Apparently, the taxpayers are paying the salery of a government employee who is 'loaned' to DEKA to make suggestions about the segway.
Why are we subsidising them? I don't want my tax money going to Dean Kamen.
From the WP article:
Segway asked the CPSC to review the scooter, and the agency suggested that the handlebars, which were turned up, be reversed so they wouldn't catch the straps of women's purses. It also urged Segway to enclose the wheels so toes and fingers couldn't be caught in the spokes. Both were done.
Ronald Medford, the staff member who made these suggestions, has taken a government-approved sabbatical to work for Kamen's firm, DEKA Research & Development Corp., which created Segway. Medford is the "in-house critic and adviser, having nothing to do with sales and marketing, but only telling us what to do to make products safe," said Gary Bridge, Segway's senior vice president of marketing.
To avoid conflict of interest, Bridge said, the government continues to pay Medford's salary ($138,200 a year) and Medford has promised to recuse himself from any product decisions involving DEKA and Segway when he returns to the CPSC later this year.
NYPOST.COM Business: NYC HALTS NEW SCOOTER By DOUGLAS WIGHT and FRANKIE ENDOZIEN Tue Dec 4 09:41:06 2001
Matt Burns, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, said: "From my understanding, it is designed for sidewalk use, and that would be a violation of vehicular traffic law since you cannot have motorized vehicles on the sidewalk."
Anyone caught using a Segway on the sidewalk would be ticketed, he said.
Did anyone notice that all the disks they destroyed except two were Corel products? Mostly CorelDRAW.
Now I've used CorelDRAW and I must say it's painful to use. So I fully understand wanting to destroy it.
But remember, Corel was an early Linux supporter, so I wonder if we should support such elaborate (one might say obsessive) distructive impulses directed against them!
back in 1995
on
On Hacktivism
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Back in 1995 I had some arguments... that is um... discussions (in Cannes at Milia) with Nicholas Negroponte and John Perry Barlow. Both Negroponte and Barlow believed that the Internet was an unstoppable force that would inevitably make countries like China become free.
My argument was that the Chinese and other repressive governments would be sure to set up national proxies with filtering that blocked out sites the government didn't want people to see and kept track of what people were accessing.
Both Negroponte and Barlow told me that was impossible and would never happen. They also pointed out that the TCP/IP is designed to route around obstacles.
Well, I've been proven right (so why am I not running Media Lab or flying around the world giving speeches?). China and other countries (Singapore, etc.) have in fact put in national proxies and are blocking thousands of sites, tracking people's usage, and putting people in jail.
On the other hand, I think that there is a hope that Barlow and Negroponte will eventually turn out to be right in the end, as hackers and other renegades put in alternative links via satellite and other means, which bypass these government blockades.
If enough of that happens, the blockades will come down, since they won't be useful any longer.
But I think there will be a long hard struggle befoe that happens.
This is an excellent approach! I am really thrilled to see someone coming up with a solution that allows the government all legitimate use while providing the tools to prevent overstepping. And partially funded by the justice department too!
The big problem with this is that even if it's implemented, since under the Patriot Act judges need not sign off on subpoenas, the FBI et al would still be able to get all they keys they want and still access all the data.
For this device to be useful, unfortunately, the law must be changed to require judicial oversight... and the judges must be trustworthy!
This page also contains some good information and links.
I am trying to wean myself of all but the most necessary computer use, but so far it's not going too well.
I thought of a system that would disconnect my internet connection except at certain hours (since that seems to be the biggest part of the problem), but I would probably just get around it if I wanted to. Or maybe not... could be a good start.
What that article doesn't mention, and what people usually don't know when discussing 3G mobile is that the data rates quoted are PER CELL not PER USER (unless only one user per cell is active at a given moment).
This is the big lie of 3G mobile. In cities, it will never support the data rates they keep talking about because of the duty cycle: the number of users per cell at any one moment.
If you read the article, it states that the ask.com site is already using the tech they are planning to roll out tomorrow on teoma.com.
