Same for Canada, "The video you have requested is unavailable..."
This is true of almost all online video, music, book and magazine offerings due to restrictive regional licensing agreements. And they wonder why the unofficial alternatives are popular outside the USA?
I had exactly the same experience with my Panasonic TV. I put a power meter on it shortly after I bought it and discovered that it was drawing 20 watts when off instead of the promised 0.1 watts. I figured that the problem might be the EPG, and discovered with experimentation that the undocumented method of putting in a Zip code of 000000 disabled it and solved the problem.
if users were not allowed to log on to their computers at all. I've got a better idea, Microsoft: Why don't you fix your crappy insecure software full of C++ holes, and stop trying to tell us how to use our computers to patch over your problems.
I've read these magazines since I was a kid, and I have subscribed on and off. They have been through good times and bad. F&SF in particular went through a period of being too artsy, but they've been great lately. Reasons for not subscribing: mailing cost to Canada ridiculously expensive, too much paper clutter to store or throw out after you finish reading it, months when I'm just too busy to sit down for a good read. But it seems to me that these magazines are ideal for electronic book readers like the Amazon Kindle. They're already published on small pages without a lot of graphic content, using cheap paper that isn't meant for long-term preservation, and the content is the kind that read once and don't need to keep. Their salvation may yet come.
Ok, here's a number: I put a power meter on my 42-inch Panasonic plasma, and on my normal viewing settings it consumes an average of 160 watts. I see occasional peaks up to over 400 watts when the screen flashes bright. That's compared to a rated MAXIMUM power consumption of 450 watts. Like Panasonic says, it's comparable to the average power consumption of a similar size LCD screen. Even with heavy viewing, I figure I would use less than 200 kwh a year, so the numbers being given out in these news articles are ludicrously far from reality. The problem here is that non-technical people just don't seem to get it about the difference between maximum and average power consumptions and how it varies between the different technologies. The horrifying thing is that ignorant government legislators continue to propose useless environmental measures based on incorrect understanding.
DEC's RSX and VMS operating systems had this exact feature and implementation back in the 1980s as well. The patent is ridiculously invalidated by prior art.
The "facts" cited in the story are ludicrously wrong. For example plasma TVs consume no more power *on average* than LCD TVs of the same size with florescent backlighting (yes, I know you've read the opposite many times, and it was wrong every time you read it - it's a myth caused by a lack of understanding of average power consumption versus maximum power consumption). This is another example of feels good/accomplishes nothing legislation.
If your reasons for wanting to work part time are that you're lazy and you don't like being told what to do, good luck! You'll need it.
I successfully ran my own independent software business for a couple of years, with a combination of internet sales of my own product, and part-time contracting for a couple of companies. I could set my own hours of work, but that didn't mean that I worked any less - just that I had to rely on personal motivation and sense of responsibility to get the work done. And if you think "being your own boss" means that you can do things your way, think again. It means that you have to learn to put ego aside and do what your customers want.
Exactly what I said as I dropped a bolt today and it rolled away under the car.:-)
I suppose something of this incident will go down in history and become the origin of some common expression like Murphy's Law in the distant future. Maybe feature in a future episode of Star Trek?
The last time the FAA decided to do a major overhaul, they got a little too ambitious. They awarded a $4.5 billion contract to IBM to produce the Advanced Automation System, a complete replacement of the antiquated air traffic control system. The project was to begin with a major overhaul of the ATC workstations and human interface, looking at all the ideas engineers and air traffic controllers had to make the system better and safer. After 2 years IBM had blown through $2 billion and the only thing they had really accomplished was to replace the 1960s-vintage hardware with more recent gear. It was clear that it would take >$15 billion and >10 years to complete the project at the rate they were going, so the FAA cancelled the rest of the project. The less expensive $500 million version in Canada (CAATS, awarded to IBM's unsuccessful competitor Hughes Aircraft), was no more successful. Lesson learned: ATC system are *complicated*. They require near 100% reliability, and human lives depend on them. When they fail (as they must always do eventually), human controllers must be able to smoothly and safely pick up the entire workload in mid-flight, and then smoothly transition back to computer control when possible. Designing and implemnting this system is a challenge comparable to going to the moon.
I tend to agree with you on this one Anonymous Coward. Maybe people are bit to ready to believe sensational stories.
I clicked through the several links to get as close to the original study as possible, and the words "estimate by airport officials" start to appear with no further details.
