Let me at least get my replicated food and whatnot before we start worrying about hordes of nanotech devices co-opting my mind.
Nanotech weapons do pose a rather nasty threat to society. But then so do chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. But lets look at the biological ones.
A biological weapon is self replicating, just like a nanotech one. It kills indescriminantly (at least the good ones do) just like a nanotech device (designed to do that). It spreads from person to person, often in large quantities. Yea... nanotech too.
But wait... You can develop your VERY OWN biological arsonal for less than $10,000!!!! Nanotech costs a bit more than that.
Yes, a nanotech plague could someday wipe humanity from the earth. I won't argue that. I'm sure it's a possibility (however distant). But more to the point, a perfectly natural biological plague has the potential to do the same... to say nothing of what happens when mankind starts messing with that plague in an attempt to make it even more vicious.
I'll admit straight off that I don't know shit about what makes email work. I run communicator and email arives. That's about it. In fact, I still can't get sendmail to work on by box. But that's neither here nor there.
Point is that I've been reading and posting to/. long enough to understand that when it comes to digital rights management (in any sence of the phrase) the answer is NOT legislation, it is technology.
No one faulted the MPAA etc for encrypting DVDs. That was fair and all. We cracked it, but it was fair. We faulted them for making it illegal to try to crack it.
Apply the same logic here. The answer to the spam problem is not legislation, it is technology. Now, I know that those spam filters in place on mail servers eat system resources. They have to... that's a LOT of mail. But I also know how easy it is to forge headers. I know that many programs and websites are capable of sending mail from accounts which don't exist.
Why do these holes in the system exist? Why can't they be patched? Sure... I know we're talking about a protocol which is on literaly millions of machines, but it seems to me that the best way to stop spam is to remove the walls that make it possible to hide behind annonimity with your email. Once that is done... well... it becomes easier to catch these people.
Secondly, micro-pay. We see this tossed around a lot. Now, I don't like the idea of paying for email, but perhaps that's what it will take to remove spammers. Could someone create a "premium" email service which would require that senders pay.001 cents to send a message TO the account? Would this discourage spam? I think so.
I don't know what would or wouldn't work... but these seem like the ideas I see frequently here... why can't they be applied to email rather than just websites and cyphers?
Not necessarily. Most telemarketers today use a computer and a massive bank of modems to call people. The first line that picks up the phone gets personal attention, if it's not an answering machine. If it is they just spew some recorded message onto your tape at the sound of the tone. Behold... telephones now have SPAM.
Your car is legaly a public place, which is why cops have the right to seize contraband found in "plain sight" in your car.
The blackbox records what your car does on public roads. The box is known to exist, so a search is not necessary. The court knows you have it and you therefore can not plead its non-existance.
Once the prosecution proves that the box contains information vital to the case (which it will, because it will) your failure to produce the box will be seen as an obstruction of justice (just ask Nixon).
One last point. Most insurance companies are real assholes about this. It's not "have you been found at fault in an accident" it's "have you been in an accident." I was in a collision in which I was -=not=- found to be at fault. Nonetheless my rates got jacked. Sucked to be me.
All in all a black box like this would serve only to save points on your licence. It would save insurance companies some money, but in the balance not much (figuring that the amount awarded eroniously is a fair constant percent from one insurance co to the next).
So really... while this is curious and all. I don't imagine that insurance companies will care that much. What will be of interest however, is car companies seeing this as good.
"No senator, there is nothing wrong with our design, in all 10 of those accidents the driver failed to apply the brakes and did not have his seat belt fastened."
Why isn't the current laws enforce instead of introducing new ones? I just don't get it.
You posted this AC and I'll never know why. At first glance it looks like a troll, but it's not.
The NRA has advanced this argument for years. It's summed up in their bumper stickers "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." As much as I hate to say it, they're right.
DVRs don't commit piracy, people commit piracy.
The NRA has launched a succefull and powerfull campaign in American government to portray guns as tools, not weapons. The MPAA and the RIAA are launching a similarly successfull campaign to portray P2P networks, DVRs, CD burners, DVD burners, Computers, Abaci, and Pencils as criminal skills development equipment.
