The FFII server is horribly overloaded at the moment, so here's their press release. (Slightly edited for anti-lameness) You can get info on todays vote at http://wiki.ffii.org/PrReject050706En once it gets back up.
From jmaebe ffii.org Wed Jul 6 15:15:16 2005 Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 13:03:50 +0200 From: Jonas Maebe To: news ffii.org Subject: [ffii] European Parliament says no to software patents, yes to innovation
**European Parliament says no to software patents, yes to innovation**
Strasbourg, 6 July 2005 -- The European Parliament today decided by a large majority to reject the software patents directive. This rejection was the logical answer to the Commission's refusal to restart the legislative process in February and the Council's unwillingness to engage in any kind of dialogue with the Parliament. The FFII congratulates the European Parliament on its clear "no" to bad legislative proposals and procedures.
This is a great victory for those who have campaigned to ensure that European innovation and competitiveness is protected from the threat of software and business process patents. It marks the end of this attempt by the European Commission to codify into law the US-style practice of the European Patent Office. We believe that the Parliament's work, in particular the 21 compromise amendments, provides a good basis on which future legislative projects can build.
Rejection provides breathing space for new initiatives based on all the knowledge gained during the last five years. All institutions are now fully aware of the concerns of all stakeholders. However, the fact that the Council Common Position needs 21 amendments in order to be transformed into a coherent piece of legislation indicates that the text is simply not ready to enter the Conciliation between Parliament, Commission and Council. We hope the Commission and Council will at least respond to the concerns raised by Parliament the next time, in order to avoid this sort of backlash in the future.
Jonas Maebe, FFII Board Member, comments on the outcome of today's vote:
"This result clearly shows that thorough analysis, genuinely concerned citizens and factual information have more impact than free ice-cream, boatloads of hired lobbyists and outsourcing threats. I hope this turn of events can give people new faith in the European decision making process. I also hope that it will encourage the Council and Commission to model after the European Parliament in terms of transparency and the ability of stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process irrespective of their size."
The FFII wishes to thank all those people who have taken the time to contact their representatives. We also thank the numerous volunteers who have so generously given their time and energy. This is your victory as well as the Parliament's.
With support for Google, Wikipedia, Leo german dictionary, CPAN and many others. Just type wiki: whatever in the address bar to search Wikipedia for "whatever". I went from knowing jack about these "web shortcuts" to creating my own in five minutes. (Just copy and modify existing ones)
Oh, and you can also use the address bar to ssh for your files (fish:) or get the images of your camera (digikam:). Bow to the power of the KIOslave framework!
The gov't already has info on my income etc. and sends me a completed tax form. If I have any deductions or unreported income I can fill them out online, by snail-mail or over the phone. If i do nothing the gov't-completed form is used.
The question of electron vs. atom "size" isn't really relevant to storage technology, even with a suitable definition of size because you'll always be using electrons attached to atoms. (Unattached electrons would repel each other, making it hard to get the same density.).
So, an atom may hold 1-100 electrons, but no more than 2 or 3 would have the "freedom of movement" to use for bits. In practice you'd do very good to have one bit pr. atom, and for redundancy at least ten atoms pr. bit sounds like a very good idea. There has been reports of control of single atoms that could in principle be used for storage, but these systems are clunky, fragile, needs $100K equipment and must be used at extremely low temperatures. It's not feasible to pack the atoms closer than they are in ordinary solid state either. So, there's a pretty hard limit here. OTOH we could very well see 100 atoms/bit storage within my lifetime, and that should be plenty, especially if it can be produced real cheap. And imagine if we can get the density of todays hard drives in 3D instead of just 2D. I mean, we're already at the point where it's feasible to record your entire life in HDTV, so humanity isn't likely to run out of storage anytime soon.
And don't think of that 'other world' explanation. It's not really what is happening according to current theory, just a convenient/spooky way to explain it to some lay people. And yes, IAAP
Isn't that a rather religious statement? I mean, the many world interpretation fits the data just as does the Copenhagen interpretation (which I was taught). I personally see both interpretations as "useful" in that you can choose the most convenient one to think about the problem at hand.
