cnet.com · Domains · Slashdot Mirror

One small one I know of.... by MadAnthony02 · 2003-08-17 03:24 · Score: 1 · on Linux on Laptops Manufacturer Report Card Updated

The much-hyped Alienware laptops are actually made by a compny (can't remember the name) that are also sold as Sager's for much less, and the Sager's can be bought without an OS. However, they don't come in fruity colors like the Alienware.

Sager laptop

Alienware

Cnet user reviews (an funny mix of people pointing out that you can get the Sager for cheaper, and Alienware fans who can't seem to understand that)

Re:It's No joke by RealityShunt · 2003-08-14 15:14 · Score: 1 · on Power Outages Strike East Coast

One good link

realityshunt

And Lego just decided to use IBM's Tivoli by $exyNerdie · 2003-08-11 05:21 · Score: 3, Interesting · on Installing Tivoli Access Manager on Linux

Great, now I am gonna read this tutorial, learn Tivoli and apply for a job with Lego. If you don't know what I am talking about, check this story on eWeek.

-- Sig
TODAY'S REJECTED STORY:
This story on Reuters says that Linux is gaining ground in India and according to RedHat, about 10 percent of India's personal computers will be sold with Linux rather than Microsoft operating systems by March, 2004. Besides the plain switch of desktop operating systems to Linux, analysts say the bigger worry for Microsoft is the growing use of Linux among India's pool of an estimated 400,000 software developers, many of whom churn out code for giants such as General Motors and American Express. CNET , ZDNet and Hindustan Times are running related stories on the rapid growth of Linux in Asia.

4:3 with "widescreen mode (vertical compression)" by Kn0w1 · 2003-08-08 12:44 · Score: 1 · on Buying a New TV?

Of course it's up to you, but I picked 4:3. BUT I'd make SURE it has a "widescreen mode". (It might also be called vertical compression.. whatever, just depends on the brand, what "cool name" they decided to call it, and who you talk to)
Anyway

Why this is important: (IMHO)
When you watch DVDs or widescreen content, you can put the tv in widescreen mode and it will focus all the scanlines into the widescreen/letterbox area. So you get to have use of ALL of your horizontal lines to view widescreen, instead of WASTING 25% or more scanlines drawing black bars.
Some regular TVs also have this feature (I think the better Sony Vega's have it), but it's not as good because there aren't as many horizontal lines available.

The HDTV i got is the Samsung 27" TXM2796HF. ($535 floor model, $600 normally; but alas floor model because Samsung has moved on to newer models, so you probably won't be able to find this one. It got fairly good user comments on cnet.)

My reasoning for going 4:3 vs. 16:9 was:
1) price.. cheapest 16:9 was i think a 30" Samsung at $999. (most HDTVs are 30/32"+ and $1200+ anyway though)
2) distortion! 4:3 on a 16:9 tube will either DISTORT the image (everyone looks.. tall... like watching Conan or Red Sonja on TV), crop the image, or you'll burn in some vertical letterboxing (if the tv even provides this option).
I think 4:3 with a widescreen mode provides the best of both worlds (4:3 & 16:9); no distortion and no lost resolution for either).
3) there is not enough widescreen stuff out there now, nor will there be in the near future (IMO).
Even in the future, re-runs, old tv shows, all the current programming, your old videotapes, etc. will still be in 4:3 format.
I think it will be quite some time before MOST programs are in widescreen ... there are what 3 HD channels on DirecTV ? (which requires a new HD-receiver (~$300).) I don't know if you're lucky enough to even have HD broadcasts in your area.. we have *1* station, but we can't get a tv signal where we are anyway.. plus that requires an HD tuner box.. (more $$$; about $300)

By the time programming is the predominant format (7 years?) (not just widely available (3-4 years?) or even just available which it isn't really now) a better, widescreen HDTV will be (just like computers) cheaper then.

So (to me) widescreen will ONLY benefit you if you have HD channels you can watch (AND you watch them; currently only Showtime HD, HBO HD, Discovery HD) or if you watch a lot of DVDs.

Some other things to consider:
Go ahead and get HDTV now. An HDTV will still make current regular TV look better, scanline-doubling/filtering, etc. and you won't have an "obsolete" TV set to have to sell or take up landfill space later. You can upgrade the HDTV-ready with an HD-tuner/receiver box later when the FCC makes it mandatory to be built-in to new TV sets and this makes the external boxes cheaper.
If 27"/30"wide is too small.. anything bigger is also rear projection TV (RPTV) price range ($1200/1500+) ... which provide even bigger screen for the same price. And aren't quite as unwieldly heavy! (My 27" is 100lb. I imagine you're looking at 150-200lb or more for larger tube sets, HD or not. RPTVs typically have casters/wheels to move them around on..)

