slots underbelly
on
Net Vegas
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· Score: 5, Insightful
In Vegas a couple of years ago, there was a whole row of slots in repair. They tip the row over on its side, showing the mounting plate and everything underneath. Very clearly you could see the RJ45 jacks in the floor and what looked like regular Cat5 going from the jack to up inside the machine somewhere. There were outlets of course, and other cables, similar to large computer/mainframe setup where the cable trays are underneath. My thought was, if they are on a traditional network, then the guys at the other end can control just about anything on that slot.
Same trip, different casino, hubby and I walked up to a $1 progressive slot, and he started hitting 100 and 250 each pull. (it was near the back of a casino and we were the only ones there, it was also at 8mil, which is around when they hit) After about 4 hits, these men in suits with earpieces showed up. 2 right behind us, and 2 on the other side of the slots. They kept talking into their lapels (I kid you not!) like some sort of spy movie. I watched one guy look over hubby's shoulder, give a look to the other guy, talk to the lapel, and then we started losing. After a couple of pulls and losing, they walked away. I really don't think it was coincidence.
I love these things, really I do. I always get exicited when I hear about the next comet or shower that can be easily seen without a telescope, and then I manage to sleep through it all. Even when I set the alarm, I just hit the button, then back to sleep. It says 5:30 peak, which is much better than 1 or 2 in the morning. Maybe this will be the time. I'll put the coffee on auto so there's a fresh pot waiting. I hope the weather is good for it. When things only happen once every 100, 70, or 33 years, it seems it should be witnessed by all.
"Why the hell would someone need anything more than a 486 to enter attendance or grade information in a public school setting?"
Well, because there is a thing called 'student information', and there is a lot of it. And most parents want access to it, thus it must come out of some type of reasonably robust database. There are some districts that are web capable via a secure logon that allow parents to access everything about their kids, including their daily schedules, etc.
"The dot matrix is there because the District, State and sometimes the Feds all want a copy. The State can't take it in electronic format anymore cause the State or ESD threw away it's mainframe and terminal emulation solution for a bunch of Dells running 17 databases that can't talk to each other cause someone thought the mainframe was too old."
The dot matrix is usually there because schools can't afford anything better. One small middle school, 1000 students, 2 copies of a report card = 2 to 3 days of constant print heads running back and forth across the roller. The same job done on a donated LaserJet III can be done in approx 3 - 4 hours. As far as electronic submission to state reports, most schools submit their statistical and demographic data in ASCII form either on diskette, ftp, email attachment, etc and have been doing that much at least for many years now. You are right about the 17 different databases though. Setting data standards across states and federal educational facilities is somewhat of a nightmare, thus the ASCII transfers.
"I don't really understand why this is a problem."
The digital divide exists everywhere. Just pay attention to the very state/town/city you live in. One school system can have a phenomenal technology infrasturcure, that provides improved education, access to information, robotics and engineering programs, the list goes on. The next district can have absolutley nothing.
Secretaries trying to record attendance on an old 486 and printing report cards on a dot-matrix. (go ahead - take a good look at your kids report card next time) This problem can even be found in the same district, where one school, due to a powerful and proactive parent group, has a wealth of technology, and the next school down the street does not. You do want equal education for your children, don't you?
It is so difficult to form any type of organization aimed at bridging the digital divide. Here in the US the PowerUp program just died. If a program like that can't survive in one well-developed country, how can something similar take on the world's technology deficiencies?
From the article: "Though it failed to eliminate the divide, the program--established in 1999--did succeed in equipping nearly 1,000 high-tech computer labs in underserved areas across the country before pulling the plug."
As a Lego Robotics volunteer for our local middle school, I'm hoping this goes somewhere. Last year we needed to make a claw and I was dismayed at how difficult it was to find Lego news, examples, what other schools were doing, etc. We can't run out and buy every book just to find claw ideas. It would be great to have a forum where ppl could actually submit photos and stories of their lego creations. So far I have only been able to find these one-at-a-time.
MS will not restrict in the license agreement installing any other icons or programs on the desktop, distrbuting or promoting non-MS browsers/e-mail readers/media players &c. They also cannot restrict the automatic launching of any 'middleware' (browsers, e-mail readers, media players
From the decree: "2. Distributing or promoting Non-Microsoft Middleware by installing and
displaying
on the desktop shortcuts of any size or shape so long as such shortcuts do not
impair the functionality of the user interface.
"
Too much shortcut talk overall, vague, like everyone is to assume that a shortcut obviously leads to an actual program installed on the hard drive. Loose talk like that can lead to loopholes later. A 'shortcut' could be as simple as a note that says 'Buy RealPlayer Now'. Besides, has anyone noticed that XP is practically 'shortcut' free?
