This is an absolutely valid point. The software seems to not detect this aberrant input signal behavior. A lesson for software coders everywhere: validate your inputs, restrict your outputs... where it is possible to do so. In this case it might be possible to actually manually create these inputs, so a second sensor system should be implemented in tandem to verify this command, and simply ignore the one that shows 'odd' data. Maybe NASA will find this. Who knows. I do know that this is a huge problem for many systems, not just cars. It would not take much to get a microwave oven to detect some dangerous situations and shut down, still, we don't see such as generally available.

I prefer to posit that the young canine will have some carnal knowledge on the morning after.

If the vehicle has that much computer controlled functionality, why doesn't the black box tell which pedals were pressed at the time of impact and for the moments before impact? The black box system is arguably an invasion of privacy, but in this case it would go a long way toward fixing the problem(s) and perhaps saving lives.

Dude, you can wear shit on your head and call it a fucking hat for all anyone cares, just don't expect to be popular. Likewise, don't think you can take it to the local cleaners and get it cleaned for $2.49. You're going to have to buy special shit-hat cleaner, and probably a special shit-hat drying stand. But hey, you have personal choice.

I wasn't being snide, simply pointing out that there are issues with iShit that everyone seems more than happy to overlook. Just because you personally think the coolaid tastes good doesn't mean that it has no poison in it.

Go ahead, celebrate their success and your personal choice to use them, but also be honest an admit that what they've done is not all good for the entire market; that what Apple has done is not pushing the boundaries of anything but their own profit margins. There are a few things they have not done:

Participated in promulgating open standards
Created devices that use and promote open standards
Paid all their licensing fees (apparently)
Created technology that improves the markets they participate in (to argue you must show that without Apple that technology would never have happened)

Both Apple and Microsoft fail in many of the same ways when it comes to innovation and improving the market. None of this is snide anti-fanboi rhetoric, it's simple observation. If you try hard, perhaps get some help, you might be able to do this too.

I alwyas find it "interesting" when people credit Apple for inventing stuff. They successfully packaged current tech with overpriced proprietary lock-in service. That may technically be innovative but I will argue that its not good for all the market and adding DRM to anything is definitely in the evil category. So go ahead, celebrate the marketing success but see the damage they've done for what it really is. Your same thinking can be applied to Microsoft. Neither are ultimately good for the consumer at large.

Actually, NO. I was quite happy with a generic 2GB MP3 player made by many different manufacturers. Some of them came with decent features, tactile controls, and did other things like voice record etc. They did not come with lock-in, suited my needs, and the cost was somewhere around... oh $12.00 USD. I could afford to put 3 of them in my brief case if I wanted. All I needed was a USB port and some headphones. No hacking required, no big price tag, no lock-in. Just music from a small device with headphones. There are and were many such devices. I strongly suspect that people who go gaga about iCrap will only be happy in death if they get a designer cancer.

Whoa there Nelly. Once you remove the coolness factor from it, It's not just an MP3 player, it's a proprietary lock-in MP3 player that costs way more than it needs to. The iPad will be the same. The cool factor is nothing short of sales magic. The first time I saw an iPhone, I thought to myself that it's clever and works fairly well. Then I tried to make a phone call. Ooops. Then I looked at the music capabilities... another ooops. Every time the device added lock-in or required that I jump through hoops to use it with Linux, it's coolness factor dropped by at least half. In the end it doesn't do enough to make it worth the extra cost.

The iPad will be the same, or at least has started out with all the same flashing lights and bragging. Maybe in 6 months when normal people get a look at one they will see it as the same 'magical' do-nothing-special device that the iPod and iPhone turned out to be. If there is any lock-in or I'm required to jump through hoops to use one with my home network, then Apple can keep them. All of them. I'm not likely to buy a hammer that requires I buy special gloves from the same company to use it, or restricts which nails I can use it to hit. You can go gaga all you want about how cool it is but if you do I'm taking you off the Christmas party invite list.

