Lenovo isn't evil, just not very smart when it comes to end-users. MS is not the only OS out there, and the days are numbered for people who only want to OEM with one brand of OS. Sure, windows will have lots of people buying new pc's and laptops etc. but they will also be the people who don't know if the pc is bad, or there is a virus, or there is an OS problem.
As the Linux out-of-the-box experience improves, it will become more clear why only supporting one OS as OEM product is really not the right move. Then again, Lenovo wants to ship lots of new hardware and not support anything really. Linux doesn't really require new hardware to support the new desktop UI etc.
This also means that MS will send them a monthly check with a few dollars for every PC / Laptop shipped. Perhaps the anti-piracy crowd got to some of the board members at Lenovo?
FTFA: "NEW YORK (Billboard) - As the recording industry tries to block file trading of songs across peer-to-peer networks, blogs and other viral distribution channels, the major labels suddenly have a whole new piracy concern: music videos."
Interestingly, every new and (arguably) useful tool on the Internet seems to somehow allow people to pirate the *AA's protected content. Somewhere in all that, somebody, group, or even countries should be hitting the *AA et al with the clue stick.... hard! Not that I think if they did get a clue it would make anything cheaper or easier for anyone that wants to use their content.
Instead of inventing licensing models that make sense, they simply seem to be trying to stop all use of their content.
Personally, I think it would be sort of sucky for a few months, but if everyone just stopped buying music and videos from *AA affiliated musicians, perhaps the hint would work. Try http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/ for music that they don't benefit from. See if buying music they don't get paid for makes them any happier?
She claimed that the British are particularly good at hacking as they have "the perfect temperament to be hackers--technically skilled, slightly disrespectful of authority, and just a touch of criminal behavior."
It seems to me that the F/OSS industry has shown that fast, and effective patches can be applied, and that software we pay for has less then reasonable responses to such threats. I use F/OSS and I'm quite happy with the response they have to software problems. I don't expect it to be of NASA quality, just to be good, and it is. For the amount that you have to pay for Oracle et al, you expect fast resonses on problems. The problem is that they don't respond fast enough. There is NO bullet proof software, though I give a hat nod to the guys that wrote the code for the Mars rovers. Certainly, Oracle isn't showing that they deserve the price they demand, at least not in this respect.
I might be off topic, but all the F/OSS that I use, delivers what I pay for AND MORE. The software that I have to pay for is lacking. When you pay thousands of dollars, you expect patches in a timely manner, and before you get hacked. I think this is a big reason that F/OSS will continue to win hearts and minds across the world. Despite the financial differences, F/OSS actually cares, or seems to, and they do fix things as soon as they find out, or so it seems to me. They have a reputation to uphold. Without it, they will just wither and die. It amazes me that investors, stock holders, and customers are willing to wait for the next over-hyped release of MS Windows while they suffer the "stones and arrows" of the current version. It appears that no matter how bad commercial software is, people rely on it. Yes, of course there is more to the equation than this simple comparison, but I think this is important. If you weigh what you get against what you pay, F/OSS is a good value. The argument is old, and worn, but ROI is a big deal, and patches make a difference to ROI.
Is it really what the software industry needs? A set of rules to make things bullet proof.. which of course won't ever happen. That kind of mindset is totally wrong, even though the sentiment is in the right place, you can't regulate quality in this regard. Sure, you can make sure that all gasoline is of a given quality, but I don't trust the government to test and regulate software. The US government already has a dismal record of keeping their own house in order on this account, I don't want them telling me how to do anything or what I can and cannot sell, never mind what I can give away for free under GPL.
And I'll get modded down for this, but you ARE one of the iSheeple. Listen iFanboy, just because you haven't hit the iDRM walls yet doesn't mean they aren't there. ITMS charges 3/4 of the price you'd pay for a CD, but you get no physical copy, no artwork, nothing but a second rate digital copy of the song you'd get if you bought the CD. You think that being able to play it on iStuff is great... try playing it on something that isn't iStuff. You border on moronic when you argue with me by proving my point. No, its not just you, its all the other iSheeple that said I don't know what I'm talking about, but that was my point, people will accept what is tolerable if it doesn't cause them inconvenience, despite the fact that it is exactly what they don't need. They ARE sheeple. Read the terms of service for ITMS a bit more carefully before you tell me how great it is. Ferchrissake, you iFanboys act like Apple invented music. Hint: They didn't, and all they are doing is ripping you off, no matter how much money and inconvenience you think you are saving. You have not, and do not, look at what you are actually getting, simply because you are one of the iSheeple willing to sacrifice quality and principles for convenience. Believe me when I tell you this, I'm not even being harsh to you. You accept stupidity because it works for you, but I'm not buying it, so you tell me I'm not intelligent... wow, I can't wait till you try to register your fourth Apple computer with ITMS. No matter how many computers I use, the CDs will always play.. at least for now. Sony's debacle will help insure that this will continue to be the case, but in the case of iStuff, you are stuck with their DRM... and I will laugh when you can't play any of the music you 'bought' from ITMS.
