Which technology will be the first to threaten, or save, or improve, or inconvenience, our lives: biotechnology (gene sequencing/synthesis, retroviral agents, protein analysis/design) or nanotechnology (borg nanoprobes in our blood)?
...after all, which is easier: (1) turning on your console and picking up a controller while you lounge on the couch, or (2) getting a weapon ($$), its ammunition ($$), planning some kind of slaughter (for which you'll get no points...), actually getting up off the couch, going outside (you're kidding!), etc.?
Seriously, though (folks), wouldn't you think these games provide a release or outlet for things people might otherwise do out in the real world? Thereby decreasing real violence?
Listen to this...this is where the violin section can never quite get the staccato right. Hear that? See, it should sound like this...[MIDI plays, loudly]
Oooh, now here comes the soloist. Did you know she's having an affair with the conductor? And they're both married! Can you believe it? I KNOW!
Ahhh, I love this next part. It reminds me of the time I went to Aspen. It's SO nice there. Have you ever been? [Click here to book a flight now!]
...to a new revenue stream so they can stop relying on the outmoded one. How does it work? Observe:
Call people, telling them the RIAA is going to sue them back to the bronze age unless they fork over an arbitrary amount of cash.
Make it an automated message, calling out with caller ID info blocked, so people can't respond except to the address provided in the message.
Checks roll in.
Angry rants also roll in; these may be safely discarded.
Profit!
Voila: no reliance on the old revenue stream. Just keeping up with the times by switching to an IPL[1] business model. It's the new wave -- catch it!(tm)
You're exactly right. In "Trusted Computing", as the analysis points out:
...the computer's owner is sometimes treated as just another attacker or adversary who must be prevented from breaking in and altering the computer's software.
I can't put it any more directly than that without risking being modded "Funny". Your computer, in effect, belongs to them. (See?)
Even the proposed "Owner Override" seems to me a "how are you going to do that" issue. How are you going to assure that a change was made by you and not by some software pretending to be you?
There are other oversights too:
"Identity" of software is determined by submitting a hash value, but how can you be sure someone's not sending a canned hash value?
"Secure output can prevent information displayed on the screen from being recorded" -- until someone invents a screen-scraping monitor. If information exists, there's a way to copy it. That's just what information is.
The most serious point of all -- that the EFF is lending credibility to this blatant grab for dictator-like powers by suggesting that it can be "fixed" and the problems "addressed", at which point we should all happily adopt it. Not me, brother.
I would have much preferred the factual analysis and then a great big "run away from this as fast as you can".
...no one gets killed when Dr. Watson pops up and you have to restart Word. When your tire explodes and you flip and burn, well...let's just say it seems more severe.
(Besides, I think almost no one here would enjoy being held accountable for all the bugs they've written over the years...)
I was attempting to make fun of the story's proclivity to say "@" instead of any normal english preposition. I felt correcting the misspelling would merely confuse the issue.
For "talking into the air" to work, it means the computer has to have a pervasive (at least within your house) network of microphones, always on. I don't care how convenient it is, I don't think everyone will be happy knowing they're constantly being evesdropped on.
Even if every house has its roof covered with solar cells and all electrical power needs are met that way, the power companies will still have a worthwhile job to do -- running the grid. We'll still need that for when ours has a problem, or we use more than we produce.
Plus, until Mexico and Canada get to the same point, we'll be able to export power to them.:)
...for instance, the phone book. Yahoo! Yellow Pages (and SmartPages.com, and all that sort of stuff) are great for looking something up provided you want a specific name, or just want the closest businesses of a given category (Italian restaurants, etc. -- and the distance-based sorting is something the paper books could never hope to help you with; add maps and directions to the mix and it's no contest). However, if you are trying to decide which business among many to choose, you might want to see something the paper yellow pages give you that, ironically, the 'net doesn't: ads. That's right, ads. I have yet to see an online yellow pages that has any ads for the companies listed. Seems like a glaring oversight, given the pervasion of ads on the 'net anymore.
Travel arrangements...well, I suppose it depends on the kind of trip you're taking. When I went overseas last year, it was far better and easier (and cheaper) going through an agency. For domestic stuff, though, I don't doubt that you could go 'net-style all the way.
Checks, well, I'm kinda with you on that one. Online bill-pay is great. Only drawback: time frame. If you want to send someone a check RIGHT NOW, you'd better do it yourself, using paper and stamps and the whole shebang. Otherwise (i.e., a few days from now is fine), online is the way to go.
