What is being done to improve the Linux Kernel documentation in both structure and completeness?
A good white paper was already written about what needs to be improved and yet the mailing list discussions are just endless bike shedding. Here is the white paper: https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols... There appears to be no person who the buck stops with. Furthermore based on 3 years of reading the mailing list I seriously doubt more than 2-5 people on the mailing list actually understand what good documentation is, let alone how to write it.
I would just like to point out the OGRE - Open Source 3D Graphics Engine which is MIT licensed and has been around since 2001. OGRE is a better built system and the games in the gallery show this off.
Yes and I can tell you exactly why it failed. Look at who was writing it David E. Kelley. He did Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, L.A. Law, and The Practice. Notice the trend of the kind of shows this guy developers. How is someone who makes essentially throw away TV shows going to handle the clash between modern and mythos? Kelley messed it up big time, he delivered what he thought was good instead of what the fans wanted.
The best written Wonder Woman comics are the ones Greg Rucka did. Read those and you can see what a good story and character look like.
If your going to dump the printer then why not try a local recycling company as to not create more e-waste. Some cities have non-profits like FreeGeek [ freegeek.org ] that can re-use computer equipment.
I did the install and the first few things I remember doing were configuring a script to use my modem. Dialing my friend up and using ytalk to chat while rebuilding the kernel to get my video driver and sound card working so I could use X and Netscape.
Now days the installer does everything for you except wireless well. I still have some problems with soundcards and video cards in this modern era but it is mostly due to closed source drivers and not having configured the kernel wrong.
The apache webserver is switching to subversion. This was said in the mailing list post here and if you follow the thread it gives some good reasons behind using subversion. Examples from the original proposal include mod_dav_svn and mod_authz_svn which are Apache modules for web interface to the source repository.
Other examples include The Commons TLP and the SpamAssassin project which are projects of the Apache foundation are already using subversion. To see all the projects Apache foundation projects using SubVersion just go here
I did some more reading of the TOS for Domains by Proxy. I like how they can totally kill your account and domain name without any real proof or contact to you. It is one of those nice catch all things that big corporations put in:
4. DBP'S RIGHTS TO DENY, SUSPEND, TERMINATE SERVICE AND TO DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION... (iii) resolve any and all third party claims, whether threatened or made, arising out of Your use of a domain name registered by DBP on Your behalf; or (iv) take any other action DBP deems necessary: blah blah blah SPAM.
So if someone goes to them an claims you are in violation of their trademark or copywrite DBP can just give them your information without having to contact you at all. Is it just me or is it really dumb that they do not have some sort of verification process to see if a claim even has any merit before turning over information. Also part iv is just fantastic. I will let this old slashdot article on the subject explain that. What about our rights when we purchase these domain names?
Currently I use domain's by proxy via godaddy for my domain names. Yeah the terms are scary and I have also started looking for some place else to go. I got a letter in the mail (actual paper) from another domain company asking me if I want to switch. I personally do not like the idea of people seeing my info and being able to spam me to high heaven on the listed email address.
Honestly if your just a normal site with nothing illegal on it I do not see the need for other peopel to see your personal information.
As for using fake information... I think that the US government is cracking down on this and is passing laws to really kick you in the butt for using false information. Currently this is a lose lose situation.
All a domain registry company needs to be sucessful is to have all information listed for the WHOIS as anonymous and only release it with a court order. Which would have to be hand delivered by an officer of the law. That is just my opinion, I could be wrong.
I am not be a normal slashdoter in the sense that I do not drink beverages with caffeine and I do take a regular vitamin suppliment. As I have gotten older I have had to stay up later to get work done. High school is a joke, college requires some serious study/homework time and then running out of time after getting off working fulltime.
I remember reading about a study where elderly folks were brought into a room that simulated sun light in order to change their biological clock to align with what is considered normal night and day. All the test candidates were going to sleep around 8pm and waking up at 4-6 am. After a few months on and off of these treatment they were going to sleep between 10pm - midnight.
