You know, this kind of stuff would have never had this kind of attention paid to it had it not been for the linux use of the penguin logo. Oil slicks suck, and yet we still demand cheap gas prices. Here in the Midwest, people are bitching about how they are getting screwed by the gas companies, so corners are cut and accidents such as this are more likely to occur.
<rant> And of course there are already those posters complaining that this is not News for Nerds or that kind of ranting. Come on, this seems to be Sengan's second post, and this kind of news interested him. If you were also an author, you would have a right to complain. </rant>
A site showing pictures of the penguins before the slick can be found here, and the google cached link of the slashdotted link is right here. CNN is also covering the story.
So the next time that you pump your gas or drive down the freeway to work, ask yourself whether you really need to do this. Public transportation is usually powered by much safer power sources, so maybe these kind of accidents won't happen anymore.
Again, as mentioned by others, the reason books are "open-source" is becuase the ideas put into them are generally only specific to the book itself. There is no reason for anyone to steal any of the chapters and put them somewhere else, becuase there is not much use for them outside the scope of the book. Of course there are things that can be stolen, such as methods of characterization and development of plot, but those are not protected by copyright law anyway.
Enter software. Software's main job is simply to describe the means of getting something done. In a sense, this is just like the book on calculus as mentioned by another poster. Anyone can take the ideas shown in the book and apply them elsewhere, be it new books or a computer program. Copyright law does not cover that.
The problem we have here is that the value of software is simply the implementation of certain methods. If the source is revealed, the ideas can easily be adopted in another program. Face it, there are not too many ways of expressing an algorithm. The most important reason why software can be sold to support a company lies in the "trade secrets", if you will, contained inside the software. Many, many companies like Adobe depend on selling their methods to consumers. After all, what is computer software but a collection of functions.
Software certainly should not be patentable, and copyrights in an open source format surely do not afford much protection. So it seems that the only way for business to continue in computer software is to keep closed-source computing. It's just the way it is.
Intel said the new chips are available now in limited quantities of 1,000 for $1,177 for the one megabyte of level two cache and $1,980 for the two megabyte cache version. Volume shipments will begin ramping up over the next several months.
Too bad that availability is still a joke, as well as the exorbitant prices. Way to go Intel!
With all of the amateur satellites up in the air, a TCP/IP link, for all its worth, would be of some good use for rural areas. Although the current satellites do not possess this capability, future ones may be able to form a bit of a global network of users that could communicate to each other, albeit slowly. This would be a big improvement from the current digital routing that the satellite only does between users of the same satellite. (at about 9600 baud)
I just hope that it is not made into another Iridium-like network. The reason the current satellites are not too busy right now is the need for an amateur radio license and the skills needed involved to track a low-orbit satellite. If TCP/IP is used for this purpose in the future, don't expect to have it on your cell phone or anything.
Visit Amsat if you want more information about the current state of amateur radio in the sky.
That is so great that the PS has such a complete documentation, allowing any programmer make games for the platform. Two systems that I would love to program for, given the chance, were Sega Saturn and Sega CD. But there was no generally available development enviornment or even specs on what was inside.
I hope companies like Sony and Sega realize that people really want to have the platform open. An open platform means more games, more programmers, and, more importantly, more sales. It's too bad that Sony didn't do this themselves and it took a combined effort to get this released. And they released it completely for free!
Is it just me or does this seem like a plan for Network Solutions and other registrars to make more money of cross-registering domains like.org,.com, and.net.
The problem is bad enough as it is, with companies registering a.com, and fearing that someone else might want to register something similar, will register the associated.org and.net addresses. Now they will also register.shop.
Does this make any sense whatsoever? Doesn't the.com TLD serve the purpose of.shop already? NSI better stop its money grabbing practices. Too many TLD's are definitely a Bad Thing (tm) for people who register domains.
The device is so small, and requires so little power, that it should be possible to combine it with a computer's central processing unit, according to Max Yoder, director of electronics operations at the Office of Naval Research. That would eliminate the long wires needed to connect the memory to the control unit, "so the whole computer operation itself will be significantly speeded up," Yoder said.
