I guess you never heard the 911 call from the two kids, high on meth, stuck in a snow drift - they literally had no idea where they were while talking to the 911 caller.
Triangulation was not possible, as the battery ran out.
How about this - mom/dad has a stroke, the 3 year old picks up the phone and hits the big red button that dials 911, but can't tell the operator her address, only her name, and her last name happens to be common, with dozens in the phone book - what is the 911 dispatcher to do? Roll the entire police/fire/EMS forces to ALL the addresses?
E911 requirements are hard, and telcos get no slack - they either provide the required service accurately, or pay tremendous fines and run the risk of losing the right to offer service in an area.
If you poke around the records a bit, you'll see that we are talking about the Sec'ty of State's website - there was no internet voting, AFAIK. How absolutelyunheard of for a web site to migrate to another provider during periods of increased activity! The SOS website was migrated for the Primary and for the Election, the two days of the year the traffic spikes, and she choose a friendly Web Hosting Company - would this be interesting if she choose 1&1 or another independent hosting service?
And the IP addresses issue, puh-leeze, they have many clients that are not the RNC - simply providing a service to the RNC is not a crime - if it were, then caterers, limo drivers, temp agencies, coffee shops, etc. that serve the RNC throughout the year are RNC flunkies...
Seriously, what is the problem - that the SOS website was on a machine physically near Newt Gingrich's website, the election was obviously stolen...
Actually, it does mean exactly that (as I understand it)
The problems applying Geneva Convention in our current difficulties is that it only applies to soldiers representing another government, and the insurgents in Iraq, Afghanistan, and that pesy Al Queda group is that they are NOT representing a government.
Also, they don't wear a uniform, so they can be identified - to be protected by the Geneva Convention a soldier needs to be "in uniform" (that's why in the WWII POW movies (Great Escape, others), the prisoners always said their civilian clothes were made from their uniforms, and they usually had their insignia somewhere to display it if caught, to try and "beat" the system. It rarely worked in the movies, I bet it worked less often in real life...
The problem is that the Geneva Convention doesn't cover this type of situation - it was not a concern of the drafters back in the day.
The Windows Home Server is a complex offering, and while it would be possible to replicate it with clever use of scripting languages and open source software, it is an all-in-one solution solving many home "problems" at once:
File server (natch) Backup server (think Volume Shadow Copies, but with a twist - it will backup multiple machines, and if there is a file that is duplicated on both machines, only one copy is saved, lowering the size of backups for several machines) Home web server DDNS daemon tied to MS servers Photo gallery creation/sharing over internet Web proxy/cache to speed up home users
It was designed to be sold as a headless machine, with one or more HD trays, minimal CPU/RAM, and running a heavily modified Windows Server 2003 OS.
If you are familiar with MS software, this is like the home version of Small Business Server...
These functaions can all be implemented with other, existing tools, both open and closed source, but MS is offering it in an appliance format.
MS may sell this software stand-alone, but that has not been decided.
Oh please... Do you understnad what "deferred compensation" means? It means he didn't take the check when he worked there, he DEFERED IT until later - he is getting paid for work he did while employed by Halliburton BEFORE he left to return to government work...
But, the installer does explain (in no uncertain terms) that you should probably disable Network Services - you can alway enable the services you need...
This is not present in the Update 3 of Solaris, released 11/06 - that prompts the user to enable "network services" if they like, but warns that will expose the system to problems. One of those problems is the famously insecure telnetd service. If you say "No" telnetd is not installed/activated - and "No" is the default.
Existing boxes need to fix this, but a patch has been out for a while - are we dealing with the "short bus" hackers that it took this long to actually exploit? Why, oh why, doesn't Solaris warrant better hackers?;^)
The model you are proposing is based on an environment with no infrastructure, and no need to train users in any "modern" applications.
To walk into a room with wired Ethernet (thanks President Clinton/Vice President Al Gore), in-exhaustable power (thank you Mr. Edison), and decide to deploy computers in a 1:1 ratio with their own power supplies and tiny displays makes no sense. The vast majority of the day students will have their computers turned off, so they can listen to the teacher and learn. To deploy expensive computers and have them turned off is not cost-effective.
