You laugh now, but some are seriously looking at where robotics might go. Perhaps those talented Cal Poly students will soon be giving life to more than New Years' day parade floats?
So ungrateful! Where do you think Libbys vegetables are from? Very dear to many Slashdot members are JAVA and chocolate. Guess what comes from The Republic of CÃte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) which isn't too far from Libya?
If you're grumpy because you don't have a job or something, lighten up. There could be a future for you in biofuel. So just sit back and watch Soylent Green or something and relax.
It is probably a good thing that Apple bothers looking at something like remote camera activation as an issue to consider with minors. They're certainly not doing it for market share. It's not about greed. It should be possible to provide a store-friendly version of Opera that inhibits that functionality. The browser can still be downloaded the old-fashioned way, so it's still just as accessible on the Mac as on competing platforms.
If people want to get excited over some Apple browser issue that actually matters, it makes more sense to work to give iOS users the same kind of control that Adblock and NoScript give in combination with Firefox. Those wanting to trim mobile bandwidth usage certainly would be helped by such functionality, and it can't help but be a positive for security, speed, and battery run-time.
It's good to see that the Opera folks have a sense of humor. Between the toys people use these days, dumbed-down t.v. and living in an era where there's no fear of getting drafted, I think some of the articles about American males sometimes living a somewhat extended adolescent lifestyle may have some validity. If people want to protest, pick something that matters. Don't bury the important things with noise.
I didn't mean to suggest that I thought "Anonymous" had anything to do with the San Bruno event. I don't know very much about them and am not making judgement of them.
That said, Stuxnet really scares me and I hope it isn't used.
I did see a news site posting elsewhere minutes ago to the effect that they were backing something new. I hope they don't get carried away in the emotions of the moment and do anything they might regret.
May people everywhere be free and not live in fear.
I'm not suggesting that "anonymous" was responsible, only that an attack using similar software could cause lines to burst. The national NBC reporting that just aired Saturday February 12th failed to mention ANY of the issues that were raised locally.
The welds were of variable quality and of course pressure-induced failure will be at weak spots. Report say there were multiple failures at once. I've been unable to find any explanation as to why the pressure shot up right before the explosion.
The line was a 30" major distribution line about 50 years old run at pressures of up to 400 p.s.i.
P.G. & E. didn't even for sure know what kind of pipe they had, which calls into question whether they even knew how much pressure it could safely handle. Their records are incomplete and some were wrong. They claim to have no records of numerous calls from people reporting smelling gas as far back as two months before the explosion. They've switched their public statements around. It took them about two hours to even get people to a valve to cut off the gas. They had reported that a malfunction caused a pressure spike but later backtracked trying to claim that running the pressure up to the normal limit two years earlier somehow weakened the line. The period in question was summer/fall. If line pressures had to be elevated to overcome demand-related pressure loss in downstream lines that would have been during winter. (more likely to be an issue with the explosions in the eastern U.S.). The utility neglected to install and use any automatic shutoff equipment.
There are clearly problems with the utility company procedures, but it's that recanted malfunction causing pressure spike part that would be consistent with an attack via software.
There were a number of reports by California media regarding what happened. Some pulled offline later. There are videos on YouTube with various local residents commenting on what happened.
The worm is not limited to what's in use in Iran. The people in the field that use Windows systems to spit out the code actually used by the control systems generally don't have the knowledge to disassemble the code and spot problems that aren't immediately apparent (like periodic instability or a timed attack). Given that things like pumping stations aren't set up often, expect that most use outside contractors.
Hmmmm, someone needs to give those guys the worming tablets that get used on dogs... maybe that would help.
Someone with Stuxnet might be very dangerous.
If this is the same family of code that migrates through Windows but alters configuration of specialized industrial control systems (like Iran was using for centrifuges) I'm concerned that this may have or could hit other infrstructure.
It's already been shown that software can cause abnormal functioning of natural gas pumping systems. Operating normally but programmed to operate out of tolerance later there'd likely be no obvious signs of a problem beforehand.
There were a couple of explosions in the eastern U.S. last week, and one in San Bruno, California last September. In the last one, utility company P.G.&E. (Pacific Gas and Electric) has been inconsistent with the story given. Last night NBC Nightly News claimed the cause was a bad weld. P. G.& E. has made claims of brief elevated pressure tests stressing the pipe causing later failure. They also mentioned a malfunction causing a surge. (It rupture the indication of a failed test???) Some reports say that periodic running up of the pressure was enough to avoid some more costly testing requirements. Some reports say P.G.&E. though it was seamless pipe having no welds to fail.