I don't know whether it's genuine or not, but I believe it. I write a memo more or less like this to my programming staff every month when I test our products from the viewpoint of an end user. Software development doesn't always go in the direction I would prefer, but I don't micro-manage the developers. The best I can do is drag their attention up from the details once in a while and see the products the way our customers might. Naturally I tend to exaggerate the potential ignorance or frustration level a typical customer might feel for effect.
The point which the author intended is valid, i.e., that commercial software licenses are much more expensive compared to local income levels in developing countries than in the USA. It's just unfortunately that the title is a bit misleading, deflecting the discussion. As a software publisher who has distributed my software in Brazil (in Portugese) in shareware and free-trial form, I can tell you that registration levels from Brazil are equal to those of the United States or Europe. I feel that's because my software is reasonably priced there for local income levels (about 40% less in local currency than it sells for in the USA). I would also like to add, as a frequent visitor to Brazil with many friends and family members there, I don't agree that there's any anti-U.S. attitude about software.
I have to laugh at some of these comments. I run a small high-tech company with a nice mix of old and young workers, and I see the differences in attitude every day, but somehow we all manage to get along. For the most part the young workers really are very good at keeping up with current technology and making good decisions on IT purchases. I usually just listen to their justifications briefly and then tell them to go ahead and do what they think is best. On the other hand, confirming some cliches, I can tell you that the older workers are the only ones who clean up around the office - the young workers wouldn't lift a finger to clean the common areas to save their lives without their mommy telling them to do it.:-)
A fine novel by a fine SF author (review: http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2006/11/vernor_vinges_r.html)
He forecasts (probably tongue-in-cheek) the end of paper-book libraries when a private company gets the contract to digitize all the remaining paper books by the equivalent of the Human Genome Project "shotgun" technique. Their quick and efficient method of digitizing is to throw multiple copies of the book into a shredder, blow the fragments down a tunnel lined with scanning cameras, and fast computers piece all the fragments together to make a 99.99% accurate representation of the original text. Naturally they are opposed by book lovers who consider this horrifying - but it's all incidental to the main story line. I love Vernor Vinge's ideas!
That's a pretty big job
on
Open US GPS Data?
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
The only two suppliers of nav map data in North America are Navteq and TeleAtlas. They have both invested huge amounts of money in creating their maps, including driving around cities doing street-by-street mapping with vans, although most of their data came originally from official public street maps. Both companies have been the target of multi-billion dollar take over offers in the last year.
In addition to capturing the map data, tagging (street names, one-way, turn restrictions, road type etc.) and validation (making sure streets link up correctly in the database) are also huge jobs.
I wouldn't want to say that an open-source effort is not possible, but we shouldn't underestimate the magnitude of the job. It involves a lot more effort than just driving around a few streets in your neighborhood.
I wonder why the notion of a Perpetual Motion machine survives and continue to attact new generations of believers when other fanciful beliefs like invisible fairies appearing only in photographs died out as people became more familiar with new technologies? There's probably something to be discovered about human belief systems there - someone should do a sociology/psychology paper on it.
I agree, that's the key weakness in Truecrypt. I hibernate both my desktop and laptop systems, and mounted Truecrypt drives remain mounted with no need to re-enter the password no matter how much time has passed. A data thief would have no problems. I think Truecrypt needs a review of their real-world security. And BTW, I've run into bugs with previous versions of Truecrypt used to encrypt USB drives where it suddenly stopped accepting the password and I lost access to the data. Nothing vital lost, but enough to scare me off using Truecrypt again.
I wasn't a believer in the music subscription model either, but eventually I tried Rhapsody on a free trial, and I discovered that I like it and I would use it. I think I would even pay the new higher monthly subscription price for it. That is I would if I didn't live in Canada, where I'm not allowed to subscribe to Rhapsody because of the regional licensing schemes of the big music cartels. But Yahoo Unlimited provided service in Canada, so I subscribed to that instead. So now Rhapsody is going to take over Yahoo's music subscription service? So what happens to the Canadian subscribers? The big problem with new service models like this is that they invest a ton of money in getting people to know and accept their model - but then they can't keep it stable long enough for people to get comfortable with it. Why invest your time and effort in understanding the current deal and figuring out if it's workable for you, when they're just going to change it arbitrary next month?
The other major business of Washington state - Boeing - flies their planes just outside the U.S. territorial limit offshore to sign the transfer papers with international customers so that they won't have to pay tax. Should we complain about them too?
