What format did this first Mavica use? The patent is not on the addition of compression - it's on letting the user select the use of a standard format common on Macs (PICT) or on PCs (I think it was PCX at the time) depending on what machine the user was expecting to read the pictures on.
Yes, it's a lame patent, but it was novel and nonobvious at the time.
And that is non-obvious? I don't know the technicalities of patents, but even in 1987 I wouldn't call this non-obvious, and certainly not novel. At that time different formats existed between pc and mac, and they already shared the same medium. I'd call this a trivial solution to a straightforward engineering problem.
If I was designing the embedded system for such a camera and if the two target systems I was designing for used different formats but the same media, it would be obvious to code both formats into the product.
This doesn't require innovation. Should companies be able to patent switching between modes on any device? Maybe some sort of novel method of switching, or the mode itself, but not the switching.
1. Patent digital car equipped with a removable digital media capable of storing route and diagnostic data in one of several user selectable formats
2. #1 with an option for letting the user select the compression ratio or other compression algorithm parameters.
3. #1 with the removable media being a floppy disk.
The CCD has always been solid state, and in fact Sony's first Mavica unit dates back to 1981. It had removable media. To be able to patent any sort of digital data capture device, but with the addition of compression, is folly. The suing company simply patented the easily forseable combination of existing technologies. Maybe a special technologies court needs to be made to handle these kinds of things.
Yeah, that is definitely an easier and effective method, though I don't use it since it doesn't fit my needs. In my case I use the PHP code to present a different page depending on whether the user is local or remote. This way some features can be left accessible even to outside users.
I don't understand. What law is this being prosecuted under? Like one student in the article said, it is one thing to share copyrighted material. If I made a list of places that sell illegal drugs in my town and posted it publicly would I be liable? How is this any different?
Remember the scour.net? Scour did *exactly* the same thing these students did, it indexed publicly accessible files, mostly on.edu sites. The web based service used a special client that made it a matter of one click to pluck these files from student Lanman(client for Microsoft networks) shares. The thing with scour is it volountarily shut down after being litigated into bankrupcy by the RIAA and MPAA. The question is if a court case involving this same technology has been followed through to a verdict. Here is the farwell letter Scour posted before shutting down.
Would the same rules that brought Napster down apply here? Napster provided the client and search server, marketed itself as a media sharing service, and had the capability to centrally block copyrighted material from being downloaded. The court fully expected Napster to implement these blocks. It isn't reasonable to expect every p2p network search admin to undertake the monumental task of detecting copyrighted material being indexed. Also, the Napster server and client were crafted carefully to work with each other with the intent of being marketted as a media search service. Microsoft makes the client in the case of these college search engines and the engines themselves often aren't restricted to indexing just media files.
So exactly what is illegal here? The software that does the indexing? I hope this isn't the case. It shouldn't be, but the DeCSS case is a sobering reminder that what shouldn't can be if your on the wrong side (the one not obsessed with money). The fact that any copyrighted material is indexed? What if only 5 files out of 1000 are copyrighted. Is the search engine admin liable? What about 100 files out of a 1000? Where is line drawn?
Was it just me or did anyone else feel like the Two Towers was carried by the momentum of the first? There was some great action, but a lot of movies do that today. I didn't feel the same suspense and didn't see the same intense level of new character or story detail as in the first. The Two Towers relied too much on action to hold my attention, and I ended up bored through much of the time.
The sound quality can't suffer as much as it does when a bootlegger typically hacks it on his microcassete recorder. They'll at least do some minimal amount of mixing and cleaning up.
I've heard you went to Pleasantville high school in New York, which is also where I happend to have graduated from. It is rumored that you and a group of students once dissasembled a Volkswagen Beetle, carried it into the building, and re-assembled it in senior hall as a prank. Is this true?
I've seen their machines at Staples, though years ago. But the fact of the matter is that their not selling to any dealers. Only dealers "who serve businesses with 100 employees or fewer." So don't count on seeing an unbranded Dell at the local PC shop anytime soon.
My guess is these white box specials will come without Dell technical support and will sell at a lower price, all the while helping Dell get penetration into small to medium sized businesses. The consultants that service these companies often opt for generic machines so they can make a couple bucks. After all, you can't buy a pricey Dell and mark it up. This move from Dell basically allows the consultants to acquire Dell's at dealer pricing, as long as they provide the technical expertise when typical problems arise. It's less problematic than cobbling together poorly tested combinations of generic parts and there is still a profit to be made. A good move on Dell's part if you ask me.
