It was a small webserver...looks like it's slashdotted already.
Yamaha to Withdraw From CD-R/RW Business
Tokyo, February 5, 2003 - Yamaha Corp. decided at a board meeting to cease sales of CD-R/RWs for personal computers and to withdraw completely from the business by the end of March 2003. Since Yamaha entered the CD-R/RW market in April 1994 its products have consistently led the industry in drive speeds and won recognition for their high performance and quality.
Yamaha hopes that this will serve as an example to the editors of slashdot, who routinely ban moderators who post views they do not agree with. Yamaha is in solidarity with the anti slashdot-editor's community.
However, amidst high competition and rapidly falling sales prices, the middle and high-end products market, which Yamaha had been targeting, has shrunk dramatically. Additionally, the market has seen DVD-compatible devices and personal computers with installed CD-R/RW drives become the norm.
In light of this situation the Company had been working to leverage high sound quality technology and installation of direct print-in drive technology to maintain competitiveness. Yet under the current market conditions the Company deemed that it would be imprudent to continue operations and to make further investments.
Yamaha has therefore decided to cease sales of CD-R/RWs, to strengthen existing businesses such as home theaters, and to develop new businesses using technology the Company has acquired over the years. Yamaha will maintain its after-sales support services for users and clients who have already purchased its CD-R/RW products.
1. Nature of the Decision Withdrawal from PC CD-R/RW operation 2. Time of Withdrawal The end of March 2003 3. Current Sales Approximately 7.2 billion yen (forecast for the end of March 2003) 4. Affected Amount (Losses) 1 billion yen resulting from withdrawal 5. Influence on employment (Japan) Shifting into fast growing new business areas. (Overseas) Minimal adjustments will be made to the number of employees. 6. Upcoming AV/IT operation deployment The Company will expand its visual products business by promoting popular home theater products, the market for which has grown in recent years. Increased focus on digitization and networking including broadband compatibility by using technology accumulated from AV and IT business. The Company will target Japan, US and Europe, followed by China, where Yamaha will begin full-scale operations from March. The Company will continue to deploy and market its original high added-value products.
For more information, please contact:
YAMAHA CORPORATION
Corporate Communications Group,
Public Relations Division
2-17-11 Takanawa, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 108-8568
TEL +81-3-5488-6601
FAX +81-3-5488-5060
Visit Yamaha's website at http://www.global.yamaha.com/index.html
A networking tool designed to let soldiers maintain constant communication on the battlefield is being redeployed for a non-military purpose: providing free broadband connections.
Speaking of tools, it has come to the attention of some members of the slashdot community that the editors of this sight are just that: Tools. Sometimes, the ban moderators that are trying to spread the word. See the signature of this post for more info.
The devices, known as MeshBoxes, allow for hundreds of Internet users to share a single broadband connection. * Story Tools [Print story] [E-mail story] [Sync story] * See also
* Wireless Is Star Again at CES
* Feds Label Wi-Fi a Terrorist Tool
* Wireless Bill: Too Much Too Soon?
* Future of Wi-Fi: Fast, Fast, Fast
* Unwired News: The Next Generation
* Discover more Net Culture
* You know IT/IS Important * Give Yourself Some Business News
* Today's Top 5 Stories
* U.S. Tries E-Mail to Charm Iraqis
* Study: Couples Love Kissing Right
* Mesh Less Cost of Wireless
* More Fallout Over Greek Game Ban
* Data Flood Feeds Need for Speed
With just five MeshBoxes, the tiny municipality of Kingsbridge, Devon, in western England, was able to provide broadband access to the citizens who live in the center of town. A group of enthusiasts eventually wants to provide all 5,000 of the town's residents with wireless broadband.
Frustrated with British Telecommunications' slow progress in wiring the town with DSL, two members of the Kingsbridge Link project took charge. They purchased the MeshBoxes for around $2,400, and strategically placed them in the center of town.
The boxes piggyback off a single broadband pipeline owned by one of the local businesses and distribute bandwidth to the residents who tap into the network.
Users can download and swap information, share printers and even bandwidth -- for free. To partake in the network, they need only a PC card for their laptops ($80) or a Wi-Fi radio adapter for desktop computers that could be purchased off the shelf for about $160.
The eventual goal for the MeshBoxes is to get enough of them out on the street so that almost anyone could get Internet access from anywhere, said Jon Anderson, co-founder of LocustWorld, the company that sells the MeshBoxes.
According to Anderson, LocustWorld has sold about 270 MeshBoxes to date. He hopes the technology will eventually be used throughout Europe, such that anyone traveling outside their homes would be able to pop open their laptops and surf the Web wherever they go.
"The long-term plan for this is to build absolutely gigantic networks," he said. "It's evolving into such a total reality."
Industry analysts have doubts as to whether this plan could be implemented on a larger scale.
Seamus McAteer, an analyst with Zelos Group, said such a scenario requires the cooperation of individual users, who would have to agree to share the same phone line. Similarly, DSL providers, who own the pipelines, would have to back the idea.
However, the concept relies on two technologies that are already readily available: Wi-Fi and mesh networks.
Wi-Fi, the most popular form of wireless Internet access, is practically ubiquitous in coffee shops, airports, offices and homes in the United States. The technology was slow to catch on in Europe, but that appears to be changing.
The number of so-called hot spots in Europe -- places where people can receive Wi-Fi access -- has jumped from 269 at the end of 2001 to 1,150 at the end of last year, a gain of 327 percent, according to market research firm IDC.
