Slashdot Mirror
CNET Says CueCat Restrictions Are Bogus
Barondude writes: "Steve Fox at CNET Insider wrote The CueCat: When Free Isn't Worth the Price. Besides mentioning Slashdot, he brings to the general public many of the points that have been made here."
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
And from a marketing company's standpoint, a cuecat code is definitely better than a url. They wanna track their traffic based on which ads people are reacting to and what publications they're from. The only way to do that is creating complicated URLs that contain ad/publication tracking infos, and people like you and I would just chop off everything after the top level domain name. So the codes are a definite plus for advertisement people.
The problem is that the cuecat reader is not that good to begin with. I've had the pleasure of playing with one, and basically it involved a lot of random waving back and forth, and turning the sucker at all the weird angles I could think of before the code went through. That does make it more hassle than it's worth.
If they made it good and accurate, it's sitting right there by the keyboard, heck, I'd use it if I found an ad with the code on it... Maybe the first few ads I'd even scan in if I wasn't interested in the product. Just for the sheer heck of it. Unfortunately for them, like I said, the scanner isn't too accurate.
Ñ'
I have 3 :Cats.
they used TCWWW. Bonus karma to the two of you who still remember what that means :)
~luge
IAAL,BIANLY
I would love to but the use of a laser pointer to entertain a feline is currently protected by a US patent.
I wish I was joking....
It's cuet, but within seconds I was bored and decided to see what makes the fridge tick and now have a new hair style (Note: unplug first -- then tear apart compressor) I'm about to take apart my laptop computer, it sure is tiny and I'd love to see how they laid out all the parts in this thing!
IMHO Steve Fox didn't shed any new light here, nothing on the order of "violation of statute X" or "precedent Y" We're pretty much still left to our humble opinions, same as he is. Yes, it's absurd to think D:C will appear on my (Rod's) door step at 10:03 PM (PST^H^H^HEST) and demand the return of the Cat. Same as it's absurd that they are right now scavenging a landfill in Dayton, Ohio for a CueCat that was delivered to a non-forwarding address and got gratis ride on the trash trolley. So, where does that leave reverse engineering? Still laughing at D:C, but too chicken to release the code (c'mon, c'mon, I'm getting bored, I need a new toy), or emboldened, like Micron, which is going great guns at DDR while prepping to do the litigation waltz with Rambeaux?
Now where's that nibbling tool...
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
-- flossie
http telnet
flossie
Write now. Defend liberty
Check out the CueCat Collector's Club! I know mine are gonna be worth millions some day!
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Pull that CueCat out from where the sun don't shine and check out the CueCat Collectors Club!
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
A bit off topic, but:
Browse slashdot at +3 threshold, cut and paste into Word (or Emacs if you prefer), submit article.
I could make some good dough this way...
Parent post have 'Moderation Totals:Offtopic=2, Total=2.' Uh ?
1 reply beneath your current threshold.
My thought was to get a mag stripe scanner and use one of your credit cards for PW entry. The CueCat would definitely simplify that.
--
When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
If you ever let me play with your cat, I could capture the serial# output and type it in by hand along with the code for the Dew.
I'm just not a big fan of using known information as a pw.
The best use for the cat that I've seen is This one. It actually serves a purpose!
Kamikaze pilots wear helmets so that they don't bang their head on the canopy and become unconscious rendering them unable to fly their plane in such a manner as to impact upon a predetermined target.
Also, I wingless fly would be referred to in the scientific sense as a "creepy crawly thingie". I hope that I have been of assistance to you. :)
_____________
I don't want free as in beer. I just want free beer.
That is really PAGE 2 of the article! The link in the /. article is the PAGE 1. Understand?
At the next eco-hypocrisy-meeting, count the private jets used to get to the meeting. Should be interesting to see that
i think the obsession comes from free hardware. i could care less about cues or whatever, but i will enjoy cataloging my books and cds.
wish
---
"Besides mentioning Slashdot, he brings to the general public many of the points that have been made here."
C|Net readers are the general public? I don't think so. C|Net is nearly as geeky as Slashdot, but far more commercial (As can be seen by its television shows, which sure as hell never garner mainstream timeslots). C|Net tries to report on other stuff, but in the long run C|Net is by techies for techies, and the general public doesn't have a clue that it exists.