To test it, I did a search for something I'm actually looking for right now:
"italian hand painted ceramics" for my friend's wedding present.
Comparing the results from ask and google, it seems to me that ask actually provides higher-quality results (for this search at least).
This is a real change, since I've until now thought that ask jeeves was a company with really bad tech (I had several meetings with their founder and 'chief scientist' and other lead team members back in the day and found them completely clueless. No, really, you cannot imagine how clueless... AND they were NT based!), and I was always shocked at how successful they managed to be.
Now it looks like they've purchased something that really works.
Rather reminds me of when Macromedia looked like they were about to go bust (no one cared about Director any more) and they managed to purchase Flash...
The new Delta uses a novel technique called friction stir welding. They weld the tanks and fuselage using this method, and also weld the tanks TO the fuselage this way.
Friction stir welding uses a spinning mandrel's friction to heat the materials to be welded, and can make lighter-weight products because no extra thickness in the weld area is required.
I've tried to use that Windows 2000 boot-off-the-CD repair utility and it has consistently failed to repair any problems I've had.
To fix problems, I've had to boot from a floppy... but wait... no generic floppy boot is possible with W2K. To get a boot disk that would work, so I could get into DOS, so I could fix the problems, I had to download one from here.
Being able to boot off a floppy can be really handy sometimes.
Nice to see an old-timer get a little coverage on/., but he really covers no new ground in that short article.
The major objections then, as now, are:
- What happens if fission powered rockets crash? Instant nuclear disaster, unless the containment vessel holds (and it might, but the public will not be convinced it would).
- Other countries fears that fission powererd rockets are actually orbiting nuclear weapons, able to be dropped on them at will. And again, even if they weren't bombs, orbiting fission rockets would be nuclear weapons: all you have to do is build the containment vessel so it can be blown apart on impact via conventional explosives, leaving a cloud of contamination.
I don't predict these space nukes are coming any time soon. Better to invest in laser propultion and linear magnetic launchers.
This is slightly off the topic of whether ISPs are to blame, but on the topic of Morpheus and their legal defenses:
Morpheus is down at the moment. When you try to connect, an error box pops up saying. "Your version of Morpheus is too old to connect to the network. Please download a new version at www.musiccity.com."
This is apparently a programming glitch caused overnight by developers -- there's no new version. It is interesting, however, because one of MusicCity's main defenses against being shut down was that they can't turn off the clients because they're fully distributed and aren't under central control.
This proves otherwise. I predict a court order will follow shortly and Morpheus will be gone.
The last major code Gates wrote (so I've read) was the software for the Radio Shack portable Tandy TRS-100 (which had a rather long battery life, built-in modem, and was widely used by journalists in its day).
Gates' claim to being able to write tight code is not without support: he did, after all, write much of MicroSoft's original code, which were BASIC interpreters that ran on systems with very very little RAM.
In the USA, the law is "first to invent" not "first to file".
This means that if you invent something, but don't file until after someone else does, and your invention date is prior to the invention date of the first filer, and you can prove it (with lab notebooks, witnesses, etc.), you win.
There are limitations on this -- you can't have publicly disclosed the invention more than one year before filing, for example, nor can you invent something and sit on it indefinitely without filing unless you are "actively developing" it.
In other countries, "first to file" is typically the rule.
(note, I am not a lawyer, so don't rely on this and sue me later!)
Here's a FAQ from the Ultra Wideband Working Group.
It's not clear that it will be allowed to be deployed widely, since it may in fact interfere with the spectrum allocated for other uses. As the U.S. Governmetn's Ultrawideband (UWB) Signal Characterization Project says:
Many claims have been made that UWB communication transmitters can effectively share spectrum with existing users. Some of these claims have not been independently verified.
Does anyone remember Woz's last failed startup (at least the last one I heard about), which was also making wireless devices... these were big, complicated programmable remote controls.
The company was called CL9... you can read about it here in google's cache (since his site is slashdotted at the moment).
