I hope things get messy real soon. because that is the hope and change we can believe in.
I don't quite think you quite realize what it is you're advocating. In fact, I don't think many people that advocate revolution realize what it is they're calling for. Let's get this straight, a revolution would make things a lot WORSE before it made things better. In fact, it would take decades before our standard of life would approach what it is now if there was a revolution.
We are facing very complex problems as a country now. Admittedly, the system needs reform. But it does not need a revolution. Why? Because too much of the world economy depends on America. Things may be bad for us now, but if unrest starts to take hold then faith in the US economy would surely falter. If companies get concerned about our ability to function or the government to maintain control then panic would grip the global markets. Trade would virtually stop and the world would be thrown into a global depression far worse than what we are facing right now. Kiss your electronics good bye. We import all of them, you know. Maybe you could live without them, but what about food? You think gas and food prices are high now? If a revolution took place then they would skyrocket. People would be thrown into true poverty. People would die, and not because of the revolution battles - because of starvation and not being able to afford the inflated prices. The kicker in all of this? It wouldn't be the 1% or the politicians you're complaining about that would suffer. No, they'd have the means to escape. The common man? The one that's advocating the revolution. He'd be the one that would suffer.
Don't be naive. Calls for a revolution must be taken very seriously because they would drastically affect your daily life. This is why movements such as OWS need to be watched very closely. People are upset. They don't have jobs. The future doesn't look bright. But they don't realize that if they actually start introducing unrest then their lives will get far, far worse.
We need reform. New political parties and representatives - not just left and right. OWS could play a part in this. They should be forming a party with ideas and proposed solutions. That would be a means to achieving their goals. Right now, sitting in parks and protesting is merely raising the probability of unrest. And whether the protesters realize that or not, it will help no one.
It's quite clear that we possess the technology to make a 100+ MPG vehicle. The real question, though, is whether a practical vehicle can be made to attain those figures that the public would be willing to buy. Would tens of thousands of people be willing to buy it? No way.
People give American car companies a lot of crap for their vehicles performing inefficiently, but truthfully they're providing what the American consumer is willing to buy. Your average Joe won't buy a vehicle without trunk space and without comfortable seats. There are also factors such as appearance/design, safety (where are the airbags on these?), and the very basics like radio and cruise control. Keep in mind that up until the past few years, the best selling vehicle in the world was a pickup truck.
These Xprize vehicles would be hard pressed to make even the tiniest of dents in the market. They're a PR stunt and research platforms more than anything. Could the technology be used elsewhere? Absolutely. But don't expect to see these mass produced and highly sold anytime soon.
Here is the clip. YouTube is processing it now (might take a few minutes). The HD version should also be at the same link in an hour or so (again, YouTube processing time).
The footage is a bit rough since I just threw it together now. However you kind of get the idea. People were standing around just watching and the police decided to disperse the crowd with the sound cannon. Apologies for the bad camera work - we weren't filming anything in particular and the police refused to let us set up near the major news networks. Interestingly, they also pushed back another Japanese news network.
I have a clip of the sound cannon in action in Pittsburgh. I'm editing it now and will post it on YouTube. It's quite impressive technology but it sucks to be on the wrong end of it.
I don't think this is because of organization, I think it is because of all the rote learning you've done. You aren't reading & reacting to the menu bar you "just know" where to go because you've done it a million times.
Actually I specifically meant to refer to situations where I don't know how to perform the task in question. With the menu bar I can quickly figure it out. With the ribbon I am flipping things in and out, trying to find something that seems relevant, wasting vast amounts of time waiting for tooltips to appear on undecipherable icons.
I'm not sure what you're looking at, but the ribbon has a label for every single icon visible. Don't like the icons? Ignore them and look at the text.
Honestly, I think most users are upset because Microsoft changed what they had used for over half a decade. The new ribbon scheme makes perfect sense to me. And it's much easier to find what you're looking for than with the old menu system where you were constantly searching huge menus. Everything is now organized how it should be. Looking for margins or page orientation? It's in a logical location - the page layout tab.
If people would learn to adapt, try new things, maybe they'd realize that they could like the new layout. Instead it just seems people are too busy complaining about how they want the old way back as opposed to attempting to learn a new way of doing things.