Yeah, it's like they expect everyone to have forgotten about Clearnet and Fido. How are things going to be any different this time around, if it couldn't work financially last time?
Have you not considered that your project lead may actually be the author of the posted code you found? Lots of people post on bulletin boards and forums under a pseudonym or handle. You could be digging yourself a big hole!
In any case, you shouldn't go looking for trouble unnecessarily. The world is a complex place, and everyone has enough problems without you making a big deal out of a questionable violation which is not your responsibility, and where nobody is harmed.
I agree, it is very common. I think most HR consultants advise companies in competitive industries to escort fired or quitting employees to the door immediately, giving them no chance to do any damage.
The thing is, I still think it's wrong. It's a unilateral violation of the trust contract between employees and the employer. Employees are trusted with the most sensitive information and assets of the company while they are working there, and it would be easy to abuse that trust. Any employee who is planning to leave, or who getting the vibe that they could be laid off, could be stocking up on sensitive info or doing other damage if they wanted. What stops them? Nothing but mutual trust and the value of personal reputation. When the employer violates that trust contract by treating the employee badly and showing that they have no trust, that is being communicated not only to the mistreated employee, but to everyone else who still works there. Only future badness can result. As an emmployer, I'd rather demonstrate trust in my employees and take the chance of an occasional hit from a bad one.
I have used SkypeOut extensively, and SkypeIn to a lesser extent. Dealing with a cumbersome network of local telephone service providers, Skype has never been able to get these services working reliably. SkypeOut is good enough for personal use, but not reliable enough for business, and forget about conference calls - the connection would never stay up long enough for that. SkypeIn was much worse - I think most users had about a 50% success rate, assuming it was available in one of the regions that you could use it. Nevertheless I continued to use SkypeOut for convenience, until they decided earlier this year that adding a connection fee would be a really good way to boost the revenue. Now I can call cheaper using my home phone service. Goodbye SkypeOut. It sure looks to me like Skype is in the declining phase that you see when accountants take over - attempting to boost revenue from the existing customer base without innovating or expanding.
Slashdot Mirror
Same for Canada, "The video you have requested is unavailable..." This is true of almost all online video, music, book and magazine offerings due to restrictive regional licensing agreements. And they wonder why the unofficial alternatives are popular outside the USA?
I had exactly the same experience with my Panasonic TV. I put a power meter on it shortly after I bought it and discovered that it was drawing 20 watts when off instead of the promised 0.1 watts. I figured that the problem might be the EPG, and discovered with experimentation that the undocumented method of putting in a Zip code of 000000 disabled it and solved the problem.
if users were not allowed to log on to their computers at all. I've got a better idea, Microsoft: Why don't you fix your crappy insecure software full of C++ holes, and stop trying to tell us how to use our computers to patch over your problems.
I've read these magazines since I was a kid, and I have subscribed on and off. They have been through good times and bad. F&SF in particular went through a period of being too artsy, but they've been great lately. Reasons for not subscribing: mailing cost to Canada ridiculously expensive, too much paper clutter to store or throw out after you finish reading it, months when I'm just too busy to sit down for a good read. But it seems to me that these magazines are ideal for electronic book readers like the Amazon Kindle. They're already published on small pages without a lot of graphic content, using cheap paper that isn't meant for long-term preservation, and the content is the kind that read once and don't need to keep. Their salvation may yet come.
Ok, here's a number: I put a power meter on my 42-inch Panasonic plasma, and on my normal viewing settings it consumes an average of 160 watts. I see occasional peaks up to over 400 watts when the screen flashes bright. That's compared to a rated MAXIMUM power consumption of 450 watts. Like Panasonic says, it's comparable to the average power consumption of a similar size LCD screen. Even with heavy viewing, I figure I would use less than 200 kwh a year, so the numbers being given out in these news articles are ludicrously far from reality. The problem here is that non-technical people just don't seem to get it about the difference between maximum and average power consumptions and how it varies between the different technologies. The horrifying thing is that ignorant government legislators continue to propose useless environmental measures based on incorrect understanding.
DEC's RSX and VMS operating systems had this exact feature and implementation back in the 1980s as well. The patent is ridiculously invalidated by prior art.
The "facts" cited in the story are ludicrously wrong. For example plasma TVs consume no more power *on average* than LCD TVs of the same size with florescent backlighting (yes, I know you've read the opposite many times, and it was wrong every time you read it - it's a myth caused by a lack of understanding of average power consumption versus maximum power consumption). This is another example of feels good/accomplishes nothing legislation.