If you took 5-8 PIII-1GHz desktops, gave them 15-17" flat panel displays and full-size keyboards and mice, you would do very well for your students. Each desktop would be more than adequate for the actual stated purpose (research, and running trivial educational programs, WinXP runs fine on such a desktop) and cost in the neighborhood of $300/each. For $500/each you could probably get a modern computer from a Dell or HP vendor if you have the money. If money is real tight, you can probably buy your PCs at a great discount from the local universities and/or othe school districts with more money.
I don't understand what purpose the battery at each desk provides - every night you need to charge the battery, which means either running a battery to an outlet, or running a power cord to each desk.
You really need to think about how much time your children will spend in front of the computers *working* on the computers. Computer Labs make sense in many cases, a handful of computers in each classrom makes more sense, and a laptop per child is complete overkill, unless you are going to completely overturn your curriculum to base it on every childs computer, and provide replacements if they fail.
Telnetd must be enabled during install in recent Solaris 10 release (Update 3, a.k.a 10/06 release), but earlier releases did enable telent by default.
When I test this on my boxes (UltraSPARCs, not i386s, if it matters) root access is disabled if you are not on system console, period. Also, I am prompted for the password, which is not in the transcript of the "exploit" in the linked-to article...
My test boxes are Update 2 (a.k.a 06/06 release) and Update 3 (10/06 release), with reasonable attentiveness to applying updates on each machine.
I suspect this PROBLEM was discovered on a system that not only has telnet enabled (which is the default on installs based on older releases (Solaris 10 Update 2 or earlier), but also has disabled the lock that prevents root login/access when not on system console, (a user would have to login as a regular user and "su" to root).
This looks like a non-issue to me, but I certainly could be missing something...
I saw a film by the CA power concern PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) where they showed linemen running high-tension wires up the side of a mountain and across a forest using dynamite - they seemed to marvel at blowing the trees away in the name of Electrical Transmission Lines...
PG&E was the producer of the film, and was not hiding behind anything - but this was back in the '70s - things have changed since then.
Not to say it is anything other than above-board, but the producer of "An Inconvienient Truth" wrote BOTH pieces cited - they are not separate sources that reinforce each other, they are the same argument repeated. There is nothing wrong with the producer sharing her thoughts/opinions as widely as possible, but the original poster seems to have missed they are both by the same author (and the latter is on the Op/Ed pages, not the "news" section.
For those unfamiliar with edited, printed newspapers - there is a difference between the two sections.
OEM Drives these days have different serial numbers than "retail" hard drives with Mfg. warranties.
OEM Drives are sold at a discount to the (computer/device) Mfg. and in return the Mfg. assumes responsibility for the drive warranty. The discount can be in the form of a reduced price or an increased shipment that includes extra drive to compensate for the number of drives expected to fail in the shipment (say, 100 extra drives in a shipment of 1,500 drives).
Most Mfg. have websites to check on your warranty for a given drive.
Personally, I've had great luck with RMA drives, even one I scorched - it was a Maxtor (now Seagate;^) drive that was powered up when I moved it to a location where a protruding piece of metal shorted outthe circuit board and caused a small fire on the board. I just played dumb, wrapped the drive up well (original packaging from earlier RMA drive) and sent it in. My 200 Gig HD returned as a 300 Gig HD, apparently brand new.
Warranties are not useless, I think the answer lies outside the drives for the original poster.
I'm leaning towards a Mac (based mainlyon others advice - my conern was more generic about the state of current PC O/Ss and their frailty). My dad only wants to go on the internet, access financial information from stocks he either owns or is considering/researching (which may be a PDF), and get off. He has been happy with his broker's phone system for real-time stock quotes for YEARS, but now he has gotten used to the in-depth info in these PDFs).
I can occasionally find a G4 Mac at a local university surplus sale for less than $50 (but hate the size) - a Mac Mini is my most likely purchase (I can get a PowerPC Mac Mini pretty reasonably these days, and current models are fairly reasonable as well).
The real web stumbling blocks are security processes to access documents on web sites and viewing PDFs on a screen with better resolution than 800x600 (as the i-opener display is).
As guessed by others, my dad isn't interested in email, uploading or viewing photos, or other uses of a PC...
Small systems are expensive because they are not mass-market items. They cost more per piece to recover development cost.
Conversely, AMD 3200 CPUs & MB (which I can get for $59 After Rebate at microcenter.com) are mass-market items.
