Not to derail, but I wish people would stop quoting the dictionary, especially in cases where the term being used has a very specific meaning. The dictionary provides what is considered to be the general, everyday, "common sense" usage of the term. This usage is sometimes inaccurate, as people are very stupid about using words correctly (see 'irony'; i wouldnt be surprised if websters included the popular but wrong definition someday). In addition, one cannot quote the dictionary when the very meaning of the terms is being discussed. In this example, of course, it is understood that people on Slashdot disagree with the current "common sense" definition of "theft."
Personally, I want to know exactly HOW they are doing this. Speech recognition is not in a very good state right now, and I'd love to see it explained in the patent:
1) How they will accomplish this exactly - I want algorithms 2) How they intend to catch EVERY swear word (even if it's limited to the 7 dirty words) 3) How they will prevent false positives in 100% of situations (funky)
If they can't supply those three things, it's not an invention that works as advertised, and shouldn't be granted no matter what you think of software patents. If they get the patent without those three things (or at least the first 2), then it just shows that they are patenting ideas and not inventions. I'd actually be impressed if they could do all three of those things. If they get the patent without those three things, and admit their invention is imperfect (or rather that they've invented something to do a job half-assed) then a better method of auto-censoring audio should be able to come along and be patentable as well.
I think this pretty much outlines the broad scope that patents are being given in the USPTO - they will most likely get this patent, and it will show that the USPTO is patenting ideas because it doesn't know any better.
Outside of fictional characters in Cryptonomicon, I'm not aware of anyone else using encrypted email and digital signatures.
(Anyone using cryptographic e-mail is in the minority and the exception to the rule.)
It doesn't have to be like this. My mother runs a counseling service and I installed gpg and a plugin for SquirrelMail - and now my mother, my father, and yes, my grandmother can easily send encrypted mail back and forth. And we have to, if we want to discuss clients over email and stay HIPAA compliant.
Sysadmins, install gpg on your servers, and let everyone set up a key pair! It's ridiculously easy these days to install basic cryptography into email now. Thunderbird even has great plugins.
True story: A friend of a friend took out a small ad in his local paper (in South Carolina) that read simply: Last Chance to Send in Your Dollar!!! (Address)
He ended up getting I think like $50, or at least enough to profit with the cost of the ad.
How about, instead of spending all your time getting a cert, you spend your time actually making something you can show to prospective emplooyers - your own web site, your own contributions in open source software. In benchmarking, real-life results always win.
This player is really neat! But there are other players out there.
For example, once you've read this comment, make sure you check out Nickelback's new smash hit, "All The Right Reasons" on www.supermusicchannel.com today! And once you've done that, make sure you go to www.pepsico.com for your chance to enter a FREE sweepstakes to win more Pepsi products!
The problem is that either you have to buy a new USB/Firewire box or you have to get a multitrack recorder unless you want to pay thousands of dollars for a multitrack DAT.
Listen to everyone else and get an MOTU (or equivalent from Behringer if you're broke;).
By "genius" I meant a kind of abstract concept, not a particular person. The point is that it's not going to work. We already have a system for several people working on the same problems, and it's called Universities, and that system doesn't have any of the negatives this one does.
Because social constructs already exist for current research. People don't sit in ivory towers thinking about this stuff by themselves - they go to conferences, write papers, send emails, and yes, even make wikis.
This is going to become an instructional site to teach people (hopefully correctly) what is going on in these fields, nothing more.
"Have you seen Duke Fame's current album?" "Um... yes, yes." "Have you seen the cover?" "Um... no, no, I don't think I have." "It's a rather lurid cover, I mean...ah, it's, it's like naked women, and, uh...." "He's tied down to this table, and he's got these whips and they're all...semi-nude. "Knockin' on 'im and it's like much worse..." "What's the point?" "Well the point is it's much worse than 'Smell the Glove'...he releases that he's number three." "Because he's the victim. Their objections were that she was the victim. You see?" "I see...." "That's alright, if the singer's the victim, it's different. It's not sexist." "He did a twist on it. A twist and it's.." "He did, he did. He turned it around." "We shoulda thought of that...." "We were so close...." "I mean if we had all you guys tied up, that probably woulda been fine." "Ah...." "But it's...it's still a stupid cover." "It's such a fine line between stupid an'..." "...and clever."
The only helpful thing this will do is allow the people who need to be working on to access the currently existing literature on the subject. But it probably won't be that great a benefit - most grad students (and bright undergrads) these days will have a professor latch onto them and be able to point them in the right direction.
The other way this website will be useful will be to let everyone see the latest developments in the field. Solving any of the Millenium Problems generally requires getting very very deep into certain fields of mathematics.
This web page could be quite instructional. But that thermometer is going to stay at zero. At least if someone affiliated with that web page does solve one, they would've done it by themselves anyway.
This site could be a great way to teach beginning/amateur computer scientists why they are wrong;) "Here's a question. How do we define the power of a computer. Because computing power tends to double every year. Even if this is true, how much does productivity with it change (measured in terms of the entropy of their processing)? If it increases roughly exponentially, then it's possible that P=NP, via observation."
They should really set up a website dedicated to solving how not to get Slashdotted.
Slashdot Mirror
In other news, Gearlog fakes news story by not mentioning that the DVD+R was being used for a comparison.
And as lawyers, it is in their benefit to keep using the term "intellectual property" to their advantage to confuse the public.
Go ahead! Throw your vote away! Muahahaha!
I call it "my bedroom."
