At least in the case of Kodak, "open" digital cameras are bad news. The company is fighting hard to avoid the loss of revenue as silver (film) imaging is replaced by digital imaging. With film, every photo you take means use of their product. With open digital cameras, you don't need them any longer unless you want silver prints -- and the last bit I saw on the quality and archivability of ink-based photo printers was that the gap is closing, if it hasn't been closed already. Therefore, it behooves them to integrate cameras as tightly as possible to ensure your photos continue to generate revenue. I don't think Kodak can go head-to-head with the likes of Sony and win on hardware alone.
Another consideration is that Kodak was built on making photography simple, with the Brownie box camera. Most photographers don't want to do anything more than point the camera and show the resulting picture to their friends and relatives. The more tightly integrated the product is, the easier it is for the customer (provided he has all the compatible stuff -- dock, Windows computer, etc.).
I don't say this by way of bad-mouthing Kodak. I am sure Fuji has the same considerations. As to why electronics companies make their cameras closed, I don't know.
What a pity. I've been using and recommending HP printers for close to 20 years because they're darned near unbreakable. I won't be able to offer my blanket recommendation for them now.
No longer can charlatans and quacks fool or manipulate you as easily.
Actually, I think it may be easier. From time to time I get emails (you probably get them, too) citing some "news story" -- sometimes an actual "article" -- that, upon research, turns out to be inaccurate or misleading. A case in point was a year ago when a relative forwarded me a story that said Starbucks had pulled out of Israel in a political move and that Jews ought to boycott Starbucks. When I researched it, I found they had pulled out because they weren't making any money because their coffee was too expensive, and that the head of Starbucks was a vocal backer of Israel. Because Israel is such a hot-button issue for some people, it was believed and forwarded with amazing speed.
You will find that reporters themselves are taken in by these things sometimes (when they are not as easily verified), and will do news stories based on the rumor. Then, too, there are the actual plantings of bogus news stories and writer payoffs (witness the case of Armstrong Williams recently).
This has been, however, a risk of print media going as far back as you care to look. Whether one is a reporter or a reader, it's important to check one's sources.
Should physics textbooks carry a sticker that gravity is just a theory also?
Maybe someone should put a warning on the courtroom door, or on the door to the school board's meeting room: "The occupants herein may not necessarily consult a dictionary to determine the generally accepted meaning of a word before making decisions or statements that rely upon it."
FWIW, my Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1988) does not have the same #1 definition, but rather: 1: the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
It doesn't use the words "widely accepted" anywhere. The closest it comes is: 5: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena
It's kind of funny, and I haven't finished mulling this over, but dictionary definitions and spellings are based on the lexicographers' assessment of current general usage. They are not a canon issued by the Pope of Word Meanings. In other words, a dictionary definition is a theory of the word's meaning[s].
I think that the bottom line is that kids need to be taught to critically consider the contents of all information presented to them, whether it's biology, physics, math, or history. The only exception, of course, should be Slashdot.
BTW, I can accept the theory of gravity, but there's no way I'm buying that stuff about quarks. It's just too strange for me.
...please note that harassing the receptionist at these places is unlikely to cause any change in their investment policies.
It is bad form and poor practice to harass the receptionist anywhere. Usually this person is underpaid and without any say in company policy. The main power receptionists have is over whether you get into the place you're trying to get into (whether it's physically or by phone). Treat them nicely, and you're more likely to get them to grant you the access you request.
After a while, bicyclists become very adept at hopping small imperfections in the road like railroad tracks, potholes, etc. The first year I cracked 3,000 km or so of riding, I found myself trying to hop a bridge expansion joint in my car. Luckily, the car's suspension is better than my bicycle's.
lol - it would seem to me that they their automated tools are mistaking a slashdotting for an infection.
