There has long been a debate over whether Pluto qualifies as a planet. Some argue it is too small to be considered a planet; so I think a trip to Pluto may help find some other "qualifiers" or "disqualifiers" to indicate planet-hood..;)
I think the author misunderstands what Linux and the open source movement is all about. I can't articulate it as well as Eric Raymond can, but I can approximate...
Microsoft won't be stealing from Linux by embracing it, no more than IBM, Oracle or even RedHat is. The point of the Open Source movement and the motivation of the Linux community isn't to beat Microsoft, it's to make good software. People may bash Microsoft because they abuse monopoly power, and because they do some pretty ruthless stuff (which, apparently, the author seems to laud them for); but the main reason people use Linux is because it's just better. Technically better, better security, better stability, better support, better foundation and it's part of a better community. Linux represents what's best in technology and what's best in society. Imagine an operating system put together by individuals from around the world; each working in collaboration without profit incentive or military incentive, but just because they wanted to make computers work better. So if Microsoft pitches in; or even if they just absorb other people's work, we'll all be the better for it because it will bring about total Linux domination which really means no domination at all. We can use the programs we like, we can drop the ones we don't; because WE'LL have the power to decide. That's what Linux represents: choice.
Our ideals are just that -- IDEALS. If we didn't want things to be that way we wouldn't call them ideals. We would call them fears. Tell the managing company that NO set of keywords will allow them to perfectly filter the internet.
If you want to keep kids off the machine: install Linux on the computers, setup a RADIUS type login/password system that logs them directly to an X console with Netscape running maximized (so no other apps can be running), have your adult customers who want to use the machines come get a ticket with a username/password combo that is good for a one-time login (add the info and expiration into radius), let them browse the web.
What happens when our ideals meet the real world? The real world learns to change.
To all the people who are bitching that somehow Malda is corrupting the "objectivity" of slashdot by calling Bush a "rotten candidate", I say: "SUCK IT UP!"
Notwithstanding the fact that I agree with Malda's opinion, and I shudder any time I hear someone call Bush the lesser of two evils, you have to realize that there is no sacred "journalistic code" on slashdot that Malda is in violation of. It's his site (well it's Andover's, but he has creative control), and he can do with it what he damn well pleases. I could just as easily rant every time I see a M$ propaganda piece like "The Myth of the Borg", but I don't. Instead I suck it up.
I would agree that slashdot isn't quite like it was, but you know, EVERYTHING has that flavor to it. People always complain how SNL sucks, and how this cast can't compare to the cast 7 years ago, but there are people who say that cast can't compare to the one 14 years ago (etc.. ad nauseum). In the same token, sure slashdot isn't like it was 2 years ago, and even then it wasn't like it was when it was chips and dips, but change is inevitable. Slashdot is an organism -- living and breathing, otherwise no one would come visit the site. Don't believe me? Okay, when was the last time you went to see the fish cam?;) I would like to complain about the racial and ethnic slurs I'm seeing in comment areas because aside from being completely offensive, they are also flat out stupid, but just like the english teacher who cringes everytime s/he hears someone say "irregardless", I know that if slashdot stagnates, it dies; and the only way to counter hate speech is with more speech (comments) not less.
So (back to my original point), GET OVER IT! People are complaining that slashdot isn't being objective when it calls itself "News for Nerds;" but they seem to be ignoring the second line of the catch phrase "Stuff that Matters." Surely this can't be seen as objective.. This website is as much a source of interesting scientific and mathematical news as it is a bully pulpit for Linux advocacy. So if Malda or Bates, or anyone else decides to run a story where they express some sort of opinion (I mean for christ's sake, do you people even SEE the Katz stories?) it's content is THEIR prerogative. You're a fool if you get your news only from one source anyway. No journalist is completely objective, so you have to sift through the shades of grey to find the black and white. That's what we call life.
And in this year we'll be seeing the GHz barrier broken - hardly the sign of an "obsolete" chip is it?
Actually, this is PRECISELY the sign of an obsolete chip. They can't improve the performance of the chip by any other means than increasing the clock speed. Making your car go faster doesn't increase your performance, fuel efficiency, etc. Eventually, you can only go so fast. The architecture needs to change -- hell, it needed to change 10 years ago, but why go for substantial change when you can make a quick buck?
BIOS is going the way of the dodo. It lags behind the capability of most modern ide devices. Most advanced computers don't use BIOS any more. ARC boot is already supported by many advanced platforms, it just hasn't trickled down to Intel based machines yet. Don't worry, we can break this BIOS habit soon enough. All we need is a little help from some friends.
