Well maybe the concern is that if the government doesn't control the network that security concerns would drive carriers to implement end-to-end encryption that would make implementing FISA warrants difficult. The US has a legal right to monitor cell phone traffic with the limits of FISA courts.
Clearly Europe leads in this area. In the U.S. if you apply for a job directly at a company then they will usually accept PDF files though many large companies tell you they want "Word documents" on the application form. Recruiters, however, want Word documents so they can remove your contact info and add their logo.
Nice to know you are in demand and not looking. Those who actually apply for jobs quickly learn that the standard is MS/Word. Want to buck the trend, go ahead but do you really want to reduce your chances of getting in front of the hiring manger over the choice of Word Processing tool. I think not.
This is really cute. A story about a "hempmobile" that is driven to Wasilla to convince Sarah Palin not to knock down a proposition legalizing pot. While Sarah is unimpressed, the article suggests she did admit to "inhaling" at some point in her youth. Who didn't?
http://web.archive.org/web/20010208164916/www.adn.com/elex/story/0,3109,207133,00.html
While Firefox may have inspired the release of IE 7 and pushed Apple to jump into the fray with a Windows release of Safari, it is also true that FF 2 was not all that it should have been and just maybe IE 7 and Safari pushed Mozilla hard enough to really ace FF 3 which it seems that they have done.
As a software developer who once loathed the idea of having to code for multiple browsers, I have now accepted that there will be differences and have learned to deal with it and promise to stop whining.
I applaud the browser race and hope that they continue to leapfrog each other for a long time to come.
You are absolutely right but here is the deal. You want to make sexy cross-browser web applications with no requirement for a plug-in you can do it now.
You just have work with what you have. You deal with the bugs, ignore the features that are not supported in IE, and work around the ones that simply have different implementations. For example there are libraries that provide a common API for SVG and VML so you can get vector graphics. Many Web 2.0 apps support vector graphics on IE and Firefox.
So let's stop the whining and get on with it. Oh I forgot that is what we are supposed to do here:-)
But, seriously, what would happen to the marketplace if patents were to be thrown out tomorrow? Would innovation cease? I don't think so.
The classic argument is that without patent protection drug companies would not make the huge investments needed to create new drugs since they could be cloned the day after they went to market.
The answer IMO is not so much what should be allowed to be patented but rather for how long. The length of time needs to be tied to the cost of the invention so that this cost can be recouped and therefore innovation is encouraged. The brilliant idea you thought of in the shower this morning should be valued based on the extra hot water you used while thinking this up.
In the U.S. the constitution protects the right to free speech and not the right to anonymity. Google did not turn over data such as emails or documents - they effectively just "fingered" an "anonymous coward". Your post made me realize that my knee-jerk reaction that everyone who posts anonymously is a coward is a luxury I can afford because I live in the U.S. and that "free speech", which we Americans cherish so deeply, is intrinsically connected with anonymity in many parts of the world.
I think that modern mixing practices are entirely to blame. The many digital effects that are put on modern mixes actually disguise the underlying quality of the music and make anything sound good on any system.
If you compared recordings that are both "pure" and well recorded (e.g. Stan Getz - The Girl From Ipanema (1963), Miles Davis - All Blues (1959), The Beatles - Elanor Rigby (1966), or modern recording from Norah Jones or Alison Krauss) and you will hear a difference between compressed and uncompressed - basically the 10% won't cut it at all after you hear the other 90%.
I have a nice stereo. Friends interested in buying one ask, "what do you listen for in a system, is it the tightness of the bass, the sweetness of the midrange or the precision of the highs"? My answer is simply that if you listen to any of those things you are hearing the stereo. When you don't hear the stereo at all and only hear the music then you whip out your credit card and buy that system.
Remember, ODF is not a platform, word processor, gizmo, Office killer, etc. It's only a standard in which to format documents.
And that is the key point. So to answer the objections posed in the article I think the solution is simple.
Convert all legacy documents to both ODF and PDF and still keep the.doc/xls/ppt as an archieved backup.
Save all new documents as ODF.