I am not saying it is your biological clock per say but it is a possibility. If you just cannot sleep because of too much energy (non-caffeine and sugar related) you could try a safe over the counter sleep aid. I tried Simply Sleep which is a Tylenol product with the same effective ingredients as Tylenol PM. For me it worked really well and I was knocked out for a solid 8 hours. I tried once to wake up before the allocated sleep time and I was mentally unable to function properly will still under the influence of this drug.
Currently I sleep about 4-5 hours a night and that works fine for me but when I know I need to be well rested for the next day, I take two sleep aids at 11pm and I am out like a light before midnight. I only do that once or twice a month at most. Just an example of one way to deal with sleeping problems.
komodo, why pay for free software
on
Komodo 3.0 Released
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Komodo has all these super advanced features according to them. Well I find it funny that you could pay for this program or use the same exact source code parsing system for free. If you check the Scintilla website you see that Komodo uses the free open source code editing component.
I just find it funny that people would buy an IDE based directly off of Open Source instead of just using one of the main scintilla projects which almost all of them are free and custom tailered for multiple languages. SciTE has syntax highlighting and support for the following languages/file formats:
Ada, Assembler (NASM, MASM), AutoIt, Avenue, Batch files (MS-DOS), Baan, Bash, Bullant, C/C++/C#, CSS, diff files, E-Script, Eiffel, Erlang, Fortran, Forth, HTML (with embedded JavaScript, VBScript, PHP and ASP), IDL - both MSIDL and XPIDL, Java, JavaScript, LISP, LOT, Lout, Lua, Make, Matlab, Metapost, MMIXAL, nnCron, NSIS, Octave, Pascal/Delphi, Perl (most of it except for some ambiguous cases), PostScript, POV-Ray, Python, Ruby, Scheme, scriptol, Specman E, SQL and PLSQL, TeX and LaTeX, Tcl/Tk - using the cpp lexer, VB and VBScript, Verilog, XML, YAML
Looks like it has a little something for everyone and is free like beer. Just an idea I wished to pass along.
I am not sure why most feel the absolute need to have a full IDE. Code highlighting is usually good enough.
I use Scite which supports syntax highlighting and support for more than a dozen languages, including commong config files like Apache. It does code folding, block comments along with compiler output and most of the normal features of an IDE but it is very light weight.
Besides I do not want evaluate something and then get the features cut or it stops functioning if I do not buy it.
In terms of the SCO lawsuits this is great. It will allow IBM and others to just point to this ruling as proof of support for the GPL.
This is also a victory for good old RMS who has stated for years that the GPL is legally valid and binding.
This brings up an interesting question in my mind. Lets hypothesize for a moment that SCO loses all it's lawsuits and the GPL is proven in a US court to be valid and legally binding. How will future lawsuits dealing with violations of the GPL handled?
Are violators of the GPL going to have to pay fines or be forced to open source the code they designed in conjunction with GPL'd code. Add to this the possible stances the FSF could take on this issue.
This definitly makes things more interesting in my opinion.
Maybe it is cause ARM does not really shove itself down people's throats. Their business practices help set them apart. In addition, they embrace open source/standards and it's ideals. An example:...the OpenMAX(TM) working group to define a royalty-free, cross-platform API (application programming interface) that standardizes access to multimedia processing primitives used extensively in video codecs such as MPEG-4, audio and image codecs, and 2D and 3D graphics. The OpenMAX API will enable library and codec implementers to rapidly and effectively make use of the full potential of new silicon - regardless of the underlying hardware architecture.
Lets see free, cross platform, standardized and hardware independent. That meets all my requirements of a good idea(tm). Also their support for embedded Linux probably does not hurt them either.
There have been many projects over the years to run Linux on just one floppy disc and within other very tight space/memory requirements.
