You are probably trolling, but someone might think you are serious. IBM is one of the most careful organisations in the world at ensuring proper procedures are followed when developing open source software. That includes ensuring against code misuse. It is irrelevant whether those writing code at IBM were UNIX experts (in many cases they were more OS/2 experts) as long as they did not copy code that they did not own the rights to. Read the copyright laws carefully and tell me where it says general architectural knowledge about a software product bars you from working on a similar product.
The RIAA seems to think that a 13 year old listening to songs without paying them lots of money merits hounding her and her family with lawyers in an attempt to bankrupt them and set an example that will deter other kids. Most here on/., I think, would opt for letting the kid go, with perhaps a message to her about copyrite infringement being naughty. Let me suggest a compromise that would achieve the RIAA's objective of deterrence with much less long term imptact on the kid and her family. I suggest they gather the press around while they have some heavies beat the kid up, including cleanly breaking one limb. The press can display the pictures as a lesson of what can happen to you if you illegally download music, while the girl and her family will be fine within a few months. (As opposed to the current situation where they stand to be under intolerable pressure for years.)
Based on a quick perusal of TFA, Ms Andersen seems to have a good case. If the facts are accurate as stated, and unless RIAA is crazy, this will surely get settled out of court. A secret settlement for a million dollars would be better than what might happen to RIAA is this goes forward.
Different astronomers have different concepts of what constitutes a moon. For instance, many respectable astronomers consider asteroids can have moons.
Probably, we need to have a lot more terminology to describe satellites orbiting other objects. The terms "irregular moon", "regular moon" and "outcast moon" already exist. There are satellites of moons and also binary systems where objects sort of orbit each other. It will probably be another decade before concensus develops on all this.
I have a feel for what was happening here, reading between the lines of TFA. Top management was busy negotiating a merger with ScanSoft under which they stood to make a fortune. To maximise their profit from the deal, they wanted to make the company's financials look as good as possible. So, postpone any remuneration increases for staff and any capital expenditure on new equipment. Basically, the executives could not have cared a dime for whether the staff was happy provided they got their dream deal.
The R&D department, after bitching about what is happening for months, finds a way that they can cut themselves a much better deal. Now the executives are bent out of shape because the employees will not agree to get shafted for their benefit.
One of his key concerns is that all the chips used to control the pressure valves are of the same type. Historically, this has been considered a risk because any logic flaw could cause all the chips to fail simultaneously: an extremely dangerous possibility. This is apart from the claim that such logic flaws do currently exist in the chip and the company tried to cover them up (to the extent of forging his signature). According to TFA, alternative methods would lead to extra weight and throw off the whole design.
I usually treat employee claims such as this with extreme skepticism, but his position within the company (chief engineer) and his obvious sincerity make this case very troubling.
I cannot stand the games you must play as a middle manager. For me, there is much more satisfaction in a senior technical role. For those who want the aggravation of management, the most important hint is to recognise who in the organisation can get things done (usually one or two individuals and often not the most senior) and make certain you are friends, however unpleasant he/she may be. That arsehole in accounting who has the ear of the CFO can save you a lot of grief and is well worth some beers and evenings of asinine conversation.
I have not used POP3 in years, but an IMAP client has much to recommend it. I use Gmail for personal email, but for business mail I want both an offline copy and multiple personalities (neither conveniently available with a web based client).
I do not think the telecoms will be able to find an argument that will resonate with voters.
Your point?;-)
The politicians will take care of contributors where possible. However, this does not extend to actions that will be seriously unpopular with the voters. I do not think any amount of media spin will make killing a free wifi service popular with the electorate.
I do not think the telecoms will be able to find an argument that will resonate with voters. The general public loves free services. Further, I do not see any plausible legal challenge at this stage. I think the telecoms, while hating this development, will wait and hope that it proves uneconomic and Google stops short of widespread deployment. Hard to say what the final outcome will be, but my betting is that the economics of Google's move will improve over time, however expensive it may be in the short term.
