For those that didn't see the prior article, or haven't made the connection, this is a wonderful opportunity to offer an example of what's wrong with the DMCA. Those who are articulate, knowledgable about legal stuff, and / or involved in these cases should definitely contribute. Here's the Slashdot story, and here's the site soliciting comment.
EFF's Action Center also has a couple of Fax-your-rep forms about this issue, urging them to support the two recently mentioned acts: Support the Digital Choice and Freedom Act! Support the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act!
Oh, and I agree with all the other posts; this does belong on the front page.
Bad news: With the mention of the cell phone software being designed for DoCoMo handsets, I have a feeling this will be released for the Japan market, and much later, if ever for those of us in the US.
Good news: Not nearly as multi-function, but arguably more useful is a robot that was just released in the US. Like the multi thousand dollar electolux sold in europe, the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner was just released by the people at iRobot, and is available now at Sharper Image and similar stores. Oh, and it's only $200. PC Magazine has a review.
Also, there's been a robot available for home monitoring and general wandering around in the US for some time called the Cye. It's brain is your PC, but with their advanced kits that include a camera, you can have it do remote monitoring, etc... too. This thing is currently about $3k, but it used to be under $1k!
Anyone have an idea of the estimated price on MARON-1?
As for someone who tries to crack it while you're out, simply have the system stop taking input for five seconds if it gets a bad signal. With billions of possibilities at five seconds a try, it wouldn't work real well trying to crack it. If you're paranoid, have it take thirty seconds.
This is a practice of Lotus Notes that's rolled into their "anti-spoofing" Password dialog. If you miss the password once, you're immediately re-prompted. You miss it again, the prompt takes a few seconds to show. Do it again.... etc... until it takes 30 seconds between prompts.
Very good feature; tried and true. It should exist everywhere there's such a prompt, including this human stuff.
During the horror of the attacks last year, I was surprised and thankful for CNN's approach which allowed them to withstand the barrage of hits:
They switched to an old-school, how-the-web-used-to-be, no-nonsense design. It was basic HTML, with some embedded pictures that contribued to the information. No frills, no ads, no sidebars about the latest crap-news, just the information we were looking for. Needless to say, it also ate a lot less bandwidth.
Of course, they were down part of the morning, but when they came back in the altered format, I thought it was a great move. A few other sites were doing the same thing, and I think they'll remember the technique for the next time something big goes down (hopefully something pleasant next time? I can hope...)
For another answer to DRM garbage, Baen, publishers of sci-fi and fantasy books have the 100% correct idea about eBook copy restriction and encryption:
Don't do it!
They just released the latest book in their Honor Harington series on Tuesday, and it included a CD with various formats of eBooks of every book in that series and other books that they publish. And best of all, no stupid restrictions. Here's their release about the CD.
I applaud their move, and recommend purchasing this book and others from them (Note: I'm a big fan of the author, David Weber, but not involved with Baen in any way, etc...).
This sounds like a good idea on the surface... some of the comments already out here mention the technical problems. However, someone has already devised an on-line system for taking back our rights...
Read Jim Bell's "Assassination Politics." It's a long document, but thought provoking (and gub'mint provoking) as all hell. Seriously, the author went to jail, and people who toy with implementation have ended up there too.
The premise is to hold an on-line death-of-some-public-figure/enemy-of-the-people prediction lottery using anonymous digital cash and lots of encryption. It reads like sci-fi, and gets you wondering on plausibility and morality.
Note to Gub'mint spies: I am not advocating that anyone set up and use the Assassination Politics system... blah blah blah Just thought I'd share a somewhat more extreme example of on-line activism systems.:-)
Duke Nukem Forever is taking well,... forever, but in the mean-time they released a fully 3-D rendered Duke game, Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. This game featured the physics and side-scroller play of the first Duke games, but featured killer 3D that beat Duke Nukem 3D's sprites and 2.5D engine.
A) It was fun for those of us who still enjoy and get nostalgic about those good old fashioned side-scrollers.
B) It keeps the buzz over the game alive and kicking, so the fan base doesn't forget the excitement. Think about a movie you loved as a kid, but by the time a sequel came out, you just weren't as jazzed anymore. Doom still holds a special place in my heart, but might not impress me much in 5 years.;-)
Unfortunately, if a lot of the StarCraft fanbase is like myself, they won't have the right console, or a console at all, and will continue waiting for PC ports or the real sequel...
