Absolutely! My wife & I used to have 'WinMX' evenings back in the old Napster days, (I still remember thinking, 'maybe this internet hype really is true' one night when there were over 15 million people reported online, sharing songs..)
We'd search for old, half-remembered songs just for fun. 'Just give 'em whiskey' from Colorbox took an hour to download from some guy in Japan... I've probably still got that song somewhere, and don't feel bad about 'stealing' it, since I'd tried to find & buy it for years... But since then, I've listened to it -say - twice. Would I have paid a buck for it? Probably not. 10c, no problem...
In fact I'd be happy to install some client to check all the old MP3 I've got knocking around & 'legalise' them, (even the ones I've ripped off my own CDs) if the price was right. Maybe get a discount for quantity and by allowing the sw to 'upload' songs they had not got yet, (if properly tagged and stuff). *rushes off to patent idea*
"The pact, which is actually an "informal arrangement" called the Priority Reporting Tool, comes as a big surprise to internet users as Orkut has succes, just thsfully blocked attempts by various countries to control content."
"Now we can do away with the [old, slow, but govt. controlled] process and not just directly ban content but also obtain details of IP addresses and service providers quickly...the IP addresses will enable the [police] cell to track down people who have posted messages and book them if the need arises, police officials said."
No mention of legal oversight etc.
Mind you, perhaps we'll all gotten too blasé about the supposed freedom & anonymity of the 'net. After all, if you defame someone in traditional print, you can be sued in most places if it's not fair or truthful. Still, as I said, the smart badboys aren't going to be worried about this...plenty of internet cafés and open (or openable) hotspots around..
Nah. I'm self-employed now, but used to work for big-name consultants. If you're any good, (and not all consultants are, granted), you soon realise that the most dangerous client is the one who does not know what they want.
In that case, first job is to work out what needs doing, if anything, then agree it with the client.
I always offer a 100% money-back guarantee to my clients - wonder if this guy did? They spent 35K to lose 500K?
I agree, that's not as unlikely as one might think, what with AMD buying ATI etc. However, as long as they sell the processors (CPU or GPU) as separate parts, I'm sure you'll always be able to buy high-end mobos and cards that'll work just fine with Linux etc.
Once you've got your BSD or whatever on the box, getting at the DRM-protected stuff should not be a problem.
However the real problem may well be - as it already is - getting decent Linux drivers...
They claim that communications are end-to-end encrypted, although they don't publish the source code, so hard to verify for backdoors etc. They have a client available for mobile devices - you can then call from any hotspot. Free, too, unless you take or make calls to/from normal lines (which are then, of course, not encrypted).
An another point, some of the posts here seem to be missing the point - the Italian wiretaps involved not just the state, but also illegal snooping done by powerful individuals, corporations and also the state phone company. It's not just the mobiles that were tapped, but land lines too. No point in having an encrypted GSM if you then use it to call a bugged land line...
Shame the article does not state what 'brand' of Linux, although Oracle is mentioned a lot, so could be their's / RH.
You could be on the right lines with the IBM master plan. This in another article linked in the parent:
"In addition, Qantas was still experiencing increased infrastructure costs from an October 2005 datacentre migration, which saw its mainframe environment moved from a Sydney CBD facility to an IBM centre..."
Well said. But I'm not sure that it's really amusing - well, either laugh or you cry, eh? Still, it's a good example of how, in a still reasonably free society, the right and ability of people to congregate and challenge can counterbalance errors in the legal and political system.
From the article:
"The company has also pitched a portable laser rifle, which would be lethal, to the US Army....it could also be used in non-lethal mode, "offering the individual soldier a first response non-lethal alternative, with the capability to go lethal should the situation call for that level of response", says Braun. But extensive testing of its effects on humans would need to be carried out before it could be legitimately used as a non-lethal weapon."
How long before these things are being 'tested' in Iraq?
No, double-entry book-keeping is keeping two, balancing entries for the same transaction. In all accounting systems I've worked on, they've been in the same database.
I've got - and had - loads of mobile gadgets. Most have disappointed me in some way or the other. I always resisted the Blackberrys beacuse they were big, nerdy and expensive for just one 'killer app' - email push. Cracked for the new Pearl, though. It is great - 10 mins after unpacking it I was receiving mail. Also, it's small enough to be a convenient phone, decent 'gimmicks' like media player and camera and the email interface is fine - great for dealing with small mails in otherwise 'dead' moments. Google maps works great too - downloaded and installed in less than a minute. (Will we see apps like that on the iPhone?) I genuinely prefer it over my WM device, which I see as more of a 'toy'. One day I'll probably get a Linux smartphone to waste time playing with, but for serious business I need something like the Pearl - it 'just works'...that's 'awesome' enough for me.
