What if, say, a virus could be designed to destroy cancer cells? What if a virus could be designed to infect parasites? If the drug companies start doing this, it's only a matter of time before they can make viruses that can target disease cells extraordinarily effectively.
As I see it, Amoeba is basically an alternative to Beowulf clusters. It is not intended for workstation use and is "processor sharing" instead of "data sharing". It's its own OS, and isn't what you're looking for.
Hadn't they already stopped doing BeOS development? It seems to me that by now their focus is on embedded systems anyway, something that most of the Slashdot community has little use for.
I didn't really expect them to make it (remember OS/2?)
I imagine you'll probably just open up the port number on the firewall (like you'd do with any firewall today.)
Who modded this up? Don't people know how firewalls work?
Let's take a look at the first claim:
1. An online voting system for facilitating live interactive online voting, comprising:
a survey database to store one or more surveys, each survey having at least one question and answer options to the question;
a server to serve the surveys over a network to users;
a vote handler to process votes cast by the users in response to the surveys;
a survey index table maintained in the survey database to hold the surveys, the survey index table correlating the survey questions, the answer options to the survey questions, and the voting results of the survey questions;
a votes table maintained in the survey database to track which users have cast the votes and which options each voter has selected;
a totals table maintained in the survey database to hold tallies of the votes in correspondence with ones of the answer options of the survey questions, the tallies being used to update the voting results in the survey index table; and
wherein the survey index table is used by the server to either (1) present the survey questions and corresponding answer options to the users, or (2) display the voting results in conjunction with the survey questions.
Lots of things in there, right? If your poll system has all but one, then it doesn't infringe. Are Slashdot's tables arranged in *exactly* this manner? I doubt it. So Claim 1 really prevents a certain arrangement of tables, not a polling system.
Take a look at each claim. Does it exactly describe existing polling systems? Or is it just another method of doing a poll? You'll find that most, if not all, of these claims are legal.
You could get a whole lot of people to testify under oath. Lots of people have worked at Slashdot, and AFAIK Slashcode has been around for a while; you could get Slashcode archives.
But will they hold up in court? After losing lots of cases while still paying legal fees, won't they go under? If the patents are that absurd, then they're most likely invalid.
While there was nothing new, this is a good comparison. FreeBSD has long been ignored by too many. I have tried Linux and FreeBSD, and found FreeBSD better for my server (although I am disappointed that with the new release the old ports collection has been basically destroyed from my 4.0-STABLE installation, especially with my cvsup-ing.) Everybody says Linux but ignores FreeBSD. Thanks, Hemos, for putting a great OS in the spotlight. For those of you who don't know, FreeBSD also runs Linux binaries, so non-open-source programs can often be used.
If you're planning to install FreeBSD, a helpful reference is the FreeBSD Cheat Sheets, which help replace Linux's HOWTOs.
Why did anyone start using Linux in the first place then? If people start using it, then apps will come. Saying that I started using Linux with the 1.2 kernel impresses some people (although I don't think it's that impressive.) It's not that hard to do; most apps will be compatible with few modifications if X runs.
Bleem was to play it on another platform. DeCSS was to copy, as far as the courts were concerned. If a commercial agency were doing it, it probably would have passed because nobody could copy DVDs from it. But since it's open source, it's less difficult to copy DVDs, and thus is more likely to breach fair use.
Anyway, I don't entirely agree with the DMCA, but that's as close as I can come to seeing their rationale.
>This is an extremely unsafe thing to implement.
>Anything that overrides your control of your
>vehicle could potentially make you lose control.
>What happens when youre driving along in a 45
>zone and the zone changes suddenly to 30? if its
>raining or there's snow on the ground, you're
>toast. What security model will they use, to
>prevent malicious hacking (in this case, a virus
>could have tragic/fatal consequences).
There would be an Override button if things changed significantly. Also, speed limit changes would always be gradual, so there would be time to react.
>Are they gonna have a live update of weather
>conditions at each and every zone as well? after
>all, weather affects speed limits.
It does? Maybe where you live. Anyway, there would simply be an algorithm to do it based upon precipitation maps and
>how will they
>correct for traffic conditions (sometimes,
>someone going the speed limit on a highway can
>actually cause a rush hour traffic jam).
Lower the speed limit in rush hour. Simple.
?What
>about night vs. day limits? (they change in many
>places)
Gradually lower it from 7 to 8 pm.
>How will they resolve disputes like where the
>speed limit sign says one thing and the Central
>Database says another? How will they know how
>many people are in your car so as to know
>whether you should be in the HOV lane or not?
