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Every single VC startup I have been a part of or seen close up are nothing more than a "buddy's clubhouse" where they waste money on stupid crap and dont really use their windfall of money for the real task at hand. If you have a personal investment into the company then you will work hard to make it succeed.

If you got your beer idea on a napkin that you convinced some moron to give you $800,000 to start doing, you're gonna screw off and try to play "rich guy" until the money runs out.

Can I join the clubhouse? Pleeeeeease? I've seen both sides, where the rich kids play there's tremendous flair and waste (see: ENRON, the smartest guys in the room for a nice illustration, I wasn't at ENRON, but another Houston company with startlingly similar stories in the halls.) When you get to the traditional North-East US VC outfits, they are tighter with their money and control than any normal company - and that really sucks for morale and productivity, while it totally crushes creativity and ingenuity. They also expect to fail 95% of the time. Cheerful bunch, they are.

So, what's better? I'd like to see a system inspired by Whuffie where there's a OSS development grant pool and somehow the developers who are getting the most merit points (most satisfied users, best peer reviews, etc.) get the compensation. It's a flawed system, at best, highly vulnerable to gaming and other manipulations, but if the rewards were in the moderate range - say, ranging from basic subsistence salary up to maybe triple that for the "best" of the grantees... maybe a self-policing mechanism could be worked out.

Not nearly as much fun as burning through $80K per month on good hotels, fine dining and cool gadgets, but maybe people who want to live like that should figure out a way to do it without having the money handed to them.

So, if they are found guilty, what's to stop "interest groups" from going after gun manufacturer's next saying that they are enabling criminals?

Taking this one step further ... I could then go after the RIAA for "disturbing music" like Gangsta Rap and such.

And don't forget to go include MPAA for ANY of these movies ... it will drive a normal person to commit multiple acts of violence.

My meaning was distributing files that do not have the copyright holder's permission to distribute.

So put the blame where it belongs: prosecute the person who originally made the torrent available, since he/she is the only person who knowingly posted the content and can attest for his/her (un)authorization to do so.

I think it's pretty obvious that "Confessions of a Shopaholic" is not being distributed with the copyright holder's permission. I'll quite happily give you odds of 50:1 on it if you want to put money on it.

Oh wait. I have this file on my hard disk named "core". It must surely be a copy of this copyrighted work that I have no right to distribute.

What if I write an essay about my personal drama as a shopaholic and publish it online?

50:1 odds are no acceptable grounds to convict anyone (nor can you really derive such a number realistically). There is reasonable doubt and the particular situation should be investigated instead of assuming guilt.

Once again, we have to assume extreme stupidity to believe that 90% of the content on TPB is distributed with the owners permission.

And you throw the other 10% out with the baby water, because you think the lazy attitude of outlawing Bittorrent completely is socially more acceptable than verifying copyright infringement claims on an individual basis.

But once again, we have to assume impressive stupidity on the part of everyone for not realising the extremely high probability that it's illegal.

Then do as someone else said: do not ever open a web page again, because it might contain some copyrighted content --- and you'll never know about it until the bits are already in your RAM!

Geez, is it hard to understand that the problem with the "let's ban Bittorrent" argument is the extremely dangerous consequences it has for the rest of the Internet?

In law, there's the concept of "knew or should have known". Maybe the copyright holder on an obscure low budget animation is hard to determine but a yopu can't make the same claim for a major motion picture, whose owners have contacted you explicitly to let you know that they have not given permission for the distribution of the file.

Maybe I don't see Hollywood movies; maybe I don't watch TV. Honestly, I haven't been at the movies for so long that I probably wouldn't recognize 90% of the movies that came out in the last three months by their titles. I don't think it's too far-fetched to assume I won't be able to recognize some copyrighted work through a file name.

By the way: law indeed has a concept of "knowing". That's why you distinguish between murder and manslaughter, to give the most obvious example. If the prosecution can prove that you fully understood the implications of your actions that led to someone's death (as opposed to an unpremeditated accident), you'll get a harsher sentence.

So ultimately TPB's defence relies on a genuine belief that people are making high budget movies and giving them away for free.

I think TPB's defence relies on the assumption that a machine (torrent tracker) cannot decide whether some content is okay to redistribute or not. The people who made the content available can, so if you want to prosecute anyone, you should prosecute them.

Regarding the second link you provided:

Short of being possessed by satan, I see no good reason to tie a second grader to a desk.

Perhaps it's not them that needs liberating from dictatorial governments, it's us that needs liberating from a downward spiral into social implosion.

Idiocracy. That's where our society is heading to.

Actually, there's a film I believe was the inspiration for the game. It's called From Beyond. At some point in the film there's even an Ichthyosaur-like creature.

