Indian economic potential will be witnessed in few years. Despite the Asian currency crisis, India fared very well. Indian economy is booming right now. Indian space program is painfully put together with many setbacks. Let's give credit to a developing nation that has built it's own launch vehicles and satellites that are very good.
Many people think patents are evil. The system of Patents, like any other system, is played with certain rules. Obtaining a patent does not mean that you have a ultra-strong right. Any issued patent is open to various challenges like reexamination and validty. When a patent owner sues another party for infringment, the infringer typically challenger the validity of the patent on all possible grounds. During such challenge a wide search of art, which is much more specific and comrehensive than that carried out by the Examiner, is carried out to invalidate patents. So even if there are patent examiners who have allowed crappy patents yet that does not mean end of the world.
In a sense patents are the original open-source movement. It is to be more correct a open-concept with a little delay movement. Coke's formula is protected as trade-secret, and nobody can force them to reveal it. On the contrary, if Coke had patentended it it would have available to chemists to study as early as in 18 months (patnent App Publication). And anyone could make Coke after 15 years when the patent expired. Yes, 15 years seems long, yet within that time someone could have used the information in the Coke Patent and devised a better drink! That is the value of patent. Today no-one will ever know the software techniques embedded in proprietary products yet if they were patented or their techniques patented, we would have a printed record of such techniques which would enrich the knowledgebase of computer science. Without patents we can only rely on the charitable sense of these monolithic corporations to reveal their secrets. One must understand that patents apply to many things. A drug company keeping information secret is harmful to progress of medicine and society immediately, while a software company not patenting and keeping its techniques secret may only be a long-term threat to society. We must think of patent in more broader sense.
Farming is a labor intensive activity. Seventy percent of Indian population lives in rural areas and depends on farming and related activities for livelihood. Remember by 70% of India's population we are talking about 700 million people. The obvious things that India can export to west (in return for PCs/McDonald/Coke as imports) are agricultural items. So when you say that - forget farm subsides - it means that we will support our industry but you cannot do yours. The east had to put-up tariff barriers to protect their many nascent industries just like the West protects its farm products. Hence, the tarrifs which are the evil "trade-barriers" for West are just the measures that West applies to its vulnerable industries. US Steel tariff's are but one example; and the the Control of textitle imports from China. I think the whole "free-trade = freedom" is just hocus-pocus born out of mating Montesque's Horse with Adam Smith's donkey. Double standard of western trade policy can be clear if you take a look at the multi-fiber regime and over 100 disputes that US has lost in WTO against Eurpope and Asia.
Come on. WTO has the highest number of free trade violations against the US of A, the mecca of free-trade. Earlier US just used threats to control trade, now due to WTO US hypocracy is exposed. I hate the rich countries who subsidize their argiculture want developing countries to cut their argi subsidies. What a fair world order and fair-trade regime is this. If the US is so smart why does it not compete with India and China is lower cost production? When west brought machines to east they wiped out a huge community of artisans, but that was supported as as the economic principle of production cost.
Chandigarh was developed as a planned city to showcase modern India. Le Corbusier along with Indian architechts (e.g., Balkrishna Doshi) brought this wonder into being. It is not a slum-shanty town, but it is a modern city. Chandigarh already had a great tech infrastructure. SCI (Semiconductor Corporation of India) had a huge silicon wafer fabrication facility that got burnt due to a possible sabotage. So having tech jobs in a place that has had a silicon foundry since a decade is not at all surprising.
Patents inherently aren't bad. But is the Examiners who have just a little time to find prior art, and the pressure to crank out mroe patents that makes it bad. Otherwise, why are patents a problem only in software and not in chip business or say LCD business? The examiners who examine the computer science patents IMHO have no clue about the art there. To know art in comp sci you need to have been around at least since 1985 and track all developments. www.spi.org is an effort in this direction. Let's see how future examiners do a better job. This is not to generalize, some comp sci Examiners are real smart too.
