Imagine having a cell phone on for half a day, every day?
The cell phone wouldn't be constantly connected. The point is to have the computer call the cell phone when it detects an intruder.
It can get a bit annoying if the motion detection threshold is too low. If it's an outdoor view and you're doing motion detection based on the video image (as opposed to stand alone motion detection devices), then shadows, birds, boats, etc. can set off false alarms. Indoors, pets, changes in lighting conditions, etc can do the same.
I'd assume that a good system would allow you to view the images over the web or via dial-up connection and change some parameters (target region, change threshold, etc).
What really makes my blood boil is having to endure advertising on seemingly any printable surface.
I agree completely. The people who do this should be handcuffed to Bob Sagat[1]. People in advertising often consider themselves creative. But exploiting surface area is NOT a creative endeavor.
I personally engage in unofficial boycotts of companies that have annoying ads. It would be great if people could get together and do some anti-marketing by identifying irritating advertisers and then encouraging people to use their competitors. Maybe a web site with some sort of nomination and voting mechanisms to identify offending advertisers. Eventually, the idiots would stop slapping ads on every conceivable surface.
[1] Yes, I realize this is a violation of the Geneva Convention....
Bandwidth isn't free, and i doubt that they make enough rebroadcasting ads to make up for it... Something needs to happen to enable it to pay for itself...
I agree that the broadcaster deserves to be able to cover the added costs of internet broadcasting. However, in this case the broadcaster is WABC radio in NY. They're the ones who pay for the servers, they're the ones who pay the announcers etc. They give the Yankees a bunch of money to be allowed to broadcast. If they want to raise their ad rates, or yes, even charge listeners, it's their prerogative. Here we have RealNetworks and MLB demanding money for me to listen to WABC's broadcast. Everything was fine before they came along demanding money for nothing.
MLB needs to justify the time and equipment to air those games and just knowing some fans are listening isn't going to do it. $30 isn't that much for 162 games if your a baseball fan and take pleasure in listening to your favorite team.
I like the Yankees[1]. WABC 770 AM in NYC is the official broadcast station of the NY Yankees. They always broadcast over the internet in RealAudio, whether there's a game going on or not. There is no added cost to MLB or RealNetworks in this case. WABC pays to broadcast the games, so MLB get's paid, they paid for their RealServer so RealNetworks gets paid. WABC makes their money through advertising so they make back their investment. Why the hell should I have to pay MLB/RealAudio again?
Let me guess, they're "innovating."
It's bad enough that you need an EE degree to download and install the RealPlayer without all the valuable advertising and privacy infringing "features." I remember when RealNetworks were the good guys...
Because Junkbuster can't provide users with Salon's promised "premium content."[1] I hate ads, and I don't see them. This is actually a Good Thing for advertisers because it raises their click-through rates, since I wouldn't click anyway.
[1] I'm not sure if I buy the whole "Premium Content" thing, I think of it much like the term used to describe pre-checked opt-in spam as "valuable offers."
This irks me. Cell phones typically don't give the user appropriate auditory feedback. On a regular phone, you can hear yourself through the phone, on a cell phone you can't. I'm not sure why this design decision was made[1]. The result is that people can't hear themselves through one ear and talk louder to compensate.
Providing the traditional feedback that a landline phone offers would undoubtedly reduce the volume that cell phone users spoke at.
I get very annoyed by people using cell phones while driving or in relatively quiet public places, but there are concerns. Imagine a doctor on call going to a movie with his cell phone, when an emergency call doesn't make it through.
From what I've read though (a NY Times article, I think), beepers aren't affected by cell jammers.
I've also heard that you can put metal mesh in walls and ceilings to prevent most cell signals.
[1] Possible reasons:
battery power
it may provide false feedback when there's a bad connection
Yeah, the sample size is too small for good statistical results
Actually, you can acheive statistical significance with such a small sample. Using the limited data available from This AP wire version of the story:
She dressed up a white Barbie and black Barbie in two different colored dresses. She asked 15 adults at her father's workplace which doll was prettier.
She then switched the dresses and asked 15 more adults. The doll wearing the lavender dress -- regardless of the doll's skin color -- was deemed prettiest by both groups.
Then, When she asked fifth-graders at Mesa Elementary, all 15 in one class picked the white doll. In the second class, after the dresses were switched, nine of the 15 students
picked the white doll.
