or maybe calling them dumb isn't fair. Rather, the average consumer does not know, or care, and may never even discover that their new piece of equipment has any such hardware copy protection. At best, they might try to copy a movie from a DVD to a VCR, find that they cannot, shrug and give up.
It is the same with Macrovision. Really, how many consumers will ask "will this one defeat Macrovision?" before buying a VCR?
That's what the hardware companies may be counting on. I know I would...
I already pay Dutch VAT when I mail-order anything from abroad, and it has been like that for as long as I can remember. Like you, I pay this tax to the postal service, although I can pay directly to the mailman. Upon entry, it is like the package turns into a COD item with internal revenue as the beneficiary.
What they propose is to somehow tax the transactions when they take place, and (I assume), somehow collect EU VAT from every foreign company doing on-line business in the EU. I can see one of two things happening:
- The EU pays for the cost these companies incur for collecting their VAT. Of course that requires loads of people to check VAT statements from foreign companies, etc. etc., so the for every Euro paid in tax, 30 Eurocents will end up in the EU coffers, the rest disappears in wages for extra paper-pushers.
- The EU makes the companies collect VAT without renumeration. Those companies will either pass on the cost for the extra administration to European customers (see my first point), or they'll simply stop offering goods and services here.
The devil is in the details for collecting this tax. Taxation in itself doesn't have to be a bad thing, but when collecting this tax becomes slightly non-standard, or requires a lot of overseeing, it becomes so expensive that only a small part of the collected tax remains for public spending.
Please read up a little on how GSM works. If a cell phone cannot get a clear control signal from the base station (which is what jammers prevent phones from doing), it will not transmit at full power.
Cell phones don't shout out to base stations continuously. If you don't believe me, take your cell phone to a place where there is no coverage, and measure the emissions from it. You can put it next to an am radio for that, or use one of those key rings with an LED that flashes when your GSM phone is active.
The point wasn't jamming calls for fun or to have a quiet area. The point was that having many people in a train car using their phones at the same time, can raise RF radiation to dangerous levels. Or so the researcher claims; personally I think his calculations a rather over-simplified. Further tests (i.e. additional research grants) are needed!
From the little I know about GSM jamming devices, jammers do not jam by simply blanketing the GSM band with a very powerful signal. Instead they use a low-powered signal to spoil the control link transmission from the base stations to the GSM handsets, so that the GSM will not be able to set up a call connection. The phone will continue to try and connect to a base station, using short bursts of emission at high power, but on average these bursts are of much less power than an ongoing call, especially in a train (shielding cage, and often far from base stations).
Here are some specs and details of such a jamming device.
And yes, some employers are enforcing security measures that would do Dilbert's boss proud. And yes, employers should work on a basis of trust with their employees.
But to ignore the security issue is very, very wrong for a number of reasons.
- In some cases, the employer's clients may demand certain measures be taken to protect ther data.
- In some cases, not having proper measures against theft of confidential data, can make one liable for *huge* lawsuits if the data is stolen. (Think medical records).
- Most importantly: in any group of employees, there'll be a couple of rotten apples in the bunch, no matter how nice and cuddly the employer. Those same employees are the ones that might steal wallets or other stuff from their co-workers desks. It's sad, but it happens everywhere, and to not be on your guard against it is plain silly.
Employees might "betray" their employer when they leave, because the employer is a total git. Often there's nothing wrong with the employer per se, but a certain employee doesn't fit in, has a conflict or difference of opinion with other employees or whatever, and leaves. Even in such cases the employee may leave with bitter feelings towards his employer and be tempted with taking some juicy info with him.
Other employees have personal problems or debts, and might be tempted by the money. In fact, these are things closely investigated when people apply for a security clearance. That has nothing to do with lousy employers.
Probably just using the spare missiles. Apparently they offer some cheap launch capability, especially for lower orbits. I read the Delft technical university is preparing to test an experimental re-entry vehicle using one of those missiles.
This is the ultimate in putting form over function...
Although, I don't find the old Mac case all that beautiful. Interesting, yes, and certainly innovating at the time, but I wouldn't want one on my desk.
In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with commercial, or free-of-charge packages that are not open-sourced, running on an open source platform.
My ideal would not be to try and provide a completely open-sourced and free solution for every possible requirement, although it would help make Linux a more viable platform.