This means those who need to use MS use MS and the rest can all use OpenOffice and bank the savings. There are virtually no applications that actually read MS binary files and do stuff with them so I must be missing something as to what the problem is with such a setup.
In 1974 at McGill in Montreal my friend and I decided to write a self-propagating program on the 360 model 75 in use at the time. It would spawn itself via the HASP internal reader and print out huge banners with uncomplimentary remarks regarding the head of the data center on the dozen or so printers around town. It took the data center by surprise and it took them most of a day to figure out how to purge it. We were caught and fined. Justice was done but we may have had the honors of creating one of the first viruses. Needless to say personal computers were years away. While I would kick the crap out of anyone I caught writing virus software today I will never forget the thrill of that experience.
The V3XX is an absolute gem of technology. This tiny unit packs a very fine grained lcd with a decent processor and a radio that coughs up bars where other phones won't go. With the $19.95 Media Works plan you have all the internet you can eat and you can tether as long as you don't read the TOS. But without the iCandy it won't appeal to other than the/. crowd. Best of all it fits in that little inner pocket of your Levis.
The fact that Google is setting up in country other than ZA is a very big vote of confidence for the continent. I am not in a position to understand the business aspects of the deal with respect to communications infrastructure or regulatory frameworks but I think that if you want to win the hearts and minds of Africans you have to look into the future and see beyond just South Africa which has been the "safe" choice for western-based international businesses.
Sorry but I don't see how this is going "over the heads" of anyone. Who says that the DOJ are the only ones to present and frame arguments regarding anti-trust issues. I think Google is entirely right to appeal directly to judge. Using the DOJ as your "advocate" is a double (at least) edge sword.
You paint a colorful picture that cannot be faulted in the main. Not really unlike an honest assessment of say the war in Iraq circa spring 07. So where do we go from here?
We all want a ubiquitous, simple, clean, cross-platform way of developing rich applications without the need for guru charlatans and divining rods. It just ain't there. So unless you want to be as John Mayer says, "Waiting on the world to change", just get on with it.
I have no problem sending people to jail if they violate laws. That has been the trend these days with corporate criminals. Only problem is that spyware companies will just move abroad. So if you really want this to work you have to target the companies that do business with spyware companies. If an ad for your product pops up using software that is illegal you should be liable. "Oh your honor, we had no idea how that ad and landing page ended up there", would not cut it.
I admit that the.safe name invites skeptical reactions but the idea of having a TLD for which you have to pony up credentials to be a part of is not a bad a idea. We do something similar for SSL certificates thought the protection has become somewhat diluted. It won't solve phishing all on its own but having a secure point of reference for web sites would be a good start and really a pre-requisite for a total solution to phishing.
Frankly I am surprised that slashdoters have poo pooed this ideas. Then again maybe I am just naive.
Poor performance is my chief complaint too. I have a spare sub-1GHZ box on which I threw Ubuntu/Open Office and it is too slow to be usable. On my main box it is usable but so much slower than Microsoft Office. This issue has to be solved. I do like the product and find that the word processor is clearly better and *almost* worth the wait. But then again I am rather impatient. Sorry.
1. Change USPTO pay scale to make patent examiners much higher paid people
than senior industry people. That way the older scientists and engineers with
great understanding of the industry could be lured to review inventions. This
is the only way to ensure that all prior art is taken into account. Hire
enough people that each patent can be reviewed at length by a committee of
three or more examiners.
Great idea. Not having qualified examiners for very complex subject areas is the biggest single problem. Charge enough for the application to pay these salaries and we all end up being better off.
2. Introduce a new category of patent rejections: blatantly obvious. People
who submit those applications waste USPTO time. Charge them a set (and hefty)
penalty - perhaps a few thousands per person and a few million per corporate
entity.
You can't really charge different amounts depending on company size but having a really whopping fee that is partially refunded if you don't do get rejected on the blantently obvious charge could work.