It's Friday and I'm tired...maybe I'm just being picky.
How easy to forget that most schools in the US were there just a few short years ago (indeed, some still are!). The amount of $$$ MS receives from our public schools in completely astronomical compared to what it was just 5 years ago. Schools started with just a few here and there, then things grew. That was always the plan, and MS knew it.
Anyone who paid attention to the Universal Service Fund (it's that tax that's on every phone bill in the country to help schools get internet access) could predict how large technology in education would become, and MS did not miss that boat. A little simple math: 92,000 school districts in the US, x 20K each in software licenses (let's say for simplicity, that covers everything - servers, CALs, Office, Mail, kids stuff, etc.) Now keep in mind that some districts are very small and can be just one or two buildings, others like Las Vegas or Dallas can have between 200 to 500 schools in one district - so this is a very rough but fair number (We spend more than that and we are 12 buildings).
Unless you purchase volume licenses, you may not have noticed that during the Office 97 era, Publisher was a separate package and a lot of schools didn't buy it (we just used Word), then for 2000 when you licensed Pro it included Pub 2000 - Oh I thought that was very nice of them!!! Now comes Office 2002 (XP) - you got it, Publisher is back out and costs another $5 a desktop if you want to keep it. Major bait-and-switch game. We opted out and are back to Word only, even with a couple of angry classrooms who had integrated it into curriculum, which I'm sure MS was counting on. It may not seem like much, but $5 a desktop and 2000 computers = another 10K just for that.
MS planted seeds all right, and now the roots are starting to crush the foundations...
A little off-topic I know, but I couldnt resist looking at the entertainment/music section. All of our favorite supporters of the DMCA are there along with all of our favortie companies (Disney, RIAA, etc)
Look at it from all different angles using the selections on the left. They donated only 5mil total in 1990, but jumped up to almost 40mil by 2000 (2002 isn't over yet).
You've got to be kidding me! (quote from Swinging on a Swing patent):
"The user may even choose to produce a Tarzan-type yell while swinging in the manner described, which more accurately replicates swinging on vines in a dense jungle forest. Actual jungle forestry is not required."
I have a feeling that the answer to this question is going to shock and dismay us all.
Actually, I read an article once on how children (boys especially) of programmers and engineers tended to display autistic behaviors, often leading to a misdiagnosis of autism. I was interested because my own nephew, at over two years old, still had not spoken one word. The doctors were heading toward an autistic condition. But the article went on to explain how even though they tend to display these early symptoms that can last from birth to five years old, they are just fine, and tend to end up very smart bordering on genius level. The most common thread under these conditions was that they were children of programmers or engineers. My brother is a programmer, so I thought it was rather interesting. (and yes I do think my nephew (who is now 6) is quite a little genius. He could read some words at two but couldn't talk. A few months in speech therapy fixed that. He bypassed kids books by age four and has been reading encyclopedia style books on anything to do with fish, bugs, snakes or animals of any kind. At 6 he can tell you what an estuary is, knows everything about anything that lives in the deep sea, will gladly explain about any 'aquatic animals' found in a zoo, including their eating and 'reproductive' habits and sound out words like carnivorous'. His hero is Steve Erwin, Crocodile Hunter, of course.
Just search for autism engineer. Here's a clip A couple of years ago the UK magazine Professional Engineering published an article entitled "Is there a bit of the Rain Man in every engineer?" linking engineers with children who have autism. Autistic children don't develop normal social relationships and they tend to wander off by themselves and play with mechanical things. The article said that engineers and autistic children shared various characteristics including strong visualisation skills, strong affinity with physical objects and being "less interested in social activities and communication.
Another Simon Baron-Cohen, an autism researcher at the University of Cambridge, found that there were 2 ½ times as many engineers in the family history of people with autism.
If that seems either insightful or funny to you, go try creating some documents on a typewriter
I supported the Navy for many years and had the fun job of installing some of the first NT 3.5 systems back when. I still know a lot of ppl in tech support there, so I keep taps on how things are going. They really only use typewriters for all of those 10-part travel forms they need to fill out. They use word processors for the rest (once done on VAX). Really, most of the Navy has used Office products since they began the switch from WordPerfect (DOS) back in the mid 90's. Navsea and headquarters have been using Office since then and got the ball rolling by being the first to switch (I was there when the memo came out). All other divisions follow what headquarters does. and PowerPoint? It is absolutely everywhere. There are probably a very few instances of WordStar in use from a few stubborn engineers who hug their old computers (yes, I have seen this happen), prefer working in 'real-mode', and won't let anyone touch their system - because it 'works just fine for them'. (right next to the old clunker you'll find a supped up PC so they can get online like everyone else)
As far as Intranet goes, many divisions already have them and have been using them for a few years. Very advanced methods too. Everything in an employees benefit profile can be found, travel orders in process, even a section where people can post classifieds - things for sale. Most have VPN's setup (yet they still don't use DHCP or have firewalls in many places - go figure)
Let's look at the case of DeCSS, a software tool designed to break the Content Scramble System (CSS) used by the MPAA in an attempt to protect it's intellectual property. . The DMCA was pivotal in the MPAAs lawsuits against three separate websites that hosted DeCSS or similar copyright circumvention tools, one just for linking to it.
