This posting reminds me of a haiku I came across recently. Apparently, it was just some conversation overheard by Billy Collins at a conference on haiku, which happened to fit perfectly into the classic form:
When he found out, he
was like, `Oh my God,' and I
was like, `Oh my God.'
It's the word 'receipt' that throws people. A personally verifiable vote has a paper 'trail', paper 'log', or paper 'record', but not a receipt.
A receipt is something you take with you for your own records, and for your proof to other parties. Like those tidbits of paper that the IRS or your company's reimbursement desk wants to see.
But recently, Microsoft has threatened to enforce the four long-filename-on-fat patents, so that devices which use it (such as with removable media cards). This would tax the consumers of non-Microsoft products for a 1993 invention that is now ubiquitous in the marketplace.
The Karma sutra was written by Vatsyayana sometime between the 1st and 6th century AD. If that's not a technical manual, I don't know what is. Oh wait.. this is Slashdot.
That's Kama Sutra, you dork. You've misunderstood the meaning of the word 'karma'. Oh wait... this is Slashdot.
Has TrollTech rejected their Canopy Group benefactors? Have they bought back their own share? I'm really not interested in any company, technology, or development group that's within a couple hops away from SCO. Darl's next press release may be a "toolkit tax" based on any Canopy-funded toolkits.
The branch which is responsible for patents and copyrights and trademarks, according to the US Constitution, is Congress. How is Howie or "the Other JFK" gonna make a difference there?
Oh yeah, because ALL THREE branches of the US government now thumb their noses at the Constitution, and the entire system of checks and balances therein.
While I gave high marks to Master and Commander for their coverage of the tiniest technical details of period naval warfare, and while I thought the foley work of the battle scenes was truly visceral, and while I enjoyed the basic setting and premise in which the characters found themselves, I was really let down by the movie.
It's a thirty minute plot, at most. It can be summed up as "whups, I guess we fucked THAT up, but let's not let that happen again..." about five times in a row. That's it. We blundered, let's move on. Oops, again. Ouch, let's try to avoid that. And oops, we didn't think of that.
It's like the premise behind Moby Dick. Have you read it? Incredible details, no plot. But a movie can't capture these details to a tenth of the degree that print can. You need story. You need arc. You need something to advance and change.
It seems to me, that once you've been invited, you can "invite" your web-driven robot, which can offer a backdoor for many other random people you don't know.
It's like saying you can't get into a brick-and-mortar "gated community." Unless you're a pizza delivery guy. Or any of his friends.
"technically illegal"
on
Perens on Patents
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
'We're looking at a future where only the very largest companies will be able to implement software, and it will technically be illegal for other people to do so.'
Many people seem to fall into this conceptual trap. Infringing on a patent (knowingly or unknowingly) is not illegal, but infringing on a patent without the consent of the patent-holder makes you liable. A patent isn't a law, but it provides the owner certain legal standing. There's a difference. If the patent holder doesn't tell you to stop using their method, then you're perfectly free to do so, and have no liability in doing so.
If using methods patented by others were illegal, then every company would have to stop, or be punished by the government. Microsoft couldn't develop something with a method published by IBM, and IBM likewise couldn't develop something "pioneered" by Microsoft. The interlocking illegality would seize up the development in big companies just as much as anyone else.
Many big companies hold huge patent portfolios for defensive purposes. They never complain about others using the methods they've patented, but they have a bargaining chip (or weapon) to use if someone else tries to collect on another method.
Many other companies like to hold patents without developing them, and to submit as many patent applications as possible, so they can try to collect when some rich but not threatening company stumbles across the same obvious methods. It's this phenomenon which creates the danger against which Bruce Perens is warning.
It's possible to keep patents, and to use them as the early founders of Patent Law intended: to promote the sciences by protecting their discoveries for a limited time.
So slashdot publicity helped the guy get new hosting after slashdot publicity caused him to lose his host.
I don't want to interrupt your narcissistic fascination with the slashdot effect, but let me break it to you gently.
When CNN has the link twice on the front page of CNN.com, and so does every other news service, plus the followup story on c|net news.com and Wired.com, the slashdot-inspired click traffic is just an unnoticeable blip in the sea of noise.
This was a common strategy used by the fictional middle brother in the series of books called "The Great Brain" by JD Fitzgerald. It tracked the deals and schemes of a wily kid in early 1900s Utah, as seen by his awestruck little brother. He'd think on his hardest mental problems just before going to bed, and would usually awake with an inspiration.
