The negative comments about cyberport are spot on. HK is a plutocracy and cyberport was gift to richard li... hong kong now reaps the "rewards" of RL's wise leadership in this development.
Anyhow, I stayed at the Le Meridien Cyberport and found it to be a good analogue of the rest of the complex. Note that I also have worked with companies that have offices there, including MS, and have been courted to place offices out there. I would never ever even consider it.
The rooms at the Le Meridian all have mini pc's in them with high speed internet access (running on windows, y'all, and I found them easy to dump a keylogger on...). 150 tv channels piped in through a tv tuner card in the pcs and displayed on a plasma screen. none of them in widescreen format so they are all distorted (oh, and no movie channels... unless you count about 10 bollywood channels). big option on the pc's promote the dvd player capabilities of the pcs, but there is no dvd rental at cyberport nor does the hotel rent or offer. My room looked out over the ocean and also the garbage of cyberports eternally unfinished construction.
i know this all sounds whiny, which it certainly is, but it's truly representative of cyberport in general. Idea and reality separated by the gulf of incompetent execution... lots of rhetoric like "high speed" and "cyber" plastered over mediocre implementations.
This post reminds me, in general, of another classic disagreement between engineers and a philosopher:
I am reading John Searle's "Intentionality" right now... a very interesting read. His theories of consciousness and "intention" clearly have implications for machine intelligence. I had come across his chinese room argument before, but had forgotten his name in connection with it. When I found a footnote on the "chinese room" in this particular book, and reviewed it online, I was hooked.
Searle has some very well thought out analyses of thought and consciousness. I like a lot of what he says. But I feel like he's being stubborn in terms of the potential of machine intelligence.
See this page for a cogent discussion of Searle's classic thought experiment and some very comprehensive rebuttals, and Searle's rebuttals of the rebuttals. And some rebuttals of the... ok, you get the idea.
I feel like Searle and some of the engineers are talking past each other. Ultimately, despite my appreciation for Searle's larger body of work, I come down firmly on the side of machine intelligence.
It may be the third world, but we do surf in English too, and gee, sometimes we even SPEAK english! Wow! The most popular destination for Thai surfers is still Yahoo.
I hope they weren't paying you as an internet consultant.
Where is the "academic world"? Is there someplace academics can work without funding? Please tell us about this magic land.
Academics may love what they do, may work for the joy of discovery, may have a thirst for knowledge, but anyone who doesn't see the money behind it all has severe tunnel vision.
Yes, you are right, academics DID develop the internet, in so much as monkeys locked in a room full of PDPs did not. In other words, academics did because they were the only group capable of doing so. But the academics in this case were working for other people, whether they felt they were or not. The term "academic" has no moral or military restrictions, and there are "academics" that work for all major branches of the military as well.
People aren't "nice" just because they are smart. The Internet wasn't developed for commerce, or for the promotion of existential debate, but rather for the exchange of scientific research, research which more often than not received at least some funding from the military.
Disclaimer: There is funding that is altruistic and peaceloving in nature. But it wasn't the money behind the net.
well posted...you be right on the mark with that one. Gibson is like the guy in Idoru that can see patterns in data that other people can't... even he hints at this in the interview. He is clear that it is not a conscious ability that he employs as much as it is the ability to move his consciousness out of the way enough to let the writing out.
Ok, all you left brain people repeat after me: "writing is a creative process not necessarily dominated by the left brain..." Just because he doesn't include any perl in his writing doesn't make him any less of an author.. just maybe not the right-brain-coder's fav.
And before someone flames me saying that too you are a coder that uses the whole brain: Yes, I know you are. Good for you.
However, most programs don't fit into this category - if you're writing a game for instance (very few "modern" open source games exist - do any in a finished form? I haven't seen one), theres really no service to sell...[snip]...There is no service to sell. People aren't going to buy printed manuals, t-shirts, and mugs to the point you can exist off it.
I would point out that in the 80's people never thought shareware would get off the ground, or when it did that it would last as a business model.
There are ROI models that apply to opensource. Let me give you a freeware example (not opensource, but bear with me): Many of the major antivirus software makes are expected to begin releasing their scanners as freeware and then selling the more frequent downloads: virus data files. This is brilliant (if not greedy, but we won't mark down a company for being greedy, right?) and is like giving away razors but selling blades...