I'm not the asker but I also work in the campus TV station and can provide additional details.
The primary method of storage right now is a RAID 5 based array containing around 6 TB of data. We'll be adding a Drobo Pro in the next few days with an additional 6TB of storage. Together this will serve the 12TB of data on the server located in the studio. The system storing the data now is running CentOS 5.
However, this is not a good method of backup. It just provides redundancy in case a hard drive fails. What we want is an offsite server which will serve as a backup system. The system will be located in a separate building but on the campus network (transfer speeds not an issue).
We want the backup system to be able to store the original 12TB. HOWEVER, it needs to be expandable or at least have enough space to accommodate additional data over the years. So I'm thinking the original setup could have around 16TB of storage. However this needs to be expandable up to 24TB or 32TB without too much extra work involved. With a transition to HD video we plan on having at approximately 1TB of new data per year and this will increase over time.
Because we want the system to be expandable we don't think RAID would be ideal. The idea of having to use identical drives feels very limiting. Hence the reason a Drobo Pro is very appealing. However, it just doesn't support the capacity we require beyond the initial studio server. We want to have a version control system which will require additional storage as well. We don't need daily complete backups. Just something like subversion or CVS which will log when changes are made and save them. That way if someone decides to delete all the directories a history will be stored. The snapshots of the versions don't have to be in real time - they can be done daily. If there are no changes in one day then no snapshot will be required. Typically we do a dump of all the data to the studio server once a month from each editing machine. So snapshots would occur approximately once per month. This data is rarely read - maybe once/twice per year and not all of it.
Restoration time is not that important. As long as it takes less than a few days. No application data is being stored. It's just raw project files and video files that are in directories.
We'd like this to cost between $3000 and $4000 for everything. Obviously, cheaper is preferred.
Google Voice is a really nice service but the key issue I have with it is that I can't port my number. Sure, I'd love all the extra little perks it offers like visual voice mail, but I won't get any of these features until I tell everyone to use my new Google number. Call me attached and lazy if you will, but that's a fair amount of effort. Let me port my number and then I'll use your services.
That being said I've only used my Grand Central / Google Voice number on two occasions: helping my parents buy a car and buying a car myself. It's fantastic to give them this number and throw it on Do Not Disturb mode. I never had to deal with a single sales call.
As others have pointed out (http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/fulltext/nrcc49212/nrcc49212.pdf), Daylight Savings Time likely doesn't save us any energy.
I will admit that I haven't read the full text of that paper but I have read the conclusion. It certainly does not suggest that DST does not save us energy. In fact, it says there is not enough data to draw a conclusion. The data is either outdated, conflicting or based on constraining assumptions. Point being, don't try to twist your sources into saying something they're certainly not!
That being said, I view myself as a proponent of DST. Yes, it has its flaws (switching clocks is annoying), but I do believe it saves energy. I notice a lot of people here say "get up earlier or change business hours if you want more light." Do you really think that would work? We have a hard enough time getting people to go out and vote in a presidential election every 4 years and you want them to change their sleeping schedules? No, I don't have that much faith in others. DST standardizes everyone waking up earlier because most people wouldn't be bothered to on their own.
I suppose my assumption that it saves energy could be wrong, but I can't say I've seen a conclusive paper that gives a good argument either way.
You're right. I actually just ordered these boxes from Verizon yesterday. Call 1-888-Go-Digital (your phone will truncate the number) and ask for digital to analog converter boxes. I believe you can get up to 3 boxes for free.
The lack of a guide/VoD sucks, yeah. But one of these is perfect for my MythTV machine that has its own built in guide.
Don't worry. The regulators will put a stop to it. Can't have people going around doing things without permission.
I'm not against electric vehicles - I fully support them. I'm against the government interfering in personal lives too much. However, here I could understand if they put a stop to this. Let's face it, batteries can be dangerous. Part of the reason it's taking time for auto makers to get EVs on the market is because they have to package the batteries safely. Home-made electric cars don't have to go through all the safety tests. Might be fine if you're willing to put up with the risk. But I won't be happy when you crash into my car and blow us both up.
And just so happened to coincide with the internet boom. What's the rate these days?
