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I can one up you. Someone out there with a wicked sense of humor is running a system out of a toaster.

From this C|Net article, These agreements normally take effect as a condition of installing software, and they ordinarily require customers to waive their right to sue over alleged defects. Such EULAs have been repeatedly upheld by the courts.

One such case is Zeidenberg v Silken Mountain Web Services, Inc, in which Zeidenberg won his case claiming the shrink-wrap license was invalid after he violated it to rip off the database on a CD and resell it cheaper - the case was overturned on appeal where the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld shrink-wrap licenses. They do make mention of a need to be able to return the product or see a refund if you refuse the license; but if it says, "by installing/using this you agree to these terms", then it considered that a valid contract under the UCC.

If you want to play lawyer on Slashdot, and least try to have your rudimentary facts correct.

First of all why is this flamebait? This is a valid question, google gets off with shit no one else would, other than say Transmeta. They have a spyware toolbar, track your usage forever (talk about privacy concerns, these guys know exactly who you are and what your fetishes are). Plus it seems they have no problem suing themselves, but it will never be posted on slashdot.

"I still believe in the end that most users will decide that IE is the best choice when they take into account all the factors that led them to choose IE in the first place," Schare said.

Microsoft knows as well as anyone that users don't "choose" IE - they've been getting it for the last 7 years as the default browser on their machinces. Ever since the death of Netscape, anytime someone actively makes a choice about a web browser, it's for something other than IE. People may have made the choice to switch to IE back at the tail end of the browser wars (I did), but MS hasn't given us a single reason to switch to IE since they stagnated at IE6 in 2001...

In fact, the "factors that led [me] to choose IE in the first place" where that is was faster, slimmer than communicator, and seemed to be more of a standard than Netscape was (back in 1998). Now if I take those same factors into account, Firefox is slimmer, less cluttered, works faster, and is far, far more standards-compliant than IE6

The fact that MS is getting defensive about their numbers seems to indicate that they might actually be worried again (like they were about Netscape and the Web becoming the dominant application platform, instead of Windows).

Another thing is that MS is really has not doing anything yet, anything publicly, so assuming there will be a responce from MS then we will see how FF withstands on MS's direct line of sight.

http://news.com.com/Start-up+pitches+high-end+Web+ apps+on+the+cheap/2100-7345_3-5458483.html

And how many patent lawsuits has Microsoft been involved in:

Microsoft, Tiscali sued over European download patent

Sun, Microsoft settle suit in billion dollar pact

Microsoft settles Intertrust patent lawsuit

Microsoft settles suit with Immersion

Microsoft settles 1999 Patent Infringement Case

Anything that can be forced on school children now can be forced on the whole population once the children grow up and form a significant fraction of the adult population, since they will be habituated to it and put up little resistance. Given this, the following comment near the end of the New York Times article is very disturbing:

"... they do see broader possibilities, such as implanting RFID tags under the skin of children to avoid problems with lost or forgotten tags. More immediately, they said, they could see using the technology to track whether students attend individual classes."

PC Expo: Sun buys object developer
Lighthouse Design noted for its OpenStep tools
June 1996
http://sunsite.uakom.sk/sunworldonline/swol-06-199 6/swol-06-lighthouse.html

Sun steps up acquisition efforts
April 24, 2001
Bungled deal
Jonathan Schwartz, who heads Sun's 63-person acquisitions team, says Sun bungled the purchase of his company, Lighthouse Design, in 1996.

"There was no integration," Schwartz said. "The only things that changed were the business cards and the T-shirts."
http://news.com.com/2009-1001-256399.html?legacy=c net

2001 report of bankruptcyfiling Followed by closing doors.
At one time there were Metricom trucks all over Atlanta putting their stuff on utility poles.

2001 report of bankruptcyfiling Followed by closing doors.
At one time there were Metricom trucks all over Atlanta putting their stuff on utility poles.

[Gack- repost with working link]

Sun software? Go read this.

Favourite quote: "Last year, not long after taking over as Sun's head of software, Schwartz brought his staff members together at the company's campus in Menlo Park to review more than 100 of Sun's crucial software applications, people who were in the meeting recall. After looking at the first 20, however, Schwartz threw up his hands in frustration at what he perceived as substandard work, and said bluntly, "Shoot me now!""

ROFL.

I don't blame him. It's a good sign for Sun though. First step to improvement.

Sun software? Go read a >.

