I think that the most vulnerable part of systems are those things connected to phone lines. Many newer phones probably could not handle a bad surge on the line. I seem to see a fair number of 'used' computer modems around that mysteriously don't work - but were in fact probably damaged by lightning. I saw a VCR that was killed by lightning - the part that was damaged though was the cold cathode display in front, but not the power supply! My guess is that the HV transformer for the display picked up the EMP, but the power supply being able to handle larger currents internally was spared.
Also, since these pulses work by induction (as other posts mentioned) you would have to be close by the source for it to be damaging, Wouldn't this have to do with the magnetic component of the wave? - i.e. intensity of wave is inversely proportional to the square of the distance to the source, whereas RF strenght is just inversely proportional to the distance? (I'm too lazy to look up the details.
I think that EMP is as much of a psychological weapon as it is a physical one, and largely overplayed - even for a nuclear one. After all, people are going to be (or should be!) more worried about their relationship to ground zero than if there radio is going to survive.
That being said, hams like you and myself come from a different day. Our equipment was mostly transitorized using discreet components - a lot more sturdier than the low voltage CMOS that everything is using nowadays. It is hard for us to imagine how stuff can die being close to what is nothing more than a glorifed lightning strike. As chip densities increase, that insulating layer for the CMOS Fet junctions grows thinner and thinner, and easier to puncture...
An optional set of ATA commands has been proposed by IBM that could support the CPRM method from the 4C entity or other methods. After implementing these commands, a hard disk (HDD) supplier wishing to install CPRM keying information and support that particular key management method would need a license from 4C entity
Isn't everybody who reads Slashdot and uses Linux a 15 year old or has the social life of a 15 year old??? I mean, don't we all think and act like 15 year olds here, even though we may be in the "shell" of an older body??
Is there anybody here who has really grown up??? Or has a life . Shouldn't we be interviewing them instead to see what they have done so we may either follow them or expell their usernames out of the Slashdot database???
Recently Mr. Hatch ran for re-election. It was clear to me how important it was to inform voters of the choice they were about to make. For those of you that don't know, Hatch was one of the primary sponsers of the CTEA, DMCA, and a bill to extend the life of the drug patent Claritin (as he used their corporate jet to fly around while running for president). He was planning on sneaking it through like this legislation till his ass got caught.
So, I went to the local Linux Users Group and stood up at the meeting (only a dozen people show up) and asked for help in organizing against Hatch. As I was talking it was apparent by the way they were looking at their shoes that there was complete disinterest in doing anything, and that they were going to vote for Hatch anyway.
The fact of the matter is that people vote for Hatch because "they are supposed to". One state representative went so far as to say that you "can't be a mormon and vote for a democrat at the same time," (exact words). Whether you are a mormon or not, Hatch is seen as "church endorsed" and the mormon church carries enough influence to affect any election they want to. There are many "heriditary republicans" that will vote republican on election day no matter what, without giving it a second thought. Also, there is a large segment that will vote for Hatch as he is pro-NRA, and everybody loves their guns here. Take all this together and you can see why he got re-elected by a landslide.
Utahns are being raped left and right by bad political representation on the local level as well. Our taxes and utilites are going up, as the legislature did away with the public commision that oversees utility rates (the bill was written by the local gas utility)
The only question is how hard do Utahns want to scream before they've had enough???
If you live in Salt Lake County, and want to organize, email me kphil@hotmail.com
As I see we should not write letters to congress concerning LPFM because if they cared at all (they only care about special interests) then this bill would never have passed in the first place.
They way we organize is to write congress concerning government support for NPR. Since they are like a big-monied special interest now, they should be treated like one.
Let's petition congress to kill all funding for NPR. It should be able to stand on it's own feet now. If it can't make it and stations go dark because of it, then there is freed up spectrum space that could be used by LPFM.
Agreed. When LEDs were first invented they were encased in differing colored expoxy housings (with very limited success) so there could be "violet" leds. This technology should be given a different name - maybe "solid state activated phospher." Better yet - maybe there should be naming contest.
