No, I'm not. The parent clearly states that he believes nothing described by mathematical processes should be patentable. This is fallacious at best; our physical world is well understood and there are scarcely any processes, mechanical or otherwise, that cannot be described mathematically.
Can I patent a pen & paper method of RSA*? Or perhaps a method using an abbacus? Or maybe I could build an Analytical Machine (thanks, Mr. Babbage) and perform RSA using that instead? The only difference is, one uses electric current. For some reason, it is still perfectly legal to patent electric appliances. So where do you draw the line?
* - Obviously I can't patent RSA's algorithm per se, but hypothetically speaking, any other computer algorithm could be performed on nonstandard hardware, mechanically or mentally, albeit you must sacrifice speed and accuracy.
I had a choice between modding this down and replying, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here. Anything can be described as a mathematical model based on a set of axioms, from which operations on elements can be performed. That's right, your toaster has many underyling mathematical principles, so does your microwave, and any other device. There really isn't a whole lot you can't use some mathematical model to explain. So given your reasoning, there ought to be no patents. Even such ideas as relational databases can be explained quite well using Tuple Calculus. Complex operations within relational databases can be derived from broad mathematical definitions. It's a property of emergence, and in the future I don't see many, if any, fields not represented by some subset of mathematics.
To put it succinctly, if you don't like patents, simply say so. If you're going to be grabbing for excuses not to like certain kinds of patents, you're not helping the problem.
I was under the impression that writing federal laws was part of the constitutional authority of Congress.
It seems to me that the 9th and 10th amendments state:
-"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
-"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
But Article 1, Section 3 states congress has the authority "[t]o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."
Under this clause, the Supreme Court has upheld the right of Congress to pass any laws that may effect interstate commerce (a rather broadly defined word in the time of the Framers, meaning something along the lines of 'interaction.') This includes requiring an ID to travel between states and abroad.
"The cadmium atom that has lost an electron becomes a negatively charged ion, which can then be controlled with an electrical field," said Daniel Stick, a doctoral student in the University of Michigan's physics department who participated in the work.
I know why he's a doctoral student--because I deserve a doctorate more than he does! There's a reason the notation for electrons is e-, not e+. Because when the atom loses an electron, it loses some negative charge... balancing it to the positive.
Re:Centralized Email
on
Spam is Dead
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
There was an interesting idea a while ago that would institute a 'CPU fee.' Say, force the computer to add some data to the end of the document, and increment it until a certain unique property is found in a hash of the message. Any mail server could check this hash versus the message, and drop any that fail. Say, making the first 20 to 25 digits of SHA-1 to be all zeroes. Tests like this ensure that there is a minimum amount of CPU time being put into processing the message. Bulk mail would provide an even greater challenge, as attempting to send a million messages would require a fee of millions of CPU time for a desktop PC. 1,000,000 seconds is about 12 days. A slight increase in the amount of processing time could occur over time. Say, if some breakthrough occured and CPUs leaped ahead in processing speed, the amount of processing could be increased correspondingly. Spammers will have to pay to buy more computers or have to give up spamming entirely.
Really, I thought Euler had already deduced that space might be curved due to the properties of the universe, but was unable to find corroborating evidence and failed to publish his theories after decades of searching. At one time, he chose to try and determine the angles between three mountain peaks using techniques he developed for measurement, but was unable to establish that space was curved because the difference was within acceptable error for his equipment. Laser inferometry showed that he would have had to be accurate between 1-10 and 1-20 degrees in order to show that space was curved. The fact that he deduced this and sought evidence for it without any prodding or any recorded reason make Euler clearly the intellectual superior. Nevertheless, I must agree with earlier posters, Einstein's personality are what made him a household name.
It's a matter of finding local maxima. Genetic algorithms commonly used in research will rarely find the global maximum. Also, it's a matter of how useful these actually are in an environment. Snakes use a slithering motion that can be compared to that of a screw, with muscles moving back and forth. This motion is highly efficient and allows them to evade predators quite quickly. But for a large land-based creature, constant rotation would not lend itself towards being a viable form of life; finding and catching prey would be quite difficult. Can you imagine a creature looking something like an enormous screw sliding around on the land? It's not exactly intimidating when you know you can sidestep it or simply stay out of its way. Screws then, just aren't as efficient at doing what legs do.
