But it will always come down to money.
Think of a future where some parents could not afford certain gene "remodeling"! What ethical impact does that have on those parents, the children involved and the society at large. At present, we almost all accept what what we are born with is act of nature or natural selection. But in the future it will be an active choice. Will it be ethical that a child should blame a parent for the choices (or lack of choice) that a parent made, often through inability to have access to such treatment because of cost.
If you thought the problem of parents not being able to afford expensive designer clothing for their children or the latest fashion trainers or a short lived fad was bad, then think what the equivalent impact it may have when such "treatment" is more widely available.
I would certainly be disappointed to see Fringe go... I think it still has some life left in it. I feel empathy towards the chacters, and if you don't then the show is not worth watching. I have the DVD collection from the previous seasons and its definitely worth watching.
Too many SciFi that needs thinking, and SciFi must absolutely require its audience to think, gets cancelled and we only end up with "Cowboy in Space" shows:-( I think, to some extent, the writers/producers are also the blame, they start to challenge less and less of their audience, meander about, and soon loose their core audience. I would so much like to see shows which are just a single 22 episode season long show, where they have thought the whole story through, its closed. But that would never fly with the studios.
Thats because the top end calculators are not just for performing arithmetic calculations: they are equivalent of a cut down version of Maple or Mathematica. However much does one of those application cost on the PC?
Not saying they are great, but in USA, I get my service from T-Mobile. I have a 600min plan. On my Android phone, I have a T-Mobile My Account apps. I use this quite regularly to check my status. For example, it says I have used 44% used (260 used | 331 remaining). New minutes start 10/20/10). 0% Messages Used (4 Used | 496 Remaining).
How difficult is this for both the carriers and the users?
Ah US centric as if world and employment outside does not exist.
At the last job I had in England, UK. My contact said three months notice period (applies to both side!!!). So, if I give my notice period, and they no longer want me on the premises, they will have to keep paying for the notice period - that's the contract. Off course, I am also, legally, not allowed to start another job.
I pay AT&T $200 and sign a 2 year contract ($~75/month). It is not $200 only, the cost is amortized over the period of the contract.
I cannot break that contract without legal recourse from AT&T. Why does AT&T have additional entitlement?
If I want/need to move to another carrier, I should be able to do so by paying the surrender value for the remainder of the contract, and take my working phone and my number to another carrier of my choice.
AT&T looses nothing, unless, they expect that the user will fork out additional funds. If there is sense of entitlement it is not with most users, but with AT&T.
I believe, in England, Apple store will sale you a sim free iPhone.
The SE P800/P900/X10 and Palm phones from Vodaphone, thatI have owned, have always been unlocked from day 1 (they came unlocked). I have a contract with them for either 1-2 years, they have my money regardless of whether I use the phone, and are not entitled to additional funds provided I stay within the agreed contract. The phone is mine to do as I please within legal boundaries.
I am merry using SE X10 on T-mobile in USA. Only, in USA, the land of freedom and choice, neither seems to be an options when it comes to phones.
One important consideration is how the encoder is "set up". On2/Google has probably been tested using standard test material (such as Mobile Calendar), but does not perform so well across a wider range of material. I would like to see its performance on wide range of material, particularly slow pan with fast small objects. For these scene, it will be forced to use more SPLITMV macroblock type. This has more bit required for MVs or worse coding more Intra MBs.
Also, remember almost all new camcorder/camera are AVCHD, and TV broadcast is MPEG2/AVC. So, On2's future, if it exists, has to be good at transcoding from such source material.
**Z
The danger for all companies (primarily big ones) is paradigm shift. Big companies are often blindsided because of the Inertia they build. Even in medium-small size companies, when the market shifts, lot of people, specially in middle management are very restive of change. Change is scary. So, what happens is that, they become a fish detached from the shoal - exposed and desperate to get back into the crowd.
Main Frame (IBM) -> Minis (DEC) -> PCs (MS/INtel) -> Handheld/MIDs
There is a massive momentum in the handheld/MID space, and by becoming detached to this trend - MS has made themselves irrelevant to many.
Actually, the Droid consists of a TI OMAP3430 - this has an ARM A8, a TI 64X 8-issue VLIW and PVR SGX. All of these are programmable and can be combined if the programmer knows what she is doing. So, why hang up only on FLOPS? if you look at the total compute power (FLOPS and Integer/Logic Ops), it really is impressive in such a small device.
**Zrelativity
What I find most annoying is people pontificating what a patent means (pun not intended) or doesn't mean without any attempt at reading them. When reading a claim, you need to be extremely careful as to how it is worded and hence what the limitations are. Also read the patent in the context of the body, but this is often not limiting. What I have observed and come to the conclusion, is that, today, you would be very hard to build a device and not read on some-ones patents, unless you restrict your self to 20 year old technology. Given this reality, you're often much better, to deal with MPEGLA than the previous situation. Consider all the difficulties with MPEG-4 (not visual part only).