I don't think that people should have EE degrees, but if you are going to drive a car, don't you need a license? If you are going to get involved in technologically involved things, shouldn't you know something about it? If you are going to be a housebuilder, shouldn't you know something about the tools used? Just because people can afford a nail gun doesn't make them builders. Just because people can afford computers doesn't make them able to use them. No, not everything should have mystical qualities to it, and playing music shouldn't be difficult, but that is why we have radio stations. People that can't operate a video recorder deserve to have to organize their lives around the TV shows that they like to watch. What I'm saying is simple, if you want to do something with computers, learn how, its not your god given right to be able to work with computers. If you can't figure it out, buy the DRM'd iStuff and quit worrying because Apple will always take care of you, honest, I promise they will... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
I think the term is Caveat emptor... its not like its a new thing, but you bought into it hook line and sinker, just because you didn't see the DRM walls, or worse, didn't care about them. That doesn't give you the right to call me ignorant, or even pretend that I am. You bought into the DRM world, and feel all happy about it because its easy for you... who is the ignorant one? You'll probably be one of the people that 'rent' food in the future... yep, that grocery plan where you pay in advance of anything you eat, because you can order any kind of food you want, whenever you want, depsite the fact that you don't actually get any food except when you are eating... the grocery store will own you, or a good portion of your check, just because they know you will eat there... since you've already signed up to the iFoodStore.
iSheeple... wake up... "Buying" music from ITMS is not buying, its renting a license to listen... your ears are for sale, and you've sold them. In 100 years, my progeny will still have my CDs (or backups), yours will have no music from your collection... you are not 'buying' anything, you are renting a license to listen.
The article AND the iPeople have missed it. As mentioned, iPod and ITMS, are simply relaxed control, but control just the same. The truth of the matter is that iPods and ITMS are simply the best alternative (more or less) for the great unwashed masses that just want music they like, when they like, how they like. To most people, a little control is a good thing, and Apple has kept up their closed/controlled business model from the beginning. This works for many people. Most folk don't want to have to install the software to make their microwave work, they just want to push buttons, and likewise, they want their music to be that simple too, as simple as turning on the radio, or as close as they can get to that.
That is why Apple's iPod is so successful, because of all the sheeple, and Apple's willingness to pander to that principle.
16 year olds know how to rip CDs to MP3 players, and it doesn't bother them doing it. They don't mind grabbing a couple of MP3s from online, or a friend... its easy for them, they think of it as normal, so the iBusiness_model will soon also be outdated. The next 'killer apps' will be those that allow this new group of technically savvy people to use their information and media however they feel like using it, without the chains or training wheels of current DRM technology.
*ANY* intelligent business group already knows this.... the rest of them will just keep lawyers busy trying to stop it.
its quite interesting that people think a corporation is exempt, or somehow free of greed. Sam Wall was a good guy, but when he died, the corp. made things evil. Google can be, or maybe already is, evil. Internet users, as a whole, should be asking 'what have you done for me lately' not what is evil or not evil. The whole business of the Internet is about what have you done for me lately. Any Internet business model not based on that is a business that really doesn't understand the Internet.
I think the real news would be "how much does it cost to buy a computer that can actually run Vista?"
Not trying to troll here, but ferchrissake! If I have to upgrade at a cost of hundreds of dollars just to run it, I don't want to know, I don't care, and I know its not going to run on that $100 laptop. While it might work for some, and perhaps many, it still looks like a very fancy gun for MS to shoot their own feet with. Testing stories so far don't seem to allude to any magical improvements, or reasons that Vista is a "must have" product. Nobody I know is buying up hardware so they can upgrade to Vista when it is released. Except for gamers and those with serious hardware requirements, nobody needs that much hardware performance really. Until streaming media is commonplace, they won't need it. Speaking of which, does anyone know if Vista does streaming media well? While its using all that hardware, does it get anywhere near acting like a multimedia system to replace all others?
Perhaps these are stupid questions, or just plain cynical thinking, but I just don't get it... to me, its sort of like building a bigger hummer with lower mpg while gas prices are climbing with nothing to stop them from continuing to climb. Not many of the bigger gas guzzlers are going to get sold....
Actually, I said a robotic system, not a robot. If the robotic firing system is part of the HMMV or whatever vehicle they are travelling in, there is no danger of the soldiers being shot by the robotic firing system.
Yes, such a system would take a lot of work to design. You might look up information about the Phalynx (sp) anti-missle automated machine gun that is carried (mounted) on US Naval ships. It is capable of putting a nasty bullet in every 3 square inches of the sky where radar is tracking an incoming missle. They are truly impressive and awsome weapons. They are much faster than men at firing bullets, and so a similar type system on patrol vehicles could be very awsome too.
Additionally, such a system could use other technology to know where it's attendent soldiers are, and not shoot at them, similar to how the Phalynx doesn't shoot any part of the ship that its on.
One of the lessons learned, and there are several in the nascent robotics market/industry: - People will anthropomorphize mobile robitic devices (iRobot does the roomba and the pakbot) see their website. People will accept what LALAwood has nearly always portrayed as bad or evil, as a tool and useful. - Even relatively small robotic systems can be very useful to military and police forces. - You don't need a EE degree to operate a complex robotics system. - That for about the cost of an assault rifle, you can save lives.