You mean differences akin to "I have a penis." Because that's a pretty extreme difference. Look! I HAVE NO BOOBS! How is this possible when it's just a small difference such as a lack of a chromosome!?
I believe you used a typo, "Imperial Evidence," given to me by His Lord Highness, the Commander and Chief George W. Bush, has shown that patents on alternative energy technologies by oil companies have created numerous innovations, all of which will be open to public use in the short(!) time span of five to nineteen years.
Oh Lords of Hyrule, has somebody pulled out the Master Sword? *hums Link to the Past music*
The One who can Wield the Master Sword will save us from the evil Gatendorf. *dit dit dit*
You must find the holographic storage crystals: Linux, Firefox, Smoothwall, OpenOffice, and unite them. *dit dit dit*
You are the only one who can do this! *dit dit dit*
Do you understand?
---*Yes
----No
Well, I just looked at my Task Manager, and it's at 38,040K RAM, 28,216K Virtual Memory. And I only have this single tab open. Obviously there's something wrong with that picture because Slashdot doesn't require over 60 megabytes of memory to be allocated. I find that IE typically loads faster and loads pages more quickly, especially when rendering complex or badly proprietary (Microsoft's site) HTML and such. But I use Firefox out of principle.
But how can you quickly develop applications that would actually apply to these scenarios? I would think that should an earthquake hit the best way to find the effects of the disaster would be to go there and look, rather than hope a simulated model--and to what accuracy? How available is this data in most parts of the world?--provides answers such as "There's an old lady under that piece of rubble."
You're half right, SHA-256, 384, 512 are part of FIPS 180-2. That is, they are approved for government use. FIPS 180-2 (PDF Warning!)
Brief Caveat: SHA-1 is still more algorithmically secure, as finding a hash is not feasible on desktop computers. SHA-256 and higher length are in the same vein of logic that provides this security, but like any new algorithm, there is an insufficient amount of study to verify this. This applies to Whirlpool as well, AES might be sufficiently secure, but Whirlpool != AES.
Actually I tried that, the cat ended up landing on its side. Really big mess, but miraculously increased business for the shady ethnic place across the street. Something in the citation about my excessive cruelty to animals and nobody gives them a second glance? *shrugs*
I also tried it with a cat named Schrodinger, he fell right through the ground.
Then who decides which instructions? Floating point operations per second? Well FLOPs is nice but, it doesn't go over well with Joe Schmoe. And even then, most of what a computer designed for generic use does involves memory access and integer operations. So maybe Millions of Instructions Per Second? Well, MIPS was nice, until it became a Meaningless Indicator of Processor Speed.
Different architectures pipeline different instructions, and with a changing number of cycles. It's pointless to measure processor speed generically. The latest AMD chip can read 256 to 512 bytes of memory in half the number of cycles as the P4 Extreme Edition. That's a fact that matters, but it has absolutely no relevance to MIPS, FLOPS, GHz, or any other acronym one can think of.
When CPUs can perform every operation in exactly one 'instruction', then we would have a valid measure of generic CPU speed.
I'm afraid your info is slightly off, it doesn't take any key size to make "Quantum Encryption" secure. Quantum encryption relies on extremely expensive equipment sending individual photons down a piece of fiber to another computer. And given how rudimentary quantum computers are (7 or 9 qubits) they can barely factor small double digit numbers. Though they can do so more quickly in terms of algorithmic time, it still takes them a while.
Obligatory Wikipedia link... Quantum Cryptography
Slashdot Mirror
No, I'm not. The parent clearly states that he believes nothing described by mathematical processes should be patentable. This is fallacious at best; our physical world is well understood and there are scarcely any processes, mechanical or otherwise, that cannot be described mathematically.
