Will the EULA allow development of commercial products? Lots of "hobby" or "student" projects end up for sale or as shareware. Will people making that switch then have to buy the real thing?
Everyone should just download Eclipse and MinGW instead. If these aren't up to snuff then fix the problem - you're a software developer after all....
"carried their biometric identifiers (fingerprint & iris) with them between airports on a smart card"
I don't get it, if they can't store your biometric data what good is it? Do you scan your real fingerprint and verify that it matches the one one the smart card? Then anyone who holds a card and matches it is cleared? This seems odd.
They donate it to a non-profit (corporation) for licensing. This is quite different than just allowing the patents to expire (or not even getting them) and making an announcement to the public. No doubt the Disney-appointed people running the non-profit will be well paid by said non-profit.
I think he's trying to make some sort of arguement that a real RDBMS is to a SQL DBMS as LISP is to C++ or [insert favorite modern language here]. Unfortunately this guy is not Paul Graham, and he doesn't offer any specifics or solutions - he's just saying what's wrong and not what's right.
I did database work for a few years and understand why 3NF is good (or 4NF perhaps) and I found it really really great for certain things. However I was able to create databases that could easily represent some really complex things that I could not query without writing a mixture of code (VBA for me) and SQL - like traversing a (potentially recursive) data structure. It may be that I didn't know enough, but I think the problem was with SQL - or my expectations for it. I suspect that's along the lines of what he's trying to get at.
The goal is to get you hooked on their player so you'll want to buy the commercial version with the proprietary codecs. If you get used to using the other players it will be a bigger deal to switch. Something like that...
I think SUN just wants to get as many open source projects using Java as possible. If/when open source becomes dominant on the desktop they could then start charging for Java. Don't believe it? Why then is everything going open source except Java?
" Explosives aren't the only kind of payload that can be deployed with a rocket."
And rockets aren't the only way to deploy those other payloads. I'd think they're actually a rather bothersome way to deploy anything - Low capacity and low accuracy. The big ones are rather conspicuous to launch too - you'd be identified or at least noticed.
We need to not worry so much about what COULD be done. Or at least consider the cost/benefit to a terrorist vs other things they could do. You could cause damage/death/mayhem with all sorts of stuff.
"sender pays stamping is a decent solution to spam, but it's not any solution to stupid lusers."
The "stupid lusers" machines will become less usable with all that stamp generation going on. They will be more likely to notice they need help. They will also be more likely to become frustrated with the computer and stop using it (unfortunate but still reducing spam).
Bottom line: If anyone can send you a message without penalty or authorization there will be spam. You can't have it both ways.
"It's just motors with greater than.9 lbs of fuel. That's Huge and could very well be used as a weapon"
It's people with that attitude that are causing the problem with the ATF. If you've ever been to a launch you'd know the ability to aim these things at a target is nonexistant. They basically go up, but you couldn't deliberately hit something if you tried without a miracle. The fuel itself is not actually explosive - outside the motor tube it burns really slow. You could attach some other explosive, but you still couldn't deliver it accurately and that would be a different substance so no need to regulate the fuel.
Rocket fuel is no more dangerous than gasoline which is available on every corner in America. Probably less dangerous, as it's not a liquid.
Bring them home and deorbit that piece of crap on the night of July 4th. There's only enough people on board to keep it running and not do any useful research. The president only wants NASA to support it until our obligations to the other parties involved are fulfilled anyway. Just get those parties to agree it's a waste of money and there's no sense throwing away more. OTOH, we could spend MORE money and get some use out of it. Either way, I don't care, but this stupid maintenance mode is worthless - I'd rather watch the reentry show.
I predicted this back in 2000, but this would be the first time I do so in public. After all the fuss, lots of things still only accomodate 2 digits...
If it can be selective, then perhaps it could be used to bulk up a damaged heart. For example after a heart attack.
In general, I'm with the parent poster on this one - more is not always better, and there is likely a down side to this. However, as humans really can't say one way or the other. Perhaps you need this mutation AND another one, two, or 12 to really be "better". Even a "bad" mutation may be good when taken with another set of modifications we don't know about. Embrace genetic diversity.
What we NEED is people to stop paying to watch television. In my area there are 8 stations available. Just think if the broadcasters used multiple subchannels - I could have 8*6 = 48 shows all for no monthly bill. FOX should provide their news,sports,kids,and regular channels in HDTV all the time. Why don't they? Because people like YOU like to pay to watch TV. They like getting paid by both advertisers and the cable companies. Vote with your wallet.
Actually, I think this potential abundance of channels is why they are using the FCC to get broadcasters to be decent - Profanity will soon be the only thing cable has going for it.
"scaled has no plans to launch again in the following 2 weeks."
Rutan will be speaking at Airventure at the end of July. Questions for you:
1) Will he have won the X-Prize by then?
2) Will he bring SpaceShipOne and/or White Knight?
3) Could he get clearance to win it at Oshkosh?
4) Is there a reason not to if he could?
"whatever happens to one, instantaneously happens to the other."
If one photon hit an object and gets absorbed, the other doesn't spontaneously disappear. If you measure a property of one photon, you can then predict what a measurement of the other photon will be. It's as if they share state information even though theory doesn't allow for it. They say the state is not determined until a "measurement" is made and the wave function "collapses". I'd argue that you can't tell the difference between a particle with a collapsed wave function and one that has not - if you can, then there is spontaneous transmission of information. Let me explain.
I could transmit streams of entagled particle pairs in opposite directions. The transmitting party would either "measure" their photons or not, and the reciever would monitor their stream to see if the photons wave functions are collapsed or not. This would allow faster than light communication.
Truth is, no one really knows what the mechanism of wave function collapse is in detail. Or at least there is no general agreement.
