Did he just make the whole point of hypertext illegal? Granted, he did just do this for DeCSS, but what about when there are other things on the internet that people don't want you to read... Wait until someone links a corporate helpfile to a specific products bug-traq which raises awareness of a flaw and causes closer scrutiny of the product... One could argue that this "bad publicity" negatively affects the manufacturer's sales... We don't want people to find out about the products they are buying... we just want them to buy them online.
I've got the sales website right now:
Here's a black box with somehting in it that costs $25.00. Here is another made by our competitor that costs $50.00. We'd tell you what it is that we're selling, but you might figure out what our competitor's product is, recognize that one of us is giving a better deal and that would hurt one of our's business... We would tell you what our company is, but then you might know who are competitors are, so we can't even tell you that, and then you might show a preference towards one of us. So all we'll tell you is that we've got a product, and it's for sale. Please send cash to:
P.O. Box XXXXX
Anytown, NJ
and we promise we'll send you whatever our product is.
I've got it... rather than use the internet to spread information, lets restrict it in such a way that no useful information can be obtained.
This vaguely reminds me of something I would see on a Monty Python skit.
Or 'Monkey Piss'... I've always been partial to 'Monkey Piss.'
Yes folks, you too could look to find a cool sounding name, and face-off against countless other companies trying to Trademark/Copyright the same name and attempting to protect their own companies... you can battle it out through local courts, state courts, even the supreme court for copywright infringment or something similar...
Or - for this limited time - you could show your true savy at making anything work and come up with a truly original name... I believe 'Monkey Piss' is indeed that name. Think about it...
1. Instant eye catcher: Tell me the title of this thread didn't instantly catch your attention (unless it was immediately moderated to -1/Troll)
2. People will remember your name - you instantly create name recognition... and I garountee any company named 'Monkey Piss' will instantly become the talk of the office and dinner table for that night.
3. There are thousands of public domain/national geographic pictures of just this which you can instantly use in advertizing.
4. You already have a mascott, and its way cuter than some creapy spider....even if it is peeing.
And here I thought those years of piano lessons were useless... A Tarentella is not a reference to Tarantino, but a reference to a lively dance to stave off a tarantula bite.
What you forget is that Bill Gates has now re-distributed the wealth. The american people who sold their vote are a little better off, and the people who didn't are probably a little pissed that their candidate didn't win. (Because you would willingly accept the $5000 if you agreed with the platform Bill was pedaling)
So 2 years pass and we find out that Bill's special intrest has screwed over the country... Guess what? Next time people will either vote themselves, or pay a little bit more attention to who they sell their vote to.
If anything the longterm effects force people to become more politically aware.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- In an unlikely turn of events of last nights presidential election, Natalie Portman (Star Wars: Episode I) has been elected President of the United States.
Women's groups around the world celebrated for their first oportunity with a women in the Whitehouse. When informed of the shocking news, Miss Portman commented, "I'd like to thank the american people for such an oportunity. I didn't think that I even had a chance with all the competition. I'd like to thank George Lucas, Rick McCallum, my Mom and Dad... oh wait I thought that was for the academy awards.... who the hell are you guys?"
Both former Vice President Al Gore, and Govenor of Texas, George Bush were unavailable for comment, but spokespeople from both parties have indicated that a recount has been ordered.
A friend of mine was talking about something like this about three years ago... think of it as "Capitalism meets politics." We (USA) live in a democratic society which promotes a capitalistic economy (or so they would have us believe). Most people feel as if their vote doesn't count or their choices are the same. So why not be able to do the capitalistic thing and sell your vote?
Well, if you're not going to vote in an election, you might as well sell it... Sell it to the highest bidder, the special intrest group which you most agree with, whatever it doesn't really matter - you proffit.
Consider the market, most Americans are apathetic about politics but very interested in the economy. This puts more money in the American workers hand (from selling their vote) and creates an entire new line of work - vote-brokering. Entire blocks of disenchanted voters can be bought out (at a fair price) and sold by these vote-brokers to the highest bidding candidate (well you sold it to them, they can do with it as they please). The neatest thing though? The price of your vote becomes more and more valuable as the election draws closer - and both candidates (or sides to a referendum/whatnot) want your vote more and more as they approach the 51% mark. After that, your vote is 100% worthless.
You wouldn't have to sell your vote, you could still vote normally - but you would have the option of making some money off your vote if you wanted to.
So what happens if someone bad gets elected? Obviously they get into office, screw up and piss off the people, and then the people decide to either vote themselves or make sure they sell their vote to any opposing candidate next time...
Why do I call it Tommunisim? My friend's name is Tommy... and he's grown bizarely adamant about such things...
Great, but what will I wear during the summer? or if I ever go to the southwest?
Doesn't putting a laptop in a ski outfit seem a little silly? I mean, yes, I ski poorly and I imagine I'd wreck it in like - a bunny slope or two, but even experienced people crash and burn (ABC's "the agony of defeat" from the 80's scared me to not ski until very recently).
The only activewear worse than ski wear that I can imagine incorporating electronics in is a wetsuit.
(referencing your MS discussion to trade linux for it)
Didn't they do this with Netscape CDs when they were trying to get IE3.0 to take off? (in addition to the whole ship with us only thing/ we're on the desktop thing/ and the we're tying the UI in for 4.0)
You see where that's starting to get them... anti-trust.
(Referencing your "linux-kidz" discussion)
If you think it is just Kids (or probably you think people acting childishly) that compain about the cost of software, I'd think that Windows 95/98 would be the simpler platform. Yes, you do pay out the nose, but everyone's got it and burners are a dime a dozen. Does anybody remember what 770-077-07077 (or something like that) is?
If the young linux crowd (which usually gets a bad rap) were really jsut a bunch of copyright-infinging pirate H4X0RZ I bet you they'd really be running 95 - its a whole lot more "fun" if that's what you really think they think is 3L173(spelling?). Its not a question of "free" in terms of money that pulls in these kids.
Now as whether or not this younger linux generation picks up the torch and starts to join various open source projects remains to be seen, but wait to find out. I'd bet MOST linux users say they support the FSF, but the second the FSF asks for a handout it looks like somebody just stepped on someone elses' pet turtle.
Think of these kiddie "free-loaders" as seeds...
