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Journey to Yandol

Oh yeah? Well...

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(For those too lazy or unequipped, go here.)

We could only wish it were so simple. Unfortunately, if the patent can be enforced, I would expect that they would simply license the technology {cough} and we would still see the same number of ads. They would just get a piece of the pie. They might even encourage more ads by giving various incentives to get companies in the door, to lock them in for more licensing fees in the future... :-(

I weigh a lot less on Mars...

What do you weigh on Mars?

I only have one domain (yeah, being the minimalist that I am), and I'm very interested in moving it from NSI to... well, anybody who doesn't shaft domain name owners. Given that expiration of the domain is only weeks away, now is the time to make the move. (This is a domain I've had with NSI since 1994. I think they've had quite enough of my money.)

For offline reading...

Not really -- your analogy is incorrect. Downloading something you're 'not supposed to' is on par with walking into a bookstore, carefully reading a book (so as to not damage it in any way), and returning it to the shelf in no worse condition than you found it. You can get arrested for shoplifting; you won't get arrested for reading a book in a bookstore. (You may get kicked out, but that's not anywhere near the same as being arrested.)

Production of a book incurs costs well beyond the original writing -- there are physical costs associated with everything from cutting down the tree to placing the finished book on the shelf. When you shoplift, you prevent those who incurred those costs from recovering them. None of this can be said for reading something online that should not have been posted there. That is part of why people believe (whether that belief is correct or not) that digital distribution fundamentally alters the whole notion of "ownership" of intellectual property.

Journy to Yandol

While I agree with many of your points -- such as that the BBS community is not gone (though it is but a shadow of what it once was) and that the future may see many more Internet-connected BBS's (such as the 50+ telnet-access Wildcat! systems listed here) -- I disagree that it is wise and/or helpful to use the discussion of the passing of a well-known member of the online community as a forum for defending the BBS scene.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
Gerald Ford

You won't find this in the LoC...

"Funnier" still is that it also applies to purchases at garage sales and other situations where the in-state seller doesn't collect sales tax.

It's pretty ugly, IMHO, and given that nobody I know is following the law (heck, I wasn't even aware it applied to private individuals until a week or two ago, and I've met with disbelief when I've told others about it), it should be repealed. But that's another issue entirely...

Bamboo Database for Writers

Consumer pressure does not prevent a company from doing something, it simply discourages them from doing it. The same type of pressure has been placed against major corporations (e.g., fast food chains) for environmental abuses, where the corporation was acting within the law but not within "community standards." And guess what? That pressure works -- look, for example, at the guarantees given that a restaurant chain doesn't use "rain forest beef" (meat from cattle raised on land that was stripped of rainforest for grazing purposes), and look at the reduction in non-biodegradable, non-renewable fast food packaging.

As consumers, we have the right and responsibility to encourage good behavior, and punish bad behavior, by "voting" with our dollars. Ignoring that responsibility gives us things like certain major software publishers gaining huge market share with poor-quality software. The free market can give us great things if we, the consumers, accept our responsibility for where our dollars (yen, marks, whatever) go. OTOH, the free market will give us garbage if we ignore that responsibility. (And the presence of that garbage gives policitians incentive to restrain the free market.)

Bamboo Database for Writers

"Linux isn't for the non-technically-literate masses"

Why? Because it has been so historically, or because it "should" be? And, if the latter, why do you think this? Is it a case of "it's my toy, let me play with it how I want" or is there some more logical reason?

"Apple has 'ease of learning'... down pat."

Why do you believe this? Because it's a "given" or because you have empirical evidence to support it? My empirical evidence denies it, actually -- and I'm not talking about my own use of a Mac, but from my assistance to Mac users struggling to perform basic functions like storing files, installing software, etc.

Also, to answer:

"Furthermore, what's this business about the 'Linux killer'? ... Technology that would make Linux obsolete would have to be pretty darn spectacular, IMO."

Yes, that's the idea -- something spectacular, compared to what we are working with now. Consider the desktop PC explosion compared to DEC's mini computers mentioned in the article -- that's the level of difference that could make Linux a "technology of yesteryear." This doesn't mean that nobody will be using it (hey, there are VAXClusters still in use too), but it will eventually look like old tech, and his point is that the wise developer will look outside the current in-vogue thing for the next "killer" technology.

To borrow a quote from today's InformationWeek e-mail: "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." (Western Union internal memo, 1876)

Don't send a telegram, send a postcard...