So is there an ROI model applicable to opensource games? Damn straight there is. If you are a gamer, then you are, almost by definition, a network gamer. Now suppose you stopped selling the razor (the game) and started selling blades (network connections to hot servers--as already happens, ran a market for weapons trades--taking a percentage of sales, etc.). revenue? yes. profitable? yes. Giving the game away free? yes... Free!=OpenSource, but this ROI model applies to OpenSource games as well.
So when epic merges with a subscription based game server company, then we'll know OSS gaming's time has come...
I applaud the attempt to put a different spin on this issue, and I agree that there are some "meta-issues" here driving the whole/. community, particularly group dynamics and intra/interpersonal psych. factors which are both fascinating and worthy of examination.
However simplifying these matters to the level of psychoanalytic theory is limiting at least and possibly curtails further examination using more appropriate model of the human psyche and associate group dynamics.
I would encourage such exploration, but would strongly advise one to move far beyond Freudian psychoanalysis as the basis for such an investigation.
Although Freud helped spark the revolution which has resulted in the modern field of psychology, in no way should his theories of the ego, id, and superego be assumed to accurately model the human psyche. Perhaps they do, perhaps they don't. Don't swallow freud's theories unchewed... decide for yourself. Hack your own psyche.
(or click here for a simplified list putting freud's theoretical contribution into a little more context...)
Depends. If I measure success in terms of installed user base, feature-set, and profitability (secondary, but it's there), then proprietary software is still handily beating open source in a variety of areas.
No debate there. But I expect/hope this changes as OSS projects and businesses grow, thus expanding the installed base and increasing the "network effect" to promote even more OSS development.
Additionally, "Mom's GUI" is still a key issue here. I think we will see rapid expansion of OSS installed user base in the thin client space overtake proprietary systems before we see the same in the PC space, largely because thin clients running OSS will be developed by companies who have a vested interest in getting the UI right, and in the thin client space (I'm including net access devices in this) that problem has a much narrower scope than the GUI issues in a general application OS.
Until UI experts start collaborating on OSS, or until OSS coders with killer UI sense (and experience/training-- good UI design needs experience and education as much as good coding does) get on board, this may not happen. And I'm not knocking the work being done now. It is great, and entirely impressive, but it's not yet good enough to steal MS marketshare in the market Sig11 was mentioning: SOHO.
I agree with your points about OS superiority being a myth, and overall I agree with the spirit of your post. However:
In reference to your points about proprietary software having some incredible success stories, your examples are all right on the money, and I guess that's my point. Until OSS developed momentum as a business model, there wasn't much percevied value (i.e. profit, i.e. money) in either releasing your code or open sourcing it. It took OSS success stories to convince companies that had long histories in the closed source model (the only model they knew that worked) to open up.
A parallel example is open-source news. A lot of newspapers were slow to get online because they were closed-source (pay-for-core-content) and that was the business model they knew. Now look at them clamber to get online and give their information away free, and develop other revenue sources. The example is not an exact parallel, but I hope my points come through anyway:
Closed source success stories aren't successful simply because they were/are closed source.
They were, instead, closed source because they didn't have any other business model to follow.
Thus they were successful, I am reasoning, not because of OSS/CS, but because they were good, quality software.
But i think that's your point anyhow; that CS can produce good stuff too, right? But maybe now we'll see more of these CS companies open up their source as well? Or maybe not. That's a different question, and I won't extend this post with it right now.
"Myth 3: It is against human nature to work for nothing."
OSS developers do not work for nothing; an OSS project is a training and proving ground exposing young developers to large-scale collaborative development. Another reward is the accumulation of kudos -- this may be sought for its own sake or leveraged commercially, especially within organizations that follow an open-source business model (see Note 3).
This is a very perceptive, succinct write up by Gartner, and Rob got it right when he said this one would make a good executive summary.
My question is how sustainable this is. I worry just a little that OSS business model/business culture is a bubble that could burst (especially after enough IPOs and mergers etc etc). Look at Mozilla... what if Netscape programmers were suddenly reassigned to work on AOL 7 (seeing as AOL 6 is already out;)? ATW doesn't strike me as anything less than a cold-hearted capitalist corporation bent on world domination. RH is a more encouraging example of an OSS business culture that I would expect to survive.
We can't deny that Linux has fueled a lot of the interest in OSS as a business model. If Linux ever stagnates or reaches a development plateau (gasp-shudder-perish-the-thought), and there isn't another project with it's momentum to "lead the charge", could OSS businesses fade? Or is it here to stay? (I personally feel that OSS business is more long-term profitable than closed-source, but IANAE).
