I'd never heard the word 'interpellated' before (neat word), but after reading the description I believe we have a similar process -- for example, occasionally someone or some group is questioned by a Senate committee, or section of the Senate formed to deal with a set of tasks, who then reports to the full Senate.
I used to do something similar with QuakeWorld on Linux back when efficient CPU management was more necessary for me -- "init 1", then ran the services I needed manually (ppp). It should be possible to create your own runlevel that does this automatically, or better yet for the distributions to allow easier customizations of runlevels they aren't using, which in most cases would permit at least 2, 3, and 4 to be used for alternative configs.
This approach should be nothing new to hardcore gamers, or even dabblers that grew up with PC games before Windows 95, because most of the games actually came with instructions to roll your own DOS bootdisk. But using "init" it is possible to allow the user to switch Linux into "Gaming Mode" as well as allowing such an option to be chosen at boot time.
Every time I see another round of Microsoft bashing, it reminds me that it isn't just software that can be insecure. Honestly, why people choose to focus on slamming something rather than invest the energy in choosing an alternative is beyond me. If their cause is evangelism, perhaps a better way to go about it is for them to promote their choice based on merit rather than attempt to drag other choices down to their level?
At the end of the day, your approach is sanest. People get all caught up in the methodology without realizing that the end result will always be what matters in computing.
Adding a smart chip with biometrics is going to make it a lot harder for people to counterfeit these IDs. This is important even if not immediately relevant to the only event most people think of in connection to security.
I think it'd be more interesting to make the passport work on more levels, though, such as encoding your driver's license and other relevant information to make it more convenient to use for identification (irregardless of what you're doing, you'd only have to carry one ID wherever you go.) Maybe even include an ability to pay with the card, with a credit issuer encoding their information in the chip -- use the card in a vending machine/gas pump/computer peripheral, verify with a fingerprint, and away you go.
Sounds like a plan.
on
Qt On DirectFB
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· Score: 4, Interesting
While I've grown accustomed to X-Windows' ideosynchronities, I've always thought that it would be a good idea to reengineer the whole system from scratch to take advantage of today's hardware and UI concepts. X-Windows 4 has been a vast improvement, but I'm talking about something more like OS X where the whole thing is rewritten to be very smooth and responsive to user input.
If this is a step in that direction, and it sounds like it is, I'm all for a decent alternative that isn't slowed down by having to be a swiss army knife. Especially if it makes resolution switching, 3D graphics, and direct screen drawing less of a hassle.
We split our national phone company, and it turns out the rates kept going up while the level of service went down. Apparently, there's some sort of economic force called "scale economy" that reflects the fact that having multiple companies providing the same service means a lot of costly redundancy.
Some monopolies should be broken, but others are better off regulated. We got Unix out of AT&T, but I'm not even getting reliable Caller ID out of the local tel.
They've probably got to operate with some level of compatibility with the outside world, which to this point is still largely Windows. This means sending out.DOCs as well as being able to read them, which only Microsoft Office seems capable of doing properly, and the only way to run Office is to use VMWare.
No doubt in-house they're going to leverage the potential of Linux, getting applications custom developed for their usage and whatnot, while continuing to use Microsoft's superior products until something equivalent or better comes along. Eventually they'll migrate fully.
I suggest it's time for some folks to pull their heads out of their asses around here. If you don't think Freenet's tripping flags or raising concerns, call me when you decide to visit reality again.
Simple analytical reasoning will tell you that Freenet is not a good choice if you're looking for a relaxed low-profile cruise through an anarchical network. Either it works as advertised, raising the hackles of those who believe that networked anonymity offers an unreasonable risk (from RIAA to government, this network is almost certainly on the radar), or it doesn't work as well as you think it might, leaving you in the lurch if you're whistleblowing or 'file sharing' or far worse. This guy is raising a good point, and one that came to mind as I was browsing Freenet one night and decided to disconnect rather than potentially get involved in something out of proportion to my desire to see how people use their freedom of speech in such a medium.
Sorry if this tips your sacred cow, reader, but in a world where something like Freenet would be necessary users would be shot in the head no matter how cleverly the data stores themselves resist tampering.
Obtaining a patent is already a lengthy and expensive process. Door-to-door inquiries are only going to make it costlier.
Look, there are still things that are patent worthy. I was just watching on the news where some kid and his dad made a device that would kill mosquito larvae using sound waves through water -- no chemicals. I question the overall usefulness of such a device (getting rid of standing water around your house may be smarter, although I suppose this would be helpful if you had a small pond) but it seemed pretty unique and clever.
The process of proving prior art should be more streamlined, perhaps, and the level of interest at the patent office of yanking improperly issued patents definitely needs to be increased, but doing away with this system is only going to punish the small inventor as illustrated above.