As for the spookiness, I don't see any way to construct a "non-spooky" theory of quantum mechanics, because our intution about the world was formed by playing with macroscopic objects behaving "classically" (deterministic etc.).
Giant magnetoresistance was first discovered in pure crystal layers in 1988 by Peter Grünberg of the Jülich Research Centre and Albert Fert of the University of Paris-Sud [...] IBM produced the first commercial device based on this effect in December 1997.
Oh, btw, it's used in every hard drive produced today and is one of the reasons HD prices have been falling even steeper than RAM and CPU.
Can we start a email campaign to NPR to get them to stop interviewing this idiot?
Hate campaigns really suck. They generate defensive postures, bad feelings and counterattacks, so even when they achieve "victory" you tend to end up just as tarred as the target.
Enderle's not being interviewed because the journalist likes idiots, it's just that he's on the top of the contact list for "computer stuff". Just like you probably are in your family.
What you want to do is calmly point out that "Enderle said X (which is wrong), recommended Y but totally failed to mention very important Z. Next time you should balance his opinions off with those of Prof. Real Expert". This will generate FUD about Enderle at a much deeper level of the journalists mind, as well as create new contacts that can slowly push him out. All in the enlightened interest of journalistic balance.
Disclaimer: I don't know very much about Enderle. This comment is a reflection on your tactics, not whether he's a worthy target of them.
Since it seems we're into retracting statements today I'd like to unsay that the problem with religion is that it agglomerates people all with the same bias.
First of all, it's preposterous of me to speak of "the problem" with religion. In many respects religion isn't problematic at all, and when it is, it's in many diverse ways. Secondly, I must say that a greater problem (as far as truth-seeking is concerned) is that people who think they've found the Truth stop looking for it. Their ideology is completely focused on spreading and understanding that Truth, rather than questioning it. Scientists will at least pay lip service to the idea of throwing out accepted wisdom and starting over. That attitude traditionally reflects on young scientists caught in a conflict between two theories before they "attach" themselves to either one.
Scientists, on average, are perfectly rational when at work, and are objective and unbiased at all times during the day.
That's so much bullshit I really thought you were sarcastic. Heard of the Einstein-Bohr debates? The Newton-Leibniz controversy? The average scientist - and the outstanding one - is often quite biased, not to mention the cutthroat competition to get his/her own results into the limelight.
That doesn't mean science is useless, rather that its secret is in the process, not in the people. Here it actually helps having biased people, as long as they have different biases. (Actually in court, we pay the prosecutor and the defense to have opposite bias.) The problem with religion is that it agglomerates people all with the same bias.
it will probably be vastly cheaper to cool a rackmount specifically than to lower the ambient temperature of an entire room to the point that it has the same effect.
That really depends on how well isolated your room is. Energy flows into the room as electricity (which the servers convert to heat) and heat from the surrounding rooms. If you've got powerful servers and a well isolated room, you might not win much by isolating even better. (Which is the point in cooling only the rack).
Yes we can. "We" are the several hundred thousand slashdot readers, not some hivemind, and people might use words differently. Now, if you could find a single person being inconsistent you'd be welcome to attack.
How about this: I count myself a euroskeptic. I want the EU to have less power, the national governments more. Where the EU holds power it should be in the hands of the Parliament. This means I think the Council should either vote unanimously or defer to the Parliament. The Commission isn't really controlled by the nations, and hardly by Parliament - take some of its powers and give them to the countries, and strengthen Parliamentary control with the rest. You may call my opinion stupid, but I don't think it's inconsistent. No?
By making all the countries depend on each other in trade, none of them will ever think of going to war against each other again.
So Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia and Slovenia were not depending on each other in trade? Sorry, but I think it's a bit more complicated than that.
There have been some major architectural changes in how a Gnu/Linux desktop box works.
Just out of curiosity, could you name a few of the major ones? (I've been running Linux, mostly mdk, since '99, but my involvement in the nuts and bolts of my distro has been rather on-and-off).
Slashdot Mirror
The FFII server is horribly overloaded at the moment, so here's their press release. (Slightly edited for anti-lameness) You can get info on todays vote at http://wiki.ffii.org/PrReject050706En once it gets back up.
