" Laws like the DMCA that limit the flow of information will inevitably make it harder to find out about certain types of misbehavior."
Maybe we should bring this to the attention of the Dep. of Homeland Security. If they don't like things like strong encryption, how could they possibly want to make it illegal to break even weak encryption. Or is there an excemption for law enforcement with regard to circumvention.
In any case, it would be a fun battle. The MPAA and RIAA vs. Homeland Security. That I'd watch on pay-per-view!
Not quite so true when it comes to portables. One of the "engineering" trade-offs and one of the things that holds the PPC back (IMO) is that it is designed, by Motorola, to be an embedded processor. That means power consumption, heat production and size are important considerations. The trade-off is raw speed.
So, getting back to portables, a top end PPC does quite well in a portable. Not so a top end AMD or Intel processor.
There's more to a computer than just the CPU so there's a lot more that's different between a Mac and a PC from a hardware standpoint.
Having said that, Apple could still "replace" the PPC with a 386 variant, keeping the rest of the system the same (or as close to the same as they can). They've invested a lot in the "supporting" hardware.
IOW, OS X could be made to run on a 386 variant, but that doesn't mean it will run on any "generic" PC.
If I'm using your basic $10 set of earphones or the speakers many people have connected to their computer (me included), the mp3's are indistinguishable from the original (for the most part).
If I'm using my home audio system with decent speakers or good headphones, there's a world of difference.
So I have mp3's on my computer for convenience (not the least of which is keeping the CD drive free for other things) and use the CDs for everything else.
Everyone seems to forget that Jobs is also the CEO of Pixar (makers of Monsters, Inc,, Toy Story, A Bug's Life...).
I still remember about a year ago the NYT had a big Tech vs. the Entertainment Industry with a picture of Eisner (Disney CEO) representing the Entertainment industry, Jobs representing the tech industry (hiliting Apple's Rip, Mix, Burn campaign) and a screen shot of Monster's Inc. representing "pirated" works. Although the article stated Monster's Inc. was created by Pixar (distributed by Disney), the reporter seemed completely unaware of Job's other job. It would have added a whole new twist to the significance of the "facts".
That made me think of an educational seminar my wife went to and was telling me about just a couple days ago. A big part of it was how to deal with students who are having problems. From the seminar, one of the worst aggravating factors for some of these students is that the "negatives" are always being reported and that's what everyone focuses on. This can often compound the problem if the opposite is not true (some focus on the "positives").
So, IMO, it would be just as important for parents to know about the good things (which rarely seems to happen). If a student in struggling in some area, works hard and improves, shouldn't the parents be told about that too?
Its the whole carrot vs. stick, positive vs. negative reinvorcement thing.
I think that everyone (teachers, parents, studnts) needs to realise that each student has ways that they work best, and that forcing everyone to take the same path just produces a bunch of learned idiots.
I think most people (particularly teachers) realize this. Unfortunately teachers are generally constrained in how they teach. How many teachers are given the opportunity to sit down one-on-one or in small groups to teach? They aren't, so they're forced to pick the one or two methods that are most likely to get the point across to the greatest percentage of students.
I remember my mother (a teacher for more than 40 yrs) telling me that if she could just sit down with a students one-on-one for 30-60 minutes a day, she could cover everything they would learn in the entire day in school.
IOW, the current educational system is optimized to allow a teacher to impart as much knowlede as possible in the shortest amount of time, not to allow the student to learn as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.
I tell parents that progress reports are useless as a diagnostic tool. There are too many unknowns as to how a mid-term grade is derived
Then you don't know how to do a progress report. Maybe yours are useless, but a well-done one is not. If, by halfway through a given term you can't give parents some kind of idea of how well their child is doing, something's wrong.
If you grade homework and exams in such a way that it isn't an indication of a student's comprehension of the material, there's something wrong.
Your arguments aren't making any kind of sense to me.
