Slashdot Mirror

I also read on heise.de that it will be limited to a screen resolution of 800x600.

Given the fact that most modern websites are designed for 1024x768 and all the recent games require at least 1024x768 I wonder how useful an OS is that is limited so severe. Your nextdoor Linux distribution is 10 times more powerful than "XP Starter Edition". I would continue to pirate if I would be presented with that kind of joke.

Heise thinks that in the keynote he mixes up the Nuremberg trials (he can't even spell it) with the Milgram experiment.

Ouch!

Dem Beklagten wird [...] untersagt, im geschäftlichen Verkehr zu Wettbewerbszwecken auf kommerziellen Webseiten [...] fremde Namen, Geschäftsbezeichnungen, Marken oder sonstige Begriffe zu verwenden, wenn die Webseiten keinen inhaltlichen Bezug zu den verwendeten Namen, Geschäftsbezeichnungen, Marken oder Begriffen aufweisen, auch wenn die Verwendung dergestalt erfolgt, dass die Begriffe für den Internet-Nutzer nicht bei Aufrufen der Domain unmittelbar sichtbar sind, sondern nur von Suchmaschinen ausgewertet werden oder im Quelltext ersichtlich sind.

In English:

The defendant is enjoined from using, for commercial purposes on his website, names and trademarks that do not belong to him, or other words, if these names, trademarks, or words have no relation to the websites they're on, even when they are used in such a way that they are invisible to a casual visitor and are only interpreted by search engines or visible in the source code.

So this means that you may not place an entire dictionary in black-on-black on your website, where only Google will see it, but you may use words that somehow relate to your business, even if the sole purpose is to advance your Google rank. (Or at least this ruling doesn't prevent you from doing that.)

It should be noted that the caption "declared illegal in Germany" is a little bit misleading. No court is bound by this ruling. What's more, as Heise rightly notes, the German courts have yet to find a clear position on what you can and cannot do in meta-tags. For example, in February the OLG Düsseldorf ruled that it is o.k. to use someone else's trademark in your meta-tags to attract visitors. But other courts have ruled the same thing illegal (e.g. LG München I very recently). http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/49232 has some details.

The yesterday release of M1.7.2 and FF0.9.3 are fixed. Source: http://www.heise.de/security/news/meldung/49786
(German site) :)

Oh ya, they dont want bad PR.

Riiiiiiiight.

DRDOS
Windows95 Registration Wizard
Bundling Antitrust
NSAKEY
Windows Product Activation

Etc. Etc. Etc. Me thinks their image is just a bit beyond repair at this point

that kind of reminds me of an article i read...quite interesting...explaining why traditional british english as i understand it used billion to mean a million million (10^12) versus american english which has always (to the best of my knowledge) used million as 10^9. apparently through some history i can't quite remember from the article, france began to use million as 10^9.

since france was the shit when it came to science around the time americans started to worry about big numbers ^_^ (look ma! i can count w/o my toes! joke joke joke), we looked to france of course, and inherited 10^9

some of the history of billion is here
and here, if you read german

If it was so bad the NSA would not have their own version.

Of Windows or Linux ?

he he

(who knows what M$ + NSA put in the closed windows source that might hurt other nations)?

Cryptographic code for a start.

---

It's wrong that an intellectual property creator should not be rewarded for their work.
It's equally wrong that an IP creator should be rewarded too many times for the one piece of work, for exactly the same reasons.
Reform IP law and stop the M$/RIAA abuse.

Just in case somebody is wondering what company this injunction was targeting: According to heise it is Sitecom.

An immediate consequence of this judgment will be that Sitecome will not be able to market their offending router products in Germany unless they start complying to the GPL. There is an interesting twist to this case. The company that has been sued in Germany is named on Sitecome's website as distributor for Germany - they also happen to be a wholly owned subsidiary. They argued that since they do not produce but only sell and support the products that the issue should be brought up with there parent company and that they are in essence not responsible for sitecome.com's actions. This argument was dismissed by the court because they were the only one's listed for Germany on the website. This brings up the interesting questions would this judgment also apply to independent distributors of Sitecome's product who happen to be listed on their site? The way this judgment is worded I tend to believe the answer is yes - alas I am not a lawyer.