The BBC provides service in many different languages and to many regions. Under pressure to cut costs, some cutbacks are planned. They want to hear from those affected to gauge impact.
I believe it is region dependent, but some can see them from their own site with no problem. wikipedia has plenty of background info on them. Their depth of coverage surprised me.
A free-to-air satellite system can legally pick them and others up for just the price of the hardware. Galaxy 19 North America 12152 H / 20000 / 3/4
They're also on MHz WorldView which is on some cable systems and public tv stations (such as subchannel 28.4 of KCET Los Angeles) (a couple of newscasts a day) MHz WorldView also has news from Israel, Japan, France, Germany and other English language international news sources) Note they they carry other interviews and in-depth features not included when getting only the newscasts.
As always it's good to get a broad perspective and be less affected by any bias by getting news from a variety of sources
If something you'd like to see isn't on a cable system you use, ASK THEM TO ADD IT.
Those who saw news that didn't provide info on Google advertising employee Wael Ghonim from Dubai, part of the "April 6" group, the one who posted the January 25 Revolution Facebook page and got training from some involved with actions in elsewhere, may have seen more limited coverage. Wael Ghonim was detained for 12 days. His at times tearful interview following release certainly boosted the protest crowds that had started to wane after so many days. Early-on, RT (Russia Today) showed matching fist graphics used by the April 6 group and another and claimed that showed U.S. ties. (I'd ju
It's not every day one sees whip-carrying police on camels and horses. (I almost chocked on a sandwich when I saw NHK Japan report the animals as ceremonial. Opps! They missed the scenes showing the riders with whips. The blankets on the animals were surprisingly colorful. NHK generally has very high quality programmming) The Israeli broadcasts reflect nervousness,,,
On a funnier note, checking out some Spanish language coverage online led me to find a bug in Google translate (also seen in a 3rd party Mac Widget that uses it).
Does Google know something we don't??
"en esta capital" in Spanish translates to "in Beijing" in English!
Granma is the same source the poster here had cited as no coverage of the "January 25th revolution" (yet) on January 29th, linking to the english version. The earliest link you have shown (January 31), so it may be a matter of Granma not starting coverage until later. There doesn't seem to be any coverage after Feb 7th either. Hardly extensive coverage. For most bias would be a bigger issue.
Anyway, that wasn't even what my post was about, only what got me to notice the Cuban tech / YRO related story - Their fears of and response to blogger accessible smuggled-in satellite fed WiFi.
There's no confirmation that the proposed unfiltered satellite linked WiFi that the Cuban presenter was concerned about was actually set up. As something that is generally supportive of democracy and the flow of information both directions, I can see how that is something we might be supportive of.
I found it interesting to note that a suggested countermeasure was basically state blogging (what amounts to propaganda given a grass-roots look). Unfortunately disinformation from behind contrived faces isn't just a Cuban concept. I'm probably not alone in wondering to what extent we're seeing government and corporate driven blogging and forum posts etc.. That's in addition to things like the fake media person (also a porn site operator) that fed President Bush friendly questions, and things like the front group the did the 2004 smear campaign with misinformation about candidate Kerry's time in the military. With the corporate "free-speech" spending decision by the Supreme Court it seems likely we'll see more domestic misinformation that isn't all that different from tactics that might be used to disrupt a foreign government. Internet abuses are no-doubt harder to fully analyze and tie to those ultimately responsible than t.v. ads are.
There was a very revealing piece about the "April 6th" protest group aired hours ago that clearly shows how some using protest methods elsewhere did help train some key people in Egypt. That's not to say that the agenda was foreign, but it clearly shows impact of information from outside.
It's seems that ways of countering access to information are on the minds of many.
We certainly heard a few things about the significance of and attempts to control the flow in Egypt. We don't hear so much about Cuba. It got my attention when someone posted that the events in Egypt weren't getting covered there.
Yes, Apple has had smart engineering/design people in the right places, but even in the marketing related areas, Apple seems to have done much better.
The business/marketing people at Microsoft have done a number of things differently.
