There's nothing "pop-Darwinian" about it. Economic Rationalism says that regulation is bad and that un-fettered capitalism will self regulate by finding the most efficient methods. Yes, capitalism is about turning a profit, but one guy's profit is another's market inefficiency.
The eco-rats would possibly even argue that all monopolies arise from market intervaention and regulation (aka an imperfect free market). The granting of patents and allowing the creation of guild such as the RIAA would if anything support that argument.
Once the machine is set up and running, a Linux machine is just as easy to drive (IMHO). If your users prefer the Win95 interface, install one that looks the same. My GF runs WindowMaker on Debian and has never needed to use a command line and is completely comfortable with it despite no Unix background. Also ask MacOS X users if Unix is user friendly. Perhaps there is a transition/expectation problem for people who expect floppies to show up as "A:", not "/dev/fd0", but I'd love to see exactly *how* Linux is harder to use. Can anyone point to anything other than assertions?
As to your IT monkeys, what you are saying is, "baseball sucks because my football team doesn't know how to use these bat things".
On a similar tack, I also do not think that pretty, graphical OS installers matter in a corporate environment. Machines are deployed using Norton "Ghost" or some such. While pretty installers *may* be useful for home users (who usually buy an OS pre-loaded anyway), staff do not get to install their own OS unless they work for the IT department.
Why is "industry" so surprised? This is what capitalism is supposed to be about; the inefficient are driven to extinction and new, more efficient players take their place. They have to take the good with the bad and shouldn't be allowed to legislate protection everytime the wind blows their way.
"C'mon, of course the 2006 thirteen-dollar bill features Larry Ellison and Carly Fiorina... Gimmee my stuff man..."
Xix.
Oh yeah, research. good point.
on
Hack Your Car
·
· Score: 1
I replaced the bushes in my 4WD. Fortunately I asked knowledgable people questions *before* I started as it's really easy to pull leaf springs out, but damn hard to put them back unless you do it the right way. Same goes with any component likely to be full of springs or be assembled to close tolerances.
Online voting systems are possible, and will eventually be developed. They will make a world of difference in promoting a truly democratic society. Electronic voting systems have huge potential benefits, and should be pursued.
That's a major leap of faith. There's a gaping down-side in that you cannot guarantee privacy of a home ballot. What's to stop a someone from overseeing their spouse's vote, or groups from holding "voting parties"? Or voters collective auctioning blocks of PIN numbers on eBay?
Xix.
Hacking cars is OK
on
Hack Your Car
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Like anything, as long as you fully understand what you are doing, it's perfectly safe. In fact, most people with professional technical qualifications are probably brighter and more careful than many auto mechanics, and I know from experience, that at least I know that I will do the job *right*. The important thing is that people are willing to learn how to do things right. I will still leave jobs to the professionals when:
- It would take too much time to learn and do
- It needs expensive, specialised tools
- It needs more skills/tools than I have just now
- It's a horrible job
As for the original article, that's old news. Enhanced chips and programmable chips have been available for years. The good ones do more than extend the fuel map past the programmed maximum, it's really important that they take into account stuff like the EFI's fuel delivery capacity, many, many chipped cars have been ruined because a badly programmed chip leaves the top end too lean. Buy any magazine about high performance 4 cylinder cars.
You know, a process that leaves out all that tedious fair use and burden of proof stuff. If they can't afford lawyers, they shouldn't be on the Internet.
"An expeditious process that allows for copyright owners to engage with Internet Service Providers and subscribers to deal with allegedly infringing copyright material on the Internet."
The ACCC's opinion does not matter. Their powers were received via Act of parliament (mostly to enforce the Trade Practices Act), and these powers can be over-ridden by other Acts of parliament.
Note that the FTA includes copyright, business investment (especially telecoms), govt. procurement and access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. I predict that the first loss will be all our telcos, acquired by US companies so that we can enjoy crappy service and high charges because the market is a monopoly.
With digital photography, we're not far off from "the photo lab" being a machine in your local 7/11 where you insert your USB memory key and some coins.
There'll be a plaace for a few stores that sell lenses and specialist photo services, but no "happy snap" stores.
Considering the amount of cash IBM have already wasted on this exercise, they may as well take Darl's shrunken head as a warning to anyone else considering fscking with their plans. Rather than being money wasted, the fiaSCO becomes a useful precedent.
What is shown in the article is not very difficult at all. As long as you have location attached to the image *somehow*, just build an indexed database of localities, and link it to some form of web mapping tool (such as Mapserver, http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu)
The tricky bits will be: Building something that can handle large volumes of image data (places like Deviant Art seem to handle it OK, but it'd cost), and; (IMHO, the useful bit), some way of deciding which one of a million pictures of the Grand Canyon is worth seeing. In regards to the latter, some sort of ranking systeem ala Slashdot, and the ability to make queries on other metadata, such as time, azimuth and elevation, "Show me the most recent winter picture looking ouyt across the valley".