I think the key to this technology really is the size. The problem with PC's now is that even though the processor is getting faster, the rest of the system is lagging behind. With faster and smaller memory, and the ability to put the memory right on the CPU, we could really see the speed boost we are looking for.
A major advantage of the new technology is that the memory system is nonvolatile
Kiss your slow hard drives goodbye, and now almost all of the computer can fit on one card. All the case is needed for now it the expansion slots. Too bad it is too early in development, though...
What would you think if you spent a great deal of time and money on sequencing the genes, only to give it away? Of course they are in it for money, and they can keep what they find to themselves. Its not like by being the first to sequence them they get the exclusive rights to the genes.
Liken it to a translation of an old text such as Vergil's Aeneid. Anyone can translate it and sell the translation -- it is still an original work. There are also many translations, some more correct than others.
In the same way, they are translating the genome and retaining the rights to that translation. Nothing is preventing someone else from spending the time to get their own. In addition, how do you know what they present are correct. If you need accuracy, do it yourself. The genes are in the public domain: you have your own copy!
The information like this should be free, but it doesn't have to.
There are some musicians who get it right. Phish for example allows all of their shows to be taped and traded as long as there is no sale of any kind. I have listened to a *lot* of burned cd's, which gave me the interest in the band in the first place.
They get paid for their live performances, not for their music. This is exactly the problem with the record industry - bands getting paid a bit for their records and the distribution channels racking up most of the cost. Phish does what is most economical for them and their fans by allowing such music distribution. It is beyond me why other bands do not follow.
Apple has a PR page listing many of the new products as well as specifications for them.
Mobile-dog has various pictures taken from the MW Tokyo.
It's nice to see that apple is updating the iBook and Powerbook, moving up to 500mhz in their Lombard line. Once again they using desktop processors in those portables unlike those "mobile" intel chips. Plus the iBook is the coolest linux portable you'll ever find:)
The patch in question was actually released within three days of the announcement of slashdot. In addition, it was made a part of the automatic update software. Most MacOS9 users probably use the update software at least once in a while, so I bet that 90% of the internet macs do have the update.
"Maybe some stuff on March 1 for code that doesn't handle that leap year correctly..."
See, this is a non issue. Every four years there is a leap year. Except century years like 1900. Except centuries that begin with a multiple of 4 like 1600 and 2000. 2000 is a leap year, just like most every other multiples of four. Why would programmers worry about 1900 and 2100, and forget about 2000? The simple programming technique of every fourth year is a leap year will not fail.
There was no reason for this ever to become an issue. Like 9/9/99 A big fuss is made over any possible computer problem, no matter how slight.
If you own a TI graphing calc, there is a handy add-on called the ir-link that makes it relatively easy to record and send IR signals.
All it would take would be someone to program (in assembly, of course) a nice little app that would record and save the signals for each category of equipment. A simplified version of this already exists, and it would need only a bit of tweaking to make a nice GUI, etc.
The only downside is that you have to build the link yourself, and own a TI calc...
I find it interesting how the Lego concept kept up with the times. Once upon a time we had simple motors, and even pneumatically operated sets. The kids of today now have access to sophisticated robotics in which all the programming can be as simple as drag and drop on the computer screen.
This is not to say, however, that they are only for kids. We find that "hackers" are using to make sophisticated robots such as ones that can make a copy of a simple picture.
When MIT Professors and six-year-olds are using the same toys, something has gotta be up...
Apple should switch to 3DFX for graphics cards
on
No Next Q3Test
·
· Score: 1
I do not know if many of you know this, but 3DFX has put out drivers (Beta, but still *very* good) for the Voodoo3 2000 PCI cards. I got one, flashed the rom, and I must say that it really kills ATI in all games, esp. Quake2 -- 52 fps compared to 25fps for the ATI Rage 128 at 1024x768
Apple has made a big mistake supporting ATI, and would be better off switching to 3DFX (think Voodoo4 AGP in every new G4) The price / performance ratio is amazing, even for these beta drivers.
For more info on Voodoo3 performance check XLR8 Your Mac
It is beyond me why so many people think that OS's cannot or should not coexist. I am currently using both LinuxPPC and MacOS 8.5.1, and I could not be happier.
