First of all, this has nothing to do with the U.S. law, it is just a rather radical interpretation of it by an organization. This wouldn't stand up in any federal court, and I doubt even the very hawkish in the current administration would go this far.
Secondly, I don't buy the "it's the university's computers" thing. If they want to ban the material, that's ok. Say "linking to sites that supports terrorism is not permitted on UCSD servers", that's fine.
But I'm not into what they're doing, which is saying "look at how the big bad government is restricting your free speech rights! We're just the messengers!" This really seems like a political play by UCSD, which also happens to let them remove some undesirables from their network.
Here are some more excerpts from the ad series. Very informative.
Dave Matthews : "When you create programs to help blind people read things, it's the same as going into the store and stealing a CD."
Pink : " When you research copy-protection schemes, it's the same thing as mugging a homeless man on the street and stealing his wheelchair."
Eminem : "When you listen to internet radio, it's the same thing as assaulting somebody outside a club, except without high-priced lawyers."
Bruce Springsteen : "Not letting the RIAA hack your computer is the same as clubbing a seal."
Michael Jackson : "Creating digital to analog converters is the same as running a massively corrupt oligopoly that uses payola and political influence to maximize profits."
Busta Rhymes : "Using open source media players is the same as screwing artists out of money, only without the exorbitant salary of a record executive."
Jonathan Davis of Korn : "AGH WHOO HAGH BOOM BAGHCK, CHA CHA CHA!"
First off, as any/.er knows, there's a great area of space to be explored in the PC performance realm. It's pretty simple to get your hands dirty. But, that isn't much of an academic pursuit, is it?
Robots. Sure, the software isn't real, but the fun little parts all are. And there is great demand for all sorts of little robots to do all sorts of crazy crap.
Finally, about the coolest thing ever... computerized fabrication. The whole 3D printer thing.
But if you sit around looking at disciplines that have been around for several billion years... of course everything's going to be computerized. But that means you get to have fun stuff like automatic theorem provers, anyway:)
And after that they tried to buy Nintendo for 25Bn(I think to remember 2.5Bn,
but in the news sites I found it says 25Bn!):
If shigeru miyamoto has another twenty years in him before he retires, then he alone would probably be worth about 2.5 billion.:) I saw on G4 that he still just draws a manager's salary. Man.
scientists... have mass produced over 50,000 atoms allowing them to test basic Physics using [antihydrogen]
I also have just mass produced over 50,000 antihydrogen atoms!
however "Harvard physicist Gerald Gabrielse said: "Our long experience with these very difficult experiments warns that antihydrogen may not have really been produced."
Also, _my_ long experience with antihydrogen tells me I may have not _really_ produced antihydrogen!
The AI community really needs to stop looking for tricks that allow computers to solve problems in ways that humans never could and instead spend their time trying to understand how intelligence actually works.
Actually, that's kind of the textbook division between weak and strong AI. Even if strong AI is possible, a strong AI solution is decades to centuries away.
The value of weak AI is that it can solve lots of neat problems _now_, and can be trained to do many more. For example, the scientists mentioned are creating an awari program that can play a perfect game, which would be invaluable to people learning to play awari:)
I don't quite understand why a big lookup table is an important step for AI. Humans don't play games by checking every possible move and picking the best one and never will.
Not all people consider AI the quest for human-like intelligence... some consider it the quest for intelligence. Especially because the human brain isn't really rational in the ways computers are (its strengths lie in other areas. The human brain, for example, probably couldn't play a perfect game of awari.
And I think the 'big lookup table' is somewhat novel because the methods used to create it and analyze it were novel, not because a giant lookup table is really fantastic. I don't believe deep blue really used complicated concepts in AI, but the fact that a computer could be put together that could beat a grandmaster is pretty impressive.
Another reason the hearings went nowhere was because of expert testimony from the head of the IDSA, a professional lobbying organization representing the video game industry. They also introduced a video game rating system (recently touted by joe lieberman as the entertainment industry's best) a day or two _before_ the hearings, which was incredibly clever.
