I work at Information Services at my university, and we have an automated system that disables connections by MAC address when infected users are detected. Combined with a pretty wide PR campaign (we got a university senior vice president to email everyone on campus regarding computer security) and distribution of thousands of CDs containing the patch, fix, and antivirus software, this has been pretty effective at containing the outbreak. It actually ends up being less work in the end than making EVERYONE get checked out by us before they connect.
While I certainly applaud the efforts of anyone working on increasing data rates and ranges of wireless communications, I also hope that some kind of compatibility standard emerges. I would hate to see wireless broadband go down the same road as mobile phones in the United States. I think everyone can identify with the frustration of several overlapping, redundant, and incompatible types of mobile networks.
The report mentions TV shows as an example of something that is illegally shared on P2P networks. (pg. 3) However, it also states that courts have held that time shifting of broadcast television constitutes fair use. (pg. 1) It seems to me that, if you left commercials in the recordings (as opposed to removing them), it should be legal to download copies of shows aired on publicly accessible TV. (This would presumably not hold true for premium channels like HBO.)
The article states: According to the RIAA, CD sales dropped by 10% in 2001 and a further 6.8% last year, largely because of file sharing.
I wonder if the RIAA has considered the fact that purchases of *all kinds* of goods have dropped in the past two years. A lot of people are out of work, and people are saving money more than they were a couple years ago. I don't doubt that piracy has some effect, but really, you can make statistics say anything!
Although I'm all for the protection of privacy, I also think it's important to point out that the integration of various government databases has a lot of potential positive effects as well. There are a lot of agencies out there maintaining separate (and redundant) databases that could be combined or used together to make government services easier to obtain. There is also a lot of potential money saved, in terms of government functions currently done manually that could be automated.
Certainly, it is prudent to keep prying eyes from using their power to intrude into our lives. But there is a balance to be struck as well, between protecting privacy and allowing government to make use of tools that I think many/.ers will agree are useful and productive.
It's important to note, as the CNET article does, that DSL service is already subject to this tax, and the change will really only put DSL and cable on equal footing. Seems reasonable enough to me, especially considering that, at least in theory, the money collected goes toward things like providing internet access for libraries and whatnot.
I believe the FCC currently has plans to begin phasing in required HDTV receivers on new TVs in the next couple of years. The long-term plan is, once the transition to HD is closer to complete, to take the (wide) analog spectrum away from the TV networks and give it to someone else (for wireless data, cell service, etc.) Although HD is pretty expensive right now, it seems like a decent plan overall.
It costs money to run a public library also, or the Library of Congress for that matter. Facilities must be built and maintained, books must be bought, employees must be paid. Your posting indicates that you believe that we should charge people for access to libraries because they cost money to maintain. I think there is an argument to be had for free public access to knowledge for its own sake, especially if said knowledge is transcripts of courtoom proceedings, which are already paid for by taxpayers.
Smell is a key component of taste. However, think about the coffee example in the article. Coffee doesn't SMELL bitter, but when you put it in your mouth, it is. Smell is much more nuanced than taste, giving things their varied and unique flavors. But the tongue controls the blunt force aspects of taste, like strong bitter flavors.
As far as I know, absent something like the Berman bill, infecting someone's computer with a worm or any other type of virus is illegal, even if the RIAA is doing it to combat other illegal behavior. I don't think any information they could gather would be admissible in court, and they could be held liable for any damages to users' computers.
Think about Internet taxation from a state perspective. A state with few e-commerce sites within its borders has a great incentive to tax e-commerce. The tax may result in higher prices online, driving more consumers to buy products at brick-and-mortar stores near their homes, stimulating the state economy. At the same time, the e-commerce retailers that might go out of business are likely to be located in other states, thus resulting it little damage to the local economy. Seems pretty inevitable in a lot of places.
It seems to me that what happens to Kazaa the client doesn't matter so much as long as the FastTrack network, which Kazaa connects to, remains running. Since FastTrack is administered by a Dutch organization, and not by the makers of the Kazaa Media Desktop software, it seems like this suit is unlikely to affect anybody's ability to get files of the larger network.
Whether or not we call it "science" is hardly the point. Perhaps weather modification is not, strictly speaking, "scientific." However, it may still be a reality, and may still be a technology worth pursuing. I stress MAY, since I do think it's important that we proceed carefully and make sure that we understand what we're doing before we do it.