To make a server box full of disks and not have "fans running all the time" will not happen - no matter what the CPU is, a box with four drives will most likely require fans to keep the HDs cool.
To run a Ubuntu/Linux on a laptop I'd have the following problems:
My folks like a mouse, not a trackpoint/touchpad, so add a USB mouse No built-in modem support, so I have to add an external one USB storage key occupies another USB port Add a USB Printer, and now I'm out of USB ports - here comes a USB hub
Whew, compare that to the i-opener - what a desk full of stuff... Kinda defeats the whole point of a laptop IMHO.
Exactly, the laptop I got them has sufferred some horrible update/infection, and now it barely runs (minutes to boot, hard to power-off, and various issues) - I posted this request since I realized by re-installing WinXP I am fated to the same result.
The Browser appliance is a good idea, but the problem becomes the underlying OS (Win, Linux, etc.) - Others have mentioned live CDs (and Ubuntu Live supports a USB filesystem for settings, files), but I would prefer a less "geeky" solution (personal preference).
Years ago there were PCs sold at very low prices ($199, IIRC) that included Windows O/S, and a year of internet service with a bundled in browser that was similar to the old Alta Vista "Free" Internet service - you had a screen that was surrounded with small ads, tied to the pages you visited. The typical user would be forced to view the ads, while a more sophisticated user would minimize the supplied browser nad run their own. In the past 5-7 years, PCs have dropped more than $199 in price...
PCs are not that expensive (MIT $100 laptop - batteries + bigger screen), internet access is not that expensive (dial-up), and ad revenues are such that it could just be profitable. The trick woul dbe to provide a large enough screen (physical and resolution) to enable "useful" browsing and including the ads on screen. an 800x600 screen trimmed by a border of ads would be unworkable, but 1280x1024 on a 17" display with a 1024x768 usable area might just work...
I wouldn't say vagueness is good as much as limit yourslef to required specificity.
I worked at a major telcom software house, and they were going for ISO9000 certification in the mid-90's while I was there. The key seemed to be that you have a process, that you follow the process, and that you document your following the process. Also important was a feedback loop that included not only internal sources (bugzilla), but external (a way for customers to lodge complaints/requests that is tracked and managed (bugzilla?)).
The consultants we worked with often spoke of a japanese restaurant that was ISO9000 certified - the process is as hard as you want to make it (in most cases), and most people shoot themselves in the foot trying to impress the auditors with the process they think they should have, not the process they do have.
This struck me as a good idea at first, then I went to his web page, and the first thing that leaped out at me was his graphic with the $20 bill and the words "what you can do right now"... I think he wants to run a Howard Dean-style campaign (grass-roots, internet "cash machine" generating tremendous revenue in $10 or $20 increments), and for novelty he wants to have a Wiki.
The Wiki will be the realization of that oft-quoted maxim: "Given an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters, and an infinite amout of time, they could recreate the entire works of William Shakespeare" - but instead of "the entire works of William Shakespeare" he will have a platform, and instead of "monkeys with typewriters" he will have "monkeys with internet connections".
How will he limit edits/updates to people inside his state? That barrier alone makes this a stunt more than a sincere effort, in my opinion.
I've just started to read this book...
on
Spring Into PHP 5
·
· Score: 5, Informative
and I've noticed a few things that don't bode well for the book (in no particular order):
Lack of labels on early figures/diagrams I noticed that some of the first chapter examples and diagrams were not labeled correctly.
Program names in examples don't match text (or vice-versa) The text will refer to an example with one name, but the actual screen print has a different name - not a huge deal, but combined with the previous point, it is a problem.
Handfull of errata in first few chapters none really major, but the sum total makes the reader feel the publisher rushed the book.
Instructional method not a good fit for early material The examples in the first few chapters are trivial, and strain the idea that this boo is aimed at anyone with programming experience. I would have prefered one big chapter that ends up with one, more complex example.
No common theme to examples Again, I'm only in the first few chapters, but the author keeps introducing new premises for the examples - in contrast, the IMS/DB books I read back in my mainframe days all relied on examples from the hospital domain - the lack of consistency across the examples is a distraction to the reader, who has to endure new "let's pretend your a..." setups for each new topic.
Inconsistent editing From my quick review of the last few chapters of the book, many of the above complaints are corrected, which makes me wonder about the editing/technical reviewing done on the manuscript.