The devices and company were a complete failure as I recall... I don't think he's done any notably successful product since the Apple ][, so I don't hold out high hopes for this new venture either.
I am writing to give my comments on the Microsoft antitrust settlement.
I believe this settlement is counter to the interests of the American public, deleterious to the American economy, and not adequate given the findings of fact in the trial.
Microsoft's anti-competitive practices are counter to the law and spirit of our free-enterprise system. These practices inhibit competition, reduce innovation, and thereby decrease employment and productivity in our nation.
Microsoft's monopolistic practices cause the public to bear increased costs and deny them the products of the innovation which would otherwise be stimulated through competition.
The finding of fact which confirmed that Microsoft is a monopoly requires strict measures which address not only the practices they have engaged in in the past, but which also prevent them from engaging in other monopolistic practices in the future.
It is my belief that a very strong set of strictures must be placed on convicted monopolists to insure that they are unable to continue their illegal activities. I do not think that the proposed settlement is strong enough to serve this function.
Slashdot Mirror
Apparently, the taxpayers are paying the salery of a government employee who is 'loaned' to DEKA to make suggestions about the segway.
Why are we subsidising them? I don't want my tax money going to Dean Kamen.
From the WP article:
Segway asked the CPSC to review the scooter, and the agency suggested that the handlebars, which were turned up, be reversed so they wouldn't catch the straps of women's purses. It also urged Segway to enclose the wheels so toes and fingers couldn't be caught in the spokes. Both were done.
Ronald Medford, the staff member who made these suggestions, has taken a government-approved sabbatical to work for Kamen's firm, DEKA Research & Development Corp., which created Segway. Medford is the "in-house critic and adviser, having nothing to do with sales and marketing, but only telling us what to do to make products safe," said Gary Bridge, Segway's senior vice president of marketing.
To avoid conflict of interest, Bridge said, the government continues to pay Medford's salary ($138,200 a year) and Medford has promised to recuse himself from any product decisions involving DEKA and Segway when he returns to the CPSC later this year.
NYPOST.COM Business:
NYC HALTS NEW SCOOTER By DOUGLAS WIGHT and FRANKIE ENDOZIEN
Tue Dec 4 09:41:06 2001
Matt Burns, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, said: "From my understanding, it is designed for sidewalk use, and that would be a violation of vehicular traffic law since you cannot have motorized vehicles on the sidewalk."
Anyone caught using a Segway on the sidewalk would be ticketed, he said.
Did anyone notice that all the disks they destroyed except two were Corel products? Mostly CorelDRAW.
Now I've used CorelDRAW and I must say it's painful to use. So I fully understand wanting to destroy it.
But remember, Corel was an early Linux supporter, so I wonder if we should support such elaborate (one might say obsessive) distructive impulses directed against them!
Back in 1995 I had some arguments... that is um... discussions (in Cannes at Milia) with Nicholas Negroponte and John Perry Barlow. Both Negroponte and Barlow believed that the Internet was an unstoppable force that would inevitably make countries like China become free.
My argument was that the Chinese and other repressive governments would be sure to set up national proxies with filtering that blocked out sites the government didn't want people to see and kept track of what people were accessing.
Both Negroponte and Barlow told me that was impossible and would never happen. They also pointed out that the TCP/IP is designed to route around obstacles.
Well, I've been proven right (so why am I not running Media Lab or flying around the world giving speeches?). China and other countries (Singapore, etc.) have in fact put in national proxies and are blocking thousands of sites, tracking people's usage, and putting people in jail.
On the other hand, I think that there is a hope that Barlow and Negroponte will eventually turn out to be right in the end, as hackers and other renegades put in alternative links via satellite and other means, which bypass these government blockades.
If enough of that happens, the blockades will come down, since they won't be useful any longer.
But I think there will be a long hard struggle befoe that happens.
This is an excellent approach! I am really thrilled to see someone coming up with a solution that allows the government all legitimate use while providing the tools to prevent overstepping. And partially funded by the justice department too!