Mod this up to Hollywood and the device manufacturers! Seriously, I've had similar thoughts and wondered many times, why not!?!? This would make advertising many times more effective, because I really would like to watch other shows like the ones I enjoy, because I would like to take advantage of a sale on a product I like, or learn about products similar to the ones I like, etc...
Privacy concerns? Bah, put all this automation in the friggin' device itself, locally, or use anonymous correlation and stats gathering.
It is a change to the current ad model, but it's not that hard, and it benefits everyone involved.
I am a RoadRunner user and have no problem accessing the site.
OK; I'm scared... I have RoadRunner too (in Memphis, TN), but I cannot hit the site. I get "Request timed out" when pinging it... the IP it resolves to is 61.136.61.40.
Is the site down by now, or is RR becoming garbage? Anyone know if that's the right IP?
I agree completely, and then some... I acknowledged that this would decrease the problem with most criminals; what I was talking about was the few, determined ones targeting you specifically.
About the "and then some..." I would personally prefer a device which electrocutes theives. Kills them dead. Unobtrusive and remote activated by the owner. Anyone who makes their living through assaulting people to take their belongings, etc... should simply be killed. Not merely as an example to reduce the practice overall, and not at all as a punishment (punishment implies an attempt to teach), but simply to remove their actions, their genetic code, and their example from the universe... I like the three strikes for violent crime idea, as long as strike two is a death sentence.
So, no, I wasn't thinking appeasement, I was just thinking, "My hand!!!" A carrying permit would be a much better device, but it wouldn't work in airports...:-)
There is a problem shared between this device and the new wrist-mounted child-trackers announced the other day:
If a criminal really wants your data or kid, they can still take it from you and now the method they have to use to take it really sucks for you or your kid... ouch.
I'm sure it would deter most criminals from even trying with you or your kid and just move on to the next one, but if you're the target, and they're determined, you'll soon know the sound of one hand clapping.
Very wise thought. It will not happen though. Period. A recent, similar problem that was faced by humanity proves it:
We spent big truckloads of money to make software Y2K compliant, by adding two digits to our year fields. With just one extra digit, we would have been Y10K compliant. I talked about it some, but I never heard mention of it in the media or elsewhere...
Shortsightedness now, means financial opportunities in the future.
As this is a concept car, I wouldn't be too surprised that it's running '98.
A couple years ago I decided to put together an in-car MP3 player. After buying the needed stuff, I got it set up in a few hours one day using '98. As it's running one program alone, and isn't dealing with all the interaction and varied programs that a user desktop is, it actually runs rather stable, crashing perhaps once every 6 months or so, when I have to take it in the house and do some standard clean-up. I switched to ME early on, but it's pretty much the same. These are dirty OSs for the desktop, but when they're under the passenger seat running one single program and nothing else, they perform remarkably!:-)
Quick to set up, best hardware support around, stable enough when there's little variation in function or installed software base; I understand why they chose '98 for a concept design / prototype. No one in their right mind would try to use it in a production, for-sale system though.
And come to think about it, is it really such a good idea for the government to fund a game like this when it has yet to be decided by a court whether or not games have influenced school shootings and other killings by teenagers?
AAAAAARRRRGGG!! You don't get it!!! You just don't get it!!! It wasn't the video games, the trenchcoats, or the Marylin Manson music that caused it. Every perpetrator of a school shooting was discovered to have taken the dangerous chemical, Dihidrogen Monoxide within 24 hours before their rampage. This has been settled.
I use one of my machines like a VCR, as it has a TV Tuner board in it and Cyberlink's PowerVCR. From anywhere, anytime, I can VNC in, and hit the TitanTV website, click on a show name, and it'll set to record...
BUT, my clock has to be perfect if I don't want to pad my recordings (i.e. to record two shows in succession)
My video box is running Win2k and I turned on the NTP service, as described by this PDF. Now as long as the TV station is running at the right time....:-)
Slashdot Mirror
For those that didn't see the prior article, or haven't made the connection, this is a wonderful opportunity to offer an example of what's wrong with the DMCA. Those who are articulate, knowledgable about legal stuff, and / or involved in these cases should definitely contribute. Here's the Slashdot story, and here's the site soliciting comment.