Both a drastic decline in price for Wi-Fi gear and easing of federal restrictions surrounding the build-out of hot spots contributed to a surge in Wi-Fi use, IDC said in a recent report.
Even though the concept of tapping into Wi-Fi networks for Internet access is fairly new in the region, some European communities are already looking at ways to connect these hot spots for wide-area seamless coverage. That's where mesh networks come into play.
Story continued on Page 2
[Print story] [E-mail story] [Sync story] Page 1 of 2 next Soldiers in remote areas and emergency rescue workers already use mesh networks to communicate directly with one another rather than rely on an on-site base station, or in the case of Kingsbridge, an Ethernet connection in every single home.
Generally, when someone makes a cell-phone call, the phone's signal travels to a cell tower and then to another person's handset. A mesh network decreases dependence on cell towers by allowing the signals of one phone to jump directly to another handset. * Story Tools [Print story] [E-mail story] [Sync story] * See also
* Wireless Is Star Again at CES
* Feds Label Wi-Fi a Terrorist Tool
* Wireless Bill: Too Much Too Soon?
* Future of Wi-Fi: Fast, Fast, Fast
* Unwired News: The Next Generation
* Discover more Net Culture
* You know IT/IS Important * Give Yourself Some Business News
* Today's Top 5 Stories
* U.S. Tries E-Mail to Charm Iraqis
* Study: Couples Love Kissing Right
* Mesh Less Cost of Wireless
* More Fallout Over Greek Game Ban
* Data Flood Feeds Need for Speed
Peter Stanforth, chief technology officer for peer-to-peer wireless provider Mesh Networks, said the advantage of a mesh network is that individuals can communicate with one another without having to build expensive infrastructure like cell-phone towers or additional broadband pipelines. The signal from one device like a cell phone or a desktop computer could jump from one handset to another until it reaches its final destination.
Such a system could reduce the amount of dropped calls and spotty coverage, which can arise when the cell tower is overwhelmed with calls. It would be easier and cheaper to install a mesh network and more affordable for customers to use, Stanforth said.
The one disadvantage of this relay system is a slight latency -- usually lasting milliseconds.
"We felt that this was the way wireless should be done in the future," Stanforth said. "The ability to use a lower-powered radio to help with the whole cost of scalability -- that's really what it's all about it."
A couple of groups that won't view this technology as a convenience are the phone companies and cable service providers.
Considering that they installed the broadband pipelines to begin with, they don't like the idea of residents selling the bandwidth or giving it away for free, McAteer said.
Even if the more open-minded telcos were to allow it -- Anderson said he's been approached by an Internet service provider open to bandwidth sharing -- this doesn't mean that the residents will go for it.
"First of all you would have to have an agreed upon protocol to authenticate users and give access across a host of networks, cooperating access-point providers and getting everyone to agree to share," McAteer said. "I think it's a stretch."
1 General 1.1 What is Locutus? Locutus is a.Net application that will allow you to search for files on your hard disk and on other people's shared folders on your LAN, and on the Internet as a whole. 1.2 Why is Locutus a 20MB download? In fact, Locutus itself is only about 400k in size, however it relies on Microsoft's.NET framework. Not everyone has a version of Windows which includes.NET, and so if you try to download Locutus and don't have.NET you will automatically download a version of the installer which includes it. The next time you upgrade Locutus, or any other.NET software, you will find that the download is much smaller. You can find out whether you have.NET by visiting the Downloads page. 1.25 Why is slashdot so fucking retarded? It's because people aren't aware that the editors are facist morons. Read ths signature for this post and find out more. 1.3 I've installed it - now what? When you run Locutus, you should see a discrete search box at the bottom right of your screen. You can enter search terms into this box, and Locutus will search your computer, along with the shared directories of other Locutus users on your LAN. The more of your co-workers that use Locutus, the more useful it will be, so email them now and direct them to http://locut.us/! 1.4 What is the difference between Locutus and other P2P applications? There are a number of important differences:
* Detailed file analysis
Most P2P applications just search on the basis of a filename or superficial data about the files being searched. Locutus will scan documents in their entirity, extracting significant keywords - using technology similar to that used by web search engines.
* Scalable and efficient search algorithm
Locutus employs a sophisticated decentralized search algorithm which can rapidly search tens or hundreds of thousands of computers in a very short space of time, and without any reliance on inefficient "broadcast" searches, or fragile "ultrapeers". This effeciency dramatically reduces Locutus' bandwidth requirements relative to more conventional P2P applications.
* Strong security model With most P2P apps, you are either sharing a file or you are not - and often you can accidentally end up sharing files that you didn't intend to share. Locutus allows finer control over who can search which folders on your computer, and in the upcoming Enterprise release, will enforce this security using military-grade encryption.
