It's amazing how much of the really important issues are 'out of scope'. Certainly convenient for the authors of the report... I have to look back at the congressional mandate to see exactly what was requires. It seems this report if woefully lacking...
OF course, in the areas in which we're all interested, there is some frightning stuff. I'm not sure I want to know about the office's interpretation of some of the other items...(cuz ignorance is bliss... - well, no we tried that from 1998 to 2000 when the DMCA went into effect)...
The EU's focus on Microsoft's entry into the small server maket seems like it will have the effect of causing the case to recieve solid corporate support within Europe, sich that the EU will have to pursue the issue to fruition, rather than in the US where focus on the case focusing on the desktop market has recieved more fragmented consumer support. Let this be a lesson to the DOJ. When going after big companies, always identify the customer base most likely to support you in a unified way, and try the case with that focus. Granted this doesn't say much for the justice system, but that's how the world works... sadly...
--CTH
Lessig on Copyright & Ximian's announcement
on
LWCE Bits and Pieces
·
· Score: 2
First, Ximian: The announcement says tose who subscribe will have "5-% faster downloads durring peak hours". This suggests that they will still ovver the service for free, with some diminished capacity, but the announcement doesn't really say.Can anyone confirm or clarify this?
Real criminals just aren't too bright...
on
Real Cyber-Spying
·
· Score: 2
This just goes to show, that real criminals aren't all that bright. Note, to the DOJ (or JAG, or whoever): Crimminals are not smart people, or they wouldn't be criminals - therefor, don't waste your time trying to bring unwinable cases against relitively honest people; instead go and win cases against patently dishonest (and in this case treasonus)people. It'll make everyone feel better. The American people will have their confidence in the justice system, and the prosecutord will win a lot of cases. It's a win-win situation.
The hardware review sites like Tom's Hardware and Anand Tech don't seem to fit into the category of tech sits described in this rant... Although I agree with the characterizations made, in general, and as they relate specifically to sites owned by C|Net (ZDNet, etc.). The hardware sites , however, don't seem to have the same incentive with regard to supporing a software product through download services, and tech tips, as, these types of support related content don't really apply to hardware (other than perhaps discussion boards per product). It still is critical for the hardware sites - as with the software sites - to keep focused on their primary business, but thet seem like they'd be less prone to the influences outlines in the rant (article, posting, whatever).
--CTH
It is both legal and ethical - no questions here..
on
Parasitic Computing
·
· Score: 3
Although this is a really neat implementation, I'd have ot say the authors of the paper on 'Parasitic Computing' were over-reaching when they said:
Parasitic computing raises important questions about the ownership of the resources connected to the Internet and challenges current computing paradigms.
Granted it's a neat implementation, and using communication protocols to evaluate mathematics is vary creative, but what questions does it really raise about resource ownership? Vary simply, No. They're using publicly agailable services for a new and creative (not illegal) purpose. It would only become both illegal and unethical is their use had the effect of a denial-of-service attack. The authors of the paper were trying to inflate the importance of their work by tying it into the many and varied discussions of intelectual (property) and physical resources on the net. It's a shame that they took this approach because their research stands alone without such pandering which serves only to diminish the appeal of their work.
--CTH
History of Military Simulators
on
P2P Goes To War
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The military has had a rich history of network based simulations. Since the dawn of real networking (with decent bandwidth) there have been military simulators, the first of which were of Naval battle. The navy sunk billions into such projects in the early 1980s, connecting unitssimulating various American, Brittish and French vessels (including submarines), as well as computer generated russian vessels which had all the unique characteristics of each. Durring that period of the Cold War, the navy has some of the most advanced network based simulations available. The technology discussed in the article isn't really that new. Granted, now we have a lot more bandwidth and processing power. You have to admire the systems built in those days specifically because of the accomplishments made dispite these limitations.