If your reasons for wanting to work part time are that you're lazy and you don't like being told what to do, good luck! You'll need it. I successfully ran my own independent software business for a couple of years, with a combination of internet sales of my own product, and part-time contracting for a couple of companies. I could set my own hours of work, but that didn't mean that I worked any less - just that I had to rely on personal motivation and sense of responsibility to get the work done. And if you think "being your own boss" means that you can do things your way, think again. It means that you have to learn to put ego aside and do what your customers want.
Exactly what I said as I dropped a bolt today and it rolled away under the car. :-)
I suppose something of this incident will go down in history and become the origin of some common expression like Murphy's Law in the distant future. Maybe feature in a future episode of Star Trek?
The last time the FAA decided to do a major overhaul, they got a little too ambitious. They awarded a $4.5 billion contract to IBM to produce the Advanced Automation System, a complete replacement of the antiquated air traffic control system. The project was to begin with a major overhaul of the ATC workstations and human interface, looking at all the ideas engineers and air traffic controllers had to make the system better and safer. After 2 years IBM had blown through $2 billion and the only thing they had really accomplished was to replace the 1960s-vintage hardware with more recent gear. It was clear that it would take >$15 billion and >10 years to complete the project at the rate they were going, so the FAA cancelled the rest of the project. The less expensive $500 million version in Canada (CAATS, awarded to IBM's unsuccessful competitor Hughes Aircraft), was no more successful. Lesson learned: ATC system are *complicated*. They require near 100% reliability, and human lives depend on them. When they fail (as they must always do eventually), human controllers must be able to smoothly and safely pick up the entire workload in mid-flight, and then smoothly transition back to computer control when possible. Designing and implemnting this system is a challenge comparable to going to the moon.
I tend to agree with you on this one Anonymous Coward. Maybe people are bit to ready to believe sensational stories. I clicked through the several links to get as close to the original study as possible, and the words "estimate by airport officials" start to appear with no further details.
I don't know whether it's genuine or not, but I believe it. I write a memo more or less like this to my programming staff every month when I test our products from the viewpoint of an end user. Software development doesn't always go in the direction I would prefer, but I don't micro-manage the developers. The best I can do is drag their attention up from the details once in a while and see the products the way our customers might. Naturally I tend to exaggerate the potential ignorance or frustration level a typical customer might feel for effect.
The point which the author intended is valid, i.e., that commercial software licenses are much more expensive compared to local income levels in developing countries than in the USA. It's just unfortunately that the title is a bit misleading, deflecting the discussion. As a software publisher who has distributed my software in Brazil (in Portugese) in shareware and free-trial form, I can tell you that registration levels from Brazil are equal to those of the United States or Europe. I feel that's because my software is reasonably priced there for local income levels (about 40% less in local currency than it sells for in the USA). I would also like to add, as a frequent visitor to Brazil with many friends and family members there, I don't agree that there's any anti-U.S. attitude about software.
I have to laugh at some of these comments. I run a small high-tech company with a nice mix of old and young workers, and I see the differences in attitude every day, but somehow we all manage to get along. For the most part the young workers really are very good at keeping up with current technology and making good decisions on IT purchases. I usually just listen to their justifications briefly and then tell them to go ahead and do what they think is best. On the other hand, confirming some cliches, I can tell you that the older workers are the only ones who clean up around the office - the young workers wouldn't lift a finger to clean the common areas to save their lives without their mommy telling them to do it. :-)
A fine novel by a fine SF author (review: http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2006/11/vernor_vinges_r.html) He forecasts (probably tongue-in-cheek) the end of paper-book libraries when a private company gets the contract to digitize all the remaining paper books by the equivalent of the Human Genome Project "shotgun" technique. Their quick and efficient method of digitizing is to throw multiple copies of the book into a shredder, blow the fragments down a tunnel lined with scanning cameras, and fast computers piece all the fragments together to make a 99.99% accurate representation of the original text. Naturally they are opposed by book lovers who consider this horrifying - but it's all incidental to the main story line. I love Vernor Vinge's ideas!