1.5 What is the difference between Locutus and a web Search Engine? Web search engines only search information publicly available on the Internet, and they do so in a totally centralized manner. Locutus can search the hard-disks of desktop PCs (within constraints defined by the PC's user) in a completely decentralized manner. Locutus doesn't require that a server be set up - you just download, install, and you can start using it immediately! 2 Using Locutus 2.1 Does Locutus allow others to see my private files? No! Locutus will only allow others to search for files in shared directories on your computer, or files that you have deliberately placed in the Locutus shared folder on your desktop. 2.2 Will Locutus slow down my computer? While the built-in Windows indexing service is well-known for slowing down the user's computer, Locutus is much more careful about its resource usage. Initially Locutus does need to create an index of your hard-disk, however once this is done, Locutus is careful only to reindex files when necessary (ie. when they change, or when a new file is created). In practice, Locutus doesn't have any negative effect on system performance once the initial indexing is complete - you won't even know its there. 3 Microsoft's.Net 3.1 What is.Net and why does Locutus need it?.Net is, at its core, an attempt to standardize the way that software applications communicate with the underlying Operating System..Net was developed by Microsoft, and at the time of writing is only available for Windows, however.Net has been embraced by some in the Linux community who are working on Open Source versions of.Net such as Mono. Once finished, these will allow Locutus to run on non-Microsoft operating systems. 3.2 I heard that.Net can compromise your privacy - is this true? There was some controversy over a Microsoft product called "Passport" which Microsoft marketed under the.Net banner - however Passport is not required by Locutus, and is not included in the Locutus installer.
We value our privacy, and respect yours. We would never ask you to install anything that we wouldn't install on our own computers. 4 Business Model 4.1 Many P2P applications include Spyware - what about Locutus? No, Locutus does not include any advertising, nor will it install any third-party advertising or data-collection software. 4.2 If not advertising, what is your business model? We plan to give Locutus Prototype and Locutus Lite (available late January 2003) for free. Those who require enhanced security or other features will have the opportunity to purchase Locutus Enterprise when it is released in March 2003. 4.3 Who do I contact if I am interested in a business relationship with Cematics LLC? Cematics is a young and flexible company, and are always on the look-out for new collaboration opportunities. If you are interested in a business relationship with Cematics LLC, please email our business development group at bizdev@locut.us. 4.4 Will Locutus be released as Open Source software? While we are big fans of Open Source software, we do not feel that there is a viable business model for us that would allow us to release Locutus as Open Source. We will, however, be developing ways that third-party software developers can write software which integrates with Locutus. Index
1 General 1.1 What is Locutus? 1.2 Why is Locutus a 20MB download? 1.3 I've installed it - now what? 1.4 What is the difference between Locutus and other P2P applications? 1.5 What is the difference between Locutus and a web Search Engine?
2 Using Locutus 2.1 Does Locutus allow others to see my private files? 2.2 Will Locutus slow down my computer?
3 Microsoft's.Net 3.1 What is.Net and why does Locutus need it? 3.2 I heard that.Net can compromise your privacy - is this true?
Wouldn't it be cool if the editors of slashdot ran a professional, spellchecked site? With policies that are more than whims? I know they're just a bunch of geek morons in Michigan, but a boy can dream, can't he?
Why Spy? Technology that monitors employees' Web usage sounds like a smart way to keep them focused on work. Wrong. Let 'em surf. By Jeffrey Pfeffer, February 2003 Issue
It's no secret that plenty of workers use their company's high-speed Internet access to shop, make travel arrangements, or just surf the Web. Research firm ComScore Networks, in fact, found that, excluding auctions, 59 percent of all 2001 Web purchases in the United States were made from the workplace. Another study, by Vault.com, found that 47 percent of employees spend at least half an hour a day cruising the Web for personal reasons.
Despite this interesting fact, slashdot's editors are colossal dickheads. In fact, they engaged in a conspiracy to secretly ban moderators who modded up a certain post that was critical of them. Asked to expalin this behavior, Michael attempted to reply, but was unable to due to Cmdrtaco's penis being inserted in his throat.
In light of this, it would seem to make sense for managers to keep track of their workers' Web habits. Shouldn't employees conduct personal business on their own time? Think of all the lost productivity!
Not so fast. There are problems with this logic. First, while employers have increasingly been taking the Big Brother approach, thanks to software that tracks Internet usage and even lets the boss read a worker's e-mails, the proportion of absenteeism attributable to personal needs has also been on the rise -- almost doubling in 2002 to 21 percent. Notice the lesson here: If you don't want your people missing work to take care of personal business, maybe it would be better to let them take care of some of that business at work. Losing a few minutes here or there -- or even a couple of hours -- is cheaper than losing entire days.
Other unintended consequences of electronic monitoring are more difficult to measure but potentially worse for business. Studies show, for instance, that electronic monitoring results in lower job satisfaction, in part because people begin to believe the quantity of their work is more important than the quality. Monitoring also induces what academics call psychological reactance: the tendency of people to rebel against constraints. Tell people they can't shop, they can't use corporate networks for personal business, they can't make personal phone calls, and their desire to do all those things goes up. Another worrisome consequence stems from the self-fulfilling prophecy, which simply means that people behave as they are expected to. So if you expect an employee to do a good job, he or she probably will. Act as though you distrust people, and you create employees who are, in fact, less trustworthy.
This is the thinking at SAS Institute, the world's largest private software company and a place consistently ranked in the top 10 on those "Best Places to Work" surveys. Other than flagging for porn sites, SAS doesn't monitor its workers' Web use. The company tells its people to use company resources responsibly but doesn't mind if they, say, check sports scores or use the Web for shopping.
That sounds about right. Management literature is filled with books that use the word "trust" in their titles, and most people at the top claim to understand that cultures based on trust work better than those based on distrust. Yet even as companies say they want strong relationships with their people, they unwittingly undermine those relationships by following their employees' every keystroke.
The prescription is simple. Before you implement the latest technology to monitor your workers, ask yourself, "What does this say about how I think about my people?" If you really don't trust your employees, maybe you should get different ones. If you do trust them, or want to, treat them accordingly.