I totally agree that Macintosh advocates should become very aware about linux. It would be benefitial for the future of MacOS in general, with discovering features that should be included with any OS, one of the more obvious being the virtual desktops. Any mac user can see the functionality of many of the of the KDE, Gnome, etc. features, and maybe would be interested in having them in their already friendly OS
In short, Mac users need to know what's available in order to possibly request needed features for future MacOS versions.
That's my two cents.
"But we'd never spread lies about the competition. We have too much class."
Slashdot Mirror
You know, this kind of stuff would have never had this kind of attention paid to it had it not been for the linux use of the penguin logo. Oil slicks suck, and yet we still demand cheap gas prices. Here in the Midwest, people are bitching about how they are getting screwed by the gas companies, so corners are cut and accidents such as this are more likely to occur.
<rant>
And of course there are already those posters complaining that this is not News for Nerds or that kind of ranting. Come on, this seems to be Sengan's second post, and this kind of news interested him. If you were also an author, you would have a right to complain.
</rant>
A site showing pictures of the penguins before the slick can be found here, and the google cached link of the slashdotted link is right here. CNN is also covering the story.
So the next time that you pump your gas or drive down the freeway to work, ask yourself whether you really need to do this. Public transportation is usually powered by much safer power sources, so maybe these kind of accidents won't happen anymore.
-zavyman
Again, as mentioned by others, the reason books are "open-source" is becuase the ideas put into them are generally only specific to the book itself. There is no reason for anyone to steal any of the chapters and put them somewhere else, becuase there is not much use for them outside the scope of the book. Of course there are things that can be stolen, such as methods of characterization and development of plot, but those are not protected by copyright law anyway.
Enter software. Software's main job is simply to describe the means of getting something done. In a sense, this is just like the book on calculus as mentioned by another poster. Anyone can take the ideas shown in the book and apply them elsewhere, be it new books or a computer program. Copyright law does not cover that.
The problem we have here is that the value of software is simply the implementation of certain methods. If the source is revealed, the ideas can easily be adopted in another program. Face it, there are not too many ways of expressing an algorithm. The most important reason why software can be sold to support a company lies in the "trade secrets", if you will, contained inside the software. Many, many companies like Adobe depend on selling their methods to consumers. After all, what is computer software but a collection of functions.
Software certainly should not be patentable, and copyrights in an open source format surely do not afford much protection. So it seems that the only way for business to continue in computer software is to keep closed-source computing. It's just the way it is.
Too bad that availability is still a joke, as well as the exorbitant prices. Way to go Intel!
There are no legal software packages available for decrypting DVDs.
Hmmm... I wonder what a DVD player does according to the MPAA...
I just hope that it is not made into another Iridium-like network. The reason the current satellites are not too busy right now is the need for an amateur radio license and the skills needed involved to track a low-orbit satellite. If TCP/IP is used for this purpose in the future, don't expect to have it on your cell phone or anything.
Visit Amsat if you want more information about the current state of amateur radio in the sky.
That is so great that the PS has such a complete documentation, allowing any programmer make games for the platform. Two systems that I would love to program for, given the chance, were Sega Saturn and Sega CD. But there was no generally available development enviornment or even specs on what was inside.
I hope companies like Sony and Sega realize that people really want to have the platform open. An open platform means more games, more programmers, and, more importantly, more sales. It's too bad that Sony didn't do this themselves and it took a combined effort to get this released. And they released it completely for free!
Is it just me or does this seem like a plan for Network Solutions and other registrars to make more money of cross-registering domains like .org, .com, and .net.
.com, and fearing that someone else might want to register something similar, will register the associated .org and .net addresses. Now they will also register .shop.
.com TLD serve the purpose of .shop already? NSI better stop its money grabbing practices. Too many TLD's are definitely a Bad Thing (tm) for people who register domains.
The problem is bad enough as it is, with companies registering a
Does this make any sense whatsoever? Doesn't the
I think the key to this technology really is the size. The problem with PC's now is that even though the processor is getting faster, the rest of the system is lagging behind. With faster and smaller memory, and the ability to put the memory right on the CPU, we could really see the speed boost we are looking for.
