I have an image in my mind of someone in an emergency room. The hospital can't varify his health insurance ID with his retinal scan because his retina is somewhere on interstate 95 and they also can't verifiy his credit cards because the finger that he used for the original ID is somewhere else on interstate 95.
If he survies his life is about to become very interesting.
To expand on your point in 10 years 16 year olds will be 26. This will grow quite naturaly. Simple aging out those of us that are older than 16.
It seems strange to me to see this kind of long term thinking but, I seriously doubt that the records will be perged when the individual becomes 20 or 30 or what not.
The question only becomes how much will the older records be groomed through time.
The sad thing that I see all the time is the easier it is to break the security system the harser the penalty.
This guy broke the military network for three days. Shouldn't it have been more secure.
I'm not saying what he did was right. What I'm asking is how much was spent on security before he took his tour. Shouldn't the people (companies whatever) that where responcible for security have some culpability?
Think of the cost to the retail outlets to install and train thier staff to use the biometric scanner.
The retail stores would screem bloody murder if the distributers don't take on the cost burdon{sp} of the devices.
Beyond that there would have to be some way to insure that the staff at the retail outlet acctually encoded the data on the RFID.
Not to help out the researchers but a system of first play setup might be do able. But then you face the problem that half the people I know have never figured out how to set the time on their VCR.
This strikes me as a lot of the media will be returned or attempted to be returned as faulty. I can't see this getting any farther than the orginal DVIX (the DVD system where you had to pay every time you watched the DVD not the codex.)
Yes the kernel is a terrible example. it's to big and to popular.
But I am asuming (maybe falsely) that (checks/etc/release) kernel-2.6.11 is licenced to me and that I have access to the source in perpetuity{sp}
So I may not get the source for for kernel-3.0.x but I still have all of kernel-2.6.z to work from. And that hold for everything that has been released as opensource.
To deal with the second issue first. (and no offence to Linus) But if he stepped down someone else would just have to step up and take over.
There are so many people involved that although there would be a major disruption I don't think that it would kill linux.
I do have a question about the closed branch.
Isn't the open code still have to remain open in the closed branch. I haven't read the GPL in a while but doesn't it have a clause about derivative works remaining open as well?
My only problem with that is if they start to use those keywords to profile me. I don't want google or any one for that mater knowing that I recieved 210 e-mails with the word f**k in them over the last two months.
To go off on your tangent I have never liked laws that have stricter penalties for minors. I have always assumed that the reason for differentiating between minors and majors (I use this word for people who have reached the age of majority) is to acknowledge the fact that a minor has not yet reached the level of maturity or education to be aware of the significance of there actions. This whole idea seems to have somehow been inverted in recent year.
I guess what I am trying to say is that it just seems wrong to me that a 12 that manages to get drunk and wrap a car around a tree is facing much more severe penalties under law than a 37 year old who does the same thing. As far as I know every in the US at least a 12 year is not considered responsible enough to drink or drive but faces much greater prosecution for doing either.
So to disagree with you slightly since our laws say that a minor is not responsible enough to drink it seems improper to punish them for drinking. Unless drinking laws are not about responsibility but about making alcohal an age restrictive club.
Ray Bradburry{sp} wrote a short story I can not remember the title of it now but it was set in a world where billboards had been replaced by jumbotrons and cheep TVs had been placed every where (kind of like to movie _Brazil_) and the _billboards_ flash different ads depending on who is around.
Now back to reality. In NYC there are video billboards in some of the subway stations and many elevators are equipped with LCDs that show ads. I am extrapolating a little. But it may not be that far off.
And my point is I do a lot of things that I don't consider wrong that I don't want my mother to know about. And if this kind of focused advertising became the norm people could learn a lot about me be seeing what ads came up when I was in the elevator with them. (At the moment a little far fetched, but a very possible trend.)
JACEM
Re:Tracking? No, more like targetting!
on
The Trouble with RFID
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Have you ever been to a nudie bar. How would like to have advertising targeted to the tastes of a nudie bar patron to pop up when you are out with your wife, mother, boss?
Have you ever bought viagra (or a med for some other embarrassing medical condition.) How would you like to be inundated with ads offering to help you with whatever during a business lunch, or at the airport?
The thing is we all have personal and private things in our lives that we do not want to be known by the people around us. The infastructure to direct ads that way is far off if it will ever be created. I am not worried about the government I am more worried about advertisers sending personalized intrusion into my life.
