All this "worrying about other people getting a fre ride" is ridiculous. EVERY advance in science and tech has benefited from the work of everyone who went before.
A good example of "not giving a shit" about who benefits is the boost c++ libraries. The license was "do whatever you want with the code." Because of this, it was used a lot more, and its now been added to the standard. The standards committee made it clear that this wouldn't have been possible to achieve so quickly if they had gone through the usual process of vetting a design, etc.; it would also have been impossible if they had used any version of the GPL license, since the GPL imposes restrictions.
Sure, Tivo made some sly moves. So what? It doesn't affect the ability of anyone else to learn from their code, and use it in other projects. And, as I point out, GPLv3 is incompatible with the requirements of whole industries, such as medical device manufacturers. Torvalds is right. Stallman is wrong. For code to be truly free, it has to be free for EVERYONE to use, including those you don't like. And including in ways you don't like. Hardware lockouts included. Don't like it? Well, that's where the test of the strength of your principles is tested, and in this test, the FSF failed; they are hypocrites. The same as requiring everyone to assign copyright to them before including any code in any GNU project, rather than letting the authors maintain control of their code.
Only an idiot grants someone else a blank check - the "... or any future version" is such a blank check.
Tivo doesn't "dictate terms" - thats just fud. Once you own a unit, you're free to take a hammer to it, or do anything else you want, within the limitations of your country's laws. Like I said, if you don't like the DRM aspects, swap out the main board - you have that fredom, you know. What is the big deal - its only a stupid TV recorder. I swear, for a bunch of "intellectuals" at the FSF to get so bent out of shape over television...
The "people who provide them with software for free" provided it under a specific licens... which they are fully honoring, including making available all their source code. There is nothing preventing you or anyone else from recompiling that, and running it on a diferent main board.
Complaining that it won't run on the original board is akin to complaining that your microwave won't run the latest version of Ubuntu.
The GPL was supposed to be about software, not hardware. When it crosses that boundary, dictating what hardware you can and can't run it on, it betrays its own "freedoms". Here's their own list of those 4 freedoms:
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom
Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The only contention is the first freedom - and you're free to run the program on any other hardware, for its original or any other purpose, so the FSF is full of shit with their move into the hardware space, and if they push it too much, watch the "big movers" (IBM, Novell) move to BSD. How long do you think it would be before BSD was the "new darling" if IBM threw a few billion at it?
When Tivo sold you the hardware, they made NO representation that it would support software compiled by others. Don't like it? Build a competitor... except that the harsh reality is that, without some sort of lock-in, you won't make money off subscriptions, so you'll have to make all your profit from the initial sale... which will make you uncompetitive, price-wise. For certain products, in certain markets, at certain times, Tivoization is the only economic model. The market will eventually change, but that's something that only time will fix. In the meantime, just build your own mythtv box, and be grateful that not everyone is going GPLv3 - because if the kernel were to go GPLv3, it would not be possible to consider it for applications and appliances that have to meat tightening Sarnes-Oxbey requirements, among other things.
Do you really want to cede whole industries to Microsoft? They would LOVE to see the kernel GPLv3'd. Eventually, no linux for medical devices, banking, finance, traffic control, energy control, process plants, real-time devices, etc. That's the reality, and its sad that people get so wound up in a "jihad" that, like any other jihad, will end up doing more harm than good.
"uncertainty and doubt. I have no hope though that a cure will ever be found for stupid."
The fundies already have prior art on "curing uncertainty and doubt." You "just gotta believe!" As for curing "stupid"... do you really think any government or religious group would allow that?
"Actually, when they sell it to me, it becomes my hardware. TiVo is telling me what I can and can't do with software they didn't write on hardware I own."
Irrelevant. You're free to take the hardware and do anything you want with it - chip it to run other software, for example. If its such a big problem, instead of whining, pay someone to develop a new board and bios for the hardware, then download and recompile Tivo's software and run it on it.
Or download suse and use the "set my box up as a mythtv box" option.