Save the "white light emitting diode" for a P-N junction that emits white light.
This one is quite scary, with an encrypted signal leaving your computer to your monitor. See http://www.digital-cp.com/.
All new monitors have both analog/DVI inputs. Eventually new monitors will have only DVI inputs, and computers only DVI outputs. This will force countless computer upgrades, as making a box to decode the DVI to run to analog will be illegal under the DMCA. So, summarily we have;
1) Our right to "reverse engineer" stripped away form us,
2) Software that will control what we see and when we see it, taking away any last remnant of "first sale" rights,
3) People who can not afford to purchase "the right equipment" left further behind and denied access to what others are seeing and using,
4) As copyright law is "primarily defined by use" it will become accepted business practice to charge a "per use" fee for everything, including public domain material like "facts" (i.e. phone books)
5) Richard Stallman's right to read scenario becomes reality.
To say this comes from the pits of hell is an understatement.
Call this a flame, but anyway you look at it "TV" is "TV." I have seen theatrical presentations of "digital films," and while they were quite good, it still came off as "TV."
This is the same ploy that hucksters have used for years to give validity to some product, by saying that it was "digital." Likewise, it's the same as the old moniker "as seen on TV", like that makes it better.
There is premium movie projection technoligies (higher film rate, bigger negative, IMAX) that creates a far more realistic experience than traditional 35mm film we use to day. It's too bad that "digital film" is actually a step backwards. I would like too see the studios roll it out though, because of the way they behave they deserve to take a hard hit.
My guess is that it will be like "New Coke" that was supposed to be better. Nobody was fooled on that one. People will just stay home to watch "TV" rather than hassling with going out to watch "TV." It's called "convenience" - unless you give me a reason to bother to go see the film. Screw "the experience." I don't want to bother with it already.
The theatres are having hard enough time of it as it is. Too bad this is going to be like an oncoming train.
Completely irrelevant. If you go hang out at the scene of the crime and fuss with it, and the police are already there, and they see the same paint on your hands, what do you think they are going to do??
There was a solution on how you can make your vote really count. voteswap2000.com. However, they took this site down down because it could be construed as brokering votes.
So I suggest that people remove themselves to the IRC channels and discuss this with their friends in other states.
Ignorant people, while primarily with the FBI agents it includes the judges who issue warrants. So the result of any mistreatment you have received/will get is mostly because of this. It is unfortunate that precedents may be set by ignorant people.
This being said, say somebody spray paints "Yankees Suck" on the stadium walls. The police haven't arrived yet. You go up to see what kind of paint they used so you can tell where they bought it from, you touch the paint and get it on your fingers. Just as you do so, the cops arrive and see the paint on your hands. Who are they going to arrest and why???
The digital divide just does not extend to those people who have computers and those who do not. But to those who have computers and don't understand them versus those who have computers and understands them.
One might also argue that understanding them means safeguarding your data.
Yes, until congress changes copyright law again. They could decide to give copyrights to "facts", as their is legislation to copyright "databases". Entirely possible considering that there is no public interest representation anymore in congress.
So, imagine paying royalties on E=mc2. (Einstein died in 1955 - copyrights with the CTEA now go for life plus seventy years after death!)
I have in my possesion a "Handbook of Mathematical Functions" put out by the Department of Commerce circa 1964. That could be scanned and put online. However, that does not cover any developments since 1964! (or any detailed proofs for that matter). But something like that might be used as a starting point for a free online version.
When they are willing to put their name on their post. Putting their name on it says "This is my honest opinion". Posting as a AC is like saying "I want to hide so I can troll you"
They were able to find out who it was. The second they did, they immediately erased all log files concerning him and deleted any directory files even mentioning him in passing. Then they programmmed their search engine to ignore any activity whatsoever from this user.
Finally, they sent him an email saying "keep up the good work."