1) regular use of F.U.D. Very misleading statements when comparing security with other platforms 2) Not shipping when announced 3) Shipping things with major (and not quickly patched) flaws 4) Shipping things without some of the preannounced features. Preannounce and underdeliver is quite the opposite being somewhat secretive and providing some surprise with pretty well polished products at release. 5) Overstating user excitement/demand. Lines at stores due to free concert tickets instead of the new product? Subsidized launch parties. Quoting shipments to channel as sold (instead of actual end-user purchase/activation). Citing "sold out" when supply available was very low. 6) Some really strange ads. (At least they've gotten better)
So while one can criticize Microsoft for lacking other skills in key upper management, even the business/marketing skills and vision has been lacking. Encompassing many skillsets good people are needed in EVERY area of a company including those doing things the end-user can't see directly. Of course if the end-user isn't the one paying companies like Microsoft or Google directly, there's not only the added difficultly of ensuring an optimal experience on hardware someone else makes, but perhaps less incentive as well. It's a bit like looking at the quality of commercial t.v. entertainment and news programming. The problem is better understood when one realizes that the customer is the advertiser, not the viewer. These things cause goals to differ from what consumers might expect.
Some have gone too far in crediting "cool" as being behind Apple sales without looking enough at the user perception of value. (plenty of power, loads of easy to use functionality without a bunch of on-going headaches). More "cool" wasn't enough to get many people to buy the Apple G4 cube when Apple delivered the other attributes in other cheaper products. The Dell Adama laptop was (still is??) marketed as cool, but relatively few PC users have been willing to pay a premium price for it. I noted a Best Buy with some pretty powerful 17" laptop configurations from Sony and Asus, but with battery life of 2 hours or so while the Mac shown (admitted not Apple's fastest 17") got 9 or 10. I suspect some doing things like playing WoW or working with video while on A.C. power still like those, but really, how many can tolerate such awful battery life? What were they thinking?
I'm not sure how much blame Microsoft deserves for end-user systems that excel in some ways but fall flat in others but it seems apparent that much of that doesn't spin very well as "user choice". Maybe with more geeks in MS management their planning and testing for the end-user experience will look beyond simply minimizing crashes.
Microsoft seems to be learning it is better to shut up when they don't have a good product. They certainly didn't have much to say about tablets/slates at CES this year.
Throwing shoes is an insult, but providing free shoes for poor people wouldn't be. One has to look at secondary effects to see what sorts of aid actually help. Giving away shoes might harm local businesses that manufacture them. Some parts of Africa that has some work manufacturing clothing couldn't compete with bulk imports of clothing from places such as U.S. thrift stores. A great deal of clothing that doesn't sell in thrift stores at retail ends up sold of cheaply by the pound and works its way into other markets.
It might be better to process surplus goods into recyclable materials that the poor can be employed to use in manufacturing. If the material competes with local suppliers, provide it at near market prices, but as a loan where any "payment" is spent locally to further develop local infrastructure or essential business. No contributions should result in any debt to other countries.
NHK has been running a series on the shifting demographics of Japan. The percentage of the population that is retired compared to that of working age has been rising. It leads to a shortage of workers (at least with the right skills), and fewer resources to help those that are retired. The problem is one that other countries including the U.S. need to look at also.
Using robots is very clever, but besides them not being a good substitute for human companionship, they're still way too expensive for consumer uses.
It's not surprising that the elderly want (human) companionship as much as a helper. Vendors would have more luck targeting sports fans and others that don't want to leave the sofa and t.v. long enough to get food or beer.
I guess the next generation would address yet another "need". Will children have nightmares of being chased around by a robo-toilet with arms?
Prepare for a future teabagger revolt over tax dollars funding robo-toilet-slaves for obese sports fans. Maybe if the robot is also a home security system and has weapons?? The NRA would back that.
MHz WorldView carries a bunch of international news channels. They're on some cable systems, some public tv stations, and on-demand via Roku. They've gotten a little more exposure lately as one of the few U.S. outlets carrying Aljazeera. RT ("Russia Today") is a channel they carry that looks like blantently anti-U.S. propaganda. Most of the facts check out, but they give plenty of unsupported or poorly supported conclusions and show things out of context. They covered Kennesaw GA, a town and the mandatory gun ownership there, portraying the U.S. as being more gun-crazy than is actually the case. They made no mention of it being done as a response to a town (Morton Grove IL) that had banned guns.
I suspect most people have few clues who they're voting for when it comes to city council members. It is worth going to some city council meetings to find out what's going on, and who the crazy ones are.
The U.S. covers the ancient "give them food and circus and they will not rebel" areas pretty well (plenty of fat tv-numb people around?), but some people unable to afford housing are really hurting.