Its your money, so spend it on what ever you like.
However, if you are a publisher, please explain why I want to spend that $5 with you for Jane Austin's Emma as opposed to $0 from PG. What added value are you providing for that $5 except for DRM?
I thought this used to happen. About 10 years back, I was living in Dallas, and used to make a lot of phone calls to England. My account was with SWB, with long distance provided by AT&T. But there was a lot switching used to happen with MCI/Spint/AT&T involved. What they did not explain when I got switched once that it takes about 1 week to kick in, but during that week you're charged full! Anyway, to cut story short, during that week I run up $200. So, my phone got disconnected. Phoned to find why my phone was no longer working, to discover the above. Then had to fight to get most of that $200 charged back!!! I absolutely agree that there should be a cap. I know, in England, such cap exist for about 1 year or so to prove you can manage your account.
**Z
What you think is irrelevant. Read the patents in question, read the claims (and how it is refined by the body), then let us know the relevant prior art. Better even, draw up a claim chart with every single element of the claim, as I am sure TechRadium would have done.
How can you have an article on history of 3D on PC and miss out on some of the key big players from the early history... Until 2000, 3DLabs was a large player, until 1998 they were the 3 big players.
Its nice to see Kyro and KyroII, but they never sold maybe more few 10Ks.
**
Honestly, Gaiman's talking crap... "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch."... Well I'm not saying he is. But take that attitude too often with your reader, and you might find you're writing for your self alone. GRRM or Gaiman is not writing just because they like writing. It makes them a very good living.
Artists or Engineers or any other professional, if you make a commitment to your client or customer, you need to work bloody hard to keep to it. If I as a engineer, make commitments to my customer, and don't deliver or deliver late, I don't expect my customer to support me either when an alternative is present.
This is the precise problem I have with GRRM. If you visit his web site on a regular basis, there are 100+1 things that's keeping him occupied, but we are stilling waiting for the next installment.... And in my view a story teller and her audience does have an implicit contract, particularly from the story teller's side.
A while back, Amazon was even taking preorder for Dragons... but that has been removed for a while now, and no sign of it going back up any time soon.
This is goddamn problem with reading a series, specially if its any good like "Fire and Ice" that you get through half the story, the other half will be rushed or never completed...
And we are living in The Garden of Eden, where the streams flow from the fountain of freedom and openness, and trees are covered in goodness and apple pies.
IOC is a comercial venture, it offers the games to whom it is politically convenient and will generate huge revenues.
"My camera came with a strap. If I were dangling my camera by its strap, not holding the actual camera body, and the strap broke and my camera smashed to the pavement, it would never occur to me to sue the camera manufacturer."
Would you still be of the same opinion if you discovered that the camera manufacturer knew of a fault, that the strap and the attachment were of insufficient strength for the camera of the given weight?
Slashdot Mirror
But it will always come down to money. Think of a future where some parents could not afford certain gene "remodeling"! What ethical impact does that have on those parents, the children involved and the society at large. At present, we almost all accept what what we are born with is act of nature or natural selection. But in the future it will be an active choice. Will it be ethical that a child should blame a parent for the choices (or lack of choice) that a parent made, often through inability to have access to such treatment because of cost. If you thought the problem of parents not being able to afford expensive designer clothing for their children or the latest fashion trainers or a short lived fad was bad, then think what the equivalent impact it may have when such "treatment" is more widely available.
The SCO case was different: it was basically a Microsoft vs. Linux fight by proxy that SCO could not have funded on its own.
Do you have a citation that SCO was proxy for Microsoft or that Microsoft had funded SCO litigation?
So $5-$7 for a DVD movie, $15-$16 for TV series is not good value? How low does it and have to be? Zero?
Too many SciFi that needs thinking, and SciFi must absolutely require its audience to think, gets cancelled and we only end up with "Cowboy in Space" shows :-( I think, to some extent, the writers/producers are also the blame, they start to challenge less and less of their audience, meander about, and soon loose their core audience. I would so much like to see shows which are just a single 22 episode season long show, where they have thought the whole story through, its closed. But that would never fly with the studios.
**Z
OK, so what is ATT's argument for not being able to provide better than 3Mbps in the heart of the Silicon Valley?
**Z
Not saying they are great, but in USA, I get my service from T-Mobile. I have a 600min plan. On my Android phone, I have a T-Mobile My Account apps. I use this quite regularly to check my status. For example, it says I have used 44% used (260 used | 331 remaining). New minutes start 10/20/10). 0% Messages Used (4 Used | 496 Remaining).
How difficult is this for both the carriers and the users?
**Z
At the last job I had in England, UK. My contact said three months notice period (applies to both side!!!). So, if I give my notice period, and they no longer want me on the premises, they will have to keep paying for the notice period - that's the contract. Off course, I am also, legally, not allowed to start another job.
**Z
I pay AT&T $200 and sign a 2 year contract ($~75/month). It is not $200 only, the cost is amortized over the period of the contract.