I only wish the technical professionals in the US had the gumption to organize like the AARP has. There's a reason why everyone's afraid to touch Social Security but no one thinks twice before trying to outlaw something like floppy drives.
You make the rather tragic assumption that they're not allready doing that. I mean, we know who -=voted=- for them, but those people don't really count. Most of the country has either decided well in advance of any election that it is either Democrat or Republican. It's the undecided few (or apathetic many) that decide the election.
Who do you think changes those people's minds? Who gets those swing votes out? I'll tell you who. Advertising agencies. Those agencies need money. Where do you think that comes from?
So yea, they are representing the people who got them there in the first place. Problem is, those people aren't their constituents.
A PVR records digitaly onto a hard drive. With a little work and way to much spare time you can modify one of these things such that this file can be coppied, burned to CD, distributed over P2P network etc.
VCRs record (I think) in analog on a magnetic tape. Thus, repeated duplication always results in inferior quality. Furthermore, repeated viewing also results in inferior quality.
The result is that any video stream recorded from a VCR has a finite shelf life (long, but finite). Where as anything recorded with a PVR could (hypotheticly) have an infinite shelf life (ok, remaining life of the Earth) and no real limit on the number of copies possible.
Or this could have been an intentional portion of the film. The US Supreme Court has held that private agnecies working for the government (say, a hospitals gathering of DNA samples from those having bloodwork done) are held to the same scruiteny as the government itself.
Perhaps the data gathered by the adverstising equipment is considered private until requisitioned by court order. That would prevent a realtime uplink (unless ordered).
Or I could be talking out of my ass.
I have to agree with you on the holographic tablet thing. And what the hell was up with those thumbnail knockoffs anyway?
That sounds like an excelent "out" for the Renquist Court, which would be hesitant to rule the pledge as a whole unconstitutional.
Though it's not outside the relm of possibility that Rhenquist could fail to get the votes needed to grant "cert" and would thus fail to overturn the lower court's ruling.
Keep in mind that if you wanted to find a liberal as liberal as the US definition in Europe you'd find a (european) conservitive. And to find a conservitive matching the US description you'd have to find a Nazi.
The Europeans are FAR more liberal than the US as a whole. Or, put another way, the US is far more conservitive than most other states in the world.
The other side of the coin is this. Though many US reporters and other such media icons are liberal (by our definition) the owners of those media outlets they represent are just as conservitive as Dubbya.
Don't think that all that much gets by those owners.
So we add a check box which says "I give slashdot the right to publish any future posts I make in an unaltered form in an not-for-profit distribution mode" or somesuch.
Then add another which says "I give slashdot the right to publish any posts I have made in the afforementioned manner"
IANAL so the language would have to be changed obviously. But I think those two would deal with teh problem. That... and add a "No Publishing Rights" check box to the submission form.
I graduated from UVA and spent more than my fair share of time in Olson (the CS building). The museum (such as it is) is aranged in a glass case around the interior wall of the building (And thus takes up a quite substantial amount of space). More bulky items litter lounges and personal offices of some professors.
The case itself is aranged as a timeline progression. I think the grouping by manufacturer is simply to allow users of the site to pull the image of whateveritis they need right now as fast as possible.
I think it's important to remember why we're taking these tests. A CS degree is a professional degree.
The point is that the testing you experiance earnign that degree should be testing the skills you'll need in the real world.
How many programmers out there are regularly called upon to write perfect working code on a napkin? I've never been asked to do that except for these damn tests (well... not a napkin). The idea that people are testing us for a skill that we not only do not need but never will need is insane.
And the difference there is important. The overwhelming majority of the United States is catholic. Where as the overwhelming majority of Italy is both catholic and Catholic.
For those of you who are are still scratching your nogin thinking TGK's an idiot....
catholic... as in "one holy catholic and apistolic (sp?) church" = Christian
Catholic... as in "Catholic girls start much to late" = Roman Catholic Church.