Some examples of Linux distros that do this are: http://sourceforge.net/projects/byld http:/ /www.fdlinux.com/
But I really think you are looking for this: http://linuxmobile.sourceforge.net/
Linux Mobile System (LMS) is a full Linux system whose support is the new USB Flash Memory Drives. The intention is to boot any PC with USB support with our system and therefore we will have every administration and analysis applications that we have selected, so we will not need install it. This way, always we will be able to get our Linux system ready to use in our pocket.
Now if you cannot boot the laptop with the USB connection I am sure you can use a mini/micro distrobution to boot the system with USB support and then have it read and run off the USB drive.
I hope this information is helpful in your quest. =P
Finally one of the lawsuits had some form of resolution. Only time will tell how this ruling will affect the other cases and the overall direction of Open Source litigation.
So the case is going to stay in Federal Court and SCO is not backed into a corner with non-favorable conditions in which they have to fight this battle.
Most of us hope that SCO just gets bitch slapped and the disappear into the night and never return. =)
As if you would have enough knowledge to make this decision...
Here is a great idea. Instead of having government supervised panels of learned doctors evaluate medicines and weigh the benefits of a treatment against the side effects and other data that comes out of large-scale clinical trials we should have a bunch of ignorant morons throw their voices into the mix.
Well since doctors know everything we are all going to be saved right? Wrong. The FDA in all their glory do a semi decent job of picking out what drugs should go on the market and what shouldn't. Having said this they have made some mistakes on having drugs on the market and removing drugs from the market. Ephedra right any bells? ( www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/ephedra/december2003/ )
As for your tirade about the expense and obstacles to the development process of medicine I think you forgot a point or two. A good portion of medical research is done at colleges/universities around the world. Where students (some paid others not) do a significant portion of the research. Furthermore when a patent runs out on a drug there are usually knock off brands released immediately. If the production cost was so high then how do these companies make the same drugs for less and sell them to the consumer for less?
As for your comments about Open Source and science let me relate it to the whole drug testing/approval process. Science and academic information sharing is not free (as in beer free) for the public. I can go and download the source code to any open source program and use it at no cost.
If I wanted to know how NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) compare to the products made by McNeil-PPC I would not have the same options. I would be able to get some data on a published study they did. But what about the thousands of hours of studies and trials done before a company brings a drug to the market. Access to that information is near impossible. Sure you can read about a report they published in one of the free medical journals but that journal is not going to have all the test cases listed where 1% of the people reacted badly to this medicine and they also happen to have an allergic reaction to something else on file.
They do give us information, just not nearly enough for us intelligent individuals to form any real conclusive notions. I am not going to fully accept a report that paints the outcome with a broad brush. What about that.5-1% or more of cases that do not match their statistical data.
Lets for example say that I am allergic to Ibuprofen. Meaning that I would have a reaction to it that happens in less than 1% of all people who take it. Now when drugs are designed they are tested over and over again, compared with other drugs on the market and relation data between different drugs can be drawn. Hence the idea behind drugs being listed in seperate classes. Now an individual can look at this data and make an inference based on previous experience and choose the right drug to use for an illness. This would be for choosing non-prescription drugs for common problems like headaches or a cold.
Anyway my point was not to supplant the FDA or any of the current systems in place in the medical industry. It was to point out that giving us more information will not hurt anything.
Personally having access to all the information before making a decision about anything is preferable.
The ideas of White Hat and Black Hat finding versus the impact and cost are valid points.
I look at it this way. It may cost to fix a security problem, whether it be time, money or both. However fixing a problem that is found is far better than just letting it dangle. So what if only 1 in 5.67 million can find the flaw. It was found once and it will be found again. Err to the side of caution in this case. I prefer to have all my bases covered with current known problems versus losing data/time/money on something that I could have fixed.
In terms of more security bugs being found and fixing the problems. The internet and this technology is still growing. Fixing and securing software/hardware is one of the growing pains for our industry. It is better to fix what is broken then to stick your head in the sand and hope no problems arise.
Besides where is the fun in not having to change things up once in a while? =P
Having these types of projects being "open source" is a very good idea. The exchanged and access of information will not only allow more people to work on a project but for medicines it would in theory make them safer. Instead of having to take a drug companies word about a product you would have direct access to all the research and testing of said product from the beginning to the end.