I often employ the same strategy, with mixed results, but it's better than not coming up with any ideas at all.
Never trust the client. Spyware on the nodes? Even if you could somehow ensure that all compatible clients comply with the spying requirements, how long will those clients be left unmolested? Any P2P "server" is really just a client of many other "servers."
Math cannot define a human concept This depends on a mathematical hash performed on a given rendering of a copyrighted sample. Resample and the hash is broken. Hell, even a second-rate email spammer knows how to avoid hash detection: just tweak an unused ID3 field.
Logo is nice if you have a more powerful robotic base; Mindstorms deconstructs robotics to a lower level.
For example, the average Logo program assumes that the turtle has enough capability to turn 90 degrees then drive forward 15 units. That, in actual robotic terms, is quite a feat. You have to implement a well-clocked motion base with many sensors and motors before that would really happen. And then you're stuck with that specific motion-base on which you could try other robotics methods.
In contrast, Mindstorms goes to the atomic features that can implement any sort of robotics base: the core actuators and sensors which could implement a turtle-like motion-base (though the base kit wouldn't have enough to make a generalized turtle), but can also implement many other non-turtle motion projects like arms, dollies, winches and walkers.
There's nothing in the LOGO language which couldn't also drive those projects, but then the nature of the programs would be much more like RCX than LOGO. Instead of "turn 90", you'd have "turn until sensor 3 trips." The level of abstraction is just too low for what LOGO was best designed to teach and demonstrate.
I completely object to laws which disable general tools because someone might use them for specific illicit purposes. However, in answer to your question:
There are several levels of difficult-to-reproduce features in the US paper currency. Unfortunately, they are all subtle and require focused inspection.
Say you're a bartender at happy hour, in a darkened room, especially where patrons prefer large wads of crisp ATM twenties and wrinkled perfumy singles. Are you going to have time to look for intaglio hairline printing, irridescent inks, red and blue fibers, embedded mylar strips, second portrait watermarks, and acid reactance? Can you spare the time for even one of them? Meanwhile, you're still going to lose hundreds, perhaps thousands per year on counterfeit bills. The government doesn't reimburse that-- it's just a cost of doing business.
The point is, you don't NEED high resolution scans to slip a bad buck. You just need household computer equipment, which is what has the Secret Service going crazy and pushing for tougher preemptive solutions, even at the expense of legitimate artistic freedoms.
There are a number of wired jackets which would cause security problems. A lady with a self-warming leather jacket was stopped recently, and there are self-defense electrified jackets which would definitely be seen as a weapon.
"A search engine can tell you how many mentions of IBM appear on the web, but not how people feel about IBM."
I give you googlism.com: http://www.googlism.com/index.htm?ism=ibm&type =2
Googlism for: ibm
ibm is even "officially" spineless ibm is still the 'king' ibm is shipping 2 new powerpc processors ibm is bullish on asps and hosted services in ibm is offering internship that supports grid ibm is my choice ibm is outstanding ibm is giving peace ibm is planning to ship new ibm is willing to help ibm is announcing sanfrancisco v2 ibm is embracing linux and microsoft windows 2000 and creating ibm is a couple of generations ahead of the competition...
Pixel Blocks have only one shape, but 20+ colors. They're designed to attach to each other in three dimensions, to form models or images.
While they're still a bit expensive thanks to the company's small size and high overhead, they charge ~$7 for 200 pieces, instead of Lego's overall dime-a-piece average (~$7 fo 70 pieces).
You know you're a political cynic when you read "Emergency Alien Martian Atmosphere Reactivation Device To Protect Our Children And Keep America Strong Act" and look at the initials to see if it has a contradictory or humourous backronym like "TOTAL RECALL Act."
This is a good first step. But it's a tiny baby step.
When I can choose a widget theme once, using a central theme selector, such as GNOME's, and it shows up in all versions of Qt, GTK, Gtk2, Tk, Mozilla, and other applications, then I'll take notice.
The proliferation of toolkits does such a disservice to the desktop, even moreso than the proliferation of desktop environments. Why are there so many?
It seems like most OSS developers must go through the same milestones of skill development: a new C++ string class, a new IRC client, a new window manager, a new toolkit, and a new update package manager. Stop rewriting the wheel and improve what's out there in meaningful new ways.