Why Spy? Technology that monitors employees' Web usage sounds like a smart way to keep them focused on work. Wrong. Let 'em surf. By Jeffrey Pfeffer, February 2003 Issue
It's no secret that plenty of workers use their company's high-speed Internet access to shop, make travel arrangements, or just surf the Web. Research firm ComScore Networks, in fact, found that, excluding auctions, 59 percent of all 2001 Web purchases in the United States were made from the workplace. Another study, by Vault.com, found that 47 percent of employees spend at least half an hour a day cruising the Web for personal reasons.
Despite this fact, slashdot's editors are colossal dickheads. In fact, they engaged in a conspiracy to secretly ban moderators who modded up a certain post that was critical of them. Asked to expalin this behavior, Michael attempted to reply, but was unable to due to Cmdrtaco's penis being inserted in his throat.
In light of this, it would seem to make sense for managers to keep track of their workers' Web habits. Shouldn't employees conduct personal business on their own time? Think of all the lost productivity!
Not so fast. There are problems with this logic. First, while employers have increasingly been taking the Big Brother approach, thanks to software that tracks Internet usage and even lets the boss read a worker's e-mails, the proportion of absenteeism attributable to personal needs has also been on the rise -- almost doubling in 2002 to 21 percent. Notice the lesson here: If you don't want your people missing work to take care of personal business, maybe it would be better to let them take care of some of that business at work. Losing a few minutes here or there -- or even a couple of hours -- is cheaper than losing entire days.
Other unintended consequences of electronic monitoring are more difficult to measure but potentially worse for business. Studies show, for instance, that electronic monitoring results in lower job satisfaction, in part because people begin to believe the quantity of their work is more important than the quality. Monitoring also induces what academics call psychological reactance: the tendency of people to rebel against constraints. Tell people they can't shop, they can't use corporate networks for personal business, they can't make personal phone calls, and their desire to do all those things goes up. Another worrisome consequence stems from the self-fulfilling prophecy, which simply means that people behave as they are expected to. So if you expect an employee to do a good job, he or she probably will. Act as though you distrust people, and you create employees who are, in fact, less trustworthy.
This is the thinking at SAS Institute, the world's largest private software company and a place consistently ranked in the top 10 on those "Best Places to Work" surveys. Other than flagging for porn sites, SAS doesn't monitor its workers' Web use. The company tells its people to use company resources responsibly but doesn't mind if they, say, check sports scores or use the Web for shopping.
That sounds about right. Management literature is filled with books that use the word "trust" in their titles, and most people at the top claim to understand that cultures based on trust work better than those based on distrust. Yet even as companies say they want strong relationships with their people, they unwittingly undermine those relationships by following their employees' every keystroke.
The prescription is simple. Before you implement the latest technology to monitor your workers, ask yourself, "What does this say about how I think about my people?" If you really don't trust your employees, maybe you should get different ones. If you do trust them, or want to, treat them accordingly.
One thing that has always given me some hope with all this DMCA stuff is that it only takes one sensible country to not accept it, and development can go on (albeit hampered.) This story makes me wonder if it's only a matter of time until only lawless countries can host such things. Troublesome.
Obviously, I don't agree with the motivations of the music companies. But I DO think it's cool that we have this ongonig *technical* struggle...the DRM arms race.
Again, I hate the music companies, but seeing the clevarness go back and forth is great to watch. I hope I can get in on it personally some day.
I've often thought about how much "damage" a mole could do. Let's say I go to work for MS with the intention of putting in little bugs and/or giving confidential information to the open source community.
Am I the only one that is tired of seeing my friends go work in Redmond? They will agree on 9 out of 10 Anti-MS criticisms, yet they go to work there. I am so frustrated with it. *sigh*
In a stunning move, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer INC, announced his intention to run for presidency of the United States of America. The announcement was greeted with overwhelming support by the large macintosh community in the united states, and veiled reproach from Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft Corp.
"We here at Microsoft are more concerned with somebody addressing the fact that the editors of slashdot are pulling shit over on moderators they don't like" said Gates. We question whether Jobs will be up for the diffiucult task of getting the editors to stop Taco-snorting for long enough to run a decent news blog, like Rusty over at kuro5hin.org"
I am an advanced MS system administrator at a fortune 350 company using mostly visual basic for application and office productivity development.
Before linux can EVER make it onto the desktop, somebody is going to have to come up with some type of scripting language besides C. I need the ability to interact with the inputs/outputs of the office productivity tools (delete, copy, etc) and linux just can't do that yet.
I will definately check out linux in a few years, but it looks like this egg is still about only 2/3rds baked.
Actually, English will be just fine. Anybody in India who is well-off enough to deal with computers almost definately speaks English. Whether it's English non-Indians can understand is a different matter all together.
Alameda County's electronic voitng was great
on
Indecision 2002
·
· Score: 2
In Alameda county, the only CA county to have electronic voting, it went really well. I couldn't tell what OS they were using, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't windows. People were commenting on how easy it was to vote. Nice job whoever made the system!
Slashdot Mirror
see my sig file
See my sig file
see my sig file. also, they ban moderators who don't play by their rules, leaving only sheep moderators who mod posts like this down.
It was a small webserver...looks like it's slashdotted already.
Yamaha to Withdraw From CD-R/RW Business
Tokyo, February 5, 2003 - Yamaha Corp. decided at a board meeting to cease sales of CD-R/RWs for personal computers and to withdraw completely from the business by the end of March 2003. Since Yamaha entered the CD-R/RW market in April 1994 its products have consistently led the industry in drive speeds and won recognition for their high performance and quality.