Just as virus protection companies must strengthen and improve their software after each new virus is introduced, and operating system (OS) manufacturers and other software companies must develop a more secure system for each security hole found, then so must any corporation, especially so the entertainment industry, who wish to develop solid technical applications. They cannot be exempted from the forceful nature of making a better product.
This make it-break it-make it again process is simply inherent to the development of better software and hardware. Every single technological evolution that we have experienced in the last decade alone can find its humble beginnings in some earlier discovery; whether it is software, protocol, hardware or written word.
The DMCA fails miserably when technical experts, software engineers, scientists or the next encryption expert, are not allowed to dissect, discover and expand upon the potential of some new (or possibly old) element of technology. Especially when traditional copyrights and the patent process already exist to protect the actual inventor or original product. Can we even imagine a world if a company such as IBM were able to use something like the DMCA to prevent the creation IBM cloned PCs?
People learn one thing, then we pull it apart, see if it will break, turn it over and inspect every corner to see if it can be made better, bigger, smaller, cheaper, easier, safer, more secure - the list goes on. It is human nature to explore in this manner, from all things in earth and science, especially in science, and most especially in technology. To exclude any portion of software or hardware development because it appears to 'infringe' on one corporate entity, basically brings future developments to a stand still. A poor product forced upon the public with little hope of change in sight because it is illegal to improve upon its humble beginnings. Since the DMCA silenced the masses in regards to creating and then breaking copyright protection devices the world may never know what could have been.
The bar is constantly rising in technology. After successful dissection there comes discussion - the sharing of knowledge. Yet the DMCA stifles this too. In a world full of curious and inventive educators and learners, we pass on what we know so that others may benefit from this knowledge and learn to raise the bar yet again. That is the way it has always been, and will continue to be for there is not one single human being on this earth that can successfully predict when technological growth will stop because it has finally grown up.
Today, in the year 2002, we may be able to define what a "unlawful copyright circumvention device" is, using today's standards and our naïve knowledge of what they are. How will it be defined just ten years from now, or twenty? If the DMCA is not corrected, the definition will be exactly the same.
Let's look at the case of DeCSS, a software tool designed to break the Content Scramble System (CSS) used by the MPAA in an attempt to protect it's intellectual property. . The DMCA was pivotal in the MPAAs lawsuits against three separate websites that hosted DeCSS or similar copyright circumvention tools, one just for linking to it.
Just as virus protection companies must strengthen and improve their software after each new virus is introduced, and operating system (OS) manufacturers and other software companies must develop a more secure system for each security hole found, then so must any corporation, especially so the entertainment industry, who wish to develop solid technical applications. They cannot be exempted from the forceful nature of making a better product.
This make it-break it-make it again process is simply inherent to the development of better software and hardware. Every single technological evolution that we have experienced in the last decade alone can find its humble beginnings in some earlier discovery; whether it is software, protocol, hardware or written word.
The DMCA fails miserably when technical experts, software engineers, scientists or the next encryption expert, are not allowed to dissect, discover and expand upon the potential of some new (or possibly old) element of technology. Especially when traditional copyrights and the patent process already exist to protect the actual inventor or original product. Can we even imagine a world if a company such as IBM were able to use something like the DMCA to prevent the creation IBM cloned PCs?
People learn one thing, then we pull it apart, see if it will break, turn it over and inspect every corner to see if it can be made better, bigger, smaller, cheaper, easier, safer, more secure - the list goes on. It is human nature to explore in this manner, from all things in earth and science, especially in science, and most especially in technology. To exclude any portion of software or hardware development because it appears to 'infringe' on one corporate entity, basically brings future developments to a stand still. A poor product forced upon the public with little hope of change in sight because it is illegal to improve upon its humble beginnings. Since the DMCA silenced the masses in regards to creating and then breaking copyright protection devices the world may never know what could have been.
Today, in the year 2002, we may be able to define what a "unlawful copyright circumvention device" is, using today's standards and our naïve knowledge of what they are. How will it be defined just ten years from now, or twenty? If the DMCA is not corrected, the definition will be exactly the same.
