E3 needs to start setting a requirement that the vendors can only demo shipping products. I'm tired of hearing about the buzz at E3 for things that don't come to light.
If you ask me, India is on the way to the Shoe Event Horizon, and it will only take one piece of protectionist legislation in the US to tumble the whole house of cards.
It probably won't even take that. As Indian developers' income rises Indian Outsourcers' costs rise as well. Then, they won't be the low-cost outsourcer anymore. Eventually they will lose out to China, Russia, or someone cheaper. Without a compelling quality advantage (which others will eventually get) you are weighing higher risk and larger cultural barriers for lower costs, and the lowest cost wins in the end.
Any bets on the event that triggers congressional attention? Loss of white collar jobs doesn't seem to be doing it. Someone hacking into a credit card database from India? Health care records leaking out from an outsourced development deal by some hospital? Federal integrator subbing out a DoD contract to "Albert Kayda"? Maybe this could be a Slashdot poll.
I don't know what its like everywhere, but in the Washington DC metro area there aren't too many billbords. Zoning has eliminated them as "visual polution". I know of a few up along I-95 in Baltimore, but I can't say that billboards are too common along my drives.
Would have been a great idea 40 years ago, though...
Well, I was starting to type a message about how disappointed I was with Dell, given all the money I've thrown them. Then, I RTFA for a change and this may not be as bad as it seems.
Dell may just be concerned about legal issues with helping Joe User de-install some software where the EULA requires the Spyware to be running -- Dell would be the ones with the deep pockets after all. And, some spyware removal that involves registry changes might destablize things in some way (I don't know). Probably more corporate lawyer nonsense than a misguided attempt to support spyware in its various forms.
Some program installs come with spyware, and the license agreement does require leaving it alone (since that's the compensation they get for the free software). So, Dell may just not want to step into the middle of this.
Maybe the finger should stay focused on the spyware creaters and bundlers for the time being...
VC is just a loan that you pay back with stock/IP. If its a good idea, you'll make so much that you won't mind giving a chunk (and maybe a large chunk) to someone else.
While the technology to track ad skipping is easy to understand (and these things are connected to a phone line to get programming information anyway, right?), I don't understand why Tivo would sell or give this information away.
If it turns out that Tivo users are having a serious impact on advertisers' messages, won't there be a strategy around Tivo's abilities? Won't advertisers mix ads into real content, or worse, seek legislative control ("Tivo alters the artists' copyrighted works")? It seems to me that it is not in Tivo's best interest to report ad skipping because it sets up strategies against one of the features of the product.
And, has there ever been serious study on the impact of ads anyway? I don't have Tivo and rarely record to VCR, but I also "tune out" most ads by either using the commercial break to do other things, or return focus to the newspaper or something. Has television advertising become similar to spam at this point -- tuned out and easily ignored as background noise with very little "hit" on each message? Is TV advertising headed for some kind of dot-com type meltdown as people realize how much money is chasing very little return?
you wouldn't be able to hire programmers who have completed a 6-week Visial Basic/.NET programming course at their local community college to write your business critical applications
I think these are programmers who have completed a 6-week VB/.NET programming course at an Indian community college at this point. Companies don't need to hire US students now that they can ship it offshore...;-)
As someone who lives in the Washington DC area, I'll be happy when the power companies can deliver power over the power lines. Until then, the power companies should forget figuring out how to put data on their power lines.
If you hate Comcast that much, by a DSL line from Verizon or Covad. Relying on the power companies for anything is a (unbelievably) service step down from a cable company.
For those not from the Washington DC area -- we've had multi-day power outages regularly here, at least 4 in the past 3 years.
A bunch of people are also using the X10 protocol to control lights/appliances in there home... Wait, there is no interference with broadcast signals!
X10 inserts data into the 60Hz frequency of Alternating Current in your home wiring. So, any signal generated is already at the frequency of AC, which the whole world has had to filter out of RF sensitive boxes for years. X10 "interferes" with AC, which no one tries to listen to anymore.
There are plenty of things that interferes with X10, by the way, as many who have used it have had to trouble shoot. This link has some of them. RF interference can be very hard to pinpoint, and the more congested the area the harder it is to figure out. This is why pollution of RF spectrum is what whole government agencies are supposed to protect. Hams are usually the first to squawk since they have the expertice and spend their lives trying to pick up tiny, low power signals out of the air.
In times of civic emergency, ham radio operators need all the spectrum they can get.
Not just ham radio operators. These bands are used by everyone, including fire & rescue, police, utility companies, military, etc. Not everyone has switched to Nextel for two-way communication! It's actually quite shocking that the FCC is even persuing this since the RF pollution is so pronounced across the whole spectrum.