But from what I have read (mostly in the comments on this story.) A homespun RFID scanner does not sound that difficult to make.
IANAL either but one questions is will it be a crime to war scan RFID's. Kind of like harassment or the stalking laws.
I am actually less concerned with the goverment tracking me than I am about being tracked be private groups and corporations. Or worse broadcasting my credit card info to any stranger that I pass on the street.
The scariest part of decision was that the court felt that cameras had become common enough that you no longer have an expectation of privacy when you leave your house.
I remember when all of the hype about how dangerous payphones were because they empowered drug dealers and pedophiles and the like.
If you look at the timing of this scare you will note that it was just after the cell phone was introduced. I remember this because many many pay phones were removed, as part of the patriotic appeal to stop drug pushers. The problem is that now that cell phone are pretty much universal I can't help but notice many of the pay phones have been put back.
Although I have no problem believing that many illegal businesses were based around using pay phones to receive calls. The timing of the events makes it hard for me to believe that that was the real source of all of the hype.
The issue is that many of the IP patents held by these companies are there to create property, as in an asset. Big Co. (Microsoft, IBM, etc) apply for a patent in order to create an asset, then they get that asset appraised, (however one gets a patent appraised) for one million or one billion dollars (remembering to touch their pinky to their lip palm out and fingers curled.) Then their accountants can put a big plus in the books. Look at all patents IBM applies for, and Microsoft and HP and and and...
I doubt that any software written today does not violate some companies patent if it is any more complex than hello world. (I'm not a hundred percent sure about hello world.) The point of IP patents and IP is to create an asset out of nothing and putting that asset on the plus side of the books. Never forget that intellectual property is all property not intellect. Property has a value you can buy and sell it. Intellect does not, it lives in the heads of smart people who can quit or have bad days. You can't sell intellect because it is part of a person but you can sell property, and at this time at least you can't buy and sell people.
He was lucky in this case only one person was affected. When Mellisa came out I was working at one the big three television networks in NY. (I know not a small or mid sized company.) The sysadmins put up signs saying don't turn on your computer. So for a week I learned to play contract bridge with 3 other members of my team.
In 2001 when NIMDA came out I was working at a small dot bomb there were a lot less people and being a tech dept we were allowed to clean up our own machines. But I spent a few days teaching my team how to play bridge. Waiting for the sysadmins to verifiy a fix procedure.
To get to a point. I have no idea where to begin with what a week long work stopage cost a major television network. But at the dot bomb there were about 200 people nation wide that were doing nothing for most of a week. Add up a weeks salery{sp} for all 200 of those people and $60,000.00 does not seem out of hand. Infact it seems low.
As per yesterdays askslashdot http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/26/21 58239&mode=thread&tid=126&tid=156&tid= 187 I think tha we can see that out of work lawyers don't seem to have a problem starting there own companies
I thought we were talking about a start up.
I have a startup business in the legal services field not the software business but what you are describing is pretty advanced.
Lets look at this list in terms of 2-5 partners. (one of the things you have to be carefull of if you have to many partners is that even if the company is a success there may not be enough money to pay that many people after expenses are paid.
1. Customer Service/Tech Support
This requires a little flexibility with the truth but in a small start up a partner should be able to field a Customer Service/Tech Support question or two a day. and just tell your customers that you have a tech support dept until you have enough clients to actually require/afford one.
2. Sales
You'll need a web page at a minimum. Okay that is true but they are not an enormous expense. I am assuming as a software company you can create your own. Hosting can be done quite cheaply.
A sales person would be nice but a partner can do sales, especially if you are lucky enough to have a partner that is good with people.
3. Distribution/packaging
Are you going to be selling in the consumer market or the custom solutions market? In the custom solutions market the deliverable will probably be distributed be have a person from you staff go to the client site and install the product.
In the consumer market you are going to have to face a big expense of packaging I will admit.
4. HR/Payroll/Accounting
If you are talking about less than 30 people (including the partners) these tasks can be spread out among the partners.
5. Lawyers
Unless you have written signed contracts with your clients you don't really need a lawyer. With partners you do want an operating agreement. (In NYC that cost $1500)
6. Office space/equipment
Most programmers I know have a few older machines lying around their apts. These make excellent file servers you may have to upgrade the hard drives.
You can store the your off site backup under your mattress at your parents house Timmy. (What are you worried about a nuclear war or industrial spies trying to steal your intellectual property.)
I would suggest open source development tools wherever possible so as to keep your expenses down.