This open source idea for medicine and science would run into the same problem that open source software runs into. Greed.
People trying to get more money because they think they are entitled to it. Some examples would be Microsoft and SCO.
CEO Darl McBride who is at the helm of The SCO Group is leading the charge so to speak against open source software with claims to owning rights. Honestly most people realize this is a bid for them to be either bought out or to gain money from legal battles. This strategy is employed because it has the potentional to make money. SCO having not really made any innovations and in a steady decline over the years in terms of revenue and stock value has choosen this path. Now personally I think it was McBride's idea based on his track record with IKON Office Solutions. But then again the shady nature of SCO and it's parent company (explained here: http://www.forbes.com/2003/06/18/cz_dl_0618linux.h tml )have to make you wonder.
Microsoft on the other hand was sued due to a patent being violated by their Internet Explorer web browser. Reference here: http://news.com.com/Microsoft+appeals+Eolas+decisi on/2100-1032_3-5228882.html
Not to get into a rant about IP and software Patents but both of these cases show how money can be obtained through legal matters instead of the time honored method of working for it. No matter which way either case goes the problem is with old laws and ideas messing up the free (as in beer) trade of ideas and information.
Hopefully in the science field something like the above examples would not happen but there is always a chance. Big drug companies would not go quietly into the night if their development processes suddenly became public access and with more competition driving overall prices down. Big business loves to stay as BIG business.
Personally the idea behind "open source" science and medicine is very sound and will help many people in the long term. I just hope the process of it becoming free is less painful than the software industry.
Now that bluetooth is considered a more mature specification since they managed to make a specification update without having to break backward compatability.
Maybe it is time for more bluetooth enabled printers and external devices. I wouldn't mind keeping the printer in the other room.
I hope that Valve did not put all their efforts into just catching the people who did it. I admit that those people did break the law and need to be caught but Valve is a company that relies on it's products.
Seeing as this game has been delayed since before this incident I wonder exactly as to the calibur of the game. If they shifted too much focus off development they might have shot themselves in the foot when they release a sub-par game.
So if anyone from Valve is reading this or you know someone who works there just give them a gentle nudge and remind them that we care about the quality of their games and the promptness in which they are delivered. Not that Half Life 2 is vaporware or anything but people are losing interest just because of the delay.
Honestly I think the FCC has no idea what they are doing. Censor certain things, and not others. Go after profanity but not sexual theme speech. Allow violence and sex on TV but only at certain times and only certain things allowed.
Just trying to follow what they say and then do and not do is a headache all in itself. I believe the FCC needs a serious revision. A re-write from source if you will. Get rid of everything they have now and start over with a new rule book that is designed with current idealogy and forsight when dealing with newer techonologies.
It will be painful for them but better for us overall the sooner this happens. Furthermore it would be nice to read a concise brief on the regulations of what you can or cannot do in a medium.
I think it is a sound idea to go into the niche markets so to speak instead of just jumping into the fray with AMD/Intel. Everyone has had enough of the SSE2 vs 3dnow! extended vs the new kitchen sink it comes with. Those types of things have no real bearing on markets where companies are looking for solutions that are cheap, easy to deploy and know the company is designing the hardware for their problem. Not the company having to make their systems go on the vendors limited products.
The more competition the better we the consumers are at getting the best products.
Actually it is a reference to what runs in Ring Zero. Either the supervisor(user) or privileged mode code. Meaning that if you had Ring Zero access "master mode" you could run system control instructions that were illegal for security purposes in the other rings.
Basically if you trust your web browser enough to have access to the core of the operating system you should expect someone to hack it. Applications should be kept seperate from the core of the operating system.
Another IE security problem, are you suprised by this? Lets make an insecure piece of software that intergrates into our operating system with portions of it running at Ring Zero. This allowing whatever malicious code/hacker to gain access to your system.
