If you'd read the article, you'd know that SBC acquired the company, and when reviewing the assets stumbled on the patent.
Now, I'd be impressed if they said, out of the goodness of their collective hearts (hah!) to give the patent to the public.
Yes, patent reform is necessary. But it hurts the cause when dimwits don't even pay attention to the actual facts, and simply shout, "Patent reform! Patent reform!"
If you qualify the statement as shared secret then it's pretty much correct. A private key (in a public/private pair) is never held by anyone other than the owner, nor is it necessary to transmit it in any way. And he can keep better track of it than anyone else can (or at least, he should).
Okay, the last thing you want to do right now is send them money. If they're filing for bankruptcy, it's too late to help. Better to donate to whatever emerges afterward. If you give them money now, it might just be doled out to their creditors. After the bankruptcy is determined (whether the assets get sold, or whatever), then the company can keep the money you give.
Cause I'd be pissed at the low value. This is pathetic. I mean, do the editors even read this site?
Enough is enough. Time to check out osnews and ditch slashdot. I know I'm not the first to get tired of the repetition, but it's time someone starts calling for the mass exodus.
Quick question: what credentials are necessary to be an "ethicist"?
Answer: none.
Why does anyone listen to anyone like this? There's no reason to believe that they have any more insight about a topic than I do, except for the self-applied title of "ethicist."
3) They believe the public is too stupid to understand (or care about) a useful metric. Given their behavior so far, I think it's the most likely scenario.
Not everybody who's ever cited "The Origin of the Species" has read the whole thing, but it certainly then does not follow that they took their understandings of its conclusions from a single other citing paper.
Of course, I'd hope if you cited it, you'd list the title correctly as The Origin of Species, not The Origin of the Species.
When did you stop beating your wife? (Common example of similar logical fallacy.)
Yes, I have purchased TurboTax each year. I'm also too lazy to send in the rebates. What happens in 2 years when Intuit goes belly-up and I need to check some of the calculations? Oops, they're not around to let me use the product I purchased, and the IRS doesn't care.
When a company starts treating all its customers as potential theives first and customers second, it will lose customers. Just as Intuit lost this one.
Additionally, if I were to use TurboTax and then sell it used in the same tax year, this would be a problem. (Note: I have never done this, but AFAICT it is totally within my legal rights.)
In other Intuit news, I've been a TurboTax user for about 4-5 years (both federal and state). Since they're putting in 'Product Activation' this year, now I have to figure out which competitor to use.
You'd think they'd learn that this crap is losing customers.
Just having the suits change the environment enough so that alternatives can survive. While MS has been under the Antitrust gun, it hasn't been able to crush competitors with quite the same abandon. If this keeps up long enough, there may well be a viable MS alternative shipping in volume from major manufacturers in the forseeable future.
Several people have already commented on the apps situation (I have a few apps which only run on Windows, and there is no Linux substitute).
In windows (2000 and XP are what I run) I can right-click on nearly anything and configure it. How easy is it to change your display resolution and refresh rate on Linux? I've never seen anything that's easy. Configure your networking? Sure if you remember or know the GUI app or config files to do it, that works fine--but if you don't you're screwed.
I think Linux will have these features within 1 or 2 more cycles, and then I'll be ready to switch (with WINE for my windows-only apps).
We need all of about $20 billion to feed everyone, and another $10 billion to provide clean water.
You are kidding, right? There are roughly 6 billion people in the world now. Are you really saying that it costs $3.33 per year to feed each person? Not terribly likely. Learn to do a little math.
I tried to post this as an article, but it was rejected.
Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game) has posted a copy of his short story Angles for free on his website . He also wrote an interesting piece about copyright back in May of this year. An interesting quote:
And for those who say, Ah, but would you put your books online where people could download them for free? -- well, my answer is, I not only would, I did. Until the bookstore chains made me stop.
It didn't cost me royalties. It widened my audience. But try persuading a greedy paranoid of that!
He also routinely puts up the first few chapters of his books online, before they're published so you can get a taste of them before buying. I'm surprised more people don't have this attitude.
But there is a huge leap from single cycle circuits to the external interface. All synchronous CPU's are asynchronous between clocks (looks like we were both saying this), but there's a lot of room for asynchronous circuits that have a threshold >1 CPU clock, but small enough for the task.
It's very unlikely that we'll get fully asynchronous chips in the near future, simply because the vast majority of the tools, methodologies, etc. are for synchronous designs. But having asynchronous circuits doing some work on a synchronous chip is much more likely. (And I think is a better path anyway.)
