Not sure if this would be of interest to you, but the person who co-created VRML, Tony Parisi, has gone on to create the X3D spec. and a plugin for your web-browser.
They've got a design studio that can import/export several different formats:
From the site: "Imports and Exports a wide variety of standard 3D file formats using the Accutrans Translator."
You can also programmatically add and control content within the rendered scene, in the web-browser, through AJAX. I was impressed with some of the samples on the site. You are required to install a plugin, but it's pretty painless. I thought it was rather fun to hack a little javascript and make stuff move around in 3d within the browser.
I agree with your statement that other people doing the same thing a different way is generally not an infringing situation, but the problem is that if it appears that someone else is doing something that on the surface looks similar -- the trouble begins.
The company that holds the patent will slap on a law suit immediately. If it's a "Big Fish" kind of patent holder, then it will be difficult to defend your position. That kind of thing can be costly. Although I'm sure some lawyer firm could consider taking on the case for free, but get a major share of the profits if they won, but that is going to depend on the risk level... It's a nasty situation, which is why I'm sure people just settle out of court.
Yay, the business model of the 21st century: Profit = patent, sue, settlement.
I think that's very depressing. Now I understand the purpose of the EFF... There has to be some equally beneficial way that a business can be profitable but yet not "own" an idea.
HHmmmm.... looks like it's time for some retraining. Law school here I come! LOL
Well, there was a really great article on developing with SWT in a recent issue of Linux Magazine. (Linux Magazine doesn't put their content online for quite a few months)
I believe that the reason for having to free things that you create is due to the binding of SWT to the Native OS level GUI calls. The java GUI calls are essentially bound to a language that doesn't have any automated garabage collection--C or C++, one of the two.
As of right now, I believe that the Eclipse SWT project supports GTK and Windows GUI environments.
There is probably an inititative to do a port to Mac OSX.
Announcements of this type are actually very big news for the business world, IMO. The biggest core application for a non-technology company, ie. Manufacturing, is it's ERP system's. Sure, Cisco can switch all desktop development off of Un*x to Linux because of the similar environment.
ERP systems moving to run wholly on Linux can be a very big insentive for bigger businesses to roll out Linux beyond simple Web servers...
The next hurdle will be trying to migrate the 100's and 1000's of little Excel spreadsheet applications over to OpenOffice/StarOffice. That is where some of the larger costs will be: training and user familiarity.
But I don't really care about that part yet. IMO, a businesses application development and ERP systems should all be running on Linux. All the front end applications that the non-IT people write can exists on MS-Office products.
Well, until OpenOffice familiarity and adoption occurs...
I agree 100%. Documenting decisions is probably the best CYA out there.
Admittedly my recommendation for a lawyer was a little extreme not to mention more costly than an email to those in the know.
Here's the real question though, were you all stoic when the server b0rked and pitched in to help make the situation better, or did you wear the air of "I told you so" ?:)
Methinks that you held your tongue and helped out. Rather than rub it in the faces of the people who made the hasty decision. That probably helped you to keep your job as much as the reproduced email.
I'd seriously contact a Lawyer and get a stipulation to your employment that removes responsibility for anything that happens to your network as a result of not having *some* type of encryption/authentication on your WiFi segment.
Then you and your boss sign it.
Maybe then he'll trust your expertise, 'cause that's why he hired you, right? (sarcasm)
At the very least you should investigate FreeS/WAN or some commercial VPN solution. The VPN client is as simple as a double click. After bringing up the VPN if you authenticated correctly, you'd have access to the internal network resources
Linux Journal and Linux Format have had articles recently on setting up FreeSWAN. Specifically the latest Linux Journal on the newsstands now has an article introducing FreeS/WAN.
If you have the cash then you can splurge and just buy something from CA or Cisco.:)
But you really need to convince your boss that this is a bad idea. Find something from Gartner Group or some marketroid publication... Something!!!:)
BTW. Glad you gave no hints about your geographical location in your posting. That would have been bad.
Without sounding too "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I've two words for you, "Residual Income".
