That is a tough problem that all companies face on standards setting boards. From what I have read, they didn't disclose key pending patents when they were participating on the board, not were they forced to. If that were the case, companies would be less likely to sit on these boards because of the risk of exposing their IP. I don't think that Rambus did anything any other company would'nt do, and it may even have been of questionable morality.
But, as I look into this further, it looks like the manufacturers conspired to put Rambus out of business (I found sites that referenced emails, but I don't know of their validity).
Either way, the mindset of/. is that free is good, not free is crap.
If memory serves me , Rambus, while not an innocent bystander, was closer to being a victim of the large manufacturers conspiring to put them out of business. I did some quick research and apparently a judge just issued a summary judgement against Hyinx, stating that Hyinx infringed on 4 of Rambus' patents (total of 26 times).
I agree that Rambus took advantage of some poor guidelines of JEDEC, but they do not deserve all the bad press. They don't manufacturer the memory, they patented the interface between memory and processor. It seems like most people on here view anything that is 'for profit' as evil, and that song is getting old.
I dont think that the aviation community has made it cost prohibitive to get a license. To the contrary, you can get a private pilot cert for $4500 to $6000. Yes, this is not cheap, but this is also a hobby for most people.
Who / what makes it expensive are (1) the regulations and (2) the insurance company. Buying a new single-engine plane is not cheap, around 200K for a nice Cessna 172, and upwards of 450K for an IFR rated Cirrus SR22, but that cost is ammoratized over 20 years. The real killer when owning a plane are the costs associated with insurance, annual maintenance and checks, and parking the damn things.
It is not their budget that was bothersome, in my opinion, it was the way that it was spent (and spent and spent). Like many large, government supported agencies, NASA fell victim to their size and belief that they could spend what they wanted without responsibility. YES - they produced some amazing technology, but their undoing has been their succeed at any cost attitude, pushing to make deadlines when slowing down would be prudent. It is easy to Monday morning quarterback a lot of their decisions, and the technology and variables are mind boggling. I think we could be better served by funneling part of their budget to the private sector, but with some oversight to prevent bureaucracy overload and budget runaway in a bunch of smaller NASAs.
As for spending money on the starving citizens, there are already enough broken programs dedicated to that. Fix those first by identifying the failing parts, not by throwing more money at them.
I think it is a bit more than this. My understanding of the SPL is that it will allow people to fly small airplanes locally, bypassing much of the training required for the PPL (like cross country (distance greater than 50 miles) training. These new pilots will also not be allowed to fly at night, or over 10000 feet.
Since a lot of people get their license then tend to stay in the local area, hopping to familiar airports for lunch, this is a good option for them.
From Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Light Sport Aircraft are aircraft that are too large to be considered an ultralight or aircraft that do not meet the "51%" requirement to be considered an amateur homebuilt airplane, and are only simple, low-performance, low-energy, aircraft limited to two occupant seats.
Light Sport aircraft is defined as a simple, low-performance, low-energy aircraft that is limited to --
1,232 lbs. maximum certificated gross weight
two-occupant seating
a single engine (non-turbine)
a stall speed of 39 knots with lift enhancing devices or 45 knots without.
maximum airspeed of 115 knots
fixed landing gear
It is hard to have much sympathy for someone who was so unethical as to think that this was OK if it was for real. It was spelled out for him that the money was not rightfull his, but here are the 'deceased's' personal details so that you can assist me with stealing the money. There were multiple thieves involved here, and hard times or not, the karma train took his $1000.
Slashdot Mirror
Wake me when the hollywood style helicopters swoop in to pluck it out of the sky.
That is a tough problem that all companies face on standards setting boards. From what I have read, they didn't disclose key pending patents when they were participating on the board, not were they forced to. If that were the case, companies would be less likely to sit on these boards because of the risk of exposing their IP. I don't think that Rambus did anything any other company would'nt do, and it may even have been of questionable morality. But, as I look into this further, it looks like the manufacturers conspired to put Rambus out of business (I found sites that referenced emails, but I don't know of their validity). Either way, the mindset of /. is that free is good, not free is crap.
If memory serves me , Rambus, while not an innocent bystander, was closer to being a victim of the large manufacturers conspiring to put them out of business. I did some quick research and apparently a judge just issued a summary judgement against Hyinx, stating that Hyinx infringed on 4 of Rambus' patents (total of 26 times). I agree that Rambus took advantage of some poor guidelines of JEDEC, but they do not deserve all the bad press. They don't manufacturer the memory, they patented the interface between memory and processor. It seems like most people on here view anything that is 'for profit' as evil, and that song is getting old.
I dont think that the aviation community has made it cost prohibitive to get a license. To the contrary, you can get a private pilot cert for $4500 to $6000. Yes, this is not cheap, but this is also a hobby for most people. Who / what makes it expensive are (1) the regulations and (2) the insurance company. Buying a new single-engine plane is not cheap, around 200K for a nice Cessna 172, and upwards of 450K for an IFR rated Cirrus SR22, but that cost is ammoratized over 20 years. The real killer when owning a plane are the costs associated with insurance, annual maintenance and checks, and parking the damn things.
It is not their budget that was bothersome, in my opinion, it was the way that it was spent (and spent and spent). Like many large, government supported agencies, NASA fell victim to their size and belief that they could spend what they wanted without responsibility. YES - they produced some amazing technology, but their undoing has been their succeed at any cost attitude, pushing to make deadlines when slowing down would be prudent. It is easy to Monday morning quarterback a lot of their decisions, and the technology and variables are mind boggling. I think we could be better served by funneling part of their budget to the private sector, but with some oversight to prevent bureaucracy overload and budget runaway in a bunch of smaller NASAs. As for spending money on the starving citizens, there are already enough broken programs dedicated to that. Fix those first by identifying the failing parts, not by throwing more money at them.
I think it is a bit more than this. My understanding of the SPL is that it will allow people to fly small airplanes locally, bypassing much of the training required for the PPL (like cross country (distance greater than 50 miles) training. These new pilots will also not be allowed to fly at night, or over 10000 feet.
Since a lot of people get their license then tend to stay in the local area, hopping to familiar airports for lunch, this is a good option for them.
From Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Light Sport Aircraft are aircraft that are too large to be considered an ultralight or aircraft that do not meet the "51%" requirement to be considered an amateur homebuilt airplane, and are only simple, low-performance, low-energy, aircraft limited to two occupant seats. Light Sport aircraft is defined as a simple, low-performance, low-energy aircraft that is limited to -- 1,232 lbs. maximum certificated gross weight two-occupant seating a single engine (non-turbine) a stall speed of 39 knots with lift enhancing devices or 45 knots without. maximum airspeed of 115 knots fixed landing gear
It is hard to have much sympathy for someone who was so unethical as to think that this was OK if it was for real. It was spelled out for him that the money was not rightfull his, but here are the 'deceased's' personal details so that you can assist me with stealing the money. There were multiple thieves involved here, and hard times or not, the karma train took his $1000.