Comment Re:There it goes. (Score 1, Insightful) 319
As well they should, don't you see the danger of internet providers controlling content?
Don't you see the danger of the GOVERNMENT controlling content?
Comment Re:There it goes. (Score 1) 319
Exactly. What are all of these people that are pushing net neutrality going to do when they wake up one day and can't access their favorite pr0n site?
Comment Re:There it goes. (Score 1) 319
why didnt they do this before? Simple.
We had a Republican administration form 2000-2008 and they did not want it.
Before then Net Neutrality was not really even an issue here on slashdot much less in Washington.
As for government intervention, I agree with you about it to an extent. The problem is that we already regulate utilities (and I believe ISP's are quickly becoming a utility) because it is unreasonable to expect the market to be able to handle multiple competitors with the huge infrastructure costs as a barrier to entry.
Making it a utility is an entirely separate argument, though. We're saying it's not a utility, but government needs to intervene and regulate it. Frankly, I think that the Internet is critical enough as infrastructure that it's worth a conversation about whether or not it is a utility or should be treated as such. This back door method of handing the FCC authority that it's never had previously by scaring people into thinking that the big bad ISPs are going to control their access to content is just wrong.
Comment Re:There it goes. (Score 1) 319
The only thing this does is tell ISPs that they cannot discriminate traffic based on the end points. Meaning they have to give the exact same QoS to Netflix Traffic as they do their own VOD service. They have to give the exact same QoS to Vonage that they do to their own VoIP product. STOP WITH THE FUCKING GOVERNMENT FEAR MONGERING.
And please explain to me how the FCC does this if it doesn't have the authority to do it? Net neutrality is the FCC assuming authority over ISPs. You can type in caps until your 12 year old head explodes. That doesn't change the fact that net neutrality is the FCC saying that they have the authority to tell ISPs how they have to treat content.
Comment Re:There it goes. (Score 1, Interesting) 319
and when people ask me why I don't like Republicans, I just give them answers like this. Whenever it's Big Business vs The People, we know where they're lobbying.
Would be nice if they lose and We (The People) win this time.
The problem is that it is not the role of elected officials to do what is in the best interest of Big Business OR The People. Elected officials swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. You're right that far too often Republicans are willing to decimate the Constitution if it lines the pockets of their corporate donors. The inverse of that are Democrats, who shred the Constitution to line the wallets of the people that receive entitlements and make up their voter base.
I'm very skeptical about net neutrality because I don't like giving the federal government more power, and this inarguably does that. Once the FCC tells ISPs what they can and cannot do with traffic on the lines, they have that power forever. That means that, like another commenter pointed out, the government now has the right to filter and censor content. I also think that this is an abuse of the oft-abused commerce clause of the Constitution and is therefore not under the purview of the federal government.
Finally, I don't like the way that this is being done. If the FCC has always had the authority to do this, why didn't they do it before? They waited until they knew that net neutrality would never make it through Congress and then "discovered" the authority.
Submission + - Two Kinects join forces to create better 3D video (engadget.com)
suraj.sun writes: Oliver Kreylos blowing minds and demonstrating that two Kinects can be paired and their output meshed — one basically filling in the gaps of the other. He found that the two do create some interference, the dotted IR pattern of one causing some holes and blotches in the other, but when the two are combined they basically help each other out and the results are quite impressive.
As you can see in the video, Oliver is able to rotate the camera perspective and basically film himself from a new camera angle that exists somewhere in between the position of the two Kinects, and do-so in real-time. Sure, the quality leaves a lot to be desired, but still. Wow.
Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/29/two-kinects-join-forces-to-create-better-3d-video-blow-our-mind/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-w7UXCAUJE
As you can see in the video, Oliver is able to rotate the camera perspective and basically film himself from a new camera angle that exists somewhere in between the position of the two Kinects, and do-so in real-time. Sure, the quality leaves a lot to be desired, but still. Wow.
Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/29/two-kinects-join-forces-to-create-better-3d-video-blow-our-mind/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-w7UXCAUJE
Submission + - Ted Dabney, reveals more about Atari Early Days (retrogamingroundup.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Nolan Bushnell partner and Atari Co-Founder, Ted Dabney reveals more about the early days of the console and arcade industry. It is interesting to note that much of the story of the creation of Atari and the first commercial arcade game, Computer Space, as told over the years by Nolan Bushnell, is untrue. Ted does his best to set the record straight in this lengthy 2-hour interview.
Submission + - Why the Open Web Will Survive Facebook (internetevolution.com)
rsmiller510 writes: Tim Berners-Lee, the man who helped develop the World Wide Web is worried about Facebook and other threats to an open Web. Should he be?
