Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment tickle belt (Score 1) 189

I saw a device for a deaf person that translated sounds into larger vibrations in a belt. Maybe if you put an accelerometer in the conductor's baton and then wirelessly transmit that data to some type of haptic feedback device. This would give you a lot more information about what the conductor was doing than a simple beat measure would. I imagine a 2-D grid of sensations over your back that interpreted the batons movements would allow you to sense the baton being raised in anticipation of the down beat and so on. An array of pancake vibrators could be sewn into a vest or even applied with adhesive. Hooking up with a hackerspace local to you would probably be a good starting point.

Comment Re:Gun Makers (Score 1) 1111

Having $800K in cash you can't account for is going to get you into the territory of seizure laws, unless you can account for where you got it (and the onus is on you to prove that).

Prove it to whom? Not to some one you are buying something from.

And, sadly, once he saw it, and reasonably knew what the second one was likely to be used for .. he was screwed. Because either he said nothing and became complicit, or he turned in some shady people who might not be understanding of that.

It is not reasonable to expect a vendor to know that cash he saw was elicit.

Comment Re:True, but.. (Score 2) 1145

I agree with you about the blum blog being worthwhile, and I agree with her on most of what she said. You pick the one nit I have with that post,

only real offense in this case was not just turning around and telling the guys to knock it off.

If that was all she did, she would have done nothing. She took their pic an posted it on twitter. That is a grievous offense in my book, much worse than simply not saying anything.

Comment Re:Hooray for freedom (Score 1) 747

Because it's always good to make it easier to break the law and steal movies.

The short answer is yes, it is better to make it easier to "break the law" and "steal movies."

By "breaking the law" you are actually just diminishing the artificial right that has been temporarily granted to the copyright holder.

That right (copyright) was never intended to be more important than an individuals natural right to share ideas and information.

Copyright's purpose is to give additional incentive to people who create, to share that creation, by allowing them an artificially stronger (than it would normally be) right to decide who to share the creation with.

That right directly conflicts every individuals natural rights to communicate and share ideas. There needs to be a balance.

I think there are things we need to reconsider.

In the case of music, what has this type of incentive provided us? Has copyright actually given us better music? What kind of musician (composer, player, singer etc.) has this form of copyright favored evolutionarily? I would argue that over all the quality of musician has gotten worse as copyright has grown in scope and strength.

Thus we need to reconsider how music is protected by copyright.

Other media needs to be subject to the same scrutiny as well.

To simply chant the mantra that "it's the law" is basically an appeal to tradition, and not a valid argument for why it is wrong to copy things. It is a valid argument in favor of not copying things, but that is not the same as saying copying things is "wrong."

I would hope that most Americans, while not always willing to exercise it, would still recognize that civil disobedience is not immoral and that blind faith in "the law" is not something one should be proud of.

Comment Re:Hooray for freedom (Score 1) 747

A DVD is a tangible good, no different than a book.

Have they implemented a region scheme for books?

Yes, it is called 'language'.

Can a book be rendered illegible by a scratch?

Water can ruin most books, and water covers 78% of the planet.

Is there some scheme in place to prevent you from quoting an except from a book verbatim?

no, and why should there be?

Comment Re:I'm ok with this (Score 0, Troll) 509

Having anything removed or tampered with by any outside agency on hardware I have purchased is unacceptable, full stop.

Then don't install apps from the app store DUMBASS. You can get the same apps without using the app store, and Google can't delete them.

You do have a choice with Android where your apps come from and who has control over them. Stop blaming some one else for your uninformed choices.

Slashdot Top Deals

New York... when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you. - David Letterman

Working...