Take Action Against the FCC (OT)
on
LOTR The Musical!
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate disregard for the views and opinions of the American people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at: (202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at: http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate disregard for the views and opinions of the American people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at: (202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at: http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate disregard for the views and opinions of the American people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at: (202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at: http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate disregard for the views and opinions of the American people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at: (202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at: http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
Take Action Against the FCC (OT)
on
A Tour of Pixar
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate disregard for the views and opinions of the American people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at: (202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at: http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate disregard for the views and opinions of the American people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at: (202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at: http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate disregard for the views and opinions of the American people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at: (202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at: http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
The days of sitting back and watching profits pour in by setting your prices way to high and expecting people won't notice...
Mom and Pop stores rarely set their prices sky high because they want to reap mega profits. They set those prices in order to make any profit at all. Those goods in their stores come from wholesalers, who give discounts based on volume. The reason an online store can give you the consumer a dirt bottom price is because they recieved the item at a cost that a m&p would hardly ever see.
For non specialized items i always check my local retailers first before jumping directly online. This serves a few purposes. One, especially in regards to computers, you can meet people in the area who are involved in the industry, and networking never hurts, even at the inflated cost of a few bucks per item. Two, it supports your local economy, which may sound far fetched but is more important than you may think. Also, IME, the more often you go to a m&p shop for your smaller needs, the more willing they are to give you a discount on larger ticket items, etc.
For a crowd that complains about mega-corporations, this is a fantasic way to act locally in support of your ideals.
The president nominates justices for the supreme court. Do you see him nominating a leftist to something which will probably be his longest lasting legacy, the stacking of the supreme court?
No matter the grassroots campaign, it might raise some notice, but you are falling on deaf (<cheap obvious joke>okay, and dumb </cheap obvious joke>) ears.
The fact is that even if the Supreme Court agrees with the idea that unlimited extension means unlimited time, it must turn to Congress to police itself and enact a "limit on limits" for copyright extension (unless, of course, there is a constituional ammendmant in the works, which i dont see happening in this climate).
However, once the matter goes back to Congress, we are presented with the same problem yet again. Congress now can pass a placation act which will satisfy the Supreme Courts demand, and then in the future extend the "limit on limits". Its a giant loophole whereas they are not actually extending the limits themselves, merely the amount of times the limits can be extended. IANAL, but there is a term for this kind of layered system of laws.
In such a case another lawsuit may be brought, but what will the climate of the Supreme Court be at that point, after another x amount of years of corporate lobbying (or, for the positive thinking, of lobbying for the public domain)? A corporation thinking in the long term is probably not worried at all.
Fact is, if i need money, then liscense it to a company who will do the dirty work for me and live off the proceeds. If it is, in fact, a brilliant discovery, you should fight for provisions which will ensure some amount of open review.
Not everyone who comes up with such a proven idea is a software developer, and they may not be able to live off of creating cutting edge software or maintaining said software for a living. The bazaar method doesn't apply to theory.
>I think the problem is that the government and >various commercial entities keep changing/adding >to the statutes in ways that make it easier to "lawfully" track down your identity. >Even if it's "legal" to beat an ISP owner with a >brick until he gives the IP logs for last Tuesday, >it goes against the original intent.
For better or worse in our system of laws, the "original intent" of a law is meaningless once it has been amended or superceded by later precendents or legislation. Our laws change with the times and personalities/goals of those in a position of power, regardless of what the originators intended. It is a beatuy of our legal system that we are able to thus change with the times. This does not always work out to everyone's favor of course (this case in point). If you disagree, that is why we have been given democratic process to help influence legislators who can change the changes to the changes of the orignal law.
Just think, the original U.S. Constitution had provisions for slaves built in. That was changed with the times. If the document which defines our very government can change with public perception, then so can laws defending our "internet freedom".
There are already organizations that will safely recycle (or even better, refurbish for lower incomes) your old computers (http://www.accrc.org comes to mind for those in cali, us).
There are organizations which will also take your old cellphones. Earth911 (http://www.earth911.org) will use it as a free emergency phone, and the rbrc will take the batteries (http://www.rbrc.org/consumer/).