The problem with Java applets is they require too much to be installed on the client side. This has big security and performance implications, leaving aside the quality of the available JVMs. Nevertheless, if AJAX had not come along, I think we would have revisited how to make use of Java practicable. With AJAX, most of the application logic remains on the server side. This drastically improves the ease of implementation.
Your comments on the difficulty of developing a comprehensive and realistic disaster recovery plan are right on the money. In a complex organisation, it requires literally thousands of pages of documentation and you will only know if it really works if you arrange a (very expensive) test using different staff from those who developed the recovery plan.
The only company I have worked for that developed a plan that would actually work was IBM way back in the 1970s. The first two tests of the plan, for the location I worked at, were a partial failure, in spite of the fact that funding and good staff were available. In every other company I have worked for, disaster planning was little better than using a four leaf clover.
Back in the day, we complained bitterly about how inadequate Quantum Link was compared to the real Internet. Now, 10 years after the service was discontinued, we are willing to setup emulators to allow us to play with a reconstruction. Lol.
I could have been more explicit in why there is a distinction between the kind of carbon nanotubes fabricated by the University of Texas process (a much improved production process of nanotubes essentially the same as those produced for over 10 years) and the structurally different nanotubes recently developed by Argonne National Laboratory from Ultrananocrystalline(TM) diamond (a new form of carbon developed at Argonne). See, for instance, http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2005/news0508 30.html.
The new form of nanotube is far more resistant to wear and lower in friction than the traditional carbon nanotube (thus seemingly appropriate for the needs of a space elevator) but very new and large scale production has not yet occurred.
I do not argue against currently using Microsoft products, or even potentially using them indefinitely. I do though think being locked into Microsoft is strategically dangerous.
As a company, they have become used to rapid revenue growth. They have sustained this, in the past, by increasing their customer base. In the future, it is very likely that they will try to maintain revenue growth in two ways. The first is by expanding into application packages at the expense of the VARs. The other is by milking those clients that have no alternative to continued use of their products.
To avoid the risk (IMHO the likelihood) of huge future costs, it is essential to retain a credible threat of moving away from Microsoft.
C# is a really well conceived language. However, there is no way as a consultant that I will recommend its use. Companies typically have too much Microsoft entanglement already, and the use of C# will make it worse at a time when companies should try to have a credible option of migration away from Microsoft. Even if no such migration occurs, the threat will be worth big savings on license fees.
Microsoft already has a dominant position in the dissemination of evil in the computer industry. By teaming up with AOL, they would have almost a complete monopoly in this area (especially as The SCO Group will soon be history). This tie up must be blocked unless either Microsoft or AOL commits to give up being evil.
Like most others here, I think the risks of such databases outweigh the benefits.
However, the fact that the creation of this database is a matter of public debate indicates that The Netherlands is one of the most democratic countries in the world. In most countries, these databases are gathered covertly and the public has no say in the matter. And, in the US, things have become worse since the time of Edgar Hoover, not better.
When company A has an exclusive patent on enzyme 1 and company B has an exclusive patent on enzyme 2, how do you achieve the life saving drug based on the combination of enzymes 1 and 2?
The argument that only granting exclusive use of some specific piece of knowledge can make commercialising products based on the idea viable financially is unconvincing. (Leaving aside that this does not eliminate risk because competitive products based on other ideas may still appear.) If necessary, have a system where the government compensates organisations for development in certain cases (perhaps with tax breaks) to give an advantage to the original developer. But do not prevent others from making improvements.
The patent system adds huge costs for ephemeral benefits. Creativity and invention prosper in an atmosphere of freedom, not one of bureaucratic control.
I'm running Suse 9.3 and have experienced so many bugs and problems.
I feel your pain. However, there is a difference between the stability of the leading edge SUSE 9.3 (and SUSE 10) and the corporate oriented Novell Linux Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise System.
