There is a clause stating that AOL/Time Warner has to notify the FCC of status on making there NPD accessible. Has it been 180 days yet? I would love to see the first report - we've determined that there is no benefit to the user to have interoperable nonAOL clients. So we barred them from our directory.
Re:Loss of computers == America as 3rd world count
on
Rebooting The World?
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· Score: 1
The hit that American infrastructure would take would be enormous. No doctors wouldn't forget about vaccines and antibiotics. But where will they obtain them? I doubt that most doctors would be able to manufacture them.
Water would be an incredibly scarce resource. Most people in America lack the resources to purify it. If just the knowledge of how to do it.
Martial law is a logical reaction to such a disaster. I just wonder how the fact that the nation is under martial law would be communicated. Petroleum products would be scarce almost immediately. There may be thousands of gallons at the gas station, but accessing it will be problematic. But I am certain someone could rig up a pump to retrieve it. Just try rationing it without the deterrent use of force.
Ideology quickly succumbs to necessity. The first few weeks would be hell. I have no doubt that we could rebuild. There would still be text books.
I would hope that we would rebuild America along CONSTITUTIONAL lines and abandon so much of the crap that has been added to the federal government. Perhaps a few years without large government and industry would be enough to wake America from its stupor. One can always hold out hope.
Loss of computers == America as 3rd world country
on
Rebooting The World?
·
· Score: 1
Hmm, the loss of computers would devastate the world. Loss of financial records would wipe out the economy, setting us back to the optimistic state of last months bank statement. There would be virtually no travel - how long has it been since you've seen a gas pump that didn't rely on electronics? No communication save that of the old method off letters. Not that letters would be quick, no travel right.
Suddenly guns, bullets, food and water would become the most valuable commodities. We'd be at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Loss of computers in would be one of the most devastating disasters to the advanced world. The people would still be around, but life would majorly suck. The first thing we'd have to do is keep the world fed and in potable water. We'd see a remarkable decline in life expectancy. Disease and famine would wipe out lots of people in the first few years.
Welcome to the Neo-Dark Ages.
Hmm, maybe time to get an older vehicle, a reloading bench and some big caliber weapons. Maybe Montana isn't so bad after all...
It seems to me that this technology should be openly available to anyone who wants it. Then I can get fat contract with local crime lords by providing a service wherein I monitor all law enforcement facilities to identify all people passing through. Cross reference all of the persons visiting law enforcement agency buildings with a picture database of your fellow law breakers and much improved mole detection.
It would make the discovery of undercover officers so much easier. No need to go down because one of your own was in fact the man. While you're at it, you could also eliminate any informants.
And for the more law abiding among us, it would be that much easier to find out if you really want to deny service to someone on a much more legal grounds like, working for the IRS, or being a member of a political group designed solely to take away my rights as a citizen.
It does make me wonder if the photo database is available under the freedom of information act. If so, oh the marketing potential...
Hmm, a Sony television that will only display programming from authorized Sony studios?
I see huge First Amendment issues. But then, I am not certain that the First Amendment guarantees an audience, only the right to express oneself. There is a distinction.
All this when I was beginning to think that the digital revolution may be a great boon to independent artists.
I fear as others here have stated, that there will be regional, and by regional I mean at the city, county and state level, controls on acceptable programming. It will be a sad day when the government has control of all programming. This makes it possible - even moreso than now.
Yes, and the way around it will be illegal thanks to the DCMA. The law is very straight forward on that. Any attempt to market or distribute a device whose sole intent is to avoid copy protection is illegal.
I wonder if there will be different types of subscriptions? By that I mean subscriptions with different feature sets. It may be annoying to have to wait through a dialog that says "Wait while downloading requested feature" but it may make an argument for rental-ware. I would only ever have to pay for the actual features I use.
I think that perhaps another lawsuit is on the way. This coupled with.NET reeks of absolute control of a user's desktop. People will not like their machines being help ransom by MS.
I wonder how long it will take AOL to buy Corel and start offering AOLOffice?
Oh yes, I can see the boot message.
The operating system has detected that your subscription is out of date. Please contact your Microsoft at 1-800-BendOver to renew license.
Thank you and have a nice day.
How does that work? If I lost a little on each chip, I would most certainly not sell more chips to increase my losses.
They sell in volume, huge volumes with a smaller margin on each chip. Those dollars and cents add up quickly when in the millions of chips.
