With Passport, we already let them keep our passwords in their (oh so secure) servers, and trust them not to misuse that information, despite terms of use that specifically allow them too. Now we're supposed to pay them to do the same thing, but link it to extra information so that even if we try to be anonymous on the Internet, it can be linked to us?
Not for me, thanks. You can take your expensive, invasive database, and shove it.
Now you'll have doubleclick permanently installed on your computer routing you ads for the local mega chain pizza joint. Lovely! Anyone want to bet they won't be collecting your private information for that trick?
I've seen it done on embedded industrial controllers. It was done for stability. The device had two hot swappable 68040's underclocked to 50 MHz, running identical calculations in parallel. The software was all proprietary, but it wasn't something unstable like Windows, or even Linux.
Is that these is real world code just as unreadable as these. I mean, these things look like binaries; they belong in museums, not in production.
It's sad that it's so much easier to write obfuscated code than it is to write elegant code. Someone should start a contest for the most small and interesting code that is the most obvious and elegant.
What we need is a language that promotes concise but readable code. Then these could be purely academic exercises. I work in Perl, and believe me, some of these could win clairity contests.
I wonder how this will affect the plans for a controlled descent? According to The Age, there are already concerns that large pieces of it could hit Australia.
They say that the largest pieces are expected to weigh more than half a metric tonne. That would hurt!
Honestly, I can't change this by myself. I don't even know where to start. But I have some idea of HOW to start.
Does someone have names/ addresses of execs at companies where this is going on? Please post them so that we can give them a polite reminder that we will avoid supporting them in the future if they pursue this horibble copy protection scheme.
Really, this would be good if they released expired domain names promptly. Really, as it is now, this isn't much use. All it will do is hurt individuals and small businesses who are late in payment by making it easier to steal their domains. It won't be easier to get domains from squatters, and it won't protect your domains at all.
Avoid this. This company is trying to rip off both you and the person who has the domain now.
As long as you don't trust each other, there isn't much you can do about man in the middle attacks. That's why personal certificates are such an important thing. Otherwise, all you can do is know when it is possible to initiate a new one, and when it is possible to repeat one.
I'll admit, usually when I'm asked to accept a new key for a computer, I do. Usually it just means the key has been changed (duh!). But there is always the possibility it is an attack.
What I'm waiting for are smartcards that I can store a personal certificate on, as well as keys for all the computers I use on a regular basis.
My first computer was a PC XT clone in 1987. Pretty late, I know. But I got a magazine with it, and it had all the business like ads you see there. They were all sheets of text with maybe a photograph or an order form.
Those color ads are cool! The rainbow VIC20, and the brilliant Colecovision. Those were the days! I remember always asking my father to buy me a C=64.
It's funny, how the video game machines refer to the actual computers as "video games". So you can "turn your video game into a full featured personal computer!" The terminology changes a bit, but I guess the people writing Quake mods are still doing that today.
Well, I know this is flamebait, but I think this is just his ego trip. He cares about this satellite, and he wants to make sure the rest of us know about it. In one post, he even said, "Someone moderate this up. These are updates to the story."
He is too arrogant in forcing his interests on us. I agree with him a lot of times when he is discussing free software, but not this time. He should let the community decide what is important and what is not.
You're very right about solutions being needed to the problems that exist now, and also that many technologies that aren't wanted probably have no real purpose.
On the other hand, the killer application is the one that no one thought of before hand. Wasn't it Thomas Watson of IBM who said that there would only ever be a need for three computers in the world, and Bill Gates, who said we would never need more than 640K? Obviously, both of them changed their minds. The reason? New technology allowed new applications that they hadn't thought of.
Don't mock something just because you can't think of a use for it. I'd be fine with a smart toaster, so long as it burned my toast less often.
People who aren't familiar with ubiquitous computing might wonder what the advantages of these are. I know that I had a very difficult time explaining to my father what it is at all.
Ubiquitous means that the computer is always around you, always there. It becomes a part of your lifestyle, to consult the computer just as you consult your wristwatch. Perhaps like a mobile phone, but the goal is that a ubiquitous computer is much more transparent to the user than that.
My father said, "When I'm walking in the woods, I don't want a computer; it would just be an annoying distraction." But even there, how many times have you wondered what something was, or made a mental note about something you later forgot. The idea is that it does not take over your life, but fits seamlessly into it.
In that contest, a flexible transistor is a great benefit. Current wearable computers are very small (for a general purpose computer), but they still are not good things to wear. By making electronics flexible, it becomes much easier to embed them into clothing or other things that are carried around.
As well as the MIT group, check out Steve Mann's work for more information about wearable computers. They are very cool!