Actually, in a way, the Slashdot effect could indeed be considered an infection. About ten years ago, before there were email viruses that I was aware of, rumors of email viruses that do terrible things (that were not then possible) were circulated by credulous people trying to spread the warning. One such notice was passed to a government client of my then-employer with great solemnity at a meeting, without having been circulated into the engineering department where I worked. When I finally saw the notice and explained why it was not applicable in the client's environment, I explained how the REAL virus was the email notice in question, and that the computer it ran on was the human brain.
Now, years later, these sorts of viruses are all over the place (see snopes.com), as are the occasional "bugs" like this one, in which an unintended result occurs. Of course, "programming" the human mind, by introducing data that will yield a predicted result, is as old as the human (or proto-human) mind. I submit that being skilled in this is potentially far more powerful than anything we code for a computer.
FWIW, it's not like all of these cameras have gaping security holes. At least one, the AXIS 211 claims to have the capability of setting a password on the web interface. (I don't have one to verify this.) As far as I know, Google only follows publicly accessible links in its indexing, so the fact that we can look at the cameras isn't really the fault of Google or the camera vendor. If it's a violation, it's the failure of the camera's owner to read the fine manual.
Sounds like the RIAA should be going after the real pirates, not little Susie or Grandma.
I wouldn't buy CDs from little Susie or Grandma, if I were you. Little Susie's reputation was shot some years ago, and Grandma suffered a tragic holiday accident, putting her out of business for a while.
The Dulles Greenway (I prefer to call it the "Brownway") was enabled through special legislation allowing companies to build private roads in Virginia. I don't know exactly how the jurisdiction for traffic offenses is distributed, but I remember a notice in the paper that the partnership that operates the road contracted with the Loudoun County Sheriff to provide law enforcement services for a while; I presume this changes from time to time.
The Texas people ought to take a good, hard look at the experience of the Dulles Greenway. The owners were overly optimistic about people's willingness to pay $1.75 for 12 miles or less of clear highway, and many people, it seemed, would rather sit in traffic for an extra 15 minutes on the other roads than pay the toll. The partnership nearly went bust and had to refinance and extend their loan(s). I believe also that, for all the bragging about private enterprise, the loans were guaranteed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. There was also something about ownership of the road being transferred to Virginia for free at some point after all the loans were paid for.
Other private road construction in Virginia includes a parkway near Richmond, and there is discussion about "high-occupancy toll" (HOT) lanes on I-495 near Washington. In the proposed HOT lanes, buses and carpools would drive for free. The proposal would miraculously take less space than the state's adding a lane (!) and includes a no-compete agreement that would prevent the state from adding other lanes (but not from adding public transit) for 30 years. Surprisingly, a number of environmentalists are against it despite the fact that it would checkmate further expansion of that road for so long.
I guess my advice to Texans would be to ensure that condemnation authority is not allowed and that the state does not guarantee any of the financing.
The fine article uses the verb "amend" in relation to Indian patent law. This implies there was a patent law to begin with -- which, given India's British colonial past, one would expect to find.
Some of it is spillover from the other crap people drag into campgrounds, like stereos, televisions, and generators, and it's not fairly directed. A laptop whirring quietly on a picnic table in an adjacent campsite is not going to be annoying. But it is quite aggravating to be in a campground where people are watching loud television, etc., which they could just as well do at home.
I got quite hot under the collar last summer when we camped in the non-electric part of a Pennsylvania state park, and the fellow in the next campsite, told by the ranger he could not use his generator, idled his car until 11:00 so he could power his trailer. Consequently, I didn't get to hear the horned owls that live in the forest until about 2 a.m.
I am all for WiFi in KOA or Good Sam Parks, which are more like hotels than nature parks, but I would just as soon leave some of "it all" behind in state and national parks. I have less objection to WiFi than to providing full electric and sewer hookups (but no separate non-electric area) in state parks.
I understand the sentiment of the fellow who said you're not getting away unless you go off backpacking into the back-country; however, it's not always possible when you're trying to please wife and kid, too.
