If people and companies viewed patents and copyrights 100 or more years ago the way we do now, we would have possibly had exactly one artist who did pointillit paintings, one who did impressionistic, one who did abstract, etc. I wonder if we really have a need to patent or copyright things that are somewhat "basic"? Well, in my mind they are basic. But, that is just one person's point of view.
This is very cool! Writing data by flipping a molecule "on" or "off." I wonder though if at the molecular level do you end up with data that is "fragile" once written to media? I don't worry too much that a burned or impressed "pit" in a CD, for example, is going to be affected by background radiation or other similar phenomena. But, if your bits are now single molecules, how robust is the media in terms of preserving the data? I am obviously not a physicist.....
Amazing how you can be so shrill while simultaneously being such a multipurpose shill.
Cheers,
Erick
SPAM thrives best where it is consumed.
on
Spam's U.S. Roots
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I think that SPAM does so well (so to speak) here in the United States because enough people read SPAM and buy the products to make it worthwhile for the spammers to do business. I had no idea there was such a market for "male enhancement," "payday loans," and the other similar ads.
I have been using gmail since early July and the spam filter is the best I've used so far. I get very few spam in my inbox everyday and I haven't had a false positive in so long that I don't check anymore.
The spammers will continue to spam until they are ingored to the point that there is no money in it. But, you know, I just don't see that happening.
There were two rotors, one stacked above the other. The lower rotor was apparently generating lift but the upper rotor wasn't. I imaging that the lower rotor raised up a bit as it generated a net positive force on the bottom of the blade (this is how fixed wing works but I am not 100% sure that it translates to rotor) whereas the upper blade might have been sagging or simply did not lift up a bit as they might have expected.
How could they not know that this was going to fail so completely? The article did not state whether or not they had done any test flights before the public demonstration. If they did, and it worked, than maybe it was just the temp/humidity as stated. It was interesting to read:
"My feeling at the moment is that the machine is actually quite unstable," said Mike Georgallis, leader of the team that has been working on the project for six years.
Maybe they did know that this wasn't likely to be a success.
I worked for a company that did high-end engineering and programming for the military. They currently have about 120 network engineers, programmers, and other related staff. Maybe 10 of these folks have computer science degrees. However, they *all* had Cisco cerifications and many had MCSE and other certs as well. Perhaps measuring the amount of people getting certified for hardware platforms, languages, etc. might provide more insight into how many people are pursuing computer science type jobs. Also, in this area, if you want to be an engineer or a programmer you might be as well off going to one of the schools that provide training and various certs in 12 month to 24 month time frames. Colleges are not the exclusive path to a career in programming or engineering.
Microsoft's strategy so far is to find people who used to be proponents of Linux and other open source products and get them to do a 180, possibly as a result of a very fat paycheck though who knows. Anyway, here is an example from the article:
In January Taylor poached one of IBM's former Linux technical leaders, William Hilf, to test 20 versions of open-source software in Redmond. Hilf two years ago was in front of audiences touting the cost effectiveness, reliability and performance of open-source software. Nowadays he's working the Microsoft spiel: "There's no set architecture in Linux. All roads lead to madness," and "the devil is in the details. This stuff is not easy to run."
How can this fellow's opinion turn on a dime like that? Is he really credible to a corporate audience? I don't think people are quite that stupid or so easily manipulated.
Another strategy is to fund studies that are purported to be neutral regarding Microsoft vs. Open Source. Once again, from the article:
Microsoft has funded 13 studies over the past year comparing Linux with its own products. Guess what: All of them come out in favor of Microsoft. The studies are generously referenced in an advertising campaign dubbed "Get the Facts." Can Linux really handle crucial areas such as security and e-mail?
Here is a skeptical customer:
"I'm not sure how relevant this stuff is," says PCMS Datafit's Matt S. Scherocman. One Microsoft customer, ADC Chief Information Officer Jamey S. Anderson, agrees: "You don't know who's paying the bills. You can't trust the surveys."
Of course, if all else fails, try an "SCO" and claim property as yours and sue the hell out of everybody:
At a recent gathering of venture capitalists Ballmer went so far as to suggest Microsoft might own intellectual property in Linux and assured the audience that Microsoft would pursue any violation of its own patents. Before he spoke, a fire alarm went off. "It was eerily symbolic," says a venture capitalist in attendance. "We all scattered." Microsoft denies this, and says it will not litigate.