Fifteen Years of Technology Reporting

In general, And still no expose on price fixing and monopoly abuse, still no coverage of fundamental research in both software and hardware, just the same copy and paste press release stories. No undercover journalism, no coverage of the spamming and malware writing "bad" parts of PC town. Still the same meaningless benchmarks and megahurts ads for articles. No coverage of the scary moves by the once garage operation and now mega coorporations. No credit where credit is due for real inovation, no mention of the real inventors of "the next cool thing", just of the latest guy to market a clone years later.

Overall I really hope that the dead tree coverage is better elseware in this world. Beside the likes of el`reg and vulture HQ only C`t seems to have some grip with what is going on. At slashdot we often joke about the dumbed down (or plain dumb) coverage by "normal" news sources (cnn/nyt), but the dedicated dead tree rags basicly have no journalism/real news whatsoever.

Sure its more complicated then this, but when looking back, do you see improvement over the years?

Heise calls them Un-CDs (in German).

There are so-called "quiet" SMS that the police use for tracking cell phone users. These are SMS without text payload which "ping" the mobile phone without ever showing up on the display.
Of course, their tracking method goes a bit different: they triangulate the distance from the towers. Since every cell phone tower consists of an array of antennas, you can simply measure on which antenna the signal is strongest for an approximate direction. Combined with the distance measurement (from signal strength), this gives quite a nice accuracy (~100m). Of course, that would be of no use on large events, but it's enough to track, say, a software patent violator in the woods.

Note that here (in Germany) you officially need a judges permit to actually use this technique, but since these messages are basically invisible, their use without permit is to be strongly suspected. Here is an article (in German) dealing with this topic.

I was wondering about that, too, here's what I found:

A MAME status report from April 2000 states that "Martin Buchholz sent in a Poly-Play driver (the only arcade machine ever produced in GDR, the former East Germany) with thanks to Jürgen Oppermann, Volker Hann and the Videogame Museum in Berlin (especially to Jan-Ole Christian) - without them, the driver would not have been reality."

This German article elaborates on that a little bit. Basically, they analyzed existing hardware and built a MAME driver for it. That's what they do for other games, too - usually, however, implementing a platform will give you more than one box to emulate...
(The museum people were quite happy to have the MAME emulation, of course, because one of these days, the hardware is going to fail, and now they'll at least still have the games in working order.)

The second article also talks about four missing games: Their names are in the software and people in the comments section remember playing them, but none of the surviving machines seems to have the games.

Their names are:
"Der Gaertner" (The gardener)
"Im Gewaechshaus" (In the greenhouse)
"Hagelnde Wolken" (Hail clouds - apparently some kind of Space Invaders clone)
"Der Taucher" (The diver)

Jens

Seeing as how the games seem to be in German, why is the game machine named (and prominently so) in English?

Ordinarily, I'd chalk it up to the way German borrows fairly heavily from English (have a look here if you don't believe me). I suspect the East Germans didn't do nearly as much borrowing from English as the West did, though...do you suppose they ended up appropriating Russian words?

...is that some sites (such as heise.de) have already started blocking *@mailinator.com addresses.

This trend will surely spread once more sites become aware of the "on-the-fly" nature of Mailinator e-mail accounts.

You can use anything@example.com and noone will have trouble with a full inbox.

3. Reserved Example Second Level Domain Names The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) also currently has the following second level domain names reserved which can be used as examples.