On top of those lessons, current technology would allow the US to create robotic weapons systems. Say when a patrol gets ambushed, they engage the firing system that puts 120 bullets in the area (any area) from which the system detected gunfire. Police in LA and Miami (IIRC) use sound systems on light poles to detect gunfire. Then while the soldiers are behind protective shielding, the 'robot' is pummeling any would-be attackers.
Trusting robotic systems, especially semi-autonomous or autonomous systems is thought to be difficult, but this proves that people will accept and use them to their full potential. I'm sure that iRobot is finding new ways to improve their robots every week with soldiers using them in a war.
With the plethora of wireless devices now having some wireless 'web' capability, some have Java browsers, some with WAP browsers... a single.mobi TLD won't fix all the problems. The real problem is a lack of standard practices for wireless browsers. There are some sites that work well today, formatted for small screens... many don't.
Just saying it will fix things (remember.xxx) won't fix the problems... but its a good start IMO
Would this mean that if they switch MS employees to Vista with only user rights, that Vista would be delayed yet another couple of years while they work out the bugs? If it doesn't work for MS employees, it can't possibly work well for anyone else. Surely, they have to make sure it works since its part of securing the system. Right?
From TFA In the meantime, it appears as though Hollywood is playing it safe, hoping to keep the boogeyman of HDMI at bay while consumers weigh their options. Whether or not the strategy is ultimately about keeping users happy or lulling them into a false sense of security remains to be seen, but we're fairly certain that ICT was designed to be used, and used it will be.
It seems to me that the issue isn't any of those stated, its about sales. First most 'consumers' don't know the differences between the standards, and any improvement seems good enough, so they are buying the cheapest improvement they can - that only makes sense. The standards are not in play enough to enforce a change across the buying public. The US government is still working to force all users to switch to digital television. Until that happens, joe public won't give a damn. There is only a small portion of the unwashed masses that even cares. Many of them think big screen == high definition still.
My experience is that if it says HD on it, joe public thinks its the shiznitz, they really don't care, and don't want to earn a EE degree to figure it out. Sony et al are cutting their own throats until they can convince the FCC and joe public that the 'thing they want' is 1080p and BR or whatever they decide on, as if they will ever be able to decide on something.
That may well be a cynical view, but it is the impression I get from various encounters. I have a SideKick phone, and the number of people that don't even know what it is (is that one of them blueberry's?) or what it can do is totally amazing. Trying to get even the technically savvy to understand that buying HD is difficult decision is crazy. One friend told me of spending 2500 on an HD setup (and he's happy with it) and I asked him what resolution it was.... he wasn't sure. What most people know about the technical details of what they buy is what they learned from the 18 year old salesman... who makes a commission on the sale... ya, that's working out well.
Any gentlemen's agreement is about setting the marketplace up so they can make money on the formats, and not kill their bottom line with product that isn't selling because of misinformation on the part of joe public. There is no technical reason, its all about the money. If HD products were selling, LALAwood and DVD/TV makers would very quickly work out any details in a short but sharp format war. This is all about sales, and no content provider is getting on board until the hardware makers "show 'em the money". 14 million copies of a DRM'ed movie are a liability if there is nobody to buy them. Hell, 14 million copies of a movie is a liability if there is nobody buying them even if they don't have DRM.
How may people here (raise your hands) have the capability to do more than 5.1 surround? There are better/improved sound systems... but what's the point, if your ears can't tell the difference in the money you spent? Its going to take some real education to get joe public to understand what the difference is, and then to get him to appreciate it enough to spend the extra money. Its all about the money.
Have you considered building a mini-itx based system running on DC/battery supply? You can get them to run off of a 12v car battery, and keeping one of those charged isn't too difficult, never mind that you could run of smaller 12v batteries.
Google for robots / mini-itx / dc power or any of the case modding freak sites. They are making a couple of motherboard systems just for DC operations, and not the kind that run for a few hours as a laptop... the kind that run like servers, just on DC power.
If your server / services are important enough to spend on a laptop, you might consider just building a DC powered server with a beefy battery system? No UPS needed, its built right in, and the thing is a server, not a laptop. You might start here http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=10
The other advice about not using the hard disk, adding memory, and others is good advice also. This solution allows a 7200-10000 rpm drive and plenty-o-ram options.
and all that relates to national security. CALEA, the thing that allows wiretaps under warrant, is in place for all previous communications methods, including paging. What government wants is CALEA type access to new communications types. HOWEVER: Neither the constitution, any ammendment, any subsequent law, or even terms of use, specify that your communications have to be made in an open unenctrypted manner. In fact, in the US, if there is no evidence, there is no crime, and no way to know the criminal. Its all part of that innocent until proven guilty mindset.
If all your telephone calls, emails, etc. are encrypted by you and the other intended party or parties involved, there simply is nothing the government can do about it. With probable cause, they can 'try' to compel you to divulge the encryption key, but then you don't have to testify against yourself in the U.S.... at least not yet.
