What kind of BS is that? Window's wasn't ready for primetime until 3.11 or later! That didn't stop people from using it and buying it! NOW is the time to show people that there is another choice, and that there are OTHER ways to use a computer that do not rely on Windows products. That is the point, not some semi-philosophical ideology about F/OSS. The real point is that MS is not the only way to use a computer. Hell, most Windows users don't have even half a clue how to fully utilize the features and functions of Office apps. Showing them the equivelent application from OO gives them the same things they wanted from MS Office... AND its free as a bonus, no license issues to worry about, no WGA warnings to worry about, in fact, a LOT less to worry about. The more people that support F/OSS in the community at large, the wider the acceptance will be. That is the simple truth of it. Features like a live CD that allow a user to fully re-start their system fresh anytime they want, is a bonus so big that its overlooked many times. People that pay for support because they have their system so misconfigured that no one can sort it out can simply reboot, and viola! everything is good. They would pay big money to have an MS system that could do that without losing user data, and Linux gives them this, among many other GREAT features. Yes, I say Linux IS ready for primetime. Stop comaparing it to MS crap. Stop using MS as the rule to live by.
Seems to me, if they can start launching satellites for tens of thousands of dollars, they'll have no end of business coming their way. Despite surprised optimism, sending a camera to high altitudes is no major feat. The US gov. has been sending small payloads up in balloons since WWII.
In other news, Steve Balmer was today announced as the MS space program's launch mechanism of choice.
""" The group, EmbroideryOrganizationInformation (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EmbroideryOrganizat ionInformation), is a Yahoo! Groups discussion group that was set up in response to piracy and copyright infringement charges made by ESPC against those who share embroidery designs obtained from embroidery software and from embroidery design companies.
Many of the participants have elected to participate in the discussion group on an anonymous basis. In response to this, ESPC obtained a subpoena to force Yahoo! to reveal the identities of these people in addition to filing defamation claims against individual members for what they wrote.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), in turn, filed a motion to block this subpoena, which it described as "brazen" and "heavy-handed." """
**'Generally, though, players of the game enjoy a form of community rarely seen in the real world; higher-level players go out of their way to tutor newbies and accompany them on quests. Deep friendships are forged. Relationships begin....**
Its pretty conceited to think that only WoW would have a 'community' feeling to it... I call BS, not because I think WoW or other online gaming communities deserve being called BS, but because the story is BS. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of real world places and activities (not that slashdot readers or WoW players would know about real world) to find community experience, and develop relationships through a common interest.... fer christsakes, that is what the world did BEFORE the Internet....
All I can say is that it MUST be a slow news day... geez!
If MS hadn't been promising it for so long, it wouldn't be such a disappointment. IE7 is finally out, put it on a client's laptop, and it doesn't look that bad. I haven't seen it do anything terrible yet, but now that I've been using FF, I'm not really excited about the look and feel of it at all. I'll probably have the same 'oh, it looks a bit crayola-ish' reaction to Vista too. Oh well, as long as MS is trying to keep up with the rest of the world, all can't be bad.
Seriously though, all the people that are trying to predict this or that, call it good, or denounce it already.. well, all I have to say to that is wait for Vista SP2 before you make up your mind. That's when all the bugs will be worked out, and by then, two or more Linux distros will be better than Vista. By then, many more people will have figured out that the OpenOffice apps are good enough for what they want, and the little lightbulb in their heads will turn on and they will realize that a computer doesn't need MS products to be useful or relevant.
Okay, just for grins, lets look at some of the design criteria for those communications systems and devices: The mobiles must be *RUGGED* enough to withstand police activities (fights, chases etc.), the heat of fire, must be 'explosion proof' (safe to operate in hazardous areas), must be secure!, must be water resistant or proof, cannot break when needed most, should be able to do mobile to mobile with no repeater in operation if needed, must be initially compatible with existing systems,.... okay, there is enough to make them expensive enough to cause doubt in ever implementing this without lots of cash.
Now, for the infrastructure: Redundancy is needed, but how much, mesh networks leave access points vulnerable to criminals (they will use them), any centralizing of the traffic means centralizing of the network, no matter how big the mesh, redundancy becomes more difficult, security becomes more difficult, anything that is going to be out there in service 24/7/365 needs to be maintainable, accessible, and at a low cost. One dead spot means a missed 'officer down' call, or missed instructions for fire and rescue crews, such as 'get out of the towers now, they're falling'.... Serving the mission critical nature of the services we are talking about is much bigger and more difficult than most people imagine. Redundant infrastructure is not just about meshing a network. Voice recording and dispatching has to be centralized, and that defeats much of the assumed advantages of a mesh network, and brings you right back to the problem faced by the workers on 911: when the equipment is gone, there is no communications.