I cannot break that contract without legal recourse from AT&T. Why does AT&T have additional entitlement?
If I want/need to move to another carrier, I should be able to do so by paying the surrender value for the remainder of the contract, and take my working phone and my number to another carrier of my choice.
AT&T looses nothing, unless, they expect that the user will fork out additional funds. If there is sense of entitlement it is not with most users, but with AT&T.
The SE P800/P900/X10 and Palm phones from Vodaphone, thatI have owned, have always been unlocked from day 1 (they came unlocked). I have a contract with them for either 1-2 years, they have my money regardless of whether I use the phone, and are not entitled to additional funds provided I stay within the agreed contract. The phone is mine to do as I please within legal boundaries.
I am merry using SE X10 on T-mobile in USA. Only, in USA, the land of freedom and choice, neither seems to be an options when it comes to phones.
One important consideration is how the encoder is "set up". On2/Google has probably been tested using standard test material (such as Mobile Calendar), but does not perform so well across a wider range of material. I would like to see its performance on wide range of material, particularly slow pan with fast small objects. For these scene, it will be forced to use more SPLITMV macroblock type. This has more bit required for MVs or worse coding more Intra MBs.
Also, remember almost all new camcorder/camera are AVCHD, and TV broadcast is MPEG2/AVC. So, On2's future, if it exists, has to be good at transcoding from such source material.
**Z
Ah, people either do not study history or are incapable of thinking. Just remember the history of the British East India Company.
The danger for all companies (primarily big ones) is paradigm shift. Big companies are often blindsided because of the Inertia they build. Even in medium-small size companies, when the market shifts, lot of people, specially in middle management are very restive of change. Change is scary. So, what happens is that, they become a fish detached from the shoal - exposed and desperate to get back into the crowd.
Main Frame (IBM) -> Minis (DEC) -> PCs (MS/INtel) -> Handheld/MIDs
There is a massive momentum in the handheld/MID space, and by becoming detached to this trend - MS has made themselves irrelevant to many.
Actually, the Droid consists of a TI OMAP3430 - this has an ARM A8, a TI 64X 8-issue VLIW and PVR SGX. All of these are programmable and can be combined if the programmer knows what she is doing. So, why hang up only on FLOPS? if you look at the total compute power (FLOPS and Integer/Logic Ops), it really is impressive in such a small device. **Zrelativity
What I find most annoying is people pontificating what a patent means (pun not intended) or doesn't mean without any attempt at reading them. When reading a claim, you need to be extremely careful as to how it is worded and hence what the limitations are. Also read the patent in the context of the body, but this is often not limiting. What I have observed and come to the conclusion, is that, today, you would be very hard to build a device and not read on some-ones patents, unless you restrict your self to 20 year old technology. Given this reality, you're often much better, to deal with MPEGLA than the previous situation. Consider all the difficulties with MPEG-4 (not visual part only).
Can I invoke QM?
Its your money, so spend it on what ever you like. However, if you are a publisher, please explain why I want to spend that $5 with you for Jane Austin's Emma as opposed to $0 from PG. What added value are you providing for that $5 except for DRM?
I thought this used to happen. About 10 years back, I was living in Dallas, and used to make a lot of phone calls to England. My account was with SWB, with long distance provided by AT&T. But there was a lot switching used to happen with MCI/Spint/AT&T involved. What they did not explain when I got switched once that it takes about 1 week to kick in, but during that week you're charged full! Anyway, to cut story short, during that week I run up $200. So, my phone got disconnected. Phoned to find why my phone was no longer working, to discover the above. Then had to fight to get most of that $200 charged back!!! I absolutely agree that there should be a cap. I know, in England, such cap exist for about 1 year or so to prove you can manage your account. **Z
That's why god created engineers, and not mathematicians only to populate this blue planet ;-)
**
What you think is irrelevant. Read the patents in question, read the claims (and how it is refined by the body), then let us know the relevant prior art. Better even, draw up a claim chart with every single element of the claim, as I am sure TechRadium would have done.
Its nice to see Kyro and KyroII, but they never sold maybe more few 10Ks. **
Artists or Engineers or any other professional, if you make a commitment to your client or customer, you need to work bloody hard to keep to it. If I as a engineer, make commitments to my customer, and don't deliver or deliver late, I don't expect my customer to support me either when an alternative is present.
A while back, Amazon was even taking preorder for Dragons... but that has been removed for a while now, and no sign of it going back up any time soon.
This is goddamn problem with reading a series, specially if its any good like "Fire and Ice" that you get through half the story, the other half will be rushed or never completed...
And we are living in The Garden of Eden, where the streams flow from the fountain of freedom and openness, and trees are covered in goodness and apple pies. IOC is a comercial venture, it offers the games to whom it is politically convenient and will generate huge revenues.
Would you still be of the same opinion if you discovered that the camera manufacturer knew of a fault, that the strap and the attachment were of insufficient strength for the camera of the given weight?