Yamaha hopes that this will serve as an example to the editors of slashdot, who routinely ban moderators who post views they do not agree with. Yamaha is in solidarity with the anti slashdot-editor's community.
However, amidst high competition and rapidly falling sales prices, the middle and high-end products market, which Yamaha had been targeting, has shrunk dramatically. Additionally, the market has seen DVD-compatible devices and personal computers with installed CD-R/RW drives become the norm.
In light of this situation the Company had been working to leverage high sound quality technology and installation of direct print-in drive technology to maintain competitiveness. Yet under the current market conditions the Company deemed that it would be imprudent to continue operations and to make further investments.
Yamaha has therefore decided to cease sales of CD-R/RWs, to strengthen existing businesses such as home theaters, and to develop new businesses using technology the Company has acquired over the years. Yamaha will maintain its after-sales support services for users and clients who have already purchased its CD-R/RW products.
1. Nature of the Decision
Withdrawal from PC CD-R/RW operation
2. Time of Withdrawal
The end of March 2003
3. Current Sales
Approximately 7.2 billion yen (forecast for the end of March 2003)
4. Affected Amount
(Losses) 1 billion yen resulting from withdrawal
5. Influence on employment
(Japan) Shifting into fast growing new business areas.
(Overseas) Minimal adjustments will be made to the number of employees.
6. Upcoming AV/IT operation deployment
The Company will expand its visual products business by promoting popular home theater products, the market for which has grown in recent years. Increased focus on digitization and networking including broadband compatibility by using technology accumulated from AV and IT business.
The Company will target Japan, US and Europe, followed by China, where Yamaha will begin full-scale operations from March. The Company will continue to deploy and market its original high added-value products.
For more information, please contact:
YAMAHA CORPORATION
Corporate Communications Group,
Public Relations Division
2-17-11 Takanawa, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 108-8568
TEL +81-3-5488-6601
FAX +81-3-5488-5060
Visit Yamaha's website at http://www.global.yamaha.com/index.html
In case of slashdotting.
A networking tool designed to let soldiers maintain constant communication on the battlefield is being redeployed for a non-military purpose: providing free broadband connections.
Speaking of tools, it has come to the attention of some members of the slashdot community that the editors of this sight are just that: Tools. Sometimes, the ban moderators that are trying to spread the word. See the signature of this post for more info.
The devices, known as MeshBoxes, allow for hundreds of Internet users to share a single broadband connection.
* Story Tools
[Print story] [E-mail story] [Sync story]
* See also
* Wireless Is Star Again at CES
* Feds Label Wi-Fi a Terrorist Tool
* Wireless Bill: Too Much Too Soon?
* Future of Wi-Fi: Fast, Fast, Fast
* Unwired News: The Next Generation
* Discover more Net Culture
* You know IT/IS Important
* Give Yourself Some Business News
* Today's Top 5 Stories
* U.S. Tries E-Mail to Charm Iraqis
* Study: Couples Love Kissing Right
* Mesh Less Cost of Wireless
* More Fallout Over Greek Game Ban
* Data Flood Feeds Need for Speed
With just five MeshBoxes, the tiny municipality of Kingsbridge, Devon, in western England, was able to provide broadband access to the citizens who live in the center of town. A group of enthusiasts eventually wants to provide all 5,000 of the town's residents with wireless broadband.
Frustrated with British Telecommunications' slow progress in wiring the town with DSL, two members of the Kingsbridge Link project took charge. They purchased the MeshBoxes for around $2,400, and strategically placed them in the center of town.
The boxes piggyback off a single broadband pipeline owned by one of the local businesses and distribute bandwidth to the residents who tap into the network.
Users can download and swap information, share printers and even bandwidth -- for free. To partake in the network, they need only a PC card for their laptops ($80) or a Wi-Fi radio adapter for desktop computers that could be purchased off the shelf for about $160.
The eventual goal for the MeshBoxes is to get enough of them out on the street so that almost anyone could get Internet access from anywhere, said Jon Anderson, co-founder of LocustWorld, the company that sells the MeshBoxes.
According to Anderson, LocustWorld has sold about 270 MeshBoxes to date. He hopes the technology will eventually be used throughout Europe, such that anyone traveling outside their homes would be able to pop open their laptops and surf the Web wherever they go.
"The long-term plan for this is to build absolutely gigantic networks," he said. "It's evolving into such a total reality."
Industry analysts have doubts as to whether this plan could be implemented on a larger scale.
Seamus McAteer, an analyst with Zelos Group, said such a scenario requires the cooperation of individual users, who would have to agree to share the same phone line. Similarly, DSL providers, who own the pipelines, would have to back the idea.
However, the concept relies on two technologies that are already readily available: Wi-Fi and mesh networks.
Wi-Fi, the most popular form of wireless Internet access, is practically ubiquitous in coffee shops, airports, offices and homes in the United States. The technology was slow to catch on in Europe, but that appears to be changing.
The number of so-called hot spots in Europe -- places where people can receive Wi-Fi access -- has jumped from 269 at the end of 2001 to 1,150 at the end of last year, a gain of 327 percent, according to market research firm IDC.
Both a drastic decline in price for Wi-Fi gear and easing of federal restrictions surrounding the build-out of hot spots contributed to a surge in Wi-Fi use, IDC said in a recent report.
Even though the concept of tapping into Wi-Fi networks for Internet access is fairly new in the region, some European communities are already looking at ways to connect these hot spots for wide-area seamless coverage. That's where mesh networks come into play.