Perhaps I'm cynical, but there is much more to this problem than simply implementing wireless LAN networks.
I have some idea of how to build and maintain distributed RF networks. They way you phrased your question seems to indicate that you do not. I get the thought that you and others have this model in your head where Radio systems are all some magic digital mesh network. They are not. Many of them are using 15 year old technology or older. To create the kind of emergency network communications system that we all think should already be in place would require a basic replacement of much of the current communications systems.
There are several basic reasons for this: 1-There is old technology still in use. 2-Current systems were paid for piece-meal, by one department or another and not purchased, planned, or configured for wide dispersion communications cooperatives. That is to say that the fire dept. buys their gear, the police buy their own gear too, and someone has the unfortunate job of trying to make the two systems match up at some level, usually not a great matchup. 3-Financing means that the updates to even the most coordinated of communications systems happens in fits and starts. So, while the police get new comms gear, its 5+ years before the fire dept. catches up, but then their gear is much better, or supercedes the old police system. Hospitals get upgrades even less frequently! Now, add to this the need for additional comms channels to FEMA, Army, National Guard, Coast Guard, municipal utilities, power utility, gas, water, etc. etc. The chances of getting all those systems on the same page is a bigger problem than just getting FEMA to take appropriate actions.
After 911, there were multiple deptartments, cities, and services involved. After Katrina/Rita, there were multiple states involved, and their multiple comms systems.
The only sure way is a huge forklift style upgrade of just about everyone's comms systems. BTW, adding geographical redundancy is a huge cost to all those groups, so get ready mr. and mrs. taxpayer... its a huge cost.
I'll give you a big amen on that one. Everytime that you try to explain things to a cop/lawyer/other official, the one thing I see most is that because they don't quite understand, and its not in the normal routine of things, it is considered unimportant. Case in point, my car radio was stolen. Immediately, they said I'm not likely to get it back. I asked if they wanted me to bring the car in so they could get finger prints. No amount of trying to explain that the guy who robbed me, didn't break the window, and left really good grease fingerprints all over the driver's side window... they looked like the ones cops give you when you get arrested. I figure it can't be too much work to try matching those to a database of convicts prints.. but NO, they were not even interested in doing this, no matter how good the prints were... but if you smoke one joint, or stop at the curb to talk to one girl.... well, then, that's a different story. (not that I do these things, but they do seem more interesting to the police)
I think its all in how you describe things to people to get them interested.
update: Then the Egyptian Eratosthenes, director of the Library in Alexandria, wedded observation to calculation. His idea was as simple as it was brilliant. When the sun was directly above Aswan, 500 miles away, he measured the shadow cast by a vertical tower in Alexandria. The rest was simple trigonometry. He calculated earth's diameter with only 16 percent error, and his method was used right down to modern times.
Well, nobody mentioned Levy yet ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Levy_(astronome r) ) but this guy's career really does illustrate what it means to do scientific investigation, globally if needed, and to stick to it, not give up if you don't get famous in 3 years. This guy found evidence of huge meteor craters on Earth that nobody else had found, proved that asteroids are a danger to humankind and not just a video game, and it took huge balls to stick it out and prove it. He was exemplary in his efforts to show something to the rest of the world. While I'm at it, the head librarian at the library of Alexandria (can't remember his name) was a hugely important person. He knew the world was round, and why before we forgot in the dark ages. He made many other discoveries too.
I can't find where I posted this, but I suggested this months ago. Its a great idea, use and open source methodology to bring the USPTO up to date with things like, oh, say... prior art, and maybe perhaps just what exactly is really a bad idea? If there were respected members from relevant industries, it would be even more appropriate, and work more effectively. Mind you, Mr Balmer should be permanently banned (sorry, couldn't help myself) The point is that the USPTO cannot continue to be experts on everything, they need help, and this is a very workable way to help them.
There is no warranty on anything, only legal devices to recoup losses. Quality workmanship and products are expensive, and there is a reason they are. All of this outsourcing of manufacturing will come back to bite the company that does it, this is but one example of how it will do so. If you want a brand name associated with quality, you have to build quality products/services, and they will always cost a bit more. That is the normal manner of things anyway. Honda proved this wrong in the auto market, several MP3 players have shown to be more rugged and usable then iPods (no hate mail needed, its true) and so on.