IMHO, the idea of sending these used cellphones to underprivleged nations doesn't wash, unless you are willing to include some infrastructure with them:)
IMHO, the greatest feature of Lindows is Click-N-Run. In my experience of introducing users, even fellow geeks, to linux, the #1 barrier of entry was "how do I isntall software x, y, z". Even after explaining red hat's rpm and apt-get (as well as methods via console), they still miss the convienence of just double clicking an installer and having the work done for them.
However, the prices they are planning on charging for this may prove to be the thing that makes Lindows yet another irrelevant attempt for linux to break into the mainstream desktop market. According to the article IIRC, they are planning on up'ing the price to $130 per year, albeit for seemingly unlimited use. This is going to be a turn off to the Linux/Lindows newbie (and Microsoft convert), who is going to essentially say "i have to pay $130 for just being able to install software easily?!?"
While this may seem like a gotcha, remember the fact that this ad push isn't intended to make people switch from apache to iis, it is intended for high server performing data crunching.
If anything, the site running on FreeBSD could be spun as Microsoft knowing the advantages of unices, having used the variants themselves, and still believing their high-end servers are better for more serious tasks.
1. VNC. I use this for some of the dev servers at work and it is reliable, and has greater stability than option #2.
2. PCAnywhere. Good, but expensive (as opposed to vnc, which is free). Also, it is a pain in the ass to upgrade this along with windows, if that is your os of choosing.
3. Last windows option i'll mention is Remote Desktop. You'll need a server to store the profiles, but this will probably take care of most of your needs, assuming you keep your most important apps server side.
I know these are windows centric, but that is my current platform. Hope it helps a little.
Aside from the obvious ease of installation compared with wiring (but increasing privacy security concerns, i suppose), this would seem like a great place to lobby for wide scale rollout of wirless to the masses, especially if they want to reach that "every nook and cranny" goal".
Furthermore, it would be a great way to show how goverment funding could help advance projects like www.nycwireless.org, which are trying to do things on their own and languishing somewhat.
Having been to a number of these in my local area (nyc), I can say it is an excellent place to pick up hardcore geek toys that you would not otherwise be able to afford (cheap servers anyone?).
But for Be, there might be an added sentimental value to items. Pick up the box that you once downloaded your favorite os from, that type of thing.
Either way, its a sad day that we have to witness a Be firesale.
This is old hat, however, it makes perfect sense with the moves ms has been making lately.
First they break into the consumer electronics biz with the Xbox, and develop a loyal following. Next, they offer online services with your xbox games (and other entertainment features) via broadband.
Then, with the shares they just dumped into the AT&T cable deal, they have a hand in cable content delivery, as well as satelite content delivery (cant remeber if its echostar or dtv that they have invested in). Never mind the fact that they have something like 36 billion (with a b) cash in the bank to invest in further content mediums and conduits.
Once they have all the pieces in place, voila, unleash this hardware on the public, and possibly an upgrade offer for owners of current xbox's..Net provides the framework for content delivery and tracking, also giving developers a ready platform for producing apps.
Interesting strategy, and again proving Gates's intelligence in market entrance for his products.
Why don't we clean up our authorities before we give them broad new powers? Simple answer.
The fact is that perfect authorities who are "untouchable" and never err will never exist in the world due to the fact that they are products of an imperfect society. Do we expect all people everywhere to be never wrong in their judgement of others? Then how can we expect the few that we give power to to be any better than the collective world that they come from?
Of course, this could be seen as the beginnings of an anarchistic rant, but just understand, the key is in oversight and accountability, not constant cleansing of the people we entrust with the application of our rights.
I'm sure others will notice this, but how exactly does the installation of the sniffer take place? Since there is no warrant, and only a court order, do the authorities have the legal backing to "break and enter" a computer to install the sniffer? Is a computer awarded the same rights as a physical place (i.e. apt, home, etc...)?.
Also, if the sniffer is sent as a trojan'd email or program, could this lead to entrapment defenses based on the enticement used in the delivery method?