I swear to God if I get modded up for this and it comes up on metamod I'll vote it unfair.
Actualy the French droped out of the military arm of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because they (de Gaule) objected to the admission of W. Germany into NATO.
American culture/music/fast food/etc had nothing to do with it.
Funny how often that history degree comes into play on this site (-:
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
yes this is highly off topic... but I'm ansering a question
Most cities have a curfew law which applies to minors out after a certain time (in my county it's midnight).
If a minor is stopped by a cop after midnight there are a very few things he can be doing. He can be going home or rushing someone to the ER (or some other such task of mercy)
Basicly it gives police an excuse to pull people they suspect to be minors driving alone and a reason to pull a car full of minors.
More DUIs get handed out to minors in my county due to this law (which I suspect has its fair share of Constitutional questionability)... which is a good thing.
Essentialy, if you're driving alone and you're not blasted all you have to do is say "I'm going home officer" and he'll wave you on.
Until this system can come with a 8+ speaker full surround sound system complete with the seat shaking bass that tends to go with the typical hollywood shootemup blockbuster I'll go with the theater.... headphones can only do so much.
That and there's something quintessentialy different about watching a movie in a crouded theator. One of the classes I took in college centered on the vampire film (it was a very strange class). The professor made a big deal of getting a largish room with a projection screen for the film showings because of the atmospheric difference between watching a film alone and with 120 some odd people.
For those of you that care the editorial written by Mr Bartlett referenced above is the result of work done by the National Center for Policy Analysis. A rather conservitive group whos self proclaimed mission statement includes the following: The NCPA's goal is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector.
I think it's safe to say that any thinktank looking for a way to turn the worlds problems over to private corporations has a vested interest in demonstrating that there is no energy crisis.
Also please note that the theory upon which all of this argument is based is one put forth by a Mr Thomas Gold. An Astronomer. Not a geologist... an Astronomer.
Furthermore I should point out that no one said we were running out of fossil fuels at a frightening rate. There's lots of coal down there. It's a pain in the arse to get out and will cause more environmental problems than we know what to do with (coal has all kinds of fun trace elements in it) but it's there.
Finaly, in an attempt to address the issue of the ever peeking graph. Remember that the amount we can extract at a given level of economic benefit is changing as technology improves. But also, remember that as technology improves our desire for MORE oil has also increased (historicaly). The trend is inescapable. Oil CAN NOT be infinite. Not unless we start seriously rethinking the fundamental makeup of the earth ("The continents float on a layer of petrolium?")
Sooner or later we're going to run out of this stuff. It might be in 40 years or 100. Either way it will happen eventualy. We also know that burning this stuff puts all kinds of lovely chemicals into the air which kill people. Oil has so many more practical uses than burning it. We should be putting some money into energy sources like fusion (it's not as far off as we think) and saving this suff for future use as plastics etc.
Wana go hardcore? A shrinkwraper. Most college bookstores won't take books back at full price once the shrinkwrap is off. If you have a shrinkwraper you can re-wrap them and typicaly save $75+ on your returned books.
Ok... can someone PLEASE explain this to me. I've wondered about this for some time.
The tides and thus the waves are caused by gravitational fluxes in the Earth Moon system. By harnesing wave power we take energy out of the ocean. Energy is dumped into the ocean by gravitational tides. Thus there is no danger of stoping the waves. This I get.
But we know that "energy can neither be created nor destroyed." Consequently the energy has got to be coming from SOMEWHERE. Where? Is the moon slowing? How does this play out?
More to the point.... how about Geothermal energy? I guess I just have a hard time reconsiling these energy sources (which seem to depend on gravity to feed them) with what we know about matter/energy.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey now....
Let me at least get my replicated food and whatnot before we start worrying about hordes of nanotech devices co-opting my mind.
Nanotech weapons do pose a rather nasty threat to society. But then so do chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. But lets look at the biological ones.
A biological weapon is self replicating, just like a nanotech one. It kills indescriminantly (at least the good ones do) just like a nanotech device (designed to do that). It spreads from person to person, often in large quantities. Yea... nanotech too.