Now most people recommnd just switching to Linux. Yeah that works. But what about those hacked Windows PCs that happen to be remotely controlled? Some are sending SPAM others are used for DDoS attacks and others just scan all the IP space they can get ahold of.
It is a vicious cycle which has been growing more pronounced over the past 4 years. The only real solution to this problem is to inform people. Don't just tell people to use something else.
Explain the advantages of using a different program. In this case explain how Mozilla or Opera being seperate programs with different internal works and security systems are not going to be compromised as easily.
Slashdot Mirror
What is being done to improve the Linux Kernel documentation in both structure and completeness?
A good white paper was already written about what needs to be improved and yet the mailing list discussions are just endless bike shedding. Here is the white paper:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols... There appears to be no person who the buck stops with. Furthermore based on 3 years of reading the mailing list I seriously doubt more than 2-5 people on the mailing list actually understand what good documentation is, let alone how to write it.
I would just like to point out the OGRE - Open Source 3D Graphics Engine which is MIT licensed and has been around since 2001. OGRE is a better built system and the games in the gallery show this off.
Yes and I can tell you exactly why it failed. Look at who was writing it David E. Kelley. He did Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, L.A. Law, and The Practice. Notice the trend of the kind of shows this guy developers. How is someone who makes essentially throw away TV shows going to handle the clash between modern and mythos? Kelley messed it up big time, he delivered what he thought was good instead of what the fans wanted.
The best written Wonder Woman comics are the ones Greg Rucka did. Read those and you can see what a good story and character look like.
If your going to dump the printer then why not try a local recycling company as to not create more e-waste. Some cities have non-profits like FreeGeek [ freegeek.org ] that can re-use computer equipment.
I did the install and the first few things I remember doing were configuring a script to use my modem. Dialing my friend up and using ytalk to chat while rebuilding the kernel to get my video driver and sound card working so I could use X and Netscape.
Now days the installer does everything for you except wireless well. I still have some problems with soundcards and video cards in this modern era but it is mostly due to closed source drivers and not having configured the kernel wrong.
The apache webserver is switching to subversion. This was said in the mailing list post here and if you follow the thread it gives some good reasons behind using subversion. Examples from the original proposal include mod_dav_svn and mod_authz_svn which are Apache modules for web interface to the source repository.
Other examples include The Commons TLP and the SpamAssassin project which are projects of the Apache foundation are already using subversion. To see all the projects Apache foundation projects using SubVersion just go here
Useful links: Subversion homepage
Version Control with Subversion Book (mirror)
I did some more reading of the TOS for Domains by Proxy. I like how they can totally kill your account and domain name without any real proof or contact to you. It is one of those nice catch all things that big corporations put in:
...
4. DBP'S RIGHTS TO DENY, SUSPEND, TERMINATE SERVICE AND TO DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
(iii) resolve any and all third party claims, whether threatened or made, arising out of Your use of a domain name registered by DBP on Your behalf; or (iv) take any other action DBP deems necessary: blah blah blah SPAM.
So if someone goes to them an claims you are in violation of their trademark or copywrite DBP can just give them your information without having to contact you at all. Is it just me or is it really dumb that they do not have some sort of verification process to see if a claim even has any merit before turning over information. Also part iv is just fantastic. I will let this old slashdot article on the subject explain that. What about our rights when we purchase these domain names?
Currently I use domain's by proxy via godaddy for my domain names. Yeah the terms are scary and I have also started looking for some place else to go. I got a letter in the mail (actual paper) from another domain company asking me if I want to switch. I personally do not like the idea of people seeing my info and being able to spam me to high heaven on the listed email address.
Honestly if your just a normal site with nothing illegal on it I do not see the need for other peopel to see your personal information.
As for using fake information... I think that the US government is cracking down on this and is passing laws to really kick you in the butt for using false information. Currently this is a lose lose situation.
All a domain registry company needs to be sucessful is to have all information listed for the WHOIS as anonymous and only release it with a court order. Which would have to be hand delivered by an officer of the law. That is just my opinion, I could be wrong.