If anyone has any links to research or projected growth models, I would appreciate it, particular ones with positive expectations for OSS business;) Ethan
I see mozilla as a real threat to IE's hegemony. This is why:
Linux + Mozilla + Transmeta = Kick Ass Web Device
Embedded Systems, Net access appliances, Web pads...call them what you will, they don't want to run WinCE unless they have to. These devices want powerful, low-cost systems that offer flexibility. Everything Windows isn't. Everything Linux+Mozilla can be.
The competetive advantage of Windows as a development platform ("guarantee" of compatibility and existing market) is diminished in the handheld/embedded systems market, particular if we are looking at apps delivered over the web (in which case technologies such as Java and XML will really shine, and platform becomes less relevant).
In the web-access-device scenario, speed, uptime, bang-for-the-buck systems have the advantage, hence the attention being paid Linux in this area. Throw Mozilla into this mix and you have a total software side solution for web access devices, thin clients, etc. etc. etc.
I personally can't wait to see what happens with these possibilities...
It seems to me that this type of activity will not be going away soon. Better to be proactive now than to end up in litigation with morons like these guys (the ones trying to patent) later.
IMPERATIVE: If you run a linux.org site, spend the $$ to register your.com and.net domains.
Why? Because we aren't going to move linux further into the mainstream without marketing ourselves successfully to at least some degree, and all the Joe Users out there that can only type.com are going to end up at some other moron's site, not yours.
We have to be sneakier than the other team, and grab domains first, as well as other pre-emptive marketing strikes. As for patents, I have no idea how to be proactive there. Lawyers speak up please!
Re:The lack of security is not a problem
on
V2OS under GPL
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· Score: 0
Java security model flaws "such as..."
The Java security model was never formally specified.
The security of the Java type system is critical for overall system security. This in turn depends on trouble-free functioning of the SecurityManager class and the Bytecode Verfier.
Java based DNS spoofing.
These are detailed the O'Reilly book "Web Security & Commerce", and my copy is out of date, so I would appreciate any updates to these security flaws. I know that point 3 has been addressed in browser implementations.
My points are:
Java, back when it was called Oak, was designed initially to be used in embedded systems (like V2OS?), not a general purpose language for internet based apps.
Security for Java was not assumed to be a high priority, as connections were assumed to be primarily manufacturer updates to the embedded systems, for example.
A credit to Oak/Java's designers, it was easy to migrate it over to the web, but its security model (unspecified to this day) was already in place.
Thus, a basic, but mistaken assumption, similar to the point made about V20S not requiring a strong security model, resulted in some security headaches that are, fundamentally, design flaws (I am not addressing errors in implementation in this post, as they can be fixed). Additionally, a lot of security issues are now dealt with in browser implementations of Java, not the language itself, which is less than optimal, certainly.
Any further info on Java security issues, specifically the design flaws I mention is appreciated.
Re:The lack of security is not a problem
on
V2OS under GPL
·
· Score: 1
Not every device in the world is connected to the Internet, or even any other systems.
This is the same thing that Java's developers said. Hence the flaws and limitations of the Java security model.
I'm not saying that you're wrong. You're right saying that not everything is connected. Yet. But even assuming that we can avoid giving every toaster and tennis shoe its own IPv6 in the future, to assume that an OS intended for real-world, out-of-the-lab application won't be installed in networked devices is a pretty big assumption.
And anyway do you think the governemt has the time to track all 4 billion people on the planet?
Right on. Tracking all 6 billion people, or even half of us, would be inconceivably difficult, something like real time monitoring of all international electronic and voice communications.
What's that you say? Echelon? Oh. Well then, maybe not so inconceivable.
A relevant October 99 article from that bastion of net rapture, Wired. Refreshingly critical from a mag that is usually so swept up in the brave new future.
Covers a company making GPS tracking claims similar to the ADSX announcement.
Having read both articles, I need more evidence that this ADSX technology is viable in the near term. otherwise this announcement is just more vaporware.
Currently, the only ADSL provider here in Bangkok advertises the following MAXIMUM ul/dl rates:
...128/128...
i reeled in horror the first time I saw the telco wiring here... unshielded and low quality cable is just the beginning. The price is paid in low low low ADSL rates, it seems.
Moral: Those of you complaining you'll only get 1Mb dl speeds can still count yourselves luckier than those of us in the big mango.
