I doubt that thermal imaging of a home's interior will be seen as any different from radar scanning of a home's interior, as far as the law is concerned.
For me its always been a tossup between complexity and laziness. None of my friends would know what to do with a GPG public key if it hit them in the head, nor would most of them bother learning how to use it.
You got it right with "Inertia". Overcomming this is like pushing a black-hole up-hill.
Pause times below 1/10th of a second? Hmm, how much below? TV-quality video is 24 frames per second, so a one-tenth second pause means dropping two or three frames. Acceptable? Perhaps, but not desirable.
Not to be too niggly, but if by "TV-quality video" you mean Broadcast NTSC, then its 60 fields per second. First the even and then the odd scanlines, ( or vice versa ) producing 30 full frames per second.
So, your point about the undesireale effects of delays caused by Garbage Collection is even more relevent with regards to broadcast video.
An example might be a celular handset with a software-defined radio receiver for pulling in local TV broadcasts. Without some sort of realtime extensions which allow you to defer garbage collection, Java's GC would cause frame dropouts. Not that you'd notice on a 2 inch screen...
The IButton also uses "touch" to transfer digital credentials and other information to nearby devices. It uses plain, old-fashioned serial communications technolgy.
This "Magic Touch" technology simply sounds like a more complex way of achieving the same thing.
I can only hope this alliance will take security as seriously as the IButton folks have.
Someone once said to me:
Digital TV is like the Jetsons. The Jetsons are MUCH more advanced than the Flintstones... but its still just a 1960's cartoon.
-SPG
EM Radio scales better than Internet Radio
on
Who Needs Radio?
·
· Score: 1
There is one significant difference between "Real" radio and "Internet" radio.
For a radio broadcaster, the cost of adding a new listener is Zero - ( licensing issues aside ) the cost is entirely born by the listener. The listener buys a radio and tunes into the broadcaster's station.
For Internet Radio, the cost of adding a new listener is born by BOTH the broadcaster and the listener. The Broadcaster has to pay for the bandwidth to support the additional listener. Also, the listener must pay for the bandwidth to listen to the broadcast.
Internet Multicasting doesn't seem to have done much to address this asymetry yet.
As an example of this asymetry, consider the case of a natural disaster. When disaster strikes, people tend to tune into their local radio stations. The Radio Transmitter doesn't explode under the weight of the new listeners whereas an internet radio site could easily be brought to its knees by the increased network load.
I used to work for SGI and also did freelance video animation ( a very long time ago ) on an SGI Indy.
As an individual, the biggest problem I encountered wasn't the cost of the SGI system (a one-time cost), it was the cost of the system software and drivers.
OS upgrades were expensive.
Print drivers were expensive.
Networking options were expensive.
The compilers were unbundled.
Most of the software Open Source geeks nowadays take for granted as being free, cheap, and readily available was expensive and exotic on the SGI.
I ultimately switched to a high-end Macintosh. Today, the Mac is an even more compelling alternative to a low-end SGI for media production.
I don't know about SGI's other niches, such as Scientific Visualization, but I would expect high-end PCs to have the edge over low-end SGIs in other areas.
Next you're going to tell me that Wil Wheaton is set to get a recurring role on "Enterprise".
Consumer electronics have set the bar very high...
on
When Users Attack
·
· Score: 1
My boyfriend is the antithesis of a computer geek - as far as he is concerned, a computer is simply another appliance. It should just work. It should do a few things and it should do them well.
He makes very few demands on his PC. He types reports. He reads email. He plays free-cell,
That's about it.
So, I found it very amusing and kinda understandable when, after accidentally deleting his autoexec.bat file ( Windows 3.1 ) that his solution to the problem of the, now defective, computer was to... Buy a new computer.
Later, after magically fixing his broken computer, we returned the new one. But it got me to thinking, that there's probably LOTS of people just like him. Life is too complicated to be bothered with the details of how this damn machine is supposed to work. It should simply work - like the microwave.
When was the last time you 'fixed' your microwave by updating the BIOS?
It seems to me that the use of optical switches might lead to a lot of false alarms, particularly if your friend has so little motor control. A geekier, but perhaps more fool-proof, system
would use reflected IR light off the eyelids. A pair of lighted work-glasses could hold an IR LED and photoswitch and a computer ( or bread-boarded discrete logic ) could recognize a particular blink-pattern and sound an alarm.