This isn't really a dirty marketing trick, so much as an approach to weening the consumer from their reliance on clock speeds as a measure of performance. Granted it would be better handled by insuring that reliable and impartial benchmarks such as perdormed by AnandTech or Tom'sHardware got the appropriate amount of press, rather than being pushed out of the spotlight by clock speeds. They could have tried to get the consumer to rely of FOPS or some other measure of performance, but if they completely refuse to disclose the clock speeds of their chips, that is entirely another problem. The trick will be to insure that there are a sufficient number of impartial benchmarks out there for consumers to feel confident about the numbers they provide.
Will cross-border prodecution stop at defamation law, or can we (or at least Austrelians) sue the Chinese for copyright violations? Perhaps this is a good thing. Then maybe the RIAA and the BSA would move their base of operations to Austrelia. Good ridence....
How can an Austrelian court jule that it can extend it's own jurisdiction to non-citizens, who are not even present on Austrelian soil and may have never set foot on Austrelian soil in their lives? Wouldn't this require the cooperation of the national government of the defendant's country of origin? I guess I have to do some research or can someone clear this up for me...
The problem I have with the new kits is they're rediculously small. Of course you don't have to follow directions, but still, the variety of parts in most of thenew kits is so limited that you don't really have the flexibility to build all those neat things we used to build as kids. I don't know if it's a function of Lego just wanting to make more money (charging more for a less flexible product) or an underlying assumption that today's youth isn't creative enough to build something original, and so they don't bother to provide enough flexibility in terms of variety and quantity of parts to make that possible...
I assume the larger more generic Technic kits are still available someware, but I havn't seen them in stores in many years. All I ever see are those rediculous movie tie-in kits with just enough parts to build the Jurasic Park Dinosour Pen, or the Star Wars Drag Racer, or whatever..
Legos were great toys back in the old days (early to mid 80s) because they were actually building blocks from which you could create anything. Now, however, the company has sunk into the abyss of movie tie-ins and thus created an unfortunate market segmentation effect which has reduced their appeal.
Back in the old days I had a Lego Technic (model 1000) composed of gears, belts, shafts, motors, and various joints that allowed you to create an almost infinate variety of engieering marvels. There was in fact a segment of a physics curriculum built around the use of Legos to simulate simple machines (levers, planes, screws, etc.) as well as an introductory programming and robotics curriculum (geared tward middle schoolers) around lego LOGO (before the days of Mindstorms).
Now when you buy a Lego Technic kit, it is intended to build one specific thing, and has detailed instructions for building that one item, rather than leaving it to the creativity of the child to build unique devices. The same is true of Mindstorms. While it's neat that the lego device is no longer wired to the computer, the mechanism for programming the Mindstorms devices is dumbed down for todays youth. Thanks to Russ Nelson, who, aside from doing great things for Open Source over the years, has a detailed site about the Lego Mindstorms Internals. It's a shame though that Lego didn't do this sort of thing themselves, and fight harder to avoid descending to the level of selling lego models of movie-related toys, rather than continuing ot target their core audience.
--CTH
Presumably, its all custom trading software anyway
on
NYSE Goes To Linux
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
It pains me to say this but it probably won't matter much what OS is underneath the trading software (except for performance gains etc...) because I doubt the traders ever see the OS at all. It's great PR for linux, but like all PR wins it will probably be short lived. I wouldn't expect traders to wake up each day and say to themselves "Self, I'm using Linux at work. That's neat." It just won't happen...
As for the distribution that would be used, I doubt that matters much either...
It's unbelievable... There's no doubt that both palm and Motherboard Manufacturers should do better when designing for ESD resistance, but users should be careful rather than sue... but this, I guess is the american way...
I agree that the FCC is not specifically concerned with static discharge, although it would probably sho up on the EMI test.
As for your other point:
A serial port (RS-232 interface) that can be damaged or destroyed by the static electricity from a user is poorly designed.
I completely agree, although I believe one of the PC manufacturers who the users claim can be affected by this problem is DELL, which as far as I'm concerned isn't known for their poor design. I would certainly expect them to have sufficiently grounded serial ports.