From jmaebe ffii.org Wed Jul 6 15:15:16 2005
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 13:03:50 +0200
From: Jonas Maebe
To: news ffii.org
Subject: [ffii] European Parliament says no to software patents, yes to innovation
**European Parliament says no to software patents, yes to innovation**
Strasbourg, 6 July 2005 -- The European Parliament today decided by a large majority to reject the software patents directive. This rejection was the logical answer to the Commission's refusal to restart the legislative process in February and the Council's unwillingness to engage in any kind of dialogue with the Parliament. The FFII congratulates the European Parliament on its clear "no" to bad legislative proposals and procedures.
This is a great victory for those who have campaigned to ensure that European innovation and competitiveness is protected from the threat of software and business process patents. It marks the end of this attempt by the European Commission to codify into law the US-style practice of the European Patent Office. We believe that the Parliament's work, in particular the 21 compromise amendments, provides a good basis on which future legislative projects can build.
Rejection provides breathing space for new initiatives based on all the knowledge gained during the last five years. All institutions are now fully aware of the concerns of all stakeholders. However, the fact that the Council Common Position needs 21 amendments in order to be transformed into a coherent piece of legislation indicates that the text is simply not ready to enter the Conciliation between Parliament, Commission and Council. We hope the Commission and Council will at least respond to the concerns raised by Parliament the next time, in order to avoid this sort of backlash in the future.
Jonas Maebe, FFII Board Member, comments on the outcome of today's vote:
"This result clearly shows that thorough analysis, genuinely concerned citizens and factual information have more impact than free ice-cream, boatloads of hired lobbyists and outsourcing threats. I hope this turn of events can give people new faith in the European decision making process. I also hope that it will encourage the Council and Commission to model after the European Parliament in terms of transparency and the ability of stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process irrespective of their size."
The FFII wishes to thank all those people who have taken the time to contact their representatives. We also thank the numerous volunteers who have so generously given their time and energy. This is your victory as well as the Parliament's.
Background Information
Free ice-cream for patentability
http://wiki.ffii.org/CampIcecream050601En
Software patent lobbyists add boats to their arsenal
http://lists.ffii.org/pipermail/news/2005-July/000 297.html
Pictures of the boating
http://gallery.ffii.org/Strasbourg050705
Permanent link to this press release
http://wiki.ffii.org/PrReject050706En
Contact Information
Hartmut Pilch and Holger Blasum
FFII Munich Office
info@ffii.org
++49-89-18979927
Rufus Pollock
FFII UK
rufus.pollock@ffii.org.uk
+44-7795-176976
Jonas Maebe
FFII BE
jmaebe@ffii.org
+32-485-369645
Dieter Van Uytvanck
FFII BE
dietvu@village.uunet.be
+32-499-167010
About FFII -- http://www.ffii.org/
The Foundation fo
I've heard from older physicists that in those early years the scientist-computer match was quite popular.
(It still is, but, well...)
Ok, so it's mostly amateurs, but I definitely like some of it.
Oh, and you can also use the address bar to ssh for your files (fish:) or get the images of your camera (digikam:). Bow to the power of the KIOslave framework!
Oh, btw you misspelled "Starship Troopers".
The gov't already has info on my income etc. and sends me a completed tax form. If I have any deductions or unreported income I can fill them out online, by snail-mail or over the phone. If i do nothing the gov't-completed form is used.
"Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac"
Remember the disposable cell phone?
So, an atom may hold 1-100 electrons, but no more than 2 or 3 would have the "freedom of movement" to use for bits. In practice you'd do very good to have one bit pr. atom, and for redundancy at least ten atoms pr. bit sounds like a very good idea. There has been reports of control of single atoms that could in principle be used for storage, but these systems are clunky, fragile, needs $100K equipment and must be used at extremely low temperatures. It's not feasible to pack the atoms closer than they are in ordinary solid state either. So, there's a pretty hard limit here. OTOH we could very well see 100 atoms/bit storage within my lifetime, and that should be plenty, especially if it can be produced real cheap. And imagine if we can get the density of todays hard drives in 3D instead of just 2D. I mean, we're already at the point where it's feasible to record your entire life in HDTV, so humanity isn't likely to run out of storage anytime soon.
