I hope they're talking to the car companies about the necessary standardization it would take to make this work, too.
For all the press Better Place has been getting lately, I haven't seen an in-depth analysis of their business model, specifically as it relates to standardization of the infrastructure, including plugs and sockets.
I have a feeling their charging plugs, sockets and protocols are proprietary. Anyone who attempts to produce a compatible charger/socket is going to find themselves on the end of a very aggressive lawsuit. Unless of course they've licensed the technology from Better Place.
Our current gasoline-based system is deeply flawed, but at least it's open. We're replacing it with a marginally better system, but we're giving up that openness for a closed system owned by a single company.
And then there's the conflict of interest issue. What incentive does a company have to reduce power consumption on a car when it's getting a cut of every charge?
Shai Agassi is a smart and charismatic man, but who can really say they're happy with the cell phone business model? Most consumers aren't, but the cellular networks are making quite a profit.
I picked up a Mini-ITX for use as a MythTV box a few years ago. It was an EPIA Nehemiah M10000, and from the day I started using it all I had were problems. Do a search for VIA EPIA and DMA and you'll see what I mean. They released several flash updates for the BIOS, but they never seemed to fix the actual problem. Maybe they did finally figure out the issue, but if they did, they never told the user community.
The feature set was nice. Built in MPEG2 decoder, 5.1 audio, ethernet and 3D acceleration. But the constant hardware lock-ups made the machine unusable. Finally, it started rebooting more and more often, and then just died.
There are a ton of other manufacturers of SFF machines out there, my suggestion is to purchase from a company that will support you after they sell you a machine.
T-Mobile restricts things too. They use signed apps, and apps that haven't been signed have crippled network connectivity. For example, using Mobile Google Maps, it asks every time it opens a connection to the Google server, and doesn't provide an option for allowing all connections during that session.
They also don't let you setup different proxies on your phone (Websessions) unless you unlock it yourself.
The reason for all this? Like the poster above said, the cellular carriers are freaked out about VoIP software on a cell phone.
The parent poster is right on. How do you detect root-kits? What's to say one executable is bad and another is good? There will need to be some way for the system to know, and it's going to be via cryptographically signed binaries, aka DRM. Of course, then somebody will need to manage the certificates. I'm sure Intel will step up, if they have to, for a small fee per certificate of course.
All of this has been said before in threads about DRM. Independent and hobbyist developers will be the hardest hit.
Ironically the fear-mongering from the EFF, Doctorowand others about Sony's DRM screwup may give Intel and Microsoft the chance they've been looking for to push "Secure Computing."
This is about removing access to games that promote ideas of competition and link power to individuals, not the state. Even if it's only virtual, it's still worrying the Chinese government.
Why else would they focus so much on the word "power"?
VoicePulse has had those prices for a while
on
VoIP Price War Declared
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· Score: 2, Informative
VoicePulse has had prices that low for a while, and they allow you to setup your own VoIP reseller type service, VoicePulse Connect. It works great with Asterisk, which they push as a solution. Very geek friendly.
Check out Article VI, Clause 2 of the constitution:
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
I hope this is a troll. You don't think phone service is a necessary utility? To use your example, how can you dial 9-11 if you don't have phone service?
Phone service is an integral part of our lives. But even disregarding the necessary aspect of it, phone service is one of those systems where a natural monopoloy forms (at least locally.) It doesn't make sense to have 5 lines going into your house, from 5 different companies. It's more efficient and cheaper to have one organization responsible for local service. A corporation will naturally leverage this monopoly to increase profits, at the expense of consumers.
Your post brings up a very important issue in the 2000 election. Another good article from Harper's is posted here.
Essentially, Florida took away the right to vote from thousands of people. Regardless of who won or lost that election this issue needs to be made more public. Nobody has been reprimanded for this action. From the Secretary of State to the companies that received millions in contracts to implement this disenfranchisement of voters.
True, but Official Version and Front by Front were 80s, and those were their 'best' albums. More imortantly, they were more influential then their later albums.
Don't you know you get more legitimacy as a fan boy if you claim that the bands early albums as their best? Come on now, get with the program here.
