While TFA has good intentions, there is more to it. Next time you are at work, check out how many lights are on during the day when the sun is shining? At night when people are not there, monitors and other equipment is powered? When people make changes to the walls, the A/C heating system is rarely ever re-balanced, causing even more wasted energy. Only new buildings will spend for heat exchange systems that store "coolness" for use later the next day, like many new residential homes are using.
The problem, any problem, is rarely ever a single issue, but rather the conglomeration of several smaller problems that add together to create the symptoms that we discover.
What are some of the possible answers? Technology; simply put, don't leave the choice of saving energy in the hands of humans (for the most part). Lights should be controlled by where people are, not by time of day, heating and A/C should also be controlled by where people are, not by temperature alone. Equipment should power down when not in use, and have multiple algorithms for doing so according to use, time of day, and where people are etc. Heating and cooling? Using solar technology can relieve the building of heat from the sun as well as create electricity for lighting the inside of the building at the same time. There are so many answers that need to be applied, not one silver bullet answer.
The bad news is that its not just college students. By the time that a student graduates high school, they should be able to do the things being tested here, never mind college. If all college is going to teach you is to function as well as someone with an 8th grade education 100 years ago, we have a really *REALLY* bad problem.
People, in general, are lazy, and learning to communicate is not a high priority for many. Learning to do many things is not a priority and until it is, they will not learn it. In all probability, some of those who can't make sense of credit card offers do know all the tricks for a dozen video games. I'm not saying that gamers are dumb, but that this demonstrates they are not stupid, just lazy.
The school system that my tax dollars help pay for should not cater to lazy students. They should be made to work hard, and learn as much as they can. So, with some trepidation that I've not considered every angle, I blame the school system(s) for the quality of graduates they produce. Yes, I believe that if a kid doesn't want to learn, let them languish behind the grill at a burger joint for a few years to get inspired to go back and learn something.
This is similar to the *AA wanting to own any data produced, more importantly, charge for the use of that data. Comoditization of data is the first step down a long path to total corruption. Now, that was a lot to say in one sentence, but it goes like this: When any corporate entity can 'own' data, despite the fact that the data is out in the public use and domain (not as in for public domain) then the government granting those rights has lost all control, or more likely, never had control of anything. When a television program is broadcast on public airwaves, all the content of that publication is in the public domain... period. To say that it is owned, and use of it is licensed would require a Non-disclosure or licensing agreement be signed with the sale of every baseball stadium ticket. All baseball and opera (etc) critics would also need a license to tell the public what kind of 'data' can be obtained when attending the game or show. Essentially, this can be extrapolated to say that any company who employs you has to sign a license agreement to ensure that all data pertaining to you, and your work efforts is not used without appropriate license fees.
What I mean to say is that if this is upheld, then all hell breaks loose on data ownership. Several questions can then be asked:
Can people use my data without paying me? As in, if I participate in a survey, what licenses need to be signed? Can credit card companies or even the grocery store collect data about me without paying a fee?
It all sounds silly, but the principle is sound, data can not be owned, data wants to be free.
I agree that if you have a unique way of presenting data, you can charge for that as long as people will pay for your presentation of it. Imagine what the world would be like if CNN was only shown to people that paid for it by pay per view? Now imagine what the license key scheme would be like? How in the hell would sports bars work?
The best thing is for some of this silliness to come to light as legislation, then we can all tell legislators what we think... personally, I think baseball should just go away... problem solved, but that is just me.
move along... First Military intelligence was considered an oxymoron, and now the govermnent gives us Government Computer Security ??? This is a surprise? This is news? Wow, and to think, next thing you know, they'll be outsourcing tax processing to India... oh, wait....