- Demagraphics
This is just another idea that some moron with an MBA said "Hey this company has a product that people will love, well screw them over for the product change the direction and vision of the company and at the same time let's do a little data mining".As most of us all ready know NOTHING IS FREE! Ok go ahead and say Open Source is free, no it is not. I know that my time is worth a lot more that $.00/h.
The Idea behind the scanner is kind of a cool novelty, but giving corperate america my underwear size is a little too much for me!
// what do you mean that was the only copy...
Let's see:
This has all the makings of Slashdot story, covers privacy, hardware, Linux and cluelessness. I'd be happy with daily updates!
Hayduke out
I'd say /. isn't obsessed, D:C is. It's like a war: D:C versus all-those-who-do-naughty-things-with-*our*-crap:ca t-as-outlined-in-our-*vague*-EULA. I'd say that most (if not all) of the people who do these "naughty" things are /.ers, so I think it involves them, especially since D:C is pointing fingers at people who have done nothing wrong. And as for EULA covering hardware... well... D:C must be on crack.
/. are finally understanding how stupid D:C is. Articles about D:C should all be written like this. Actually, IMHO their idea has (had?) potential to be *somewhat* good, but they have screwed it up really bad.
:)
I'm quite glad to see that people outside
I don't believe D:C will last much longer, all this bad PR can't be good for business
I lost me sig.
...on the other hand, there's going to be a lot of people who've never heard of slashdot before the article... the ones who can't figure out a keyboard and the higly technical process of typing the URL probably wouldn't be welcome here anyway.
Domain names in the .com, .net, and .org domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.
Domain Name: SLASHDOT.COM
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Referral URL: www.networksolutions.com
Name Server: NS1.ANDOVER.NET
Name Server: NS2.ANDOVER.NET
Updated Date: 11-apr-2000
-- flossie
http telnet
flossie
Write now. Defend liberty
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Really. Think about it. For so many people, /. IS media, if we define media by that which people collectively glean information form the world at large from.
/.
/. reports on a story on cnet, who reports on a story at
What does that tell you?
Rehash, no new info. Talk amongst yourselves.
---
I am the dot in slashdot.org
The obsession is with the frivolous bullying by the parent company, and how it's patently rediculous that they should even TRY to send cease and desist letters. This could almost be considered harassment; any lawyer would KNOW that there is no legal ground to stand on.
Shouldn't the threat of legal action without followup be illegal in itself?
See September 15, 2000
Jakob Nielsen is the world's foremost expert on software and web usability.
He links to this Scott Rosenberg Salon.com article for more.
Bad cat.
I've got 4 in my collection. So far.
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
This is just ongoing fallout from the "good old days" when VCs would throw money at any idea with Internet in it. Just the other day, I got a T-shirt from Swapit.com, even though I have never used their service and have no intention of ever doing so.
A lot of silly stuff is still in the pipeline. Even though VC money isn't flowing as freely as it was, it will take a while for these things to stop because companies have already signed contracts and ordered things.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
From the article:
Third, the courts have found that reverse engineering is legal (as long as chunks of the original software code are not present in the resulting software).
Hasn't the DMCA effectively made reverse engineering illegal? (Or has the DMCA not yet really been tested in court? I thought the DeCSS case was an example of a judge indicating that we aren't going to get reasonable judgements about DMCA.) (A reasonable judgement meaning the trashing of the whole thing.)
-Rob
Better yet, the wireless cuecat could have a little screen, so you didn't have to go to the computer. Wow! waddya know. We've just invented Handsprings and Pilots. Let's patent something and sue both of them.
Actually, a scanner module for the Handspring would be useful, if there isn't one already. A hearty handshake to the first hacker who grafts a Cue Cat onto a handspring.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I have 16 at last count, most in various stages of disection. Two type B's bravely sacrificed their lives that I may learn the secret to bypassing their encryption. Let us observe a moment of silence.
Another type B sheds a warm red glow on my wall at night.
A type A was modified to be portable. Makes a great little flashlight.
Several are scattered in pieces on my desk and may one day get reassembled. All my computers have at least one, my main system has 3.
I also gave a neutered one to my mom for use in her retail store.
I shipped two (2) to a couple of poor souls in Canada that can't get them.
All the others are neatly stacked in their little plastic bags on top of my dresser. I haven't quite decided what to do with them yet.