Of course, for 'heavy' emailing, nobody in their right mind is going to use a 'berry or anything else - just fire up the laptop.
It's ironic that when RIM finally gives us a decent terminal, they feel pressured to widen the market by offering their service on other platforms. Having said that, I do miss the integrated GPS of my WM device, so...
But even if you keep the software, (especially source), that you used to make the compressed file, will you be able to run / compile it in the future?
This is a major issue for people looking at the electronic archiving of documents. I used to be a big fan of Pagis Pro, (came out of Xerox) which used a proprietry format (remember *.xif?) that was very efficient and effective for scanned documents - it essentially stored the text as (OCR-recognized) text, and images as JPEGs. Much better quality, and much smaller files.
What is the woman are planning to change jobs because they are going to start a family? That's logical, and happens in many industries. The study would be interesting if was about falling female participation in CS degrees etc.
Because there's no money in it. OK, all me a cynic, but have you ever seen 'The Russia House' or 'Wag the Dog' (great films but with frightening messages). It's our fault - people will always spend a fortune fixing problems that they could have spent a little cash avoiding... Meanwhile, Symantec & the CIA are doing business...
Good idea - forget it. Unless you're rich, and can face down M$, IBM and their hordes of lawyers. Maybe we should start a fund?
I use OS software, but don't have the time, (and probably no longer the skills - stopped doing 'real' programming a long time ago, (on an IBM System 3 with a card reader - like I said, a LONG time ago...), to contribute technically.
But if everytime I downloaded something for my use, or to give to a friend, client etc. I'd be happy to click on a 'donate $10 to our legal fund' button... Anyone else out there?
Sorry, don't agree. I have a Pearl, and love it. But (here in Europe) it's expensive, and many similarly-priced phones offer more features, such as GPS... But I bought a Pearl because I just 'wanted it to work'. Sure enough, 10 minutes after unpacking it, I was receiving my first mail. But if RIMs USP is in doubt, well, why not put up with the hassle of configuring a competitive device?
So yes - it's really very bad...
Novell is a weak company - they inked a deal with M$ because it suited both parties who feel threatened in this space.
But following links in TFA, and back beyond them:
1. The M$ Balmer FUD bullshit:
"...and because open-source Linux does not come from a company -- Linux comes from the community -- the fact that that product uses our patented intellectual property is a problem for our shareholders..."
i.e. we can't threaten to sue *everyone*, so we picked-off the weakest member of the flock...
"But to the degree that people are going to deploy Linux, we want Suse Linux to have the highest percent share of that, because only a customer who has Suse Linux actually has paid properly for the use of intellectual property from Microsoft."
i.e. we'll claim to push technical interoperability with Novell/Suse, (which will probably be more bullshit), since they will be more pliant to our desires...we'll also threaten to sue anyone who develops, distributes or uses other products.
2. Novell rebuttal
"We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic of Linux and patents. Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other Novell offering violates Microsoft patents," Hovsepian [boss of Novell] said.
A Microsoft representative on Monday issued a response to the Novell letter, saying the two companies disagree on this point.
i.e. Who cares about public posturing - we both know that this is all about the two getting together to screw everyone else, including users.
3. The reaction from IBM & Red Hat
Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of Linux and open source, said that the patent protections included in the Novell-Microsoft deal are unnecessary. "We aren't sure what Microsoft's intentions here are, but IBM has long asserted that we don't see the need for this coverage," Handy said. "To our knowledge, there has never been a patent suit against Linux, and it is our view that legal claims, if they exist, should be settled without involving end-user customers...Microsoft is trying to create "fear, uncertainty and doubt" around Linux because it poses a competitive threat."
This from the company that INVENTED FUD - they should know... And RH?
"The day after the announcement of the Novell deal, Red Hat responded with a statement saying that it will not pay an "innovation tax."
So, a big 'fuck you' from the major players. Why? They know that if M$ could attrack them directly, they already would have.
Especially after the SCO debacle, M$ knows that if they take on IBM, in particular, the only winners will be the lawyers. Nobody has more patents than the boys in blue. But that won't stop them trying to chip away at the edges...