You do realize that if you hold on to this concept of only being compensated for what you personally build/create/work you will be able to calculate your maximum income.
(based on a US 40 hour work week) 2080 hours a year X your hourly wage = your maximum earning potiental.
so $20.00/hour gives you about $41600 Gross.
While this is pretty good for a single person living an apartment, it's by no means what you could possibly be earning. Nor is it what you need to support a couple kids in daycare, college funds, a nice car (something above a beater, not a Lexus on a lease), a nice house, and a few extra toys.
Personally, I think that dollar amount is way to low for my abilities.
So, if for instance, you went about to become a consultant and managed to bill out 100% of your 2080 hours per year @ $100/hour. You would then be looking at about $208000 per year. Now we are talking about some serious cash. But, really, who's @ 100% billable?
The bottom line is that there is no way that you can make quantum dollar income based *soley* on your personal effort. It is just not possible. You must find a way to make your money work for you as this will allow you the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Now, before I'm slammed for having this disgustingly capitalistic view, let me set one thing straight. It's not the hording of money that I'm after, it's what money can buy--TIME. I know that money ain't everything, but having a lot sure sdoes make things easier.
Because the more you gots the more it works for you, (Mutual Funds, Investments), and the more you can enjoy it.
money = time = quality of life that *you* choose, not chosen by someone else.
Are you working for someone else? Got a nice salaried job? Well, then you are contributing to someones compensation that is making a ton more than you by doing less. Not fair you say, well, I say take some time and originate a unique idea!
Oh, one final thing, you should probably not be contributing to a 401k/IRA, because those financial vehicles are *designed* to pay you money after you stop working. I mean, you *do* want to stop working for "the man" someday, right?
Slashdot Mirror
They've got a design studio that can import/export several different formats:
From the site: "Imports and Exports a wide variety of standard 3D file formats using the Accutrans Translator."
You can also programmatically add and control content within the rendered scene, in the web-browser, through AJAX. I was impressed with some of the samples on the site. You are required to install a plugin, but it's pretty painless. I thought it was rather fun to hack a little javascript and make stuff move around in 3d within the browser.
It's also open source: http://www.mediamachines.com/fluxsource/index.html
http://www.mediamachines.com/
http://www.ajax3d.org/
I agree with your statement that other people doing the same thing a different way is generally not an infringing situation, but the problem is that if it appears that someone else is doing something that on the surface looks similar -- the trouble begins.
The company that holds the patent will slap on a law suit immediately. If it's a "Big Fish" kind of patent holder, then it will be difficult to defend your position. That kind of thing can be costly. Although I'm sure some lawyer firm could consider taking on the case for free, but get a major share of the profits if they won, but that is going to depend on the risk level... It's a nasty situation, which is why I'm sure people just settle out of court.
Yay, the business model of the 21st century: Profit = patent, sue, settlement.
I think that's very depressing. Now I understand the purpose of the EFF... There has to be some equally beneficial way that a business can be profitable but yet not "own" an idea.
HHmmmm.... looks like it's time for some retraining. Law school here I come! LOL
So far the guy referred to hasn't blogged whether or not he received the job
How did the second interview go?
Well, there was a really great article on developing with SWT in a recent issue of Linux Magazine. (Linux Magazine doesn't put their content online for quite a few months)
I believe that the reason for having to free things that you create is due to the binding of SWT to the Native OS level GUI calls. The java GUI calls are essentially bound to a language that doesn't have any automated garabage collection--C or C++, one of the two.
As of right now, I believe that the Eclipse SWT project supports GTK and Windows GUI environments.
There is probably an inititative to do a port to Mac OSX.
Also look at prepackaged software. Its all Windows based. Peoplesoft, great plains accounting, autocad, etc
Techincally, w.r.t. PeopleSoft, this statement isn't exactly true:
PeopleSoft Jumps on Linux Bandwagon
Announcements of this type are actually very big news for the business world, IMO. The biggest core application for a non-technology company, ie. Manufacturing, is it's ERP system's. Sure, Cisco can switch all desktop development off of Un*x to Linux because of the similar environment.