_______
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." -- RFC 1925
Erhm, my morning is spent reading my linux [journal|mag] (if it has arrived in said month and I'm not done it) and eating cereal in front of my box, while surfing to /. first thing in the morning. A sad and depressing life to be sure, but still it proves that the author of the article has no clue. :)
Hmm... I want a cuecat now... I think I'll construct a security grid around the computer so that I don't even have to turn my head occasionally to see if my back is about to be attacked by one of the cats...
Here is an idea. Get a few hundred thousand or so of your friends to get the barcodes of the worst products available, put them up on the net and a printer-friendly form, and scan them in on a regular basis. This way all of these crappy companies have inflated statistics, there stocks will rise, and then all of a sudden all of the day traders will one day realize that maybe ``Chia colostomy Bag'' was not such a good product afterall, and the market will crash.
Who said that this product was useless? It has within its power to be the most destructive weapon that capitalism has in its arsenal.
Either give it away or get top dollar, but never sell yourself cheap.
I didn't have to sign anything either. But, I did have to give my name and address like you do whenever you make a Radio Shack purchase. The scanned the package, like a normal purchase and I got a reciept that had the price of the CueCat as $0.00.
Also, I didn't even bother installing the software, so I didn't "agree" to any licensing.
Um....swipe the monitor? Are you sure that's not a crackpipe you're waving around?
There's no "feature" to scan a barcode on a WEBSITE. The barcodes appear in print, or on products - not on webpages. You scan the product's UPC, or the print advertisement's barcode (Called a "cue"), and the software takes you to a relevant website. You don't scan your monitor.
Sheesh. Where the hell did you read that?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
You're not very imaginative, are you?
And it was said: "So shall the Internet draw forth from the masses the humour impaired."
Duh. It's a joke.
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
I say fuck em. WAAAAAAAAAAA i'm a multinational corporation and I smell bad. I cant make EVEN MORE money cuz i'm lazy WAAAAAA! Shows what kind of logic I have left after a Psychology class :P
Personally I still think it's easier to read and type a url than to fumble around with some scanner.
They do it to gain demographic data. Whenever you scan an item, they add it to a huge database connecting the product you bought with your name, address, and other personal data that you supply when you install the software. Remember the huge controversy over their database being 'hacked'?
...
This isn't a conspiracy theory, it's business. However, you're supplying them with the info.
For more info, refer to this or this or
if(!toilet_paper) roll.replace(new roll);
Hacking the cue:cat doesn't harm anyone, and is thus a prime example of situations where the DMCA and like legislation are a bad idea.
Like Hell it doesn't! You take their free product, use it in a way that prevents the profits they were expecting from its use, and claim that it hasn't hurt them? They're minus one barcode scanner with nothing to show for it.
Legal or not, ethical or unethical, you're still screwing them, and discouraging such products from being given away in the future.
I don't think it's a good example of what's wrong with the DMCA at all. It's something you'd never have given you if they'd have known you'd hack it, you didn't pay a fair price for it, and generally wouldn't have bothered buying if they didn't offer it.
I think it's a focus of discussion precisely because it's a marginal case. Cuecat tries to screw the consumer (by not being completely open and honest about why they're giving the things away and what data they're gathering), and the consumers screw Cuecat (by denying them the expected return on investment). Nobody's really holding the moral high ground, so there's plenty of room for argument.
--------
That was supposed to be:
Cheap enough for me?
But I'm having a moment of the stupids.
Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
http://www.cnet.com/insider/ 0-1 21949-7-3304007.html
I wear medium boxers ... and if corporate america wants to send me some ... they're more than welcome to. Seriously ... there's some information that I really don't care who has.
Cheap enough for free?
Bah, look at all the cool stuff you get..
A barcode scanner
A marital aid
A good time harassing the Radio Shack employee
Thousands of minutes spent thinking, "What can I waste my time doing with this thing?"
Hours of Slashdot stories updating the idiocy of DC and their marketing strategy
Being embraced by DC's approach of loving the linux hackers
heh.. I found that it just looked to ridiculous to use it myself.. but it has provided me with a lot of laughter.
Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
Yeah, they mention Slashdot alright... but, erm..
:)
from the article:
(For an extensive, often impassioned discussion of the issues, check out Slashdot, at www.slashdot.com )
I know. It works, but still
Don't throw your computer out the window, throw the Windows out of your computer!
