You can push the button and it will beep if the battery is not dead... the second hazard of not being in the charger. It still *IS* a human problem. You can put anti-lock breaks on cars, but you cannot force people to be good enough drivers to not have need of them. Technology is not solving the problem, it is reducing the damage done by the problem, in both the case of the brakes, and the case of using the paging function to find the phone that SHOULD be on the charger... sorry... human problems cannot be fixed by technology.
With current market trends, I'm willing to bet it will be a combination palmtop with cheap phone service/data plan attached, and built in software for coupon shopping/bargain hunting with a fliptop compartment on the cover that contains makeup space and a mirror.
Actually, all I do is reinforce boundaries of civil behavior that your children should already have learned: respect for property/things that do not belong to yourself. The reinforcement of that civil boundary of unwritten, but common sense is that if the equipment is not respected it will be taken away. No more remote = no more SpongeBob!
As adults, it is generally accepted in common sense as in law that if you fail to respect the property/things of others, you have to pay fines or be taken out of the public space for a time. Generally the judge is able to determine the length of your time-out, but mandatory sentencing often nullifies his/her opinion on the matter.
There is no reason to believe that a 6 year old is incapable of understanding this concept clearly. Perhaps you need to explain it more clearly if they are having trouble.
If the remote goes missing, the cable box goes back to the provider. I have no problem with that. When the kids want to pay for cable tv... meh, let them.
Welcome elrous0, to the 'what were they thinking? anti-software fan club'
Here we will help you commiserate as you belch out the pains brought to you by software that is premised on the thought that ALL users would surely want this software until the day they die.
With the mentality (and social skills) of clippy, these coders work double time to ensure that your experience with their software will be never ending. What could possibly be worse than malware you might ask. How about software that has an uninstall feature but won't do so?
I'm wagging my finger at you AOL, Apple, MS... you, antivirus guy in the back snickering, you can STFU too.
We're glad to have you as a member, and look forward to your votes in the awards ceremonies next year. Note that Internet infamy is your for the taking if your right up for nominees is both exacting and excoriating.
I'm still investigating, but the OOo quickstart on XP may get a nomination. HP printer driver division has a place on my list too.
Anyway, mill around, meet the other members, enjoy....
It is of interest. Think about it. If you wanted to do damage to company xyz, you social engineer the information for what PCs they are using, the CD hardware etc., routers, blah blah blah... then silently release a worm or virus that redirects them to your special webpage. brick brick brick brick until their productivity grinds to a halt.... if some get bricked for the CD, others for the motherboard, others because of routers... it matters not. What is being shown is that it is POSSIBLE to do this.
In this day and age, shame on your for dismissing it as not possible. May your body rot next to that of the designer of the Titanic. If it can happen, it will, and probably already is. I could write a virus that is undetected, and does nothing but look for people who have a bill.gates in their address book, and upon finding one, sit patiently, wait till idle time, then delete the oldest.xls file on the hard drive. Repeat that once every rand(x) number of days. lather, rinse, repeat.
Perhaps your virus waits till it sees acks from 40 other machines on the same LAN segment, then they all start bricking things?
I've been looking for something just about like this for a DVR project. I have the case modded nearly for this project, PSU basically picked. Just need a Motherboard. The basic plan was to remove the VCR mechanism, replace with a DVD/CD player and go from there... This looks like it might work nicely:)
And, as for "...even in North America..." I don't know the law in Canada, but in the US and Mexico there is a great deal of law and legal procedure that can be used to protect people in cases like this. In the US especially, mindless obedience to authority goes against the most important founding principles of the country. What you say has some truth to it, but to even obtain the license to operate, service providers have signed agreement to act within a growing number of laws. Not to be forgotten are the DMCA, USPATRIOT act, CALEA, NSLs, and all previous licensing agreement clauses.
Google will help you find all that you need to know. The point is that by law, in the US service providers are bound under certain conditions to give up private information on their users. With an NSL, it apparently only takes a bad attitude by a federal agent to get the information.
Google is NOT in the business of fighting the courts on behalf of every individuals safety. They are in the business of generally giving the best possible service that they can, and not doing evil if they can get around it. Remember, choose your battles is a wise thought.
Yes, balking on giving away IP/user information on bogus requests from the RIAA is one thing. Defying a court order to do so is... well, bad business practice unless you have better information than the FSM about winning. Obstruction of the courts or law enforcement is generally frowned upon quite heavily, and causes you problems elsewhere.
My original point was: were they forced into giving this out by legal means, or just asked for it and gave it away. There is a major difference. Did the Google employees know that giving this out would result in torture? Knowing and not knowing is a big difference. That is what I want to know. Was it willful or simply complying with the laws of the land?
Can Google be blamed for the actions of the court and law enforcement? Should Americans be held accountable individually for the crimes committed by the Bush administration?