Can I patent a pen & paper method of RSA*? Or perhaps a method using an abbacus? Or maybe I could build an Analytical Machine (thanks, Mr. Babbage) and perform RSA using that instead? The only difference is, one uses electric current. For some reason, it is still perfectly legal to patent electric appliances. So where do you draw the line?
* - Obviously I can't patent RSA's algorithm per se, but hypothetically speaking, any other computer algorithm could be performed on nonstandard hardware, mechanically or mentally, albeit you must sacrifice speed and accuracy.
I had a choice between modding this down and replying, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here. Anything can be described as a mathematical model based on a set of axioms, from which operations on elements can be performed. That's right, your toaster has many underyling mathematical principles, so does your microwave, and any other device. There really isn't a whole lot you can't use some mathematical model to explain. So given your reasoning, there ought to be no patents. Even such ideas as relational databases can be explained quite well using Tuple Calculus. Complex operations within relational databases can be derived from broad mathematical definitions. It's a property of emergence, and in the future I don't see many, if any, fields not represented by some subset of mathematics.
To put it succinctly, if you don't like patents, simply say so. If you're going to be grabbing for excuses not to like certain kinds of patents, you're not helping the problem.
I was under the impression that writing federal laws was part of the constitutional authority of Congress.
It seems to me that the 9th and 10th amendments state:
-"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
-"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
But Article 1, Section 3 states congress has the authority "[t]o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."
Under this clause, the Supreme Court has upheld the right of Congress to pass any laws that may effect interstate commerce (a rather broadly defined word in the time of the Framers, meaning something along the lines of 'interaction.') This includes requiring an ID to travel between states and abroad.
"The cadmium atom that has lost an electron becomes a negatively charged ion, which can then be controlled with an electrical field," said Daniel Stick, a doctoral student in the University of Michigan's physics department who participated in the work.
I know why he's a doctoral student--because I deserve a doctorate more than he does! There's a reason the notation for electrons is e-, not e+. Because when the atom loses an electron, it loses some negative charge... balancing it to the positive.
There was an interesting idea a while ago that would institute a 'CPU fee.' Say, force the computer to add some data to the end of the document, and increment it until a certain unique property is found in a hash of the message. Any mail server could check this hash versus the message, and drop any that fail. Say, making the first 20 to 25 digits of SHA-1 to be all zeroes. Tests like this ensure that there is a minimum amount of CPU time being put into processing the message. Bulk mail would provide an even greater challenge, as attempting to send a million messages would require a fee of millions of CPU time for a desktop PC. 1,000,000 seconds is about 12 days. A slight increase in the amount of processing time could occur over time. Say, if some breakthrough occured and CPUs leaped ahead in processing speed, the amount of processing could be increased correspondingly. Spammers will have to pay to buy more computers or have to give up spamming entirely.
Really, I thought Euler had already deduced that space might be curved due to the properties of the universe, but was unable to find corroborating evidence and failed to publish his theories after decades of searching. At one time, he chose to try and determine the angles between three mountain peaks using techniques he developed for measurement, but was unable to establish that space was curved because the difference was within acceptable error for his equipment. Laser inferometry showed that he would have had to be accurate between 1-10 and 1-20 degrees in order to show that space was curved. The fact that he deduced this and sought evidence for it without any prodding or any recorded reason make Euler clearly the intellectual superior. Nevertheless, I must agree with earlier posters, Einstein's personality are what made him a household name.
It's a matter of finding local maxima. Genetic algorithms commonly used in research will rarely find the global maximum. Also, it's a matter of how useful these actually are in an environment. Snakes use a slithering motion that can be compared to that of a screw, with muscles moving back and forth. This motion is highly efficient and allows them to evade predators quite quickly. But for a large land-based creature, constant rotation would not lend itself towards being a viable form of life; finding and catching prey would be quite difficult. Can you imagine a creature looking something like an enormous screw sliding around on the land? It's not exactly intimidating when you know you can sidestep it or simply stay out of its way. Screws then, just aren't as efficient at doing what legs do.
