If you are interested in the touristy stuff, visit the local chambers of commerce or visitor information booths in each town. They usually have a sign posted on the highway to alert you to these repositories of bland pamphlets.
I recommend just going. If you don't have a time limit and money isn't a problem, just go. Get lost. If at all possible find your way to New Orleans and stay for 3 or 4 days (any less and you don't really get the whole experience, any more and you'll never be sober enough to drive your car again).
If you have a digital camera, buy lots of storage media instead of bringing a laptop. They will be smaller, lighter, and easier to swap in and out rather than carrying a bulky laptop around with you.
Along the same vein, most companies that you may consider 'big names' barely do much beyond slap their names on someone else's work. Take Sony for example, they may come up with a spec and basic design of a new device, but they surely don't develop anything themselves. They completely outsource all development and testing to other companies who make a mint doing this for the big names.
TVs, VCRs, and DVD players may look different on the outside, but underneath they are all the same parts put together by the same people, with only the shell being the differentiating factor.
One problem I think a lot of people have is that they believe there should be an objective rule by which all decisions should be made. It's probably a result of the deterministic nature of science and especially computer science. With business, though, there are so many factors to consider before making a business decision that it is simply impossible to take all those factors into account all at once without fudging some considerations.
A company loath to license patents is certainly well within their rights when facing a competitor who threatens to use the licensed patent to take away profits from the patent holder. If a biotech company came up with a cold remedy in their research and it was immediately useful in their serums, they would be fools to license the patent to another cold medicine-making company. However, if someone saw in the patent a path that could possibly lead to the cure for emphysema and needed to license the patent in order to build upon the original research, the company (whose main business is making cough rememdies) would be ethically challenged if they didn't license the patent. In the cases you cited above, the companies acted unethically, abusing their patents by not using them and not allowing them to be used.
Patents are meant to allow the creators a way to make a profit on their hard work and to facilitate the advancement of science by encouraging patent reuse instead of constant reimplementation. When a company does not use the patent for either of these purposes, the patent is worse than worthless because it actually becomes an hindrance to scientific progress.
A government-based arbitration system to whom a scorned patent licensee-to-be can appeal and have their case reviewed by a panel of qualified judges would provide the necessary Subjective viewpoint necessary to make patent licensing decisions on a case by case basis. The best decisions would be those that sought to properly recompense the patent holder without stripping the licensee dry.
Obviously this has the possibility of misuse written all over it, but so does the legal system. It also smacks of socialist tampering, but in reality it is simply an extension of the patent concept of promoting the arts and sciences.
The concept of patents is not broken, only the system used to award them and the companies that hoard them for no use but to crimp research areas. A system that could arbitrate disagreements subjectively would go far in prying open patents that are closed for no reason. Such a system could have opened the door to your colleague's mango research project and made a decent return on investment for the patent holder. Unfortunately, no one has the new mangoes, and the company has gained nothing from their patent.
The Clio was way ahead of its time form-factor-wise. Too bad it was crippled with WinCE 2.11.
With WinCE 4.0, it would be much better, although your comments about the excess navigation is well-taken. To be fair, though, the Pocket PCs have quick buttons to take you to your calendar or contact list or mailbox.
True, the connection between the net cafes and the embassy incidences is tenuous. I used the cafe closings as a jumping off point to bring up the topic of China's recent crackdown on foreign nationals seeking asylum by retrieving them from within the walls of safe haven embassies.
I wrote up a post about it a few weeks ago in which I was very sympathetic to China's actions. Since then, the Korean embassy incident seems to bring into question their motives, which you correctly I believe attribute to political maneuverings. I don't see the logic behind such kowtowing to N. Korea, as I explain in my link.
Recently China's been acting quite belligerently towards N. Korean refugees trying to escape into the embassies of free nations. The first one was the Japanese embassy on May 10. The latest one was a few days ago at the S. Korean embassy. They have been entering embassy grounds and forcibly removing refugees from sovereign territory.
This closing of Internet cafes is indicative of something, perhaps a new crackdown on freedoms as the Chinese populace is exposed to more and more visions of freedom seekers being beat down at the gates of the S. Korean embassy or a mother and grandmother beaten up at the Japanese embassy.
H/PC Pro device manufacturers didn't stay onboard with these WinCE-based machines. They offered too little functionality for too much cost.
Now AlphaSmart is offering less power for only slightly less cost? I've seen the picture of the device, I don't think they are in this for the long haul.
Slashdot Mirror
I worked out there for a few months when I was with EDS
Herding cats? I guess the Chinese need to eat too...
If you're looking for an alternative to Logitech mice, check out Dexxa. Same manufacturer for a fraction of the cost.
One is sharp and pointy. The other is a fleshy ball of feathers.
My bets are on the paperclip.
A supply of Charmin quilted toilet paper.
A buttload of cash. ATMs are hard to find sometimes.
And an atlas.
If you are interested in the touristy stuff, visit the local chambers of commerce or visitor information booths in each town. They usually have a sign posted on the highway to alert you to these repositories of bland pamphlets.
I recommend just going. If you don't have a time limit and money isn't a problem, just go. Get lost. If at all possible find your way to New Orleans and stay for 3 or 4 days (any less and you don't really get the whole experience, any more and you'll never be sober enough to drive your car again).