Neither can the government, church, or any other person(s) compel you to divulge your thoughts, or secrets.
Its time for the encryption phones to start appearing on the market.
This little problem will quickly spiral out of control until those that want to snoop on others have more work to do than they ever imagined. The basic problem here is that the people they say they want to spy on are not using the communication systems the same way as everyone else, and their communications are encrypted, or hidden in ways the government cannot prevent, nor detect with the laws and practices that they wish to install.
Wiretapping on the scales being talked about recently are stupid, prohibitively stupid, and will be nearly 100% ineffectual.
They can't find Bin Laden with all the military might, but somehow they are going to catch him making a phone call? uh, yeah right.... of course, its the little people that lead to the big ones, but they have been spying on the little ones all along... still haven't caught him.
If you give any given group of teen boys a box of firecrackers, someone is going to get hurt. If you give the great unwashed masses access to tools to publish their thoughts online, someone is going to get plagiarised. Most are too lazy to type out full words; as in "u r 2 kul". What in the world ever made anyone think they would type out complete sentences of their own making? Its much easier to cut and paste someone else's words and then simply point at it and say "wut he sed!."
Blogging tools don't come complete with a copy-editor in a box.
I did mention that there are at least 3 parties, and a couple on the fringes too. Its the mix of various parties, not simply two dominant parties with one having control, that is GOOD FOR AMERICA (TM). There ARE more than 2 parties. Can I suggest Google? Its a great search engine. or try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Unite d_States/
When Republicans and Democrats are busy trying to get cooperative votes from the other parties that they will see the need to be reasonable, fair, and not think they have the power to abuse the constitution. Yes, that makes it more like a committee, but a committee that reports what they are doing, not one that operates in the background like some Masonic lodge or similar.
Okay, so Wired has joined the group of people that have published the informants statements, and judges, being the considered thinkers they are, would not have barred only the EFF if the judge did not want the statements published. One point for the judge on that one. Neither did the judge declare the documents be returned or the informant 'gagged', two more points for the judge. At this point, it looks like a rout on the field of play, AT&T is in trouble. All the disinformation that they have been spreading is shaping up to be the proverbial excrement headed for the oscillating rotary device.
Everyone in the world but AT&T and NSA can see the train wreck coming. Time for some timely resignations about now, and please please please can we all drop the bottom out of AT&T stock just now too!
Where is Judge Judy when you need her? I can't wait to see what unimaginable harm this will do to those wanting to take away more and more of my 'rights' as a citizen of the Empire of the Dollar.
No, I'm not posting AC, the American system of laws and justice do have a good balance most of the time, and eventually, if you play with fire long enough, you get burned. I am given the right to discuss, even rant about how my government is serving me. As of today, I still have all of the rights. I would like to see those spying, criminals get the justice they actually deserve.... treason against the people of US.
The right to bear arms is to ensure that the government remains humble, among other things. Despite that fact that this would be a lopsided event, the framers of the constitution did not try to make it impossible for future citizens to remove the government from power. NOW, I'm not saying that we should, for the most part, I like the way the US government works. What I'm unhappy with is that there are entrenched in that government, people who would abuse the power granted to them for their own gain. People who would misuse those power to abuse the rights of citizens for their own gain.
We, the people.... demand to know who those people are, and what they are doing. When the government acts in the dark, hides from the light of oversight, it is time for change... Its a mid-term election year, and 2008 promises to be a special kind of election. So lets all dust off our thinking caps and start taking notes:
Who is making mistakes now? Who is supporting DRM/*AA/stupid Internet laws?
And so on... then lets all vote accordingly when the time comes, even if it politically seems wrong. A good mix of all three parties, and a few token representatives from the fringe parties is "GOOD FOR AMERICANS" (TM) and thus good for America, America's allies, and the world in general in as much as it affects the world in general.
And, if you're not a US citizen, don't be afraid to share your notes. I'm sure you get different news than we a 'given' here in the US. Lets make it a wiki if we have to....
I'm probably wrong here, but I thought this would be the perfect application of P2P functionality. No matter how much someone tries to poison P2P shared files, they can never poison them all. When the whitelist/blacklist updates are shared out as signed, and user rankings can be compared, all should work. There is no central server, and if you can see that the file you have downloaded comes from a user with excellent karma, then it can be trusted. Sure, even that will have ups and downs, but there is no way to stop any user from updating from multiple sources, many times per day.
If the client was written to judge on differences and other algorithms for comparing lists from different sources, I think it would work well, at least better than trying to make your own lists all the time.
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Weren't government agencies practicing for the exact same situation as 9/11 just prior to it happening?
I might need a tin-foil hat here, but it just seems to convenient that they are having a 'practice run' like they were practicing before 9/11.
Lenovo isn't evil, just not very smart when it comes to end-users.
MS is not the only OS out there, and the days are numbered for people who only want to OEM with one brand of OS. Sure, windows will have lots of people buying new pc's and laptops etc. but they will also be the people who don't know if the pc is bad, or there is a virus, or there is an OS problem.
