The true purpose of patents is in fact, to spur innovation... not to build monopolies.
Actually, a monopoly spurs innovation by doing exactly that - granting a temporary monopoly on the patented idea. This is what encourages individuals and companies to invest the time and manpower to create something new: they get to reap ALL of the benefit for a period of time until the idea becomes part of the public domain. This is how it is supposed to work.
I do agree, however, that EchoStar should've been forced to pay the required licensing fees to Tivo, insteead of forcing them to shut off their customers products. This is an example of just because it's possible to disable their patent-infringing product doesn't mean that they should. That's the bad for consumers part, not the fact that EchoStar violated patents.
The school has chosen to implement a wireless network of their own on the unlicensed 2.4GHz spectrum. The network and the network devices must accept any outside interference, by law. A much more reasonable policy would be requirements to lock down any access points attached to the school's network so that only you can access your AP. Besides that, if you are running an access point connected to a private (non-school) network, they have absolutely no right to prevent you from doing so.
I think it's a bit shortsighted to think that any list of relevant skills doesn't include what a company is looking for. I mean, if you know Bluetooth really really well, you'll probably at worst understand the fundamentals of 802.11x. Why not just narrow it down to "experience with standard wireless protocols?"
Here's one from the current Apple Job site: Title: RF Hardware Engineer - iPod Req. ID: 2171396 Location: Santa Clara Valley, California Country: United States
The iPod Division is looking for an RF hardware engineer.
This person will work as a member of a cross-functional team responsible for design, implementation, and system integration. Needs to have knowledge of communication circuits and interest in physical principles utilized in modern radio communication devices, thorough knowledge of modulation methods, coding, compression or encryption. Also essential is a working knowledge of EM fields and antennas as applied to radio communication devices.
Additional consideration will be given to experience with standard wireless protocols. Duties include system simulation including channel impairments and interference, schematic capture, guidance of PCB design, prototype bring-up and debugging, hardware bug tracking, functional verification, signal characterization, and manufacturing support. Assist and track progress of groups who qualify the product such as Reliability, EMC, Certification and Safety. The candidate will be responsible for transitioning product to manufacturing and this may involve international travel to manufacturing sites.
BSEE required; MSEE desired 5+ years experience in RF hardware design Consumer electronics experience desired
Instead, many insist on the right to unilaterally modify the terms and conditions of sale -- after the fact
And the after the fact part is substantial. You payed money for a substantial physical peice of property - and by that element, you "own" that particular physical peice of property. There is no license, you are not reproducing it or taking from the manufacturer's IP and redistributing it, you are "tweaking" it to suit your own needs.
The prevalent attitude on/. is a matter of consumer rights versus manufacturer's rights - if a product substantially similar in the marketplace were available that did not have these hinderances, do you think that it would not be applauded by the slashdot crowd? Basically you're getting a device that Microsoft chose to sell at less than production cost. Under their contract, am I required to purchase additional games from them? No? Then what reason do they have to force me?
The DMCA is the problem here, not the product that is being shipped, because without the law, they still would be producing and selling XBOX's, presumably exactly as they currently are. The legal implication that what I own outright is under someone else's terms and condtions is the prevalent problem frequently disussed here on/.
I'm beginning to wonder why Apple would include items such as Department of Public Health and U.S. Army logos within the login panel, when individual customizations are usually done after installation?
Does microsoft embed specialized content for "preferred rollout" people in Windows as well?
Perhaps this is just a kitchen sink issue, and the release builds will not contain such images?
Something that I've been wondering recently - embedded in the worm was the message "bill gates how do you let this happen? stop making money and fix this!" and that it was setting up a DDOS attack on windowsupdate.com.
Now, I haven't looked at the code to this worm, but is it possible that the "DDOS attack" that the worm was supposed to do was merely making sure every computer that was infected would load up windowsupdate.com and patch itself properly?
From one perspective, this would be a DDOS, but on the other hand, it could be seen as a mass innoculation.