Once again, I don't think corporate IT staff and managment can be so easily manipulated. I believe that the very health growth in Open Source is proof.
Society will always generate malcontents and folks with antisocial personality features. These people have reasons or needs to hurt other people. A fair amount of these folks are quite bright and use their gifts to be hurtful and do damage. Trying to catch them seems futile because they will figure out a way around anything put up to stop them. They feed off the attention that they get (though a few very disturbed individuals do not). It is best, in my view, to not give them any attention at all. Just protect your computer. When you do catch one, prosecute them to the fullest possible extent of the law and then they can have some attention. When the weenies see one of their own in prison without a computer and looking none-to-happy, maybe it will be a deterrent. Or maybe not.
This is a specious argument because you have proof that people do indeed win the lottery. It is not difficult at all to pile up evidence that the lottery can be won by you, and, further, you can calculate the actual odds of winning/losing. We have no such tangible proof of life outside our planet.
I think most people have an intutive sense that we are, indeed, alone in the universe. We have been looking for "life" outside of our planet for quite a while with nothing even approaching a hit. I participate in the SETI project via BOINC but that is out of a hope that maybe life is way far out there and not quite what we would expect. Maybe we are looking for the wrong sort of thing. Who is to say another life form even has a physical body. I am not optimistic that we will find life out in the universe in my lifetime (I'm 46). On the other hand, I am not so sure finding another form of life outside of Earth is such a good idea. We have a hard enough time getting along with people on the other side of our own planet. Well, this is all one man's conjecture. I am looking forward to reading other/.'s opinions and thoughts. I support whole-heartedly anyone who disagrees with me, it would be fun, in this case, to be wrong.
The imam and the founder of a mosque in Albany, New York, are being held after an FBI sting operation in which the suspects tried to help an undercover agent posing as a terrorist, federal law enforcement sources said today. The two men allegedly agreed to launder the money from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile, the criminal complaint says.
The imam and the founder of a mosque in Albany, New York, are being held after an FBI sting operation in which the suspects tried to help an undercover agent posing as a terrorist, federal law enforcement sources said today. The two men allegedly agreed to launder the money from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile, the criminal complaint says.
To answer some questions that I've received today, firstly as far as I know the rather aggressive lawyer who contacted me yesterday is not part of Penguin Puttnam but is working with Katie Tarbox on future projects and trying to gain control of my domain name for these projects. She informed me that things would 'only get worse' for me from here if I didn't do something about it - i.e. give it to them.
Finally, a point about this domain name. When this book launched I had no choice but to take down the content I previously had published on the front page because of the traffic coming to the site and having no choice but to remove it if I didn't want my professional and personal reputation damaged by it. I still use it, although I don't link from the front page of course, and one day I sincerely hope I'll be able to move my content back up where it belongs.
Why do I feel like something might be missing from this story? We have the makings of a tv movie here. A girl is victimized, horribly, as a result of her online activities. A book is made, a lucrative speaking engagement tour is arranged, and the victim makes a lot of money. That in itself is not necessarily bad (though it can be rather odd). However, with all of this money seemingly floating about, Katie T. and Penguin could have done the most gracious thing and made a generous offer to Katie J. for the domain name katie.com. Instead, they suggest that the domain name should be given to them as a "donation." I generally donate money to causes that are essentially "poor." I don't see any poor people on Kate T.'s side of the fence. So, this looks really, really greedy on the part of Katie T. and Penguin. As a matter of fact, it looks so overwhelmingly crass and greedy that it seems almost unreal. The Register article seemed informative but can this really be all there is to this? Is Penguin really so dumb as to steamroller over someone's domain name and not offer even a token sum to fix it? I wonder. If Katie T. and Penguin really are this mean-spirited and greedy then I do hope that someone steps forward and helps Katie J. fund a legal challenge.
Until a more advanced battery technology comes along , battery life is going to be a trade between how long you want the computer to run between recharging and how many features (DVD, etc) you want available. Eventually, some new technology such as fuel cell will enable us to have our cake (lotsa features) and eat it too (very long battery life).