Actually, a better question to ask is "how are "whore" politicians going to affect technology??".
When the MPAA and a few pals roll into politicians are only too willing to roll over and support their cause after a few "donations". The conservative "Eagle Forum" explains how Disney has clout with the republican congress.
Or maybe a senator can be bought off by letting him ride around in a corporate jet when running for office. In return you can get your patent extended.
Or maybe you can get a congressional staffer to help you in changing the law by adding a couple of words, and giving him a job once he leaves town.
So if I wanted to see a bunch of prostitutes, I wouldn't go to the street corner, I'd just head to the brothel "capitol hill".
Yes, this has been a flame. If this had actually been an all out fire, politicians would be finding themselves hosed. Your revolutionary leader would have then given you instructions on how to proceed.
Good point, and you know that's what they are going to try to do. It has already been widely noted that they will be trying to "marginalize" MP3s.
The first players that come out will be "backward compatible" to your MP3 library. Then along the way they will make a "new and better" player and drop MP3 support all together.
Also, because of the DMCA, you put yourself at risk if you opened a player (even if it was to reverse engineer/make modifications so your new player can play MP3s). Copyright violation is now a federal criminal offense instead of just of a civil one. Which means you could do jail time while your neighbor is listening to some new tunes Sony let them download for turning you in!
That's why you have David Corwin, senior counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, saying that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is "near and dear to our heart."
Salon had this very interesting article saying that insiders do want to see SDMI cracled. The logic behind what they are saying is quite believable.
Really, it looks like more people hate SDMI than even DiVX (the circuit city one). I know I'm not going to touch it with a ten foot pole even if it means I pull out all my old vinyl (or tape off the radio).
The only ones that like it is the RIAA, who thinks that they can win a kind of "tech nuke race". Evrybody else knows that there is no such thing as "perfect encryption", legally enforced or not.
Maybe the Street Performer Protocol would do well here. But I have this vision of hundreds of people standing around listening to a musician and the jar next to his guitar has 5 quarters, a dollar bill, and a couple of pennies in it!
In reality, more than one "paradigm" is probably useful. Not that one is better than the other, but that each has its place.
A "Street Performer" is an ongoing effort, while a telethon is a concentrated effort for a short period of time (thus leaving you alone for the majority of time!). Also, a telthon can employ famous personalities, so called "matching funds", and donated "premiums" to give to contributors.
Much the same way there are "telethons" to raise money for justifiable causes (Jerry Lewis-muscular dystrophy), there needs to be fundraisers for worhtwhile causes (eff.org)/open source projects.
For the same reasons public radio/TV raises money (how many listen to NPR??), open source projects need to raise funds. The applications are not neccesarily "commercially glamorous", but they are used and appreciated (let alone needed!) by a large number of people. And they don't have the commercial "entanglements" that for-profit entities are going to have.
The paralells that can be drawn from this are striking.
It is a straw man. What it is ultimately about is controlling the DVD player. Not unlike how they controlled theatre chains back in 1948. The Department of Justice sued the studios for anti-trust violations and they had to sell the theatre chains by consent decree. But unfair business practices is a way of life for them. You can see their sordid history here.
a lawsuit against Harvard Medical school for infringing on their computer game Tetris. When asked about this a spokesperson at Hasbro said "Not only do we have to protect our investment, but we want to be sure that consumers have access to Tetris games that don't put them to sleep."
The only problem I see is if you have a lawyer write it up for you, you are looking at a fee starting at $6k. If you write it up and file yourself, $350. But that would take up allot of time somebody may not have. Just some thoughts.
Slashdot Mirror
Forget neural networks, what people want is a Rosie the Robot for their homes.
I think that the most vulnerable part of systems are those things connected to phone lines. Many newer phones probably could not handle a bad surge on the line. I seem to see a fair number of 'used' computer modems around that mysteriously don't work - but were in fact probably damaged by lightning. I saw a VCR that was killed by lightning - the part that was damaged though was the cold cathode display in front, but not the power supply! My guess is that the HV transformer for the display picked up the EMP, but the power supply being able to handle larger currents internally was spared.