If you're not happy with the limitations of Tivo, don't buy it. There ARE other options. Let the marketplace sort it out by voting with your wallet or purse. Buying a Tivo because you want their features, then whining that somehow they've taken your freedom away, when you knew the deal up-front, and there are free alternatives, is hypocritical.
All this (the GPLv3) will do is make people take a closer look at *BSD, especially for embedded medical devices, car control systems, etc. The worst case scenario would be Microsoft "adopting" - embracing and extending - BSD, and developing their own proprietary "wine-work-alike". Lets hope they don't grow a brain for another decade.
"Tivo is evil because you can't recompile the kernel"
You're free to recompile everything tivo uses, including the kernel - it just won't run on THEIR hardware. Nothing prevents you from reusing their source code in YOUR projects. This whole "Tivoisation jihad" has gotten ridiculous.
Think medical devices. You have to GUARANTEE that the kernel hasn't been altered. What Tivo did would allow medical devices to run linux with that guarantee, while still leaving the source out there for anyone else to learn from and improve. Or would you rather leave the field of medical devices to Windows (where a crash can be fatal)... Microsoft would LOVE the kernel to go GPL v3.
For this alone, the GPL v3 is just plain stupid. Its politics - trying to extend a software license to hardware. RMS has done a lot of good, but now he's drinking the purple flavorade, and dragging a lot of people down with him.
"You know, when I write code for my University I lose the copyright on that, too, but at least I'm compensated for it..."
Not necessarily. If you're a student, stick your copyright notice on it when you write it, and there's not much they can do about it. Come to think of it, stick a formal copyright notice on EVERYTHING you write that you submit to them. (On slashdot, there's already a notice saying that posts are the property of their owners, so you're reasonably okay here).
Even if you're not a student, and you're writing it for a living, work-for-hire, etc., still stick your notice, like this:
/* Copyright Notice
** Written by Chibi Merrow.
** Copyright assigned to University of Whatever.
*/
It makes it clear who to blame, and future maintainers will appreciate it:-)
"As many as a third of those surveyed under the age of 30 were unable to recall their home telephone number without resorting to their mobile phones or to notes."
Maybe its because older people are still tied to land lines. They forgot the "I don't have a land line, jst a mobile, you ignorant clod!"
Anyway, to my point: Its like remembering your own postal code - why should I? I never write letters to myself, and I never mail anything any more. About the only thing I get in the mail are bills (hey - I pay them onine, but until they give me $ for saving them postage, paper and printing, let them keep sending them), junk mail, and some print IT trade magazines. If I need it, I can always look on my driver's license.
Better, at least for me, to remember the "break points" in the ASCII table - 65=A, 97=a, etc...
We remember what's important to US, and forget the rest. Remembering a bunch of phone numbers is no longer important - we have gadgets to do that, same as some people in previous generations had servants to "sweat the small stuff."
Just remember to keep a hard copy of all those phone numbers, for when you lose your cell phone...
Yeah, but this article is licensed under the GPL v 3 !!!
So you can't listen to it using GPL v2 software like linux.
(... and there's bound to be some idiot^Wphb^Wastroturfer out there who is ready to spout off about how this is *really really really* the case and suggest we all avoid the "problems" of the "viral open sores GPL" by going to Windows....)
Sadly, those exabytes of data are mostly only useful after the fact. Its like all those "security cameras" - they don't improve security - they just help you identify the person who was wearing the backpack that blew everyone to bits.
Fewer cameras and hi-tech "solutions", and more manpower on the beat.
"And yet it may indeed be that ours is the easiest, and therefore most likely, form of life to get started."
o argument about it. Its a lot easier than, say, building a car. A car requires over 3,000 pieces - to make a human only requires 2 bumpers and a connecting rod.
"I don't see how a chemical that supresses feelings that need to be felt is going to be at all beneficial to a trauma victim"
Past a certain point, the feelings don't need to be felt - they're a barrier, not a character-builder. By reducing the associated stress, maybe the person is able to be less afraid look closer at what happened, and gain new insight?