Way to go, to the groups mentioned in the article, and I hope they succeed very soon.
This is really a good thing. Devices that can't afford the real estate for a full featured HTML/ XHTML renderer shouldn't be ignored. For a lot of e-commerce and information sites, the ability to display on mobile devices is really important. If I'm a business person checking my portfolio on the road (or even looking for directions on the road), then I'm an important client with a device that can't support full XHTML.
A lot of Professional web designers already pay a lot of attention to the standards. When you write, you have to pay a lot of attention to the platforms available, but new standards tell you what you can look for on the latest software, and what to keep a heads up for in the next version. Most browsers have some CSS support now, and that's very useful, for example.
It's really good to extend this to less featured devices. Plus, there is a better chance that they will track the standards, since many of them have not been developed yet, and even the ones that are often need a software upgrade to work with the Internet at all.
There is also much less diversity in the feature set supported across each class of device, so that makes it easier, also.
I'm lucky enough not to be hit. I like to buy computer junk locally. I have had trouble with stuff, and it's easier to get service from a reputable local dealer who you can visit during lunch or after work. Better prices than the large chains, too. And the University Bookstore has all the good books and software that you are hard to find otherwise.
No, I'm a guy. And I'm straight, not that that really matters. But doing anything I set my mind to is a comment on any stereotype. In my case, it's about being a geek not stopping me.
Back when I was in high school, people used to bother me about it. I'm starting to sound like Jon Katz now, so I'll stop, but I hope you get the point. I'm still a bit sensitive about it. (:
You're right. Ok, here's a question for you. I don't know neural nets, but I'm smart enough to recognize an and gate when I see one. What makes this more special than my trivial pseudocode example?
And what about the is operator? The article implied that it was somehow better fit to this task than the identification used in other systems.
The article was rather light on details, but this doesn't look like much of a breakthrough. One expert likes furry animals, another small ones, another domesticated ones. So the neural network combines the results and pumps out cats and dogs.
if(animal is furry && animal is small && animal is domesticated) it's probably a cat or a dog.
Congratulations, you've reinvented the and gate, which those of us outside the neural network community have been using for a long time.
.NET might be very good to us
on
Perl and .NET
·
· Score: 3
If there is a high quality free implementation of.NET on Linux, then a lot of people would have no reason to use M$ Windows at all. All their favourite programs would run great on Linux.
It would also be a great way to introduce a lot of people to free software. Once they saw the alternatives to Micro$oft bloatware, they would never go back.
They are plowing ahead so quickly that they will cause their own destruction, and Linux will step in to pick up the pieces and allow people to get work done better.
Really, weve seen enough of these. From the one in Jurassic Park, to the ones that keep popping up here every so often.
The one thing they have in common is that none of them help me work faster. Why doesn't someone put more effort into developing a more intuitive command line and forget about all the cool-but-useless 3D GUI's and file managers?
some censorship is inevitable with corporate rule
on
Nazis on Napster
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· Score: 1
Once Napster sold out, there was really no way they could stay the same. Once you get the big corporations involved, you have to play by their rules.
I don't think it's a problem. People who want Nazi art can always find it somewhere else once Napster succumbs completely.
Like everyone pointed out, the best MPEG4 codec is Microsoft's. We need to get rid of patents, or else the only way we'll get technology on Linux is when M$ doles it out to their lackeys at Corel and Apple. And it definitely won't be free, then!
Slashdot Mirror
With Passport, we already let them keep our passwords in their (oh so secure) servers, and trust them not to misuse that information, despite terms of use that specifically allow them too. Now we're supposed to pay them to do the same thing, but link it to extra information so that even if we try to be anonymous on the Internet, it can be linked to us?
Not for me, thanks. You can take your expensive, invasive database, and shove it.
Now you'll have doubleclick permanently installed on your computer routing you ads for the local mega chain pizza joint. Lovely! Anyone want to bet they won't be collecting your private information for that trick?
I've seen it done on embedded industrial controllers. It was done for stability. The device had two hot swappable 68040's underclocked to 50 MHz, running identical calculations in parallel. The software was all proprietary, but it wasn't something unstable like Windows, or even Linux.
Is that these is real world code just as unreadable as these. I mean, these things look like binaries; they belong in museums, not in production.
It's sad that it's so much easier to write obfuscated code than it is to write elegant code. Someone should start a contest for the most small and interesting code that is the most obvious and elegant.
What we need is a language that promotes concise but readable code. Then these could be purely academic exercises. I work in Perl, and believe me, some of these could win clairity contests.
