Re: [SC-L] Java: the next platform-independent target

2010-10-26 Thread Kevin W. Wall
On 10/25/2010 04:26 AM, Martin Gilje Jaatun wrote:
 On 2010-10-22 04:51, Kevin W. Wall wrote:
 In a large part, I think that people fail to patch Flash or Acrobat
 Reader for the same reason they forget about Java...out of sight, out of
 mind.* I think they believe that Windows Update solves (or should solve)
 *all* their patching needs.  I think many of the Linux distros have it
 right in that respect...one-stop patching pretty much for whatever you
 have installed from your Linux provider's distribution channel.

 There are third-party vendors who do offer this as a service to Windows
 users - I know about the Danish company Secunia and their Corporate
 Software Inspector (CSI) service; there may be others out there.

That's true, I think BigFix is another (no endorsement intended),
but 1) these services are not obvious / trivial to locate and
evaluate for reliability, and 2) more importantly, why should a
general user have to trust yet another party? Look how many folks
get mislead into downloading fake AV software to protect their
supposedly infected PC. If they are not discerning enough to know
that, would they be any better with judging the reputation of
these other companies that might offer total patching as a service
similar to Secunia's service? I personally think that's doubtful.

-kevin
--
Kevin W. Wall
The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree,
is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals.
We cause accidents.-- Nathaniel Borenstein, co-creator of MIME
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[SC-L] Colin Angle interview

2010-10-26 Thread Gunnar Peterson
from interview with iRobot CEO and founder Colin Angle:

Are you planning on developing apps for robots like Roomba and Scooba?
The robot operating system architecture will divide in half. The mobile 
industry is moving far faster and is far larger than the robot industry. You’ve 
got a couple of wonderful front runners, Google and Apple, which have developed 
software platforms that are optimised around communication, voice recognition, 
graphics and touch screen interfaces. That’s enabling for the robot industry 
but it’s not sufficient. If your phone dies nothing that serious happens. But 
if you’re robot dies and it’s bigger than a Roomba, you don’t want it to topple 
down the stairs. There’s a need for reliable, safe, secure software at the core 
of the robot.

But there will be a division between the core robot OS which is carefully 
designed and has fail safes and the cool, sexy UI for the consumer. Things like 
iPhone control first evolve in the informal hacking communities but over time 
the robots will have much more sophisticated operating systems and be able to 
link in to other systems. Ultimately though if the robot’s function is to be 
vacuum cleaner, it needs to do that well first.

One day I see lots of robots managed by a butler robot. I talk to it and it 
talks to the other robots. At that point you’ll see a lot of human interaction 
features on the main robot. You could have Android OS running on part of that 
robot alongside a safe and secure robot OS. There’s a place for co-operation.

http://m.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/colin-angle-irobot-ceo/all/1

-gunnar
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