Did you actually read the whole article? The interesting part is not that it's made of concrete, it's the "forward propulsion through matching natural resonance".
As for multilingual text searching and summarisation, the best technology of its kind known to me is Latent Semantic Analysis - the brain child of Thomas Landauer. It's a fairly recent, but hardly secret or obscure, indexing technique that's gaining ground commercially for data mining applications. It can certainly do the the small number of things being claimed by this article. All the relevant papers are on the web.
If anyone else is interested, you can get the paper on this here. Links to various formats on the top right corner. It also has many links to related documents.
Some extra info (mostly non-technical, but detailing the discovery and subsequent Borland (non)response) is available at the Interbase Developer Iniative.
BTW, it seems that, as usual, they were not very concerned.
Did you actually read the patent? It's much more specific than you assume:
------------
1. At least one computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, embodying a method of searching for a match in a database of a plurality of records, where the records in the database include length information and number of segments for recordings corresponding to the records, comprising:
calculating approximate length information for the records in the database and for a selected recording having a number of segments; and
determining at least one approximately matching record in the database for the selected recording based on the number of segments and the approximate length information.
------------
And so on... It's probably enforcable - I can't recall anyone using this method on CDs/DVDs before CDDB.
And you would never know if word tried, since it is the Internet Explorer compnent accessing the net, which I am sure you have granted access. Being a "necessary component of the OS" (their words, not mine) it will always be available, and chances are your firewall will never pick it up.
Have you tested it? I just did, and on Word 97, WINWORD.EXE was the process requesting net access. On ZoneAlarm, you get a question if you want to let it access the net (yeah, right).
That's probably because the IE functions are used as an in-process OLE server, thus the process requesting access is Word, not IE.
Mozilla renders the CSS1 link you posted perfectly. Why can't IE or Netscape do the same?
Uh? IE5.01 worked fine here. BTW, Mozilla (M16) did work fine with that page, but less than a minute after downloading it (I haven't checked it in a while, and after reading this topic I wanted to check it's current state), I was able to find a page it couldn't render correctly.
Ok, so I knew this particular page should be a bit harder, but both Netscape 4.7 and IE (4.0 and 5.0) render it right, so I was somewhat disappointed. (I'd post the page's url, but it's in the middle of a CGI in www.bislacta.com.br)
The problem is that MSFT's proprietary additions to their browser such as the XML parser built into the browser which is available for scripting and others are so tempting to developers that they ignore the fact that these things work only on IE and rationalize (if you can call it that) this away with "Most people use IE." The fact that W3C takes a long time to ratify standards has not helped this either. PS: For all those who do not realize how long both browsers have been incompatible and flouting standards read Dynamic Html : The Definitive Reference by Danny Goodman for an informative read.
Can you blame them, when the latest research says that 86% of the market now uses IE? I used Netscape *only*, and laughed at IE users.
Then Netscape started losing ground on stability and features, and stopped releasing real versions, only small upgrades with minimum differences - usually adding some extra piece of crap AOL bought.
Now I only use Netscape to test how my CGIs look in it, and when I do I keep in awe on *how can they believe this is actually up-to-date?* When they started Mozilla they just froze the rest.
BTW, great point on the reference - looks like a bad joke on Netscape and looks fine on IE.
This link doesn't verify anything. Hell. you can't even get to the home page hosting this link.
Sure you can. Maybe it isn't what you expected, but...
Anyone can post crap like this.
Hey, what do you mean? If it's on the Internet it must be true.
The Internet automatically fixes any lies - that's why web servers crash so much. If two web sites contradict each other, the one holding the lie crashes (I guess NT server's users lie a lot more).
It is also why banks love debit cards - since they are drawn directly on your bank account, there is no limit on your liability risk.
BZZZT! Wrong....
I used to work for a small retailer who did some mail order business. About once or twice a year we'd get scammed with a credit card. The customer would complain, and guess who got stiffed for $300? My store did. Not VISA, not Mastercard. They had no control over the transaction, and thus why should they bear responsibility?