The big problem with this is that even if it's implemented, since under the Patriot Act judges need not sign off on subpoenas, the FBI et al would still be able to get all they keys they want and still access all the data.
For this device to be useful, unfortunately, the law must be changed to require judicial oversight... and the judges must be trustworthy!
No troll: I do think computers in general can be quite addictive AND it's not just what I think.
Psychologists have written quite a number of popular articles on the problem as well as scholarly papers on treatment.
There's even a Center for Online and Internet Addiction which offers treatment... via email and chat (sounds perhaps counter-productive to me?)!
I troll you not!
I'm computer addicted, though I play no online games.
I don't think one can blame the game so much as the medium and what it allows one to do.
There's something very mesmerizing about the screen in general (look at all the TV addicts) and it gets even more compelling with interaction.
Are you addicted? Take this online test and see.
This page also contains some good information and links.
I am trying to wean myself of all but the most necessary computer use, but so far it's not going too well.
I thought of a system that would disconnect my internet connection except at certain hours (since that seems to be the biggest part of the problem), but I would probably just get around it if I wanted to. Or maybe not... could be a good start.
Anyone with any suggestions please reply!
C|Net may have removed Kazaa downloads, but their subsidiary ZDNet still has it available.
They include a link to the C|Net story which discusses the B3D spyware, so this is not just an oversight.
I was all ready to applaud C|Net's decision to pull Kazaa, but this makes me wonder.
What that article doesn't mention, and what people usually don't know when discussing 3G mobile is that the data rates quoted are PER CELL not PER USER (unless only one user per cell is active at a given moment).
This is the big lie of 3G mobile. In cities, it will never support the data rates they keep talking about because of the duty cycle: the number of users per cell at any one moment.
If you read the article, it states that the ask.com site is already using the tech they are planning to roll out tomorrow on teoma.com.
To test it, I did a search for something I'm actually looking for right now:
"italian hand painted ceramics"
for my friend's wedding present.
Comparing the results from ask and google, it seems to me that ask actually provides higher-quality results (for this search at least).
This is a real change, since I've until now thought that ask jeeves was a company with really bad tech (I had several meetings with their founder and 'chief scientist' and other lead team members back in the day and found them completely clueless. No, really, you cannot imagine how clueless... AND they were NT based!), and I was always shocked at how successful they managed to be.
Now it looks like they've purchased something that really works.
Rather reminds me of when Macromedia looked like they were about to go bust (no one cared about Director any more) and they managed to purchase Flash...
The new Delta uses a novel technique called friction stir welding. They weld the tanks and fuselage using this method, and also weld the tanks TO the fuselage this way.
Friction stir welding uses a spinning mandrel's friction to heat the materials to be welded, and can make lighter-weight products because no extra thickness in the weld area is required.
More information on the technique is here.
I've tried to use that Windows 2000 boot-off-the-CD repair utility and it has consistently failed to repair any problems I've had.
To fix problems, I've had to boot from a floppy... but wait... no generic floppy boot is possible with W2K. To get a boot disk that would work, so I could get into DOS, so I could fix the problems, I had to download one from here.
Being able to boot off a floppy can be really handy sometimes.
I did a some web searching and haven't found what exactly is implanted into Steve Mann's body.
Anyone know what sensors he has implanted?
Sounds odd...
Nice to see an old-timer get a little coverage on /., but he really covers no new ground in that short article.
The major objections then, as now, are:
- What happens if fission powered rockets crash? Instant nuclear disaster, unless the containment vessel holds (and it might, but the public will not be convinced it would).
- Other countries fears that fission powererd rockets are actually orbiting nuclear weapons, able to be dropped on them at will. And again, even if they weren't bombs, orbiting fission rockets would be nuclear weapons: all you have to do is build the containment vessel so it can be blown apart on impact via conventional explosives, leaving a cloud of contamination.
I don't predict these space nukes are coming any time soon. Better to invest in laser propultion and linear magnetic launchers.