Yes, it was the internet boom that contributed. Now, there are fewer women enrolling in CS at CMU. I think the number was around 30 total (25% female) in the Fall of 2007. Now that's not as bad as back in the mid-90s, but it's also not as high as during the dot-com bubble.
This is just a great example of how you could confuse causation. Yeah, the school's efforts helped. But it was also the economic factors that played a role too.
While it's not a tool, Joel Spolsky has written a long and detailed series of articles on how to correctly design a user interface. It's worth your time to check it out, even if it doesn't speed things up.
Streaming video has its purposes. I know a site that recently switched to streaming after having the old download and watch method as you described. The reason? Bandwidth. Streaming for them uses LESS bandwidth because people were just downloading all their videos and leaving the site - never even watching them after they've been downloaded. The owners have to pay for that bandwidth even if it's going to waste.
You say that streaming is inefficient but that's not always true. I mean, if you're only going to watch something once you don't need the file again. And if you only want to watch a certain portion or decide you don't like the video halfway through then you've saved bandwidth.
The history of the CableCard is long and confusing. Particularly because the cable companies don't want you to adopt it. Then they lose their cable box renting fee. 2truway is just the next step in the CableCard evolution.
Originally, CableCards only had one directional transmission capability. This prevented services such as on demand, pay per view, and guide data. At least, that's what the cable companies wanted you to think. In actuality, the hardware (developed by independent companies) for the cards supported 2-way transmissions. The hardware complied with the CableCard 2.0 specification but the software for each card did not. The cable companies didn't want manufacturers to use their own software in the boxes/televisions/DVRs that would be using the cable cards. No, the cable companies wanted them to use OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP). Of course this isn't an open platform at all.
Picture your Tivo now, with its great recording software. Compare that to the crappy software your cable company uses on their DVR. Well, the OCAP part of the CableCard 2.0 standard requires all hardware be running the cable company's software. In other words, your Tivo would have to be running Comcast/Cox/whoever's horrid interface instead of the standard one. At least, that's how I understand it.
Consumer electronics companies didn't like this at all. So they fought and protested, allowing the CableCard standard in general to slowly die. That's why most new TVs now don't even have card slots.
CableLabs eventually realized that this just wouldn't work. So, they decided "hey, let's just rename OCAP to something cooler." Thus, Tru2way was born from the remnants of OCAP, a subset of the CableCard 2.0 spec. The cable companies also lightened up on the licensing restrictions for the software. Now, the Tru2way standard is getting much more support. Why? I'm really not sure. All I know is that more television companies are saying they'll be adding support for it (and thus cablecards) in their upcoming television models.
I think that's a fairly accurate summary of the history of CableCard and tru2way. No, this will not replace CableCards. Actually, this is just another step in the process towards adopting them.
Frankly, my only concern is that I'm allowed to use my open source MythTV box with a CableCard in order to record shows off encrypted QAM channels like Discovery HD. Currently, I cannot do this due to the ridiculous certified media center PC and Vista requirement. If anyone knows a way around this, please tell me. The analog cutoff is looming and I don't want to lose my recording ability.
This plan is setup great for college students who live on wifi enabled campuses. No worrying about minutes used up when you're operating completely off your school's wireless network. Only downside is the annoying login web pages that most places have.
Forgive me as it's been a while since I looked at the patent documents. But I do recall posters here on slashdot found prior art that could (possibly) be used to deem the patents invalid. Why try to invalidate a patent on obviousness when you can just use prior art? Seems like that would be the easier option.
The tone of the message speaks wonders about what the day must have been like for Digg's management. Looking at it you can just tell they're exhausted and have given up.
Interesting how a simple, seemingly unimportant, decision grew into a full scale disaster for them.
Sadly, the mistakes just don't stop: Was it really that wise to title the blog post with the hex code that they've received a C&D letter on. Somehow I think the courts are going to care more about a company representative posting the key as opposed to the hundreds of diggers posting the stories.