Software Engineering is an oxymoron. It will be until some great software catastrophe wipes out a country or two, and people realize that Mountain Mover 2.0 isn't a 6-month project, anymore.
Software engineering in practice may seem to be an oxymoron currently, but the discipline itself certainly is not. By training computer scientists in an engineering setting with the methodical "requirements, design, implementation, testing" or whatever method more akin to physical engineering, you end up with better products.
By dismissing the Software Engineering discipline as oxymoron you discredit the concept, which is as sound as any other "engineering" discipline.
When I called my representative about the Zoe Lofgren bill (the one that restores some fair-use and civil liberties to individuals taken away by the DMCA) I got a response that he didn't support her bill. As a representative, shouldn't that be exactly what he supports? Restoring civil liberties to those he represents?
Soon enough, when enough of these freedoms are taken away, like the public unmonitored use of public libraries, then all of the so-called "public" institutions will be used less and less frequently by people who are concious about these things.
In the movie Seven, there was a great hubbub about tracking the use of library card-holders' reading habits. Now it seems that it doesn't need to be kept a secret, that they can and will do it, and that you can't find out about it. That's troubling.
This article is all fluff. You've got the one guy who wrote kaleidoscope complaining that the UI now has closed API's. In fact, if a user wanted to change their interface, the pxm resources can be easily edited with resources available.
Not only this, there are several themes available.
The complaint here is that although Darwin is open source, (with most of the core components of the OS), the window server is not. Being a UNIX system, however, you can make a new one if you cared to. Simply running strings from the command line can pull most API functions out of a binary, so emulating them would be a tast, but not an impossible one.
From the beginning, Apple has discouraged used from using elements in the Aqua theme file (extras.rsrc) which are copyrighted by them. However, a full replacement of that resource file that contains no Apple IP can't be pulled by Apple.
Please don't listen to this argument that the OS is closed to tweakers. It's different now to tweak things, but you certainly can.
Also remind them that a "node" on the network is really a person, and that under the definition of "peer-to-peer" networks in the bill, every machine on the entire internet is a node on a p2p network. Peer-to-peer network nodes relay information from one node to another, (ie, search requests, etc... this especially takes place when the network is decentralized like most non-Napster style p2p networks). Therefore an attack on one is an attack on many, which clearly should violate that provision of the bill. Berman's "aides" didn't consider this. It seems like the bill was written after a night at the bar.
When I called my congress-critters, no one had even heard of the bill, and they forwarded me to some guy in washington that deals with commerce. Nonetheless, I got about an hour on the phone with each of them. When I called back a few weeks later, they said that they had not received _any_ positive calls about the bill, only negative. You'd think that when so many people have called to complain and no one had called to approve of the bill, that their stance would be more towards rejecting the language of the bill than the rhetoric presented by the committee members.
This is untrue. As a former employee of an aggregation company, I can tell you the real motivation.
Each of these partners sites do not in any way have access to confidential information. Sites like Yodlee host everything themselves. The reason the other organizations pay Yodlee money is that the service of aggregating all of your financial data in one place is a service that these institutions cannot do alone. If you're a bank, the only service you can offer is your own banking services. However, when you partner with a service like Yodlee, your website gets many advantages and services that it otherwise would not have.
How often do you go to your bank account online? Banks (and other places like Yahoo, etc.) are only trying to increase the traffic to their own company's sites and services, in the hope that while you're there, you'll get a new mortgage or be a couple of eyeballs for some advertising.
Slashdot Mirror
The true purpose of patents is in fact, to spur innovation... not to build monopolies.
Actually, a monopoly spurs innovation by doing exactly that - granting a temporary monopoly on the patented idea. This is what encourages individuals and companies to invest the time and manpower to create something new: they get to reap ALL of the benefit for a period of time until the idea becomes part of the public domain. This is how it is supposed to work.
