Also seems like fraud to me. I recently called my credit card co. to discuss a charge on my bill for which I received no products or services (not microsoft related), and the rep on the phone asked me if I wanted to cancel the charge and claim fraud. It seems to me that you are similarly being charged for services you have not received and, arguably, not appropriately notified in a manner that would allow you preemptively stop the charge. I would consider claiming fraud.
And the student programmers in this school are asked to develop a working class enrollment management system, or a college payroll system, or a proposal for a desktop upgrade.
Here in Berkeley there are several independent coffee shops along Shattuck avenue (downtown) with wireless B access and no charge for it, and no special tip jar (other than the usual one). One small shop has a sign out front - "free internet access". They are often packed with, apparently, students and their laptops. It's been going on for most or all of 2003. In other words, it seems to work for some.
I chose not to mess with CD's with MP3s on them. I wired a plug to the AUX input of my car CD player and plug in my 20Gb music player/hard drive. Works great - I can drive for days without stopping to refuel my brain.
I tried to find the Wired article about how Powerpoint makes you dumb, but I gave up after slogging through pages of 64-point, mixed-font and mixed-color type embedded in non-contrasting graphics.
How about the extension of lazy coding, coding by automated consultant or AI coding? Theoretically, code gets bigger as the interface gets easier (practically, it seems to just get bigger no matter the interface). As the coding interface is progressively automated, the code can theoretically get progressively larger.
Vision: in 10 years Google has given rise to Hackle, where you can write a simple request for any program and have it ready to download in 5 seconds. But the result is Huge.
Yes, and due to the magically wonderful efficiencies of business, every one of the projects I've ever had knowledge of in the many corporations I've been exposed to have been completed on time, under budget, and with maximized results.
Indeed. We need a law that allows us to make a citizen's arrest if we observe unwarranted prosecution of someone using the media or devices they bought. I mean, do we want to discourage commerce and kill the economy?
And I have no doubt that the Justice Department's tough-on-crime attitude will stand behind such a law, prosecute those dangerous criminal false-arresters, those freedom-killers, and impose the maximum sentences.
And then publically announce their release to the community if they ever get out of jail, so we can lock and load and get ready for 'em.
No matter what they say, I'm sure they have a much better idea of exactly what is responsible for their sales decline, and a very clear idea of the "impact of piracy".
Financially anyway, I'm sure their perspective on piracy is clearer than anyone outside the industry. For example, did you ever think that cigarette companies really believed their product was not dangerous, or that MS did not understand the position of their anti-competitive licensing policies, all despite what they proclaimed to the public? It's clear now that they were very clear-headed about their actions. My point is not to ding these other industries but to point out that they all either have or rent smart folks who are telling them exactly what is going on. They of course use this info to rationally pick the action that leads to their desired goal.
And in the midst of this particular situation, probably with a goal of maximizing financial return from assets, this postiion and these actions is the best they think they can do.
I don't know about visual systems for the visually impaired.
However, I can wholeheartedly recommend the headphones that come with the Archos MP3 player for anyone who can't hear - I can't imagine that anyone who *can* hear would ever enjoy them.
So beginning in about 2020 we can expect moore's law to morph into something like this:
every 18 months the the size of a computer doubles (due to increasing number of transistors).
We already have that law in bloatware: every new version of a mature piece of software will contain twice as many features as the previous version and be written in a language that is half as efficient, causing both the size and the interface of the software to double every X months.
Spam is at best (from the spammer's perspective) harrassment. I agree it's closer to assault, and bordering on breaking-and-entering.
While it's dangerous to judge a case based on the details provided in a daily journal article, it sure seems like a travesty of justice if this man is prosecuted for losing it due to repeated harrassment, yet the spammers not only go free, but are permitted to keep on harrassing people.
There's been some small progress lately in passing anti-spam laws, including fines for spamming. We need more. There must be criminal penalties for assault/harrassment by computer. If we can argue that repeated, deliberate spamming leads rational people to go bonkers, we should be able to treat spam as the health problem it is. We haven't made enough progress treating it like a productivity problem or a trespassing problem.
The best machine is about equal to the best man at chess. Mediocre machines are better than most people now (most people can't play chess nearly at all).
3. Work to create and distribute cheap (as in free) enabling technology that facilitates access and proliferates communities and peer networks (lessee, did I get all the buzzwords in?).
Ok then, wait until next year when the books have EULAs on their envelopes, you can only use them for 20 days without making another payment, can't sell them, can't give them to anyone else, can't rent them out to others, and it's enforced by the DRM chip in the binder (digital leash for pennies apiece!).
Yah, I'm using my imagination, but you know it will come if they can pull it off. And they'll try. They'll keep trying because there's tons of money in it. If they don't get it right the first 25 times they'll keep coming back, someone will, until they buy the right person or push the right button.