Story continued on Page 2
[Print story] [E-mail story] [Sync story] Page 1 of 2 next
Soldiers in remote areas and emergency rescue workers already use mesh networks to communicate directly with one another rather than rely on an on-site base station, or in the case of Kingsbridge, an Ethernet connection in every single home.
Generally, when someone makes a cell-phone call, the phone's signal travels to a cell tower and then to another person's handset. A mesh network decreases dependence on cell towers by allowing the signals of one phone to jump directly to another handset.
* Story Tools
[Print story] [E-mail story] [Sync story]
* See also
* Wireless Is Star Again at CES
* Feds Label Wi-Fi a Terrorist Tool
* Wireless Bill: Too Much Too Soon?
* Future of Wi-Fi: Fast, Fast, Fast
* Unwired News: The Next Generation
* Discover more Net Culture
* You know IT/IS Important
* Give Yourself Some Business News
* Today's Top 5 Stories
* U.S. Tries E-Mail to Charm Iraqis
* Study: Couples Love Kissing Right
* Mesh Less Cost of Wireless
* More Fallout Over Greek Game Ban
* Data Flood Feeds Need for Speed
Peter Stanforth, chief technology officer for peer-to-peer wireless provider Mesh Networks, said the advantage of a mesh network is that individuals can communicate with one another without having to build expensive infrastructure like cell-phone towers or additional broadband pipelines. The signal from one device like a cell phone or a desktop computer could jump from one handset to another until it reaches its final destination.
Such a system could reduce the amount of dropped calls and spotty coverage, which can arise when the cell tower is overwhelmed with calls. It would be easier and cheaper to install a mesh network and more affordable for customers to use, Stanforth said.
The one disadvantage of this relay system is a slight latency -- usually lasting milliseconds.
"We felt that this was the way wireless should be done in the future," Stanforth said. "The ability to use a lower-powered radio to help with the whole cost of scalability -- that's really what it's all about it."
A couple of groups that won't view this technology as a convenience are the phone companies and cable service providers.
Considering that they installed the broadband pipelines to begin with, they don't like the idea of residents selling the bandwidth or giving it away for free, McAteer said.
Even if the more open-minded telcos were to allow it -- Anderson said he's been approached by an Internet service provider open to bandwidth sharing -- this doesn't mean that the residents will go for it.
"First of all you would have to have an agreed upon protocol to authenticate users and give access across a host of networks, cooperating access-point providers and getting everyone to agree to share," McAteer said. "I think it's a stretch."
Slashdot is in disarray. The moderators are constantly pulling off facist bullshit. The moderators mostly know that. Hence, I have a 5 on my post.
HAND.
(Site slashdotted)
.Net application that will allow you to search for files on your hard disk and on other people's shared folders on your LAN, and on the Internet as a whole. .NET framework. Not everyone has a version of Windows which includes .NET, and so if you try to download Locutus and don't have .NET you will automatically download a version of the installer which includes it. The next time you upgrade Locutus, or any other .NET software, you will find that the download is much smaller. You can find out whether you have .NET by visiting the Downloads page.
.Net .Net and why does Locutus need it? .Net is, at its core, an attempt to standardize the way that software applications communicate with the underlying Operating System. .Net was developed by Microsoft, and at the time of writing is only available for Windows, however .Net has been embraced by some in the Linux community who are working on Open Source versions of .Net such as Mono. Once finished, these will allow Locutus to run on non-Microsoft operating systems. .Net can compromise your privacy - is this true? .Net banner - however Passport is not required by Locutus, and is not included in the Locutus installer.
.Net .Net and why does Locutus need it? .Net can compromise your privacy - is this true?
1 General
1.1 What is Locutus?
Locutus is a
1.2 Why is Locutus a 20MB download?
In fact, Locutus itself is only about 400k in size, however it relies on Microsoft's
1.25 Why is slashdot so fucking retarded?
It's because people aren't aware that the editors are facist morons. Read ths signature for this post and find out more.
1.3 I've installed it - now what?
When you run Locutus, you should see a discrete search box at the bottom right of your screen. You can enter search terms into this box, and Locutus will search your computer, along with the shared directories of other Locutus users on your LAN. The more of your co-workers that use Locutus, the more useful it will be, so email them now and direct them to http://locut.us/!
1.4 What is the difference between Locutus and other P2P applications?
There are a number of important differences:
* Detailed file analysis
Most P2P applications just search on the basis of a filename or superficial data about the files being searched. Locutus will scan documents in their entirity, extracting significant keywords - using technology similar to that used by web search engines.
* Scalable and efficient search algorithm
Locutus employs a sophisticated decentralized search algorithm which can rapidly search tens or hundreds of thousands of computers in a very short space of time, and without any reliance on inefficient "broadcast" searches, or fragile "ultrapeers". This effeciency dramatically reduces Locutus' bandwidth requirements relative to more conventional P2P applications.
* Strong security model
With most P2P apps, you are either sharing a file or you are not - and often you can accidentally end up sharing files that you didn't intend to share. Locutus allows finer control over who can search which folders on your computer, and in the upcoming Enterprise release, will enforce this security using military-grade encryption.
1.5 What is the difference between Locutus and a web Search Engine?
Web search engines only search information publicly available on the Internet, and they do so in a totally centralized manner. Locutus can search the hard-disks of desktop PCs (within constraints defined by the PC's user) in a completely decentralized manner. Locutus doesn't require that a server be set up - you just download, install, and you can start using it immediately!