Also, since these pulses work by induction (as other posts mentioned) you would have to be close by the source for it to be damaging, Wouldn't this have to do with the magnetic component of the wave? - i.e. intensity of wave is inversely proportional to the square of the distance to the source, whereas RF strenght is just inversely proportional to the distance? (I'm too lazy to look up the details.
I think that EMP is as much of a psychological weapon as it is a physical one, and largely overplayed - even for a nuclear one. After all, people are going to be (or should be!) more worried about their relationship to ground zero than if there radio is going to survive.
That being said, hams like you and myself come from a different day. Our equipment was mostly transitorized using discreet components - a lot more sturdier than the low voltage CMOS that everything is using nowadays. It is hard for us to imagine how stuff can die being close to what is nothing more than a glorifed lightning strike. As chip densities increase, that insulating layer for the CMOS Fet junctions grows thinner and thinner, and easier to puncture...
here will be understood now. From the letter;
An optional set of ATA commands has been proposed by IBM that could support the CPRM method from the 4C entity or other methods. After implementing these commands, a hard disk (HDD) supplier wishing to install CPRM keying information and support that particular key management method would need a license from 4C entity
This observant post at open law might give you a better idea of who 4C entity is.
Isn't everybody who reads Slashdot and uses Linux a 15 year old or has the social life of a 15 year old??? I mean, don't we all think and act like 15 year olds here, even though we may be in the "shell" of an older body??
Is there anybody here who has really grown up??? Or has a life . Shouldn't we be interviewing them instead to see what they have done so we may either follow them or expell their usernames out of the Slashdot database???
Respectfully submitted.
Recently Mr. Hatch ran for re-election. It was clear to me how important it was to inform voters of the choice they were about to make. For those of you that don't know, Hatch was one of the primary sponsers of the CTEA, DMCA, and a bill to extend the life of the drug patent Claritin (as he used their corporate jet to fly around while running for president). He was planning on sneaking it through like this legislation till his ass got caught.
So, I went to the local Linux Users Group and stood up at the meeting (only a dozen people show up) and asked for help in organizing against Hatch. As I was talking it was apparent by the way they were looking at their shoes that there was complete disinterest in doing anything, and that they were going to vote for Hatch anyway.
The fact of the matter is that people vote for Hatch because "they are supposed to". One state representative went so far as to say that you "can't be a mormon and vote for a democrat at the same time," (exact words). Whether you are a mormon or not, Hatch is seen as "church endorsed" and the mormon church carries enough influence to affect any election they want to. There are many "heriditary republicans" that will vote republican on election day no matter what, without giving it a second thought. Also, there is a large segment that will vote for Hatch as he is pro-NRA, and everybody loves their guns here. Take all this together and you can see why he got re-elected by a landslide.
Utahns are being raped left and right by bad political representation on the local level as well. Our taxes and utilites are going up, as the legislature did away with the public commision that oversees utility rates (the bill was written by the local gas utility)
The only question is how hard do Utahns want to scream before they've had enough???
If you live in Salt Lake County, and want to organize, email me kphil@hotmail.com
NPR has made this easy.
As I see we should not write letters to congress concerning LPFM because if they cared at all (they only care about special interests) then this bill would never have passed in the first place.
They way we organize is to write congress concerning government support for NPR. Since they are like a big-monied special interest now, they should be treated like one.
Let's petition congress to kill all funding for NPR. It should be able to stand on it's own feet now. If it can't make it and stations go dark because of it, then there is freed up spectrum space that could be used by LPFM.
Agreed. When LEDs were first invented they were encased in differing colored expoxy housings (with very limited success) so there could be "violet" leds. This technology should be given a different name - maybe "solid state activated phospher." Better yet - maybe there should be naming contest.
Save the "white light emitting diode" for a P-N junction that emits white light.
