"Don't forget that it doesn't come with an OS. Unless you run Linux or some sort of BSD you can add the retail cost of Windows on to that price too. My mini also has the power supply internal unlike the older model with the brick."
Ugh. Why would you take a perfectly good raw hardware box like this and add Windows to it?
Not meaning to troll, honest. But this thing is barely capable of running Windows at all. You could put Linux on it and have a pretty snappy machine.
NFC, for example, was barely off the shelf before a "security researcher" managed to pull usernames and passwords from them, from several feet away, when they weren't even being used.
Using active radio transmission to make payments is just plain a bad idea. Even if it's "near field". Because it's only "near" when the person next door doesn't have a huge antenna pointed at the place of transaction. (Which the researchers did not have or need, by the way. Just an example.)
I agree with you; just use cards. They are perfectly adequate for the job and far more secure.
I doubt very much that this will raise Rapidshare's revenue significantly. Nor do I think it will decrease "illegal" downloads significantly. You're just going to see less of them be HD (750MB rather than 1.5GB).
Of course, in the meantime we have this "6 strikes" plan that the ISPs have put together, which has been much delayed, and which they have seriously screwed up at least once. (Turns out their "independent" expert who signed off on the technology was formerly a lobbyist for Big Content, so now they have to do a complete re-review of the "technology" they plan to use.)
And even if/when they get that done, they will probably face multiple lawsuits, because it is in violation of a huge number of existing contracts.
"Whether that applies to mishandled PNGs in any browser at all, I can't remember- what I said might not have applied to Johnny O's comment if that was the case (though what he said still shouldn't apply to correctly-handled PNGs)."
No, but the "no" needs qualification.
.png allows transparency via an alpha (multi-bit) channel. So margins can be made transparent... well... transparently.
.gif is a one-bit transparency format, so not only does it have rough edges, you have to sacrifice one of the other 254 available colors to get it. When higher-color-space.gif came around, it just made the problem worse because you never knew which of the colors was assigned to transparency. Load a 32-bit.gif into your favorite graphics program and the "transparent" background might be pink, or puke (I mean puce), or some kind of green or whatever.
.png has a completely separate multi-bit transparency channel, so you don't have to sacrifice some other color, and you can make the transparency a gradient, if you wish, or give different parts of the graphic different transparencies. (Gradient transparency is often not a good idea for Web work, I should add, if anything ever needs to be resized.)
The big problem here -- which the author of TFA is apparently not knowledgeable enough to recognize -- is that "fair use" has often gotten shut off. The filters might know that it's copyrighted material, but they don't know what constitutes fair use. That takes a human.
That's what happened to Neil Gaiman at the Oscars. That's what has happened so often on YouTube.
It isn't what people say -- and others object to -- that causes societal problems. It's when they are prevented from saying it.
If so, he did it in a rather bone-headed way. A nice, polite letter from an attorney is usually considered the standard way to go about this; not yelling at somebody in a public forum.
But not necessarily. Anyone who can show damages has standing.
"There is no obligation for rising tide to provide their source code."
Not to the complainant. But a judge could very well issue a subpoena.
The first issue is a bit sticky, because they would have to show they would be damaged if RTS turned out to be in violation. But in this particular situation, that's probably not very hard to show.
No, they aren't. There is no law of which I am aware that forces Apple to be somebody else's Copyright Police.
At least, not anywhere except perhaps in Germany. And even then, "force" is probably not the proper word, because such an absurd trademark can be (and probably should be) challenged, and likely that challenge would be successful.
If Apple wants to take the easy way out, and make others suffer for its decision, that's pretty much Apple's choice.
Yes, I erred when I wrote "looks and feels exactly the same". Of course it doesn't. I meant that it looks the same and works the same. Obviously it doesn't feel the same.
I loved their little machines. I had an 11c in college. Among other things, I programmed it to do -- appropriately enough -- Monte Carlo simulations in order to prove a certain popular gambling theory wrong. Haha. The old processors were slow enough that I ended up having to build a stand it plugged into so I could use bigger batteries and let it run for days at a time.
Then I got a 15c, then a 28, then the slightly more-capable 28s. Didn't get another one after that until I got a 54g about 2 years ago. So I had that 28s for... well, a long time.
I was less impressed with the keys on the 54g. They just didn't have the old HP feel, and I felt the layout could have been better.
