Europa exploration basically boils down to two choices: Explore and risk contamination, or don't explore and miss the learning and discovery opportunities present.
Assuming we go with the first option, our stance should be to do as much as possible to avoid contamination. While we will never be able to avoid contamination (even if this thing never breaks, corrodes, or wears out, it'll still be a contamination in the sense that it was artificially placed there), this idea seems to be the best one yet to minimize the impact of any exploration device we create.
Of course the US lawyers-lawmakers aren't going to be happy about this. I wouldn't be suprised to see trade sanctions in the future. After all, this is the same USA that placed trade restrictions on Ukraine in order to get them to comply with the *AA's 'anti-piracy' laws.
Based on my college experience....
on
Cable Chaos
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· Score: 2, Informative
Don't take anything to college that you can't afford to have broken, stolen or puked on.
If the north pole is constantly moving, what effect does this have on the South pole?
Assuming that the poles attempt to stay the same relative distance apart from each other. Might it be possible to get a location on the Magnetic South pole and, in turn, determine the location of the Magnetic North pole?
So, in other words, the publisher does its best to look out for itself, at the expense of the 'little guy' author, who can't afford a multitude of lawyers to protect his/her own interests.
I would pretend to be shocked, but I'm not.
So we try and bring anti-trust proceedings against all the book publishers. But then we should also bring anti-trust proceedings against the RIAA (music) and MPAA (movies).
And we all know how well the DOJ managed the Microsoft anti-trust case.
but did anybody else find this article more of a hatchet job than an intelligent article about the SSSCA?
Well, yes, but you do have to realize that not everyone outside the/. crowd can understand a more complex and in-depth article on the SSSCA. I see this as a starting point for the masses: if a few non-techie folks read this article, and it prompts them to react, do some additional research, or perhaps even take some action, that's a Good Thing(TM)
Yes, copy-protected CDs are not red-book compliant. And this bill is hopefully going to AT LEAST make these 'tainted CDs' labeled as such, so consumers can choose to avoid them.
The dark side of this issue, however, is that there doesn't seem to be anything to keep these copy-controls out of any future formats. If the RIAA-holes can't copy-protect their CDs, why whouldn't they just move to some new copy-protection-filled standard, and refuse to make music CDs? Yes, this would totally screw the consumer, but it's not like that's ever stopped them before.
reconstruct the data from the flashing lights??? whatever. That's so ridiculous it's laughable.
Isn't this how fiber optic cable works? Light pluses traveling down a thin strand of glass to transmit data at high speed over long distances.
I'm not claiming to be an engineer or scientist, but I guess I could see how it might be possible (probably with the same type of fiber-optic reader) to decode some of information from your LED.
Of course! It's all someone else's fault! We had nothing to do with fostering piracy. Everyone should be happy paying artificially inflated prices for music, movies, and any other content so that we can continue to enrich ourselves.
Privacy concerns aside, isn't there another concern to the story.... safety.
Think about it: You're walking down the street, too distracted by all the information popping up in your display to pay attention to your immediate surroundings. You accidentally step out into the crosswalk, not noticing the traffic heading towards you at a high rate of speed.....
How about wearing this contraption while driving? Cell phones, passengers, radio controls, etc, are enough distraction for the driver, do we really need another distraction?
Growing up in rural Iowa (no stoplights within a 20 mile radius even today), I can tell you that this is not a new concept. Heck, I remember the local paper (no web site, they're that much behind the times) running a multi-part story about farmers using GPS in 1996 or 1997.
The obvious legal tactic when facing any lawsuit is to file a dismissal motion. And, in said dismissal motion, they come up with (make up) any arguments in support of the motion that they can. And said motions are generally denied, and the legal proceedings continue on.
My personal account: In 2001, I purchased exactly 1 CD. There were two reasons behind this A) I was a broke college student for the first half of the year; and B) I couldn't figure out any CDs besides the one previously mentioned that were even worth buying, IMHO.
My music purchases have gone up in 2002 (I've bought 6 CDs since January 1), but they've all been from a total of TWO artists whose music I've just been introduced to. And as soon as I purchase a CD, I make a backup copy (for the car and work) and rip to mp3 (for listening on my home computer). The origional CD gets tucked back in the case about 20 minutes after I open it, never to be seen again unless the backup copy gets scratched and needs replacing. I wouldn't even take the time to create a backup copy if replacing a scratched/damaged CD didn't cost $15 or more.
Face it, 99.5% of the music today is manufactured pop/rock that has nothing worthwhile to say. And I'm tired of it.
Haven't special effects wizards been using physics simulators for movie effects and video games for at least a few years now? Sure, this may be more advanced then previous physics engines, but is it really something revolutionary?
On the surface, this may seem like a Good Thing(tm), but think for a second: Do you really want your walls recording everything you do, everything you say over the course of a day?
Taco, takes major balls to do what you did today. This gives hope to nerds everywhere. Myself included.
A toast to Rob and Kathleen, may they have many long years of happiness together
Tom Clancy never wrote a book called Rising Sun. However, as a serious Tom Clancy fan, the parallels between today's events and many of his works are startling. "Debt of Honor" ends with a 747 crash wiping out a joint session of Congress, supreme court, cabinet, and president. Other works tell tales of how huge nationwide bio-war attacks can be carried out (Executive Orders), or nuclear detonations in the US (Sum of All Fears).
I've often finished one of his works and thought "This sounds completely plausable, and entirely possible." Unfortunately, today we see that events like Clancy describes are not just works of fiction.
Slashdot Mirror
The point is to avoid contamination, right?
Europa exploration basically boils down to two choices: Explore and risk contamination, or don't explore and miss the learning and discovery opportunities present.