Re:Hacking Bluetooth enabled cars
on
Hack Your Car
·
· Score: 1
I don't know if the Prius has a tape deck. You're right, there are radio transmitters available such as the iTrip, but from what I've heard, their quality is pretty crappy. Plus, you could have the ability to browse mp3s and setup/play playlists through the cars LCD/console interface.
I guess my major point was that the car has this feature, Bluetooth, but we're limited by what the car's designers have implemented with it. But if Toyota offered an open API, we'd have the resources of the entire geek population. Bluetooth enabled PDA informing me of today's appointments on the car's speakers/LCD. Think, if the range of Bluetooth could be extended a bit, we could setup swarming ad-hoc networks of cars. Cars could inform each other of current traffic attentions ahead, the information could be passed on to other nearby cars. Cars could warn each other if there were speed traps:). A giant distributed moving network.
Hacking Bluetooth enabled cars
on
Hack Your Car
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I keep thinking about getting a Toyota Prius, the ones with Bluetooth. But I REALLLY wish they offered a SDK or API to 3rd party developers. Imagine stepping into your car with your Bluetooth equipped iPod, and streaming mp3s to your car stereo? Or your Bluetooth enabled GPS unit, and displaying it on the cards LCD? Or downloading mileage information for reimbursement, or automatically dialing 911 on your cell phone when the emergency system (airbags/whatever) goes off. They could increase the value of the car untold amounts just by harnessing the power of all the coders out there.
RFID technology automates all this, no need for the cop anymore. No need for visually checking license plates. Suddenly everyone and anyone is tracked.
That is the big difference. The fact that this information will be entered into several hundred databases automatically.
I work for, and recommend, Liquid Web. The servers run RedHat linux with the following:
Apache w/ CGI
MySQL 4
PHP
Perl
SpamAssassin
SSH
Plus all the other standard features.. multiple e-mail accounts, FTP accounts, etc.
We'll install any Perl/PHP modules you want, and offer fairly cheap virtual dedicated server solutions (starting at $80 a month.) Our webmaster account comes with 250 Mb of space, and our professional comes with 750Mb of space.
Plus, all the techs here know *NIX. They're smart guys. We're hiring more on right now to provide even better support.
Microsoft has a monopoly, so they are largely exempt from many of the market forces that exist. If the market doesn't embrace something, then Microsoft will many times still forge ahead, if it will benefit them in the long run. They have the resources to do this.
Second, linux may not be feasible as an alternative after Palladium and the SecurePC initiative are implemented. Because Linux may very well be considered an "unsecure" OS, you will not be able to run it on secure PCs. Where do you go then? You didn't fight when you had the chance, and now you're stuck.
Re:Sometimes a knife is a better tool . . .
on
Joltage Powers Down
·
· Score: 1
Yeah.. there are those who never thought we'd need a computer on every desk.
You only give one reason for networking a fridge.. temperature regulation. But I can think of several others, and I'm sure others can think of dozens more. Imagine a fridge that automatically catalogued it's contents. You're at the grocery store, and you can't remember whether you have enough sour cream or whatever.. boom, your Bluetooth enabled PDA sends a request to your fridge back home, and you find out you do need more. What if your fridge could even provide stats on your food consumption, maybe even an ability to order new food when you need it.
Yeah, you may not want it.. that's fine.
As for everyone being a content provider.. well, if it's uninteresting content, you just don't read it.. that's what google is for. But the way many ISPs are setup now, you can't serve content even if you wanted to, which is the fundamental issue here. You may not want to serve content, but you should have the right to.
Now.. imagine that every company did that. You would be overloaded with advertising targeted to you, and in addition, maybe I don't WANT SuperPharm knowing that I have some rare neurodegenerative disease or something. The point is the choice is removed from the person to decide who gets what information, information that is personal to them.
Slashdot Mirror
I hope they're talking to the car companies about the necessary standardization it would take to make this work, too.
For all the press Better Place has been getting lately, I haven't seen an in-depth analysis of their business model, specifically as it relates to standardization of the infrastructure, including plugs and sockets.