"Over the past few decades, advances in computer hardware and software have eliminated many jobs... some technical, some menial, but none artistic. "
???!?!?!?!!?
I suppose "an on-camera performer in television" might not think the following list is "artistic":
1) Animation artists replaced by programming 2) Drummers replaced by Drum Machines 3) Orchestras replaced by sampling music workstations 4) Composers replaced by sampled digital tracks by older artists 5) Horn players replaced by sampled recordings in keyboards
Just my short list -- you can add others. While the virtual singing is an interesting bit of news, the replacement of artists by machines started more than 20 years ago.
I think the black boxes they are selling are just for people dumb enough to think they work.
It might be more of a real problem in some local areas. At least in the part of Maryland I'm in (and according to the printed newspaper article), a number of the intersections do switch based on this device. While there are competing systems, apparently some of them have no authentication mechanism. The detector is essentially like a remote control for the television -- blink in the right way and it trips.
While I'm not in favor of hacking into light control systems, it doesn't seem like its really much of a hack (as others have posted the details). If a municipality has installed a system this simple to fool, shame on them for not installing some best practices on locking this down. And, if the DOT has approved a system that doesn't require authentication, they probably need to re-evaluate their approval methods.
There seems to be something absurd about wanting to block copying of broadcasted material (from m-w.com):
Main Entry: broadcast
Pronunciation: 'brod-"kast
Function: adjective
Date: 1767
1 : cast or scattered in all directions 2 : made public by means of radio or television
3 : of or relating to radio or television broadcasting
Copying broadcast materials only allows wider distribution. But, I guess CBS wants the right to make us pay attention to commercials.
Just Let Me Control the Friggin' Camera
on
TV's Tipping Point
·
· Score: 1
I just want all the camera feeds to my house so I can pick which angle to watch the game in. Then, they can fire the "director" of the football game and I can figure out what is going on. YOU HEAR THAT FOX? With your STUPID FLYING END ZONE CAMERA! Didn't you learn your lesson by trying to HIGHLIGHT THE HOCKEY PUCK? After 40 years I think we've figured out how to watch a sporting event and we don't need this turned into action movie.
Sorry for the screaming. But since Fox got the contract for NFC Football Games my tension level has risen dramatically.
I personally have no desire to pay upwards of $7.50 per person, once, to see a movie today, that will suck on DVD or VHS for $2 that I can watch in the privacy of my own home, without overpriced snacks, etc.
Add to that cell phone ringing, talking through the movie, bringing crying infants into 9PM adult movies, laser pointers, and other generally boorish behavior by a public that has forgotten how to be polite.
If a person drives to another state and buys something, they have to pay tax.
If I drive up to Deleware I don't have to pay sales tax - they don't have one. If I drive to Pennsylvania, I don't have to pay sales tax on clothing - they don't have one. If I drive to Virginia I pay less tax.
No one is screaming to stop all the outlet malls opening up in Deleware, or the bus trips to PA. If the states really wanted to stop all this, they would get together and agree on one sales tax policy and there wouldn't be any advantage to shopping outside your taxing district. Of course, as long as one state sees an advantage, this will never happen.
So, the state governments think this is unfair because they know there are dollars they could get their hands on. But if we are truly capitalists, then no one should be outraged at people looking around for the best deal.
Not to mention that OS level formating (clusters, etc.) means you can never realize all that space once its in a computer anyway. So, in essence we're getting mad at the manufacturers for labeling something we can never completely use anyway.
It's all relative as long as the Meg/$ number keeps growing as fast as it does -- the numbers seem to only be useful to compare to other manufacturers.
Not the only one, I like it too. I'm more of the "desktop replacement" laptop user than the "road warrior" laptop user (my Handspring Visor is much more usable as a portable device than a laptop). I'd like this setup instead of the multiple docking stations and monitors I have at the office and home.
And, I agree with the IBM reliability comment as well. I loved my 701c, and it never crashed. If it wasn't for the 486 processor I would have used it a lot longer. It's reliability crushed the 4 laptops I've had since (that remain unnamed to protect the guilty) that seem to last at most a year and a half before they're dead or hopelessly crufted.
If they're owned by Ziff Davis now, the whole thing might really only be operating to funnel people to ZD.net. They can still run like a dot-com from 2000 because its seen as an advertising expense and not really some unit that's expected to make money.
I used to use cnet a lot (shopper.com before that), but once it gets rolled into the Ziff-Davis group they all get so bland and neutral since they live off advertising dollars.
I was thinking that this wasn't correct. It's been a long time since I've seen the demonstration of Doppler effect, but I thought the "boom" was when you "broke" the barrier -- the point when you are traveling at exactly the speed of sound, and all the sound waves created pile up to create one large sound wave. Then, if you went faster than the speed of sound, the boom happens as you pass the speed, after which you are flying faster than the speed of sound which doesn't have a boom, but leaves a sound trail far behind your position.