Besides the obvious "I want one" factor, think if the following were incorporated into this:
1) Cable/SatTV decoding
2) mp3/mpeg/avi/etc. player
3) tivo capabilities
what you basically have is an inexpensive all in wonder unit. now i dont know the true specs of a gamecube, but if you could drop a hackable os onto it, you already have a media reader and storage capabilities (options) built in.
people with a little expertise should start taking advantage of the big opportunities game companies are dumping into their laps.
Stretching a bit here (and of course playing the devil's advocate), but are we seeing perhaps a result of how tampering with the natural process can affect us adversely?
If we assume cancer is a naturally occuring phenomena (aside from cases caused by smoking, life habits, environment, etc..) against which we defend ourselves, is it not also possible that nature has found a way to defend ITSELF by hastening the death of the organism which is attacking it?
That article seemed mostly a puff piece, and fairly short on technical detail (anyone do any digging?). Not that I doubt Cisco's ability to discover methods of doing this, but it also seems a pr piece for investors maybe?
Anyway, it seems like a good idea, however, is there another block here that can be achieved by a company (ie the bells last mile influence on dsl)? Broadband to the masses ideas seem to come and go with the wind lately, and most seem never to pan out.
Considering that most non-geek/tech people barely see the need for palm pilots, does anybody really see wearable computing becoming anything more than a niche curiosity item in the forseeable future?
Also, will there be some sort of backlash against technology once it is integrated literally into the fabric of our lives? (pardon the pun)
Slashdot Mirror
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media
consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally
arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate
disregard for the views and opinions of the American
people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of
the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's
only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a
bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time
to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow
time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call
him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such
massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at:
(202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at:
http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media
consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally
arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate
disregard for the views and opinions of the American
people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of
the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's
only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a
bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time
to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow
time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call
him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such
massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at:
(202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at:
http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media
consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally
arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate
disregard for the views and opinions of the American
people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of
the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's
only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a
bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time
to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow
time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call
him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such
massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at:
(202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at:
http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media
consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally
arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate
disregard for the views and opinions of the American
people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of
the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's
only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a
bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time
to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow
time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call
him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such
massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at:
(202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at:
http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media
consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally
arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate
disregard for the views and opinions of the American
people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of
the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's
only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a
bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time
to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow
time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call
him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such
massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at:
(202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at:
http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media
consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally
arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate
disregard for the views and opinions of the American
people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of
the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's
only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a
bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time
to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow
time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call
him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such
massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at:
(202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at:
http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
This Monday, FCC Chair Michael Powell will hold his vote on media
consolidation. There's nothing special about that date -- it's totally
arbitrary. The vote will conclude a process which has shown deliberate
disregard for the views and opinions of the American
people. Powell has refused to even release the actual language of
the rule change -- it won't be known until after the vote. And he's
only held a single meeting to hear the views of the public. Even when a
bipartisan group of Senators requested that he give Congress some time
to discuss the impact of this change, Powell brushed them off.
Chairman Powell still has the power to delay the rule change and allow
time to have a democratic debate about its consequences. Please call
him today and ask him to allow a real public debate on an issue of such
massive importance.
You can reach Powell's office at:
(202) 418-1000
Once you've made your call, please let us know at:
http://moveon.org/fcccall.html
The days of sitting back and watching profits pour in by setting your prices way to high and expecting people won't notice...
Mom and Pop stores rarely set their prices sky high because they want to reap mega profits. They set those prices in order to make any profit at all. Those goods in their stores come from wholesalers, who give discounts based on volume. The reason an online store can give you the consumer a dirt bottom price is because they recieved the item at a cost that a m&p would hardly ever see.
For non specialized items i always check my local retailers first before jumping directly online. This serves a few purposes. One, especially in regards to computers, you can meet people in the area who are involved in the industry, and networking never hurts, even at the inflated cost of a few bucks per item. Two, it supports your local economy, which may sound far fetched but is more important than you may think. Also, IME, the more often you go to a m&p shop for your smaller needs, the more willing they are to give you a discount on larger ticket items, etc.
