A lot of toothbrushes now use inductive charging. My electric tea kettle does as well, and it is high gain. This means the contact is well sealed. The juice moves over the insulator. No unsealed points.
Still, it would be cool to have a sort of recharging zone -- a table, say, by the front door where you could just toss all your mobile stuff to get a wireless boost. It might even stat broadcasting only when a device is there. (Unlike a transformer, which sucks a little juice like a little vampire all day long waiting for someone to plug him -- or her -- in.)
DNS-and-BIND your observation is perfectly correct. I was using some comic hyperbole to make a point. Perhaps I should also have added that the other side of the coin to not incarcerating people for mental illness (drug addiction is so defined) would be to invest enough in education to create human beings with the self esteem and intellect not to chronically need the seductive shortcut to 'happiness' that drugs and alcohol provide. (I exclude here sane recreational use.) We can, I might add, also provide more opportunity as a society.
We have 2,000,000 people behind bars right now -- a virtual nation -- and a disproportionate number of them from minorities and also a disproportionate number for the drug- and the property-related crimes addiction stimulates -- ten times more than there were twenty years ago. This is down to draconian drug laws that have clearly deterred nobody. Let's decriminalize, educate and treat if needed.
Pardon my sarcasm about low paying jobs, but I was making the point that if people are educated and provided with opportunity they will probably choose to succeed. If they still want to get high all the time then let the consequence they get fit the life choice they have made. If they can later get treatment and recover they can then go on to a normal life. (And treatment opportunities should be part of any decriminalization plan.) But it is nearly impossible to climb out of the hole a prison term and a felony conviction puts you in. Going to jail for drugs should be relegated to the ash heap of history -- along with debtor's prison and going to jail for sodomy. That said, we must then also use the tools that we know work like early childhood education, family counseling and quality education to counteract the tide that sweeps people into addiction.
Note. Our last three Presidents all used drugs to a greater or lesser extent. If any one of them had been seriously wrapped up for it at the time they would never have achieved high office. It is a crap shoot out there. IMHO Drugs are far less harmful to society than are the current laws against them. This is especially so in light of the educational and psychosocial tools we have to help people who get messed up.
For countries with the political courage to try treating drug use as a social and medical problem, instead of as a legal one, the jury is in. It works. Switzerland has had prescription heroin for a decade on an experimental basis. They just voted to make the law permanent. Nothing chic about heroin in Switzerland. Just a bunch of old losers. Addiction rate is going down. Most hold crappy jobs. Opoids don't completely incapacitate a person -- as many on pain meds know. (They are hard on the gut) The Netherlands have also had progressive policies. There is of course a downside (particularly as people from countries with prohibition come in and cause problems), but in the balance the Dutch are okay with the openness. The great thing about relegating drugs to the medical sphere is that the cool factor evaporates. And the financial incentive dissipates.
Prohibition uses sovereign power to create artificial scarcity increasing price and creating an underworld. Get this crap in the sunshine. Give it to the people who want it for cheap and they will mainly fill low paying jobs -- with some exceptions.
Handle it in the private sector. You can test for drug use for security clearances and operator licenses etc. We need people to push brooms and flip burgers.
"Dude, here's a spliff, now take this broom and sawdust and clean the warehouse. And by the way if you want a better life the clinic is open and the NA meeting is down the street."
The exception is of course with creative people. They can do fine with drugs if they don't go overboard. Code poets, jazz men and artists will use. But they also get clean, too. Up to them I say. This puritanical nanny stuff is for the birds.
Interestingly, I read that Cisco systems decided to scratch their testing policies. Too many good people came up dirty. True or not I do not know. And perhaps the status has changed. Comments?
mailed to their Manhattan addresses, Why shouldn't Tesla cash in on the wealthy welfare windfall? Heck, AIG is still paying big cash bonuses to its managers with our money.
Seriously, the seed money was designed to go to support the manufacture of energy-efficient cars. I don't really begrudge an innovator like Tesla some of Uncle Sugar's pocket change. Perhaps the tech will trickle down into cars we can all afford. Cars themselves were rich boy toys a century ago.
Chrome has a nice feature that lets one launch Google apps like gmail in an app like window (without the browser chrome). I use Chrome for gmail exclusively since it launches then loads and downloads my inbox in a trice. However, Chrome has no built-in RSS. It imported my bookmarks from Firefox, but not the "live bookmarks" or RSS feeds. Since I browse news and info using my feeds as a point of departure I don't use Chrome for most stuff. I tried an aggregator plugin, but it did not integrate well with Chrome.
BTW I think this app-like behavior is the central feature of Chrome's ultimate utility. In the end it can function as a sort of OS within an OS, but one that is tailored to use the cloud - quickly and efficiently. Just a thought.
Dragon Systems is by far the best speech to text resource. I use 9.0, but 10.0 is out. And by all accounts it is better. Like all good tools that have power and flexibility Dragon takes some time to master. But it is intelligent and repays hard work by improving. Suggest you get Dragon Preferred or, at a minimum, Pro. With these you can also make audio notes on a stand-alone recorder which may be fed in to the program later for transcription. If the audio is good (use a headset) the results are very good. Of course it needs an editing treatment, but what draft does not? So, you could make notes in addition to controlling the computer.
I suggest you practice at some time when your hands are not busy playing with the Andromeda Strain. And if you get skilled with Dragon you can swap modes; that is, speech to text or control mode.