This seems like a real blow for Apple. Although the G4 towers have higher profit margins, the iMac has always been very visible and great for home users, who are a large portion of Apple's customers. I'm betting that they're going to pull out something new at the upcoming Macworld show in January. We all know Steve Jobs likes a bit of suspense and showmanship...
I run Linux on a laptop to play around with, but XP on my main computer. My biggest problem with Linux I find is the difficulty of installing things. I spend more time trying to install something, then finding out I need 'libXXXXX' or install some random packages. There needs to be some kind of utility that figures out dependencies, then goes and DOWNLOADS AND INSTALLS THEM for you. Until then, installing software on Windows is wayyy easier. Plus, I've spent more time trying to get decent DVD performance than anything else. Yuck.
With first IBM, and now perhaps Fujitsu drives failing seemingly quite often, I'm feeling more and more insecure about all the data stored on my HD. Like a lot of Slashdotters, it would be pretty bad for me to lose a lot of that data. (And it's a LOT). What are people doing about backing up several GB of data at once?
I must disagree with the gist of this post. While I am no supporter of the DMCA, I am a supported of the FTAA. I'm sure it's been pointed out before on Slashdot that the DMCA will not likely stand up to a real challenge in court. The liklihood that anyone will have any luck in extending such laws into the whole of the western hemisphere is extremely low. By lobbying against the FTAA, we are only hurting ourselves and delaying the inevitable. Free trade has many benefits for consumers (read: lower prices) and will happen someday, one way or another.
A better approach would be to lobby against the inclusion of DMCA-like elements in the FTAA.
Gates needs to dominate
on
$1200 Cheap!
·
· Score: 1
Bill Gates and Microsoft show again their somewhat childish need for dominance. Clearly, this development is very similar to those that took place in the OS and applications markets. Gates has always seemed to have a need to dominate and control industries he is involved in. It is not enough to be a large player in the market, he must control it. Whatever you may believe, for most of us Microsoft produces halfway decent OSes (Win2000) and applications, and there is something to be said for dominance by one format. (That everyone uses MSWord documents can make life easier.) The problem is, Microsoft doesn't want to let consumers choose for themselves. Instead, they bully retailers into bullying customers into buying Microsoft products.
Slashdot Mirror
The Economist has a timely opinion piece about the patent problem in their most recent issue.r y_id=3376181"
http://economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?sto
I work at Information Services at my university, and we have an automated system that disables connections by MAC address when infected users are detected. Combined with a pretty wide PR campaign (we got a university senior vice president to email everyone on campus regarding computer security) and distribution of thousands of CDs containing the patch, fix, and antivirus software, this has been pretty effective at containing the outbreak. It actually ends up being less work in the end than making EVERYONE get checked out by us before they connect.
While I certainly applaud the efforts of anyone working on increasing data rates and ranges of wireless communications, I also hope that some kind of compatibility standard emerges. I would hate to see wireless broadband go down the same road as mobile phones in the United States. I think everyone can identify with the frustration of several overlapping, redundant, and incompatible types of mobile networks.
The report mentions TV shows as an example of something that is illegally shared on P2P networks. (pg. 3) However, it also states that courts have held that time shifting of broadcast television constitutes fair use. (pg. 1) It seems to me that, if you left commercials in the recordings (as opposed to removing them), it should be legal to download copies of shows aired on publicly accessible TV. (This would presumably not hold true for premium channels like HBO.)
The article states: According to the RIAA, CD sales dropped by 10% in 2001 and a further 6.8% last year, largely because of file sharing.
I wonder if the RIAA has considered the fact that purchases of *all kinds* of goods have dropped in the past two years. A lot of people are out of work, and people are saving money more than they were a couple years ago. I don't doubt that piracy has some effect, but really, you can make statistics say anything!
Although I'm all for the protection of privacy, I also think it's important to point out that the integration of various government databases has a lot of potential positive effects as well. There are a lot of agencies out there maintaining separate (and redundant) databases that could be combined or used together to make government services easier to obtain. There is also a lot of potential money saved, in terms of government functions currently done manually that could be automated.
/.ers will agree are useful and productive.