Favourite quote: "Last year, not long after taking over as Sun's head of software, Schwartz brought his staff members together at the company's campus in Menlo Park to review more than 100 of Sun's crucial software applications, people who were in the meeting recall. After looking at the first 20, however, Schwartz threw up his hands in frustration at what he perceived as substandard work, and said bluntly, "Shoot me now!""

ROFL.

I don't blame him. It's a good sign for Sun though. First step to improvement.

Electrons hoping off sharp points = Field Emmission Displays.

Paper from 99 on carbon nanotube FED
Additional FED links:
http://www.physorg.com/news86.html
An important factor in commercialization is the price of raw materials. A number of Japanese companies including Mitsui, Toray Industries and Mitsubishi Chemical have well advanced plans to mass-produce CNTs and bring prices down to ¥10 000 (85)/kg.
And a mess more interesting stuff on the carbon nanotube field emmission display via google search.

Bill Gates certainly does:
"Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but people don't pay for the software," he said. "Someday they will, though. As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."

Looks like SUN is trying to live off corporate fear just as much as Micro$oft is: read this CNN story tech sites:

dated Aug 2 here. Apparently the preview version has been available to CrossOver Office customers for a while.

If he wants to recover his password, he needs to hack into their network.

Obviously.

AOL signed an agreement in May 2003 to use Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft pretty much across the board. They had Mozilla/Netscape all this time, and the hope has always been that they would use the Gecko engine as their main browser. But they didn't. And they won't. So yeah, it will be a cool thing, a GREAT thing, but I doubt it will happen. They already had their chance, and passed it up.

Hax.

.. and the Netscape dudes had a knack for milking the cash out of AOL.

$4.2 Billion can't be wrong ;)

Rather than cheering on file sharing, the EFF should be presenting us with the details of its alternative so that we can measure it against our current copyright system, and collectively decide which system we prefer.

The person is refering to my article here (click the "free day pass" for the full text -- fwiw, the "coping isn't cool" title itself wasn't written by me, that's by Salon).

Dont forget that the EFF used to suggest that the RIAA should be suing infringers. And their p2p solution hinges on the silly notion that *almost all* rightsholders will all of sudden voluntarily license their work, and *almost all* downloaders will all of sudden volutarily pay.

If you prefer that, then you prefer something that makes even less sense than what we have now.

He just has to buy the relevant patents.

http://news.com.com/At+tech+firms%2C+time+again+fo r+flextime/2100-1022_3-5448994.html?tag=nefd.pop/

Gary Schare, Microsoft's director of product management for Windows who never writes or calls, told News.com that he and his team were "sharpening pencils" in efforts to get the word out about IE's new security features in the Windows XP Service Pack 2 release.

Cnet has ms reaction to firefox. Its not a threat.
Quote "I don't agree that just because a (competing) product has a feature that we don't have, that feature is important," he said. "It is not. It is only important if it is a feature the customer wants. There are plenty of products out there with features we don't have. We have plenty of features that our customers don't use."

I would expect microsoft to say, firefox is better than pull ie off of windows.
Oh wait its not april 1st.

you mean like this?

Even if somehow downloading but not sharing the music were legal, he'd still be breaking the law.

You mean if, say, he was living in Canada?.

Apple v's Microsoft (good brief overview of the original $5.5 billion suit)

Apple patent window trasnparency

Apple patents iTunes interface

And lots more...just Google.

And at the distribution end, there is more bliss: "I never would have believed I would say this, but Microsoft has been easy to work with," said Ted Cohen, a senior vice president at EMI Recorded Music.

Big surprise, the record company guys are ignorant and/or blinded by greed. Microsoft is always nice and easy to work with, until they have what they need from you. Then they yank down your pants and bend you over.

The list of companies Microsoft has "partnered" with and then screwed is a long one. Expect more names on it in the near future:

Then: "We've been working and have gotten a lot of traction in this space for a long while," said David Caulton, group manager for the Windows Media division, adding that Microsoft has no plans for a competing service. "We're still very comfortable with the strategy of enabling lots and lots of partners to build these things, rather than build a closed proprietary service on our own."

Now: "Oh, we changed our mind about not opening our own music store. Sorry!"

I really don't think Microsquish intentionally "breaks" other software.

Some would disagree.

And let's not forget when they explored the idea of coding stuff into Windows 3.1 so that it displayed error messages if it was run on top of DR-DOS, for the sole purpose of making people who wanted to run Windows go out and buy MS-DOS as well.

