The operator who elects to fry the hell out of some poor schmuck like an ant under a magnifying glass does so at the risk of having his position very quickly overrun by the remaining 99 ants:)
I would like to share your optimism but I cannot...
WHAT IF *you* are the only ant and are being held for questioning....
Then what?
Forget the tinfoil hat... A body-suit would be more useful.
I doubt, very much, this is some kind of marketing ploy or otherwise, it would be well below Ben's character to participate in such a thing.
Wouldn't that make him the perfect target?
After all, don't enough people work at Yahoo for them not to all know each other?
I think someone else at Yahoo/Flickr (who knew his phone was stolen) gained access to his account information [sysadmin?] and started uploading the photos...
Makes a great PR ploy...
or even makes a great prank....
The sincerity and integrity of thus guy only make the PR more powerful and/or the prank more fun.
Heck, the only reason I practiced multiplication tables was to win our math races...
I admit, learning the math tables isn't the most exciting thing to do for a young kid.
Not all that long ago, I was in the same position. What got me to learn them was my school started a new program where we would have to to 100 arithmetic problems in 5 minutes -- for a grade. (I think this was in 3rd grade?).
We did this several times a week for an entire year. By the end of the year, I was finishing the problems (and getting 100% correct) in about 2-3 minutes. A little friendly competition proved to be more motovating than Math Munchers, flash cards, etc, etc...
And yes, this was an elementary school in the USA. And yes, I'm American, non-oriental, with easy-going parents, etc, etc....
Despite my school adopting the whole computers-in-the-classroom thing early on (with a set of Apple II/e !), I can't say it benefited me much. Yes, the games were fun, but they didn't educate me.
However, it depends on what the relationship between X and Y are... Not all complex systems are linear!
Furthermore, the region of stability for the current "X" may include much greater values of Y than 2Y...
But yes... I'm not waiting for any god to fix things for us. And I also believe that humanity will destroy itself eventually... OTOH, politicians can be much more destructive in terms of affecting civil rights and people's quality of life (for the immediate future) than slow-changing natural processes. Are people in Iraq really concerned about global warming?
I believe most people reach an age where they to stop looking out for the distant future and start looking at the near future... This may go against many ideals, but I think it happens nonetheless.
Just like any form of civil disobediance. Like not getting up from a bus seat even though the law says you should*.
What would have happened had Sept 11th occured on Sept 11th, 1955?
Rosa Parks would have been labeled as a Terrorist, with ties to Al-Quesadilla. Due to her race, a bomb would have been 'found' on the bus and that would have been attributed to the reason of her protest.
She would have been deported to Cuba and the Civil Rights movement would have suffered a great loss.
IANAL, but I would think that in the real 1955, Rosa Parks' illegal actions were something closer "tresspassing" (despite the race issue) rather than "theft" (of intelluctual property). I bet the bus companies didn't have the same pull as the RIAA does today. I can't see how her actions were that serious considering the federal criminal laws regarding IP today.
I realize the RIAA's prosecutions are probably civil cases rather than criminal ones, but I maintain that today overall civil rights are "more equal" across races, the overall trend has been negative. We used to have the right to congregate and the right to openly protest in public spaces. We used to be protected from un-warranted search and sesiure.
It's rare when someone turns down research money so they must be on to something.
Maybe, but i'm skeptical.
Classification is just a way to hide bullshit and prevent exposure of incompetance/mismanagement/squandering/etc/etc.
Here's a bug: The program does not terminate in a finite amount of time!
Can this bug be found in polynomial time by another program?
Well, the name Turing should ring a bell.
Generally speaking, this is an unsolvable problem (in *finite* time) on almost all programming languages. [It is trivial on non-Turing complete languages, but then those languages are limited to only certain classes of computations and aren't very useful].
As it turned out, he installed Microsoft office 2000 (from an internet download site) on a windows 98 computer and only updated to service pack one or so. He then installed some sermon writing program and wrote his sunday sermons on office so he could place an outline in powerpoint and project it durring the church service.
whoa.... Let's recap
A religious clergyman apparently forgot Thou shalt not steal.
The aforementioned person was running Windows 98.
The aforementioned person was using Powerpoint.
The aforementioned person was using Powerpoint IN A CHURCH!