From the imdb summary:

Dr. Pretorius and his colleagues are working on a sensational experiment: by means of stimulation of the pineal gland, they want to open the human mind to higher dimensions. When the experiment succeeds, however, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms, which apparently are floating around us all the time.

It's an awesome movie, not just because of it's similarities to Half-Life.

What do you mean nearly intact? Them just bones. Not nearly as intact as The Encino Man

Because people with 14-16 year old daughters who shack up with some manipulative scumbag will tend to turn to vigilantism if the police don't do something about it.

I'm from the UK, where the age of consent is 16. Now you could argue that this was an arbitrary line. I think it's more or less right though, this guy dug up the some studies

http://www.slate.com/id/2174841

He proposes three boundary ages

12 - when you can physically have sex - when women reach puberty
16 - when you're intellectually mature - people under 16 score quite badly on intelligence tests
25 - when you have some kind of emotional maturity - people under that age don't have proper self regulatory systems

Which is a bit like a boot sequence when you think of it - I particularly like the way there's ten years between 16 and 25 where you're smart but clueless.

As he puts it -

I'd draw the object line at 12, the cognitive line at 16, and the self-regulatory line at 25. I'd lock up anyone who went after a 5-year-old. I'd come down hard on a 38-year-old who married a 15-year-old. And if I ran a college, I'd discipline professors for sleeping with freshmen. When you're 35, "she's legal" isn't good enough.

What I wouldn't do is slap a mandatory sentence on a 17-year-old, even if his nominal girlfriend were 12.

Now 16 is the age of consent in the UK. And I wouldn't date anyone under 25, so his lines seem reasonable to me. 18, the age of consent in the US seems a bit high, but I don't see a problem with that. Actually one thing about the US that I definitely don't agree with is criminalizing sex between two under 18 year olds. I personally don't think it is good thing for under 18 year olds to be having sex with each other, but I don't think it should be illegal.

But an age of consent of 14 in places like Serbia is probably the reason that there are so many trafficked East European girls working as prostitutes in the UK. 14 year olds are way to young to know whether their new, older boyfriend in a sports car who promised them a job as a dancer in London is a pimp or not.

I think you mean The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Hourglass is the latest Zelda installment on Nintendo DS.

This is an unauthorized thought process.

You ought to torrent shows like ReGenesis, The Border, Little Mosque On The Prairie and Trailer Park Boys, a lot of which you can't get in the States unless you live close to The Line. Corner Gas is sometimes seen on WGN, however. There's some good stuff happening above The Line, and I'd LOVE to see more of it down here.

You ought to torrent shows like ReGenesis, The Border, Little Mosque On The Prairie and Trailer Park Boys, a lot of which you can't get in the States unless you live close to The Line. Corner Gas is sometimes seen on WGN, however. There's some good stuff happening above The Line, and I'd LOVE to see more of it down here.

You ought to torrent shows like ReGenesis, The Border, Little Mosque On The Prairie and Trailer Park Boys, a lot of which you can't get in the States unless you live close to The Line. Corner Gas is sometimes seen on WGN, however. There's some good stuff happening above The Line, and I'd LOVE to see more of it down here.

You ought to torrent shows like ReGenesis, The Border, Little Mosque On The Prairie and Trailer Park Boys, a lot of which you can't get in the States unless you live close to The Line. Corner Gas is sometimes seen on WGN, however. There's some good stuff happening above The Line, and I'd LOVE to see more of it down here.

You ought to torrent shows like ReGenesis, The Border, Little Mosque On The Prairie and Trailer Park Boys, a lot of which you can't get in the States unless you live close to The Line. Corner Gas is sometimes seen on WGN, however. There's some good stuff happening above The Line, and I'd LOVE to see more of it down here.

The same goes for the Band

What band?

These guys, known to have been Bob Dylan's backup band back in the day. You have heard of Bob Dylan, yes? They also did an interesting documentary that was well-recieved.

As Baber Siddiqui once said, "The best way to seperate men from women is Hockey Night in Canada.

True poetic justice would be for these corrupt, callous judges to serve their sentences in the same kind of environment to which they were happy to dispatch juvenile defendants.

Also operated on commercial grounds? Because the very concept of a commercial prison to me seems...something out of a really bad science fiction movie....

The Visitor wasn't science fiction - they did a pretty good job of portraying a real commercial prison.

Welcome to the U.S. of A. land of the fee, home of the depraved?

Fortress wasn't "really bad"!

Just so long as they still cast Rosamund Pike (the girl that played Samantha Grimm) :)

We better beware!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054511/plotsummary

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116768/

Now they'll have to come out with another sequel to Weekend at Bernie's

It was pretty much the same thing with spies. Cold War spies had more in common through their clandestine or counter-intelligence work, at times forming strange bonds that transcended nationalism.