The HOV lane isn't the point! Speed is!
>Will the argument, "I couldn't have been
>speeding, the guvnor was operating normally" be
>a legal defense? should it be?
Yes, assuming you weren't weaving in and out of other cars and going twice as fast as they were. Then I think it would be considered intentional.
What about the Override button? They will envision situations like this! They're not stupid! Situations like this are obvious, given about a fourth of the comments have described situations like this.
It might hurt new car sales, but the government would mandate retrofitting of old cars.
>Using GPS for this is useless overkill.
>Roads are fixed, so the speed limitation could
>be very easily done with a fixed short-range
>transmitter posted at the start of the
>restricted-speed zone.
Yes? And the system isn't going to notice a big jump in the position of all the cars going there?
>No need for a messy and
>unreliable road speed database that has to be
>carried with the car and would never be up to
>date.
That's right! There can be a centralized database serving speed limits to all the cars. It can even be encrypted so people can't fake another system. Also, there could be checks to make sure that your mileage doesn't change significantly between contacts with the system.
>Short-range transmitters, OTOH, could be
>setup whenever convenient or as needed (like for
>work slow-zones).
Nope. These transmitters would just make entries into the centralized database. (Otherwise, I could make a short-range transmitter to increase the speed limit and mount it on my hood.)
>Capping the speed of the car wouldn't be very
>wise; for example, in case of emergency and you
>need the speed (like if you're overtaking that
>big tanker while a floatful of bricks is
>carreening your way). A loud siren inside the
>car (like in Singapore) would be safer.
Right; that's why there would be an Override button.
>Finally, a better thing would be an event >recorder that records the last 30 minutes or so >of whatever the driver has been doing (including >the speed limitation he's been going through) >which would be remotely downloadable by the >police, so it could ticket offenders as soon as >they run accross them. And also the information >would be quite valuable to investigate eventual >accidents.
But what about when you're passing a truck or in an emergency? How can they tell that from just reckless driving?
Errrm, you're forgetting the Override button for emergencies. It's legal to speed in those cases, and I think they'd let you do that as long as you didn't hit the Override button too often.
Slashdot Mirror
Keep in mind that tab completion also exists on Windows NT/2k/XP (make sure you run cmd.exe instead of command.com)
What if, say, a virus could be designed to destroy cancer cells? What if a virus could be designed to infect parasites? If the drug companies start doing this, it's only a matter of time before they can make viruses that can target disease cells extraordinarily effectively.
How do you get a fast Internet connection to a boat like this which isn't dependent on a country?
Does anyone know what kind of connection they have?
I saw a picture of one on the web... honest! It looked just like a Pentium IV except there was no I!
:-)
Just more proof that Slashdot doesn't really check their sources.
As I see it, Amoeba is basically an alternative to Beowulf clusters. It is not intended for workstation use and is "processor sharing" instead of "data sharing". It's its own OS, and isn't what you're looking for.
Hadn't they already stopped doing BeOS development? It seems to me that by now their focus is on embedded systems anyway, something that most of the Slashdot community has little use for. I didn't really expect them to make it (remember OS/2?)
I imagine you'll probably just open up the port number on the firewall (like you'd do with any firewall today.) Who modded this up? Don't people know how firewalls work?
Let's take a look at the first claim: 1. An online voting system for facilitating live interactive online voting, comprising: a survey database to store one or more surveys, each survey having at least one question and answer options to the question; a server to serve the surveys over a network to users; a vote handler to process votes cast by the users in response to the surveys; a survey index table maintained in the survey database to hold the surveys, the survey index table correlating the survey questions, the answer options to the survey questions, and the voting results of the survey questions; a votes table maintained in the survey database to track which users have cast the votes and which options each voter has selected; a totals table maintained in the survey database to hold tallies of the votes in correspondence with ones of the answer options of the survey questions, the tallies being used to update the voting results in the survey index table; and wherein the survey index table is used by the server to either (1) present the survey questions and corresponding answer options to the users, or (2) display the voting results in conjunction with the survey questions. Lots of things in there, right? If your poll system has all but one, then it doesn't infringe. Are Slashdot's tables arranged in *exactly* this manner? I doubt it. So Claim 1 really prevents a certain arrangement of tables, not a polling system. Take a look at each claim. Does it exactly describe existing polling systems? Or is it just another method of doing a poll? You'll find that most, if not all, of these claims are legal.
You could get a whole lot of people to testify under oath. Lots of people have worked at Slashdot, and AFAIK Slashcode has been around for a while; you could get Slashcode archives.