Assuming we go with the first option, our stance should be to do as much as possible to avoid contamination. While we will never be able to avoid contamination (even if this thing never breaks, corrodes, or wears out, it'll still be a contamination in the sense that it was artificially placed there), this idea seems to be the best one yet to minimize the impact of any exploration device we create.
Of course the US lawyers-lawmakers aren't going to be happy about this. I wouldn't be suprised to see trade sanctions in the future. After all, this is the same USA that placed trade restrictions on Ukraine in order to get them to comply with the *AA's 'anti-piracy' laws.
Don't take anything to college that you can't afford to have broken, stolen or puked on.
If the north pole is constantly moving, what effect does this have on the South pole?
Assuming that the poles attempt to stay the same relative distance apart from each other. Might it be possible to get a location on the Magnetic South pole and, in turn, determine the location of the Magnetic North pole?
So, in other words, the publisher does its best to look out for itself, at the expense of the 'little guy' author, who can't afford a multitude of lawyers to protect his/her own interests.
I would pretend to be shocked, but I'm not.
So we try and bring anti-trust proceedings against all the book publishers. But then we should also bring anti-trust proceedings against the RIAA (music) and MPAA (movies).
And we all know how well the DOJ managed the Microsoft anti-trust case.
but did anybody else find this article more of a hatchet job than an intelligent article about the SSSCA?
/. crowd can understand a more complex and in-depth article on the SSSCA. I see this as a starting point for the masses: if a few non-techie folks read this article, and it prompts them to react, do some additional research, or perhaps even take some action, that's a Good Thing(TM)
Well, yes, but you do have to realize that not everyone outside the
Gotta crawl before you can walk.
Yes, copy-protected CDs are not red-book compliant. And this bill is hopefully going to AT LEAST make these 'tainted CDs' labeled as such, so consumers can choose to avoid them.
The dark side of this issue, however, is that there doesn't seem to be anything to keep these copy-controls out of any future formats. If the RIAA-holes can't copy-protect their CDs, why whouldn't they just move to some new copy-protection-filled standard, and refuse to make music CDs? Yes, this would totally screw the consumer, but it's not like that's ever stopped them before.
reconstruct the data from the flashing lights??? whatever. That's so ridiculous it's laughable.
Isn't this how fiber optic cable works? Light pluses traveling down a thin strand of glass to transmit data at high speed over long distances.
I'm not claiming to be an engineer or scientist, but I guess I could see how it might be possible (probably with the same type of fiber-optic reader) to decode some of information from your LED.
If anyone has more techincal info, please post.
Of course! It's all someone else's fault! We had nothing to do with fostering piracy. Everyone should be happy paying artificially inflated prices for music, movies, and any other content so that we can continue to enrich ourselves.
/sarcasm
Privacy concerns aside, isn't there another concern to the story.... safety.
Think about it: You're walking down the street, too distracted by all the information popping up in your display to pay attention to your immediate surroundings. You accidentally step out into the crosswalk, not noticing the traffic heading towards you at a high rate of speed.....
How about wearing this contraption while driving? Cell phones, passengers, radio controls, etc, are enough distraction for the driver, do we really need another distraction?
So you want to mandate copy-protection? Go ahead and try. We all know it won't work.
So you make it illegal to defeat this 'copy protection'? Go right ahead, it won't stop the most determined out there.
Growing up in rural Iowa (no stoplights within a 20 mile radius even today), I can tell you that this is not a new concept. Heck, I remember the local paper (no web site, they're that much behind the times) running a multi-part story about farmers using GPS in 1996 or 1997.
Is this really newsworthy?
The obvious legal tactic when facing any lawsuit is to file a dismissal motion. And, in said dismissal motion, they come up with (make up) any arguments in support of the motion that they can. And said motions are generally denied, and the legal proceedings continue on.
BTW, IANAL
It's easy to write a piece about why they all failed after they all failed. Is this article really telling us anything we didn't already know?
My personal account: In 2001, I purchased exactly 1 CD. There were two reasons behind this A) I was a broke college student for the first half of the year; and B) I couldn't figure out any CDs besides the one previously mentioned that were even worth buying, IMHO.
My music purchases have gone up in 2002 (I've bought 6 CDs since January 1), but they've all been from a total of TWO artists whose music I've just been introduced to. And as soon as I purchase a CD, I make a backup copy (for the car and work) and rip to mp3 (for listening on my home computer). The origional CD gets tucked back in the case about 20 minutes after I open it, never to be seen again unless the backup copy gets scratched and needs replacing. I wouldn't even take the time to create a backup copy if replacing a scratched/damaged CD didn't cost $15 or more.
Face it, 99.5% of the music today is manufactured pop/rock that has nothing worthwhile to say. And I'm tired of it.
Haven't special effects wizards been using physics simulators for movie effects and video games for at least a few years now? Sure, this may be more advanced then previous physics engines, but is it really something revolutionary?
On the surface, this may seem like a Good Thing(tm), but think for a second: Do you really want your walls recording everything you do, everything you say over the course of a day?
Somehow, this just doesn't seem as cool as a pair of self-destructing sunglasses.
Taco, takes major balls to do what you did today. This gives hope to nerds everywhere. Myself included. A toast to Rob and Kathleen, may they have many long years of happiness together
Tom Clancy never wrote a book called Rising Sun. However, as a serious Tom Clancy fan, the parallels between today's events and many of his works are startling. "Debt of Honor" ends with a 747 crash wiping out a joint session of Congress, supreme court, cabinet, and president. Other works tell tales of how huge nationwide bio-war attacks can be carried out (Executive Orders), or nuclear detonations in the US (Sum of All Fears).
I've often finished one of his works and thought "This sounds completely plausable, and entirely possible." Unfortunately, today we see that events like Clancy describes are not just works of fiction.