Someone's already addressed the questions of "is it practical" - but the question I have is, if it is practical and we can get an energy surplus out of the thing, *when* will we see it?
Not to unduly don a tinfoil hat, but will it be surpressed by oil companies until there's a worldwide oil shortage? And if so, it wouldn't be so "cheap" when they released it.
Tinfoil hats aside, I doubt something like this will get the funding it deserves.
See, what gets me is that businesses have many reasons, other than stability, possible lower costs, and the avoidance of viruses and worms, to switch to a Linux desktop...
If you can get everything you need for your business to run under Linux, the productivity time you'll save due to the prevention of people downloading games, demos, and possibly other movies to their desktop will no doubt be significant.
And the fact that your average user probably wouldn't know how to get a program like a movie viewer or game to run under Linux, even if it did run under Linux, might be viewed by a business as a plus.
That the machines in South Korea's net cafes were already compromised and were used as spam relays. Or was that China?
And in the environment the Internet has developed into, there's enough proof to show that it doesn't take much to trick even seasoned Internet users into running malicious code.
Broadcom and Atheros say that making the interface information public would be illegal, because it could allow users to change the parameters of a chip in ways that violate the rules for using unlicensed spectrum (for example, by increasing its power or changing its operating frequency). That is a worry, but it depends on rather a conservative interpretation of the law.
People seem to forget that, if the last election was any indication, around 50% of the country is conservative in their viewpoints. And now the conservatives are in power... as a closet liberal (or am I a closet conservative? I guess it depends on my mood), even I am wary of extreme viewpoints (on either end) run amuck. Looking at the article, yes, you could say a conservative interpretation would be required, but I don't think the interpretation is "extreme" - I'd say it's well within the possibility of what a court would say.
This is not to say that the entire article is hogwash. In fact, I agree that vendors could open at least part of the hardware; if I'm reading this right (I'm no engineer, I just make the computers go), it would make writing open source drivers easier. And I'm all for that.
Oh, and as for the guy who's IE was using 99% CPU, Mozilla on my G4 was acting less than healthy while I was trying to read the article...
You probably just need additional search terms to narrow results.
Of course, that just leaves itself open for some more amusing results...
"Paris Hilton" "dumb move" - she's had so many of those...
"Paris Hilton" "night vision" - that would be dead on
"Paris Hilton" "sex" - I think that would still be too general..
From folks that used SGI workstations that their UNIX implementation wasn't ideal. IRIX (if my memory is correct) seemed to have tighter restrictions on certain common tasks - if memory serves, something as simple as printer usage was a PITA.
They did graphics well - that's a known. But I get the impression that they both 1) didn't do much else well and 2) were surpassed by other platforms in the graphics realm.
"The information would be readable only through a computerized scanner, which law enforcement officers could carry."
And criminals who steal/build their own scanner.
I don't want any of my personal information to be kept that close to me. I know you can read the card to get that info, but I'd rather not have someone aiming a high gain antenna at my ass to get that info while my license is still in my wallet. Of course, I didn't RTFA, so I don't know how the information might be transmitted - it might not be RFID-like. But still.
Now where's my tinfoil hat?
Really, this sounds like a way to slip something by people... "Look at the pretty hologram! No no, ignore the chip inside... just look at the pretty hologram!"
Actually I'd bet a surprisingly high number *are* married. I'd doubt a majority, but perhaps more than a 1/3 might be married.
If you include those that are not married but have significant others of the human kind, that might actually hit something close to (or more than) 50%.
He'd get in trouble for talking in class and has a short attention span. He can't sit still for long, and doesn't follow instructions.
Wait a minute - I used to get in trouble for talking in class! And my attention span is selective... I do however manage to sit still, but I only follow instructions when not following them doesn't get me anywhere...
As both a Linux and Windows tech, the only problem I've ever had with Dell is convincing them I knew what I was talking about.