I am a Vonage customer. I'm actually satisfied with it, despite all the negative reviews that other Slashdotters give it. It is still more reliable and higher-quality than my land line ever was. Verizon owns the physical lines in my part of New York. As Verizon's own linemen have told me, the switching equipment in my neighborhood is so old that it can't support caller ID, for example, and dial-up phone connections (in case of cable modem downtime) max out at 14.4k because of the fuzziness and static on the line. And Verizon has no plans to upgrade. Thanks. (Of course I can't use dial-up over Vonage, but I have an alternative backup -- wireless EVDO service, at near broadband speeds... sadly THAT is through Verizon because they have the best wireless service in my area.)
I'm also a Vonage customer and I think it's pretty safe to say that they're a good service provider. I just don't understand why they get all this bad press. For example: "They don't have appropriate E911 systems!" Do you think Verizon, Comcast, and other VOIP companies do? Of course not, but no one ever mentions that.
Yes the service has its flaws. The customer support takes forever (at least when I used it a year or two ago). My phone occasionally rings for a second after hanging up from a call. But other than that the service is great at the $25 + tax level. Certainly cheaper and with more services than what the baby telcos are offering me now.
The article seems a bit vague on what practical means. Will it have to include air conditioning, power windows, automatic transmission... like Americans are used to? I can see many entries removing all these features that are pretty much standard on cars today just to save some weight. That's not even going into how I hope it's safe enough to drive and can hit 60 MPH in under, say, 15 seconds.
Now that I've mentioned my concerns, I have to say it's a great idea. Such a prize would push for innovation and provide the world with a useful solution to a growing problem.
store hours? It seems like this is the one thing that Google Maps doesn't have. You can find their address, telephone number, and numerous other things, but not what time they open or close.
I wouldn't say it killed the space completely. More like pushed its advancement back a few years. Look at a site like del.icio.us. People still post their favorite sites and others can check them out.
Now I'm not too familiar with storing VHS tapes, but wouldn't a DVD last much longer than a video tape? I mean, with the tape you'll have a definite degrade in quality over time. With the DVD, however, everything is digital.
Now I know there's a risk that the DVD might not work over time due to whatever issue. But I find it hard to believe you could make an argument that a VHS tape would last just as long without a noticeable degrade in quality.
Whatever happened to the days of when exploits were just called exploits? Now, everyone has to add zero day just to make it sound scary. Does anyone really care?
I, for one, am sick of the "zero day" exploits. Call them exploits, because that's what they are.
And before anyone brings it up, yes I am aware that zero day means the exploit was released the day the vulnerability was announced/discovered. That still doesn't change my opinion.
I think the main problem was that he released the software. If he just developed it and showed it to the police, I don't think he'd be in the situation he's in. Sure, it would have been harder/taken longer to get noticed, but he's also now just made a powerful tool available for someone who intends to do harm.
Well I guess this means...
on
The End of E3?
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· Score: 0, Troll
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I hope things get messy real soon. because that is the hope and change we can believe in.
I don't quite think you quite realize what it is you're advocating. In fact, I don't think many people that advocate revolution realize what it is they're calling for. Let's get this straight, a revolution would make things a lot WORSE before it made things better. In fact, it would take decades before our standard of life would approach what it is now if there was a revolution.
We are facing very complex problems as a country now. Admittedly, the system needs reform. But it does not need a revolution. Why? Because too much of the world economy depends on America. Things may be bad for us now, but if unrest starts to take hold then faith in the US economy would surely falter. If companies get concerned about our ability to function or the government to maintain control then panic would grip the global markets. Trade would virtually stop and the world would be thrown into a global depression far worse than what we are facing right now. Kiss your electronics good bye. We import all of them, you know. Maybe you could live without them, but what about food? You think gas and food prices are high now? If a revolution took place then they would skyrocket. People would be thrown into true poverty. People would die, and not because of the revolution battles - because of starvation and not being able to afford the inflated prices. The kicker in all of this? It wouldn't be the 1% or the politicians you're complaining about that would suffer. No, they'd have the means to escape. The common man? The one that's advocating the revolution. He'd be the one that would suffer.
Don't be naive. Calls for a revolution must be taken very seriously because they would drastically affect your daily life. This is why movements such as OWS need to be watched very closely. People are upset. They don't have jobs. The future doesn't look bright. But they don't realize that if they actually start introducing unrest then their lives will get far, far worse.