For a crowd that complains about mega-corporations, this is a fantasic way to act locally in support of your ideals.
The president nominates justices for the supreme court. Do you see him nominating a leftist to something which will probably be his longest lasting legacy, the stacking of the supreme court?
No matter the grassroots campaign, it might raise some notice, but you are falling on deaf (<cheap obvious joke>okay, and dumb </cheap obvious joke>) ears.
The fact is that even if the Supreme Court agrees with the idea that unlimited extension means unlimited time, it must turn to Congress to police itself and enact a "limit on limits" for copyright extension (unless, of course, there is a constituional ammendmant in the works, which i dont see happening in this climate).
However, once the matter goes back to Congress, we are presented with the same problem yet again. Congress now can pass a placation act which will satisfy the Supreme Courts demand, and then in the future extend the "limit on limits". Its a giant loophole whereas they are not actually extending the limits themselves, merely the amount of times the limits can be extended. IANAL, but there is a term for this kind of layered system of laws.
In such a case another lawsuit may be brought, but what will the climate of the Supreme Court be at that point, after another x amount of years of corporate lobbying (or, for the positive thinking, of lobbying for the public domain)? A corporation thinking in the long term is probably not worried at all.
Fact is, if i need money, then liscense it to a company who will do the dirty work for me and live off the proceeds. If it is, in fact, a brilliant discovery, you should fight for provisions which will ensure some amount of open review.
Not everyone who comes up with such a proven idea is a software developer, and they may not be able to live off of creating cutting edge software or maintaining said software for a living. The bazaar method doesn't apply to theory.
>I think the problem is that the government and >various commercial entities keep changing/adding >to the statutes in ways that make it easier to "lawfully" track down your identity.
>Even if it's "legal" to beat an ISP owner with a >brick until he gives the IP logs for last Tuesday, >it goes against the original intent.
For better or worse in our system of laws, the "original intent" of a law is meaningless once it has been amended or superceded by later precendents or legislation. Our laws change with the times and personalities/goals of those in a position of power, regardless of what the originators intended.
It is a beatuy of our legal system that we are able to thus change with the times. This does not always work out to everyone's favor of course (this case in point). If you disagree, that is why we have been given democratic process to help influence legislators who can change the changes to the changes of the orignal law.
Just think, the original U.S. Constitution had provisions for slaves built in. That was changed with the times. If the document which defines our very government can change with public perception, then so can laws defending our "internet freedom".
There are already organizations that will safely recycle (or even better, refurbish for lower incomes) your old computers (http://www.accrc.org comes to mind for those in cali, us).
There are organizations which will also take your old cellphones. Earth911 (http://www.earth911.org) will use it as a free emergency phone, and the rbrc will take the batteries (http://www.rbrc.org/consumer/).
IMHO, the idea of sending these used cellphones to underprivleged nations doesn't wash, unless you are willing to include some infrastructure with them:)
IMHO, the greatest feature of Lindows is Click-N-Run. In my experience of introducing users, even fellow geeks, to linux, the #1 barrier of entry was "how do I isntall software x, y, z". Even after explaining red hat's rpm and apt-get (as well as methods via console), they still miss the convienence of just double clicking an installer and having the work done for them.
However, the prices they are planning on charging for this may prove to be the thing that makes Lindows yet another irrelevant attempt for linux to break into the mainstream desktop market. According to the article IIRC, they are planning on up'ing the price to $130 per year, albeit for seemingly unlimited use. This is going to be a turn off to the Linux/Lindows newbie (and Microsoft convert), who is going to essentially say "i have to pay $130 for just being able to install software easily?!?"
While this may seem like a gotcha, remember the fact that this ad push isn't intended to make people switch from apache to iis, it is intended for high server performing data crunching.
If anything, the site running on FreeBSD could be spun as Microsoft knowing the advantages of unices, having used the variants themselves, and still believing their high-end servers are better for more serious tasks.
Whatever, just playing devil's advocate.
1. VNC. I use this for some of the dev servers at work and it is reliable, and has greater stability than option #2.
2. PCAnywhere. Good, but expensive (as opposed to vnc, which is free). Also, it is a pain in the ass to upgrade this along with windows, if that is your os of choosing.
