what I especially like about Jurassic park is that Speilberg decided they had to have six foot tall Velociraptors for the film, which was considered absurd, then within months six foot tall Velociraptor fossils were discovered.
It's kind of inspiring though, to look up and see birds and know that they are the dinosaurs. It's reassuring in a way to know that Life on earth is so resistant to extinction events.
It makes me wonder how similar their behaviour patterns are to those of the ground based dinosaurs. Once a year we have huge flocks gathering over my town before they migrate, and I spend hours watching them soaring around in ever growing numbers (some years under a bird poo resistant umbrella, it has to be said..). The mathematician in me is enthralled by the complex patterns that emerge from such simple behaviour. I know nature is rarely amenable to rule based systems, but the understanding we have gleaned thus far still manages to reveal an elegance that never ceases to be a source of pleasure.
Given that PDAs are falling behind in the face of smart phones, going to Linux might just entice the linux haXX0r community to produce some fun applications that help Palm in the marketplace.
I don't know if there is already an unofficial palm Linux, but having it officially sanctioned would be a good thing.
Hell, I'm tempted to get one now just to have some coding fun, seriously.
So all that marketing to get people to buy the Zune has just resulted in lots of people owning a device that will shortly be obsolete/badly out of date (by artificial product ageing through new releases).
Is it that media device owners replace their players often? Or is it that Microsoft want them to start doing it. Is this a trend likely to extend to other manufacturers?
This is something I'd actually like to get a handle on, since my battered and well used ipod is a few years old now, and I'm pondering a new device (not being locked into Apple, I'm willing to shop around). I don't much like the idea of buying a device that will be obsoleted deliberately in a few years.
Slight problem with the outlawing of anonymous accounts.
You see, contrary to popular opinion in the States, other countries have the internet too, and whad'ya know, they aren't all subject to US law (unless they have oil and get invaded..).
The other problem with this is that it speaks only of the current technology. Who knows what will replace the blog and other online personal platforms in the next few years? You can bet it won't be the current big players. It'll be some kid, beavering away on his pc at home, creating like crazy and re-writing the future history of the internet. I'd bet real money he/she is working away as I write this.
It's happened before..
P.S. I'd like to see them try to shut down 4chan. That would be an event worth following:-)
Open source does rely heavily on people working for no pay, but any project that is elevated to the point of being important to business tends to get to the size where people need to devote a lot more time, and they need cash.
Reduced funding wouldn't kill open source, but it would hamper the motion of applications into the prime time.
they've tried this in so many forms. Recall that Microsoft update was, in it's original incarnation, meant to be *the* portal for drivers/hardware utilities from hardware manufacturers, update to windows itself was an aspect, but not the only one. I wish I could find the article I read at the time. Probably its in waybackmachine somewhere, I can't be the only one who saw this.
That's why so many things installed into windows xp by users produce the 'this driver has not been signed by Microsoft/may harm your system' stuff. That's a hangover from the expectation that manufacturers would allow Microsoft to manage their drivers for them and verify their correctness. I suspect this was an attempt, at least at first, to ensure that people didn't produce drivers that might break windows itself.
It was rejected on the very sound grounds that this would give Microsoft far too much control over the software of these other companies. After all, if Microsoft controlled the only place to get verified drivers, then that meant they could just as easily decide to halt supply of a driver if a company failed to play ball. I don't think it was meant to involve a fee.
They're trying it again in Vista, albeit in slightly different form.
If some of the free content producers (podcasters etc) got their act together and offered content as well as the paid content producers, it might take off.
I'm in favour of audio teaching material. My son is accustomed to listening to audio lectures and books whilst playing his games now. It's not perfect, but as an extra to his normal studies it seems to work.
Unfortunately its likely that this will turn out to be yet another idealised liberal concept that fails in the face of cold hard reality, perpetuated for several years in spite of obvious failure in order to delay collapse so the people who organised it can save face.
If it were capable of self propagating it would fit the usual meaning of computer virus. As it is it's only able to run with the help of a user, and they also have to copy it onto ipodlinux. Well, the same is true for all podzilla plugins.
Given that anyone likely to use ipodlinux is also likely to be savvy enough to think about what they are doing, this is a pretty pointless piece of code.
well strictly speaking you can leave a windows box unattended for that long, provided you have a trustworthy third party management tool installed.
Not that this matters. This is just Microsoft trying to find another way to stay ahead by taking other peoples ideas. I suspect it'll fail. Why? Cost, if nothing else, they always end up more expensive.
Your post isn't as silly as you thought. people in south America had to pay north American corporations for clean drinking water not so long back. If they refused to pay, their water was just cut off.
I don't recall the company, or country involved, I saw a documentary on it last year.
Slashdot Mirror
Nice follow up information. I would have looked for some references, but half a bottle of white rum said otherwise...
what I especially like about Jurassic park is that Speilberg decided they had to have six foot tall Velociraptors for the film, which was considered absurd, then within months six foot tall Velociraptor fossils were discovered.
dammit, I submitted this story too late :-)
It's kind of inspiring though, to look up and see birds and know that they are the dinosaurs. It's reassuring in a way to know that Life on earth is so resistant to extinction events.
It makes me wonder how similar their behaviour patterns are to those of the ground based dinosaurs. Once a year we have huge flocks gathering over my town before they migrate, and I spend hours watching them soaring around in ever growing numbers (some years under a bird poo resistant umbrella, it has to be said..). The mathematician in me is enthralled by the complex patterns that emerge from such simple behaviour. I know nature is rarely amenable to rule based systems, but the understanding we have gleaned thus far still manages to reveal an elegance that never ceases to be a source of pleasure.