As others have said above, only 2 things (done together) will stop it: 1. Don't buy it. 2. Work to pass laws that both protect your freedom and make it very very hard to overturn them, because people will work very very hard to overturn them if there's tons of money in it.
Given the secretive nature of the organization, it's possible (I have no proof or even inuendo) that the NSA is licensing technology that they themselves developed independently, perhaps even prior art. They could have determined that this is the preferred technology to use publically at this time, and then require the license in order to operate with it in the public domain. James Bamford's more recent review of the NSA documented an employee's discovery of public-key cryptography prior to Diffie's. They can't patent an invention without public disclosure (I presume), and they can't avoid licensing patented technology without proving prior art, which they must be reluctant to do - they would need to disclose when they discovered it. So, if all this presumption is true, from now on they'll be forced to license technology they they themselves created in order to keep the lid on their capabilities.
eetimes says that bluetooth is dead. first question always, is what is their motivation. I can only guess, but this article is the biggest piece of crap, logically, that I've read since Tuesday.
Bluetooth access points were superseded by Wi-Fi rollouts... bluetooth was never designed as an access-point-centric technology.
Cellular handsets-the natural homeland of Bluetooth-will soon be hosting 802.11 radios... "soon" means vaporware.
But why use a radio that can interfere with 802.11b and g.... excuse me? why let b and g interfere with your data?
And what's wrong with a wired headset.... he is arguing that *all* wireless is inferior, despite earlier b and g claims
The final nail in the Bluetooth coffin should have been the approval of the 802.15.3a PHY... and he goes on to say it's not here yet; more vaporware. This one might pan out eventually (sorry), but not today, and he admits it. Just about all vigorous standards have new standards in committee competing to replace them down the line. This just means that there is a need for low-power PAN technology!
This guy is just whining about bluetooth! I can only guess why - check other posts for Microsoft's position on this technology.
Knowing how I get goop all over the place whenever I use some, I can envision the fuzzy photos of the astronaut crazy-glued to the bottom of the wing as the shuttle re-enters the atmosphere.
Slashdot Mirror
Verbin weirds language.
Also seems like fraud to me.
I recently called my credit card co. to discuss a charge on my bill for which I received no products or services (not microsoft related), and the rep on the phone asked me if I wanted to cancel the charge and claim fraud.
It seems to me that you are similarly being charged for services you have not received and, arguably, not appropriately notified in a manner that would allow you preemptively stop the charge.
I would consider claiming fraud.
We're near the point where it's cost-effective to save the .wav files natively.
And the student programmers in this school are asked to develop a working class enrollment management system, or a college payroll system, or a proposal for a desktop upgrade.
Etc.
Here in Berkeley there are several independent coffee shops along Shattuck avenue (downtown) with wireless B access and no charge for it, and no special tip jar (other than the usual one). One small shop has a sign out front - "free internet access".
They are often packed with, apparently, students and their laptops. It's been going on for most or all of 2003.
In other words, it seems to work for some.
I chose not to mess with CD's with MP3s on them. I wired a plug to the AUX input of my car CD player and plug in my 20Gb music player/hard drive. Works great - I can drive for days without stopping to refuel my brain.
I tried to find the Wired article about how Powerpoint makes you dumb, but I gave up after slogging through pages of 64-point, mixed-font and mixed-color type embedded in non-contrasting graphics.
How about the extension of lazy coding, coding by automated consultant or AI coding?
Theoretically, code gets bigger as the interface gets easier (practically, it seems to just get bigger no matter the interface). As the coding interface is progressively automated, the code can theoretically get progressively larger.
Vision: in 10 years Google has given rise to Hackle, where you can write a simple request for any program and have it ready to download in 5 seconds. But the result is Huge.
Yow - I've got to lay off the Christmas cheer....
Yes, and due to the magically wonderful efficiencies of business, every one of the projects I've ever had knowledge of in the many corporations I've been exposed to have been completed on time, under budget, and with maximized results.
.sarcasm off
Why do we do it any other way?
Indeed.
We need a law that allows us to make a citizen's arrest if we observe unwarranted prosecution of someone using the media or devices they bought. I mean, do we want to discourage commerce and kill the economy?
And I have no doubt that the Justice Department's tough-on-crime attitude will stand behind such a law, prosecute those dangerous criminal false-arresters, those freedom-killers, and impose the maximum sentences.
And then publically announce their release to the community if they ever get out of jail, so we can lock and load and get ready for 'em.
They are not stupid.
No matter what they say, I'm sure they have a much better idea of exactly what is responsible for their sales decline, and a very clear idea of the "impact of piracy".