If you have a digital camera, buy lots of storage media instead of bringing a laptop. They will be smaller, lighter, and easier to swap in and out rather than carrying a bulky laptop around with you.
What about a Sundependence Day? Or a Vaxdependence Day? Or a Aixdependence Day?
More systems are leaving traditional Unix for Linux than are leaving Windows for Linux.
Along the same vein, most companies that you may consider 'big names' barely do much beyond slap their names on someone else's work. Take Sony for example, they may come up with a spec and basic design of a new device, but they surely don't develop anything themselves. They completely outsource all development and testing to other companies who make a mint doing this for the big names.
TVs, VCRs, and DVD players may look different on the outside, but underneath they are all the same parts put together by the same people, with only the shell being the differentiating factor.
Who do you sue when things go haywire?
Thanks for the link.
Can you tell me how my interpretation contradicts the letter of the law?
Your parsing adventure has barely begun.
Until you've parsed the Linux kernel in a single regex, you haven't lived.
What? You don't trust your gov't?
unsigned long double foo[1000000];
Haha!
One problem I think a lot of people have is that they believe there should be an objective rule by which all decisions should be made. It's probably a result of the deterministic nature of science and especially computer science. With business, though, there are so many factors to consider before making a business decision that it is simply impossible to take all those factors into account all at once without fudging some considerations.
A company loath to license patents is certainly well within their rights when facing a competitor who threatens to use the licensed patent to take away profits from the patent holder. If a biotech company came up with a cold remedy in their research and it was immediately useful in their serums, they would be fools to license the patent to another cold medicine-making company. However, if someone saw in the patent a path that could possibly lead to the cure for emphysema and needed to license the patent in order to build upon the original research, the company (whose main business is making cough rememdies) would be ethically challenged if they didn't license the patent. In the cases you cited above, the companies acted unethically, abusing their patents by not using them and not allowing them to be used.
Patents are meant to allow the creators a way to make a profit on their hard work and to facilitate the advancement of science by encouraging patent reuse instead of constant reimplementation. When a company does not use the patent for either of these purposes, the patent is worse than worthless because it actually becomes an hindrance to scientific progress.
A government-based arbitration system to whom a scorned patent licensee-to-be can appeal and have their case reviewed by a panel of qualified judges would provide the necessary Subjective viewpoint necessary to make patent licensing decisions on a case by case basis. The best decisions would be those that sought to properly recompense the patent holder without stripping the licensee dry.
Obviously this has the possibility of misuse written all over it, but so does the legal system. It also smacks of socialist tampering, but in reality it is simply an extension of the patent concept of promoting the arts and sciences.
The concept of patents is not broken, only the system used to award them and the companies that hoard them for no use but to crimp research areas. A system that could arbitrate disagreements subjectively would go far in prying open patents that are closed for no reason. Such a system could have opened the door to your colleague's mango research project and made a decent return on investment for the patent holder. Unfortunately, no one has the new mangoes, and the company has gained nothing from their patent.
So much time is wasted trying to duplicate the efforts of others or finding ways to subvert others' research.
Wouldn't it make more sense to license the technology (yes, even genetic enhancements) and build upon it rather than trying to redo it from scratch?
You know what we do with those types, don't you?
The Clio was way ahead of its time form-factor-wise. Too bad it was crippled with WinCE 2.11.
With WinCE 4.0, it would be much better, although your comments about the excess navigation is well-taken. To be fair, though, the Pocket PCs have quick buttons to take you to your calendar or contact list or mailbox.
True, the connection between the net cafes and the embassy incidences is tenuous. I used the cafe closings as a jumping off point to bring up the topic of China's recent crackdown on foreign nationals seeking asylum by retrieving them from within the walls of safe haven embassies.
I wrote up a post about it a few weeks ago in which I was very sympathetic to China's actions. Since then, the Korean embassy incident seems to bring into question their motives, which you correctly I believe attribute to political maneuverings. I don't see the logic behind such kowtowing to N. Korea, as I explain in my link.
Recently China's been acting quite belligerently towards N. Korean refugees trying to escape into the embassies of free nations. The first one was the Japanese embassy on May 10. The latest one was a few days ago at the S. Korean embassy. They have been entering embassy grounds and forcibly removing refugees from sovereign territory.
This closing of Internet cafes is indicative of something, perhaps a new crackdown on freedoms as the Chinese populace is exposed to more and more visions of freedom seekers being beat down at the gates of the S. Korean embassy or a mother and grandmother beaten up at the Japanese embassy.
H/PC Pro device manufacturers didn't stay onboard with these WinCE-based machines. They offered too little functionality for too much cost.
Now AlphaSmart is offering less power for only slightly less cost? I've seen the picture of the device, I don't think they are in this for the long haul.
Can I show up as an AC?
Digs on VA Linux, RMS, Sun, and Linux zealots all in one big breath.
It doesn't get much better than that. Well, maybe if he mentioned something about BSD dying or Natalie Portman...
When did they stop being iMacs?
Is there a direct upgrade path from 2.2 to 3.0? Will it require burning another set of CDs or will apt-get be able to handle the upgrade?
I'm looking into doing this again.Has anyone run both and have an opinion of which they preferred?
It's the discontinuity of the artifacts in time that I'm commenting on, not any particular sequence of groupings.
http://www.google.com/search?q=punch+card+sorter