Interesting... the media companies may have really shot themselves in the foot by taking on this case. First, they will try to win in court, but they'll lose. Then they'll try to get the laws changed, but they won't succeed because of the publicity from this "spectrial."
Before this trial, the public was much less informed and concerned about these issues. The media companies possibly could have bought the laws that they wanted, but now there will be much more resistance.
I won't say it's stealing, but the actions are definitely immoral.
No, the actions of those who violate copyrights are definitely illegal. Our laws state that even though computers can make unlimited copies of any data file, artificial restrictions should be placed on this activity for the benefit of society. Whether these laws are beneficial or whether they are too restrictive is a matter of much debate, and certainly not a moral absolute.
Toll roads are bad because they are an insane use of money. Countless millions of dollars are spent on transponders, monitoring services, sending out bills, tracking down people who don't pay, etc. A good deal of time is also wasted. People either have to stop to pay tolls, or they have to manage another account and pay bills.
We should just include the cost of roads as a combination of general taxes, vehicle taxes, and license fees. It is true that some people use the roads more than others, but any government program will help some people more than others. It's simply too costly (and probably unrealistic) to make it fair for everyone. Keep in mind that everyone benefits from the roads. Even someone confined to a nursing home depends on the roads to get their caretakers to work, and to ship their food and supplies to them.
Every time a story mentions the "cloud", we get to enjoy many complaints about the use of this buzzword. I think it's time to accept it. It is a useful term, describing a trend which is only going to grow over time. Having a concise way to refer to it will be convenient, regardless of what you think of the trend.
When people started talking about the "web", did you complain about this buzzword too? After all, it's nothing but a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Why not just say that every time?
The Popcorn Hour boxes look very nice. Still, they are rather limited by their lack of ability to play web based video. I'd like to see a box around the size and cost of the Popcorn Hour box, which adds the following:
1. Runs Boxee, in order to give access to Hulu, YouTube, and many other online videos. 2. Is a licensed Netflix device.
Maybe they are working on it, or Roku is, or someone at Boxee is. Whoever gets there first should find plenty of waiting customers.
It's not really about killing Microsoft. What I would like to see is a solid percentage (at least 10-20%) of desktops running some flavor of an open source OS. That can only happen by reducing Microsoft's market share.
The recent success of Silverlight highlights why this is important. This software has been adopted by many websites because it can work for 98% of their potential users. However, if we lived in a world where 20% of desktops run Linux, Silverlight could only succeed by offering full fledged Linux support.
Microsoft is using Silverlight as leverage to keep people on Windows. For example, anyone who uses Netflix streaming has little choice but to stick with Windows at the moment. Once Linux gets over a certain threshold percentage of desktops, these tactics will no longer be effective.
I'm expecting to see the PS4 come out at least 3 years after the Xbox3. For one thing, the PS3 has technical advantages over the 360 which should give it more legs. Sony designed the PS3 with a target of a ten year lifespan.
Also, Sony is really stinging from the cost of trying to compete with a same-generation Xbox. They should be able to hit a sweet spot by spacing their machine a half a generation away. When the Xbox3 is released, Sony can drop their PS3 prices to very low levels, and capture the large, budget-minded segment of the market. After 3 years, once the Xbox3's newness has worn off, Sony can release a system which is technically unmatched, and which Microsoft won't be able to respond to for another 2-3 years.
Anyway, that's what I'd do if I ran Sony. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
It's more like this: Whenever America disappoints me, I look to the UK's Nanny-state policies for a preview of how much more disappointed I can expect to be a few years from now.
Don't be silly. The security of a technology company's public website is very important. If they truly believed the conclusions of their report, they would take steps to make sure their site was not hosted by open source software. Even if they don't manage the web server, they could easily request to be moved to a Windows/IIS machine.
Just a tip. If anyone out there has established a line-of-sight wireless connection, but then finds trees, mountains, large buildings, etc. getting in the way, something has gone terribly wrong. You are either experiencing a severe earthquake, or your house is being towed.
I suggest that you gather more data by looking out the window.
The bits all go to four. Look, right across the board, four, four, four and...
Oh, I see. And most bits go up to two?
Exactly.
Does that mean it's bigger? Is it any bigger?
Well, it's two bigger, isn't it? It's not two. You see, most geeks, you know, will be running at two. You're on two here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on two on your chips. Where can you go from there? Where?
I don't know.
Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Put it up to four.
Four. Exactly. Two bigger.
Why don't you just use twos and have twice as many twos and make it just as big?
An online magazine isn't the same as print, but it could have many advantages too. Each story submitted could have ratings, reviews, forum discussions, etc. If the site is designed to allow a community to develop, that community could do the work of finding the best new stories and bringing them to the forefront. Authors who develop a significant following on the site could have a special section of the site devoted to them, and have their stories featured on the home page. This could lead to them getting the attention of publishing houses to have a novel published, or it could simply lead to them selling their next stories online for profit.
Here's hoping that GDrive can address the biggest problem with online backup services today: price. For backing up large amounts of data (10s or 100s of GB), it is vastly cheaper to buy 2-3 additional hard drives and make your own backups than it is to use any online service.