(All of the stuff mentioned so far are one timers from here on in you get to the recurring costs these can kill you if you are not carefull.)
Rent on office space costs less than you think. (I pay more for my uptown (NYC) apt. than I do for my Wall Street office. The office is as big as my apt. (If it had a shower I would move into it. It is in a better neighborhood after all.))
Phones, Internet etc. All of these cost more than there residential equivalents.
7. Receptionist
Answer your own dam phone. (Are your starting a company or playing at being a boss.)
What you have to do before opening a business is ask yourself how is my personal credit can I and or my partners get bank loans to cover things for a while. The other thing is that before you open your own company is prepare yourself financially. remember you are not just trying to get a job you can't be fired from you are making a bid to free yourself from the tyranny of middle management. So save up for the lean times while you have a job.
To throw out a little flamebait if you are an IT worker and are not preparing for periods of unemployment in the current IT environment you are a fool. Saving up for six months of unemployment between gigs (worst case) and saving up to start your own gig. are not that different.
If you intend to make a consumer product one of the barriers you will almost certainly face is access to the retail stores supply train.
This may not apply to all software based bussinesses but if you want to see you product on a store shelf be prepared to pay a lot to have the packaging made.
Not to be too cynical but you may also face an unfair and restictive competition from others companies that already have access to that supply chain.
I think one of the problems is that several of the start up firms that I worked for since the late ninties started out with an invester saying.
"Hmmm. You've been looking for a job for the past year. Unsuccessfully. You have no experience running a company. You don't have a clear business plan. You have no leadership skills. Well, what have I got to lose? Here's ten million dollars. Have fun!"
Then again most of those companies were extrodinary failures.
The artical said that one of the breeakthroughs was increasing the product life span from a few hours to a few months. So sitting on it might not shorten its life that much.
Slashdot Mirror
Copyright was originally ment to allow the govenment censors to control what could be printed.
JACEM
I think the problem is deeper than whether JAVA or C or some other language is used. The problem is that the device recieves outside updates.
As the patches become more sophistcated{sp} or bloated depending on your point of view the device of course slows down.
This is especially true of updates that phone home to track usage. {To improve your user experence of course.}
JACEM
Of course it will allow firmware modification from the CD. How else will the device get its virii.
JACEM
I have an image in my mind of someone in an emergency room. The hospital can't varify his health insurance ID with his retinal scan because his retina is somewhere on interstate 95 and they also can't verifiy his credit cards because the finger that he used for the original ID is somewhere else on interstate 95.
If he survies his life is about to become very interesting.
JACEM
To expand on your point in 10 years 16 year olds will be 26. This will grow quite naturaly. Simple aging out those of us that are older than 16.
It seems strange to me to see this kind of long term thinking but, I seriously doubt that the records will be perged when the individual becomes 20 or 30 or what not.
The question only becomes how much will the older records be groomed through time.
JACEM
The sad thing that I see all the time is the easier it is to break the security system the harser the penalty.
This guy broke the military network for three days. Shouldn't it have been more secure.
I'm not saying what he did was right. What I'm asking is how much was spent on security before he took his tour. Shouldn't the people (companies whatever) that where responcible for security have some culpability?
JACEM
Think of the cost to the retail outlets to install and train thier staff to use the biometric scanner.
The retail stores would screem bloody murder if the distributers don't take on the cost burdon{sp} of the devices.
Beyond that there would have to be some way to insure that the staff at the retail outlet acctually encoded the data on the RFID.
Not to help out the researchers but a system of first play setup might be do able. But then you face the problem that half the people I know have never figured out how to set the time on their VCR.
This strikes me as a lot of the media will be returned or attempted to be returned as faulty. I can't see this getting any farther than the orginal DVIX (the DVD system where you had to pay every time you watched the DVD not the codex.)
JACEM
Yes the kernel is a terrible example. it's to big and to popular. /etc/release) kernel-2.6.11 is licenced to me and that I have access to the source in perpetuity{sp}
But I am asuming (maybe falsely) that (checks
So I may not get the source for for kernel-3.0.x but I still have all of kernel-2.6.z to work from. And that hold for everything that has been released as opensource.
JACEM
Yes and no.
To deal with the second issue first. (and no offence to Linus) But if he stepped down someone else would just have to step up and take over.
There are so many people involved that although there would be a major disruption I don't think that it would kill linux.
I do have a question about the closed branch.