The hard truth is this: Speech to text is something you have to learn how to do. Even if the program is perfect there is a learning curve for verbally inserting punctuation. And for writing with your voice. Nine has a feature to do punctuation automatically, but it works as poorly as most stenographers. In another life I used to dictate to a secretary who took shorthand. Even with her I interposed punctuation. And I can tell you...It really took me some time to learn her curves. Drum Roll Please
Hmmmm. Not hard to imagine some simple ways to alter the "expression" on the car. Compressed air components acting like face muscles, lights, rotating panels.
Heading to the beach? Happy face. Heading to work? Angry face. On a date? Depends what you are into. Heading in for service? Sad face. Heck. Why not have mood horns as well? Okay, maybe not. Let's not get too crazy.
You are on the right track, but your solution lacks refinement...
Although clothing-free flights might be pleasant for the under thirty crowd (some anyway) us older peeps think a nice Tyvek body suit would be more practical... and more pleasant... for all concerned.
The way I see it getting on a plane should be like getting sent up. Changing room, shower, cavity search (or fluoroscope) and a jumpsuit. Okay.. not orange. There are marketing concerns. Pink for girlz and blue for boyz. Carry-on? Are ya kidding? Actually, all luggage is flown by drones the day before. For a few rubles extra it's at your destination when you get there. All in-flight computer activity is via the cloud. The Cloud's cloud (TM). Lunch? Blueberry yogurt for the boyz and strawberry for the girls. I also think we should get a free sleeping pill. You still with me? A blue one for the Boyz and a pink one for the girlz. And who needs a restroom when you could stuff a few more seats in? Besides, a situation with people moving around the cabin is insecure. REMAIN SEATED. What do you have against Dependz? Yup. You got it. Blue ones for the boyz, pink ones for the girlz.
I confess that, at least at this res, I would have been fooled hands down; that is, viewing Emily cold. No way would I have twigged that this is CGI in a blind test. IMHO knowing it was an animation beforehand queers the game a bit. Hard to say if any perceived funniness is projection or perception.
That said, with all the possible faces art and imagination could muster, Couldn't they have made her a little hotter? Or maybe chosen the face of a star long since gone?
And that dress. Yikes! No taste. Absolutely no taste. She must have started her career at Microsoft.
This land is my land
This land is my land
I got a shotgun
An' you ain't got one
If you don't get off
I'll blow your head off
This land is private property
TFA was really interesting. I never had the faintest idea that there was such a watershed in flash memory. Always thought the differences were incremental.
I know that compact flash for cameras varies in price and performance. The purportedly good ones get marketed as Ultra, High-Speed, etc. Interesting to note that there is a technical difference as dramatic as SLC vs MLC that could be cited, but I never recall it being touted as a selling point for high-end cards. One might not care so much about a thumb drive being fast and reliable given the use pattern, but if one is laying down images in a war zone, or in a ball game (or even in a delivery room) one kind of wants the best when the data are unique.
As someone who cares a lot about his pictures I would pay a premium for an SLC compact flash card or an SD card; that is, provided I was assured of the difference. To date I have gone for a high price on cards, but have not always gotten what I payed for. I think it would be worth it to out the specs of some of these cards. Some savvy marketer might do well by touting the SLC spec for some applications.
Anyone know about any compact flash or SD cards that use SLC?
Stories of interest and stories of importance. The best stories combine both elements, but they are rare. These days news editors always go for the stories of interest. In the past they balanced the presentation. There used to be more regulation from the FCC concerning broadcast news as well as more self-restraint and self-regulation in a desire to educate and inform the public. But the regulation was relaxed in the 80s in favor of the free market. Now demographics alone drive the news. Against the better instincts of the newsrooms the dictates of the cutthroat ratings wars prevail. Slowly but surely the old culture died.
The taste for muck really hasn't changed in a hundred years. William Randolph Hearst is famous for having ordered that every one of his newspapers have a picture of a beautiful woman on the cover. Preferably, he liked to add, in several pieces. It is axiomatic that the more prurient the interest the better the sales.
There was a decades-long period after World War II when there was a culture of intellectual balance. My take is that it kind of grew out of wartime censorship. But now we are back to the days of yellow journalism when the Hearsts and the Pulitzers ruled the roost --- think Rupert Murdoch. Except we have broadcast. Now, it's true, that what is interesting to some is not interesting to others. However, for the broadest demographic it is the gossip, fires, murders, storms and scandals that excite interest and grab eyeballs. They always have. The truth is that stories of great national importance are sometimes really pretty boring. Compare these three headlines:
CITING INFLATION THREAT FEDERAL RESERVE RAISES INTEREST RATE A FULL BASIS POINT IN SUDDEN MOVE.
With
PORN STAR FOUND DISMEMBERED IN TRUNK OF RAP ARTIST'S BENTLEY
with
LEADING US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOUND DEAD OF DRUG OVERDOSE IN NEVADA MOTEL
Now in terms of importance, lives affected jobs affected people affected, the first story is really pretty important, arguably the most important. Such an unprecedented move would probably slam the stock market precipitating hundreds of thousands of job losses and all the misery that comes with it. Is it a lead? No. Despite its wide reaching importance, it's a yawn --- at least to most people. The stock market crash the next day might make the general headlines. But not the Fed move (Except on the financial page.) The second story is a prime example of a story of interest. But the third story combines both elements. That would probably be the lead any good news editor would choose; that is, unless it was a purely business news show. As long as the news is an advertising-driven economic proposition you're always going to see stories of interest predominate. The years of balanced television news in the four decades after World War II were more the exception than the rule. And it's only in countries with independent, but state-owned news channels, like the British Broadcasting Corp., that you see intelligent balanced news. The British love their tabloid smut, to be sure, but they don't get it from the Beeb. And they don't expect it either. Of course it's paradoxical. One does not really want state-owned news broadcasters either. That's a nasty slippery slope. I don't have any answers, except perhaps, to say that unbridled capitalism works very nicely to generate wealth (a good thing), but it is not the answer to making every institution in society work the way it should. Maybe things are as they should be. The current model does give people what they want (or at least what they think they want), even though it might not be in their best interest. We do have listener-sponsored radio and television. You'll find me tuned in to PBS or National Public Radio for my news and analysis, not broadcast television. Except, perhaps, on a slow news day. What has Brit got up to now to I wonder?
