The Pentaganda Scandal
U.S. Media Bend Over
News continues to filter out of the US mainstream media. Bits of news, that is. But mostly bafflegab lead by the Pentagon and the Administration. If you think there's a grain of truth in US news coverage, you should read what the NY Times has to say. And here's Citizen Greenwald's reaction to it over at Salon, commenting on how disgraceful it is that CNN et. al. have not even responded to the NYTimes' criticism, let alone done anything about it.
Gee, I'm so glad I live in Canada; OUR government would never do such a thing; OUR government enjoys such a wonderful working relationship with the press. Or not :-)
Gee, I'm so glad I live in Canada; OUR government would never do such a thing; OUR government enjoys such a wonderful working relationship with the press. Or not :-)
"Red Lights Will Never Be The Same", Part 1
My car got totaled while I was in it, but not even moving! Not my fault...
Seam Leaves Home (on good terms)
In addition to cranking out a new stable release (2.0.1.GA) and a new early access release (2.1.0.A1), The JBoss Seam framework has been renamed to "The Seam Framework" and has a new website, http://www.seamframework.org/. This represents a "growing up" of sorts, similar to e.g., Jakarta Tomcat becoming Apache Tomcat, and differentiates Seam from the many smaller projects that are also part of JBoss - see the new diagram at http://labs.jboss.org/projects/, and note that Seam is right there at the top of the web tier. While still funded by RedHat/JBoss, with this new domain Seam is obviously being positioned to compete head-on with similarly-named project The Spring Framework.
As part of "moving out", Seam has been given a new logo, see http://www.seamframework.org/Community/GetASeamIcon. This is used in their new web site, which is of course running on Seam and available as part of the downloads (http://www.seamframework.org/Download). Speaking of downloads, if you're using a version older than 2.0.1.GA, now would be a good time to download and upgrade.
Also, there is a new book about Seam, Seam In Action (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933988401), which you can now buy in Early Access (http://www.manning.com/dallen/) - you get EA PDF's now and the final version when it's released, and optionally a paper copy then too.
Finally, JBoss Tools - the all-encompassing Eclipse tools for developing Seam and Hibernate projects - has been upgraded to 2.0.1.GA. You might want to download this as well.
As part of "moving out", Seam has been given a new logo, see http://www.seamframework.org/Community/GetASeamIcon. This is used in their new web site, which is of course running on Seam and available as part of the downloads (http://www.seamframework.org/Download). Speaking of downloads, if you're using a version older than 2.0.1.GA, now would be a good time to download and upgrade.
Also, there is a new book about Seam, Seam In Action (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933988401), which you can now buy in Early Access (http://www.manning.com/dallen/) - you get EA PDF's now and the final version when it's released, and optionally a paper copy then too.
Finally, JBoss Tools - the all-encompassing Eclipse tools for developing Seam and Hibernate projects - has been upgraded to 2.0.1.GA. You might want to download this as well.
Bit o' good news, The real 'An Enemy of the State', etc.
Pols, Freedom, Gun Control, and Open Source
In the U.S. Congress, the House Democrats finally stood up to be counted, voting through their own bill which does not provide a unilateral amnesty for all the law-breaking that went on after 2001-09-11 by the big telecoms violating everybody's privacy. Although this bill is rather unlikely to get signed into law, it's a big baby step forward for a Democratic majority that was voted in, in large measure, to oppose Bush's crushing of the constitution.
The title "An Enemy of the State" is most often associated with a popular 1998 Will Smith movie. But it was used several times before that. The most relevant one for me is Justin Raimondo's 1992 biography of Murray Rothbard, entitled of course An Enemy of the State. Lew Rockwell has finally done this book justice with a detailed review, entitled "Still the State's Greatest Living Enemy".
I also note that Benedict D. LaRosa has written a gun control article that's worth reading. Written shortly after the Virginia Tech murders, this article lays the blame squarely on the University Administration and the state government, but brings in other American examples. It could be read in conjunction with this UK information (UK government lied about gun crime to try to make the populace think that their draconian gun control was "working"). And this Canadian item that shows gun homicides actually on the decline, which also points out that criminals don't obey gun laws any more than any other - they are criminals, after all.
Speaking of lies, this article notes that the US Government was using prohibited weapons in Iraq and lying about it. But that should surprise nobody who's got an IQ greater than that of a wheat germ.
