You're kidding right? Could you plug in a camera or scanner or a printer into a base install Mandrake 3 years ago and have them automatically detected? Did most video cards work right out of the box with non-prop drivers? Could you network with windows computers network shared drives out of the box?
Plus, Mandrake didn't have a shit brown theme 3 years ago...
The something that is not right is that there are two Richard Doherty's. One is a media analyst and the other is Panasonic Hollywood Labs' managing director of Blu-ray and professional A/V: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,117681-page,1/ar ticle.html
I wonder which Richard Doherty they were quoting when they said Blu-Ray couldn't be cracked for ten years? Perhaps the poster got confused? Who knows...I'd love to read the original article...
Why is anyone even remotely familiar with Apple surprised by this? I remember the dreaded vendor lock-in when I had to put a new power supply into an aging Mac Performa 575 many moons ago. I swore back then that I would never buy a Mac again because of their obnoxious business model that requires you to get expensive service and parts from Apple.
That being said, to those who are waking up next to Steve Jobs, you have at least 2 weeks to return your iPhone and get a refund.
Unfortunately, your argument turns around the argument that it seems reasonable for the government to restrict photography because of terrorism and because the city has a right to protect its image in the media.
The reason why this argument is unfortunate is that freedom of expression is a fundamental right, and the government can only restrict fundamental rights when there is a substantial governmental interest and there is no less detrimental alternative means to achieve this super important purpose. Note that this isn't a reasonableness test...this is a way to carve extremely narrow exceptions to general human rights.
So, feel free to ban people from taking pictures of nuclear power plants from airplanes. But if I am driving by a bridge, I should be able to take a picture of it.
My general rule of thumb about freedom of speech with photography is to ask "would I mind if an artist with an easel were sitting here, making a painting or a drawing". Should painters need permits to set up an easel on a tripod and paint the Empire State building, even if they are in a group? I think the answer is no.
Obviously, you forgot about the incident where Texas Representative Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, Chairman of the Texas House Appropriations Committee, distributed a disturbing anti-science and anti-Semitic memo to the other members of the Texas House of Representatives on Friday, February 9, 2007.
"...small selection of people to choose who will rule us from (2 in the US) that it does not actualy count as a democracy..."
Does the party you vote for have primary elections? There is often, but not always, multiple candidates vying for the nomination for the general election. The current Democratic Presidential Race has around 12 people struggling for supremacy. Is this not enough? Would 50 be enough for a democracy, in your view?
"[Once a] person/party [is] elected they are very hard to remove from power..."
Wasn't there a transition in power in the US Congress this past year from Republican control to Democratic Control? Won't George Bush be leaving in a year or so?
"better description of the current system in the US or UK (or Russia for that matter) would be an elected dictatorship."
No, I think the US/UK could be called a Liberal (representative) democracy. Russia is also a liberal democracy, but IMHO, it is edging closer and closer to a failed state, partially because there haven't been very many non-violent transitions of power, and the liberal elements of the state continue to fail.
With all due respect, I don't think you truly understand the politics or the institutions you are attempting to describe.
I am an occasional Maximum PC reader, and I generally trust the staffs conclusions about hardware over some random person on the internet somewhere. But ya gotta understand the whole premise behind the magazine...its not about the most expensive hardware...or about the hardware with the best price/performance ratio, these guys are looking for KICKASS hardware that maximizes your computer experience. If having $300 earbuds means enjoying music 10% more than the average joe, then a MaxPC reader will buy it.
I believe you are correct that this will not prevent non-parties or third party benificiaries to the GPL from suing for patent violations. However, I don't see the GPL restricting internecine patent warfare within the open-source community because I *can't* imagine an American judge enforcing this provision of the contract which restricts lawsuits: "You may not impose any further restrictions on the exercise of the rights granted or affirmed under this License. For example....you may not initiate litigation (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that any patent claim is infringed by making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the Program or any portion of it."
American courts are loathe to restrict anyones right to go to court, simply for the reason that if you have a legal right, you should have a remedy under law or the principles of fairness. I am shocked and horrified that RMS took a page from the radical conservative republican legal theorists playbook with this clause in the GPL.
(Edit: I could see a court enforcing this provision AGAINST large corporations, since they should know what they are getting into, and have huge legal departments, but not enforcing it against smaller corporations and naive individual coders who want to sue for violations of patent rights)
Why can't the rootkit software look at an MD5 checksum of the kernel vs the kernel as configured, to determine if there are changes to the kernel? I know that there are issues with 'hooks' and such...but, whats the real difficulty here?
Well, according to the article, they eventually want to get this technology embedded into walls and ceilings. Just imagine the possibilities...beyond porn directly above your bed of course...