So, we know the following:
# of people (of 15) picking the White Doll
---------White+Lavender---Black+Lavender---Tot
Young...|..9 or 15......|....9 or 15.....|..24
Old.....|..8 to 15......|....1 to 7......|..??
Now, let's make some assumptions:
First, let's assume that Lavender is actually prettier, and that the 6 students that chose the black doll did so when she was wearing lavender.
That means that we have:
This indicates a statistically significant main effect for doll color. A two sided chi-square (corrected with Fisher's exact test to accomodate cells with expected values less than 5) is significant p=.015.
Testing for a main effect for the adults and an age x doll+dress interaction would require knowing the cell values for adults, which are not reported.
What this means is something else entirely. According to the AP article, her conclusion was I discovered that most grown-ups liked the lavender dress on the black or white Barbie. On the other hand, kids mostly liked the white Barbie. Only six kids liked the black Barbie. Which is really just a statement of the results.
This could mean:
that the kids are racist
that adults are racist, but are able to supress racist feelings when they are in a study
that adults really like lavender
that black barbies are less common and therefore less preferred
that black barbies are simply white barbies in a different color and look odd, as would a white person who's skin was dyed black.
that she presented the dolls in a fashion that would encourage the kids to choose the white one, but would encourage adults to choose the lavender dress. (People have a tendency to choose the alternative on the right)
Something else
Regardless, this doesn't speak to the issue of appropriateness. Personally, if I were a teacher, I'd use this as a golden opportunity to discuss prejudice and the importance of treating people as individuals.
Another interesting point is the claim that there is no distinct line between natural language (e.g., English) source code and object code. The example they use is a natural language processing system through which a computer takes actions based on spoken, conversational English. It is argued that that can be described as a form of source code. If the court decides to draw such a distinction, the lines are bound to become more fuzzy in the future.
If one form of language recieves protection, and another does not, this can get very sticky as technology improves.
they have stopped using CueCat and will no longer publish barcodes next to any advertiser's
print
As I recall, they won't stop advertisers from publishing their ads with cues, they just won't do it on their own. The wired statement pointed out that they are waiting for the market to choose a solution (which, in their view could very well be cuecat).
Re:Digital Doodling? Try Digital Toothbrush!
on
Digital Doodling
·
· Score: 1
These guys are using some patented song identification software. They monitor the stations and "fingerprint" each song. They use this fingerprint to query a database that they've compiled of major label releases (pretty weak on indie stuff).
When you call them and key in the radio station, they tell you the most recent song's title and start playing a 30 sec clip of it. If it's right, you can buy it or listen to other songs from the album. If it's wrong, you can check the song before that, etc. You can also specify a specific time from earlier in the day.
If the song appears on multiple albums, they make some executive decision based on album popularity, but you can hit a button to order a different album from customer service.
All this and more is discussed in their faqwww.starcd.com and choose "about" and "faqs". Stupid web design)
I work at a large state university. A few years ago, as part of a lawsuit against the university, the plaintiff requested and received old email backup tapes through an FOI request.
In response to this threat against the privacy of members of the university community, the university no longer keeps backups of email for more than a couple of weeks.
So, one approach to the possibility of such a request is simply to systematically delete possible offending information as a matter of policy.
At the end of (G. H. W.) Bush's presidency many of the whitehouse hard drives were erased, presumably to prevent information from getting into the wrong hands (arguably for good or bad reasons). The shame is that it is conceivable that such information could be useful to future scholars, and won't be available.
The UCLA study used a survey methodology, while the most quoted "Internet leads to depression" study conducted at Carnegie Mellon relied on a quasiexperimental design that involved studying the same people over time and measuring them using validated instruments.
In this study people are more likely to respond in socially desirable ways. By analogy, an alcoholic may not be willing to admit that his/her drinking has negative effects.
It's definitely good to see studies focusing on the fact that the Net isn't that bad (or is even, gasp, good), but we shouldn't give too much credence to this study in contrast to others. If we're interested in the truth, we should be willing to consider the fact that certain aspects of on-line life may not be very healthy.
On a related note, for a thorough analysis of the importance of "social capital" see Robert Putnam's new book "Bowling Alone."
I'm working on converting DeCSS into barcodes using Azalea QTools. The barcode format that the CueCat uses. Only the CueCat can decode this particular variant of code 128.