example.com
example.net
example.org

If you follow the logs of the meeting (yes you can find them over the net) and various other sources. Holland: The parliament basically was basically betrayed with false facts in a document. The minister worked with lies which he later blamed on a mistake in the text processor. During the meeting basically poland was tricked into a yes which still is questionably legal (there are rumours that there was a irregularity in the voting process concerning poland) and denmark as far as I can remember was quite agnostic and also tricked into the whole thing without really caring (they simply wanted the meeting to end). Germany is a whole different issue, two days before the meeting the german government said they are going to vote no, to calm the critis, and they votetd yes. There are several main protagonists. First of all Boelkstein of the EU commission who is clearly on the side of the BSA in this, probably indirectly on their pairoll. Then responsible local minister Renate Zypris, who either does not care or thatever, she basically even though being confronted by critics several times (last time in an open discussion on Heise, which you can read here , never really argues about the problems, but comes with empty phrases and does not answer the concerns of the critics. She basically only answers with half lies or empty phrases. Thus her direction is clear, software patents no matter how big the impact for the european industry is (which probably will be devastating). And last but not least, the german cancellor himself, Gerhard Schröder, who last week in a so called open discussion literally kissed the asses of the Siemens managers in this issue. Siemens of course, a company with mass layoffs from Germany to asia, presses for this issue and the german government follows like a puppy without a brain. Clear corruption or blackmail, if you ask me. Unfortunately the german public media ZDF also added something to this chorus and basically made a report which put the patent critics into the same light as software pirates, which is totally wrong. However all is not bad in germany, there a lots of critics at the second level and the parliament, the german greens also feel quite unhappy about the whole issue, and also the german FDP. However the important persons of both big german parties basically are in the same bed with the 2 german multinational software companies.

I think Starbucks can increase their revenue by following Monkey Island 4's lead. They should open a Starbuccaneer's which caters to today's modern pirates (y'arr). They could offer free p2p services inside which will allow mighty pirates to steal games, movies, and music!

Screenshots of the Starbuccaneer's concepts available here and here.

I'm sure Starbucks can buy the licence to use Starbuccaneer's pretty easily.

But, living in germany, the taxes on DVD-recorders (german, sorry) will probably eat up the win for the consumer.

Google translation here.

The Inquirer: "A plan by the European Council of Ministers to force the continent wide adoption of the Directive on Software Patents suffered a blow yesterday when the Dutch Parliament ordered a minister to withdraw the country's support".

Groklaw says "The Dutch parliament is making news. It has just withdrawn its vote for the Directive on Software Patents. It's a proof-of-concept vote, you might say, the first time such a move has been taken in the history of the EU, demonstrating that other countries are free to do the same, as we reported on June 22.".

In Germany, Heise covers the story. In the Netherlands, the story is making headlines all over the place, lik e for example on webwereld and Tweakers.net.

This sudden change of direction is a long story, in which a classic case of desinformation of the Parliament triggered a whole process of debates and motions.

I wonder what'll happen in the EU anti-trust sanctions.

This just in: Microsoft already paid the fine of 497.2 million Euro. Details at Heise (in german, but you can always use babelfish).

When I was still living in Germany, I used to read C't regularly, and many others did too. Among sysadmins, IX was also popular. Both from Heise.

When I was still living in Germany, I used to read C't regularly, and many others did too. Among sysadmins, IX was also popular. Both from Heise.

When I was still living in Germany, I used to read C't regularly, and many others did too. Among sysadmins, IX was also popular. Both from Heise.

I've been reading c't (in German) for more than a decade now; and it's still the best magazine.

the magazines i read regulary in austria (schwarzenegger) are c't, iX and the online-mag telepolis. on telepolis there're english articles too and an interessting column named WTC Conspiracy, with the first article about 9/11 posted on 9/13! other good literature is: linux magazine, freeX and of course SPIEGEL. on the web good places are golem, ORF, n-tv. unfortunately are the english magazines quite expensive (wired or hustler, both over EUR 10|-!). grtngs

the magazines i read regulary in austria (schwarzenegger) are c't, iX and the online-mag telepolis. on telepolis there're english articles too and an interessting column named WTC Conspiracy, with the first article about 9/11 posted on 9/13! other good literature is: linux magazine, freeX and of course SPIEGEL. on the web good places are golem, ORF, n-tv. unfortunately are the english magazines quite expensive (wired or hustler, both over EUR 10|-!). grtngs

the magazines i read regulary in austria (schwarzenegger) are c't, iX and the online-mag telepolis. on telepolis there're english articles too and an interessting column named WTC Conspiracy, with the first article about 9/11 posted on 9/13! other good literature is: linux magazine, freeX and of course SPIEGEL. on the web good places are golem, ORF, n-tv. unfortunately are the english magazines quite expensive (wired or hustler, both over EUR 10|-!). grtngs

The best "PC Related" Magazine that I know of is c't.
Very insightful, good know-how articles, writers that know their stuff and even an occasional homebrew hardware project (like a USB / RS232 Interface in the latest issue)

What other PC tabloid these day still has detailed architectural comparisons between the latest AMD and Intel creations. Or will devote pages to the advantages vs. disadvantages of the current RAM technologies.