I'll concede that the U.S. government's behavior toward Muslim groups since 2001 has been irrational and unfair, and I am extremely uncomfortable with some of the stuff I see going down in Iraq, but U.S. citizens enjoy certain basic rights that the Chinese seem to lack, such as the right to appeal in court and get a fair hearing. Even the people imprisoned in Guantanamo are finally getting a right to fight their imprisonment, despite the best efforts of the Bush administration. From what I hear of Chinese courts, they must get their judges from the Australian outback.
Besides, in the U.S. we allow pornographic and superstitious websites to operate. Broadcasting is also permitted, although the porn ones are restricted to subscriber-only satellite and cable access.
You may argue that the superstitious website I referred to above backs the policies of the current administration, but remember also that it rabidly, vocally, and openly opposed the preceding administration, with no interference from the government whatever. Try that in China. Or, for that matter, in Iran, Malaysia, or Korea.
It's one of those things that can bite you in the rear. I once rode about five miles with my front wheel unfastened, and I STILL thaink my lucky stars that the wheel didn't come off on me.
Nah, they'll go after the manufacturer. My bikes were built without the "lawyer tabs" that come on most bikes equipped with quick-release wheels. The lawyer tabs are a pain-in-the-neck innovation to prevent improperly fastened wheels from coming off, probably because lawyers have made lots of money that way.
Removing the seat is stupid. Rain goes down the open seat tube and leaks into the bottom bracket bearings, and they rust. The quick-release on seatposts was first put onto mountain bicycles so a rider could quickly adjust the seat down in really rough terrain. Since most mountain bikes never see anything rougher than a paved path, this is useless. The thing to do if you buy one of these bikes is spend the extra $6-12 for a seatpost binder bolt that requires a tool. I think, though, that fears of seat theft are exaggerated. In 20 years of urban cycling, I have never lost a seat, even on bikes with quick-release seatposts.
I never remove the tire (maybe the wheel) when parking. The tire is the rubber part of the wheel. I have been known to undo the quick-release lever of the front wheel when I forget my lock. A thief breaking his collar bone because the front wheel came off is going to be more obvious than one rolling along a bike with no seat.
Personally, I think the authors went to a lot of trouble to steal the rental bike. I hacksawed one of my own Kryptonite locks (had lost the key) in two minutes.
Speaking of hardware hacks (to try to get back on topic), I missed seeing the great Kryptonite Bic pen hack on Slashdot. I had to read about it in the Washington Post. By way of disclosure, Kryptonite has fixed this and has a new kind of key.
That would be the book that came out a couple of years ago called "Noah's Flood". A friend of mine called it "badly written", but I found it fascinating. I don't think it corroborates Biblical inerrancy if you want to say the Bible is literally true, but it does a good job of demonstrating that something really, really bad involving flooding happened thousands of years ago, which inspired the fables of Noah and Gilgamesh.
IMHO, the only way you can get Biblical inerrancy that stands up to scrutiny, or at least won't be knocked on its butt by reason, is to go for mysticism as described by Maimónides in his Guide for the Perplexed.
I suppose that in the eventual of an actual ICBM, the test would have worked? At least, that's what I think the administration wants us to believe. The Washington Post article this morning said the decision on whether or not to declare the system operational would be made independently of the test results.
Every time I think of this anti-missile thing, I am reminded of a humorous short story by Kurt Vonnegut. Unfortunately, I cannot give the title here because of an Anglo-Saxonism in it.
Slashdot Mirror
Another consideration is that Kodak was built on making photography simple, with the Brownie box camera. Most photographers don't want to do anything more than point the camera and show the resulting picture to their friends and relatives. The more tightly integrated the product is, the easier it is for the customer (provided he has all the compatible stuff -- dock, Windows computer, etc.).
I don't say this by way of bad-mouthing Kodak. I am sure Fuji has the same considerations. As to why electronics companies make their cameras closed, I don't know.
What a pity. I've been using and recommending HP printers for close to 20 years because they're darned near unbreakable. I won't be able to offer my blanket recommendation for them now.