If you love these kind of Cold War cat-and-mouse games, I highly recommend Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It won't have the same kind of action as The Hunt for Red October, but Alec Guinness is great.

Russians used to do what were called "Crazy Ivans."

Yes, we all saw The Hunt for Red October.

Looks like you missed the reference.

Michael Moore had a fair attempt in Sicko. Check it out at your earliest convenience...

Of course, he can't be right because he smells like a *liberal* and we know that's bad..

a historical document demonstrates the usefulness of that method within human and alien species.

In support of above, I can recommend seeing the 2005 documentary China Blue.

It illustrates exactly these choices.

I'm waiting for my Cherry 2000 personally...

Neat... it will become a movable feast for our Martian overlords and space aliens, then?

Dude. Everyone knows that's just wrong. There are only 10 dimensions.

In what universe?

Wow, I think you just describe the plot of *batteries not included.

If the movie Encino Man taught me nothing else, it was that bringing back a cavemen can only result in hilarity. And the guys who brought him back would finally get respect from the popular kids too.

No. By some quirk of reality, most suburbs are not covered by ocean.

Not yet...

And then Mothra to hunt the pterodactyl to prevent THEM from getting sucked into engines, and then Godzilla to in turn keep mothras from taking down planes.

We need to keep giant ants out of engines now?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573/

The evil of the government in this film is driven not so much by cruelty as by bureaucratic incompetence, much of which is played for laughs. But some of the scenes look eerie today, in our post-9/11 world, and are good fodder for conspiracy theorists. Pay particular attention to the scene where the official boasts that the government is winning its war against "the terrorists." The movie is ambiguous as to whether there are any real terrorists, and we have a sneaking suspicion that the explosions are caused by the government itself. The plot is set in motion by a typographical error leading an innocent man to be arrested instead of a suspected terrorist. The movie is not about this man but about a meek government worker, Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), who's observing from the sidelines. Robert De Niro has a cameo as the wanted "terrorist" whose crime, from what we see, consists of doing home repairs without the proper paperwork. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/

I remember a "Simon and Simon" episode (early 80's) that featured a whiz kid with an Apple II Plus. The plot focused on his hacking abilities, but he was also shown playing Raster Blaster.

Simon & Simon had a crossover with the short-lived series Whiz Kids, with first A.J. Simon appearing on a Whiz Kids story, then the two brothers visiting Richie Adler in a Simon & Simon episode. One or both of these may be what you're remembering.

While Simon & Simon is being released on DVD, there's no sign of Whiz Kids being released. I hope they at least include the crossover Whiz Kids episode with Season 3 of Simon & Simon.

I remember a "Simon and Simon" episode (early 80's) that featured a whiz kid with an Apple II Plus. The plot focused on his hacking abilities, but he was also shown playing Raster Blaster.

Simon & Simon had a crossover with the short-lived series Whiz Kids, with first A.J. Simon appearing on a Whiz Kids story, then the two brothers visiting Richie Adler in a Simon & Simon episode. One or both of these may be what you're remembering.

While Simon & Simon is being released on DVD, there's no sign of Whiz Kids being released. I hope they at least include the crossover Whiz Kids episode with Season 3 of Simon & Simon.

I remember a "Simon and Simon" episode (early 80's) that featured a whiz kid with an Apple II Plus. The plot focused on his hacking abilities, but he was also shown playing Raster Blaster.

Simon & Simon had a crossover with the short-lived series Whiz Kids, with first A.J. Simon appearing on a Whiz Kids story, then the two brothers visiting Richie Adler in a Simon & Simon episode. One or both of these may be what you're remembering.

While Simon & Simon is being released on DVD, there's no sign of Whiz Kids being released. I hope they at least include the crossover Whiz Kids episode with Season 3 of Simon & Simon.

That is good advice. It is WORSE than you think and THEY are out to get you. Extra points for rigging your apartment to burn down at the flick of a switch ala Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory. Seriously though, why should we trust the government? They have given us no good reasons to trust them. It is better and safer to treat the authorities as potential adversaries rather than trusted friends.

It's more scientific since it's impossible to prove a negative, it's not so much that an agnostic thinks that there is a reasonable chance that fairies and gods exist as much as they realize that there is a close to insignificant chance that the laws of physics might stop being consistent.

Since the chance exist you have to accept that the agnostic position is the correct one, however that doesn't mean you're meant to accept faith as reasonable.

I saw a great movie by an agnostic a few days ago:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/

And I agree with him that doubt is the correct position to take in all things that can't be proven.

Because it'd be fan-freaking-tastic if the geekiest guy in the office asked her, "Dr.Hathaway? Are you wearing makeup?" every freaking morning. Just sayin'.

That would be universally stupid man!

