IANAL, but as the law stands in the US, as it's illegal to circumvent copy protection measures, could it be argued it's illegal to remove the Sony rootkit and suchlike?
I cannot help but think since the Hutton Report, (where the BBC had been admonished for various anti-government stances) the BBC has lost some of its impartial nature.
Having it's technological backbone whipped out (outsourced to Siemens I think) may have left the animal nothing more than a jelly.
The BBC generally runs pro big business and pro establishment these days and has a slight touch of 'community pamphlet' about it.
Still it's early days for its new management, and I'm hopeful but nevertheless slightly concerned.
Whilst it's popular and fashionable here on Slashdot to dismiss large corporations, particularly IT behomoths like Big Blue, as a CS student I am impressed by the quality of IBM's research and development. Real work that deserves real patents, and real recognition.
Your idea is similar to genetic diversity. If a species has genetic diversity it is less likely to suffer widespread catastrophe for there will always be a resistive element. Likewise with software. With a homogenious environment all nodes are vectors and all nodes are vulnerable.
Typical USAian (I won't say American because America is a continent) viewpoint. Eventually the kids get sick and tired of the overgrown bully who picks up his ball and refuses to let anyone play with it. When that happens there is no way back. Ever.
Linux is a pefectly suitable replacement for windows. If the european companies who buy windows put a fraction of that money into KDE, problem resolved.
Whilst tangental to discussion, by my calculations santa's list should fit on a cd.
if good or bad simply represented by 0 or 1
which is 1 bit
6,000,000,000 people (i know its a bit more now)
6,000,000,000/8 = 750,000,000 bytes
750,000,000/1024 = c. 732,000 kilobytes
c. 732,000/1024 = c. 715 megabytes
Granted having to recall the sequence of everyone off the top of your head is one of the many pitfalls of this proposed system but a dvd should prove adequate.
I agree with parents viewpoint but many see it differently. Cannabis and ecstacy have uses other than as recreational drugs.
For example treating post shock syndrome and multiple sclerosis. These are however overlooked by the born again prohibitionists known as the fda. (Which imho is bankrolled by tobacco and alcohol companies but thats a different issue- Whoever granted them a monopoly on human suffering i'm not exactly sure)
Chemicals which have a legitimate purpose are controlled if they can beused for bombs, drugs etc.
Also in this country, (England&Wales) many objects are prohibited in situations, such as carrying a large kitchen knife in public for example.
'England' has also fought 2 world wars on the side of the under dog and preserved the nations of europe and around the world whilst the US waited till
a) it was attacked
b) it knew it could win easily
c) All its economic competitors were bankrupt
before it made the 'brave' move to 'help the world out'
At the height of the British empire there was much that Britain did what was not in its direct interest but that of the world. That is why they had 200 years of superpowerdom. America has only had 60 years of pre-eminience 50 of those shared with Soviets.
The reason increasingly large numbers of people resent the US is because they have realised the US does not do ANYTHING unless it is in their immediate direct interest. This complete self centredness wrapped up as good will repulses many people.
Protectionism, tapping up markets, devaluing the world currency, the quasifascist merger of executive and corporate power, sabre-rattling and blatant exploitation are the legacy of US 'hegomony'.
I speak as an English person who is sick of the imperial guilt which we press on ourselves twice as hard as other countries do. Yes we did much wrong in the past, but we also did much right.
As for USA, they must realise the world is not an exploitable resource, for their complete and utter consumption. It is our home. I feelthere is much good in Americans but also much malign in America.
The same goes the other way though too. The earth moving round the sun, the earth being round. Many scientific advances and discoveries have been dismissed by those with vested power such as the churches, now replaced by large corporations. It is ironic in these times of so called 'globalisation' that it is our globe, our only home in the universe which is under threat.
I'm a leftie. The reason I think left handness exists is specialisation. Darwinian theory doesn't mean we will all be the same exact highly optimised beings. What happens if the environment changes? Evolution would not be able to react fast enough. Instead sucessful groups of our ancestors, the ones which survived, emerged from the jungle and ultimately produced us, had group members with different strengths, different abilities. It's like any game, for example it red alert or d&d. If you only have spell casters in a party, or one type of unit in an attack, you will not be as successful as a mixed group.