You make it sound like the system you're implementing simply gives a grade and nothing else. My understanding of the system being discussed in the article is that it does tell parents wether or not their child is turning in assignments, how they're doing on assignments and how they are doing on individual tests. At my kids' school, they have to get their graded chapter tests and "major" projects signed by a parent and return them to get credit. I, like any parent, understand any single grade doesn't determine the final grade, but it lets me know how they're doing and if they need more help with something.
I understand why you can't give a grade to 3 significant figures at midterm, but you darn well should be able to give it to one. Yes, that can easily change by the end of the term, but its not likely unless the parent has some idea of what's going on.
Why should the parent keep a 24/7 monitoring system on their son or daughter
You're right, but...
Everyone is acting like parents are forced to use it every day. Its a tool available to use as needed. Beats trying to get in contact with some teachers.
It's a mechanism for allowing teachers to communicate with parents. That's a good thing (if its secure, which this isn't).
nless PDA's can come out with some amazing holographic screens, roll up LED's, or a projection monitor...PDA's will remain mostly as schedulars and note takers.
Personally, I'm still waiting for laptops that use the LED displays built into a pair of glasses/goggles.
Especially since we haven't even hit the PC era yet.
After all, my independent studies show that there continue to be more pencils sold worldwide than computers, so we're obviously still in the Pre-PC era.
Criminal = in breach of the criminal law. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the person in the aforementioned case is being sued for copyright infringement, a breach of civil law? Ergo, not criminal.
Sheesh! I was taught that if you break the law, you're a criminal. Its nice to know if you're only a criminal if you break a criminal law.
So what do you call someone who's in breach of a civil law? A civilal?
Until someone comes up with something better, this luddite is still calling them criminals.
If books in libraries were distributed via network or if the libraries also offered community WiFi, wouldn't that be more useful, less costly?
No.
First, it would only serve the people who already had computers. Or would you have the libraries lend out computers for people to take home and read books? Or are people who can't afford computers to be required to do all their reading during library hours, at the library, on a computer furnished by the library?
Second, bandwidth isn't cheap and is a recurrent cost. Keep in mind libraries not only have books, they have music and video as well. (note: if you want to check out a music CD, its usually faster and more reliable to go to the local public library and actually check it out than to try to do the same via peer-to-peer networking).
Third, how are you going to handle royalties and payments? Libraries can loan out the books/CDs/videos based on the fact that they have purchased them. Your method puts all libraries at the mercy of the publisher's licensing terms.
In short, your view is pie-in-the-sky. Maybe some day, but not any time soon.
Beware/.ers! You scream when your electronic "rights" of privacy are violated but seem far too quick to sacrifice the rights of those who don't fit in your clique of 'libraries are old school, the web is the only way'
Nah! Nobody here would protest if ISPs were required to turn over personal records (including email records and the likes) to the FBI under similar circumstances, would they?
It doesn't even have to get you arrested. For some people it would be enough of a deterrent just to be taken "down-town" for questioning, or having the FBI come and question you while you're at work, or having a squad car parked outside your house while you're being questioned at home....
Slashdot Mirror
Prof. Felton says:
" Laws like the DMCA that limit the flow of information will inevitably make it harder to find out about certain types of misbehavior."
Maybe we should bring this to the attention of the Dep. of Homeland Security. If they don't like things like strong encryption, how could they possibly want to make it illegal to break even weak encryption. Or is there an excemption for law enforcement with regard to circumvention.
In any case, it would be a fun battle. The MPAA and RIAA vs. Homeland Security. That I'd watch on pay-per-view!
The dogs actually have an advantage because we have had more time to weed out the really bad mistakes.
Then why do poodles still exist?
Not quite so true when it comes to portables. One of the "engineering" trade-offs and one of the things that holds the PPC back (IMO) is that it is designed, by Motorola, to be an embedded processor. That means power consumption, heat production and size are important considerations. The trade-off is raw speed.
So, getting back to portables, a top end PPC does quite well in a portable. Not so a top end AMD or Intel processor.