OS is not against feeding your family, its not "pick Open Source or Microsoft"... its more of a statement of I believe "WE" can make a better product together. If that means I have to work on NT Boxes at work too, then Damnit, I'll work on NT boxes...but when I go home its a different story.
The seeds of revolution have already been planted, all we need is a little catalyst...
I'll claim this... what is the difference between word 2000 (for most people) and word 2.0?
In truth, probably not much... My experience with most people who use wor d need is:
1. something to edit text.
2. something to change the font.
3. something to print it.
4. a way to see it.
5. a way to save it.
Granted, there are some that embed spreadsheets, graphics, and so on, but for day to day buisiness this is all you need.
A very good friend of mine used to say "Monichrome monitors for everyone!" Unless you have a specific reason for needing color (graphic artist, cad designer, etc), I don't see the point in having one in the workplace. "Fun charts" is a bogus reason. Of course, you can't buy a monichrome monitor anymore (or when I first heard him say it for that matter) so everyone, even the receptionist who plays solitare all day can do it in color.... Do customers need color? No. Is it an added expense to the customer? Yes. Do we have a choice? No.
Products which do more are great, but if you're never going to use the equation editor or the shapes editor in word, you don't need them. If the program works, a company should have the responsibility to sell it, if they choose not to, they loose the right to tell someone that they can't give it away. (LucasArts, for example still bundles and sells really old software together - which is great.) I don't think it is fair to expect fixes, and patches released anymore, but I expect the product to at least be mail-orderable... If they can no longer afford to keep it in production, then guess what, they probably won't miss it.
A computer is a tool like a hammer, not a toy like a stereo.
Sure, then the guys at sharezilla would then allow a legitimate transaction to take place, figure out what defines a legitimate transaction, and then spoof a legitimate transaction... no dice, just delay.
Lojack works great on cars, politicians like to speed, they use them every day, and it has become engrained into society.
Computers are not so, we have tech illiterate, we have tech clueless and, tech phobic people (I am a tech phobic but... as you can see I still make my living on a computer - Lojack technology is what I fear).
Lets start with this simple scenario, the record company sees that you are distributing MP3s from your webiste or posting DeCSS or whatever. Under the DCMA they claim to a judge that your site is infringing ontheir rights. You are contacted and asked to cease and desist. Hypothetically, you refuse, calling some sort of 1st amendment (and also recognizing that if you willfuly stop, you are in some way acknowledging that you believe that what you are doing is wrong). Hypothetically, because you have a Lojack system, and this is now a case of some sort of computer crime, the police - the executive branch - have the responsibility of making you comply to the court order. Your computer is Lojacked off.
Next scenario, some "31337 h4x0r" (did i m1s3p3ll that?), instead of stealing your credit card this week, hacks the Lojack system, knocking off users indiscriminantly so they can get more bandwidth. Your off, the neighbors are off, everybody's off... the computer infrastructure is at a standstill. (Ironically, I'd go for this - LUDDITES REBEL!)
If this sells, you provide a pinpointable location to the police, you allow them complete control of your access and you give up your personal rights. While your at it, club a baby seal, shoot a bald eagle, and encourage your company to move overseas.
If you are concerned about your computer being stolen:
1. put a padlock on it - thats what colleges do, it may not completely prevent it, but it does make it take longer.
2. put a BIOS password on it - now they have to be tech savy enough to either reset or replace your BIOS.
3. remove all your external screws and replace them with those uni-directional bathroom stall screws.
4. use external hard drives only, and cary yours around with you at all times - sleep with it.
5. install your own GPS and a transmitter on the inside of the case, you find it, you tell the police where it is... leave a true Lojack system out of this.
Don't encourage the government to track and/or control you.
Your IP changes, the network that it connects to changes, but unless they rip out the Ethernet Card and replace it with another one - or unless they reinitialize the MAC addess (something VERY old III-com cards let you do), you have one hardware address which defines what your card is no matter what.
A few years ago, when I worked in IT, we had a strange portscan coming from one of our internal machines, becasue everything was DHCPed we used the MAC Addr to identify the offender... half a days worth of work, but it got our manager off our backs... only because we had a listing of our MAC Addresses (some old inventory thing) was this usefull... I could tie it to a name (so I could find the machine)... I'd assume that with a couple of extra days, we could have checked the routers out and gone and listened for the same network activity if we didn't know where the machine was located... on a rediculous side...
I don't necessarily view any of these as practical or useful solutions (even the MAC stuff) its just a thought as to how they might be doing it... finding a MAC address without knowing an IP though would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack...
We went IP->MAC->TABLE->LOCATION, what you'd have to go with is MAC->IP->ISP->LOG->UID->LOCATION. I don't know the feasability of that...
An alternate approach (and semi-jokingly)
X=V*T right?
So, if you can tell how long it takes to ping a site, and you have some way of measuring the datarate, you can determine the distance between the two computers... Of course, you would need to then perform this on an adjacent node, run the test again, figure out if you are closer or further, and continue until you got as close as possible (backtrack as necessary)... It winds up being a pain in the ass neural network problem where everyone that owns some hardware between here and there would have to agree to be used as some sort of internet sonar...
Ok, or I could purchase a PC/104 (486/66) card, a flashdisk (for the kernel), and a ethernet card, hook up a floppy drive to burn a image of the Distro (find a nice tiny linux distro with IP stack that fits on a floppy), immediately mount a partition from another linux box, download and uncompress my target application onto the flashdisk. Unmount the drive, drop TCP/IP support and run my application. Periodically, the system brings itself back onto the network and dumps data to the fileserver and looks for updated scripts and code. Total hardware cost is well under $750 if you buy these in enough bulk.
What would I do with these you ask? Everything from motor control (for an additional $200 bucks) to some small data aquisition and processing (up to $500 bucks if you want something real special), perhaps some RS-485 communications ($200 bucks) to specialized hardware.
Regardless, I can build a whole system which has a lot of functionality for a whole hellova lot cheaper. No I don't get dazzling graphics and/or performance, but if you're purchasing a 486, thats probably not what you're looking for.
Could I do this with Windows CE? Honestly I don't know... I've never used it, I don't know what the code-bloat is like for it.
a system like this is probably 3.5x4x3 (with cabling) excluding a power supply... which you can work around on many apps... I can fit this in a whole lotta places.
For my apps, a G4 would be like using a 50lb sledge hammer when I'm looking for a jewlers hammer.