Overall, this is a pretty good idea for a book, but the editors/author should not have rushed it to press - the quality of the book appears to have suffered.
I would strongly encourage a potential buyer of this book to spend several minutes with the book and see if the style suits your manner of learnig. Personally, I prefer the O'Reilly Learning series approach to teaching a topic, but preferences vary.
The Express Pass monitors single tags through a controlled point... To monitor the movements of "everybody everywhere" (the seemingly obvious goal of "effectively 'track' someone") would require a simply staggering number of readers.
Shoplifting scanners are the same, the monitor tags through a controlled area (the doorway)... And they don't *identify* "who" is going through the doorway, they let you know that at least one tag passing through the doorway is still active.
RFID is a fine tool for limited applications, the applications that seem to have everyone jumping around like idiots are typically poor fits for RFID technology, based on their limited transmission range and ease of blocking. As someone working with RFID tags, let me tell you, getting a reliable read from anything other than a single, static tag is a challenge.
You missed an important element of the original responders comment - he implied that you could just *ping* an RFID tag. RFID tags are not network elements, they are READ by network elements, and the assumption is that they read "at interesting points in time".
To be able to see if an RFID tag was in range of a reader, or when it was last in range of a reader (thus "on the network" as the original responder mentioned), you'd have a network that resembles the cellular phone network where readers "register" the tags they've just read to a central database, and when someone is interested in the "status" of that tag they would query the central database and know where that tag was last.
Why would you do this for all tags? Internal to an organization this is exactly what you want to do, but what is the benefit to being able to track an item throughout it's life (factory to dump), save for very exceptional market segments (pharmaceuticals come to mind as one example, but even then, why would *anyone* want to have access to that info? Drug companies, Pharmacies, federal and state regulators I can see, but anyone?)...
What if folks that want to use RFID tags simply put the information on a publicly available web page (which would include the entire RFID response string in clear text), and wait for google to scan the pages. You could then simply submit a google search for the exact RFID response string, then parse the page to get the information you want...
How is what this vendor is describing any different? RFID tags have identifiable sub-fields, but by definition each is unique (like MAC addresses)...
Slashdot Mirror
I guess you never heard the 911 call from the two kids, high on meth, stuck in a snow drift - they literally had no idea where they were while talking to the 911 caller.
4 9455&page=1
Triangulation was not possible, as the battery ran out.
A few days later, road crews found their frozen bodies in a car stuck in a snow drift. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Primetime/story?id=5
Yes, these things do happen.
How about this - mom/dad has a stroke, the 3 year old picks up the phone and hits the big red button that dials 911, but can't tell the operator her address, only her name, and her last name happens to be common, with dozens in the phone book - what is the 911 dispatcher to do? Roll the entire police/fire/EMS forces to ALL the addresses?
E911 requirements are hard, and telcos get no slack - they either provide the required service accurately, or pay tremendous fines and run the risk of losing the right to offer service in an area.
If you poke around the records a bit, you'll see that we are talking about the Sec'ty of State's website - there was no internet voting, AFAIK. How absolutely unheard of for a web site to migrate to another provider during periods of increased activity! The SOS website was migrated for the Primary and for the Election, the two days of the year the traffic spikes, and she choose a friendly Web Hosting Company - would this be interesting if she choose 1&1 or another independent hosting service?
And the IP addresses issue, puh-leeze, they have many clients that are not the RNC - simply providing a service to the RNC is not a crime - if it were, then caterers, limo drivers, temp agencies, coffee shops, etc. that serve the RNC throughout the year are RNC flunkies...
Seriously, what is the problem - that the SOS website was on a machine physically near Newt Gingrich's website, the election was obviously stolen...
Actually, it does mean exactly that (as I understand it)
The problems applying Geneva Convention in our current difficulties is that it only applies to soldiers representing another government, and the insurgents in Iraq, Afghanistan, and that pesy Al Queda group is that they are NOT representing a government.
Also, they don't wear a uniform, so they can be identified - to be protected by the Geneva Convention a soldier needs to be "in uniform" (that's why in the WWII POW movies (Great Escape, others), the prisoners always said their civilian clothes were made from their uniforms, and they usually had their insignia somewhere to display it if caught, to try and "beat" the system. It rarely worked in the movies, I bet it worked less often in real life...
