Too late, dude! Let's see when does European Directive 45458962/87/2005 is issued, and we start paying 600 euros for a 100 GB harddisk for our desktop PC...
Re:Just a proposal, hopefully...
on
Dutch Pass iPod Tax
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I'm afraid they want to have it both ways... and, seeing how willing are European politicians to sell their vote to corporate interests, they will succeed:
People will have to pay an outrageous tax for all digital storage, no matter what they use it for. Guilty by default, the modern law principle.
Record companies will keep on suing filesharers.
We already have to pay a levy on blank CDs in most European countries today, same as it was with blank magnetic media before.
And of course, iPod sales in the Netherlands would suffer a huge drop... in such a small country, you can never be far away from the border.
My awful memory does not allow me to remember such details as the author, but I think I've heard a very similar quote from a Roman writer from the classical times.
Today, the low quality-but-cheaper-than-others Spanish ISP known by the stupid name of 'Jazztel' lost another potential customer thanks to its dreadful website: 100% flash! The only way to read its terms and conditions was to get the source of the little scrollable window, paste the text block in a blank document and print it... until I realized that I was the customer.
In fact, I know that I have inserted the wrong card in my bank's ATM when I get the 'select your language' menu: the four official languages in Spain, plus French, English and German.
To avoid the incredibly high commission, time to press 'cancel'!
I totally agree with the parent on the difficulty of implementing a working handoff/handover when going from one network to another. Technically it is probably feasible, but really costly (just remember that the main technical hurdle for 3G was seamless handover between GSM/GPRS and WCDMA networks).
I said it is feasible, but it requires close cooperation between both networks, signalling has to be exchanged, and so on. Does anybody think that cell providers will be interested in cooperation with a technology that will hurt them so much?
I agree 100%. Same when you are using a graphics tablet: you are supposed to right-click by pressing a button on the side of the pen, which is really ackward, because that button is just in the place where you usually put your thumb when holding the pen in a writing position.
The result, either you are right-clicking all the time, or you end up disabling the silly button. Which starts the pain of not having access to contextual menus...
Re:One of the things that are desperately needed
on
New Apple IT Pro Section
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Let's analyze some well-known monopolies.
Microsoft = communism? Yes, sure. But, going back in time to other famous monopolies...
(Warning: very negative view of the world follows) sl3xd, you are right on the spot: laws are made by the rich and powerful, and of course they tend to favour their interests.
I do not have much information on US laws, but in my little European corner, things are like this:
Salaries are taxed much more heavily that capital gains.
If you are an employee, you cannot escape paying your dues. If you are a business, you have means to hide big parts of your income. If you are a big business, you don't pay taxes. Period.
A small theft can be prosecuted until 20 years after it was commited. White-collar crimes (Enron-type), or, even worse, political corruption, cannot be prosecuted after 10 years - that's a nice loophole which is used again and again, check the Italian Prime Minister judge-bribing expertise.
I completely agree with you about the sad consequences of having all the population concentrated in a few places. Add Spain to your list: towns and villages deserted because all the economic activity has concentrated in coastal areas and in Madrid, thus lowering the quality of life for all of us.
Of course, politicians like playing the fiddle while Rome is burning...
I use a nice application in my Symbian smartphone (a Sony Ericsson P800, but there are versions for Nokia phones too). The app stores login identities and passwords in encrypted form both in the phone and in a desktop computer, and it is possible to synchronize both databases. It is really handy, believe me. The only important password becomes the one to access the application.
I am sure there are several implementations of the same idea, also for Palm OS and possibly for Windows PDAs too.
Not only because of political o economic reasons, but also plain geographical ones: Turkey is not in Europe, but in Asia. I have always wondered why is there so much fuss about Turkey joining the EU and not about Morocco or Egypt, for example (same proximity, similar cultural ties).
I seriously fear that our beloved politicians will force the issue upon us. For practical purposes, it will be the end of the European Union, transformed just into a unified market for German and US products.
I know a country which, in addition to never coming close to winning the World Cup, treats mediocre athletes competing in obscure sports far better than its best scientists and researchers.
The result: our brightest minds have to go abroad to make a living, while second-rate athletes who would never have a chance in their home countries come here, sign a couple of papers and get a nice grant. Many of them don't even bother to learn the language.
Thanks for your comment, I have always mistakenly believed that 'bourbon' equals 'American whisky'. I will have the guy drop his cellphone in a glass full with Jim Beam, then.