"100% efficiency is the limit imposed by conservation of energy, so there's no need to quibble: 500% is definitely not achievable with any technology."
Famous last words. I acknowledged that with our current technology it wasn't possible... if you want to go further and predict future technologies based on our current knowledge, go ahead. But people who have done that in the past have frequently ended up looking the fool.
"Stations have about a few million different ways of publishing the data - it's something that companies like TV Guide and Tribune end up having to fix up. You won't believe how the TV guide data comes in - sometimes it's a handwritten sheet with the upcoming shows."
That was part of my point. Although looking back I guess I didn't spell it out explicitly. They would be required to supply the data to the FCC in a standard format. Something like date and time (UTC), duration, summary of less than X words, etc. And I suppose provision would have to be made for an overall description of the show, if it's part of a series.
Other businesses have standard data formats... I see no reason companies involved in television should be exempt.
I once worked for a multinational engineering company. I asked several of the engineers (all of whom had reference books on the shelves) about how much they used their college math in their actual jobs.
Most of them told me that other than a few simple integrals or derivatives (which they could easily look up... the equation, that is, not the solution) they mainly used simple algebra and trigonometry.
There were exceptions. I helped with the programming of some finite element flow modeling. All of that work was supervised by a (very talented and renowned) mathematician whose work probably most of the engineers there didn't fully understand anyway. But that's why he was hired.
Slashdot Mirror
"Don't forget that it doesn't come with an OS. Unless you run Linux or some sort of BSD you can add the retail cost of Windows on to that price too. My mini also has the power supply internal unlike the older model with the brick."
Ugh. Why would you take a perfectly good raw hardware box like this and add Windows to it?
Not meaning to troll, honest. But this thing is barely capable of running Windows at all. You could put Linux on it and have a pretty snappy machine.
There are far more severe issues.
NFC, for example, was barely off the shelf before a "security researcher" managed to pull usernames and passwords from them, from several feet away, when they weren't even being used.
Using active radio transmission to make payments is just plain a bad idea. Even if it's "near field". Because it's only "near" when the person next door doesn't have a huge antenna pointed at the place of transaction. (Which the researchers did not have or need, by the way. Just an example.)
I agree with you; just use cards. They are perfectly adequate for the job and far more secure.
I doubt very much that this will raise Rapidshare's revenue significantly. Nor do I think it will decrease "illegal" downloads significantly. You're just going to see less of them be HD (750MB rather than 1.5GB).
Of course, in the meantime we have this "6 strikes" plan that the ISPs have put together, which has been much delayed, and which they have seriously screwed up at least once. (Turns out their "independent" expert who signed off on the technology was formerly a lobbyist for Big Content, so now they have to do a complete re-review of the "technology" they plan to use.)
And even if/when they get that done, they will probably face multiple lawsuits, because it is in violation of a huge number of existing contracts.
"Whether that applies to mishandled PNGs in any browser at all, I can't remember- what I said might not have applied to Johnny O's comment if that was the case (though what he said still shouldn't apply to correctly-handled PNGs)."
No, but the "no" needs qualification.
.png allows transparency via an alpha (multi-bit) channel. So margins can be made transparent... well... transparently.
.gif is a one-bit transparency format, so not only does it have rough edges, you have to sacrifice one of the other 254 available colors to get it. When higher-color-space .gif came around, it just made the problem worse because you never knew which of the colors was assigned to transparency. Load a 32-bit .gif into your favorite graphics program and the "transparent" background might be pink, or puke (I mean puce), or some kind of green or whatever.
.png has a completely separate multi-bit transparency channel, so you don't have to sacrifice some other color, and you can make the transparency a gradient, if you wish, or give different parts of the graphic different transparencies. (Gradient transparency is often not a good idea for Web work, I should add, if anything ever needs to be resized.)
Okay, we can see that both of you have perfectly valid points to make. And we get them both.
Now shut up, please. (Asking nicely here, or at least trying to.)
If you ask me, this whole thing was profoundly stupid.
If you were innocent (and did not suspect your own brother), why give the police your DNA?
And if you were guilty, why give the police your DNA?
The big problem here -- which the author of TFA is apparently not knowledgeable enough to recognize -- is that "fair use" has often gotten shut off. The filters might know that it's copyrighted material, but they don't know what constitutes fair use. That takes a human.