As the digital tv transition and cheaper LCD sets have motivated many owners of those big old c.r.t. projection sets to ditch them, many have turned up at thrift stores, recycling centers, and on craigslist. Those who get the chance to salvage parts from them may be want to rescue the large lenses.
I wonder if anyone has dug into these lower-RAM devices to see if a higher capacity chip could be installed? Granted there aren't many people qualified to deal with surface mount device removal and installation, but if there was demand some would probably be willing to offer the service.
If someone wants to do business with memory products, here's another idea: Produce USB drives with a physical write-enable switch so the drives can be malware immune when only read access is needed.
Slashdot Mirror
Do they end up with a pack a day habit?
Maybe banning high wattage light bulbs is enough?
Well just add a winch and tell them you're fishing for lost satellites.
You laugh now, but some are seriously looking at where robotics might go.
Perhaps those talented Cal Poly students will soon be giving life to more than New Years' day parade floats?
http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2011/February/robots.html
Kinda gives a new angle to the notion of robotic overlords....
Some fear robots becoming self-aware, but them being used against us by other humans might come first.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf0jlzVCyOI
So ungrateful! Where do you think Libbys vegetables are from?
Very dear to many Slashdot members are JAVA and chocolate. Guess what comes from The Republic of CÃte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) which isn't too far from Libya?
If you're grumpy because you don't have a job or something, lighten up. There could be a future for you in biofuel. So just sit back and watch Soylent Green or something and relax.
It is probably a good thing that Apple bothers looking at something like remote camera activation as an issue to consider with minors. They're certainly not doing it for market share. It's not about greed. It should be possible to provide a store-friendly version of Opera that inhibits that functionality.
The browser can still be downloaded the old-fashioned way, so it's still just as accessible on the Mac as on competing platforms.
If people want to get excited over some Apple browser issue that actually matters, it makes more sense to work to give iOS users the same kind of control that Adblock and NoScript give in combination with Firefox.
Those wanting to trim mobile bandwidth usage certainly would be helped by such functionality, and it can't help but be a positive for security, speed, and battery run-time.
It's good to see that the Opera folks have a sense of humor. Between the toys people use these days, dumbed-down t.v. and living in an era where there's no fear of getting drafted, I think some of the articles about American males sometimes living a somewhat extended adolescent lifestyle may have some validity. If people want to protest, pick something that matters. Don't bury the important things with noise.
http://thebeautifulstruggler.com/2011/02/wsj-discussesthe-extended-adolescence-of-some-american-men.html
Well I guess ya disproved the myth that Windows users can't make use of multiple cores...
I didn't mean to suggest that I thought "Anonymous" had anything to do with the San Bruno event. I don't know very much about them and am not making judgement of them.
That said, Stuxnet really scares me and I hope it isn't used.
I did see a news site posting elsewhere minutes ago to the effect that they were backing something new. I hope they don't get carried away in the emotions of the moment and do anything they might regret.
May people everywhere be free and not live in fear.
I'm not suggesting that "anonymous" was responsible, only that an attack using similar software could cause lines to burst. The national NBC reporting that just aired Saturday February 12th failed to mention ANY of the issues that were raised locally.
The welds were of variable quality and of course pressure-induced failure will be at weak spots. Report say there were multiple failures at once. I've been unable to find any explanation as to why the pressure shot up right before the explosion.
The line was a 30" major distribution line about 50 years old run at pressures of up to 400 p.s.i.
P.G. & E. didn't even for sure know what kind of pipe they had, which calls into question whether they even knew how much pressure it could safely handle. Their records are incomplete and some were wrong. They claim to have no records of numerous calls from people reporting smelling gas as far back as two months before the explosion. They've switched their public statements around. It took them about two hours to even get people to a valve to cut off the gas. They had reported that a malfunction caused a pressure spike but later backtracked trying to claim that running the pressure up to the normal limit two years earlier somehow weakened the line. The period in question was summer/fall. If line pressures had to be elevated to overcome demand-related pressure loss in downstream lines that would have been during winter. (more likely to be an issue with the explosions in the eastern U.S.). The utility neglected to install and use any automatic shutoff equipment.
There are clearly problems with the utility company procedures, but it's that recanted malfunction causing pressure spike part that would be consistent with an attack via software.
There were a number of reports by California media regarding what happened. Some pulled offline later.