This would mean that in order to see something that allegedly violates the MPAA's DMCA protections, you'd have to allegedly violate DigitalConvergence's DMCA protection.
I'm glad someone else mentioned vindigo. This is so cool, I can only use it when I'm out of town in a supported city, but I love it!
I have a Visor and I still use DateBk3 instead of Datebook+ because it has support for combined ToDos and Schedule.
I hadn't heard of SimCity for the palm, but it's now at the top of my wishlist.
Another favorite is Mathpad which is sort of a math-aware memo pad. You can include formulas in memos and it can compute them. In addition to the celsius/farenheit and gram/oz conversions, I have a tip calculator with variables for price, tip rate, and # of people and it tells how much each person owes.
Also, it isn't a app but it is my favorite hack: I have a visor but no springboards yet. So I keep post it notes in the springboard slot and use my pen/stylus to write notes etc.. for the palm impaired.
Things like language and locomotion are accomplished in large part because the human mind/body is well suited to the task. Yes, language is complicated (note, I'm not using the term complex), but it evolved as we have, so it is tightly coupled with human cognitive capacity. The fact that language is nearly universal among humans supports this.
The book focuses on complex (not just complicated) systems. Complex systems have certain properties that differentiate them from merely complicated systems. Complicated often means "having many moving parts" for example. By complex, the authors are referring to systems in which the interaction among components often heavily influence later probabilities.
Having read the book, I think it does a good job of distilling some of the subtleties of complex systems, focusing on things that a manager could affect, such as the effects of proximity (both physical and conceptual), and interaction patterns.
The book extracts some useful things out of complexity theory. Things that could conceivably be harnessed (rather than controlled). The book is surprisingly sparce on the buzz words and hand waving that I usually associate with complexity books.
My main criticism is that I don't think most managers are as smart as Axelrod and Cohen give them credit. They explicitly point out that the book doesn't have a list of 4 or 8 or 12 things a manager can do to be successful.
Unfortunately, most (not all) managers I've worked with were better suited to a dilbert cartoon than a book like this.
Anyway, this isn't a book for someone looking to model complex systems, or someone who just wants to learn about the latest research in the field in an accessible way. It really focuses on some general principles of complex systems, and what they can mean to organizations.
Most of the lecture-type classes I've taken a service like this would be completely useless since they normally put a copy of their notes in the library after class anyway.
I've taught classes where I put the notes on the web, and several note-taking services sold notes. I have no problem with them paraphrasing what I'm saying (which is a paraphrase of what I learned, and what the textbooks say, and is probably 85% identical to the same class at other universities).
I have read the notes that get sold (and they do sell), and I've been a bit disappointed with the quality. But, I am under no illusions that I own the knowledge that someone takes away from my class.
I've intentionally tested students on topics that the purchased notes get wrong. I also test people on things that no note taker would take down (bonus questions about punchlines to jokes told in class). I can see who is attending, and I can determine who's paying attention. The old cliche about only cheating yourself is true.
In general, I encourage students to download my notes, telling them that mine are better (and Free). If they feel that they can gain by purchasing notes instead of/in addition to mine, so be it.
That being said, there are uses for the for-profit notes. To see if you're "getting it," you can compare your own notes to those of others. If you miss a class, you may trust a paid notetaker a bit more than the other mouthbreathers in your class...
Regardless, if you make a class informative and interesting, and you provide Real Value, students will come to class. But heck, if the RIAA and MPAA can sue people who don't use their information in the ways they want, I guess the state of CA can write a bill.
But in the etoy case, the performance art group had a web site up before the toy seller even came into existence. Yet they were being pressured to give up their name.
In the digitaldiva case the evil empire infringed on an existing trademark.
That leaves the problem of how to deal with duplicate bar codes.
The Uniform Code Council assigns the company codes on the UPC. The first part of the code is unique to the company manufacturing the product. The end of the code is determined by the company. Therefore, there shouldn't be any duplicate bar codes (unless the same company produced both or someone created unauthorized codes).
The chorded keyboard that Engelbart introduced at The Demo(tm)[1] was used in conjunction with the mouse. During his Turing Award acceptance speech a few years ago he talked about the system.