For example, to back up 1 TB of data, buy two external TB drives from Newegg, copy your files to the drives, and store one offsite. Total cost: $200.
To backup to Amazon's S3 service, transfer all the data once, and store it for a year. $100 for the transfer plus (12 months * $150/month) for storage = $1900 for the year.
I'm sure there are good reasons for the cost discrepancy. I know the $200 cost doesn't include time, electricity, or the possible need to replace drives. But still, I think there has to be a way that clever engineers can bring the costs down for online storage. The fact that most of the data on a backup system doesn't need to be loaded at the same time should open up possibilities for cost savings. I'd be willing to accept a little delay in accessing my backups if it would allow for a much cheaper service.
Keep in mind that the company is not merely disputing the results of the research. They are claiming libel, which requires maliciousness or deception on the part of the researchers.
"Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister offers five reasons why companies should re-consider concentrating their transportation efforts on gasoline powered vehicles. As McAllister sees it, automobiles encourage a reckless approach to transportation that leads to far too much dependence on pavement. And while low-fuel and flat-tire limitations are well known, the car as 'hostile territory' for independent travelers is a possibility not yet fully understood. Sure, automobiles are fast, versatile, and relatively efficient, but long term, the vehicle's weaknesses might just outweigh its strengths as a transportation platform."
Forget the lawsuits. Ask the researchers if they'd be willing to be connected to the lie detectors and to then testify that their research and conclusions were made in good faith.
If the detectors indicate a lie, the situation doesn't really change. But if the detectors do not indicate a lie, the manufacturer is pretty well cornered.
The article could be clearer in explaining the results.
Math test, degree of improvement over 7 weeks:
DS games groups: 19% improvement
Pencil and paper games group: 19% improvement
Control group: 18% improvement
Presumably, the kids were all going to the same traditional math classes during this time period, and those classes caused most of the improvement. A better test would be to compare kids playing these games to kids on summer break.
Perhaps the DS games help give kids a desire to learn and an eagerness to take on mental challenges. That would be an immeasurable but invaluable benefit.
The oddest part about this article is the conclusion. After tearing down DS games, the researcher recommends that kids play sudoku, even though pencil and paper games did not produce any better results. This leads me to believe that the researcher had an initial bias against the DS.
Slashdot Mirror
Interesting... the media companies may have really shot themselves in the foot by taking on this case. First, they will try to win in court, but they'll lose. Then they'll try to get the laws changed, but they won't succeed because of the publicity from this "spectrial."
Before this trial, the public was much less informed and concerned about these issues. The media companies possibly could have bought the laws that they wanted, but now there will be much more resistance.
No, the actions of those who violate copyrights are definitely illegal. Our laws state that even though computers can make unlimited copies of any data file, artificial restrictions should be placed on this activity for the benefit of society. Whether these laws are beneficial or whether they are too restrictive is a matter of much debate, and certainly not a moral absolute.
Toll roads are bad because they are an insane use of money. Countless millions of dollars are spent on transponders, monitoring services, sending out bills, tracking down people who don't pay, etc. A good deal of time is also wasted. People either have to stop to pay tolls, or they have to manage another account and pay bills.
We should just include the cost of roads as a combination of general taxes, vehicle taxes, and license fees. It is true that some people use the roads more than others, but any government program will help some people more than others. It's simply too costly (and probably unrealistic) to make it fair for everyone. Keep in mind that everyone benefits from the roads. Even someone confined to a nursing home depends on the roads to get their caretakers to work, and to ship their food and supplies to them.
Every time a story mentions the "cloud", we get to enjoy many complaints about the use of this buzzword. I think it's time to accept it. It is a useful term, describing a trend which is only going to grow over time. Having a concise way to refer to it will be convenient, regardless of what you think of the trend.
When people started talking about the "web", did you complain about this buzzword too? After all, it's nothing but a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Why not just say that every time?
I have been sent a leaked photo showing the design of the new Microsoft stores. Looks like a fun place!
Check out that blue door. Jaunty! Beware, Apple, beware.
Karma-whoring Kangaroo?
Here's a much less tame Europa mission: A Submarine for Europa.
It would be amazing, but it's probably an idea ahead of its time.
The Popcorn Hour boxes look very nice. Still, they are rather limited by their lack of ability to play web based video. I'd like to see a box around the size and cost of the Popcorn Hour box, which adds the following:
1. Runs Boxee, in order to give access to Hulu, YouTube, and many other online videos.
2. Is a licensed Netflix device.
Maybe they are working on it, or Roku is, or someone at Boxee is. Whoever gets there first should find plenty of waiting customers.
Skipping unnecessary characters such as "b", "e", and "," can make all the difference!
It's not really about killing Microsoft. What I would like to see is a solid percentage (at least 10-20%) of desktops running some flavor of an open source OS. That can only happen by reducing Microsoft's market share.
The recent success of Silverlight highlights why this is important. This software has been adopted by many websites because it can work for 98% of their potential users. However, if we lived in a world where 20% of desktops run Linux, Silverlight could only succeed by offering full fledged Linux support.