1. They pay for the software based on Full Time Employees, and often that is seen as the same thing as EVERY MACHINE. That means they think that every machine they don't install the software on, is wasting them money.
2. The agreement is for all of the applications listed in the Product Use Rights document, and can include a large list of applications. Therefore, they may not be having to pay extra, just base price.
3. The software is not purchased, but can be used for the time of the agreement, which means that campuses HAVE TO RENEW or they loose all of their software rights. If the campus has been purchasing computers without any software (as some will do), then every computer would be useless to them if they allowed the agreement to expire.

This is insidious in that for less than $50 per Full Time Employee (FTE), the campus can install the OS, Office, and a large number of applications ON EVERY MACHINE. However, whenever this runs out, they have no software that they can use, so unless they have completely transitioned to non-MS software during the last year of the agreement, they have to renew.

The other side of the problem is that there are applications that will require them to use Windows and even MS Office. Some of this are back-ground programs you will never know about ,such as document imaging and retrieval in the administrative departments, or systems such as the student use systems like Blackboard. While there may be alternatives for some systems, there may not be some for other, critical, applications. Also, switching can not be done incrementally, but has to be done all at once. This causes concerns with data migration, upkeep, and end-user training.

However, all hope is not lost. First, since lab computers don't have to pay for licenses, it can be argued that they are freebies, and not using them is not wasting money. You can then start trying out alternatives there. This can also be done in smaller departments which will not see as much money lost by not using licenses off the Campus Agreement.

Also, Campus Agreements can be negotiated by department. Therefore, you can see if some departments can be exempted completely from having to participate. You can then show them how much they would save by going with the FOSS options, as compared to being forced into the MS CA.

Finally, look for departments with lots of Macs. While they are often hooked on MS Office for the Mac, they are usually more open to alternatives. Showing them NeoOffice or OO.org on OS X can be a first step for them.

As in all things, here is what you need to remember:

1. All universities have money issues, saving them money is always good. However, they see spending money for something (like a Campus Agreement) and then not using it (even on a few computers) as wasting money. Try to ween them off of smaller items first.
2. Educational value is important. Show them how using this software can, and will, actually improve the education that students receive. This is usually good with Faculty Senate or other faculty based legislative bodies.
3. The administrative departments are usually walled fortresses of information. Some are based on necessity, such as the Registrar's Office protecting student data, others are based on fear of loosing budget money. Don't expect to walk up to such a department and expect them to roll out the red carpet for you.

Remember, you want to help them, you want to help students, and they want to help students. Therefore (paraphrasing Jerry Maguire) you are trying to help them help students.

Good luck to you.

Star Trek was the first television show to try and treat seriously science fiction as opposed to shows like Lost in Space that were clearly space operas. I wasn't really aware of "Tom Corbert, Space Cadet" as a series as it was before my time (and most /. readers as well).

One thing that did work in favor of the Star Trek original series is that they had three seasons worth of material.... which was just barely enough to be worth putting the series into syndication during the 1970's as airtime filler for local television broadcasters. While most /. readers likely don't remember the original airings of these episodes, there certainly are many who remember when they were late night re-runs (still are in some markets).

BTW, of the "classic" science fiction programs that pre-dated Star Trek, my absolute favorite is X Minus One that was broadcast on NBC radio during the 1950's. Scroll down to the bottom of the wiki page if you want to listen to them.... genuine classic hard science fiction that still hasn't been dealt with on television except for perhaps the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica or Firefly, and certainly surpasses the quality of Star Trek.

I don't wear red shirts anymore ... just can't do it.

Heh. I still wear red shirts sometimes, but every time I put one on I think "Dressed in red--soon be dead." I put it on anyway, just like I don't freak out when a black cat crosses my path. (Our pet cat is a black cat, so that's, like, eighteen dozen times a day, unless she just sits down in front of me and demands pettings.)

It wasn't just Red Shirts who died; any time you had a party beam down with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Never-Seen-Him-Before, you could be pretty sure that a salt vampire or a lightning bolt or a kligat or something was going to kill him before the next commercial break.

Did you ever watch Galaxy Quest? (If you didn't, you really need to.) One of the classic gags from that movie was the one guy who was certain he was going to die, because when he was on Galaxy Quest he never had a name, and the name characters never died but unnamed ones died about every week.

steveha

Because OSX users don't play video games.

They use their computers for watching Queer as Folk DVD's and Skin Gang when they're not listening to N'SYNC or planning a trip to the local bathhouse with their buddies.

Office Space http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/ :)

History has taught us, the truth always comes out.

How can you tell since you can't count the times it actually didn't come out?

Corporations aren't innocent, but their guilt exists due in big part to lack of consumer pressure.

According to The Corporation, corporations lack the ability to feel guilt. And history has taught us that as well.