Have a I seen similar attitudes from Linux users? Unfortunately, yes, and it makes me cringe every time. I advocate Linux regularly (ask my boss!), but I try to do it in a positive manner. Obviously, Linux isn't alone in having zealots causing 'bad PR' -- I've had problems with OS/2 zealots, as noted above, and Macintosh zealots -- but it is so unnecessary and so unfortunate, for any operating platform. Did I stick with OS/2? Nope. Was the negative experience from OS/2 zealots the only reason? Nope, but I would be a liar if I said it didn't play a part.

The next time you feel like flaming somebody for being (in your eyes) "anti-Linux" remember the old saying: You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar!

Journey to Yandol

I had to "ruffle a few feathers" at my workplace before I could finally get the main corporate site to include ALT tags on graphics, and even now it's not 100%. Very frustrating...

(The above is not a reference to UniNova's site which should be fully accessible.)

As far as the content of comments in Slashdot, it is "vulnerable" because it allows you to link to a page. Like this:

Click here to read a sci-fi short story.

Now, that looks like an innocent link, right? But if the "boo" in the query string was replaced with malicious code, and the destination page was such that it would inadvertently redisplay that code, then the user would have a problem. (Don't worry, that link above is not dangerous -- 'boo' is not malicious code!)

(Actually, the filtering provided by Slashdot might interfere with the inclusion of code into a query string, but that is a side effect.)

"Thus a nefarious AC could post a slashdot comment that contains malicious tags, and just by surfing through here, your browser gets sacked."

Within the context of this advisory, you are not going to have your browser "sacked" by reading comments here -- but you could by clicking a link provided in a comment.

I suppose the success of it would depend on the agent in Delaware, but I still think it can be an unnecessary step for a bootstrapping start-up. (I can't speak for what VCs would or would not like, though -- I'm looking at a self-funding operation.) If the "business savvy" of DE made a difference later, it's possible (though not painless) to re-incorporate there when there was a definite benefit in doing so. I think too many inexperienced entrepreneurs get sold on the "mystic" business benefits of Delaware but they do not necessarily gain anything more valuable than a "warm fuzzy."

(I will admit that my experiences may have unfairly jaded me against incorporating in DE. Suffice it to say I consider it a mistake that I would not repeat.)

For freelance writers...

I wouldn't say you're guaranteed to fail if you start out without a proper amount of money -- who knows, you could be like me and have an incredible tolerance for pain and frustration! :-/ But making a go of it without the right funds will be discouraging, it will take much longer, and it very likely will strain or break relationships you might value.

It took a long time to get here...

Also, of what language relevance is the chosen OS? For example, I use Perl a lot under Windows NT. With the exception of OS-specific scripting languages (e.g., DCL under VMS), no correlation between OS and language choice should necessarily be assumed.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile for you to define (for yourself, at least) what you mean by application, and also to consider the how difficult it would be to truly determine the usage of languages to develop those applications, without having such a narrow definition of application as to border on unusable. Remember, the stereotypical Y2K step-in programmer worked on COBOL code...

Journey to Yandol

Ah well, I'll go back to writing science fiction and leave the legal wrangling to those with the patience for it. (And to think my sister -- a lawyer herself -- keeps pushing me to go to law school...)

(Those who know my views on RealNames know I'm only kidding.)

Having a database visible to a search engine depends greatly on the complexity of the database itself. Something simple (like the MySQL/Perl-driven Imprinted Products Source List ) can be given a default list-everything URL that doesn't look like a script. As size and complexity increase, of course, that isn't feasible (or even desirable), but it might be adapted to display a representative SQL View of a complex database, with sufficient content to give the search engine the "meat" it needs.

To use office equipment as an example, a combo fax/printer/scanner/copier/etc device makes sense for the small office/home office (SOHO) segment of the office equipment market. Single-function copiers will make sense to the "big business" segment of the office equipment market. For either combo units or function-specific units to dominate would mean that one segment or the other is not being properly served (i.e., the SOHO segment will be faced with spending a lot for unneeded functions, like collation options, various paper size trays, etc., or the big business segment will be faced with equipment that doesn't meet functional needs).

The same applies to computing products (hardware and software). What makes sense to one segment of the overall consumer population (say, for example, the all-night hacker type) will not serve another segment (e.g., the "how do I print my letter to Granny" type).

To put it much more succinctly, it's about using the right tool for the job -- and recognizing that the simply-described job (e.g., "copy a document") may mean radically different things in various market segments.

Some tools to consider...