We need reform. New political parties and representatives - not just left and right. OWS could play a part in this. They should be forming a party with ideas and proposed solutions. That would be a means to achieving their goals. Right now, sitting in parks and protesting is merely raising the probability of unrest. And whether the protesters realize that or not, it will help no one.
It's quite clear that we possess the technology to make a 100+ MPG vehicle. The real question, though, is whether a practical vehicle can be made to attain those figures that the public would be willing to buy. Would tens of thousands of people be willing to buy it? No way.
People give American car companies a lot of crap for their vehicles performing inefficiently, but truthfully they're providing what the American consumer is willing to buy. Your average Joe won't buy a vehicle without trunk space and without comfortable seats. There are also factors such as appearance/design, safety (where are the airbags on these?), and the very basics like radio and cruise control. Keep in mind that up until the past few years, the best selling vehicle in the world was a pickup truck.
These Xprize vehicles would be hard pressed to make even the tiniest of dents in the market. They're a PR stunt and research platforms more than anything. Could the technology be used elsewhere? Absolutely. But don't expect to see these mass produced and highly sold anytime soon.
Here is the clip. YouTube is processing it now (might take a few minutes). The HD version should also be at the same link in an hour or so (again, YouTube processing time).
The footage is a bit rough since I just threw it together now. However you kind of get the idea. People were standing around just watching and the police decided to disperse the crowd with the sound cannon. Apologies for the bad camera work - we weren't filming anything in particular and the police refused to let us set up near the major news networks. Interestingly, they also pushed back another Japanese news network.
I have a clip of the sound cannon in action in Pittsburgh. I'm editing it now and will post it on YouTube. It's quite impressive technology but it sucks to be on the wrong end of it.
Actually I specifically meant to refer to situations where I don't know how to perform the task in question. With the menu bar I can quickly figure it out. With the ribbon I am flipping things in and out, trying to find something that seems relevant, wasting vast amounts of time waiting for tooltips to appear on undecipherable icons.
I'm not sure what you're looking at, but the ribbon has a label for every single icon visible. Don't like the icons? Ignore them and look at the text.
Honestly, I think most users are upset because Microsoft changed what they had used for over half a decade. The new ribbon scheme makes perfect sense to me. And it's much easier to find what you're looking for than with the old menu system where you were constantly searching huge menus. Everything is now organized how it should be. Looking for margins or page orientation? It's in a logical location - the page layout tab.
If people would learn to adapt, try new things, maybe they'd realize that they could like the new layout. Instead it just seems people are too busy complaining about how they want the old way back as opposed to attempting to learn a new way of doing things.
I'm not the asker but I also work in the campus TV station and can provide additional details.
The primary method of storage right now is a RAID 5 based array containing around 6 TB of data. We'll be adding a Drobo Pro in the next few days with an additional 6TB of storage. Together this will serve the 12TB of data on the server located in the studio. The system storing the data now is running CentOS 5.
However, this is not a good method of backup. It just provides redundancy in case a hard drive fails. What we want is an offsite server which will serve as a backup system. The system will be located in a separate building but on the campus network (transfer speeds not an issue).
We want the backup system to be able to store the original 12TB. HOWEVER, it needs to be expandable or at least have enough space to accommodate additional data over the years. So I'm thinking the original setup could have around 16TB of storage. However this needs to be expandable up to 24TB or 32TB without too much extra work involved. With a transition to HD video we plan on having at approximately 1TB of new data per year and this will increase over time.
Because we want the system to be expandable we don't think RAID would be ideal. The idea of having to use identical drives feels very limiting. Hence the reason a Drobo Pro is very appealing. However, it just doesn't support the capacity we require beyond the initial studio server. We want to have a version control system which will require additional storage as well. We don't need daily complete backups. Just something like subversion or CVS which will log when changes are made and save them. That way if someone decides to delete all the directories a history will be stored. The snapshots of the versions don't have to be in real time - they can be done daily. If there are no changes in one day then no snapshot will be required. Typically we do a dump of all the data to the studio server once a month from each editing machine. So snapshots would occur approximately once per month. This data is rarely read - maybe once/twice per year and not all of it.
Restoration time is not that important. As long as it takes less than a few days. No application data is being stored. It's just raw project files and video files that are in directories.