Note - if you see any holes in this please point them out - thanks
Ok, so we just did this. But no one really posted anything concrete that we could write and complain about. So this is a second chance - they are looking for valid complaints of how the DMCA is infringing on whatever. What should be exempted from this law? Why? A clever little test really, and if we can't come up with any serious cases that qualify for exemptment, then they will just ignore the rest. So anyone????
Well, not exactly. That's about $6 for each license, not a legal copy. Schools agreements for enterprise (that just means lots of licenses) pay per seat. Student and teacher licenses are included in this, esp through Microsoft agreements. Your school has found a way to pass some of this cost onto the students. Technically it's yours to use for school purposes only while you are student.
Overall, how do these tests work? Microsoft often gives for free or very steep discounts 25 licenses - enough to equip a lab - of their OS, CALs, and Office products, and of course the testing modules. But then they whack the school system with their Educational license agreements which cover every desktop and server - often for $$$ into the tens of thousands.
Pretty clever marketing - give it for free and make the schools feel like they are getting something important, build a new customer base at the same time, then charge thousands on the other side and most folks don't even realize what hit them.
This concept has been out for a while, but has never appealed to me. I have no desire to fight with other family members over TV time vs computer time. It goes like this:
Mom and Dad are watching their fav show, a commercial comes on and Dad says 'I need to check my mail' - click - 'Oh look, someone sent me a new joke' click-click - The screen goes black, the system reboots. Mom whacks Dad with the newspaper for opening a virus and making her miss the end of the show.
Well, the guys are on board today! Almost every post has something to do with blowing things up! These are kids - do we really want to send them away with the message that science is all about creating explosive devices at home?
And what about girls? They really are not interested in the destructive side of things. I like this ice cream one. Everyone likes ice cream. Parents won't freak out when their kids come home with a new way to make a snack, but watching Junior shoot a can across the living room is sure to rile them. Or how about something from CSI? Forensic science is becoming extremely popular and many public schools are beginning to integrate it into their curriculum.
This can't be the first time they have addressed higher Ed directly, but it seems they are a couple of years too late with this dialogue. They should have jumped on this a long time ago before a generation of P2P users gets so accustomed it becomes 'they way things are'. Overall I'd give this letter a C+. They lose points for being late and not creating a forum with goals of a positive outcome - that means working with schools to create an educational opportunity so that some of these students might actually come up with a way to deal with these issues. Thus they lose points again for focusing on discipline and censorship over education. It's good to form a non-threatening and somewhat informative communication between parties to settle a dispute. Yet there are subtle inaccuracies and hype dotted throughout.
"Of course, P2P technology is exciting and holds great promise as a means of legitimately distributing works --it is the misuse of this technology by entities such as KaZaa, Grokster and Morpheus that causes problems for digital networks."
Sure P2P holds great promise - as long as it's reserved for them to make $$ and no one else. If they would have only permitted Napster to license their catalog they could have worked toward a solid legitimate use of P2P. To take an opportunity to communicate constructively then use it to bash the 'Evil P2P companies' is a bit much. The KaZaa's do nothing more than provide a service; it's the end-users who may misuse the technology.
I have always believed that the way to deal with P2P successfully is through a solid education and understanding of the technology and discuss solid cases of how it can be used for legitimate and non-legit uses. What better place to do this but at University? Yet nowhere do these letters discuss educating the students. They focus instead on seeking out the evil doers and ignorant fools who would create an 'insecure' network .
There are dozens of articles out there on how easy it is to beat some of the copy-protection schemes attempted by the record industry. Here's a sample from the Detroit News:
Armed with just a felt tip marker, music fans and technology tinkerers figured out a way to beat Sony's copy-protection scheme for CDs released in Europe.
Low quality, inept, weak designs should not be protected by any law, but should be made to serve only as a potential foundation for future ideas. It is human nature to take apart, inspect, turn over, disect then discuss and compare anything from an insect, to a rock; from a drop of water to a drop of blood, and most especially all things technological, in an effort to explore,learn, and possibly improve. It should not be against the law to do this just because it's "digital".
Hmmm - where to begin? How about if it's as easy as breaking by swiping a black magic marker around the edge then it can't count. How about proof that this law has actually put $$$ into the hands of the artists. Ensuring that papers and discussions, especially related to news and education, absolutely cannot result in an arrest as what happened to Dimtry or that professor who was threatened. (After all, Dimtry has PhD in cryptography - if he's not allowed to talk, who is?).
Make a change? Then ensure that no matter what, peoples right to fair use and free speech cannot be infringed by this law.
Slashdot Mirror
In Vegas a couple of years ago, there was a whole row of slots in repair. They tip the row over on its side, showing the mounting plate and everything underneath. Very clearly you could see the RJ45 jacks in the floor and what looked like regular Cat5 going from the jack to up inside the machine somewhere. There were outlets of course, and other cables, similar to large computer/mainframe setup where the cable trays are underneath. My thought was, if they are on a traditional network, then the guys at the other end can control just about anything on that slot.