I'm not even sure a (single) static discharge would show up on an EMI scan (which is done for class B certification) It would probably show up as a slight increase in the baseline noise level, but not push it beyond the class B limits.
/blockquote>While I agree that the specification doesn't specify allowable static discharge, I would consider it a componant of the radiation the device emits...
Palm Inc. failed to disclose that static electricity passing through its personal digital assistants could damage computers connected to the device's cradle.
This is a half way plausable issue technically, although proving it in court to a bunch of non-technical jurors or a non-technical judge would be another issue. They further claim:
PDA in the cradle causes a static charge to go up the cable to the desktop computer's serial port and into the machine's innards.
I'm not entirely convinced, although if this is a problem, it would be simple for Palm to fix. All they'd have to do is ground the cradle, which could be achieved by replacing the power chord used to charge the Palm when in the cradle, with a grounded cable. It probably wouldn't cost them an outragous amount (when compared to the cost of a class-action lawsuit. I think they should fight this though. The users should know better. the Palm is clearly labeled as a computing device. Did they really think it didn't have the potential to hold a static charge...
It doesn't matter how small it is. Since It's a Class B computing device it can only radiate a certain amount of emissions (or is that just RF). The user should simply be aware that any electronic device will carry this risk, no matter how small, and by purchasing the device, assumes the risk... No harm no foul...
A bunch of lawyers just decided that they might be able to make a quick buck here...
I know I shouldn't respond to this troll but, what the hell...
Duh, really? ahem. My point was, rather than being used to store data, the smartcards are designed to perform processing operations onboard - as this is considered to be more highly secure than simply shipping data off-board and recieving data back, weather that data be bankd account info, some sort of debit balance (as has been proposed for some next gen debit cards), or perhaps your complete medical history or whatever other data has been alocated to it. This is what happens when you use imprecise language I guess...
The current generation of SmartCards are java based. The idea is that they provide more than memory, but a full Java Runtime Enviroment, and a set of base applications, under the theory that processing transactions in a known (secure) enviroment is preferable to simply swiping the card through a reader/writer which might otherwise simply increment or decrement a number (of dollars or whatever) stored on the card. These cards have a great deal of potential that remains largely untapped. I have yet to see a smartcard transaction processor which takes any real advantage to these capabilities.
Sarcasm aside, the article describes an alteration in usage patterns which suggests users are actually going ot the web with purpose and intent to achieve specific goals. The same conclusion is reached in the narative in the beginning of the article.USers no longer drift from site to site just to see what's there, but instead, target their activity to the specific sites that (through advertising and other marketing efforts of the content owners) they know to contain the information they're looking for. This does not signify a loss to the web, bur rather, an evolution in web usage, and a recognition by users of the real economic falue of the web as a business and academic tool. This should be recognized as a vary positive step for the web.
Exactly. Businesses will get the point in a hurry if they install surveilence and and facial recognition systems one month, and the next month, they discover that their sales are down 50%
Slashdot Mirror
It's amazing how much of the really important issues are 'out of scope'. Certainly convenient for the authors of the report... I have to look back at the congressional mandate to see exactly what was requires. It seems this report if woefully lacking...
OF course, in the areas in which we're all interested, there is some frightning stuff. I'm not sure I want to know about the office's interpretation of some of the other items...(cuz ignorance is bliss... - well, no we tried that from 1998 to 2000 when the DMCA went into effect)...
--CTH
The EU's focus on Microsoft's entry into the small server maket seems like it will have the effect of causing the case to recieve solid corporate support within Europe, sich that the EU will have to pursue the issue to fruition, rather than in the US where focus on the case focusing on the desktop market has recieved more fragmented consumer support. Let this be a lesson to the DOJ. When going after big companies, always identify the customer base most likely to support you in a unified way, and try the case with that focus. Granted this doesn't say much for the justice system, but that's how the world works... sadly...
--CTH
First, Ximian: The announcement says tose who subscribe will have "5-% faster downloads durring peak hours". This suggests that they will still ovver the service for free, with some diminished capacity, but the announcement doesn't really say.Can anyone confirm or clarify this?