Actually, I think it may be easier. From time to time I get emails (you probably get them, too) citing some "news story" -- sometimes an actual "article" -- that, upon research, turns out to be inaccurate or misleading. A case in point was a year ago when a relative forwarded me a story that said Starbucks had pulled out of Israel in a political move and that Jews ought to boycott Starbucks. When I researched it, I found they had pulled out because they weren't making any money because their coffee was too expensive, and that the head of Starbucks was a vocal backer of Israel. Because Israel is such a hot-button issue for some people, it was believed and forwarded with amazing speed.
You will find that reporters themselves are taken in by these things sometimes (when they are not as easily verified), and will do news stories based on the rumor. Then, too, there are the actual plantings of bogus news stories and writer payoffs (witness the case of Armstrong Williams recently).
This has been, however, a risk of print media going as far back as you care to look. Whether one is a reporter or a reader, it's important to check one's sources.
Maybe someone should put a warning on the courtroom door, or on the door to the school board's meeting room: "The occupants herein may not necessarily consult a dictionary to determine the generally accepted meaning of a word before making decisions or statements that rely upon it."
FWIW, my Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1988) does not have the same #1 definition, but rather:
1: the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
It doesn't use the words "widely accepted" anywhere. The closest it comes is:
5: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena
It's kind of funny, and I haven't finished mulling this over, but dictionary definitions and spellings are based on the lexicographers' assessment of current general usage. They are not a canon issued by the Pope of Word Meanings. In other words, a dictionary definition is a theory of the word's meaning[s].
I think that the bottom line is that kids need to be taught to critically consider the contents of all information presented to them, whether it's biology, physics, math, or history. The only exception, of course, should be Slashdot.
BTW, I can accept the theory of gravity, but there's no way I'm buying that stuff about quarks. It's just too strange for me.
It is bad form and poor practice to harass the receptionist anywhere. Usually this person is underpaid and without any say in company policy. The main power receptionists have is over whether you get into the place you're trying to get into (whether it's physically or by phone). Treat them nicely, and you're more likely to get them to grant you the access you request.
After a while, bicyclists become very adept at hopping small imperfections in the road like railroad tracks, potholes, etc. The first year I cracked 3,000 km or so of riding, I found myself trying to hop a bridge expansion joint in my car. Luckily, the car's suspension is better than my bicycle's.
Actually, in a way, the Slashdot effect could indeed be considered an infection. About ten years ago, before there were email viruses that I was aware of, rumors of email viruses that do terrible things (that were not then possible) were circulated by credulous people trying to spread the warning. One such notice was passed to a government client of my then-employer with great solemnity at a meeting, without having been circulated into the engineering department where I worked. When I finally saw the notice and explained why it was not applicable in the client's environment, I explained how the REAL virus was the email notice in question, and that the computer it ran on was the human brain.
Now, years later, these sorts of viruses are all over the place (see snopes.com), as are the occasional "bugs" like this one, in which an unintended result occurs. Of course, "programming" the human mind, by introducing data that will yield a predicted result, is as old as the human (or proto-human) mind. I submit that being skilled in this is potentially far more powerful than anything we code for a computer.
FWIW, it's not like all of these cameras have gaping security holes. At least one, the AXIS 211 claims to have the capability of setting a password on the web interface. (I don't have one to verify this.) As far as I know, Google only follows publicly accessible links in its indexing, so the fact that we can look at the cameras isn't really the fault of Google or the camera vendor. If it's a violation, it's the failure of the camera's owner to read the fine manual.
I wouldn't buy CDs from little Susie or Grandma, if I were you. Little Susie's reputation was shot some years ago, and Grandma suffered a tragic holiday accident, putting her out of business for a while.
<sorry>
Isn't that what a lot of smokers say when they talk about why they can't quit?
I guess they've never seen the message, "Dominos drivers only carry $20 in cash."
It looks like the insurance industry has thought about it.