As the Linux out-of-the-box experience improves, it will become more clear why only supporting one OS as OEM product is really not the right move. Then again, Lenovo wants to ship lots of new hardware and not support anything really. Linux doesn't really require new hardware to support the new desktop UI etc.
This also means that MS will send them a monthly check with a few dollars for every PC / Laptop shipped. Perhaps the anti-piracy crowd got to some of the board members at Lenovo?
FTFA: "NEW YORK (Billboard) - As the recording industry tries to block file trading of songs across peer-to-peer networks, blogs and other viral distribution channels, the major labels suddenly have a whole new piracy concern: music videos."
Interestingly, every new and (arguably) useful tool on the Internet seems to somehow allow people to pirate the *AA's protected content. Somewhere in all that, somebody, group, or even countries should be hitting the *AA et al with the clue stick.... hard! Not that I think if they did get a clue it would make anything cheaper or easier for anyone that wants to use their content.
Instead of inventing licensing models that make sense, they simply seem to be trying to stop all use of their content.
Personally, I think it would be sort of sucky for a few months, but if everyone just stopped buying music and videos from *AA affiliated musicians, perhaps the hint would work. Try http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/ for music that they don't benefit from. See if buying music they don't get paid for makes them any happier?
The old or the new are about the same to me, but where is the tagging on the new look?
I'll go for this idea if they can: Tell us where Jimmy Hoffa is, or
Very cool advertisement, but the warrantees notices at the end sort of ruined it... still cool though
Wow, really nice slice on the Brittish.. FTFA
She claimed that the British are particularly good at hacking as they have "the perfect temperament to be hackers--technically skilled, slightly disrespectful of authority, and just a touch of criminal behavior."
It seems to me that the F/OSS industry has shown that fast, and effective patches can be applied, and that software we pay for has less then reasonable responses to such threats. I use F/OSS and I'm quite happy with the response they have to software problems. I don't expect it to be of NASA quality, just to be good, and it is. For the amount that you have to pay for Oracle et al, you expect fast resonses on problems. The problem is that they don't respond fast enough. There is NO bullet proof software, though I give a hat nod to the guys that wrote the code for the Mars rovers. Certainly, Oracle isn't showing that they deserve the price they demand, at least not in this respect.
I might be off topic, but all the F/OSS that I use, delivers what I pay for AND MORE. The software that I have to pay for is lacking. When you pay thousands of dollars, you expect patches in a timely manner, and before you get hacked. I think this is a big reason that F/OSS will continue to win hearts and minds across the world. Despite the financial differences, F/OSS actually cares, or seems to, and they do fix things as soon as they find out, or so it seems to me. They have a reputation to uphold. Without it, they will just wither and die. It amazes me that investors, stock holders, and customers are willing to wait for the next over-hyped release of MS Windows while they suffer the "stones and arrows" of the current version. It appears that no matter how bad commercial software is, people rely on it. Yes, of course there is more to the equation than this simple comparison, but I think this is important. If you weigh what you get against what you pay, F/OSS is a good value. The argument is old, and worn, but ROI is a big deal, and patches make a difference to ROI.
Is it really what the software industry needs? A set of rules to make things bullet proof.. which of course won't ever happen. That kind of mindset is totally wrong, even though the sentiment is in the right place, you can't regulate quality in this regard. Sure, you can make sure that all gasoline is of a given quality, but I don't trust the government to test and regulate software. The US government already has a dismal record of keeping their own house in order on this account, I don't want them telling me how to do anything or what I can and cannot sell, never mind what I can give away for free under GPL.
And I'll get modded down for this, but you ARE one of the iSheeple. Listen iFanboy, just because you haven't hit the iDRM walls yet doesn't mean they aren't there. ITMS charges 3/4 of the price you'd pay for a CD, but you get no physical copy, no artwork, nothing but a second rate digital copy of the song you'd get if you bought the CD. You think that being able to play it on iStuff is great... try playing it on something that isn't iStuff. You border on moronic when you argue with me by proving my point. No, its not just you, its all the other iSheeple that said I don't know what I'm talking about, but that was my point, people will accept what is tolerable if it doesn't cause them inconvenience, despite the fact that it is exactly what they don't need. They ARE sheeple. Read the terms of service for ITMS a bit more carefully before you tell me how great it is. Ferchrissake, you iFanboys act like Apple invented music. Hint: They didn't, and all they are doing is ripping you off, no matter how much money and inconvenience you think you are saving. You have not, and do not, look at what you are actually getting, simply because you are one of the iSheeple willing to sacrifice quality and principles for convenience. Believe me when I tell you this, I'm not even being harsh to you. You accept stupidity because it works for you, but I'm not buying it, so you tell me I'm not intelligent... wow, I can't wait till you try to register your fourth Apple computer with ITMS. No matter how many computers I use, the CDs will always play.. at least for now. Sony's debacle will help insure that this will continue to be the case, but in the case of iStuff, you are stuck with their DRM... and I will laugh when you can't play any of the music you 'bought' from ITMS.