What we should do is encourage any development on the Linux platform, either commercial or open-sourced apps. Availability of good software will encourage more users to switch to Linux, even if they have to pay for the apps. As long as Linux is around as a ("commercially") viable platform, we will have the freedom to produce any software we want, and release it under any type of license we see fit. If Linux dies for lack of users, we will be stuck with Microsoft, leaving us and the rest of the world not only without a choice of OS, but potentially and quite possibly also without the freedom to use and develop on that OS as we see fit
Sometimes, amongst the thousands of posts about how We hate Copy Protection, Lawyers Stink, I oppose the DMCCYAYYCCY Law Which Prevent me from Downloading Phr33 StUph, there is actually an article about News For Nerds with some cool pictures. I suggest that out of common courtesy, or compassion perhaps, Slashdot will kindly mirror sites with such pictures on the SlashCache, and have the Slashdot article refer to the mirror.
The key is the patented star-shaped wheel that holds the stretched rubber bands.
So he has patented a star-shaped wheel... I could show prior art for this, even in the same application (rubber band guns), if only I had kept the blueprints for the Lego gun I built years ago.
I could have been rich now... or at least have my name in the National Post.
Re:Picture of bills with US bill
on
The Euro
·
· Score: 1
There is a similar hologram on the new 10 guilder note. This is a low demonination note that changes hands a lot. I've never seen one where the hologram was worn off or damaged.
Hmmm, insightful this, and rather unbelievable... were it not for KPN, the Dutch former state 'phone monopoly doing exactly the same. Refuse to co-locate due to "space issues", mess up the bill and/or overcharge for co-location and use of the local loop, and then take ages to pay back the overage. "Accidently" break cables. By the time the regulators get around to slapping them on the wrist, they just smile, pay the fine, and carry on doing those things. These are well-known facts, but no-one really seems to care... after all, it is just Internet. Over here, if your phone goes dead they will move heaven and earth to get you reconnected. If your Internet goes down, you'll just have to deal with it until they get around to fixing it.
The result? Cistron, one of the few remaining independent ADSL providers, planned to offer superior ADSL service at a lower price than KPN's own service. They also offered to provide cheaper phone service. Yet somehow everything KPN had to do for them went wrong, until Cistron upped their price and made the service similar to KPN's one (ie. less attractive). They also had to drop the plans for providing voice telephony.
Slashdot Mirror
or maybe calling them dumb isn't fair. Rather, the average consumer does not know, or care, and may never even discover that their new piece of equipment has any such hardware copy protection. At best, they might try to copy a movie from a DVD to a VCR, find that they cannot, shrug and give up.
It is the same with Macrovision. Really, how many consumers will ask "will this one defeat Macrovision?" before buying a VCR?
That's what the hardware companies may be counting on. I know I would...
I already pay Dutch VAT when I mail-order anything from abroad, and it has been like that for as long as I can remember. Like you, I pay this tax to the postal service, although I can pay directly to the mailman. Upon entry, it is like the package turns into a COD item with internal revenue as the beneficiary.
What they propose is to somehow tax the transactions when they take place, and (I assume), somehow collect EU VAT from every foreign company doing on-line business in the EU. I can see one of two things happening:
- The EU pays for the cost these companies incur for collecting their VAT. Of course that requires loads of people to check VAT statements from foreign companies, etc. etc., so the for every Euro paid in tax, 30 Eurocents will end up in the EU coffers, the rest disappears in wages for extra paper-pushers.
- The EU makes the companies collect VAT without renumeration. Those companies will either pass on the cost for the extra administration to European customers (see my first point), or they'll simply stop offering goods and services here.
The devil is in the details for collecting this tax. Taxation in itself doesn't have to be a bad thing, but when collecting this tax becomes slightly non-standard, or requires a lot of overseeing, it becomes so expensive that only a small part of the collected tax remains for public spending.
Please read up a little on how GSM works. If a cell phone cannot get a clear control signal from the base station (which is what jammers prevent phones from doing), it will not transmit at full power.
Cell phones don't shout out to base stations continuously. If you don't believe me, take your cell phone to a place where there is no coverage, and measure the emissions from it. You can put it next to an am radio for that, or use one of those key rings with an LED that flashes when your GSM phone is active.
The point wasn't jamming calls for fun or to have a quiet area. The point was that having many people in a train car using their phones at the same time, can raise RF radiation to dangerous levels. Or so the researcher claims; personally I think his calculations a rather over-simplified. Further tests (i.e. additional research grants) are needed!