The most interesting part of that is that people on/. somehow think our views about copyright/technology/etc. will be adequately conveyed to members of congress without the help of professional lobbyists. Everybody else has them, and you need these 'domain experts', so to speak, if you really want to get your point across and you don't represent a significant portion of the population.
I have never met a serious geek that didn't really, really like free software.
I have also never met a serious geek (although there are some around) that likes free software because they have delusions of grandeur about all software being free.
I (and many others) like it because it works best in many situations.
However, I'm using commercial software right now. It works better for what I'm doing. I'm a pragmatist, at heart, which is what you need to be if you want to be a good software engineer.
Actually, no... here's a legal definition of entrapment. Entrapment doesn't mean you 'trap' people, it means you lure them into committing crimes they wouldn't have committed otherwise. Since it seems like they are being charged only with crimes comitted while still in russia, it wouldn't apply in this case.
Also, I don't think they were charged with hacking while in the U.S. That was merely to get the passwords.
Also, I don't think the FSB is complaining about the keystroke-trackers (just a guess, the article isn't clear)... the russians had no reasonable expectation of privacy. I think they are complaining about using that info to open the hacker's accounts.
Generally, unless you are an incredibly small, insignificant country, your courts typically ignore the laws of other countries. If for no other reasons, they are in no position to interpret foreign law, and in no position to assert jurisdiction over foreign soil.
There Was A Warrant To Look At The Information. The FBI cannot go all pell mell because the data was overseas. However, the warrant was not obtained until _after_ the data was obtained, because the information did not warrant a warrant (hah!) until it came onto U.S. soil.
I would have done the same thing if I was the ruskies. I imagine they were a little miffed. But I also wouldn't expect to extradite any american citizen, let alone a law enforcement officer, let alone a law enforcement officer operating legally under the laws of his own country:)
But, if I remember correctly, they have somewhere between 15 and 30 employees, and make somewhere between 15 and 30 million a year.
If id wanted to expand, I'm sure they could. That much money with so few employees means they aren't a pseudo-publisher because they don't _want_ to become a pseudo-publisher. Doing anything other than what they do now would probably involve at least tripling their staff.
Besides, having tech support for people who've paid you a quarter million and having tech support for people who've paid you $100 are two entirely different worlds. Most people who have 250k to throw around already know what they're doing.
Is only partially that many click-wrapping licenses are Pure Evil. The biggest problem is that you are expected to read and comprehend this enormous legal document so you can, say, play solitaire.
That being said, I've changed my mind since I've started writing. If I had to 'click' the GPL, I would have no problems. I understand the GPL, and it has withstood a large amount of scrutiny over the years. I've read it the whole way through once or twice, but it doesn't worry me that I don't remember much of it. I know what it means and what it entails, which automatically makes it more enticing to me than a more liberal license that I don't understand.
If a license is approved by OSI, I'm assuming it will generate some public discussion and scrutiny. If I see a click-wrap license, and know I can look up what the 'license nerds' think, if you will, that's fine by me.
Did anyone ever expect it to do well right off the bat in Japan? I certainly didn't.
Nobody did, but we may be referring to the fact that microsoft had trouble meeting its own (modest) projected sales numbers. They projected 250k (?) , which isn't many, especially compared to 8.8 million PS2's. 250k to 8.8 million isn't even dreamcast numbers... that's like atari jaguar.:)
Interesting possibilities for casualties
on
Robot Wars
·
· Score: 1
Since there is less need to fire in self defense, you could actually win a war while killing _fewer_ of the enemy.
Which I think is what we are moving to anyway, once people realize that the american military is an unstoppable machine. Then they'll realize that buying a commercial during the super bowl would probably be a cheaper and more effective way to deter a conflict with the U.S. than actually fielding an unbeatable army.
At any rate, even if you're terrified of 'american imperialism', the american military is more likely than ever to be used in missions with humanitarian motives. Tens (if not hundreds) of thousands starved because we were too afraid of casualties to oust a somali warlord. Nearly a million rwandan's died because we were equally afraid of military intervention. The U.S. may need better foreign policy, but we do not need a less effective military.