And what about the spurious "improvements" they make to the .doc format with practically every new version of Word? That's just to screw everyone who wants to use competing word processing apps and to keep Word users upgrading to the newest version to avoid file-format hassles.

~Philly

According to this Yahoo is working on something too.

http://news.com.com/MS+to+invest+150+million+in+Ap ple/2100-1001_3-202143.html/

I think you're referring to the E Technologies Associates -v- IBM case.

IBM may face lawsuit over server name

And tell me that's not a case of a egotistical marketing think-tank.
[Link from news.com.com article] http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.m icrosoft.com%2Flibrary%2Ftoolbar%2F3.0%2Ftrademark s%2Fen-us.mspx&siteId=3&oId=2100-1012-5449348&ontI d=7343&lop=nl.ex

Second on the list: Active Accessibility.

How does Active Accessibility become a trademark? It's two common english words that could be used to describe anything.

My stairs have Active Accessibility. My bicycle has Active Accessibility. My television has Active Accessibility.

I can understand the need for a business to have recognisable trademarks. You don't want people to be chatting and one person says,

`I use Dogs Bollocks 2002. It's the best.'

And the other person thinks he's talking about a separate competitors product with the same name.

What I don't understand though is this apparent need companies have to register plain english (or whatever their native tongue is) words without any sort of company recognition built into the trademark.

Would it not be better to have, `MS Active Accessibility' instead of plain `Active Accessibility' simply for the fact that it would possibly negate any confusion over whether I mean Microsoft's Active Accessibility or my stair's Active Accessibility?

And what about the poor bugger named Tex Murphy? Does he get into trouble any time his name comes up on the `Net along with something to do with games?

Here's an article mirror in case this one gets /.'ed.

Regular TiVo keeps track of all you watch and record, leading them to distribute great statistics like:

'The baring of one of [Janet] Jackson's breasts at the end of her duet with Justin Timberlake, which caused a flood of outraged phone calls to CBS, was replayed a record number of times by TiVo users, a company representative said Monday.'

From http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5152141.html?part= rss&tag=feed&subj=news

Some. They still have the biggest share (31%) of the intel server market, but slipped a few percentage points during the recession, partly to Dell and IBM (disclaimer: just one source).
HP losing some market share in 2001 and offering an Opteron server in 2004 seem implausible points of causality, though. If I were to speculate, HP's high level of diversification (relative to Dell, e.g.) and participation in the non-Intel server market reduces somewhat the influence over them by the Wintel duopoly. There's definitely a market demand for a viable 64-bit PC server platform. HP is perhaps a little more able to try to sell to that demand than an OEM more dependent on the favor of Intel et al.

Yeah, but Treo might not be PalmOS for much longer. Before PalmOne acquired them they were even contemplating moving to another OS. PalmOne itself is looking at some Linux based OSes. Here's a link to the article.

Have a look here.

From the article: In 2000, the Business Software Alliance conducted a raid and subsequent audit at the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based company that turned up a few dozen unlicensed copies of programs. Ball settled for $65,000, plus $35,000 in legal fees.

A business with 72 desktops and a couple of servers ended up paying $100,000, and all indications are that there was NO intentional pirating going on, just a bit of carelessness and sloppy bookkeeping.

Oh really? Maybe you should tell that to Ernie Ball. I'm sure that little tiff with the BSA was all just a big misunderstanding.

http://com.com/2100-1006_3-5447042.html

The original CNET article by Michael Kanellos

Yes. And that statement from Steve Vamos where he says that IE doesn't lack important features is not the only one that suggests that Firefox's market share could continue to increase. But here's another quote from him that I liked.

"I'm not sure that that is the reality. I have seen comments around that, but there is nothing I can refer to that really supports that"

This quote in the article was referring to the threat to IE's market share posed by Firefox. And yet in this article which the article linked to, it suggests that Microsoft should be concerned if they do not want IE to lose market share. It says that for the last five months, IE has lost market share that has evidently been gained by Mozilla/Firefox.

And so I just cannot help but wonder how much market share must IE lose before its executives cease to make statements such as the ones that we are laughing at here?

CNet/News.com frequently mirrors NYTimes here

Acidus writes "I called around today to the big OEMs (Gateway, Dell, HP, IBM) ... While no one offered Linux preloaded on laptops...

Dunno who you talked to dude, but HP has been selling a linux-preloaded laptop (the nx5000 for quite a while now. It's gotten quite a few nice reviews as well:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5831949/
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/HP_Compaq_Business_No tebook_nx5000___Linux_configurable_/4505-3121_16-3 0816347.html

Aw heck, just do a google search yourself...