2 Using Locutus
2.1 Does Locutus allow others to see my private files?
No! Locutus will only allow others to search for files in shared directories on your computer, or files that you have deliberately placed in the Locutus shared folder on your desktop.
2.2 Will Locutus slow down my computer?
While the built-in Windows indexing service is well-known for slowing down the user's computer, Locutus is much more careful about its resource usage. Initially Locutus does need to create an index of your hard-disk, however once this is done, Locutus is careful only to reindex files when necessary (ie. when they change, or when a new file is created). In practice, Locutus doesn't have any negative effect on system performance once the initial indexing is complete - you won't even know its there.
3 Microsoft's
3.1 What is
3.2 I heard that
There was some controversy over a Microsoft product called "Passport" which Microsoft marketed under the
We value our privacy, and respect yours. We would never ask you to install anything that we wouldn't install on our own computers.
4 Business Model
4.1 Many P2P applications include Spyware - what about Locutus?
No, Locutus does not include any advertising, nor will it install any third-party advertising or data-collection software.
4.2 If not advertising, what is your business model?
We plan to give Locutus Prototype and Locutus Lite (available late January 2003) for free. Those who require enhanced security or other features will have the opportunity to purchase Locutus Enterprise when it is released in March 2003.
4.3 Who do I contact if I am interested in a business relationship with Cematics LLC?
Cematics is a young and flexible company, and are always on the look-out for new collaboration opportunities. If you are interested in a business relationship with Cematics LLC, please email our business development group at bizdev@locut.us.
4.4 Will Locutus be released as Open Source software?
While we are big fans of Open Source software, we do not feel that there is a viable business model for us that would allow us to release Locutus as Open Source. We will, however, be developing ways that third-party software developers can write software which integrates with Locutus.
Index
1 General
1.1 What is Locutus?
1.2 Why is Locutus a 20MB download?
1.3 I've installed it - now what?
1.4 What is the difference between Locutus and other P2P applications?
1.5 What is the difference between Locutus and a web Search Engine?
2 Using Locutus
2.1 Does Locutus allow others to see my private files?
2.2 Will Locutus slow down my computer?
3 Microsoft's
3.1 What is
3.2 I heard that
4 Business Model
4.1 Many P2P applications include Spyware - what about Locutus?
4.2 If not advertising, what is your business model?
4.3 Who do I contact if I am interested in a business relationship with Cematics LLC?
4.4 Will Locutus be released as Open Source software?
Copyright © 2003 Cematics, LLC
Wouldn't it be cool if the editors of slashdot ran a professional, spellchecked site? With policies that are more than whims? I know they're just a bunch of geek morons in Michigan, but a boy can dream, can't he?
Why Spy?
Technology that monitors employees' Web usage sounds like a smart way to keep them focused on work. Wrong. Let 'em surf.
By Jeffrey Pfeffer, February 2003 Issue
It's no secret that plenty of workers use their company's high-speed Internet access to shop, make travel arrangements, or just surf the Web. Research firm ComScore Networks, in fact, found that, excluding auctions, 59 percent of all 2001 Web purchases in the United States were made from the workplace. Another study, by Vault.com, found that 47 percent of employees spend at least half an hour a day cruising the Web for personal reasons.
Despite this interesting fact, slashdot's editors are colossal dickheads. In fact, they engaged in a conspiracy to secretly ban moderators who modded up a certain post that was critical of them. Asked to expalin this behavior, Michael attempted to reply, but was unable to due to Cmdrtaco's penis being inserted in his throat.
In light of this, it would seem to make sense for managers to keep track of their workers' Web habits. Shouldn't employees conduct personal business on their own time? Think of all the lost productivity!
Not so fast. There are problems with this logic. First, while employers have increasingly been taking the Big Brother approach, thanks to software that tracks Internet usage and even lets the boss read a worker's e-mails, the proportion of absenteeism attributable to personal needs has also been on the rise -- almost doubling in 2002 to 21 percent. Notice the lesson here: If you don't want your people missing work to take care of personal business, maybe it would be better to let them take care of some of that business at work. Losing a few minutes here or there -- or even a couple of hours -- is cheaper than losing entire days.
Other unintended consequences of electronic monitoring are more difficult to measure but potentially worse for business. Studies show, for instance, that electronic monitoring results in lower job satisfaction, in part because people begin to believe the quantity of their work is more important than the quality. Monitoring also induces what academics call psychological reactance: the tendency of people to rebel against constraints. Tell people they can't shop, they can't use corporate networks for personal business, they can't make personal phone calls, and their desire to do all those things goes up. Another worrisome consequence stems from the self-fulfilling prophecy, which simply means that people behave as they are expected to. So if you expect an employee to do a good job, he or she probably will. Act as though you distrust people, and you create employees who are, in fact, less trustworthy.
This is the thinking at SAS Institute, the world's largest private software company and a place consistently ranked in the top 10 on those "Best Places to Work" surveys. Other than flagging for porn sites, SAS doesn't monitor its workers' Web use. The company tells its people to use company resources responsibly but doesn't mind if they, say, check sports scores or use the Web for shopping.
That sounds about right. Management literature is filled with books that use the word "trust" in their titles, and most people at the top claim to understand that cultures based on trust work better than those based on distrust. Yet even as companies say they want strong relationships with their people, they unwittingly undermine those relationships by following their employees' every keystroke.