Slashdot Mirror
E3 needs to start setting a requirement that the vendors can only demo shipping products. I'm tired of hearing about the buzz at E3 for things that don't come to light.
You need to stop looking through that time machine. Redskins aren't in the playoffs...
:-)
(its Colts-Kansas City)
She's not content ruining HP, now she has to ruin America....
It probably won't even take that. As Indian developers' income rises Indian Outsourcers' costs rise as well. Then, they won't be the low-cost outsourcer anymore. Eventually they will lose out to China, Russia, or someone cheaper. Without a compelling quality advantage (which others will eventually get) you are weighing higher risk and larger cultural barriers for lower costs, and the lowest cost wins in the end.
Any bets on the event that triggers congressional attention? Loss of white collar jobs doesn't seem to be doing it. Someone hacking into a credit card database from India? Health care records leaking out from an outsourced development deal by some hospital? Federal integrator subbing out a DoD contract to "Albert Kayda"? Maybe this could be a Slashdot poll.
When I was a child I dreamed of a future with a jet pack on my back. I would fly like Superman as I traveled around.
Now, as an adult I find out they want me to ride a scooter with big ugly wheels. Grrrrrrrr.....
I don't know what its like everywhere, but in the Washington DC metro area there aren't too many billbords. Zoning has eliminated them as "visual polution". I know of a few up along I-95 in Baltimore, but I can't say that billboards are too common along my drives.
Would have been a great idea 40 years ago, though...
Well, I was starting to type a message about how disappointed I was with Dell, given all the money I've thrown them. Then, I RTFA for a change and this may not be as bad as it seems.
Dell may just be concerned about legal issues with helping Joe User de-install some software where the EULA requires the Spyware to be running -- Dell would be the ones with the deep pockets after all. And, some spyware removal that involves registry changes might destablize things in some way (I don't know). Probably more corporate lawyer nonsense than a misguided attempt to support spyware in its various forms.
Some program installs come with spyware, and the license agreement does require leaving it alone (since that's the compensation they get for the free software). So, Dell may just not want to step into the middle of this.
Maybe the finger should stay focused on the spyware creaters and bundlers for the time being...
All the normal ways you raise money:
Loan
Job
Lotto
VC is just a loan that you pay back with stock/IP. If its a good idea, you'll make so much that you won't mind giving a chunk (and maybe a large chunk) to someone else.
I'm heavily invested in Lotto myself.
While the technology to track ad skipping is easy to understand (and these things are connected to a phone line to get programming information anyway, right?), I don't understand why Tivo would sell or give this information away.
If it turns out that Tivo users are having a serious impact on advertisers' messages, won't there be a strategy around Tivo's abilities? Won't advertisers mix ads into real content, or worse, seek legislative control ("Tivo alters the artists' copyrighted works")? It seems to me that it is not in Tivo's best interest to report ad skipping because it sets up strategies against one of the features of the product.
And, has there ever been serious study on the impact of ads anyway? I don't have Tivo and rarely record to VCR, but I also "tune out" most ads by either using the commercial break to do other things, or return focus to the newspaper or something. Has television advertising become similar to spam at this point -- tuned out and easily ignored as background noise with very little "hit" on each message? Is TV advertising headed for some kind of dot-com type meltdown as people realize how much money is chasing very little return?
If you hate Comcast that much, by a DSL line from Verizon or Covad. Relying on the power companies for anything is a (unbelievably) service step down from a cable company.
For those not from the Washington DC area -- we've had multi-day power outages regularly here, at least 4 in the past 3 years.
X10 inserts data into the 60Hz frequency of Alternating Current in your home wiring. So, any signal generated is already at the frequency of AC, which the whole world has had to filter out of RF sensitive boxes for years. X10 "interferes" with AC, which no one tries to listen to anymore.
There are plenty of things that interferes with X10, by the way, as many who have used it have had to trouble shoot. This link has some of them. RF interference can be very hard to pinpoint, and the more congested the area the harder it is to figure out. This is why pollution of RF spectrum is what whole government agencies are supposed to protect. Hams are usually the first to squawk since they have the expertice and spend their lives trying to pick up tiny, low power signals out of the air.
Not just ham radio operators. These bands are used by everyone, including fire & rescue, police, utility companies, military, etc. Not everyone has switched to Nextel for two-way communication! It's actually quite shocking that the FCC is even persuing this since the RF pollution is so pronounced across the whole spectrum.
???!?!?!?!!?