Boies on Contingency by bstadil · 2003-08-08 12:43 · Score: 1 · on SCO Calls IBM Countersuit "Unsubstantiated Allegations"

(it's more likely that he told SCO that they didn't have a prayer, and they ignored him).

He is on contingency so he must have bought into the program.

Quote:

SCO warned in a filing that its legal costs could be expensive, but the company revealed Wednesday that it doesn't have to bear the brunt of much of its legal costs. To pursue its case against IBM, SCO hired high-profile attorney David Boies--famed for his antitrust victory over Microsoft as well as his loss in the vote-counting controversy representing Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election.

SCO's legal costs are being paid under a contingency arrangement, McBride said. In such cases, lawyers typically are paid not by the hour but with a percentage of whatever money they can win for their clients in the case.

This is news? by twifkak · 2003-08-07 06:45 · Score: 3, Insightful · on New Microsoft Mouse Scrolls Both Ways

Because it's done by M$? Because it's done via "tilting"? 4-D mice are not new.

2 wheels
1 wheel (presumably via kybd modifier)
a trackball

Move along, people, nothing to see here. Please, go back to slamming Real or something much more important.

OpenSource's new advocate by PhilTR · 2003-08-06 13:42 · Score: 1 · on SCO Targets US Government, TiVo

CNet is running a peice on the Open Source And Industry Alliance an advocacy and lobbying group sponsored by the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

This is indeed great news. Now perhaps the OpenSource community can get behind this effort to politicise itself and vigorously advocate where it most counts, the halls of the U.S. Congress.

In its statment of principles and purpose, the OSAIA states:

Business, government and private individuals must be free to choose software and technologies that best suit their needs, independent of the methodologies or licenses used in their development.

The marketplace must be free of prejudice against open source software, whether through law, regulation, defamation or other means. OSAIA will act to achieve this goal."

This is a good start. The CCIA boasts a formidable stable of memebers including AOL, Kodak, Oracle, Fujitsu, Verizon, Yahoo and others.

There are several good resources on the web that are acting as clearinghouses for information that can be drawn upon as resources in this fight. Notably are TWikIWeThey , the Open Source Initiative , the Free Software Foundation.

Numerous weblogs are available as resources most notably Groklaw.
Pam has amassed an incredible wealth of links and facts surrounding the SCO v IBM issue. Another good site for legal info is the Daily Whirl which is a legal blog site index devoted to lawyers for lawyers covering among other subjects, copyright. GrepLaw and A Copy Fighter's Musings are two good places to start.

Finally, for those of you who want to develop good arguments against intellectual monopolies visit Boldrin and Levine's, Intellectual Property Page .

Re:my dear lord.... by nsda's_deviant · 2003-07-29 06:52 · Score: 1 · on Specs for Sony PSP Handheld

the specs remind me of the X Box specs that were announced way back when. Lots of hugelly impressive numbers but spec numbers are never the sole reason in dominating a market, exclusive blockbuster games do that (GTA, GT3, FFX ect). I've got to say I am damn impressed by these specs because its clear that Sony wants it do more than just play games, but it raises a lot of questions,

Doesn't the specs sound similiar to the CLIE UX50? Also, with a boatload of features what kind of price point is Sony expecting to hit here? Integrated CD+WiFi+GraphicsEngine+USB2+Memory Stick isn't going to be cheap. The stats suggest this is going to do more to replace my iBook than replace my SP. So maybe Nintendo shouldn't be worried, this device sounds like something completelly different than just portable gaming...

For the last time... by RevMike · 2003-07-29 04:10 · Score: 1 · on US Shrugs Off World's IP Address Shortage

The US isn't hoarding IP addresses. We have 70% of the assigned addresses because we've asked for them. Blocks are handed out as they are requested. The whole world will run out at the same time.

No shortage of IP addresses: IP registry head

Re:Laptops unnecessary by grendel_x86 · 2003-07-24 04:15 · Score: 2, Interesting · on Lecture Hall Back-Channeling

I wonder if the tablets would be any better.

When i was in a real school, i used to use a combo of notes(paper& pen) and typed. I only used the notes for things i couldnt do in vi, like pics, etc. And since it was a lot of code, it just made sense.

The big reason the computer helped is that i could search through them insted of skimming my aweful handwriting.

I think the tablet would come in useful as you could do those drawings where needed, type where needed, etc. I know there is no handwriting recognition software on earth that could decipher my chicken scratch, but it would have negated my need to waste paper.

I do agree that most people will just use them to play games, and have had profs make people turn off the monitors while class was going on because the clacking was annoying, and people wernt paying attention(which drags everyone down). Maybe in class there could be wireless that isnt open to the outside world, so im and browsing could be cut off at the will of the instructor. But that gets into other issues. Just a thought. Might try the tablet when i go back for more degrees.