The prescription is simple. Before you implement the latest technology to monitor your workers, ask yourself, "What does this say about how I think about my people?" If you really don't trust your employees, maybe you should get different ones. If you do trust them, or want to, treat them accordingly.
Why Spy?
Technology that monitors employees' Web usage sounds like a smart way to keep them focused on work. Wrong. Let 'em surf.
By Jeffrey Pfeffer, February 2003 Issue
It's no secret that plenty of workers use their company's high-speed Internet access to shop, make travel arrangements, or just surf the Web. Research firm ComScore Networks, in fact, found that, excluding auctions, 59 percent of all 2001 Web purchases in the United States were made from the workplace. Another study, by Vault.com, found that 47 percent of employees spend at least half an hour a day cruising the Web for personal reasons.
Despite this fact, slashdot's editors are colossal dickheads. In fact, they engaged in a conspiracy to secretly ban moderators who modded up a certain post that was critical of them. Asked to expalin this behavior, Michael attempted to reply, but was unable to due to Cmdrtaco's penis being inserted in his throat.
In light of this, it would seem to make sense for managers to keep track of their workers' Web habits. Shouldn't employees conduct personal business on their own time? Think of all the lost productivity!
Not so fast. There are problems with this logic. First, while employers have increasingly been taking the Big Brother approach, thanks to software that tracks Internet usage and even lets the boss read a worker's e-mails, the proportion of absenteeism attributable to personal needs has also been on the rise -- almost doubling in 2002 to 21 percent. Notice the lesson here: If you don't want your people missing work to take care of personal business, maybe it would be better to let them take care of some of that business at work. Losing a few minutes here or there -- or even a couple of hours -- is cheaper than losing entire days.
Other unintended consequences of electronic monitoring are more difficult to measure but potentially worse for business. Studies show, for instance, that electronic monitoring results in lower job satisfaction, in part because people begin to believe the quantity of their work is more important than the quality. Monitoring also induces what academics call psychological reactance: the tendency of people to rebel against constraints. Tell people they can't shop, they can't use corporate networks for personal business, they can't make personal phone calls, and their desire to do all those things goes up. Another worrisome consequence stems from the self-fulfilling prophecy, which simply means that people behave as they are expected to. So if you expect an employee to do a good job, he or she probably will. Act as though you distrust people, and you create employees who are, in fact, less trustworthy.
This is the thinking at SAS Institute, the world's largest private software company and a place consistently ranked in the top 10 on those "Best Places to Work" surveys. Other than flagging for porn sites, SAS doesn't monitor its workers' Web use. The company tells its people to use company resources responsibly but doesn't mind if they, say, check sports scores or use the Web for shopping.
That sounds about right. Management literature is filled with books that use the word "trust" in their titles, and most people at the top claim to understand that cultures based on trust work better than those based on distrust. Yet even as companies say they want strong relationships with their people, they unwittingly undermine those relationships by following their employees' every keystroke.
The prescription is simple. Before you implement the latest technology to monitor your workers, ask yourself, "What does this say about how I think about my people?" If you really don't trust your employees, maybe you should get different ones. If you do trust them, or want to, treat them accordingly.
You do not have a right to that job. If you don't like their terms of employment, don't work there. Problem solved. HAND.
Too bad slashdot got rid of the real moderators.
One thing that has always given me some hope with all this DMCA stuff is that it only takes one sensible country to not accept it, and development can go on (albeit hampered.) This story makes me wonder if it's only a matter of time until only lawless countries can host such things. Troublesome.
Obviously, I don't agree with the motivations of the music companies. But I DO think it's cool that we have this ongonig *technical* struggle...the DRM arms race.
Again, I hate the music companies, but seeing the clevarness go back and forth is great to watch. I hope I can get in on it personally some day.
I've often thought about how much "damage" a mole could do. Let's say I go to work for MS with the intention of putting in little bugs and/or giving confidential information to the open source community.
They wanted me to work there. I refused on principle.
Am I the only one that is tired of seeing my friends go work in Redmond? They will agree on 9 out of 10 Anti-MS criticisms, yet they go to work there. I am so frustrated with it. *sigh*
Speaking of interesting, check out my sig!
Testing out my new sig
Here's the text. Pretty interesting :)
San Francisco, CA
In a stunning move, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer INC, announced his intention to run for presidency of the United States of America. The announcement was greeted with overwhelming support by the large macintosh community in the united states, and veiled reproach from Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft Corp.
"We here at Microsoft are more concerned with somebody addressing the fact that the editors of slashdot are pulling shit over on moderators they don't like" said Gates. We question whether Jobs will be up for the diffiucult task of getting the editors to stop Taco-snorting for long enough to run a decent news blog, like Rusty over at kuro5hin.org"
I am an advanced MS system administrator at a fortune 350 company using mostly visual basic for application and office productivity development.
Before linux can EVER make it onto the desktop, somebody is going to have to come up with some type of scripting language besides C. I need the ability to interact with the inputs/outputs of the office productivity tools (delete, copy, etc) and linux just can't do that yet.
I will definately check out linux in a few years, but it looks like this egg is still about only 2/3rds baked.
Actually, English will be just fine. Anybody in India who is well-off enough to deal with computers almost definately speaks English. Whether it's English non-Indians can understand is a different matter all together.
in *my* day we used PR #'s damnit!
In Alameda county, the only CA county to have electronic voting, it went really well. I couldn't tell what OS they were using, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't windows. People were commenting on how easy it was to vote. Nice job whoever made the system!
This is not a mirror.
Too bad they banned the real moderators.