Isn't the open code still have to remain open in the closed branch. I haven't read the GPL in a while but doesn't it have a clause about derivative works remaining open as well?
JACEM
Great I have like three 400 MHZ pentiums in my office. All I need it search and rescue showing up ever time the frequency drifts.
My only problem with that is if they start to use those keywords to profile me. I don't want google or any one for that mater knowing that I recieved 210 e-mails with the word f**k in them over the last two months.
JACEM
Party on dude. Collage is not just an education it is a lifestyle choice.
Jacem
To go off on your tangent I have never liked laws that have stricter penalties for minors. I have always assumed that the reason for differentiating between minors and majors (I use this word for people who have reached the age of majority) is to acknowledge the fact that a minor has not yet reached the level of maturity or education to be aware of the significance of there actions. This whole idea seems to have somehow been inverted in recent year.
I guess what I am trying to say is that it just seems wrong to me that a 12 that manages to get drunk and wrap a car around a tree is facing much more severe penalties under law than a 37 year old who does the same thing. As far as I know every in the US at least a 12 year is not considered responsible enough to drink or drive but faces much greater prosecution for doing either.
So to disagree with you slightly since our laws say that a minor is not responsible enough to drink it seems improper to punish them for drinking. Unless drinking laws are not about responsibility but about making alcohal an age restrictive club.
JACEM
Ray Bradburry{sp} wrote a short story I can not remember the title of it now but it was set in a world where billboards had been replaced by jumbotrons and cheep TVs had been placed every where (kind of like to movie _Brazil_) and the _billboards_ flash different ads depending on who is around.
Now back to reality. In NYC there are video billboards in some of the subway stations and many elevators are equipped with LCDs that show ads. I am extrapolating a little. But it may not be that far off.
And my point is I do a lot of things that I don't consider wrong that I don't want my mother to know about. And if this kind of focused advertising became the norm people could learn a lot about me be seeing what ads came up when I was in the elevator with them. (At the moment a little far fetched, but a very possible trend.)
JACEM
Have you ever been to a nudie bar. How would like to have advertising targeted to the tastes of a nudie bar patron to pop up when you are out with your wife, mother, boss?
Have you ever bought viagra (or a med for some other embarrassing medical condition.) How would you like to be inundated with ads offering to help you with whatever during a business lunch, or at the airport?
The thing is we all have personal and private things in our lives that we do not want to be known by the people around us. The infastructure to direct ads that way is far off if it will ever be created. I am not worried about the government I am more worried about advertisers sending personalized intrusion into my life.
JACEM
But from what I have read (mostly in the comments on this story.) A homespun RFID scanner does not sound that difficult to make.
IANAL either but one questions is will it be a crime to war scan RFID's. Kind of like harassment or the stalking laws.
I am actually less concerned with the goverment tracking me than I am about being tracked be private groups and corporations. Or worse broadcasting my credit card info to any stranger that I pass on the street.
JACEM
Good luck getting from your home to your office.
The scariest part of decision was that the court felt that cameras had become common enough that you no longer have an expectation of privacy when you leave your house.
JACEM
I remember when all of the hype about how dangerous payphones were because they empowered drug dealers and pedophiles and the like.
If you look at the timing of this scare you will note that it was just after the cell phone was introduced. I remember this because many many pay phones were removed, as part of the patriotic appeal to stop drug pushers. The problem is that now that cell phone are pretty much universal I can't help but notice many of the pay phones have been put back.
Although I have no problem believing that many illegal businesses were based around using pay phones to receive calls. The timing of the events makes it hard for me to believe that that was the real source of all of the hype.
JACEM
The issue is that many of the IP patents held by these companies are there to create property, as in an asset. Big Co. (Microsoft, IBM, etc) apply for a patent in order to create an asset, then they get that asset appraised, (however one gets a patent appraised) for one million or one billion dollars (remembering to touch their pinky to their lip palm out and fingers curled .) Then their accountants can put a big plus in the books. Look at all patents IBM applies for, and Microsoft and HP and and and...
I doubt that any software written today does not violate some companies patent if it is any more complex than hello world. (I'm not a hundred percent sure about hello world.) The point of IP patents and IP is to create an asset out of nothing and putting that asset on the plus side of the books. Never forget that intellectual property is all property not intellect. Property has a value you can buy and sell it. Intellect does not, it lives in the heads of smart people who can quit or have bad days. You can't sell intellect because it is part of a person but you can sell property, and at this time at least you can't buy and sell people.
