For what it's worth, I'm a mild Asimov fan, thanks. My point stands: that of all the interesting themes they could have picked, which *still would have sold the movie*, they opt for the dead-easy and dead-boring world takeover strategy.
There seems to be a quite strong resemblance to Little Lost Robot, in which a first law modification allows a robot to not intervene, when a human is at risk.
The movie is a futuristic thriller in which a detective investigates a crime that might have been perpetrated by a robot, even though that seems an impossibility given those three prevailing rules.
Unfortunately it immediately degenerates into predictable tripe:
"The big idea here is that if the robots have found a way to violate the laws, there is nothing to stop them from taking over, because the human race is so dependent on robots and automation"
"Nothing" to stop them taking over? Nothing except Will Smith, of course. D'oh!
It's been said before, and it should be said again. If you wantw true value for money, emusic are a better deal. Pure MP3s, no corrupt watermarks, and no DRM. And cheaper, too - one monthly fee equals full unlimited downloads.
If I was going to go for any of these services (I'm not, yet) that would be my choice.
Actually, this is 100% possible, no spyware needed. Windows 98 and above have a messenger service, which gets invoked when you use the NET SEND command. You can easily talk to it from the net, and popup a little "Messenger Service" titled dialogue. You can't embed rich text or links, but it's damn annoying to see University Diploma popups, let me tell you. Luckily, you can just disable the service.
There are about a trillion hits on Google, so I'll let you do the rest:-)
Due to copyright laws, it is only legal to do this with older books (copyrighted 75 or more years ago). As a result, Project Gutenberg is mostly comprised of the "Classics."
There's at least one phone that will work in America which can do that (if the network supports picture transmission - otherwise, you could send it via email if you have GPRS).
It's the Sony Ericsson T68i and it'll work very happily on VoiceStream, because it's a tri-band GSM phone. Aside from the camera, it also has BlueTooth, POP3, and some elite easter eggs:-)
Not IBM, nope. It was a Digital Research Machine (that's what DRM meant in *those* days!). A 286 (12.5mhz, I think) with just 640k RAM, 20mb MFM, Hercules monochrome graphics. . I ran beautiful software like 4DOS, CSHOW, and SIMCGA so I could play some Apogee games, etc. I also used (and still own) Visual Basic for DOS. Aaaah memories, indeed!
Being a pedant, I have to point out that I wasn't suggesting this in seriousness. My comment said:
"Squadron leader, we have pigs at 11 o'clock high":-)
This is a rather obscure reference to the expression "pigs might fly", an idiom which probably doesn't have a good equivalent in French/German (Luxembourg speaks both, right?). It means it's extremely unlikely.
And you're right - Windows 1.01 needs DOS 3.3 or below (yes, below) to run. I tried it once. It was really nasty, and trashed the whole filesystem. Admittedly it was my 286, with a 20mb MFM HDD, but still:-)
Who says he found them? Maybe he actually purchased them, way back when, and kept the floppies, reverently, until such time as he might use them again.
"Squadron leader, we have pigs at 11 o'clock high":-)
Incidentally, you can get yourself some OS/2 bits here They used to have Windows 1.01, and 2.0, but I suppose the Beast got to them. I mean, MS have got to try their best to protect their large sales volume of these products, as we enter the 21st century.
And if you're feeling really trippy, you can see some old Windows screenshots here.
At the end of the day, what we're battling with is the continued ignorance of the general populace, and most of the patent examiners, on some of the most simple IT topics.
I've often dreamed of the idea of mandatory computer certification courses (something like the driving test); without a certification, one would not be allowed to create policy, pass laws, or permit patents which related to these topics. The field is sufficiently complicated, and we shouldn't have to expect a judge to understand how a program loads, or the GIF file format, without helping him/her out a little.
Incidentally, can anyone show me an example of a "big" company (like IBM or Amazon) which has had a patent knocked back? I'm beginning to wonder whether tired patent examiners just rubber stamp important looking documents originating at these companies...
You don't sound like a habitual cellphone user. I am one, and I can tell you that I have developed a scary reliance on a number of features (SMS messaging, the built in alarm clock, caller-ID-associative ringtones, tetris, etc) - all developed after your 10 number speed dial. There is nothing I wish for more than a completely integrated PDA/phone/camera/mp3 player/web browser, etc.
And guess what - it's coming soon (RSN;-). Ericsson's P800 is due out early next year (revised date), with all those features - and MPEG4, Java, everything crammable into a 150mhz ARM processor with 16mb memory.