Of course, now they are at story 4, which says they have full contact restored. The first time it only lasted seven minutes.
They say that the largest pieces are expected to weigh more than half a metric tonne. That would hurt!
Does someone have names/ addresses of execs at companies where this is going on? Please post them so that we can give them a polite reminder that we will avoid supporting them in the future if they pursue this horibble copy protection scheme.
Avoid this. This company is trying to rip off both you and the person who has the domain now.
I'll admit, usually when I'm asked to accept a new key for a computer, I do. Usually it just means the key has been changed (duh!). But there is always the possibility it is an attack.
What I'm waiting for are smartcards that I can store a personal certificate on, as well as keys for all the computers I use on a regular basis.
Those color ads are cool! The rainbow VIC20, and the brilliant Colecovision. Those were the days! I remember always asking my father to buy me a C=64.
It's funny, how the video game machines refer to the actual computers as "video games". So you can "turn your video game into a full featured personal computer!" The terminology changes a bit, but I guess the people writing Quake mods are still doing that today.
Oops...
1 point for Windows 2000 because "Bill Gates" is easier to spell than "Linus Torvalds".
He is too arrogant in forcing his interests on us. I agree with him a lot of times when he is discussing free software, but not this time. He should let the community decide what is important and what is not.
On the other hand, the killer application is the one that no one thought of before hand. Wasn't it Thomas Watson of IBM who said that there would only ever be a need for three computers in the world, and Bill Gates, who said we would never need more than 640K? Obviously, both of them changed their minds. The reason? New technology allowed new applications that they hadn't thought of.
Don't mock something just because you can't think of a use for it. I'd be fine with a smart toaster, so long as it burned my toast less often.
Should be Steve Mann at wearcam.org.
Ubiquitous means that the computer is always around you, always there. It becomes a part of your lifestyle, to consult the computer just as you consult your wristwatch. Perhaps like a mobile phone, but the goal is that a ubiquitous computer is much more transparent to the user than that.
My father said, "When I'm walking in the woods, I don't want a computer; it would just be an annoying distraction." But even there, how many times have you wondered what something was, or made a mental note about something you later forgot. The idea is that it does not take over your life, but fits seamlessly into it.
In that contest, a flexible transistor is a great benefit. Current wearable computers are very small (for a general purpose computer), but they still are not good things to wear. By making electronics flexible, it becomes much easier to embed them into clothing or other things that are carried around.
As well as the MIT group, check out Steve Mann's work for more information about wearable computers. They are very cool!
Way to go, to the groups mentioned in the article, and I hope they succeed very soon.
A lot of Professional web designers already pay a lot of attention to the standards. When you write, you have to pay a lot of attention to the platforms available, but new standards tell you what you can look for on the latest software, and what to keep a heads up for in the next version. Most browsers have some CSS support now, and that's very useful, for example.
It's really good to extend this to less featured devices. Plus, there is a better chance that they will track the standards, since many of them have not been developed yet, and even the ones that are often need a software upgrade to work with the Internet at all.
There is also much less diversity in the feature set supported across each class of device, so that makes it easier, also.
I'm lucky enough not to be hit. I like to buy computer junk locally. I have had trouble with stuff, and it's easier to get service from a reputable local dealer who you can visit during lunch or after work. Better prices than the large chains, too. And the University Bookstore has all the good books and software that you are hard to find otherwise.
Still, I wish they wouldn't do this. Sure, we geeks can get around it pretty easily, but what about all the other people in the world?
Back when I was in high school, people used to bother me about it. I'm starting to sound like Jon Katz now, so I'll stop, but I hope you get the point. I'm still a bit sensitive about it. (:
And what about the is operator? The article implied that it was somehow better fit to this task than the identification used in other systems.
if(animal is furry && animal is small && animal is domesticated) it's probably a cat or a dog.
Congratulations, you've reinvented the and gate, which those of us outside the neural network community have been using for a long time.
It would also be a great way to introduce a lot of people to free software. Once they saw the alternatives to Micro$oft bloatware, they would never go back.
They are plowing ahead so quickly that they will cause their own destruction, and Linux will step in to pick up the pieces and allow people to get work done better.
The one thing they have in common is that none of them help me work faster. Why doesn't someone put more effort into developing a more intuitive command line and forget about all the cool-but-useless 3D GUI's and file managers?
I don't think it's a problem. People who want Nazi art can always find it somewhere else once Napster succumbs completely.
Like everyone pointed out, the best MPEG4 codec is Microsoft's. We need to get rid of patents, or else the only way we'll get technology on Linux is when M$ doles it out to their lackeys at Corel and Apple. And it definitely won't be free, then!