Drawing with javascript by 2Wrongs · 2003-07-23 03:58 · Score: 1 · on Drawing Graphs on Your Browser?

One of the other comments about drawing with javascript got me curious. Drawing bar charts is easy, just stretch gifs and presto. However, I wanted to do pie charts and found this interesting article.. Probably wouldn't be too hard to throw some trig at it and expand it either.

Re:Hrm by rjamestaylor · 2003-07-22 07:36 · Score: 1 · on SCO Extorting Unixware Licenses to Linux Users?

Actually, the more it is on the Slashdot frontpage the better. Why? Google's News. Slashdot gets listed on the front page (top stories) quite often. This provides access to NON-TECHIES for prespectives other than Press Release Mills and the like. If Slashdot ignores SCOX on days when SCOX is in the news that perspective may be lost on the masses.

Re:DVI has copy protection by Synesthesiatic · 2003-07-21 15:25 · Score: 0 · on DVD Player With DVI Output

The real question is why the hell does this matter when a Google search for rip DVDs will net you a nice, free DVD ripper for your computer. Even CNet is covering commercial DVD copying programs, and they're a hell of a lot more convenient than setting up some weird DVI -> whatever rig.

Sony DVD +RW/-RW by mikewren420 · 2003-07-20 05:38 · Score: 5, Informative · on The Most Compatible DVD Format: DVD-R

...but the Sony DRU-500AX burns 4x DVD-R/-RW, DVD+RW/+R... clearly, this is the most compatible burner! :)

"The bad: No Mac support." Opps, nevermind.

Re:No Linux? What the...... by morcheeba · 2003-07-18 09:59 · Score: 1 · on Finding Freeware Listing Sites?

the company is CNET Networks, "CNET" on the NASDAQ. The own a bunch of other services.

More SCO News by joncarwash · 2003-07-10 09:18 · Score: 3, Interesting · on OSCON Panel: SCO Lawsuit About the Money

Here is another story on SCO, from CNET, focusing on their recent licensing deals and the impact on its earnings.

Also, in this story our "favorite" CEO claimed he was in Japan not to invade the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum but instead "just" to get more Japanese firms to license code from SCO.

By the way, when is that code you always talk about going to show up in court? I'm still waiting to see something, anything... yeah...

More SCO News by joncarwash · 2003-07-10 09:18 · Score: 3, Interesting · on OSCON Panel: SCO Lawsuit About the Money

Here is another story on SCO, from CNET, focusing on their recent licensing deals and the impact on its earnings.

Also, in this story our "favorite" CEO claimed he was in Japan not to invade the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum but instead "just" to get more Japanese firms to license code from SCO.

By the way, when is that code you always talk about going to show up in court? I'm still waiting to see something, anything... yeah...

Here are some links that might be useful. by CowBovNeal · 2003-07-05 08:11 · Score: 2, Informative · on Deep Space 6 Publishes New IPv6 Status Pages

IPv6- The Next Generation Internet - About IPv6.
IPv6 Forum
IP Version 6 (IPv6) - IPv6 at Sun.
No shortage of IP addresses - Cnet Asia
Big players push IPv6, but masses resist.
Ready for IPv6 - PC World
Ready for IPv6, Part 2 - PC World
Verio Brings IPv6 to North America
NTT Com Expands IPv6 Coverage
KDDI Labs Pilots IPv6 Network Between Japan and the US
Foundry Does 10GigE for N+I
Perspective: IPv6, the Net's next frontier

Some hints.... by David+Hume · 2003-07-01 19:20 · Score: 3, Informative · on Corbis Sues Amazon for Copyright Infringement

I'm not sure, but here are some hints.

The CNet article explains:

The complaint accuses Amazon of vicarious infringement for allegedly allowing its "trusted retailers" to offer Corbis images through its site.

"Amazon has failed to effectively supervise and control the infringing conduct of the supplier defendants," the suit says.

What are the requirements of the Amazon "trusted retailer" program? Are there any requirements that would either: (a) impose a duty on Amazon to supervise its third party sellers; or (b) put Amazon on notice of copyright wrongdoing by same? (Such notice may then create a duty to supervise.)

Further, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reportsreports:

The suit also alleges that the defendants are violating Seattle-based Corbis' copyrights by including images on Amazon's Web site to entice buyers to purchase the posters and other products.

While Amazon may (or may not) be liable for the items third parties sell through its website, perhaps Amazon is responsible for the images that it allows to be posted on its website. In other words, perhaps Amazon is the "author" of its website, and thus strictly liable for any copyright infringements published therein.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer article goes on to state:

Corbis attorney Dan Donlan said the company sued first because the "acts by Amazon were a little more blatant than what we would see in other circumstances."

I'm not sure what these "little more blantant" acts were. Again, perhaps the publishing of the copyrighted images on the website itself.