(US - MASS) Ok, I might be talking out my rear here, but I think that this is how it works... A co-worker of mine tried to explain this one to me once.
Any of you Ham-heads/radio-junkies please correct me here.
Thanks to the FCC, Junk Cell phone calls are illegal. Have you ever noticed that you don't get telemarketers calling your cell phone? That's because it is illegal to make unsoliceted calls to a cell phone (some FCC regulation). It has to do with the same laws preventing pirating known radio station frequencies.
As stated there wrong numbers made to a cell phone are also illegal. (So yes, you can take legal action against the idiot who accidentally calls your cell at 3 AM looking for a ride from the bar... not that its right.)
One of the guys I work with chucked his regular phone completely just for this reason.
For calls like this, the owner of the phone is completely not responsible. If you wanted to, call up the phone company and *itch to get your $0.10 back - but for most people thats just not worth the effort and we suck up the cost.
I'd imagine that if you start recieving spam-mails targeting your phone and charging you that this would be a similar sort of case. Its still operating on an FCC liscenced signal, and illegal use is illegal use.
Ultimately there is a fine which the originator must pay..
When you are talking about sailing around a small area, usually you can find some sort of local service - but you're not. You're not even talking about making a costal run, where usually you can get pretty good service (if you hug the shore). You're talking about 2000 miles(wild guess) of open ocean ocean. To date, there has been little market for this. Anyone who is making such an extended trip is usually part of the merchant marine, a fishing vessel, or some country's navy. Satalite is the only market that covers everything.
A buddy of mine in the merchant marine is given 15 minutes of phone use every four weeks or so. This article might shed some insight to you about all of the problems you'll really face.
I'd say w/o satalite, you're SOL. I would point out though... if you can afford a sailboat and take 3 months off of work for a criuse... well splurge a little if its that important.
After reading several questions dealing with your religious beliefs, I came to see parallels with your writing and those of a quasi-legend at Clemson University... Brother Jim.
When I was in college, there was a "religious performer" (Brother Jim) who would tour our campus once or twice a year proclaiming all of the female students (especially those in sororities) as whores and all males as drug-addicted children of satan... Needless to say, the man recieved little love from the student body. However, whenever he spoke, at least 400 students would encircle him (at a distance) and scream everything from obscenities to actual valid arguements back at him. He always drew a croud, always got active participation, and always raised discussion on his desired topic. Eventually the student newspaper interviewed him and he admitted that he did so in part to enrage students in order to promote discussion of religion - sort of a any press is good press aproach.
On some levels, I respected that response, on some I didn't... either way, watching him for a couple of hours was a lot like going to see the circus...
My Question: Do you view the discussions you raise as the important effect of your articles, and thereby occasionally intentionally trying to annoy readers, or do you view their content as more important and truly believe every word you type?
QUESTION: The U.S. Justice Department is currently suing Microsoft. How Closeley are you following the trial?
44% of the respondants are NOT FOLLOWING THE TRIAL AT ALL. I ask, are they making any sort of informed answers to the other questions if this is the case? ONLY 4% claimed to be following the trial closely. Breaking things down by political philosophy is one way to do a poll, (and it does add a little insight as to the parties beliefs of business) but it really doesn't tell us anything else. This following closely, somewhat, or not at all would have been a better gauge. I'd like to make some statements about the other questions:
QUESTION: Recent press reports suggest that the Justice Department will seek to break-up Microsoft into separate companies. Do you favor effors by the government to break-up Microsoft, or do you think a penalty like break-up would be too extreme given what you know about the case?
HELLO! as I stated before 44% of the respondants hadn't a clue. They have basicall y said, that they are unaware of the facts. If I were unaware of any facts on that trial, I garountee I would side against the government... for the most part I view them as more corrupt and greedy than most corps, so of course I'll go easy. Plus, what is our big interaction with the us government? TAXES... thats what we know them for, and especially during this part of the year... Even Microsoft doesn't crash enough to iritate people more than taxes. Plus, all these pricing questions are extreemely misleading. Lets not forget that a lot of people didn't buy Win98 because they knew that Win2K would be eventually coming out. Most of those people I bet haven't counted on the sticker shock that that is going to cause. (as if we ever thought Microsoft wouldn't release a Win2K when Win95 came out, I mean come on... 2K is marketing on its own... look at Ginsu).
I mean folks... christ... what does this say if this is used as part of Microsoft's apeal and actually holds up... that as americans, we are truly dumb.
God Bless the Europeans and Ausies for not having to participate in this crap... I haven't met one that is truly as clueless as we are yet.
Application and customer preference determine OS.
on
Linux in Embedded OSs
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· Score: 2
OSes are not created equal (surprise). Depending on the design and budgetary constraints, and in rare cases, customer preference, we pick our starting OS.
A project which has gone through several stages orignally used QNX as its base OS because of a real-time OS was required by the contract. In the second version, the client has demanded affordability and we have switched over to a Redhat5 release, and have ported over most of the code (not as fun as it sounds).
Even the front-end of a robotics project which is now going into a production model, is being moved from a quickly written VB app to a Linux based solution. This is being done for (surprise) reliability reasons.
Lastly we are using PC104's with a slimmed version of linux (fits on a floppy - pardon my ignorance as to what dist) as an application specific translator (goes from serial communications to IP).
Is Linux being used in all our embedded systems? No, but it is being used with greater frequency, as it continually is being recognized for its price and versatility.
But even though all this, one thing has been lacking....... Life!
I think that one of the improvements we're going to see in games is more video, not CGI but actual video shots in video games. It'll start out slowly with just replacing still scenes with video clips, but eventually playing a video game is really going to be like being a part of a movie. People will look like real people, not like drawn characters. People will ACT not just stand in place. People will speak rather than make you read words on the screen.
Personally, I dread this. Years ago, simple games entertained gamers for months at a time. Who (who was around then) wasted less than $25.00 on the original Star Wars? Who played gauntlet well past level 100 (just to see if there were ever an ending...) Who spent hours and hours mastering jumping onto vines and over crocodiles to survive to the end of Pitfall - just to win the ability to play it again *harder*. We did all these things without saving games, without taking pee breaks, just subsiding on what was within arms reach and the glow of the TV or monitor.