No voice recognition?
Have you ever tried Dragon System's Nat Speak 9.0?
Seriously. I am just a very happy user not some shill. It is astounding.
However, I am also very disappointed by the future. I mean here we are and we are nowhere near where I thought we would be by now. No mars, no moon presence, no cool robots. Okay. The internet, but the telegraph was far more of a jump in it's day than the net was in it's. However IMHO you can check speech to text off the list.
I hate having stuff run on my box that I don't know about -- even benign or useful stuff. With Noscript I love having fine control over all the crap that sites want to run. I have gotten used to some sites needing to have components whitelisted before they work properly. I also love it that I can stop annoying flash from remote servers (This is why I downloaded NoScript). True, NoScript has given my wife headaches when it mysteriously (to her) blocks functionality, but I suggested she use Explorer instead of Firefox. She only goes to a few whitelisted sites anyway. If tools like Noscript start to become standard then I am all for it. Is this world of increasingly sophisticated Phishers and other creepy attacks NoScript makes me happy.
IANAL but this is interesting. It explains (at least to my mind) why companies like DRM, because there really needs to be a technical fence around their property since the plain old EULA is founded on legal quicksand. This also seems to me to explain why the DMCA was so sought after, because now if there is a lock then you can't break it to exercise your first sale rights. DMCA is, for the time being, a good counter to rights under first sale, but clearly conflicts with them. However, I do not think that the DMCA has come up in a Supreme Court challange where first sale, which is a strong principle, has been used as a defence.
Talk about a gray area! Can I sell you a suitcase with a locked compartment and tell you you can use the unlocked space, but that if you break the locked part and use it you go to jail? I don't think so. First sale is why you can resell your old software on Ebay (provided you have deleted it from your HDD since duplication to another person is a right held by the copyright holder.)
There is a lot of room for argument to be sure, and at least from the Wikipedia article the case law is all over the place, but it is pretty clear (at least to me) that you own your software to some degree. The publishers, however, would prefer that you think otherwise.
As for testing your right to test the lock. Well, legally you might be on solid ground. However you better have some deep pockets on your side to stave off the legal onslaught when you go public.
I agree that licensing is not a realistic possibilty. A good idea but pie in the sky now for any number of reasons. But who knows? The idea is a natural one and if things get so bad that the industry actually suffers (that is worse than they are and no technical fix is found) some hi-tech locality might be moved to pass a law. Headline: "Sunnyvale CA requires license for broadband users."
I am rather pleased and a little surprised that this idea received a little positive feedback.
My thought was more that a person, not a computer, would get the license. Once the person demonstrated that he or she had the knowledge to operate the box responsibly then they could connect at high speed and run whatever hardware or software configuration they wanted. And since *nix systems don't currently need a lot of security cruft then running them would be fine. The licensing body is simply trying to get at least one security-aware person per broadband connection. As with an auto license you could drive whatever car you want. Not everyone using the machine(s) would have to get the license. The assumption would be that the licensed maintainer would work with the other users to keep from getting pwned. Perhaps there might be consequences for the licensee if he let the side down and became a zombie happy meal.
This is distinct from an annual auto inspection, which is more what Cisco Kid seemed to be talking about. (Also an approach to this problem) But I would not like anyone looking at my config and telling me I need to upgrade my AV package. Or run one when I don't need one. I don't much like car inspections either. But the idea I had concerning a broadband license would be hardware neutral. And as I said, dial up and, say, ISDN might be license free.
There are ham licenses, Why not license high-speed access in some way? It is also powerful. The process does not have to be hard, but at least one person, say, at home or in the SOHO should demonstrate he or she knows how to secure the computer (to some minimal standard) and keep it that way before a broadband install is allowed to the address. You can create all the fine security software and solid OSs you want, but unless the users are clued in then it is hopeless. The bar does not have to be set that high. But there is nothing like a license to motivate a little learning.
Or at least require ISPs to provide minimal security training to their broadband customers. As has been said: Most infection is self inflicted through ignorance. Some people might welcome the chance to learn. I know I did not want to scuba dive without some training. A lot of parents would be motivated to learn about filtering software etc. A license should be grandfathered in of course. This problem will worsen in direct proportion to bandwidth. And certainly there should be citizens' band speeds. (TBD)
People might grumble, but if it is sold as a community responsibility a license track might fly. Most (well, many) people are motivated by a sense of community responsibility. I had a young friend whose computer was a viral soup. Infected beyond redemption. Ruined. I reinstalled Windows for her, which cleaned up the mess, but she was resistant to the idea of anti-virus software because she claimed she did not do anything serious with the computer and did not want to hassle. Her current mess had taken years to build. And, she asked, couldn't she just redo the box again when it tanked? But I pointed out to her that it wasn't just her that suffered, it was the whole community that suffered when she left her computer vulnerable. (I explained a little about bots) The idea that she could be hurting others through inaction really upset her (she had never thought it through) and so we were downloading Zonealarm, AVG and AdAware in no time. In the end she bought a subscription to a suite. McAfee I think.