Thinking about the amount of knowledge that has been available in the past, and what it meant to acquire knowledge, there is far more knowledge than ever before in history. There is enough information on the Internet to acquire the sum total of knowledge gained from any given 4-year degree (just without the paper to show for it) but that doesn't mean that people (in general) are using it or doing anything useful with it. Computers are getting more powerful and software more sophisticated, but I'm not even going to bother spellchecking these few sentences. Most people don't bother with such helpful tools unless there is no other way to do things, in fact many use telephone keyboard shortcuts for everything anyway. Technology and information will not change the face or facts of the human race as long as the human race continues to be what it is and has been. There will always be those that take advantage of it, but the vast majority will not. I know degreed engineers that don't bother to have a computer at home... it doesn't interest them. There are many people that just aren't interested enough to take advantage of knowledge that you have to work for.
Real AI will not tell you what you are supposed to do or learn, it will simply make it easier to do so, so AI is not able to help you anymore than your friends are or your teachers. Information overload is not the problem, the public library has always been a source of more information than ordinary folk could absorb on their own. AI won't even act like a brain enhancement as we humans are constrained by the wetware we are born with. You cannot take someone with an IQ of 'well-below-average' and expect them to become more intelligent or smart simply because they have access to the Internet.
Information is not the source of the overload, it is the restrictions of our brains that is the source of overload feeling. The advertisement of an article is trying to sell something but I am not reading it...
Didn't Mr Gates try this? I'm confused???? The article says it will use intelligent design.... does that mean people will have to watch television through a burning bush hologram?
that Australia is not doing something special, they are simply catching up to most of the rest of the world as far as fair use goes. This should allow IMTS and others to open up for business there. The other scary part is that governments look at 'copyright industries' as a large tax source, so will always be overprotected.
FTA: "We should have copyright laws that are more targeted at the real problem," Mr Ruddock said. "We should not treat everyday Australians who want to use technology to enjoy copyright material they have obtained legally as infringers where this does not cause harm to our copyright industries."
I agree that treating everyday users as criminals is bad, but worse is treating 'copyright industries' as something special, something to be protected. This is not the way to encourage competition etc. There are so many different and important issues wrapped up in copyright protection and fair use that no single change will make everything ok. It will take many changes, most notably a change in attitude. When people are willing to get anything they can as cheap as they can find it, people will find a way to sell it to them, whether that is by pirating copies of movies and music or getting Chinese people to make clothes and durable goods at near slavery wages.
Addressing simple issues of theft or fair use is not *THE* answer, entire business practices, including those of protectionist governments, need to be addressed. In the mean time, I'm afriad that the protected will continue to bully their way into even greater protected situations until things come undone completely.
This is yet another attempt (probably pushed from higher, larger political groups) to tax and regulate software and the Internet. As was pointed out, the problem is that businesses rarely ever actually 'own' the software unless it is written in-house. The trouble with valuating such software is multifaceted, and not worth the effort to value it for taxation in terms of net return on the process. F/OSS software is yet another issue... While people are free to use and modify such software, it is not theirs, and they technically don't own anything other than changes that they have made even though the license to use it is zero cost.
Now, trying to view this from an angle that makes sense of it, I'd say that TN wants to raise taxes, and looking at businesses, think that taxing software as a property will generate revenue... but as we all know, that is total bollocks and won't work since no one actually ownes it. So the real thrust of this could be:
1 - Solidify the value of F/OSS software for business 2 - A flank attack on businesses to prevent use of F/OSS since it would be taxed the same as MS or others, thus nearly negating any benefits 3 - An attempt to distract from real issues such as Sony's DRM & price fixing, and the battle in Mass.
In reality, its probably a case of unbelievably stupid ideas being bought into by people with clout because they have absolutely no clue what computers really do or can do, never mind what the software does.
When they figure out that this software stuff is like knowing how to grow a nice lawn and anyone can do it if they study it enough and work at it, I'm sure it will perplex them to the point of apoplexy.
I'm hoping that this conundrum they have, or are trying to, create causes them to burst into flames in a case of mass spontanious human combustion!
a case of hobbyists who manage to put the cash together for a Roomba who will do the hacks. Put a few sensors on it, a separate microcontroller, make it look like the Borg have taken it over, teach it a new trick or two... but that is about it. More or less, it will be like the people who hacked the Robosapiens etc. except that its a bit more expensive to hack into....