I agree completely with your take on the parasitic nature of the analysts on the IT industry.
I would point out, though, that there is a use for these parasites of the industry. Specifically to prevent management from being too nervous about a new IT initiative for the company.
Those of us in who keep our "finger on the pulse" of the IT industry by the constant review of news and sites like slashdot, register, cnet, etc. may really have a better feel for where IT is going, but Clueless Executives are risk averse and prefer "informative research" that appears to have come from a "trusted source".
Is slashdot a trusted source? Not for the clueless executive. What about yourself? No matter how much information you consume daily, what can you tell the Clueless Exec? "I surf the net for new industry developments and trends 10 hours a day via a DSL line connected directly to my optical nerve." Nope, doesn't fly.
You are simply too cutting edge.
The nervous CEO/MD/board member wants a BRAND name they trust. Gartner. Forrester. AA. Etc. They need the feeling they get from that brand. Trust, safety, history. All the words that send up red flags for those of us who Have A Clue.
And anyhow, considering the conflicting reports available from these guys, you can always dig up a statistic or quote to support your (better informed) position. You never give them the whole report anyhow, right? Just an executive summary you prepared to save their time.
Creeping elegance in app development... creeping totalitarianism in development of society.
As long as technology didn't threaten to empower the masses, Those In Power didn't worry too much about _true_ democracy. Freedom was a nice myth to perpetuate to keep the proletariat happy.
Now that technology could enable* such marvels as online voting, the elite (not 3l33t lest I confuse the script kiddies out there) and powerful are getting worried something might actually shift the balance of power and control (Cokie Roberts' reaction to the spectre of online voting is a prime example of this... how dare those uneducated workers threaten the Rich and Powerful!)
Expect more of this as the net threatens to replace centralized control (mainframe model) with a more "distributed" model of social governance.
-an expatriate 'merican, happy to be abroad.
*whether the apathetic american public will switch their sitcoms off long enough to actually learn something about current events and political developments is another question beyond the scope of this rant.
What "devices that override encryption programs" would they be installing... keyboard sniffers? BO2K-US Gov't Special Edition?
And what if the feds can't break your encryption? This whole law seems to assume that they *can* break your encryption (without using an Echelon machine)... if they can't and they have a subpoena, are you "leagally obligated" to comply with their requests for your password...?
(And of course we would all claim to have forgotten it, but that's not the point... what is the legal aspect of this?)
What "devices that override encryption programs" would they be installing... keyboard sniffers? BO2K (US Gov't Special Edition)?
And what if the feds can't break your encryption? This whole law seems to assume that they *can* break your encryption (without using an Echelon machine)... if they can't and they have a subpoena, are you "leagally obligated" to comply with their requests for your password...?
(And of course we would all claim to have forgotten it, but that's not the point... what is the legal aspect of this?)
Slashdot Mirror
The negative comments about cyberport are spot on. HK is a plutocracy and cyberport was gift to richard li... hong kong now reaps the "rewards" of RL's wise leadership in this development.
Anyhow, I stayed at the Le Meridien Cyberport and found it to be a good analogue of the rest of the complex. Note that I also have worked with companies that have offices there, including MS, and have been courted to place offices out there. I would never ever even consider it.
The rooms at the Le Meridian all have mini pc's in them with high speed internet access (running on windows, y'all, and I found them easy to dump a keylogger on...). 150 tv channels piped in through a tv tuner card in the pcs and displayed on a plasma screen. none of them in widescreen format so they are all distorted (oh, and no movie channels... unless you count about 10 bollywood channels). big option on the pc's promote the dvd player capabilities of the pcs, but there is no dvd rental at cyberport nor does the hotel rent or offer. My room looked out over the ocean and also the garbage of cyberports eternally unfinished construction.
i know this all sounds whiny, which it certainly is, but it's truly representative of cyberport in general. Idea and reality separated by the gulf of incompetent execution... lots of rhetoric like "high speed" and "cyber" plastered over mediocre implementations.
URL included this time:
First Lego League
First Lego League is a relatively successful robotics competition program for kids running around the world...
Would be a shame to see it impacted by this cancellation. Seems inevitable that it will be, however.
This post reminds me, in general, of another classic disagreement between engineers and a philosopher:
I am reading John Searle's "Intentionality" right now... a very interesting read. His theories of consciousness and "intention" clearly have implications for machine intelligence. I had come across his chinese room argument before, but had forgotten his name in connection with it. When I found a footnote on the "chinese room" in this particular book, and reviewed it online, I was hooked.
