Next thing you know, there will be a Slashdot article saying somebody has come up with a search string that lets you use Google to find everybody's car keys.
To add insult to injury, Mr. Cummings has now learned that everything he has purchased with his stolen ID's has been confiscated, including his new robot... his new girl robot. Heh heh heh...
Strong muscles without the need to exercise. Sounds like a geek's dream come true huh?
I think men who paid for the super muscles instead of working out (and didn't have any missing limbs in the first place) would just be a laughingstock to people like me. They would be like girls who get their fathers to pay $3000 for them to get increasingly large breasts. A guy who had a much smaller body might be more appealing just for being more real.
For people with less than two arms and two legs, this sounds good. I just hope it's used to help them and not used for military purposes.
Another interesting thought, imagine if these things could be combined with nanomachines that are able to build the muscle material. The muscles could be programmed to get bigger, or programmed to automatically repair themselves. Large plastic breasts could never do that.
... Is robots with frickin' laser beams. Is that too much to ask?
In my high school, they had a little robot that looked like a cross between R2D2 and a canister vacuum. On the table, there was this microwave laser thing that looked kind of like the one Johnny 5 had although I don't know what kind of power it had. I wanted to put the two together and make a hall monitor but they didn't trust me for whatever reason.
My understanding is that Microsoft had a product (Windows) that everybody needed for whatever reason. And they were able to include their web browser and media player with this, basically forcing it onto people because they could not have Windows without the integrated browser and media player. And that using a monopoly to force another product onto people is what caused the antitrust violation.
Nobody actually needed an iPod or iTunes, so Apple was not able to use a monopoly to force anybody to use one of their products. The difference is people were forced to use Microsoft products and chose to use Apple products. When Microsoft first released Internet Explorer, people chose to use Netscape but they still had to have Internet Explorer. It was automatically installed with Windows and a lot of other software. It was required to update Windows. The Windows file manager required Internet Explorer. So they won by force.
Hopefully you see the difference between Microsoft and Apple, at least in this case.
but at least we have Judges that can't be (mostly) bought
Some of them can be bought. Remember how many times Microsoft won in appeals court, and how the "punishment" for forcing Internet Explorer onto the masses was Microsoft being forced to add an option to delete the icon from the desktop. Maybe appeals court judges go for a lower price than supreme court judges and such.
What was it that drew you to a life of programming? How old were you when you first used a computer?
I remember seeing this board on tv. Maybe a motherboard for some crappy computer. And I was enchanted. I couldn't have been more than a few years old. And I saw Mr. Wizard's world on Nickelodeon and I liked when they had robots on there. And my brother kept setting himself ablaze with batteries and things you're not supposed to use D-cell batteries with. I was loving it all and couldn't wait to get my hands on a computer.
I finally got my chance when my mother got me a Pocket PC (radio shack, not windows). It had a 1-line display, could be programmed in BASIC, and had an assembler. Then I went to a computer themed middle school, computer-themed high school, and got my degree in Computer Science at University. It always came naturally to me and I didn't need anybody to turn me on to computers.
What pieces of modern software do you think would be a good way to introduce today's kids to the world of computing?
I think Squeak would be good because it's just fun-looking. You get to play with the race car and the mouse's eyes follow your cursor around.
Even better would be a Lego Mindstorms set. Lego has got to be the coolest toy ever and it's programmable. And I don't care how old it is... LogoWriter is big fun. It was compiled, had methods and variables, and we could draw with it. I wish I could find a copy of it.
Would you trust a car with a disclaimer that says "this car has been put together by people who don't necessarily know anything about mechanics or safety"?
Would you trust food with a disclaimer that says "this food has been prepared by people who know nothing about cooking or sanitary conditions"?
Well then, would you trust an encyclopedia with a disclaimer that says "please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by professionals with the expertise necessary to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information"
I think any information source with a disclaimer that says "this is not a reliable source of information" should be taken very lightly.
Are there any products besides the Tivo that support transfering video over the network or perhaps via firewire/usb2?
The new Panasonic DMR-E500HS has an Ethernet port and the ability to stream video to other units through a network. It also has a bigger hard drive than any other recorder I've seen.
All it needs is somebody to make some software to emulate the unit and save the streamed video to the hard drive. Maybe the guys who emulated the ReplayTV can do that for this unit?
On the downside, I must warn you that I have the older model and the hard drive crapped out after only 2 years or so, which is outrageous. And a look in the owner's manual of this one gives the impression they know their hard drives are fragile. If you get it, make sure you get some kind of extended warranty or product protection plan.