Regarding Lessig's comments oc Copyright: I'd like to point out that James Madison was on Lessig's side regarding Copyright.
--CTH
This just goes to show, that real criminals aren't all that bright. Note, to the DOJ (or JAG, or whoever): Crimminals are not smart people, or they wouldn't be criminals - therefor, don't waste your time trying to bring unwinable cases against relitively honest people; instead go and win cases against patently dishonest (and in this case treasonus)people. It'll make everyone feel better. The American people will have their confidence in the justice system, and the prosecutord will win a lot of cases. It's a win-win situation.
--CTH
The hardware review sites like Tom's Hardware and Anand Tech don't seem to fit into the category of tech sits described in this rant... Although I agree with the characterizations made, in general, and as they relate specifically to sites owned by C|Net (ZDNet, etc.). The hardware sites , however, don't seem to have the same incentive with regard to supporing a software product through download services, and tech tips, as, these types of support related content don't really apply to hardware (other than perhaps discussion boards per product). It still is critical for the hardware sites - as with the software sites - to keep focused on their primary business, but thet seem like they'd be less prone to the influences outlines in the rant (article, posting, whatever).
--CTH
--CTH
The military has had a rich history of network based simulations. Since the dawn of real networking (with decent bandwidth) there have been military simulators, the first of which were of Naval battle. The navy sunk billions into such projects in the early 1980s, connecting unitssimulating various American, Brittish and French vessels (including submarines), as well as computer generated russian vessels which had all the unique characteristics of each. Durring that period of the Cold War, the navy has some of the most advanced network based simulations available. The technology discussed in the article isn't really that new. Granted, now we have a lot more bandwidth and processing power. You have to admire the systems built in those days specifically because of the accomplishments made dispite these limitations.
--CTH
This isn't really a dirty marketing trick, so much as an approach to weening the consumer from their reliance on clock speeds as a measure of performance. Granted it would be better handled by insuring that reliable and impartial benchmarks such as perdormed by AnandTech or Tom'sHardware got the appropriate amount of press, rather than being pushed out of the spotlight by clock speeds. They could have tried to get the consumer to rely of FOPS or some other measure of performance, but if they completely refuse to disclose the clock speeds of their chips, that is entirely another problem. The trick will be to insure that there are a sufficient number of impartial benchmarks out there for consumers to feel confident about the numbers they provide.
--CTH
Will cross-border prodecution stop at defamation law, or can we (or at least Austrelians) sue the Chinese for copyright violations? Perhaps this is a good thing. Then maybe the RIAA and the BSA would move their base of operations to Austrelia. Good ridence....
How can an Austrelian court jule that it can extend it's own jurisdiction to non-citizens, who are not even present on Austrelian soil and may have never set foot on Austrelian soil in their lives? Wouldn't this require the cooperation of the national government of the defendant's country of origin?
I guess I have to do some research or can someone clear this up for me...
--CTH
The problem I have with the new kits is they're rediculously small. Of course you don't have to follow directions, but still, the variety of parts in most of thenew kits is so limited that you don't really have the flexibility to build all those neat things we used to build as kids. I don't know if it's a function of Lego just wanting to make more money (charging more for a less flexible product) or an underlying assumption that today's youth isn't creative enough to build something original, and so they don't bother to provide enough flexibility in terms of variety and quantity of parts to make that possible...
I assume the larger more generic Technic kits are still available someware, but I havn't seen them in stores in many years. All I ever see are those rediculous movie tie-in kits with just enough parts to build the Jurasic Park Dinosour Pen, or the Star Wars Drag Racer, or whatever..
--CTH
Legos were great toys back in the old days (early to mid 80s) because they were actually building blocks from which you could create anything. Now, however, the company has sunk into the abyss of movie tie-ins and thus created an unfortunate market segmentation effect which has reduced their appeal.