But wait... You can develop your VERY OWN biological arsonal for less than $10,000!!!! Nanotech costs a bit more than that.
Yes, a nanotech plague could someday wipe humanity from the earth. I won't argue that. I'm sure it's a possibility (however distant). But more to the point, a perfectly natural biological plague has the potential to do the same... to say nothing of what happens when mankind starts messing with that plague in an attempt to make it even more vicious.
A little recomended reading on this topic
Biohazard by Ken Alibek
The Demon In the Freezer
I'll admit straight off that I don't know shit about what makes email work. I run communicator and email arives. That's about it. In fact, I still can't get sendmail to work on by box. But that's neither here nor there.
/. long enough to understand that when it comes to digital rights management (in any sence of the phrase) the answer is NOT legislation, it is technology.
.001 cents to send a message TO the account? Would this discourage spam? I think so.
Point is that I've been reading and posting to
No one faulted the MPAA etc for encrypting DVDs. That was fair and all. We cracked it, but it was fair. We faulted them for making it illegal to try to crack it.
Apply the same logic here. The answer to the spam problem is not legislation, it is technology. Now, I know that those spam filters in place on mail servers eat system resources. They have to... that's a LOT of mail. But I also know how easy it is to forge headers. I know that many programs and websites are capable of sending mail from accounts which don't exist.
Why do these holes in the system exist? Why can't they be patched? Sure... I know we're talking about a protocol which is on literaly millions of machines, but it seems to me that the best way to stop spam is to remove the walls that make it possible to hide behind annonimity with your email. Once that is done... well... it becomes easier to catch these people.
Secondly, micro-pay. We see this tossed around a lot. Now, I don't like the idea of paying for email, but perhaps that's what it will take to remove spammers. Could someone create a "premium" email service which would require that senders pay
I don't know what would or wouldn't work... but these seem like the ideas I see frequently here... why can't they be applied to email rather than just websites and cyphers?
Not necessarily. Most telemarketers today use a computer and a massive bank of modems to call people. The first line that picks up the phone gets personal attention, if it's not an answering machine. If it is they just spew some recorded message onto your tape at the sound of the tone. Behold... telephones now have SPAM.
FEH
Your car is legaly a public place, which is why cops have the right to seize contraband found in "plain sight" in your car.
The blackbox records what your car does on public roads. The box is known to exist, so a search is not necessary. The court knows you have it and you therefore can not plead its non-existance.
Once the prosecution proves that the box contains information vital to the case (which it will, because it will) your failure to produce the box will be seen as an obstruction of justice (just ask Nixon).
One last point. Most insurance companies are real assholes about this. It's not "have you been found at fault in an accident" it's "have you been in an accident." I was in a collision in which I was -=not=- found to be at fault. Nonetheless my rates got jacked. Sucked to be me.
All in all a black box like this would serve only to save points on your licence. It would save insurance companies some money, but in the balance not much (figuring that the amount awarded eroniously is a fair constant percent from one insurance co to the next).
So really... while this is curious and all. I don't imagine that insurance companies will care that much. What will be of interest however, is car companies seeing this as good.
"No senator, there is nothing wrong with our design, in all 10 of those accidents the driver failed to apply the brakes and did not have his seat belt fastened."
Why isn't the current laws enforce instead of introducing new ones? I just don't get it.
You posted this AC and I'll never know why. At first glance it looks like a troll, but it's not.
The NRA has advanced this argument for years. It's summed up in their bumper stickers "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." As much as I hate to say it, they're right.
DVRs don't commit piracy, people commit piracy.
The NRA has launched a succefull and powerfull campaign in American government to portray guns as tools, not weapons. The MPAA and the RIAA are launching a similarly successfull campaign to portray P2P networks, DVRs, CD burners, DVD burners, Computers, Abaci, and Pencils as criminal skills development equipment.
I only wish the technical professionals in the US had the gumption to organize like the AARP has. There's a reason why everyone's afraid to touch Social Security but no one thinks twice before trying to outlaw something like floppy drives.