The reviews says "Since each MP3 CD holds about 10 hours of music, you could carry 20 CD-Rs in a CD wallet and have about the same amount of music that fits on the 15GB iPod. Best of all, you can pick up a decent one (the iRiver ChromeX) for less than $60"
Well you can as well carry a backup with a cheap laptop and use it to play 40GB songs. The cheap laptop can be bought from ebay for around $300 and that beats the iPods cost of per GB of songs. Crappy comparison, just for sake of putting down a product that public loves and buys.
Will this mean that if I touch a person next to me who is using the finger-in-ear phone then I will be able to over hear his conversation. Kind of touch-crosstalk?
The Kashmir election was observed by diplomats and UN officials (though not formally) on the ground. Everyone has stated that the elections were fair. Main reason for this fairness was of course the EVMs designed in India. You are welcome to search or contact Election Commission (a constitutional body) to verify what I wrote.
India conducted successful elections in troubled state of Kasmir using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) designed by Bharat Electronics Ltd., a domestic electronics giant. This story just goes to show that when something is done by 3rd world country like India before the "1st world" then no one cares. But now that Australia has done, oh wow, everyone takes notice. We need to get out of this mindset sooner rather than later.
India has already used EVMs in elections. Last time I heard the entire election in the Kashmir state was done by EVMs with no room for tampering. The technology is simple and effective. Maybe the American government can learn something from the Indians:-)
I think they need these extra features because they want to make it a true GUI. Illiterate people can then easily use it by clicking icons. Also, in remote places where telephones are not available, CMDA+GSM interface could be a big boon. Otherwise, it would be another Nintendo gameboy.
Tired of Patronizing Attitude of Slasdotters
on
State Of The Simputer
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
Why does everyone keep saying "poor Indian" again and again. It ain't all that poor at all. India is the largest consumer of gold in the world. Indian programmers are among the best in the world (no offence to others). If you visit India you will see that the social system is very strong. Relatives help others, and strangers help others too. That is the reason that we do not have any social security system. Kids take care of their parents, unlike here where they go and dump them in an old-age home. People are overall a lot happy than they are in the west. IMHO.
Kindly note that India is self-sufficient in food since many many years. Yes, there are problems with distribution system, and due to which hunger exists. However, we do not need your foods which you feed to your hogs.
That cannot be an objection to patents, since under 35 USC 103 it is a bar to obtaining patents. Anything that would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art is NOT patentable. A patent can be challenged on this ground anytime during its lifetime.
Don't criticize patents unless you know enough about them.
The judgment against Microsoft shows the effectiveness of the patent system. Will Slashdot fanatics try to understand the real benefits of patents now?
Johnny, Have you met any engineer from Indian Institute of Technology? He or She will cut short your delusions. Foreign programmers are as smart or better than you.
Software Patents have benefits that will be realized in the long run. Let's take Acrobat as an example. A number of patents cover the Acrobat. Without patents all these ideas would be hid as a trade-secret by Adobe. Patents force companies to make their ideas public in return for 20 years of protection. That is the simple deal.
What is the use of this? Well competitors can start improving the patented product right away. Believe me, no other method will make this companies expose their trade secrets.
Also, nature of software a compiled product makes it difficult for a competitior to reverse engineer a product. One more reason that we need software patents.
Hi,
I wanted study math for the FE test. I had a science background, not engineering one. So I did this:
1. Brought Precalculus from Schaum's Series. This got my algebra rolling.
2. Then I got hold of a fantastic book on Calculus - Calculus Made Easy by S. Thompson and edited by the great Martin Gardener. This will give you a self contained foundation for calculus.
3. That should get you started. You can use Discrete Math by Liu if that is the way you want to go. If Comp Sci math intrests you then Knuth's Concrete Math is a good book to get all that you need to know.
Slashdot Mirror
Indian economic potential will be witnessed in few years. Despite the Asian currency crisis, India fared very well. Indian economy is booming right now. Indian space program is painfully put together with many setbacks. Let's give credit to a developing nation that has built it's own launch vehicles and satellites that are very good.