His original design was to have both hands working when people would use the mouse. One to point and click and the other to issue commands (chorded keyboard commands like copy and paste etc). When you were generating text, he figured that you'd have both hands on the standard keyboard (it's faster than the one handed chorded keyboard). The chorded keyboard he used was capable of generating every keystroke a normal keyboard could do, but was designed to be used primarily to augment the mouse.
He's said that he was a bit dissapointed that the only thing a lot of people got out of the demo was the idea of the mouse (not networking, not hyperlinking, etc). He really wanted the chorded keyboard to be implemented with the mouse.
[1] Arguably the most important computer demonstration ever. In 1968 he began the demonstration by saying, "If in your office, you as an intellectual worker were supplied with a computer display backed up by a computer that was alive for you all day and was instantly responsive, how much value could you derive from that?" Then he went on to demonstrate the future of computing. The guy was WAY ahead of his time.
Unless Radio Shack has a privacy policy (and I doupt they do as nobody really pushed the issue for such policys in the real world only on websites) it would be quite easy for that Cue Cat ID code to have your real name etc attached...
Radio shack can't associate you with the:C:C id number based on the information you give when you pick it up. The barcode they scan to take the thing out of inventory does not have the ID info on it. The bar code is a standard UPC code that describes the product. (The use of recursion to determine this about your own CueCat is an exercise left to the reader).
Once you register the CueCat or use the DigitalConvergence database they can associate you with the serial number. This is where the tracking begins... Perhaps a utility that randomly generates a new serial number for each http request would be fun.
I'm a big BNL fan, I preordered the CD, and downloaded the songs on Napster a couple of days before it was released. I'm a member of the fan club (the Ladies Room), and I think it's pretty cool that they're approaching the issue this way.
As soon as I read the story I went on Napster looking for the ads, but they apparently haven't saturated the market yet, 'cause my 7 download attempts all resulted in the actual songs (darn;-). I'd love to have a copy of the ads, I hope that people will begin relabelling the ads as such and make them available for downloading. (or, BNL could include them on their web page)
And since each cuecat has its own ID code that it passes with each scan, you have to use my cuecat with my barcode in order to log into my box.
So let me get this straight, you have a barcode printed on your security badge, and this is your password....
If I can determine what the barcode is (either because the digits are below the bars, or I scan your bar code on my computer with my cuecat, or I interpret the bars myself [1]), and I use your barcode reader to do something (e.g., scan a coke UPC code and send it in an email), I can login as you.
Since the:C:C just passes a bunch of keyboard stuff, I can sit down and log in as you by typing the first part of your code (the:C:C serial number that I got from the coke) and the uuencoded+Xor67 version of your barcode. A long password, yes; but a secure solution, no.
[1] As I remember, when some high school forced students to wear visible ID badges with their SSNs barcoded on the front, some kids taught themselves to decode the barcodes at a reasonable distance. (I'm sure the school blamed the no good student "hackers" for breaking their "encryption")
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The cell phone wouldn't be constantly connected. The point is to have the computer call the cell phone when it detects an intruder.
It can get a bit annoying if the motion detection threshold is too low. If it's an outdoor view and you're doing motion detection based on the video image (as opposed to stand alone motion detection devices), then shadows, birds, boats, etc. can set off false alarms. Indoors, pets, changes in lighting conditions, etc can do the same.
I'd assume that a good system would allow you to view the images over the web or via dial-up connection and change some parameters (target region, change threshold, etc).
I agree completely. The people who do this should be handcuffed to Bob Sagat[1]. People in advertising often consider themselves creative. But exploiting surface area is NOT a creative endeavor.
I personally engage in unofficial boycotts of companies that have annoying ads. It would be great if people could get together and do some anti-marketing by identifying irritating advertisers and then encouraging people to use their competitors. Maybe a web site with some sort of nomination and voting mechanisms to identify offending advertisers. Eventually, the idiots would stop slapping ads on every conceivable surface.
[1] Yes, I realize this is a violation of the Geneva Convention....
I agree that the broadcaster deserves to be able to cover the added costs of internet broadcasting. However, in this case the broadcaster is WABC radio in NY. They're the ones who pay for the servers, they're the ones who pay the announcers etc. They give the Yankees a bunch of money to be allowed to broadcast. If they want to raise their ad rates, or yes, even charge listeners, it's their prerogative. Here we have RealNetworks and MLB demanding money for me to listen to WABC's broadcast. Everything was fine before they came along demanding money for nothing.
