And what says that the patent system of the US is the best patent system?
Considering that there are a lot of legal problems every time a patent is disputed I would say that the patent system of the US is gravely flawed.
And really are patents really helping development these days? More isn't always better. It may be as with fertilizer. Some amount is good for the crop, but a blanket of fertilizer will kill the crop.
On the other hand - miniaturization has made it possible to perform things not possible in '69.
The Mars rovers spirit & opportunity are still running and providing interesting data as far as I know. Only catch is that one of them has gotten stuck, but that's a different kind of problem. A different wheel design would probably have been better there.
The space shuttle is about to retire. It's a bit sad, but it was a bit of a cold war artifact too. The modular tech of the Apollo program is likely what will return.
Anyway - development has taken different avenues, but they are also less spectacular, which gets a lot less publicity. The problem is that every generation needs an icon in science to see that there is progress. Like the Apollo program and the Hubble telescope.
But there is one issue that tends to create a lot of worry and that is all the patent trolls that are making things miserable for the development of new technology. Too much time has to be wasted to figure out if something already is patented.
The real problem here is that today too many are too much about intellectual property protection through copyrights and patents for their own personal gain instead of understanding that the part of intellectual property they own is just a small part of the whole fabric.
It's like a car - it's built from a lot of components, and each component in itself is interesting by itself, but in many cases it's not really good for much by itself. It's when you take the sum of the whole that you end up with something more useful. What patent trolls does is to try to gain maximum profit for themselves without consideration for the whole and future evolution.
Another problem is the shortsightedness of investors that only try to gain short term profits and not look into the possibility of gaining a bigger profit in the long term because they don't work with long-term investments. They don't give a crap about the business after they have sold their shares and the responsibility for them ends after that.
The only way I have figured out to stop telemarketers is to have a blacklist in an Asterisk server that catches any caller-ID from a known telemarketer and provides them with a message "The number is not in use".
Lately there have been very few calls that have been bounced by the blacklist and the telephone has been very silent. So I suspect that telemarketers do have a blacklist for numbers that are useless to call but as long as there is a person answering there is no way to get on their do not call list.
It won't work for telemarketers with hidden numbers, but luckily those are few where I live.
Look at the available interfaces for data storage.
Some interfaces should be available for a longer time than other.
Secure Digital and USB are two interfaces that are changing slowly, but has a good record of backwards compatibility.
Look at the predicted storage time for the technique selected. Storage items without moving parts are best, but even flash memories have a maximum time where data is readable.
You also have to watch out when you store electronics since the tin in the solder joints can over time change state. This happens for some reason mostly at temperatures lower than room temperature. And the finer the electronics are the bigger the risk. And lead-free solder is more sensitive to this.
The usual way to keep data readable is to copy it onto new media when there is a change of technology.
There are several variations on how the gender is developed, and some who have normal gender genes can still end up in a state of being inconclusive when it comes to the genitalia. That may be caused by an oversensitivity for testosterone.
So besides the XXY XYY SingleX and YY you also have to count in testosterone sensitivity and a whole bunch of other genetic features and impact from the environment causing defects during the development, like those caused by Talidomid. It's fully possible that there are other medications that has other still undetected effects too, and who knows if using a certain medication at a certain point during pregnancy has a positive effect on the fetus?
Maybe it's time to add a special Freaks class for athletes where people that are on the line between the genders can compete.
Or do it the simple way - you have to give birth to a naturally conceived child to compete in the women's class.
And he has written some Science Fiction books too, like Old Man's War which was nominated for a Hugo award.
I suspect that the blog entry is a flamebait more than anything else to see the reaction of people. Maybe he needs to bait people a bit to get material for a new book.
I accept that the fictional universe contains flaws from our point of view, but without the flaws where would the story go?
And don't forget that in modern society we often have flaws too. When the electricity fails it grinds to a standstill. The few people who suffer the least then are those who haven't modernized but are still having a stove that burns firewood in the kitchen (even though they have also added an electrical)
However complicated this may be it still means that the chain of evidence is important.
And if a case rests only on DNA it's never a strong case because we all leave traces of ourselves all the time. The best DNA can do is to exclude you from a location, because if your DNA is nowhere to be found it's likely that you weren't there (or weren't wearing those pesky gloves).
It is of course possible to frame someone by planting their faked DNA somewhere, but on the other hand there are other methods to do that too. A tazer and a syringe will allow you to get a good sample.
Slashdot Mirror
And what says that the patent system of the US is the best patent system?
Considering that there are a lot of legal problems every time a patent is disputed I would say that the patent system of the US is gravely flawed.
And really are patents really helping development these days? More isn't always better. It may be as with fertilizer. Some amount is good for the crop, but a blanket of fertilizer will kill the crop.
On the other hand - miniaturization has made it possible to perform things not possible in '69.
The Mars rovers spirit & opportunity are still running and providing interesting data as far as I know. Only catch is that one of them has gotten stuck, but that's a different kind of problem. A different wheel design would probably have been better there.
The space shuttle is about to retire. It's a bit sad, but it was a bit of a cold war artifact too. The modular tech of the Apollo program is likely what will return.
Anyway - development has taken different avenues, but they are also less spectacular, which gets a lot less publicity. The problem is that every generation needs an icon in science to see that there is progress. Like the Apollo program and the Hubble telescope.
But there is one issue that tends to create a lot of worry and that is all the patent trolls that are making things miserable for the development of new technology. Too much time has to be wasted to figure out if something already is patented.