For your last trick, link images to Live Journal, so you can read all about how gothically depressed people were when they discovered the pictures were under-exposed.
Can anyone think of any British comedies that have been remade in Hollywood and worked? I recall that Roseanne was going to do a US version of Ab Fab, but it was canned. Then there was the 1992 US version of Red Dwarf (try google for it and you mostly get ring tones).
... and several other convictions of assult and death threats. So the moral of the story is, if you have suspicions, it doesn't hurt to take 1 minute to run a quick google search.
Just don't post the results to Slashdot using your real name in case your neighbours are also using Google to check you out.
Maybe seed Google with your own bogus details, "John is Amish and does not own any consumer electronics worth stealing, he has a black belt in Karate and breeds rattlesnakes as a hobby..."
Bubble or not, SCO has delivered handsome returns. The important trick will be to dump shares before any poo hits the fan. Whoever has nerves of steel and acute judgement stands to win big time regardless of the eventual outcome. Does the rising share price reflect speculation that people think they can get off SCO before anyone else?
Also remember that IBM has an army of lawyers, and their business is *not* about cool technology, but making profits. I'm reasonably confident that had there been any suspicions, IBM would not be facing SCO down like it is, but negotiating a settlement that minimised risk for both parties.
But in response to the original article, we *should* be considering all possibiliies, and also remember that the suit is not being pursued out of spite, but a belief that it will deliver benefits. We really need to think from their perspective to see if we have forgotten anything.
The best way to secure something is to think like a thief.
From my reading, SCO is telling their customers that they must swear allegience to Darl and be tied in to his fool's crusade or their licence gets revoked and they get sued. In effect, SCO users are being forced to decide immediately between Xenix or Linux.
If a company decides to swear fealty to SCO, they risk being left with an obsolete 1980's Unix that's as useful as a Trabant and vendor who has been counter sued to atoms by IBM. If they decide this ultimatum is a good reason to ditch Xenix for Linux, mad Pope Darl may excommunicate them, send the inquisition and loudly proclaim that Linux is indeed harming SCO.
I suppose the intent in forcing this hand might be to get PHBs to make quick, expedient decisions that minimise their exposure to immediate risk.
Now what I want to know what Sun's going to say regarding *their* letter from mad Pope Darl? Did they get one? How will Scott respond?
I am reminded of Kelly's mystical book, something he used to screw John Dee out of everything (including sex with his wife) over many, many years. There are many potential gains for a fake such as the Voynich, but I agree that it wuld be easier to hack up some kind of faux language from existing languages than contrive one from scratch.
Slashdot Mirror
There's nothing "pop-Darwinian" about it. Economic Rationalism says that regulation is bad and that un-fettered capitalism will self regulate by finding the most efficient methods. Yes, capitalism is about turning a profit, but one guy's profit is another's market inefficiency.
The eco-rats would possibly even argue that all monopolies arise from market intervaention and regulation (aka an imperfect free market). The granting of patents and allowing the creation of guild such as the RIAA would if anything support that argument.
Xix.
Once the machine is set up and running, a Linux machine is just as easy to drive (IMHO). If your users prefer the Win95 interface, install one that looks the same. My GF runs WindowMaker on Debian and has never needed to use a command line and is completely comfortable with it despite no Unix background. Also ask MacOS X users if Unix is user friendly. Perhaps there is a transition/expectation problem for people who expect floppies to show up as "A:", not "/dev/fd0", but I'd love to see exactly *how* Linux is harder to use. Can anyone point to anything other than assertions?
As to your IT monkeys, what you are saying is, "baseball sucks because my football team doesn't know how to use these bat things".
On a similar tack, I also do not think that pretty, graphical OS installers matter in a corporate environment. Machines are deployed using Norton "Ghost" or some such. While pretty installers *may* be useful for home users (who usually buy an OS pre-loaded anyway), staff do not get to install their own OS unless they work for the IT department.
Xix.
Why is "industry" so surprised? This is what capitalism is supposed to be about; the inefficient are driven to extinction and new, more efficient players take their place. They have to take the good with the bad and shouldn't be allowed to legislate protection everytime the wind blows their way.
Xix.
For once I have a valid excuse to post Goatse to Slashdot, but now it's too late dammit!
Xix.
Which almost certainly means, "We might stick it on some web servers to keep the hippy freaks off our backs"
Ah, Slashdot, where not even the submitters and editors RTFA.
Xix.
"C'mon, of course the 2006 thirteen-dollar bill features Larry Ellison and Carly Fiorina... Gimmee my stuff man..."
Xix.
I replaced the bushes in my 4WD. Fortunately I asked knowledgable people questions *before* I started as it's really easy to pull leaf springs out, but damn hard to put them back unless you do it the right way. Same goes with any component likely to be full of springs or be assembled to close tolerances.
Xix.
Xix.