Given that PDAs are falling behind in the face of smart phones, going to Linux might just entice the linux haXX0r community to produce some fun applications that help Palm in the marketplace.
I don't know if there is already an unofficial palm Linux, but having it officially sanctioned would be a good thing.
Hell, I'm tempted to get one now just to have some coding fun, seriously.
So all that marketing to get people to buy the Zune has just resulted in lots of people owning a device that will shortly be obsolete/badly out of date (by artificial product ageing through new releases).
Is it that media device owners replace their players often? Or is it that Microsoft want them to start doing it. Is this a trend likely to extend to other manufacturers?
This is something I'd actually like to get a handle on, since my battered and well used ipod is a few years old now, and I'm pondering a new device (not being locked into Apple, I'm willing to shop around). I don't much like the idea of buying a device that will be obsoleted deliberately in a few years.
So then how do you explain the Falkland Islands? I guess strategic sheep purposes also count...
You never heard of the crack squads of ninja sheep that were being trained in the Falklands to be used in an attack against Cuba?
Slight problem with the outlawing of anonymous accounts.
:-)
You see, contrary to popular opinion in the States, other countries have the internet too, and whad'ya know, they aren't all subject to US law (unless they have oil and get invaded..).
The other problem with this is that it speaks only of the current technology. Who knows what will replace the blog and other online personal platforms in the next few years? You can bet it won't be the current big players. It'll be some kid, beavering away on his pc at home, creating like crazy and re-writing the future history of the internet. I'd bet real money he/she is working away as I write this.
It's happened before..
P.S. I'd like to see them try to shut down 4chan. That would be an event worth following
Groupthink? We in Russia tend to disagree and agree with you simultaneously, in a trollish yet insightfully interesting, informative kind of way.
who needs to develop more countermeasures? Mobile phone transmitters could be used, just search for the blank area...
I don't see it.
what, you want I should list them all? You can't work that out?
I was, y'know, assuming a reader could extrapolate. Obviously I was mistaken, certainly in your case.
Open source does rely heavily on people working for no pay, but any project that is elevated to the point of being important to business tends to get to the size where people need to devote a lot more time, and they need cash.
Reduced funding wouldn't kill open source, but it would hamper the motion of applications into the prime time.
absolutely, indeed just like gentoo does.
It wasn't the idea so much as the single point of control that was objected to, or more exactly, who would hold that control.
they've tried this in so many forms. Recall that Microsoft update was, in it's original incarnation, meant to be *the* portal for drivers/hardware utilities from hardware manufacturers, update to windows itself was an aspect, but not the only one.
I wish I could find the article I read at the time. Probably its in waybackmachine somewhere, I can't be the only one who saw this.
That's why so many things installed into windows xp by users produce the 'this driver has not been signed by Microsoft/may harm your system' stuff. That's a hangover from the expectation that manufacturers would allow Microsoft to manage their drivers for them and verify their correctness. I suspect this was an attempt, at least at first, to ensure that people didn't produce drivers that might break windows itself.
It was rejected on the very sound grounds that this would give Microsoft far too much control over the software of these other companies. After all, if Microsoft controlled the only place to get verified drivers, then that meant they could just as easily decide to halt supply of a driver if a company failed to play ball. I don't think it was meant to involve a fee.
They're trying it again in Vista, albeit in slightly different form.
Its an interesting idea.
If some of the free content producers (podcasters etc) got their act together and offered content as well as the paid content producers, it might take off.
I'm in favour of audio teaching material. My son is accustomed to listening to audio lectures and books whilst playing his games now. It's not perfect, but as an extra to his normal studies it seems to work.
Unfortunately its likely that this will turn out to be yet another idealised liberal concept that fails in the face of cold hard reality, perpetuated for several years in spite of obvious failure in order to delay collapse so the people who organised it can save face.
too pessimistic?
It's not a virus.
If it were capable of self propagating it would fit the usual meaning of computer virus. As it is it's only able to run with the help of a user, and they also have to copy it onto ipodlinux. Well, the same is true for all podzilla plugins.
Given that anyone likely to use ipodlinux is also likely to be savvy enough to think about what they are doing, this is a pretty pointless piece of code.
Perhaps 'malware plugin'?
someone else replied to me with a link to the documentaary I was referring to, and it did fail...
well strictly speaking you can leave a windows box unattended for that long, provided you have a trustworthy third party management tool installed.
Not that this matters. This is just Microsoft trying to find another way to stay ahead by taking other peoples ideas. I suspect it'll fail. Why? Cost, if nothing else, they always end up more expensive.
The only advantage I can see is that you can bookmark within an AAC file. For me that's a pretty major point.
That's actually the main point that was made, they banned the collecting of rainwater.
Your post isn't as silly as you thought. people in south America had to pay north American corporations for clean drinking water not so long back. If they refused to pay, their water was just cut off.
I don't recall the company, or country involved, I saw a documentary on it last year.
Thanks, that's a reassuring set of information.
So sorry, The -1 post didn't show up due to my preferences, I thought you were responding to me.
I do apologise.
eh? Sorry, were you responding to my post? I mean, if so that was a tad vitriolic for no clear reason.
Firstly, it's far from clear that she's deliberately tried to evade it.
If anything is clear, its that she has risked burnout by spending so much of her time on this one case. I am amazed she didn't take a break sooner.
I think they likely saw that she was on a break, and decided to try and serve her then, so they could say she was avoiding it.
I don't get the lack of ability to contact her. I've sent 5 emails to her over the years, and received responses by next day every time.