Sure they would. They'd buy this technology and still sell the product to you at $100/barrel. They'd probably keep pretending to be environmentally damaging with a war or two thrown in for good measure just to keep the illusion...:)
I have similar issues as you. I discovered that the workflow I use matters as much as the technology.
Here's what I do:
1) I download all images into a "downloads_DATE" folder with subdirectories called "print", "enlarge", "raw", and "video". I do NOT let anything rename the files so that the filenames are unique (for later searches of full resolution and raw images) 2) I use Irfanview to sort the pictures into exceptional quality stuff (enlarge) and general images to keep (print). What is left over in the folder is "disposable" but generally kept anyway 3) I copy the newly organized folder to an external HD. This is (ideally) backed up to a second external HD that I keep in a fireproof safe (I've been slacking on this). 4) Now that I have a backup, I delete all files not in "print" or "enlarge" as well as raw files I do not need at the moment. Eventually, "print" will go away as I run out of space on my laptop, leaving only the best pictures from that batch 5) The pictures I really care about get sent to my own gmail account and several of my relatives with good descriptions. After many moves and machine changes, I find that the stuff I sent to myself is more accessible than anything else (I haven't run out of space in 5 years...) Once in a blue moon, I print some of the pics and let people who care to do such things put them in photo albums. Other people's albums may be the only backup some people end up with given the uncertainty of life...
Having recently purchased a car, I can't tell you how many really nicely equipped, horribly underpowered tin boxes I got to drive. Most of them had the option to upgrade the gizmos, but did not even offer a usable engine size. I don't know if this will keep up for long, though -- they sell you "keyless entry" for $1000 (when you can clearly see that the "base model" has everything needed except the remote already built in), a nav system for $2000 ($1000 actually, but it ONLY comes with the leather seats), and the ever insulting "alloy wheels" (like anyone has ever cared) etc. The electronics can't be _that_ expensive to produce, and I think a couple of the Asian manufacturers will end the game and call everyone's bluff by giving these features out for free (Hyundai seems to be going this route).
Whether we like it or not. I have started seeing many sites where you need to sign in with your Facebook account to see comments, etc.
It's really hard to fight against critical mass. I mean you can choose not to participate, but you end up becoming an outsider after a while (think if how difficult life becomes if you try something like not having a social security number in th US or not having _any_ credit cards).
The answer (for now) is to have a second, fake Facebook account. But who will stop them from having cell phone/SMS based authentication or the like? (I don't know if anyone here has noticed this, but you can no longer create a Gmail account without giving them your phone number for SMS or voice based authentication anymore)
Viruses (virii, actually) are simply packets of DNA or RNA that get expressed by a host. Some viruses can integrate themselves into the DNA of their hosts and replicate with their hosts, to be expressed (i.e., "executed" in the programming sense) in later generations.
Bacteria have well-understood mechanisms for gene expression. They can be engineered to express human or plant DNA (insulin is manufactured in this way with genetically engineered bacteria expressing human genes).
If you were storing "data" in DNA, I believe it would be relatively easy to engineer code into the bacterial DNA that would cause viral DNA to be expressed.
Think of DNA as executable binary code. Computer viruses are analogous to biological viruses in the sense that they only contain enough information to take over the host organism for the purpose of replicating (and packaging) themselves. In that sense, both biological and computer viruses are nothing more than self-replicating pieces of information (the instructions for making and assembling the physical proteins which comprise the viral envelope are also in the viral DNA). The only difference is the storage and execution medium.
I would really think twice about forcing someone whose job _relies_ on Excel or Powerpoint to migrate to OpenOffice if you have such people.
I run Linux on my desktop and use OpenOffice on a regular basis. While it's good enough for demos and _most_ spreadsheeting tasks, it is NOT Excel and I find myself running Excel in a WIndows Virtual Machine whenever I have to do anything that involves juggling/formatting data which isn't intensive or routine enough to warrant its own PERL/Python script.
Before you mod me down: I love the idea of OpenOffice, and that it exists. However, if you're messing with people's everyday productivity tools, I'd definitely give them a trial period with OO's windows version or something. I hear good things about Crossover for Office, but have not used it myself.
There's no serious replacement for PowerPoint on Linux at this point in time if you exchange these files with other people or rely on giving looking presentations which have some complexity. I can _always_ tell free slideware during a presentation and unless you're Richard Stallman it makes your organization look a bit cheap.