For example, imagine if your 'computer wall' could display an electronic companion that followed you around the house (naked) and did various tasks that you asked of it. (sort of like a nude clipy) The possibilities are endless.
So, how will I, an adult with no children, be able to create a myspace page? Will I have to register with myspace and show ID? Isn't this overly burdensome? What if I want to create an anonymous myspace or social networking page? This b.s. is totally unconstitutional and will be struck down, since there are less detrimental alternative means to keeping children off of social networking sites without parental permission, such as asking for verification, as is the case now.
My biggest complaint is that American businesses don't encourage people to get exercise, they just want you to sit at your desk and get work done. Getting up, moving around, stretching your legs, taking the stairs, socializing, is all prohibited or frowned upon. This might not be a big deal for people who work 7 or 8 hr days who can get to the gym in the morning, but it is brutal to hard workin guys like me who put in 12-14hrs at work.
I have been following the exercise plan on simplefit.org a scaled down version of crossfit, which is an exercise and calisthenics program that US soldiers and police officers use to keep fit. I went from not being able to do a push up, to being able to do 20 girlie pushups on my knees, to doing 30 pushups in three months.
I have a land-line and a cell phone in my office and at my home. Having a cell phone is a no-brainer, it allows me to communicate where ever I am. However, cell phones are notoriously fickle, and there are quite a few dead spots in my office and in my house. Therefore, a land line is absolutely necessary for business calls (I don't want my clients to think I am cheap) and a pleasure (so I can hear my relatives and loved ones voices clearly). I have had more misunderstandings between myself and clients and loved ones, because of a piss poor cell connection, than any other reason combined. Not to mention, I have a inexpensive plan, and it is cheaper for my cell friends to call my landline, than both of us talk on our cell phones at the same time.
just because someone invented the fork (an American invention) What are you talking about? Kitchen forks trace their origins back to the time of the Greeks, who also used fork-like weapons called tridents.
When working for the government as a permanent employee, you are usually entitled to a full and fair hearing, with an attorney, before your boss, who is acting as a pseudo-judge (the deciding official). Thus, in order for the hearing to be fair, the deciding official must not go outside the bounds of admissible evidence when deciding the case. Remember, evidence of prior bad acts is generally inadmissible in court!
From the decision [emphasis mine]:
"No ex-parte communication occurred when the Deciding Official, Ms. Capell, discovered for herself that "in 1996, the Department of the Air Force removed the appellant from a civil service position and that in 1997, the Smithsonian Institution told [Mr. Mullins] to 'look for a new job.'" Indeed, the only "communication" that occurred was when Mr. Mullins communicated with Ms. Capell to bring to her attention the negative information about himself "by suggesting he had been subject to Board proceedings before."Ex-parte communications are procedural defects only when they cause prejudice that undermines due process guarantees. Because Mr. Mullins' two prior job losses did not affect Ms. Capell's decision to remove Mr. Mullins, the record shows no prejudice. Indeed, on April 22, 2005, before Ms. Capell discovered Mr. Mullins' two prior job losses, Mr. Grahl had already outlined 102 specifications to support the four charges of misuse and misconduct against Mr. Mullins."
@drDugan: To summarize your argument, you object that private organizations, can constitutionally assemble together to pick candidates which represent their interests, and create rules under the auspices of State law that give the leaders of these organizations the power to select their own representatives for an election?
How is this a "problem"?
Freedom to associate with like minded people, and to work together to put someone we like into the government is called "republicanism". Ideally, if an elected official only represents his party's interests, and not his entire constituency, he will be voted out of office. This is why Democrats are elected to office more often, historically speaking, than Republicans, because Democrats work for everyone, including their special interests, but Republicans are solely focused on keeping the party faithful and their special interests happy.
Look, I am sorry, but if you are charged with a crime, you show up in court, and plead your case. Any judge with half his brain tied behind his back would have recognized this guys actions as free speech, and tossed his arrest. Then, he would have had a great civil rights suit against the police officers and the city for violation of his rights. But no...what this guy does is he flees the USA, because he thinks the scientologists are out to get him: "I couldn't be employed while I was trying to hide out from them. They have agents inside the IRS, so when you use your social security number, they just pull it and come and get you." I mean, come on, this guy is a complete nut job...give me a break. IHMO, he should be punished for not subjecting himself to the lawful authority of the court...but not punished for telling it like it is about the cult of Xenu.
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You're kidding right? Could you plug in a camera or scanner or a printer into a base install Mandrake 3 years ago and have them automatically detected? Did most video cards work right out of the box with non-prop drivers? Could you network with windows computers network shared drives out of the box?
Plus, Mandrake didn't have a shit brown theme 3 years ago...