This is the best question to ask for both the Google and Yahoo issues. While some information is known, even in North America, companies are expected to play by the rules of the law. When the judge says give up the info, you are supposed to do so, not ask what they are going to do with it.
Now, that can have bad consequences in some countries, and that is painfully clear. I would like to see the detailed information about what was asked of who, exactly, and how it was asked and by whom. Those details could clearly wash away the cloudiness of who did evil.
Yeah... what he said. For fuck's sake. We are so worried that some radical muslim will take over a plane and fly it into the whitehouse that we are destroying the constitution. Now we want to put remote control airplanes in the sky... just daring them to use one? What could possibly go wrong?
Oh wait, that's right, government pilots were flying the plane that hit the pentagon the first time. So, sure, nothing will go wrong.
Or perhaps we can just get insurance companies to cough up the dosh to pay for all the accidents? How much is the lives of 30 people worth? 50? 300?
On the other hand, there is no terrorist threat anymore, so this shouldn't work out so bad. Planning the date when it will be ok doesn't seem right... just work on it till you have the safety figured out. I'm certain that war games in the middle east have helped grow the knowledge for this.
roflmao... you really get facts from the government? really????
I do know what you mean though, when I get chain letters I always reply to all with links to information that debunks it if any exists. At the bottom of such emails I always send links to snopes, and several other places... intimating that they could check their facts before believing or forwarding Internet junk to anyone else. Nothing like being shown that you are wrong in front of your whole email list LOLOL
This is what I said:
I'm using it now. Don't tread on me or my privacy. It's time that ALL citizens of the USA said the same. It neither called others to violent action, or intimated violent action on my part. My reference to the second ammendment (no, it is not out of date) is simply to frame the statement. The intent of the framers was not to create a fixed/rigid document to define government for all time, but to allow, nay, encourage citizens to change that government and document to suit all people in the pursuit of freedom and happiness etc.
I'm absolutely sure that when the rest of the world mocks our 'land of the free' label, it is time to do something. Not tomorrow, not next month, but now. Yes, voting is a quick and comparatively painless way to implement change. The problem (as I see it) is that this does not highlight to the citizenry that the people they vote in may be in the same cabal of (on face value) patriots that would violate their rights.
Sadly, in the land of the free, there are few who know their rights, and why they have them. I'm tempted to say that 'no child left behind' has ensured this, but won't. Despite the sig, I do not promote violent overthrow of the government, but I reserve the right to. There is no difference between one tyrant 3000 miles away and 30 tyrants 100 miles away... save for the fact that shooting the 30 is easier.
My entire tirade (and it is one) is for one simple reason; I'm tired of having MY rights trampled in the name of something that simply does NOT exist. If you think me wrong, shut down all the anti-terrorism measures... ALL of them, prove to me empirically that there is a danger that warrants such invasion of my life and privacy. Go ahead, do it!
I'm tired of people 'protecting me' from dangers that do not exist and trampling MY rights in the process. If you want to guard my house while I'm on vacation, fucking do it from the other side of the street. My security system is working fine, and I'm not paying you to waste your time and MY tax dollars to sit inside my house.
This goes for terrorism, child-pornography, internet bullies, file sharers, and any manner of thought crime criminals.
See my sig, I do not advocate violence, rather I suggest that the Internet changes everything. Information wants to be free, and information frees the rest of us. If the government is so honorable at protecting my rights, why do they have to do it in secret?
Don't give me that bs about national security... I have a TSEC, and I understand it, how it works, what it is for. There is no reason that NSL letters, DMCA, USPATRIOT act et al need to exist. We have plenty of laws to take care of these problems already. New laws are only implemented to empower people or limit the scope of power of others. period. study it a bit.
I am BLOODY SURE that what I'm saying is right. I'm not a pacifist, but I am also not advocating a violent revolution. I like the Ron Paul revolution myself. The trouble is that if you do not smack people around a bit, they won't have the attention span to listen. Now is the time to listen to what is being said. Now is the time to take heart. Now is the time to put on the tin foil hats and load your home security devices. Now is the time to be skeptical. Now is the time to question EVERYTHING that the government is doing, or is asking for laws so they can do. Now is the time to listen carefully. Now is the time to start making up your mind about whether you would use a gun. Now is the time to decide how much your constitutionally guaranteed rights are worth to you. Now is the time to figure out what you would do when they come to take you from your home....
Yes, sounds a bit paranoid but then when you compare the Bush administration to the German government prior to WWII, it's a scary piece of entertainment... try it for yourself.
If you give an inch, they will take a mile so the saying goes. In this case that is not true... they will not stop with the mile.
There is much that can be done before violence is needed, but it must be done now. Attention must be drawn to the wrongs that are happening in this country now, not next month, not in September, but NOW.