We do it with mood-altering substances all the time, from "comfort food" to chocolate to booze, etc. All legal. Sugar has a tremedous impact on your mood - just look at any hyper kid on a sugar high - and yet I don't see people recommending we starve people because food can alter your moods.
I'd say lets do some more testing and see what happens.
But in this case, he'd autogyro down, with that big sh*t-eating grin on his face, holding up a sign saying "PHEW!" and just as he gets to ground level - BAM! a truck driven by the RoadRunner runs into him and creams him.
"For example, those who cannot afford coverage are exempted from the law"
No individual is exempt. Those who are under 3x the federal poverty level will have access to subsidies; those at or below the federal poverty level get free insurance. They are not exempt - they ALL are covered.
Anyone who doesn't get coverage loses their personal exemption on next years' income tax, and in each succeeding year, the penalty will rise until it matches what they would have paid for coverage.
Even businesses with 10 or fewer employees have an incentive to provide coverage, as they will get dinged if their employees use free care more tha t 5 times in 1 year (or 3 times for a single employe) - they will be billed the actual cost of treatment, after a $50,000 exemption. It will only take a few small businesses that have an employee having multiple heart attacks in one year to encourage ALL businesses to opt into covering their employees.
This is the crack in the wall - within 10 years, most of the US will have "socialized medicine."
If you go up to most people and offer them a hypothetical procedure which would grant them a hundred years of healthy life, but requires the sacrifice of a hundred schoolkids, how many would take it?
I think a few teachers would be lining up for the opportunity, even w/o extra 100 years of healthy life.
If you go up to most people and offer them a hypothetical procedure which would grant them a hundred years of healthy life, but requires the sacrifice of a hundred politicians or lawyers how many would take it?
There, fixed it for you. I'll do my share by starting with 1,000 years more.
From the looks of it after watching the vide, its terrible at transforming pedal energy into forward motion, and I'd really hate to see what would happen in any sort of wind. At least a "real bike" you can get off and walk. Add bird strikes to the blades, the excess width, etc., and you've got a real problem.
Unless,of course, you're Wiley Coyote, and ride it off a cliff - you could autogyro down, I guess.
I'm hoping it gets back down to something rational, because otherwise it distorts the economy too much. We're already seeing layoffs in industries that were a big part of "adding fake perceived value", like the composite flooring crap; hopefully, when it all gets "sorted out" we'll be able to move forward again.
The real long-term threat is the undermining of people's confidence in the economy, and the government's ability to manage. Bush's latest "doing jail time for perjury is too harsh a punishment for my buddies" is just the latest kick at the can that started with Ford being duped into pardoning Nixon.
Couple this with unsustainable raises in the public debt, as well as rising interest rates (which will make that debt rise even faster), and you have the ingredients for civil unrest, possibly even a movement by "have" states to secede. What practical tools can a bankrupt federal government use against a state like California declaring independence, and taking a few neighboring states with it, especially if a pro-secession president is elected?
By 2004, prime "A" property in Tokyo's financial districts were less than 1/100th of their peak, and Tokyo's residential homes were 1/10th of their peak,
Imagine losing 99% of your home's value over the course of 15 years. It was unimaginable, but it happened.
(CBS 5) BERKELEY A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.
Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb.
Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.
As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."
The documents show the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop such a chemical weapon.
"The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviewing the documents.
"The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soliders would become gay," explained Hammond.
The Pentagon told CBS 5 that the proposal was made by the Air Force in 1994.
"The Department of Defense is committed to identifying, researching and developing non-lethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform," said a DOD spokesperson, who indicated that the "gay bomb" idea was quickly dismissed.
However, Hammond said the government records he obtained suggest the military gave the plan much stronger consideration than it has acknowledged.
"The truth of the matter is it would have never come to my attention if it was dismissed at the time it was proposed," he said. "In fact, the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider."
Military officials insisted Friday to CBS 5 that they are not currently working on any such idea and that the past plan was abandoned.