If memory serves, copyright allows the copyright owner of a creative work to not only control reproductions of the work, but also derivative works as well. I beleive an emasculated version of a film would count as a derivative work. So, it seems to me that the film production companies have the power to clamp down on this if they wish. Moral issues aside, if the DAG is upset about it, then they only player they can negotiate with is the film companies. Legally, I don't beleive a director has any recourse - unless he has retained sufficient ownership of the film going in.
Brother Typewriter had a product in the mid 80's called the Brother EM-1 electronic typewriter. The print carraige rolled back and fourth on a Linear Moter.
It had the advantage of having no belts or pulleys. Nothing to tighten or replace. It couldn't get out of alignment.
They abandoned it in later models for a wire pulley system. I guess the fact that it sounded like a BART train freaked people out.
The mag-strip on everyone's BART ticket would be instantly erased them moment they stepped on board...
Are we comparing apples to oranges?
on
The Empire Stumbles
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Media critics love to compare gross sales of film A to gross sales of film B. But are they adjusting for inflation ( in ticket price? )
I saw Star Wars for $1.50 in 1976.
I saw Spiderman for $9.00 in 2002.
What does it mean for Spiderman to gross
more than Star Wars if a ticket price is
6 times what it was when Star Wars was released?
For once, I'd like to see a well-researched statistic which actually compares the number of tickets sold rather than gross sales. Then, perhaps, you could point to a trend.
In his example, a person wears a small camera pinned to his shirt which wirelessly streams video and audio to his personal server ( located in his apartment. )
When this hypothetical person is pulled over for a traffic violation, both the the police officer and the driver are on their best behavior because each knows he's being recorded.
I doubt Brin would have imagined his futuristic example becomming plausible quite so soon. - the book was published in 1999.
Slashdot Mirror
I doubt that thermal imaging of a home's interior will be seen as any different from radar scanning of a home's interior, as far as the law is concerned.
The practical upshot: Police need a Warrant
Why the inertia?
Confusion
Complexity
Laziness
Cluelessness
For me its always been a tossup between complexity and laziness. None of my friends would know what to do with a GPG public key if it hit them in the head, nor would most of them bother learning how to use it. You got it right with "Inertia". Overcomming this is like pushing a black-hole up-hill.
-Sean
So, your point about the undesireale effects of delays caused by Garbage Collection is even more relevent with regards to broadcast video.
An example might be a celular handset with a software-defined radio receiver for pulling in local TV broadcasts. Without some sort of realtime extensions which allow you to defer garbage collection, Java's GC would cause frame dropouts. Not that you'd notice on a 2 inch screen...
Now bend over and take it like a man.
How much weight has Ben Browder gained since Farscape's cancellation?
Are we still in tight T-Shirt territory?
Enquiring queers want to know.
The IButton also uses "touch" to transfer digital credentials and other information to nearby devices. It uses plain, old-fashioned serial communications technolgy.
This "Magic Touch" technology simply sounds like a more complex way of achieving the same thing.
I can only hope this alliance will take security as seriously as the IButton folks have.
"I say we take off and Nuke the entire site from orbit. Its the only way to be sure."
Someone once said to me:
Digital TV is like the Jetsons. The Jetsons are MUCH more advanced than the Flintstones... but its still just a 1960's cartoon.
-SPG
There is one significant difference between "Real" radio and "Internet" radio.
For a radio broadcaster, the cost of adding a new listener is Zero - ( licensing issues aside ) the cost is entirely born by the listener. The listener buys a radio and tunes into the broadcaster's station.
For Internet Radio, the cost of adding a new listener is born by BOTH the broadcaster and the listener. The Broadcaster has to pay for the bandwidth to support the additional listener. Also, the listener must pay for the bandwidth to listen to the broadcast.
Internet Multicasting doesn't seem to have done much to address this asymetry yet.
As an example of this asymetry, consider the case of a natural disaster. When disaster strikes, people tend to tune into their local radio stations. The Radio Transmitter doesn't explode under the weight of the new listeners whereas an internet radio site could easily be brought to its knees by the increased network load.