This one is quite scary, with an encrypted signal leaving your computer to your monitor. See http://www.digital-cp.com/.
All new monitors have both analog/DVI inputs. Eventually new monitors will have only DVI inputs, and computers only DVI outputs. This will force countless computer upgrades, as making a box to decode the DVI to run to analog will be illegal under the DMCA. So, summarily we have;
1) Our right to "reverse engineer" stripped away form us,
2) Software that will control what we see and when we see it, taking away any last remnant of "first sale" rights,
3) People who can not afford to purchase "the right equipment" left further behind and denied access to what others are seeing and using,
4) As copyright law is "primarily defined by use" it will become accepted business practice to charge a "per use" fee for everything, including public domain material like "facts" (i.e. phone books)
5) Richard Stallman's right to read scenario becomes reality.
To say this comes from the pits of hell is an understatement.
Call this a flame, but anyway you look at it "TV" is "TV." I have seen theatrical presentations of "digital films," and while they were quite good, it still came off as "TV."
This is the same ploy that hucksters have used for years to give validity to some product, by saying that it was "digital." Likewise, it's the same as the old moniker "as seen on TV", like that makes it better.
There is premium movie projection technoligies (higher film rate, bigger negative, IMAX) that creates a far more realistic experience than traditional 35mm film we use to day. It's too bad that "digital film" is actually a step backwards. I would like too see the studios roll it out though, because of the way they behave they deserve to take a hard hit.
My guess is that it will be like "New Coke" that was supposed to be better. Nobody was fooled on that one. People will just stay home to watch "TV" rather than hassling with going out to watch "TV." It's called "convenience" - unless you give me a reason to bother to go see the film. Screw "the experience." I don't want to bother with it already.
The theatres are having hard enough time of it as it is. Too bad this is going to be like an oncoming train.
I guess that's why so much software is like the zombies that write it. At least coders will forget the mess they created though.
It's the user that gets blessed with the total recall.
Completely irrelevant. If you go hang out at the scene of the crime and fuss with it, and the police are already there, and they see the same paint on your hands, what do you think they are going to do??
There was a solution on how you can make your vote really count. voteswap2000.com. However, they took this site down down because it could be construed as brokering votes.
So I suggest that people remove themselves to the IRC channels and discuss this with their friends in other states.
Ignorant people, while primarily with the FBI agents it includes the judges who issue warrants. So the result of any mistreatment you have received/will get is mostly because of this. It is unfortunate that precedents may be set by ignorant people.
This being said, say somebody spray paints "Yankees Suck" on the stadium walls. The police haven't arrived yet. You go up to see what kind of paint they used so you can tell where they bought it from, you touch the paint and get it on your fingers. Just as you do so, the cops arrive and see the paint on your hands. Who are they going to arrest and why???
The digital divide just does not extend to those people who have computers and those who do not. But to those who have computers and don't understand them versus those who have computers and understands them.
One might also argue that understanding them means safeguarding your data.
Yes, until congress changes copyright law again. They could decide to give copyrights to "facts", as their is legislation to copyright "databases". Entirely possible considering that there is no public interest representation anymore in congress.
So, imagine paying royalties on E=mc2. (Einstein died in 1955 - copyrights with the CTEA now go for life plus seventy years after death!)
I have in my possesion a "Handbook of Mathematical Functions" put out by the Department of Commerce circa 1964. That could be scanned and put online. However, that does not cover any developments since 1964! (or any detailed proofs for that matter). But something like that might be used as a starting point for a free online version.
When they are willing to put their name on their post. Putting their name on it says "This is my honest opinion". Posting as a AC is like saying "I want to hide so I can troll you"
They were able to find out who it was. The second they did, they immediately erased all log files concerning him and deleted any directory files even mentioning him in passing. Then they programmmed their search engine to ignore any activity whatsoever from this user.
Finally, they sent him an email saying "keep up the good work."
system. /test on>
Actually, a better question to ask is "how are "whore" politicians going to affect technology??".