Financially anyway, I'm sure their perspective on piracy is clearer than anyone outside the industry. For example, did you ever think that cigarette companies really believed their product was not dangerous, or that MS did not understand the position of their anti-competitive licensing policies, all despite what they proclaimed to the public? It's clear now that they were very clear-headed about their actions. My point is not to ding these other industries but to point out that they all either have or rent smart folks who are telling them exactly what is going on. They of course use this info to rationally pick the action that leads to their desired goal.
And in the midst of this particular situation, probably with a goal of maximizing financial return from assets, this postiion and these actions is the best they think they can do.
I don't know about visual systems for the visually impaired.
However, I can wholeheartedly recommend the headphones that come with the Archos MP3 player for anyone who can't hear - I can't imagine that anyone who *can* hear would ever enjoy them.
So beginning in about 2020 we can expect moore's law to morph into something like this:
every 18 months the the size of a computer doubles (due to increasing number of transistors).
We already have that law in bloatware: every new version of a mature piece of software will contain twice as many features as the previous version and be written in a language that is half as efficient, causing both the size and the interface of the software to double every X months.
So what is new, exactly?
Yes. Broad generalizations never work well.
Does this project get the funding it does because a fusion reactor is also a neutron source?
And what can be done with a high flux of neutrons?
An excercise for the reader.
Spam is at best (from the spammer's perspective) harrassment. I agree it's closer to assault, and bordering on breaking-and-entering.
While it's dangerous to judge a case based on the details provided in a daily journal article, it sure seems like a travesty of justice if this man is prosecuted for losing it due to repeated harrassment, yet the spammers not only go free, but are permitted to keep on harrassing people.
There's been some small progress lately in passing anti-spam laws, including fines for spamming. We need more. There must be criminal penalties for assault/harrassment by computer. If we can argue that repeated, deliberate spamming leads rational people to go bonkers, we should be able to treat spam as the health problem it is. We haven't made enough progress treating it like a productivity problem or a trespassing problem.
The best machine is about equal to the best man at chess. Mediocre machines are better than most people now (most people can't play chess nearly at all).
This is important information that all of us need, and I for one wish to thank you for providing it in a timely manner.
And don't for a minute think I'm joking.
One more:
3. Work to create and distribute cheap (as in free) enabling technology that facilitates access and proliferates communities and peer networks (lessee, did I get all the buzzwords in?).
Blasphemy!
We all salute the flag!
Ok then, wait until next year when the books have EULAs on their envelopes, you can only use them for 20 days without making another payment, can't sell them, can't give them to anyone else, can't rent them out to others, and it's enforced by the DRM chip in the binder (digital leash for pennies apiece!).
Yah, I'm using my imagination, but you know it will come if they can pull it off. And they'll try. They'll keep trying because there's tons of money in it. If they don't get it right the first 25 times they'll keep coming back, someone will, until they buy the right person or push the right button.
As others have said above, only 2 things (done together) will stop it:
1. Don't buy it.
2. Work to pass laws that both protect your freedom and make it very very hard to overturn them, because people will work very very hard to overturn them if there's tons of money in it.
Given the secretive nature of the organization, it's possible (I have no proof or even inuendo) that the NSA is licensing technology that they themselves developed independently, perhaps even prior art.
They could have determined that this is the preferred technology to use publically at this time, and then require the license in order to operate with it in the public domain.
James Bamford's more recent review of the NSA documented an employee's discovery of public-key cryptography prior to Diffie's. They can't patent an invention without public disclosure (I presume), and they can't avoid licensing patented technology without proving prior art, which they must be reluctant to do - they would need to disclose when they discovered it. So, if all this presumption is true, from now on they'll be forced to license technology they they themselves created in order to keep the lid on their capabilities.
eetimes says that bluetooth is dead. first question always, is what is their motivation. I can only guess, but this article is the biggest piece of crap, logically, that I've read since Tuesday.
Bluetooth access points were superseded by Wi-Fi rollouts...
bluetooth was never designed as an access-point-centric technology.
Cellular handsets-the natural homeland of Bluetooth-will soon be hosting 802.11 radios...
"soon" means vaporware.
But why use a radio that can interfere with 802.11b and g....
excuse me? why let b and g interfere with your data?
And what's wrong with a wired headset....
he is arguing that *all* wireless is inferior, despite earlier b and g claims
The final nail in the Bluetooth coffin should have been the approval of the 802.15.3a PHY...
and he goes on to say it's not here yet; more vaporware. This one might pan out eventually (sorry), but not today, and he admits it. Just about all vigorous standards have new standards in committee competing to replace them down the line. This just means that there is a need for low-power PAN technology!
This guy is just whining about bluetooth!
I can only guess why - check other posts for Microsoft's position on this technology.
Knowing how I get goop all over the place whenever I use some, I can envision the fuzzy photos of the astronaut crazy-glued to the bottom of the wing as the shuttle re-enters the atmosphere.
"People who use Treos look like idiots."
Please mod parent Troll, or mod me up to help me feel better for looking like an idiot.