I would compare c't to Byte Magazine in the mid-80s, before Byte went "mainstream".

Thomas

I read the magazines c't and iX from the german Heise Zeitschriften Verlag mainly for my own (practical) use. I'd advise the german-speaking /. readers to give them a try!

I read the magazines c't and iX from the german Heise Zeitschriften Verlag mainly for my own (practical) use. I'd advise the german-speaking /. readers to give them a try!

I read the magazines c't and iX from the german Heise Zeitschriften Verlag mainly for my own (practical) use. I'd advise the german-speaking /. readers to give them a try!

while most articles are german, there is an english edition.

topics include information society, privacy, computer games, influence of american politics on europa, technological advances and so on.

however, beware of the wide range of article quality. most authors are freelances. some obviously suck, but they are easy to identify.

C't. IMHO the best computer magazine out there, covering Windows, Linux and Mac. I also like their fair and balanced (no joke intended here) product tests.

This is not really new. There was an article in the german IT magazine c't recently, which resembled mostly what is in several hints like this one. It's about using Rendezvous on a Linux box combined with a streaming server for iTunes. Works great and is real good fun!

I think the internet's broken. That first link, heise online, it's in a whole other language.

I've already tried resetting the defaults on IE...

Can anyone help?

--

I uhm... write stuff, but not well, and not often

By definition, no competition can apply in this circumstance. Copyright is a legally sanctioned monopoly. There's no way to make "P2P" legal unless you abolish copyright law entirely.

Since P2P was legal in Germany, this sounds rather weird.

Property includes both tangible and intangible assets, whether you like this fact or not.

Property was invented because some things are scarce. But others aren't and that's why they weren't handled in the same manner as property. Copyright is centuries old, whereas the term "intellectual property" originates from the second half of the 1900s. But then, what am I talking to you? Pearls before the swine.

Property includes both tangible and intangible assets

Yes, that's why I'm talking scare/not scarce, not tangible/intangible. By definition, all tangible things are naturally scarce, but intangible things are either:

• Not scarce. Example: basic memes, works in the public domain, open source software (not in all aspects) etc.
• Artificially scarce, e.g. money, copyrighted works, patent implementations. All of these have to be well justified. Scarceness of money is certainly well-justified (required to keep inflation under control), the same goes for copyright and patent law in general, but IMO not in all aspects. It is those insufficiently justified aspects of scarcity which I oppose.

Locke specifically considered and rejected the economic theory of property.

I'll take a look at that, thx, sounds interesting.

But have you ever looked at the box a DVD comes in? Or, for that matter, watched it? There's a message right there that says, in essence, that unauthorized reproduction or distribution is prohibited.

A message on a box doesn't make for a valid contract, and it never did. An attempt to enforce it would result in the judge laughing you out of the courtroom. The message at the beginning does not and cannot initiate a contract either and it's just a legal reminder (which is not necessarily correct, depending on what specifically it says) that certain usages are prohibited by copyright.

You know, you could have made your position much more tenable simply by saying "There should not be" instead of "There is no."

Oh my, WIPO (founded in 1974) took some pre-existing concepts (copyright, patents, trademark, trade secrets) and re-branded them "intellectual property", and now you think that the whole purpose behind them was IP. That's nonsense - they just call something different "intellectual property". It's like renaming Dolly the Sheep "Dolly the Buffalo". There was no such thing. Just because you would start calling your president "Santa Claus" doesn't mean that Santa Claus actually exists.

It was never legal.

US maybe. It was legal in Germany (German page, the author IAL as in IANAL).