How else would ActiveBuddy get their AI bot on the AIM network under the im name "SmarterChild" among others? My guess is AOL would have to hand them a special account without rate limits.
This is what the original letter quoted in the original \. article said. Re-read it. I'm beginning to think the editors here don't quite care enough anymore to be thorough.
Check out the link below for a few surplus electronic parts distributors. I personally use bgmicro (they are listed at the URL) a lot. They have a great PDF catalog you should check out. It's impossible to afford electrical hobbies on a typical college student income without these surplus shops. Even with their help, expect to drop a few hundred dollars initially. Microcontroller programming kits, motors, IC's, PCB's/Chemicals, test equipment, tools and such really add up.
Thanks for the info, I'll have to buy his DVD set and watch all the episodes I've missed. I can understand his reservations about injecting for a traditional roast turkey, since it's cooked in an oven over a couple hours. When frying though, I'll be carful to inject only under the skin. The immediate heat of hot oil will then sear the skin, locking in the precious juices. I like the idea of getting the spices getting well into the bird, and that's what I hope the injection will bring. Too often the surface or skin of chicken will have taken on flavorings but not the inside.
I suppose I should try both methods independently, together, and with a control turkey to be scientific about it. Otherwise it'll be difficult to differentiate the effects of the brine from that of the injection. I'll first try making a brine with bay leaves for spice and see how well that penetrates. I'm still curious what his thoughts are for a fried turkey, I think that method may warrant the injection approach.
Why mod this down? It's not clear if the interview will be posted next week or if questions will be accepted next week. I really wanted this one answered!
I'll be doing an annual turkey fry with a couple buddies before summer's end and the question of brining has come up. What exactly does the brining process do to the bird? What part does the sugar vs. the salt vs. H2O play? I've observed that brined chicken breasts develop a nice brown color and are juicy but would like a more scientific perspective, especially with respect to brining + frying. One concern is that the sugar on the skin may carbonize under the high cooking temperature.
I plan on brining the turkey for a day, followed by a day of sitting outside the brine, but injected with a buttery mix of herbs and spices. I'm also a little concerned that the effects of brining may be lost if the bird is left outside the brine so long before cooking. A scientific perspective would help me in better approximating the ideal way to go about this. Thanks! I really enjoy and look forward to your shows, the bee puppets in the honey episode were hillarious!
Well, I just headed over to live365.com to listen to some malayalam music - hardly RIAA controlled stuff, it's made in India. I couldn't listen because the broadcaster hadn't paid his pay per performace royalty fees as dictated by the librarian of congress. Where exactly does this royalty go? I can't imagine that some small music company in southern India is getting royalty checks.
Searching for PBX and Linux will get you Aaterisk. Asterisk is open source, works with widely available, relatively inexpensive hardware, runs linux, and is very flexible. Here is a feature list:
Extension routing logic Simple but functional voicemail, including e-mail notification Call bridging Call transfer Call parking Intercom (using sound card) Directory Execute arbitrary commands Simple configuration using text files
For those slashdotters like myself who found themselves asking a bajillion questions when C-Band was mentioned, check out the TVRO FAQ.
And just in case your wondering what TVRO stands for, here is a description of TVRO from the FAQ's introduction:
"TVRO is an acronym that stands for TeleVision Receive Only. Generally speaking, TVRO is the satellite distribution system for delivering programming to cable TV headends and systems."
Also, here are some interesting facts I gathered from googling around and reading the FAQ:
C-Band video is studio quality, it blows away cable and DSS/DISH satellite systems.
Commercial PPV stations like HBO are available but need decryption hardware.
Channels are leaving C-Band and switching to digital broadcasts, so the availability of C-Band channels is dropping.
Non-commercial much less homogenized content is available via satellite.
Re: It's actually pretty simple
on
Am I Hot or Not
·
· Score: 2
It's actually pretty simple as most zoned commercial hvac systems do it. If any of the rooms fall below their preset temp the heating system is turned on and baffles built into the ductwork for those rooms are opened. As each room reaches it's preset temp it's baffle is shut. When all the rooms have reached their individual preset temperatures the main heating unit system turned off. I know sometimes there are problems with the system being overpressurized when too few rooms need heat, a design may need to factor in for this.
Unlike conventional radio, the receiving individual is personally transmitting a request for the infringing material. Something ought to be wrong with that. Also, with all this legal vs. moral talk, we have to remember that technically this isn't illegal, the company in question found a loophole in the system.
