unbelievable!

Lexmark apparently make printers that have a special chip in their ink cartridges whose only function is to prevent the printer working if you recycle cartidges or want to use a cheaper third party cartridge. They have brought a law suit under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against a company, Static Control Components Inc. (SCC), who make replacement cartridges that emulate the Lexmark anti-replacement chip.

Once upon a time people were delighted to exploit every edge they could gain in the spread of their products into the marketplace. Now it seems half the world has gone copyright-crazy! Lexmark want a law to ensure their product is consigned to the dusty cupboards of history???

Unbelievable! Such stupidity is truly awesome!

infinite radio spectrum

Wow! Here is a lovely tech piece in easy-to-read language. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/03/12/spectrum/

I already knew about frequency-hopping for radio communications (patented by screen goddess Hedy Lamarr, who seems to have been as smart as she was gorgeous), but it hadn't occurred to me that frequency-hopping, packet radio, and ultra-wide band transmission can make the radio spectrum an unlimited resource.

At the moment radio frequency bands are licensed to a few ultra-rich groups and the rest of us can only tune in to listen to radio and watch TV. If the above improvements in technology were adopted we could all use the radio spectrum to communicate freely, and much more effectively than at present.

Free Books!

Baen Books http://www.baen.com ( Read more... )