Basically, if you have a clue, you can look at electronics equipment and know that its either made well, or cheaply. That smell that many people associate with new electronics gear is the result of cheap manufacturing processes. You should also be aware that there are dangers to using replacement equipment not made by the original equip. manufacturer, especially with batteries and power supplies. If Apple, or anyone, wanted to sell you the last laptop that you will ever need (and they don't want to) it would be of a very high quality. Designed obsolescence has been the way of the western world for several decades. I'm not sure why a story like this is any kind of surprise to anyone.
Not that this is really needed, but technically, bloggers ARE journalists, just not in the common print-media definition of such. I think that the Internet classifies as a MASS AUDIENCE, and many blogs are just personal journals. Now, how the law defines journalism is a different thing. The fact that people's perceptions of that definition will skew the numbers of such a study is very important, and there is this thing called trash journalism, yellow journalism etc. The point is that journalism takes several forms. Yahoo used to be just two guys that kept a list of links they found on the Internet. A blog today that is simply someone ranting about new pc hardware, can become a huge news resource in the future... as an example. The point is, the value of a blog as journalistic resource is completly reliant on the readers perception of value of said blog. If all you want to do is read about Brittany's new clothes, I'm pretty sure you won't be reading any respected 'journalist's' writing.
From www.m-w.com Main Entry: journalist Pronunciation: -n&-list Function: noun 1 a : a person engaged in journalism; especially : a writer or editor for a news medium b : a writer who aims at a mass audience 2 : a person who keeps a journal
While there are many good comments, robotics really isn't an industry. To design robots from the ground up is NOT easy. The Lego mindstorms setup will teach you basics. From there keep learning, start your own company. Despite what you know, there is AWAYS more to learn, always. This is truly an area where you have to make your own opportunities. The simple fact is there is no robotics industry, and that is an opportunity for you to help build it... Good luck
I've seen work (sorry no web links) where a guy did audio/acustic testing for the purposes of using audible sound to guide robots. Despite it not being intuitive, using standard PC sound hardware, he was able to get very accurate readings. Adding this algorythm to the mix of software he was using might actully give robots very useful audible sensors.
I'm not sure how it would work, but he was able to determine position and distance quite well, but was having some issue with the different densities of materials; say a heavy curtain clad window vs. a concrete wall etc.
By analyzing actual noise of the environment, and matching that to desired noises, it might be possible to use this to determine the accurate distances despite differences in target densities... and that would simply be very cool and useful for robotics. Not sure how that would map to underwater robots, but seems reasonable that it might help.
Its not really about safety, its about stupidity. If a crazy kid goes swimming with a killer whale and gets eaten, its stupidity, but some nutter who ignores safety rules around heavy machinery gets killed and its the machine's fault???? WTF?
There are no sentient robots capable of coping with, never mind adhering to Asimov's Laws of Robotics.
Computer security is not easy for businesses and more difficult for the average home user.... But it seems to me that as the price of hardware drops and home networks become more plentiful, we will see more 'appliances' that come described as routers/firewalls/proxies that run the appropriate software so that such programs can be detected by signiature before they get to your desktop. Though that would or might be another level of possible infection to home networks, it is still much stronger than a desktop system alone.
One of the things that I've not seen enough of yet is simply booting from CD into DSL or Puppy, and running ClamAV or other programs to route out any malware, virus, or other malicious software on your desktop.
I think that good security is not any single program or approach, but a combination of counter attacks. I think that this is a possible new approach to staying in the antivirus business despite MS attempt to get into that market space.
Read that as a home network with two desktops, served by a firewall/proxy running linux and appropriate software to screen data from websites, email, IM, etc. and tools that do not depend on the OS they are protecting to do the cleaning.
Not just because I think that government (politicians) is not able to deal with change or technology, but because they will now have a reason to become technology savvy. With the proper warrant, a wire-tap on a phone has been acceptable in the past. Once they get the technology down pat, the only way to make sure that you are not tapped is to hide everything, and that is simply not how it was meant to be. In a wild thought, if you look at the US constitution, and the 'right to bear arms' issue, while the founders never envisioned the Internet, I'm PRETTY DAMNED CERTAIN (TM) that they would be alright with using your own encryption, or any other means of self armament to protect you from too much government intrusion in to your daily life.
I'm waiting for this issue to get tested in the court system..... I think its a constitutionally granted rights issue, not a simple matter of being able to 'hunt for terrists' at will. The rights of law abiding free men and women, necessarily uphold the rights of criminals to the same treatment. Changing that status quo means treating the law abiding people as criminals, and that is wrong.