I am not be a normal slashdoter in the sense that I do not drink beverages with caffeine and I do take a regular vitamin suppliment. As I have gotten older I have had to stay up later to get work done. High school is a joke, college requires some serious study/homework time and then running out of time after getting off working fulltime.
I remember reading about a study where elderly folks were brought into a room that simulated sun light in order to change their biological clock to align with what is considered normal night and day. All the test candidates were going to sleep around 8pm and waking up at 4-6 am. After a few months on and off of these treatment they were going to sleep between 10pm - midnight.
I am not saying it is your biological clock per say but it is a possibility. If you just cannot sleep because of too much energy (non-caffeine and sugar related) you could try a safe over the counter sleep aid. I tried Simply Sleep which is a Tylenol product with the same effective ingredients as Tylenol PM. For me it worked really well and I was knocked out for a solid 8 hours. I tried once to wake up before the allocated sleep time and I was mentally unable to function properly will still under the influence of this drug.
Currently I sleep about 4-5 hours a night and that works fine for me but when I know I need to be well rested for the next day, I take two sleep aids at 11pm and I am out like a light before midnight. I only do that once or twice a month at most. Just an example of one way to deal with sleeping problems.
I just find it funny that people would buy an IDE based directly off of Open Source instead of just using one of the main scintilla projects which almost all of them are free and custom tailered for multiple languages. SciTE has syntax highlighting and support for the following languages/file formats:
Looks like it has a little something for everyone and is free like beer. Just an idea I wished to pass along.
I am not sure why most feel the absolute need to have a full IDE. Code highlighting is usually good enough.
I use Scite which supports syntax highlighting and support for more than a dozen languages, including commong config files like Apache. It does code folding, block comments along with compiler output and most of the normal features of an IDE but it is very light weight.
Besides I do not want evaluate something and then get the features cut or it stops functioning if I do not buy it.
In terms of the SCO lawsuits this is great. It will allow IBM and others to just point to this ruling as proof of support for the GPL.
This is also a victory for good old RMS who has stated for years that the GPL is legally valid and binding.
This brings up an interesting question in my mind. Lets hypothesize for a moment that SCO loses all it's lawsuits and the GPL is proven in a US court to be valid and legally binding. How will future lawsuits dealing with violations of the GPL handled?
Are violators of the GPL going to have to pay fines or be forced to open source the code they designed in conjunction with GPL'd code. Add to this the possible stances the FSF could take on this issue.
This definitly makes things more interesting in my opinion.
Maybe it is cause ARM does not really shove itself down people's throats. Their business practices help set them apart. In addition, they embrace open source/standards and it's ideals. An example: ...the OpenMAX(TM) working group to define a royalty-free, cross-platform API (application programming interface) that standardizes access to multimedia processing primitives used extensively in video codecs such as MPEG-4, audio and image codecs, and 2D and 3D graphics. The OpenMAX API will enable library and codec implementers to rapidly and effectively make use of the full potential of new silicon - regardless of the underlying hardware architecture.
Lets see free, cross platform, standardized and hardware independent. That meets all my requirements of a good idea(tm). Also their support for embedded Linux probably does not hurt them either.
There have been many projects over the years to run Linux on just one floppy disc and within other very tight space/memory requirements.
/ /www.fdlinux.com/
Some examples of Linux distros that do this are:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/byld
http:
But I really think you are looking for this:
http://linuxmobile.sourceforge.net/
Linux Mobile System (LMS) is a full Linux system whose support is the new USB Flash Memory Drives. The intention is to boot any PC with USB support with our system and therefore we will have every administration and analysis applications that we have selected, so we will not need install it. This way, always we will be able to get our Linux system ready to use in our pocket.
Now if you cannot boot the laptop with the USB connection I am sure you can use a mini/micro distrobution to boot the system with USB support and then have it read and run off the USB drive.
I hope this information is helpful in your quest. =P
Finally one of the lawsuits had some form of resolution. Only time will tell how this ruling will affect the other cases and the overall direction of Open Source litigation.
