"Obviously, nobody likes it when you give their customers other options. But it's not trademark infringement."
Of course it's trademark infringement. A company is paying Google $$$ to have their company associated with a phrase that's legally registered to another company.
Google allows anyone to outbid a trademark owner to the point where the trademark owner doesn't show up at all. Now, instead of FirePond paying to have their ad on Google, they have to outbid all their competitors, just to enforce their legally recognized trademark.
Imagine if other ad mediums worked this way. Don't want a competitor using your trademark in their magazine ad? Fine. Pay the magazine $$$ more then the competitor. Great for the magazine. Bad for companies and consumers alike, since the company's are going to pass along that cost to the consumer.
I'm going to play the devil's advocate and point out that sports stars and software monopolies are *not* analogous. Most Tiger Woods fans like him because he's a good golf player, not because everyone else likes him. However, the opposite rationale does make sense for OS adoption. Many people stick with Microsoft because that's what most other people use, not because they're mindless drones but because that's where the vast majority of software and hardware support is. One of the reasons people don't use Linux is because much recent hardware is unsupported, yet the hardware is unsupported because hardware manufacturers don't write Linux drivers, thinking few people use Linux. It's a chicken-and-the-egg problem. Microsoft will maintain dominance as long as it maintains its mindshare. The key to defeating that mindshare is by embracing technologies like Wine and Mono and Ndiswrapper that add functionality to Linux by taking advantage of Microsoft's popularity.
That's excellent programming advice, but I'm not sure the analogy holds true for breeding crops. Granted, I'm no expert on the technical nuances of genetic engineering, but there are plenty of foods designed "as God intended" that science has determined are at first good for us, then on second glance bad, then good again... Take alcohol or caffience for instance. The "natural way" is not inherently safer. The fact is, whether we develop things naturally or tinker with their DNA by hand, there's little difference in how the end result is evaluated. Both methods require close scrutiny and evaluation to determine their effects on our health.
Another question might be why is horticulture accepted while GE is not? Both selectively breed crops based on desired traits. GE is just a faster, more direct approach.
Other than challenging the authority of the police, did they ever announce what "law" this guy allegedly broke? If he was guilty of anything, then presumably every other person with a home or buisness security system would guilty of the same thing.
Depending on your definition of "goal", that's debatable. Evolution certainly isn't a conscious process in the style of human thought, but it's goal is arguably one of survival. What I meant was modern science is defeating the natural mechanisms that keep the vast majority of us sane and healthy. Therefore, to keep us sane and healthy, we have to rely even further on modern science. Of course, evolution is still continuing, but what constitutes fitness is changing from physical to cognitive fitness. And that's perfectly fine for survival of the species, just as long as we don't diminish the role of science in improving our abilities. The canonical example I warn against are religious and social policies that promote science only far enough to further life, but not improve life. Now we have huge populations that procreate just fine for fear of the "sin" of birth control, but live in abject poverty as a result, with no hope of improving their quality of life. Or perhaps a pregnant woman is informed by her doctor that her fetus is malformed. Modern medical science allows her to carry the child to term, yet her religion prevents her from considering an abortion, subjecting her to a lifetime of hardship caring for a special needs child. My point is, if we're going to use science to control our destiny, we have to go all the way and never stop questioning and investigating the natural forces around us.
Paying a lawyer $100/hour to battle a one-time $10 "penalty fee" just isn't economical. That's why the companies win. This can only be stopped in a practical sense by a class-action lawsuit or state/federal legislation.
Considering how modern science and medicine saves many people who would otherwise leave the gene-pool due to cognitive inadequacy or genetic disposition to disease, "natural" evolution is essentially being negated in favor of social morality. If we're going to fight the forces of nature, we might as well go all the way. The use of cybernetics or eugenics to control and augment who we are is a natural extension of this desire.
How exactly does a reporter know when something is classified? I'm sure in some cases they might know, or at least have a good hunch that a story is some government secret, but they can't exactly ask the government, can they? For instance, if a reporter used sources outside the government to uncover prision camps in Europe, or repeated cases of extrodinary rendition, would the reporter be criminally liable even if they didn't know these activities were classified? Do journalists have to censor all potentially damning stories for fear that they're exposing some government secret?