When the MPAA and a few pals roll into politicians are only too willing to roll over and support their cause after a few "donations". The conservative "Eagle Forum" explains how Disney has clout with the republican congress.
Or maybe a senator can be bought off by letting him ride around in a corporate jet when running for office. In return you can get your patent extended.
Or maybe you can get a congressional staffer to help you in changing the law by adding a couple of words, and giving him a job once he leaves town.
So if I wanted to see a bunch of prostitutes, I wouldn't go to the street corner, I'd just head to the brothel "capitol hill".
Yes, this has been a flame. If this had actually been an all out fire, politicians would be finding themselves hosed. Your revolutionary leader would have then given you instructions on how to proceed.
/test off>
Good point, and you know that's what they are going to try to do. It has already been widely noted that they will be trying to "marginalize" MP3s.
The first players that come out will be "backward compatible" to your MP3 library. Then along the way they will make a "new and better" player and drop MP3 support all together.
Also, because of the DMCA, you put yourself at risk if you opened a player (even if it was to reverse engineer/make modifications so your new player can play MP3s). Copyright violation is now a federal criminal offense instead of just of a civil one. Which means you could do jail time while your neighbor is listening to some new tunes Sony let them download for turning you in!
That's why you have David Corwin, senior counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, saying that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is "near and dear to our heart."
Sick stuff..
Salon had this very interesting article saying that insiders do want to see SDMI cracled. The logic behind what they are saying is quite believable.
Really, it looks like more people hate SDMI than even DiVX (the circuit city one). I know I'm not going to touch it with a ten foot pole even if it means I pull out all my old vinyl (or tape off the radio).
The only ones that like it is the RIAA, who thinks that they can win a kind of "tech nuke race". Evrybody else knows that there is no such thing as "perfect encryption", legally enforced or not.
Maybe the Street Performer Protocol would do well here. But I have this vision of hundreds of people standing around listening to a musician and the jar next to his guitar has 5 quarters, a dollar bill, and a couple of pennies in it!
In reality, more than one "paradigm" is probably useful. Not that one is better than the other, but that each has its place.
A "Street Performer" is an ongoing effort, while a telethon is a concentrated effort for a short period of time (thus leaving you alone for the majority of time!). Also, a telthon can employ famous personalities, so called "matching funds", and donated "premiums" to give to contributors.
Anyway, something to reflect upon...
Phill
Much the same way there are "telethons" to raise money for justifiable causes (Jerry Lewis-muscular dystrophy), there needs to be fundraisers for worhtwhile causes (eff.org)/open source projects.
For the same reasons public radio/TV raises money (how many listen to NPR??), open source projects need to raise funds. The applications are not neccesarily "commercially glamorous", but they are used and appreciated (let alone needed!) by a large number of people. And they don't have the commercial "entanglements" that for-profit entities are going to have.
The paralells that can be drawn from this are striking.
It is a straw man. What it is ultimately about is controlling the DVD player. Not unlike how they controlled theatre chains back in 1948. The Department of Justice sued the studios for anti-trust violations and they had to sell the theatre chains by consent decree. But unfair business practices is a way of life for them. You can see their sordid history here.
a lawsuit against Harvard Medical school for infringing on their computer game Tetris. When asked about this a spokesperson at Hasbro said "Not only do we have to protect our investment, but we want to be sure that consumers have access to Tetris games that don't put them to sleep."
The only problem I see is if you have a lawyer write it up for you, you are looking at a fee starting at $6k. If you write it up and file yourself, $350. But that would take up allot of time somebody may not have. Just some thoughts.
wallow in the mud.
...cannot prevail unless they are able to demonstrated convincingly that the contrary is true.
be that more works will be made more widely available
So this doesn't count for region encoding???Doesn't region encoding make a DVD less available???
I would like them to explain how region encoding makes a DVD more available. That would demonstrate convincingly.