I have been struggling mightily to try and make my country more palatable to you without success. My one man campaign to convince my nation, via bitching in Internet forums and visiting the voting booths, to stop selling its self-destructive corporatist ideals to the willing buyers that lead your countries, can only be considered an utter and complete failure. My appeals to the sense of justice in others around me to think about the evils of the DMCA and these corporations who abuse it to stop us from tinkering with our electronic purchases seem to pale in comparison to their concerns about silly things like holding on to their jobs in this shitty economy or eating.
Tomorrow I will continue to let people know the injustice being done to other people they don't know using equipment they've never heard of on technology they could care less about with renewed enthusiasm thanks to your post. Keep fighting the good fight!
Howard Dean is simply playing politics right now, and rather well in my opinion. He's surveying the political landscape, choosing certain issues that he can take a stand on without alienating voters in the primaries or causing too much damage to his chances of obtaining the Democratic party nomination, and essentially playing his cards close to his chest. He's trying to hit that sweet spot where the general uninformed public feels he's being up front while not actually committing himself to any ideals he can't back out of a little later should he need to adjust his campaign strategy to better engage the electorate.
My point is that now isn't the time I'd choose to put all of my chips on a particular candidate. Additionally, I'd hardly accuse Howard Dean of being the only candidate who hasn't been entirely forthcoming during a campaign. You can't be a serious Republican or Democratic contender without engaging in the above tactics (and, unfortunately in my opinion, the third parties never seem to be serious contenders.) Dean's wishy-washiness is only apparent because the media isn't giving him the free pass they'll happily extend to their favorites.
I still don't know who I'm going to vote for, but I'd like a candidate that's serious about encouraging the return of at least some manufacturing and other jobs to America. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans seem to really care, but our economy is suffering for it.
In a way, I think they're also validating the concept that some hardcore gamers would like to have hardware they can tinker with and homebrew games for that also doesn't forbid them from running imports. I don't remember the name, but I thought there was a company that was going to fill this niche that was a casualty of the dotcom crash. Kind of a pity they went under, because it sounded like the hardware (which they planned to make money on) would be the catalyst to some really great development.
We're rapidly approaching the point where consoles are pointless. Commodity hardware is cheaper, computers offer a far superior gaming experience, and the current leader in the field got its legs dominating the PC market. This just sounds like that convergence thing they were always expecting.
What with Media PCs picking up acceptance, I wouldn't be surprised to see a game/network/PVR combo soon.
No doubt he'll have much more time to dedicate to his programming. Python sounds pretty interesting, and I dug through the BitTorrent source a bit to learn more about it, but it also seems pretty complex for what the end result is (as opposed to, say, Perl.) With a bit of work towards a more logical parse tree/DTD, I could see Python easily surpassing Perl as a strongly-typed effective scripting language.
Penn and Teller's Bullshit sounds like an apt name. Don't get me wrong, they're both pretty cool, but that pro- argument is a crock -- we could feed the world using today's technology, but the same things are standing in the way that will prevent us from doing so even in a world of genetically modified food: it costs money, there isn't a fully-effective method of distribution that doesn't land most of the food in the hands of warlords/black markets, and the countries that need the help will still have a situation of not possessing enough ariable land or workers/equipment.
It's not intellectually honest to suggest otherwise, P&T, but it is very Libertarian. The fact is that genetic modification will make growing food/cotton/etc. easier and cheaper for the companies that are already doing so, which is still a laudable goal especially if it keeps prices lower, but it isn't going to solve the world's food problems in and of itself.
I do agree that we should continue testing/using it, with labelling on resultant products, but I'm concerned that we aren't being cautious enough in cordoning off the areas in which genetically modified plants are being grown. The creation of the 'killer bee' problem resulted from a careless accident.
From my viewpoint, it's better to make adjustments gradually while observing the results than to overcompensate particularly where legislation is concerned. The laws made today are likely to sit on the books for a long time -- probably longer than the technology they're intended to be applied to -- whether they end up being used well or abused.
Making spam an uneconomically sound way of advertising should be the goal, and that's achievable without excessive punitive action (which, as you point out, may damage or ruin businesses or individuals that aren't willingly sending unsolicited and undesired e-mail.)
I take it you're for responsible anti-spam laws; the kind that take the possibility for human error into account. Unfortunately, people (here and elsewhere, and in general) think that if a problem is widespread enough you've got to immediately jump to cutting the offender's hands off.
It's a hypocritical stance in this forum to take that tack with spammers unless you also harbor some level of approval of the RIAA/MPAA efforts vs. P2P users. Same thing -- perceived endemic problem that can only be solved through unusual and extreme punishments that promise to bend if not break our Constitution.