Eventually, I learned what I needed to tell them in order to get the part I wanted - "Yes, I've tried different IDE cables. Yes, I've tried different IDE ports."
The only time I've had to wait long for repairs is when smoke was involved (coming off of the motherboard) and they didn't make that model server any more. They had to take my 1.7GhZ P3 away (including hard drives) and replace it with a 2.4Ghz P4.
Really, I don't think I've had more problems with Dell (and I certainly have more reasons to call them, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 computers with them under warranty) than I've had with anyone else.
As for the Redhat debate, I'm an EDU customer, so I lucked out with the cheap pricing. Really, all I've ever needed from Redhat is an easy way to update my OS - IE, up2date. For kernels, most libs, using Redhat's binaries are nice, and I've never had a machine die because of a patch (not something I can say for Sun, and apparently not something others can say for Windows). However, we compile our own Apache2, Postfix, Mysql - and a few other packages (under RH9 we were still compiling our own SSH and OpenSSL because I just didn't plain trust RH). I will state that the prices *seem* high but the discussion so far seems quite balanced between "It's Linux and it should be FREE!" and "Someone put a bit of work into making things easier on you and providing you an enterprise quality OS - they should get money for it."
You've pegged one of the reasons, but as per Dell's more recent moves to provide AMD chips, there's evidence that AMD's production capacity could never have met Dell's demand. It's been said before that one of the things Intel has going for it is the ability to produce large numbers of chips...
The short end, for those of you who didn't, is that the guy is complaining that "rogue" sites are displaying his copyrighted pictures and google is indexing those.
Google isn't doing anything wrong here.
The "rogue" sites are in other countries, so the guy can't easily sue them. Instead, he sues Google for providing (via searching) access to those sites.
Beyond this statement, I'm not going to address the "access to password hacks" issue because that's just as stupid.
But, as I (and apparently others) initially failed to read the article and get the right info, I went ahead and corrected myself regarding how the images were being accessed.
I think it goes beyond this - if he can't keep track of his materials and secure them properly, to where what should be "protected content" is available without a password simply through direct linking/image url calling, then he deserves to lose money.
A few modders mod funny posts insightful because a "funny" mod does not contribute to karma.
Not that this should be an issue. If someone is funny, they usually also come up with the occasional insightful/interesting/informative post. So, IMHO, it doesn't really matter that much.
Honestly, if you really feel the need to make sure a funny poster's comment deserves karma, I think the better alternative to modding funny "insightful" would be to mod them "underrated".
Slashdot Mirror
Not to unduly don a tinfoil hat, but will it be surpressed by oil companies until there's a worldwide oil shortage? And if so, it wouldn't be so "cheap" when they released it.
Tinfoil hats aside, I doubt something like this will get the funding it deserves.
If you can get everything you need for your business to run under Linux, the productivity time you'll save due to the prevention of people downloading games, demos, and possibly other movies to their desktop will no doubt be significant.
And the fact that your average user probably wouldn't know how to get a program like a movie viewer or game to run under Linux, even if it did run under Linux, might be viewed by a business as a plus.
And in the environment the Internet has developed into, there's enough proof to show that it doesn't take much to trick even seasoned Internet users into running malicious code.
People seem to forget that, if the last election was any indication, around 50% of the country is conservative in their viewpoints. And now the conservatives are in power ... as a closet liberal (or am I a closet conservative? I guess it depends on my mood), even I am wary of extreme viewpoints (on either end) run amuck. Looking at the article, yes, you could say a conservative interpretation would be required, but I don't think the interpretation is "extreme" - I'd say it's well within the possibility of what a court would say.
This is not to say that the entire article is hogwash. In fact, I agree that vendors could open at least part of the hardware; if I'm reading this right (I'm no engineer, I just make the computers go), it would make writing open source drivers easier. And I'm all for that.
Oh, and as for the guy who's IE was using 99% CPU, Mozilla on my G4 was acting less than healthy while I was trying to read the article ...
