I personally don't care either. I'd drop the money for a tuner if I knew it would not become a doorstop in a few years.
The XBR is now performing PBS programming for my kid and DVD playback. Screw the networks, HDTV, and all that. When they flip the big switch and kill all old SDTV channels, that'll get everyone off their asses and do something about all this mess.
I used one of these during our recent recall campaign here in California. The polling place I went to had about 5 workers on 5 windows PC's processing votes & smartcards and about 10-12 Diebold voting terminals. One terminal was set up in "demo" mode for people to play with before they vote. So this is how the whole polling process works:
1. Pollworker asks for stub from ballot sample mailer, or voter has to fill out a form if he/she doesn't have one. 2. Pollworker tells voter they are not required to show ID. They have to tell every other voter this because most people seem willing to show ID to vote. Pollworker hands out a number to the voter. 3. You wait for a bit then they call your number. You are handed a smartcard that looks remarkably like the cards used in DishNetwork satellite boxes (credit card sized, with circular 8-contact patch near one side of it). 4. You go to an available machine and stick your card in. The machine states it's loading "your ballot". Presumably from the smartcard. All this is displayed on a portrait-mode LCD touchscreen running some form of Windows (judged by the appearance of the widgets on the screen). Select your language and go. 5. The machine shows a remarkably nice simulation of the paper ballot. You touch the box next to the item you vote for and the box turns red and places an "X" in it. 6. After voting, you can "cast" the ballot, or "review" your votes. I spent a few minutes playing around with it. Reviewing shows each voted item as it would appear on the ballot, "X" and all. 7. When you cast your ballot, the info is saved on the card. You hand the card back to one of the pollworkers and they process it and then hand the card to the next voter. It would have been easy to walk out with the card, but a fat lot of good that would do anyone.
From a UI design, they seemed spot-on in making the process simple. This however did not prevent some voters from hogging the machine for 15+ minutes to vote on 1 recall isuue, 1 replacement candidate, and 2 initiatives. Diebold did a great job with these machines from the UI standpoint. Of course, the security aspects of the system leave much to be desired, but I thought you all would like to have heard about how the process works.
I thought they were pushing it only to free up all those analog channels and their respective bandwidth so they can make money selling off the frequencies.
I was really upset after I bought my XBR set. It was "HDTV" ready, and would work with an analog HDTV input. A year later, the HDTV standard went into upheaval over the "copy bit" and analog HDTV inputs became obsolete. Now it's more than two years later and they want to change the standards AGAIN?
Now everyone who bought an HDTV (or HDTV ready) set are as screwed as I am?
BTW: Yes, I know I can still buy a cable, Dish or DirecTV setup that supplies analog HDTV. The thing that prevents me from making the $600+ investment is the disclaimer on the boxes that state that the HD programming can be killed at any time on request of the content providers.
Users of encrypted digital HDTV tuners don't have that worry.
My Sony XBR that was bought in 2000, STILL does not have an HDTV tuner available for it from the manufacturer.
But is it really worth the international phone charges for them to telemarket to the US from outside of it? It may be fine for those relaying one call daily to maintain their DirecTV service near the border (not offered in Canada), but not if you're calling thousands upon thousands of people a day hawking your wares.
Evidently it is. I have the dubious pleasure of having junk faxers call my lines at odd hours (2AM-5AM) once or twice a week. On the odd times that my computer/fax machine pickes up, the information on the fax leads to a call center in the Bahamas. Close enough to get cheap LD to the US, and far enough away to avoid US laws.
And pity the poor fool that accidentally leaves his fax on at home, for once they know it's a live fax number, you'll get several calls during the wee hours every day for a few weeks until they give up (I know). It's been years since I had that thing hooked up and I still get an odd call every month or so on the answering machine with the telltale beep tones at 2AM.
Anoto functionality derives from a proprietary pattern of very small dots printed on paper that is perceived by the eye as a slightly off-white color. The dots have a nominal spacing of 0.3 mm (0.01 inch). A minute portion of the total pattern uniquely defines its position in the full pattern, 60 000 000 square kilometres, which is equivalent to an area exceeding that of Europe and Asia combined.