Searle has some very well thought out analyses of thought and consciousness. I like a lot of what he says. But I feel like he's being stubborn in terms of the potential of machine intelligence.
See this page for a cogent discussion of Searle's classic thought experiment and some very comprehensive rebuttals, and Searle's rebuttals of the rebuttals. And some rebuttals of the ... ok, you get the idea.
I feel like Searle and some of the engineers are talking past each other. Ultimately, despite my appreciation for Searle's larger body of work, I come down firmly on the side of machine intelligence.
This post auto-generated by Eliza.
Instead of triple checking with "people in the know", try checking once on the internet.
It may be the third world, but we do surf in English too, and gee, sometimes we even SPEAK english! Wow! The most popular destination for Thai surfers is still Yahoo.
I hope they weren't paying you as an internet consultant.
Where is the "academic world"? Is there someplace academics can work without funding? Please tell us about this magic land.
Academics may love what they do, may work for the joy of discovery, may have a thirst for knowledge, but anyone who doesn't see the money behind it all has severe tunnel vision.
Yes, you are right, academics DID develop the internet, in so much as monkeys locked in a room full of PDPs did not. In other words, academics did because they were the only group capable of doing so. But the academics in this case were working for other people, whether they felt they were or not. The term "academic" has no moral or military restrictions, and there are "academics" that work for all major branches of the military as well.
People aren't "nice" just because they are smart. The Internet wasn't developed for commerce, or for the promotion of existential debate, but rather for the exchange of scientific research, research which more often than not received at least some funding from the military.
Disclaimer: There is funding that is altruistic and peaceloving in nature. But it wasn't the money behind the net.
well posted...you be right on the mark with that one. Gibson is like the guy in Idoru that can see patterns in data that other people can't... even he hints at this in the interview. He is clear that it is not a conscious ability that he employs as much as it is the ability to move his consciousness out of the way enough to let the writing out.
Ok, all you left brain people repeat after me: "writing is a creative process not necessarily dominated by the left brain..." Just because he doesn't include any perl in his writing doesn't make him any less of an author.. just maybe not the right-brain-coder's fav.
And before someone flames me saying that too you are a coder that uses the whole brain: Yes, I know you are. Good for you.
I would point out that in the 80's people never thought shareware would get off the ground, or when it did that it would last as a business model.
There are ROI models that apply to opensource. Let me give you a freeware example (not opensource, but bear with me): Many of the major antivirus software makes are expected to begin releasing their scanners as freeware and then selling the more frequent downloads: virus data files. This is brilliant (if not greedy, but we won't mark down a company for being greedy, right?) and is like giving away razors but selling blades...
So is there an ROI model applicable to opensource games? Damn straight there is. If you are a gamer, then you are, almost by definition, a network gamer. Now suppose you stopped selling the razor (the game) and started selling blades (network connections to hot servers--as already happens, ran a market for weapons trades--taking a percentage of sales, etc.). revenue? yes. profitable? yes. Giving the game away free? yes... Free!=OpenSource, but this ROI model applies to OpenSource games as well.
So when epic merges with a subscription based game server company, then we'll know OSS gaming's time has come...
I applaud the attempt to put a different spin on this issue, and I agree that there are some "meta-issues" here driving the whole /. community, particularly group dynamics and intra/interpersonal psych. factors which are both fascinating and worthy of examination.
However simplifying these matters to the level of psychoanalytic theory is limiting at least and possibly curtails further examination using more appropriate model of the human psyche and associate group dynamics.
I would encourage such exploration, but would strongly advise one to move far beyond Freudian psychoanalysis as the basis for such an investigation.
Although Freud helped spark the revolution which has resulted in the modern field of psychology, in no way should his theories of the ego, id, and superego be assumed to accurately model the human psyche. Perhaps they do, perhaps they don't. Don't swallow freud's theories unchewed... decide for yourself. Hack your own psyche.
(or click here for a simplified list putting freud's theoretical contribution into a little more context...)
No debate there. But I expect/hope this changes as OSS projects and businesses grow, thus expanding the installed base and increasing the "network effect" to promote even more OSS development.
Additionally, "Mom's GUI" is still a key issue here. I think we will see rapid expansion of OSS installed user base in the thin client space overtake proprietary systems before we see the same in the PC space, largely because thin clients running OSS will be developed by companies who have a vested interest in getting the UI right, and in the thin client space (I'm including net access devices in this) that problem has a much narrower scope than the GUI issues in a general application OS.
