Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Railing, Blocking, Scoffing
Please don't point that thing at me. BoomZilla writes "If you thought that the recent Gauss Gun article on Slashdot was spiffy, check out Jengel & Fatro's Rail Gun Page. Everything you need to know about the physics behind building your very own rail gun. Ever used the Quake rail gun and lusted after the real thing? Here's your opportunity."
Telepathic telegrams work as well as ever, though. markgo2k writes "After the web site experienced 'an unusually high number of visitors,' the White House modified the contact page and added a prominent link to president@whitehouse.gov. Here's the latest NYT story (once again, reprinted here in the non-subscription Seattle PI). Of course, the White House is still confused on the difference between the New York Times effect and the Slashdot effect. It's not mentioned in the story, but there is also now a feedback link to submit comments to the 'White House Web Development Team,' if you want to drop them a line..."
It's half-Greek to me. In response to the recent story on perpendicular data storage in next-generation hard drives, Anonymous Coward writes "Here is a better overview of Perpendicular HDD technology. Here is a real detailed scientific article that seems to be written in Greek."
They're off my Christmas card list, too. Techfocus ran an interview with Fred von Lohmann earlier this year. Now, an anonymous reader points to an update on their site: "Effective immediately, the RIAA and MPAA will need to find another way to get to Techfocus. In response to their legal targeting of individual file-swappers, access from their known networks to this site has now been blocked. While it may still be possible for them to access Techfocus via address ranges which we're not aware of, they'll otherwise have to use non-RIAA and non-MPAA networks to view the site."
Techfocus cites three reasons for the denial, the top one being that the RIAA took advantage of the interview with von Lohmann, "quoting him out of context in a manner which could lead readers of their materials to believe that we supported their efforts. This could not be further from the truth."
The secret is to predict enough things. An anonymous reader points out this article from early 2000 citing Gartner analyst Al Hilwa's prediction that Linux is "probably going to kill SCO UnixWare," writing "As you can read, SCO's end was predicted near perfectly." I think "hinted at" is more accurate, since SCO is still alive and at least making a good show of kicking, but it's interesting to revisit a story about SCO which mentions that "industry observers thought that the company would be Linux's first victim," back when Project Monterey was a going concern.
A victory for discourteous boors everywhere. aeaas writes "The beauty queen Katy Johnson dropped her suit against Tucker Max over the posting of stories from their relationship on his website. This story was first brought up in the context that he was forced to take down stories relating to her without holding a hearing or notifying Max prior to it. This is unusual in American law."
A quarter mil is a lot of suffering, even in Canadian money. Skippy321 writes "Justified or not, Ghyslain Raza--better known as the Star Wars Kid--is suing the four students who posted his homemade video of himself doing acrobatic "sword-fighting stunts" on the Internet for $250,000. He claims that he has suffered harassment and persecution. It's also interesting how the article states that he quit high school due to this video, at only 15 years of age. Although things aren't so bad for him -- here's a petition for him to get a role in Episode III."
but then, I don't get out much, so I don't know how prevalent this viewpont is ;)
...is if Slashdot has the balls to ban the RIAA.
At least it isn't $250,000,000 like it would be in one of your American courts.
Here in Canada they're going to have a hard time triing to get any money for Psychological damages. Our judges like to see receipts.
That poor star wars kid...
This reminds me of this one Bloom County comic:
Opus the penguin was listening to headphones and playing air guitar. There he was twirling and spinning and sut in general jamming. Then he turns around and ALL the other charachters are watching him and the rabbit has a lighter lit up in mock praise of the performance.
This is a bit more than his friends seeing it, but still, being morbidly embarrassed is nothing to sue over.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
For starters, lets add all RIAA related domains (incl. those of lawfirms that work for them) to known spam lists :-)
Er, if you make a habit of bragging on the net about what sluts the girls you used to date are, doesn't it make it a little difficult to get a date? Tucker must be more interested in impressing the guys in the locker room then of ever scoring with an attractive woman again! Seems like pretty self-defeating behaviour to me... on the bright side, it does decrease the chances that the jerk will breed!