I have thought about building a case so that I would have something nicer than the exciting beige case(s) I have now. I was wondering what steps would be necessary to protect components from static and other electrical threats (not EMP, I really don't think I will concern myself with TEMPEST shielding).
I remember reading about the clear case that someone had built a while back and the first thought that came to mind was what about static. I know that plexiglass comes with a thin plastic laminate that is attached with static when it arrives. So I was concerned about static build up and the havoc it would wreak on my computer. Hey ugly and working is functional. I am not going to go so form over function that I have a cool looking paperweight (or motorized coaster if the CD-ROM still works).
Is static a concern with plexiglass? I know very little about electronics. The plug goes into the socket, always discharge yourself before handling components, the basics. If static is a concern, is there a way to deal with it? I was thinking metal strips attached to the case. But I don't know about grounding and such.
Also, are there any gotchas when using wood? I think it would be much nicer if I could build a case out of wood. And I could actually build a case that went with the furniture. Hey, some of us have spouses who refuse to let a beige box in the living room and I can't really blame her.
Where can one get DVD/CDROMs with a black or colored facing?
All this concern about cases is great but what about the parts of the computer that I interact with regularly? I can always hide an ugly case. What about the monitor, keyboard and mouse? I saw someone posted a link that eventually led to some nice wooden accessories. But, alas, no ergo keyboard. I know that monitors can be quite dangerous - something about capacitors if I remember correctly.
I assume that one can safely remove the case on a CRT - otherwise repairs are impossible. If that can be done, are there any concerns about an alternative enclosure?
Perhaps the 'acts' of walking down a virtual hall etc could be performed, automatically, by the interface while the computer is searching for the files. It has been a long time since I have seen that movie so I cannot recall the sequence of events. But having the UI react to user queries is nothing new, think about the animated icons in web browsers and the animations in Windows. Expanding that sort of thing into an immersive UI that would seem intuitive to the user would seem to be a good thing. If the user were to input, in some manner, the name of the file, the walk is automatic while the file would be found. The user could identify with that series of actions on a deep level. It would be incredibly familiar. It would be freedom from the keyboard and mouse.
I read the ruling and have been thinking abou this a bit. It seems that the operating system division will be a loser in this break up. I have a gnawing fear that the consumer will be the bigger loser in this mess. The OS will be spun off, barring an overturn in the appeals process. The OS will have a monopoly for the next few years. It will take some time for other OSs to gain the support to take over the desktop any time soon. I do think that MS Office will be ported to Linux. The App business will do it to help the bottom line. BTW, I have little doubt as to which company Mr. Gates will choose to hold stock in, Windows market share will plummet while MS App market share will stay high. It seems that the monopoly power will shift from the OS/App titan that MS is now to the App business that will be created. I cannot find anything in the ruling that would explicitly force Microsoft (the Application business) to publish the formats of MS Office documents. It may be possible to MS to use Office as its new hammer. Yes MS will be forced to document OS and Middle ware APIs. But the interoperability of Office documents is not mentioned. Given the sheer market share of MS Office, no matter how that market share was obtained, it makes sense to port Office to other platforms.
A technology that I wonder about is COM. Despite what some have said, COM is actually a good technology. If you don't think so, ask yourself why so many others duplicate many of the COM mechanisms. I don't think it is mere coincidence that the base interface in Bonobo is a close copy of the IUnknown interface in COM. Microsoft can do good work, it has an army of geeks with great stock option plans. Don't underestimate them. But COM is middleware product that MS has been basing most of its newer products on. My first inclination is that this technology would go to the Application business as it was developed for interapplication development. However, it may not fall under the ruling's definition of middleware which seems to focus on applications as middleware, not the underlying technology. The thing that makes me question my assumption that COM will go to the App side is DirectX. I don't program games, so I can't judge it on its merits or lack thereof. But, DirectX does fit within the description of "software that controls the allocation and usage of hardware resources", or operating system software as defined by the ruling. This makes DirectX operating system software. Yet, it is based upon COM, which seems to be middleware, but does not fit the definition of middleware as outlined in the ruling. It would be in the Application business' best interest to obtain this technology, as it would be necessary to port their products to different OSs. It just makes me realize what a mess this is going to be. I don't envy MS having to make all of those decisions in 4 months.