This guy saw something that he can consider "closed" and decided to write an article saying it should be "open" just to get people to agree with him.
Kind of like a Slashdot karma whore.
I'll have to try to read it all again.
Larger scope and budget? That would be good news if Rick Berman weren't involved.
Oh well. Supposedly we learn by our mistakes.
Unless their fatal. Then it's just natural selection.
Adding another variable can't be good.
Anyone who'd pirate a Britney Spears album should be put in jail.
For bad taste.
Of course, that just leaves itself open for some more amusing results ...
"Paris Hilton" "dumb move" - she's had so many of those ...
..
"Paris Hilton" "night vision" - that would be dead on
"Paris Hilton" "sex" - I think that would still be too general
They did graphics well - that's a known. But I get the impression that they both 1) didn't do much else well and 2) were surpassed by other platforms in the graphics realm.
And criminals who steal/build their own scanner.
I don't want any of my personal information to be kept that close to me. I know you can read the card to get that info, but I'd rather not have someone aiming a high gain antenna at my ass to get that info while my license is still in my wallet. Of course, I didn't RTFA, so I don't know how the information might be transmitted - it might not be RFID-like. But still.
Now where's my tinfoil hat?
Really, this sounds like a way to slip something by people ... "Look at the pretty hologram! No no, ignore the chip inside ... just look at the pretty hologram!"
If you include those that are not married but have significant others of the human kind, that might actually hit something close to (or more than) 50%.
All of the previous (4), possibly "redundant" posts were posted at 8:51 EST - yours came in at 8:52.
*You* are the redundant one! Muahahahahahahha!
Wait a minute - I used to get in trouble for talking in class! And my attention span is selective ... I do however manage to sit still, but I only follow instructions when not following them doesn't get me anywhere ...
Hmmm ... maybe my lovebird *could* get a degree!
Eventually, I learned what I needed to tell them in order to get the part I wanted - "Yes, I've tried different IDE cables. Yes, I've tried different IDE ports."
The only time I've had to wait long for repairs is when smoke was involved (coming off of the motherboard) and they didn't make that model server any more. They had to take my 1.7GhZ P3 away (including hard drives) and replace it with a 2.4Ghz P4.
Really, I don't think I've had more problems with Dell (and I certainly have more reasons to call them, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 computers with them under warranty) than I've had with anyone else.
As for the Redhat debate, I'm an EDU customer, so I lucked out with the cheap pricing. Really, all I've ever needed from Redhat is an easy way to update my OS - IE, up2date. For kernels, most libs, using Redhat's binaries are nice, and I've never had a machine die because of a patch (not something I can say for Sun, and apparently not something others can say for Windows). However, we compile our own Apache2, Postfix, Mysql - and a few other packages (under RH9 we were still compiling our own SSH and OpenSSL because I just didn't plain trust RH). I will state that the prices *seem* high but the discussion so far seems quite balanced between "It's Linux and it should be FREE!" and "Someone put a bit of work into making things easier on you and providing you an enterprise quality OS - they should get money for it."
Personally I'd rather write a book about having a child who plants a tree.
No no no!
In Korea, "Soviet Russia" jokes are only for old people.
The short end, for those of you who didn't, is that the guy is complaining that "rogue" sites are displaying his copyrighted pictures and google is indexing those.
Google isn't doing anything wrong here.
The "rogue" sites are in other countries, so the guy can't easily sue them. Instead, he sues Google for providing (via searching) access to those sites.
Beyond this statement, I'm not going to address the "access to password hacks" issue because that's just as stupid.
But, as I (and apparently others) initially failed to read the article and get the right info, I went ahead and corrected myself regarding how the images were being accessed.
Not that this should be an issue. If someone is funny, they usually also come up with the occasional insightful/interesting/informative post. So, IMHO, it doesn't really matter that much.
Honestly, if you really feel the need to make sure a funny poster's comment deserves karma, I think the better alternative to modding funny "insightful" would be to mod them "underrated".