documents, and view PowerPoint presentations. To get the most of such abilities, though, you need more than the Windows Mobile on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Thatâ(TM)s where the X7510â(TM)s 104g (3.7oz) detachable keyboard comes in. It connects to the main body of the Advantage through a few brass contacts, and the keyboard is held in place with a pretty strong magnet. I am always surprised at how easy it is to get the keyboard into position - it just wants to go to the right place on its own.
Compared to the earlier Advantages, the keyboard that comes with the X7510 is quite different. For starters, the keys are molded into the top membrane of the keyboard (think Atari 400 for those of you old enough to remember back that far). There are ridges that separate each key, and a soft click and accompanying vibration greet each key press. It seems that the sound itself is somehow causing the haptic vibration, and as such there is no way to get the reassuring vibration feedback when the keyboard sound is muted. The click might be annoying to others when in a quiet room, but when there is any kind of ambient noise around at all, nobody will be the wiser.
Like all Windows Mobile smartphones, the X7510 Advantage supports over the air synchronization of email, contacts, tasks, and calendar appointments when linked up to a Microsoft Exchange server. I use a hosted Exchange account for email, and I love having push email delivered to the Advantage. It supports other push email systems when loaded with the appropriate software, and can also
I can bet this thing will almost certainly flop when it comes to market. Heck, even the US rebate check isn't enough to cover the cost of one of these!
1) Purchase XYZ product at partner retailer
2) Receive money to PayPal account
3) Transfer money out of PayPal account
4) Return XYZ product
5) PROFIT!
(Sorry that it has a couple extra steps, but it does avoid step "n) ?" for once!)
Decades of computer debugging efforts wiped out by naturalist...
This is another example of how politicians screw up what could otherwise be a good idea.
One could introduce an idea of how a terrorist might attack the country. If others think it's viable/vulnerable/highly possible, they buy the 'share'. As the share price goes up, it gets more attention (and hopefully response). When the response negates the risk, the viability/vulnerability/etc. goes down and people start to want to sell.
Seems a good way to use market forces to address real issues. Politicians saying, "Gosh! You're going to be proactive and creative in addressing terrorism rather than using the politically expedient FUD?! We can't have that!"
Freakin' politicians!
As far as I can see, this is not making computers smarter. That is, it's not helping to teach them how to do the tasks given novel situations in the future. It's simply using aggregate human interaction to do tasks that are poorly suited for computers to do still--CAPTCHAs and image recognition.
This is just a way for the company to get hundreds (thousands?) of people to do menial tasks under the guise of having fun. Wouldn't it be better if we actually worked on automating these actions instead?
I'll be impressed when computers are able to take my tags on, say, a photo of my dog, and apply the same tag to other photos of dogs. Until then, this is just distributed work being done by a bunch of people.
If you risk getting hate mail simply because you work at a certain company, perhaps it's time to look for a different job?
On the other hand, if this guy actually stuck his neck out and shared how the RIAA really finds their suckers, he'd probably get thank you letters rather than hate mail.
In either case, he probably needs to do some deep self-examination to see why he stays at this job.
At least that will be the case according to the official news sources.
Bravo to California, Bastion of Democracy... It does raise a question though: How do FOIA requests match up with HIPAA regulations? FOIA generally allows you information on government happenings; HIPAA gives strict guidelines about privacy of Personal Health Information. Which takes precedence?