I don't know about the rest of/., but I think it is about time that the NSL usage was challenged. I'm glad that they finally found one that was worth challenging. These things are evil incarnate... or rather enable evil incarnate.
There simply is NOT enough terrorist activity or threat to warrant this kind of constitutional stomping authority. I really don't care if that sounds unpatriotic. I just do NOT believe that there was ever valid justification for such actions as allowed by the NSLs. They give carte blanche access to your information in ways that you are supposed to be protected from. Simply put, it is a non-supervised method to violate every or any citizens constitutional rights to privacy.
I'm tired of seeing arguments about how it's for security, or it fights terrorists. For FSM's sake, if it violates MY rights, then it's fucking wrong. period. no argument. for. ever.
I don't care if you tell me it will only be used in 'certain' cases.. I do NOT want you to have the ability to do so because I do not fucking trust you. ever. period. get over it.
The 2nd amendment is there to provide recourse to such actions by the government and I don't care if those in power think I'm saying treasonous things, I have a constitutionally guaranteed right to say them, think them, and 'believe it or not' act on them. I do NOT want this, or any, government to be snooping in my life, or anyone's life just because they can for expedience sake. Follow the law, do the right thing and you will have my respect. Don't and I will keep my gun very handy. THAT, my friends, is the intent of the framers of the constitution. Don't tread on me was used early on as a rally cry... I'm using it now. Don't tread on me or my privacy. It's time that ALL citizens of the USA said the same.
I'm all for tech gear, but this seems a bit outlandish for sports? Radio has racing covered, and football for that matter. I'm trying to figure out what everyday life use this might have? Borging ourselves might some day prove useful, but so far neither science fiction nor real life has shown this to be of much use beyond scientific curiosity and bragging rights.
It might well have military applications. When a fighter pilot pulls 7 Gs in a bank, this might help the autopilot recover any errors etc.
It would not work in automobiles... hell, the police can't even get people to wear the more passive seatbelt.
Are we planning for drunks to put this on to see if the car will start? That won't work.
Okay, the link finally loaded... not sure what country this will work in for street drivers, but it is NOT North America... What in the hell were they thinking? If they won't wear a seatbelt, they won't wear this 'hat'
Now, that said, has it been investigated by insurance companies? Will it possibly be blamed for accidents?
Like I said, it's not going to work in North America... sigh
Let me see if I can give you a couple of clu^H^H^Hanswers....
1) MS is not offering their software from the beneficence of samaritan spirit. They are offering it at that price to ensure that even the 5th world will be hooked on their constant upgrade and pay to play cycles. $3/CD is better than zero, and it will lead to sales later on. In the marketing world it's called a loss leader... http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lossleader.asp
2) More functionality in this case includes wasted battery usage through OS issues, BSODs, virus prone applications, upgrade cycles that are longer than the XO will be a viable product (read no upgrades)
Now, when it comes down to it, neither is likely to support a dialect that is spoken by only several thousand people in the world, but both support a large number of languages making this an odd point to harp on. I've given you a couple of links, perhaps you can point out to the rest of us what huge advantage XP offers over Linux in general and the XO's original system in particular.
3) Redhat, Novell, Canonical et al were not asked to step up. OLPC chose their operating system and MS 'convinced' them to re-choose. I say convinced with all the irony that I can muster in this life and the next. MS is offering a raped version of XP, and not the version you are obviously used to.
Sugar OS was just right for the OLPC and with a few tweaks would have been very nice for the goals of that project.
As for your general attitude in your comment, I offer this review as rebuttal. It's from http://www.engadget.com/tag/olpc and the emphasis below is mine.
It's been a controversial decision, but it looks like the OLPC XO has completed its transition from revolutionary education project to just another tiny Windows laptop with a useless keyboard -- albeit one with a pleasantly whimsical design. Yep, it's official: Microsoft and OLPC just put out a joint press release saying that XP-loaded XOs will be available starting in August or September, with some countries to get the machines as soon as next month. Users will get all the regular functionality of XP -- it's basically the same build as on the Eee and other ultraportables -- but Microsoft's spent over a year developing specialized drivers for the XO's various features like e-book mode, the writing pad, and camera. (We're pretty certain that doesn't include mesh networking, but WiFi is supported.) XP is too big for the built-in 1GB flash chip, so it'll come preloaded on a 2GB SD card, leaving just about 1.5GB free total for apps and media. It seems like Microsoft is thrilled about this partnership, but it's a not going to make NickNeg's search for new vision at the top any easier. As for Sugar? You'll still be able to get it, but we have a sinking feeling about its future. Demo video after the break. I realize that you seem to have been throwing down the gauntlet for the Linux fanbois, but you would be wise to remember to bring more than a knife to a gun fight.
All my posts about malware and virus software for some time have been doom and gloom. Seems moderators don't like that. This is nothing but the tip of the iceburg of what might be coming, and what is probably already in the wild, we just don't know it yet. I could probably think of a dozen scenarios where malware could already be hiding on your equipment, silently waiting to be signaled.