Isn't that a rather religious statement? I mean, the many world interpretation fits the data just as does the Copenhagen interpretation (which I was taught). I personally see both interpretations as "useful" in that you can choose the most convenient one to think about the problem at hand.
As for the spookiness, I don't see any way to construct a "non-spooky" theory of quantum mechanics, because our intution about the world was formed by playing with macroscopic objects behaving "classically" (deterministic etc.).
I lost the reference in editing. It's the Wikipedia article on giant magnetoresistance
Giant magnetoresistance was first discovered in pure crystal layers in 1988 by Peter Grünberg of the Jülich Research Centre and Albert Fert of the University of Paris-Sud [...] IBM produced the first commercial device based on this effect in December 1997.
Oh, btw, it's used in every hard drive produced today and is one of the reasons HD prices have been falling even steeper than RAM and CPU.
Hate campaigns really suck. They generate defensive postures, bad feelings and counterattacks, so even when they achieve "victory" you tend to end up just as tarred as the target.
Enderle's not being interviewed because the journalist likes idiots, it's just that he's on the top of the contact list for "computer stuff". Just like you probably are in your family.
What you want to do is calmly point out that "Enderle said X (which is wrong), recommended Y but totally failed to mention very important Z. Next time you should balance his opinions off with those of Prof. Real Expert". This will generate FUD about Enderle at a much deeper level of the journalists mind, as well as create new contacts that can slowly push him out. All in the enlightened interest of journalistic balance.
Disclaimer: I don't know very much about Enderle. This comment is a reflection on your tactics, not whether he's a worthy target of them.
First of all, it's preposterous of me to speak of "the problem" with religion. In many respects religion isn't problematic at all, and when it is, it's in many diverse ways.
Secondly, I must say that a greater problem (as far as truth-seeking is concerned) is that people who think they've found the Truth stop looking for it. Their ideology is completely focused on spreading and understanding that Truth, rather than questioning it. Scientists will at least pay lip service to the idea of throwing out accepted wisdom and starting over. That attitude traditionally reflects on young scientists caught in a conflict between two theories before they "attach" themselves to either one.
That's so much bullshit I really thought you were sarcastic. Heard of the Einstein-Bohr debates? The Newton-Leibniz controversy? The average scientist - and the outstanding one - is often quite biased, not to mention the cutthroat competition to get his/her own results into the limelight.
That doesn't mean science is useless, rather that its secret is in the process, not in the people. Here it actually helps having biased people, as long as they have different biases. (Actually in court, we pay the prosecutor and the defense to have opposite bias.) The problem with religion is that it agglomerates people all with the same bias.
Secure Harddisk Eraser - in compliance with DoD 5220.22-M NISPOM recommendations
DarkHelmet, meet 2nd law of thermodynamics. We're guaranteed to go.
Weird - I didn't know. Why?
Yeah, but then you'd have to shift your computing to southern Chile during the summer. Put it on a mountain instead.
That really depends on how well isolated your room is. Energy flows into the room as electricity (which the servers convert to heat) and heat from the surrounding rooms. If you've got powerful servers and a well isolated room, you might not win much by isolating even better. (Which is the point in cooling only the rack).
Yes we can. "We" are the several hundred thousand slashdot readers, not some hivemind, and people might use words differently. Now, if you could find a single person being inconsistent you'd be welcome to attack.
How about this: I count myself a euroskeptic. I want the EU to have less power, the national governments more. Where the EU holds power it should be in the hands of the Parliament. This means I think the Council should either vote unanimously or defer to the Parliament. The Commission isn't really controlled by the nations, and hardly by Parliament - take some of its powers and give them to the countries, and strengthen Parliamentary control with the rest. You may call my opinion stupid, but I don't think it's inconsistent. No?
So Serbia-Montenegro, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia and Slovenia were not depending on each other in trade? Sorry, but I think it's a bit more complicated than that.
Ok, thanks :-) I've been aware of some of this stuff, but the big picture of change didn't really register on me. Happy draking!
Just out of curiosity, could you name a few of the major ones? (I've been running Linux, mostly mdk, since '99, but my involvement in the nuts and bolts of my distro has been rather on-and-off).