I know a guy (now a police inspector, he he) that when drunk usually drops his mobile phone into his whisky + 7up long drink glass. Very inconsistent results: sometimes the phone survives, sometimes it does not.
This year he has gone through 4 different phones, testing different brands (always the cheapest one in the store, for obvious reasons). Will he ever find the indestructible model?
BTW, the whisky is always scotch (White Label or J&B). Maybe bourbon is more electronics-friendly, I will try to talk him into testing Jack Daniel's too.
The SIM card is used to authenticate to the mobile network -implemented in hardware, as you well said. This authentication can also be reused by the operator for the services it sells to its customers. But, if no other mechanism is implemented, it remains limited to the operator realm.
The advantage of the Liberty single-sign-on specification is that it provides a method to share the SIM authentication with third parties, so that the end-user does not have to go through the login procedure each time.
Liberty is a standard API, so this 'passing around' of the authentication can be used by a much bigger number of service providers than a proprietary solution like the ones in place at some mobile operators, the so-called Walled Garden single-sign-on solutions.
How universal can any kind of "identity system" be before it gets scary and/or illegal? (Illegal in countries with data protection laws anyway.)
In theory at least, it is the end user who chooses to 'federate' her different accounts so she has to log just into one of them.
Now that you mention Nokia, this issue is really hot in the mobile world, where the mobile network operator would play the role of Identity Provider, allowing Single-Sign-On to a number of mobile websites or even subscription data services. Authentication could be performed at a lower level in the network, when the mobile terminal is switched on, and the User ID can be linked to the mobile number.
Liberty-based Single-Sign-On is a very interesting solution, especially for mobile operators: entering usernames and passwords for each service using a phone is such a pain that allowing Single-Sign-On would increase acceptance of mobile subscription services. In addition, you already have a powerful means of authentication, the one allowing you to attach to the network and place calls.
Some vendors already have Liberty-compliant solutions ready for production, with mobile operators running trials. I am not allowed to name such operators, but here is a list of products conforming to Liberty specs . It is a very interesting market, where vendors with a telecom background clash against classical IT ones.
The web site from which the article was extracted (photograhpyblog.com) is mostly a collection of deadly boring press releases, just like the Konica Minolta avalanche published today.
Sometimes, a link to a worthy article appears (like the ones appearing in photo.net or in
Petteri's website), the only reason to keep the bookmark.
Slashdot Mirror
Too late, dude! Let's see when does European Directive 45458962/87/2005 is issued, and we start paying 600 euros for a 100 GB harddisk for our desktop PC...
We already have to pay a levy on blank CDs in most European countries today, same as it was with blank magnetic media before.
And of course, iPod sales in the Netherlands would suffer a huge drop... in such a small country, you can never be far away from the border.
Man, if I only had some mod points...
My awful memory does not allow me to remember such details as the author, but I think I've heard a very similar quote from a Roman writer from the classical times.
Today, the low quality-but-cheaper-than-others Spanish ISP known by the stupid name of 'Jazztel' lost another potential customer thanks to its dreadful website: 100% flash! The only way to read its terms and conditions was to get the source of the little scrollable window, paste the text block in a blank document and print it... until I realized that I was the customer.
Their competition welcomed me with open arms.
In fact, I know that I have inserted the wrong card in my bank's ATM when I get the 'select your language' menu: the four official languages in Spain, plus French, English and German.
To avoid the incredibly high commission, time to press 'cancel'!
I totally agree with the parent on the difficulty of implementing a working handoff/handover when going from one network to another. Technically it is probably feasible, but really costly (just remember that the main technical hurdle for 3G was seamless handover between GSM/GPRS and WCDMA networks).
I said it is feasible, but it requires close cooperation between both networks, signalling has to be exchanged, and so on. Does anybody think that cell providers will be interested in cooperation with a technology that will hurt them so much?
I agree 100%. Same when you are using a graphics tablet: you are supposed to right-click by pressing a button on the side of the pen, which is really ackward, because that button is just in the place where you usually put your thumb when holding the pen in a writing position.
The result, either you are right-clicking all the time, or you end up disabling the silly button. Which starts the pain of not having access to contextual menus...
Let's analyze some well-known monopolies.
Microsoft = communism? Yes, sure. But, going back in time to other famous monopolies...
Rockefeller's Standard Oil = communism
Thanks a lot for opening my eyes!
sl3xd, you are right on the spot: laws are made by the rich and powerful, and of course they tend to favour their interests.
I do not have much information on US laws, but in my little European corner, things are like this:
Salaries are taxed much more heavily that capital gains.