I agree with you about the confusion of different applications. This, though, is an issue for the home user (not Novell's target market) rather than the corporate desktop.
Like others, I do not see Windows Vista precipitating an immediate avalanche of Linux adoptions. However, I do see it causing CIOs to review their long-term desktop strategies: do they start installing Windows Vista on new machines or try to start the move to open source. Their decision could have a huge impact over a five year timeframe.
The preemptive strike on Iraq has been a disaster.
Ah, yes. But the problem is that the president was forced to make a preemptive strike using smart weapons with conventional ordinance. If he had been able to order surgical strikes using smart bombs with tactical nuclear warheads, the resulting "shock and awe" would have deterred effective resistence at a small regrettable (but justifiable, and no need to count them anyway) cost in civilian casualties.
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You are probably trolling, but someone might think you are serious. IBM is one of the most careful organisations in the world at ensuring proper procedures are followed when developing open source software. That includes ensuring against code misuse. It is irrelevant whether those writing code at IBM were UNIX experts (in many cases they were more OS/2 experts) as long as they did not copy code that they did not own the rights to. Read the copyright laws carefully and tell me where it says general architectural knowledge about a software product bars you from working on a similar product.
The RIAA seems to think that a 13 year old listening to songs without paying them lots of money merits hounding her and her family with lawyers in an attempt to bankrupt them and set an example that will deter other kids. Most here on /., I think, would opt for letting the kid go, with perhaps a message to her about copyrite infringement being naughty. Let me suggest a compromise that would achieve the RIAA's objective of deterrence with much less long term imptact on the kid and her family. I suggest they gather the press around while they have some heavies beat the kid up, including cleanly breaking one limb. The press can display the pictures as a lesson of what can happen to you if you illegally download music, while the girl and her family will be fine within a few months. (As opposed to the current situation where they stand to be under intolerable pressure for years.)
Based on a quick perusal of TFA, Ms Andersen seems to have a good case. If the facts are accurate as stated, and unless RIAA is crazy, this will surely get settled out of court. A secret settlement for a million dollars would be better than what might happen to RIAA is this goes forward.
Probably, we need to have a lot more terminology to describe satellites orbiting other objects. The terms "irregular moon", "regular moon" and "outcast moon" already exist. There are satellites of moons and also binary systems where objects sort of orbit each other. It will probably be another decade before concensus develops on all this.
The R&D department, after bitching about what is happening for months, finds a way that they can cut themselves a much better deal. Now the executives are bent out of shape because the employees will not agree to get shafted for their benefit.
I usually treat employee claims such as this with extreme skepticism, but his position within the company (chief engineer) and his obvious sincerity make this case very troubling.
I cannot stand the games you must play as a middle manager. For me, there is much more satisfaction in a senior technical role. For those who want the aggravation of management, the most important hint is to recognise who in the organisation can get things done (usually one or two individuals and often not the most senior) and make certain you are friends, however unpleasant he/she may be. That arsehole in accounting who has the ear of the CFO can save you a lot of grief and is well worth some beers and evenings of asinine conversation.
I have not used POP3 in years, but an IMAP client has much to recommend it. I use Gmail for personal email, but for business mail I want both an offline copy and multiple personalities (neither conveniently available with a web based client).
I do not think the telecoms will be able to find an argument that will resonate with voters. The general public loves free services. Further, I do not see any plausible legal challenge at this stage. I think the telecoms, while hating this development, will wait and hope that it proves uneconomic and Google stops short of widespread deployment. Hard to say what the final outcome will be, but my betting is that the economics of Google's move will improve over time, however expensive it may be in the short term.
... this is in a catalog of fantasy gifts. Who said it was illegal to hawk a $3.5 million fantasy?
The problem with Java applets is they require too much to be installed on the client side. This has big security and performance implications, leaving aside the quality of the available JVMs. Nevertheless, if AJAX had not come along, I think we would have revisited how to make use of Java practicable. With AJAX, most of the application logic remains on the server side. This drastically improves the ease of implementation.