The pattern of dots allows dynamic information coming from the digital camera in the pen to be processed into signals representing functionality, writing and drawing.
So yes, they can track you by what you write.
Anoto is the original developer of the Logitech IO pen.
Yes you are. They weren't even subpoenaed. They were given formal notice a subpoena was in the works and to protect and hold confidential any information they may have.
That's the real kicker. There isn't even a subpoena (yet). We now have some sort of letter that has the same effect and none of the judicial oversight. Isn't that just grand?
Yellow Dog Journalism? I just thought it was "Yellow Journalism", based on the sensationalism surrounding the papers that carried the "Yellow Kid" comic strip.
At least that is what they taught me in my journalism classes. Google seems to agree too.
Dunno about the EU and Canada, but the US Patent on LZW compression expired in June 2003. By this July of next year all the foreign patents will also have expired.
I saw the book (dead tree version) and I looked up my address. There was my unlisted number. The names they showed were the same names that would normally appear in a regular phonebook, that is either the full name, initial and last name, or whatever. I do not remember what unlisted numbers looked like, they may have had no name at all, just an address and telephone number, or something like this: 11345 Main St. Anytown, CA Mike Smith....(818)555-1212 11346 Main St. Anytown, CA P Jones.......(818)555-2323 11350 Main St. Anytown, CA...............(818)555-3434 11356 Main St. Anytown, CA Cathy Brown...(818)555-0101
The person who ran the business was into mortgage refinancing and only called "select" customers who showed up on specially filtered lists of people who recently bought homes, or other data that would target homeowners. I never saw him use the books except to verify addresses to phone numbers.
My number is currently unlisted and I still get calls from MCI, LA Times, and several mortgage companies using recorded messages. MCI calls us no more after I read them the riot act from the lovely "menu" on the Junkbusters site, the LA Times calls only when I'm not at home, and you cannot tell a recording to put you on a do not call list. None of them know my name either.
And how is this list of numbers so bad? I've seen the "reverse directories" that the telephone company leases to telemarketers. These phone books contain every street address with the particular name and phone number for that address.
It also includes unlisted numbers.
A nationwide blacklist of numbers that is now suddenly a whitelist for marketers isn't really all that valuable unless they are selling Telezappers or other "privacy" devices.
I use it because I have had this account since before Hotmail was purchased by Microsoft. It's also easy to hand out to those who want my e-mail and it's an easy to remember domain.
I was looking at this a few weeks ago. You make up an address at their domain and jump on the web site to get the confirmation email. You don't even need a password.
The only drawback is that the mailboxes were all on that one domain - too easy to blacklist.
I need a mail server for non-sensitive e-mails. If someone roots Hotmail's server, I couldn't care less about it. If someone roots my server, then it's a whole different matter. I also use it to prevent handing out my real email address to the myriad of sites that require e-mail registration and for usenet postings.
So yes, in my case Hotmail is a very secure solution.
Funny thing is, at some places the tide is a' changing.
My university used to be all VAX and UNIX (HP hardware) and taught the requisite core computer software: Wordperfect, Lotus 123, DB III. Lab computers were a mix of PCs, Macs, VT100 terminals, and some HP Gecko and Sun boxes.
MS came into the picture and showered the university with a nice load of software, and the next semester the university was busy putting in NT servers, NT workstations and teaching MS Office. The Macs were neglected and the Suns remained.
Not to be bitter over all of it, but the Office move was a wise choice for the students because that was where the business world was going. Yes, it was feeding the problem but the students need jobs. Running the campus network from a bunch of NT machines really bit them hard over the past two years with all the worms going around. Nimda, Slammer and Blaster hit them pretty hard.
Blaster was pretty amusing because right when they got the infection under control and the machines patched, the professors returned from the summer break and started powering up their personal (unpatched) systems and started the whole mess up all over again.
Since going back for my Master's about two years ago I finally saw Macs making inroads on the campus network, running OS X server (in the campus IT dept) and OS X elsewhere. They really seem to like them over the NT machines as well.
You know, a short while ago I'd flame you mercilessly for comments like that. Now all I can do is sit here and nod my head knowingly.