Within the space of a single clock cycle, the Pentium (or other designs) might make use of asynchronous logic
Okay, this is silly. Within a single clock cycle, all logic is asynchronous. Circuits are designed to have an upper bound which is less than whatever the local clock limit is, but the above statement is true by definition.
The point isn't that there will be another jet crashing into a building. The point is that a plane can go pretty much anywhere. If anyone could fly a vehicle around, then any window or roof is a potential target (whether intentional or accidental).
Furthermore, a small yield nuclear device could fit easily in a small plane (not an ultralight though). Then you could deliver the device anywhere. That's one of the unfortunate lessons of 9/11/2001.
Slashdot Mirror
that the mission into space will continue. I'm glad that's his attitude. Let's hope he's right.
Not that the appeals court in San Francisco isn't screwed up, but let's get our facts straight, eh?
Now, I'd be impressed if they said, out of the goodness of their collective hearts (hah!) to give the patent to the public.
Yes, patent reform is necessary. But it hurts the cause when dimwits don't even pay attention to the actual facts, and simply shout, "Patent reform! Patent reform!"
If you qualify the statement as shared secret then it's pretty much correct. A private key (in a public/private pair) is never held by anyone other than the owner, nor is it necessary to transmit it in any way. And he can keep better track of it than anyone else can (or at least, he should).
Okay, the last thing you want to do right now is send them money. If they're filing for bankruptcy, it's too late to help. Better to donate to whatever emerges afterward. If you give them money now, it might just be doled out to their creditors. After the bankruptcy is determined (whether the assets get sold, or whatever), then the company can keep the money you give.
Not to mention those who noticed the clock at 11:55 and left for the movie without logging out.
Enough is enough. Time to check out osnews and ditch slashdot. I know I'm not the first to get tired of the repetition, but it's time someone starts calling for the mass exodus.
Answer: none.
Why does anyone listen to anyone like this? There's no reason to believe that they have any more insight about a topic than I do, except for the self-applied title of "ethicist."
I do not think that word means what you think it means...
3) They believe the public is too stupid to understand (or care about) a useful metric. Given their behavior so far, I think it's the most likely scenario.
Of course, I'd hope if you cited it, you'd list the title correctly as The Origin of Species, not The Origin of the Species.
Yes, I have purchased TurboTax each year. I'm also too lazy to send in the rebates. What happens in 2 years when Intuit goes belly-up and I need to check some of the calculations? Oops, they're not around to let me use the product I purchased, and the IRS doesn't care.
When a company starts treating all its customers as potential theives first and customers second, it will lose customers. Just as Intuit lost this one.
Additionally, if I were to use TurboTax and then sell it used in the same tax year, this would be a problem. (Note: I have never done this, but AFAICT it is totally within my legal rights.)
In other Intuit news, I've been a TurboTax user for about 4-5 years (both federal and state). Since they're putting in 'Product Activation' this year, now I have to figure out which competitor to use.
You'd think they'd learn that this crap is losing customers.
Obviously you don't get as much spam as I do...
Just having the suits change the environment enough so that alternatives can survive. While MS has been under the Antitrust gun, it hasn't been able to crush competitors with quite the same abandon. If this keeps up long enough, there may well be a viable MS alternative shipping in volume from major manufacturers in the forseeable future.
In windows (2000 and XP are what I run) I can right-click on nearly anything and configure it. How easy is it to change your display resolution and refresh rate on Linux? I've never seen anything that's easy. Configure your networking? Sure if you remember or know the GUI app or config files to do it, that works fine--but if you don't you're screwed.
I think Linux will have these features within 1 or 2 more cycles, and then I'll be ready to switch (with WINE for my windows-only apps).
You are kidding, right? There are roughly 6 billion people in the world now. Are you really saying that it costs $3.33 per year to feed each person? Not terribly likely. Learn to do a little math.
Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game) has posted a copy of his short story Angles for free on his website . He also wrote an interesting piece about copyright back in May of this year. An interesting quote:
He also routinely puts up the first few chapters of his books online, before they're published so you can get a taste of them before buying. I'm surprised more people don't have this attitude.But there is a huge leap from single cycle circuits to the external interface. All synchronous CPU's are asynchronous between clocks (looks like we were both saying this), but there's a lot of room for asynchronous circuits that have a threshold >1 CPU clock, but small enough for the task. It's very unlikely that we'll get fully asynchronous chips in the near future, simply because the vast majority of the tools, methodologies, etc. are for synchronous designs. But having asynchronous circuits doing some work on a synchronous chip is much more likely. (And I think is a better path anyway.)
such as Unreal Tournament 2003.
Furthermore, a small yield nuclear device could fit easily in a small plane (not an ultralight though). Then you could deliver the device anywhere. That's one of the unfortunate lessons of 9/11/2001.