"No matter which e-mail client is used, they all allow attachments, and without a virus scanner screening those attachments, computer illiterate users are going to get virii."
And if they are running a Unix variant that attachment will only run at user level. No low level system modification can be made, so you can then log in as another user (or root) and delete said infected files which should all be in their home dir and not mixed in with 10000.dll files. They should also have to make a little extra effort to get it to run in the first place, which will discourage some percentage of them too.
Slashdot Mirror
Ya, my question was important, but I think this answer is much more informative. Slashdot moderation is funny sometimes.
Everyone should just download Eclipse and MinGW instead. If these aren't up to snuff then fix the problem - you're a software developer after all....
I don't get it, if they can't store your biometric data what good is it? Do you scan your real fingerprint and verify that it matches the one one the smart card? Then anyone who holds a card and matches it is cleared? This seems odd.
They donate it to a non-profit (corporation) for licensing. This is quite different than just allowing the patents to expire (or not even getting them) and making an announcement to the public. No doubt the Disney-appointed people running the non-profit will be well paid by said non-profit.
I did database work for a few years and understand why 3NF is good (or 4NF perhaps) and I found it really really great for certain things. However I was able to create databases that could easily represent some really complex things that I could not query without writing a mixture of code (VBA for me) and SQL - like traversing a (potentially recursive) data structure. It may be that I didn't know enough, but I think the problem was with SQL - or my expectations for it. I suspect that's along the lines of what he's trying to get at.
Not to be nit-picky...
I may be mistaken, but doesn't Lookingglass have a lot of Java under the hood?
Also, the issue of getting all those VMs to be compatible might go away if there was an open one that everyone could use.
The goal is to get you hooked on their player so you'll want to buy the commercial version with the proprietary codecs. If you get used to using the other players it will be a bigger deal to switch. Something like that...
I'll believe it when I see it. And BTW, what about Java?
Oh THAT project. And when the model has been refined by all those peoples computers, they will commercialize it - probably license it to Accuweather.
I think SUN just wants to get as many open source projects using Java as possible. If/when open source becomes dominant on the desktop they could then start charging for Java. Don't believe it? Why then is everything going open source except Java?
LGPL allows you to redistribute it as GPL if you wish. Of course this wouldn't really take hold unless people started getting it from you.
And none of them will see you carry that thing around and launch it either...
And rockets aren't the only way to deploy those other payloads. I'd think they're actually a rather bothersome way to deploy anything - Low capacity and low accuracy. The big ones are rather conspicuous to launch too - you'd be identified or at least noticed.
We need to not worry so much about what COULD be done. Or at least consider the cost/benefit to a terrorist vs other things they could do. You could cause damage/death/mayhem with all sorts of stuff.
The "stupid lusers" machines will become less usable with all that stamp generation going on. They will be more likely to notice they need help. They will also be more likely to become frustrated with the computer and stop using it (unfortunate but still reducing spam).
Bottom line: If anyone can send you a message without penalty or authorization there will be spam. You can't have it both ways.
It's people with that attitude that are causing the problem with the ATF. If you've ever been to a launch you'd know the ability to aim these things at a target is nonexistant. They basically go up, but you couldn't deliberately hit something if you tried without a miracle. The fuel itself is not actually explosive - outside the motor tube it burns really slow. You could attach some other explosive, but you still couldn't deliver it accurately and that would be a different substance so no need to regulate the fuel.
Rocket fuel is no more dangerous than gasoline which is available on every corner in America. Probably less dangerous, as it's not a liquid.
Bring them home and deorbit that piece of crap on the night of July 4th. There's only enough people on board to keep it running and not do any useful research. The president only wants NASA to support it until our obligations to the other parties involved are fulfilled anyway. Just get those parties to agree it's a waste of money and there's no sense throwing away more. OTOH, we could spend MORE money and get some use out of it. Either way, I don't care, but this stupid maintenance mode is worthless - I'd rather watch the reentry show.
I predicted this back in 2000, but this would be the first time I do so in public. After all the fuss, lots of things still only accomodate 2 digits...
No wonder they went out of business....
In general, I'm with the parent poster on this one - more is not always better, and there is likely a down side to this. However, as humans really can't say one way or the other. Perhaps you need this mutation AND another one, two, or 12 to really be "better". Even a "bad" mutation may be good when taken with another set of modifications we don't know about. Embrace genetic diversity.
Actually, I think this potential abundance of channels is why they are using the FCC to get broadcasters to be decent - Profanity will soon be the only thing cable has going for it.
Rutan will be speaking at Airventure at the end of July. Questions for you:
1) Will he have won the X-Prize by then?
2) Will he bring SpaceShipOne and/or White Knight?
3) Could he get clearance to win it at Oshkosh?
4) Is there a reason not to if he could?
Happens all the time...
If one photon hit an object and gets absorbed, the other doesn't spontaneously disappear. If you measure a property of one photon, you can then predict what a measurement of the other photon will be. It's as if they share state information even though theory doesn't allow for it. They say the state is not determined until a "measurement" is made and the wave function "collapses". I'd argue that you can't tell the difference between a particle with a collapsed wave function and one that has not - if you can, then there is spontaneous transmission of information. Let me explain.
I could transmit streams of entagled particle pairs in opposite directions. The transmitting party would either "measure" their photons or not, and the reciever would monitor their stream to see if the photons wave functions are collapsed or not. This would allow faster than light communication.
Truth is, no one really knows what the mechanism of wave function collapse is in detail. Or at least there is no general agreement.
And if they are running a Unix variant that attachment will only run at user level. No low level system modification can be made, so you can then log in as another user (or root) and delete said infected files which should all be in their home dir and not mixed in with 10000 .dll files. They should also have to make a little extra effort to get it to run in the first place, which will discourage some percentage of them too.