... "Buying" music from ITMS is not buying, its renting a license to listen... your ears are for sale, and you've sold them. In 100 years, my progeny will still have my CDs (or backups), yours will have no music from your collection... you are not 'buying' anything, you are renting a license to listen.
I don't think that people should have EE degrees, but if you are going to drive a car, don't you need a license? If you are going to get involved in technologically involved things, shouldn't you know something about it? If you are going to be a housebuilder, shouldn't you know something about the tools used? Just because people can afford a nail gun doesn't make them builders. Just because people can afford computers doesn't make them able to use them. No, not everything should have mystical qualities to it, and playing music shouldn't be difficult, but that is why we have radio stations. People that can't operate a video recorder deserve to have to organize their lives around the TV shows that they like to watch. What I'm saying is simple, if you want to do something with computers, learn how, its not your god given right to be able to work with computers. If you can't figure it out, buy the DRM'd iStuff and quit worrying because Apple will always take care of you, honest, I promise they will... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
I think the term is Caveat emptor... its not like its a new thing, but you bought into it hook line and sinker, just because you didn't see the DRM walls, or worse, didn't care about them. That doesn't give you the right to call me ignorant, or even pretend that I am. You bought into the DRM world, and feel all happy about it because its easy for you... who is the ignorant one? You'll probably be one of the people that 'rent' food in the future... yep, that grocery plan where you pay in advance of anything you eat, because you can order any kind of food you want, whenever you want, depsite the fact that you don't actually get any food except when you are eating... the grocery store will own you, or a good portion of your check, just because they know you will eat there... since you've already signed up to the iFoodStore.
iSheeple... wake up
The article AND the iPeople have missed it. As mentioned, iPod and ITMS, are simply relaxed control, but control just the same. The truth of the matter is that iPods and ITMS are simply the best alternative (more or less) for the great unwashed masses that just want music they like, when they like, how they like. To most people, a little control is a good thing, and Apple has kept up their closed/controlled business model from the beginning. This works for many people. Most folk don't want to have to install the software to make their microwave work, they just want to push buttons, and likewise, they want their music to be that simple too, as simple as turning on the radio, or as close as they can get to that.
That is why Apple's iPod is so successful, because of all the sheeple, and Apple's willingness to pander to that principle.
16 year olds know how to rip CDs to MP3 players, and it doesn't bother them doing it. They don't mind grabbing a couple of MP3s from online, or a friend... its easy for them, they think of it as normal, so the iBusiness_model will soon also be outdated. The next 'killer apps' will be those that allow this new group of technically savvy people to use their information and media however they feel like using it, without the chains or training wheels of current DRM technology.
*ANY* intelligent business group already knows this.... the rest of them will just keep lawyers busy trying to stop it.
its quite interesting that people think a corporation is exempt, or somehow free of greed. Sam Wall was a good guy, but when he died, the corp. made things evil. Google can be, or maybe already is, evil. Internet users, as a whole, should be asking 'what have you done for me lately' not what is evil or not evil. The whole business of the Internet is about what have you done for me lately. Any Internet business model not based on that is a business that really doesn't understand the Internet.
Complete details of why the chicken crossed the road... ba dum bum
I think the real news would be "how much does it cost to buy a computer that can actually run Vista?"
Not trying to troll here, but ferchrissake! If I have to upgrade at a cost of hundreds of dollars just to run it, I don't want to know, I don't care, and I know its not going to run on that $100 laptop. While it might work for some, and perhaps many, it still looks like a very fancy gun for MS to shoot their own feet with. Testing stories so far don't seem to allude to any magical improvements, or reasons that Vista is a "must have" product. Nobody I know is buying up hardware so they can upgrade to Vista when it is released. Except for gamers and those with serious hardware requirements, nobody needs that much hardware performance really. Until streaming media is commonplace, they won't need it. Speaking of which, does anyone know if Vista does streaming media well? While its using all that hardware, does it get anywhere near acting like a multimedia system to replace all others?
Perhaps these are stupid questions, or just plain cynical thinking, but I just don't get it... to me, its sort of like building a bigger hummer with lower mpg while gas prices are climbing with nothing to stop them from continuing to climb. Not many of the bigger gas guzzlers are going to get sold....
Actually, I said a robotic system, not a robot. If the robotic firing system is part of the HMMV or whatever vehicle they are travelling in, there is no danger of the soldiers being shot by the robotic firing system.
Yes, such a system would take a lot of work to design. You might look up information about the Phalynx (sp) anti-missle automated machine gun that is carried (mounted) on US Naval ships. It is capable of putting a nasty bullet in every 3 square inches of the sky where radar is tracking an incoming missle. They are truly impressive and awsome weapons. They are much faster than men at firing bullets, and so a similar type system on patrol vehicles could be very awsome too.
Additionally, such a system could use other technology to know where it's attendent soldiers are, and not shoot at them, similar to how the Phalynx doesn't shoot any part of the ship that its on.
One of the lessons learned, and there are several in the nascent robotics market/industry:
- People will anthropomorphize mobile robitic devices (iRobot does the roomba and the pakbot) see their website. People will accept what LALAwood has nearly always portrayed as bad or evil, as a tool and useful.