JACEM
He was lucky in this case only one person was affected. When Mellisa came out I was working at one the big three television networks in NY. (I know not a small or mid sized company.) The sysadmins put up signs saying don't turn on your computer. So for a week I learned to play contract bridge with 3 other members of my team.
In 2001 when NIMDA came out I was working at a small dot bomb there were a lot less people and being a tech dept we were allowed to clean up our own machines. But I spent a few days teaching my team how to play bridge. Waiting for the sysadmins to verifiy a fix procedure.
To get to a point. I have no idea where to begin with what a week long work stopage cost a major television network. But at the dot bomb there were about 200 people nation wide that were doing nothing for most of a week. Add up a weeks salery{sp} for all 200 of those people and $60,000.00 does not seem out of hand. Infact it seems low.
JACEM
As per yesterdays askslashdot http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/26/21 58239&mode=thread&tid=126&tid=156&tid= 187 I think tha we can see that out of work lawyers don't seem to have a problem starting there own companies
JACEM
I thought we were talking about a start up.
I have a startup business in the legal services field not the software business but what you are describing is pretty advanced.
Lets look at this list in terms of 2-5 partners. (one of the things you have to be carefull of if you have to many partners is that even if the company is a success there may not be enough money to pay that many people after expenses are paid.
1. Customer Service/Tech Support
This requires a little flexibility with the truth but in a small start up a partner should be able to field a Customer Service/Tech Support question or two a day. and just tell your customers that you have a tech support dept until you have enough clients to actually require/afford one.
2. Sales
You'll need a web page at a minimum. Okay that is true but they are not an enormous expense. I am assuming as a software company you can create your own. Hosting can be done quite cheaply.
A sales person would be nice but a partner can do sales, especially if you are lucky enough to have a partner that is good with people.
3. Distribution/packaging
Are you going to be selling in the consumer market or the custom solutions market? In the custom solutions market the deliverable will probably be distributed be have a person from you staff go to the client site and install the product.
In the consumer market you are going to have to face a big expense of packaging I will admit.
4. HR/Payroll/Accounting
If you are talking about less than 30 people (including the partners) these tasks can be spread out among the partners.
5. Lawyers
Unless you have written signed contracts with your clients you don't really need a lawyer. With partners you do want an operating agreement. (In NYC that cost $1500)
6. Office space/equipment
Most programmers I know have a few older machines lying around their apts. These make excellent file servers you may have to upgrade the hard drives.
You can store the your off site backup under your mattress at your parents house Timmy. (What are you worried about a nuclear war or industrial spies trying to steal your intellectual property.)
I would suggest open source development tools wherever possible so as to keep your expenses down.
(All of the stuff mentioned so far are one timers from here on in you get to the recurring costs these can kill you if you are not carefull.)
Rent on office space costs less than you think. (I pay more for my uptown (NYC) apt. than I do for my Wall Street office. The office is as big as my apt. (If it had a shower I would move into it. It is in a better neighborhood after all.))
Phones, Internet etc. All of these cost more than there residential equivalents.
7. Receptionist
Answer your own dam phone. (Are your starting a company or playing at being a boss.)
What you have to do before opening a business is ask yourself how is my personal credit can I and or my partners get bank loans to cover things for a while. The other thing is that before you open your own company is prepare yourself financially. remember you are not just trying to get a job you can't be fired from you are making a bid to free yourself from the tyranny of middle management. So save up for the lean times while you have a job.
To throw out a little flamebait if you are an IT worker and are not preparing for periods of unemployment in the current IT environment you are a fool. Saving up for six months of unemployment between gigs (worst case) and saving up to start your own gig. are not that different.
JACEM
If you intend to make a consumer product one of the barriers you will almost certainly face is access to the retail stores supply train.
This may not apply to all software based bussinesses but if you want to see you product on a store shelf be prepared to pay a lot to have the packaging made.
Not to be too cynical but you may also face an unfair and restictive competition from others companies that already have access to that supply chain.
JACEM
I think one of the problems is that several of the start up firms that I worked for since the late ninties started out with an invester saying.
"Hmmm. You've been looking for a job for the past year. Unsuccessfully. You have no experience running a company. You don't have a clear business plan. You have no leadership skills. Well, what have I got to lose? Here's ten million dollars. Have fun!"
Then again most of those companies were extrodinary failures.
JACEM
The artical said that one of the breeakthroughs was increasing the product life span from a few hours to a few months. So sitting on it might not shorten its life that much.
JACEM