I'm viewing your comment with Mozilla 1.1, and IE6 SP1, and Mozilla is taking 23mb, whereas IE is taking 14. Even if we add ALL of Windows Explorer's 7mb footprint on the assumption it's some kind of IE stub, we still score Mozilla 23, IE 21.
Anyway, since I've got 192mb of SDRAM in here, I'm not complaining. It would still be nice to see Moz shrink the footprint, though!
Try releasing low quality MP3s (or Ogg, or your format of choice). By low quality I mean studio recorded, but compressed at a low bitrate. It should be low enough that even people with small computer speakers can hear it is unsatisfying. Perhaps 56kbps? Or even 24? Do this with every track you release. If your music is as good as you say it is, then people will come. Plus, because you've got it out first, your low quality version will be predominant among filesharers, so high quality ones which impede CD sales won't have a chance.
Just a pet idea of mine. I'm sure somebody will pull it apart within minutes:-)
Sure, you can interpolate and use fancy smoothing and guessing algorithms. But you can't get it looking as good as something that was shot originally for IMAX. I'm sure it looks good, but not that good.
Of course, any real web business would have to be insane to limit its clientele to Passport account holders only. Note how Microsoft has 14 million registered users of Passport (how many just for MS Messenger?). Now note how many people on the net - approximately 400 million? So do you see Amazon saying that only 3% of the net can buy their books? Nope, didn't think so.
Is this growth really attributable to the addition of computers in the workplace? And have the rewards of this growth actually outweighed the massive IT spend?
Playing devil's advocate for a moment, why not read "The Trouble with Computers". 1996 publication date, but surprisingly interesting and relevant - read with an open mind!
20 bytes to store a 6 letter username, and 14 bytes for a password and perhaps some quotes and a comma delimiter... that was my reasoning:-) After all, there's no point selling the UID without letting the purchaser utilize it!
I am willing to sell this fine, low UID slashdot account for only $10000 (or about $500 per byte stored on the server). If that isn't a bargain, I don't know what is:-)
Slashdot Mirror
For what it's worth, I'm a mild Asimov fan, thanks. My point stands: that of all the interesting themes they could have picked, which *still would have sold the movie*, they opt for the dead-easy and dead-boring world takeover strategy.
There seems to be a quite strong resemblance to Little Lost Robot, in which a first law modification allows a robot to not intervene, when a human is at risk.
The movie is a futuristic thriller in which a detective investigates a crime that might have been perpetrated by a robot, even though that seems an impossibility given those three prevailing rules.
Unfortunately it immediately degenerates into predictable tripe:
"The big idea here is that if the robots have found a way to violate the laws, there is nothing to stop them from taking over, because the human race is so dependent on robots and automation"
"Nothing" to stop them taking over? Nothing except Will Smith, of course. D'oh!
Search this page for "pedestrian".
Nice java applets.
It's been said before, and it should be said again. If you wantw true value for money, emusic are a better deal. Pure MP3s, no corrupt watermarks, and no DRM. And cheaper, too - one monthly fee equals full unlimited downloads.
If I was going to go for any of these services (I'm not, yet) that would be my choice.
No, something more like this :-)
Actually, this is 100% possible, no spyware needed. Windows 98 and above have a messenger service, which gets invoked when you use the NET SEND command. You can easily talk to it from the net, and popup a little "Messenger Service" titled dialogue. You can't embed rich text or links, but it's damn annoying to see University Diploma popups, let me tell you. Luckily, you can just disable the service.
:-)
There are about a trillion hits on Google, so I'll let you do the rest
To be honest, if I had that kind of money, I might be more inclined to buy a functioning MIG 21 ;-)
Sorry folks, but the above link is really not one that you want to see right before dinner.
Posting without A/C, because maybe someone might actually believe me, therefore not clicking, and therefore being saved the pain.
It helps if you read the FAQ list.
Due to copyright laws, it is only legal to do this with older books (copyrighted 75 or more years ago). As a result, Project Gutenberg is mostly comprised of the "Classics."
There's at least one phone that will work in America which can do that (if the network supports picture transmission - otherwise, you could send it via email if you have GPRS).
:-)
It's the Sony Ericsson T68i and it'll work very happily on VoiceStream, because it's a tri-band GSM phone. Aside from the camera, it also has BlueTooth, POP3, and some elite easter eggs
Not IBM, nope. It was a Digital Research Machine (that's what DRM meant in *those* days!). A 286 (12.5mhz, I think) with just 640k RAM, 20mb MFM, Hercules monochrome graphics. . I ran beautiful software like 4DOS, CSHOW, and SIMCGA so I could play some Apogee games, etc. I also used (and still own) Visual Basic for DOS. Aaaah memories, indeed!