Back in the old days I had a Lego Technic (model 1000) composed of gears, belts, shafts, motors, and various joints that allowed you to create an almost infinate variety of engieering marvels. There was in fact a segment of a physics curriculum built around the use of Legos to simulate simple machines (levers, planes, screws, etc.) as well as an introductory programming and robotics curriculum (geared tward middle schoolers) around lego LOGO (before the days of Mindstorms).
Now when you buy a Lego Technic kit, it is intended to build one specific thing, and has detailed instructions for building that one item, rather than leaving it to the creativity of the child to build unique devices. The same is true of Mindstorms. While it's neat that the lego device is no longer wired to the computer, the mechanism for programming the Mindstorms devices is dumbed down for todays youth. Thanks to Russ Nelson, who, aside from doing great things for Open Source over the years, has a detailed site about the Lego Mindstorms Internals. It's a shame though that Lego didn't do this sort of thing themselves, and fight harder to avoid descending to the level of selling lego models of movie-related toys, rather than continuing ot target their core audience.
--CTH
It pains me to say this but it probably won't matter much what OS is underneath the trading software (except for performance gains etc...) because I doubt the traders ever see the OS at all. It's great PR for linux, but like all PR wins it will probably be short lived. I wouldn't expect traders to wake up each day and say to themselves "Self, I'm using Linux at work. That's neat." It just won't happen...
As for the distribution that would be used, I doubt that matters much either...
--CTH
It's unbelievable... There's no doubt that both palm and Motherboard Manufacturers should do better when designing for ESD resistance, but users should be careful rather than sue... but this, I guess is the american way...
--CTH
As for your other point:I completely agree, although I believe one of the PC manufacturers who the users claim can be affected by this problem is DELL, which as far as I'm concerned isn't known for their poor design. I would certainly expect them to have sufficiently grounded serial ports.
--CTH
--CTH
It doesn't matter how small it is. Since It's a Class B computing device it can only radiate a certain amount of emissions (or is that just RF). The user should simply be aware that any electronic device will carry this risk, no matter how small, and by purchasing the device, assumes the risk... No harm no foul...
A bunch of lawyers just decided that they might be able to make a quick buck here...
--CTH
That's right. Go into space, become old and degrepit. Die young, with no teeth.
I'd have to say that NASA will need a more effective marketing campeign.
NASA: So, you want to be an astronaut?
John DOe: I realize I don't have to worry about the space shuttle blowing up, but I don't want to die young, with no teeth either...
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20010827/mars teeth.html
I know I shouldn't respond to this troll but, what the hell...
Duh, really? ahem. My point was, rather than being used to store data, the smartcards are designed to perform processing operations onboard - as this is considered to be more highly secure than simply shipping data off-board and recieving data back, weather that data be bankd account info, some sort of debit balance (as has been proposed for some next gen debit cards), or perhaps your complete medical history or whatever other data has been alocated to it. This is what happens when you use imprecise language I guess...
The current generation of SmartCards are java based. The idea is that they provide more than memory, but a full Java Runtime Enviroment, and a set of base applications, under the theory that processing transactions in a known (secure) enviroment is preferable to simply swiping the card through a reader/writer which might otherwise simply increment or decrement a number (of dollars or whatever) stored on the card. These cards have a great deal of potential that remains largely untapped. I have yet to see a smartcard transaction processor which takes any real advantage to these capabilities.
--CTH
Sarcasm aside, the article describes an alteration in usage patterns which suggests users are actually going ot the web with purpose and intent to achieve specific goals. The same conclusion is reached in the narative in the beginning of the article.USers no longer drift from site to site just to see what's there, but instead, target their activity to the specific sites that (through advertising and other marketing efforts of the content owners) they know to contain the information they're looking for. This does not signify a loss to the web, bur rather, an evolution in web usage, and a recognition by users of the real economic falue of the web as a business and academic tool. This should be recognized as a vary positive step for the web.
--CTH
Exactly. Businesses will get the point in a hurry if they install surveilence and and facial recognition systems one month, and the next month, they discover that their sales are down 50%