David Brin has the concept of the inevitable Sea State in his book Earth. Of course, in the book the planet rejects the Sea State once it attains consciousness... [sorry for the spoiler -- but the book is definitely worth reading. I'd read it along with Neal Stephenson's Zodiac -- both interesting ecological sci-fi]
Now anyone who travels abroad frequently will have to learn the local equivalent of 'free' in every location. Horrible for people who airport-hop internationally:)
(It's bad enough to try to figure out Google's language settings)
I remember the panic on Usenet back when this newfangled "World Wide Web" thing was gaining popularity about whether the Web (or Webcams, or streaming video) would destroy the Internet.
You never know for sure, of course, but I think 'teh Interwebs' are safe for now:)
Perhaps my understanding of "standard" is a bit skewed, but isn't there something wrong when the best that a browser in its 9th version backed by the most powerful software company in the world can do is just be the "most compatible" one out there?
All FTP clients I use are 100% compatible with the FTP standard. I believe Adobe Flash player is 100% compatible with Flash. I think most mail clients are 100% IMAP and POP3 compatible.
Shouldn't standards be straightforward enough so that all parties wishing to comply to them simply can? Shouldn't compatibility with a standard be a floor instead of a ceiling to asymptotically crept towards?
I'm sure I'm missing something here -- what is it?
This reminds me of a scene in Fahrenheit 451 where the Guy Montag's wife is is super-excited because she has been mailed the script of her favorite soap so that she can have a trivial line that she reads when the people in the "wall" ask her questions. "What do you think Mildred?" "It's swell!" Do you think it's a good idea, Mildred?" "Absolutely!" (I may have gotten the name and the dialog wrong -- but you get the idea).
Translated from this page: http://adacemobility.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/das-wunder-von-berlin/#more-744 "Technical Data Audi A2 DBM * * Subject Empty weight (including driver) 1260 kg Perm. Total weight 1600 kg Battery lithium-iron-polymer (260 Ah/380 V) cell voltage of 3.8 volts Battery weight about 300 kg Charging time about 4 hours due to mains phase current in the household (380) battery requires 6 minutes (future solution) Life time 2500 charge cycles (without loss of capacity) = Service life target: 500,000 km Top speed 160 km / h 5-speed sequential gearbox (race gear: shifting without the clutch) E-motor 300 Nm torque"
It's not just Apple. The industry has been slowly honing and marketing DRM-only trusted computing type of boxes and delivery systems for about a decade now.
They're smart. They know that they can't just go from something like Windows XP to a completely locked down box and expect anyone to buy it. The idea is to gradually introduce this in the current generation devices such that at the end anything free (while possible) is a couple generations behind (and pretty sucky by comparison). Critical mass in market penetration is a tidal force.
Progression goes something like this
1) Game Console (cheaper than a computer, but _IS_ a computer... you just can't run anything not blessed by the manufacturer. But it's OK... it's only a console) 2) The whole idea of "Apps" for your phone. Different enough not to be a computer -- applications around 1990 shareware quality and cost a couple of dollars each. Useful because of new context. 3) The iPad (a bit above the phone...state of the art device -- but still a tablet, not a computer -- don't you worry) 4) Some sort of "app store" for the desktop that's the path of least resistance. Still, nothing "mandatory" per se on the desktop. [CURRENT ARTICLE] 5) ??? 6) "Apps" instead of programs on any device you might care to own. Write free stuff if you want -- you'll only reach the jailbreaker fringe. (See Windows Phone 7 restrictions on free (as in beer) software). 7) Requirement of "Apps" instead of spyware-laden programs (if you can run them at all) by schools, corporations, etc. Very scary trojans. Reports of contaminated compiler chains in the wild (See http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html ). Couple people have their bank accounts stolen by free software where the source code looks perfectly innocent. The FUD can create itself at this point... 8) PROFIT!!!
(and I mean profit -- why not code up a simple app and let MS/Apple/et al. market it for you in exchange for 50% of the profits -- it's a win-win scenario in the short run).
If you think the FSF will save you, remember that they don't make hardware. State of the art hardware is manufactured by corporations who have every interest in embracing DRM. You don't want free software stuck on the 2020 equivalent of the Arduino 10 years from now.
The article highlights the distinction that we Linux nerds have a hard time understanding -- simplistic and simplified are very DIFFERENT things.
The "shiny" feel of an iPod, iPad, or OS X comes not from its bright colors or physical polish, but from the fact that they have been obsessively designed, tested, re-designed, and re-tested without fear of throwing things out that do not belong. This is why the "me too" tablets that have the same technical capabilities and extra bells & whistles are going to have a hard time dislodging the iPad.