The scariest part is that while a judge can say one way or the other, there is currently no manner for the people, the courts, or anyone else to manage how the government does such things. By that, I mean that there is no technically savvy oversight of such activities... sort of the ignorant being in charge of a group of hackers with malice in mind. We know where that will lead....
Well, while you do have a valid point, I did mention future technology. Currently, there are several companies that are burning money trying to light up dark fiber or install new fiber to the home (FTH) and have created that wonderful new buzzword TLA to go with it. The idea is huge bandwidth to every home, and of course to have control of that bandwidth and subsequent content on it. None the less, now is the time to criticize the MPAA et al, rather than wait till all you can get through that 24GB of bandwidth is DRM hobbled reruns of last years television and movies from the 50's.
While we are here, BT makes great use of the Internet as it exists, to distribute large files. The only thing wrong with current plans for big bandwidth systems of the near future is the idea that they must be protecting the content with DRM so that content creators don't get robbed. Let's face it, the MPAA is only interested in making sure that they hurt^H^H^H^H continue to control the motion picture industry in the same manner that the RIAA et al want to keep the recording industry under their thumbs.
Fiber to the home will be a reality for many in the near future. Verizon is already doing it in some markets. The day when we can download what we have purchased online legally is not far away. The only (more or less) stumbling blocks are the DMCA, *AA, and the people who support such things. Lets also not forget that trying to protect the children is just another way to control what is done on the Internet. So, yes, now is the time to criticize the direction that things are going in. Now is the time to speak up and say what is reasonably expected from content providers, and now is the time to watch politicians to see who you should vote for in the future. Their records on DMCA and DRM related issues should make it easy to decide.
For me, its just to catch RIAA, MPAA, and all the equivelent theives^H^H^H^H^H organizations around the world in one quick buzzword because it saves a lot of typing.
The funny part is (at least to me) that this is not about an industry so much as it is about the *AA and associates trying to maintain a fully disfunctional (in light of current and future technologies) business model.
The real deal in all this mess is that content creators "REALLY DON'T NEED THE *AA ANYMORE" since for not much more than a data center contract, any record label, including independents, can set up their own music distribution system over the Internet. The entire need for a music and movie distribution organization (i.e., the *AAs) no longer exists.
US Telephone users are finally going to get to stop paying for the Spanish American war, but when will recording artists get to stop paying for 'breakage of vynl disks' on their contracts?
Its not about DRM, its about stolen wealth, and the *AA is currently stealing it, blatantly stealing it. They counter claim that because they were unable to steal it from content buyers, it was stolen from them.... I'm calling BS.
Now, the price of content is high because of the *AAs of the world, but if content providers could get out of the draconian contract they signed, and start providing content over the Internet at reasonable costs to users for the 'PURCHASE' of said content, most users would happily just purchase the content as its not worth the effort to most people to be illegal or even figure out the ins and outs of stealing it. Additionally, any kind of licensing setup that allowed fair use (backup copies, multiple players, etc.) would be accepted easily if the price was low enough (see iFanboi rhetoric for an example).
Its pure "pot and kettle black and white" when it comes to the *AA claiming downloaders and file sharers are stealing from them.
Where does DRM and MS's wholesale use of it fall into this argument? Anywhere? If MS were going to license my format, then bash it up till only MS could really read it with the DRM inside it, that would be monopolistic in my view, and I'd have to say that I agree with Adobe on this if that is the case, or anything even reasonably similar. Its not like MS hasn't done the same in all its other dealings (more or less).
Well, they might stop companies...
on
Death By DMCA
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· Score: 2, Insightful
but they can never stop people building their own, nor can they stop people from 'loaning' their CD/DVD/Whatever to their friends. The 'sneakernet P2P' service.
All the *AA will ever manage to do is drive the sharing and fair use into a dark underground where they can never be able to find it without spending all of the money they do make. At that point, they will have to blame the loss of sales on their own crappy content, and their insane business practice of financially murdering any company that stood even half a chance of helping them find the 21st century.
Yep, so by all means, lets all work together to help the *AA find the real world, and do all our sharing underground, off the net, so they have only themselves to blame. Who knows, it might work..... NOT
Can't we just shoot them now?
Seriously, this is just one more reason to have them outlawed for monopolistic and draconian business practices. I personally don't see anything wrong with making *AA groups illegal... If enough of us vote, well, you never know...