Not to derail, but I wish people would stop quoting the dictionary, especially in cases where the term being used has a very specific meaning. The dictionary provides what is considered to be the general, everyday, "common sense" usage of the term. This usage is sometimes inaccurate, as people are very stupid about using words correctly (see 'irony'; i wouldnt be surprised if websters included the popular but wrong definition someday). In addition, one cannot quote the dictionary when the very meaning of the terms is being discussed. In this example, of course, it is understood that people on Slashdot disagree with the current "common sense" definition of "theft."
Fed Ex is ALSO a corporation, not the government.
Maybe it's because no one has heard of this bloody contest??
Personally, I want to know exactly HOW they are doing this. Speech recognition is not in a very good state right now, and I'd love to see it explained in the patent:
1) How they will accomplish this exactly - I want algorithms
2) How they intend to catch EVERY swear word (even if it's limited to the 7 dirty words)
3) How they will prevent false positives in 100% of situations (funky)
If they can't supply those three things, it's not an invention that works as advertised, and shouldn't be granted no matter what you think of software patents. If they get the patent without those three things (or at least the first 2), then it just shows that they are patenting ideas and not inventions. I'd actually be impressed if they could do all three of those things. If they get the patent without those three things, and admit their invention is imperfect (or rather that they've invented something to do a job half-assed) then a better method of auto-censoring audio should be able to come along and be patentable as well.
I think this pretty much outlines the broad scope that patents are being given in the USPTO - they will most likely get this patent, and it will show that the USPTO is patenting ideas because it doesn't know any better.
It doesn't have to be like this. My mother runs a counseling service and I installed gpg and a plugin for SquirrelMail - and now my mother, my father, and yes, my grandmother can easily send encrypted mail back and forth. And we have to, if we want to discuss clients over email and stay HIPAA compliant.
Sysadmins, install gpg on your servers, and let everyone set up a key pair! It's ridiculously easy these days to install basic cryptography into email now. Thunderbird even has great plugins.
True story: A friend of a friend took out a small ad in his local paper (in South Carolina) that read simply:
Last Chance to Send in Your Dollar!!!
(Address)
He ended up getting I think like $50, or at least enough to profit with the cost of the ad.
Ugh, don't forget his support of the "orange peel" crust theory...
Yes, but where do the Rosecrucians fit into this Plan???
How about, instead of spending all your time getting a cert, you spend your time actually making something you can show to prospective emplooyers - your own web site, your own contributions in open source software. In benchmarking, real-life results always win.
He wanted to do a recreation of the downfall of the 1969 Cubs, but couldn't figure out how to get a black cat into RBI Baseball.
I know, I was just making fun of that little "Postal Service" dig they stuck at the end there.
damn son i dont even compare to you tho
Yet somehow they make it to number one on the billboard charts...sigh...
This player is really neat! But there are other players out there.
For example, once you've read this comment, make sure you check out Nickelback's new smash hit, "All The Right Reasons" on www.supermusicchannel.com today! And once you've done that, make sure you go to www.pepsico.com for your chance to enter a FREE sweepstakes to win more Pepsi products!
You forgot -
http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/
The problem is that either you have to buy a new USB/Firewire box or you have to get a multitrack recorder unless you want to pay thousands of dollars for a multitrack DAT.
;).
Listen to everyone else and get an MOTU (or equivalent from Behringer if you're broke
Yes, but thousands of people had taken a bath before that, but it took a single genius to understand what that meant. There was no "Bath Symposium."
Somehow I doubt that inspiration will come from this wiki, or that those geniuses will be on it if it does.
By "genius" I meant a kind of abstract concept, not a particular person. The point is that it's not going to work. We already have a system for several people working on the same problems, and it's called Universities, and that system doesn't have any of the negatives this one does.
Because social constructs already exist for current research. People don't sit in ivory towers thinking about this stuff by themselves - they go to conferences, write papers, send emails, and yes, even make wikis.
This is going to become an instructional site to teach people (hopefully correctly) what is going on in these fields, nothing more.
"Have you seen Duke Fame's current album?" ...he releases that he's number three."
"Um... yes, yes."
"Have you seen the cover?"
"Um... no, no, I don't think I have."
"It's a rather lurid cover, I mean...ah, it's, it's like naked women, and, uh...."
"He's tied down to this table, and he's got these whips and they're all...semi-nude.
"Knockin' on 'im and it's like much worse..."
"What's the point?"
"Well the point is it's much worse than 'Smell the Glove'
"Because he's the victim. Their objections were that she was the victim. You see?"
"I see...."
"That's alright, if the singer's the victim, it's different. It's not sexist."
"He did a twist on it. A twist and it's.."
"He did, he did. He turned it around."
"We shoulda thought of that...."
"We were so close...."
"I mean if we had all you guys tied up, that probably woulda been fine."
"Ah...."
"But it's...it's still a stupid cover."
"It's such a fine line between stupid an'..."
"...and clever."
The only helpful thing this will do is allow the people who need to be working on to access the currently existing literature on the subject. But it probably won't be that great a benefit - most grad students (and bright undergrads) these days will have a professor latch onto them and be able to point them in the right direction.
;)
The other way this website will be useful will be to let everyone see the latest developments in the field. Solving any of the Millenium Problems generally requires getting very very deep into certain fields of mathematics.
This web page could be quite instructional. But that thermometer is going to stay at zero. At least if someone affiliated with that web page does solve one, they would've done it by themselves anyway.
This site could be a great way to teach beginning/amateur computer scientists why they are wrong
"Here's a question. How do we define the power of a computer. Because computing power tends to double every year. Even if this is true, how much does productivity with it change (measured in terms of the entropy of their processing)? If it increases roughly exponentially, then it's possible that P=NP, via observation."
They should really set up a website dedicated to solving how not to get Slashdotted.