The something that is not right is that there are two Richard Doherty's. One is a media analyst and the other is Panasonic Hollywood Labs' managing director of Blu-ray and professional A/V: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,117681-page,1/ar ticle.html
I wonder which Richard Doherty they were quoting when they said Blu-Ray couldn't be cracked for ten years? Perhaps the poster got confused? Who knows...I'd love to read the original article...
Why is anyone even remotely familiar with Apple surprised by this? I remember the dreaded vendor lock-in when I had to put a new power supply into an aging Mac Performa 575 many moons ago. I swore back then that I would never buy a Mac again because of their obnoxious business model that requires you to get expensive service and parts from Apple.
That being said, to those who are waking up next to Steve Jobs, you have at least 2 weeks to return your iPhone and get a refund.
Unfortunately, your argument turns around the argument that it seems reasonable for the government to restrict photography because of terrorism and because the city has a right to protect its image in the media.
The reason why this argument is unfortunate is that freedom of expression is a fundamental right, and the government can only restrict fundamental rights when there is a substantial governmental interest and there is no less detrimental alternative means to achieve this super important purpose. Note that this isn't a reasonableness test...this is a way to carve extremely narrow exceptions to general human rights.
So, feel free to ban people from taking pictures of nuclear power plants from airplanes. But if I am driving by a bridge, I should be able to take a picture of it.
My general rule of thumb about freedom of speech with photography is to ask "would I mind if an artist with an easel were sitting here, making a painting or a drawing". Should painters need permits to set up an easel on a tripod and paint the Empire State building, even if they are in a group? I think the answer is no.
You want Juan, Muqtar, and Jamish looking through all of your important business records? You've got to be kidding.
Obviously, you forgot about the incident where Texas Representative Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, Chairman of the Texas House Appropriations Committee, distributed a disturbing anti-science and anti-Semitic memo to the other members of the Texas House of Representatives on Friday, February 9, 2007.
t exassouthwest/stories/DN-evolution_14tex.ART.State .Edition1.298e1cb.html
http://www.texscience.org/news/chisum-bridges.htm
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/
Racism, Anti-Semitism and Creationism go hand in hand, IMHO.
Can I get some recommendations for QAM tuners to hook up to my Computer?
"...small selection of people to choose who will rule us from (2 in the US) that it does not actualy count as a democracy..."
Does the party you vote for have primary elections? There is often, but not always, multiple candidates vying for the nomination for the general election. The current Democratic Presidential Race has around 12 people struggling for supremacy. Is this not enough? Would 50 be enough for a democracy, in your view?
"[Once a] person/party [is] elected they are very hard to remove from power..."
Wasn't there a transition in power in the US Congress this past year from Republican control to Democratic Control? Won't George Bush be leaving in a year or so?
"better description of the current system in the US or UK (or Russia for that matter) would be an elected dictatorship."
No, I think the US/UK could be called a Liberal (representative) democracy. Russia is also a liberal democracy, but IMHO, it is edging closer and closer to a failed state, partially because there haven't been very many non-violent transitions of power, and the liberal elements of the state continue to fail.
With all due respect, I don't think you truly understand the politics or the institutions you are attempting to describe.
I am an occasional Maximum PC reader, and I generally trust the staffs conclusions about hardware over some random person on the internet somewhere. But ya gotta understand the whole premise behind the magazine...its not about the most expensive hardware...or about the hardware with the best price/performance ratio, these guys are looking for KICKASS hardware that maximizes your computer experience. If having $300 earbuds means enjoying music 10% more than the average joe, then a MaxPC reader will buy it.
I believe you are correct that this will not prevent non-parties or third party benificiaries to the GPL from suing for patent violations. However, I don't see the GPL restricting internecine patent warfare within the open-source community because I *can't* imagine an American judge enforcing this provision of the contract which restricts lawsuits: "You may not impose any further restrictions on the exercise of the rights granted or affirmed under this License. For example....you may not initiate litigation (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that any patent claim is infringed by making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the Program or any portion of it."
American courts are loathe to restrict anyones right to go to court, simply for the reason that if you have a legal right, you should have a remedy under law or the principles of fairness. I am shocked and horrified that RMS took a page from the radical conservative republican legal theorists playbook with this clause in the GPL.
(Edit: I could see a court enforcing this provision AGAINST large corporations, since they should know what they are getting into, and have huge legal departments, but not enforcing it against smaller corporations and naive individual coders who want to sue for violations of patent rights)
Why can't the rootkit software look at an MD5 checksum of the kernel vs the kernel as configured, to determine if there are changes to the kernel? I know that there are issues with 'hooks' and such...but, whats the real difficulty here?
I think you mean "This deal is getting worse all the time."