-SPG
I used to work for SGI and also did freelance video animation ( a very long time ago ) on an SGI Indy.
As an individual, the biggest problem I encountered wasn't the cost of the SGI system (a one-time cost), it was the cost of the system software and drivers.
OS upgrades were expensive.
Print drivers were expensive.
Networking options were expensive.
The compilers were unbundled.
Most of the software Open Source geeks nowadays take for granted as being free, cheap, and readily available was expensive and exotic on the SGI.
I ultimately switched to a high-end Macintosh. Today, the Mac is an even more compelling alternative to a low-end SGI for media production.
I don't know about SGI's other niches, such as Scientific Visualization, but I would expect high-end PCs to have the edge over low-end SGIs in other areas.
-S
Here's some evidence for ya:
www.gregpalast.com
-S
Next you're going to tell me that Wil Wheaton is set to get a recurring role on "Enterprise".
My boyfriend is the antithesis of a computer geek - as far as he is concerned, a computer is simply another appliance. It should just work. It should do a few things and it should do them well.
He makes very few demands on his PC. He types reports. He reads email. He plays free-cell, That's about it.
So, I found it very amusing and kinda understandable when, after accidentally deleting his autoexec.bat file ( Windows 3.1 ) that his solution to the problem of the, now defective, computer was to... Buy a new computer.
Later, after magically fixing his broken computer, we returned the new one. But it got me to thinking, that there's probably LOTS of people just like him. Life is too complicated to be bothered with the details of how this damn machine is supposed to work. It should simply work - like the microwave.
When was the last time you 'fixed' your microwave by updating the BIOS?
You're living in a Dilbert cartoon. Get to the escape pod, quick!
Bruce Schneier gives a good overview here.
The table of contents is here.
It seems to me that the use of optical switches might lead to a lot of false alarms, particularly if your friend has so little motor control.
A geekier, but perhaps more fool-proof, system would use reflected IR light off the eyelids.
A pair of lighted work-glasses could hold an IR LED and photoswitch and a computer ( or bread-boarded discrete logic ) could recognize a particular blink-pattern and sound an alarm.
If memory serves, copyright allows the copyright owner of a creative work to not only control reproductions of the work, but also derivative works as well.
I beleive an emasculated version of a film would count as a derivative work.
So, it seems to me that the film production companies have the power to clamp down on this if they wish.
Moral issues aside, if the DAG is upset about it, then they only player they can negotiate with is the film companies.
Legally, I don't beleive a director has any recourse - unless he has retained sufficient ownership of the film going in.
This sounds to me like an "Air-Gap".
Whale Communications has had a similar product out for years.
Bruce Schneier has some thoughts on "Air-Gap" technologies.
-SPG
Brother Typewriter had a product in the mid 80's called the Brother EM-1 electronic typewriter. The print carraige rolled back and fourth on a Linear Moter.
It had the advantage of having no belts or pulleys. Nothing to tighten or replace. It couldn't get out of alignment.
They abandoned it in later models for a wire pulley system. I guess the fact that it sounded like a BART train freaked people out.
-Cutecub
Anybody out there remember this?
The mag-strip on everyone's BART ticket would be instantly erased them moment they stepped on board...
Media critics love to compare gross sales of film A to gross sales of film B. But are they adjusting for inflation ( in ticket price? )
I saw Star Wars for $1.50 in 1976. I saw Spiderman for $9.00 in 2002.
What does it mean for Spiderman to gross more than Star Wars if a ticket price is 6 times what it was when Star Wars was released?
For once, I'd like to see a well-researched statistic which actually compares the number of tickets sold rather than gross sales. Then, perhaps, you could point to a trend.
-S
Ahh, but thanks to Officer Carnivore ( Err, DCS1000 ), you can have an officer on-site 24 hours a day. Low cost. No hassle...
-S
David Brin discusses this very idea in his book, The Transparent Society .
In his example, a person wears a small camera pinned to his shirt which wirelessly streams video and audio to his personal server ( located in his apartment. )
When this hypothetical person is pulled over for a traffic violation, both the the police officer and the driver are on their best behavior because each knows he's being recorded.
I doubt Brin would have imagined his futuristic example becomming plausible quite so soon. - the book was published in 1999.
-Cutecub