As for Bush, he's the head honcho in charge, but we'd be in this situation no matter who was in office. Besides, our "representatives" in the government were the ones that shoved this down our throats. Republicrat and Demican alike.
While I don't work with anything as sexy as pathogens, I am trying to get my grad-level thesis on computer security done. Practically any field of research I want to choose potentially opens me up to criminal prosecution.
As an example:
My university wanted me to do research on LDAP and its related security problems. They wanted me to do this at first on a strawman system, then on the actual system in use on the campus. I objected to this line of research because if I were "caught" probing or attacking the system and the person who discovered me jumped the appropriate chain of command and called the authorities, I would be up shit creek without a paddle.
I also brought up the problem on who owns (or has ultimate authority over) the campus network. It is operated by the university, but owned by the state and to some extent, the feds. What if the university gave me permission but the state or federal authorities decided they didn't like my work? What then?
My professors told me I could do the thesis and "bury" my work. That is, copies would be made for myself, my committee, and a copy in the library under the "restricted section". But if I do so, what's the use?
The GX is just like a "normal" Civic. It has nearly the same horsepower and looks and drives just like a normal Civic.
I nearly bought one last year. In 2004, Honda is including the home refuelling unit with the purchase of the vehicle. Granted, the car has a 200-300 mile range on a full tank, but the car costs about $5-6 to fill up and you can top it off each night at home. Home fuelling is "slow-fill" and takes 5 or so hours. On the road you'll have to find a 'fast-fill' station (hard to come by, but they're there) that will fill the tank in 3-5 minutes. The lack of a fuel infrastructure is the one big drawback. However, if you need a commuter car this cannot be beat for cost.
For the treehuggers, the exhaust of this vehicle is cleaner than the air you breathe.
The advantages this car has over a hybrid is that you can drive it in HOV lanes in California, and IIRC, you do not need to pay for metered parking either.
I found the GX to be an excellent commuter car. Unfortunately for me, I had two problems. In 2003, the home refuelling unit was not available and I had $30K burning a hole in my pocket. So I opted for an S2000. Fun won out over practicality... this time.
What we have here is the same need to swap identifying info that those who are members of grocery-store "club cards" are doing:
Get a bunch of fellow college students together (the more, the merrier) and organize a group buy of a bunch of NICs.
Everyone registers their NIC with the university, and then swap the cards amongst yourselves in a double-blind fashion. When questioned about it later, just call it an administrative screw-up or just say you sold the card to another university student and you no longer remember who it is.
If this activity is rampant enough, we can regain anonymity on college campus networks.
"I can't say it wouldn't be appealing to bring back Opus to the Sunday pages," Breathed told those gathered, according to Editor & Publisher. "It was painful to sit through the war without a public voice."
Painful? They already had Doonesbury which covered the anti-war and Bush-bashing department quite adequately. Breathed's comics would also have an anti-war, anti-Bush slant but would have made it thought-provoking and actually funny.
But the executive branch has a lot of power when it comes to enforcing the laws. So Congress and the courts can say what they wish, but if the Executive Branch tells them to go screw, then there's not much else of a choice but impeachment I guess...
Read about the "Trail of Tears" sometime:
In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which directed the executive branch to negotiate for Indian lands. This act, in combination with the discovery of gold and an increasingly untenable position with the state of Georgia, prompted the Cherokee Nation to bring suit in the U.S. Supreme Court. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the majority, held that the Cherokee Nation was a "domestic dependent nation," and therefore Georgia state law applied to them. That decision, however, was reversed the following year in Worcester v. Georgia. Under an 1830 law Georgia required all white residents in Cherokee country to secure a license from the governor and to take an oath of allegiance to the state. Missionaries Samuel A. Worcester and Elizur Butler refused and were convicted and imprisoned. Worcester appealed to the Supreme Court. This time the court found that Indian nations are capable of making treaties, that under the Constitution treaties are the supreme law of the land, that the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation, and that state law had no force within the Cherokee boundaries. Worcester was ordered released from jail.
President Jackson refused to enforce the court's decision and along with legal technicalities, the fate of the Principal People seemed to be in the hands of the federal government. Even though the Cherokee people had adopted many practices of the white culture, and had used the court system in two major Supreme Court cases, they were unable to halt the removal process.