/., you've made .com status! How many more weeks before we see you on fuckedcompany? ;-)
It's doubtful, but someone may have missed the previous 6,000 cuecat stories.
If you're seeking more information, I have a lot of links to news stories, info on the hardware (including disabling and reprogramming the serial number), and software for Linux, Windows and the Mac at http://www.flyingbuttmonkeys.com/foocat/
________________________________________
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
I have 42. I'm useing them for halloween decorations. Those two red lights look really creepy in pitch darkness!
-------
Username taken, please choose another one.
> a handheld scanner fetchingly shaped like a cat
I prefer the 'dead horse' as suggested before (sorry, too lazy to search the archives). Is it too late to mod up that comment?
I got mine, but I'm still waiting for someone to come up with a useful application for one, other than the flashlight suggestion.
+5:offtopic,but anti-American
I recently got me a pair of Cue Kitties and have had a ball with the mIRC script and excell cataloging all my DivX rips and namely my Mp3 cds as well as my music cds and dvds. Barcodes on everything and using my own derived DewDecimal system. What im looking to help with or find is someone that has preferably web based (i am stuck in windows, sorry) or windows based (agian, sorry) that works with bar code scanners (and you could say an unauthorized 'hack' for the cue cat) to scan and look up barcodes and also, print them to labels. Would be fun and nice for my 300+ discs I have around here, not to mention nice for when I let people borrow my cds!
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
http://www.popbeads.org/Software
If you watch TV news, you know less about the world than if you just drank gin straight from the bottle.
How would it benefit anyone to scan the barcode of the can of Coke that they are drinking to see a Coke advertisement. If I'm drinking a Coke I don't need to be advertised to. I don't do inferior drugs like Pepsi and I can't easily obtaint the good drugs like Jolt.
Preaching to the choir is not a very effective way to spend advertising dollars
Then there is the feature that allows you to scan a barcode on a website and go to a link. Can someone explain to me why I would take my hand off the mouse, then pick up the cat, then swipe the monitor. I could more easily have left my hand on the mouse and clicked on a link. They must be targeting the Ultra newbie.
For the record my entire argument is all based on hearsay evidence because I don't have a Colon:Cat and I haven't had someone run out of a Raidio Shack in Canada to give me one with a license agreement to laugh at.
I do have to admit, however, the ability to scan a bottle of water to find out which Ontario nuclear plant it was bottled downstream from would be an asset.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
or DC for that matter. This event is just one example of a seemingly rising trend of revocation of consumer rights. I personally have no desire to take apart a cue cat. But I am an electrical engineer. What if I did? What if I wanted to figure out how it works, then put it to good use in some other barcode related application?
I think whats important here is what precedent gets set. If DC wins and is able to prevent us from investigating objects in our possession, it sets a legal precedent for another company to do the same thing.
Another reason why Slashdotters have latched onto this story is because it is a very good example for us. The ability to circumvent copy protection schemes to pirate movies is morally hazy. Hacking the cue:cat doesn't harm anyone, and is thus a prime example of situations where the DMCA and like legislation are a bad idea.
I'm relatively new to Slashdot, but I think I've captured the gist of it. Any veterans care to add / respond?
Captain_Frisk
Ick... I caught some of that damn program... Sounded like an attempt at brainwashing if I ever heard one... kinda scary actually... these guys seem hell-bent on trying to take over at least part of the world or something... I sure hope they run themselves into the ground soon. I never did bother to get a
At least the stuff that they add is so poorly edited that it's clear that it is not part of the true, professional Slashdot site.
"We will compete with anybody."
- Michael Risse, general manager at a company that complains that all antitrust complaints are instigated by competitors
As most of us all ready know NOTHING IS FREE! Ok go ahead and say Open Source is free, no it is not. I know that my time is worth a lot more that $.00/h.
As opposed to closed source software, which is only free if neither your time nor your money has value.
-- "On second thought, let's not go there. 'Tis a silly place."
-- "On second thought, let's not go there. Camelot is a silly place."
I've seen that link 100 times. Every Patent story slashdot posts usually has some AC linking to that article. It's somewhat amusing, but just as the: I want to patent air, resperation, breathing etc.. It's beginning to wear quite thin.
"Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know."
-- Ernest Hemingway
Even if we didn't have to worry about security, privacy, and potential spamwaves, I still can't get over the shape of this thing!