There are videos on YouTube with various local residents commenting on what happened.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110122/WIRE/110129816
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pHP2Kpjo9OgJ:articles.sfgate.com/2011-01-09/news/27020428_1_gas-pipeline-pg-e-fatal-blast+gas-pipeline-pg-e-fatal-blast&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-01-11/news/27022021_1_pg-e-gas-line-spike
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110122/WIRE/110129816
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-tv-pgesanbrunopipe,0,4690306.story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3z9VRqxOtE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Uza3-EDRc
The worm is not limited to what's in use in Iran. The people in the field that use Windows systems to spit out the code actually used by the control systems generally don't have the knowledge to disassemble the code and spot problems that aren't immediately apparent (like periodic instability or a timed attack). Given that things like pumping stations aren't set up often, expect that most use outside contractors.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9185419/Siemens_Stuxnet_worm_hit_industrial_systems
The national reporting simply blaming the incident on welds was misleading. At least region
Hmmmm, someone needs to give those guys the worming tablets that get used on dogs... maybe that would help.
Someone with Stuxnet might be very dangerous.
If this is the same family of code that migrates through Windows but alters configuration of specialized industrial control systems (like Iran was using for centrifuges) I'm concerned that this may have or could hit other infrstructure.
It's already been shown that software can cause abnormal functioning of natural gas pumping systems. Operating normally but programmed to operate out of tolerance later there'd likely be no obvious signs of a problem beforehand.
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/it-strategy/2004/03/01/us-software-blew-up-russian-gas-pipeline-39147917/
There were a couple of explosions in the eastern U.S. last week, and one in San Bruno, California last September. In the last one, utility company P.G.&E. (Pacific Gas and Electric) has been inconsistent with the story given. Last night NBC Nightly News claimed the cause was a bad weld. P. G.& E. has made claims of brief elevated pressure tests stressing the pipe causing later failure. They also mentioned a malfunction causing a surge.
(It rupture the indication of a failed test???)
Some reports say that periodic running up of the pressure was enough to avoid some more costly testing requirements. Some reports say P.G.&E. though it was seamless pipe having no welds to fail.
http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/11/18/140253/Stuxnet-Virus-Now-Biggest-Threat-To-Industry
The San Bruno explosion and reports of Stuxnet affecting operations in Iran occurred around the same time.
The BBC provides service in many different languages and to many regions. Under pressure to cut costs, some cutbacks are planned. They want to hear from those affected to gauge impact.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12283356
I believe it is region dependent, but some can see them from their own site with no problem. wikipedia has plenty of background info on them. Their depth of coverage surprised me.
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
A free-to-air satellite system can legally pick them and others up for just the price of the hardware.
Galaxy 19 North America 12152 H / 20000 / 3/4
They're also on MHz WorldView which is on some cable systems and public tv stations (such as subchannel 28.4 of KCET Los Angeles) (a couple of newscasts a day) MHz WorldView also has news from Israel, Japan, France, Germany and other English language international news sources)
Note they they carry other interviews and in-depth features not included when getting only the newscasts.
http://proweb.myersinfosys.com/week.php?timezone=0&station=world&channel=MHz+Worldview&airdate=
http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/programming/
KCET has been running extra newscasts on their main 28.1 channel and cable feeds, and at least temporarily streaming from their web site.
http://www.kcet.org/egyptcrisis/
As always it's good to get a broad perspective and be less affected by any bias by getting news from a variety of sources
If something you'd like to see isn't on a cable system you use, ASK THEM TO ADD IT.
Those who saw news that didn't provide info on Google advertising employee Wael Ghonim from Dubai, part of the "April 6" group, the one who posted the January 25 Revolution Facebook page and got training from some involved with actions in elsewhere, may have seen more limited coverage. Wael Ghonim was detained for 12 days. His at times tearful interview following release certainly boosted the protest crowds that had started to wane after so many days. Early-on, RT (Russia Today) showed matching fist graphics used by the April 6 group and another and claimed that showed U.S. ties. (I'd ju
It's not every day one sees whip-carrying police on camels and horses. (I almost chocked on a sandwich when I saw NHK Japan report the animals as ceremonial. Opps! They missed the scenes showing the riders with whips. The blankets on the animals were surprisingly colorful. NHK generally has very high quality programmming) The Israeli broadcasts reflect nervousness,,,
On a funnier note, checking out some Spanish language coverage online led me to find a bug in Google translate (also seen in a 3rd party Mac Widget that uses it).