The only two suppliers of nav map data in North America are Navteq and TeleAtlas. They have both invested huge amounts of money in creating their maps, including driving around cities doing street-by-street mapping with vans, although most of their data came originally from official public street maps. Both companies have been the target of multi-billion dollar take over offers in the last year. In addition to capturing the map data, tagging (street names, one-way, turn restrictions, road type etc.) and validation (making sure streets link up correctly in the database) are also huge jobs. I wouldn't want to say that an open-source effort is not possible, but we shouldn't underestimate the magnitude of the job. It involves a lot more effort than just driving around a few streets in your neighborhood.
I wonder why the notion of a Perpetual Motion machine survives and continue to attact new generations of believers when other fanciful beliefs like invisible fairies appearing only in photographs died out as people became more familiar with new technologies? There's probably something to be discovered about human belief systems there - someone should do a sociology/psychology paper on it.
I agree, that's the key weakness in Truecrypt. I hibernate both my desktop and laptop systems, and mounted Truecrypt drives remain mounted with no need to re-enter the password no matter how much time has passed. A data thief would have no problems. I think Truecrypt needs a review of their real-world security. And BTW, I've run into bugs with previous versions of Truecrypt used to encrypt USB drives where it suddenly stopped accepting the password and I lost access to the data. Nothing vital lost, but enough to scare me off using Truecrypt again.
I wasn't a believer in the music subscription model either, but eventually I tried Rhapsody on a free trial, and I discovered that I like it and I would use it. I think I would even pay the new higher monthly subscription price for it. That is I would if I didn't live in Canada, where I'm not allowed to subscribe to Rhapsody because of the regional licensing schemes of the big music cartels. But Yahoo Unlimited provided service in Canada, so I subscribed to that instead. So now Rhapsody is going to take over Yahoo's music subscription service? So what happens to the Canadian subscribers? The big problem with new service models like this is that they invest a ton of money in getting people to know and accept their model - but then they can't keep it stable long enough for people to get comfortable with it. Why invest your time and effort in understanding the current deal and figuring out if it's workable for you, when they're just going to change it arbitrary next month?
The other major business of Washington state - Boeing - flies their planes just outside the U.S. territorial limit offshore to sign the transfer papers with international customers so that they won't have to pay tax. Should we complain about them too?
Yeah, it's like they expect everyone to have forgotten about Clearnet and Fido. How are things going to be any different this time around, if it couldn't work financially last time?
Have you not considered that your project lead may actually be the author of the posted code you found? Lots of people post on bulletin boards and forums under a pseudonym or handle. You could be digging yourself a big hole! In any case, you shouldn't go looking for trouble unnecessarily. The world is a complex place, and everyone has enough problems without you making a big deal out of a questionable violation which is not your responsibility, and where nobody is harmed.
I agree, it is very common. I think most HR consultants advise companies in competitive industries to escort fired or quitting employees to the door immediately, giving them no chance to do any damage. The thing is, I still think it's wrong. It's a unilateral violation of the trust contract between employees and the employer. Employees are trusted with the most sensitive information and assets of the company while they are working there, and it would be easy to abuse that trust. Any employee who is planning to leave, or who getting the vibe that they could be laid off, could be stocking up on sensitive info or doing other damage if they wanted. What stops them? Nothing but mutual trust and the value of personal reputation. When the employer violates that trust contract by treating the employee badly and showing that they have no trust, that is being communicated not only to the mistreated employee, but to everyone else who still works there. Only future badness can result. As an emmployer, I'd rather demonstrate trust in my employees and take the chance of an occasional hit from a bad one.
Darn right! That's why Brazil had the highest prices in the world on the recently-published "iPod index" (comparison of world prices for a commonly-available item, traditionally the McDonald's Big Mac, but replaced with the Apple iPod in this case). See http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/ipod-index-trumps-the-bigmac-one/2007/01/18/1169095897045.html
I have used SkypeOut extensively, and SkypeIn to a lesser extent. Dealing with a cumbersome network of local telephone service providers, Skype has never been able to get these services working reliably. SkypeOut is good enough for personal use, but not reliable enough for business, and forget about conference calls - the connection would never stay up long enough for that. SkypeIn was much worse - I think most users had about a 50% success rate, assuming it was available in one of the regions that you could use it. Nevertheless I continued to use SkypeOut for convenience, until they decided earlier this year that adding a connection fee would be a really good way to boost the revenue. Now I can call cheaper using my home phone service. Goodbye SkypeOut. It sure looks to me like Skype is in the declining phase that you see when accountants take over - attempting to boost revenue from the existing customer base without innovating or expanding.