The principle objection I have with ads is that they slow down loading the pages that I really want. A small cookie? No problem. I can selectively clean them up myself or blacklist/whitelist them.
Right now, the local cafe WiFi providers appear to be in some sort of pissing match with Google. It takes forever to load anything Google. Even their search page. Google analytics? Forget it. That site is hung. So the more tools a browser can provide me to stay out of the advertisers' poo flinging wars, the better.
Fight with their TOS. It is not permitted for a customer to tamper with or monitor the traffic of another customer. Get caught and we cut your broadband. Those acres of underground servers the NSA has sure are neat toys. Shame about the 56K dialup connection to the Internet.
which is something a couple of for-loops in any language could accomplish in about five lines
But to use only five lines of code to both get something done AND raise the collective ire of Slashdot? I can only think of a few languages that are capable of this. Ruby comes to mind.
The 802.11 protocol does not require cell phones to broadcast their MAC addresses. Phones do it so that they can discover nearby networks faster, but it is completely optional.
Except, of course, that it does. In order to associate to an access point, you have to send your MAC address. It's sort of how packet-switched networks operate: It needs a source and destination. What you're talking about is a Probe request, a special type of packet when a station needs to obtain information from another station. This other station is typically an AP, but not necessarily
Discover != Associate.
Your cell phone (or any WiFi client) can listen for and enumerate available networks. The MAC address does not need to be sent until a connection is to be made. If your phone is set to automatically connect to any passing network, that's an entirely different can of worms. And smart trash cans are the least of your worries.
Just be certain to remember this the next time you are selected for a jury and have to listen to law enforcement testimony. Every defense attorney should ask LE witnesses about 'parallel construction'. And if they answer in the negative, ask them how the court can ascertain that they are not lying at this moment.
There is a lot of logic in taking people who have broken self control mechanisms and telling them that they need to rely on some external source of judgment. Fine. When they craving for a drink, teach them to call a sponsor or other group member to talk me down. Because their brain is too broken to make correct decisions in this area. But that should be the end of it. If this becomes a foot in the door to sell a story of some invisible guy up in the sky who is all powerful, well they may not be that screwed up. And attempting to make this sales pitch is often caught, even by people lacking excellent judgment as a con. Eventually, they see through the BS and reject not only the imaginary guy with the beard, but the useful support structure keeping them away from abusing substances.
... we used to draw little animated cartoons on the corners of our textbook pages and flip through them when class got boring. Oh yeah, and walk to and from school through the snow. Uphill both ways.
Makes no difference. GDP, Gross Domestic Product is supposed to be a measure of..... product. Stuff that's made and sold.
In the case of patents or movies, investment in R&D or cheesy scripts makes absolutely no contribution to GDP. Until something is produced. Either fancy iPhones or butts in theater seats. With movies, the effect of investment is easy to measure. No scripts written or actor paid. No popcorn sold. Not so with patents. Would Apple still build an iPhone even if the touchscreen gestures were in the public domain? Most probably yes. So those patents have a value that is much harder to quantify and is more a function of keeping the likes of Samsung out of a market. In the final analysis, even if Apple could completely block Samsung out of a market, that wouldn't necessarily increase the number of phones produced or their value. So the patent's contribution to GDP is zero.
But they were given meaning by our beloved economists. In 2008, the definition of GDP was changed to include things like patents and other types of intellectual property. Article here:
So, instead of waiting to see how a corporation (or national economy) actually executes their IP rights and measure the revenue, the GDP calculations attempt to impute a future income stream from them. And then this becomes part of our GDP statistics. IP has become a Potemkin village of value behind which companies (and entire nations) hide the true dire straights of their economy. They are pretty, shiny objects meant to impress investors, who should bee asking whether anyone has the ability to actually produce value with them.
So we aren't going to see a change in the status of patents any time soon. Because now, the economists have a number (fictional though it may be) that pins an amount of GDP to them. And woe to those who attack that and drive us into another recession.
That will work. Right up to where law enforcement says anyone posting/downloading encrypted content from such forums is dealing in child porn. Guilty unless you prove your innocence.
Slashdot Mirror
The principle objection I have with ads is that they slow down loading the pages that I really want. A small cookie? No problem. I can selectively clean them up myself or blacklist/whitelist them.
Right now, the local cafe WiFi providers appear to be in some sort of pissing match with Google. It takes forever to load anything Google. Even their search page. Google analytics? Forget it. That site is hung. So the more tools a browser can provide me to stay out of the advertisers' poo flinging wars, the better.