Certainly, it is prudent to keep prying eyes from using their power to intrude into our lives. But there is a balance to be struck as well, between protecting privacy and allowing government to make use of tools that I think many
Find out where Slashdot is hosted/run, then camp out on the sidewalk with a cardboard sign that reads: "Will work for karma." ;-)
It's important to note, as the CNET article does, that DSL service is already subject to this tax, and the change will really only put DSL and cable on equal footing. Seems reasonable enough to me, especially considering that, at least in theory, the money collected goes toward things like providing internet access for libraries and whatnot.
I believe the FCC currently has plans to begin phasing in required HDTV receivers on new TVs in the next couple of years. The long-term plan is, once the transition to HD is closer to complete, to take the (wide) analog spectrum away from the TV networks and give it to someone else (for wireless data, cell service, etc.) Although HD is pretty expensive right now, it seems like a decent plan overall.
It costs money to run a public library also, or the Library of Congress for that matter. Facilities must be built and maintained, books must be bought, employees must be paid. Your posting indicates that you believe that we should charge people for access to libraries because they cost money to maintain. I think there is an argument to be had for free public access to knowledge for its own sake, especially if said knowledge is transcripts of courtoom proceedings, which are already paid for by taxpayers.
Smell is a key component of taste. However, think about the coffee example in the article. Coffee doesn't SMELL bitter, but when you put it in your mouth, it is. Smell is much more nuanced than taste, giving things their varied and unique flavors. But the tongue controls the blunt force aspects of taste, like strong bitter flavors.
As far as I know, absent something like the Berman bill, infecting someone's computer with a worm or any other type of virus is illegal, even if the RIAA is doing it to combat other illegal behavior. I don't think any information they could gather would be admissible in court, and they could be held liable for any damages to users' computers.
Think about Internet taxation from a state perspective. A state with few e-commerce sites within its borders has a great incentive to tax e-commerce. The tax may result in higher prices online, driving more consumers to buy products at brick-and-mortar stores near their homes, stimulating the state economy. At the same time, the e-commerce retailers that might go out of business are likely to be located in other states, thus resulting it little damage to the local economy. Seems pretty inevitable in a lot of places.
It seems to me that what happens to Kazaa the client doesn't matter so much as long as the FastTrack network, which Kazaa connects to, remains running. Since FastTrack is administered by a Dutch organization, and not by the makers of the Kazaa Media Desktop software, it seems like this suit is unlikely to affect anybody's ability to get files of the larger network.
would you like fries with that?
Whether or not we call it "science" is hardly the point. Perhaps weather modification is not, strictly speaking, "scientific." However, it may still be a reality, and may still be a technology worth pursuing. I stress MAY, since I do think it's important that we proceed carefully and make sure that we understand what we're doing before we do it.
This seems like a real blow for Apple. Although the G4 towers have higher profit margins, the iMac has always been very visible and great for home users, who are a large portion of Apple's customers. I'm betting that they're going to pull out something new at the upcoming Macworld show in January. We all know Steve Jobs likes a bit of suspense and showmanship...
I run Linux on a laptop to play around with, but XP on my main computer. My biggest problem with Linux I find is the difficulty of installing things. I spend more time trying to install something, then finding out I need 'libXXXXX' or install some random packages. There needs to be some kind of utility that figures out dependencies, then goes and DOWNLOADS AND INSTALLS THEM for you. Until then, installing software on Windows is wayyy easier. Plus, I've spent more time trying to get decent DVD performance than anything else. Yuck.
With first IBM, and now perhaps Fujitsu drives failing seemingly quite often, I'm feeling more and more insecure about all the data stored on my HD. Like a lot of Slashdotters, it would be pretty bad for me to lose a lot of that data. (And it's a LOT). What are people doing about backing up several GB of data at once?
A better approach would be to lobby against the inclusion of DMCA-like elements in the FTAA.
Bill Gates and Microsoft show again their somewhat childish need for dominance. Clearly, this development is very similar to those that took place in the OS and applications markets. Gates has always seemed to have a need to dominate and control industries he is involved in. It is not enough to be a large player in the market, he must control it. Whatever you may believe, for most of us Microsoft produces halfway decent OSes (Win2000) and applications, and there is something to be said for dominance by one format. (That everyone uses MSWord documents can make life easier.) The problem is, Microsoft doesn't want to let consumers choose for themselves. Instead, they bully retailers into bullying customers into buying Microsoft products.