I've been completely Microsoft-free for over two years now, and generally like using Linux, but the article makes a fair point. I run Fedora, and after the last upgrade to FC5, the latest ATI driver stopped supporting dual monitors. Just stopped. My second $300 monitor has been a glorified paper weight for the last two months. Gaim refuses to forget my jabber password, even when I don't check "remember password". Thunderbird refuses to remember my newsgroup login, even when I check "remember username/password". I've never been able to get hibernation support working, even with the new Gnome Power Manager. Nautilus refuses to open text files with Windows-style newlines, considering them some sort of security risk. And should my system consume all it's memory (as it frequently does with Thunderbird, Firefox, Eclipse and gam_server taking over 250MB each), the kernel crashes. I've reported most of these problems to the appropriate bugzillas. Some get marked as duplicates of other bugs. Most get ignored. Done of them have been resolved. If I mention the problem on a mailing list or IRC channel, it's either a "feature", or a bug that's not worth fixing, or simply assumed to be user error. I know open source isn't "competing" with commercial software in the traditional sense, and my past experience with Windows also had its fair share of problems, but if Microsoft developed software the way some open source projects do, they would have gone bankrupt years ago.
Now I use Gnome and Nautilus daily, and like it, so I'm not trolling when I ask why can't it open a simple text file? Now I admit it doesn't happen for every text file, but for some I get the elusive message:
"Cannot open blah.txt The filename 'blah.txt' indicates that this file is of type 'txt document'. The contents of the file indicate that the file is of type 'plain text document'. If you open this file, the file might present a security risk to your system."
Can anyone explain how a 'txt document' is different from a 'plain text document', or how it presents a security risk? I've reported this as a bug in Gnome's bugzilla, but so far have heard nothing.
Home automation technology has been around for several decades, and even the most recent, such as Smarthome's Insteon, suffer from a couple major problems that'll ensure the technology will never be adopted.
First, they're outrageously expensive. A simple -enabled light switch or plugin module can easily run for $50 to $150. Combine this with the fact that these modules usually only allow you to turn lights on and off, and maybe dim (not *sense* if they're on or off, or do more general purpose IO) and the expense becomes hard to justify.
Also, the software to control these things just plain sucks. If the company provides any software, it's buggy, non-customizable Windows software. Usually, they'll just provide a small remote control, allowing you to turn lights on and off by entering a serial number. There are a few incomplete, unmaintained Linux drivers floating around, but they're hard to get working, much less get into the kernel.
While I don't particularly support Guevara's actions, I think it's an oversimplification to simply call him a "meat grinder" (besides, Stalin was far more efficient in this regard). Guevara became a Marxist revolutionary after traveling through Latin America while studying medicine, and seeing so many people living in abject poverty, often in countries with corrupt, yet democratic governments. Even though he used brutal and excessive violence against those he perceived to be his enemies, fighting for the powerless is why he's remembered as a hero by some. Few, if any, hold Hitler's or Stalin's motives in the same esteem.
And I agree, the US Revolution can't really be compared with modern conflicts. However, US revolutionaries weren't entirely innocent. Civilians were killed by both sides, often with the colonial media exaggerating British atrocities while downplaying their own. It's nice to know we live in a more enlightened age, where our media strives to be both fair *and* balanced;)
The most powerful type, "shorted fuel cell muscles" convert chemical energy into heat, causing a special shape-memory metal alloy to contract.
Shape-memory alloys or "muscle wire" have been around for decades, and are not particularly useful for large-scale robotic motion due to their immense power requirements, short stroke, slow actuation speed, and difficulty of control. This article is pretty lite on new information, but the only innovation seems to be delivering heat via chemical reactions directly on the muscle wires, instead of using electricity. However, I doubt this is much of an improvement, since most SMAs require temperatures of 150 degrees Fahrenheit and over before they'll actuate. Not good when you're making a "bionic muscle" for prosthetics as the article suggests.
That's nothing. I avoid email entirely and communicate solely via carrier pigeons. They memorize and recite my messages by pecking out RSA encrypted morse code, and are trained to commit seppuku if ever captured.
A stunning victory for the Establishment and a horror show for private citizens everywhere. Welcome to 1984.
Yes, it all starts with your Gmail account. The next thing you know they're infiltrating your iPod. It's only a matter of time before they invent Newspeak and start war with Oceania!
Why do people always use 1984 as a melodramatic flourish to irrationally criticize any attempt by law enforcement to adapt to new technology?
So let me get this straight. Satellites confirm global warming. Then Bush cuts significant funding for these satellite programs. I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you.
Could you explain how this is a security hole? The guy figured out how to execute javascript in his own browser, but no one elses. I guess he's in trouble if he hacks himself...
You're unable to executing arbitrary javascript in *someone else's* browser because Google filters it out? In other news, banks foil bank robbers by storing money in large metal boxes.
It's really not a great idea to post these evolution debate storys. This story will generate a huge amount of comments as the creationists try and blast the boards with their nonsense. And I do not hesitate to call it that. Nonsense. Mod points will be burned, flames will fly, karma will be gained and lost again and again in the same comment.
Slashdot Mirror
"Obviously, nobody likes it when you give their customers other options. But it's not trademark infringement."
Of course it's trademark infringement. A company is paying Google $$$ to have their company associated with a phrase that's legally registered to another company.