The real problem here is that today too many are too much about intellectual property protection through copyrights and patents for their own personal gain instead of understanding that the part of intellectual property they own is just a small part of the whole fabric.
It's like a car - it's built from a lot of components, and each component in itself is interesting by itself, but in many cases it's not really good for much by itself. It's when you take the sum of the whole that you end up with something more useful. What patent trolls does is to try to gain maximum profit for themselves without consideration for the whole and future evolution.
Another problem is the shortsightedness of investors that only try to gain short term profits and not look into the possibility of gaining a bigger profit in the long term because they don't work with long-term investments. They don't give a crap about the business after they have sold their shares and the responsibility for them ends after that.
Don't preinstall the software, ship blank machines and separate media to be installed.
I also read ESA as the European Space Agency.
Be careful with those acronyms please!
I wouldn't rule out that it's another agency like NSA or DHS that are actually dropping in those laptops to see what happens.
It can very well be a penetration test to see how well things like this are handled by various organizations.
And I wouldn't be surprised if this is the top of an iceberg.
The only way I have figured out to stop telemarketers is to have a blacklist in an Asterisk server that catches any caller-ID from a known telemarketer and provides them with a message "The number is not in use".
Lately there have been very few calls that have been bounced by the blacklist and the telephone has been very silent. So I suspect that telemarketers do have a blacklist for numbers that are useless to call but as long as there is a person answering there is no way to get on their do not call list.
It won't work for telemarketers with hidden numbers, but luckily those are few where I live.
TV seems to be more and more reality shows, dull sports and bad programs for children than anything else.
When the peak of science during the week on TV is Mythbusters (nothing really wrong with them) then there is something really bad going on.
Maybe the oil industry should look for alternate network technologies like DECnet or SNA to keep the majority of the hackers out?
Sure - it will cost some more in acquiring the competence, but on the other hand the risk for a penetration from the internet is a bit lower.
I sure hope that this ends up in a statement that nobody owns Unix anymore.
Maybe it's time to go back in history and look at other transfers of the right to Unix.
And can't somebody put an end to SCO forever? It's like keeping a braindead body alive through machines in the hope that the brain will reboot.
Look at the available interfaces for data storage.
Some interfaces should be available for a longer time than other.
Secure Digital and USB are two interfaces that are changing slowly, but has a good record of backwards compatibility.
Look at the predicted storage time for the technique selected. Storage items without moving parts are best, but even flash memories have a maximum time where data is readable.
You also have to watch out when you store electronics since the tin in the solder joints can over time change state. This happens for some reason mostly at temperatures lower than room temperature. And the finer the electronics are the bigger the risk. And lead-free solder is more sensitive to this.
The usual way to keep data readable is to copy it onto new media when there is a change of technology.
It wouldn't be bad if humans were able to grow new teeth every thirty to forty years or so.
Teeth wear down, cracks and so on so it would sure not be bad.
A better way would be to make sure that everyone caught with illegal drugs should have to consume them on the spot.
Survive and you are free to go, die and you have the instant penalty.
There are several variations on how the gender is developed, and some who have normal gender genes can still end up in a state of being inconclusive when it comes to the genitalia. That may be caused by an oversensitivity for testosterone.
So besides the XXY XYY SingleX and YY you also have to count in testosterone sensitivity and a whole bunch of other genetic features and impact from the environment causing defects during the development, like those caused by Talidomid. It's fully possible that there are other medications that has other still undetected effects too, and who knows if using a certain medication at a certain point during pregnancy has a positive effect on the fetus?
Maybe it's time to add a special Freaks class for athletes where people that are on the line between the genders can compete.
Or do it the simple way - you have to give birth to a naturally conceived child to compete in the women's class.
I won't buy a game console. If it can't be played on my computer it's not worth playing.
And he has written some Science Fiction books too, like Old Man's War which was nominated for a Hugo award.
I suspect that the blog entry is a flamebait more than anything else to see the reaction of people. Maybe he needs to bait people a bit to get material for a new book.
Star Wars is fiction.
I accept that the fictional universe contains flaws from our point of view, but without the flaws where would the story go?
And don't forget that in modern society we often have flaws too. When the electricity fails it grinds to a standstill. The few people who suffer the least then are those who haven't modernized but are still having a stove that burns firewood in the kitchen (even though they have also added an electrical)
I haven't encountered any spelling or grammar problems myself, but the handwriting has gone completely bonkers, but it has never been any good.
What a party it would be for people that likes to do broadcast storms!
Just purge the arp cache frequently and you will have a lot of broadcasts that can clog down the network.
Don't forget that for decades it has been the other way around - the European versions has been more expensive than the US version.
Unfortunately - here they also require the serial number of your box/tv if you are to get HD content.
Another better case is the twin paradox - or just cases where you have a small population with a lot of inbreeding.
In cases like these you may have to make sure that you get a better match than usual to point out or exclude someone.
However complicated this may be it still means that the chain of evidence is important.
And if a case rests only on DNA it's never a strong case because we all leave traces of ourselves all the time. The best DNA can do is to exclude you from a location, because if your DNA is nowhere to be found it's likely that you weren't there (or weren't wearing those pesky gloves).
It is of course possible to frame someone by planting their faked DNA somewhere, but on the other hand there are other methods to do that too. A tazer and a syringe will allow you to get a good sample.
That is one way to do it.
Sometimes when you have a large organization with several offices then it could be useful to actually have the machines also named after the site.
What you should do is to decide what will work best for you. And remember that changing the name on a live computer can have unwanted side-effects.
What if I only run plastics and coins?
It's hard to snort credit cards and coins!