3. Make patents vary in length depending upon industry. The faster-moving
industries need higher IP turnover. So for instance, software patents would
not be harmful if they were granted for 3-5 years. Similarly biotech
patents would be OK if they lasted 5-10 years. Business practices patents
are ridiculous and should be banned (one way to do that is to make them
expire within 1-2 years).
This is ESSENTIAL to reforming the system
4. Simplify application process. Make USPTO write patent claims and search
for prior art. The patent applicant would just be required to explain what
the invention is, all legal language finagling would be done by USPTO. No
more patent lawyers, no more intentionally vague claims.
Here I cannot agree with you. Claims *are* the patent. You cannot deny one the right to propose what specifically is unique about their invention. I would propose something along the lines of a line item veto. Most patents are a pyramid of claims that start off with what the author honestly believes is unique and then become more and more general until they become absurd. The USPTO haggles with the patent attourney and they come to an agreement. Just let the examiner give an up or down vote on each claim and we all save time and face. If you want to appeal a veto pay a fee and have your day in court.
5. Making litigation cheaper is another topic. We need to reform our legal
system so this is just a little piece of that big problem.
The thing is, I'm not sure it will go to their plans, or turn out the way they want. They want a fair use ruling that says as long as they comply with take-down notices, they are free and clear despite making money off of copyrighted content (ad impressions until a video is taken down).
I don't think Google are stupid enough to think that the current "oh is this infringing? Sorry about that. We'll nuke it immediately" practice will stand. That part of the DMCA is absurd and Google knows it. As a company with a state mission of "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful", they will have to be at the center of the IP debate and that means having "skin in the game". 1.65M plus that again in legal fees (if need be) is an appropriate
amount of "skin" for their stake in this.
The phrase "work ethic" is probably a poor choice but I agree with your point. In a small start-up, even the most junior worker has a chance to see the fruits of their work have an effect but as a company grows this becomes harder.
I see the move to non-exempt workers as being significant going forward and maybe indicative of Google's direction. Many options Google may choose down the road could become people-intensive and require a more significant customer service component. The result would be many more jobs that are transactional in nature and that would need to be executed in a cost effective and competitive fashion. Google could afford to keep their current crop of "transactional" workers in the elite "exempt" category but could not afford to do so if thier numbers dramatically increase as could be the case depending on the company's direction.
And another reason. A good buddy of mine commented some years back (well actually quite a few decades back) that he might get married but that "she would have know assembly language". He was actually quite sincere at the time.
That exploit really is instructive. There is simply no end to the creativity of the hacker.
Maybe we can finally dispense with the whole clunky two-step file upload. I mean who ever actually types a file name into the file upload field. You press the browse button to populate the field and then hit submit. Smart sites actually script it to one step by doing a submit off an onchange event in the file field. There really is no need to ever present a field to start with and it is just an accident waiting to happen. The upload should be one step that cannot be "messed" with.
As long as the truth is not known, microsoft can keep on threatening.
This is exactly the point. "Hey you know this Linux is a transitional neigborhood. There might be problems. But we can fix that for you if you talk to our buddies over here at Novell".
I don't know how successful this particular effort will be but we must continuing to remind everyone, and especially those in the main stream press who write about the middle-west *nix conflict that without naming the infringing portions of Linux, Microsoft keeps the appearance of a rather out-of-step family that is the creation of HBO. Come on Microsoft. Show us the code!
Seriously, I know Microsoft is supposed to be evil and all, but even Disney does this. Just about every one, corporate, individual, government, does this type of thing when faced with a lawsuit. I'm not saying its right, but I think the only reason this one made Slashdot was because it was Microsoft and there is, admittedly, a hefty anti-Microsoft Knee-Jerk element here.
It doesn't make it right. But people get away with it. Remember a guy named Frank Quattrone. Sent around a mail to his employess asking them to "clean up" their files before a grand jury inquiry. He was inicted but he got off (barely). Now this was a grand jury and not a civil proceeding and still he walked. So unless some one comes out and testifies that "Ballmar told me to do it", it will remain just a good Slash Dot read.