That guy's going to be spending a long time in the Sunday confession.
The "sharing" of music with everyone is one of my biggest pet-peeves. People don't seem to realize that neighbors might want to work at home, and don't want to be distracted with, e.g. loud music of any sort.
Indeed.... But you have an ally toward this problems and its not the police......
It's the RIAA!!!!!!!!!!!
To me, this type of "sharing" sounds like a public performance, which is expressly forbidden under the terms of most copyrights. Furthermore, they may have illegally obtained their music. I'm sure they would be happy to sue/imprision thy neighbor.
Actually, it's very relevant: if Hoboken had the rights to modify the software...
Construction workers routinely will take two road-signs and cut/weld them to make a new sign (with a different message). They do this as part of their job... Or they will modify a sign by taping/painting over part of it to show the intended message.
But low and behold, if someone takes two programs and cuts/patches them together to make a new one, all hell breaks loose in civil and/or criminal courts!
I can only wonder at the insanity that would follow if road-signs had EULAs on them.
While the network card Might improve the network connectivity for that one person, it more than likely does it by hurting the performance of the the network as a whole...
That sounds like killing two birds with one stone.... 1) Decrease my latency 2) Increase the latency of everyone else, including the snipers in CS
This could be a gamer's paradise... It will be infinite successful.
OTOH if it doesn't work, then it makes a great gift for a `friend'.
How long does a body have to be in the ground before digging it up the corpse and taking its valuables stops being grave robbing and becomes archeology?
Grave robbing occurs when a burial ground is disturbed while members of the same race/society/tribe/etc are still present.
As soon as they have all been exterminated and the previous society no longer exists, then it becomes archaelogy..... because there is no longer any protest...
To my way of thinking, having a simple, objective challenge for "obviousness" is the most practical solution conceivable. Sure, people may perjure themselves. That's true under any patent system. But the game itself is much tougher, and therefore less attractive to unscrupulous people out to make a quick buck.
If it were possible to objectively define "obviousness", yes, then I agree that would be the most practical solution...
However, I believe that would be impossible at best.
Even within a single study, such as "Computer Engineering", what is obvious to one PhD holder is not obvious to another. For example, many of those who research microprocessor architecture will [understandably] have no concept of signal processing, communications, or electromagnetics. (These are all Computer Engineering). Worse, many truly novel breakthroughs are only obvious in hindsight.
In terms of fields, I think Computer Engineering is somewhat representative of the best-case scenario... It is a field where pretty much everything is completely defined by humans... (Reality is defined, not studided as in the sciences). I shudder to think what is 'obvious' in the bio-medical fields...
And there are always those in every field who have a remarkable ability to make the clearly obvious methods look totally obscure.
If two parties came up with the same thing without knowledge of relevant details of each others' work, then the idea is not worthy of a patent.
So then the best business stategy would to spy on the competitors, and then quickly create "evidence" of prior R&D to make it look like both companies came up with it first.
I think I see the noble ideal you're driving at, unfortunately, I do not believe it to be an achievable one.
Interestingly, Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent I think on the same day as a competitor [don't remember name].
I wonder what would have happened had he not gotten it.
Query: How can you possibly trust any third party not to take liberties with personal or business information entrusted to their care?
Answer: I wouldn't trust with my real email address, much less my data... I would encrypt the data before backing it up.
Slashdot Mirror
How would the punishment of theft be related to the amount stolen?
linear?
quadratic?
logarihtmic?
If shoplifting a $20 "X" is a crime, when what about a CEO embezzling 100s of millions?
Firing squad for the whole family? Execution by worms?
Or what about murder? Even accidents involving negligence are punished... How should an army captain be punished? Or a police capatin?
We exported freedom during Bush Seniors term, and continued it through Clinton's term.
Interesting choice of words...
If I export my kidney in return for cash, basic economic theory says both parties will profit.
But if I export my other kidney, well.....
The US exported its first kidney quite a long time ago..... And the other is up for sale.
The operator who elects to fry the hell out of some poor schmuck like an ant under a magnifying glass does so at the risk of having his position very quickly overrun by the remaining 99 ants :)
I would like to share your optimism but I cannot...
WHAT IF *you* are the only ant and are being held for questioning....
Then what?
Forget the tinfoil hat... A body-suit would be more useful.