Just look at it here.
Why did they have to make it that shape? Did they collaborate with the net pr0n industry to prototype this thing??
Leave the cue cat where it belongs: in mom's underwear drawer.
Thankyou for the clarification. I am no longer living in a world of wonder. I shall have to change my .sig now... ;)
I lost me sig.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
When I first heard about the Cue Cat I went out and got one that very day. Just to try it out. The next day my dad recieved one in the mail from Forbes. A few days later my mom gets another from Radio Shack and we now have one for each computer that has a PS/2 port.
/. about the reverse engineering of the Cue Cat I didn't bother registering and installing the software. Luckily I didn't because as you know the Digital Convergence DB was cracked.
Since I read the article on
My uncle also got one and as a test scanned in one of his sons Britney Spears CDs. Hopefully he won't be getting spam from Radio Shack about other Britney things.
As soon I heard about the unique bar code number I decided not to uninstall the software. Personally I think it was an interesting idea but not carried out the best way possible. I don't mind having a Cue Cat, but the only regret I have is having to put up with the guy at the store.
Andrew
PS: For the guy at radio shack. If you don't want me to touch a computer maybe you should put a DO NOT TOUCH sign on it!!!
This guy gets it. I must say I am impressed. From the article:
Yikes! Let's get real for a minute. The CueCat is free. D:C sent it out to magazine readers without them even requesting it. Consider a few analogies: If I send you a free microwave, can I then demand that you use it only to heat liquids? Can I force you to power it using only electricity from my favored energy utility? Could I prohibit you from sawing it in half and using it as a miniature golf obstacle? Similarly, if I mailed you a free, unsolicited PC, could I force you to install Windows on it, if you'd rather use Linux? My lawyer friends tell me no.
I only wish there was more reporting like this, and as Hemos notes, they do say that Slashdot is one of the better places for this kind of discussion. Now I only wish that I could get a cue cat here in Canada. I checked out www.getcuecat.com and they are not avalible here. I asked at the local Radio Shack, and they are supposed to be coming here soon. I can't wait to get one and get the software for Linux for it. Bizzare licence agreements be dammned!
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
I have always like C|Net for their unbiasedness, or at least they do a good job of hiding it. They like to stick it the mainstream often, especailly Microsoft, delievering blunt, and hopefully accurate portrayls.
My only hope is that this is still coherent even after my hangover
And you STILL posted the article?
They only mentioned /. to draw page hits. Their servers can take it. Also: perhaps by your argument they should have included a barcode so those with :Colon:Cats could find /. without using their mouse and keyboard.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
Has anyone seen the 30min infomercial for the CueCat? It takes place in a future hi-tech classroom where the teacher is teaching the class that the CueCat changed history. The students couldn't believe that people used to type in URLs or use search engines to find information on the net. After about 5 minutes I had to change the channel before I gagged. Digital:convergence really has delusions of grandeur.
I can have a Cue:Dog, but only if it weighs less than 20 pounds, doesn't byte the mailman, and if I pick up the bits it leaves in the grass.
Guys, unless it's the Secretary-General of the UN mentioning slashdot, it's not a big deal anymore. The Economist has mentioned Slashdot. You're important, get used to it.
Taunting Digital Convergence is just too much fun. More fun than we've had in years, in fact. We'll ride them for all they're worth before they go out of business in a blaze of, well, some VC's investment capital.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
$ whois slashdot.org
[whois.networksolutions.com]
The Data in Network Solutions' WHOIS database is provided by Network
Solutions for information purposes, and to assist persons in obtaining
information about or related to a domain name registration record.
Network Solutions does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a
WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this Data only for lawful
purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this Data to:
(1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail
(spam); or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to Network Solutions (or its systems). Network Solutions
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting
this query, you agree to abide by this policy.
Registrant:
Andover.net (SLASHDOT5-DOM)
50 Nagog Park
Acton, MA 01720
Domain Name: SLASHDOT.ORG
Administrative Contact:
DNS Administration (DA19113-OR) dns_admin@ANDOVER.NET
Andover.Net
50 Nagog Park
Acton, MA 01720
US
(978) 635-5300
Fax- (978) 635-5326
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
DNS Technical Support (DT1415-ORG) dns_tech@ANDOVER.NET
Andover.Net
50 Nagog Park
Acton, MA 01720
US
(978) 635-5300
Fax- (978) 635-5326
Billing Contact:
DNS Billing (DB2055-ORG) dns_billing@ANDOVER.NET
Andover.Net
50 Nagog Park
Acton, MA 01720
US
(978) 635-5300
Fax- (978) 635-5326
Record last updated on 08-Feb-2000.
