Agreed. Who was it from Gizmodo who was running around a CES in '08 shutting down displays *during people's presentations*? That's when I lost all respect for them.
Outing a poor Apple employee who (stupidly, perhaps) left his prototype iPhone in the pub is pure douchebaggery. The poor schmuck is probably in enough trouble already within Apple, and doesn't need a public shaming on top of it.
To use the Neal Stephenson example, what about "The Diamond Age"? It predicts a very different world in the future, based on the widespread adoption of nanotech. I think it's one of those situations where we can't see the forest for the trees...yet.
This is a nice description of what the program does. I'd use a different metaphor (DNA is the recipe, Protein is the cake), but it makes the concept understandable. This comment is also written by the the author of the software in question, which makes for a very knowledgeable provenance, and also very interesting!
I believe it WOULD hurt. Many eyes make all bugs shallow (to paraphrase). Same is true for finding flaws in encryption schemes. The more people who look at the algorithm, the more likely to find an obscure (or obvious) flaw.
A secure encryption system should NEVER rely on keeping the algorithm secret. The system factoring of products of very large primes is completely known, yet still forms the basis for the best (economically feasible) cryptosystems out there.
Your enemy should be able to know your system, and still not be able to break your code. Look at PGP (yeah, I know, someone found a flaw in the implementation, but correctly implemented, it's as strong as ever).
The Personal Telco Project in Portland, Oregon, is setting up free internet access points all over town (mostly in coffee shops), and invites home users to open their networks up, as well. There was a writeup about it in the most recent Willamette Week (weekly alternative newspaper based in Portland).
One of the things a PhD student is supposed to learn is scientific ethics. At my university, all students must take ethics courses. What makes a university great? The reputation of it's graduates, scientifically and ethically. If graduates go on to be bad scientific citizens, this demonstrates that they have NOT learned what the university was trying to teach them. I believe that's why they feel justified in taking away his PhD.
What I'd like to see is an investigation of the teaching methods of that university.
SCO's disavowal of the GPL isn't just in public statement, its in testimony submitted in federal court:
From "SCO"'s answer to IBM's ammended counterclaims.
SIXTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE The General Public License ('GPL') is unenforceable, void and/or voidable, and IBM's claims based thereon, or related thereto, are barred.
"Void and/or voidable" might be a problem for "SCO". We saw that they looked to have some difficulties with other defenses (affirmations of fraud on the part of IBM in patent and copyright applications), they may have problems with these defenses too. Consider:
EIGHTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE The GPL violates the U.S. Constitution, together with copyright, antitrust and export control laws, and IBM claims based thereon, or related thereto, are barred.
AIDS is believed to have come from cross-species contamination (probably unsanitary butchering and eating) from chimpanzees in central Africa sometime in the early part of the century. There is a simian version of HIV called SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus), that shares sequence similarity with HIV. HIV is not caused by genetic manipulation.
The first confirmed case of HIV infection was from a patient who gave a blood sample in 1959. The infection wasn't discovered until the 80s, however, when they finally knew what to look for.
I'm not sure what you mean by "generally exploiting nature in unnatural ways". The spread of HIV/AIDS may have been exacerbated by vaccination programs in central Africa during the 60s, where syringes were used repetedly. Does a vaccination program count as unnatural exploitation?
I've heard the best place to get a cheap iPod is at a pawn shop. Think about it; what's the first thing to go when you REALLY need money? It's not the car, it's that luxury item that you can get some decent bucks for. A friend picked one up for $75...
I've spent a lot of time in third world countries, and the arrogance of this post is outrageous. These people are not "noble savages" who are better left in their idyllic state. They are intelligent and ambitious. They see the advantages our technology can provide, and want it for themselves. I've seen it in Africa, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia. They all want benefits of technology.
I was in Laos visiting friends in February, and they were crazy about email and the web. Internet cafes are jammed with young Lao people trying to get educated about the interent. They know that they will be able to earn enough to invest in sanitation, hospitals (taxes pay for that stuff, you know), and education.
One of my friends there works for the Lao government, and she makes US$17 per MONTH. Her best-paid friend works for a bank and makes a princely US$95 per MONTH. Yes it's cheaper to live there, but to get themselves to a place where their lives are comfortable WRT basic health care, sanitation, housing and education they want and need this technology!
Would it be better for them to go through an industrial revolution first? I doubt it, most of the problems we're having in the environment and politically come from the industrial revolution and the attitudes it created (war for oil, anyone?) If they can adopt the technology, but learn from our mistakes, maybe they can avoid the tragic blunders we've made...
Slashdot Mirror
Agreed. Who was it from Gizmodo who was running around a CES in '08 shutting down displays *during people's presentations*? That's when I lost all respect for them.