I have a feeling their charging plugs, sockets and protocols are proprietary. Anyone who attempts to produce a compatible charger/socket is going to find themselves on the end of a very aggressive lawsuit. Unless of course they've licensed the technology from Better Place.
Our current gasoline-based system is deeply flawed, but at least it's open. We're replacing it with a marginally better system, but we're giving up that openness for a closed system owned by a single company.
And then there's the conflict of interest issue. What incentive does a company have to reduce power consumption on a car when it's getting a cut of every charge?
Shai Agassi is a smart and charismatic man, but who can really say they're happy with the cell phone business model? Most consumers aren't, but the cellular networks are making quite a profit.
I picked up a Mini-ITX for use as a MythTV box a few years ago. It was an EPIA Nehemiah M10000, and from the day I started using it all I had were problems. Do a search for VIA EPIA and DMA and you'll see what I mean. They released several flash updates for the BIOS, but they never seemed to fix the actual problem. Maybe they did finally figure out the issue, but if they did, they never told the user community.
The feature set was nice. Built in MPEG2 decoder, 5.1 audio, ethernet and 3D acceleration. But the constant hardware lock-ups made the machine unusable. Finally, it started rebooting more and more often, and then just died.
There are a ton of other manufacturers of SFF machines out there, my suggestion is to purchase from a company that will support you after they sell you a machine.
T-Mobile restricts things too. They use signed apps, and apps that haven't been signed have crippled network connectivity. For example, using Mobile Google Maps, it asks every time it opens a connection to the Google server, and doesn't provide an option for allowing all connections during that session.
They also don't let you setup different proxies on your phone (Websessions) unless you unlock it yourself.
The reason for all this? Like the poster above said, the cellular carriers are freaked out about VoIP software on a cell phone.
Coming soon.. laws outlawing common dictionary password cracking tools and similiar security tools.
The parent poster is right on. How do you detect root-kits? What's to say one executable is bad and another is good? There will need to be some way for the system to know, and it's going to be via cryptographically signed binaries, aka DRM. Of course, then somebody will need to manage the certificates. I'm sure Intel will step up, if they have to, for a small fee per certificate of course.
All of this has been said before in threads about DRM. Independent and hobbyist developers will be the hardest hit.
Ironically the fear-mongering from the EFF, Doctorowand others about Sony's DRM screwup may give Intel and Microsoft the chance they've been looking for to push "Secure Computing."
So what you're saying, is that Michael Chrichton doesn't know science.
Could of told you that before.
Mod this guy up, I think he has a major point.
This is about removing access to games that promote ideas of competition and link power to individuals, not the state. Even if it's only virtual, it's still worrying the Chinese government.
Why else would they focus so much on the word "power"?
VoicePulse has had prices that low for a while, and they allow you to setup your own VoIP reseller type service, VoicePulse Connect. It works great with Asterisk, which they push as a solution. Very geek friendly.
--
Josh
Check out Article VI, Clause 2 of the constitution:
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
Read this statement from the article carefully:
The new setup is designed to allow for more frequent updates of the information and get around obstacles in some states' data laws, Zadra said
Yes, that's right, those pesky laws designed to protect your privacy are "obstacles" that are getting in the way.
*sigh*
I hope this is a troll. You don't think phone service is a necessary utility? To use your example, how can you dial 9-11 if you don't have phone service?
Phone service is an integral part of our lives. But even disregarding the necessary aspect of it, phone service is one of those systems where a natural monopoloy forms (at least locally.) It doesn't make sense to have 5 lines going into your house, from 5 different companies. It's more efficient and cheaper to have one organization responsible for local service. A corporation will naturally leverage this monopoly to increase profits, at the expense of consumers.
Your post brings up a very important issue in the 2000 election. Another good article from Harper's is posted here.
Essentially, Florida took away the right to vote from thousands of people. Regardless of who won or lost that election this issue needs to be made more public. Nobody has been reprimanded for this action. From the Secretary of State to the companies that received millions in contracts to implement this disenfranchisement of voters.
True, but Official Version and Front by Front were 80s, and those were their 'best' albums. More imortantly, they were more influential then their later albums.