Slashdot Mirror
What kind of BS is that? Window's wasn't ready for primetime until 3.11 or later! That didn't stop people from using it and buying it! NOW is the time to show people that there is another choice, and that there are OTHER ways to use a computer that do not rely on Windows products. That is the point, not some semi-philosophical ideology about F/OSS. The real point is that MS is not the only way to use a computer. Hell, most Windows users don't have even half a clue how to fully utilize the features and functions of Office apps. Showing them the equivelent application from OO gives them the same things they wanted from MS Office... AND its free as a bonus, no license issues to worry about, no WGA warnings to worry about, in fact, a LOT less to worry about. The more people that support F/OSS in the community at large, the wider the acceptance will be. That is the simple truth of it. Features like a live CD that allow a user to fully re-start their system fresh anytime they want, is a bonus so big that its overlooked many times. People that pay for support because they have their system so misconfigured that no one can sort it out can simply reboot, and viola! everything is good. They would pay big money to have an MS system that could do that without losing user data, and Linux gives them this, among many other GREAT features. Yes, I say Linux IS ready for primetime. Stop comaparing it to MS crap. Stop using MS as the rule to live by.
Seems to me, if they can start launching satellites for tens of thousands of dollars, they'll have no end of business coming their way. Despite surprised optimism, sending a camera to high altitudes is no major feat. The US gov. has been sending small payloads up in balloons since WWII.
In other news, Steve Balmer was today announced as the MS space program's launch mechanism of choice.
From the website at http://www.infotoday.com/linkup/lud090106-goldsbor ough.shtml
t ionInformation), is a Yahoo! Groups discussion group that was set up in response to piracy and copyright infringement charges made by ESPC against those who share embroidery designs obtained from embroidery software and from embroidery design companies.
""" The group, EmbroideryOrganizationInformation (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EmbroideryOrganiza
Many of the participants have elected to participate in the discussion group on an anonymous basis. In response to this, ESPC obtained a subpoena to force Yahoo! to reveal the identities of these people in addition to filing defamation claims against individual members for what they wrote.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), in turn, filed a motion to block this subpoena, which it described as "brazen" and "heavy-handed." """
**'Generally, though, players of the game enjoy a form of community rarely seen in the real world; higher-level players go out of their way to tutor newbies and accompany them on quests. Deep friendships are forged. Relationships begin....**
Its pretty conceited to think that only WoW would have a 'community' feeling to it... I call BS, not because I think WoW or other online gaming communities deserve being called BS, but because the story is BS. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of real world places and activities (not that slashdot readers or WoW players would know about real world) to find community experience, and develop relationships through a common interest.... fer christsakes, that is what the world did BEFORE the Internet....
All I can say is that it MUST be a slow news day... geez!
" It won't be long before Windows itself requires a net connection to run. WGA is mighty close to that. "
Is this a clue how MS intends to compete with Google Office?
If MS hadn't been promising it for so long, it wouldn't be such a disappointment. IE7 is finally out, put it on a client's laptop, and it doesn't look that bad. I haven't seen it do anything terrible yet, but now that I've been using FF, I'm not really excited about the look and feel of it at all. I'll probably have the same 'oh, it looks a bit crayola-ish' reaction to Vista too. Oh well, as long as MS is trying to keep up with the rest of the world, all can't be bad.
Seriously though, all the people that are trying to predict this or that, call it good, or denounce it already.. well, all I have to say to that is wait for Vista SP2 before you make up your mind. That's when all the bugs will be worked out, and by then, two or more Linux distros will be better than Vista. By then, many more people will have figured out that the OpenOffice apps are good enough for what they want, and the little lightbulb in their heads will turn on and they will realize that a computer doesn't need MS products to be useful or relevant.
Okay, just for grins, lets look at some of the design criteria for those communications systems and devices: The mobiles must be *RUGGED* enough to withstand police activities (fights, chases etc.), the heat of fire, must be 'explosion proof' (safe to operate in hazardous areas), must be secure!, must be water resistant or proof, cannot break when needed most, should be able to do mobile to mobile with no repeater in operation if needed, must be initially compatible with existing systems, .... okay, there is enough to make them expensive enough to cause doubt in ever implementing this without lots of cash.
Now, for the infrastructure: Redundancy is needed, but how much, mesh networks leave access points vulnerable to criminals (they will use them), any centralizing of the traffic means centralizing of the network, no matter how big the mesh, redundancy becomes more difficult, security becomes more difficult, anything that is going to be out there in service 24/7/365 needs to be maintainable, accessible, and at a low cost. One dead spot means a missed 'officer down' call, or missed instructions for fire and rescue crews, such as 'get out of the towers now, they're falling'.... Serving the mission critical nature of the services we are talking about is much bigger and more difficult than most people imagine. Redundant infrastructure is not just about meshing a network. Voice recording and dispatching has to be centralized, and that defeats much of the assumed advantages of a mesh network, and brings you right back to the problem faced by the workers on 911: when the equipment is gone, there is no communications.