- Even relatively small robotic systems can be very useful to military and police forces.
- You don't need a EE degree to operate a complex robotics system.
- That for about the cost of an assault rifle, you can save lives.
On top of those lessons, current technology would allow the US to create robotic weapons systems. Say when a patrol gets ambushed, they engage the firing system that puts 120 bullets in the area (any area) from which the system detected gunfire. Police in LA and Miami (IIRC) use sound systems on light poles to detect gunfire. Then while the soldiers are behind protective shielding, the 'robot' is pummeling any would-be attackers.
Trusting robotic systems, especially semi-autonomous or autonomous systems is thought to be difficult, but this proves that people will accept and use them to their full potential. I'm sure that iRobot is finding new ways to improve their robots every week with soldiers using them in a war.
well, more or less, try http://www.fairtax.org/ for a different method of taxation that would not care what state you earned the money in or from.
Apparently, DIAL is supposed to help, but it looks to fall short in places... link from Cnet news/ 2100-1039_3-6074944.html?tag=cd.top
http://news.com.com/Making+the+Web+fit+for+mobile
With the plethora of wireless devices now having some wireless 'web' capability, some have Java browsers, some with WAP browsers... a single .mobi TLD won't fix all the problems. The real problem is a lack of standard practices for wireless browsers. There are some sites that work well today, formatted for small screens... many don't.
.xxx) won't fix the problems... but its a good start IMO
Just saying it will fix things (remember
Would this mean that if they switch MS employees to Vista with only user rights, that Vista would be delayed yet another couple of years while they work out the bugs? If it doesn't work for MS employees, it can't possibly work well for anyone else. Surely, they have to make sure it works since its part of securing the system. Right?
From TFA In the meantime, it appears as though Hollywood is playing it safe, hoping to keep the boogeyman of HDMI at bay while consumers weigh their options. Whether or not the strategy is ultimately about keeping users happy or lulling them into a false sense of security remains to be seen, but we're fairly certain that ICT was designed to be used, and used it will be.
It seems to me that the issue isn't any of those stated, its about sales. First most 'consumers' don't know the differences between the standards, and any improvement seems good enough, so they are buying the cheapest improvement they can - that only makes sense. The standards are not in play enough to enforce a change across the buying public. The US government is still working to force all users to switch to digital television. Until that happens, joe public won't give a damn. There is only a small portion of the unwashed masses that even cares. Many of them think big screen == high definition still.
My experience is that if it says HD on it, joe public thinks its the shiznitz, they really don't care, and don't want to earn a EE degree to figure it out. Sony et al are cutting their own throats until they can convince the FCC and joe public that the 'thing they want' is 1080p and BR or whatever they decide on, as if they will ever be able to decide on something.
That may well be a cynical view, but it is the impression I get from various encounters. I have a SideKick phone, and the number of people that don't even know what it is (is that one of them blueberry's?) or what it can do is totally amazing. Trying to get even the technically savvy to understand that buying HD is difficult decision is crazy. One friend told me of spending 2500 on an HD setup (and he's happy with it) and I asked him what resolution it was.... he wasn't sure. What most people know about the technical details of what they buy is what they learned from the 18 year old salesman... who makes a commission on the sale... ya, that's working out well.
Any gentlemen's agreement is about setting the marketplace up so they can make money on the formats, and not kill their bottom line with product that isn't selling because of misinformation on the part of joe public. There is no technical reason, its all about the money. If HD products were selling, LALAwood and DVD/TV makers would very quickly work out any details in a short but sharp format war. This is all about sales, and no content provider is getting on board until the hardware makers "show 'em the money". 14 million copies of a DRM'ed movie are a liability if there is nobody to buy them. Hell, 14 million copies of a movie is a liability if there is nobody buying them even if they don't have DRM.
How may people here (raise your hands) have the capability to do more than 5.1 surround? There are better/improved sound systems... but what's the point, if your ears can't tell the difference in the money you spent? Its going to take some real education to get joe public to understand what the difference is, and then to get him to appreciate it enough to spend the extra money. Its all about the money.
Have you considered building a mini-itx based system running on DC/battery supply? You can get them to run off of a 12v car battery, and keeping one of those charged isn't too difficult, never mind that you could run of smaller 12v batteries.
Google for robots / mini-itx / dc power or any of the case modding freak sites. They are making a couple of motherboard systems just for DC operations, and not the kind that run for a few hours as a laptop... the kind that run like servers, just on DC power.
If your server / services are important enough to spend on a laptop, you might consider just building a DC powered server with a beefy battery system? No UPS needed, its built right in, and the thing is a server, not a laptop. You might start here http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=10
The other advice about not using the hard disk, adding memory, and others is good advice also. This solution allows a 7200-10000 rpm drive and plenty-o-ram options.
and all that relates to national security. CALEA, the thing that allows wiretaps under warrant, is in place for all previous communications methods, including paging. What government wants is CALEA type access to new communications types. HOWEVER: Neither the constitution, any ammendment, any subsequent law, or even terms of use, specify that your communications have to be made in an open unenctrypted manner. In fact, in the US, if there is no evidence, there is no crime, and no way to know the criminal. Its all part of that innocent until proven guilty mindset.