I doubt, very much, this is some kind of marketing ploy or otherwise, it would be well below Ben's character to participate in such a thing.
Wouldn't that make him the perfect target?
After all, don't enough people work at Yahoo for them not to all know each other?
I think someone else at Yahoo/Flickr (who knew his phone was stolen) gained access to his account information [sysadmin?] and started uploading the photos...
Makes a great PR ploy...
or even makes a great prank....
The sincerity and integrity of thus guy only make the PR more powerful and/or the prank more fun.
Heck, the only reason I practiced multiplication tables was to win our math races...
I admit, learning the math tables isn't the most exciting thing to do for a young kid.
Not all that long ago, I was in the same position. What got me to learn them was my school started a new program where we would have to to 100 arithmetic problems in 5 minutes -- for a grade. (I think this was in 3rd grade?).
We did this several times a week for an entire year. By the end of the year, I was finishing the problems (and getting 100% correct) in about 2-3 minutes. A little friendly competition proved to be more motovating than Math Munchers, flash cards, etc, etc...
And yes, this was an elementary school in the USA. And yes, I'm American, non-oriental, with easy-going parents, etc, etc....
Despite my school adopting the whole computers-in-the-classroom thing early on (with a set of Apple II/e !), I can't say it benefited me much. Yes, the games were fun, but they didn't educate me.
I've never been stupid enough to buy a DRM encumbered piece of content
I don't think anyone has ever BOUGHT content that had DRM.
The only way to get DRMed content is to LICENSE it or to STEAL it....
Only fools think they own it!
[Yes, these are sad times]
replaced not only the motherboard but the two drives, the processor, the RAM, the powersupply, and the soundcard.
He replaced your harddrives?
I bet he was working for the RIAA.
To a degree [bad pun], you have a point.
However, it depends on what the relationship between X and Y are... Not all complex systems are linear!
Furthermore, the region of stability for the current "X" may include much greater values of Y than 2Y...
But yes... I'm not waiting for any god to fix things for us. And I also believe that humanity will destroy itself eventually... OTOH, politicians can be much more destructive in terms of affecting civil rights and people's quality of life (for the immediate future) than slow-changing natural processes. Are people in Iraq really concerned about global warming?
I believe most people reach an age where they to stop looking out for the distant future and start looking at the near future... This may go against many ideals, but I think it happens nonetheless.
To drag out a tired example, it's a modern Columbus.
Yikes. I hope the ISS doesn't become a tool to wipe out entire nations whose way of life differs greatly from our own.
Authorities aren't gonna make people get on planes naked,
Why not? That could be an interesting business plan.
Especially in Europe where the majority of the population is not overweight.
Just like any form of civil disobediance. Like not getting up from a bus seat even though the law says you should*.
What would have happened had Sept 11th occured on Sept 11th, 1955?
Rosa Parks would have been labeled as a Terrorist, with ties to Al-Quesadilla. Due to her race, a bomb would have been 'found' on the bus and that would have been attributed to the reason of her protest.
She would have been deported to Cuba and the Civil Rights movement would have suffered a great loss.
IANAL, but I would think that in the real 1955, Rosa Parks' illegal actions were something closer "tresspassing" (despite the race issue) rather than "theft" (of intelluctual property). I bet the bus companies didn't have the same pull as the RIAA does today. I can't see how her actions were that serious considering the federal criminal laws regarding IP today.
I realize the RIAA's prosecutions are probably civil cases rather than criminal ones, but I maintain that today overall civil rights are "more equal" across races, the overall trend has been negative. We used to have the right to congregate and the right to openly protest in public spaces. We used to be protected from un-warranted search and sesiure.
It's rare when someone turns down research money so they must be on to something.
Maybe, but i'm skeptical.
Classification is just a way to hide bullshit and prevent exposure of incompetance/mismanagement/squandering/etc/etc.
Here's a bug: The program does not terminate in a finite amount of time!
Can this bug be found in polynomial time by another program?
Well, the name Turing should ring a bell.
Generally speaking, this is an unsolvable problem (in *finite* time) on almost all programming languages. [It is trivial on non-Turing complete languages, but then those languages are limited to only certain classes of computations and aren't very useful].
So forget polynomial time.
whoa.... Let's recap
That guy's going to be spending a long time in the Sunday confession.