I personally do not own any Apple devices and am not crazy about their licensing -- but Apple has an inherent understanding of User Experience design that we can/should all learn from.
I've done a bit of programming for the iPod and was impressed with how easy it was to build beautiful looking applications -- and how integrated everything felt (from the design tools to the compiler), even though Objective C seems like a weird C++ from a parallel universe to me...
We need to make sure to explicitly mention each and every one of these particular "heroes" by name for sticking to their bureaucratic guns where less heroic men would have let sentimentality and sense of duty to the human race over and fought the fire anyway.
I'm seriously ticked at Samsung for promising to but NEVER releasing an Android upgrade for the Behold II. I'm stuck with the earlier OS, and the skype mobile site urges me to "get Skype Mobile (TM) on Verizon Wireless' best selling 3G Phones"
I wish someone would get the following right in ONE device:
A Speakerphone that works as well as a PolyCom device (never seen on a cell phone) PHYSICAL ring/vibrate switch (Palm Pre had this) Sunlight-readable display that doesn't disappear in the middle of the conversation 2.5 mm Headphone jack (Older phones had this -- no pairing, no HORRIBLE sound quality, no recharging, no worming stuff into your ears) 3.5 mm Stereo headphone jack (common, but never seen with the 2.5mm jack) USB charger/data Physical "mute" switch that disconnects the microphone (preferrably on a transparent section of the body where the internals are visible) Physical keyboard Android-like open OS with the ability to disable/enable individual components and re-install OS from an external source without having to break into anything Support for both GSM and CDMA Dual GSM cards (available on some European phones -- more useful than you can imagine) Other bells/whistles if there's any room:)
Slashdot Mirror
Sure they would. They'd buy this technology and still sell the product to you at $100/barrel. They'd probably keep pretending to be environmentally damaging with a war or two thrown in for good measure just to keep the illusion... :)
Here you go:
Methods and compositions for the recombinant biosynthesis of n-alkanes
Because 5 minutes of Googling is apparently too much to ask of the average journalist...
If the claims are true, I REALLY hope we never get a spill of the bacteria that makes the oil :)
I have similar issues as you. I discovered that the workflow I use matters as much as the technology.
Here's what I do:
1) I download all images into a "downloads_DATE" folder with subdirectories called "print", "enlarge", "raw", and "video". I do NOT let anything rename the files so that the filenames are unique (for later searches of full resolution and raw images)
2) I use Irfanview to sort the pictures into exceptional quality stuff (enlarge) and general images to keep (print). What is left over in the folder is "disposable" but generally kept anyway
3) I copy the newly organized folder to an external HD. This is (ideally) backed up to a second external HD that I keep in a fireproof safe (I've been slacking on this).
4) Now that I have a backup, I delete all files not in "print" or "enlarge" as well as raw files I do not need at the moment. Eventually, "print" will go away as I run out of space on my laptop, leaving only the best pictures from that batch
5) The pictures I really care about get sent to my own gmail account and several of my relatives with good descriptions. After many moves and machine changes, I find that the stuff I sent to myself is more accessible than anything else (I haven't run out of space in 5 years...) Once in a blue moon, I print some of the pics and let people who care to do such things put them in photo albums. Other people's albums may be the only backup some people end up with given the uncertainty of life...
Interesting, isn't it?
Obligatory Onion Link:
Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs
Having recently purchased a car, I can't tell you how many really nicely equipped, horribly underpowered tin boxes I got to drive. Most of them had the option to upgrade the gizmos, but did not even offer a usable engine size. I don't know if this will keep up for long, though -- they sell you "keyless entry" for $1000 (when you can clearly see that the "base model" has everything needed except the remote already built in), a nav system for $2000 ($1000 actually, but it ONLY comes with the leather seats), and the ever insulting "alloy wheels" (like anyone has ever cared) etc. The electronics can't be _that_ expensive to produce, and I think a couple of the Asian manufacturers will end the game and call everyone's bluff by giving these features out for free (Hyundai seems to be going this route).
Been there, done that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bowdler
Whether we like it or not. I have started seeing many sites where you need to sign in with your Facebook account to see comments, etc.
It's really hard to fight against critical mass. I mean you can choose not to participate, but you end up becoming an outsider after a while (think if how difficult life becomes if you try something like not having a social security number in th US or not having _any_ credit cards).