According to what I read YESTERDAY (but the story was rejected on/.) Microsoft seems to be being targeted in a preemptive way. In order to protect its IP, Visto is asking that MS Mobile 5.0 simply be prevented from being bundled with other MS products. They apparently have IP to back this up, and I hope that Visto manages to hold their own, whether that is toe-to-toe until out of court settlements are made, or in just filibustering their way to leadership position on mobile email. By keeping Microsoft out of the game (so to speak) that leaves room for other options. One thing I know for certain, Microsoft will never be kind to a F/OSS option in terms of IP licensing... perhaps Visto will.
Google, Sun, and Microsoft... hmmmm GSM... next thing you know, T-Mobile will be involved
poffttt!! Why are people looking for conspiracies? This is cheap at twice the price. Getting all those ideas pushed to them for the little money they spend on the lab? Yes, this is not unlike the police setting up a training school for thiefs so they can catch the graduates...
Someone mentioned targeted advertising as a solution....
This is EXACTLY what is needed. Imagine that you use your remote control to pick the kind of advertisements that you want to see on your cable system. This allows families to avoid the beer and sexual explicit type commercials around young children etc.
It also allows you to tell the networks exactly what kind of advertisement that you want to see. Say, for the 20-something single males who are always reading/., they don't want to see female hygiene product commercials... bzzttt they are no more. That is just one example.. so the targeted advertising thing is workable, and for good reasons. Those who want it can opt-in for any commercials that are rated high on the comedy scale etc. or aligned with other interests... say, if you like Nascar, you get the package of commercials that most Nascar fans opt for...
Perhaps they can divine from your viewing habits what commercials are going to work better... so that the cable television companies become advertising brokers, delivering targeted advertising. I only watch certain channels, so there are commercials that really don't apply to me... I don't need to see advertisements for network television because I don't watch it... I have no kids, so Toys_R_Us is not on my list either...
This is very workable, but requires that networks allow cable operators to be advertising brokers rather than just network pipes...
If you think that DRM is changing things, wait till you see what this would do to video based entertainment! When Comcast or other start buying up advertising agencies... look the fsck out!
Will be boycotting Sony products and productions? Yes, perhaps I'm not fully cogent when it comes to $ony, but I thought there were people on/. that wanted to actively boycott $ony.... and yes, I *AM* aware that there are a lot of products made by $ony.
So, the part that I don't like about the movie is that $ony had something to do with it.... so naturally, I've not seen it, and won't.
You have to admit, this is a huge technological feat. Think of all the effort that was put into the DARPA grand challenge, right here on Earth, and then think of all the crap that went wrong. To even try to do what the Hayabusa Asteroid Probe has done takes a lot of effort and money. If they only get 50% of it right, that is still a huge accomplishment.
Look at it like this, at least they are not spending their money on trying to figure out ways to stockpile enough munitions to destroy the Earth 4 times over. The chances that they will help uncover information that is *useful* to mankind is quite large... we should be applauding them.
Okay, so the Internet has business people as corrupt as any off-line bussines... nothing to see here, move on....
It seems obvious to me (but perhaps I'm special) but any business has those special people that know how to flaunt the rules and make things work in special ways. Isn't that why investment companies advertise on the television????
This is a non-story, unles you have zero knowledge of either business or the Internet, or both. WOW, just WOW, this is less exciting than a rerun of 'Friends' in MHO.
that no matter what decision is made in Mass., it *WILL* affect similar decisions around the globe. Even if the 'govermment' of Mass. decides to do things in a completely hair-brined way, others will see it for what it is. Not every state has a setup where the position of state CIO is in question, or could be.
The simple fact that this is becoming a 3-ring circus of zealous charicatures means that it will continue to be an issue around the globe for longer than it takes Mass. to cash the checks from Microsoft. More likely than not, if MS wins the 'contract' battle, another virus will put paid to the value of that decision. Even if ODF is not firmly established in the Mass. IT arena, it is gaining ground elsewhere, and this circus just gives more publicity to the reasons for having ODF in the first place.