Slashdot Mirror
When he found out, he
was like, `Oh my God,' and I
was like, `Oh my God.'
A receipt is something you take with you for your own records, and for your proof to other parties. Like those tidbits of paper that the IRS or your company's reimbursement desk wants to see.
Litigating, to date, none that I'm aware of.
But recently, Microsoft has threatened to enforce the four long-filename-on-fat patents, so that devices which use it (such as with removable media cards). This would tax the consumers of non-Microsoft products for a 1993 invention that is now ubiquitous in the marketplace.
The Karma sutra was written by Vatsyayana sometime between the 1st and 6th century AD. If that's not a technical manual, I don't know what is. Oh wait.. this is Slashdot.
That's Kama Sutra, you dork. You've misunderstood the meaning of the word 'karma'. Oh wait... this is Slashdot.
Has TrollTech rejected their Canopy Group benefactors? Have they bought back their own share? I'm really not interested in any company, technology, or development group that's within a couple hops away from SCO. Darl's next press release may be a "toolkit tax" based on any Canopy-funded toolkits.
The branch which is responsible for patents and copyrights and trademarks, according to the US Constitution, is Congress. How is Howie or "the Other JFK" gonna make a difference there?
Oh yeah, because ALL THREE branches of the US government now thumb their noses at the Constitution, and the entire system of checks and balances therein.
While I gave high marks to Master and Commander for their coverage of the tiniest technical details of period naval warfare, and while I thought the foley work of the battle scenes was truly visceral, and while I enjoyed the basic setting and premise in which the characters found themselves, I was really let down by the movie.
It's a thirty minute plot, at most. It can be summed up as "whups, I guess we fucked THAT up, but let's not let that happen again..." about five times in a row. That's it. We blundered, let's move on. Oops, again. Ouch, let's try to avoid that. And oops, we didn't think of that.
It's like the premise behind Moby Dick. Have you read it? Incredible details, no plot. But a movie can't capture these details to a tenth of the degree that print can. You need story. You need arc. You need something to advance and change.
The title as I type this is "Politicans For Sale... On Amazon" [sic].
I wrote an RSS-to-festival script in Perl a while back. Just now I heard it read "Politi cans..." from the next room.
You know it's pretty bad when you can find typos on Slashdot, and you're not even looking!
It seems to me, that once you've been invited, you can "invite" your web-driven robot, which can offer a backdoor for many other random people you don't know.
It's like saying you can't get into a brick-and-mortar "gated community." Unless you're a pizza delivery guy. Or any of his friends.
Many people seem to fall into this conceptual trap. Infringing on a patent (knowingly or unknowingly) is not illegal, but infringing on a patent without the consent of the patent-holder makes you liable. A patent isn't a law, but it provides the owner certain legal standing. There's a difference. If the patent holder doesn't tell you to stop using their method, then you're perfectly free to do so, and have no liability in doing so.
If using methods patented by others were illegal, then every company would have to stop, or be punished by the government. Microsoft couldn't develop something with a method published by IBM, and IBM likewise couldn't develop something "pioneered" by Microsoft. The interlocking illegality would seize up the development in big companies just as much as anyone else.
Many big companies hold huge patent portfolios for defensive purposes. They never complain about others using the methods they've patented, but they have a bargaining chip (or weapon) to use if someone else tries to collect on another method.
Many other companies like to hold patents without developing them, and to submit as many patent applications as possible, so they can try to collect when some rich but not threatening company stumbles across the same obvious methods. It's this phenomenon which creates the danger against which Bruce Perens is warning.
It's possible to keep patents, and to use them as the early founders of Patent Law intended: to promote the sciences by protecting their discoveries for a limited time.
I don't want to interrupt your narcissistic fascination with the slashdot effect, but let me break it to you gently.
When CNN has the link twice on the front page of CNN.com, and so does every other news service, plus the followup story on c|net news.com and Wired.com, the slashdot-inspired click traffic is just an unnoticeable blip in the sea of noise.
My God, it's full of stars!
This was a common strategy used by the fictional middle brother in the series of books called "The Great Brain" by JD Fitzgerald. It tracked the deals and schemes of a wily kid in early 1900s Utah, as seen by his awestruck little brother. He'd think on his hardest mental problems just before going to bed, and would usually awake with an inspiration.
I often employ the same strategy, with mixed results, but it's better than not coming up with any ideas at all.
Where is the SplashPower SplashPad?
