Given that's it's at an interesting intellectual game at best to figure out how to hack a DTV smart card system, and theft of service at worst [...]
i) "interesting intellectual game" sounds to me like a good enough reason to do it;
ii) "theft of service", or as would rather put it,
theft of information (since it does not subtract anything from the guy you're "stealing" it from --
unless, of course you take the position that you'd otherwise have to have bought the service and thus are stealing something from Hughes in the hypothetical realm) --- anyways, whether this theft of service is a crime is a moot point at best, and I don't think that describing it as such is enough reason for not engaging in an interesting intellectual game.
iii) Why does everyone here seem to feel that they have to take sides in this "war"? I can understand why
Hughes are doing what they are doing, on the one hand -- and commend them on how they did it; on the other hand, I understand just as well why some people find it an intriguing challenge to hack those cards, and wish them to remain undaunted in the face of this recent turn of events.
After all, isn't better to just watch this fascinating real-life game than to stoop to making judgments?
slashdot readers strike me as the kind of people
who would appreciate Lem's writing the most.
if you haven't read anything by Lem, you owe it
to yourself to run to the nearest library or
bookstore and get a copy of one of his books.
if you happen to like Matt Groening's Futurama, then you might want to start with Cyberiad or any of the stories involving Ijon Tichy, particularly Futurological Congress
if you're into "more serious" type of SF; if you
like Blade Runner or 2001:A Space Odissey, then go
with Solaris
if you are the kind of person who is
intrigued by the idea of reviews of nonexistent (not-yet-written?;-) ) books (i am, for one), go for Imaginary Magnitude or One Human Minute
in any case -- read something, you won't regret it!
How come no one's making larger flat-panel monitors by arranging smaller panels in a grid?
is it just that there are few people willing to pay for something like that? or are there
insurmountable technical difficulties (apparently, it can be done with 3 panels in a row; why not 2x2, 3x3 etc)?
Slashdot Mirror
i) "interesting intellectual game" sounds to me like a good enough reason to do it;
ii) "theft of service", or as would rather put it, theft of information (since it does not subtract anything from the guy you're "stealing" it from -- unless, of course you take the position that you'd otherwise have to have bought the service and thus are stealing something from Hughes in the hypothetical realm) --- anyways, whether this theft of service is a crime is a moot point at best, and I don't think that describing it as such is enough reason for not engaging in an interesting intellectual game.
iii) Why does everyone here seem to feel that they have to take sides in this "war"? I can understand why Hughes are doing what they are doing, on the one hand -- and commend them on how they did it; on the other hand, I understand just as well why some people find it an intriguing challenge to hack those cards, and wish them to remain undaunted in the face of this recent turn of events.
After all, isn't better to just watch this fascinating real-life game than to stoop to making judgments?
if you haven't read anything by Lem, you owe it to yourself to run to the nearest library or bookstore and get a copy of one of his books.
if you happen to like Matt Groening's Futurama, then you might want to start with Cyberiad or any of the stories involving Ijon Tichy, particularly Futurological Congress
if you're into "more serious" type of SF; if you like Blade Runner or 2001:A Space Odissey, then go with Solaris
if you are the kind of person who is intrigued by the idea of reviews of nonexistent (not-yet-written? ;-) ) books (i am, for one), go for Imaginary Magnitude or One Human Minute
in any case -- read something, you won't regret it!
How come no one's making larger flat-panel monitors by arranging smaller panels in a grid? is it just that there are few people willing to pay for something like that? or are there insurmountable technical difficulties (apparently, it can be done with 3 panels in a row; why not 2x2, 3x3 etc)?