BZZZT yourself. That's a CREDIT card, not a DEBIT card.
All debit cards I know take the money directly from the account, at the exact time they are used on the store.
Plus, you need a password, which is usually considered to be the legal equivalent of the user's signature (at least in the contracts - I've never seen a case about this).
Considering how much they ripped off Xerox Parc, and the result of the last time they sued MS look-and-feel, you'd think they'd learn to keep their big legal mouths shut.
But nooo, they had to go complain about something they clearly have no legal right to fight, and make the company look like they have more lawyers than software engineers.
Considering the amount of silly lawsuits Apple does have when they score a hit, and their current market share, I can't help but wonder if we are not better off with Microsoft's monopoly than we'd with an Apple one (shudder!).
Or you have a Kinesis keyboard. Ctrl, alt, and del are all right next to each oth....
500 AMD-K6 3d 128MB RAM...
Now, that's the real "Windows key". Maybe Microsoft will add a special Ctrl-Alt-Del key to their next MS Keyboard and claim that it increases productivity.
The way Netscape is lately and how fractional it's updates are, if AOL switches back to Netscape, at least as it is now, the only number that may change is the number of AOL users.
The problem is that most webmasters seems to consider having the most graphical, animated, in-your-face site is much more important than any actual information content.
I use Windows as my main machine, and have been using Opera lately - even on Windows, if you're not using Netscape or Explorer (and it can't be an old version!), many sites simply won't work. Some will even have a first page that just says you can't access without Netscape/IE.
I certainly would love a way to get these webmasters to know that there is a lot of people that don't like this only-the-latest-browsers-in-Windows attitude.
Often this is because many users don't know how to make their machine boot from the CD. If it's not enabled by default then they have to edit BIOS settings. Easy for some, but impossible or very stressful for most. Also, what CD do you boot up? I've never seen a bootable Windows CD.
You can make a Windows bootable CD (95OSR2 or 98 only) - see here. It's something of a hack, however.
Also, Disk rescue programs (such as Norton SystemWorks) can also boot. RedHat 6.0 boots for installing - I'm not aware of any that actually does it, but I see no reason why you couldn't boot some Linux distribution on a PC, considering there are quite a few that boot from floppy and use a ramdisk.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes. Just go to the page. It has the whole text, in plain HTML...
Or even better, do a CGI that only returns the real page if the user-agent is GoogleBot.
Otherwise return a 404.
That way it will still remain cached on Google on the next refresh, but it still won't be acessible by normal users...
Did you actually read the whole article? The interesting part is not that it's made of concrete, it's the "forward propulsion through matching natural resonance".
If anyone else is interested, you can get the paper on this here. Links to various formats on the top right corner. It also has many links to related documents.
Some extra info (mostly non-technical, but detailing the discovery and subsequent Borland (non)response) is available at the Interbase Developer Iniative.
BTW, it seems that, as usual, they were not very concerned.
Did you actually read the patent? It's much more specific than you assume:
------------
1. At least one computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, embodying a method of searching for a match in a database of a plurality of records, where the records in the database include length information and number of segments for recordings corresponding to the records, comprising:
calculating approximate length information for the records in the database and for a selected recording having a number of segments; and
determining at least one approximately matching record in the database for the selected recording based on the number of segments and the approximate length information.
------------
And so on... It's probably enforcable - I can't recall anyone using this method on CDs/DVDs before CDDB.
Or use an on-screen virtual keyboard and a mouse. :-)
With this attitude I think we can guess why most companies are not interested in developing
commercial software for Linux...
BTW, according to their site the it is US$39, not US$50.
Have you tested it? I just did, and on Word 97, WINWORD.EXE was the process requesting net access. On ZoneAlarm, you get a question if you want to let it access the net (yeah, right).
That's probably because the IE functions are used as an in-process OLE server, thus the process requesting access is Word, not IE.