ERP systems moving to run wholly on Linux can be a very big insentive for bigger businesses to roll out Linux beyond simple Web servers...
The next hurdle will be trying to migrate the 100's and 1000's of little Excel spreadsheet applications over to OpenOffice/StarOffice. That is where some of the larger costs will be: training and user familiarity.
But I don't really care about that part yet. IMO, a businesses application development and ERP systems should all be running on Linux. All the front end applications that the non-IT people write can exists on MS-Office products.
Well, until OpenOffice familiarity and adoption occurs...
I agree 100%. Documenting decisions is probably the best CYA out there.
:)
Admittedly my recommendation for a lawyer was a little extreme not to mention more costly than an email to those in the know.
Here's the real question though, were you all stoic when the server b0rked and pitched in to help make the situation better, or did you wear the air of "I told you so" ?
Methinks that you held your tongue and helped out. Rather than rub it in the faces of the people who made the hasty decision. That probably helped you to keep your job as much as the reproduced email.
cheers!
Ouch.
:)
:)
I'd seriously contact a Lawyer and get a stipulation to your employment that removes responsibility for anything that happens to your network as a result of not having *some* type of encryption/authentication on your WiFi segment.
Then you and your boss sign it.
Maybe then he'll trust your expertise, 'cause that's why he hired you, right? (sarcasm)
At the very least you should investigate FreeS/WAN or some commercial VPN solution. The VPN client is as simple as a double click. After bringing up the VPN if you authenticated correctly, you'd have access to the internal network resources
Linux Journal and Linux Format have had articles recently on setting up FreeSWAN. Specifically the latest Linux Journal on the newsstands now has an article introducing FreeS/WAN.
If you have the cash then you can splurge and just buy something from CA or Cisco.
But you really need to convince your boss that this is a bad idea. Find something from Gartner Group or some marketroid publication... Something!!!
BTW. Glad you gave no hints about your geographical location in your posting. That would have been bad.
BTW... get encryption or get a signature!
what is your handle that you go by on SciFiToday??
:)
I also enjoyed your review. Very refreshingly entertaining. Made me want to buy the book.
Without sounding too "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I've two words for you, "Residual Income".
You do realize that if you hold on to this concept of only being compensated for what you personally build/create/work you will be able to calculate your maximum income.
(based on a US 40 hour work week)
2080 hours a year X your hourly wage = your maximum earning potiental.
so $20.00/hour gives you about $41600 Gross.
While this is pretty good for a single person living an apartment, it's by no means what you could possibly be earning. Nor is it what you need to support a couple kids in daycare, college funds, a nice car (something above a beater, not a Lexus on a lease), a nice house, and a few extra toys.
Personally, I think that dollar amount is way to low for my abilities.
So, if for instance, you went about to become a consultant and managed to bill out 100% of your 2080 hours per year @ $100/hour. You would then be looking at about $208000 per year. Now we are talking about some serious cash. But, really, who's @ 100% billable?
The bottom line is that there is no way that you can make quantum dollar income based *soley* on your personal effort. It is just not possible. You must find a way to make your money work for you as this will allow you the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Now, before I'm slammed for having this disgustingly capitalistic view, let me set one thing straight. It's not the hording of money that I'm after, it's what money can buy--TIME. I know that money ain't everything, but having a lot sure sdoes make things easier.
Because the more you gots the more it works for you, (Mutual Funds, Investments), and the more you can enjoy it.
money = time = quality of life that *you* choose, not chosen by someone else.
Are you working for someone else? Got a nice salaried job? Well, then you are contributing to someones compensation that is making a ton more than you by doing less. Not fair you say, well, I say take some time and originate a unique idea!
Oh, one final thing, you should probably not be contributing to a 401k/IRA, because those financial vehicles are *designed* to pay you money after you stop working. I mean, you *do* want to stop working for "the man" someday, right?
w3rd
geez...
Just more tap-dancing from MS to distract everyone from their little monopoly issues.
Wouldn't want to focus on that, now would we?