"John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." -- President Andrew Jackson re: Worcester v. Georgia
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I personally don't care either. I'd drop the money for a tuner if I knew it would not become a doorstop in a few years.
The XBR is now performing PBS programming for my kid and DVD playback. Screw the networks, HDTV, and all that. When they flip the big switch and kill all old SDTV channels, that'll get everyone off their asses and do something about all this mess.
I used one of these during our recent recall campaign here in California. The polling place I went to had about 5 workers on 5 windows PC's processing votes & smartcards and about 10-12 Diebold voting terminals. One terminal was set up in "demo" mode for people to play with before they vote. So this is how the whole polling process works:
1. Pollworker asks for stub from ballot sample mailer, or voter has to fill out a form if he/she doesn't have one.
2. Pollworker tells voter they are not required to show ID. They have to tell every other voter this because most people seem willing to show ID to vote. Pollworker hands out a number to the voter.
3. You wait for a bit then they call your number. You are handed a smartcard that looks remarkably like the cards used in DishNetwork satellite boxes (credit card sized, with circular 8-contact patch near one side of it).
4. You go to an available machine and stick your card in. The machine states it's loading "your ballot". Presumably from the smartcard. All this is displayed on a portrait-mode LCD touchscreen running some form of Windows (judged by the appearance of the widgets on the screen). Select your language and go.
5. The machine shows a remarkably nice simulation of the paper ballot. You touch the box next to the item you vote for and the box turns red and places an "X" in it.
6. After voting, you can "cast" the ballot, or "review" your votes. I spent a few minutes playing around with it. Reviewing shows each voted item as it would appear on the ballot, "X" and all.
7. When you cast your ballot, the info is saved on the card. You hand the card back to one of the pollworkers and they process it and then hand the card to the next voter. It would have been easy to walk out with the card, but a fat lot of good that would do anyone.
From a UI design, they seemed spot-on in making the process simple. This however did not prevent some voters from hogging the machine for 15+ minutes to vote on 1 recall isuue, 1 replacement candidate, and 2 initiatives. Diebold did a great job with these machines from the UI standpoint. Of course, the security aspects of the system leave much to be desired, but I thought you all would like to have heard about how the process works.
I thought they were pushing it only to free up all those analog channels and their respective bandwidth so they can make money selling off the frequencies.
I was really upset after I bought my XBR set. It was "HDTV" ready, and would work with an analog HDTV input. A year later, the HDTV standard went into upheaval over the "copy bit" and analog HDTV inputs became obsolete. Now it's more than two years later and they want to change the standards AGAIN?
Now everyone who bought an HDTV (or HDTV ready) set are as screwed as I am?
BTW: Yes, I know I can still buy a cable, Dish or DirecTV setup that supplies analog HDTV. The thing that prevents me from making the $600+ investment is the disclaimer on the boxes that state that the HD programming can be killed at any time on request of the content providers.
Users of encrypted digital HDTV tuners don't have that worry.
My Sony XBR that was bought in 2000, STILL does not have an HDTV tuner available for it from the manufacturer.
Evidently it is. I have the dubious pleasure of having junk faxers call my lines at odd hours (2AM-5AM) once or twice a week. On the odd times that my computer/fax machine pickes up, the information on the fax leads to a call center in the Bahamas. Close enough to get cheap LD to the US, and far enough away to avoid US laws.
And pity the poor fool that accidentally leaves his fax on at home, for once they know it's a live fax number, you'll get several calls during the wee hours every day for a few weeks until they give up (I know). It's been years since I had that thing hooked up and I still get an odd call every month or so on the answering machine with the telltale beep tones at 2AM.
True, that's why some of us are software engineers who work on their master's degree, juggle family responsibilities and hold a full-time job.
But I still look (and sometimes smell) like a highly educated homeless person. Can't have everything, I guess.
That's why there's EDU pricing. If you are eligible, the cost for Panther is $69.00
They sure don't. I received Jaguar the day before the official release. Damn them, I wanted to wait.
So yes, they can track you by what you write.
Anoto is the original developer of the Logitech IO pen.
Yes you are. They weren't even subpoenaed. They were given formal notice a subpoena was in the works and to protect and hold confidential any information they may have.