We'd like this to cost between $3000 and $4000 for everything. Obviously, cheaper is preferred.
Google Voice is a really nice service but the key issue I have with it is that I can't port my number. Sure, I'd love all the extra little perks it offers like visual voice mail, but I won't get any of these features until I tell everyone to use my new Google number. Call me attached and lazy if you will, but that's a fair amount of effort. Let me port my number and then I'll use your services.
That being said I've only used my Grand Central / Google Voice number on two occasions: helping my parents buy a car and buying a car myself. It's fantastic to give them this number and throw it on Do Not Disturb mode. I never had to deal with a single sales call.
As others have pointed out (http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/fulltext/nrcc49212/nrcc49212.pdf), Daylight Savings Time likely doesn't save us any energy.
I will admit that I haven't read the full text of that paper but I have read the conclusion. It certainly does not suggest that DST does not save us energy. In fact, it says there is not enough data to draw a conclusion. The data is either outdated, conflicting or based on constraining assumptions. Point being, don't try to twist your sources into saying something they're certainly not!
That being said, I view myself as a proponent of DST. Yes, it has its flaws (switching clocks is annoying), but I do believe it saves energy. I notice a lot of people here say "get up earlier or change business hours if you want more light." Do you really think that would work? We have a hard enough time getting people to go out and vote in a presidential election every 4 years and you want them to change their sleeping schedules? No, I don't have that much faith in others. DST standardizes everyone waking up earlier because most people wouldn't be bothered to on their own.
I suppose my assumption that it saves energy could be wrong, but I can't say I've seen a conclusive paper that gives a good argument either way.
You're right. I actually just ordered these boxes from Verizon yesterday. Call 1-888-Go-Digital (your phone will truncate the number) and ask for digital to analog converter boxes. I believe you can get up to 3 boxes for free.
The lack of a guide/VoD sucks, yeah. But one of these is perfect for my MythTV machine that has its own built in guide.
Don't worry. The regulators will put a stop to it. Can't have people going around doing things without permission.
I'm not against electric vehicles - I fully support them. I'm against the government interfering in personal lives too much. However, here I could understand if they put a stop to this. Let's face it, batteries can be dangerous. Part of the reason it's taking time for auto makers to get EVs on the market is because they have to package the batteries safely. Home-made electric cars don't have to go through all the safety tests. Might be fine if you're willing to put up with the risk. But I won't be happy when you crash into my car and blow us both up.
And just so happened to coincide with the internet boom. What's the rate these days?
Yes, it was the internet boom that contributed. Now, there are fewer women enrolling in CS at CMU. I think the number was around 30 total (25% female) in the Fall of 2007. Now that's not as bad as back in the mid-90s, but it's also not as high as during the dot-com bubble.
This is just a great example of how you could confuse causation. Yeah, the school's efforts helped. But it was also the economic factors that played a role too.
While it's not a tool, Joel Spolsky has written a long and detailed series of articles on how to correctly design a user interface. It's worth your time to check it out, even if it doesn't speed things up.
Here's the first chapter
Streaming video has its purposes. I know a site that recently switched to streaming after having the old download and watch method as you described. The reason? Bandwidth. Streaming for them uses LESS bandwidth because people were just downloading all their videos and leaving the site - never even watching them after they've been downloaded. The owners have to pay for that bandwidth even if it's going to waste.
You say that streaming is inefficient but that's not always true. I mean, if you're only going to watch something once you don't need the file again. And if you only want to watch a certain portion or decide you don't like the video halfway through then you've saved bandwidth.
The history of the CableCard is long and confusing. Particularly because the cable companies don't want you to adopt it. Then they lose their cable box renting fee. 2truway is just the next step in the CableCard evolution.
Originally, CableCards only had one directional transmission capability. This prevented services such as on demand, pay per view, and guide data. At least, that's what the cable companies wanted you to think. In actuality, the hardware (developed by independent companies) for the cards supported 2-way transmissions. The hardware complied with the CableCard 2.0 specification but the software for each card did not. The cable companies didn't want manufacturers to use their own software in the boxes/televisions/DVRs that would be using the cable cards. No, the cable companies wanted them to use OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP). Of course this isn't an open platform at all.
