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Authored by drakaan on Sept 16, 2013 12:25:39 GMT
...actually, no functionality has been removed from most smartphones or DVRs, but rather, the operating system is focused on a particular subset of things and might not be designed to allow others. The software in no way changes what the hardware is capable of, but rather changes commands that the user is able to execute easily. Software projects like xbmc and cyanogenmod are examples of how those devices can be turned back a bit towards a more normal existence as general purpose computing devices.
I'll try to do some more writing on this before the week is out, but this is an important conversation to address in this topic, for sure!
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 27, 2013 19:14:18 GMT
If this was a geeklog site, we could do that. Freeforums uses different software (it's a forum, so centered around user discussion, and not published articles).
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 17:17:58 GMT
The personal computer sitting on your desk is a general-purpose computer. Your laptop? Also a general-purpose computer.
What about your tablet? Your smartphone running iOS, Android, or Windows Phone software? The Raspberry Pi that your neighbor's kid turned into an automatic sprinkler control?
Yes, yes, and yes.
Of course, those answers are not readily apparent to everyone, which leads to big problems when legal questions arise about what kind of legal protections pieces of those computers and their software are granted.
Computers are so ubiquitous today that we sometimes don't recognize them. An MP3 player today has more computing power than a home computer from 20 years ago. We have smart TVs and internet-connected thermostats. Computers are literally everywhere.
The Basics A general-purpose computer has a few parts that are important in order to identify it as such.
Processor A general purpose computer has a processor or "CPU" (Central Processing Unit) that is capable of quickly performing calculations and other operations on data. These operations typically include addition of two numbers, subtraction of two numbers, bit-shifting of byte arrays, multiplication, reading and writing numbers from memory, and sometimes more complicated mathematical operations on floating-point numbers.
Memory Computer memory allows for temporary storage of program data. This data can be a program, data that programs will work on, or both.
I/O Controllers I/O (Input/Output) Controllers provide a way for the CPU to read and write data from storage beyond the memory on the motherboard. This data might go to or come from a disk drive, network card, keyboard, video card, monitor, audio card, or other port (USB, parallel, FireWire, etc).
Mainboard/Motherboard The Motherboard is what the processor, memory, and I/O controllers are directly attached to. It provides physical connections between different parts of the computer, usually by means of metallic wires called "traces". A motherboard can have multiple layers with traces on each layer connecting different hardware components together.
Most computers have other devices attached to them (keyboards, monitors, mice, touchscreens) that allow human beings to interact with them, but those are peripherals. They are not essential to what a computer does, and are typically not required for a computer to be able to execute a program except in cases where the program is designed to accept input from or send output to a peripheral device.
What is NOT a general-purpose computer? These days, not much. Most often, these days, special-purpose digital computers perform signal processing functions. Dolby encoder/decoders are a good example. In a situation where you want a small, low-power semiconductor device that only performs a single function, an ASIC or FPGA device might have much better performance than a program running on a general-purpose computer.
A device that does not have a CPU, Memory,and I/O system and cannot execute any software is not a general-purpose computer.
(this page is a work-in-progress)
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 14:29:29 GMT
Just the same old logic wherein some people don't understand that programming a computer and programming a loom are note significantly different.
I think the main cognitive problem comes from the fact that computer displays can be updated fast enough to seem like they do more than display images while it takes a lot more time to make a new rug on a loom.
Actually, while it would be extremely slow, a computer using a loom as a display would be a good demonstration of why a program doesn't make a computer a new machine...it just instructs it to perform different calculations and display (or weave) something different...repeatedly.
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 14:09:01 GMT
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 13:58:20 GMT
Breaking news alert in my inbox from CNN To bad - Steve was doing a great job of destroying Microsoft. Hopefully they will find somebody of equal incompetence to replace him. Actually, I'm kind of hoping they find someone who understands that Microsoft could be a relevant company if they focused on making money from support and stopped trying to wring money out of their software licenses and license enforcement. They've dipped their toes in the water with Visual Studio and SQL Server Express editions...if they did that with Windows, they might stop losing market share. Say what you will about them, their developer toolset is pretty good.* *disclaimer - I spend a lot of time fixing asp.net/sql server web apps
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 13:48:59 GMT
Cm, what I was getting at is that based on what we know now, any communications involving computers in the US are likely monitored, which means that the username, password, and email address I entered to sign up here is probably known to the US government (or easily could be). That consequently means that that same government could access this site as me.
Extending this out to its logical conclusion, in order to protect users that are not US citizens, we would have to have one site for non-US citizens hosted outside the US and another for US citizens, just in order to lessen the chance that information would cross that boundary.
However...the bigger problem is that some other non-US countries have even more invasive monitoring (the UK, for example). This is the reason that PJ is trying to leave the internet. There is no safe haven. Everyone is connected to so many internet sites that they are likely already completely compromised, in terms of sending and receiving unencrypted communications.
All of that I agree with PJ on, and I find disturbing. What we *can't* do is to let that be a balkanzizing force.
We're not trying to be the next wikileaks (at least I wasn't expecting to participate in something like that, and wouldn't want to). I think we can reasonably discuss technology, law, and advocacy for the rights of individuals with respect to the same without verging into territory where we're sharing things about ourselves that we don't want the world to know.
Groklaw was a very public site, and PJ made a very personal decision...two different things, IMHO.
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 13:35:55 GMT
I would like to create an "Encryption and Security" board for PGP keys thread, tutorials, how-to's, etc. I will do so this afternoon, unless there is a serious objection.
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 13:31:53 GMT
"A federal judge has quashed Samsung's hopes for a new patent trial over Apple's "bounce-back" patent, a key issue in the pair's landmark trial last year. US District Court Judge Lucy Koh issued a ruling late Thursday denying a Samsung motion for a new trial regarding the "bounce-back," or '381 patent. Samsung filed this motion in July, according to Groklaw." Click here for the full article.
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 23, 2013 4:16:49 GMT
I like the woodlands one. That's the one I always used on Groklaw...
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 22, 2013 19:24:01 GMT
I think your idea about moving the site to a neutral country is interesting. I wonder whether it would make a difference, though...if a majority of members are located in the US (seems likely), then the server location is somewhat moot.
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 21, 2013 18:13:44 GMT
I haven't looked closely at profile information for users...those with a desire to could add a dated tagline along the lines of my suggestion, maybe?
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 21, 2013 17:33:10 GMT
Google Docs?
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 21, 2013 17:24:56 GMT
Good that I'm not the only one. Toured/searched the LoC site and couldn't find any reference to Groklaw. Also looked at whois for GK and I think it shows domain is okay 'til 2014-10-04. Is that May or October? (not exactly my bailiwick so I could be totally wrong) That date should be October 4th. That date format is typically YYYY-MM-DD
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Authored by drakaan on Aug 21, 2013 17:19:46 GMT
Created a new topic called "PGP Key Exchange". If you're sharing a key, do it there, please.
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