That's the real kicker. There isn't even a subpoena (yet). We now have some sort of letter that has the same effect and none of the judicial oversight. Isn't that just grand?
Yellow Dog Journalism? I just thought it was "Yellow Journalism", based on the sensationalism surrounding the papers that carried the "Yellow Kid" comic strip.
At least that is what they taught me in my journalism classes. Google seems to agree too.
Dunno about the EU and Canada, but the US Patent on LZW compression expired in June 2003. By this July of next year all the foreign patents will also have expired.
So GIF's will be good then, right?
Yes, I agree that the fact that this is a tree is quite significant compared to the more primitive ferns.
I was just pointing out that there are quite "old" plants that are living fossils aside from this tree.
Lets not forget the many species of ferns. There are tree fern species that date back to the carboniferous era.
Here's some more info.
I saw the book (dead tree version) and I looked up my address. There was my unlisted number. The names they showed were the same names that would normally appear in a regular phonebook, that is either the full name, initial and last name, or whatever. I do not remember what unlisted numbers looked like, they may have had no name at all, just an address and telephone number, or something like this:
11345 Main St. Anytown, CA Mike Smith....(818)555-1212
11346 Main St. Anytown, CA P Jones.......(818)555-2323
11350 Main St. Anytown, CA...............(818)555-3434
11356 Main St. Anytown, CA Cathy Brown...(818)555-0101
The person who ran the business was into mortgage refinancing and only called "select" customers who showed up on specially filtered lists of people who recently bought homes, or other data that would target homeowners. I never saw him use the books except to verify addresses to phone numbers.
My number is currently unlisted and I still get calls from MCI, LA Times, and several mortgage companies using recorded messages. MCI calls us no more after I read them the riot act from the lovely "menu" on the Junkbusters site, the LA Times calls only when I'm not at home, and you cannot tell a recording to put you on a do not call list. None of them know my name either.
And how is this list of numbers so bad? I've seen the "reverse directories" that the telephone company leases to telemarketers. These phone books contain every street address with the particular name and phone number for that address.
It also includes unlisted numbers.
A nationwide blacklist of numbers that is now suddenly a whitelist for marketers isn't really all that valuable unless they are selling Telezappers or other "privacy" devices.
I use it because I have had this account since before Hotmail was purchased by Microsoft. It's also easy to hand out to those who want my e-mail and it's an easy to remember domain.
I was looking at this a few weeks ago. You make up an address at their domain and jump on the web site to get the confirmation email. You don't even need a password.
The only drawback is that the mailboxes were all on that one domain - too easy to blacklist.
Great suggestion though.
Actually it is secure, depending on your needs.
I need a mail server for non-sensitive e-mails. If someone roots Hotmail's server, I couldn't care less about it. If someone roots my server, then it's a whole different matter. I also use it to prevent handing out my real email address to the myriad of sites that require e-mail registration and for usenet postings.
So yes, in my case Hotmail is a very secure solution.
Funny thing is, at some places the tide is a' changing.
.
My university used to be all VAX and UNIX (HP hardware) and taught the requisite core computer software: Wordperfect, Lotus 123, DB III. Lab computers were a mix of PCs, Macs, VT100 terminals, and some HP Gecko and Sun boxes
MS came into the picture and showered the university with a nice load of software, and the next semester the university was busy putting in NT servers, NT workstations and teaching MS Office. The Macs were neglected and the Suns remained.
Not to be bitter over all of it, but the Office move was a wise choice for the students because that was where the business world was going. Yes, it was feeding the problem but the students need jobs. Running the campus network from a bunch of NT machines really bit them hard over the past two years with all the worms going around. Nimda, Slammer and Blaster hit them pretty hard.
Blaster was pretty amusing because right when they got the infection under control and the machines patched, the professors returned from the summer break and started powering up their personal (unpatched) systems and started the whole mess up all over again.
Since going back for my Master's about two years ago I finally saw Macs making inroads on the campus network, running OS X server (in the campus IT dept) and OS X elsewhere. They really seem to like them over the NT machines as well.
You know, a short while ago I'd flame you mercilessly for comments like that. Now all I can do is sit here and nod my head knowingly.