Another invaluable reference I'd like to mention is IMDb. Before that, if I wanted to find out something movie/TV/actor-related, I was more often than not simply out of luck. Which reminds me: movie times and locations. No comparison to sifting through newspaper ads. Oh, and classifieds. And dictionary/thesaurus resources. And...and...and...
...why are we blaming TiVo for increasing product placement? Seems to me you could just as easily blame the Internet (before I got a TiVo, I would web-surf during the ads) or the remote control (before that, I channel-surfed).
Or, more pointedly, you could blame the networks. Same people who bring you corner logos (now opaque, full-color, moving pictures, on all the time) and promos during the end credits (no longer content to talk over them, now they squish them off to an unreadable size and speed and insert a 75%-screen-coverage full-video promo spot) and even during the show (superimposed crawls, anyone?).
$17M divided by $20K = 850 sensors. Area of US is 9,629,091 sq km (according to the CIA). That's 7,578,834 sq mi. That's one sensor per 8,916 sq mi (11,328 sq km). That's just over the area of New Jersey.
Now, the sensors you propose, at $200 each, could get you 85,000 sensors for $17M. That's one sensor per 892 sq mi -- a bit smaller than Ocean County, NJ.
Not quite "every couple of miles", but not too bad. Still, I'd have to think the radar might return more data points anyway, sweeping across the landscape as they do. Plus, it couldn't cost much to add a package of temp/humidity/wind/etc. to each radar, which, while not 85,000 locations, wouldn't be bad either. And I'd have to guess those radars can cover at least a New Jersey each.
...ferinstance, they're one of the ones with the inkjet cartridge chips and DMCA and all that jazz. Right? Now this. Hrmmm. Seems like the evil orcs are taking it over. An infestation, if you will. (They used to be one of the cooler companies...correct?)
Slashdot Mirror
Which technology will be the first to threaten, or save, or improve, or inconvenience, our lives: biotechnology (gene sequencing/synthesis, retroviral agents, protein analysis/design) or nanotechnology (borg nanoprobes in our blood)?
...Bars to start selling "most active" lists to liquor companies (complete with name and address) -- "to bring you offers you might be interested in".
...after all, which is easier: (1) turning on your console and picking up a controller while you lounge on the couch, or (2) getting a weapon ($$), its ammunition ($$), planning some kind of slaughter (for which you'll get no points...), actually getting up off the couch, going outside (you're kidding!), etc.?
Seriously, though (folks), wouldn't you think these games provide a release or outlet for things people might otherwise do out in the real world? Thereby decreasing real violence?
- Anonymously post some non-critical source code someplace public
- Claim you were hacked
- Push back release date four months
Gotta remember that one for future reference.[Disclaimer: JOKING! Heh heh! Ehh.]
Listen to this...this is where the violin section can never quite get the staccato right. Hear that? See, it should sound like this...[MIDI plays, loudly]
Oooh, now here comes the soloist. Did you know she's having an affair with the conductor? And they're both married! Can you believe it? I KNOW!
Ahhh, I love this next part. It reminds me of the time I went to Aspen. It's SO nice there. Have you ever been? [Click here to book a flight now!]
RIAA: now enhanced with a richly deserved ass-kicking!
MPAA: same story!
SCO: ditto!
Just don't buy PCs with Phoenix BIOSes.
Even better: competing BIOS makers shoud trumpet their "NO DRM!" and "NO MS!" status.
Better yet, how about upgradable players? Add whatever codecs you like/get invented?
...after all, it's in Florida.
[Running, ducking]
- Call people, telling them the RIAA is going to sue them back to the bronze age unless they fork over an arbitrary amount of cash.
- Make it an automated message, calling out with caller ID info blocked, so people can't respond except to the address provided in the message.
- Checks roll in.
- Angry rants also roll in; these may be safely discarded.
- Profit!
Voila: no reliance on the old revenue stream. Just keeping up with the times by switching to an IPL[1] business model. It's the new wave -- catch it!(tm)[1] Intellectual Property Litigation.
Even the proposed "Owner Override" seems to me a "how are you going to do that" issue. How are you going to assure that a change was made by you and not by some software pretending to be you?
There are other oversights too:
- "Identity" of software is determined by submitting a hash value, but how can you be sure someone's not sending a canned hash value?
- "Secure output can prevent information displayed on the screen from being recorded" -- until someone invents a screen-scraping monitor. If information exists, there's a way to copy it. That's just what information is.