Several press articles have promised this for the past year. They're stuck on "looking for partnerships." I want one. Today.
There are two fallacies with the proposal:
Spyware on the nodes? Even if you could somehow ensure that all compatible clients comply with the spying requirements, how long will those clients be left unmolested? Any P2P "server" is really just a client of many other "servers."
This depends on a mathematical hash performed on a given rendering of a copyrighted sample. Resample and the hash is broken. Hell, even a second-rate email spammer knows how to avoid hash detection: just tweak an unused ID3 field.
For example, the average Logo program assumes that the turtle has enough capability to turn 90 degrees then drive forward 15 units. That, in actual robotic terms, is quite a feat. You have to implement a well-clocked motion base with many sensors and motors before that would really happen. And then you're stuck with that specific motion-base on which you could try other robotics methods.
In contrast, Mindstorms goes to the atomic features that can implement any sort of robotics base: the core actuators and sensors which could implement a turtle-like motion-base (though the base kit wouldn't have enough to make a generalized turtle), but can also implement many other non-turtle motion projects like arms, dollies, winches and walkers.
There's nothing in the LOGO language which couldn't also drive those projects, but then the nature of the programs would be much more like RCX than LOGO. Instead of "turn 90", you'd have "turn until sensor 3 trips." The level of abstraction is just too low for what LOGO was best designed to teach and demonstrate.
There are several levels of difficult-to-reproduce features in the US paper currency. Unfortunately, they are all subtle and require focused inspection.
Say you're a bartender at happy hour, in a darkened room, especially where patrons prefer large wads of crisp ATM twenties and wrinkled perfumy singles. Are you going to have time to look for intaglio hairline printing, irridescent inks, red and blue fibers, embedded mylar strips, second portrait watermarks, and acid reactance? Can you spare the time for even one of them? Meanwhile, you're still going to lose hundreds, perhaps thousands per year on counterfeit bills. The government doesn't reimburse that-- it's just a cost of doing business.
The point is, you don't NEED high resolution scans to slip a bad buck. You just need household computer equipment, which is what has the Secret Service going crazy and pushing for tougher preemptive solutions, even at the expense of legitimate artistic freedoms.
There are a number of wired jackets which would cause security problems. A lady with a self-warming leather jacket was stopped recently, and there are self-defense electrified jackets which would definitely be seen as a weapon.
"A search engine can tell you how many mentions of IBM appear on the web, but not how people feel about IBM."
I give you googlism.com: http://www.googlism.com/index.htm?ism=ibm&type =2
Googlism for: ibm
ibm is even "officially" spineless
ibm is still the 'king'
ibm is shipping 2 new powerpc processors
ibm is bullish on asps and hosted services in
ibm is offering internship that supports grid
ibm is my choice
ibm is outstanding
ibm is giving peace
ibm is planning to ship new
ibm is willing to help
ibm is announcing sanfrancisco v2
ibm is embracing linux and microsoft windows 2000 and creating
ibm is a couple of generations ahead of the competition
Pixel Blocks have only one shape, but 20+ colors. They're designed to attach to each other in three dimensions, to form models or images.
While they're still a bit expensive thanks to the company's small size and high overhead, they charge ~$7 for 200 pieces, instead of Lego's overall dime-a-piece average (~$7 fo 70 pieces).
The plan is missing a key component: incentive for the providers to do such a ridiculous, money-losing thing.
I can't believe this story has been here for nealy an hour, and this sentiment hasn't been expressed thusly:
Slashdotters, you've let me down.
You know you're a political cynic when you read "Emergency Alien Martian Atmosphere Reactivation Device To Protect Our Children And Keep America Strong Act" and look at the initials to see if it has a contradictory or humourous backronym like "TOTAL RECALL Act."
to be able to type ~/whatever.txt and have it figure out getenv("HOME").
APE extreme? Makes me think of gorillas.
And it runs Windows CE.
Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers!
When I can choose a widget theme once, using a central theme selector, such as GNOME's, and it shows up in all versions of Qt, GTK, Gtk2, Tk, Mozilla, and other applications, then I'll take notice.
The proliferation of toolkits does such a disservice to the desktop, even moreso than the proliferation of desktop environments. Why are there so many?
It seems like most OSS developers must go through the same milestones of skill development: a new C++ string class, a new IRC client, a new window manager, a new toolkit, and a new update package manager. Stop rewriting the wheel and improve what's out there in meaningful new ways.