To end on a lighter note, here's a piece entitled The REAL Reason We Use Linux, which applies just as much to BSD.
The title "An Enemy of the State" is most often associated with a popular 1998 Will Smith movie. But it was used several times before that. The most relevant one for me is Justin Raimondo's 1992 biography of Murray Rothbard, entitled of course An Enemy of the State. Lew Rockwell has finally done this book justice with a detailed review, entitled "Still the State's Greatest Living Enemy".
I also note that Benedict D. LaRosa has written a gun control article that's worth reading. Written shortly after the Virginia Tech murders, this article lays the blame squarely on the University Administration and the state government, but brings in other American examples. It could be read in conjunction with this UK information (UK government lied about gun crime to try to make the populace think that their draconian gun control was "working"). And this Canadian item that shows gun homicides actually on the decline, which also points out that criminals don't obey gun laws any more than any other - they are criminals, after all.
Speaking of lies, this article notes that the US Government was using prohibited weapons in Iraq and lying about it. But that should surprise nobody who's got an IQ greater than that of a wheat germ.
To end on a lighter note, here's a piece entitled The REAL Reason We Use Linux, which applies just as much to BSD.
RepRap and The End of Want
The Santa Claus Machine?
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series, one of the most pervasive inventions was the "replicator", a device that could magically create any object, including a mug filled with "Earl Grey Tea, hot". This device ended poverty on planet Earth and on all planets that were allowed access to "Federation" technology. Need food? Just ask for what you want. The replicator has post-WiMax access to vast databases with the molecular formulae for every known food and drink, as well as every known object. It also apparently ended economics and economies, since the study of economics has as its deepest basis, its most secret heart of hearts, one person's need voluntarily to trade with another for something of value. If one can replicate anything one needs, why trade?
We are a years (if not centuries) away from being able to create such a replicator. But the first steps are being taken, and some of them with the same communal attitude that pervades ST:TNG's discussions of economics. RepRap is a project that is building simple "3D printer" replicators today. The project's web site has a subtitle of "Wealth without money..." These replicators can make small objects by a process known as fused deposition modelling (FDM for short). Commercial FDM machines cost around $30,000; the RepRap "Darwin" would cost about 1% of that, around $300-500 depending on how much you buy and how much you build.
The brainchild of Adrian Bowyer of the University of Bath in the UK, the RepRap project is not only building simple replicators, but giving away all the technology to make them, and even encouraging everybody who builds one to build the key parts for two more and pass them on. All the plans are freely downloadable, so you could build one without spending a nickle with the project. Though you'll find that their buying-in-bulk policy will save you money over buying some of the components directly. All the software, similarly, is freely downloadable from SourceForge. Written in Java so that it can run on almost any computer, the main driver software is covered by the GNU Public License which allows anyone to use it freely, and prevents it, or software based on it, from being re-sold in proprietary form. A far cry from patenting the ideas and charging license fees. Although, given today's idiotic patent system, I have encouraged Bowyer to patent any key innovations and either dedidate them to the public domain or assign them to a free-patent trust. But in fact the original idea for the replicator is neither from Bowyen nor from TNG. As the RepRap web site honestly points out, the general idea seems to have been invented by famed computer science pioneer John Van Neumann, under the name "Universal Constructor". I like "replicator" better.
To be really useful, this project needs a way of creating the computer files that describe objects. There are many CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) programs around that can be used, but this is time-consuming. What if you break a cup and want to replicate one to keep a set (relatively) intact? What you want for that is a "3D Scanner." Such things exist, at around the cost of a good computer server; see this 3D Scanner advertised at US$2,500 (web site is dysfunctional without some proprietary plugin). Presumably, the cost of these will come down, or mayhap some worthy RepRapper will publish a low-cost design for one that can be built on your existing RepRap replicator.
There are, of course, many other projects going down similar paths to openness. Open Source has been around for thirty years (long before Stallman). Open Hardware is clearly similar to early Ham Radio and do-it-yourself computers (there was even a home-made PBX). Asterisk is open-source software that lets you more easily turn a PC into a PBX. The OpenMoko cell phone project which I have written about here and here) has always made its software available under the GPL, and recently released the CAD files for all the mechanical (e.g., case and mounting) components of their cell phones.