Why not use real microcontrollers and motors?
on
MindStorms Madness
·
· Score: 2
My school is about to offer a similar course using legos, but I am a little dissapointed we aren't soldering microcontrollers onto boards ourselves and interfacing with off the shelf motors and sensors. I haven't used the lego system - is there necessarily more to learn from buying a few PIC micros, steppers and sensors, and assembling the system from something closer to scratch? Is there anywhere close to the same flexibility with legos?
I have to admit I like this idea a lot, I have been venturing into the area of microcontrollers and small scale bus networks just so I can implement something like this in an older car. The problem is I don't think the general public really wants most of these features. Most people are happy starting a car and having it run, they are not worried about performance and diagnostics, just image and their own comfort. So minus the features that are aimed at performance and diagnostics, that doesn't leave too much demand. Like Cringley said, this sort of thing will take place at small install shops at first.
For the hackers who want the performance and diagnostic tools, all vehicles since 1996 have a standardized but not openly spec'ed ODBC-II connector with many of the sensor readings essential for high tech tinkering, so this isn't a long ways off. There is sizeable hobbyist following out there and they have built a $20 adapter that lets you read from this port via your computer's serial port, and they have deciphered much of the data stream. There is even software for PalmOS out there to display and store real-time stats. Do some searches on Google, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
The other features you'd like are simply a matter of getting GPS and some extra sensors. Also start a database of interesting landmarks and their GPS coordinates and make it open for submissions. IBM's Viavoice SDK is available for Linux, to tie the system together to boot. I think most of the features you mentioned should be tackled at this point.
There is a lot to a project like this and I've been thinking about it for years, and it only gets more modular and grand as I think about it. Maybe too modular, I might as well be writing an OS. I look back over the last two years though and realize I've been mentally masturbating over these ideas and haven't done squat. When do you stop planning and perfecting and build? Well, anyway, this month I'm going to start by programming a microcontroller to do some simple analog sensor data acquisition and build from there. Ultimately though, it'd be nice to have a modular, more general open source solution solution that any can use. One where anyone should be able to simply plug in a module based on their car's make, model, and year.
Why would they go out of their way to do this? Is this a condition Microsoft set? This sounds an aweful lot like one of the points their conviction was based on, their forcing OEMs to use MS products.
I never played netrek but I do remember playing Tradewars 2002 game "door" on a couple local bulletin boards. It was a role playing game where one was a space trader. You had to trade fuel Ore, organics and equipment to try and become as successful as possible. Different sectors could be warped in and out of, with any one sector possibly having warps to a number of other sectors. Anyone else remember this?
Slashdot Mirror
If I was designing the embedded system for such a camera and if the two target systems I was designing for used different formats but the same media, it would be obvious to code both formats into the product.
This doesn't require innovation. Should companies be able to patent switching between modes on any device? Maybe some sort of novel method of switching, or the mode itself, but not the switching.
On the agenda today..
1. Patent digital car equipped with a removable digital media capable of storing route and diagnostic data in one of several user selectable formats
2. #1 with an option for letting the user select the compression ratio or other compression algorithm parameters.
3. #1 with the removable media being a floppy disk.
The CCD has always been solid state, and in fact Sony's first Mavica unit dates back to 1981. It had removable media. To be able to patent any sort of digital data capture device, but with the addition of compression, is folly. The suing company simply patented the easily forseable combination of existing technologies. Maybe a special technologies court needs to be made to handle these kinds of things.
Yeah, that is definitely an easier and effective method, though I don't use it since it doesn't fit my needs. In my case I use the PHP code to present a different page depending on whether the user is local or remote. This way some features can be left accessible even to outside users.
I don't understand. What law is this being prosecuted under? Like one student in the article said, it is one thing to share copyrighted material. If I made a list of places that sell illegal drugs in my town and posted it publicly would I be liable? How is this any different?
.edu sites. The web based service used a special client that made it a matter of one click to pluck these files from student Lanman(client for Microsoft networks) shares. The thing with scour is it volountarily shut down after being litigated into bankrupcy by the RIAA and MPAA. The question is if a court case involving this same technology has been followed through to a verdict. Here is the farwell letter Scour posted before shutting down.
Remember the scour.net? Scour did *exactly* the same thing these students did, it indexed publicly accessible files, mostly on
Would the same rules that brought Napster down apply here? Napster provided the client and search server, marketed itself as a media sharing service, and had the capability to centrally block copyrighted material from being downloaded. The court fully expected Napster to implement these blocks. It isn't reasonable to expect every p2p network search admin to undertake the monumental task of detecting copyrighted material being indexed. Also, the Napster server and client were crafted carefully to work with each other with the intent of being marketted as a media search service. Microsoft makes the client in the case of these college search engines and the engines themselves often aren't restricted to indexing just media files.