So the case is going to stay in Federal Court and SCO is not backed into a corner with non-favorable conditions in which they have to fight this battle.
Most of us hope that SCO just gets bitch slapped and the disappear into the night and never return. =)
Okay lets clarify a few things.
.5-1% or more of cases that do not match their statistical data.
As if you would have enough knowledge to make this decision...
Here is a great idea. Instead of having government supervised panels of learned doctors evaluate medicines and weigh the benefits of a treatment against the side effects and other data that comes out of large-scale clinical trials we should have a bunch of ignorant morons throw their voices into the mix.
Well since doctors know everything we are all going to be saved right? Wrong. The FDA in all their glory do a semi decent job of picking out what drugs should go on the market and what shouldn't. Having said this they have made some mistakes on having drugs on the market and removing drugs from the market. Ephedra right any bells? ( www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/ephedra/december2003/ )
As for your tirade about the expense and obstacles to the development process of medicine I think you forgot a point or two. A good portion of medical research is done at colleges/universities around the world. Where students (some paid others not) do a significant portion of the research. Furthermore when a patent runs out on a drug there are usually knock off brands released immediately. If the production cost was so high then how do these companies make the same drugs for less and sell them to the consumer for less?
As for your comments about Open Source and science let me relate it to the whole drug testing/approval process. Science and academic information sharing is not free (as in beer free) for the public. I can go and download the source code to any open source program and use it at no cost.
If I wanted to know how NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) compare to the products made by McNeil-PPC I would not have the same options. I would be able to get some data on a published study they did. But what about the thousands of hours of studies and trials done before a company brings a drug to the market. Access to that information is near impossible. Sure you can read about a report they published in one of the free medical journals but that journal is not going to have all the test cases listed where 1% of the people reacted badly to this medicine and they also happen to have an allergic reaction to something else on file.
They do give us information, just not nearly enough for us intelligent individuals to form any real conclusive notions. I am not going to fully accept a report that paints the outcome with a broad brush. What about that
Lets for example say that I am allergic to Ibuprofen. Meaning that I would have a reaction to it that happens in less than 1% of all people who take it. Now when drugs are designed they are tested over and over again, compared with other drugs on the market and relation data between different drugs can be drawn. Hence the idea behind drugs being listed in seperate classes. Now an individual can look at this data and make an inference based on previous experience and choose the right drug to use for an illness. This would be for choosing non-prescription drugs for common problems like headaches or a cold.
Anyway my point was not to supplant the FDA or any of the current systems in place in the medical industry. It was to point out that giving us more information will not hurt anything.
Personally having access to all the information before making a decision about anything is preferable.
The ideas of White Hat and Black Hat finding versus the impact and cost are valid points.
I look at it this way. It may cost to fix a security problem, whether it be time, money or both. However fixing a problem that is found is far better than just letting it dangle. So what if only 1 in 5.67 million can find the flaw. It was found once and it will be found again. Err to the side of caution in this case. I prefer to have all my bases covered with current known problems versus losing data/time/money on something that I could have fixed.
In terms of more security bugs being found and fixing the problems. The internet and this technology is still growing. Fixing and securing software/hardware is one of the growing pains for our industry. It is better to fix what is broken then to stick your head in the sand and hope no problems arise.
Besides where is the fun in not having to change things up once in a while? =P
Having these types of projects being "open source" is a very good idea. The exchanged and access of information will not only allow more people to work on a project but for medicines it would in theory make them safer. Instead of having to take a drug companies word about a product you would have direct access to all the research and testing of said product from the beginning to the end.
h tml )have to make you wonder.
i on/2100-1032_3-5228882.html
This open source idea for medicine and science would run into the same problem that open source software runs into. Greed.
People trying to get more money because they think they are entitled to it. Some examples would be Microsoft and SCO.