Perhaps I'm cynical, but there is much more to this problem than simply implementing wireless LAN networks.
I have some idea of how to build and maintain distributed RF networks. They way you phrased your question seems to indicate that you do not. I get the thought that you and others have this model in your head where Radio systems are all some magic digital mesh network. They are not. Many of them are using 15 year old technology or older. To create the kind of emergency network communications system that we all think should already be in place would require a basic replacement of much of the current communications systems.
There are several basic reasons for this: 1-There is old technology still in use. 2-Current systems were paid for piece-meal, by one department or another and not purchased, planned, or configured for wide dispersion communications cooperatives. That is to say that the fire dept. buys their gear, the police buy their own gear too, and someone has the unfortunate job of trying to make the two systems match up at some level, usually not a great matchup. 3-Financing means that the updates to even the most coordinated of communications systems happens in fits and starts. So, while the police get new comms gear, its 5+ years before the fire dept. catches up, but then their gear is much better, or supercedes the old police system. Hospitals get upgrades even less frequently! Now, add to this the need for additional comms channels to FEMA, Army, National Guard, Coast Guard, municipal utilities, power utility, gas, water, etc. etc. The chances of getting all those systems on the same page is a bigger problem than just getting FEMA to take appropriate actions.
After 911, there were multiple deptartments, cities, and services involved. After Katrina/Rita, there were multiple states involved, and their multiple comms systems.
The only sure way is a huge forklift style upgrade of just about everyone's comms systems. BTW, adding geographical redundancy is a huge cost to all those groups, so get ready mr. and mrs. taxpayer... its a huge cost.
I'll give you a big amen on that one. Everytime that you try to explain things to a cop/lawyer/other official, the one thing I see most is that because they don't quite understand, and its not in the normal routine of things, it is considered unimportant. Case in point, my car radio was stolen. Immediately, they said I'm not likely to get it back. I asked if they wanted me to bring the car in so they could get finger prints. No amount of trying to explain that the guy who robbed me, didn't break the window, and left really good grease fingerprints all over the driver's side window... they looked like the ones cops give you when you get arrested. I figure it can't be too much work to try matching those to a database of convicts prints.. but NO, they were not even interested in doing this, no matter how good the prints were... but if you smoke one joint, or stop at the curb to talk to one girl.... well, then, that's a different story. (not that I do these things, but they do seem more interesting to the police)
I think its all in how you describe things to people to get them interested.
update: Then the Egyptian Eratosthenes, director of the Library in Alexandria, wedded observation to calculation. His idea was as simple as it was brilliant. When the sun was directly above Aswan, 500 miles away, he measured the shadow cast by a vertical tower in Alexandria. The rest was simple trigonometry. He calculated earth's diameter with only 16 percent error, and his method was used right down to modern times.
Well, nobody mentioned Levy yet ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Levy_(astronome r) ) but this guy's career really does illustrate what it means to do scientific investigation, globally if needed, and to stick to it, not give up if you don't get famous in 3 years. This guy found evidence of huge meteor craters on Earth that nobody else had found, proved that asteroids are a danger to humankind and not just a video game, and it took huge balls to stick it out and prove it. He was exemplary in his efforts to show something to the rest of the world. While I'm at it, the head librarian at the library of Alexandria (can't remember his name) was a hugely important person. He knew the world was round, and why before we forgot in the dark ages. He made many other discoveries too.
I can't find where I posted this, but I suggested this months ago. Its a great idea, use and open source methodology to bring the USPTO up to date with things like, oh, say... prior art, and maybe perhaps just what exactly is really a bad idea? If there were respected members from relevant industries, it would be even more appropriate, and work more effectively. Mind you, Mr Balmer should be permanently banned (sorry, couldn't help myself) The point is that the USPTO cannot continue to be experts on everything, they need help, and this is a very workable way to help them.
nuff said
There is no warranty on anything, only legal devices to recoup losses. Quality workmanship and products are expensive, and there is a reason they are. All of this outsourcing of manufacturing will come back to bite the company that does it, this is but one example of how it will do so. If you want a brand name associated with quality, you have to build quality products/services, and they will always cost a bit more. That is the normal manner of things anyway. Honda proved this wrong in the auto market, several MP3 players have shown to be more rugged and usable then iPods (no hate mail needed, its true) and so on.