The Texas people ought to take a good, hard look at the experience of the Dulles Greenway. The owners were overly optimistic about people's willingness to pay $1.75 for 12 miles or less of clear highway, and many people, it seemed, would rather sit in traffic for an extra 15 minutes on the other roads than pay the toll. The partnership nearly went bust and had to refinance and extend their loan(s). I believe also that, for all the bragging about private enterprise, the loans were guaranteed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. There was also something about ownership of the road being transferred to Virginia for free at some point after all the loans were paid for.
Other private road construction in Virginia includes a parkway near Richmond, and there is discussion about "high-occupancy toll" (HOT) lanes on I-495 near Washington. In the proposed HOT lanes, buses and carpools would drive for free. The proposal would miraculously take less space than the state's adding a lane (!) and includes a no-compete agreement that would prevent the state from adding other lanes (but not from adding public transit) for 30 years. Surprisingly, a number of environmentalists are against it despite the fact that it would checkmate further expansion of that road for so long.
I guess my advice to Texans would be to ensure that condemnation authority is not allowed and that the state does not guarantee any of the financing.
The fine article uses the verb "amend" in relation to Indian patent law. This implies there was a patent law to begin with -- which, given India's British colonial past, one would expect to find.
I got quite hot under the collar last summer when we camped in the non-electric part of a Pennsylvania state park, and the fellow in the next campsite, told by the ranger he could not use his generator, idled his car until 11:00 so he could power his trailer. Consequently, I didn't get to hear the horned owls that live in the forest until about 2 a.m.
I am all for WiFi in KOA or Good Sam Parks, which are more like hotels than nature parks, but I would just as soon leave some of "it all" behind in state and national parks. I have less objection to WiFi than to providing full electric and sewer hookups (but no separate non-electric area) in state parks.
I understand the sentiment of the fellow who said you're not getting away unless you go off backpacking into the back-country; however, it's not always possible when you're trying to please wife and kid, too.
Personally, I liked the Temple of the Monkey God.
Why anyone would want to get out of a perfectly-functioning airplane is beyond me!
Oh, so THAT's what it's called. And here I thought my cat was only shedding.
Besides, in the U.S. we allow pornographic and superstitious websites to operate. Broadcasting is also permitted, although the porn ones are restricted to subscriber-only satellite and cable access.
You may argue that the superstitious website I referred to above backs the policies of the current administration, but remember also that it rabidly, vocally, and openly opposed the preceding administration, with no interference from the government whatever. Try that in China. Or, for that matter, in Iran, Malaysia, or Korea.
It's one of those things that can bite you in the rear. I once rode about five miles with my front wheel unfastened, and I STILL thaink my lucky stars that the wheel didn't come off on me.
Nah, they'll go after the manufacturer. My bikes were built without the "lawyer tabs" that come on most bikes equipped with quick-release wheels. The lawyer tabs are a pain-in-the-neck innovation to prevent improperly fastened wheels from coming off, probably because lawyers have made lots of money that way.
I never remove the tire (maybe the wheel) when parking. The tire is the rubber part of the wheel. I have been known to undo the quick-release lever of the front wheel when I forget my lock. A thief breaking his collar bone because the front wheel came off is going to be more obvious than one rolling along a bike with no seat.
Personally, I think the authors went to a lot of trouble to steal the rental bike. I hacksawed one of my own Kryptonite locks (had lost the key) in two minutes.
Speaking of hardware hacks (to try to get back on topic), I missed seeing the great Kryptonite Bic pen hack on Slashdot. I had to read about it in the Washington Post. By way of disclosure, Kryptonite has fixed this and has a new kind of key.
IMHO, the only way you can get Biblical inerrancy that stands up to scrutiny, or at least won't be knocked on its butt by reason, is to go for mysticism as described by Maimónides in his Guide for the Perplexed.
... when they acquire Gator or someone like that.
I suppose that in the eventual of an actual ICBM, the test would have worked? At least, that's what I think the administration wants us to believe. The Washington Post article this morning said the decision on whether or not to declare the system operational would be made independently of the test results.
Every time I think of this anti-missile thing, I am reminded of a humorous short story by Kurt Vonnegut. Unfortunately, I cannot give the title here because of an Anglo-Saxonism in it.