From the little I know about GSM jamming devices, jammers do not jam by simply blanketing the GSM band with a very powerful signal. Instead they use a low-powered signal to spoil the control link transmission from the base stations to the GSM handsets, so that the GSM will not be able to set up a call connection. The phone will continue to try and connect to a base station, using short bursts of emission at high power, but on average these bursts are of much less power than an ongoing call, especially in a train (shielding cage, and often far from base stations).
Here are some specs and details of such a jamming device.
And yes, some employers are enforcing security measures that would do Dilbert's boss proud. And yes, employers should work on a basis of trust with their employees.
But to ignore the security issue is very, very wrong for a number of reasons.
- In some cases, the employer's clients may demand certain measures be taken to protect ther data.
- In some cases, not having proper measures against theft of confidential data, can make one liable for *huge* lawsuits if the data is stolen. (Think medical records).
- Most importantly: in any group of employees, there'll be a couple of rotten apples in the bunch, no matter how nice and cuddly the employer. Those same employees are the ones that might steal wallets or other stuff from their co-workers desks. It's sad, but it happens everywhere, and to not be on your guard against it is plain silly.
Employees might "betray" their employer when they leave, because the employer is a total git. Often there's nothing wrong with the employer per se, but a certain employee doesn't fit in, has a conflict or difference of opinion with other employees or whatever, and leaves. Even in such cases the employee may leave with bitter feelings towards his employer and be tempted with taking some juicy info with him. Other employees have personal problems or debts, and might be tempted by the money. In fact, these are things closely investigated when people apply for a security clearance. That has nothing to do with lousy employers.
Probably just using the spare missiles. Apparently they offer some cheap launch capability, especially for lower orbits. I read the Delft technical university is preparing to test an experimental re-entry vehicle using one of those missiles.
This is the ultimate in putting form over function...
Although, I don't find the old Mac case all that beautiful. Interesting, yes, and certainly innovating at the time, but I wouldn't want one on my desk.
In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with commercial, or free-of-charge packages that are not open-sourced, running on an open source platform.
My ideal would not be to try and provide a completely open-sourced and free solution for every possible requirement, although it would help make Linux a more viable platform.
What we should do is encourage any development on the Linux platform, either commercial or open-sourced apps. Availability of good software will encourage more users to switch to Linux, even if they have to pay for the apps. As long as Linux is around as a ("commercially") viable platform, we will have the freedom to produce any software we want, and release it under any type of license we see fit. If Linux dies for lack of users, we will be stuck with Microsoft, leaving us and the rest of the world not only without a choice of OS, but potentially and quite possibly also without the freedom to use and develop on that OS as we see fit
Sometimes, amongst the thousands of posts about how We hate Copy Protection, Lawyers Stink, I oppose the DMCCYAYYCCY Law Which Prevent me from Downloading Phr33 StUph, there is actually an article about News For Nerds with some cool pictures. I suggest that out of common courtesy, or compassion perhaps, Slashdot will kindly mirror sites with such pictures on the SlashCache, and have the Slashdot article refer to the mirror.
So he has patented a star-shaped wheel... I could show prior art for this, even in the same application (rubber band guns), if only I had kept the blueprints for the Lego gun I built years ago.
I could have been rich now... or at least have my name in the National Post.
There is a similar hologram on the new 10 guilder note. This is a low demonination note that changes hands a lot. I've never seen one where the hologram was worn off or damaged.
Hmmm, insightful this, and rather unbelievable... were it not for KPN, the Dutch former state 'phone monopoly doing exactly the same. Refuse to co-locate due to "space issues", mess up the bill and/or overcharge for co-location and use of the local loop, and then take ages to pay back the overage. "Accidently" break cables. By the time the regulators get around to slapping them on the wrist, they just smile, pay the fine, and carry on doing those things. These are well-known facts, but no-one really seems to care... after all, it is just Internet. Over here, if your phone goes dead they will move heaven and earth to get you reconnected. If your Internet goes down, you'll just have to deal with it until they get around to fixing it.
The result? Cistron, one of the few remaining independent ADSL providers, planned to offer superior ADSL service at a lower price than KPN's own service. They also offered to provide cheaper phone service. Yet somehow everything KPN had to do for them went wrong, until Cistron upped their price and made the service similar to KPN's one (ie. less attractive). They also had to drop the plans for providing voice telephony.
I need to stop my damn cat from making all these "first post" posts! Yes, now you know where they come from.