So exactly what is illegal here? The software that does the indexing? I hope this isn't the case. It shouldn't be, but the DeCSS case is a sobering reminder that what shouldn't can be if your on the wrong side (the one not obsessed with money). The fact that any copyrighted material is indexed? What if only 5 files out of 1000 are copyrighted. Is the search engine admin liable? What about 100 files out of a 1000? Where is line drawn?
Was it just me or did anyone else feel like the Two Towers was carried by the momentum of the first? There was some great action, but a lot of movies do that today. I didn't feel the same suspense and didn't see the same intense level of new character or story detail as in the first. The Two Towers relied too much on action to hold my attention, and I ended up bored through much of the time.
The sound quality can't suffer as much as it does when a bootlegger typically hacks it on his microcassete recorder. They'll at least do some minimal amount of mixing and cleaning up.
I've heard you went to Pleasantville high school in New York, which is also where I happend to have graduated from. It is rumored that you and a group of students once dissasembled a Volkswagen Beetle, carried it into the building, and re-assembled it in senior hall as a prank. Is this true?
I can't find any reference to this quote on google. Is it real?
I've seen their machines at Staples, though years ago. But the fact of the matter is that their not selling to any dealers. Only dealers "who serve businesses with 100 employees or fewer." So don't count on seeing an unbranded Dell at the local PC shop anytime soon.
My guess is these white box specials will come without Dell technical support and will sell at a lower price, all the while helping Dell get penetration into small to medium sized businesses. The consultants that service these companies often opt for generic machines so they can make a couple bucks. After all, you can't buy a pricey Dell and mark it up. This move from Dell basically allows the consultants to acquire Dell's at dealer pricing, as long as they provide the technical expertise when typical problems arise. It's less problematic than cobbling together poorly tested combinations of generic parts and there is still a profit to be made. A good move on Dell's part if you ask me.
How else would ActiveBuddy get their AI bot on the AIM network under the im name "SmarterChild" among others? My guess is AOL would have to hand them a special account without rate limits.
This is what the original letter quoted in the original \. article said. Re-read it. I'm beginning to think the editors here don't quite care enough anymore to be thorough.
Check out the link below for a few surplus electronic parts distributors. I personally use bgmicro (they are listed at the URL) a lot. They have a great PDF catalog you should check out. It's impossible to afford electrical hobbies on a typical college student income without these surplus shops. Even with their help, expect to drop a few hundred dollars initially. Microcontroller programming kits, motors, IC's, PCB's/Chemicals, test equipment, tools and such really add up.
Electronics Sources: Surplus
Thanks for the info, I'll have to buy his DVD set and watch all the episodes I've missed. I can understand his reservations about injecting for a traditional roast turkey, since it's cooked in an oven over a couple hours. When frying though, I'll be carful to inject only under the skin. The immediate heat of hot oil will then sear the skin, locking in the precious juices. I like the idea of getting the spices getting well into the bird, and that's what I hope the injection will bring. Too often the surface or skin of chicken will have taken on flavorings but not the inside.
I suppose I should try both methods independently, together, and with a control turkey to be scientific about it. Otherwise it'll be difficult to differentiate the effects of the brine from that of the injection. I'll first try making a brine with bay leaves for spice and see how well that penetrates. I'm still curious what his thoughts are for a fried turkey, I think that method may warrant the injection approach.
Why mod this down? It's not clear if the interview will be posted next week or if questions will be accepted next week. I really wanted this one answered!
Mr. Alton Brown,
I'll be doing an annual turkey fry with a couple buddies before summer's end and the question of brining has come up. What exactly does the brining process do to the bird? What part does the sugar vs. the salt vs. H2O play? I've observed that brined chicken breasts develop a nice brown color and are juicy but would like a more scientific perspective, especially with respect to brining + frying. One concern is that the sugar on the skin may carbonize under the high cooking temperature.
I plan on brining the turkey for a day, followed by a day of sitting outside the brine, but injected with a buttery mix of herbs and spices. I'm also a little concerned that the effects of brining may be lost if the bird is left outside the brine so long before cooking. A scientific perspective would help me in better approximating the ideal way to go about this. Thanks! I really enjoy and look forward to your shows, the bee puppets in the honey episode were hillarious!