Same trip, different casino, hubby and I walked up to a $1 progressive slot, and he started hitting 100 and 250 each pull. (it was near the back of a casino and we were the only ones there, it was also at 8mil, which is around when they hit) After about 4 hits, these men in suits with earpieces showed up. 2 right behind us, and 2 on the other side of the slots. They kept talking into their lapels (I kid you not!) like some sort of spy movie. I watched one guy look over hubby's shoulder, give a look to the other guy, talk to the lapel, and then we started losing. After a couple of pulls and losing, they walked away. I really don't think it was coincidence.
I love these things, really I do. I always get exicited when I hear about the next comet or shower that can be easily seen without a telescope, and then I manage to sleep through it all. Even when I set the alarm, I just hit the button, then back to sleep. It says 5:30 peak, which is much better than 1 or 2 in the morning. Maybe this will be the time. I'll put the coffee on auto so there's a fresh pot waiting. I hope the weather is good for it. When things only happen once every 100, 70, or 33 years, it seems it should be witnessed by all.
"Why the hell would someone need anything more than a 486 to enter attendance or grade information in a public school setting?"
Well, because there is a thing called 'student information', and there is a lot of it. And most parents want access to it, thus it must come out of some type of reasonably robust database. There are some districts that are web capable via a secure logon that allow parents to access everything about their kids, including their daily schedules, etc.
"The dot matrix is there because the District, State and sometimes the Feds all want a copy. The State can't take it in electronic format anymore cause the State or ESD threw away it's mainframe and terminal emulation solution for a bunch of Dells running 17 databases that can't talk to each other cause someone thought the mainframe was too old."
The dot matrix is usually there because schools can't afford anything better. One small middle school, 1000 students, 2 copies of a report card = 2 to 3 days of constant print heads running back and forth across the roller. The same job done on a donated LaserJet III can be done in approx 3 - 4 hours. As far as electronic submission to state reports, most schools submit their statistical and demographic data in ASCII form either on diskette, ftp, email attachment, etc and have been doing that much at least for many years now. You are right about the 17 different databases though. Setting data standards across states and federal educational facilities is somewhat of a nightmare, thus the ASCII transfers.
"I don't really understand why this is a problem."
The digital divide exists everywhere. Just pay attention to the very state/town/city you live in. One school system can have a phenomenal technology infrasturcure, that provides improved education, access to information, robotics and engineering programs, the list goes on. The next district can have absolutley nothing.
Secretaries trying to record attendance on an old 486 and printing report cards on a dot-matrix. (go ahead - take a good look at your kids report card next time) This problem can even be found in the same district, where one school, due to a powerful and proactive parent group, has a wealth of technology, and the next school down the street does not. You do want equal education for your children, don't you?
It is so difficult to form any type of organization aimed at bridging the digital divide. Here in the US the PowerUp program just died. If a program like that can't survive in one well-developed country, how can something similar take on the world's technology deficiencies?
From the article: "Though it failed to eliminate the divide, the program--established in 1999--did succeed in equipping nearly 1,000 high-tech computer labs in underserved areas across the country before pulling the plug."
As a Lego Robotics volunteer for our local middle school, I'm hoping this goes somewhere. Last year we needed to make a claw and I was dismayed at how difficult it was to find Lego news, examples, what other schools were doing, etc. We can't run out and buy every book just to find claw ideas. It would be great to have a forum where ppl could actually submit photos and stories of their lego creations. So far I have only been able to find these one-at-a-time.
MS will not restrict in the license agreement installing any other icons or programs on the desktop, distrbuting or promoting non-MS browsers/e-mail readers/media players &c. They also cannot restrict the automatic launching of any 'middleware' (browsers, e-mail readers, media players
...maybe I'm just being picky.
From the decree: "2. Distributing or promoting Non-Microsoft Middleware by installing and displaying on the desktop shortcuts of any size or shape so long as such shortcuts do not impair the functionality of the user interface. "
Too much shortcut talk overall, vague, like everyone is to assume that a shortcut obviously leads to an actual program installed on the hard drive. Loose talk like that can lead to loopholes later. A 'shortcut' could be as simple as a note that says 'Buy RealPlayer Now'. Besides, has anyone noticed that XP is practically 'shortcut' free?
It's Friday and I'm tired
How easy to forget that most schools in the US were there just a few short years ago (indeed, some still are!). The amount of $$$ MS receives from our public schools in completely astronomical compared to what it was just 5 years ago. Schools started with just a few here and there, then things grew. That was always the plan, and MS knew it.