Step 1: Tell everyone that you see the future of Microsoft being anchored by an extensive IP and patent portfolio.

Step 2: Start patenting EVERYTHING you can think of that's even remotely related to software, regardless of prior art or validity.

Step 3: Tell everyone that Microsoft will protect its customers from IP lawsuits.

Yep. Nothing to see here... move along, please.

Quite a few actually. And for those who have upgraded to XP-SP2, the MyDoom varients are a non-issue. Double MyDoom for Internet Explorer

What are the top 10 reasons to use FF over IE? I'll start:

1. Security
Any really good arguments here?

2. Standards
Open standards ensure that independent vendors can compete on fair grounds. The W3C is the de facto standards body for internet standards. Firefox is implemented from the ground up based on those standards. Standard compliant websites will show in any browsers (on any platform) that also complies to the standards, and not just in a specific browser with its own standard.

3. Extensibility
Different users have different needs. For most, the normal Firefox distribution has all required features. For some, a specific extra feature is of considerable value. Firefox has support for plugin's, which is small custom components of code that can deliver near any functionality.

4. Reliability
In firefox, what you see is what you get. No hidden agendas, no spy-ware installing behind your back.

5. Comfort
Do you remember how the internet was a few years back when there were no annoying pop-up's and you didn't have to worry about spyware installing on your machine behind your back? With Firefox, you can once again realize that blissful sensation of using the Internet.

6. Continuity
Firefox is not going to stop innovating at 1.0 or whenever it has market dominance. Firefox is here to stay, and to keep evolving.

7. Slickness
Firefox has stunning looks and sleek controls. You can download a theme with a few clicks, or you can create your own. Firefox is hot, Internet Explorer is not.

8. For the people, by the people
Microsoft is not your friend. Firefox, like much open source software, is built for the people, by the people. You'll find that Firefox is surrounded by an enthusiastic community of supporters, not big business. Firefox, like other Open Source Software, is built, maintained and supported by people who believe in sharing, cooperation, and community.

9. ?

10.?

Ximian people have never claimed that KDE was going away. That was the conclusion of others (less well informed).

When I heard that name I couldn't shake the image of Hugo Weaving's, (Agent Smith in the Matrix), voice saying that to Neo all the time.

In fact every time I see Hugo, like in the Lord of the Rings, I still hear him saying that...
"Mr. Anderson!"

Anyway, I'm glad to see that Best Buy is finally being recognized more for their money grabbing. Being an independent computer consultant, I'm tired of the Compaq/HP pushers filling the market with crap.
Further, the Geek Squad is now eating into my profits from service.

Irregardless, I for one welcome our new overlords. I've simply switched purchasing from OEM vendors to purchasing from Best Buy, Staples, Future Shop and so forth when rebates and discounts make it profitable.

What I dislike the most is that it's such a GAME.

Here is how you play and what you get:

1. Comb the flyers weekly, (both online and mailbox versions).
CircuitCity.com
FutureShop.ca
Staples.ca
BestBuy.ca
BestBuy.com
LondonDrugs.ca
OfficeDepot.com
RadioShack.com
(Please add more, I'm sure there are many)
2. Compare prices from Ebay, factoring in landed costs like shipping and duty.
3. Compare reviews and comments on items you are thinking of buying.
Tomshardware.com
Zdnet.com
4. Try to take advantage of 150% buyer protection by pitting store against store.
5. Now go and purchase what you can at the lowest possible price.
6. You will now get sales pitches, reams of paper receipts and mumbling twitchy eyed sales people running about checking the validity of your homework.
7. Don't forget to use any Airmiles, Reward Cards etc. to get even more discounts.
8. Before you leave the store, make sure you have everything you'll need to make a proper rebate.
9. Immediately test the product(s) you buy.
10. Do any returns ASAP.
11. If you do a return, make sure you go back to see if it's on the bargain table :->
12. Immediately fill out and make copies of your rebates, receipts and UPC codes.
13. Check everything for accuracy and dates.
14. Call help lines if you are missing any critical items or are unsure of anything in the rebate process before hand.
15. Immediately mail in rebates and keep postal receipts for your records.
16. Goto 1.

What you get is a product for a price you should have gotten right from the #$%king beginning.
Welcome to the rat race of buying and selling.
There are no winners, just lots of wasted time making paper for bureaucrats, lawyers and accountants.

Maybe we are just living in The Matrix.