Picture your Tivo now, with its great recording software. Compare that to the crappy software your cable company uses on their DVR. Well, the OCAP part of the CableCard 2.0 standard requires all hardware be running the cable company's software. In other words, your Tivo would have to be running Comcast/Cox/whoever's horrid interface instead of the standard one. At least, that's how I understand it.
Consumer electronics companies didn't like this at all. So they fought and protested, allowing the CableCard standard in general to slowly die. That's why most new TVs now don't even have card slots.
CableLabs eventually realized that this just wouldn't work. So, they decided "hey, let's just rename OCAP to something cooler." Thus, Tru2way was born from the remnants of OCAP, a subset of the CableCard 2.0 spec. The cable companies also lightened up on the licensing restrictions for the software. Now, the Tru2way standard is getting much more support. Why? I'm really not sure. All I know is that more television companies are saying they'll be adding support for it (and thus cablecards) in their upcoming television models.
I think that's a fairly accurate summary of the history of CableCard and tru2way. No, this will not replace CableCards. Actually, this is just another step in the process towards adopting them.
Frankly, my only concern is that I'm allowed to use my open source MythTV box with a CableCard in order to record shows off encrypted QAM channels like Discovery HD. Currently, I cannot do this due to the ridiculous certified media center PC and Vista requirement. If anyone knows a way around this, please tell me. The analog cutoff is looming and I don't want to lose my recording ability.
This plan is setup great for college students who live on wifi enabled campuses. No worrying about minutes used up when you're operating completely off your school's wireless network. Only downside is the annoying login web pages that most places have.
Forgive me as it's been a while since I looked at the patent documents. But I do recall posters here on slashdot found prior art that could (possibly) be used to deem the patents invalid. Why try to invalidate a patent on obviousness when you can just use prior art? Seems like that would be the easier option.
The tone of the message speaks wonders about what the day must have been like for Digg's management. Looking at it you can just tell they're exhausted and have given up.
Interesting how a simple, seemingly unimportant, decision grew into a full scale disaster for them.
Sadly, the mistakes just don't stop: Was it really that wise to title the blog post with the hex code that they've received a C&D letter on. Somehow I think the courts are going to care more about a company representative posting the key as opposed to the hundreds of diggers posting the stories.
Yes the service has its flaws. The customer support takes forever (at least when I used it a year or two ago). My phone occasionally rings for a second after hanging up from a call. But other than that the service is great at the $25 + tax level. Certainly cheaper and with more services than what the baby telcos are offering me now.
The article seems a bit vague on what practical means. Will it have to include air conditioning, power windows, automatic transmission... like Americans are used to? I can see many entries removing all these features that are pretty much standard on cars today just to save some weight. That's not even going into how I hope it's safe enough to drive and can hit 60 MPH in under, say, 15 seconds.
Now that I've mentioned my concerns, I have to say it's a great idea. Such a prize would push for innovation and provide the world with a useful solution to a growing problem.
store hours? It seems like this is the one thing that Google Maps doesn't have. You can find their address, telephone number, and numerous other things, but not what time they open or close.
I wouldn't say it killed the space completely. More like pushed its advancement back a few years. Look at a site like del.icio.us. People still post their favorite sites and others can check them out.
Now I'm not too familiar with storing VHS tapes, but wouldn't a DVD last much longer than a video tape? I mean, with the tape you'll have a definite degrade in quality over time. With the DVD, however, everything is digital. Now I know there's a risk that the DVD might not work over time due to whatever issue. But I find it hard to believe you could make an argument that a VHS tape would last just as long without a noticeable degrade in quality.
Whatever happened to the days of when exploits were just called exploits? Now, everyone has to add zero day just to make it sound scary. Does anyone really care?
I, for one, am sick of the "zero day" exploits. Call them exploits, because that's what they are.
And before anyone brings it up, yes I am aware that zero day means the exploit was released the day the vulnerability was announced/discovered. That still doesn't change my opinion.
I think the main problem was that he released the software. If he just developed it and showed it to the police, I don't think he'd be in the situation he's in. Sure, it would have been harder/taken longer to get noticed, but he's also now just made a powerful tool available for someone who intends to do harm.
that Spaceworld will be making a return!