Before anyone starts screaming about rights and freedoms being taken away, please think about this: A license is a way that a civil society makes its members accountable, from food vendors to electricians. I am less free because of all the bots out there. If people can't get on the highway without demonstrating some knowledge, Why should they get on the information highway in a state of ignorance, especially now that we are banking and shopping there?
Sorry, couldn't resist. Had to get it out of my system.
Now, on a more serious note. Essentially this is a toy. No one needs me to point out that robot toys have been, and remain, really popular. Kids interact with them tirelessly. Adults like toys, too, of course. "Daaaad, it's s'pose to be MY train set."
So, like all people, old folks like toys, too. My Mom is 90. She is independent. She still works as an artist. And she takes pretty good care of herself. She absorbs more news than I do and could out-talk Diane Rehm on politics. She also likes to play with a few dolls she has on her mantle. She'll rearrange them and talk to them just like an eight year old girl. She's not out of it. She knows she's pretending (just like an eight year old would if you asked) but she enjoys the imaginary play. I mean, we all do in some way or another.
So I think a really quality soft toy capable of dynamic interaction would be fun from time to time. I mean a Dance Dance Revolution console is probably out for my mom, but a responsive interactive toy with a few surprises and unlocks in store? Maybe an old song, or a poem? Why not? She might enjoy it while she's waiting for the C-Span book review to come on. Or while she waiting for my cousin to come over so she can whip him in scabble...again
Given a little privacy no one is above playing with a cool toy.
clamshell package. The shell is reusable. It snaps shut with about six hefty pop-in buttons that have corresponding dimples around the edge -- very neat. I store the headlamp in the indestructible shell, which slips back in the box. I keep it in the car in a utility tool box (nothing handier for hands-free repair illumination). I also use it for cross country skiing after dark. The shell makes for great protection in a jumbled environment that would otherwise make short work of this lamp. I would like to see this resealable style become more standard and so make a virtue of necessity. (A reviewer viewed this packaging as a minus as it meant that the merchandise might have been removed and handled and replaced.) But a simple breakable edge seal would reveal previous opening. Besides, the package's usefullness as a case outweighs this minor concern.
As for the hot sealed-edge type of shell? I agree with the many other posters who said that a good pair of heavy shears or scissors best does the trick.
If I can manage I keep these shells neat and intact. Sometimes they are required for returns. I just got a replacement turbo battery charger on warranty that had an "original package" clause buried in the fine print.
The Hash House Harriers is the world's most eccentric running club. It is a terrific international social network. The Hash (as in corned-beef) is a 70-year old trail running society with a penchant for paper chases through the muddy woods followed by outrageous humor, taunting and the singing of bawdy songs in the infamous post-run beer-drinking "circle" . With ~ 1700 chapters world wide there is probably a chapter near you. Log on to http://www.gthhh.com/ in order to find it. Hint. If you decide to show up it would be best wear your old running shoes. Trust me.
As a hasher I have a lively society wherever I go (And I wind up in places like Armenia and Moldova). Currently, I am in Oslo Norway and running with the Oslo Hash House: http://www.oslohash.com/
My Hash Name is "The Flasher" which is pretty tame by club standards. It was given to me because, being a geek, I bought a digicam seven years ago in Armenia and annoyed everyone by snapping off thousands of pictures. The internet has really made a difference to the growth of the hash. (Google 'Hash House Harriers' and you will see.) But as far as I know there is not one online community. Hashers prefer to interact on a face-to-face basis. Or even on a face-to-somewhere-else basis; that is, if they are lucky.
On On!
As for online communities... I have to confess that/. meets my needs. I like to learn so I like to read things by people who are smarter and more knowledgeable than I am and (don't laugh) this sometimes happens around here... Sometimes.
This is another reason not to buy a Vista system. Whether you are a Linux fan or not this is just plain ugly. In addtion to the DRM, the kill switch and general hardware-churning bloat, Microsoft is showing fewer scruples than ever with this IP FUD -- not that they ever had many scruples to begin with. If there is any similarity between the Linux kernel and MS code my guess would be that the prior art went the other way. To me it seems more probable that MS preyed on innovation that took place under GPL. After all, GPL's great strength, its reason to exist, is to promote unfettered innovation and creativity. Linux is full of great ideas. Shared ideas.
Microsoft has never been especially innovative, except in developing underhanded business practices to lift ideas from its developers and competitors and use its primary position as the OS provider to broaden its hegemony. The history speaks for itself, from GUI (a Xerox and Apple innovation) to the browser wars with Netscape, MS has always absorbed maturing technologies as opposed to developing new ones.
This latest divide-and-conquer strategy is bound to sting the FOSS movement, but hopefully it will galvanize ethical companies involved in FOSS to finally gang up on Microsoft.
I hope Vista founders and that we begin to see an increasing diversity of operating systems with strong open standards for cross platform document sharing. For the sake of fair competition, worldwide computer security and continued innovation I hope it so. We now know that monoculture is dangerous. Look at this latest spate of zombie spam running on SP2 boxes. Terrible. Think Vista will be better? Doubt it. Microsoft has not been able to entice customers to its server package, now it is trying to scare them. HP can do a lot more for Linux if they want and so can Dell. They might have to stand up to MS, but they can do a lot. And for that matter so can IBM, Apple and Google. As I said, this is the time to kick the MS habit.