Just some food for thought.
Or to get even closer, run Darwin on a i386 system.
Just a couple points to ponder.
There's more to a computer than just the CPU so there's a lot more that's different between a Mac and a PC from a hardware standpoint.
Having said that, Apple could still "replace" the PPC with a 386 variant, keeping the rest of the system the same (or as close to the same as they can). They've invested a lot in the "supporting" hardware.
IOW, OS X could be made to run on a 386 variant, but that doesn't mean it will run on any "generic" PC.
Please stop with this ...mp3 == digitial == exactly the same... nonsense.
Next you're going to tell me that 600 MB copy of LotR I downloaded isn't just as good as the original DVD!
BTW, I don't understand why everyone raved about the cinematography in LotR. It looks pretty crappy to me.
A lot of that depends on how you're listening.
If I'm using your basic $10 set of earphones or the speakers many people have connected to their computer (me included), the mp3's are indistinguishable from the original (for the most part).
If I'm using my home audio system with decent speakers or good headphones, there's a world of difference.
So I have mp3's on my computer for convenience (not the least of which is keeping the CD drive free for other things) and use the CDs for everything else.
If you look hard, you'll see that Apple's stock movement has been a terrible indicator of the wisdom of their dealings.
Too true. Just watch, if this is just a rumor, Apple's stock will drop again when its reported they aren't buying Universal.
Just out of curiosity, is it possible Apple Corps, Ltd is part of Universal Music?
Whatever happened to just plain not breaking the law?
Sorry, forgot where I was there for a minute.
I don't see it as a problem. Jobs will continue his role as the "benevolent dictator", setting the overall strategy for the company as a whole.
Does Sony really have a "key" figure like that with the kind of clout within the company that Jobs weilds?
Everyone seems to forget that Jobs is also the CEO of Pixar (makers of Monsters, Inc,, Toy Story, A Bug's Life...).
I still remember about a year ago the NYT had a big Tech vs. the Entertainment Industry with a picture of Eisner (Disney CEO) representing the Entertainment industry, Jobs representing the tech industry (hiliting Apple's Rip, Mix, Burn campaign) and a screen shot of Monster's Inc. representing "pirated" works. Although the article stated Monster's Inc. was created by Pixar (distributed by Disney), the reporter seemed completely unaware of Job's other job. It would have added a whole new twist to the significance of the "facts".
You're right. I should have changed that part, my apologies to pongoOOO.
It still doesn't make sense to me, and that's what I should have said.
That made me think of an educational seminar my wife went to and was telling me about just a couple days ago. A big part of it was how to deal with students who are having problems. From the seminar, one of the worst aggravating factors for some of these students is that the "negatives" are always being reported and that's what everyone focuses on. This can often compound the problem if the opposite is not true (some focus on the "positives").
So, IMO, it would be just as important for parents to know about the good things (which rarely seems to happen). If a student in struggling in some area, works hard and improves, shouldn't the parents be told about that too?
Its the whole carrot vs. stick, positive vs. negative reinvorcement thing.
Just some food for thought.
I think that everyone (teachers, parents, studnts) needs to realise that each student has ways that they work best, and that forcing everyone to take the same path just produces a bunch of learned idiots.
I think most people (particularly teachers) realize this. Unfortunately teachers are generally constrained in how they teach. How many teachers are given the opportunity to sit down one-on-one or in small groups to teach? They aren't, so they're forced to pick the one or two methods that are most likely to get the point across to the greatest percentage of students.
I remember my mother (a teacher for more than 40 yrs) telling me that if she could just sit down with a students one-on-one for 30-60 minutes a day, she could cover everything they would learn in the entire day in school.
IOW, the current educational system is optimized to allow a teacher to impart as much knowlede as possible in the shortest amount of time, not to allow the student to learn as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.