By the way, the original article was far more interesting:
Tax is something levied by legitimate government on its electorate, for the greater good of the collective.
A legitimate business expense, such as legal fees, is something incurred by an organisation as it goes about its normal (legal, moral) business in the pursuit of benefit for its stakeholders, (customers, employees, shareholders).
Most other things left could be classified as theft - a crime. Kleoptocratic regimes, fake expenses...
But somewhere in between the two is what the economists call 'monopoly rent' - the extra income that a dominant organisation can demand over and above the market rate, simply because they are dominant. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_profit)
If we dismiss Apple & Sun, (OS most often bundled with hardware), we could be provocative & say that such a 'rent' is not 20 bucks, it's the total price (not cost) of either MS Windows or MS Office. As everyone here knows, Linux, OO etc. is a viable 'free' alternative. So where's the 'truth'? My guess - more like $100 than $20...
And before you flame or troll me - I have no problem with paying the 'rent' when the occasion demands it - there's still (unfortunately) many instances where MS is what I recommend / install / support. I just wish it was not so damn expensive...
This gem tucked away at the end of the article:
'As it turns out, software piracy can be good for you. "We have extremely strong brands [in Asia] thanks to the pirates; they have created millions of consumers - not customers,"...'
That's why copy protection / prevention has been so weak in Microsoft products for years, and will probably remain so as long as 'free' alternatives exist. Quoting St. Francis Xavier: ''Give me the children until they are seven and anyone may have them afterward'. (Sometimes mis-attributed to Joseph Goebbels, albeit in a deformed way). In other words, get 'em young and they'll be asking for Vista & Outlook instead of Ubuntu & T'bird...
Slashdot Mirror
So this is what the poor person was charged 2000 bucks for? YKBFKM!
Absolutely! My wife & I used to have 'WinMX' evenings back in the old Napster days, (I still remember thinking, 'maybe this internet hype really is true' one night when there were over 15 million people reported online, sharing songs..)
We'd search for old, half-remembered songs just for fun. 'Just give 'em whiskey' from Colorbox took an hour to download from some guy in Japan... I've probably still got that song somewhere, and don't feel bad about 'stealing' it, since I'd tried to find & buy it for years... But since then, I've listened to it -say - twice. Would I have paid a buck for it? Probably not. 10c, no problem...
In fact I'd be happy to install some client to check all the old MP3 I've got knocking around & 'legalise' them, (even the ones I've ripped off my own CDs) if the price was right. Maybe get a discount for quantity and by allowing the sw to 'upload' songs they had not got yet, (if properly tagged and stuff). *rushes off to patent idea*
Thanks for the link - funny!
On reading TFA, sounds a bit flaky...
"The pact, which is actually an "informal arrangement" called the Priority Reporting Tool, comes as a big surprise to internet users as Orkut has succes, just thsfully blocked attempts by various countries to control content."
"Now we can do away with the [old, slow, but govt. controlled] process and not just directly ban content but also obtain details of IP addresses and service providers quickly...the IP addresses will enable the [police] cell to track down people who have posted messages and book them if the need arises, police officials said."
No mention of legal oversight etc.
Mind you, perhaps we'll all gotten too blasé about the supposed freedom & anonymity of the 'net. After all, if you defame someone in traditional print, you can be sued in most places if it's not fair or truthful. Still, as I said, the smart badboys aren't going to be worried about this...plenty of internet cafés and open (or openable) hotspots around..
7) Offer just such a service to dumb people ...
8) Blackmail them
9)
10) Profit!
That't the damn trouble with dealing with dishonest people - you just can't trust 'em...
Nah. I'm self-employed now, but used to work for big-name consultants. If you're any good, (and not all consultants are, granted), you soon realise that the most dangerous client is the one who does not know what they want.
In that case, first job is to work out what needs doing, if anything, then agree it with the client.
I always offer a 100% money-back guarantee to my clients - wonder if this guy did? They spent 35K to lose 500K?
Mind you, probably be hard to prove in court...
I agree, that's not as unlikely as one might think, what with AMD buying ATI etc. However, as long as they sell the processors (CPU or GPU) as separate parts, I'm sure you'll always be able to buy high-end mobos and cards that'll work just fine with Linux etc.
Once you've got your BSD or whatever on the box, getting at the DRM-protected stuff should not be a problem.
However the real problem may well be - as it already is - getting decent Linux drivers...