Like anything, as long as you fully understand what you are doing, it's perfectly safe. In fact, most people with professional technical qualifications are probably brighter and more careful than many auto mechanics, and I know from experience, that at least I know that I will do the job *right*. The important thing is that people are willing to learn how to do things right. I will still leave jobs to the professionals when:
- It would take too much time to learn and do
- It needs expensive, specialised tools
- It needs more skills/tools than I have just now
- It's a horrible job
As for the original article, that's old news. Enhanced chips and programmable chips have been available for years. The good ones do more than extend the fuel map past the programmed maximum, it's really important that they take into account stuff like the EFI's fuel delivery capacity, many, many chipped cars have been ruined because a badly programmed chip leaves the top end too lean. Buy any magazine about high performance 4 cylinder cars.
Xix.
Xix.
the truncated bit is "customer lawsuit".
Xix.
The ACCC's opinion does not matter. Their powers were received via Act of parliament (mostly to enforce the Trade Practices Act), and these powers can be over-ridden by other Acts of parliament.
Note that the FTA includes copyright, business investment (especially telecoms), govt. procurement and access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. I predict that the first loss will be all our telcos, acquired by US companies so that we can enjoy crappy service and high charges because the market is a monopoly.
Xix.
With digital photography, we're not far off from "the photo lab" being a machine in your local 7/11 where you insert your USB memory key and some coins.
There'll be a plaace for a few stores that sell lenses and specialist photo services, but no "happy snap" stores.
Xix.
Considering the amount of cash IBM have already wasted on this exercise, they may as well take Darl's shrunken head as a warning to anyone else considering fscking with their plans. Rather than being money wasted, the fiaSCO becomes a useful precedent.
Xix.
1. Make sure your camera & GPS agree on date and time
2. Set your GPS to log your tracks
3. Load GPS logs and images onto a PC
4. Loop through images and use location from the nearest (in time) GPS point to amend the image's EXIF.
Xix.
What is shown in the article is not very difficult at all. As long as you have location attached to the image *somehow*, just build an indexed database of localities, and link it to some form of web mapping tool (such as Mapserver, http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu)
The tricky bits will be: Building something that can handle large volumes of image data (places like Deviant Art seem to handle it OK, but it'd cost), and; (IMHO, the useful bit), some way of deciding which one of a million pictures of the Grand Canyon is worth seeing. In regards to the latter, some sort of ranking systeem ala Slashdot, and the ability to make queries on other metadata, such as time, azimuth and elevation, "Show me the most recent winter picture looking ouyt across the valley".
For your last trick, link images to Live Journal, so you can read all about how gothically depressed people were when they discovered the pictures were under-exposed.
Xix.
Xix.
Can anyone think of any British comedies that have been remade in Hollywood and worked? I recall that Roseanne was going to do a US version of Ab Fab, but it was canned. Then there was the 1992 US version of Red Dwarf (try google for it and you mostly get ring tones).
Xix.
...and a bunch of l33t kidd3z who think I sound like Austin Powers.
Xix.
Just don't post the results to Slashdot using your real name in case your neighbours are also using Google to check you out.
Maybe seed Google with your own bogus details, "John is Amish and does not own any consumer electronics worth stealing, he has a black belt in Karate and breeds rattlesnakes as a hobby..."
Xix.
Xix.
Bubble or not, SCO has delivered handsome returns. The important trick will be to dump shares before any poo hits the fan. Whoever has nerves of steel and acute judgement stands to win big time regardless of the eventual outcome. Does the rising share price reflect speculation that people think they can get off SCO before anyone else?
Also remember that IBM has an army of lawyers, and their business is *not* about cool technology, but making profits. I'm reasonably confident that had there been any suspicions, IBM would not be facing SCO down like it is, but negotiating a settlement that minimised risk for both parties.
But in response to the original article, we *should* be considering all possibiliies, and also remember that the suit is not being pursued out of spite, but a belief that it will deliver benefits. We really need to think from their perspective to see if we have forgotten anything.
The best way to secure something is to think like a thief.
Xix.
Actually, for some reason I was thinking of Pope Boniface.
From my reading, SCO is telling their customers that they must swear allegience to Darl and be tied in to his fool's crusade or their licence gets revoked and they get sued. In effect, SCO users are being forced to decide immediately between Xenix or Linux.
If a company decides to swear fealty to SCO, they risk being left with an obsolete 1980's Unix that's as useful as a Trabant and vendor who has been counter sued to atoms by IBM. If they decide this ultimatum is a good reason to ditch Xenix for Linux, mad Pope Darl may excommunicate them, send the inquisition and loudly proclaim that Linux is indeed harming SCO.
I suppose the intent in forcing this hand might be to get PHBs to make quick, expedient decisions that minimise their exposure to immediate risk.
Now what I want to know what Sun's going to say regarding *their* letter from mad Pope Darl? Did they get one? How will Scott respond?
Xix.
I am reminded of Kelly's mystical book, something he used to screw John Dee out of everything (including sex with his wife) over many, many years. There are many potential gains for a fake such as the Voynich, but I agree that it wuld be easier to hack up some kind of faux language from existing languages than contrive one from scratch.
Xix.