It's possibly in your router's flash by now, or your motherboard's flash, or sitting on a CD or CE player's flash, or an MP3 player. It only has to wait till it needs to start spreading, and be dormant there too, then one day you notice missing files, or there is an outbreak of serious malware globally. Yes, tinfoil hat stuff, but it is possible, and as time ticks on it is becoming more probable.
Nobody wants to believe it, but it is possible. If it is possible, it will only be a matter of time...
I agree, and the only place that I've EVER seen where RFID technology on people is appropriate is aboard a Federation starship or space station. Outside of a military situation... well, NATCH! Not worth the effort.
Think of this in what I like to call the 'failure mode analysis':
Your company (100-250 people) uses RFID tags. A fire breaks out. All but 7 people's RFID are accounted for. The FD goes in to the burning building to get them... 2 firemen die. All 7 were in the parking lot watching at the time.
It's absolutely no good for tracking terrorists.. they won't wear them and you won't have sensors to pick up the individuals that don't have RFID tags. This applies to any building currently in existence.
You decide to tag everyone in a town of 3700 people for an experiment. After an estimated 430 million dollar installation of equipment, the sum total of what you know will be that people get paid on thursday and go to the bar. Walmart is busy on the weekends, and the guy you found cheating is suing you for illegal disclosure of personal information.
Now, say you have a valid use for this, such as security in your data center, or so you think. Only people who have embedded chips can access the data center. There is a car crash, one tech dies, two are in hospital. Now your backup system is down over the weekend, and you can't even buy access to the data center. Yes, that might be a stretch, but I did say 'failure mode analysis'.
Now, if you want to tag your milking cows to keep track of them, make sure they are getting milked, vaccinated, etc. That is useful. If you want to make sure that all the deliveries to your distribution center reach their intended end user space.. that also is good.
Tagging people has a *VERY* limited use, no matter how cool it might seem. I'm always willing to be proved wrong though.
At the conference, it might be cool to have anonymous RFID tracking to see what kind of data it would provide, but linking it to an individual would be wrong. If you want to see how the traffic flows through the booths, it would work but then so would cameras and video analysis software... hmmm I'm willing to bet that the video analysis would be much easier to implement, less intrusive, and much more reliable as there would be no swapping of tags, no RF interference issues, no expensive system to install for tracking etc.
I shouldn't, but lets think; has the USPATRIOT Act ever been used against US citizens? Now, that wouldn't happen would it?.... right...
Keep dreaming and drinking the red/white/blue coolaid my friend. Blind faith and support for your government is NOT patriotism, it's pure folly
Blind faith in your government, or anything is folly.
"blind faith in a leader will get you killed".... Bruce Springstein
That's just how it is. Would you like some quotes from the USA's founding fathers on this topic? They too think you a fool. Here is a pretty damn good start for you:
I had forgotten about that... roflmao, you're right and the outcry should be large so MS will be stuck supporting a stripped down version of XP for another 7 years... OUCH! Nothing like planning ahead:-)
Honestly, I wish I had the time and sharper skills to take a distro of GNU/Linux and carve it just right to work on the OLPC. I'd gladly give it to them, not to spite MS, but to help ensure that there are tons of people free of the shackles of forced upgrades, NSA backdoors, and a number of other things that can be hidden from them by closed source software. I had hoped that this is what would happen... natch. Money still rules the roost. One day this will not be so, and I think that it won't take long to turn it around if some group of gifted individuals with time to spare would put their efforts on the task of putting Linux on the OLPC system.
I'm not bashing MS per se' but I dislike the idea that so many people who can ill afford it would be placed into that cycle of upgrades and buy to play software. RMS was right in some respects, and the OLPC situation illustrates the foundation of his early frustrations. It should be free. I'm not saying that you can't roll your own and try to make some money. Good on Bill for doing so, but using money and clout to force that on others is rather despicable... and I'm being nice here.
Why doesn't MS just send the disks free of charge with a label on it that says 'fuck you kid' and be done with it?
at your naivety, but I'm not. If it is possible for the US Government to pw0n your machine, it is also VERY possible that someone other than the government will pw0n it first. The military (of any government) is doing NOBODY a service by using their computer without permission. For US Citizens, this is in clear violation of the intent of the 3rd ammendment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution You are clearly welcome to maintain your own opinions, and of course allow anyone including the guvment types to own your system. Trust me on this, if you leave it open to the cyber command, it will get owned by someone that does NOT care how much pain you have to go through to sort out the mess the leave you on your computer.