I like the Yankees[1]. WABC 770 AM in NYC is the official broadcast station of the NY Yankees. They always broadcast over the internet in RealAudio, whether there's a game going on or not. There is no added cost to MLB or RealNetworks in this case. WABC pays to broadcast the games, so MLB get's paid, they paid for their RealServer so RealNetworks gets paid. WABC makes their money through advertising so they make back their investment. Why the hell should I have to pay MLB/RealAudio again?
Let me guess, they're "innovating."
It's bad enough that you need an EE degree to download and install the RealPlayer without all the valuable advertising and privacy infringing "features." I remember when RealNetworks were the good guys...
[1] yes I know, it's like rooting for Microsoft
Because Junkbuster can't provide users with Salon's promised "premium content."[1] I hate ads, and I don't see them. This is actually a Good Thing for advertisers because it raises their click-through rates, since I wouldn't click anyway.
[1] I'm not sure if I buy the whole "Premium Content" thing, I think of it much like the term used to describe pre-checked opt-in spam as "valuable offers."
This irks me. Cell phones typically don't give the user appropriate auditory feedback. On a regular phone, you can hear yourself through the phone, on a cell phone you can't. I'm not sure why this design decision was made[1]. The result is that people can't hear themselves through one ear and talk louder to compensate.
Providing the traditional feedback that a landline phone offers would undoubtedly reduce the volume that cell phone users spoke at.
I get very annoyed by people using cell phones while driving or in relatively quiet public places, but there are concerns. Imagine a doctor on call going to a movie with his cell phone, when an emergency call doesn't make it through.
From what I've read though (a NY Times article, I think), beepers aren't affected by cell jammers.
I've also heard that you can put metal mesh in walls and ceilings to prevent most cell signals.
[1] Possible reasons:
Actually, you can acheive statistical significance with such a small sample. Using the limited data available from This AP wire version of the story:
She dressed up a white Barbie and black Barbie in two different colored dresses. She asked 15 adults at her father's workplace which doll was prettier.
She then switched the dresses and asked 15 more adults. The doll wearing the lavender dress -- regardless of the doll's skin color -- was deemed prettiest by both groups.
Then, When she asked fifth-graders at Mesa Elementary, all 15 in one class picked the white doll. In the second class, after the dresses were switched, nine of the 15 students picked the white doll.
So, we know the following:
# of people (of 15) picking the White Doll
---------White+Lavender---Black+Lavender---Tot
Young...|..9 or 15......|....9 or 15.....|..24
Old.....|..8 to 15......|....1 to 7......|..??
Now, let's make some assumptions:
First, let's assume that Lavender is actually prettier, and that the 6 students that chose the black doll did so when she was wearing lavender. That means that we have:
# of people (of 15) picking the White Doll
---------White+Lavender---Black+Lavender---Tot
Young...|......15.......|.......9........|..24
This indicates a statistically significant main effect for doll color. A two sided chi-square (corrected with Fisher's exact test to accomodate cells with expected values less than 5) is significant p=.015.
Testing for a main effect for the adults and an age x doll+dress interaction would require knowing the cell values for adults, which are not reported.
What this means is something else entirely. According to the AP article, her conclusion was I discovered that most grown-ups liked the lavender dress on the black or white Barbie. On the other hand, kids mostly liked the white Barbie. Only six kids liked the black Barbie. Which is really just a statement of the results.
This could mean:
- that the kids are racist
- that adults are racist, but are able to supress racist feelings when they are in a study
- that adults really like lavender
- that black barbies are less common and therefore less preferred
- that black barbies are simply white barbies in a different color and look odd, as would a white person who's skin was dyed black.
- that she presented the dolls in a fashion that would encourage the kids to choose the white one, but would encourage adults to choose the lavender dress. (People have a tendency to choose the alternative on the right)
- Something else
Regardless, this doesn't speak to the issue of appropriateness. Personally, if I were a teacher, I'd use this as a golden opportunity to discuss prejudice and the importance of treating people as individuals.Another interesting point is the claim that there is no distinct line between natural language (e.g., English) source code and object code. The example they use is a natural language processing system through which a computer takes actions based on spoken, conversational English. It is argued that that can be described as a form of source code. If the court decides to draw such a distinction, the lines are bound to become more fuzzy in the future.
If one form of language recieves protection, and another does not, this can get very sticky as technology improves.