Well, I just headed over to live365.com to listen to some malayalam music - hardly RIAA controlled stuff, it's made in India. I couldn't listen because the broadcaster hadn't paid his pay per performace royalty fees as dictated by the librarian of congress. Where exactly does this royalty go? I can't imagine that some small music company in southern India is getting royalty checks.
Come on! Search google ya dummy!
http://www.asteriskpbx.com/main/
Searching for PBX and Linux will get you Aaterisk. Asterisk is open source, works with widely available, relatively inexpensive hardware, runs linux, and is very flexible. Here is a feature list:
Extension routing logic
Simple but functional voicemail, including e-mail notification
Call bridging
Call transfer
Call parking
Intercom (using sound card)
Directory
Execute arbitrary commands
Simple configuration using text files
For those slashdotters like myself who found themselves asking a bajillion questions when C-Band was mentioned, check out the TVRO FAQ.
And just in case your wondering what TVRO stands for, here is a description of TVRO from the FAQ's introduction:
"TVRO is an acronym that stands for TeleVision Receive Only. Generally speaking, TVRO is the satellite distribution system for delivering programming to cable TV headends and systems."
Also, here are some interesting facts I gathered from googling around and reading the FAQ:
C-Band video is studio quality, it blows away cable and DSS/DISH satellite systems.
Commercial PPV stations like HBO are available but need decryption hardware.
Channels are leaving C-Band and switching to digital broadcasts, so the availability of C-Band channels is dropping.
Non-commercial much less homogenized content is available via satellite.
It's actually pretty simple as most zoned commercial hvac systems do it. If any of the rooms fall below their preset temp the heating system is turned on and baffles built into the ductwork for those rooms are opened. As each room reaches it's preset temp it's baffle is shut. When all the rooms have reached their individual preset temperatures the main heating unit system turned off. I know sometimes there are problems with the system being overpressurized when too few rooms need heat, a design may need to factor in for this.
Unlike conventional radio, the receiving individual is personally transmitting a request for the infringing material. Something ought to be wrong with that. Also, with all this legal vs. moral talk, we have to remember that technically this isn't illegal, the company in question found a loophole in the system.
My school is about to offer a similar course using legos, but I am a little dissapointed we aren't soldering microcontrollers onto boards ourselves and interfacing with off the shelf motors and sensors. I haven't used the lego system - is there necessarily more to learn from buying a few PIC micros, steppers and sensors, and assembling the system from something closer to scratch? Is there anywhere close to the same flexibility with legos?
I have to admit I like this idea a lot, I have been venturing into the area of microcontrollers and small scale bus networks just so I can implement something like this in an older car. The problem is I don't think the general public really wants most of these features. Most people are happy starting a car and having it run, they are not worried about performance and diagnostics, just image and their own comfort. So minus the features that are aimed at performance and diagnostics, that doesn't leave too much demand. Like Cringley said, this sort of thing will take place at small install shops at first.
For the hackers who want the performance and diagnostic tools, all vehicles since 1996 have a standardized but not openly spec'ed ODBC-II connector with many of the sensor readings essential for high tech tinkering, so this isn't a long ways off. There is sizeable hobbyist following out there and they have built a $20 adapter that lets you read from this port via your computer's serial port, and they have deciphered much of the data stream. There is even software for PalmOS out there to display and store real-time stats. Do some searches on Google, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
The other features you'd like are simply a matter of getting GPS and some extra sensors. Also start a database of interesting landmarks and their GPS coordinates and make it open for submissions. IBM's Viavoice SDK is available for Linux, to tie the system together to boot. I think most of the features you mentioned should be tackled at this point.
There is a lot to a project like this and I've been thinking about it for years, and it only gets more modular and grand as I think about it. Maybe too modular, I might as well be writing an OS. I look back over the last two years though and realize I've been mentally masturbating over these ideas and haven't done squat. When do you stop planning and perfecting and build? Well, anyway, this month I'm going to start by programming a microcontroller to do some simple analog sensor data acquisition and build from there. Ultimately though, it'd be nice to have a modular, more general open source solution solution that any can use. One where anyone should be able to simply plug in a module based on their car's make, model, and year.
Why would they go out of their way to do this? Is this a condition Microsoft set? This sounds an aweful lot like one of the points their conviction was based on, their forcing OEMs to use MS products.
I never played netrek but I do remember playing Tradewars 2002 game "door" on a couple local bulletin boards. It was a role playing game where one was a space trader. You had to trade fuel Ore, organics and equipment to try and become as successful as possible. Different sectors could be warped in and out of, with any one sector possibly having warps to a number of other sectors. Anyone else remember this?