With the advent of modern computer games, it is rare that my interest is actually captured. The shelves of stores are usually cluttered with crap. And games with the most glitzy graphics of these time usually lack largely on story, or force distinctively linear plots (who wants to remember Cyberia). For some reason or another, I could spend hours learning to play Joust, but my patience to find a specific key to open a door has begun to wane.
Tex Murphy was great (I did play the first one), but I never managed to purchase the second - yet I played almost every Sierra game up to Kings Quest V. It wasn't the graphics, it was the puzzle. Now, if a character you meet doesn't talk, you know that they are not critical to the plot.
Bionic comando for NES mesmerized me for months before I learned how to make it through level 9 (the rest was just one night). Nothing could match that feeling of success. Now, badguys come in waves, they come in force. I can open up a door and know that they will be there. I can almost guess what will be in that room, what its contents are and so on. Oh, I haven't seen an abandonded power plant yet - that must be the next level. Or, I haven't found the blue key over on this end of the map, I guess it must be through that other door. I'm getting jaded. Gone is the puzzle of tetris, the coordination of joust and the fun of Contra.
My point is, that you can spit and polish an industry all you like, but if the quality never gets any better, all that you've done is drool on the product. We need someone not to reinvent the wheel, but to find something better.
Ten(?) years ago, when I still used to eat hotdogs regularly, I would cook them in the microwave. Personally I liked mine just having plumped.
My father however, would wait until they exploded, then load them with chili, cheese, onions, ketchup and mustard... (coronary on a plate)
But I also had friend who used to like his hotdogs microwaved - very differently. He would microwave them until they were... crispy. I once had the distinct displeasure to witness this - and smell it as well.
Yes folks, try it. Put a couple of small slits in a hotdog (to prevent it from exploding, put about two paper towels over it, set the power to full, and microwave it for TEN minutes... I garauntee you, what comes out appears to be completely inedible.
My point is, different strokes for different folks. I like mine one way, my dad likes his another, and I make no explinations for my friend. What I'd like is something that not only selects the optimal time, but uses individual preferences to better construct the model...
Not that I'd buy it anyway. I don't have a microwave, I don't use a microwave*.
2 cents...
* not completetly true: I do use the microwave at work to reheat last nights dinner for lunch.
How about someone to comment on the/. effect while you wait, or to grumble allong with the poor choice of poll selections? Let me see, I'd like my personal assistant to send hate mail to various people that post 'Troll' and 'First Post' topics. Better yet, maybe they could beat us to submitting stories.
And then *wham* a new thought hits me... To let loose an informational deposit like this really makes the knowledge base in the/. community obsolete.
Consider: If this thing lives up to its claims, it theoretically knows what stories are going on, checks for/. relevance, and then kicks off an email (short randomly generated title etc...) Now, when the discussion pops up on the article, *bam* it's also the first to post additional information, correct posters with incorrect knowledge, and otherwise run a discussion with itself...Now all we have left is 'First Post' and 'NATALIE PORTMAN BLAH BLAH BLAH' messages we can post.
My suggestion, fight this. Fight this hard... What do I think is the best way to do so? A Nonsense generator like this postmodern-generator. All that needs to be done is modify this so that it uses places in the news, people in the news, current political philosophy and then *boom* - the Digital assistant starts posting crap.
That's what I thought of first as well... The individual linux build came second.
The big difference I notice between humans and linux is the extent of the differences in individuality. Yes, I can set up a linux machine with a different configuration, but that is a far cry from the extent to which my DNA differs from your DNA. We're not able to (yet) reconfigure ourselves, we are a fixed individual with an individual blueprint. We only can add to deffensive (autoimune) network, gain experience fighting disease if you will...
Linux configurations (of the same distrabution) all have the *ability* to be identical. Linux machines all stem from one set configuration and only begin to act differently based on external stimulus. There is a finite extent to the changes that can be made.
As far as evolving operating systems, I will agree that Linux is the closest to that - with the user getting the ability to choose what patches, updates and fixes they wish to rebuild their kernel with. But it is still driven by a person.
There was an earlier thread about your OS getting updates on its own. This too would only be a limited representation of DNA. The true extent of AI required for a software autoimune system would be one that sees what you use, checks to see where your system is vulnerable or not satisfying your needs, looks to see what patches/fixes/upgrades exist and considers what other problems those cause and performs some limited impact study to see how badly it would affect you and then based on that, grabs the patches and "mutates" itself for your benefit.
Woah, that's kinda neat when you (or I at least) think about it...
Anybody got the foggiest idea of how to even start coding that... (well other than #include stdio.h)
Folks take this with a bit of sarcasm. trickfish, I appologize for the flame ahead of time. My point is hopefully evident.
Well, if eToys.com can own etoys.org, etoys.net, and even eToyssucks.com, shouldn't they buy up etoy.com as well since it is *close* to their name. Who cares if its another company...
Yes, say if I ran www.linuxfarts.org, specializing in linux farts (of all things), then I *must* be the sole expert in linux farts. Since obviously we're the experts, no one else should be allowed to own a linuxfarts domain, because we're the experts and we should get all the traffic.
Obviously can't market a.org name, because after all, Joe User who has an intrest in linux farts has an aversion to that kind of domain. And of course, if I left open a similar domain name, and competition gobbled it up, they would be looking at a compettetors web site instead of mine. And Joe User who is interested in linux farts certainly wouldn't want to see if there is any other information on linux farts, maybe do a search, or type in alternate endings. Maybe they have a better site than you... The "other team" is still concerned with linux farts... the question is, who has more *usable* information.
Why does this really happen though? Because we're breading stupider users...Why are we breeding stupider users? Because we tell them stuff we know is a lie and we call it marketing. Stuff like, "AOL gives me stuff that I can't find anywhere else on the web." Or eventually "We've got better HOWTOs on how to properly use LinuxFarts..." Its just a big lie. We've wrecked internet1 and turned it into a really trendy version of the Home Shopping Network. God, I dread the day Universities make the mistake of opening up I2 to corporations (who will once again claim "for research purposes" until they figure out some way to market their ideas)
Ok... so, that's my rant... a little discombobulated but that's my rant... I'm sorry you were the author of the message that triggered it trickfish, I understand your sentiment... as corporately warped as it is...
Slashdot Mirror
Did he just make the whole point of hypertext illegal? Granted, he did just do this for DeCSS, but what about when there are other things on the internet that people don't want you to read... Wait until someone links a corporate helpfile to a specific products bug-traq which raises awareness of a flaw and causes closer scrutiny of the product... One could argue that this "bad publicity" negatively affects the manufacturer's sales... We don't want people to find out about the products they are buying... we just want them to buy them online.