The answer (for now) is to have a second, fake Facebook account. But who will stop them from having cell phone/SMS based authentication or the like? (I don't know if anyone here has noticed this, but you can no longer create a Gmail account without giving them your phone number for SMS or voice based authentication anymore)
"Education is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more an education than a heap of stones is a house."
I hope the folks at Google start trolling the same MTurk job listings to mark down location spam for what it is...
The fact that bacteria != viruses.
Viruses (virii, actually) are simply packets of DNA or RNA that get expressed by a host. Some viruses can integrate themselves into the DNA of their hosts and replicate with their hosts, to be expressed (i.e., "executed" in the programming sense) in later generations.
Bacteria have well-understood mechanisms for gene expression. They can be engineered to express human or plant DNA (insulin is manufactured in this way with genetically engineered bacteria expressing human genes).
If you were storing "data" in DNA, I believe it would be relatively easy to engineer code into the bacterial DNA that would cause viral DNA to be expressed.
Think of DNA as executable binary code. Computer viruses are analogous to biological viruses in the sense that they only contain enough information to take over the host organism for the purpose of replicating (and packaging) themselves. In that sense, both biological and computer viruses are nothing more than self-replicating pieces of information (the instructions for making and assembling the physical proteins which comprise the viral envelope are also in the viral DNA). The only difference is the storage and execution medium.
Great...
Now it'll be possible to catch human viruses from the Internet :)
(Seriously -- what would stop an attacker from crafting a message that will code for a virus if this system ever found use?).
I would really think twice about forcing someone whose job _relies_ on Excel or Powerpoint to migrate to OpenOffice if you have such people.
I run Linux on my desktop and use OpenOffice on a regular basis. While it's good enough for demos and _most_ spreadsheeting tasks, it is NOT Excel and I find myself running Excel in a WIndows Virtual Machine whenever I have to do anything that involves juggling/formatting data which isn't intensive or routine enough to warrant its own PERL/Python script.
Before you mod me down: I love the idea of OpenOffice, and that it exists. However, if you're messing with people's everyday productivity tools, I'd definitely give them a trial period with OO's windows version or something. I hear good things about Crossover for Office, but have not used it myself.
There's no serious replacement for PowerPoint on Linux at this point in time if you exchange these files with other people or rely on giving looking presentations which have some complexity. I can _always_ tell free slideware during a presentation and unless you're Richard Stallman it makes your organization look a bit cheap.
David Brin has the concept of the inevitable Sea State in his book Earth. Of course, in the book the planet rejects the Sea State once it attains consciousness... [sorry for the spoiler -- but the book is definitely worth reading. I'd read it along with Neal Stephenson's Zodiac -- both interesting ecological sci-fi]
Now anyone who travels abroad frequently will have to learn the local equivalent of 'free' in every location. Horrible for people who airport-hop internationally :)
(It's bad enough to try to figure out Google's language settings)
I remember the panic on Usenet back when this newfangled "World Wide Web" thing was gaining popularity about whether the Web (or Webcams, or streaming video) would destroy the Internet.
You never know for sure, of course, but I think 'teh Interwebs' are safe for now :)
Perhaps my understanding of "standard" is a bit skewed, but isn't there something wrong when the best that a browser in its 9th version backed by the most powerful software company in the world can do is just be the "most compatible" one out there?
All FTP clients I use are 100% compatible with the FTP standard. I believe Adobe Flash player is 100% compatible with Flash. I think most mail clients are 100% IMAP and POP3 compatible.
Shouldn't standards be straightforward enough so that all parties wishing to comply to them simply can? Shouldn't compatibility with a standard be a floor instead of a ceiling to asymptotically crept towards?
I'm sure I'm missing something here -- what is it?
This reminds me of a scene in Fahrenheit 451 where the Guy Montag's wife is is super-excited because she has been mailed the script of her favorite soap so that she can have a trivial line that she reads when the people in the "wall" ask her questions. "What do you think Mildred?" "It's swell!" Do you think it's a good idea, Mildred?" "Absolutely!" (I may have gotten the name and the dialog wrong -- but you get the idea).