...that steals most of its commercial software? It has probably gotten better since I lived and worked in Thailand but the concept of buying legal licensed software was unknown. It was even hard to find real software. Panthip Plaza, the electronics shopping center, used to close down when the US Trade Rep came to town. It was funny. If you bought a PC from a store there "ongoing support" meant that for the price of the disks the store would burn whatever package you wanted. True, the PR firm that handled the MS account had licensed software. And MS itself no doubt. No company (to say nothing of home users) paid for seats. No doubt things have improved with activation (although I saw cracked XP in Russian markets) but Thailand is the original fakeland. I wonder how much money this shill took to say what he did? It is weird. Ballmer probably wrote the script.
How does this fit in with the fact that China is going for FOSS in a big way?
And WTF! Thailand just ordered a million of Negroponte's low-cost laptops, which, of course, run Linux. As I said 'weird'.
1) At first CSIRO held these patents, but as a research institute they did not seek to enforce or gain from them, especially when
wireless was small potatoes of interest to a few wardriving geeks.
2) The big boys worried about the patents as the technology exploded (or perhaps CSIRO started to agitate in some way as wireless
went mainstream) So the big boys tried to claim that CSIRO patents were invalid in a suit.
3) CSIRO then said: "You can't sue us; we are immune. And, besides, our patents are good as gold. Ante up."
4) The big boys pressed suit nonetheless and determined that CSIROs claim of immunity was invalid.
5) Then CSIRO said: "So, if it is a fight you want, now WE can sue since we are not immune after all. See you in court."
6) Now they have beaten Buffalo, which is the pointy end of a legal spear against the big boys.
There is still a long way to go before CSIRO will see any money, but IMHO they are on track to get something (particularly if their demands stay modest).
It is a good yarn with high stakes. I thought TFA was thin. I would still like to se a good in-depth Wired-mag-type story on this. Any shouts?
Slashdot Mirror
A lot of toothbrushes now use inductive charging. My electric tea kettle does as well, and it is high gain. This means the contact is well sealed. The juice moves over the insulator. No unsealed points.
Still, it would be cool to have a sort of recharging zone -- a table, say, by the front door where you could just toss all your mobile stuff to get a wireless boost. It might even stat broadcasting only when a device is there. (Unlike a transformer, which sucks a little juice like a little vampire all day long waiting for someone to plug him -- or her -- in.)
DNS-and-BIND your observation is perfectly correct. I was using some comic hyperbole to make a point. Perhaps I should also have added that the other side of the coin to not incarcerating people for mental illness (drug addiction is so defined) would be to invest enough in education to create human beings with the self esteem and intellect not to chronically need the seductive shortcut to 'happiness' that drugs and alcohol provide. (I exclude here sane recreational use.) We can, I might add, also provide more opportunity as a society.
We have 2,000,000 people behind bars right now -- a virtual nation -- and a disproportionate number of them from minorities and also a disproportionate number for the drug- and the property-related crimes addiction stimulates -- ten times more than there were twenty years ago. This is down to draconian drug laws that have clearly deterred nobody. Let's decriminalize, educate and treat if needed.
Pardon my sarcasm about low paying jobs, but I was making the point that if people are educated and provided with opportunity they will probably choose to succeed. If they still want to get high all the time then let the consequence they get fit the life choice they have made. If they can later get treatment and recover they can then go on to a normal life. (And treatment opportunities should be part of any decriminalization plan.) But it is nearly impossible to climb out of the hole a prison term and a felony conviction puts you in. Going to jail for drugs should be relegated to the ash heap of history -- along with debtor's prison and going to jail for sodomy. That said, we must then also use the tools that we know work like early childhood education, family counseling and quality education to counteract the tide that sweeps people into addiction.
Note. Our last three Presidents all used drugs to a greater or lesser extent. If any one of them had been seriously wrapped up for it at the time they would never have achieved high office. It is a crap shoot out there. IMHO Drugs are far less harmful to society than are the current laws against them. This is especially so in light of the educational and psychosocial tools we have to help people who get messed up.
For countries with the political courage to try treating drug use as a social and medical problem, instead of as a legal one, the jury is in. It works. Switzerland has had prescription heroin for a decade on an experimental basis. They just voted to make the law permanent. Nothing chic about heroin in Switzerland. Just a bunch of old losers. Addiction rate is going down. Most hold crappy jobs. Opoids don't completely incapacitate a person -- as many on pain meds know. (They are hard on the gut) The Netherlands have also had progressive policies. There is of course a downside (particularly as people from countries with prohibition come in and cause problems), but in the balance the Dutch are okay with the openness. The great thing about relegating drugs to the medical sphere is that the cool factor evaporates. And the financial incentive dissipates.
Prohibition uses sovereign power to create artificial scarcity increasing price and creating an underworld. Get this crap in the sunshine. Give it to the people who want it for cheap and they will mainly fill low paying jobs -- with some exceptions.
Handle it in the private sector. You can test for drug use for security clearances and operator licenses etc. We need people to push brooms and flip burgers.
"Dude, here's a spliff, now take this broom and sawdust and clean the warehouse. And by the way if you want a better life the clinic is open and the NA meeting is down the street."
The exception is of course with creative people. They can do fine with drugs if they don't go overboard. Code poets, jazz men and artists will use. But they also get clean, too. Up to them I say. This puritanical nanny stuff is for the birds.
Interestingly, I read that Cisco systems decided to scratch their testing policies. Too many good people came up dirty. True or not I do not know. And perhaps the status has changed. Comments?
mailed to their Manhattan addresses, Why shouldn't Tesla cash in on the wealthy welfare windfall? Heck, AIG is still paying big cash bonuses to its managers with our money.