You make the rather tragic assumption that they're not allready doing that. I mean, we know who -=voted=- for them, but those people don't really count. Most of the country has either decided well in advance of any election that it is either Democrat or Republican. It's the undecided few (or apathetic many) that decide the election.
Who do you think changes those people's minds? Who gets those swing votes out? I'll tell you who. Advertising agencies. Those agencies need money. Where do you think that comes from?
So yea, they are representing the people who got them there in the first place. Problem is, those people aren't their constituents.
A PVR records digitaly onto a hard drive. With a little work and way to much spare time you can modify one of these things such that this file can be coppied, burned to CD, distributed over P2P network etc.
VCRs record (I think) in analog on a magnetic tape. Thus, repeated duplication always results in inferior quality. Furthermore, repeated viewing also results in inferior quality.
The result is that any video stream recorded from a VCR has a finite shelf life (long, but finite). Where as anything recorded with a PVR could (hypotheticly) have an infinite shelf life (ok, remaining life of the Earth) and no real limit on the number of copies possible.
Or this could have been an intentional portion of the film. The US Supreme Court has held that private agnecies working for the government (say, a hospitals gathering of DNA samples from those having bloodwork done) are held to the same scruiteny as the government itself.
Perhaps the data gathered by the adverstising equipment is considered private until requisitioned by court order. That would prevent a realtime uplink (unless ordered).
Or I could be talking out of my ass.
I have to agree with you on the holographic tablet thing. And what the hell was up with those thumbnail knockoffs anyway?
That sounds like an excelent "out" for the Renquist Court, which would be hesitant to rule the pledge as a whole unconstitutional.
Though it's not outside the relm of possibility that Rhenquist could fail to get the votes needed to grant "cert" and would thus fail to overturn the lower court's ruling.
Keep in mind that if you wanted to find a liberal as liberal as the US definition in Europe you'd find a (european) conservitive. And to find a conservitive matching the US description you'd have to find a Nazi.
The Europeans are FAR more liberal than the US as a whole. Or, put another way, the US is far more conservitive than most other states in the world.
The other side of the coin is this. Though many US reporters and other such media icons are liberal (by our definition) the owners of those media outlets they represent are just as conservitive as Dubbya.
Don't think that all that much gets by those owners.
So we add a check box which says "I give slashdot the right to publish any future posts I make in an unaltered form in an not-for-profit distribution mode" or somesuch.
Then add another which says "I give slashdot the right to publish any posts I have made in the afforementioned manner"
IANAL so the language would have to be changed obviously. But I think those two would deal with teh problem. That... and add a "No Publishing Rights" check box to the submission form.
I graduated from UVA and spent more than my fair share of time in Olson (the CS building). The museum (such as it is) is aranged in a glass case around the interior wall of the building (And thus takes up a quite substantial amount of space). More bulky items litter lounges and personal offices of some professors.
The case itself is aranged as a timeline progression. I think the grouping by manufacturer is simply to allow users of the site to pull the image of whateveritis they need right now as fast as possible.
--Killfile
I think it's important to remember why we're taking these tests. A CS degree is a professional degree.
The point is that the testing you experiance earnign that degree should be testing the skills you'll need in the real world.
How many programmers out there are regularly called upon to write perfect working code on a napkin? I've never been asked to do that except for these damn tests (well... not a napkin). The idea that people are testing us for a skill that we not only do not need but never will need is insane.
And the difference there is important. The overwhelming majority of the United States is catholic. Where as the overwhelming majority of Italy is both catholic and Catholic.
For those of you who are are still scratching your nogin thinking TGK's an idiot....
catholic... as in "one holy catholic and apistolic (sp?) church" = Christian
Catholic... as in "Catholic girls start much to late" = Roman Catholic Church.
I swear to God if I get modded up for this and it comes up on metamod I'll vote it unfair.
Which explains nicely why Naboo is not the seat of Imperial Government in episodes IV-VI
Actualy the French droped out of the military arm of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because they (de Gaule) objected to the admission of W. Germany into NATO.