That's not even stopping to comment on your opinion of world powers and history.... sigh
Slashdot Mirror
You can push the button and it will beep if the battery is not dead... the second hazard of not being in the charger. It still *IS* a human problem. You can put anti-lock breaks on cars, but you cannot force people to be good enough drivers to not have need of them. Technology is not solving the problem, it is reducing the damage done by the problem, in both the case of the brakes, and the case of using the paging function to find the phone that SHOULD be on the charger... sorry... human problems cannot be fixed by technology.
With current market trends, I'm willing to bet it will be a combination palmtop with cheap phone service/data plan attached, and built in software for coupon shopping/bargain hunting with a fliptop compartment on the cover that contains makeup space and a mirror.
I actually mean that semi-seriously
Actually, all I do is reinforce boundaries of civil behavior that your children should already have learned: respect for property/things that do not belong to yourself. The reinforcement of that civil boundary of unwritten, but common sense is that if the equipment is not respected it will be taken away. No more remote = no more SpongeBob!
As adults, it is generally accepted in common sense as in law that if you fail to respect the property/things of others, you have to pay fines or be taken out of the public space for a time. Generally the judge is able to determine the length of your time-out, but mandatory sentencing often nullifies his/her opinion on the matter.
There is no reason to believe that a 6 year old is incapable of understanding this concept clearly. Perhaps you need to explain it more clearly if they are having trouble.
If the remote goes missing, the cable box goes back to the provider. I have no problem with that. When the kids want to pay for cable tv... meh, let them.
Well kids, I've just come back from the store. Had to buy a hammer for the 7th time this week. I'm afraid it medical experiments for the lot of you..
/. in regard to RFID.
Seriously, if they can't learn, I understand that chloroform does wonders. Probably reduce your food bill too..... just kidding... kind of
Your problem is a human problem that CANNOT be solved by technology. This has been discussed elsewhere on
Technology will never solve this problem for you unless you invest in the new Acme AC1000 Spanking Machine.
Welcome elrous0, to the 'what were they thinking? anti-software fan club'
Here we will help you commiserate as you belch out the pains brought to you by software that is premised on the thought that ALL users would surely want this software until the day they die.
With the mentality (and social skills) of clippy, these coders work double time to ensure that your experience with their software will be never ending. What could possibly be worse than malware you might ask. How about software that has an uninstall feature but won't do so?
I'm wagging my finger at you AOL, Apple, MS... you, antivirus guy in the back snickering, you can STFU too.
We're glad to have you as a member, and look forward to your votes in the awards ceremonies next year. Note that Internet infamy is your for the taking if your right up for nominees is both exacting and excoriating.
I'm still investigating, but the OOo quickstart on XP may get a nomination. HP printer driver division has a place on my list too.
Anyway, mill around, meet the other members, enjoy....
Survey said! bzzzzzz wrong.
.xls file on the hard drive. Repeat that once every rand(x) number of days. lather, rinse, repeat.
It is of interest. Think about it. If you wanted to do damage to company xyz, you social engineer the information for what PCs they are using, the CD hardware etc., routers, blah blah blah... then silently release a worm or virus that redirects them to your special webpage. brick brick brick brick until their productivity grinds to a halt.... if some get bricked for the CD, others for the motherboard, others because of routers... it matters not. What is being shown is that it is POSSIBLE to do this.
In this day and age, shame on your for dismissing it as not possible. May your body rot next to that of the designer of the Titanic. If it can happen, it will, and probably already is. I could write a virus that is undetected, and does nothing but look for people who have a bill.gates in their address book, and upon finding one, sit patiently, wait till idle time, then delete the oldest
Perhaps your virus waits till it sees acks from 40 other machines on the same LAN segment, then they all start bricking things?
This *IS* of interest. Welcome to Tuesday.
I've been looking for something just about like this for a DVR project. I have the case modded nearly for this project, PSU basically picked. Just need a Motherboard. The basic plan was to remove the VCR mechanism, replace with a DVD/CD player and go from there... This looks like it might work nicely :)
CALEA: http://www.calea.org/
Licensing: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/03/why_isp_data_su.html
Google will help you find all that you need to know. The point is that by law, in the US service providers are bound under certain conditions to give up private information on their users. With an NSL, it apparently only takes a bad attitude by a federal agent to get the information.
Google is NOT in the business of fighting the courts on behalf of every individuals safety. They are in the business of generally giving the best possible service that they can, and not doing evil if they can get around it. Remember, choose your battles is a wise thought.
Yes, balking on giving away IP/user information on bogus requests from the RIAA is one thing. Defying a court order to do so is... well, bad business practice unless you have better information than the FSM about winning. Obstruction of the courts or law enforcement is generally frowned upon quite heavily, and causes you problems elsewhere.
My original point was: were they forced into giving this out by legal means, or just asked for it and gave it away. There is a major difference. Did the Google employees know that giving this out would result in torture? Knowing and not knowing is a big difference. That is what I want to know. Was it willful or simply complying with the laws of the land?