Re:What software? by 4of12 · 2003-06-26 07:30 · Score: 1 · on US Army Signs $471,000,000 Deal for Microsoft Software

if the Army is paying full retail

It sounds to me as if the U.S. Army could have got a lot better deal if they had bought their Microsoft software in Thailand.

Re:Public Domain Films by Minna+Kirai · 2003-06-23 04:45 · Score: 1 · on Legitimate uses for DeCSS

do is force an expiration on all of their products that is less than the protection, and then noone else is ever capable of distributing the work.

They already do this. Chemical breakdown will probably render most DVDs unusable within 40-50 years. (There's no real way to predict this, of course, but degradation of CD-Roms has already been observed, and the movie companies who sell DVDs have no motivation to improve the longevity of the media).

This page claims DVDs "usually last 70-100 years", which is ludicrous (what, they've got a time machine?). But someday copyright terms will probably be extended to at least 152 years, comfortably more than any optical media can be expected to last. The fact that the DMCA outlaws PD extraction of works whose copyright has expired will never be noticed, since expiration will be eliminated.

Re:Cnet has a better video by TheOverlord · 2003-06-18 07:04 · Score: 5, Informative · on Handspring Shows Treo 600 Smartphone at CeBIT

the video may have to cut and paste it, I had to.

LOOKING FOR A LAWYER by SubtleNuance · 2003-06-17 00:52 · Score: 1 · on SCO Amends Suit, Clarifies "Violations", Triples Damages

Ok, who wants to get seriously rich?

Have a look at this SCO price chart -- How long will it take for a judge to get to make some rulings in this case? what kind of timeline are we looking at? If you short SCO stock, you could get seriously rich if SCO gets clobbered by a judge to the order of "we throw this out", or "there will be no injuction against selling AIX" etc etc. There is a serious bubble building here.. if you bet right, you could do seriously well in a short position...

Article text by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-17 00:41 · Score: -1, Troll · on SCO Amends Suit, Clarifies "Violations", Triples Damages

SCO suit now seeks $3 billion from IBM Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
June 16, 2003, 9:20 PM PT

SCO Group has upped the ante in an amendment to its suit against IBM, seeking more than $3 billion in damages for alleged copying of proprietary Unix intellectual property into Linux.

In March, SCO Group surprised the world with a lawsuit seeking more than $1 billion against IBM in the case. An amended complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Utah added more claims against IBM, tripled damages to at least $3 billion, sought an injunction prohibiting IBM from selling Unix and detailed some accusations of technology moved to Linux.

SCO seeks at least $1 billion in damages from IBM's alleged breach of its contract with SCO; another $1 billion for breach of the Unix contract signed by Sequent, which IBM acquired in 1999; and another $1 billion for unfair competition. SCO also seeks more for misappropriation of trade secrets and punitive damages.

The amended suit also asserts that SCO holds copyrights to Unix, a point that could be key in future Linux and Unix litigation. Novell, which owned Unix intellectual property before selling it to SCO's predecessor, initially disputed SCO's ownership, but later relented.

However, the suit still makes no claims of copyright violation, which several independent attorneys believe could lead to stronger claims than that of trade secret infringement. After the Novell spat, SCO said it had not registered those trademarks. Independent attorneys say SCO must register the trademarks before basing legal action on them.

SCO has made no secret in recent months that it hired high-profile attorney David Boies to spearhead its case against IBM, but the company's legal representation in Utah courts is also noteworthy. The company retained Brent O. Hatch and Mark F. James of the law firm Hatch, James & Dodge. Hatch is the son of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a representative for SCO confirmed Monday.

The suit specifically blames Linux founder and leader Linus Torvalds for allowing proprietary Unix code into Linux.

"As IBM executives know, a significant flaw of Linux is the inability and/or unwillingness of the Linux process manager, Linus Torvalds, to identify the intellectual property origins of contributed source code that comes in from those many different software developers. If source code is code copied from protected Unix code, there is no way for Linus Torvalds to identify that fact," the suit said. "As a result, a very significant amount of Unix protected code is currently found in Linux 2.4.x and Linux 2.5.x releases in violation of SCO's contractual rights and copyrights."

Torvalds said in an e-mail interview that the Linux developer community's process is transparent and called on SCO to reveal what its specific complaints are.

"It's not our side that isn't identifying the code. We'll work damn hard to identify everything they care to name," Torvalds said. "In fact, the source control system is out there in the public, and it identifies the source and the reason for patches," mentioning the BitKeeper repository he's used for the past two years to keep track of code in the heart, or kernel, of Linux.

Torvalds sided with IBM over what rights Big Blue has over its code. "IBM, as the original sole author to a particular piece of code, has full copyright rights, and they (not SCO) can use the code they wrote themselves in any way they see fit," Torvalds said.

In its amendment, the Lindon, Utah-based company toned down some of the language questioning the abilities