3. Last windows option i'll mention is Remote Desktop. You'll need a server to store the profiles, but this will probably take care of most of your needs, assuming you keep your most important apps server side.
I know these are windows centric, but that is my current platform. Hope it helps a little.
Aside from the obvious ease of installation compared with wiring (but increasing privacy security concerns, i suppose), this would seem like a great place to lobby for wide scale rollout of wirless to the masses, especially if they want to reach that "every nook and cranny" goal".
Furthermore, it would be a great way to show how goverment funding could help advance projects like www.nycwireless.org, which are trying to do things on their own and languishing somewhat.
Having been to a number of these in my local area (nyc), I can say it is an excellent place to pick up hardcore geek toys that you would not otherwise be able to afford (cheap servers anyone?).
But for Be, there might be an added sentimental value to items. Pick up the box that you once downloaded your favorite os from, that type of thing.
Either way, its a sad day that we have to witness a Be firesale.
This is old hat, however, it makes perfect sense with the moves ms has been making lately.
.Net provides the framework for content delivery and tracking, also giving developers a ready platform for producing apps.
First they break into the consumer electronics biz with the Xbox, and develop a loyal following. Next, they offer online services with your xbox games (and other entertainment features) via broadband.
Then, with the shares they just dumped into the AT&T cable deal, they have a hand in cable content delivery, as well as satelite content delivery (cant remeber if its echostar or dtv that they have invested in). Never mind the fact that they have something like 36 billion (with a b) cash in the bank to invest in further content mediums and conduits.
Once they have all the pieces in place, voila, unleash this hardware on the public, and possibly an upgrade offer for owners of current xbox's.
Interesting strategy, and again proving Gates's intelligence in market entrance for his products.
Why don't we clean up our authorities before we give them broad new powers? Simple answer.
The fact is that perfect authorities who are "untouchable" and never err will never exist in the world due to the fact that they are products of an imperfect society. Do we expect all people everywhere to be never wrong in their judgement of others? Then how can we expect the few that we give power to to be any better than the collective world that they come from?
Of course, this could be seen as the beginnings of an anarchistic rant, but just understand, the key is in oversight and accountability, not constant cleansing of the people we entrust with the application of our rights.
I'm sure others will notice this, but how exactly does the installation of the sniffer take place? Since there is no warrant, and only a court order, do the authorities have the legal backing to "break and enter" a computer to install the sniffer? Is a computer awarded the same rights as a physical place (i.e. apt, home, etc...)?.
Also, if the sniffer is sent as a trojan'd email or program, could this lead to entrapment defenses based on the enticement used in the delivery method?
Besides the obvious "I want one" factor, think if the following were incorporated into this:
1) Cable/SatTV decoding
2) mp3/mpeg/avi/etc. player
3) tivo capabilities
what you basically have is an inexpensive all in wonder unit. now i dont know the true specs of a gamecube, but if you could drop a hackable os onto it, you already have a media reader and storage capabilities (options) built in.
people with a little expertise should start taking advantage of the big opportunities game companies are dumping into their laps.
Stretching a bit here (and of course playing the devil's advocate), but are we seeing perhaps a result of how tampering with the natural process can affect us adversely?
If we assume cancer is a naturally occuring phenomena (aside from cases caused by smoking, life habits, environment, etc..) against which we defend ourselves, is it not also possible that nature has found a way to defend ITSELF by hastening the death of the organism which is attacking it?
That article seemed mostly a puff piece, and fairly short on technical detail (anyone do any digging?). Not that I doubt Cisco's ability to discover methods of doing this, but it also seems a pr piece for investors maybe?
Anyway, it seems like a good idea, however, is there another block here that can be achieved by a company (ie the bells last mile influence on dsl)? Broadband to the masses ideas seem to come and go with the wind lately, and most seem never to pan out.
Considering that most non-geek/tech people barely see the need for palm pilots, does anybody really see wearable computing becoming anything more than a niche curiosity item in the forseeable future?
Also, will there be some sort of backlash against technology once it is integrated literally into the fabric of our lives? (pardon the pun)