Can Google be blamed for the actions of the court and law enforcement? Should Americans be held accountable individually for the crimes committed by the Bush administration?
This is the best question to ask for both the Google and Yahoo issues. While some information is known, even in North America, companies are expected to play by the rules of the law. When the judge says give up the info, you are supposed to do so, not ask what they are going to do with it.
Now, that can have bad consequences in some countries, and that is painfully clear. I would like to see the detailed information about what was asked of who, exactly, and how it was asked and by whom. Those details could clearly wash away the cloudiness of who did evil.
Mod parent up. Those IP addresses should NEVER have been let out in the cold where they could be misused. That's just not right
MS Solitaire eats up so much time because they did not ship a decent version of Maijong.... meh
Yeah... what he said. ... just daring them to use one? What could possibly go wrong?
For fuck's sake. We are so worried that some radical muslim will take over a plane and fly it into the whitehouse that we are destroying the constitution. Now we want to put remote control airplanes in the sky
Oh wait, that's right, government pilots were flying the plane that hit the pentagon the first time. So, sure, nothing will go wrong.
Or perhaps we can just get insurance companies to cough up the dosh to pay for all the accidents? How much is the lives of 30 people worth? 50? 300?
On the other hand, there is no terrorist threat anymore, so this shouldn't work out so bad. Planning the date when it will be ok doesn't seem right... just work on it till you have the safety figured out. I'm certain that war games in the middle east have helped grow the knowledge for this.
roflmao... you really get facts from the government? really????
I do know what you mean though, when I get chain letters I always reply to all with links to information that debunks it if any exists. At the bottom of such emails I always send links to snopes, and several other places... intimating that they could check their facts before believing or forwarding Internet junk to anyone else. Nothing like being shown that you are wrong in front of your whole email list LOLOL
I'm absolutely sure that when the rest of the world mocks our 'land of the free' label, it is time to do something. Not tomorrow, not next month, but now. Yes, voting is a quick and comparatively painless way to implement change. The problem (as I see it) is that this does not highlight to the citizenry that the people they vote in may be in the same cabal of (on face value) patriots that would violate their rights.
Sadly, in the land of the free, there are few who know their rights, and why they have them. I'm tempted to say that 'no child left behind' has ensured this, but won't. Despite the sig, I do not promote violent overthrow of the government, but I reserve the right to. There is no difference between one tyrant 3000 miles away and 30 tyrants 100 miles away... save for the fact that shooting the 30 is easier.
My entire tirade (and it is one) is for one simple reason; I'm tired of having MY rights trampled in the name of something that simply does NOT exist. If you think me wrong, shut down all the anti-terrorism measures... ALL of them, prove to me empirically that there is a danger that warrants such invasion of my life and privacy. Go ahead, do it!
I'm tired of people 'protecting me' from dangers that do not exist and trampling MY rights in the process. If you want to guard my house while I'm on vacation, fucking do it from the other side of the street. My security system is working fine, and I'm not paying you to waste your time and MY tax dollars to sit inside my house.
This goes for terrorism, child-pornography, internet bullies, file sharers, and any manner of thought crime criminals.
See my sig, I do not advocate violence, rather I suggest that the Internet changes everything. Information wants to be free, and information frees the rest of us. If the government is so honorable at protecting my rights, why do they have to do it in secret?
Don't give me that bs about national security
I am BLOODY SURE that what I'm saying is right. I'm not a pacifist, but I am also not advocating a violent revolution. I like the Ron Paul revolution myself. The trouble is that if you do not smack people around a bit, they won't have the attention span to listen. Now is the time to listen to what is being said. Now is the time to take heart. Now is the time to put on the tin foil hats and load your home security devices. Now is the time to be skeptical. Now is the time to question EVERYTHING that the government is doing, or is asking for laws so they can do. Now is the time to listen carefully. Now is the time to start making up your mind about whether you would use a gun. Now is the time to decide how much your constitutionally guaranteed rights are worth to you. Now is the time to figure out what you would do when they come to take you from your home....
Yes, sounds a bit paranoid but then when you compare the Bush administration to the German government prior to WWII, it's a scary piece of entertainment... try it for yourself.
If you give an inch, they will take a mile so the saying goes. In this case that is not true... they will not stop with the mile.
There is much that can be done before violence is needed, but it must be done now. Attention must be drawn to the wrongs that are happening in this country now, not next month, not in September, but NOW.
I don't know about the rest of /., but I think it is about time that the NSL usage was challenged. I'm glad that they finally found one that was worth challenging. These things are evil incarnate... or rather enable evil incarnate.
There simply is NOT enough terrorist activity or threat to warrant this kind of constitutional stomping authority. I really don't care if that sounds unpatriotic. I just do NOT believe that there was ever valid justification for such actions as allowed by the NSLs. They give carte blanche access to your information in ways that you are supposed to be protected from. Simply put, it is a non-supervised method to violate every or any citizens constitutional rights to privacy.