Google allows anyone to outbid a trademark owner to the point where the trademark owner doesn't show up at all. Now, instead of FirePond paying to have their ad on Google, they have to outbid all their competitors, just to enforce their legally recognized trademark.
Imagine if other ad mediums worked this way. Don't want a competitor using your trademark in their magazine ad? Fine. Pay the magazine $$$ more then the competitor. Great for the magazine. Bad for companies and consumers alike, since the company's are going to pass along that cost to the consumer.
I can understand why the plaintiffs are pissed.
I'm going to play the devil's advocate and point out that sports stars and software monopolies are *not* analogous. Most Tiger Woods fans like him because he's a good golf player, not because everyone else likes him. However, the opposite rationale does make sense for OS adoption. Many people stick with Microsoft because that's what most other people use, not because they're mindless drones but because that's where the vast majority of software and hardware support is. One of the reasons people don't use Linux is because much recent hardware is unsupported, yet the hardware is unsupported because hardware manufacturers don't write Linux drivers, thinking few people use Linux. It's a chicken-and-the-egg problem. Microsoft will maintain dominance as long as it maintains its mindshare. The key to defeating that mindshare is by embracing technologies like Wine and Mono and Ndiswrapper that add functionality to Linux by taking advantage of Microsoft's popularity.
So you're saying when I click "Share all information on this calendar with everyone" other people can somehow see my calendar? Holy crap!
That's excellent programming advice, but I'm not sure the analogy holds true for breeding crops. Granted, I'm no expert on the technical nuances of genetic engineering, but there are plenty of foods designed "as God intended" that science has determined are at first good for us, then on second glance bad, then good again... Take alcohol or caffience for instance. The "natural way" is not inherently safer. The fact is, whether we develop things naturally or tinker with their DNA by hand, there's little difference in how the end result is evaluated. Both methods require close scrutiny and evaluation to determine their effects on our health.
Another question might be why is horticulture accepted while GE is not? Both selectively breed crops based on desired traits. GE is just a faster, more direct approach.
Other than challenging the authority of the police, did they ever announce what "law" this guy allegedly broke? If he was guilty of anything, then presumably every other person with a home or buisness security system would guilty of the same thing.
Depending on your definition of "goal", that's debatable. Evolution certainly isn't a conscious process in the style of human thought, but it's goal is arguably one of survival. What I meant was modern science is defeating the natural mechanisms that keep the vast majority of us sane and healthy. Therefore, to keep us sane and healthy, we have to rely even further on modern science. Of course, evolution is still continuing, but what constitutes fitness is changing from physical to cognitive fitness. And that's perfectly fine for survival of the species, just as long as we don't diminish the role of science in improving our abilities. The canonical example I warn against are religious and social policies that promote science only far enough to further life, but not improve life. Now we have huge populations that procreate just fine for fear of the "sin" of birth control, but live in abject poverty as a result, with no hope of improving their quality of life. Or perhaps a pregnant woman is informed by her doctor that her fetus is malformed. Modern medical science allows her to carry the child to term, yet her religion prevents her from considering an abortion, subjecting her to a lifetime of hardship caring for a special needs child. My point is, if we're going to use science to control our destiny, we have to go all the way and never stop questioning and investigating the natural forces around us.
Paying a lawyer $100/hour to battle a one-time $10 "penalty fee" just isn't economical. That's why the companies win. This can only be stopped in a practical sense by a class-action lawsuit or state/federal legislation.
Fine, here you go:
_ Mambo
_ Joomla
_ Drupal
_ Wordpress
_ Whatever CoyboyNeal uses
Considering how modern science and medicine saves many people who would otherwise leave the gene-pool due to cognitive inadequacy or genetic disposition to disease, "natural" evolution is essentially being negated in favor of social morality. If we're going to fight the forces of nature, we might as well go all the way. The use of cybernetics or eugenics to control and augment who we are is a natural extension of this desire.
How exactly does a reporter know when something is classified? I'm sure in some cases they might know, or at least have a good hunch that a story is some government secret, but they can't exactly ask the government, can they? For instance, if a reporter used sources outside the government to uncover prision camps in Europe, or repeated cases of extrodinary rendition, would the reporter be criminally liable even if they didn't know these activities were classified? Do journalists have to censor all potentially damning stories for fear that they're exposing some government secret?