The problem is that the Geneva Convention doesn't cover this type of situation - it was not a concern of the drafters back in the day.
Ken
The Windows Home Server is a complex offering, and while it would be possible to replicate it with clever use of scripting languages and open source software, it is an all-in-one solution solving many home "problems" at once:
File server (natch)
Backup server (think Volume Shadow Copies, but with a twist - it will backup multiple machines, and if there is a file that is duplicated on both machines, only one copy is saved, lowering the size of backups for several machines)
Home web server
DDNS daemon tied to MS servers
Photo gallery creation/sharing over internet
Web proxy/cache to speed up home users
It was designed to be sold as a headless machine, with one or more HD trays, minimal CPU/RAM, and running a heavily modified Windows Server 2003 OS.
If you are familiar with MS software, this is like the home version of Small Business Server...
These functaions can all be implemented with other, existing tools, both open and closed source, but MS is offering it in an appliance format.
MS may sell this software stand-alone, but that has not been decided.
Oh please... Do you understnad what "deferred compensation" means? It means he didn't take the check when he worked there, he DEFERED IT until later - he is getting paid for work he did while employed by Halliburton BEFORE he left to return to government work...
I stand corrected - see: http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-6764/6n8onr7p d?a=view
But, the installer does explain (in no uncertain terms) that you should probably disable Network Services - you can alway enable the services you need...
Thanks,
This is not present in the Update 3 of Solaris, released 11/06 - that prompts the user to enable "network services" if they like, but warns that will expose the system to problems. One of those problems is the famously insecure telnetd service. If you say "No" telnetd is not installed/activated - and "No" is the default.
;^)
Existing boxes need to fix this, but a patch has been out for a while - are we dealing with the "short bus" hackers that it took this long to actually exploit? Why, oh why, doesn't Solaris warrant better hackers?
The model you are proposing is based on an environment with no infrastructure, and no need to train users in any "modern" applications.
To walk into a room with wired Ethernet (thanks President Clinton/Vice President Al Gore), in-exhaustable power (thank you Mr. Edison), and decide to deploy computers in a 1:1 ratio with their own power supplies and tiny displays makes no sense. The vast majority of the day students will have their computers turned off, so they can listen to the teacher and learn. To deploy expensive computers and have them turned off is not cost-effective.
If you took 5-8 PIII-1GHz desktops, gave them 15-17" flat panel displays and full-size keyboards and mice, you would do very well for your students. Each desktop would be more than adequate for the actual stated purpose (research, and running trivial educational programs, WinXP runs fine on such a desktop) and cost in the neighborhood of $300/each. For $500/each you could probably get a modern computer from a Dell or HP vendor if you have the money. If money is real tight, you can probably buy your PCs at a great discount from the local universities and/or othe school districts with more money.
I don't understand what purpose the battery at each desk provides - every night you need to charge the battery, which means either running a battery to an outlet, or running a power cord to each desk.
You really need to think about how much time your children will spend in front of the computers *working* on the computers. Computer Labs make sense in many cases, a handful of computers in each classrom makes more sense, and a laptop per child is complete overkill, unless you are going to completely overturn your curriculum to base it on every childs computer, and provide replacements if they fail .
Telnetd must be enabled during install in recent Solaris 10 release (Update 3, a.k.a 10/06 release), but earlier releases did enable telent by default.
When I test this on my boxes (UltraSPARCs, not i386s, if it matters) root access is disabled if you are not on system console, period. Also, I am prompted for the password , which is not in the transcript of the "exploit" in the linked-to article...
My test boxes are Update 2 (a.k.a 06/06 release) and Update 3 (10/06 release), with reasonable attentiveness to applying updates on each machine.
I suspect this PROBLEM was discovered on a system that not only has telnet enabled (which is the default on installs based on older releases (Solaris 10 Update 2 or earlier), but also has disabled the lock that prevents root login/access when not on system console, (a user would have to login as a regular user and "su" to root).
This looks like a non-issue to me, but I certainly could be missing something...
Ken
I saw a film by the CA power concern PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) where they showed linemen running high-tension wires up the side of a mountain and across a forest using dynamite - they seemed to marvel at blowing the trees away in the name of Electrical Transmission Lines...
PG&E was the producer of the film, and was not hiding behind anything - but this was back in the '70s - things have changed since then.