This probably could end up saving us a great deal of money on defense, given that we'd only need to deploy these on demand and from our own soil to boot -- less dependence on foreign nations in the future.
More money, better protection.
While Mozilla seems like a state-of-the-art platform in a couple of respects, I have qualms about using software that accentuates features over reliability. For example, Internet Explorer 4 and above are proven to work with Year 2000; on the other hand, even in this most recent release, the README states:
We do not guarantee that any source code or executable code available from the mozilla.org domain is Year 2000 compliant.
We've been in the year 2000 for a while now. How can an organization continue to release code that has not been tested to comply with four digit dates? This seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
I think it's just a matter of time until we've got Total Recall style detection for contraband. Which isn't a bad thing. I know I feel a lot safer now than I did before -- the screening procedures have gotten a lot tighter and have improved with the technology.
The odor-detecting technology is getting pretty good too.
Interesting technology
on
RFID Explained
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· Score: 4, Insightful
I guess I don't see why we aren't using it already. This could drop inventory costs to a quarter of what they were before -- no more all-nighters trying to discover what's in stock and what isn't.
I've tried a number of different ways to filter spam, from whitelisting to Bayesian filtering, and Bayesian seems to offer a good balance between not eating too much of the ham while letting the spam through. Not too shabby, especially given that it comes with Mozilla now, and I think it's an excellent way of allowing clients to determine what they want to see without infringing free speech.
I don't know if I'd want it in Python, though... it does seem to be a good deal slower already than other spam filtering methods without putting it in a scripting language. Getting it in Outlook can only be good for the net (can Bayesian be applied to things like spam from Internet virii as well?)
Kind of nifty, coming from a PalmOS standpoint. I like the idea of being able to leverage my knowledge of Linux when I'm jotting down a note or looking up an address.
Irregardless, the usage factor is one of the things that's been getting to me lately with these handhelds and cellphones -- I know that Dick Tracy concept of having a computer on your wrist is chic, but nobody seems to notice that these things are getting pretty cramped! But one of the things I got to see lately that I'm thinking about picking up is the TabletPC.
Really, a tablet is the logical super-portable version of a notebook -- not too expensive to lose, big enough to work with, simple enough to ink a document as quickly as you need to. So when I tried out the TabletPC, I guess I wasn't that surprised that it seemed much more natural than these handhelds. Any area much smaller than a computer monitor is unworkable these days, particularly with web applications... but I think a TabletPC with WiFi fits the bill.
Slashdot Mirror
I'd never heard the word 'interpellated' before (neat word), but after reading the description I believe we have a similar process -- for example, occasionally someone or some group is questioned by a Senate committee, or section of the Senate formed to deal with a set of tasks, who then reports to the full Senate.
This approach should be nothing new to hardcore gamers, or even dabblers that grew up with PC games before Windows 95, because most of the games actually came with instructions to roll your own DOS bootdisk. But using "init" it is possible to allow the user to switch Linux into "Gaming Mode" as well as allowing such an option to be chosen at boot time.
At the end of the day, your approach is sanest. People get all caught up in the methodology without realizing that the end result will always be what matters in computing.
I think it'd be more interesting to make the passport work on more levels, though, such as encoding your driver's license and other relevant information to make it more convenient to use for identification (irregardless of what you're doing, you'd only have to carry one ID wherever you go.) Maybe even include an ability to pay with the card, with a credit issuer encoding their information in the chip -- use the card in a vending machine/gas pump/computer peripheral, verify with a fingerprint, and away you go.
If this is a step in that direction, and it sounds like it is, I'm all for a decent alternative that isn't slowed down by having to be a swiss army knife. Especially if it makes resolution switching, 3D graphics, and direct screen drawing less of a hassle.
Some monopolies should be broken, but others are better off regulated. We got Unix out of AT&T, but I'm not even getting reliable Caller ID out of the local tel.
No doubt in-house they're going to leverage the potential of Linux, getting applications custom developed for their usage and whatnot, while continuing to use Microsoft's superior products until something equivalent or better comes along. Eventually they'll migrate fully.
Simple analytical reasoning will tell you that Freenet is not a good choice if you're looking for a relaxed low-profile cruise through an anarchical network. Either it works as advertised, raising the hackles of those who believe that networked anonymity offers an unreasonable risk (from RIAA to government, this network is almost certainly on the radar), or it doesn't work as well as you think it might, leaving you in the lurch if you're whistleblowing or 'file sharing' or far worse. This guy is raising a good point, and one that came to mind as I was browsing Freenet one night and decided to disconnect rather than potentially get involved in something out of proportion to my desire to see how people use their freedom of speech in such a medium.