Seriously, the seed money was designed to go to support the manufacture of energy-efficient cars. I don't really begrudge an innovator like Tesla some of Uncle Sugar's pocket change. Perhaps the tech will trickle down into cars we can all afford. Cars themselves were rich boy toys a century ago.
Chrome has a nice feature that lets one launch Google apps like gmail in an app like window (without the browser chrome). I use Chrome for gmail exclusively since it launches then loads and downloads my inbox in a trice. However, Chrome has no built-in RSS. It imported my bookmarks from Firefox, but not the "live bookmarks" or RSS feeds. Since I browse news and info using my feeds as a point of departure I don't use Chrome for most stuff. I tried an aggregator plugin, but it did not integrate well with Chrome.
BTW I think this app-like behavior is the central feature of Chrome's ultimate utility. In the end it can function as a sort of OS within an OS, but one that is tailored to use the cloud - quickly and efficiently. Just a thought.
Dragon Systems is by far the best speech to text resource. I use 9.0, but 10.0 is out. And by all accounts it is better. Like all good tools that have power and flexibility Dragon takes some time to master. But it is intelligent and repays hard work by improving. Suggest you get Dragon Preferred or, at a minimum, Pro. With these you can also make audio notes on a stand-alone recorder which may be fed in to the program later for transcription. If the audio is good (use a headset) the results are very good. Of course it needs an editing treatment, but what draft does not? So, you could make notes in addition to controlling the computer.
I suggest you practice at some time when your hands are not busy playing with the Andromeda Strain. And if you get skilled with Dragon you can swap modes; that is, speech to text or control mode.
The hard truth is this: Speech to text is something you have to learn how to do. Even if the program is perfect there is a learning curve for verbally inserting punctuation. And for writing with your voice. Nine has a feature to do punctuation automatically, but it works as poorly as most stenographers. In another life I used to dictate to a secretary who took shorthand. Even with her I interposed punctuation. And I can tell you...It really took me some time to learn her curves. Drum Roll Please
Hmmmm. Not hard to imagine some simple ways to alter the "expression" on the car. Compressed air components acting like face muscles, lights, rotating panels.
Heading to the beach? Happy face. Heading to work? Angry face. On a date? Depends what you are into. Heading in for service? Sad face. Heck. Why not have mood horns as well? Okay, maybe not. Let's not get too crazy.
You are on the right track, but your solution lacks refinement...
Although clothing-free flights might be pleasant for the under thirty crowd (some anyway) us older peeps think a nice Tyvek body suit would be more practical... and more pleasant... for all concerned.
The way I see it getting on a plane should be like getting sent up. Changing room, shower, cavity search (or fluoroscope) and a jumpsuit. Okay.. not orange. There are marketing concerns. Pink for girlz and blue for boyz. Carry-on? Are ya kidding? Actually, all luggage is flown by drones the day before. For a few rubles extra it's at your destination when you get there. All in-flight computer activity is via the cloud. The Cloud's cloud (TM). Lunch? Blueberry yogurt for the boyz and strawberry for the girls. I also think we should get a free sleeping pill. You still with me? A blue one for the Boyz and a pink one for the girlz. And who needs a restroom when you could stuff a few more seats in? Besides, a situation with people moving around the cabin is insecure. REMAIN SEATED. What do you have against Dependz? Yup. You got it. Blue ones for the boyz, pink ones for the girlz.
Have a nice flight. Me? I'm driving.
I confess that, at least at this res, I would have been fooled hands down; that is, viewing Emily cold. No way would I have twigged that this is CGI in a blind test. IMHO knowing it was an animation beforehand queers the game a bit. Hard to say if any perceived funniness is projection or perception.
That said, with all the possible faces art and imagination could muster, Couldn't they have made her a little hotter? Or maybe chosen the face of a star long since gone?
And that dress. Yikes! No taste. Absolutely no taste. She must have started her career at Microsoft.
This land is my land
This land is my land
I got a shotgun
An' you ain't got one
If you don't get off
I'll blow your head off
This land is private property
I know that compact flash for cameras varies in price and performance. The purportedly good ones get marketed as Ultra, High-Speed, etc. Interesting to note that there is a technical difference as dramatic as SLC vs MLC that could be cited, but I never recall it being touted as a selling point for high-end cards. One might not care so much about a thumb drive being fast and reliable given the use pattern, but if one is laying down images in a war zone, or in a ball game (or even in a delivery room) one kind of wants the best when the data are unique.
As someone who cares a lot about his pictures I would pay a premium for an SLC compact flash card or an SD card; that is, provided I was assured of the difference. To date I have gone for a high price on cards, but have not always gotten what I payed for. I think it would be worth it to out the specs of some of these cards. Some savvy marketer might do well by touting the SLC spec for some applications.
Anyone know about any compact flash or SD cards that use SLC?
The taste for muck really hasn't changed in a hundred years. William Randolph Hearst is famous for having ordered that every one of his newspapers have a picture of a beautiful woman on the cover. Preferably, he liked to add, in several pieces. It is axiomatic that the more prurient the interest the better the sales.
There was a decades-long period after World War II when there was a culture of intellectual balance. My take is that it kind of grew out of wartime censorship. But now we are back to the days of yellow journalism when the Hearsts and the Pulitzers ruled the roost --- think Rupert Murdoch. Except we have broadcast. Now, it's true, that what is interesting to some is not interesting to others. However, for the broadest demographic it is the gossip, fires, murders, storms and scandals that excite interest and grab eyeballs. They always have. The truth is that stories of great national importance are sometimes really pretty boring. Compare these three headlines:
CITING INFLATION THREAT FEDERAL RESERVE RAISES INTEREST RATE A FULL BASIS POINT IN SUDDEN MOVE.