Anyone who paid attention to the Universal Service Fund (it's that tax that's on every phone bill in the country to help schools get internet access) could predict how large technology in education would become, and MS did not miss that boat. A little simple math: 92,000 school districts in the US, x 20K each in software licenses (let's say for simplicity, that covers everything - servers, CALs, Office, Mail, kids stuff, etc.) Now keep in mind that some districts are very small and can be just one or two buildings, others like Las Vegas or Dallas can have between 200 to 500 schools in one district - so this is a very rough but fair number (We spend more than that and we are 12 buildings).
Unless you purchase volume licenses, you may not have noticed that during the Office 97 era, Publisher was a separate package and a lot of schools didn't buy it (we just used Word), then for 2000 when you licensed Pro it included Pub 2000 - Oh I thought that was very nice of them!!! Now comes Office 2002 (XP) - you got it, Publisher is back out and costs another $5 a desktop if you want to keep it. Major bait-and-switch game. We opted out and are back to Word only, even with a couple of angry classrooms who had integrated it into curriculum, which I'm sure MS was counting on. It may not seem like much, but $5 a desktop and 2000 computers = another 10K just for that.
MS planted seeds all right, and now the roots are starting to crush the foundations...
A little off-topic I know, but I couldnt resist looking at the entertainment/music section. All of our favorite supporters of the DMCA are there along with all of our favortie companies (Disney, RIAA, etc) Look at it from all different angles using the selections on the left. They donated only 5mil total in 1990, but jumped up to almost 40mil by 2000 (2002 isn't over yet).
You've got to be kidding me! (quote from Swinging on a Swing patent):
"The user may even choose to produce a Tarzan-type yell while swinging in the manner described, which more accurately replicates swinging on vines in a dense jungle forest. Actual jungle forestry is not required."
This doesn't bode well for technology patents.
I have a feeling that the answer to this question is going to shock and dismay us all.
Actually, I read an article once on how children (boys especially) of programmers and engineers tended to display autistic behaviors, often leading to a misdiagnosis of autism. I was interested because my own nephew, at over two years old, still had not spoken one word. The doctors were heading toward an autistic condition. But the article went on to explain how even though they tend to display these early symptoms that can last from birth to five years old, they are just fine, and tend to end up very smart bordering on genius level. The most common thread under these conditions was that they were children of programmers or engineers. My brother is a programmer, so I thought it was rather interesting. (and yes I do think my nephew (who is now 6) is quite a little genius. He could read some words at two but couldn't talk. A few months in speech therapy fixed that. He bypassed kids books by age four and has been reading encyclopedia style books on anything to do with fish, bugs, snakes or animals of any kind. At 6 he can tell you what an estuary is, knows everything about anything that lives in the deep sea, will gladly explain about any 'aquatic animals' found in a zoo, including their eating and 'reproductive' habits and sound out words like carnivorous'. His hero is Steve Erwin, Crocodile Hunter, of course.
Just search for autism engineer.
Here's a clip
A couple of years ago the UK magazine Professional Engineering published an article entitled "Is there a bit of the Rain Man in every engineer?" linking engineers with children who have autism. Autistic children don't develop normal social relationships and they tend to wander off by themselves and play with mechanical things. The article said that engineers and autistic children shared various characteristics including strong visualisation skills, strong affinity with physical objects and being "less interested in social activities and communication.
Another
Simon Baron-Cohen, an autism researcher at the University of Cambridge, found that there were 2 ½ times as many engineers in the family history of people with autism.
If that seems either insightful or funny to you, go try creating some documents on a typewriter
I supported the Navy for many years and had the fun job of installing some of the first NT 3.5 systems back when. I still know a lot of ppl in tech support there, so I keep taps on how things are going. They really only use typewriters for all of those 10-part travel forms they need to fill out. They use word processors for the rest (once done on VAX). Really, most of the Navy has used Office products since they began the switch from WordPerfect (DOS) back in the mid 90's. Navsea and headquarters have been using Office since then and got the ball rolling by being the first to switch (I was there when the memo came out). All other divisions follow what headquarters does. and PowerPoint? It is absolutely everywhere. There are probably a very few instances of WordStar in use from a few stubborn engineers who hug their old computers (yes, I have seen this happen), prefer working in 'real-mode', and won't let anyone touch their system - because it 'works just fine for them'. (right next to the old clunker you'll find a supped up PC so they can get online like everyone else)
As far as Intranet goes, many divisions already have them and have been using them for a few years. Very advanced methods too. Everything in an employees benefit profile can be found, travel orders in process, even a section where people can post classifieds - things for sale. Most have VPN's setup (yet they still don't use DHCP or have firewalls in many places - go figure)
Added a paragraph:
Let's look at the case of DeCSS, a software tool designed to break the Content Scramble System (CSS) used by the MPAA in an attempt to protect it's intellectual property. . The DMCA was pivotal in the MPAAs lawsuits against three separate websites that hosted DeCSS or similar copyright circumvention tools, one just for linking to it.