Record expires on 01-Feb-2002.
Record created on 01-Feb-2000.
Database last updated on 29-Oct-2000 17:53:44 EST.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.ANDOVER.NET 209.207.224.196
NS2.ANDOVER.NET 209.207.224.197
$ whois slashdot.com
[whois.networksolutions.com]
The Data in Network Solutions' WHOIS database is provided by Network
Solutions for information purposes, and to assist persons in obtaining
information about or related to a domain name registration record.
Network Solutions does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a
WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this Data only for lawful
purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this Data to:
(1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail
(spam); or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to Network Solutions (or its systems). Network Solutions
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting
this query, you agree to abide by this policy.
Registrant:
Andover.net (SLASHDOT6-DOM)
50 Nagog Park
Aston, MA 01720
US
Domain Name: SLASHDOT.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
DNS Technical Support (DT1415-ORG) dns_tech@ANDOVER.NET
Andover.Net
50 Nagog Park
Acton, MA 01720
US
(978) 635-5300
Fax- (978) 635-5326
Billing Contact:
DNS Billing (DB2055-ORG) dns_billing@ANDOVER.NET
Andover.Net
50 Nagog Park
Acton, MA 01720
US
(978) 635-5300
Fax- (978) 635-5326
Record last updated on 11-Apr-2000.
Record expires on 11-Apr-2001.
Record created on 11-Apr-2000.
Database last updated on 29-Oct-2000 17:59:08 EST.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.ANDOVER.NET 209.207.224.196
NS2.ANDOVER.NET 209.207.224.197
$ nslookup slashdot.org
Server: [snip]
Address: [snip]
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: slashdot.org
Address: 64.28.67.48
$ nslookup slashdot.com
Server: [snip]
Address: [snip]
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: slashdot.com
Address: 64.28.67.48
eudas
Blessed is he who expects the worst, for he shall not be disappointed.
I thnk a wireless cuecat would be better becasue really.. who reads magazines at their computer? I sure don't. Then jsut scan them and then when I come to my computer I can look athe things I scan? Just a thought....
It was a joke... he wasn't trying to say that slashdot.com doesn't point to slashdot.org, but rather say that he called the site "slashdot.com" instead of the normally used title "slashdot.org". That's all nothing more, nothing less.
To put an actual anchor tag in the article where they mentioned /.
I think not. They did it for D:C, and for the other referenced articles.
Perhaps someone with a better degree of knowledge in EE and/or optics can help me here. I want to convert my cuecat into a PS/2 powered laser pointer for the purposes of feline exercise and stimulation. The cat loves the laser pointer, in fact she loves it so much I run out of batteries about once a week. If I could manage to fit the relative electronics inside a case with the proper lens and maybe a ps/2 extension cable, this would no longer be a problem, and my cat could start losing some of that weight she's getting (eating better than me, no less!).
Anyway, if you or someone else could possible come up with a way to accomplish this (I promise I won't use it at theatres with my laptop for the purposes of patron-annoyance) and send details to the flyingbuttmonkeys to post, I would be very thankful.
Agradecimentos,
Ó
O P E N___S O U R C E___H U M O R
great comedy company.
When I got my cuecat, I don't remember any license agreement.
I have heard some people say that the license agreement was something that they had to sign when they picked up there's at Radio Shack, but I didn't sign anything.
Maybe there is a license agreement during the software installation process. I don't know. I have never installed their software, so I didn't "click" anything to agree.
None of the accompanying paperwork had anything that looked like a license agreement.
Looks like I got away scottfree.
Seriously, from what I understand, the Radio Shack employee is supposed to get you to sign some paperwork when you get your scanner. But they certainly didn't have me sign ANYTHING. Maybe "digital convergence" should be going after Radio Shack instead of hardware hackers.
-----------
On a side note: Has anyone else seen that awful Digital Convergence "Infomercial" about the cuecat? You know, the one where the students and teachers (in our future) revel in the fact that the Cuecat and it's related technologies will be single-most important factor in labotomizing the Internet and the Information Age?