Actually, if you check the message IDs, I think I was about the third person to mention the FCC, and it's likely that the two before me it weren't posted when I started writing the message... they was posted half an hour before mine (my mind wanders sometimes... ADD). There are much higher rated discussions about the FCC, but I believe they were posted after my post.:)
And as for misunderstanding the story, I did read it, but... ADD strikes again. Not too interested in the technicalities of jammers, I guess... Besides, the only interesting thing I had to say applied anyway.
I'm also fascinated by people posting to really old stories. kudos:)
First of all, the using the wireless phone inside the theatre to _call_ the theatre about noisy people is the coolest way to have them removed without missing parts of the movie.
Secondly, I believe there are FCC regs or _something_ that prohibit jammers. I just remember reading/hearing somebody from the U.S. govt. say that in an interview. It also kind of makes sense... jammers are being deployed all over the world, but not in the states.
I would say that there is a huge difference between voters being un-registered and voters being deliberately un-registered for political gain. Every state, not just florida, had many flaws in the election. To point to a particular state and say "Look at all the voting problems in this state that's governed by _republicans_, it must be a conspiracy" is problematic. With no more evidence than that, allegations of intimidation or corruption are pretty much groundless.
Slashdot Mirror
OO languages were not designed to deal with design problems that occur in projects gestated in 72 hours.
I mean, why would we convict people who robbed convenience stores based on security camera footage? Security cameras aren't real people!
Typically, unless you're a book reviewer you probably wouldn't read a technical book that only explains things you already understand :)
Go with a corvette instead. It's fast and can actually turn, unlike most american cars ;)
Secondly, I don't buy the "it's the university's computers" thing. If they want to ban the material, that's ok. Say "linking to sites that supports terrorism is not permitted on UCSD servers", that's fine.
But I'm not into what they're doing, which is saying "look at how the big bad government is restricting your free speech rights! We're just the messengers!" This really seems like a political play by UCSD, which also happens to let them remove some undesirables from their network.
Too true. Stop the insanity.
Robots. Sure, the software isn't real, but the fun little parts all are. And there is great demand for all sorts of little robots to do all sorts of crazy crap.
Finally, about the coolest thing ever ... computerized fabrication. The whole 3D printer thing.
But if you sit around looking at disciplines that have been around for several billion years ... of course everything's going to be computerized. But that means you get to have fun stuff like automatic theorem provers, anyway :)
If shigeru miyamoto has another twenty years in him before he retires, then he alone would probably be worth about 2.5 billion. :) I saw on G4 that he still just draws a manager's salary. Man.
I also have just mass produced over 50,000 antihydrogen atoms!
however "Harvard physicist Gerald Gabrielse said: "Our long experience with these very difficult experiments warns that antihydrogen may not have really been produced."
Also, _my_ long experience with antihydrogen tells me I may have not _really_ produced antihydrogen!
Look, supernintendo chalmers! I'm learneding!
Actually, that's kind of the textbook division between weak and strong AI. Even if strong AI is possible, a strong AI solution is decades to centuries away.
The value of weak AI is that it can solve lots of neat problems _now_, and can be trained to do many more. For example, the scientists mentioned are creating an awari program that can play a perfect game, which would be invaluable to people learning to play awari :)
I don't quite understand why a big lookup table is an important step for AI. Humans don't play games by checking every possible move and picking the best one and never will.
Not all people consider AI the quest for human-like intelligence ... some consider it the quest for intelligence. Especially because the human brain isn't really rational in the ways computers are (its strengths lie in other areas. The human brain, for example, probably couldn't play a perfect game of awari.
And I think the 'big lookup table' is somewhat novel because the methods used to create it and analyze it were novel, not because a giant lookup table is really fantastic. I don't believe deep blue really used complicated concepts in AI, but the fact that a computer could be put together that could beat a grandmaster is pretty impressive.
Using 'ask slashdot' to get answers to questions? Oh, the humanity!
The most interesting part of that is that people on /. somehow think our views about copyright/technology/etc. will be adequately conveyed to members of congress without the help of professional lobbyists. Everybody else has them, and you need these 'domain experts', so to speak, if you really want to get your point across and you don't represent a significant portion of the population.
I have also never met a serious geek (although there are some around) that likes free software because they have delusions of grandeur about all software being free.