I do think that the Application business will support Linux and Unix platforms. There is an opportunity to make money and extend control. It will be a bad day when IIS comes bundled with a distrubution of Linux tailored for it. I don't relish the thought of the Windows Scripting Host being ported to any other operating systems. After all, shouldn't that innovation be available on all operating systems. Why should Windows be alone in being infected with Melissa and ILOVEYOU spin offs? Look to the the Application business selling products that only interoperate with other Application business products. Outlook will still support Exchange Server best. Back Office will be the server of choice for MS applications. We will just see Back Office on many more OSes.
I wonder if this break up will allow for different distributions of Windows? Some third party could take the Windows OS and package the best solutions to make a new Windows distro. Hmmmm.
Yes, we Americans defend free speech. Even when we find the subject matter distasteful, the right remains. Who was it that said something to the effect "I disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"? I can't recall. The Americans who died in World War II died in part defending freedom. Freedom of speech is one of the fundamental liberties our country is founded upon. Not that the majority of Americans seem to even care about such liberties any longer. Though I may dislike the message of racists, they do have the right to express their opinions. Freedom goes both ways, you can't abridge someone else's freedom and expect your freedoms to be unaffected.
Yet his speaking about technology does not seem to be granting him "access to computers, cellular telephones, televisions or any equipment that can be used for Internet access" so it would not seem to be a violation of his probation. However, I do not know the full extent of his plea bargain and IANAL. I wonder if he is even allowed to have ABS or EFI on his vehicle. Those are little computers after all.
I think the Espresso PC could be a better solution if there were small, portable LCD screens. It would be great to get a small panel and foldable keyboard. The other option would be some of the wearable display technologies that are being developed. Unfortunately, all of these displays are only at 640x480 resolution. Who needs a virtual 30" (or something like that) display at that resolution?
Input would also be a problem, but a flat touch screen could serve that purpose well.
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Did you notice that he used a speech to text program to answer the questions. Tell Dragon about the misspelling.
There is a clause stating that AOL/Time Warner has to notify the FCC of status on making there NPD accessible. Has it been 180 days yet? I would love to see the first report - we've determined that there is no benefit to the user to have interoperable nonAOL clients. So we barred them from our directory.
The hit that American infrastructure would take would be enormous. No doctors wouldn't forget about vaccines and antibiotics. But where will they obtain them? I doubt that most doctors would be able to manufacture them.
Water would be an incredibly scarce resource. Most people in America lack the resources to purify it. If just the knowledge of how to do it.
Martial law is a logical reaction to such a disaster. I just wonder how the fact that the nation is under martial law would be communicated. Petroleum products would be scarce almost immediately. There may be thousands of gallons at the gas station, but accessing it will be problematic. But I am certain someone could rig up a pump to retrieve it. Just try rationing it without the deterrent use of force.
Ideology quickly succumbs to necessity. The first few weeks would be hell. I have no doubt that we could rebuild. There would still be text books.
I would hope that we would rebuild America along CONSTITUTIONAL lines and abandon so much of the crap that has been added to the federal government. Perhaps a few years without large government and industry would be enough to wake America from its stupor. One can always hold out hope.
Hmm, the loss of computers would devastate the world. Loss of financial records would wipe out the economy, setting us back to the optimistic state of last months bank statement. There would be virtually no travel - how long has it been since you've seen a gas pump that didn't rely on electronics? No communication save that of the old method off letters. Not that letters would be quick, no travel right.
Suddenly guns, bullets, food and water would become the most valuable commodities. We'd be at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Loss of computers in would be one of the most devastating disasters to the advanced world. The people would still be around, but life would majorly suck. The first thing we'd have to do is keep the world fed and in potable water. We'd see a remarkable decline in life expectancy. Disease and famine would wipe out lots of people in the first few years.
Welcome to the Neo-Dark Ages.
Hmm, maybe time to get an older vehicle, a reloading bench and some big caliber weapons. Maybe Montana isn't so bad after all...
It seems to me that this technology should be openly available to anyone who wants it. Then I can get fat contract with local crime lords by providing a service wherein I monitor all law enforcement facilities to identify all people passing through. Cross reference all of the persons visiting law enforcement agency buildings with a picture database of your fellow law breakers and much improved mole detection.
It would make the discovery of undercover officers so much easier. No need to go down because one of your own was in fact the man. While you're at it, you could also eliminate any informants.