As for Bush, he's the head honcho in charge, but we'd be in this situation no matter who was in office. Besides, our "representatives" in the government were the ones that shoved this down our throats. Republicrat and Demican alike.
While I don't work with anything as sexy as pathogens, I am trying to get my grad-level thesis on computer security done. Practically any field of research I want to choose potentially opens me up to criminal prosecution.
As an example:
My university wanted me to do research on LDAP and its related security problems. They wanted me to do this at first on a strawman system, then on the actual system in use on the campus. I objected to this line of research because if I were "caught" probing or attacking the system and the person who discovered me jumped the appropriate chain of command and called the authorities, I would be up shit creek without a paddle.
I also brought up the problem on who owns (or has ultimate authority over) the campus network. It is operated by the university, but owned by the state and to some extent, the feds. What if the university gave me permission but the state or federal authorities decided they didn't like my work? What then?
My professors told me I could do the thesis and "bury" my work. That is, copies would be made for myself, my committee, and a copy in the library under the "restricted section". But if I do so, what's the use?
The GX is just like a "normal" Civic. It has nearly the same horsepower and looks and drives just like a normal Civic.
I nearly bought one last year. In 2004, Honda is including the home refuelling unit with the purchase of the vehicle. Granted, the car has a 200-300 mile range on a full tank, but the car costs about $5-6 to fill up and you can top it off each night at home. Home fuelling is "slow-fill" and takes 5 or so hours. On the road you'll have to find a 'fast-fill' station (hard to come by, but they're there) that will fill the tank in 3-5 minutes. The lack of a fuel infrastructure is the one big drawback. However, if you need a commuter car this cannot be beat for cost.
For the treehuggers, the exhaust of this vehicle is cleaner than the air you breathe.
The advantages this car has over a hybrid is that you can drive it in HOV lanes in California, and IIRC, you do not need to pay for metered parking either.
I found the GX to be an excellent commuter car. Unfortunately for me, I had two problems. In 2003, the home refuelling unit was not available and I had $30K burning a hole in my pocket. So I opted for an S2000. Fun won out over practicality... this time.
What we have here is the same need to swap identifying info that those who are members of grocery-store "club cards" are doing:
Get a bunch of fellow college students together (the more, the merrier) and organize a group buy of a bunch of NICs.
Everyone registers their NIC with the university, and then swap the cards amongst yourselves in a double-blind fashion. When questioned about it later, just call it an administrative screw-up or just say you sold the card to another university student and you no longer remember who it is.
If this activity is rampant enough, we can regain anonymity on college campus networks.
Painful? They already had Doonesbury which covered the anti-war and Bush-bashing department quite adequately. Breathed's comics would also have an anti-war, anti-Bush slant but would have made it thought-provoking and actually funny.
But the executive branch has a lot of power when it comes to enforcing the laws. So Congress and the courts can say what they wish, but if the Executive Branch tells them to go screw, then there's not much else of a choice but impeachment I guess...
Read about the "Trail of Tears" sometime:
In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which directed the executive branch to negotiate for Indian lands. This act, in combination with the discovery of gold and an increasingly untenable position with the state of Georgia, prompted the Cherokee Nation to bring suit in the U.S. Supreme Court. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the majority, held that the Cherokee Nation was a "domestic dependent nation," and therefore Georgia state law applied to them.
That decision, however, was reversed the following year in Worcester v. Georgia. Under an 1830 law Georgia required all white residents in Cherokee country to secure a license from the governor and to take an oath of allegiance to the state. Missionaries Samuel A. Worcester and Elizur Butler refused and were convicted and imprisoned. Worcester appealed to the Supreme Court. This time the court found that Indian nations are capable of making treaties, that under the Constitution treaties are the supreme law of the land, that the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation, and that state law had no force within the Cherokee boundaries. Worcester was ordered released from jail.
President Jackson refused to enforce the court's decision and along with legal technicalities, the fate of the Principal People seemed to be in the hands of the federal government. Even though the Cherokee people had adopted many practices of the white culture, and had used the court system in two major Supreme Court cases, they were unable to halt the removal process.
"John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." -- President Andrew Jackson re: Worcester v. Georgia