As people have pointed out, there are good and bad reasons that location information might be used. But it applies to tons of other things too. Say you get a WiFi capable PDA or music player, the same location information is available from those networks. Your WiFi connected laptop is also trackable, as is your pager, and soon, also your new car.
There will be those that learn to foil such tracking attempts, and so, in the end, the only people that can't be tracked are the people that should be.... which again means lots of money spent for little or no value... EXCEPT that Google and others will take advantage of that and offer us services and goods for free if we listen to the location based advertising. Yes, as you drive past the McD's your cell phone will ring with an SMS messsage containing a 15 percent off coupon for a happy meal if you buy in the next 11 minutes.
That is the reason that location tracking will continue to grow... not because of the police.
that Goooooogle users actually know what they are looking for when they search on the Internet, and so use Goooogle, and people that don't know what they are looking for are happy with whatever Yahoo! and others dish up?
I know I use Gooooogle because I'm able to use it to find what I want to find, and normally in the first page. This is not so with other search engines. I may be biased by personal taste, but that seems to show some difference that might explain the headline?
I'm quite interested in robotics, and until there is sufficient 'touch' sensors, the safety thing is a REAL issue. I have been researching Theremin devices for that safety issue, but adding touch sensory data is a huge benefit. If such material can be combined with 'whiskers' like a cat or rat or roach has, then there are huge amounts of complex goals that can be achieved. We could spend billions of dollars putting an autonomous robot on Mars, and it might die in a day, but send a roach and in a year, there will be billions of them... they don't get stuck in pits, or fall down (well they get up if they fall) into cracks etc. Touch is so very important, and sensor density of touch is even more so.
Slashdot Mirror
all those patent lawyers probably graduated from the colleges that are turning out barely literate graduates... convenient seque
While TFA has good intentions, there is more to it. Next time you are at work, check out how many lights are on during the day when the sun is shining? At night when people are not there, monitors and other equipment is powered? When people make changes to the walls, the A/C heating system is rarely ever re-balanced, causing even more wasted energy. Only new buildings will spend for heat exchange systems that store "coolness" for use later the next day, like many new residential homes are using.
The problem, any problem, is rarely ever a single issue, but rather the conglomeration of several smaller problems that add together to create the symptoms that we discover.
What are some of the possible answers? Technology; simply put, don't leave the choice of saving energy in the hands of humans (for the most part). Lights should be controlled by where people are, not by time of day, heating and A/C should also be controlled by where people are, not by temperature alone. Equipment should power down when not in use, and have multiple algorithms for doing so according to use, time of day, and where people are etc. Heating and cooling? Using solar technology can relieve the building of heat from the sun as well as create electricity for lighting the inside of the building at the same time. There are so many answers that need to be applied, not one silver bullet answer.
The bad news is that its not just college students. By the time that a student graduates high school, they should be able to do the things being tested here, never mind college. If all college is going to teach you is to function as well as someone with an 8th grade education 100 years ago, we have a really *REALLY* bad problem.
People, in general, are lazy, and learning to communicate is not a high priority for many. Learning to do many things is not a priority and until it is, they will not learn it. In all probability, some of those who can't make sense of credit card offers do know all the tricks for a dozen video games. I'm not saying that gamers are dumb, but that this demonstrates they are not stupid, just lazy.
The school system that my tax dollars help pay for should not cater to lazy students. They should be made to work hard, and learn as much as they can. So, with some trepidation that I've not considered every angle, I blame the school system(s) for the quality of graduates they produce. Yes, I believe that if a kid doesn't want to learn, let them languish behind the grill at a burger joint for a few years to get inspired to go back and learn something.
Have any of your friends ever told you a horror story about waking up next to a m'fugly woman ???
This kind of morning after pill might actually sell!