And I think that special substance that our genetically engineered creations require to survive should be none other than....
human blood.
EFF's Action Center also has a couple of Fax-your-rep forms about this issue, urging them to support the two recently mentioned acts:
Support the Digital Choice and Freedom Act!
Support the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act!
Oh, and I agree with all the other posts; this does belong on the front page.
of 5 people...
and an airlock.
Bad news:
With the mention of the cell phone software being designed for DoCoMo handsets, I have a feeling this will be released for the Japan market, and much later, if ever for those of us in the US.
Good news:
Not nearly as multi-function, but arguably more useful is a robot that was just released in the US. Like the multi thousand dollar electolux sold in europe, the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner was just released by the people at iRobot, and is available now at Sharper Image and similar stores. Oh, and it's only $200. PC Magazine has a review.
Also, there's been a robot available for home monitoring and general wandering around in the US for some time called the Cye. It's brain is your PC, but with their advanced kits that include a camera, you can have it do remote monitoring, etc... too. This thing is currently about $3k, but it used to be under $1k!
Anyone have an idea of the estimated price on MARON-1?
As for someone who tries to crack it while you're out, simply have the system stop taking input for five seconds if it gets a bad signal. With billions of possibilities at five seconds a try, it wouldn't work real well trying to crack it. If you're paranoid, have it take thirty seconds.
This is a practice of Lotus Notes that's rolled into their "anti-spoofing" Password dialog. If you miss the password once, you're immediately re-prompted. You miss it again, the prompt takes a few seconds to show. Do it again.... etc... until it takes 30 seconds between prompts.
Very good feature; tried and true. It should exist everywhere there's such a prompt, including this human stuff.
During the horror of the attacks last year, I was surprised and thankful for CNN's approach which allowed them to withstand the barrage of hits:
They switched to an old-school, how-the-web-used-to-be, no-nonsense design. It was basic HTML, with some embedded pictures that contribued to the information. No frills, no ads, no sidebars about the latest crap-news, just the information we were looking for. Needless to say, it also ate a lot less bandwidth.
Of course, they were down part of the morning, but when they came back in the altered format, I thought it was a great move. A few other sites were doing the same thing, and I think they'll remember the technique for the next time something big goes down (hopefully something pleasant next time? I can hope...)
For another answer to DRM garbage, Baen, publishers of sci-fi and fantasy books have the 100% correct idea about eBook copy restriction and encryption:
Don't do it!
They just released the latest book in their Honor Harington series on Tuesday, and it included a CD with various formats of eBooks of every book in that series and other books that they publish. And best of all, no stupid restrictions. Here's their release about the CD.
I applaud their move, and recommend purchasing this book and others from them (Note: I'm a big fan of the author, David Weber, but not involved with Baen in any way, etc...).
This sounds like a good idea on the surface... some of the comments already out here mention the technical problems. However, someone has already devised an on-line system for taking back our rights...
:-)
Read Jim Bell's "Assassination Politics." It's a long document, but thought provoking (and gub'mint provoking) as all hell. Seriously, the author went to jail, and people who toy with implementation have ended up there too.
The premise is to hold an on-line death-of-some-public-figure/enemy-of-the-people prediction lottery using anonymous digital cash and lots of encryption. It reads like sci-fi, and gets you wondering on plausibility and morality.
Note to Gub'mint spies: I am not advocating that anyone set up and use the Assassination Politics system... blah blah blah Just thought I'd share a somewhat more extreme example of on-line activism systems.
Duke Nukem Forever is taking well,... forever, but in the mean-time they released a fully 3-D rendered Duke game, Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. This game featured the physics and side-scroller play of the first Duke games, but featured killer 3D that beat Duke Nukem 3D's sprites and 2.5D engine.
;-)
A) It was fun for those of us who still enjoy and get nostalgic about those good old fashioned side-scrollers.
B) It keeps the buzz over the game alive and kicking, so the fan base doesn't forget the excitement. Think about a movie you loved as a kid, but by the time a sequel came out, you just weren't as jazzed anymore. Doom still holds a special place in my heart, but might not impress me much in 5 years.
Unfortunately, if a lot of the StarCraft fanbase is like myself, they won't have the right console, or a console at all, and will continue waiting for PC ports or the real sequel...