Being a pedant, I have to point out that I wasn't suggesting this in seriousness. My comment said:
:-)
:-)
"Squadron leader, we have pigs at 11 o'clock high"
This is a rather obscure reference to the expression "pigs might fly", an idiom which probably doesn't have a good equivalent in French/German (Luxembourg speaks both, right?). It means it's extremely unlikely.
And you're right - Windows 1.01 needs DOS 3.3 or below (yes, below) to run. I tried it once. It was really nasty, and trashed the whole filesystem. Admittedly it was my 286, with a 20mb MFM HDD, but still
Who says he found them? Maybe he actually purchased them, way back when, and kept the floppies, reverently, until such time as he might use them again.
:-)
"Squadron leader, we have pigs at 11 o'clock high"
Incidentally, you can get yourself some OS/2 bits here They used to have Windows 1.01, and 2.0, but I suppose the Beast got to them. I mean, MS have got to try their best to protect their large sales volume of these products, as we enter the 21st century.
And if you're feeling really trippy, you can see some old Windows screenshots here.
Let me be the first to congratulate Slashdot on their courageous stand against the Patriot Act. ;-)
At the end of the day, what we're battling with is the continued ignorance of the general populace, and most of the patent examiners, on some of the most simple IT topics.
I've often dreamed of the idea of mandatory computer certification courses (something like the driving test); without a certification, one would not be allowed to create policy, pass laws, or permit patents which related to these topics. The field is sufficiently complicated, and we shouldn't have to expect a judge to understand how a program loads, or the GIF file format, without helping him/her out a little.
Incidentally, can anyone show me an example of a "big" company (like IBM or Amazon) which has had a patent knocked back? I'm beginning to wonder whether tired patent examiners just rubber stamp important looking documents originating at these companies...
You don't sound like a habitual cellphone user. I am one, and I can tell you that I have developed a scary reliance on a number of features (SMS messaging, the built in alarm clock, caller-ID-associative ringtones, tetris, etc) - all developed after your 10 number speed dial. There is nothing I wish for more than a completely integrated PDA/phone/camera/mp3 player/web browser, etc.
;-). Ericsson's P800 is due out early next year (revised date), with all those features - and MPEG4, Java, everything crammable into a 150mhz ARM processor with 16mb memory.
And guess what - it's coming soon (RSN
Check it out
I know it's what I've dreamed of, and I bet you that many other (geek and non-geek) people have dreamt of it too.
It's probably worth noting that IBM has already demonstrated a quantum computer running a factoring algorithm:
(See here)
I'm viewing your comment with Mozilla 1.1, and IE6 SP1, and Mozilla is taking 23mb, whereas IE is taking 14. Even if we add ALL of Windows Explorer's 7mb footprint on the assumption it's some kind of IE stub, we still score Mozilla 23, IE 21.
Anyway, since I've got 192mb of SDRAM in here, I'm not complaining. It would still be nice to see Moz shrink the footprint, though!
Try releasing low quality MP3s (or Ogg, or your format of choice). By low quality I mean studio recorded, but compressed at a low bitrate. It should be low enough that even people with small computer speakers can hear it is unsatisfying. Perhaps 56kbps? Or even 24? Do this with every track you release. If your music is as good as you say it is, then people will come. Plus, because you've got it out first, your low quality version will be predominant among filesharers, so high quality ones which impede CD sales won't have a chance.
:-)
Just a pet idea of mine. I'm sure somebody will pull it apart within minutes
Sure, you can interpolate and use fancy smoothing and guessing algorithms. But you can't get it looking as good as something that was shot originally for IMAX. I'm sure it looks good, but not that good.
Of course, any real web business would have to be insane to limit its clientele to Passport account holders only. Note how Microsoft has 14 million registered users of Passport (how many just for MS Messenger?). Now note how many people on the net - approximately 400 million? So do you see Amazon saying that only 3% of the net can buy their books? Nope, didn't think so.
oh, absolutely ironic, yes.
:-)
however, I'm an internet addict, and only providing that link through as an opposing point of view
Is this growth really attributable to the addition of computers in the workplace? And have the rewards of this growth actually outweighed the massive IT spend?
Playing devil's advocate for a moment, why not read "The Trouble with Computers". 1996 publication date, but surprisingly interesting and relevant - read with an open mind!
20 bytes to store a 6 letter username, and 14 bytes for a password and perhaps some quotes and a comma delimiter... that was my reasoning :-) After all, there's no point selling the UID without letting the purchaser utilize it!
I am willing to sell this fine, low UID slashdot account for only $10000 (or about $500 per byte stored on the server). If that isn't a bargain, I don't know what is :-)