As I recall, they won't stop advertisers from publishing their ads with cues, they just won't do it on their own. The wired statement pointed out that they are waiting for the market to choose a solution (which, in their view could very well be cuecat).
Here's a step in that direction -- and it's free!
When you call them and key in the radio station, they tell you the most recent song's title and start playing a 30 sec clip of it. If it's right, you can buy it or listen to other songs from the album. If it's wrong, you can check the song before that, etc. You can also specify a specific time from earlier in the day.
If the song appears on multiple albums, they make some executive decision based on album popularity, but you can hit a button to order a different album from customer service.
All this and more is discussed in their faqwww.starcd.com and choose "about" and "faqs". Stupid web design)
I work at a large state university. A few years ago, as part of a lawsuit against the university, the plaintiff requested and received old email backup tapes through an FOI request.
In response to this threat against the privacy of members of the university community, the university no longer keeps backups of email for more than a couple of weeks.
So, one approach to the possibility of such a request is simply to systematically delete possible offending information as a matter of policy.
At the end of (G. H. W.) Bush's presidency many of the whitehouse hard drives were erased, presumably to prevent information from getting into the wrong hands (arguably for good or bad reasons). The shame is that it is conceivable that such information could be useful to future scholars, and won't be available.
If you ever let me play with your cat, I could capture the serial# output and type it in by hand along with the code for the Dew.
I'm just not a big fan of using known information as a pw.
The best use for the cat that I've seen is This one. It actually serves a purpose!
In this study people are more likely to respond in socially desirable ways. By analogy, an alcoholic may not be willing to admit that his/her drinking has negative effects.
It's definitely good to see studies focusing on the fact that the Net isn't that bad (or is even, gasp, good), but we shouldn't give too much credence to this study in contrast to others. If we're interested in the truth, we should be willing to consider the fact that certain aspects of on-line life may not be very healthy.
On a related note, for a thorough analysis of the importance of "social capital" see Robert Putnam's new book "Bowling Alone."
This would mean that in order to see something that allegedly violates the MPAA's DMCA protections, you'd have to allegedly violate DigitalConvergence's DMCA protection.
I have a Visor and I still use DateBk3 instead of Datebook+ because it has support for combined ToDos and Schedule.
I hadn't heard of SimCity for the palm, but it's now at the top of my wishlist.
Another favorite is Mathpad which is sort of a math-aware memo pad. You can include formulas in memos and it can compute them. In addition to the celsius/farenheit and gram/oz conversions, I have a tip calculator with variables for price, tip rate, and # of people and it tells how much each person owes.
Also, it isn't a app but it is my favorite hack: I have a visor but no springboards yet. So I keep post it notes in the springboard slot and use my pen/stylus to write notes etc.. for the palm impaired.
Things like language and locomotion are accomplished in large part because the human mind/body is well suited to the task. Yes, language is complicated (note, I'm not using the term complex), but it evolved as we have, so it is tightly coupled with human cognitive capacity. The fact that language is nearly universal among humans supports this.
The book focuses on complex (not just complicated) systems. Complex systems have certain properties that differentiate them from merely complicated systems. Complicated often means "having many moving parts" for example. By complex, the authors are referring to systems in which the interaction among components often heavily influence later probabilities.
Having read the book, I think it does a good job of distilling some of the subtleties of complex systems, focusing on things that a manager could affect, such as the effects of proximity (both physical and conceptual), and interaction patterns.
The book extracts some useful things out of complexity theory. Things that could conceivably be harnessed (rather than controlled). The book is surprisingly sparce on the buzz words and hand waving that I usually associate with complexity books.
My main criticism is that I don't think most managers are as smart as Axelrod and Cohen give them credit. They explicitly point out that the book doesn't have a list of 4 or 8 or 12 things a manager can do to be successful.
Unfortunately, most (not all) managers I've worked with were better suited to a dilbert cartoon than a book like this.
Anyway, this isn't a book for someone looking to model complex systems, or someone who just wants to learn about the latest research in the field in an accessible way. It really focuses on some general principles of complex systems, and what they can mean to organizations.
Also, it has a really good index...
I've taught classes where I put the notes on the web, and several note-taking services sold notes. I have no problem with them paraphrasing what I'm saying (which is a paraphrase of what I learned, and what the textbooks say, and is probably 85% identical to the same class at other universities).