Keep in mind, though, that today's replicator is to the ST:TNG replicator as, say, Leonardo da Vinci's glider is to the Space Shuttle. While TNG's replicator works at the molecular level, today's RepRap is purely an electro-mechanical "3D printer", recognizably a direct descendant of the "numerical-controlled machine tool" works of the 1960's and the inkjet printers of the 1980's. The first version (named after me, or more likely, one of my more famous distant relatives) can only make things out of thermal plastic. And a given object is likely to be all the same color. It cannot even deposit metal, thus, it cannot make circuit boards, and cannot be called "self-replicating", one test of Von Newumann's "Universal Constructor" (another key test is self-assembly). In short, RepRap could make the tea-cup (in about a quarter hour), but not the tea. In fact, it has made shot glasses that hold whiskey, though I haven't even started building a RepRap yet, so I don't know if the particular plastic used imparts any taste to the beverage. That said, it has made many of its own parts. And never forget that the US Space Shuttle is "recognizably a direct descendant" of da Vinci's glider. Nor, that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
We are a years (if not centuries) away from being able to create such a replicator. But the first steps are being taken, and some of them with the same communal attitude that pervades ST:TNG's discussions of economics. RepRap is a project that is building simple "3D printer" replicators today. The project's web site has a subtitle of "Wealth without money..." These replicators can make small objects by a process known as fused deposition modelling (FDM for short). Commercial FDM machines cost around $30,000; the RepRap "Darwin" would cost about 1% of that, around $300-500 depending on how much you buy and how much you build.
The brainchild of Adrian Bowyer of the University of Bath in the UK, the RepRap project is not only building simple replicators, but giving away all the technology to make them, and even encouraging everybody who builds one to build the key parts for two more and pass them on. All the plans are freely downloadable, so you could build one without spending a nickle with the project. Though you'll find that their buying-in-bulk policy will save you money over buying some of the components directly. All the software, similarly, is freely downloadable from SourceForge. Written in Java so that it can run on almost any computer, the main driver software is covered by the GNU Public License which allows anyone to use it freely, and prevents it, or software based on it, from being re-sold in proprietary form. A far cry from patenting the ideas and charging license fees. Although, given today's idiotic patent system, I have encouraged Bowyer to patent any key innovations and either dedidate them to the public domain or assign them to a free-patent trust. But in fact the original idea for the replicator is neither from Bowyen nor from TNG. As the RepRap web site honestly points out, the general idea seems to have been invented by famed computer science pioneer John Van Neumann, under the name "Universal Constructor". I like "replicator" better.
To be really useful, this project needs a way of creating the computer files that describe objects. There are many CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) programs around that can be used, but this is time-consuming. What if you break a cup and want to replicate one to keep a set (relatively) intact? What you want for that is a "3D Scanner." Such things exist, at around the cost of a good computer server; see this 3D Scanner advertised at US$2,500 (web site is dysfunctional without some proprietary plugin). Presumably, the cost of these will come down, or mayhap some worthy RepRapper will publish a low-cost design for one that can be built on your existing RepRap replicator.
There are, of course, many other projects going down similar paths to openness. Open Source has been around for thirty years (long before Stallman). Open Hardware is clearly similar to early Ham Radio and do-it-yourself computers (there was even a home-made PBX). Asterisk is open-source software that lets you more easily turn a PC into a PBX. The OpenMoko cell phone project which I have written about here and here) has always made its software available under the GPL, and recently released the CAD files for all the mechanical (e.g., case and mounting) components of their cell phones.
Keep in mind, though, that today's replicator is to the ST:TNG replicator as, say, Leonardo da Vinci's glider is to the Space Shuttle. While TNG's replicator works at the molecular level, today's RepRap is purely an electro-mechanical "3D printer", recognizably a direct descendant of the "numerical-controlled machine tool" works of the 1960's and the inkjet printers of the 1980's. The first version (named after me, or more likely, one of my more famous distant relatives) can only make things out of thermal plastic. And a given object is likely to be all the same color. It cannot even deposit metal, thus, it cannot make circuit boards, and cannot be called "self-replicating", one test of Von Newumann's "Universal Constructor" (another key test is self-assembly). In short, RepRap could make the tea-cup (in about a quarter hour), but not the tea. In fact, it has made shot glasses that hold whiskey, though I haven't even started building a RepRap yet, so I don't know if the particular plastic used imparts any taste to the beverage. That said, it has made many of its own parts. And never forget that the US Space Shuttle is "recognizably a direct descendant" of da Vinci's glider. Nor, that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.