I'm tired of seeing arguments about how it's for security, or it fights terrorists. For FSM's sake, if it violates MY rights, then it's fucking wrong. period. no argument. for. ever.
I don't care if you tell me it will only be used in 'certain' cases.. I do NOT want you to have the ability to do so because I do not fucking trust you. ever. period. get over it.
The 2nd amendment is there to provide recourse to such actions by the government and I don't care if those in power think I'm saying treasonous things, I have a constitutionally guaranteed right to say them, think them, and 'believe it or not' act on them. I do NOT want this, or any, government to be snooping in my life, or anyone's life just because they can for expedience sake. Follow the law, do the right thing and you will have my respect. Don't and I will keep my gun very handy. THAT, my friends, is the intent of the framers of the constitution. Don't tread on me was used early on as a rally cry... I'm using it now. Don't tread on me or my privacy. It's time that ALL citizens of the USA said the same.
I'm all for tech gear, but this seems a bit outlandish for sports? Radio has racing covered, and football for that matter. I'm trying to figure out what everyday life use this might have? Borging ourselves might some day prove useful, but so far neither science fiction nor real life has shown this to be of much use beyond scientific curiosity and bragging rights.
It might well have military applications. When a fighter pilot pulls 7 Gs in a bank, this might help the autopilot recover any errors etc.
It would not work in automobiles... hell, the police can't even get people to wear the more passive seatbelt.
Are we planning for drunks to put this on to see if the car will start? That won't work.
Okay, the link finally loaded... not sure what country this will work in for street drivers, but it is NOT North America... What in the hell were they thinking? If they won't wear a seatbelt, they won't wear this 'hat'
Now, that said, has it been investigated by insurance companies? Will it possibly be blamed for accidents?
Like I said, it's not going to work in North America... sigh
1) MS is not offering their software from the beneficence of samaritan spirit. They are offering it at that price to ensure that even the 5th world will be hooked on their constant upgrade and pay to play cycles. $3/CD is better than zero, and it will lead to sales later on. In the marketing world it's called a loss leader... http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lossleader.asp
2) More functionality in this case includes wasted battery usage through OS issues, BSODs, virus prone applications, upgrade cycles that are longer than the XO will be a viable product (read no upgrades)
3) No matter what language it supports, XP still has the same problems, so this is not much of a bonus, here is some data to see what the real language support is:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Linux_language_support
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/handson/dev/winxpintl.mspx
Now, when it comes down to it, neither is likely to support a dialect that is spoken by only several thousand people in the world, but both support a large number of languages making this an odd point to harp on. I've given you a couple of links, perhaps you can point out to the rest of us what huge advantage XP offers over Linux in general and the XO's original system in particular.
3) Redhat, Novell, Canonical et al were not asked to step up. OLPC chose their operating system and MS 'convinced' them to re-choose. I say convinced with all the irony that I can muster in this life and the next. MS is offering a raped version of XP, and not the version you are obviously used to.
Sugar OS was just right for the OLPC and with a few tweaks would have been very nice for the goals of that project.
As for your general attitude in your comment, I offer this review as rebuttal. It's from http://www.engadget.com/tag/olpc and the emphasis below is mine. It's been a controversial decision, but it looks like the OLPC XO has completed its transition from revolutionary education project to just another tiny Windows laptop with a useless keyboard -- albeit one with a pleasantly whimsical design. Yep, it's official: Microsoft and OLPC just put out a joint press release saying that XP-loaded XOs will be available starting in August or September, with some countries to get the machines as soon as next month. Users will get all the regular functionality of XP -- it's basically the same build as on the Eee and other ultraportables -- but Microsoft's spent over a year developing specialized drivers for the XO's various features like e-book mode, the writing pad, and camera. (We're pretty certain that doesn't include mesh networking, but WiFi is supported.) XP is too big for the built-in 1GB flash chip, so it'll come preloaded on a 2GB SD card, leaving just about 1.5GB free total for apps and media. It seems like Microsoft is thrilled about this partnership, but it's a not going to make NickNeg's search for new vision at the top any easier. As for Sugar? You'll still be able to get it, but we have a sinking feeling about its future. Demo video after the break. I realize that you seem to have been throwing down the gauntlet for the Linux fanbois, but you would be wise to remember to bring more than a knife to a gun fight.
All my posts about malware and virus software for some time have been doom and gloom. Seems moderators don't like that. This is nothing but the tip of the iceburg of what might be coming, and what is probably already in the wild, we just don't know it yet. I could probably think of a dozen scenarios where malware could already be hiding on your equipment, silently waiting to be signaled.