I have read the notes that get sold (and they do sell), and I've been a bit disappointed with the quality. But, I am under no illusions that I own the knowledge that someone takes away from my class.
I've intentionally tested students on topics that the purchased notes get wrong. I also test people on things that no note taker would take down (bonus questions about punchlines to jokes told in class). I can see who is attending, and I can determine who's paying attention. The old cliche about only cheating yourself is true.
In general, I encourage students to download my notes, telling them that mine are better (and Free). If they feel that they can gain by purchasing notes instead of/in addition to mine, so be it.
That being said, there are uses for the for-profit notes. To see if you're "getting it," you can compare your own notes to those of others. If you miss a class, you may trust a paid notetaker a bit more than the other mouthbreathers in your class...
Regardless, if you make a class informative and interesting, and you provide Real Value, students will come to class. But heck, if the RIAA and MPAA can sue people who don't use their information in the ways they want, I guess the state of CA can write a bill.
Seems like waste though...
But in the etoy case, the performance art group had a web site up before the toy seller even came into existence. Yet they were being pressured to give up their name.
In the digitaldiva case the evil empire infringed on an existing trademark.
You can see the arguments for yourself here (in RealMedia format) on Cspan.org.
The Uniform Code Council assigns the company codes on the UPC. The first part of the code is unique to the company manufacturing the product. The end of the code is determined by the company. Therefore, there shouldn't be any duplicate bar codes (unless the same company produced both or someone created unauthorized codes).
Want a UPC code of your own? Check out The Uniform Code Council's instructions.
The chorded keyboard that Engelbart introduced at The Demo(tm)[1] was used in conjunction with the mouse. During his Turing Award acceptance speech a few years ago he talked about the system.
His original design was to have both hands working when people would use the mouse. One to point and click and the other to issue commands (chorded keyboard commands like copy and paste etc). When you were generating text, he figured that you'd have both hands on the standard keyboard (it's faster than the one handed chorded keyboard). The chorded keyboard he used was capable of generating every keystroke a normal keyboard could do, but was designed to be used primarily to augment the mouse.
He's said that he was a bit dissapointed that the only thing a lot of people got out of the demo was the idea of the mouse (not networking, not hyperlinking, etc). He really wanted the chorded keyboard to be implemented with the mouse.
[1] Arguably the most important computer demonstration ever. In 1968 he began the demonstration by saying, "If in your office, you as an intellectual worker were supplied with a computer display backed up by a computer that was alive for you all day and was instantly responsive, how much value could you derive from that?" Then he went on to demonstrate the future of computing. The guy was WAY ahead of his time.
Radio shack can't associate you with the :C:C id number based on the information you give when you pick it up. The barcode they scan to take the thing out of inventory does not have the ID info on it. The bar code is a standard UPC code that describes the product. (The use of recursion to determine this about your own CueCat is an exercise left to the reader).
Once you register the CueCat or use the DigitalConvergence database they can associate you with the serial number. This is where the tracking begins... Perhaps a utility that randomly generates a new serial number for each http request would be fun.
I'm a big BNL fan, I preordered the CD, and downloaded the songs on Napster a couple of days before it was released. I'm a member of the fan club (the Ladies Room), and I think it's pretty cool that they're approaching the issue this way.
;-). I'd love to have a copy of the ads, I hope that people will begin relabelling the ads as such and make them available for downloading. (or, BNL could include them on their web page)
As soon as I read the story I went on Napster looking for the ads, but they apparently haven't saturated the market yet, 'cause my 7 download attempts all resulted in the actual songs (darn
So let me get this straight, you have a barcode printed on your security badge, and this is your password....
If I can determine what the barcode is (either because the digits are below the bars, or I scan your bar code on my computer with my cuecat, or I interpret the bars myself [1]), and I use your barcode reader to do something (e.g., scan a coke UPC code and send it in an email), I can login as you.
Since the :C:C just passes a bunch of keyboard stuff, I can sit down and log in as you by typing the first part of your code (the :C:C serial number that I got from the coke) and the uuencoded+Xor67 version of your barcode. A long password, yes; but a secure solution, no.
[1] As I remember, when some high school forced students to wear visible ID badges with their SSNs barcoded on the front, some kids taught themselves to decode the barcodes at a reasonable distance. (I'm sure the school blamed the no good student "hackers" for breaking their "encryption")