I've got the sales website right now:
Here's a black box with somehting in it that costs $25.00. Here is another made by our competitor that costs $50.00. We'd tell you what it is that we're selling, but you might figure out what our competitor's product is, recognize that one of us is giving a better deal and that would hurt one of our's business... We would tell you what our company is, but then you might know who are competitors are, so we can't even tell you that, and then you might show a preference towards one of us. So all we'll tell you is that we've got a product, and it's for sale. Please send cash to:
P.O. Box XXXXX
Anytown, NJ
and we promise we'll send you whatever our product is.
I've got it... rather than use the internet to spread information, lets restrict it in such a way that no useful information can be obtained.
This vaguely reminds me of something I would see on a Monty Python skit.
Or 'Monkey Piss'... I've always been partial to 'Monkey Piss.'
Yes folks, you too could look to find a cool sounding name, and face-off against countless other companies trying to Trademark/Copyright the same name and attempting to protect their own companies... you can battle it out through local courts, state courts, even the supreme court for copywright infringment or something similar...
Or - for this limited time - you could show your true savy at making anything work and come up with a truly original name... I believe 'Monkey Piss' is indeed that name. Think about it...
1. Instant eye catcher: Tell me the title of this thread didn't instantly catch your attention (unless it was immediately moderated to -1/Troll)
2. People will remember your name - you instantly create name recognition... and I garountee any company named 'Monkey Piss' will instantly become the talk of the office and dinner table for that night.
3. There are thousands of public domain/national geographic pictures of just this which you can instantly use in advertizing.
4. You already have a mascott, and its way cuter than some creapy spider....even if it is peeing.
Ok, well, maybe I'm on my own on this one.
And here I thought those years of piano lessons were useless... A Tarentella is not a reference to Tarantino, but a reference to a lively dance to stave off a tarantula bite.
What you forget is that Bill Gates has now re-distributed the wealth. The american people who sold their vote are a little better off, and the people who didn't are probably a little pissed that their candidate didn't win. (Because you would willingly accept the $5000 if you agreed with the platform Bill was pedaling)
So 2 years pass and we find out that Bill's special intrest has screwed over the country... Guess what? Next time people will either vote themselves, or pay a little bit more attention to who they sell their vote to.
If anything the longterm effects force people to become more politically aware.
SURPRISE UPSET VICTORY!
November 8, 2000
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- In an unlikely turn of events of last nights presidential election, Natalie Portman (Star Wars: Episode I) has been elected President of the United States.
Women's groups around the world celebrated for their first oportunity with a women in the Whitehouse. When informed of the shocking news, Miss Portman commented, "I'd like to thank the american people for such an oportunity. I didn't think that I even had a chance with all the competition. I'd like to thank George Lucas, Rick McCallum, my Mom and Dad... oh wait I thought that was for the academy awards.... who the hell are you guys?"
Both former Vice President Al Gore, and Govenor of Texas, George Bush were unavailable for comment, but spokespeople from both parties have indicated that a recount has been ordered.
A friend of mine was talking about something like this about three years ago... think of it as "Capitalism meets politics." We (USA) live in a democratic society which promotes a capitalistic economy (or so they would have us believe). Most people feel as if their vote doesn't count or their choices are the same. So why not be able to do the capitalistic thing and sell your vote?
Well, if you're not going to vote in an election, you might as well sell it... Sell it to the highest bidder, the special intrest group which you most agree with, whatever it doesn't really matter - you proffit.
Consider the market, most Americans are apathetic about politics but very interested in the economy. This puts more money in the American workers hand (from selling their vote) and creates an entire new line of work - vote-brokering. Entire blocks of disenchanted voters can be bought out (at a fair price) and sold by these vote-brokers to the highest bidding candidate (well you sold it to them, they can do with it as they please). The neatest thing though? The price of your vote becomes more and more valuable as the election draws closer - and both candidates (or sides to a referendum/whatnot) want your vote more and more as they approach the 51% mark. After that, your vote is 100% worthless.
You wouldn't have to sell your vote, you could still vote normally - but you would have the option of making some money off your vote if you wanted to.
So what happens if someone bad gets elected? Obviously they get into office, screw up and piss off the people, and then the people decide to either vote themselves or make sure they sell their vote to any opposing candidate next time...
Why do I call it Tommunisim? My friend's name is Tommy... and he's grown bizarely adamant about such things...
Great, but what will I wear during the summer? or if I ever go to the southwest?
Doesn't putting a laptop in a ski outfit seem a little silly? I mean, yes, I ski poorly and I imagine I'd wreck it in like - a bunny slope or two, but even experienced people crash and burn (ABC's "the agony of defeat" from the 80's scared me to not ski until very recently).
The only activewear worse than ski wear that I can imagine incorporating electronics in is a wetsuit.
(referencing your MS discussion to trade linux for it)
Didn't they do this with Netscape CDs when they were trying to get IE3.0 to take off? (in addition to the whole ship with us only thing/ we're on the desktop thing/ and the we're tying the UI in for 4.0)
You see where that's starting to get them... anti-trust.
(Referencing your "linux-kidz" discussion)
If you think it is just Kids (or probably you think people acting childishly) that compain about the cost of software, I'd think that Windows 95/98 would be the simpler platform. Yes, you do pay out the nose, but everyone's got it and burners are a dime a dozen. Does anybody remember what 770-077-07077 (or something like that) is?
If the young linux crowd (which usually gets a bad rap) were really jsut a bunch of copyright-infinging pirate H4X0RZ I bet you they'd really be running 95 - its a whole lot more "fun" if that's what you really think they think is 3L173(spelling?). Its not a question of "free" in terms of money that pulls in these kids.
Now as whether or not this younger linux generation picks up the torch and starts to join various open source projects remains to be seen, but wait to find out. I'd bet MOST linux users say they support the FSF, but the second the FSF asks for a handout it looks like somebody just stepped on someone elses' pet turtle.
Think of these kiddie "free-loaders" as seeds...
OS is not against feeding your family, its not "pick Open Source or Microsoft"... its more of a statement of I believe "WE" can make a better product together. If that means I have to work on NT Boxes at work too, then Damnit, I'll work on NT boxes...but when I go home its a different story.