I do agree, however, that EchoStar should've been forced to pay the required licensing fees to Tivo, insteead of forcing them to shut off their customers products. This is an example of just because it's possible to disable their patent-infringing product doesn't mean that they should. That's the bad for consumers part, not the fact that EchoStar violated patents.
The school has chosen to implement a wireless network of their own on the unlicensed 2.4GHz spectrum. The network and the network devices must accept any outside interference, by law. A much more reasonable policy would be requirements to lock down any access points attached to the school's network so that only you can access your AP. Besides that, if you are running an access point connected to a private (non-school) network, they have absolutely no right to prevent you from doing so.
I think it's a bit shortsighted to think that any list of relevant skills doesn't include what a company is looking for. I mean, if you know Bluetooth really really well, you'll probably at worst understand the fundamentals of 802.11x. Why not just narrow it down to "experience with standard wireless protocols?"
Here's one from the current Apple Job site:
Title: RF Hardware Engineer - iPod
Req. ID: 2171396
Location: Santa Clara Valley, California
Country: United States
The iPod Division is looking for an RF hardware engineer.
This person will work as a member of a cross-functional team responsible for design, implementation, and system integration. Needs to have knowledge of communication circuits and interest in physical principles utilized in modern radio communication devices, thorough knowledge of modulation methods, coding, compression or encryption. Also essential is a working knowledge of EM fields and antennas as applied to radio communication devices.
Additional consideration will be given to experience with standard wireless protocols. Duties include system simulation including channel impairments and interference, schematic capture, guidance of PCB design, prototype bring-up and debugging, hardware bug tracking, functional verification, signal characterization, and manufacturing support. Assist and track progress of groups who qualify the product such as Reliability, EMC, Certification and Safety. The candidate will be responsible for transitioning product to manufacturing and this may involve international travel to manufacturing sites.
BSEE required; MSEE desired
5+ years experience in RF hardware design
Consumer electronics experience desired
Several vendors have external batteries (or chargers) for the iPod.
A quick search gave me two AA powered solutions.
Myself, I just keep mine plugged in in the car and have 10 hours of charge whenever I leave the car. Easy enough?
It keeps gluing the thin board to the contour or else it gets the hose again.
Instead, many insist on the right to unilaterally modify the terms and conditions of sale -- after the fact
/. is a matter of consumer rights versus manufacturer's rights - if a product substantially similar in the marketplace were available that did not have these hinderances, do you think that it would not be applauded by the slashdot crowd? Basically you're getting a device that Microsoft chose to sell at less than production cost. Under their contract, am I required to purchase additional games from them? No? Then what reason do they have to force me?
/.
And the after the fact part is substantial. You payed money for a substantial physical peice of property - and by that element, you "own" that particular physical peice of property. There is no license, you are not reproducing it or taking from the manufacturer's IP and redistributing it, you are "tweaking" it to suit your own needs.
The prevalent attitude on
The DMCA is the problem here, not the product that is being shipped, because without the law, they still would be producing and selling XBOX's, presumably exactly as they currently are. The legal implication that what I own outright is under someone else's terms and condtions is the prevalent problem frequently disussed here on
I'm beginning to wonder why Apple would include items such as Department of Public Health and U.S. Army logos within the login panel, when individual customizations are usually done after installation?
Does microsoft embed specialized content for "preferred rollout" people in Windows as well?
Perhaps this is just a kitchen sink issue, and the release builds will not contain such images?
Something that I've been wondering recently - embedded in the worm was the message "bill gates how do you let this happen? stop making money and fix this!" and that it was setting up a DDOS attack on windowsupdate.com.
Now, I haven't looked at the code to this worm, but is it possible that the "DDOS attack" that the worm was supposed to do was merely making sure every computer that was infected would load up windowsupdate.com and patch itself properly?
From one perspective, this would be a DDOS, but on the other hand, it could be seen as a mass innoculation.
How would journalists report the difference?
Software Engineering is an oxymoron. It will be until some great software catastrophe wipes out a country or two, and people realize that Mountain Mover 2.0 isn't a 6-month project, anymore.