That is because the farmer forgot to put a tinfoil hat on every plant in his crop.
You mean differences akin to "I have a penis." Because that's a pretty extreme difference. Look! I HAVE NO BOOBS! How is this possible when it's just a small difference such as a lack of a chromosome!?
I believe you used a typo, "Imperial Evidence," given to me by His Lord Highness, the Commander and Chief George W. Bush, has shown that patents on alternative energy technologies by oil companies have created numerous innovations, all of which will be open to public use in the short(!) time span of five to nineteen years.
Cubic acres? Does this mean he stores his money in extra dimensions?
You're still talking about the RIAA still and not some political campaign or dictatorship, right?
God forbid someone let the IANA sell those too.
Oh Lords of Hyrule, has somebody pulled out the Master Sword? *hums Link to the Past music*
The One who can Wield the Master Sword will save us from the evil Gatendorf. *dit dit dit*
You must find the holographic storage crystals: Linux, Firefox, Smoothwall, OpenOffice, and unite them. *dit dit dit*
You are the only one who can do this! *dit dit dit*
Do you understand?
---*Yes
----No
Well, I just looked at my Task Manager, and it's at 38,040K RAM, 28,216K Virtual Memory. And I only have this single tab open. Obviously there's something wrong with that picture because Slashdot doesn't require over 60 megabytes of memory to be allocated. I find that IE typically loads faster and loads pages more quickly, especially when rendering complex or badly proprietary (Microsoft's site) HTML and such. But I use Firefox out of principle.
But how can you quickly develop applications that would actually apply to these scenarios? I would think that should an earthquake hit the best way to find the effects of the disaster would be to go there and look, rather than hope a simulated model--and to what accuracy? How available is this data in most parts of the world?--provides answers such as "There's an old lady under that piece of rubble."
No, they are saying more than good tools.
Fat chance that this is more than good though, you might have luck finding that it's more than bloated!
No, silly capitalist feminine weeny man. In Soviet Russia, music downloads you!
You're half right, SHA-256, 384, 512 are part of FIPS 180-2. That is, they are approved for government use. FIPS 180-2 (PDF Warning!)
Brief Caveat: SHA-1 is still more algorithmically secure, as finding a hash is not feasible on desktop computers. SHA-256 and higher length are in the same vein of logic that provides this security, but like any new algorithm, there is an insufficient amount of study to verify this. This applies to Whirlpool as well, AES might be sufficiently secure, but Whirlpool != AES.
Mod needs to RTFA! The 'hacker' added ../ to the site's address! Ach...
Actually I tried that, the cat ended up landing on its side. Really big mess, but miraculously increased business for the shady ethnic place across the street. Something in the citation about my excessive cruelty to animals and nobody gives them a second glance? *shrugs*
I also tried it with a cat named Schrodinger, he fell right through the ground.
I added ../../../ to Slashdot's address and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt!
Then who decides which instructions? Floating point operations per second? Well FLOPs is nice but, it doesn't go over well with Joe Schmoe. And even then, most of what a computer designed for generic use does involves memory access and integer operations. So maybe Millions of Instructions Per Second? Well, MIPS was nice, until it became a Meaningless Indicator of Processor Speed.
Different architectures pipeline different instructions, and with a changing number of cycles. It's pointless to measure processor speed generically. The latest AMD chip can read 256 to 512 bytes of memory in half the number of cycles as the P4 Extreme Edition. That's a fact that matters, but it has absolutely no relevance to MIPS, FLOPS, GHz, or any other acronym one can think of.
When CPUs can perform every operation in exactly one 'instruction', then we would have a valid measure of generic CPU speed.
I'm afraid your info is slightly off, it doesn't take any key size to make "Quantum Encryption" secure. Quantum encryption relies on extremely expensive equipment sending individual photons down a piece of fiber to another computer. And given how rudimentary quantum computers are (7 or 9 qubits) they can barely factor small double digit numbers. Though they can do so more quickly in terms of algorithmic time, it still takes them a while. Obligatory Wikipedia link... Quantum Cryptography