This is similar to the *AA wanting to own any data produced, more importantly, charge for the use of that data. Comoditization of data is the first step down a long path to total corruption. Now, that was a lot to say in one sentence, but it goes like this: When any corporate entity can 'own' data, despite the fact that the data is out in the public use and domain (not as in for public domain) then the government granting those rights has lost all control, or more likely, never had control of anything. When a television program is broadcast on public airwaves, all the content of that publication is in the public domain... period. To say that it is owned, and use of it is licensed would require a Non-disclosure or licensing agreement be signed with the sale of every baseball stadium ticket. All baseball and opera (etc) critics would also need a license to tell the public what kind of 'data' can be obtained when attending the game or show. Essentially, this can be extrapolated to say that any company who employs you has to sign a license agreement to ensure that all data pertaining to you, and your work efforts is not used without appropriate license fees.
What I mean to say is that if this is upheld, then all hell breaks loose on data ownership. Several questions can then be asked:
Can people use my data without paying me? As in, if I participate in a survey, what licenses need to be signed? Can credit card companies or even the grocery store collect data about me without paying a fee?
It all sounds silly, but the principle is sound, data can not be owned, data wants to be free.
I agree that if you have a unique way of presenting data, you can charge for that as long as people will pay for your presentation of it. Imagine what the world would be like if CNN was only shown to people that paid for it by pay per view? Now imagine what the license key scheme would be like? How in the hell would sports bars work?
The best thing is for some of this silliness to come to light as legislation, then we can all tell legislators what we think... personally, I think baseball should just go away... problem solved, but that is just me.
move along...
First Military intelligence was considered an oxymoron, and now the govermnent gives us Government Computer Security ??? This is a surprise? This is news? Wow, and to think, next thing you know, they'll be outsourcing tax processing to India... oh, wait....
Never mind
Thinking about the amount of knowledge that has been available in the past, and what it meant to acquire knowledge, there is far more knowledge than ever before in history. There is enough information on the Internet to acquire the sum total of knowledge gained from any given 4-year degree (just without the paper to show for it) but that doesn't mean that people (in general) are using it or doing anything useful with it. Computers are getting more powerful and software more sophisticated, but I'm not even going to bother spellchecking these few sentences. Most people don't bother with such helpful tools unless there is no other way to do things, in fact many use telephone keyboard shortcuts for everything anyway. Technology and information will not change the face or facts of the human race as long as the human race continues to be what it is and has been. There will always be those that take advantage of it, but the vast majority will not. I know degreed engineers that don't bother to have a computer at home... it doesn't interest them. There are many people that just aren't interested enough to take advantage of knowledge that you have to work for.
Real AI will not tell you what you are supposed to do or learn, it will simply make it easier to do so, so AI is not able to help you anymore than your friends are or your teachers. Information overload is not the problem, the public library has always been a source of more information than ordinary folk could absorb on their own. AI won't even act like a brain enhancement as we humans are constrained by the wetware we are born with. You cannot take someone with an IQ of 'well-below-average' and expect them to become more intelligent or smart simply because they have access to the Internet.
Information is not the source of the overload, it is the restrictions of our brains that is the source of overload feeling. The advertisement of an article is trying to sell something but I am not reading it...
Didn't Mr Gates try this? I'm confused????
The article says it will use intelligent design.... does that mean people will have to watch television through a burning bush hologram?
that Australia is not doing something special, they are simply catching up to most of the rest of the world as far as fair use goes. This should allow IMTS and others to open up for business there. The other scary part is that governments look at 'copyright industries' as a large tax source, so will always be overprotected.
FTA: "We should have copyright laws that are more targeted at the real problem," Mr Ruddock said. "We should not treat everyday Australians who want to use technology to enjoy copyright material they have obtained legally as infringers where this does not cause harm to our copyright industries."
I agree that treating everyday users as criminals is bad, but worse is treating 'copyright industries' as something special, something to be protected. This is not the way to encourage competition etc. There are so many different and important issues wrapped up in copyright protection and fair use that no single change will make everything ok. It will take many changes, most notably a change in attitude. When people are willing to get anything they can as cheap as they can find it, people will find a way to sell it to them, whether that is by pirating copies of movies and music or getting Chinese people to make clothes and durable goods at near slavery wages.