Software engineering in practice may seem to be an oxymoron currently, but the discipline itself certainly is not. By training computer scientists in an engineering setting with the methodical "requirements, design, implementation, testing" or whatever method more akin to physical engineering, you end up with better products.
By dismissing the Software Engineering discipline as oxymoron you discredit the concept, which is as sound as any other "engineering" discipline.
reminds me of the old HWR joke,
"How many Newton users does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"
"Foul - There to eat lemons, on rabid chain pudding."
Sci-Fi Channel just lost me.
How can they put "To Be Continued..." at the end of the show?
Sad sad sad day. Well, Tremors the Series next week. Woo f*ckin hoo.
When I called my representative about the Zoe Lofgren bill (the one that restores some fair-use and civil liberties to individuals taken away by the DMCA) I got a response that he didn't support her bill. As a representative, shouldn't that be exactly what he supports? Restoring civil liberties to those he represents?
Soon enough, when enough of these freedoms are taken away, like the public unmonitored use of public libraries, then all of the so-called "public" institutions will be used less and less frequently by people who are concious about these things.
In the movie Seven, there was a great hubbub about tracking the use of library card-holders' reading habits. Now it seems that it doesn't need to be kept a secret, that they can and will do it, and that you can't find out about it. That's troubling.
Now the spammers will just run around slapping people.
To find those images, I simply searched the macnn.com forums (OS X - Software) for "theme."
Plenty of threads there, especially as new themes come available.
This article is all fluff. You've got the one guy who wrote kaleidoscope complaining that the UI now has closed API's. In fact, if a user wanted to change their interface, the pxm resources can be easily edited with resources available.
Not only this, there are several themes available.
The complaint here is that although Darwin is open source, (with most of the core components of the OS), the window server is not. Being a UNIX system, however, you can make a new one if you cared to. Simply running strings from the command line can pull most API functions out of a binary, so emulating them would be a tast, but not an impossible one.
From the beginning, Apple has discouraged used from using elements in the Aqua theme file (extras.rsrc) which are copyrighted by them. However, a full replacement of that resource file that contains no Apple IP can't be pulled by Apple.
Please don't listen to this argument that the OS is closed to tweakers. It's different now to tweak things, but you certainly can.
See? A Titanium theme, a Rhodium theme, a Gunther theme, a Totally Aqua theme.
Hey, even a tool to make them.
Quit complaining.
Also remind them that a "node" on the network is really a person, and that under the definition of "peer-to-peer" networks in the bill, every machine on the entire internet is a node on a p2p network. Peer-to-peer network nodes relay information from one node to another, (ie, search requests, etc... this especially takes place when the network is decentralized like most non-Napster style p2p networks). Therefore an attack on one is an attack on many, which clearly should violate that provision of the bill. Berman's "aides" didn't consider this. It seems like the bill was written after a night at the bar.
When I called my congress-critters, no one had even heard of the bill, and they forwarded me to some guy in washington that deals with commerce. Nonetheless, I got about an hour on the phone with each of them. When I called back a few weeks later, they said that they had not received _any_ positive calls about the bill, only negative. You'd think that when so many people have called to complain and no one had called to approve of the bill, that their stance would be more towards rejecting the language of the bill than the rhetoric presented by the committee members.
This is untrue. As a former employee of an aggregation company, I can tell you the real motivation.
Each of these partners sites do not in any way have access to confidential information. Sites like Yodlee host everything themselves. The reason the other organizations pay Yodlee money is that the service of aggregating all of your financial data in one place is a service that these institutions cannot do alone. If you're a bank, the only service you can offer is your own banking services. However, when you partner with a service like Yodlee, your website gets many advantages and services that it otherwise would not have.
How often do you go to your bank account online? Banks (and other places like Yahoo, etc.) are only trying to increase the traffic to their own company's sites and services, in the hope that while you're there, you'll get a new mortgage or be a couple of eyeballs for some advertising.