... at least not yet.
If all your telephone calls, emails, etc. are encrypted by you and the other intended party or parties involved, there simply is nothing the government can do about it. With probable cause, they can 'try' to compel you to divulge the encryption key, but then you don't have to testify against yourself in the U.S.
Neither can the government, church, or any other person(s) compel you to divulge your thoughts, or secrets.
Its time for the encryption phones to start appearing on the market.
This little problem will quickly spiral out of control until those that want to snoop on others have more work to do than they ever imagined. The basic problem here is that the people they say they want to spy on are not using the communication systems the same way as everyone else, and their communications are encrypted, or hidden in ways the government cannot prevent, nor detect with the laws and practices that they wish to install.
Wiretapping on the scales being talked about recently are stupid, prohibitively stupid, and will be nearly 100% ineffectual.
They can't find Bin Laden with all the military might, but somehow they are going to catch him making a phone call? uh, yeah right.... of course, its the little people that lead to the big ones, but they have been spying on the little ones all along... still haven't caught him.
If you give any given group of teen boys a box of firecrackers, someone is going to get hurt. If you give the great unwashed masses access to tools to publish their thoughts online, someone is going to get plagiarised. Most are too lazy to type out full words; as in "u r 2 kul". What in the world ever made anyone think they would type out complete sentences of their own making? Its much easier to cut and paste someone else's words and then simply point at it and say "wut he sed!."
Blogging tools don't come complete with a copy-editor in a box.
I did mention that there are at least 3 parties, and a couple on the fringes too. Its the mix of various parties, not simply two dominant parties with one having control, that is GOOD FOR AMERICA (TM). There ARE more than 2 parties. Can I suggest Google? Its a great search engine. or try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Unite d_States/
When Republicans and Democrats are busy trying to get cooperative votes from the other parties that they will see the need to be reasonable, fair, and not think they have the power to abuse the constitution. Yes, that makes it more like a committee, but a committee that reports what they are doing, not one that operates in the background like some Masonic lodge or similar.
Okay, so Wired has joined the group of people that have published the informants statements, and judges, being the considered thinkers they are, would not have barred only the EFF if the judge did not want the statements published. One point for the judge on that one. Neither did the judge declare the documents be returned or the informant 'gagged', two more points for the judge. At this point, it looks like a rout on the field of play, AT&T is in trouble. All the disinformation that they have been spreading is shaping up to be the proverbial excrement headed for the oscillating rotary device.
....
Everyone in the world but AT&T and NSA can see the train wreck coming. Time for some timely resignations about now, and please please please can we all drop the bottom out of AT&T stock just now too!
Where is Judge Judy when you need her? I can't wait to see what unimaginable harm this will do to those wanting to take away more and more of my 'rights' as a citizen of the Empire of the Dollar.
No, I'm not posting AC, the American system of laws and justice do have a good balance most of the time, and eventually, if you play with fire long enough, you get burned. I am given the right to discuss, even rant about how my government is serving me. As of today, I still have all of the rights. I would like to see those spying, criminals get the justice they actually deserve.... treason against the people of US.
The right to bear arms is to ensure that the government remains humble, among other things. Despite that fact that this would be a lopsided event, the framers of the constitution did not try to make it impossible for future citizens to remove the government from power. NOW, I'm not saying that we should, for the most part, I like the way the US government works. What I'm unhappy with is that there are entrenched in that government, people who would abuse the power granted to them for their own gain. People who would misuse those power to abuse the rights of citizens for their own gain.
We, the people.... demand to know who those people are, and what they are doing. When the government acts in the dark, hides from the light of oversight, it is time for change... Its a mid-term election year, and 2008 promises to be a special kind of election. So lets all dust off our thinking caps and start taking notes:
Who is making mistakes now?
Who is supporting DRM/*AA/stupid Internet laws?
And so on... then lets all vote accordingly when the time comes, even if it politically seems wrong. A good mix of all three parties, and a few token representatives from the fringe parties is "GOOD FOR AMERICANS" (TM) and thus good for America, America's allies, and the world in general in as much as it affects the world in general.
And, if you're not a US citizen, don't be afraid to share your notes. I'm sure you get different news than we a 'given' here in the US. Lets make it a wiki if we have to
What do you think? Am I off my rocker here?
I'm probably wrong here, but I thought this would be the perfect application of P2P functionality. No matter how much someone tries to poison P2P shared files, they can never poison them all. When the whitelist/blacklist updates are shared out as signed, and user rankings can be compared, all should work. There is no central server, and if you can see that the file you have downloaded comes from a user with excellent karma, then it can be trusted. Sure, even that will have ups and downs, but there is no way to stop any user from updating from multiple sources, many times per day.
If the client was written to judge on differences and other algorithms for comparing lists from different sources, I think it would work well, at least better than trying to make your own lists all the time.