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Look, I just downloaded the video and I don't think he looks stupid at all. It's obvious that he spent a little time working out the choreography of his performance and that's commendable considering it's something he just did for fun.
The people who spent the time to add sound and video effects obviously felt his work was worth adding to, otherwise they wouldn't have done it.
I'll admit, it's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time, but that shouldn't make it embarrassing for him. Lots of people make a good living doing seemingly foolish things. Lots of people did nerdy stuff like this in highschool just for the experience and that has turned out to benefit them later in life.
I feel like an ass whenever I'm on camera mostly because I don't have the ability to entertain people. This kid seems to have attracted a large audience and a lot of attention. He should take that as a sign that he's doing something right.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
Well considering he's currently in a mental hospital I think he got the short end of the stick personally.
TODO: Something witty here...
The problem is that the RIAA used the Von Lohmann quote before the technical measures were put in place, so your argument is only good if they decide to grab another quote. Even then, some RIAA lawyer working from home or a separate office could easily view the site.
The bigger picture is the fallout.
boycott-riaa.com has covered Techfocus' efforts, as has several other web sites. There seems to be quite an underground movement supporting Techfocus. I am a moderator for the Techfocus forum on this subject. Check it out and help if you can.
The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
Yeesh... ok, so he's acting like a doofus, but it's not like he did a Libby whatever... (you know... the girl whose "private" strip act for her boyfriend is all over the internet now).
Kids do things far more embarrasing to their "friends" and usually don't even end in detention... such as pulling your pants down in public... or shave *one* eyebrow when you are passed out drunk... (must... repress... memory...).
It's a pretty funny video, and cool in a geeky sort of way. He shouldn't feel demeaned for it. Plus he's fifteen, for god's sake. At that age, that is a way of making an ass out of yourself in a socially aceptable way.
No sig
"John Fisher, SCO's Canadian manager, disagreed, saying so far there's no evidence Linux is to blame for what he call the 'sharp" drop in sales in this country."
Well in the context of SCO's claims that linux couldn't have reached enterprise level without code 'from' SCO, we have an admission that Linux played no part in their revenue loss (in 2000).
The question is.. what is the sale drop for SCO products in 01, 02, and 03 as compared to 99-00?
is it a typo? their htaccess lists 66.252.128
:INPUT ACCEPT [251238:18127669] :FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [147443:28849496]
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they didnt do this cause he thought he was cool or talented of funny, they wanted to make fun of a dork caught off guard making a fool of himself. dont delude yourself with fancy notions, these 4 punks wanted to harrass and humiliate this guy for their own amusement and *mostly* to gain noteriaty: "look, we made the next big meme! we're so cool"
Never mind the extreme personal hell inflcited in the one being bullied. Guns or words, either one can ruin a life.
;)
Bull
Shit.
Everyone I consider a friend was an outsider for at least one significant stretch of their life. Most of them suffered the kind of school-age ostracizing that fits the geek stereotypes--and those that didn't went through social problems just as hard and painful.
Being bullied isn't an "exterme personal hell." It's a fact of life, for every last person in this country. The only variable is when the bullying happens. (Think that you're in a "personal hell?" Go to a holocaust museum, or a drug recovery clinic. THOSE deserve the name "hell". School does not.)
A geek who can't figure out how to adapt to social quandaries isn't intelligent--he's just a rude, wierd bastard. Adapting to either influence the crowd or hardening to keep the crowd from bothering you is part of how you define who we are--it's not a unique trial that only the geeky go through.
Oh, and no one ever got killed by a word. Not even "kill him." Bullets, now--bullets kill and maim and almost always end their users' lives (try getting a job with "assault with a deadly weapon" on your record). Being mocked and belittled at every turn is just practice for marriage--I mean, the meeting your spouse's family part.
It isn't greed when you claim your life is ruined, when people do thing like buy an ipod or gift certificates for you or try to give you a few minutes of international fame?
This kid didn't have the shit beaten out of him. He had his likeness promoted on the internet. If you released a video I made in high school on the inernet & I got a teddy bear (let alone thousands of dollars and an ounce of fame), I wouldn't take action against you...I'd hire you as my @#$@#ing agent.