Until UI experts start collaborating on OSS, or until OSS coders with killer UI sense (and experience/training-- good UI design needs experience and education as much as good coding does) get on board, this may not happen. And I'm not knocking the work being done now. It is great, and entirely impressive, but it's not yet good enough to steal MS marketshare in the market Sig11 was mentioning: SOHO.
I agree with your points about OS superiority being a myth, and overall I agree with the spirit of your post. However:
In reference to your points about proprietary software having some incredible success stories, your examples are all right on the money, and I guess that's my point. Until OSS developed momentum as a business model, there wasn't much percevied value (i.e. profit, i.e. money) in either releasing your code or open sourcing it. It took OSS success stories to convince companies that had long histories in the closed source model (the only model they knew that worked) to open up.
A parallel example is open-source news. A lot of newspapers were slow to get online because they were closed-source (pay-for-core-content) and that was the business model they knew. Now look at them clamber to get online and give their information away free, and develop other revenue sources. The example is not an exact parallel, but I hope my points come through anyway:
But i think that's your point anyhow; that CS can produce good stuff too, right? But maybe now we'll see more of these CS companies open up their source as well? Or maybe not. That's a different question, and I won't extend this post with it right now.
OSS developers do not work for nothing; an OSS project is a training and proving ground exposing young developers to large-scale collaborative development. Another reward is the accumulation of kudos -- this may be sought for its own sake or leveraged commercially, especially within organizations that follow an open-source business model (see Note 3).
This is a very perceptive, succinct write up by Gartner, and Rob got it right when he said this one would make a good executive summary.
My question is how sustainable this is. I worry just a little that OSS business model/business culture is a bubble that could burst (especially after enough IPOs and mergers etc etc). Look at Mozilla... what if Netscape programmers were suddenly reassigned to work on AOL 7 (seeing as AOL 6 is already out ;)? ATW doesn't strike me as anything less than a cold-hearted capitalist corporation bent on world domination. RH is a more encouraging example of an OSS business culture that I would expect to survive.
We can't deny that Linux has fueled a lot of the interest in OSS as a business model. If Linux ever stagnates or reaches a development plateau (gasp-shudder-perish-the-thought), and there isn't another project with it's momentum to "lead the charge", could OSS businesses fade? Or is it here to stay? (I personally feel that OSS business is more long-term profitable than closed-source, but IANAE).
If anyone has any links to research or projected growth models, I would appreciate it, particular ones with positive expectations for OSS business ;) Ethan
I see mozilla as a real threat to IE's hegemony. This is why:
Linux + Mozilla + Transmeta = Kick Ass Web Device
Embedded Systems, Net access appliances, Web pads...call them what you will, they don't want to run WinCE unless they have to. These devices want powerful, low-cost systems that offer flexibility. Everything Windows isn't. Everything Linux+Mozilla can be.
The competetive advantage of Windows as a development platform ("guarantee" of compatibility and existing market) is diminished in the handheld/embedded systems market, particular if we are looking at apps delivered over the web (in which case technologies such as Java and XML will really shine, and platform becomes less relevant).
In the web-access-device scenario, speed, uptime, bang-for-the-buck systems have the advantage, hence the attention being paid Linux in this area. Throw Mozilla into this mix and you have a total software side solution for web access devices, thin clients, etc. etc. etc.
I personally can't wait to see what happens with these possibilities...
Ethan
IMPERATIVE: .org site, spend the $$ to register your .com and .net domains.
If you run a linux
Why? Because we aren't going to move linux further into the mainstream without marketing ourselves successfully to at least some degree, and all the Joe Users out there that can only type .com are going to end up at some other moron's site, not yours.
We have to be sneakier than the other team, and grab domains first, as well as other pre-emptive marketing strikes. As for patents, I have no idea how to be proactive there. Lawyers speak up please!
Could you point us to these reports?
Java security model flaws "such as..."
These are detailed the O'Reilly book "Web Security & Commerce", and my copy is out of date, so I would appreciate any updates to these security flaws. I know that point 3 has been addressed in browser implementations.
My points are:
Any further info on Java security issues, specifically the design flaws I mention is appreciated.
This is the same thing that Java's developers said. Hence the flaws and limitations of the Java security model.