I tell parents that progress reports are useless as a diagnostic tool. There are too many unknowns as to how a mid-term grade is derived
Then you don't know how to do a progress report. Maybe yours are useless, but a well-done one is not. If, by halfway through a given term you can't give parents some kind of idea of how well their child is doing, something's wrong.
If you grade homework and exams in such a way that it isn't an indication of a student's comprehension of the material, there's something wrong.
Your arguments aren't making any kind of sense to me.
You make it sound like the system you're implementing simply gives a grade and nothing else. My understanding of the system being discussed in the article is that it does tell parents wether or not their child is turning in assignments, how they're doing on assignments and how they are doing on individual tests. At my kids' school, they have to get their graded chapter tests and "major" projects signed by a parent and return them to get credit. I, like any parent, understand any single grade doesn't determine the final grade, but it lets me know how they're doing and if they need more help with something.
I understand why you can't give a grade to 3 significant figures at midterm, but you darn well should be able to give it to one. Yes, that can easily change by the end of the term, but its not likely unless the parent has some idea of what's going on.
Why should the parent keep a 24/7 monitoring system on their son or daughter
You're right, but...
Everyone is acting like parents are forced to use it every day. Its a tool available to use as needed. Beats trying to get in contact with some teachers.
It's a mechanism for allowing teachers to communicate with parents. That's a good thing (if its secure, which this isn't).
Yeah! That way the government can keep proper track of what those poor folks are doing (they could turn into terrorists, you know)!
Oops. Wrong thread...
Of course we always assume everyone has easy access to a public library (unfortunately not true at all).
nless PDA's can come out with some amazing holographic screens, roll up LED's, or a projection monitor...PDA's will remain mostly as schedulars and note takers.
Personally, I'm still waiting for laptops that use the LED displays built into a pair of glasses/goggles.
Especially since we haven't even hit the PC era yet.
After all, my independent studies show that there continue to be more pencils sold worldwide than computers, so we're obviously still in the Pre-PC era.
Criminal = in breach of the criminal law. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the person in the aforementioned case is being sued for copyright infringement, a breach of civil law? Ergo, not criminal.
Sheesh! I was taught that if you break the law, you're a criminal. Its nice to know if you're only a criminal if you break a criminal law.
So what do you call someone who's in breach of a civil law? A civilal?
Until someone comes up with something better, this luddite is still calling them criminals.
If books in libraries were distributed via network or if the libraries also offered community WiFi, wouldn't that be more useful, less costly?
No.
First, it would only serve the people who already had computers. Or would you have the libraries lend out computers for people to take home and read books? Or are people who can't afford computers to be required to do all their reading during library hours, at the library, on a computer furnished by the library?
Second, bandwidth isn't cheap and is a recurrent cost. Keep in mind libraries not only have books, they have music and video as well. (note: if you want to check out a music CD, its usually faster and more reliable to go to the local public library and actually check it out than to try to do the same via peer-to-peer networking).
Third, how are you going to handle royalties and payments? Libraries can loan out the books/CDs/videos based on the fact that they have purchased them. Your method puts all libraries at the mercy of the publisher's licensing terms.
In short, your view is pie-in-the-sky. Maybe some day, but not any time soon.
Beware /.ers! You scream when your electronic "rights" of privacy are violated but seem far too quick to sacrifice the rights of those who don't fit in your clique of 'libraries are old school, the web is the only way'
Nah! Nobody here would protest if ISPs were required to turn over personal records (including email records and the likes) to the FBI under similar circumstances, would they?
It doesn't even have to get you arrested. For some people it would be enough of a deterrent just to be taken "down-town" for questioning, or having the FBI come and question you while you're at work, or having a squad car parked outside your house while you're being questioned at home....
It has never been, nor ever will, nor ever should be OK to yell "Fire" in a crowded movie house, etc.
Except of course if the movie house really is on fire.
Or are you expected to just sneak out quietly and let everyone else figure it out on their own or burn?
Yeah, I know. Just being a PITA, but think about the analogy.