Gay community leaders in California said Friday that they found the notion of a "gay bomb" both offensive and almost laughable at the same time.
"Throughout history we have had so many brave men and women who are gay and lesbian serving the military with distinction," said Geoff Kors of Equality California. "So, it's just offensive that they think by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of doing their job. And its absurd because there's so much medical data that shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed."
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All this "worrying about other people getting a fre ride" is ridiculous. EVERY advance in science and tech has benefited from the work of everyone who went before.
A good example of "not giving a shit" about who benefits is the boost c++ libraries. The license was "do whatever you want with the code." Because of this, it was used a lot more, and its now been added to the standard. The standards committee made it clear that this wouldn't have been possible to achieve so quickly if they had gone through the usual process of vetting a design, etc.; it would also have been impossible if they had used any version of the GPL license, since the GPL imposes restrictions.
Sure, Tivo made some sly moves. So what? It doesn't affect the ability of anyone else to learn from their code, and use it in other projects. And, as I point out, GPLv3 is incompatible with the requirements of whole industries, such as medical device manufacturers. Torvalds is right. Stallman is wrong. For code to be truly free, it has to be free for EVERYONE to use, including those you don't like. And including in ways you don't like. Hardware lockouts included. Don't like it? Well, that's where the test of the strength of your principles is tested, and in this test, the FSF failed; they are hypocrites. The same as requiring everyone to assign copyright to them before including any code in any GNU project, rather than letting the authors maintain control of their code.
Only an idiot grants someone else a blank check - the "... or any future version" is such a blank check.
Tivo doesn't "dictate terms" - thats just fud. Once you own a unit, you're free to take a hammer to it, or do anything else you want, within the limitations of your country's laws. Like I said, if you don't like the DRM aspects, swap out the main board - you have that fredom, you know. What is the big deal - its only a stupid TV recorder. I swear, for a bunch of "intellectuals" at the FSF to get so bent out of shape over television ...
The "people who provide them with software for free" provided it under a specific licens ... which they are fully honoring, including making available all their source code. There is nothing preventing you or anyone else from recompiling that, and running it on a diferent main board.
Complaining that it won't run on the original board is akin to complaining that your microwave won't run the latest version of Ubuntu.
The GPL was supposed to be about software, not hardware. When it crosses that boundary, dictating what hardware you can and can't run it on, it betrays its own "freedoms". Here's their own list of those 4 freedoms:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
The only contention is the first freedom - and you're free to run the program on any other hardware, for its original or any other purpose, so the FSF is full of shit with their move into the hardware space, and if they push it too much, watch the "big movers" (IBM, Novell) move to BSD. How long do you think it would be before BSD was the "new darling" if IBM threw a few billion at it?
When Tivo sold you the hardware, they made NO representation that it would support software compiled by others. Don't like it? Build a competitor ... except that the harsh reality is that, without some sort of lock-in, you won't make money off subscriptions, so you'll have to make all your profit from the initial sale ... which will make you uncompetitive, price-wise. For certain products, in certain markets, at certain times, Tivoization is the only economic model. The market will eventually change, but that's something that only time will fix. In the meantime, just build your own mythtv box, and be grateful that not everyone is going GPLv3 - because if the kernel were to go GPLv3, it would not be possible to consider it for applications and appliances that have to meat tightening Sarnes-Oxbey requirements, among other things.
Do you really want to cede whole industries to Microsoft? They would LOVE to see the kernel GPLv3'd. Eventually, no linux for medical devices, banking, finance, traffic control, energy control, process plants, real-time devices, etc. That's the reality, and its sad that people get so wound up in a "jihad" that, like any other jihad, will end up doing more harm than good.
"uncertainty and doubt. I have no hope though that a cure will ever be found for stupid."
The fundies already have prior art on "curing uncertainty and doubt." You "just gotta believe!" As for curing "stupid" ... do you really think any government or religious group would allow that?
Conspiracy theorists believe the funding was provided by a group of cats ...
"Actually, when they sell it to me, it becomes my hardware. TiVo is telling me what I can and can't do with software they didn't write on hardware I own."