American culture/music/fast food/etc had nothing to do with it.
Funny how often that history degree comes into play on this site (-:
Article I Section 8
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
I think that about sums it up.
yes this is highly off topic... but I'm ansering a question
Most cities have a curfew law which applies to minors out after a certain time (in my county it's midnight).
If a minor is stopped by a cop after midnight there are a very few things he can be doing. He can be going home or rushing someone to the ER (or some other such task of mercy)
Basicly it gives police an excuse to pull people they suspect to be minors driving alone and a reason to pull a car full of minors.
More DUIs get handed out to minors in my county due to this law (which I suspect has its fair share of Constitutional questionability)... which is a good thing.
Essentialy, if you're driving alone and you're not blasted all you have to do is say "I'm going home officer" and he'll wave you on.
Until this system can come with a 8+ speaker full surround sound system complete with the seat shaking bass that tends to go with the typical hollywood shootemup blockbuster I'll go with the theater.... headphones can only do so much.
That and there's something quintessentialy different about watching a movie in a crouded theator. One of the classes I took in college centered on the vampire film (it was a very strange class). The professor made a big deal of getting a largish room with a projection screen for the film showings because of the atmospheric difference between watching a film alone and with 120 some odd people.
For those of you that care the editorial written by Mr Bartlett referenced above is the result of work done by the National Center for Policy Analysis. A rather conservitive group whos self proclaimed mission statement includes the following:
The NCPA's goal is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector.
I think it's safe to say that any thinktank looking for a way to turn the worlds problems over to private corporations has a vested interest in demonstrating that there is no energy crisis.
Also please note that the theory upon which all of this argument is based is one put forth by a Mr Thomas Gold. An Astronomer. Not a geologist... an Astronomer.
Furthermore I should point out that no one said we were running out of fossil fuels at a frightening rate. There's lots of coal down there. It's a pain in the arse to get out and will cause more environmental problems than we know what to do with (coal has all kinds of fun trace elements in it) but it's there.
Finaly, in an attempt to address the issue of the ever peeking graph. Remember that the amount we can extract at a given level of economic benefit is changing as technology improves. But also, remember that as technology improves our desire for MORE oil has also increased (historicaly). The trend is inescapable. Oil CAN NOT be infinite. Not unless we start seriously rethinking the fundamental makeup of the earth ("The continents float on a layer of petrolium?")
Sooner or later we're going to run out of this stuff. It might be in 40 years or 100. Either way it will happen eventualy. We also know that burning this stuff puts all kinds of lovely chemicals into the air which kill people. Oil has so many more practical uses than burning it. We should be putting some money into energy sources like fusion (it's not as far off as we think) and saving this suff for future use as plastics etc.
How about this. Lucas doesn't seem to give a rats ass about the man-decades of work that have gone into the Star Wars Universe....
Chances are... we'll never see any of that.
Wana go hardcore? A shrinkwraper. Most college bookstores won't take books back at full price once the shrinkwrap is off. If you have a shrinkwraper you can re-wrap them and typicaly save $75+ on your returned books.
That... and you can sell shrinkwraping service.
sorry... yes... feet
Ok... can someone PLEASE explain this to me. I've wondered about this for some time.
The tides and thus the waves are caused by gravitational fluxes in the Earth Moon system. By harnesing wave power we take energy out of the ocean. Energy is dumped into the ocean by gravitational tides. Thus there is no danger of stoping the waves. This I get.
But we know that "energy can neither be created nor destroyed." Consequently the energy has got to be coming from SOMEWHERE. Where? Is the moon slowing? How does this play out?
More to the point.... how about Geothermal energy? I guess I just have a hard time reconsiling these energy sources (which seem to depend on gravity to feed them) with what we know about matter/energy.
To support the energy use of a single US citizen a 10x10 area of the planet must be covered in solar panels which function at 100% efficiency.
A little mental math and you'll work out that if everyone in the world were to live at the US standard of living we'd run out of earth real quick.
Which is why we need space based power generation facilities. So one of you physics guys out there build us a microwave laser and lets get cracking!