If you are an employee, you cannot escape paying your dues. If you are a business, you have means to hide big parts of your income. If you are a big business, you don't pay taxes. Period.
A small theft can be prosecuted until 20 years after it was commited. White-collar crimes (Enron-type), or, even worse, political corruption, cannot be prosecuted after 10 years - that's a nice loophole which is used again and again, check the Italian Prime Minister judge-bribing expertise.
A very suitable explanation, true in many places I know. If I only had mod points...
I vote for Motorapple. Logo: a bitten apple with oblique wheels, indicating speedy motion so the apple leave moves in the windy trail...
Don't bother. Seriously.
I completely agree with you about the sad consequences of having all the population concentrated in a few places. Add Spain to your list: towns and villages deserted because all the economic activity has concentrated in coastal areas and in Madrid, thus lowering the quality of life for all of us.
Of course, politicians like playing the fiddle while Rome is burning...
I use a nice application in my Symbian smartphone (a Sony Ericsson P800, but there are versions for Nokia phones too). The app stores login identities and passwords in encrypted form both in the phone and in a desktop computer, and it is possible to synchronize both databases. It is really handy, believe me. The only important password becomes the one to access the application.
I am sure there are several implementations of the same idea, also for Palm OS and possibly for Windows PDAs too.
Not only because of political o economic reasons, but also plain geographical ones: Turkey is not in Europe, but in Asia. I have always wondered why is there so much fuss about Turkey joining the EU and not about Morocco or Egypt, for example (same proximity, similar cultural ties).
I seriously fear that our beloved politicians will force the issue upon us. For practical purposes, it will be the end of the European Union, transformed just into a unified market for German and US products.
Some free advice boys and girls: NEVER attempt to market something called "inkulator" in Spanish-speaking countries!
I know a country which, in addition to never coming close to winning the World Cup, treats mediocre athletes competing in obscure sports far better than its best scientists and researchers.
The result: our brightest minds have to go abroad to make a living, while second-rate athletes who would never have a chance in their home countries come here, sign a couple of papers and get a nice grant. Many of them don't even bother to learn the language.
That country is called Spain.
Thanks for your comment, I have always mistakenly believed that 'bourbon' equals 'American whisky'. I will have the guy drop his cellphone in a glass full with Jim Beam, then.
Does Four Roses qualify?
I know a guy (now a police inspector, he he) that when drunk usually drops his mobile phone into his whisky + 7up long drink glass. Very inconsistent results: sometimes the phone survives, sometimes it does not.
This year he has gone through 4 different phones, testing different brands (always the cheapest one in the store, for obvious reasons). Will he ever find the indestructible model?
BTW, the whisky is always scotch (White Label or J&B). Maybe bourbon is more electronics-friendly, I will try to talk him into testing Jack Daniel's too.
The SIM card is used to authenticate to the mobile network -implemented in hardware, as you well said. This authentication can also be reused by the operator for the services it sells to its customers. But, if no other mechanism is implemented, it remains limited to the operator realm.
The advantage of the Liberty single-sign-on specification is that it provides a method to share the SIM authentication with third parties, so that the end-user does not have to go through the login procedure each time.
Liberty is a standard API, so this 'passing around' of the authentication can be used by a much bigger number of service providers than a proprietary solution like the ones in place at some mobile operators, the so-called Walled Garden single-sign-on solutions.
In theory at least, it is the end user who chooses to 'federate' her different accounts so she has to log just into one of them.
Now that you mention Nokia, this issue is really hot in the mobile world, where the mobile network operator would play the role of Identity Provider, allowing Single-Sign-On to a number of mobile websites or even subscription data services. Authentication could be performed at a lower level in the network, when the mobile terminal is switched on, and the User ID can be linked to the mobile number.
Some vendors already have Liberty-compliant solutions ready for production, with mobile operators running trials. I am not allowed to name such operators, but here is a list of products conforming to Liberty specs . It is a very interesting market, where vendors with a telecom background clash against classical IT ones.
The web site from which the article was extracted (photograhpyblog.com) is mostly a collection of deadly boring press releases, just like the Konica Minolta avalanche published today. Sometimes, a link to a worthy article appears (like the ones appearing in photo.net or in Petteri's website), the only reason to keep the bookmark.
Ha! Just try to find a reliable cabin boy these days, my friend...
In other parts of the world, wireless carriers had been forced to implement number portability, years before it was decided in the US.
Telecom equipment vendors have been offering standardized solution packages to allow number portability. Some examples: Ericsson, Alcatel, Siemens.