Irrelevant. You're free to take the hardware and do anything you want with it - chip it to run other software, for example. If its such a big problem, instead of whining, pay someone to develop a new board and bios for the hardware, then download and recompile Tivo's software and run it on it.
Or download suse and use the "set my box up as a mythtv box" option.
If you're not happy with the limitations of Tivo, don't buy it. There ARE other options. Let the marketplace sort it out by voting with your wallet or purse. Buying a Tivo because you want their features, then whining that somehow they've taken your freedom away, when you knew the deal up-front, and there are free alternatives, is hypocritical.
All this (the GPLv3) will do is make people take a closer look at *BSD, especially for embedded medical devices, car control systems, etc. The worst case scenario would be Microsoft "adopting" - embracing and extending - BSD, and developing their own proprietary "wine-work-alike". Lets hope they don't grow a brain for another decade.
"Tivo is evil because you can't recompile the kernel"
You're free to recompile everything tivo uses, including the kernel - it just won't run on THEIR hardware. Nothing prevents you from reusing their source code in YOUR projects. This whole "Tivoisation jihad" has gotten ridiculous.
Think medical devices. You have to GUARANTEE that the kernel hasn't been altered. What Tivo did would allow medical devices to run linux with that guarantee, while still leaving the source out there for anyone else to learn from and improve. Or would you rather leave the field of medical devices to Windows (where a crash can be fatal) ... Microsoft would LOVE the kernel to go GPL v3.
For this alone, the GPL v3 is just plain stupid. Its politics - trying to extend a software license to hardware. RMS has done a lot of good, but now he's drinking the purple flavorade, and dragging a lot of people down with him.
"You know, when I write code for my University I lose the copyright on that, too, but at least I'm compensated for it..."
Not necessarily. If you're a student, stick your copyright notice on it when you write it, and there's not much they can do about it. Come to think of it, stick a formal copyright notice on EVERYTHING you write that you submit to them. (On slashdot, there's already a notice saying that posts are the property of their owners, so you're reasonably okay here).
Even if you're not a student, and you're writing it for a living, work-for-hire, etc., still stick your notice, like this:
It makes it clear who to blame, and future maintainers will appreciate it :-)
"As many as a third of those surveyed under the age of 30 were unable to recall their home telephone number without resorting to their mobile phones or to notes."
Maybe its because older people are still tied to land lines. They forgot the "I don't have a land line, jst a mobile, you ignorant clod!"
Anyway, to my point: Its like remembering your own postal code - why should I? I never write letters to myself, and I never mail anything any more. About the only thing I get in the mail are bills (hey - I pay them onine, but until they give me $ for saving them postage, paper and printing, let them keep sending them), junk mail, and some print IT trade magazines. If I need it, I can always look on my driver's license.
Better, at least for me, to remember the "break points" in the ASCII table - 65=A, 97=a, etc ...
We remember what's important to US, and forget the rest. Remembering a bunch of phone numbers is no longer important - we have gadgets to do that, same as some people in previous generations had servants to "sweat the small stuff."
Just remember to keep a hard copy of all those phone numbers, for when you lose your cell phone ...
... Because the FSF requires that if you submit anything, you have to assign the copyright to them. Keeps the proles in line, you know ...
Unlike the linux kernel, which has a LOT of copyright holders.
So, who's acting more autocratic, Linus or the FSF?
So you want to sync a 1 or 2-gig phone card? 2 gigabytes = 16 gigabits. That's a LOT of $$$.
I'll stick to my USB cable - fast, easy to use under linux - no special drivers needed.
"If Sun simply rewrote the code in Java (which wouldn't be hard; only time consuming"
Yeah, but this article is licensed under the GPL v 3 !!!
So you can't listen to it using GPL v2 software like linux.
(... and there's bound to be some idiot^Wphb^Wastroturfer out there who is ready to spout off about how this is *really really really* the case and suggest we all avoid the "problems" of the "viral open sores GPL" by going to Windows ....)