With
PORN STAR FOUND DISMEMBERED IN TRUNK OF RAP ARTIST'S BENTLEY
with
LEADING US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOUND DEAD OF DRUG OVERDOSE IN NEVADA MOTEL
Now in terms of importance, lives affected jobs affected people affected, the first story is really pretty important, arguably the most important. Such an unprecedented move would probably slam the stock market precipitating hundreds of thousands of job losses and all the misery that comes with it. Is it a lead? No. Despite its wide reaching importance, it's a yawn --- at least to most people. The stock market crash the next day might make the general headlines. But not the Fed move (Except on the financial page.) The second story is a prime example of a story of interest. But the third story combines both elements. That would probably be the lead any good news editor would choose; that is, unless it was a purely business news show. As long as the news is an advertising-driven economic proposition you're always going to see stories of interest predominate. The years of balanced television news in the four decades after World War II were more the exception than the rule. And it's only in countries with independent, but state-owned news channels, like the British Broadcasting Corp., that you see intelligent balanced news. The British love their tabloid smut, to be sure, but they don't get it from the Beeb. And they don't expect it either. Of course it's paradoxical. One does not really want state-owned news broadcasters either. That's a nasty slippery slope. I don't have any answers, except perhaps, to say that unbridled capitalism works very nicely to generate wealth (a good thing), but it is not the answer to making every institution in society work the way it should. Maybe things are as they should be. The current model does give people what they want (or at least what they think they want), even though it might not be in their best interest. We do have listener-sponsored radio and television. You'll find me tuned in to PBS or National Public Radio for my news and analysis, not broadcast television. Except, perhaps, on a slow news day. What has Brit got up to now to I wonder?
our phones drop us.
No voice recognition? Have you ever tried Dragon System's Nat Speak 9.0? Seriously. I am just a very happy user not some shill. It is astounding. However, I am also very disappointed by the future. I mean here we are and we are nowhere near where I thought we would be by now. No mars, no moon presence, no cool robots. Okay. The internet, but the telegraph was far more of a jump in it's day than the net was in it's. However IMHO you can check speech to text off the list.
And more on topic, Can I say that the arrow of time is an illusion?
Be here now.
I hate having stuff run on my box that I don't know about -- even benign or useful stuff. With Noscript I love having fine control over all the crap that sites want to run. I have gotten used to some sites needing to have components whitelisted before they work properly. I also love it that I can stop annoying flash from remote servers (This is why I downloaded NoScript). True, NoScript has given my wife headaches when it mysteriously (to her) blocks functionality, but I suggested she use Explorer instead of Firefox. She only goes to a few whitelisted sites anyway. If tools like Noscript start to become standard then I am all for it. Is this world of increasingly sophisticated Phishers and other creepy attacks NoScript makes me happy.
IANAL but this is interesting. It explains (at least to my mind) why companies like DRM, because there really needs to be a technical fence around their property since the plain old EULA is founded on legal quicksand. This also seems to me to explain why the DMCA was so sought after, because now if there is a lock then you can't break it to exercise your first sale rights. DMCA is, for the time being, a good counter to rights under first sale, but clearly conflicts with them. However, I do not think that the DMCA has come up in a Supreme Court challange where first sale, which is a strong principle, has been used as a defence.
Talk about a gray area! Can I sell you a suitcase with a locked compartment and tell you you can use the unlocked space, but that if you break the locked part and use it you go to jail? I don't think so. First sale is why you can resell your old software on Ebay (provided you have deleted it from your HDD since duplication to another person is a right held by the copyright holder.)
There is a lot of room for argument to be sure, and at least from the Wikipedia article the case law is all over the place, but it is pretty clear (at least to me) that you own your software to some degree. The publishers, however, would prefer that you think otherwise.
As for testing your right to test the lock. Well, legally you might be on solid ground. However you better have some deep pockets on your side to stave off the legal onslaught when you go public.
I am rather pleased and a little surprised that this idea received a little positive feedback.
My thought was more that a person, not a computer, would get the license. Once the person demonstrated that he or she had the knowledge to operate the box responsibly then they could connect at high speed and run whatever hardware or software configuration they wanted. And since *nix systems don't currently need a lot of security cruft then running them would be fine. The licensing body is simply trying to get at least one security-aware person per broadband connection. As with an auto license you could drive whatever car you want. Not everyone using the machine(s) would have to get the license. The assumption would be that the licensed maintainer would work with the other users to keep from getting pwned. Perhaps there might be consequences for the licensee if he let the side down and became a zombie happy meal.
This is distinct from an annual auto inspection, which is more what Cisco Kid seemed to be talking about. (Also an approach to this problem) But I would not like anyone looking at my config and telling me I need to upgrade my AV package. Or run one when I don't need one. I don't much like car inspections either. But the idea I had concerning a broadband license would be hardware neutral. And as I said, dial up and, say, ISDN might be license free.
Department of Broadband Internet, indeed.
