Data centers are reckless consumers of power. Since modern processors leak somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% of their peak power consumption even when idle and since most measurements show that most computers are nearly always idle, that’s a lot
Underlying requirement for hard real-time
Simple point that is widely ignored: you need hard real-time capability to offer any meaningful “soft” real-time. Let’s suppose you say that you can drop up to N frames a minute or K< N frames over any 10 second period
universal machinery
If even 20% of what Peter Gutman says is so, then I’ve been optimistic in my assessement of DRM.
DRM python sets another coil
Docomo is using Microsoft DRM products in its phones so that customers can move protected “content” between phones and PCs under control of the DRM software. The goal here is to generate a network effect so that it becomes difficult
GPL Interface arguments and proprietary kernel modules
(rewritten for clarity Aug 21, 22, 2007) Changing interfaces of GPL software is permitted under the GPL. The license specifically permits anyone to make any changes in the code. There is no limitation concerning the intentions of the coder or
Easy patent solution: Exponential method
Suppose that we said each year, each person named as an inventor or each company or person named as an assignee on a patent qualified for a rolling fee. Say $200 for the first patent, $1000 for the next, $5000
Notes on unintended security effects
I’ve been complaining about the security implications of DRM and “trusted computing” and “safe boot” for some time now. Susan Landau points out that the expansion of wiretapping has the same effect. Such threats are not theoretical. For almost a
notes on fault tolerance
Patent1 Patent2 Nonstop kernel. Suggestions? Something brilliant must have been discovered in 20 years? No?
Building what customers want
Visting LinuxWorld in San Francisco reminded me that one of the advantages Apple has in the cell-phone market is that it can set design goals to be “what people who buy cell phones want”. While you might think this would
DRM and Trusted Boot: is Sili valley following Detroit?
The trend in standard processor boards is truly an example of the tail wagging the dog. Consumer demand for locking down their PCs to make them slower, more vulnerable to viruses, more expensive, and less capable, is not high. And