Don't you know you get more legitimacy as a fan boy if you claim that the bands early albums as their best? Come on now, get with the program here.
I don't know if the Prius has a tape deck. You're right, there are radio transmitters available such as the iTrip, but from what I've heard, their quality is pretty crappy. Plus, you could have the ability to browse mp3s and setup/play playlists through the cars LCD/console interface.
:). A giant distributed moving network.
I guess my major point was that the car has this feature, Bluetooth, but we're limited by what the car's designers have implemented with it. But if Toyota offered an open API, we'd have the resources of the entire geek population. Bluetooth enabled PDA informing me of today's appointments on the car's speakers/LCD. Think, if the range of Bluetooth could be extended a bit, we could setup swarming ad-hoc networks of cars. Cars could inform each other of current traffic attentions ahead, the information could be passed on to other nearby cars. Cars could warn each other if there were speed traps
I keep thinking about getting a Toyota Prius, the ones with Bluetooth. But I REALLLY wish they offered a SDK or API to 3rd party developers. Imagine stepping into your car with your Bluetooth equipped iPod, and streaming mp3s to your car stereo? Or your Bluetooth enabled GPS unit, and displaying it on the cards LCD? Or downloading mileage information for reimbursement, or automatically dialing 911 on your cell phone when the emergency system (airbags/whatever) goes off. They could increase the value of the car untold amounts just by harnessing the power of all the coders out there.
RFID technology automates all this, no need for the cop anymore. No need for visually checking license plates. Suddenly everyone and anyone is tracked.
That is the big difference. The fact that this information will be entered into several hundred databases automatically.
Good question. Wars have been started over less important issues. Some other highly important policy issues:
:)
coding style?
what level of indentation? tabs or spaces?
bsd or linux?
gnome or kde?
If she can unite the geek community on these issues, she's got my vote
Also, Torque from the Apache project is another good project to help with database design. You can genereate database from a custom XML schema.
Apache w/ CGI MySQL 4 PHP Perl SpamAssassin SSH
Plus all the other standard features.. multiple e-mail accounts, FTP accounts, etc.
We'll install any Perl/PHP modules you want, and offer fairly cheap virtual dedicated server solutions (starting at $80 a month.) Our webmaster account comes with 250 Mb of space, and our professional comes with 750Mb of space.
Plus, all the techs here know *NIX. They're smart guys. We're hiring more on right now to provide even better support.
Grue
xploit the musical.. beautiful.
Microsoft has a monopoly, so they are largely exempt from many of the market forces that exist. If the market doesn't embrace something, then Microsoft will many times still forge ahead, if it will benefit them in the long run. They have the resources to do this.
Second, linux may not be feasible as an alternative after Palladium and the SecurePC initiative are implemented. Because Linux may very well be considered an "unsecure" OS, you will not be able to run it on secure PCs. Where do you go then? You didn't fight when you had the chance, and now you're stuck.
Yeah.. there are those who never thought we'd need a computer on every desk.
You only give one reason for networking a fridge.. temperature regulation. But I can think of several others, and I'm sure others can think of dozens more. Imagine a fridge that automatically catalogued it's contents. You're at the grocery store, and you can't remember whether you have enough sour cream or whatever.. boom, your Bluetooth enabled PDA sends a request to your fridge back home, and you find out you do need more. What if your fridge could even provide stats on your food consumption, maybe even an ability to order new food when you need it.
Yeah, you may not want it.. that's fine.
As for everyone being a content provider.. well, if it's uninteresting content, you just don't read it.. that's what google is for. But the way many ISPs are setup now, you can't serve content even if you wanted to, which is the fundamental issue here. You may not want to serve content, but you should have the right to.
Josh
And How!
Microsoft's own Steve Ballmer: "Linux is a tough competitor."
Sombebody's been lying...
Now.. imagine that every company did that. You would be overloaded with advertising targeted to you, and in addition, maybe I don't WANT SuperPharm knowing that I have some rare neurodegenerative disease or something. The point is the choice is removed from the person to decide who gets what information, information that is personal to them.