I didn't glue them to my machines as recommended because I planned on moving the license to another, newer machine eventually.
Hey Moron, you can't do that with OEM keys.
The "sharing" of music with everyone is one of my biggest pet-peeves. People don't seem to realize that neighbors might want to work at home, and don't want to be distracted with, e.g. loud music of any sort.
Indeed.... But you have an ally toward this problems and its not the police......
It's the RIAA!!!!!!!!!!!
To me, this type of "sharing" sounds like a public performance, which is expressly forbidden under the terms of most copyrights. Furthermore, they may have illegally obtained their music. I'm sure they would be happy to sue/imprision thy neighbor.
Actually, it's very relevant: if Hoboken had the rights to modify the software ...
Construction workers routinely will take two road-signs and cut/weld them to make a new sign (with a different message). They do this as part of their job... Or they will modify a sign by taping/painting over part of it to show the intended message.
But low and behold, if someone takes two programs and cuts/patches them together to make a new one, all hell breaks loose in civil and/or criminal courts!
I can only wonder at the insanity that would follow if road-signs had EULAs on them.
While the network card Might improve the network connectivity for that one person, it more than likely does it by hurting the performance of the the network as a whole...
That sounds like killing two birds with one stone....
1) Decrease my latency
2) Increase the latency of everyone else, including the snipers in CS
This could be a gamer's paradise... It will be infinite successful.
OTOH if it doesn't work, then it makes a great gift for a `friend'.
How long does a body have to be in the ground before digging it up the corpse and taking its valuables stops being grave robbing and becomes archeology?
Grave robbing occurs when a burial ground is disturbed while members of the same race/society/tribe/etc are still present.
As soon as they have all been exterminated and the previous society no longer exists, then it becomes archaelogy..... because there is no longer any protest...
. Why does every submission have to have the posters agenda?
Because inflammatory submissions generate more comments, rebuffs, flames, etc...
Which translate to more page views, etc....
Which makes advertising on slashdot more valuable.....
Which means more money for CowboyNeal.....
To my way of thinking, having a simple, objective challenge for "obviousness" is the most practical solution conceivable. Sure, people may perjure themselves. That's true under any patent system. But the game itself is much tougher, and therefore less attractive to unscrupulous people out to make a quick buck.
If it were possible to objectively define "obviousness", yes, then I agree that would be the most practical solution...
However, I believe that would be impossible at best.
Even within a single study, such as "Computer Engineering", what is obvious to one PhD holder is not obvious to another. For example, many of those who research microprocessor architecture will [understandably] have no concept of signal processing, communications, or electromagnetics. (These are all Computer Engineering). Worse, many truly novel breakthroughs are only obvious in hindsight.
In terms of fields, I think Computer Engineering is somewhat representative of the best-case scenario... It is a field where pretty much everything is completely defined by humans... (Reality is defined, not studided as in the sciences). I shudder to think what is 'obvious' in the bio-medical fields...
And there are always those in every field who have a remarkable ability to make the clearly obvious methods look totally obscure.
Defining obvious will not be easy.
Oscillation might become a problem
Indeed. Half of the world's population already experiences monthly oscillations. And the other half is painfully aware of this problem.
It is perhaps the oldest problem that has plagued humanity.
If two parties came up with the same thing without knowledge of relevant details of each others' work, then the idea is not worthy of a patent.
So then the best business stategy would to spy on the competitors, and then quickly create "evidence" of prior R&D to make it look like both companies came up with it first.
I think I see the noble ideal you're driving at, unfortunately, I do not believe it to be an achievable one.
Interestingly, Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent I think on the same day as a competitor [don't remember name].
I wonder what would have happened had he not gotten it.
u = 6.0f; if( isnan(i) ) i = free(man);
WTH!?!?
This is clearly not C/C++ since "free" is a void function...
Is it a name?
Yousef Isnani Freeman?
I love math, especially in its pure and abstract forms
Heh....Sure ya do... I suggest he take the following two courses:
If his desire for "pure and abstract" math is no less diminished, well then he is truly *unique*.
Query: How can you possibly trust any third party not to take liberties with personal or business information entrusted to their care? Answer: I wouldn't trust with my real email address, much less my data... I would encrypt the data before backing it up.