Many people think patents are evil. The system of Patents, like any other system, is played with certain rules. Obtaining a patent does not mean that you have a ultra-strong right. Any issued patent is open to various challenges like reexamination and validty. When a patent owner sues another party for infringment, the infringer typically challenger the validity of the patent on all possible grounds. During such challenge a wide search of art, which is much more specific and comrehensive than that carried out by the Examiner, is carried out to invalidate patents. So even if there are patent examiners who have allowed crappy patents yet that does not mean end of the world. In a sense patents are the original open-source movement. It is to be more correct a open-concept with a little delay movement. Coke's formula is protected as trade-secret, and nobody can force them to reveal it. On the contrary, if Coke had patentended it it would have available to chemists to study as early as in 18 months (patnent App Publication). And anyone could make Coke after 15 years when the patent expired. Yes, 15 years seems long, yet within that time someone could have used the information in the Coke Patent and devised a better drink! That is the value of patent. Today no-one will ever know the software techniques embedded in proprietary products yet if they were patented or their techniques patented, we would have a printed record of such techniques which would enrich the knowledgebase of computer science. Without patents we can only rely on the charitable sense of these monolithic corporations to reveal their secrets. One must understand that patents apply to many things. A drug company keeping information secret is harmful to progress of medicine and society immediately, while a software company not patenting and keeping its techniques secret may only be a long-term threat to society. We must think of patent in more broader sense.
Farming is a labor intensive activity. Seventy percent of Indian population lives in rural areas and depends on farming and related activities for livelihood. Remember by 70% of India's population we are talking about 700 million people. The obvious things that India can export to west (in return for PCs/McDonald/Coke as imports) are agricultural items. So when you say that - forget farm subsides - it means that we will support our industry but you cannot do yours. The east had to put-up tariff barriers to protect their many nascent industries just like the West protects its farm products. Hence, the tarrifs which are the evil "trade-barriers" for West are just the measures that West applies to its vulnerable industries. US Steel tariff's are but one example; and the the Control of textitle imports from China. I think the whole "free-trade = freedom" is just hocus-pocus born out of mating Montesque's Horse with Adam Smith's donkey. Double standard of western trade policy can be clear if you take a look at the multi-fiber regime and over 100 disputes that US has lost in WTO against Eurpope and Asia.
Come on. WTO has the highest number of free trade violations against the US of A, the mecca of free-trade. Earlier US just used threats to control trade, now due to WTO US hypocracy is exposed. I hate the rich countries who subsidize their argiculture want developing countries to cut their argi subsidies. What a fair world order and fair-trade regime is this. If the US is so smart why does it not compete with India and China is lower cost production? When west brought machines to east they wiped out a huge community of artisans, but that was supported as as the economic principle of production cost.
Chandigarh was developed as a planned city to showcase modern India. Le Corbusier along with Indian architechts (e.g., Balkrishna Doshi) brought this wonder into being. It is not a slum-shanty town, but it is a modern city. Chandigarh already had a great tech infrastructure. SCI (Semiconductor Corporation of India) had a huge silicon wafer fabrication facility that got burnt due to a possible sabotage. So having tech jobs in a place that has had a silicon foundry since a decade is not at all surprising.
Patents inherently aren't bad. But is the Examiners who have just a little time to find prior art, and the pressure to crank out mroe patents that makes it bad. Otherwise, why are patents a problem only in software and not in chip business or say LCD business? The examiners who examine the computer science patents IMHO have no clue about the art there. To know art in comp sci you need to have been around at least since 1985 and track all developments. www.spi.org is an effort in this direction. Let's see how future examiners do a better job. This is not to generalize, some comp sci Examiners are real smart too.
