More Nonsense from DoD
on
DOD vs. 802.11b
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Doesn't Wi-Fi run on an "unregulated" frequency, as specified by the FCC? This means that any device using this spectrum must accept interference from other devices in this spectrum, such as microwaves and cordless phones.
This seems like a thinly-veiled attempt to limit personal freedom and access to the internet, IMHO. If the millitary is using radar in these spectra, that's their fault; they must deal with it and not blame their ineptitude on the wireless internet community.
It makes me really uncomfortable that companies are applying for and the Federal Government is issuing patents for genes and all sorts of life forms.
I understand the motivation for this: companies who develop these "products" want to protect and insure a return on their investments. I think that it's OK to patent the *procedure* or *process* used to generate these things, but I don't like the precident set by corporations or individuals patenting what are essentially naturally-occuring things.
Think about it... suppose Glaxo finds a "cancer gene" which, perhaps, can be used to predict that someone with the gene will develop a particular form of cancer (I know that such things may already have been discovered). Suppose that I possess the gene. Now, if Glaxo patents this gene, they are essentially asserting intellectual property rights on part of my body, on my DNA. I really don't like even the idea of that. The ramifications and implications of this area of law, in my opinion, are still unclear and potentially frightening.
On a more general note, patent law is supposed to encourage innovation and development. However, increasingly, it's being used to enforce monopolies (look at Microsoft or Gemstar). And, in the area of health care and medicine, it often has the negative side-effect of pricing many people out of life-saving or even life-enhancing treatments and procedures.
In my humble lay-opinion, our (the US's) intellectual property laws are in dire need of some revision and rethinking, particularly in the biomedicine and information technologies realms. Patents should be issued more judiciously and circumspectly and should carry much shorter expiration dates. Once a company has earned back their development costs and made a modest profit, they should yield their technology to the public to encourage further development and growth and, particularly with respect to medical technology, to make their products accessible to people in a larger number of income and class brackets.
I'm not a socialist, and I generally don't approve of the government interfering in the private sector. On the other hand, I do believe that government should encourage personal and corporate responsibility. Biotech companies, obstensively, exist not to make billions of dollars in profits, but to save and improve lives. Intellectual Property laws can and should be used to encourage a greater balance between profit and public benefit.
Sure, as long as nothing goes wrong with the bos, you're fine.
But, in my experience, with bottom-of-the-line cheapo components, your life can become a living hell in short order if something breaks. I guess as long as I don't have to help them nurse the box back to life, it's a good bargain. Otherwise, I'd recommend that they go with a major namebrand, pay a couple hundred more, and get bundled technical support.
Personally, I think these boxes *are* well suited for newbie/seasoned linux guys who need a cheap starter box or a secondary/backup machine. I'd actually considered getting one myself, for that purpose.
What they don't tell you in the advertising is that many of these cheapie Walmart PC's run a processor from Cyrix that VASTLY underperforms Intel/AMD chips of the same speed. Another example of how MHz/GHz are not a good measure of system performance. Also, another example of how there's no such thing as a free lunch.
I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said something to the effect of, "A society which trades liberty [freedom] for security [safety] will have neither."
Personally, I don't care if NSA spys on folks in other countries. Those people aren't protected by the US Constitution, and if they have a problem with being spied on, then they can deal with it.
However, I don't want Big Brother reading my emails, listening to my phone calls, or otherwise intruding on my life without at least porbable cause to do so and an appropriate court-ordered search warrant for such observation.
In short, if we allow the "terrorist threat" to undermine our civil liberties, then the terrorists win and we lose.
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Doesn't Wi-Fi run on an "unregulated" frequency, as specified by the FCC? This means that any device using this spectrum must accept interference from other devices in this spectrum, such as microwaves and cordless phones.
This seems like a thinly-veiled attempt to limit personal freedom and access to the internet, IMHO. If the millitary is using radar in these spectra, that's their fault; they must deal with it and not blame their ineptitude on the wireless internet community.
It makes me really uncomfortable that companies are applying for and the Federal Government is issuing patents for genes and all sorts of life forms.
I understand the motivation for this: companies who develop these "products" want to protect and insure a return on their investments. I think that it's OK to patent the *procedure* or *process* used to generate these things, but I don't like the precident set by corporations or individuals patenting what are essentially naturally-occuring things.
Think about it... suppose Glaxo finds a "cancer gene" which, perhaps, can be used to predict that someone with the gene will develop a particular form of cancer (I know that such things may already have been discovered). Suppose that I possess the gene. Now, if Glaxo patents this gene, they are essentially asserting intellectual property rights on part of my body, on my DNA. I really don't like even the idea of that. The ramifications and implications of this area of law, in my opinion, are still unclear and potentially frightening.
On a more general note, patent law is supposed to encourage innovation and development. However, increasingly, it's being used to enforce monopolies (look at Microsoft or Gemstar). And, in the area of health care and medicine, it often has the negative side-effect of pricing many people out of life-saving or even life-enhancing treatments and procedures.
In my humble lay-opinion, our (the US's) intellectual property laws are in dire need of some revision and rethinking, particularly in the biomedicine and information technologies realms. Patents should be issued more judiciously and circumspectly and should carry much shorter expiration dates. Once a company has earned back their development costs and made a modest profit, they should yield their technology to the public to encourage further development and growth and, particularly with respect to medical technology, to make their products accessible to people in a larger number of income and class brackets.
I'm not a socialist, and I generally don't approve of the government interfering in the private sector. On the other hand, I do believe that government should encourage personal and corporate responsibility. Biotech companies, obstensively, exist not to make billions of dollars in profits, but to save and improve lives. Intellectual Property laws can and should be used to encourage a greater balance between profit and public benefit.
To whom? Grandma?
Sure, as long as nothing goes wrong with the bos, you're fine.
But, in my experience, with bottom-of-the-line cheapo components, your life can become a living hell in short order if something breaks. I guess as long as I don't have to help them nurse the box back to life, it's a good bargain. Otherwise, I'd recommend that they go with a major namebrand, pay a couple hundred more, and get bundled technical support.
Personally, I think these boxes *are* well suited for newbie/seasoned linux guys who need a cheap starter box or a secondary/backup machine. I'd actually considered getting one myself, for that purpose.
What they don't tell you in the advertising is that many of these cheapie Walmart PC's run a processor from Cyrix that VASTLY underperforms Intel/AMD chips of the same speed. Another example of how MHz/GHz are not a good measure of system performance. Also, another example of how there's no such thing as a free lunch.
I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said something to the effect of, "A society which trades liberty [freedom] for security [safety] will have neither."
Personally, I don't care if NSA spys on folks in other countries. Those people aren't protected by the US Constitution, and if they have a problem with being spied on, then they can deal with it.
However, I don't want Big Brother reading my emails, listening to my phone calls, or otherwise intruding on my life without at least porbable cause to do so and an appropriate court-ordered search warrant for such observation.
In short, if we allow the "terrorist threat" to undermine our civil liberties, then the terrorists win and we lose.