I (and many others) like it because it works best in many situations.
However, I'm using commercial software right now. It works better for what I'm doing. I'm a pragmatist, at heart, which is what you need to be if you want to be a good software engineer.
Also, I don't think they were charged with hacking while in the U.S. That was merely to get the passwords.
Also, I don't think the FSB is complaining about the keystroke-trackers (just a guess, the article isn't clear) ... the russians had no reasonable expectation of privacy. I think they are complaining about using that info to open the hacker's accounts.
Generally, unless you are an incredibly small, insignificant country, your courts typically ignore the laws of other countries. If for no other reasons, they are in no position to interpret foreign law, and in no position to assert jurisdiction over foreign soil.
There Was A Warrant To Look At The Information. The FBI cannot go all pell mell because the data was overseas. However, the warrant was not obtained until _after_ the data was obtained, because the information did not warrant a warrant (hah!) until it came onto U.S. soil.
I would have done the same thing if I was the ruskies. I imagine they were a little miffed. But I also wouldn't expect to extradite any american citizen, let alone a law enforcement officer, let alone a law enforcement officer operating legally under the laws of his own country :)
If id wanted to expand, I'm sure they could. That much money with so few employees means they aren't a pseudo-publisher because they don't _want_ to become a pseudo-publisher. Doing anything other than what they do now would probably involve at least tripling their staff.
Besides, having tech support for people who've paid you a quarter million and having tech support for people who've paid you $100 are two entirely different worlds. Most people who have 250k to throw around already know what they're doing.
That being said, I've changed my mind since I've started writing. If I had to 'click' the GPL, I would have no problems. I understand the GPL, and it has withstood a large amount of scrutiny over the years. I've read it the whole way through once or twice, but it doesn't worry me that I don't remember much of it. I know what it means and what it entails, which automatically makes it more enticing to me than a more liberal license that I don't understand.
If a license is approved by OSI, I'm assuming it will generate some public discussion and scrutiny. If I see a click-wrap license, and know I can look up what the 'license nerds' think, if you will, that's fine by me.
thanks :)
Just moved there but had other obligations last night. Since I saw only about three or four RSVP's, reading the posts, did it actually happen?
Nobody did, but we may be referring to the fact that microsoft had trouble meeting its own (modest) projected sales numbers. They projected 250k (?) , which isn't many, especially compared to 8.8 million PS2's. 250k to 8.8 million isn't even dreamcast numbers ... that's like atari jaguar. :)
Which I think is what we are moving to anyway, once people realize that the american military is an unstoppable machine. Then they'll realize that buying a commercial during the super bowl would probably be a cheaper and more effective way to deter a conflict with the U.S. than actually fielding an unbeatable army.
At any rate, even if you're terrified of 'american imperialism', the american military is more likely than ever to be used in missions with humanitarian motives. Tens (if not hundreds) of thousands starved because we were too afraid of casualties to oust a somali warlord. Nearly a million rwandan's died because we were equally afraid of military intervention. The U.S. may need better foreign policy, but we do not need a less effective military.
Actually, if you check the message IDs, I think I was about the third person to mention the FCC, and it's likely that the two before me it weren't posted when I started writing the message ... they was posted half an hour before mine (my mind wanders sometimes ... ADD). There are much higher rated discussions about the FCC, but I believe they were posted after my post. :)
And as for misunderstanding the story, I did read it, but ... ADD strikes again. Not too interested in the technicalities of jammers, I guess ... Besides, the only interesting thing I had to say applied anyway.
I'm also fascinated by people posting to really old stories. kudos :)
Good to see people support large corporate farming companies. You go! :)
Secondly, I believe there are FCC regs or _something_ that prohibit jammers. I just remember reading/hearing somebody from the U.S. govt. say that in an interview. It also kind of makes sense ... jammers are being deployed all over the world, but not in the states.
I would say that there is a huge difference between voters being un-registered and voters being deliberately un-registered for political gain. Every state, not just florida, had many flaws in the election. To point to a particular state and say "Look at all the voting problems in this state that's governed by _republicans_, it must be a conspiracy" is problematic. With no more evidence than that, allegations of intimidation or corruption are pretty much groundless.