And for the more law abiding among us, it would be that much easier to find out if you really want to deny service to someone on a much more legal grounds like, working for the IRS, or being a member of a political group designed solely to take away my rights as a citizen.
It does make me wonder if the photo database is available under the freedom of information act. If so, oh the marketing potential...
I haven't watched the Matrix in a while (even then, I don't know how accurate the numbers were) but how much energy does the human body put out?
Hmm, a Sony television that will only display programming from authorized Sony studios?
I see huge First Amendment issues. But then, I am not certain that the First Amendment guarantees an audience, only the right to express oneself. There is a distinction.
All this when I was beginning to think that the digital revolution may be a great boon to independent artists.
I fear as others here have stated, that there will be regional, and by regional I mean at the city, county and state level, controls on acceptable programming. It will be a sad day when the government has control of all programming. This makes it possible - even moreso than now.
Yes, and the way around it will be illegal thanks to the DCMA. The law is very straight forward on that. Any attempt to market or distribute a device whose sole intent is to avoid copy protection is illegal.
Have a star named after them. That way they can look up and say, see that one's from IBM, that one from Intel....
I wonder if there will be different types of subscriptions? By that I mean subscriptions with different feature sets. It may be annoying to have to wait through a dialog that says "Wait while downloading requested feature" but it may make an argument for rental-ware. I would only ever have to pay for the actual features I use.
.NET reeks of absolute control of a user's desktop. People will not like their machines being help ransom by MS.
I think that perhaps another lawsuit is on the way. This coupled with
I wonder how long it will take AOL to buy Corel and start offering AOLOffice?
Uh, can't Sun change the license? They do OWN it.
Well, given the time value of money, there is an argument for making 3 payments of $1000 over time versus one payment of $3000 up front
Oh yes, I can see the boot message.
The operating system has detected that your subscription is out of date. Please contact your Microsoft at 1-800-BendOver to renew license.
Thank you and have a nice day.
How does that work? If I lost a little on each chip, I would most certainly not sell more chips to increase my losses.
They sell in volume, huge volumes with a smaller margin on each chip. Those dollars and cents add up quickly when in the millions of chips.
I have thought about building a case so that I would have something nicer than the exciting beige case(s) I have now. I was wondering what steps would be necessary to protect components from static and other electrical threats (not EMP, I really don't think I will concern myself with TEMPEST shielding).
I remember reading about the clear case that someone had built a while back and the first thought that came to mind was what about static. I know that plexiglass comes with a thin plastic laminate that is attached with static when it arrives. So I was concerned about static build up and the havoc it would wreak on my computer. Hey ugly and working is functional. I am not going to go so form over function that I have a cool looking paperweight (or motorized coaster if the CD-ROM still works).
Is static a concern with plexiglass? I know very little about electronics. The plug goes into the socket, always discharge yourself before handling components, the basics. If static is a concern, is there a way to deal with it? I was thinking metal strips attached to the case. But I don't know about grounding and such.
Also, are there any gotchas when using wood? I think it would be much nicer if I could build a case out of wood. And I could actually build a case that went with the furniture. Hey, some of us have spouses who refuse to let a beige box in the living room and I can't really blame her.
Where can one get DVD/CDROMs with a black or colored facing?
All this concern about cases is great but what about the parts of the computer that I interact with regularly? I can always hide an ugly case. What about the monitor, keyboard and mouse? I saw someone posted a link that eventually led to some nice wooden accessories. But, alas, no ergo keyboard. I know that monitors can be quite dangerous - something about capacitors if I remember correctly.
I assume that one can safely remove the case on a CRT - otherwise repairs are impossible. If that can be done, are there any concerns about an alternative enclosure?
But they were citizens of a British Colony. Citizens of the United States are taxed and - in general - have the right to vote.
Does this include Transmeta?
Perhaps the 'acts' of walking down a virtual hall etc could be performed, automatically, by the interface while the computer is searching for the files. It has been a long time since I have seen that movie so I cannot recall the sequence of events. But having the UI react to user queries is nothing new, think about the animated icons in web browsers and the animations in Windows. Expanding that sort of thing into an immersive UI that would seem intuitive to the user would seem to be a good thing. If the user were to input, in some manner, the name of the file, the walk is automatic while the file would be found. The user could identify with that series of actions on a deep level. It would be incredibly familiar. It would be freedom from the keyboard and mouse.