They claim that communications are end-to-end encrypted, although they don't publish the source code, so hard to verify for backdoors etc. They have a client available for mobile devices - you can then call from any hotspot. Free, too, unless you take or make calls to/from normal lines (which are then, of course, not encrypted).
An another point, some of the posts here seem to be missing the point - the Italian wiretaps involved not just the state, but also illegal snooping done by powerful individuals, corporations and also the state phone company. It's not just the mobiles that were tapped, but land lines too. No point in having an encrypted GSM if you then use it to call a bugged land line...
Shame the article does not state what 'brand' of Linux, although Oracle is mentioned a lot, so could be their's / RH.
You could be on the right lines with the IBM master plan. This in another article linked in the parent:
"In addition, Qantas was still experiencing increased infrastructure costs from an October 2005 datacentre migration, which saw its mainframe environment moved from a Sydney CBD facility to an IBM centre..."
In other words, Blue Blue's got 'em by the balls.
Well said. But I'm not sure that it's really amusing - well, either laugh or you cry, eh? Still, it's a good example of how, in a still reasonably free society, the right and ability of people to congregate and challenge can counterbalance errors in the legal and political system.
From the article: "The company has also pitched a portable laser rifle, which would be lethal, to the US Army....it could also be used in non-lethal mode, "offering the individual soldier a first response non-lethal alternative, with the capability to go lethal should the situation call for that level of response", says Braun. But extensive testing of its effects on humans would need to be carried out before it could be legitimately used as a non-lethal weapon." How long before these things are being 'tested' in Iraq?
Yup, it's funny. But nearly too true to be funny...
No, double-entry book-keeping is keeping two, balancing entries for the same transaction. In all accounting systems I've worked on, they've been in the same database.
I've got - and had - loads of mobile gadgets. Most have disappointed me in some way or the other.
I always resisted the Blackberrys beacuse they were big, nerdy and expensive for just one 'killer app' - email push. Cracked for the new Pearl, though. It is great - 10 mins after unpacking it I was receiving mail. Also, it's small enough to be a convenient phone, decent 'gimmicks' like media player and camera and the email interface is fine - great for dealing with small mails in otherwise 'dead' moments. Google maps works great too - downloaded and installed in less than a minute. (Will we see apps like that on the iPhone?) I genuinely prefer it over my WM device, which I see as more of a 'toy'. One day I'll probably get a Linux smartphone to waste time playing with, but for serious business I need something like the Pearl - it 'just works'...that's 'awesome' enough for me.
Of course, for 'heavy' emailing, nobody in their right mind is going to use a 'berry or anything else - just fire up the laptop.
It's ironic that when RIM finally gives us a decent terminal, they feel pressured to widen the market by offering their service on other platforms. Having said that, I do miss the integrated GPS of my WM device, so...
But even if you keep the software, (especially source), that you used to make the compressed file, will you be able to run / compile it in the future?
This is a major issue for people looking at the electronic archiving of documents. I used to be a big fan of Pagis Pro, (came out of Xerox) which used a proprietry format (remember *.xif?) that was very efficient and effective for scanned documents - it essentially stored the text as (OCR-recognized) text, and images as JPEGs. Much better quality, and much smaller files.
http://www.guides.sk/scantips2/pagis1.html
Then Pagis was purchased, and XIF was abandoned in favour of PDF. An open-source alternative, 'DejaVu' exists:
http://djvu.org/
But the main products to create files is windows commercial...
What is the woman are planning to change jobs because they are going to start a family? That's logical, and happens in many industries. The study would be interesting if was about falling female participation in CS degrees etc.
That's what I meant - IBM invented FUD, the method. I used to work there...long time ago. Gene also - wonder where he got the idea?
Because there's no money in it. OK, all me a cynic, but have you ever seen 'The Russia House' or 'Wag the Dog' (great films but with frightening messages). It's our fault - people will always spend a fortune fixing problems that they could have spent a little cash avoiding... Meanwhile, Symantec & the CIA are doing business...
Good idea - forget it. Unless you're rich, and can face down M$, IBM and their hordes of lawyers. Maybe we should start a fund? I use OS software, but don't have the time, (and probably no longer the skills - stopped doing 'real' programming a long time ago, (on an IBM System 3 with a card reader - like I said, a LONG time ago...), to contribute technically. But if everytime I downloaded something for my use, or to give to a friend, client etc. I'd be happy to click on a 'donate $10 to our legal fund' button... Anyone else out there?