Slashdot Mirror
Well maybe the concern is that if the government doesn't control the network that security concerns would drive carriers to implement end-to-end encryption that would make implementing FISA warrants difficult. The US has a legal right to monitor cell phone traffic with the limits of FISA courts.
Clearly Europe leads in this area. In the U.S. if you apply for a job directly at a company then they will usually accept PDF files though many large companies tell you they want "Word documents" on the application form. Recruiters, however, want Word documents so they can remove your contact info and add their logo.
Nice to know you are in demand and not looking. Those who actually apply for jobs quickly learn that the standard is MS/Word. Want to buck the trend, go ahead but do you really want to reduce your chances of getting in front of the hiring manger over the choice of Word Processing tool. I think not.
This is really cute. A story about a "hempmobile" that is driven to Wasilla to convince Sarah Palin not to knock down a proposition legalizing pot. While Sarah is unimpressed, the article suggests she did admit to "inhaling" at some point in her youth. Who didn't? http://web.archive.org/web/20010208164916/www.adn.com/elex/story/0,3109,207133,00.html
While Firefox may have inspired the release of IE 7 and pushed Apple to jump into the fray with a Windows release of Safari, it is also true that FF 2 was not all that it should have been and just maybe IE 7 and Safari pushed Mozilla hard enough to really ace FF 3 which it seems that they have done.
As a software developer who once loathed the idea of having to code for multiple browsers, I have now accepted that there will be differences and have learned to deal with it and promise to stop whining.
I applaud the browser race and hope that they continue to leapfrog each other for a long time to come.
You are absolutely right but here is the deal. You want to make sexy cross-browser web applications with no requirement for a plug-in you can do it now. You just have work with what you have. You deal with the bugs, ignore the features that are not supported in IE, and work around the ones that simply have different implementations. For example there are libraries that provide a common API for SVG and VML so you can get vector graphics. Many Web 2.0 apps support vector graphics on IE and Firefox. So let's stop the whining and get on with it. Oh I forgot that is what we are supposed to do here :-)
The answer IMO is not so much what should be allowed to be patented but rather for how long. The length of time needs to be tied to the cost of the invention so that this cost can be recouped and therefore innovation is encouraged. The brilliant idea you thought of in the shower this morning should be valued based on the extra hot water you used while thinking this up.
In the U.S. the constitution protects the right to free speech and not the right to anonymity. Google did not turn over data such as emails or documents - they effectively just "fingered" an "anonymous coward". Your post made me realize that my knee-jerk reaction that everyone who posts anonymously is a coward is a luxury I can afford because I live in the U.S. and that "free speech", which we Americans cherish so deeply, is intrinsically connected with anonymity in many parts of the world.
I think that modern mixing practices are entirely to blame. The many digital effects that are put on modern mixes actually disguise the underlying quality of the music and make anything sound good on any system.
If you compared recordings that are both "pure" and well recorded (e.g. Stan Getz - The Girl From Ipanema (1963), Miles Davis - All Blues (1959), The Beatles - Elanor Rigby (1966), or modern recording from Norah Jones or Alison Krauss) and you will hear a difference between compressed and uncompressed - basically the 10% won't cut it at all after you hear the other 90%.
I have a nice stereo. Friends interested in buying one ask, "what do you listen for in a system, is it the tightness of the bass, the sweetness of the midrange or the precision of the highs"? My answer is simply that if you listen to any of those things you are hearing the stereo. When you don't hear the stereo at all and only hear the music then you whip out your credit card and buy that system.
- Convert all legacy documents to both ODF and PDF and still keep the
.doc/xls/ppt as an archieved backup.
- Save all new documents as ODF.
This means those who need to use MS use MS and the rest can all use OpenOffice and bank the savings. There are virtually no applications that actually read MS binary files and do stuff with them so I must be missing something as to what the problem is with such a setup.In 1974 at McGill in Montreal my friend and I decided to write a self-propagating program on the 360 model 75 in use at the time. It would spawn itself via the HASP internal reader and print out huge banners with uncomplimentary remarks regarding the head of the data center on the dozen or so printers around town. It took the data center by surprise and it took them most of a day to figure out how to purge it. We were caught and fined. Justice was done but we may have had the honors of creating one of the first viruses. Needless to say personal computers were years away. While I would kick the crap out of anyone I caught writing virus software today I will never forget the thrill of that experience.