Just as virus protection companies must strengthen and improve their software after each new virus is introduced, and operating system (OS) manufacturers and other software companies must develop a more secure system for each security hole found, then so must any corporation, especially so the entertainment industry, who wish to develop solid technical applications. They cannot be exempted from the forceful nature of making a better product.
This make it-break it-make it again process is simply inherent to the development of better software and hardware. Every single technological evolution that we have experienced in the last decade alone can find its humble beginnings in some earlier discovery; whether it is software, protocol, hardware or written word.
The DMCA fails miserably when technical experts, software engineers, scientists or the next encryption expert, are not allowed to dissect, discover and expand upon the potential of some new (or possibly old) element of technology. Especially when traditional copyrights and the patent process already exist to protect the actual inventor or original product. Can we even imagine a world if a company such as IBM were able to use something like the DMCA to prevent the creation IBM cloned PCs?
People learn one thing, then we pull it apart, see if it will break, turn it over and inspect every corner to see if it can be made better, bigger, smaller, cheaper, easier, safer, more secure - the list goes on. It is human nature to explore in this manner, from all things in earth and science, especially in science, and most especially in technology. To exclude any portion of software or hardware development because it appears to 'infringe' on one corporate entity, basically brings future developments to a stand still. A poor product forced upon the public with little hope of change in sight because it is illegal to improve upon its humble beginnings. Since the DMCA silenced the masses in regards to creating and then breaking copyright protection devices the world may never know what could have been.
The bar is constantly rising in technology. After successful dissection there comes discussion - the sharing of knowledge. Yet the DMCA stifles this too. In a world full of curious and inventive educators and learners, we pass on what we know so that others may benefit from this knowledge and learn to raise the bar yet again. That is the way it has always been, and will continue to be for there is not one single human being on this earth that can successfully predict when technological growth will stop because it has finally grown up.
Today, in the year 2002, we may be able to define what a "unlawful copyright circumvention device" is, using today's standards and our naïve knowledge of what they are. How will it be defined just ten years from now, or twenty? If the DMCA is not corrected, the definition will be exactly the same.
Let's look at the case of DeCSS, a software tool designed to break the Content Scramble System (CSS) used by the MPAA in an attempt to protect it's intellectual property. . The DMCA was pivotal in the MPAAs lawsuits against three separate websites that hosted DeCSS or similar copyright circumvention tools, one just for linking to it.
Just as virus protection companies must strengthen and improve their software after each new virus is introduced, and operating system (OS) manufacturers and other software companies must develop a more secure system for each security hole found, then so must any corporation, especially so the entertainment industry, who wish to develop solid technical applications. They cannot be exempted from the forceful nature of making a better product.
This make it-break it-make it again process is simply inherent to the development of better software and hardware. Every single technological evolution that we have experienced in the last decade alone can find its humble beginnings in some earlier discovery; whether it is software, protocol, hardware or written word.
The DMCA fails miserably when technical experts, software engineers, scientists or the next encryption expert, are not allowed to dissect, discover and expand upon the potential of some new (or possibly old) element of technology. Especially when traditional copyrights and the patent process already exist to protect the actual inventor or original product. Can we even imagine a world if a company such as IBM were able to use something like the DMCA to prevent the creation IBM cloned PCs?
People learn one thing, then we pull it apart, see if it will break, turn it over and inspect every corner to see if it can be made better, bigger, smaller, cheaper, easier, safer, more secure - the list goes on. It is human nature to explore in this manner, from all things in earth and science, especially in science, and most especially in technology. To exclude any portion of software or hardware development because it appears to 'infringe' on one corporate entity, basically brings future developments to a stand still. A poor product forced upon the public with little hope of change in sight because it is illegal to improve upon its humble beginnings. Since the DMCA silenced the masses in regards to creating and then breaking copyright protection devices the world may never know what could have been.
Today, in the year 2002, we may be able to define what a "unlawful copyright circumvention device" is, using today's standards and our naïve knowledge of what they are. How will it be defined just ten years from now, or twenty? If the DMCA is not corrected, the definition will be exactly the same.
Note - if you see any holes in this please point them out - thanks
Ok, so we just did this. But no one really posted anything concrete that we could write and complain about. So this is a second chance - they are looking for valid complaints of how the DMCA is infringing on whatever. What should be exempted from this law? Why? A clever little test really, and if we can't come up with any serious cases that qualify for exemptment, then they will just ignore the rest. So anyone????