I'm a member of the ACLU (specifically a co-coordinator of a local chapter) and this is a common example of the difficulty in discerning which constitutional right supercedes the other: the right to free speech vs. the right to privacy. Actually, this conflict is not without precedent, and without going into long, boring court decisions, I'll summarize:
The right to privacy is guaranteed when an individual's activities are deemed not to be of public concern or of newsworthy content. Specifically: if a person engages in activities which would hold him accountable to the public at large or would make him the subject of widespread public interest, he then forfeits specific rights to privacy, so long as those exposing what would ordinarily be protected demonstrate that invading this privacy is of newsworthy content. For example: A candidate running for public office is placing himself in a position where he would be accountable to his constituents. Therefore, information such as the candidate's previous personal legal history (such as a criminal record) would be considered of public interest because it may reflect or illustrate the reasoning behind his position on some issues. However, someone such as an accountant for an Ad Agency would be protected from such invasions because he is not placing himself in a position subject to public scrutiny or of widespread public interest.
I believe these doctors fall under the category of protected privacy. Though some would argue that these doctors' position is that of widespread public interest, I do not believe this is the case. Furthermore, these doctors are accountable to none other than their patients. I believe the 4th Amendment supercedes in this instance, and apparently the court agreed with me. (And this was the non-boring way of explaining it!);)
I still use PGPv2.06 because I know 5.0 has the govt. backdoor built in that Zimmerman had to give to the feds if he was going to be allowed to sell it...although this GNUgp sounds promising..
It all goes with the engineering. There are only two cases in which Sony would be correct.
If Connectix specifically signed an agreement with Sony saying they would not reverse engineer their product.
If Connectix was given the Playstation API from Sony with Sony's explicit understanding that Connectix was using the API only to develop games.
Otherwise, Connectix is well within its rights (so long as <FASCIST>WIPO</FASCIST> doesn't pass) to reverse engineer the design and develop their own (alternative) implementation. Where would we be if there wasn't an alternative (royalty free) implementation of Unix?;)
Slashdot Mirror
There has long been a debate over whether Pluto qualifies as a planet. Some argue it is too small to be considered a planet; so I think a trip to Pluto may help find some other "qualifiers" or "disqualifiers" to indicate planet-hood.. ;)
I think the author misunderstands what Linux and the open source movement is all about. I can't articulate it as well as Eric Raymond can, but I can approximate...
Microsoft won't be stealing from Linux by embracing it, no more than IBM, Oracle or even RedHat is. The point of the Open Source movement and the motivation of the Linux community isn't to beat Microsoft, it's to make good software. People may bash Microsoft because they abuse monopoly power, and because they do some pretty ruthless stuff (which, apparently, the author seems to laud them for); but the main reason people use Linux is because it's just better. Technically better, better security, better stability, better support, better foundation and it's part of a better community. Linux represents what's best in technology and what's best in society. Imagine an operating system put together by individuals from around the world; each working in collaboration without profit incentive or military incentive, but just because they wanted to make computers work better. So if Microsoft pitches in; or even if they just absorb other people's work, we'll all be the better for it because it will bring about total Linux domination which really means no domination at all. We can use the programs we like, we can drop the ones we don't; because WE'LL have the power to decide. That's what Linux represents: choice.
Our ideals are just that -- IDEALS. If we didn't want things to be that way we wouldn't call them ideals. We would call them fears. Tell the managing company that NO set of keywords will allow them to perfectly filter the internet.
If you want to keep kids off the machine: install Linux on the computers, setup a RADIUS type login/password system that logs them directly to an X console with Netscape running maximized (so no other apps can be running), have your adult customers who want to use the machines come get a ticket with a username/password combo that is good for a one-time login (add the info and expiration into radius), let them browse the web.
What happens when our ideals meet the real world? The real world learns to change.
To all the people who are bitching that somehow Malda is corrupting the "objectivity" of slashdot by calling Bush a "rotten candidate", I say: "SUCK IT UP!"
;) I would like to complain about the racial and ethnic slurs I'm seeing in comment areas because aside from being completely offensive, they are also flat out stupid, but just like the english teacher who cringes everytime s/he hears someone say "irregardless", I know that if slashdot stagnates, it dies; and the only way to counter hate speech is with more speech (comments) not less.
Notwithstanding the fact that I agree with Malda's opinion, and I shudder any time I hear someone call Bush the lesser of two evils, you have to realize that there is no sacred "journalistic code" on slashdot that Malda is in violation of. It's his site (well it's Andover's, but he has creative control), and he can do with it what he damn well pleases. I could just as easily rant every time I see a M$ propaganda piece like "The Myth of the Borg", but I don't. Instead I suck it up.