I think you might have something useful to say someday.

As I said, I'm still learning, and I definitely learned something from this discussion, which is probably surprising after the insults. ;)

In Berlin, Germany, newthinking store opened on June 1 (in German, Google translation). Here is the annoucement on Heise (in German, Google translation). It is aimed mainly at the general computer-interested public and sells distros, preinstalled hardware, documentation, and merchandising. Hardware components that are guaranteed to be supported under Linux will also be included in the range of products. newthinking store is part of the newthinking network, which includes the modules communications, IT systems, and design.

[yes, blatant plug]

As Heise reported (translated version) on June 1, there is already a store which sells all about Linux in Berlin, Germany.

As Heise reported (translated version) on June 1, there is already a store which sells all about Linux in Berlin, Germany.

Try unCDcopy from the German news site Heise.

Try unCDcopy from the German news site Heise.

as you can see heise.de which is very reliable posted this story yesterday.

Nokia wants to use Minimo in their smartphones.

Asterisk is a complete PBX in software. It runs on Linux and provides all of the features you would expect from a PBX and more. Asterisk does voice over IP in three protocols, and can interoperate with almost all standards-based telephony equipment using relatively inexpensive hardware.

Asterisk provides Voicemail services with Directory, Call Conferencing, Interactive Voice Response, Call Queuing. It has support for three-way calling, caller ID services, ADSI, SIP and H.323 (as both client and gateway). [...]

Asterisk needs no additional hardware for Voice over IP. [...]

Asterisk not only supports traditional phone equipment, it enhances them with additional capabilities.

Using the Inter-Asterisk eXchange (IAX) Voice over IP protocol, Asterisk merges voice and data traffic seamlessly across disparate networks. While using Packet Voice, it is possible to send data such as URL information and images in-line with voice traffic, allowing advanced integration of information.

I agree, it would be a good thing for them to speak out against swpat.

In related news, this Heise article (german) says that Janelly Fourtou, who was in charge of reviewing that IP directive, is under investigation for being biased on this question, as she directly profits by strong IP laws.

I sure hope that heads will roll, and that things will be rectified - after all, the democratically elected european parliament went clearly against software patents.

Transmeta's implementation works also for current generation efficeon chips, since it's 100% "firmware based" (in their codemorphing software). Source (german):
mczak

Do you remember to wipe the sensor after use?

I am reminded of an article several months ago on spoofing fingerprint readers. The gelatin technique is likely the one most Slashdotters remember, but for some, it was sufficient to blow on the detector. c't has lots more fun details, but these have both been on Slashdot before.

Yes she was. A few days ago, she was guest at an online discussion where these questions were asked.
She claimed that Germany could achieve significant improvements in the negotiations and therefore voting for the directive was OK.

I don't buy it, BTW.

For those of you who understand German, here is a link:
Heise Newsticker

"Definitiv bestätigt hat Intel jedoch nur, dass die Entwicklung des geplanten Prescott-Nachfolgers mit Codenamen Tejas sowie seines Workstation-Kollegen Jawhawk eingestellt wurde. Stattdessen soll ein echter Doppelprozessor, also ein Prozessor mit zwei physischen Kernen auf dem Chip, im nächsten Jahr die Desktops bevölkern. Allerdings wollten die Kalifornier noch nicht zugeben, was alle Internet-Spatzen von den Websites zwitschern, nämlich dass es sich hierbei nicht um einen Nachfahr der in Oregon entwickelten Pentium-4-Linie, sondern um einen Spross aus der israelischen Design-Schule in Haifa handeln soll."

"Intel has only acknowledged that development of the Prescott successor Tejas and its workstation-brethren Jayhawk has been discontinued. Instead, a true dual processor - a processor with two physical cores on the chip - will populate desktop PCs next year. The californians were reluctant to admit what many are speculating about - namely, that this probably won't be a descendant of the Pentium-4 line developed in Oregon, but a child of the israelian design school in Haifa."

According to Heise (german), the Germans forced a collection of amendments through. The idea behind the changes was to protect free software and avoid trivial patents.