A major advantage of the new technology is that the memory system is nonvolatile
Kiss your slow hard drives goodbye, and now almost all of the computer can fit on one card. All the case is needed for now it the expansion slots. Too bad it is too early in development, though...
What would you think if you spent a great deal of time and money on sequencing the genes, only to give it away? Of course they are in it for money, and they can keep what they find to themselves. Its not like by being the first to sequence them they get the exclusive rights to the genes.
Liken it to a translation of an old text such as Vergil's Aeneid. Anyone can translate it and sell the translation -- it is still an original work. There are also many translations, some more correct than others.
In the same way, they are translating the genome and retaining the rights to that translation. Nothing is preventing someone else from spending the time to get their own. In addition, how do you know what they present are correct. If you need accuracy, do it yourself. The genes are in the public domain: you have your own copy!
The information like this should be free, but it doesn't have to.
There are some musicians who get it right. Phish for example allows all of their shows to be taped and traded as long as there is no sale of any kind. I have listened to a *lot* of burned cd's, which gave me the interest in the band in the first place.
They get paid for their live performances, not for their music. This is exactly the problem with the record industry - bands getting paid a bit for their records and the distribution channels racking up most of the cost. Phish does what is most economical for them and their fans by allowing such music distribution. It is beyond me why other bands do not follow.
Mobile-dog has various pictures taken from the MW Tokyo.
It's nice to see that apple is updating the iBook and Powerbook, moving up to 500mhz in their Lombard line. Once again they using desktop processors in those portables unlike those "mobile" intel chips. Plus the iBook is the coolest linux portable you'll ever find :)
The patch in question was actually released within three days of the announcement of slashdot. In addition, it was made a part of the automatic update software. Most MacOS9 users probably use the update software at least once in a while, so I bet that 90% of the internet macs do have the update.
"Maybe some stuff on March 1 for code that doesn't handle that leap year correctly..."
See, this is a non issue. Every four years there is a leap year. Except century years like 1900. Except centuries that begin with a multiple of 4 like 1600 and 2000. 2000 is a leap year, just like most every other multiples of four. Why would programmers worry about 1900 and 2100, and forget about 2000? The simple programming technique of every fourth year is a leap year will not fail.
There was no reason for this ever to become an issue. Like 9/9/99 A big fuss is made over any possible computer problem, no matter how slight.
If you own a TI graphing calc, there is a handy add-on called the ir-link that makes it relatively easy to record and send IR signals.
All it would take would be someone to program (in assembly, of course) a nice little app that would record and save the signals for each category of equipment. A simplified version of this already exists, and it would need only a bit of tweaking to make a nice GUI, etc.
The only downside is that you have to build the link yourself, and own a TI calc...
I find it interesting how the Lego concept kept up with the times. Once upon a time we had simple motors, and even pneumatically operated sets. The kids of today now have access to sophisticated robotics in which all the programming can be as simple as drag and drop on the computer screen.
...
This is not to say, however, that they are only for kids. We find that "hackers" are using to make sophisticated robots such as ones that can make a copy of a simple picture.
When MIT Professors and six-year-olds are using the same toys, something has gotta be up
I do not know if many of you know this, but 3DFX has put out drivers (Beta, but still *very* good) for the Voodoo3 2000 PCI cards. I got one, flashed the rom, and I must say that it really kills ATI in all games, esp. Quake2 -- 52 fps compared to 25fps for the ATI Rage 128 at 1024x768
Apple has made a big mistake supporting ATI, and would be better off switching to 3DFX (think Voodoo4 AGP in every new G4) The price / performance ratio is amazing, even for these beta drivers.
For more info on Voodoo3 performance check XLR8 Your Mac
It is beyond me why so many people think that OS's cannot or should not coexist. I am currently using both LinuxPPC and MacOS 8.5.1, and I could not be happier.
I totally agree that Macintosh advocates should become very aware about linux. It would be benefitial for the future of MacOS in general, with discovering features that should be included with any OS, one of the more obvious being the virtual desktops. Any mac user can see the functionality of many of the of the KDE, Gnome, etc. features, and maybe would be interested in having them in their already friendly OS
In short, Mac users need to know what's available in order to possibly request needed features for future MacOS versions.
That's my two cents.
"But we'd never spread lies about the competition. We have too much class."