The seeds of revolution have already been planted, all we need is a little catalyst...
I'll claim this... what is the difference between word 2000 (for most people) and word 2.0?
In truth, probably not much... My experience with most people who use wor d need is:
1. something to edit text.
2. something to change the font.
3. something to print it.
4. a way to see it.
5. a way to save it.
Granted, there are some that embed spreadsheets, graphics, and so on, but for day to day buisiness this is all you need.
A very good friend of mine used to say "Monichrome monitors for everyone!" Unless you have a specific reason for needing color (graphic artist, cad designer, etc), I don't see the point in having one in the workplace. "Fun charts" is a bogus reason. Of course, you can't buy a monichrome monitor anymore (or when I first heard him say it for that matter) so everyone, even the receptionist who plays solitare all day can do it in color.... Do customers need color? No. Is it an added expense to the customer? Yes. Do we have a choice? No.
Products which do more are great, but if you're never going to use the equation editor or the shapes editor in word, you don't need them. If the program works, a company should have the responsibility to sell it, if they choose not to, they loose the right to tell someone that they can't give it away. (LucasArts, for example still bundles and sells really old software together - which is great.) I don't think it is fair to expect fixes, and patches released anymore, but I expect the product to at least be mail-orderable... If they can no longer afford to keep it in production, then guess what, they probably won't miss it.
A computer is a tool like a hammer, not a toy like a stereo.
Sure, then the guys at sharezilla would then allow a legitimate transaction to take place, figure out what defines a legitimate transaction, and then spoof a legitimate transaction... no dice, just delay.
Lojack works great on cars, politicians like to speed, they use them every day, and it has become engrained into society.
Computers are not so, we have tech illiterate, we have tech clueless and, tech phobic people (I am a tech phobic but... as you can see I still make my living on a computer - Lojack technology is what I fear).
Lets start with this simple scenario, the record company sees that you are distributing MP3s from your webiste or posting DeCSS or whatever. Under the DCMA they claim to a judge that your site is infringing ontheir rights. You are contacted and asked to cease and desist. Hypothetically, you refuse, calling some sort of 1st amendment (and also recognizing that if you willfuly stop, you are in some way acknowledging that you believe that what you are doing is wrong). Hypothetically, because you have a Lojack system, and this is now a case of some sort of computer crime, the police - the executive branch - have the responsibility of making you comply to the court order. Your computer is Lojacked off.
Next scenario, some "31337 h4x0r" (did i m1s3p3ll that?), instead of stealing your credit card this week, hacks the Lojack system, knocking off users indiscriminantly so they can get more bandwidth. Your off, the neighbors are off, everybody's off... the computer infrastructure is at a standstill. (Ironically, I'd go for this - LUDDITES REBEL!)
If this sells, you provide a pinpointable location to the police, you allow them complete control of your access and you give up your personal rights. While your at it, club a baby seal, shoot a bald eagle, and encourage your company to move overseas.
If you are concerned about your computer being stolen:
1. put a padlock on it - thats what colleges do, it may not completely prevent it, but it does make it take longer.
2. put a BIOS password on it - now they have to be tech savy enough to either reset or replace your BIOS.
3. remove all your external screws and replace them with those uni-directional bathroom stall screws.
4. use external hard drives only, and cary yours around with you at all times - sleep with it.
5. install your own GPS and a transmitter on the inside of the case, you find it, you tell the police where it is... leave a true Lojack system out of this.
Don't encourage the government to track and/or control you.
Your IP changes, the network that it connects to changes, but unless they rip out the Ethernet Card and replace it with another one - or unless they reinitialize the MAC addess (something VERY old III-com cards let you do), you have one hardware address which defines what your card is no matter what.
A few years ago, when I worked in IT, we had a strange portscan coming from one of our internal machines, becasue everything was DHCPed we used the MAC Addr to identify the offender... half a days worth of work, but it got our manager off our backs... only because we had a listing of our MAC Addresses (some old inventory thing) was this usefull... I could tie it to a name (so I could find the machine)... I'd assume that with a couple of extra days, we could have checked the routers out and gone and listened for the same network activity if we didn't know where the machine was located... on a rediculous side...
I don't necessarily view any of these as practical or useful solutions (even the MAC stuff) its just a thought as to how they might be doing it... finding a MAC address without knowing an IP though would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack...
We went IP->MAC->TABLE->LOCATION, what you'd have to go with is MAC->IP->ISP->LOG->UID->LOCATION. I don't know the feasability of that...
An alternate approach (and semi-jokingly)
X=V*T right?
So, if you can tell how long it takes to ping a site, and you have some way of measuring the datarate, you can determine the distance between the two computers... Of course, you would need to then perform this on an adjacent node, run the test again, figure out if you are closer or further, and continue until you got as close as possible (backtrack as necessary)... It winds up being a pain in the ass neural network problem where everyone that owns some hardware between here and there would have to agree to be used as some sort of internet sonar...
Ok, or I could purchase a PC/104 (486/66) card, a flashdisk (for the kernel), and a ethernet card, hook up a floppy drive to burn a image of the Distro (find a nice tiny linux distro with IP stack that fits on a floppy), immediately mount a partition from another linux box, download and uncompress my target application onto the flashdisk. Unmount the drive, drop TCP/IP support and run my application. Periodically, the system brings itself back onto the network and dumps data to the fileserver and looks for updated scripts and code. Total hardware cost is well under $750 if you buy these in enough bulk.
What would I do with these you ask? Everything from motor control (for an additional $200 bucks) to some small data aquisition and processing (up to $500 bucks if you want something real special), perhaps some RS-485 communications ($200 bucks) to specialized hardware.
Regardless, I can build a whole system which has a lot of functionality for a whole hellova lot cheaper. No I don't get dazzling graphics and/or performance, but if you're purchasing a 486, thats probably not what you're looking for.
Could I do this with Windows CE? Honestly I don't know... I've never used it, I don't know what the code-bloat is like for it.
a system like this is probably 3.5x4x3 (with cabling) excluding a power supply... which you can work around on many apps... I can fit this in a whole lotta places.
For my apps, a G4 would be like using a 50lb sledge hammer when I'm looking for a jewlers hammer.
Can you imagine when Rhonda's kid takes her for show and tell?