This is slightly off the topic of whether ISPs are to blame, but on the topic of Morpheus and their legal defenses:
Morpheus is down at the moment. When you try to connect, an error box pops up saying. "Your version of Morpheus is too old to connect to the network. Please download a new version at www.musiccity.com."
This is apparently a programming glitch caused overnight by developers -- there's no new version. It is interesting, however, because one of MusicCity's main defenses against being shut down was that they can't turn off the clients because they're fully distributed and aren't under central control.
This proves otherwise. I predict a court order will follow shortly and Morpheus will be gone.
The last major code Gates wrote (so I've read) was the software for the Radio Shack portable Tandy TRS-100 (which had a rather long battery life, built-in modem, and was widely used by journalists in its day).
Gates' claim to being able to write tight code is not without support: he did, after all, write much of MicroSoft's original code, which were BASIC interpreters that ran on systems with very very little RAM.
Actually, that's not true.
In the USA, the law is "first to invent" not "first to file".
This means that if you invent something, but don't file until after someone else does, and your invention date is prior to the invention date of the first filer, and you can prove it (with lab notebooks, witnesses, etc.), you win.
There are limitations on this -- you can't have publicly disclosed the invention more than one year before filing, for example, nor can you invent something and sit on it indefinitely without filing unless you are "actively developing" it.
In other countries, "first to file" is typically the rule.
(note, I am not a lawyer, so don't rely on this and sue me later!)
Great... first replace all the proprietary operating systems with open source systems like Linux and FreeBSD. Run your ultra-expensive Oracle on that.
Then replace the proprietary Oracle with open source systems like Postgres and MySQL.
Now we're talking!
This is really nothing new.
The Cyberlink Interface: Hands Free Brain-Body Actuated Control for Augmentation and Enhancement of Human Computer Interaction(produced in 1999), and their website
And an article from last year about a similar device.
Why does it look as if it's a cloud with a single light source shining from the upper right, creating shadows and highlights?
Is there a light source there, or is it an artifact of their image processing or something else?
Here's a FAQ from the Ultra Wideband Working Group.
It's not clear that it will be allowed to be deployed widely, since it may in fact interfere with the spectrum allocated for other uses. As the U.S. Governmetn's Ultrawideband (UWB) Signal Characterization Project says:
Many claims have been made that UWB communication transmitters can effectively share spectrum with existing users. Some of these claims have not been independently verified.
We'll have to wait and see...
Does anyone remember Woz's last failed startup (at least the last one I heard about), which was also making wireless devices... these were big, complicated programmable remote controls.
The company was called CL9... you can read about it here in google's cache (since his site is slashdotted at the moment).
The devices and company were a complete failure as I recall... I don't think he's done any notably successful product since the Apple ][, so I don't hold out high hopes for this new venture either.
or maybe it's just a book review.
nevermind. I need to go to sleep.
Am I the only one who thinks this is rather transparent marketing on the part of slashdot?
Notice the link to Fatbrain.com... it has a "from" parameter, which almost certainly gives slashdot a kickback for any purchases.
Without that link, I still might suspect product placement, but with it this article counts mainly as an advertisement, it seems.
(it was intended to strike a conservative note)
Dear Sirs:
I am writing to give my comments on the Microsoft antitrust settlement.
I believe this settlement is counter to the interests of the American public, deleterious to the American economy, and not adequate given the findings of fact in the trial.
Microsoft's anti-competitive practices are counter to the law and spirit of our free-enterprise system. These practices inhibit competition, reduce innovation, and thereby decrease employment and productivity in our nation.
Microsoft's monopolistic practices cause the public to bear increased costs and deny them the products of the innovation which would otherwise be stimulated through competition.
The finding of fact which confirmed that Microsoft is a monopoly requires strict measures which address not only the practices they have engaged in in the past, but which also prevent them from engaging in other monopolistic practices in the future.
It is my belief that a very strong set of strictures must be placed on convicted monopolists to insure that they are unable to continue their illegal activities. I do not think that the proposed settlement is strong enough to serve this function.