Does Google know something we don't??
"en esta capital" in Spanish translates to "in Beijing" in English!
http://translate.google.com/
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/calculate_convert/texttranslation.html
(those utilities are useful if one checks out some of the twitter feeds mentioned in coverage which include some in Arabic language)
Granma is the same source the poster here had cited as no coverage of the "January 25th revolution" (yet) on January 29th, linking to the english version. The earliest link you have shown (January 31), so it may be a matter of Granma not starting coverage until later. There doesn't seem to be any coverage after Feb 7th either. Hardly extensive coverage. For most bias would be a bigger issue.
Anyway, that wasn't even what my post was about, only what got me to notice the Cuban tech / YRO related story - Their fears of and response to blogger accessible smuggled-in satellite fed WiFi.
There's no confirmation that the proposed unfiltered satellite linked WiFi that the Cuban presenter was concerned about was actually set up. As something that is generally supportive of democracy and the flow of information both directions, I can see how that is something we might be supportive of.
I found it interesting to note that a suggested countermeasure was basically state blogging (what amounts to propaganda given a grass-roots look).
Unfortunately disinformation from behind contrived faces isn't just a Cuban concept. I'm probably not alone in wondering to what extent we're seeing government and corporate driven blogging and forum posts etc..
That's in addition to things like the fake media person (also a porn site operator) that fed President Bush friendly questions, and things like the front group the did the 2004 smear campaign with misinformation about candidate Kerry's time in the military. With the corporate "free-speech" spending decision by the Supreme Court it seems likely we'll see more domestic misinformation that isn't all that different from tactics that might be used to disrupt a foreign government. Internet abuses are no-doubt harder to fully analyze and tie to those ultimately responsible than t.v. ads are.
There was a very revealing piece about the "April 6th" protest group aired hours ago that clearly shows how some using protest methods elsewhere did help train some key people in Egypt. That's not to say that the agenda was foreign, but it clearly shows impact of information from outside.
(People and Power - Seeds of Change)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrNz0dZgqN8
And in other news Anonymous Facebook group calls for uprising against Hamas rule in Gaza Strip tomorrow
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/anonymous-facebook-group-calls-for-uprising-against-hamas-rule-in-gaza-strip-tomorrow-1.342349
It's seems that ways of countering access to information are on the minds of many.
We certainly heard a few things about the significance of and attempts to control the flow in Egypt. We don't hear so much about Cuba. It got my attention when someone posted that the events in Egypt weren't getting covered there.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2011/02/07/u-s-attacking-cuba-through-wi-fi-hot-spots.html
(translated text of video)
http://translatingcuba.com/?p=7111#more-7111
(the video, in Spanish)
http://vimeo.com/19402730
Think about it while you dance, enjoying the Al Gore rhythm.
Maybe it is just a divide by zero error waiting to happen?
And in other news, Google decides to disconnect the MPAA from the internet.
Yes, Apple has had smart engineering/design people in the right places, but even in the marketing related areas, Apple seems to have done much better.
The business/marketing people at Microsoft have done a number of things differently.
1) regular use of F.U.D. Very misleading statements when comparing security with other platforms
2) Not shipping when announced
3) Shipping things with major (and not quickly patched) flaws
4) Shipping things without some of the preannounced features. Preannounce and underdeliver is quite the opposite being somewhat secretive and providing some surprise with pretty well polished products at release.
5) Overstating user excitement/demand. Lines at stores due to free concert tickets instead of the new product? Subsidized launch parties. Quoting shipments to channel as sold (instead of actual end-user purchase/activation). Citing "sold out" when supply available was very low.
6) Some really strange ads. (At least they've gotten better)
So while one can criticize Microsoft for lacking other skills in key upper management, even the business/marketing skills and vision has been lacking. Encompassing many skillsets good people are needed in EVERY area of a company including those doing things the end-user can't see directly.
Of course if the end-user isn't the one paying companies like Microsoft or Google directly, there's not only the added difficultly of ensuring an optimal experience on hardware someone else makes, but perhaps less incentive as well. It's a bit like looking at the quality of commercial t.v. entertainment and news programming. The problem is better understood when one realizes that the customer is the advertiser, not the viewer. These things cause goals to differ from what consumers might expect.