Not to say it is anything other than above-board, but the producer of "An Inconvienient Truth" wrote BOTH pieces cited - they are not separate sources that reinforce each other, they are the same argument repeated. There is nothing wrong with the producer sharing her thoughts/opinions as widely as possible, but the original poster seems to have missed they are both by the same author (and the latter is on the Op/Ed pages, not the "news" section.
For those unfamiliar with edited, printed newspapers - there is a difference between the two sections.
OEM Drives these days have different serial numbers than "retail" hard drives with Mfg. warranties.
;^) drive that was powered up when I moved it to a location where a protruding piece of metal shorted outthe circuit board and caused a small fire on the board. I just played dumb, wrapped the drive up well (original packaging from earlier RMA drive) and sent it in. My 200 Gig HD returned as a 300 Gig HD, apparently brand new.
OEM Drives are sold at a discount to the (computer/device) Mfg. and in return the Mfg. assumes responsibility for the drive warranty. The discount can be in the form of a reduced price or an increased shipment that includes extra drive to compensate for the number of drives expected to fail in the shipment (say, 100 extra drives in a shipment of 1,500 drives).
Most Mfg. have websites to check on your warranty for a given drive.
Personally, I've had great luck with RMA drives, even one I scorched - it was a Maxtor (now Seagate
Warranties are not useless, I think the answer lies outside the drives for the original poster.
Ken
I'm leaning towards a Mac (based mainlyon others advice - my conern was more generic about the state of current PC O/Ss and their frailty). My dad only wants to go on the internet, access financial information from stocks he either owns or is considering/researching (which may be a PDF), and get off. He has been happy with his broker's phone system for real-time stock quotes for YEARS, but now he has gotten used to the in-depth info in these PDFs).
I can occasionally find a G4 Mac at a local university surplus sale for less than $50 (but hate the size) - a Mac Mini is my most likely purchase (I can get a PowerPC Mac Mini pretty reasonably these days, and current models are fairly reasonable as well).
The real web stumbling blocks are security processes to access documents on web sites and viewing PDFs on a screen with better resolution than 800x600 (as the i-opener display is).
As guessed by others, my dad isn't interested in email, uploading or viewing photos, or other uses of a PC...
Ken
Small systems are expensive because they are not mass-market items. They cost more per piece to recover development cost.
Conversely, AMD 3200 CPUs & MB (which I can get for $59 After Rebate at microcenter.com) are mass-market items.
To make a server box full of disks and not have "fans running all the time" will not happen - no matter what the CPU is, a box with four drives will most likely require fans to keep the HDs cool.
Ken
To run a Ubuntu/Linux on a laptop I'd have the following problems:
My folks like a mouse, not a trackpoint/touchpad, so add a USB mouse
No built-in modem support, so I have to add an external one
USB storage key occupies another USB port
Add a USB Printer, and now I'm out of USB ports - here comes a USB hub
Whew, compare that to the i-opener - what a desk full of stuff... Kinda defeats the whole point of a laptop IMHO.
Good idea, but reality gets in the way...
Thanks,
Ken
Exactly, the laptop I got them has sufferred some horrible update/infection, and now it barely runs (minutes to boot, hard to power-off, and various issues) - I posted this request since I realized by re-installing WinXP I am fated to the same result.
Ken
The Browser appliance is a good idea, but the problem becomes the underlying OS (Win, Linux, etc.) - Others have mentioned live CDs (and Ubuntu Live supports a USB filesystem for settings, files), but I would prefer a less "geeky" solution (personal preference).
Ken
Years ago there were PCs sold at very low prices ($199, IIRC) that included Windows O/S, and a year of internet service with a bundled in browser that was similar to the old Alta Vista "Free" Internet service - you had a screen that was surrounded with small ads, tied to the pages you visited. The typical user would be forced to view the ads, while a more sophisticated user would minimize the supplied browser nad run their own. In the past 5-7 years, PCs have dropped more than $199 in price...
PCs are not that expensive (MIT $100 laptop - batteries + bigger screen), internet access is not that expensive (dial-up), and ad revenues are such that it could just be profitable. The trick woul dbe to provide a large enough screen (physical and resolution) to enable "useful" browsing and including the ads on screen. an 800x600 screen trimmed by a border of ads would be unworkable, but 1280x1024 on a 17" display with a 1024x768 usable area might just work...