The only company I have worked for that developed a plan that would actually work was IBM way back in the 1970s. The first two tests of the plan, for the location I worked at, were a partial failure, in spite of the fact that funding and good staff were available. In every other company I have worked for, disaster planning was little better than using a four leaf clover.
Also interesting on the IBM site is a comparison between the use of J2EE and Ruby on Rails, another great way of achieving Ajax functionality.
Back in the day, we complained bitterly about how inadequate Quantum Link was compared to the real Internet. Now, 10 years after the service was discontinued, we are willing to setup emulators to allow us to play with a reconstruction. Lol.
I could have been more explicit in why there is a distinction between the kind of carbon nanotubes fabricated by the University of Texas process (a much improved production process of nanotubes essentially the same as those produced for over 10 years) and the structurally different nanotubes recently developed by Argonne National Laboratory from Ultrananocrystalline(TM) diamond (a new form of carbon developed at Argonne). See, for instance, http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2005/news0508 30.html.
The new form of nanotube is far more resistant to wear and lower in friction than the traditional carbon nanotube (thus seemingly appropriate for the needs of a space elevator) but very new and large scale production has not yet occurred.
These seem to be carbon nanotubes, not the same thing.
As a company, they have become used to rapid revenue growth. They have sustained this, in the past, by increasing their customer base. In the future, it is very likely that they will try to maintain revenue growth in two ways. The first is by expanding into application packages at the expense of the VARs. The other is by milking those clients that have no alternative to continued use of their products.
To avoid the risk (IMHO the likelihood) of huge future costs, it is essential to retain a credible threat of moving away from Microsoft.
C# is a really well conceived language. However, there is no way as a consultant that I will recommend its use. Companies typically have too much Microsoft entanglement already, and the use of C# will make it worse at a time when companies should try to have a credible option of migration away from Microsoft. Even if no such migration occurs, the threat will be worth big savings on license fees.
Microsoft already has a dominant position in the dissemination of evil in the computer industry. By teaming up with AOL, they would have almost a complete monopoly in this area (especially as The SCO Group will soon be history). This tie up must be blocked unless either Microsoft or AOL commits to give up being evil.
However, the fact that the creation of this database is a matter of public debate indicates that The Netherlands is one of the most democratic countries in the world. In most countries, these databases are gathered covertly and the public has no say in the matter. And, in the US, things have become worse since the time of Edgar Hoover, not better.
The argument that only granting exclusive use of some specific piece of knowledge can make commercialising products based on the idea viable financially is unconvincing. (Leaving aside that this does not eliminate risk because competitive products based on other ideas may still appear.) If necessary, have a system where the government compensates organisations for development in certain cases (perhaps with tax breaks) to give an advantage to the original developer. But do not prevent others from making improvements.
The patent system adds huge costs for ephemeral benefits. Creativity and invention prosper in an atmosphere of freedom, not one of bureaucratic control.
Can the process be used to produce energy once for each of a cat's nine lives? If so, it should be popular with environmentalists.
I feel your pain. However, there is a difference between the stability of the leading edge SUSE 9.3 (and SUSE 10) and the corporate oriented Novell Linux Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise System.
I agree with you about the confusion of different applications. This, though, is an issue for the home user (not Novell's target market) rather than the corporate desktop.
Like others, I do not see Windows Vista precipitating an immediate avalanche of Linux adoptions. However, I do see it causing CIOs to review their long-term desktop strategies: do they start installing Windows Vista on new machines or try to start the move to open source. Their decision could have a huge impact over a five year timeframe.
Ah, yes. But the problem is that the president was forced to make a preemptive strike using smart weapons with conventional ordinance. If he had been able to order surgical strikes using smart bombs with tactical nuclear warheads, the resulting "shock and awe" would have deterred effective resistence at a small regrettable (but justifiable, and no need to count them anyway) cost in civilian casualties.