I would agree that slashdot isn't quite like it was, but you know, EVERYTHING has that flavor to it. People always complain how SNL sucks, and how this cast can't compare to the cast 7 years ago, but there are people who say that cast can't compare to the one 14 years ago (etc.. ad nauseum). In the same token, sure slashdot isn't like it was 2 years ago, and even then it wasn't like it was when it was chips and dips, but change is inevitable. Slashdot is an organism -- living and breathing, otherwise no one would come visit the site. Don't believe me? Okay, when was the last time you went to see the fish cam?
So (back to my original point), GET OVER IT! People are complaining that slashdot isn't being objective when it calls itself "News for Nerds;" but they seem to be ignoring the second line of the catch phrase "Stuff that Matters." Surely this can't be seen as objective.. This website is as much a source of interesting scientific and mathematical news as it is a bully pulpit for Linux advocacy. So if Malda or Bates, or anyone else decides to run a story where they express some sort of opinion (I mean for christ's sake, do you people even SEE the Katz stories?) it's content is THEIR prerogative. You're a fool if you get your news only from one source anyway. No journalist is completely objective, so you have to sift through the shades of grey to find the black and white. That's what we call life.
environmentalist wackos ?
Hehe.. Careful, your rampant zenophobia is showing..
And in this year we'll be seeing the GHz barrier broken - hardly the sign of an "obsolete" chip is it?
Actually, this is PRECISELY the sign of an obsolete chip. They can't improve the performance of the chip by any other means than increasing the clock speed. Making your car go faster doesn't increase your performance, fuel efficiency, etc. Eventually, you can only go so fast. The architecture needs to change -- hell, it needed to change 10 years ago, but why go for substantial change when you can make a quick buck?
It has been for at least 10 years now.
64-bit RISC architecture has always been the superior platform.
BIOS is going the way of the dodo. It lags behind the capability of most modern ide devices. Most advanced computers don't use BIOS any more. ARC boot is already supported by many advanced platforms, it just hasn't trickled down to Intel based machines yet. Don't worry, we can break this BIOS habit soon enough. All we need is a little help from some friends .
I agree. Mpeg TV is incredible. I bought it the week after I downloaded the demo. The quality is flawless, and it can play DVDs!!
AVI sucks as far as formats go. MPG has the photographic quality and incredible compression of JPEGs and the sound of MP3s (MPEG-AUDIO).
Don't get me started on Quicktime -- they're just animated GIF's with an attached audio.
I'm a member of the ACLU (specifically a co-coordinator of a local chapter) and this is a common example of the difficulty in discerning which constitutional right supercedes the other: the right to free speech vs. the right to privacy. Actually, this conflict is not without precedent, and without going into long, boring court decisions, I'll summarize:
;)
The right to privacy is guaranteed when an individual's activities are deemed not to be of public concern or of newsworthy content. Specifically: if a person engages in activities which would hold him accountable to the public at large or would make him the subject of widespread public interest, he then forfeits specific rights to privacy, so long as those exposing what would ordinarily be protected demonstrate that invading this privacy is of newsworthy content. For example: A candidate running for public office is placing himself in a position where he would be accountable to his constituents. Therefore, information such as the candidate's previous personal legal history (such as a criminal record) would be considered of public interest because it may reflect or illustrate the reasoning behind his position on some issues. However, someone such as an accountant for an Ad Agency would be protected from such invasions because he is not placing himself in a position subject to public scrutiny or of widespread public interest.
I believe these doctors fall under the category of protected privacy. Though some would argue that these doctors' position is that of widespread public interest, I do not believe this is the case. Furthermore, these doctors are accountable to none other than their patients. I believe the 4th Amendment supercedes in this instance, and apparently the court agreed with me. (And this was the non-boring way of explaining it!)
Easier is N E V E R more secure.
I still use PGP v2.06 because I know 5.0 has the govt. backdoor built in that Zimmerman had to give to the feds if he was going to be allowed to sell it...although this GNUgp sounds promising..
If Connectix specifically signed an agreement with Sony saying they would not reverse engineer their product.
If Connectix was given the Playstation API from Sony with Sony's explicit understanding that Connectix was using the API only to develop games.
;)
Otherwise, Connectix is well within its rights (so long as <FASCIST>WIPO</FASCIST> doesn't pass) to reverse engineer the design and develop their own (alternative) implementation. Where would we be if there wasn't an alternative (royalty free) implementation of Unix?