The V3XX is an absolute gem of technology. This tiny unit packs a very fine grained lcd with a decent processor and a radio that coughs up bars where other phones won't go. With the $19.95 Media Works plan you have all the internet you can eat and you can tether as long as you don't read the TOS. But without the iCandy it won't appeal to other than the /. crowd. Best of all it fits in that little inner pocket of your Levis.
The fact that Google is setting up in country other than ZA is a very big vote of confidence for the continent. I am not in a position to understand the business aspects of the deal with respect to communications infrastructure or regulatory frameworks but I think that if you want to win the hearts and minds of Africans you have to look into the future and see beyond just South Africa which has been the "safe" choice for western-based international businesses.
Sorry but I don't see how this is going "over the heads" of anyone. Who says that the DOJ are the only ones to present and frame arguments regarding anti-trust issues. I think Google is entirely right to appeal directly to judge. Using the DOJ as your "advocate" is a double (at least) edge sword.
You paint a colorful picture that cannot be faulted in the main. Not really unlike an honest assessment of say the war in Iraq circa spring 07. So where do we go from here? We all want a ubiquitous, simple, clean, cross-platform way of developing rich applications without the need for guru charlatans and divining rods. It just ain't there. So unless you want to be as John Mayer says, "Waiting on the world to change", just get on with it.
I have no problem sending people to jail if they violate laws. That has been the trend these days with corporate criminals. Only problem is that spyware companies will just move abroad. So if you really want this to work you have to target the companies that do business with spyware companies. If an ad for your product pops up using software that is illegal you should be liable. "Oh your honor, we had no idea how that ad and landing page ended up there", would not cut it.
I admit that the .safe name invites skeptical reactions but the idea of having a TLD for which you have to pony up credentials to be a part of is not a bad a idea. We do something similar for SSL certificates thought the protection has become somewhat diluted. It won't solve phishing all on its own but having a secure point of reference for web sites would be a good start and really a pre-requisite for a total solution to phishing.
Frankly I am surprised that slashdoters have poo pooed this ideas. Then again maybe I am just naive.
Poor performance is my chief complaint too. I have a spare sub-1GHZ box on which I threw Ubuntu/Open Office and it is too slow to be usable. On my main box it is usable but so much slower than Microsoft Office. This issue has to be solved. I do like the product and find that the word processor is clearly better and *almost* worth the wait. But then again I am rather impatient. Sorry.
The phrase "work ethic" is probably a poor choice but I agree with your point. In a small start-up, even the most junior worker has a chance to see the fruits of their work have an effect but as a company grows this becomes harder.
I see the move to non-exempt workers as being significant going forward and maybe indicative of Google's direction. Many options Google may choose down the road could become people-intensive and require a more significant customer service component. The result would be many more jobs that are transactional in nature and that would need to be executed in a cost effective and competitive fashion. Google could afford to keep their current crop of "transactional" workers in the elite "exempt" category but could not afford to do so if thier numbers dramatically increase as could be the case depending on the company's direction.
And another reason. A good buddy of mine commented some years back (well actually quite a few decades back) that he might get married but that "she would have know assembly language". He was actually quite sincere at the time.
That exploit really is instructive. There is simply no end to the creativity of the hacker.
Maybe we can finally dispense with the whole clunky two-step file upload. I mean who ever actually types a file name into the file upload field. You press the browse button to populate the field and then hit submit. Smart sites actually script it to one step by doing a submit off an onchange event in the file field. There really is no need to ever present a field to start with and it is just an accident waiting to happen. The upload should be one step that cannot be "messed" with.
I don't know how successful this particular effort will be but we must continuing to remind everyone, and especially those in the main stream press who write about the middle-west *nix conflict that without naming the infringing portions of Linux, Microsoft keeps the appearance of a rather out-of-step family that is the creation of HBO. Come on Microsoft. Show us the code!