Sadly, those exabytes of data are mostly only useful after the fact. Its like all those "security cameras" - they don't improve security - they just help you identify the person who was wearing the backpack that blew everyone to bits.
Fewer cameras and hi-tech "solutions", and more manpower on the beat.
After the J Edgar Hoover bit, the FBI is in no position to blackmail anyone.
Call me when they find Osama. Or all those "lost billions" in government funds.
"And yet it may indeed be that ours is the easiest, and therefore most likely, form of life to get started."
o argument about it. Its a lot easier than, say, building a car. A car requires over 3,000 pieces - to make a human only requires 2 bumpers and a connecting rod.
"so I basically can only buy things when something breaks"
So buy a bigger hammer.
You can use it to "adjust" equipment that you think needs replacing, AND as a LART.
"I don't see how a chemical that supresses feelings that need to be felt is going to be at all beneficial to a trauma victim"
Past a certain point, the feelings don't need to be felt - they're a barrier, not a character-builder. By reducing the associated stress, maybe the person is able to be less afraid look closer at what happened, and gain new insight?
We do it with mood-altering substances all the time, from "comfort food" to chocolate to booze, etc. All legal. Sugar has a tremedous impact on your mood - just look at any hyper kid on a sugar high - and yet I don't see people recommending we starve people because food can alter your moods.
I'd say lets do some more testing and see what happens.
But in this case, he'd autogyro down, with that big sh*t-eating grin on his face, holding up a sign saying "PHEW!" and just as he gets to ground level - BAM! a truck driven by the RoadRunner runs into him and creams him.
"For example, those who cannot afford coverage are exempted from the law"
No individual is exempt. Those who are under 3x the federal poverty level will have access to subsidies; those at or below the federal poverty level get free insurance. They are not exempt - they ALL are covered.
Anyone who doesn't get coverage loses their personal exemption on next years' income tax, and in each succeeding year, the penalty will rise until it matches what they would have paid for coverage.
Even businesses with 10 or fewer employees have an incentive to provide coverage, as they will get dinged if their employees use free care more tha t 5 times in 1 year (or 3 times for a single employe) - they will be billed the actual cost of treatment, after a $50,000 exemption. It will only take a few small businesses that have an employee having multiple heart attacks in one year to encourage ALL businesses to opt into covering their employees.
This is the crack in the wall - within 10 years, most of the US will have "socialized medicine."
I think a few teachers would be lining up for the opportunity, even w/o extra 100 years of healthy life.
There, fixed it for you. I'll do my share by starting with 1,000 years more.From the looks of it after watching the vide, its terrible at transforming pedal energy into forward motion, and I'd really hate to see what would happen in any sort of wind. At least a "real bike" you can get off and walk. Add bird strikes to the blades, the excess width, etc., and you've got a real problem.
Unless,of course, you're Wiley Coyote, and ride it off a cliff - you could autogyro down, I guess.
I'm hoping it gets back down to something rational, because otherwise it distorts the economy too much. We're already seeing layoffs in industries that were a big part of "adding fake perceived value", like the composite flooring crap; hopefully, when it all gets "sorted out" we'll be able to move forward again.
The real long-term threat is the undermining of people's confidence in the economy, and the government's ability to manage. Bush's latest "doing jail time for perjury is too harsh a punishment for my buddies" is just the latest kick at the can that started with Ford being duped into pardoning Nixon.
Couple this with unsustainable raises in the public debt, as well as rising interest rates (which will make that debt rise even faster), and you have the ingredients for civil unrest, possibly even a movement by "have" states to secede. What practical tools can a bankrupt federal government use against a state like California declaring independence, and taking a few neighboring states with it, especially if a pro-secession president is elected?
That is scary stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_asset_price_ bubble
Imagine losing 99% of your home's value over the course of 15 years. It was unimaginable, but it happened.
Now THAT had me laughing ... except for the price tag - $7.5 million. I guess they wanted to add a whole new meaning to the term "comrades-in-arms."
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_159222541.h tml