Uh? IE5.01 worked fine here. BTW, Mozilla (M16)
did work fine with that page, but less than a minute after downloading it (I haven't checked it in a while, and after reading this topic I wanted to check it's current state), I was able to find a page it couldn't render correctly.
Ok, so I knew this particular page should be a bit harder, but both Netscape 4.7 and IE (4.0 and 5.0) render it right, so I was somewhat disappointed.
(I'd post the page's url, but it's in the middle of a CGI in www.bislacta.com.br)
Can you blame them, when the latest research says that 86% of the market now uses IE? I used Netscape *only*, and laughed at IE users.
Then Netscape started losing ground on stability and features, and stopped releasing real versions, only small upgrades with minimum differences - usually adding some extra piece of crap AOL bought.
Now I only use Netscape to test how my CGIs look in it, and when I do I keep in awe on *how can they believe this is actually up-to-date?* When they started Mozilla they just froze the rest.
BTW, great point on the reference - looks like a bad joke on Netscape and looks fine on IE.
Sure you can. Maybe it isn't what you expected, but...
Hey, what do you mean? If it's on the Internet it must be true.
The Internet automatically fixes any lies - that's why web servers crash so much. If two web sites contradict each other, the one holding the lie crashes (I guess NT server's users lie a lot more).
:-)
/.ed!
Good one. I never realized how useful highly generic domain names are for practical jokes.
Good thing this wasn't moderated up, or you'd be
BTW,
" Sorry, but yor IP address has been logged.
You don't have access to this page. Get lost. "
was the "yor" on purpose?
Hey, if we put this together with that methanol based fuel-cells we'd have batteries that recharges when you breath on it!
Now would that be useful! Humm, I wonder if I could get a patent on the concept...
BZZZT yourself. That's a CREDIT card, not a DEBIT card.
All debit cards I know take the money directly from the account, at the exact time they are used on the store.
Plus, you need a password, which is usually considered to be the legal equivalent of the user's signature (at least in the contracts - I've never seen a case about this).
Maybe they plan to market a Debian distribution
that runs on a mobile Dreamcast?
Now, seriously, what a lame logo! You'd think with that name (and all their marketing $$$) they'd be able to do something better.
Considering how much they ripped off Xerox Parc,
and the result of the last time they sued MS look-and-feel, you'd think they'd learn to keep their big legal mouths shut.
But nooo, they had to go complain about something they clearly have no legal right to fight, and make the company look like they have
more lawyers than software engineers.
Considering the amount of silly lawsuits Apple
does have when they score a hit, and their current market share, I can't help but wonder if we are not better off with Microsoft's monopoly than we'd with an Apple one (shudder!).
Now, that's the real "Windows key". Maybe Microsoft will add a special Ctrl-Alt-Del key to their next MS Keyboard and claim that it increases productivity.
The way Netscape is lately and how fractional it's updates are, if AOL switches back to Netscape, at least as it is now, the only number that may change is the number of AOL users.
The problem is that most webmasters seems to consider having the most graphical, animated, in-your-face site is much more important than any actual information content.
I use Windows as my main machine, and have been using Opera lately - even on Windows, if you're not using Netscape or Explorer (and it can't be an old version!), many sites simply won't work. Some will even have a first page that just says you can't access without Netscape/IE.
I certainly would love a way to get these webmasters to know that there is a lot of people that don't like this only-the-latest-browsers-in-Windows attitude.
Actually you can . Not simple at all, but still possible.
You can make a Windows bootable CD (95OSR2 or 98 only) - see here. It's something of a hack, however.
Also, Disk rescue programs (such as Norton SystemWorks) can also boot. RedHat 6.0 boots for installing - I'm not aware of any that actually does it, but I see no reason why you couldn't boot some Linux distribution on a PC, considering there are quite a few that boot from floppy and use a ramdisk.
On local nets, PC's have been using Boot Eproms on totally diskless systems with Ethernet cards for something like a decade.