Fight with their TOS. It is not permitted for a customer to tamper with or monitor the traffic of another customer. Get caught and we cut your broadband. Those acres of underground servers the NSA has sure are neat toys. Shame about the 56K dialup connection to the Internet.
when will it all end?
When they bin the phone tracking bins.
They can name it YART: Yet Another RT.
No problem. Just see what the EU and the rest of the world comes up with. Then do something else.
Just like ATSC.
I think for me, the biggest feature I'd like to see is a HUD
Prior art: Windshield.
which is something a couple of for-loops in any language could accomplish in about five lines
But to use only five lines of code to both get something done AND raise the collective ire of Slashdot? I can only think of a few languages that are capable of this. Ruby comes to mind.
It listens for the network SSID. Silently, in some cases.
The 802.11 protocol does not require cell phones to broadcast their MAC addresses. Phones do it so that they can discover nearby networks faster, but it is completely optional.
Except, of course, that it does. In order to associate to an access point, you have to send your MAC address. It's sort of how packet-switched networks operate: It needs a source and destination. What you're talking about is a Probe request, a special type of packet when a station needs to obtain information from another station. This other station is typically an AP, but not necessarily
Discover != Associate.
Your cell phone (or any WiFi client) can listen for and enumerate available networks. The MAC address does not need to be sent until a connection is to be made. If your phone is set to automatically connect to any passing network, that's an entirely different can of worms. And smart trash cans are the least of your worries.
Just be certain to remember this the next time you are selected for a jury and have to listen to law enforcement testimony. Every defense attorney should ask LE witnesses about 'parallel construction'. And if they answer in the negative, ask them how the court can ascertain that they are not lying at this moment.
There is a lot of logic in taking people who have broken self control mechanisms and telling them that they need to rely on some external source of judgment. Fine. When they craving for a drink, teach them to call a sponsor or other group member to talk me down. Because their brain is too broken to make correct decisions in this area. But that should be the end of it. If this becomes a foot in the door to sell a story of some invisible guy up in the sky who is all powerful, well they may not be that screwed up. And attempting to make this sales pitch is often caught, even by people lacking excellent judgment as a con. Eventually, they see through the BS and reject not only the imaginary guy with the beard, but the useful support structure keeping them away from abusing substances.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybSzoLCCX-Y#t=1m30s
Now stay off my lawn!
Good for porn loops. Where the plot line is basically "in, out, repeat as required".
Makes no difference. GDP, Gross Domestic Product is supposed to be a measure of ..... product. Stuff that's made and sold.
In the case of patents or movies, investment in R&D or cheesy scripts makes absolutely no contribution to GDP. Until something is produced. Either fancy iPhones or butts in theater seats. With movies, the effect of investment is easy to measure. No scripts written or actor paid. No popcorn sold. Not so with patents. Would Apple still build an iPhone even if the touchscreen gestures were in the public domain? Most probably yes. So those patents have a value that is much harder to quantify and is more a function of keeping the likes of Samsung out of a market. In the final analysis, even if Apple could completely block Samsung out of a market, that wouldn't necessarily increase the number of phones produced or their value. So the patent's contribution to GDP is zero.
But they were given meaning by our beloved economists. In 2008, the definition of GDP was changed to include things like patents and other types of intellectual property. Article here:
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21582498-america-has-changed-way-it-measures-gdp-boundary-problems
So, instead of waiting to see how a corporation (or national economy) actually executes their IP rights and measure the revenue, the GDP calculations attempt to impute a future income stream from them. And then this becomes part of our GDP statistics. IP has become a Potemkin village of value behind which companies (and entire nations) hide the true dire straights of their economy. They are pretty, shiny objects meant to impress investors, who should bee asking whether anyone has the ability to actually produce value with them.
So we aren't going to see a change in the status of patents any time soon. Because now, the economists have a number (fictional though it may be) that pins an amount of GDP to them. And woe to those who attack that and drive us into another recession.
Little green men took my job.
I nominate Edward Snowden to head the group. He's about as far 'outside' as one can get right now.
That will work. Right up to where law enforcement says anyone posting/downloading encrypted content from such forums is dealing in child porn. Guilty unless you prove your innocence.
Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to make puns. Call that job satisfaction, 'cause I don't.
hot, black and in my lap.