I'm not saying that you're wrong. You're right saying that not everything is connected. Yet. But even assuming that we can avoid giving every toaster and tennis shoe its own IPv6 in the future, to assume that an OS intended for real-world, out-of-the-lab application won't be installed in networked devices is a pretty big assumption.
And anyway do you think the governemt has the time to track all 4 billion people on the planet?
Right on. Tracking all 6 billion people, or even half of us, would be inconceivably difficult, something like real time monitoring of all international electronic and voice communications.
What's that you say? Echelon? Oh. Well then, maybe not so inconceivable.
A relevant October 99 article from that bastion of net rapture, Wired. Refreshingly critical from a mag that is usually so swept up in the brave new future.
Covers a company making GPS tracking claims similar to the ADSX announcement.
Anatomy of a Spam
Having read both articles, I need more evidence that this ADSX technology is viable in the near term. otherwise this announcement is just more vaporware.
Currently, the only ADSL provider here in Bangkok advertises the following MAXIMUM ul/dl rates:
...128/128...
i reeled in horror the first time I saw the telco wiring here... unshielded and low quality cable is just the beginning. The price is paid in low low low ADSL rates, it seems.
Moral: Those of you complaining you'll only get 1Mb dl speeds can still count yourselves luckier than those of us in the big mango.
IMHO that was the best post so far...
I agree completely with your take on the parasitic nature of the analysts on the IT industry.
I would point out, though, that there is a use for these parasites of the industry. Specifically to prevent management from being too nervous about a new IT initiative for the company.
Those of us in who keep our "finger on the pulse" of the IT industry by the constant review of news and sites like slashdot, register, cnet, etc. may really have a better feel for where IT is going, but Clueless Executives are risk averse and prefer "informative research" that appears to have come from a "trusted source".
Is slashdot a trusted source? Not for the clueless executive. What about yourself? No matter how much information you consume daily, what can you tell the Clueless Exec? "I surf the net for new industry developments and trends 10 hours a day via a DSL line connected directly to my optical nerve." Nope, doesn't fly.
You are simply too cutting edge.
The nervous CEO/MD/board member wants a BRAND name they trust. Gartner. Forrester. AA. Etc. They need the feeling they get from that brand. Trust, safety, history. All the words that send up red flags for those of us who Have A Clue.
And anyhow, considering the conflicting reports available from these guys, you can always dig up a statistic or quote to support your (better informed) position. You never give them the whole report anyhow, right? Just an executive summary you prepared to save their time.
Creeping elegance in app development... creeping totalitarianism in development of society.
As long as technology didn't threaten to empower the masses, Those In Power didn't worry too much about _true_ democracy. Freedom was a nice myth to perpetuate to keep the proletariat happy.
Now that technology could enable* such marvels as online voting, the elite (not 3l33t lest I confuse the script kiddies out there) and powerful are getting worried something might actually shift the balance of power and control (Cokie Roberts' reaction to the spectre of online voting is a prime example of this... how dare those uneducated workers threaten the Rich and Powerful!)
Expect more of this as the net threatens to replace centralized control (mainframe model) with a more "distributed" model of social governance.
-an expatriate 'merican, happy to be abroad.
*whether the apathetic american public will switch their sitcoms off long enough to actually learn something about current events and political developments is another question beyond the scope of this rant.
"Real lightning , which is very rarely seen up close, has the ability to focus and clear the mind."
Uh, yeah. Last time I experienced extreme electrical discharge in close proximity to my person I had the following sensations:
(it was my hand, ok? keep your mind out of the gutter
I did not experience any pronounced clarity of though (though I did see stars...maybe that counts).
What "devices that override encryption programs" would they be installing... keyboard sniffers? BO2K-US Gov't Special Edition?
And what if the feds can't break your encryption? This whole law seems to assume that they *can* break your encryption (without using an Echelon machine)... if they can't and they have a subpoena, are you "leagally obligated" to comply with their requests for your password...?
(And of course we would all claim to have forgotten it, but that's not the point... what is the legal aspect of this?)
What "devices that override encryption programs" would they be installing... keyboard sniffers? BO2K (US Gov't Special Edition)?
And what if the feds can't break your encryption? This whole law seems to assume that they *can* break your encryption (without using an Echelon machine)... if they can't and they have a subpoena, are you "leagally obligated" to comply with their requests for your password...?
(And of course we would all claim to have forgotten it, but that's not the point... what is the legal aspect of this?)