"So Timmy, what does your mother do?"Then he can say, "My mom spams your parent's email account with porn."
Wow... I bet parent/teacher confrences are a riot there...
(US - MASS)
Ok, I might be talking out my rear here, but I think that this is how it works... A co-worker of mine tried to explain this one to me once.
Any of you Ham-heads/radio-junkies please correct me here.
Thanks to the FCC, Junk Cell phone calls are illegal.
Have you ever noticed that you don't get telemarketers calling your cell phone? That's because it is illegal to make unsoliceted calls to a cell phone (some FCC regulation). It has to do with the same laws preventing pirating known radio station frequencies.
As stated there wrong numbers made to a cell phone are also illegal. (So yes, you can take legal action against the idiot who accidentally calls your cell at 3 AM looking for a ride from the bar... not that its right.)
One of the guys I work with chucked his regular phone completely just for this reason.
For calls like this, the owner of the phone is completely not responsible. If you wanted to, call up the phone company and *itch to get your $0.10 back - but for most people thats just not worth the effort and we suck up the cost.
I'd imagine that if you start recieving spam-mails targeting your phone and charging you that this would be a similar sort of case. Its still operating on an FCC liscenced signal, and illegal use is illegal use.
Ultimately there is a fine which the originator must pay..
just something to think about.
When you are talking about sailing around a small area, usually you can find some sort of local service - but you're not. You're not even talking about making a costal run, where usually you can get pretty good service (if you hug the shore). You're talking about 2000 miles(wild guess) of open ocean ocean. To date, there has been little market for this. Anyone who is making such an extended trip is usually part of the merchant marine, a fishing vessel, or some country's navy. Satalite is the only market that covers everything.
A buddy of mine in the merchant marine is given 15 minutes of phone use every four weeks or so. This article might shed some insight to you about all of the problems you'll really face.
I'd say w/o satalite, you're SOL. I would point out though... if you can afford a sailboat and take 3 months off of work for a criuse... well splurge a little if its that important.
-nut
After reading several questions dealing with your religious beliefs, I came to see parallels with your writing and those of a quasi-legend at Clemson University... Brother Jim.
When I was in college, there was a "religious performer" (Brother Jim) who would tour our campus once or twice a year proclaiming all of the female students (especially those in sororities) as whores and all males as drug-addicted children of satan... Needless to say, the man recieved little love from the student body. However, whenever he spoke, at least 400 students would encircle him (at a distance) and scream everything from obscenities to actual valid arguements back at him. He always drew a croud, always got active participation, and always raised discussion on his desired topic. Eventually the student newspaper interviewed him and he admitted that he did so in part to enrage students in order to promote discussion of religion - sort of a any press is good press aproach.
On some levels, I respected that response, on some I didn't... either way, watching him for a couple of hours was a lot like going to see the circus...
My Question:
Do you view the discussions you raise as the important effect of your articles, and thereby occasionally intentionally trying to annoy readers, or do you view their content as more important and truly believe every word you type?
Ok,
I need to address one of these questions...
QUESTION: The U.S. Justice Department is currently suing Microsoft. How Closeley are you following the trial?
44% of the respondants are NOT FOLLOWING THE TRIAL AT ALL. I ask, are they making any sort of informed answers to the other questions if this is the case? ONLY 4% claimed to be following the trial closely. Breaking things down by political philosophy is one way to do a poll, (and it does add a little insight as to the parties beliefs of business) but it really doesn't tell us anything else. This following closely, somewhat, or not at all would have been a better gauge. I'd like to make some statements about the other questions:
QUESTION: Recent press reports suggest that the Justice Department will seek to break-up Microsoft into separate companies. Do you favor effors by the government to break-up Microsoft, or do you think a penalty like break-up would be too extreme given what you know about the case?
HELLO! as I stated before 44% of the respondants hadn't a clue. They have basicall y said, that they are unaware of the facts. If I were unaware of any facts on that trial, I garountee I would side against the government... for the most part I view them as more corrupt and greedy than most corps, so of course I'll go easy. Plus, what is our big interaction with the us government? TAXES... thats what we know them for, and especially during this part of the year... Even Microsoft doesn't crash enough to iritate people more than taxes. Plus, all these pricing questions are extreemely misleading. Lets not forget that a lot of people didn't buy Win98 because they knew that Win2K would be eventually coming out. Most of those people I bet haven't counted on the sticker shock that that is going to cause. (as if we ever thought Microsoft wouldn't release a Win2K when Win95 came out, I mean come on... 2K is marketing on its own... look at Ginsu).
I mean folks... christ... what does this say if this is used as part of Microsoft's apeal and actually holds up... that as americans, we are truly dumb.
God Bless the Europeans and Ausies for not having to participate in this crap... I haven't met one that is truly as clueless as we are yet.
OSes are not created equal (surprise). Depending on the design and budgetary constraints, and in rare cases, customer preference, we pick our starting OS.
A project which has gone through several stages orignally used QNX as its base OS because of a real-time OS was required by the contract. In the second version, the client has demanded affordability and we have switched over to a Redhat5 release, and have ported over most of the code (not as fun as it sounds).
Even the front-end of a robotics project which is now going into a production model, is being moved from a quickly written VB app to a Linux based solution. This is being done for (surprise) reliability reasons.
Lastly we are using PC104's with a slimmed version of linux (fits on a floppy - pardon my ignorance as to what dist) as an application specific translator (goes from serial communications to IP).
Is Linux being used in all our embedded systems? No, but it is being used with greater frequency, as it continually is being recognized for its price and versatility.
But even though all this, one thing has been lacking....... Life!
I think that one of the improvements we're going to see in games is more video, not CGI but actual video shots in video games. It'll start out slowly with just replacing still scenes with video clips, but eventually playing a video game is really going to be like being a part of a movie. People will look like real people, not like drawn characters. People will ACT not just stand in place. People will speak rather than make you read words on the screen.
Personally, I dread this. Years ago, simple games entertained gamers for months at a time. Who (who was around then) wasted less than $25.00 on the original Star Wars? Who played gauntlet well past level 100 (just to see if there were ever an ending...) Who spent hours and hours mastering jumping onto vines and over crocodiles to survive to the end of Pitfall - just to win the ability to play it again *harder*. We did all these things without saving games, without taking pee breaks, just subsiding on what was within arms reach and the glow of the TV or monitor.