It's possibly in your router's flash by now, or your motherboard's flash, or sitting on a CD or CE player's flash, or an MP3 player. It only has to wait till it needs to start spreading, and be dormant there too, then one day you notice missing files, or there is an outbreak of serious malware globally. Yes, tinfoil hat stuff, but it is possible, and as time ticks on it is becoming more probable.
Nobody wants to believe it, but it is possible. If it is possible, it will only be a matter of time...
I agree, and the only place that I've EVER seen where RFID technology on people is appropriate is aboard a Federation starship or space station. Outside of a military situation... well, NATCH! Not worth the effort.
... 2 firemen die. All 7 were in the parking lot watching at the time.
Think of this in what I like to call the 'failure mode analysis':
Your company (100-250 people) uses RFID tags. A fire breaks out. All but 7 people's RFID are accounted for. The FD goes in to the burning building to get them
It's absolutely no good for tracking terrorists.. they won't wear them and you won't have sensors to pick up the individuals that don't have RFID tags. This applies to any building currently in existence.
You decide to tag everyone in a town of 3700 people for an experiment. After an estimated 430 million dollar installation of equipment, the sum total of what you know will be that people get paid on thursday and go to the bar. Walmart is busy on the weekends, and the guy you found cheating is suing you for illegal disclosure of personal information.
Now, say you have a valid use for this, such as security in your data center, or so you think. Only people who have embedded chips can access the data center. There is a car crash, one tech dies, two are in hospital. Now your backup system is down over the weekend, and you can't even buy access to the data center. Yes, that might be a stretch, but I did say 'failure mode analysis'.
Now, if you want to tag your milking cows to keep track of them, make sure they are getting milked, vaccinated, etc. That is useful. If you want to make sure that all the deliveries to your distribution center reach their intended end user space.. that also is good.
Tagging people has a *VERY* limited use, no matter how cool it might seem. I'm always willing to be proved wrong though.
At the conference, it might be cool to have anonymous RFID tracking to see what kind of data it would provide, but linking it to an individual would be wrong. If you want to see how the traffic flows through the booths, it would work but then so would cameras and video analysis software... hmmm I'm willing to bet that the video analysis would be much easier to implement, less intrusive, and much more reliable as there would be no swapping of tags, no RF interference issues, no expensive system to install for tracking etc.
So, somebody tell me what I've gotten wrong here?
I shouldn't, but lets think; has the USPATRIOT Act ever been used against US citizens? Now, that wouldn't happen would it? .... right...
.... Bruce Springstein
Keep dreaming and drinking the red/white/blue coolaid my friend. Blind faith and support for your government is NOT patriotism, it's pure folly
Blind faith in your government, or anything is folly.
"blind faith in a leader will get you killed"
That's just how it is. Would you like some quotes from the USA's founding fathers on this topic? They too think you a fool. Here is a pretty damn good start for you:
http://www.poliwatch.org/archives/Analysis/2003/06/11/03.03.51/
I had forgotten about that... roflmao, you're right and the outcry should be large so MS will be stuck supporting a stripped down version of XP for another 7 years... OUCH! Nothing like planning ahead :-)
Honestly, I wish I had the time and sharper skills to take a distro of GNU/Linux and carve it just right to work on the OLPC. I'd gladly give it to them, not to spite MS, but to help ensure that there are tons of people free of the shackles of forced upgrades, NSA backdoors, and a number of other things that can be hidden from them by closed source software. I had hoped that this is what would happen... natch. Money still rules the roost. One day this will not be so, and I think that it won't take long to turn it around if some group of gifted individuals with time to spare would put their efforts on the task of putting Linux on the OLPC system.
I'm not bashing MS per se' but I dislike the idea that so many people who can ill afford it would be placed into that cycle of upgrades and buy to play software. RMS was right in some respects, and the OLPC situation illustrates the foundation of his early frustrations. It should be free. I'm not saying that you can't roll your own and try to make some money. Good on Bill for doing so, but using money and clout to force that on others is rather despicable... and I'm being nice here.
Why doesn't MS just send the disks free of charge with a label on it that says 'fuck you kid' and be done with it?
at your naivety, but I'm not. If it is possible for the US Government to pw0n your machine, it is also VERY possible that someone other than the government will pw0n it first. The military (of any government) is doing NOBODY a service by using their computer without permission. For US Citizens, this is in clear violation of the intent of the 3rd ammendment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution You are clearly welcome to maintain your own opinions, and of course allow anyone including the guvment types to own your system. Trust me on this, if you leave it open to the cyber command, it will get owned by someone that does NOT care how much pain you have to go through to sort out the mess the leave you on your computer.
That's not even stopping to comment on your opinion of world powers and history.... sigh
Will they keep a log of the wrong and creative answers?
I'd like to see some collegiate level essays on the question of whether file sharing is legal or not.
I'm sure this would prove rather elucidating for a lot of people.
I'm really interested in the creative answer essays from those in the law programs.
hmmmmmm