Microsoft is using Silverlight as leverage to keep people on Windows. For example, anyone who uses Netflix streaming has little choice but to stick with Windows at the moment. Once Linux gets over a certain threshold percentage of desktops, these tactics will no longer be effective.
Incidentally and for no particular reason, where do you work?
I'm expecting to see the PS4 come out at least 3 years after the Xbox3. For one thing, the PS3 has technical advantages over the 360 which should give it more legs. Sony designed the PS3 with a target of a ten year lifespan.
Also, Sony is really stinging from the cost of trying to compete with a same-generation Xbox. They should be able to hit a sweet spot by spacing their machine a half a generation away. When the Xbox3 is released, Sony can drop their PS3 prices to very low levels, and capture the large, budget-minded segment of the market. After 3 years, once the Xbox3's newness has worn off, Sony can release a system which is technically unmatched, and which Microsoft won't be able to respond to for another 2-3 years.
Anyway, that's what I'd do if I ran Sony. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
It's more like this: Whenever America disappoints me, I look to the UK's Nanny-state policies for a preview of how much more disappointed I can expect to be a few years from now.
Don't be silly. The security of a technology company's public website is very important. If they truly believed the conclusions of their report, they would take steps to make sure their site was not hosted by open source software. Even if they don't manage the web server, they could easily request to be moved to a Windows/IIS machine.
Just a tip. If anyone out there has established a line-of-sight wireless connection, but then finds trees, mountains, large buildings, etc. getting in the way, something has gone terribly wrong. You are either experiencing a severe earthquake, or your house is being towed.
I suggest that you gather more data by looking out the window.
So the argument is that without patents, we will have a SHORTAGE of people trying to find new ways to make money on the internet?
Not only is that (ahem) patently ridiculous, but if it were true it would be a positive thing.
The bits all go to four. Look, right across the board, four, four, four and...
Oh, I see. And most bits go up to two?
Exactly.
Does that mean it's bigger? Is it any bigger?
Well, it's two bigger, isn't it? It's not two. You see, most geeks, you know, will be running at two. You're on two here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on two on your chips. Where can you go from there? Where?
I don't know.
Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Put it up to four.
Four. Exactly. Two bigger.
Why don't you just use twos and have twice as many twos and make it just as big?
[pause] These go to four.
An online magazine isn't the same as print, but it could have many advantages too. Each story submitted could have ratings, reviews, forum discussions, etc. If the site is designed to allow a community to develop, that community could do the work of finding the best new stories and bringing them to the forefront. Authors who develop a significant following on the site could have a special section of the site devoted to them, and have their stories featured on the home page. This could lead to them getting the attention of publishing houses to have a novel published, or it could simply lead to them selling their next stories online for profit.
Here's hoping that GDrive can address the biggest problem with online backup services today: price. For backing up large amounts of data (10s or 100s of GB), it is vastly cheaper to buy 2-3 additional hard drives and make your own backups than it is to use any online service.
For example, to back up 1 TB of data, buy two external TB drives from Newegg, copy your files to the drives, and store one offsite. Total cost: $200.
To backup to Amazon's S3 service, transfer all the data once, and store it for a year. $100 for the transfer plus (12 months * $150/month) for storage = $1900 for the year.
I'm sure there are good reasons for the cost discrepancy. I know the $200 cost doesn't include time, electricity, or the possible need to replace drives. But still, I think there has to be a way that clever engineers can bring the costs down for online storage. The fact that most of the data on a backup system doesn't need to be loaded at the same time should open up possibilities for cost savings. I'd be willing to accept a little delay in accessing my backups if it would allow for a much cheaper service.
Unfortunately, St. Teresa Franciscan University's quantum research program has fallen well behind Stanford.
Keep in mind that the company is not merely disputing the results of the research. They are claiming libel, which requires maliciousness or deception on the part of the researchers.
"Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister offers five reasons why companies should re-consider concentrating their transportation efforts on gasoline powered vehicles. As McAllister sees it, automobiles encourage a reckless approach to transportation that leads to far too much dependence on pavement. And while low-fuel and flat-tire limitations are well known, the car as 'hostile territory' for independent travelers is a possibility not yet fully understood. Sure, automobiles are fast, versatile, and relatively efficient, but long term, the vehicle's weaknesses might just outweigh its strengths as a transportation platform."
Forget the lawsuits. Ask the researchers if they'd be willing to be connected to the lie detectors and to then testify that their research and conclusions were made in good faith.
If the detectors indicate a lie, the situation doesn't really change. But if the detectors do not indicate a lie, the manufacturer is pretty well cornered.
The article could be clearer in explaining the results.
Math test, degree of improvement over 7 weeks:
Presumably, the kids were all going to the same traditional math classes during this time period, and those classes caused most of the improvement. A better test would be to compare kids playing these games to kids on summer break.
Perhaps the DS games help give kids a desire to learn and an eagerness to take on mental challenges. That would be an immeasurable but invaluable benefit.
The oddest part about this article is the conclusion. After tearing down DS games, the researcher recommends that kids play sudoku, even though pencil and paper games did not produce any better results. This leads me to believe that the researcher had an initial bias against the DS.