Outing a poor Apple employee who (stupidly, perhaps) left his prototype iPhone in the pub is pure douchebaggery. The poor schmuck is probably in enough trouble already within Apple, and doesn't need a public shaming on top of it.
To use the Neal Stephenson example, what about "The Diamond Age"? It predicts a very different world in the future, based on the widespread adoption of nanotech. I think it's one of those situations where we can't see the forest for the trees...yet.
Ummm... What Shuttle launches would that be?
This is a nice description of what the program does. I'd use a different metaphor (DNA is the recipe, Protein is the cake), but it makes the concept understandable. This comment is also written by the the author of the software in question, which makes for a very knowledgeable provenance, and also very interesting!
O. H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory
I believe it WOULD hurt. Many eyes make all bugs shallow (to paraphrase). Same is true for finding flaws in encryption schemes. The more people who look at the algorithm, the more likely to find an obscure (or obvious) flaw.
A secure encryption system should NEVER rely on keeping the algorithm secret. The system factoring of products of very large primes is completely known, yet still forms the basis for the best (economically feasible) cryptosystems out there.
Your enemy should be able to know your system, and still not be able to break your code. Look at PGP (yeah, I know, someone found a flaw in the implementation, but correctly implemented, it's as strong as ever).
The Personal Telco Project in Portland, Oregon, is setting up free internet access points all over town (mostly in coffee shops), and invites home users to open their networks up, as well. There was a writeup about it in the most recent Willamette Week (weekly alternative newspaper based in Portland).
One of the things a PhD student is supposed to learn is scientific ethics. At my university, all students must take ethics courses. What makes a university great? The reputation of it's graduates, scientifically and ethically. If graduates go on to be bad scientific citizens, this demonstrates that they have NOT learned what the university was trying to teach them. I believe that's why they feel justified in taking away his PhD.
What I'd like to see is an investigation of the teaching methods of that university.
you insensitive clod!
This is what SCO has said in FEDERAL COURT!!!
This from Dan on Groklaw:
SCO's disavowal of the GPL isn't just in public statement, its in testimony submitted in federal court:
From "SCO"'s answer to IBM's ammended counterclaims.
SIXTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE
The General Public License ('GPL') is unenforceable, void and/or voidable, and IBM's claims based thereon, or related thereto, are barred.
"Void and/or voidable" might be a problem for "SCO". We saw
that they looked to have some difficulties with other defenses (affirmations of fraud on the part of IBM in patent and copyright applications), they may have problems with these defenses too. Consider:
EIGHTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE
The GPL violates the U.S. Constitution, together with copyright, antitrust and export control laws, and IBM claims based thereon, or related thereto, are barred.
AIDS is believed to have come from cross-species contamination (probably unsanitary butchering and eating) from chimpanzees in central Africa sometime in the early part of the century. There is a simian version of HIV called SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus), that shares sequence similarity with HIV. HIV is not caused by genetic manipulation.
The first confirmed case of HIV infection was from a patient who gave a blood sample in 1959. The infection wasn't discovered until the 80s, however, when they finally knew what to look for.
First AIDS case
I'm not sure what you mean by "generally exploiting nature in unnatural ways". The spread of HIV/AIDS may have been exacerbated by vaccination programs in central Africa during the 60s, where syringes were used repetedly. Does a vaccination program count as unnatural exploitation?
I've heard the best place to get a cheap iPod is at a pawn shop. Think about it; what's the first thing to go when you REALLY need money? It's not the car, it's that luxury item that you can get some decent bucks for. A friend picked one up for $75...
I've spent a lot of time in third world countries, and the arrogance of this post is outrageous. These people are not "noble savages" who are better left in their idyllic state. They are intelligent and ambitious. They see the advantages our technology can provide, and want it for themselves. I've seen it in Africa, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia. They all want benefits of technology.
I was in Laos visiting friends in February, and they were crazy about email and the web. Internet cafes are jammed with young Lao people trying to get educated about the interent. They know that they will be able to earn enough to invest in sanitation, hospitals (taxes pay for that stuff, you know), and education.
One of my friends there works for the Lao government, and she makes US$17 per MONTH. Her best-paid friend works for a bank and makes a princely US$95 per MONTH. Yes it's cheaper to live there, but to get themselves to a place where their lives are comfortable WRT basic health care, sanitation, housing and education they want and need this technology!
Would it be better for them to go through an industrial revolution first? I doubt it, most of the problems we're having in the environment and politically come from the industrial revolution and the attitudes it created (war for oil, anyone?) If they can adopt the technology, but learn from our mistakes, maybe they can avoid the tragic blunders we've made...