Addressing simple issues of theft or fair use is not *THE* answer, entire business practices, including those of protectionist governments, need to be addressed. In the mean time, I'm afriad that the protected will continue to bully their way into even greater protected situations until things come undone completely.
This is yet another attempt (probably pushed from higher, larger political groups) to tax and regulate software and the Internet. As was pointed out, the problem is that businesses rarely ever actually 'own' the software unless it is written in-house. The trouble with valuating such software is multifaceted, and not worth the effort to value it for taxation in terms of net return on the process. F/OSS software is yet another issue... While people are free to use and modify such software, it is not theirs, and they technically don't own anything other than changes that they have made even though the license to use it is zero cost.
Now, trying to view this from an angle that makes sense of it, I'd say that TN wants to raise taxes, and looking at businesses, think that taxing software as a property will generate revenue... but as we all know, that is total bollocks and won't work since no one actually ownes it. So the real thrust of this could be:
1 - Solidify the value of F/OSS software for business
2 - A flank attack on businesses to prevent use of F/OSS since it would be taxed the same as MS or others, thus nearly negating any benefits
3 - An attempt to distract from real issues such as Sony's DRM & price fixing, and the battle in Mass.
In reality, its probably a case of unbelievably stupid ideas being bought into by people with clout because they have absolutely no clue what computers really do or can do, never mind what the software does.
When they figure out that this software stuff is like knowing how to grow a nice lawn and anyone can do it if they study it enough and work at it, I'm sure it will perplex them to the point of apoplexy.
I'm hoping that this conundrum they have, or are trying to, create causes them to burst into flames in a case of mass spontanious human combustion!
a case of hobbyists who manage to put the cash together for a Roomba who will do the hacks. Put a few sensors on it, a separate microcontroller, make it look like the Borg have taken it over, teach it a new trick or two... but that is about it. More or less, it will be like the people who hacked the Robosapiens etc. except that its a bit more expensive to hack into....
According to what I read YESTERDAY (but the story was rejected on /.) Microsoft seems to be being targeted in a preemptive way. In order to protect its IP, Visto is asking that MS Mobile 5.0 simply be prevented from being bundled with other MS products. They apparently have IP to back this up, and I hope that Visto manages to hold their own, whether that is toe-to-toe until out of court settlements are made, or in just filibustering their way to leadership position on mobile email. By keeping Microsoft out of the game (so to speak) that leaves room for other options. One thing I know for certain, Microsoft will never be kind to a F/OSS option in terms of IP licensing... perhaps Visto will.
Google, Sun, and Microsoft... hmmmm GSM... next thing you know, T-Mobile will be involved
poffttt!! Why are people looking for conspiracies? This is cheap at twice the price. Getting all those ideas pushed to them for the little money they spend on the lab? Yes, this is not unlike the police setting up a training school for thiefs so they can catch the graduates...
2 cents used
Someone mentioned targeted advertising as a solution....
/., they don't want to see female hygiene product commercials... bzzttt they are no more. That is just one example.. so the targeted advertising thing is workable, and for good reasons. Those who want it can opt-in for any commercials that are rated high on the comedy scale etc. or aligned with other interests... say, if you like Nascar, you get the package of commercials that most Nascar fans opt for...
This is EXACTLY what is needed. Imagine that you use your remote control to pick the kind of advertisements that you want to see on your cable system. This allows families to avoid the beer and sexual explicit type commercials around young children etc.
It also allows you to tell the networks exactly what kind of advertisement that you want to see. Say, for the 20-something single males who are always reading
Perhaps they can divine from your viewing habits what commercials are going to work better... so that the cable television companies become advertising brokers, delivering targeted advertising. I only watch certain channels, so there are commercials that really don't apply to me... I don't need to see advertisements for network television because I don't watch it... I have no kids, so Toys_R_Us is not on my list either...