Mod this up to Hollywood and the device manufacturers! Seriously, I've had similar thoughts and wondered many times, why not!?!? This would make advertising many times more effective, because I really would like to watch other shows like the ones I enjoy, because I would like to take advantage of a sale on a product I like, or learn about products similar to the ones I like, etc...
Privacy concerns? Bah, put all this automation in the friggin' device itself, locally, or use anonymous correlation and stats gathering.
It is a change to the current ad model, but it's not that hard, and it benefits everyone involved.
These aren't the planets we're looking for.
Move along.
Move along. Move along.
Neru-collared shirt is a must... :-)
I am a RoadRunner user and have no problem accessing the site.
OK; I'm scared... I have RoadRunner too (in Memphis, TN), but I cannot hit the site. I get "Request timed out" when pinging it... the IP it resolves to is 61.136.61.40.
Is the site down by now, or is RR becoming garbage? Anyone know if that's the right IP?
I agree completely, and then some... I acknowledged that this would decrease the problem with most criminals; what I was talking about was the few, determined ones targeting you specifically.
:-)
About the "and then some..." I would personally prefer a device which electrocutes theives. Kills them dead. Unobtrusive and remote activated by the owner. Anyone who makes their living through assaulting people to take their belongings, etc... should simply be killed. Not merely as an example to reduce the practice overall, and not at all as a punishment (punishment implies an attempt to teach), but simply to remove their actions, their genetic code, and their example from the universe... I like the three strikes for violent crime idea, as long as strike two is a death sentence.
So, no, I wasn't thinking appeasement, I was just thinking, "My hand!!!" A carrying permit would be a much better device, but it wouldn't work in airports...
There is a problem shared between this device and the new wrist-mounted child-trackers announced the other day:
If a criminal really wants your data or kid, they can still take it from you and now the method they have to use to take it really sucks for you or your kid... ouch.
I'm sure it would deter most criminals from even trying with you or your kid and just move on to the next one, but if you're the target, and they're determined, you'll soon know the sound of one hand clapping.
Very wise thought. It will not happen though. Period. A recent, similar problem that was faced by humanity proves it:
;-)
We spent big truckloads of money to make software Y2K compliant, by adding two digits to our year fields. With just one extra digit, we would have been Y10K compliant. I talked about it some, but I never heard mention of it in the media or elsewhere...
Shortsightedness now, means financial opportunities in the future.
... with a cool island song!
Here's the Google cache.
As this is a concept car, I wouldn't be too surprised that it's running '98.
:-)
A couple years ago I decided to put together an in-car MP3 player. After buying the needed stuff, I got it set up in a few hours one day using '98. As it's running one program alone, and isn't dealing with all the interaction and varied programs that a user desktop is, it actually runs rather stable, crashing perhaps once every 6 months or so, when I have to take it in the house and do some standard clean-up. I switched to ME early on, but it's pretty much the same. These are dirty OSs for the desktop, but when they're under the passenger seat running one single program and nothing else, they perform remarkably!
Quick to set up, best hardware support around, stable enough when there's little variation in function or installed software base; I understand why they chose '98 for a concept design / prototype. No one in their right mind would try to use it in a production, for-sale system though.
Ah; the reason I found it funny, is that Zapf is my last name. :-)
Yup; I was noting that a correlation does not always imply a causality.
On another note, where'd you get your screen-name?
And come to think about it, is it really such a good idea for the government to fund a game like this when it has yet to be decided by a court whether or not games have influenced school shootings and other killings by teenagers?
AAAAAARRRRGGG!! You don't get it!!! You just don't get it!!! It wasn't the video games, the trenchcoats, or the Marylin Manson music that caused it. Every perpetrator of a school shooting was discovered to have taken the dangerous chemical, Dihidrogen Monoxide within 24 hours before their rampage. This has been settled.
I use one of my machines like a VCR, as it has a TV Tuner board in it and Cyberlink's PowerVCR. From anywhere, anytime, I can VNC in, and hit the TitanTV website, click on a show name, and it'll set to record...
:-)
BUT, my clock has to be perfect if I don't want to pad my recordings (i.e. to record two shows in succession)
My video box is running Win2k and I turned on the NTP service, as described by this PDF. Now as long as the TV station is running at the right time....
You must not be a guy who goes with your girlfriend/wife to the mall... :-)
The only time I play Snake and Memory, etc...