By the way, I doubt we'll have any luck transferring video via firewire. The Digital Rights Police seem to have restrictions built into any device that supports Firewire. The best option I've seen is the ReplayTV with the emulator software. I don't remember the name of the software but I'm sure somebody here can tell you.
The Federal Government has signed into law the CAN-SPYWARE act, which effectively over-rules all existing anti-spyware laws.
The new act requires that all claims against spyware companies be filed by the manufacturer of the operating systems affected. The new law also requires all installed software to include a valid company name and contact information to be considered non-spyware.
Our legislators have are touting this law as proof of their commitment to protect us against spyware.
I suspect they'll handle a late return the same way phone companies handle somebody using more than her allotted minutes. They probably hope people will be late.
The installation process alone, as one of the parents said, can sometimes be nothing short of excruciating, and after that a newbie still has to learn to get around a completely unfamiliar system, and use it normally. Finally, to be able to customise your lovely little Unix box to bend to your will at the slightest command - anything from adjusting your desktop environment (or lack thereof) to tweaking the kernel For Great Justice - you've shown yourself to be considerably more skilled with your OS of choice than the majority of computer users.
I think your post also provides a pretty good answer to the original question. What good is an operating system to average computer users if you have to be more skilled than the average computer user to do anything with it?
The recently released Apache Software License (ASL) 2.0 already includes a patent clause.
I'm sorry but the PHP guys are recommending everybody stay with version 1 of the Apache Software License. Their code doesn't really work well with the new license.
I promise I'll stop picking on the PHP guys soon. Really.
I personally think proprietary software and open source software should be kept separate, except when one form of the software is using a library of another form (like a closed graphics package using OpenGL). But then they would be compiled separately. Proprietary software needs to be kept under the control of whoever owns and maintains it. Open Source software needs to be kept completely open, not partially open and partially closed. And patents should not be allowed in open source licenses. That would be my solution to the patent and integration problems.
As for the Trusted Computing, I think it's a big pile of Microsoft marketing poo that should be completely ignored. It's not enough just to trust the software. The software has to actually be safe. Digital signatures won't make that happen.
Slashdot Mirror
So they can force people to say "One nation under God" but they can't put a sticker on a textbook?
I thought it was illegal to create software with the intent of damaging people's computer systems. Maybe that only applies to non-corporations.
Does the thing run well on 256 megabytes of RAM, or will it run like Windows XP on 256 megabytes of RAM?
Next thing you know, there will be a Slashdot article saying somebody has come up with a search string that lets you use Google to find everybody's car keys.
To add insult to injury, Mr. Cummings has now learned that everything he has purchased with his stolen ID's has been confiscated, including his new robot... his new girl robot. Heh heh heh...
It looks like Time Warner has it too, at least out here. I think Vonage costs less though.
In the article, it says the new units from Shuttle support PCI-E, and Nightreaver says they support AMD64.
I think men who paid for the super muscles instead of working out (and didn't have any missing limbs in the first place) would just be a laughingstock to people like me. They would be like girls who get their fathers to pay $3000 for them to get increasingly large breasts. A guy who had a much smaller body might be more appealing just for being more real.
For people with less than two arms and two legs, this sounds good. I just hope it's used to help them and not used for military purposes.
Another interesting thought, imagine if these things could be combined with nanomachines that are able to build the muscle material. The muscles could be programmed to get bigger, or programmed to automatically repair themselves. Large plastic breasts could never do that.
My guess is she's getting paid to draw people toward VoodooPC's new computer system, and get people to link to pictures of it from Slashdot.
In other news, Wired Magazine has just compiled the list of candidates for Vaporware 2005...
In my high school, they had a little robot that looked like a cross between R2D2 and a canister vacuum. On the table, there was this microwave laser thing that looked kind of like the one Johnny 5 had although I don't know what kind of power it had. I wanted to put the two together and make a hall monitor but they didn't trust me for whatever reason.
My understanding is that Microsoft had a product (Windows) that everybody needed for whatever reason. And they were able to include their web browser and media player with this, basically forcing it onto people because they could not have Windows without the integrated browser and media player. And that using a monopoly to force another product onto people is what caused the antitrust violation.
Nobody actually needed an iPod or iTunes, so Apple was not able to use a monopoly to force anybody to use one of their products. The difference is people were forced to use Microsoft products and chose to use Apple products. When Microsoft first released Internet Explorer, people chose to use Netscape but they still had to have Internet Explorer. It was automatically installed with Windows and a lot of other software. It was required to update Windows. The Windows file manager required Internet Explorer. So they won by force.
