So, I have a Roku, and after the hardware cost, it doesn't cost me anything over and above my regular subscription. Roku means I can clear my queue for all the older movies they offer on instant view.
This has the capability of cutting my queue down by about a third. Only 100 or so movies to go!
Having worked with Mikey for the last four years before he decamped to New Mexico, I can say that implanting an RFID tag into his left hand doesn't make him that different. He's still the same intelligent, enthusiastic, quirky geek that he was before the RFID tag.
The first time I met a vegetarian, or the first time I made friends with a millionaire, I had a strong reaction. They were so different from the people who I had met in my "sheltered youth." However, after having met them, seeing them eat tofurkey or watching someone decide they were going to augment their boat and car collection with an aeroplane made sense---it was a logical progression. It might be different and interesting and novel, but it's entirely within character. For that reason, seeing an RFID tag implant in someone who wore electric clothing doesn't seem like a big deal.
However, what is incredible is the splash it made with people and the media. People's reactions have been far stronger than I would have guessed, especially as this project is simply a logical step when you consider some of the other projects he has been involved in. You would have thought that Mikey was becoming a borg!
But it's not like the RFID tag interacts with his body in any shape or form. People with a pacemaker, or amputees with a bionic limb, or even people who wear cochlear hearing aids have far more sophisticated electronics imbedded or attached to their bodies. These don't seem to generate anywhere near the same reaction. I'm not sure why not. Perhaps it's because it's voluntary, perhaps because it seems to be for a whimsical use.
Since when do Slashdot readers feel the need to criticize large government agencies who fund R&D for building robots?
Only when those same Slashdot readers have to foot the bill for crazy government agency budgets with little input to which agency it goes. I for one would be overjoyed to see my tax dollars go to a seriously over-committed NASA rather than a seriously over-budgeted Department of Defence.
Oh, you mean the fact that an Australian television station had to break open the latest round of pictures because American media "voluntarily" censored them under pressure from the American government?
Oh, sorry I forgot: censorship only happens in China.
Variable pricing makes sense. Why should a company like Sony BMG or Universal Polygram have the power to decide what a video or a song is worth? The performing artist owns the material. That performing artist has the exclusive right to charge what he thinks a song or video is worth. The music label only has the right to tack on his fee in addition to the content cost. MPAA members claiming that every cd is worth $15.99 is the essentially price fixing. They're leveraging their monopoly in the physical media music distribution market to dictate the value of songs they didn't even create.
When I was studying in the University of NSW,
the Minister for Science was a Barry Jones,
secretary of the Australian Labor Party, and
someone who understood the role and need for
technology.
Currently Australia doesn't have someone quite
of that calibre. There are no more tax breaks for corporate R&D, professors in Australian Universities are stuck with declining pay rates compared to their overseas equivalents and it seems that all the worthwhile Australian inventions are being brought to market by non-Australian companies.
All of which might explain why half
of the bright people I know have left to work
in London, San Francisco, New York and Boston.
Slashdot Mirror
So, I have a Roku, and after the hardware cost, it doesn't cost me anything over and above my regular subscription. Roku means I can clear my queue for all the older movies they offer on instant view.
This has the capability of cutting my queue down by about a third. Only 100 or so movies to go!
Having worked with Mikey for the last four years before he decamped to New Mexico, I can say that implanting an RFID tag into his left hand doesn't make him that different. He's still the same intelligent, enthusiastic, quirky geek that he was before the RFID tag.
The first time I met a vegetarian, or the first time I made friends with a millionaire, I had a strong reaction. They were so different from the people who I had met in my "sheltered youth." However, after having met them, seeing them eat tofurkey or watching someone decide they were going to augment their boat and car collection with an aeroplane made sense---it was a logical progression. It might be different and interesting and novel, but it's entirely within character. For that reason, seeing an RFID tag implant in someone who wore electric clothing doesn't seem like a big deal.
However, what is incredible is the splash it made with people and the media. People's reactions have been far stronger than I would have guessed, especially as this project is simply a logical step when you consider some of the other projects he has been involved in. You would have thought that Mikey was becoming a borg!
But it's not like the RFID tag interacts with his body in any shape or form. People with a pacemaker, or amputees with a bionic limb, or even people who wear cochlear hearing aids have far more sophisticated electronics imbedded or attached to their bodies. These don't seem to generate anywhere near the same reaction. I'm not sure why not. Perhaps it's because it's voluntary, perhaps because it seems to be for a whimsical use.
Heaven:
...
American Engineers
Yeah, Ford and GM are shining examples of why American Engineers should be in heaven...
Since when do Slashdot readers feel the need to criticize large government agencies who fund R&D for building robots?
Only when those same Slashdot readers have to foot the bill for crazy government agency budgets with little input to which agency it goes. I for one would be overjoyed to see my tax dollars go to a seriously over-committed NASA rather than a seriously over-budgeted Department of Defence.
Oh, you mean the fact that an Australian television station had to break open the latest round of pictures because American media "voluntarily" censored them under pressure from the American government?
Oh, sorry I forgot: censorship only happens in China.
Variable pricing makes sense. Why should a company like Sony BMG or Universal Polygram have the power to decide what a video or a song is worth? The performing artist owns the material. That performing artist has the exclusive right to charge what he thinks a song or video is worth. The music label only has the right to tack on his fee in addition to the content cost. MPAA members claiming that every cd is worth $15.99 is the essentially price fixing. They're leveraging their monopoly in the physical media music distribution market to dictate the value of songs they didn't even create.
Currently Australia doesn't have someone quite of that calibre. There are no more tax breaks for corporate R&D, professors in Australian Universities are stuck with declining pay rates compared to their overseas equivalents and it seems that all the worthwhile Australian inventions are being brought to market by non-Australian companies.
All of which might explain why half of the bright people I know have left to work in London, San Francisco, New York and Boston.