Sorry if this tips your sacred cow, reader, but in a world where something like Freenet would be necessary users would be shot in the head no matter how cleverly the data stores themselves resist tampering.
Look, there are still things that are patent worthy. I was just watching on the news where some kid and his dad made a device that would kill mosquito larvae using sound waves through water -- no chemicals. I question the overall usefulness of such a device (getting rid of standing water around your house may be smarter, although I suppose this would be helpful if you had a small pond) but it seemed pretty unique and clever.
The process of proving prior art should be more streamlined, perhaps, and the level of interest at the patent office of yanking improperly issued patents definitely needs to be increased, but doing away with this system is only going to punish the small inventor as illustrated above.
Tomorrow I will continue to let people know the injustice being done to other people they don't know using equipment they've never heard of on technology they could care less about with renewed enthusiasm thanks to your post. Keep fighting the good fight!
My point is that now isn't the time I'd choose to put all of my chips on a particular candidate. Additionally, I'd hardly accuse Howard Dean of being the only candidate who hasn't been entirely forthcoming during a campaign. You can't be a serious Republican or Democratic contender without engaging in the above tactics (and, unfortunately in my opinion, the third parties never seem to be serious contenders.) Dean's wishy-washiness is only apparent because the media isn't giving him the free pass they'll happily extend to their favorites.
I still don't know who I'm going to vote for, but I'd like a candidate that's serious about encouraging the return of at least some manufacturing and other jobs to America. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans seem to really care, but our economy is suffering for it.
In a way, I think they're also validating the concept that some hardcore gamers would like to have hardware they can tinker with and homebrew games for that also doesn't forbid them from running imports. I don't remember the name, but I thought there was a company that was going to fill this niche that was a casualty of the dotcom crash. Kind of a pity they went under, because it sounded like the hardware (which they planned to make money on) would be the catalyst to some really great development.
What with Media PCs picking up acceptance, I wouldn't be surprised to see a game/network/PVR combo soon.
What other projects are being done in Python?
It's not intellectually honest to suggest otherwise, P&T, but it is very Libertarian. The fact is that genetic modification will make growing food/cotton/etc. easier and cheaper for the companies that are already doing so, which is still a laudable goal especially if it keeps prices lower, but it isn't going to solve the world's food problems in and of itself.
I do agree that we should continue testing/using it, with labelling on resultant products, but I'm concerned that we aren't being cautious enough in cordoning off the areas in which genetically modified plants are being grown. The creation of the 'killer bee' problem resulted from a careless accident.
Complementing.
From my viewpoint, it's better to make adjustments gradually while observing the results than to overcompensate particularly where legislation is concerned. The laws made today are likely to sit on the books for a long time -- probably longer than the technology they're intended to be applied to -- whether they end up being used well or abused.
Making spam an uneconomically sound way of advertising should be the goal, and that's achievable without excessive punitive action (which, as you point out, may damage or ruin businesses or individuals that aren't willingly sending unsolicited and undesired e-mail.)
It's a hypocritical stance in this forum to take that tack with spammers unless you also harbor some level of approval of the RIAA/MPAA efforts vs. P2P users. Same thing -- perceived endemic problem that can only be solved through unusual and extreme punishments that promise to bend if not break our Constitution.
I can't wait for a FedEx that can do same day delivery.
This probably could end up saving us a great deal of money on defense, given that we'd only need to deploy these on demand and from our own soil to boot -- less dependence on foreign nations in the future. More money, better protection.
I run on methanol, too.
We do not guarantee that any source code or executable code available from the mozilla.org domain is Year 2000 compliant.
We've been in the year 2000 for a while now. How can an organization continue to release code that has not been tested to comply with four digit dates? This seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
The odor-detecting technology is getting pretty good too.
Isn't Wal-Mart adopting it?
I don't know if I'd want it in Python, though... it does seem to be a good deal slower already than other spam filtering methods without putting it in a scripting language. Getting it in Outlook can only be good for the net (can Bayesian be applied to things like spam from Internet virii as well?)
Irregardless, the usage factor is one of the things that's been getting to me lately with these handhelds and cellphones -- I know that Dick Tracy concept of having a computer on your wrist is chic, but nobody seems to notice that these things are getting pretty cramped! But one of the things I got to see lately that I'm thinking about picking up is the TabletPC.
Really, a tablet is the logical super-portable version of a notebook -- not too expensive to lose, big enough to work with, simple enough to ink a document as quickly as you need to. So when I tried out the TabletPC, I guess I wasn't that surprised that it seemed much more natural than these handhelds. Any area much smaller than a computer monitor is unworkable these days, particularly with web applications... but I think a TabletPC with WiFi fits the bill.