- The most serious point of all -- that the EFF is lending credibility to this blatant grab for dictator-like powers by suggesting that it can be "fixed" and the problems "addressed", at which point we should all happily adopt it. Not me, brother.
I would have much preferred the factual analysis and then a great big "run away from this as fast as you can"....no one gets killed when Dr. Watson pops up and you have to restart Word. When your tire explodes and you flip and burn, well...let's just say it seems more severe.
(Besides, I think almost no one here would enjoy being held accountable for all the bugs they've written over the years...)
I was attempting to make fun of the story's proclivity to say "@" instead of any normal english preposition. I felt correcting the misspelling would merely confuse the issue.
Be a language nazi with discretion.
For "talking into the air" to work, it means the computer has to have a pervasive (at least within your house) network of microphones, always on. I don't care how convenient it is, I don't think everyone will be happy knowing they're constantly being evesdropped on.
Actuators. The spammers could program your clothes to walk you to their offices...forcibly.
Oh, and Ashcroft wants regular updates on this technology.
Even if every house has its roof covered with solar cells and all electrical power needs are met that way, the power companies will still have a worthwhile job to do -- running the grid. We'll still need that for when ours has a problem, or we use more than we produce.
:)
Plus, until Mexico and Canada get to the same point, we'll be able to export power to them.
"Here's the same artical @"
...else why complain about the government spending less (or nothing) for software? Answer: their MS stock would plummet.
...because Kim Jong Il just announced any future missiles will be running Linux.
That, and he's instituting a death penalty for trying to steal his magic bag.
...for instance, the phone book. Yahoo! Yellow Pages (and SmartPages.com, and all that sort of stuff) are great for looking something up provided you want a specific name, or just want the closest businesses of a given category (Italian restaurants, etc. -- and the distance-based sorting is something the paper books could never hope to help you with; add maps and directions to the mix and it's no contest). However, if you are trying to decide which business among many to choose, you might want to see something the paper yellow pages give you that, ironically, the 'net doesn't: ads. That's right, ads. I have yet to see an online yellow pages that has any ads for the companies listed. Seems like a glaring oversight, given the pervasion of ads on the 'net anymore.
Travel arrangements...well, I suppose it depends on the kind of trip you're taking. When I went overseas last year, it was far better and easier (and cheaper) going through an agency. For domestic stuff, though, I don't doubt that you could go 'net-style all the way.
Checks, well, I'm kinda with you on that one. Online bill-pay is great. Only drawback: time frame. If you want to send someone a check RIGHT NOW, you'd better do it yourself, using paper and stamps and the whole shebang. Otherwise (i.e., a few days from now is fine), online is the way to go.
Another invaluable reference I'd like to mention is IMDb. Before that, if I wanted to find out something movie/TV/actor-related, I was more often than not simply out of luck. Which reminds me: movie times and locations. No comparison to sifting through newspaper ads. Oh, and classifieds. And dictionary/thesaurus resources. And...and...and...
Give it time.
...why are we blaming TiVo for increasing product placement? Seems to me you could just as easily blame the Internet (before I got a TiVo, I would web-surf during the ads) or the remote control (before that, I channel-surfed).
Or, more pointedly, you could blame the networks. Same people who bring you corner logos (now opaque, full-color, moving pictures, on all the time) and promos during the end credits (no longer content to talk over them, now they squish them off to an unreadable size and speed and insert a 75%-screen-coverage full-video promo spot) and even during the show (superimposed crawls, anyone?).
They can all lick my center of gravity.
...can feel dumb in the privacy of your own home.
$17M divided by $20K = 850 sensors. Area of US is 9,629,091 sq km (according to the CIA). That's 7,578,834 sq mi. That's one sensor per 8,916 sq mi (11,328 sq km). That's just over the area of New Jersey.
Now, the sensors you propose, at $200 each, could get you 85,000 sensors for $17M. That's one sensor per 892 sq mi -- a bit smaller than Ocean County, NJ.
Not quite "every couple of miles", but not too bad. Still, I'd have to think the radar might return more data points anyway, sweeping across the landscape as they do. Plus, it couldn't cost much to add a package of temp/humidity/wind/etc. to each radar, which, while not 85,000 locations, wouldn't be bad either. And I'd have to guess those radars can cover at least a New Jersey each.
...ferinstance, they're one of the ones with the inkjet cartridge chips and DMCA and all that jazz. Right? Now this. Hrmmm. Seems like the evil orcs are taking it over. An infestation, if you will. (They used to be one of the cooler companies...correct?)