Well, according to the article, they eventually want to get this technology embedded into walls and ceilings. Just imagine the possibilities...beyond porn directly above your bed of course...
For example, imagine if your 'computer wall' could display an electronic companion that followed you around the house (naked) and did various tasks that you asked of it. (sort of like a nude clipy) The possibilities are endless.
print "I, for one, welcome our new exo-planet overlords" * 28
So, how will I, an adult with no children, be able to create a myspace page? Will I have to register with myspace and show ID? Isn't this overly burdensome? What if I want to create an anonymous myspace or social networking page? This b.s. is totally unconstitutional and will be struck down, since there are less detrimental alternative means to keeping children off of social networking sites without parental permission, such as asking for verification, as is the case now.
Why the obsession with laptops? There are plenty of sub-$100 desktop systems available. If power is an issue, hook up a bicycle to a generator...
Luckily, I have a 64 bit Intel Core Duo 2, not a Core Duo.
My biggest complaint is that American businesses don't encourage people to get exercise, they just want you to sit at your desk and get work done. Getting up, moving around, stretching your legs, taking the stairs, socializing, is all prohibited or frowned upon. This might not be a big deal for people who work 7 or 8 hr days who can get to the gym in the morning, but it is brutal to hard workin guys like me who put in 12-14hrs at work.
I have been following the exercise plan on simplefit.org a scaled down version of crossfit, which is an exercise and calisthenics program that US soldiers and police officers use to keep fit. I went from not being able to do a push up, to being able to do 20 girlie pushups on my knees, to doing 30 pushups in three months.
Yea, I think trial by combat is a better idea -- lets leave courts out of it entirely and let g-d decide who is right!
I have a land-line and a cell phone in my office and at my home. Having a cell phone is a no-brainer, it allows me to communicate where ever I am. However, cell phones are notoriously fickle, and there are quite a few dead spots in my office and in my house. Therefore, a land line is absolutely necessary for business calls (I don't want my clients to think I am cheap) and a pleasure (so I can hear my relatives and loved ones voices clearly). I have had more misunderstandings between myself and clients and loved ones, because of a piss poor cell connection, than any other reason combined. Not to mention, I have a inexpensive plan, and it is cheaper for my cell friends to call my landline, than both of us talk on our cell phones at the same time.
just because someone invented the fork (an American invention)
What are you talking about? Kitchen forks trace their origins back to the time of the Greeks, who also used fork-like weapons called tridents.
Thankfully there is a button on my G15 keyboard which turns off the LED lights under the keys when I want it to be dark.
From the decision [emphasis mine]:
"No ex-parte communication occurred when the Deciding Official, Ms. Capell, discovered for herself that "in 1996, the Department of the Air Force removed the appellant from a civil service position and that in 1997, the Smithsonian Institution told [Mr. Mullins] to 'look for a new job.'" Indeed, the only "communication" that occurred was when Mr. Mullins communicated with Ms. Capell to bring to her attention the negative information about himself "by suggesting he had been subject to Board proceedings before." Ex-parte communications are procedural defects only when they cause prejudice that undermines due process guarantees. Because Mr. Mullins' two prior job losses did not affect Ms. Capell's decision to remove Mr. Mullins, the record shows no prejudice. Indeed, on April 22, 2005, before Ms. Capell discovered Mr. Mullins' two prior job losses, Mr. Grahl had already outlined 102 specifications to support the four charges of misuse and misconduct against Mr. Mullins."
@drDugan:
To summarize your argument, you object that private organizations, can constitutionally assemble together to pick candidates which represent their interests, and create rules under the auspices of State law that give the leaders of these organizations the power to select their own representatives for an election?
How is this a "problem"?
Freedom to associate with like minded people, and to work together to put someone we like into the government is called "republicanism". Ideally, if an elected official only represents his party's interests, and not his entire constituency, he will be voted out of office. This is why Democrats are elected to office more often, historically speaking, than Republicans, because Democrats work for everyone, including their special interests, but Republicans are solely focused on keeping the party faithful and their special interests happy.
Look, I am sorry, but if you are charged with a crime, you show up in court, and plead your case. Any judge with half his brain tied behind his back would have recognized this guys actions as free speech, and tossed his arrest. Then, he would have had a great civil rights suit against the police officers and the city for violation of his rights. But no...what this guy does is he flees the USA, because he thinks the scientologists are out to get him: "I couldn't be employed while I was trying to hide out from them. They have agents inside the IRS, so when you use your social security number, they just pull it and come and get you." I mean, come on, this guy is a complete nut job...give me a break. IHMO, he should be punished for not subjecting himself to the lawful authority of the court...but not punished for telling it like it is about the cult of Xenu.