I've been completely Microsoft-free for over two years now, and generally like using Linux, but the article makes a fair point. I run Fedora, and after the last upgrade to FC5, the latest ATI driver stopped supporting dual monitors. Just stopped. My second $300 monitor has been a glorified paper weight for the last two months. Gaim refuses to forget my jabber password, even when I don't check "remember password". Thunderbird refuses to remember my newsgroup login, even when I check "remember username/password". I've never been able to get hibernation support working, even with the new Gnome Power Manager. Nautilus refuses to open text files with Windows-style newlines, considering them some sort of security risk. And should my system consume all it's memory (as it frequently does with Thunderbird, Firefox, Eclipse and gam_server taking over 250MB each), the kernel crashes. I've reported most of these problems to the appropriate bugzillas. Some get marked as duplicates of other bugs. Most get ignored. Done of them have been resolved. If I mention the problem on a mailing list or IRC channel, it's either a "feature", or a bug that's not worth fixing, or simply assumed to be user error. I know open source isn't "competing" with commercial software in the traditional sense, and my past experience with Windows also had its fair share of problems, but if Microsoft developed software the way some open source projects do, they would have gone bankrupt years ago.
Now I use Gnome and Nautilus daily, and like it, so I'm not trolling when I ask why can't it open a simple text file? Now I admit it doesn't happen for every text file, but for some I get the elusive message:
"Cannot open blah.txt
The filename 'blah.txt' indicates that this file is of type 'txt document'. The contents of the file indicate that the file is of type 'plain text document'. If you open this file, the file might present a security risk to your system."
Can anyone explain how a 'txt document' is different from a 'plain text document', or how it presents a security risk? I've reported this as a bug in Gnome's bugzilla, but so far have heard nothing.
Home automation technology has been around for several decades, and even the most recent, such as Smarthome's Insteon, suffer from a couple major problems that'll ensure the technology will never be adopted.
First, they're outrageously expensive. A simple -enabled light switch or plugin module can easily run for $50 to $150. Combine this with the fact that these modules usually only allow you to turn lights on and off, and maybe dim (not *sense* if they're on or off, or do more general purpose IO) and the expense becomes hard to justify.
Also, the software to control these things just plain sucks. If the company provides any software, it's buggy, non-customizable Windows software. Usually, they'll just provide a small remote control, allowing you to turn lights on and off by entering a serial number. There are a few incomplete, unmaintained Linux drivers floating around, but they're hard to get working, much less get into the kernel.
While I don't particularly support Guevara's actions, I think it's an oversimplification to simply call him a "meat grinder" (besides, Stalin was far more efficient in this regard). Guevara became a Marxist revolutionary after traveling through Latin America while studying medicine, and seeing so many people living in abject poverty, often in countries with corrupt, yet democratic governments. Even though he used brutal and excessive violence against those he perceived to be his enemies, fighting for the powerless is why he's remembered as a hero by some. Few, if any, hold Hitler's or Stalin's motives in the same esteem.
;)
And I agree, the US Revolution can't really be compared with modern conflicts. However, US revolutionaries weren't entirely innocent. Civilians were killed by both sides, often with the colonial media exaggerating British atrocities while downplaying their own. It's nice to know we live in a more enlightened age, where our media strives to be both fair *and* balanced
Or we could just give them an internet connection...
300GB ought to be enough for anybody.
Wake me when they make an air conditioner using cold fusion.
The most powerful type, "shorted fuel cell muscles" convert chemical energy into heat, causing a special shape-memory metal alloy to contract.
Shape-memory alloys or "muscle wire" have been around for decades, and are not particularly useful for large-scale robotic motion due to their immense power requirements, short stroke, slow actuation speed, and difficulty of control. This article is pretty lite on new information, but the only innovation seems to be delivering heat via chemical reactions directly on the muscle wires, instead of using electricity. However, I doubt this is much of an improvement, since most SMAs require temperatures of 150 degrees Fahrenheit and over before they'll actuate. Not good when you're making a "bionic muscle" for prosthetics as the article suggests.
That's nothing. I avoid email entirely and communicate solely via carrier pigeons. They memorize and recite my messages by pecking out RSA encrypted morse code, and are trained to commit seppuku if ever captured.
A stunning victory for the Establishment and a horror show for private citizens everywhere. Welcome to 1984.
Yes, it all starts with your Gmail account. The next thing you know they're infiltrating your iPod. It's only a matter of time before they invent Newspeak and start war with Oceania!
Why do people always use 1984 as a melodramatic flourish to irrationally criticize any attempt by law enforcement to adapt to new technology?
So let me get this straight. Satellites confirm global warming. Then Bush cuts significant funding for these satellite programs. I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you.
Could you explain how this is a security hole? The guy figured out how to execute javascript in his own browser, but no one elses. I guess he's in trouble if he hacks himself...
You're unable to executing arbitrary javascript in *someone else's* browser because Google filters it out? In other news, banks foil bank robbers by storing money in large metal boxes.
It's really not a great idea to post these evolution debate storys. This story will generate a huge amount of comments as the creationists try and blast the boards with their nonsense. And I do not hesitate to call it that. Nonsense. Mod points will be burned, flames will fly, karma will be gained and lost again and again in the same comment.
Nonsense on slashdot? Umpossible!