But will they hold up in court? After losing lots of cases while still paying legal fees, won't they go under? If the patents are that absurd, then they're most likely invalid.
Now, what if there were a switch to change to a computer? Just flip a switch and have a truly tiny laptop!
If you're planning to install FreeBSD, a helpful reference is the FreeBSD Cheat Sheets, which help replace Linux's HOWTOs.
Why did anyone start using Linux in the first place then? If people start using it, then apps will come. Saying that I started using Linux with the 1.2 kernel impresses some people (although I don't think it's that impressive.) It's not that hard to do; most apps will be compatible with few modifications if X runs.
I would rather use Windows CE (PocketPC) than PalmOS any day. Linux will probably be even better.
Bleem was to play it on another platform. DeCSS was to copy, as far as the courts were concerned. If a commercial agency were doing it, it probably would have passed because nobody could copy DVDs from it. But since it's open source, it's less difficult to copy DVDs, and thus is more likely to breach fair use. Anyway, I don't entirely agree with the DMCA, but that's as close as I can come to seeing their rationale.
>This is an extremely unsafe thing to implement. >Anything that overrides your control of your >vehicle could potentially make you lose control. >What happens when youre driving along in a 45 >zone and the zone changes suddenly to 30? if its >raining or there's snow on the ground, you're >toast. What security model will they use, to >prevent malicious hacking (in this case, a virus >could have tragic/fatal consequences). There would be an Override button if things changed significantly. Also, speed limit changes would always be gradual, so there would be time to react. >Are they gonna have a live update of weather >conditions at each and every zone as well? after >all, weather affects speed limits. It does? Maybe where you live. Anyway, there would simply be an algorithm to do it based upon precipitation maps and >how will they >correct for traffic conditions (sometimes, >someone going the speed limit on a highway can >actually cause a rush hour traffic jam). Lower the speed limit in rush hour. Simple. ?What >about night vs. day limits? (they change in many >places) Gradually lower it from 7 to 8 pm. >How will they resolve disputes like where the >speed limit sign says one thing and the Central >Database says another? How will they know how >many people are in your car so as to know >whether you should be in the HOV lane or not? The HOV lane isn't the point! Speed is! >Will the argument, "I couldn't have been >speeding, the guvnor was operating normally" be >a legal defense? should it be? Yes, assuming you weren't weaving in and out of other cars and going twice as fast as they were. Then I think it would be considered intentional.
DUH! There would be an override button! People making these systems aren't THAT stupid!
What about the Override button? They will envision situations like this! They're not stupid! Situations like this are obvious, given about a fourth of the comments have described situations like this. It might hurt new car sales, but the government would mandate retrofitting of old cars.
Duh! There would be an Override button for emergencies like this! This would be more of a guideline than a hard limit.
>Using GPS for this is useless overkill. >Roads are fixed, so the speed limitation could >be very easily done with a fixed short-range >transmitter posted at the start of the >restricted-speed zone. Yes? And the system isn't going to notice a big jump in the position of all the cars going there? >No need for a messy and >unreliable road speed database that has to be >carried with the car and would never be up to >date. That's right! There can be a centralized database serving speed limits to all the cars. It can even be encrypted so people can't fake another system. Also, there could be checks to make sure that your mileage doesn't change significantly between contacts with the system. >Short-range transmitters, OTOH, could be >setup whenever convenient or as needed (like for >work slow-zones). Nope. These transmitters would just make entries into the centralized database. (Otherwise, I could make a short-range transmitter to increase the speed limit and mount it on my hood.) >Capping the speed of the car wouldn't be very >wise; for example, in case of emergency and you >need the speed (like if you're overtaking that >big tanker while a floatful of bricks is >carreening your way). A loud siren inside the >car (like in Singapore) would be safer. Right; that's why there would be an Override button. >Finally, a better thing would be an event >recorder that records the last 30 minutes or so >of whatever the driver has been doing (including >the speed limitation he's been going through) >which would be remotely downloadable by the >police, so it could ticket offenders as soon as >they run accross them. And also the information >would be quite valuable to investigate eventual >accidents. But what about when you're passing a truck or in an emergency? How can they tell that from just reckless driving?
I imagine cracking the system would also carry a large fine, eh?
Errrm, you're forgetting the Override button for emergencies. It's legal to speed in those cases, and I think they'd let you do that as long as you didn't hit the Override button too often.
Yes, but you could use a local system like the cell-phone system when you're in the middle of a big city or surrounded by trees.
I though West Virginia was in the North, but correct me if I'm wrong.
A much-needed comment. I wish I could moderate this up.