Submission + - Obama Seeks 2-Year Pay Freeze for Federal Workers
theodp writes: Looks like that White House Director of Technology got his 43% salary increase just in time. A day before the legal deadline to submit to Congress the President's decision about locality pay, President Obama proposed a two-year salary freeze for all federal civilian employees. The freeze, which would require congressional approval, would affect about two million workers and cover calendar years 2011 and 2012. The White House's Tightening Our Belts blog entry explains: 'To lay the foundation for long-term economic growth and to make our nation competitive for years to come, we must put the United States back on a sustainable fiscal course. And that's going to require some tough choices. Today, the President made one of those: proposing a two-year pay freeze for all civilian federal workers. This will save $2 billion over the remainder of this fiscal year, $28 billion in cumulative savings over the next five years, and more than $60 billion over the next 10 years. The freeze will apply to all civilian federal employees, including those in various alternative pay plans and those working at the Department of Defense — but not military personnel.' Time to load up the van with Miss Me Yet? T-shirts and head for the Washington Mall?
Submission + - U.S. law applies to foreign nationals overseas (reuters.com)
akeeneye writes: U.S. attorney general Eric Holder claims that the "breaking of American law" puts foreign nationals at risk of prosecution for alleged "crimes" that they have committed outside of U.S. territory.
Submission + - Fox Sues Woman for $15M for Hosting Leaked Scripts (hollywoodreporter.com)
eldavojohn writes: A number of sites are reporting that PJ McIlvaine is being sued by Fox for $15 million dollars. McIlvaine, a screenwriter herself, appeared to be collecting scripts available online and hosting them in a Media Fire repository for other screenwriters to learn from. Fox doesn't see it the same way and alleges that some of the scripts were for movies not yet out saying in the suit that McIlvaine did "interfere and trade off of the costly and carefully designed creative processes that produce finished works ready for public consumption. They harm the fans who do not want their enjoyment of a movie or television show to be spoiled by knowing the story ahead of actually being able to watch it." The Long Island woman did apparently host a script of Deadpool, an unreleased Fox comic book movie. According to the hefty amount, it appears that even sharing copyrighted scripts hurts movies in Fox's mind. Will lady justice agree?
Submission + - Innovation Agents: Brandon Kessler, ChallengePost (fastcompany.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Brandon Kessler’s got a knack for finding the next big thing. At the age of 18, the Columbia student was among the 10 people in the audience to hear a then-obscure group named the Dave Matthews Band.
Fast forward a decade or so, when he taps into yet another potential zeitgeist. Kessler’s back in the halls of academia –- this time on weekends to earn a business degree — and his study session is interrupted one night when he discovered a challenge online: $100 to anyone who could create a software program that allowed Windows to run on a Mac. The competition ramped up in just a few weeks. "As a marketer, I knew right then we needed an eBay for this, a platform that facilitated problem solving and innovation through competition. I knew it would be my next business," asserts Kessler.
Fast forward a decade or so, when he taps into yet another potential zeitgeist. Kessler’s back in the halls of academia –- this time on weekends to earn a business degree — and his study session is interrupted one night when he discovered a challenge online: $100 to anyone who could create a software program that allowed Windows to run on a Mac. The competition ramped up in just a few weeks. "As a marketer, I knew right then we needed an eBay for this, a platform that facilitated problem solving and innovation through competition. I knew it would be my next business," asserts Kessler.
Submission + - Causing terror on the cheap
jhigh writes: Bruce Schneier posts on his blog today about the cost of terror in terms of cost-benefit for the terrorists. If you look at terror attacks in terms of what they cost the terrorists to implement compared with what they cost the economy of the nation that was hit, the reward for terrorists are astronomical. Add in the insane costs of the security measures implemented afterward, particularly in America, and it's easy to see why the terrorists do what they do. Even when they're unsuccessful, they cost us billions in security countermeasures.
Submission + - Who wants to be a cyber-security warrior? (networkworld.com)
coondoggie writes: The National Science Foundation is again trying to increase the amount of well-educated people willing to work for the government to secure online resources. The NSF this week announced funding for its Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) training and education program. The SFS program typically covers tuition, room and board, and books for up to two years of undergraduate-, master's-, or doctorate-level study. In addition, undergraduates receive an annual stipend of $8,000 and graduates receive $12,000, according to the NSF.
Submission + - Domain Seizures no Hoax (justice.gov)
mbone writes: Despite some suspicion, including on slashdot, the seizure of the file linking site rapgodfathers.com and various torrent sites are apparently real, as Eric Holder is having a press conference and has issued a press release touting the seizure of sites "engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works."
Among other things, this shows that the DOJ is using both Google Analytics and Piwik Open Source Web Analytics, as there is analytic javascript for both in the index.html on the banned sites. And, based on look at the jpeg used, at least some of the ICE use Macs, as the take-down jpeg was prepared with Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Macintosh on 2010:11:18 09:37:21
Among other things, this shows that the DOJ is using both Google Analytics and Piwik Open Source Web Analytics, as there is analytic javascript for both in the index.html on the banned sites. And, based on look at the jpeg used, at least some of the ICE use Macs, as the take-down jpeg was prepared with Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Macintosh on 2010:11:18 09:37:21