Or at least require ISPs to provide minimal security training to their broadband customers. As has been said: Most infection is self inflicted through ignorance. Some people might welcome the chance to learn. I know I did not want to scuba dive without some training. A lot of parents would be motivated to learn about filtering software etc. A license should be grandfathered in of course. This problem will worsen in direct proportion to bandwidth. And certainly there should be citizens' band speeds. (TBD)
People might grumble, but if it is sold as a community responsibility a license track might fly. Most (well, many) people are motivated by a sense of community responsibility. I had a young friend whose computer was a viral soup. Infected beyond redemption. Ruined. I reinstalled Windows for her, which cleaned up the mess, but she was resistant to the idea of anti-virus software because she claimed she did not do anything serious with the computer and did not want to hassle. Her current mess had taken years to build. And, she asked, couldn't she just redo the box again when it tanked? But I pointed out to her that it wasn't just her that suffered, it was the whole community that suffered when she left her computer vulnerable. (I explained a little about bots) The idea that she could be hurting others through inaction really upset her (she had never thought it through) and so we were downloading Zonealarm, AVG and AdAware in no time. In the end she bought a subscription to a suite. McAfee I think.
Before anyone starts screaming about rights and freedoms being taken away, please think about this: A license is a way that a civil society makes its members accountable, from food vendors to electricians. I am less free because of all the bots out there. If people can't get on the highway without demonstrating some knowledge, Why should they get on the information highway in a state of ignorance, especially now that we are banking and shopping there?
Sorry, couldn't resist. Had to get it out of my system.
Now, on a more serious note. Essentially this is a toy. No one needs me to point out that robot toys have been, and remain, really popular. Kids interact with them tirelessly. Adults like toys, too, of course. "Daaaad, it's s'pose to be MY train set."
So, like all people, old folks like toys, too. My Mom is 90. She is independent. She still works as an artist. And she takes pretty good care of herself. She absorbs more news than I do and could out-talk Diane Rehm on politics. She also likes to play with a few dolls she has on her mantle. She'll rearrange them and talk to them just like an eight year old girl. She's not out of it. She knows she's pretending (just like an eight year old would if you asked) but she enjoys the imaginary play. I mean, we all do in some way or another.
So I think a really quality soft toy capable of dynamic interaction would be fun from time to time. I mean a Dance Dance Revolution console is probably out for my mom, but a responsive interactive toy with a few surprises and unlocks in store? Maybe an old song, or a poem? Why not? She might enjoy it while she's waiting for the C-Span book review to come on. Or while she waiting for my cousin to come over so she can whip him in scabble...again
Given a little privacy no one is above playing with a cool toy.
As for the hot sealed-edge type of shell? I agree with the many other posters who said that a good pair of heavy shears or scissors best does the trick.
If I can manage I keep these shells neat and intact. Sometimes they are required for returns. I just got a replacement turbo battery charger on warranty that had an "original package" clause buried in the fine print.
As a hasher I have a lively society wherever I go (And I wind up in places like Armenia and Moldova). Currently, I am in Oslo Norway and running with the Oslo Hash House: http://www.oslohash.com/
My Hash Name is "The Flasher" which is pretty tame by club standards. It was given to me because, being a geek, I bought a digicam seven years ago in Armenia and annoyed everyone by snapping off thousands of pictures. The internet has really made a difference to the growth of the hash. (Google 'Hash House Harriers' and you will see.) But as far as I know there is not one online community. Hashers prefer to interact on a face-to-face basis. Or even on a face-to-somewhere-else basis; that is, if they are lucky.
On On!
As for online communities... I have to confess that /. meets my needs. I like to learn so I like to read things by people who are smarter and more knowledgeable than I am and (don't laugh) this sometimes happens around here... Sometimes.
Microsoft has never been especially innovative, except in developing underhanded business practices to lift ideas from its developers and competitors and use its primary position as the OS provider to broaden its hegemony. The history speaks for itself, from GUI (a Xerox and Apple innovation) to the browser wars with Netscape, MS has always absorbed maturing technologies as opposed to developing new ones.
This latest divide-and-conquer strategy is bound to sting the FOSS movement, but hopefully it will galvanize ethical companies involved in FOSS to finally gang up on Microsoft.
I hope Vista founders and that we begin to see an increasing diversity of operating systems with strong open standards for cross platform document sharing. For the sake of fair competition, worldwide computer security and continued innovation I hope it so. We now know that monoculture is dangerous. Look at this latest spate of zombie spam running on SP2 boxes. Terrible. Think Vista will be better? Doubt it. Microsoft has not been able to entice customers to its server package, now it is trying to scare them. HP can do a lot more for Linux if they want and so can Dell. They might have to stand up to MS, but they can do a lot. And for that matter so can IBM, Apple and Google. As I said, this is the time to kick the MS habit.
How does this fit in with the fact that China is going for FOSS in a big way?
And WTF! Thailand just ordered a million of Negroponte's low-cost laptops, which, of course, run Linux. As I said 'weird'.
2) The big boys worried about the patents as the technology exploded (or perhaps CSIRO started to agitate in some way as wireless went mainstream) So the big boys tried to claim that CSIRO patents were invalid in a suit.
3) CSIRO then said: "You can't sue us; we are immune. And, besides, our patents are good as gold. Ante up."
4) The big boys pressed suit nonetheless and determined that CSIROs claim of immunity was invalid.
5) Then CSIRO said: "So, if it is a fight you want, now WE can sue since we are not immune after all. See you in court."
6) Now they have beaten Buffalo, which is the pointy end of a legal spear against the big boys.
There is still a long way to go before CSIRO will see any money, but IMHO they are on track to get something (particularly if their demands stay modest).
It is a good yarn with high stakes. I thought TFA was thin. I would still like to se a good in-depth Wired-mag-type story on this. Any shouts?