CEO Darl McBride who is at the helm of The SCO Group is leading the charge so to speak against open source software with claims to owning rights. Honestly most people realize this is a bid for them to be either bought out or to gain money from legal battles. This strategy is employed because it has the potentional to make money. SCO having not really made any innovations and in a steady decline over the years in terms of revenue and stock value has choosen this path. Now personally I think it was McBride's idea based on his track record with IKON Office Solutions. But then again the shady nature of SCO and it's parent company (explained here: http://www.forbes.com/2003/06/18/cz_dl_0618linux.
Microsoft on the other hand was sued due to a patent being violated by their Internet Explorer web browser. Reference here: http://news.com.com/Microsoft+appeals+Eolas+decis
Not to get into a rant about IP and software Patents but both of these cases show how money can be obtained through legal matters instead of the time honored method of working for it. No matter which way either case goes the problem is with old laws and ideas messing up the free (as in beer) trade of ideas and information.
Hopefully in the science field something like the above examples would not happen but there is always a chance. Big drug companies would not go quietly into the night if their development processes suddenly became public access and with more competition driving overall prices down. Big business loves to stay as BIG business.
Personally the idea behind "open source" science and medicine is very sound and will help many people in the long term. I just hope the process of it becoming free is less painful than the software industry.
Now that bluetooth is considered a more mature specification since they managed to make a specification update without having to break backward compatability.
Maybe it is time for more bluetooth enabled printers and external devices. I wouldn't mind keeping the printer in the other room.
I hope that Valve did not put all their efforts into just catching the people who did it. I admit that those people did break the law and need to be caught but Valve is a company that relies on it's products.
Seeing as this game has been delayed since before this incident I wonder exactly as to the calibur of the game. If they shifted too much focus off development they might have shot themselves in the foot when they release a sub-par game.
So if anyone from Valve is reading this or you know someone who works there just give them a gentle nudge and remind them that we care about the quality of their games and the promptness in which they are delivered. Not that Half Life 2 is vaporware or anything but people are losing interest just because of the delay.
Honestly I think the FCC has no idea what they are doing. Censor certain things, and not others. Go after profanity but not sexual theme speech. Allow violence and sex on TV but only at certain times and only certain things allowed.
Just trying to follow what they say and then do and not do is a headache all in itself. I believe the FCC needs a serious revision. A re-write from source if you will. Get rid of everything they have now and start over with a new rule book that is designed with current idealogy and forsight when dealing with newer techonologies.
It will be painful for them but better for us overall the sooner this happens. Furthermore it would be nice to read a concise brief on the regulations of what you can or cannot do in a medium.
I think it is a sound idea to go into the niche markets so to speak instead of just jumping into the fray with AMD/Intel. Everyone has had enough of the SSE2 vs 3dnow! extended vs the new kitchen sink it comes with. Those types of things have no real bearing on markets where companies are looking for solutions that are cheap, easy to deploy and know the company is designing the hardware for their problem. Not the company having to make their systems go on the vendors limited products.
The more competition the better we the consumers are at getting the best products.
Actually it is a reference to what runs in Ring Zero. Either the supervisor(user) or privileged mode code. Meaning that if you had Ring Zero access "master mode" you could run system control instructions that were illegal for security purposes in the other rings.
Basically if you trust your web browser enough to have access to the core of the operating system you should expect someone to hack it. Applications should be kept seperate from the core of the operating system.
Another IE security problem, are you suprised by this? Lets make an insecure piece of software that intergrates into our operating system with portions of it running at Ring Zero. This allowing whatever malicious code/hacker to gain access to your system.
Now most people recommnd just switching to Linux. Yeah that works. But what about those hacked Windows PCs that happen to be remotely controlled? Some are sending SPAM others are used for DDoS attacks and others just scan all the IP space they can get ahold of.
It is a vicious cycle which has been growing more pronounced over the past 4 years. The only real solution to this problem is to inform people. Don't just tell people to use something else.
Explain the advantages of using a different program. In this case explain how Mozilla or Opera being seperate programs with different internal works and security systems are not going to be compromised as easily.