But this is something you can patent?
Ken
I wouldn't say vagueness is good as much as limit yourslef to required specificity.
I worked at a major telcom software house, and they were going for ISO9000 certification in the mid-90's while I was there. The key seemed to be that you have a process, that you follow the process, and that you document your following the process. Also important was a feedback loop that included not only internal sources (bugzilla), but external (a way for customers to lodge complaints/requests that is tracked and managed (bugzilla?)).
The consultants we worked with often spoke of a japanese restaurant that was ISO9000 certified - the process is as hard as you want to make it (in most cases), and most people shoot themselves in the foot trying to impress the auditors with the process they think they should have, not the process they do have.
I predict he will never hit a "conclusion".
r l/index=music&field-keywords=orrin%252520hatch&sea rch-type=ss&bq=1&store-name=music/ref=xs_ap_l_xgl1 5/002-5700152-7677636
This struck me as a good idea at first, then I went to his web page, and the first thing that leaped out at me was his graphic with the $20 bill and the words "what you can do right now"... I think he wants to run a Howard Dean-style campaign (grass-roots, internet "cash machine" generating tremendous revenue in $10 or $20 increments), and for novelty he wants to have a Wiki.
The Wiki will be the realization of that oft-quoted maxim: "Given an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters, and an infinite amout of time, they could recreate the entire works of William Shakespeare" - but instead of "the entire works of William Shakespeare" he will have a platform, and instead of "monkeys with typewriters" he will have "monkeys with internet connections".
How will he limit edits/updates to people inside his state? That barrier alone makes this a stunt more than a sincere effort, in my opinion.
Say what you like about Orrin Hatch, but he has some skin in the game - he has a vested interest in protecting his music http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-u
Overall, this is a pretty good idea for a book, but the editors/author should not have rushed it to press - the quality of the book appears to have suffered.
I would strongly encourage a potential buyer of this book to spend several minutes with the book and see if the style suits your manner of learnig. Personally, I prefer the O'Reilly Learning series approach to teaching a topic, but preferences vary.
See http://www.taxhelpers.com/glossary/substitute-for- return-sfr.html - it is called Substitute For Return, and it is designed, as the glossary entry linked to here indicates, maximize your tax payment (no deductions, etc.).
But honestly, does the IRS From 1040EZ really confuse so many people?
Form 1040EZ http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040ez.pdf
Form 1040EZ Instructions http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040ez.pdf
Think before you post - nice.
The Express Pass monitors single tags through a controlled point... To monitor the movements of "everybody everywhere" (the seemingly obvious goal of "effectively 'track' someone") would require a simply staggering number of readers.
Shoplifting scanners are the same, the monitor tags through a controlled area (the doorway)... And they don't *identify* "who" is going through the doorway, they let you know that at least one tag passing through the doorway is still active.
RFID is a fine tool for limited applications, the applications that seem to have everyone jumping around like idiots are typically poor fits for RFID technology, based on their limited transmission range and ease of blocking. As someone working with RFID tags, let me tell you, getting a reliable read from anything other than a single, static tag is a challenge.
You missed an important element of the original responders comment - he implied that you could just *ping* an RFID tag. RFID tags are not network elements, they are READ by network elements, and the assumption is that they read "at interesting points in time".
To be able to see if an RFID tag was in range of a reader, or when it was last in range of a reader (thus "on the network" as the original responder mentioned), you'd have a network that resembles the cellular phone network where readers "register" the tags they've just read to a central database, and when someone is interested in the "status" of that tag they would query the central database and know where that tag was last.
Why would you do this for all tags? Internal to an organization this is exactly what you want to do, but what is the benefit to being able to track an item throughout it's life (factory to dump), save for very exceptional market segments (pharmaceuticals come to mind as one example, but even then, why would *anyone* want to have access to that info? Drug companies, Pharmacies, federal and state regulators I can see, but anyone?)...
What if folks that want to use RFID tags simply put the information on a publicly available web page (which would include the entire RFID response string in clear text), and wait for google to scan the pages. You could then simply submit a google search for the exact RFID response string, then parse the page to get the information you want...
How is what this vendor is describing any different? RFID tags have identifiable sub-fields, but by definition each is unique (like MAC addresses)...