That's what happened to Neil Gaiman at the Oscars. That's what has happened so often on YouTube.
It isn't what people say -- and others object to -- that causes societal problems. It's when they are prevented from saying it.
Haha... I meant that the missing comma could be important too. :o)
"There really isn't anything to see here except dirty laundry."
Good point.
"But you also have to prove to a judge that there is some basis to suspecting an infringement."
Yes, that's certainly true, too. I left that out, but I was replying to GP's specific points.
Speak friend and enter.
If so, he did it in a rather bone-headed way. A nice, polite letter from an attorney is usually considered the standard way to go about this; not yelling at somebody in a public forum.
"1... This is normally the copyright holder."
But not necessarily. Anyone who can show damages has standing.
"There is no obligation for rising tide to provide their source code."
Not to the complainant. But a judge could very well issue a subpoena.
The first issue is a bit sticky, because they would have to show they would be damaged if RTS turned out to be in violation. But in this particular situation, that's probably not very hard to show.
(I should have added: K is a scalar, and is equal to -1.)
But Kelvin is not a prefix. 300K is perfectly legitimate when you're referring to temperature.
There is a capital "K" metric prefix, though it's not well-known. It's short for "Klepto".
E.g. "I just scored 400 Kleptodollars from that convenience store. I hope the clerk gets out of the hospital soon."
"... and they build impressive monuments that they call "wind turbines" in "farms" that cover vast areas of land."
They're actually just prayer wheels in disguise.
"Weapons testing released 2,566,087 PBq also, just for reference (a lot of it not that far from Vegas..)"
Also not very far from Area 51. This might in fact explain a lot of things about that region.
s/Copyright/Trademark the concept is the same.
No, they aren't. There is no law of which I am aware that forces Apple to be somebody else's Copyright Police.
At least, not anywhere except perhaps in Germany. And even then, "force" is probably not the proper word, because such an absurd trademark can be (and probably should be) challenged, and likely that challenge would be successful.
If Apple wants to take the easy way out, and make others suffer for its decision, that's pretty much Apple's choice.
Well, hey... at least it's a story about actual piracy in the legal sense, rather than just uploading or downloading.
Yes, I erred when I wrote "looks and feels exactly the same". Of course it doesn't. I meant that it looks the same and works the same. Obviously it doesn't feel the same.
I loved their little machines. I had an 11c in college. Among other things, I programmed it to do -- appropriately enough -- Monte Carlo simulations in order to prove a certain popular gambling theory wrong. Haha. The old processors were slow enough that I ended up having to build a stand it plugged into so I could use bigger batteries and let it run for days at a time.
Then I got a 15c, then a 28, then the slightly more-capable 28s. Didn't get another one after that until I got a 54g about 2 years ago. So I had that 28s for... well, a long time.
I was less impressed with the keys on the 54g. They just didn't have the old HP feel, and I felt the layout could have been better.
"100% efficiency is the limit imposed by conservation of energy, so there's no need to quibble: 500% is definitely not achievable with any technology."
Famous last words. I acknowledged that with our current technology it wasn't possible... if you want to go further and predict future technologies based on our current knowledge, go ahead. But people who have done that in the past have frequently ended up looking the fool.
"Stations have about a few million different ways of publishing the data - it's something that companies like TV Guide and Tribune end up having to fix up. You won't believe how the TV guide data comes in - sometimes it's a handwritten sheet with the upcoming shows."
That was part of my point. Although looking back I guess I didn't spell it out explicitly. They would be required to supply the data to the FCC in a standard format. Something like date and time (UTC), duration, summary of less than X words, etc. And I suppose provision would have to be made for an overall description of the show, if it's part of a series.
Other businesses have standard data formats... I see no reason companies involved in television should be exempt.
Ahah. Well, then, consider my remarks retracted.
I once worked for a multinational engineering company. I asked several of the engineers (all of whom had reference books on the shelves) about how much they used their college math in their actual jobs.
Most of them told me that other than a few simple integrals or derivatives (which they could easily look up... the equation, that is, not the solution) they mainly used simple algebra and trigonometry.
There were exceptions. I helped with the programming of some finite element flow modeling. All of that work was supervised by a (very talented and renowned) mathematician whose work probably most of the engineers there didn't fully understand anyway. But that's why he was hired.