With the advent of modern computer games, it is rare that my interest is actually captured. The shelves of stores are usually cluttered with crap. And games with the most glitzy graphics of these time usually lack largely on story, or force distinctively linear plots (who wants to remember Cyberia). For some reason or another, I could spend hours learning to play Joust, but my patience to find a specific key to open a door has begun to wane.
Tex Murphy was great (I did play the first one), but I never managed to purchase the second - yet I played almost every Sierra game up to Kings Quest V. It wasn't the graphics, it was the puzzle. Now, if a character you meet doesn't talk, you know that they are not critical to the plot.
Bionic comando for NES mesmerized me for months before I learned how to make it through level 9 (the rest was just one night). Nothing could match that feeling of success. Now, badguys come in waves, they come in force. I can open up a door and know that they will be there. I can almost guess what will be in that room, what its contents are and so on. Oh, I haven't seen an abandonded power plant yet - that must be the next level. Or, I haven't found the blue key over on this end of the map, I guess it must be through that other door. I'm getting jaded. Gone is the puzzle of tetris, the coordination of joust and the fun of Contra.
My point is, that you can spit and polish an industry all you like, but if the quality never gets any better, all that you've done is drool on the product. We need someone not to reinvent the wheel, but to find something better.
Its from Goonies (1985 Spielberg)
Its the speech Chunk says when he is captured by the Fratellis...
Ten(?) years ago, when I still used to eat hotdogs regularly, I would cook them in the microwave. Personally I liked mine just having plumped.
My father however, would wait until they exploded, then load them with chili, cheese, onions, ketchup and mustard... (coronary on a plate)
But I also had friend who used to like his hotdogs microwaved - very differently. He would microwave them until they were... crispy. I once had the distinct displeasure to witness this - and smell it as well.
Yes folks, try it. Put a couple of small slits in a hotdog (to prevent it from exploding, put about two paper towels over it, set the power to full, and microwave it for TEN minutes... I garauntee you, what comes out appears to be completely inedible.
My point is, different strokes for different folks. I like mine one way, my dad likes his another, and I make no explinations for my friend. What I'd like is something that not only selects the optimal time, but uses individual preferences to better construct the model...
Not that I'd buy it anyway. I don't have a microwave, I don't use a microwave*.
2 cents...
* not completetly true: I do use the microwave at work to reheat last nights dinner for lunch.
How about someone to comment on the /. effect while you wait, or to grumble allong with the poor choice of poll selections? Let me see, I'd like my personal assistant to send hate mail to various people that post 'Troll' and 'First Post' topics. Better yet, maybe they could beat us to submitting stories.
... To let loose an informational deposit like this really makes the knowledge base in the /. community obsolete.
/. relevance, and then kicks off an email (short randomly generated title etc...) Now, when the discussion pops up on the article, *bam* it's also the first to post additional information, correct posters with incorrect knowledge, and otherwise run a discussion with itself...Now all we have left is 'First Post' and 'NATALIE PORTMAN BLAH BLAH BLAH' messages we can post.
And then *wham* a new thought hits me
Consider: If this thing lives up to its claims, it theoretically knows what stories are going on, checks for
My suggestion, fight this. Fight this hard... What do I think is the best way to do so? A Nonsense generator like this postmodern-generator. All that needs to be done is modify this so that it uses places in the news, people in the news, current political philosophy and then *boom* - the Digital assistant starts posting crap.
That's what I thought of first as well... The individual linux build came second.
The big difference I notice between humans and linux is the extent of the differences in individuality. Yes, I can set up a linux machine with a different configuration, but that is a far cry from the extent to which my DNA differs from your DNA. We're not able to (yet) reconfigure ourselves, we are a fixed individual with an individual blueprint. We only can add to deffensive (autoimune) network, gain experience fighting disease if you will...
Linux configurations (of the same distrabution) all have the *ability* to be identical. Linux machines all stem from one set configuration and only begin to act differently based on external stimulus. There is a finite extent to the changes that can be made.
As far as evolving operating systems, I will agree that Linux is the closest to that - with the user getting the ability to choose what patches, updates and fixes they wish to rebuild their kernel with. But it is still driven by a person.
There was an earlier thread about your OS getting updates on its own. This too would only be a limited representation of DNA. The true extent of AI required for a software autoimune system would be one that sees what you use, checks to see where your system is vulnerable or not satisfying your needs, looks to see what patches/fixes/upgrades exist and considers what other problems those cause and performs some limited impact study to see how badly it would affect you and then based on that, grabs the patches and "mutates" itself for your benefit.
Woah, that's kinda neat when you (or I at least) think about it...
Anybody got the foggiest idea of how to even start coding that... (well other than #include stdio.h)
Folks take this with a bit of sarcasm. trickfish, I appologize for the flame ahead of time. My point is hopefully evident.
.org name, because after all, Joe User who has an intrest in linux farts has an aversion to that kind of domain. And of course, if I left open a similar domain name, and competition gobbled it up, they would be looking at a compettetors web site instead of mine. And Joe User who is interested in linux farts certainly wouldn't want to see if there is any other information on linux farts, maybe do a search, or type in alternate endings. Maybe they have a better site than you... The "other team" is still concerned with linux farts... the question is, who has more *usable* information.
Well, if eToys.com can own etoys.org, etoys.net, and even eToyssucks.com, shouldn't they buy up etoy.com as well since it is *close* to their name. Who cares if its another company...
Yes, say if I ran www.linuxfarts.org, specializing in linux farts (of all things), then I *must* be the sole expert in linux farts. Since obviously we're the experts, no one else should be allowed to own a linuxfarts domain, because we're the experts and we should get all the traffic.
Obviously can't market a
Why does this really happen though? Because we're breading stupider users...Why are we breeding stupider users? Because we tell them stuff we know is a lie and we call it marketing. Stuff like, "AOL gives me stuff that I can't find anywhere else on the web." Or eventually "We've got better HOWTOs on how to properly use LinuxFarts..." Its just a big lie. We've wrecked internet1 and turned it into a really trendy version of the Home Shopping Network. God, I dread the day Universities make the mistake of opening up I2 to corporations (who will once again claim "for research purposes" until they figure out some way to market their ideas)
Ok... so, that's my rant... a little discombobulated but that's my rant...
I'm sorry you were the author of the message that triggered it trickfish, I understand your sentiment... as corporately warped as it is...