This is very workable, but requires that networks allow cable operators to be advertising brokers rather than just network pipes...
If you think that DRM is changing things, wait till you see what this would do to video based entertainment! When Comcast or other start buying up advertising agencies... look the fsck out!
Is this just the precursor to the next version of Sony DRM... ??
Will be boycotting Sony products and productions? Yes, perhaps I'm not fully cogent when it comes to $ony, but I thought there were people on /. that wanted to actively boycott $ony.... and yes, I *AM* aware that there are a lot of products made by $ony.
So, the part that I don't like about the movie is that $ony had something to do with it.... so naturally, I've not seen it, and won't.
You have to admit, this is a huge technological feat. Think of all the effort that was put into the DARPA grand challenge, right here on Earth, and then think of all the crap that went wrong. To even try to do what the Hayabusa Asteroid Probe has done takes a lot of effort and money. If they only get 50% of it right, that is still a huge accomplishment.
Look at it like this, at least they are not spending their money on trying to figure out ways to stockpile enough munitions to destroy the Earth 4 times over. The chances that they will help uncover information that is *useful* to mankind is quite large... we should be applauding them.
Okay, so the Internet has business people as corrupt as any off-line bussines... nothing to see here, move on....
It seems obvious to me (but perhaps I'm special) but any business has those special people that know how to flaunt the rules and make things work in special ways. Isn't that why investment companies advertise on the television????
This is a non-story, unles you have zero knowledge of either business or the Internet, or both. WOW, just WOW, this is less exciting than a rerun of 'Friends' in MHO.
that no matter what decision is made in Mass., it *WILL* affect similar decisions around the globe. Even if the 'govermment' of Mass. decides to do things in a completely hair-brined way, others will see it for what it is. Not every state has a setup where the position of state CIO is in question, or could be.
The simple fact that this is becoming a 3-ring circus of zealous charicatures means that it will continue to be an issue around the globe for longer than it takes Mass. to cash the checks from Microsoft. More likely than not, if MS wins the 'contract' battle, another virus will put paid to the value of that decision. Even if ODF is not firmly established in the Mass. IT arena, it is gaining ground elsewhere, and this circus just gives more publicity to the reasons for having ODF in the first place.
As people have pointed out, there are good and bad reasons that location information might be used. But it applies to tons of other things too. Say you get a WiFi capable PDA or music player, the same location information is available from those networks. Your WiFi connected laptop is also trackable, as is your pager, and soon, also your new car.
There will be those that learn to foil such tracking attempts, and so, in the end, the only people that can't be tracked are the people that should be.... which again means lots of money spent for little or no value... EXCEPT that Google and others will take advantage of that and offer us services and goods for free if we listen to the location based advertising. Yes, as you drive past the McD's your cell phone will ring with an SMS messsage containing a 15 percent off coupon for a happy meal if you buy in the next 11 minutes.
That is the reason that location tracking will continue to grow... not because of the police.
that Goooooogle users actually know what they are looking for when they search on the Internet, and so use Goooogle, and people that don't know what they are looking for are happy with whatever Yahoo! and others dish up?
I know I use Gooooogle because I'm able to use it to find what I want to find, and normally in the first page. This is not so with other search engines. I may be biased by personal taste, but that seems to show some difference that might explain the headline?
20 mins of operation per windup should be enough for anyone... there, fixed that for you
uhmmmm were the men that inherited this gene blond haired?
you insensitive clod!
I'm quite interested in robotics, and until there is sufficient 'touch' sensors, the safety thing is a REAL issue. I have been researching Theremin devices for that safety issue, but adding touch sensory data is a huge benefit. If such material can be combined with 'whiskers' like a cat or rat or roach has, then there are huge amounts of complex goals that can be achieved. We could spend billions of dollars putting an autonomous robot on Mars, and it might die in a day, but send a roach and in a year, there will be billions of them... they don't get stuck in pits, or fall down (well they get up if they fall) into cracks etc. Touch is so very important, and sensor density of touch is even more so.