(Stolen from a comment in: http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1050863_electric-car-drives-375-miles-at-55-mph-recharges-in-6-minutes )
Translated from this page: http://adacemobility.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/das-wunder-von-berlin/#more-744
"Technical Data Audi A2 DBM *
* Subject
Empty weight (including driver) 1260 kg
Perm. Total weight 1600 kg
Battery lithium-iron-polymer (260 Ah/380 V) cell voltage of 3.8 volts
Battery weight about 300 kg
Charging time about 4 hours due to mains phase current in the household (380)
battery requires 6 minutes (future solution)
Life time 2500 charge cycles (without loss of capacity)
= Service life target: 500,000 km
Top speed 160 km / h
5-speed sequential gearbox (race gear: shifting without the clutch)
E-motor 300 Nm torque"
It's not just Apple. The industry has been slowly honing and marketing DRM-only trusted computing type of boxes and delivery systems for about a decade now.
They're smart. They know that they can't just go from something like Windows XP to a completely locked down box and expect anyone to buy it. The idea is to gradually introduce this in the current generation devices such that at the end anything free (while possible) is a couple generations behind (and pretty sucky by comparison). Critical mass in market penetration is a tidal force.
Progression goes something like this
1) Game Console (cheaper than a computer, but _IS_ a computer ... you just can't run anything not blessed by the manufacturer. But it's OK ... it's only a console)
2) The whole idea of "Apps" for your phone. Different enough not to be a computer -- applications around 1990 shareware quality and cost a couple of dollars each. Useful because of new context.
3) The iPad (a bit above the phone...state of the art device -- but still a tablet, not a computer -- don't you worry)
4) Some sort of "app store" for the desktop that's the path of least resistance. Still, nothing "mandatory" per se on the desktop. [CURRENT ARTICLE]
5) ???
6) "Apps" instead of programs on any device you might care to own. Write free stuff if you want -- you'll only reach the jailbreaker fringe. (See Windows Phone 7 restrictions on free (as in beer) software).
7) Requirement of "Apps" instead of spyware-laden programs (if you can run them at all) by schools, corporations, etc. Very scary trojans. Reports of contaminated compiler chains in the wild (See http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html ). Couple people have their bank accounts stolen by free software where the source code looks perfectly innocent. The FUD can create itself at this point...
8) PROFIT!!!
(and I mean profit -- why not code up a simple app and let MS/Apple/et al. market it for you in exchange for 50% of the profits -- it's a win-win scenario in the short run).
If you think the FSF will save you, remember that they don't make hardware. State of the art hardware is manufactured by corporations who have every interest in embracing DRM. You don't want free software stuck on the 2020 equivalent of the Arduino 10 years from now.
Any solutions?
The article highlights the distinction that we Linux nerds have a hard time understanding -- simplistic and simplified are very DIFFERENT things.
The "shiny" feel of an iPod, iPad, or OS X comes not from its bright colors or physical polish, but from the fact that they have been obsessively designed, tested, re-designed, and re-tested without fear of throwing things out that do not belong. This is why the "me too" tablets that have the same technical capabilities and extra bells & whistles are going to have a hard time dislodging the iPad.
I personally do not own any Apple devices and am not crazy about their licensing -- but Apple has an inherent understanding of User Experience design that we can/should all learn from.
I've done a bit of programming for the iPod and was impressed with how easy it was to build beautiful looking applications -- and how integrated everything felt (from the design tools to the compiler), even though Objective C seems like a weird C++ from a parallel universe to me...
We need to make sure to explicitly mention each and every one of these particular "heroes" by name for sticking to their bureaucratic guns where less heroic men would have let sentimentality and sense of duty to the human race over and fought the fire anyway.
|What sort of framerate can it run Crysis at?
60 fps if you're willing to put up with a 1x1 pixel display...
I'm seriously ticked at Samsung for promising to but NEVER releasing an Android upgrade for the Behold II. I'm stuck with the earlier OS, and the skype mobile site urges me to "get Skype Mobile (TM) on Verizon Wireless' best selling 3G Phones"
</whine>
I wish someone would get the following right in ONE device:
A Speakerphone that works as well as a PolyCom device (never seen on a cell phone) :)
PHYSICAL ring/vibrate switch (Palm Pre had this)
Sunlight-readable display that doesn't disappear in the middle of the conversation
2.5 mm Headphone jack (Older phones had this -- no pairing, no HORRIBLE sound quality, no recharging, no worming stuff into your ears)
3.5 mm Stereo headphone jack (common, but never seen with the 2.5mm jack)
USB charger/data
Physical "mute" switch that disconnects the microphone (preferrably on a transparent section of the body where the internals are visible)
Physical keyboard
Android-like open OS with the ability to disable/enable individual components and re-install OS from an external source without having to break into anything
Support for both GSM and CDMA
Dual GSM cards (available on some European phones -- more useful than you can imagine)
Other bells/whistles if there's any room