Some have gone too far in crediting "cool" as being behind Apple sales without looking enough at the user perception of value. (plenty of power, loads of easy to use functionality without a bunch of on-going headaches). More "cool" wasn't enough to get many people to buy the Apple G4 cube when Apple delivered the other attributes in other cheaper products. The Dell Adama laptop was (still is??) marketed as cool, but relatively few PC users have been willing to pay a premium price for it. I noted a Best Buy with some pretty powerful 17" laptop configurations from Sony and Asus, but with battery life of 2 hours or so while the Mac shown (admitted not Apple's fastest 17") got 9 or 10.
I suspect some doing things like playing WoW or working with video while on A.C. power still like those, but really, how many can tolerate such awful battery life? What were they thinking?
I'm not sure how much blame Microsoft deserves for end-user systems that excel in some ways but fall flat in others but it seems apparent that much of that doesn't spin very well as "user choice". Maybe with more geeks in MS management their planning and testing for the end-user experience will look beyond simply minimizing crashes.
Microsoft seems to be learning it is better to shut up when they don't have a good product. They certainly didn't have much to say about tablets/slates at CES this year.
Doesn't that take TWO cheeks?
Throwing shoes is an insult, but providing free shoes for poor people wouldn't be. One has to look at secondary effects to see what sorts of aid actually help. Giving away shoes might harm local businesses that manufacture them. Some parts of Africa that has some work manufacturing clothing couldn't compete with bulk imports of clothing from places such as U.S. thrift stores. A great deal of clothing that doesn't sell in thrift stores at retail ends up sold of cheaply by the pound and works its way into other markets.
It might be better to process surplus goods into recyclable materials that the poor can be employed to use in manufacturing. If the material competes with local suppliers, provide it at near market prices, but as a loan where any "payment" is spent locally to further develop local infrastructure or essential business. No contributions should result in any debt to other countries.
NHK has been running a series on the shifting demographics of Japan. The percentage of the population that is retired compared to that of working age has been rising. It leads to a shortage of workers (at least with the right skills), and fewer resources to help those that are retired. The problem is one that other countries including the U.S. need to look at also.
Using robots is very clever, but besides them not being a good substitute for human companionship, they're still way too expensive for consumer uses.
It's not surprising that the elderly want (human) companionship as much as a helper. Vendors would have more luck targeting sports fans and others that don't want to leave the sofa and t.v. long enough to get food or beer.
I guess the next generation would address yet another "need". Will children have nightmares of being chased around by a robo-toilet with arms?
Prepare for a future teabagger revolt over tax dollars funding robo-toilet-slaves for obese sports fans. Maybe if the robot is also a home security system and has weapons?? The NRA would back that.
Actually there are McDonalds that have raised the prices of would-be Dollar Menu items just to discourage the homeless.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2584593/posts
Some cities have done things that effectively make it illegal to be homeless.
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/allcities.html
I don't suppose a town with mandatory gun ownership would try that though.
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=87&p=779947
MHz WorldView carries a bunch of international news channels. They're on some cable systems, some public tv stations, and on-demand via Roku.
They've gotten a little more exposure lately as one of the few U.S. outlets carrying Aljazeera. RT ("Russia Today") is a channel they carry that looks like blantently anti-U.S. propaganda. Most of the facts check out, but they give plenty of unsupported or poorly supported conclusions and show things out of context. They covered Kennesaw GA, a town and the mandatory gun ownership there, portraying the U.S. as being more gun-crazy than is actually the case. They made no mention of it being done as a response to a town (Morton Grove IL) that had banned guns.
I suspect most people have few clues who they're voting for when it comes to city council members. It is worth going to some city council meetings to find out what's going on, and who the crazy ones are.
The U.S. covers the ancient "give them food and circus and they will not rebel" areas pretty well (plenty of fat tv-numb people around?), but some people unable to afford housing are really hurting.
As the digital tv transition and cheaper LCD sets have motivated many owners of those big old c.r.t. projection sets to ditch them, many have turned up at thrift stores, recycling centers, and on craigslist. Those who get the chance to salvage parts from them may be want to rescue the large lenses.
I wonder if anyone has dug into these lower-RAM devices to see if a higher capacity chip could be installed? Granted there aren't many people qualified to deal with surface mount device removal and installation, but if there was demand some would probably be willing to offer the service.
If someone wants to do business with memory products, here's another idea: Produce USB drives with a physical write-enable switch so the drives can be malware immune when only read access is needed.
Oh don't worry about the cost. Just borrow the money from the people you're going to blow up. They may not be around to collect!