I used to dislike RealAudio as much as anybody else but the most recent release of their player is actually very good and does not assault me with ads or offers to upgrade anywhere near the extent that the older ones did. I have used MS MediaPlayer quite a bit but recently found that RealPlayer seemed to have more codecs or was able to auto-install them with greater ease than MediaPlayer. Hell, I could be wrong about how that works. But, my user experience is that Real's player is a pretty nice "product" at this point and, at times, has helped me listen/watch something sooner that I otherwise would have. This is just my two cents worth, a personal opinion at best. I am far from a Real Audio "apologist." I understand Real's history and was as annoyed as anyone else in the past. But, I don't mind revisiting something once in a while to see where it's at and I have found the current RealPlayer to be a good product.
Cheers!
Erick
P.S. Yes, I know I should look at some of the other non-MS/Real players out there and will do so.
You develop any of a host of symptoms that cause you to see your doctor, who, in the course of diagnosing what ails you, discovers that your problem is within your pancreas. Sort of like going to a physician because of "stress headaches" and finding out that you have a brain tumour.
Jobs was informed, prior to surgery, that there were no user serviceable parts within his pancreas but he could have his pancreas refurbished/rebuilt for a reasonable fee.
Slashdot Mirror
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
I have been using gmail since early July and the spam filter is the best I've used so far. I get very few spam in my inbox everyday and I haven't had a false positive in so long that I don't check anymore.
The spammers will continue to spam until they are ingored to the point that there is no money in it. But, you know, I just don't see that happening.
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
"My feeling at the moment is that the machine is actually quite unstable," said Mike Georgallis, leader of the team that has been working on the project for six years.
Maybe they did know that this wasn't likely to be a success.
Cheers,
Erick
cheers,
erick
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
In January Taylor poached one of IBM's former Linux technical leaders, William Hilf, to test 20 versions of open-source software in Redmond. Hilf two years ago was in front of audiences touting the cost effectiveness, reliability and performance of open-source software. Nowadays he's working the Microsoft spiel: "There's no set architecture in Linux. All roads lead to madness," and "the devil is in the details. This stuff is not easy to run."
How can this fellow's opinion turn on a dime like that? Is he really credible to a corporate audience? I don't think people are quite that stupid or so easily manipulated.
Another strategy is to fund studies that are purported to be neutral regarding Microsoft vs. Open Source. Once again, from the article:
Microsoft has funded 13 studies over the past year comparing Linux with its own products. Guess what: All of them come out in favor of Microsoft. The studies are generously referenced in an advertising campaign dubbed "Get the Facts." Can Linux really handle crucial areas such as security and e-mail?
Here is a skeptical customer:
"I'm not sure how relevant this stuff is," says PCMS Datafit's Matt S. Scherocman. One Microsoft customer, ADC Chief Information Officer Jamey S. Anderson, agrees: "You don't know who's paying the bills. You can't trust the surveys."
Of course, if all else fails, try an "SCO" and claim property as yours and sue the hell out of everybody:
At a recent gathering of venture capitalists Ballmer went so far as to suggest Microsoft might own intellectual property in Linux and assured the audience that Microsoft would pursue any violation of its own patents. Before he spoke, a fire alarm went off. "It was eerily symbolic," says a venture capitalist in attendance. "We all scattered." Microsoft denies this, and says it will not litigate.
Once again, I don't think corporate IT staff and managment can be so easily manipulated. I believe that the very health growth in Open Source is proof.
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
Dogbert
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
erick
The imam and the founder of a mosque in Albany, New York, are being held after an FBI sting operation in which the suspects tried to help an undercover agent posing as a terrorist, federal law enforcement sources said today. The two men allegedly agreed to launder the money from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile, the criminal complaint says.
Cheers,
Erick
To answer some questions that I've received today, firstly as far as I know the rather aggressive lawyer who contacted me yesterday is not part of Penguin Puttnam but is working with Katie Tarbox on future projects and trying to gain control of my domain name for these projects. She informed me that things would 'only get worse' for me from here if I didn't do something about it - i.e. give it to them.
Finally, a point about this domain name. When this book launched I had no choice but to take down the content I previously had published on the front page because of the traffic coming to the site and having no choice but to remove it if I didn't want my professional and personal reputation damaged by it. I still use it, although I don't link from the front page of course, and one day I sincerely hope I'll be able to move my content back up where it belongs.
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers,
Erick
Cheers!
Erick
Cheers!
Erick
P.S. Yes, I know I should look at some of the other non-MS/Real players out there and will do so.
Cheers,
Erick
Erick
Cheers!
Erick