Basically, if you have a clue, you can look at electronics equipment and know that its either made well, or cheaply. That smell that many people associate with new electronics gear is the result of cheap manufacturing processes. You should also be aware that there are dangers to using replacement equipment not made by the original equip. manufacturer, especially with batteries and power supplies. If Apple, or anyone, wanted to sell you the last laptop that you will ever need (and they don't want to) it would be of a very high quality. Designed obsolescence has been the way of the western world for several decades. I'm not sure why a story like this is any kind of surprise to anyone.
Is this a plug for Tor, FireFox, or FoxyProxy?
I'm sort of confused how this is news?
Not that this is really needed, but technically, bloggers ARE journalists, just not in the common print-media definition of such. I think that the Internet classifies as a MASS AUDIENCE, and many blogs are just personal journals. Now, how the law defines journalism is a different thing. The fact that people's perceptions of that definition will skew the numbers of such a study is very important, and there is this thing called trash journalism, yellow journalism etc. The point is that journalism takes several forms. Yahoo used to be just two guys that kept a list of links they found on the Internet. A blog today that is simply someone ranting about new pc hardware, can become a huge news resource in the future... as an example. The point is, the value of a blog as journalistic resource is completly reliant on the readers perception of value of said blog. If all you want to do is read about Brittany's new clothes, I'm pretty sure you won't be reading any respected 'journalist's' writing.
From www.m-w.com
Main Entry: journalist
Pronunciation: -n&-list
Function: noun
1 a : a person engaged in journalism; especially : a writer or editor for a news medium b : a writer who aims at a mass audience
2 : a person who keeps a journal
While there are many good comments, robotics really isn't an industry. To design robots from the ground up is NOT easy. The Lego mindstorms setup will teach you basics. From there keep learning, start your own company. Despite what you know, there is AWAYS more to learn, always. This is truly an area where you have to make your own opportunities. The simple fact is there is no robotics industry, and that is an opportunity for you to help build it... Good luck
I've seen work (sorry no web links) where a guy did audio/acustic testing for the purposes of using audible sound to guide robots. Despite it not being intuitive, using standard PC sound hardware, he was able to get very accurate readings. Adding this algorythm to the mix of software he was using might actully give robots very useful audible sensors.
I'm not sure how it would work, but he was able to determine position and distance quite well, but was having some issue with the different densities of materials; say a heavy curtain clad window vs. a concrete wall etc.
By analyzing actual noise of the environment, and matching that to desired noises, it might be possible to use this to determine the accurate distances despite differences in target densities... and that would simply be very cool and useful for robotics. Not sure how that would map to underwater robots, but seems reasonable that it might help.
Its not really about safety, its about stupidity. If a crazy kid goes swimming with a killer whale and gets eaten, its stupidity, but some nutter who ignores safety rules around heavy machinery gets killed and its the machine's fault???? WTF?
There are no sentient robots capable of coping with, never mind adhering to Asimov's Laws of Robotics.
In the words of Mr. White: You can't fix stupid!
Computer security is not easy for businesses and more difficult for the average home user .... But it seems to me that as the price of hardware drops and home networks become more plentiful, we will see more 'appliances' that come described as routers/firewalls/proxies that run the appropriate software so that such programs can be detected by signiature before they get to your desktop. Though that would or might be another level of possible infection to home networks, it is still much stronger than a desktop system alone.
One of the things that I've not seen enough of yet is simply booting from CD into DSL or Puppy, and running ClamAV or other programs to route out any malware, virus, or other malicious software on your desktop.
I think that good security is not any single program or approach, but a combination of counter attacks. I think that this is a possible new approach to staying in the antivirus business despite MS attempt to get into that market space.
Read that as a home network with two desktops, served by a firewall/proxy running linux and appropriate software to screen data from websites, email, IM, etc. and tools that do not depend on the OS they are protecting to do the cleaning.
Not just because I think that government (politicians) is not able to deal with change or technology, but because they will now have a reason to become technology savvy. With the proper warrant, a wire-tap on a phone has been acceptable in the past. Once they get the technology down pat, the only way to make sure that you are not tapped is to hide everything, and that is simply not how it was meant to be. In a wild thought, if you look at the US constitution, and the 'right to bear arms' issue, while the founders never envisioned the Internet, I'm PRETTY DAMNED CERTAIN (TM) that they would be alright with using your own encryption, or any other means of self armament to protect you from too much government intrusion in to your daily life.