I agree with this. Oracle will have to do some serious sucking up to the world to convince anyone they are not out to destroy everything that MS licensing was unable to touch. I'm not saying that Oracle sucks, just that their business model is not really where the world has been migrating to lately. For more or less all the reasons that MS products are not looking so good these days to many people, Oracle products (including the products they buy) will also not look good. There is reason to think this looks like a sinking ship taking on ballast weights.... IMO

You are not correct. Any animal has the ability to modify its behavior and override instinct/desires when it is suitably expedient to do so. My dog may bark at you when you walk past my fence, but he will not do so when he knows I'm watching. This is much the same as *most* criminals - they do not commit crimes if they know someone who will get them punished is watching.

Molesting children is corrosive to society, as adjudged by the majority. Killing them does not ensure this trait is bred out of the community as it is not shown to be an inherited trait. The appropriate thing to do is treat the problem responsibly. You do realize that you're suggesting we shoot priests in the head with a gun, right?

I'm not sure how well that will go down, but I might buy one of the tee shirts that will be sold afterwards.

So, here's a new motto up for grabs: Don't be evil... unless you can pay the MS licensing fees?

Not only that, but you could do it with a virus which is very picky about which computers it makes such changes to. Indeed, you could have a virus out in the wild today that is just waiting to find its way to your hard drive where it will find your name or some other piece of information before it begins doing what it was programmed to do. Since the virus is essentially a static file (non aggressive) on all other computers, the chance it would get wiped by antivirus software is much less.

I look forward to the day that people are forced to stop downloading/pirating music and videos. It would be awesome to see the look on legislators faces when they are told: look, no increase in profits. Told you so, there was no loss in profits to begin with. Now, undo all that crap that you did to protect a dying industry that doesn't even know it's own customer base well enough to stay in business. If you don't undo it, I'm going to get all my pirate friends to spend their efforts on getting you unelected rather than on worrying about downloading things. See, on the one hand you get a nice summer vacation from the entertainment industry and on the other hand, you lose your job. You pick.

Yes, and Monsanto employees and representatives should attempt to avoid walking on the target range of farmers accused of innocent infringement, though I think it would improve the world if they couldn't help themselves but to sit on target ranges more often. Our very own former Vice President set a precedent for the accidental shooting of people in hunting parties and on target ranges. In case the FBI is listening, I'm not advocating that people shoot at Monsanto employees and lawyers. Indeed, I think those people should shoot themselves and save us the misery they cause. I just think it would be more convenient if more farmers had their own shooting ranges.

And of course, the other end of the story, interns that end up with large medical bills, difficulty seeing out of both eyes, and other maladies the befall those who snitch for a living. I'm sure they've figured out how to make such snitching legal, but they are headed down the path of the 'war on drugs' that most of the USA has engaged in. To my knowledge, it has done nothing to stem the drug problem or the flow of drugs. It has on the other hand improved the technology that drug dealers use, in an ever spiraling war of attrition. Apparently this wasteful 'war on drugs' (life, money, resources) has not even been good as an example of what NOT to do. It's frustrating to see. Yeah, I know it's not quite the same thing, but close enough. The courts didn't help, so naturally the next step is to hire spies and snitches. What could possibly go wrong?

Tactile feedback does not sell new technology. What's more, waving your hands about in front of the screen is absolutely certain to be less confusing to your average computer user than a keyboard and mouse, which are more or less clearly labeled. We already have trouble with locating the 'any' key. There is no telling what kind of issues this technology might bring.

Tech support: ok, ma'am, slow down, just tell me what happened and we'll get this problem sorted out.
Customer: Well, I was reading email when my sister phoned. We were talking away when the next thing I know, the screen on my computer was all jumbled up with funny letters, and now I can't find any of my emails. They're all GONE.
Tech support: Ms Bonneti, do you and your sister talk with your hands?
Customer: What does that have to do with anything?

click.....