I suppose "an on-camera performer in television" might not think the following list is "artistic":
1) Animation artists replaced by programming
2) Drummers replaced by Drum Machines
3) Orchestras replaced by sampling music workstations
4) Composers replaced by sampled digital tracks by older artists
5) Horn players replaced by sampled recordings in keyboards
Just my short list -- you can add others. While the virtual singing is an interesting bit of news, the replacement of artists by machines started more than 20 years ago.
It might be more of a real problem in some local areas. At least in the part of Maryland I'm in (and according to the printed newspaper article), a number of the intersections do switch based on this device. While there are competing systems, apparently some of them have no authentication mechanism. The detector is essentially like a remote control for the television -- blink in the right way and it trips.
While I'm not in favor of hacking into light control systems, it doesn't seem like its really much of a hack (as others have posted the details). If a municipality has installed a system this simple to fool, shame on them for not installing some best practices on locking this down. And, if the DOT has approved a system that doesn't require authentication, they probably need to re-evaluate their approval methods.
I think there are plenty of cool science tricks they could squeeze in to keep you watching.
"And now a word from our sponsor, and when we come back we'll throw this bar of sodium into a swimming pool!"
"Welcome back, and how's our jello doing in that liquid nitrogen?"
Gosh, high school chemistry could be like MAD TV...
There seems to be something absurd about wanting to block copying of broadcasted material (from m-w.com):
Copying broadcast materials only allows wider distribution. But, I guess CBS wants the right to make us pay attention to commercials.
I just want all the camera feeds to my house so I can pick which angle to watch the game in. Then, they can fire the "director" of the football game and I can figure out what is going on. YOU HEAR THAT FOX? With your STUPID FLYING END ZONE CAMERA! Didn't you learn your lesson by trying to HIGHLIGHT THE HOCKEY PUCK? After 40 years I think we've figured out how to watch a sporting event and we don't need this turned into action movie.
Sorry for the screaming. But since Fox got the contract for NFC Football Games my tension level has risen dramatically.
Add to that cell phone ringing, talking through the movie, bringing crying infants into 9PM adult movies, laser pointers, and other generally boorish behavior by a public that has forgotten how to be polite.
If I drive up to Deleware I don't have to pay sales tax - they don't have one. If I drive to Pennsylvania, I don't have to pay sales tax on clothing - they don't have one. If I drive to Virginia I pay less tax.
No one is screaming to stop all the outlet malls opening up in Deleware, or the bus trips to PA. If the states really wanted to stop all this, they would get together and agree on one sales tax policy and there wouldn't be any advantage to shopping outside your taxing district. Of course, as long as one state sees an advantage, this will never happen.
So, the state governments think this is unfair because they know there are dollars they could get their hands on. But if we are truly capitalists, then no one should be outraged at people looking around for the best deal.
Not to mention that OS level formating (clusters, etc.) means you can never realize all that space once its in a computer anyway. So, in essence we're getting mad at the manufacturers for labeling something we can never completely use anyway. It's all relative as long as the Meg/$ number keeps growing as fast as it does -- the numbers seem to only be useful to compare to other manufacturers.
Not the only one, I like it too. I'm more of the "desktop replacement" laptop user than the "road warrior" laptop user (my Handspring Visor is much more usable as a portable device than a laptop). I'd like this setup instead of the multiple docking stations and monitors I have at the office and home.
And, I agree with the IBM reliability comment as well. I loved my 701c, and it never crashed. If it wasn't for the 486 processor I would have used it a lot longer. It's reliability crushed the 4 laptops I've had since (that remain unnamed to protect the guilty) that seem to last at most a year and a half before they're dead or hopelessly crufted.
If they're owned by Ziff Davis now, the whole thing might really only be operating to funnel people to ZD.net. They can still run like a dot-com from 2000 because its seen as an advertising expense and not really some unit that's expected to make money.
I used to use cnet a lot (shopper.com before that), but once it gets rolled into the Ziff-Davis group they all get so bland and neutral since they live off advertising dollars.
I was thinking that this wasn't correct. It's been a long time since I've seen the demonstration of Doppler effect, but I thought the "boom" was when you "broke" the barrier -- the point when you are traveling at exactly the speed of sound, and all the sound waves created pile up to create one large sound wave. Then, if you went faster than the speed of sound, the boom happens as you pass the speed, after which you are flying faster than the speed of sound which doesn't have a boom, but leaves a sound trail far behind your position.
r .html which details up your explanation quite nicely! Plus, it pointed to this totally cool picture!
However, I found this link http://www.gmi.edu/~drussell/Demos/doppler/dopple
Not quite sure what this means. Kofie Anon killed the former administrator of NASA? Or is this a reference to "The Matrix"?
I think "The X-Files" was popular because Gilian Anderson's a hottie.