Hopefully you see the difference between Microsoft and Apple, at least in this case.
Some of them can be bought. Remember how many times Microsoft won in appeals court, and how the "punishment" for forcing Internet Explorer onto the masses was Microsoft being forced to add an option to delete the icon from the desktop. Maybe appeals court judges go for a lower price than supreme court judges and such.
I remember seeing this board on tv. Maybe a motherboard for some crappy computer. And I was enchanted. I couldn't have been more than a few years old. And I saw Mr. Wizard's world on Nickelodeon and I liked when they had robots on there. And my brother kept setting himself ablaze with batteries and things you're not supposed to use D-cell batteries with. I was loving it all and couldn't wait to get my hands on a computer.
I finally got my chance when my mother got me a Pocket PC (radio shack, not windows). It had a 1-line display, could be programmed in BASIC, and had an assembler. Then I went to a computer themed middle school, computer-themed high school, and got my degree in Computer Science at University. It always came naturally to me and I didn't need anybody to turn me on to computers.
I think Squeak would be good because it's just fun-looking. You get to play with the race car and the mouse's eyes follow your cursor around.
Even better would be a Lego Mindstorms set. Lego has got to be the coolest toy ever and it's programmable. And I don't care how old it is... LogoWriter is big fun. It was compiled, had methods and variables, and we could draw with it. I wish I could find a copy of it.
Would you trust a car with a disclaimer that says "this car has been put together by people who don't necessarily know anything about mechanics or safety"?
Would you trust food with a disclaimer that says "this food has been prepared by people who know nothing about cooking or sanitary conditions"?
Well then, would you trust an encyclopedia with a disclaimer that says "please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by professionals with the expertise necessary to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information"
I think any information source with a disclaimer that says "this is not a reliable source of information" should be taken very lightly.
The new Panasonic DMR-E500HS has an Ethernet port and the ability to stream video to other units through a network. It also has a bigger hard drive than any other recorder I've seen.
All it needs is somebody to make some software to emulate the unit and save the streamed video to the hard drive. Maybe the guys who emulated the ReplayTV can do that for this unit?
On the downside, I must warn you that I have the older model and the hard drive crapped out after only 2 years or so, which is outrageous. And a look in the owner's manual of this one gives the impression they know their hard drives are fragile. If you get it, make sure you get some kind of extended warranty or product protection plan.
By the way, I doubt we'll have any luck transferring video via firewire. The Digital Rights Police seem to have restrictions built into any device that supports Firewire. The best option I've seen is the ReplayTV with the emulator software. I don't remember the name of the software but I'm sure somebody here can tell you.
In other news...
The Federal Government has signed into law the CAN-SPYWARE act, which effectively over-rules all existing anti-spyware laws.
The new act requires that all claims against spyware companies be filed by the manufacturer of the operating systems affected. The new law also requires all installed software to include a valid company name and contact information to be considered non-spyware.
Our legislators have are touting this law as proof of their commitment to protect us against spyware.
Don't give them any ideas.
I suspect they'll handle a late return the same way phone companies handle somebody using more than her allotted minutes. They probably hope people will be late.
I think your post also provides a pretty good answer to the original question. What good is an operating system to average computer users if you have to be more skilled than the average computer user to do anything with it?
Which one will you use when you want to build your new girl robot?
On behalf of the Nation of Humanoid Robots, I for one would like to welcome our new human overlords.
It ends when Britney becomes a self-taught microchip designer.
I'm sorry but the PHP guys are recommending everybody stay with version 1 of the Apache Software License. Their code doesn't really work well with the new license.
I promise I'll stop picking on the PHP guys soon. Really.
I personally think proprietary software and open source software should be kept separate, except when one form of the software is using a library of another form (like a closed graphics package using OpenGL). But then they would be compiled separately. Proprietary software needs to be kept under the control of whoever owns and maintains it. Open Source software needs to be kept completely open, not partially open and partially closed. And patents should not be allowed in open source licenses. That would be my solution to the patent and integration problems.
As for the Trusted Computing, I think it's a big pile of Microsoft marketing poo that should be completely ignored. It's not enough just to trust the software. The software has to actually be safe. Digital signatures won't make that happen.
That's right. SkyOS is too small of a project to be any of significance. And everybody knows no small projects ever become big ones, right?