Well, not exactly. That's about $6 for each license, not a legal copy. Schools agreements for enterprise (that just means lots of licenses) pay per seat. Student and teacher licenses are included in this, esp through Microsoft agreements. Your school has found a way to pass some of this cost onto the students. Technically it's yours to use for school purposes only while you are student.
Overall, how do these tests work? Microsoft often gives for free or very steep discounts 25 licenses - enough to equip a lab - of their OS, CALs, and Office products, and of course the testing modules. But then they whack the school system with their Educational license agreements which cover every desktop and server - often for $$$ into the tens of thousands.
Pretty clever marketing - give it for free and make the schools feel like they are getting something important, build a new customer base at the same time, then charge thousands on the other side and most folks don't even realize what hit them.
This concept has been out for a while, but has never appealed to me. I have no desire to fight with other family members over TV time vs computer time. It goes like this:
Mom and Dad are watching their fav show, a commercial comes on and Dad says 'I need to check my mail' - click - 'Oh look, someone sent me a new joke' click-click - The screen goes black, the system reboots. Mom whacks Dad with the newspaper for opening a virus and making her miss the end of the show.
Does anyone remember when the 'Micro' PC was as big as the Maxi shown?
Well, the guys are on board today! Almost every post has something to do with blowing things up! These are kids - do we really want to send them away with the message that science is all about creating explosive devices at home?
And what about girls? They really are not interested in the destructive side of things. I like this ice cream one. Everyone likes ice cream. Parents won't freak out when their kids come home with a new way to make a snack, but watching Junior shoot a can across the living room is sure to rile them. Or how about something from CSI? Forensic science is becoming extremely popular and many public schools are beginning to integrate it into their curriculum.
This can't be the first time they have addressed higher Ed directly, but it seems they are a couple of years too late with this dialogue. They should have jumped on this a long time ago before a generation of P2P users gets so accustomed it becomes 'they way things are'. Overall I'd give this letter a C+. They lose points for being late and not creating a forum with goals of a positive outcome - that means working with schools to create an educational opportunity so that some of these students might actually come up with a way to deal with these issues. Thus they lose points again for focusing on discipline and censorship over education. It's good to form a non-threatening and somewhat informative communication between parties to settle a dispute. Yet there are subtle inaccuracies and hype dotted throughout.
"Of course, P2P technology is exciting and holds great promise as a means of legitimately distributing works --it is the misuse of this technology by entities such as KaZaa, Grokster and Morpheus that causes problems for digital networks."
Sure P2P holds great promise - as long as it's reserved for them to make $$ and no one else. If they would have only permitted Napster to license their catalog they could have worked toward a solid legitimate use of P2P. To take an opportunity to communicate constructively then use it to bash the 'Evil P2P companies' is a bit much. The KaZaa's do nothing more than provide a service; it's the end-users who may misuse the technology.
I have always believed that the way to deal with P2P successfully is through a solid education and understanding of the technology and discuss solid cases of how it can be used for legitimate and non-legit uses. What better place to do this but at University? Yet nowhere do these letters discuss educating the students. They focus instead on seeking out the evil doers and ignorant fools who would create an 'insecure' network .
There are dozens of articles out there on how easy it is to beat some of the copy-protection schemes attempted by the record industry. Here's a sample from the Detroit News:
Armed with just a felt tip marker, music fans and technology tinkerers figured out a way to beat Sony's copy-protection scheme for CDs released in Europe.
Low quality, inept, weak designs should not be protected by any law, but should be made to serve only as a potential foundation for future ideas. It is human nature to take apart, inspect, turn over, disect then discuss and compare anything from an insect, to a rock; from a drop of water to a drop of blood, and most especially all things technological, in an effort to explore,learn, and possibly improve. It should not be against the law to do this just because it's "digital".
If they could speak it could be proof that it really is a language and make code everywhere unpatentable.
eSchool link: (sorry about that)
There are a couple, so the best way is to go to eSchool News and search for sexual discrimination. (www.eschoolnews.com)
Hmmm - where to begin? How about if it's as easy as breaking by swiping a black magic marker around the edge then it can't count. How about proof that this law has actually put $$$ into the hands of the artists. Ensuring that papers and discussions, especially related to news and education, absolutely cannot result in an arrest as what happened to Dimtry or that professor who was threatened. (After all, Dimtry has PhD in cryptography - if he's not allowed to talk, who is?).
Make a change? Then ensure that no matter what, peoples right to fair use and free speech cannot be infringed by this law.
Anyway, back to the subject: why is it so hard to find women to play Tomb Raider games?
Simple: women and men think in different ways...
So let's back this up a bit. Maybe the problem isn't finding women gamers, but finding women who can write these games in the first place.