The reviews says "Since each MP3 CD holds about 10 hours of music, you could carry 20 CD-Rs in a CD wallet and have about the same amount of music that fits on the 15GB iPod. Best of all, you can pick up a decent one (the iRiver ChromeX) for less than $60" Well you can as well carry a backup with a cheap laptop and use it to play 40GB songs. The cheap laptop can be bought from ebay for around $300 and that beats the iPods cost of per GB of songs. Crappy comparison, just for sake of putting down a product that public loves and buys.
Will this mean that if I touch a person next to me who is using the finger-in-ear phone then I will be able to over hear his conversation. Kind of touch-crosstalk?
Yes, a big cricket fan, and an Indian too if you were implying that. I was just pointing out the fact vs. perception dichotomy.
The Kashmir election was observed by diplomats and UN officials (though not formally) on the ground. Everyone has stated that the elections were fair. Main reason for this fairness was of course the EVMs designed in India. You are welcome to search or contact Election Commission (a constitutional body) to verify what I wrote.
India conducted successful elections in troubled state of Kasmir using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) designed by Bharat Electronics Ltd., a domestic electronics giant. This story just goes to show that when something is done by 3rd world country like India before the "1st world" then no one cares. But now that Australia has done, oh wow, everyone takes notice. We need to get out of this mindset sooner rather than later.
Ancient Indian philosophy says that the world orignated with Sound (dhvani). The basic sound being the 'Om'. Science just proved it to be right.
India has already used EVMs in elections. Last time I heard the entire election in the Kashmir state was done by EVMs with no room for tampering. The technology is simple and effective. Maybe the American government can learn something from the Indians :-)
I think they need these extra features because they want to make it a true GUI. Illiterate people can then easily use it by clicking icons. Also, in remote places where telephones are not available, CMDA+GSM interface could be a big boon. Otherwise, it would be another Nintendo gameboy.
Why does everyone keep saying "poor Indian" again and again. It ain't all that poor at all. India is the largest consumer of gold in the world. Indian programmers are among the best in the world (no offence to others). If you visit India you will see that the social system is very strong. Relatives help others, and strangers help others too. That is the reason that we do not have any social security system. Kids take care of their parents, unlike here where they go and dump them in an old-age home. People are overall a lot happy than they are in the west. IMHO.
Kindly note that India is self-sufficient in food since many many years. Yes, there are problems with distribution system, and due to which hunger exists. However, we do not need your foods which you feed to your hogs.
That cannot be an objection to patents, since under 35 USC 103 it is a bar to obtaining patents. Anything that would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art is NOT patentable. A patent can be challenged on this ground anytime during its lifetime. Don't criticize patents unless you know enough about them.
The judgment against Microsoft shows the effectiveness of the patent system. Will Slashdot fanatics try to understand the real benefits of patents now?
Johnny, Have you met any engineer from Indian Institute of Technology? He or She will cut short your delusions. Foreign programmers are as smart or better than you.
Why do you think that India is a cheap labor source? Let's settle it, India has the best brains. period.
That is what open source community does all the time cloning. Recycling is perhaps a better word. Same 30 year old UNIX garbage.
Software Patents have benefits that will be realized in the long run. Let's take Acrobat as an example. A number of patents cover the Acrobat. Without patents all these ideas would be hid as a trade-secret by Adobe. Patents force companies to make their ideas public in return for 20 years of protection. That is the simple deal. What is the use of this? Well competitors can start improving the patented product right away. Believe me, no other method will make this companies expose their trade secrets. Also, nature of software a compiled product makes it difficult for a competitior to reverse engineer a product. One more reason that we need software patents.
Hi, I wanted study math for the FE test. I had a science background, not engineering one. So I did this: 1. Brought Precalculus from Schaum's Series. This got my algebra rolling. 2. Then I got hold of a fantastic book on Calculus - Calculus Made Easy by S. Thompson and edited by the great Martin Gardener. This will give you a self contained foundation for calculus. 3. That should get you started. You can use Discrete Math by Liu if that is the way you want to go. If Comp Sci math intrests you then Knuth's Concrete Math is a good book to get all that you need to know.