Linux NOW sounds pretty interesting. Something I didn't see him address, though, is the absolutely most important feature of a distributed (file) system: Simple, easily understood (and discovered) behavior. Every time I save a file, I don't want to have to think to myself "Let's see, I saved this from a desktop, so if I go to a laptop I have to hit refresh but make sure not to save changes....etc".
If done right, this could prove a real nightmare to administer, especially if my home-configured notebook is to be integrated without thinking about whose console i will be trying to use when those guys in the other part of the building have finished lunch (or when that switch is reconnected...).
Am I the only one to have thought this sounds just a bit like vapourware coming out of micros~1 just two years before they start putting on their thinking-caps?
Theres everything in there - people will not need to know, the network will be fully transparent, the system will just do anything you want it to - action at your nerve-tips!
Just being sceptical. Never mind. Maybe its just the all-powerful Debian that will do it. You never know.
There are certain international laws floating about the world. With cryptographic programs being classified as arms I'm sure its concievable that the international community would find a way to weigh Sealand down with overburdensome sanctions because of HavenCo's customers.
Certainly there are lots of treaties ratified by many countries (not necessarily Sealand). With cryptographic programs, however, the US classifying them as arms does not mean any other country or "the international community" will ever do the same. In fact, an increasing number of people over here are getting worried about things like Echelon being imposed on us by the US, the easiest way around being good cryptography. Do not rely on Europe to unquestioningly back all you deem right (or necessary to protect US corporate interest, or just necessary by US law).
If such an "Investment Club" was funded by enough people (say, half of/.s readers), each of them could risk a non-substantial amount of cash (never actually being in danger of losing all of it).
I do think the EFF would be fit for organizing this, especially things like finding out which BB company will be next to have their stockholders meeting and whether they could be influenced, then working out an agenda (possibly even with the help of/.) and, finally, actually sending someone over to bodily represent the cause.
I do not think this is something to be accomplished only with money donated to the EFF non-"special purpose". The project needs A Lot Of Money (the more money it gets, the more influence and media attraction it will have) that stays there for some time, possibly generating good revenues or, more probably, as profit is not its main target, some losses (but remember: there is always risk in stock trading, and we are talking about large, established companies -> low risk stock).
Many of us each investing some in an "Investment Club" is what piles up to MUCH. Risk would be shared, profit possible, and whoever wants to stop participating is free to do so.
Why, having stated that voting is accessible enough for all those interested, should evoting be introduced?
If, and only if, evoting was ubiquitous, more polls could indeed be organised. But, while low response to polls is a problem already, more polls would decrease public interest even further (germans learned this through lots of plebiscites(?) in the Weimar Republic 1919-1933...)
Most people cant, or dont want to, stay up to date on all the topics raised in parliament, as they should have to, in order to place an optimal vote. However, many people are informed on certain topics that touch their interests enough. Some can even cover it all.
Divide up political topics into 10-20 categories, and over time I could name people whose opinion in one or more of those fields I would trust to the extent of having them vote for me in polls regarding this respective field of politics, adding weight to their vote by my confidence.
This way I could, with minimal effort (just being informed about "my own" field(s) and people I personally know), make sure that my vote is far better than it would be if I had to do it all myself.
It might be something to replace political parties, abolishing all the trouble associated with them.
coding is going to stay in the domain of keyboarding for the most part. It defitely takes longer to say "comma" than to type ",".
you might be wrong there - in a world of keyboards, programming languages are designed to be typeable, not pronounceable. yet who said this is the only way to describe algorithms exactly?
i predict that when speech recognition is widely accepted, a coding language that could justly be called "talk" will come up. it will not look just like c, probably longer through replacement of characters by words and it will use keywords easily distinguishable by sound. maybe it will sound like mathematicians' talk.
this is just such an idea i just had, maybe you can improve on it.
Slashdot Mirror
If done right, this could prove a real nightmare to administer, especially if my home-configured notebook is to be integrated without thinking about whose console i will be trying to use when those guys in the other part of the building have finished lunch (or when that switch is reconnected...).
Am I the only one to have thought this sounds just a bit like vapourware coming out of micros~1 just two years before they start putting on their thinking-caps?
Theres everything in there - people will not need to know, the network will be fully transparent, the system will just do anything you want it to - action at your nerve-tips!
Just being sceptical. Never mind. Maybe its just the all-powerful Debian that will do it. You never know.
Kiwaiti
Certainly there are lots of treaties ratified by many countries (not necessarily Sealand).
With cryptographic programs, however, the US classifying them as arms does not mean any other country or "the international community" will ever do the same. In fact, an increasing number of people over here are getting worried about things like Echelon being imposed on us by the US, the easiest way around being good cryptography.
Do not rely on Europe to unquestioningly back all you deem right (or necessary to protect US corporate interest, or just necessary by US law).
Kiwaiti
I do think the EFF would be fit for organizing this, especially things like finding out which BB company will be next to have their stockholders meeting and whether they could be influenced, then working out an agenda (possibly even with the help of /.) and, finally, actually sending someone over to bodily represent the cause.
I do not think this is something to be accomplished only with money donated to the EFF non-"special purpose".
The project needs A Lot Of Money (the more money it gets, the more influence and media attraction it will have) that stays there for some time, possibly generating good revenues or, more probably, as profit is not its main target, some losses (but remember: there is always risk in stock trading, and we are talking about large, established companies -> low risk stock).
Many of us each investing some in an "Investment Club" is what piles up to MUCH.
Risk would be shared, profit possible, and whoever wants to stop participating is free to do so.
Im looking forward to that kind of project.
Kiwaiti
If, and only if, evoting was ubiquitous, more polls could indeed be organised. But, while low response to polls is a problem already, more polls would decrease public interest even further (germans learned this through lots of plebiscites(?) in the Weimar Republic 1919-1933...)
Most people cant, or dont want to, stay up to date on all the topics raised in parliament, as they should have to, in order to place an optimal vote. However, many people are informed on certain topics that touch their interests enough. Some can even cover it all.
Divide up political topics into 10-20 categories, and over time I could name people whose opinion in one or more of those fields I would trust to the extent of having them vote for me in polls regarding this respective field of politics, adding weight to their vote by my confidence.
This way I could, with minimal effort (just being informed about "my own" field(s) and people I personally know), make sure that my vote is far better than it would be if I had to do it all myself.
It might be something to replace political parties, abolishing all the trouble associated with them.
Food for thought provided by
Kiwaiti
you might be wrong there - in a world of keyboards, programming languages are designed to be typeable, not pronounceable. yet who said this is the only way to describe algorithms exactly?
i predict that when speech recognition is widely accepted, a coding language that could justly be called "talk" will come up. it will not look just like c, probably longer through replacement of characters by words and it will use keywords easily distinguishable by sound. maybe it will sound like mathematicians' talk.
this is just such an idea i just had, maybe you can improve on it.
Kiwaiti