I read the ruling and have been thinking abou this a bit. It seems that the operating system division will be a loser in this break up. I have a gnawing fear that the consumer will be the bigger loser in this mess. The OS will be spun off, barring an overturn in the appeals process. The OS will have a monopoly for the next few years. It will take some time for other OSs to gain the support to take over the desktop any time soon. I do think that MS Office will be ported to Linux. The App business will do it to help the bottom line. BTW, I have little doubt as to which company Mr. Gates will choose to hold stock in, Windows market share will plummet while MS App market share will stay high. It seems that the monopoly power will shift from the OS/App titan that MS is now to the App business that will be created. I cannot find anything in the ruling that would explicitly force Microsoft (the Application business) to publish the formats of MS Office documents. It may be possible to MS to use Office as its new hammer. Yes MS will be forced to document OS and Middle ware APIs. But the interoperability of Office documents is not mentioned. Given the sheer market share of MS Office, no matter how that market share was obtained, it makes sense to port Office to other platforms.
A technology that I wonder about is COM. Despite what some have said, COM is actually a good technology. If you don't think so, ask yourself why so many others duplicate many of the COM mechanisms. I don't think it is mere coincidence that the base interface in Bonobo is a close copy of the IUnknown interface in COM. Microsoft can do good work, it has an army of geeks with great stock option plans. Don't underestimate them. But COM is middleware product that MS has been basing most of its newer products on. My first inclination is that this technology would go to the Application business as it was developed for interapplication development. However, it may not fall under the ruling's definition of middleware which seems to focus on applications as middleware, not the underlying technology. The thing that makes me question my assumption that COM will go to the App side is DirectX. I don't program games, so I can't judge it on its merits or lack thereof. But, DirectX does fit within the description of "software that controls the allocation and usage of hardware resources", or operating system software as defined by the ruling. This makes DirectX operating system software. Yet, it is based upon COM, which seems to be middleware, but does not fit the definition of middleware as outlined in the ruling. It would be in the Application business' best interest to obtain this technology, as it would be necessary to port their products to different OSs. It just makes me realize what a mess this is going to be. I don't envy MS having to make all of those decisions in 4 months.
I do think that the Application business will support Linux and Unix platforms. There is an opportunity to make money and extend control. It will be a bad day when IIS comes bundled with a distrubution of Linux tailored for it. I don't relish the thought of the Windows Scripting Host being ported to any other operating systems. After all, shouldn't that innovation be available on all operating systems. Why should Windows be alone in being infected with Melissa and ILOVEYOU spin offs? Look to the the Application business selling products that only interoperate with other Application business products. Outlook will still support Exchange Server best. Back Office will be the server of choice for MS applications. We will just see Back Office on many more OSes.
I wonder if this break up will allow for different distributions of Windows? Some third party could take the Windows OS and package the best solutions to make a new Windows distro. Hmmmm.
Apparently these are very resourceful goat herders. Just try getting drunk in Saudi Arabia
Yes, we Americans defend free speech. Even when we find the subject matter distasteful, the right remains. Who was it that said something to the effect "I disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"? I can't recall.
The Americans who died in World War II died in part defending freedom. Freedom of speech is one of the fundamental liberties our country is founded upon. Not that the majority of Americans seem to even care about such liberties any longer.
Though I may dislike the message of racists, they do have the right to express their opinions. Freedom goes both ways, you can't abridge someone else's freedom and expect your freedoms to be unaffected.
Wouldn't it be a bit tougher to ban someone from gnutella since it is decentralized?
But the punishment shall be inversely proportionate to the amount of money or influence the transgressor has to utilize in their defense.
Yet his speaking about technology does not seem to be granting him "access to computers, cellular telephones, televisions or any equipment that can be used for Internet access" so it would not seem to be a violation of his probation. However, I do not know the full extent of his plea bargain and IANAL.
I wonder if he is even allowed to have ABS or EFI on his vehicle. Those are little computers after all.
I think the Espresso PC could be a better solution if there were small, portable LCD screens. It would be great to get a small panel and foldable keyboard. The other option would be some of the wearable display technologies that are being developed. Unfortunately, all of these displays are only at 640x480 resolution. Who needs a virtual 30" (or something like that) display at that resolution?
Input would also be a problem, but a flat touch screen could serve that purpose well.
Oh well, I'll go back to dreaming