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IANAL, but as the law stands in the US, as it's illegal to circumvent copy protection measures, could it be argued it's illegal to remove the Sony rootkit and suchlike?
Having it's technological backbone whipped out (outsourced to Siemens I think) may have left the animal nothing more than a jelly.
The BBC generally runs pro big business and pro establishment these days and has a slight touch of 'community pamphlet' about it.
Still it's early days for its new management, and I'm hopeful but nevertheless slightly concerned.
Whilst it's popular and fashionable here on Slashdot to dismiss large corporations, particularly IT behomoths like Big Blue, as a CS student I am impressed by the quality of IBM's research and development. Real work that deserves real patents, and real recognition.
Would a touch of ruthless ultimately save more lives than it cost?
Your idea is similar to genetic diversity. If a species has genetic diversity it is less likely to suffer widespread catastrophe for there will always be a resistive element. Likewise with software. With a homogenious environment all nodes are vectors and all nodes are vulnerable.
Typical USAian (I won't say American because America is a continent) viewpoint. Eventually the kids get sick and tired of the overgrown bully who picks up his ball and refuses to let anyone play with it. When that happens there is no way back. Ever. Linux is a pefectly suitable replacement for windows. If the european companies who buy windows put a fraction of that money into KDE, problem resolved.
This is a fantastic game if you have a few hours, spare, a group of friends, and in interest in history.
'Firefox - The best way to browse the web' or something similar for the masses to digest.
I remember they did something similar with picassa a while back.
Do it now before MSN/IE integration kicks in.
if good or bad simply represented by 0 or 1
which is 1 bit
6,000,000,000 people (i know its a bit more now)
6,000,000,000
750,000,000
c. 732,000
Granted having to recall the sequence of everyone off the top of your head is one of the many pitfalls of this proposed system but a dvd should prove adequate.
For example treating post shock syndrome and multiple sclerosis. These are however overlooked by the born again prohibitionists known as the fda. (Which imho is bankrolled by tobacco and alcohol companies but thats a different issue- Whoever granted them a monopoly on human suffering i'm not exactly sure)
Chemicals which have a legitimate purpose are controlled if they can beused for bombs, drugs etc.
Also in this country, (England&Wales) many objects are prohibited in situations, such as carrying a large kitchen knife in public for example.
'England' has also fought 2 world wars on the side of the under dog and preserved the nations of europe and around the world whilst the US waited till a) it was attacked b) it knew it could win easily c) All its economic competitors were bankrupt before it made the 'brave' move to 'help the world out' At the height of the British empire there was much that Britain did what was not in its direct interest but that of the world. That is why they had 200 years of superpowerdom. America has only had 60 years of pre-eminience 50 of those shared with Soviets. The reason increasingly large numbers of people resent the US is because they have realised the US does not do ANYTHING unless it is in their immediate direct interest. This complete self centredness wrapped up as good will repulses many people. Protectionism, tapping up markets, devaluing the world currency, the quasifascist merger of executive and corporate power, sabre-rattling and blatant exploitation are the legacy of US 'hegomony'. I speak as an English person who is sick of the imperial guilt which we press on ourselves twice as hard as other countries do. Yes we did much wrong in the past, but we also did much right. As for USA, they must realise the world is not an exploitable resource, for their complete and utter consumption. It is our home. I feelthere is much good in Americans but also much malign in America.
The same goes the other way though too. The earth moving round the sun, the earth being round. Many scientific advances and discoveries have been dismissed by those with vested power such as the churches, now replaced by large corporations. It is ironic in these times of so called 'globalisation' that it is our globe, our only home in the universe which is under threat.
I'm a leftie. The reason I think left handness exists is specialisation. Darwinian theory doesn't mean we will all be the same exact highly optimised beings. What happens if the environment changes? Evolution would not be able to react fast enough. Instead sucessful groups of our ancestors, the ones which survived, emerged from the jungle and ultimately produced us, had group members with different strengths, different abilities. It's like any game, for example it red alert or d&d. If you only have spell casters in a party, or one type of unit in an attack, you will not be as successful as a mixed group.