Sorry, don't agree. I have a Pearl, and love it. But (here in Europe) it's expensive, and many similarly-priced phones offer more features, such as GPS... But I bought a Pearl because I just 'wanted it to work'. Sure enough, 10 minutes after unpacking it, I was receiving my first mail. But if RIMs USP is in doubt, well, why not put up with the hassle of configuring a competitive device? So yes - it's really very bad...
Novell is a weak company - they inked a deal with M$ because it suited both parties who feel threatened in this space.
+ Linux+agreement/2100-7344_3-6137444.html
But following links in TFA, and back beyond them:
1. The M$ Balmer FUD bullshit:
"...and because open-source Linux does not come from a company -- Linux comes from the community -- the fact that that product uses our patented intellectual property is a problem for our shareholders..."
i.e. we can't threaten to sue *everyone*, so we picked-off the weakest member of the flock...
"But to the degree that people are going to deploy Linux, we want Suse Linux to have the highest percent share of that, because only a customer who has Suse Linux actually has paid properly for the use of intellectual property from Microsoft."
i.e. we'll claim to push technical interoperability with Novell/Suse, (which will probably be more bullshit), since they will be more pliant to our desires...we'll also threaten to sue anyone who develops, distributes or uses other products.
2. Novell rebuttal
"We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic of Linux and patents. Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other Novell offering violates Microsoft patents," Hovsepian [boss of Novell] said.
A Microsoft representative on Monday issued a response to the Novell letter, saying the two companies disagree on this point.
i.e. Who cares about public posturing - we both know that this is all about the two getting together to screw everyone else, including users.
3. The reaction from IBM & Red Hat
Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of Linux and open source, said that the patent protections included in the Novell-Microsoft deal are unnecessary. "We aren't sure what Microsoft's intentions here are, but IBM has long asserted that we don't see the need for this coverage," Handy said. "To our knowledge, there has never been a patent suit against Linux, and it is our view that legal claims, if they exist, should be settled without involving end-user customers...Microsoft is trying to create "fear, uncertainty and doubt" around Linux because it poses a competitive threat."
This from the company that INVENTED FUD - they should know... And RH?
"The day after the announcement of the Novell deal, Red Hat responded with a statement saying that it will not pay an "innovation tax."
So, a big 'fuck you' from the major players. Why? They know that if M$ could attrack them directly, they already would have.
Especially after the SCO debacle, M$ knows that if they take on IBM, in particular, the only winners will be the lawyers. Nobody has more patents than the boys in blue. But that won't stop them trying to chip away at the edges...
By the way, the original article was far more interesting:
http://news.com.com/Microsoft%2C+Novell+spar+over
Tax is something levied by legitimate government on its electorate, for the greater good of the collective. A legitimate business expense, such as legal fees, is something incurred by an organisation as it goes about its normal (legal, moral) business in the pursuit of benefit for its stakeholders, (customers, employees, shareholders). Most other things left could be classified as theft - a crime. Kleoptocratic regimes, fake expenses... But somewhere in between the two is what the economists call 'monopoly rent' - the extra income that a dominant organisation can demand over and above the market rate, simply because they are dominant. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_profit) If we dismiss Apple & Sun, (OS most often bundled with hardware), we could be provocative & say that such a 'rent' is not 20 bucks, it's the total price (not cost) of either MS Windows or MS Office. As everyone here knows, Linux, OO etc. is a viable 'free' alternative. So where's the 'truth'? My guess - more like $100 than $20... And before you flame or troll me - I have no problem with paying the 'rent' when the occasion demands it - there's still (unfortunately) many instances where MS is what I recommend / install / support. I just wish it was not so damn expensive...
So tinfoil won't work, then?
This gem tucked away at the end of the article: 'As it turns out, software piracy can be good for you. "We have extremely strong brands [in Asia] thanks to the pirates; they have created millions of consumers - not customers,"...' That's why copy protection / prevention has been so weak in Microsoft products for years, and will probably remain so as long as 'free' alternatives exist. Quoting St. Francis Xavier: ''Give me the children until they are seven and anyone may have them afterward'. (Sometimes mis-attributed to Joseph Goebbels, albeit in a deformed way). In other words, get 'em young and they'll be asking for Vista & Outlook instead of Ubuntu & T'bird...
Well, the legal team at Microsoft would like you to think so, based on their recent attack on the deal: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-goo gle-antitrust.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
With apologies for the shitty link format