I'm waiting for this issue to get tested in the court system..... I think its a constitutionally granted rights issue, not a simple matter of being able to 'hunt for terrists' at will. The rights of law abiding free men and women, necessarily uphold the rights of criminals to the same treatment. Changing that status quo means treating the law abiding people as criminals, and that is wrong.
The scariest part is that while a judge can say one way or the other, there is currently no manner for the people, the courts, or anyone else to manage how the government does such things. By that, I mean that there is no technically savvy oversight of such activities... sort of the ignorant being in charge of a group of hackers with malice in mind. We know where that will lead....
Well, while you do have a valid point, I did mention future technology. Currently, there are several companies that are burning money trying to light up dark fiber or install new fiber to the home (FTH) and have created that wonderful new buzzword TLA to go with it. The idea is huge bandwidth to every home, and of course to have control of that bandwidth and subsequent content on it. None the less, now is the time to criticize the MPAA et al, rather than wait till all you can get through that 24GB of bandwidth is DRM hobbled reruns of last years television and movies from the 50's.
While we are here, BT makes great use of the Internet as it exists, to distribute large files. The only thing wrong with current plans for big bandwidth systems of the near future is the idea that they must be protecting the content with DRM so that content creators don't get robbed. Let's face it, the MPAA is only interested in making sure that they hurt^H^H^H^H continue to control the motion picture industry in the same manner that the RIAA et al want to keep the recording industry under their thumbs.
Fiber to the home will be a reality for many in the near future. Verizon is already doing it in some markets. The day when we can download what we have purchased online legally is not far away. The only (more or less) stumbling blocks are the DMCA, *AA, and the people who support such things. Lets also not forget that trying to protect the children is just another way to control what is done on the Internet. So, yes, now is the time to criticize the direction that things are going in. Now is the time to speak up and say what is reasonably expected from content providers, and now is the time to watch politicians to see who you should vote for in the future. Their records on DMCA and DRM related issues should make it easy to decide.
For me, its just to catch RIAA, MPAA, and all the equivelent theives^H^H^H^H^H organizations around the world in one quick buzzword because it saves a lot of typing.
The funny part is (at least to me) that this is not about an industry so much as it is about the *AA and associates trying to maintain a fully disfunctional (in light of current and future technologies) business model.
The real deal in all this mess is that content creators "REALLY DON'T NEED THE *AA ANYMORE" since for not much more than a data center contract, any record label, including independents, can set up their own music distribution system over the Internet. The entire need for a music and movie distribution organization (i.e., the *AAs) no longer exists.
US Telephone users are finally going to get to stop paying for the Spanish American war, but when will recording artists get to stop paying for 'breakage of vynl disks' on their contracts?
Its not about DRM, its about stolen wealth, and the *AA is currently stealing it, blatantly stealing it. They counter claim that because they were unable to steal it from content buyers, it was stolen from them.... I'm calling BS.
Now, the price of content is high because of the *AAs of the world, but if content providers could get out of the draconian contract they signed, and start providing content over the Internet at reasonable costs to users for the 'PURCHASE' of said content, most users would happily just purchase the content as its not worth the effort to most people to be illegal or even figure out the ins and outs of stealing it. Additionally, any kind of licensing setup that allowed fair use (backup copies, multiple players, etc.) would be accepted easily if the price was low enough (see iFanboi rhetoric for an example).
Its pure "pot and kettle black and white" when it comes to the *AA claiming downloaders and file sharers are stealing from them.
Where does DRM and MS's wholesale use of it fall into this argument? Anywhere?
If MS were going to license my format, then bash it up till only MS could really read it with the DRM inside it, that would be monopolistic in my view, and I'd have to say that I agree with Adobe on this if that is the case, or anything even reasonably similar. Its not like MS hasn't done the same in all its other dealings (more or less).
but they can never stop people building their own, nor can they stop people from 'loaning' their CD/DVD/Whatever to their friends. The 'sneakernet P2P' service.
All the *AA will ever manage to do is drive the sharing and fair use into a dark underground where they can never be able to find it without spending all of the money they do make. At that point, they will have to blame the loss of sales on their own crappy content, and their insane business practice of financially murdering any company that stood even half a chance of helping them find the 21st century.
Yep, so by all means, lets all work together to help the *AA find the real world, and do all our sharing underground, off the net, so they have only themselves to blame. Who knows, it might work..... NOT
Can't we just shoot them now?
Seriously, this is just one more reason to have them outlawed for monopolistic and draconian business practices. I personally don't see anything wrong with making *AA groups illegal... If enough of us vote, well, you never know...