"Prior art" is about patents. Trademarks have more to do with "common use" and in this case, I believe that can be easily demonstrated.
You are aware that Apple was allowed to Trademark the term podcast even though it was in quite common use by podcasters all over the world.
The problem with both Patent and Trademark law is that "common use", "prior art", and "obviousness" are all insufficiently sourced, and there is no approved database for the PTO to use to discover these things (even though the web does exist, and would be a viable source, IMO).
I've commonly referred to my web applications as Web Apps, and used the terms" Java Applet" and "Java App" to distinguish browser targeted Java programs from non-browser applications; Additionally I've used the term "mobile apps" to refer to my J2ME programs (specifically for Nokia phones). Yet, Apple was allowed the trademark on "App Store"...
Despite any common sense or logical reasoning, whatever is currently in the Trademark or Patent database is what's primarily searched when they look for "prior art" or "common use". The USPTO can not really filter all the worlds use cases, or prior art through the minimal number of trademark or patent attorneys attending each case; Additionally those employed by the USPTO are verifiably incompetent; See above podcast trademark, and ridiculous or even duplicate patents (of which there are many examples available via any web search -- Swinging on a Swing Sideways).
Common Use sort of means: Commonly Used By Established Companies, or a "household name" -- Though BitCoin may not be a household name in the patent examiner's neighbourhood, I assure you it is in mine; I also assure you that there is no "Application for inclusion as a household to be questioned, and which also commonly uses the following names: ____".
Your argument is very flawed, and/or irrelevant. Allow me to illustrate:
It could have been easily demonstrated via any web search engine that the term "Podcast" was in common use as a "thing" not a brand and so it should not have been eligible for trademark any more than "App" would be. Yet both are Trademarked terms; the latter term as part of a name created by the addition of a sole word meaning general term for place of purchase -- "App Store".
I'm not trying to single out Apple Inc; I'm sure there are other instances of companies that throw many ideas and terms at the PTO just to see what sticks...
Clearly, application of this logic is non obvious, to anyone skilled in the art of X non iterative. Oh, that's right, I forgot -- The non-obviousness tests are not applied to patents because they don't exist...
I agree. My grandparents, my 80 year old (retired air-force mechanic) neighbour, my Aunt and Uncles all use Ubuntu and have never even used a CLI.
In my experience non-technical people have no more difficulty adapting to Ubuntu than they do upgrading from XP to Win7. Additionally, Gnome's drag n drop threshold is great for people with shaky hands, but I would suggest increasing the window border size for ease of resizing (1px resize regions?! Are you MAD?). It seems the biggest hurdle keeping average folks from using Linux is just lack of exposure.
Once I introduce them to the Application repository ("Oh, so it's a free App Store?", yes Grandma, to you it is...), and set updates to install automatically they're all set. Hell, it's so easy that my Grandpa "accidentally" upgraded to the latest LTS version.
I even install Linux instead of Win7 for my friends and family: "Try Linux out first; It's free, so why not? If you don't like we can always buy the Windows7 upgrade later." Even if someone goes with Windows, or OSX, there's no real reason not to have a Linux boot option just in case the other OS gets hosed -- This has saved me "urgent" weekend visits more times than I can count, and some folks choose to stick with Linux afterwards, heh.
Now my friends and relatives call me just to talk instead of also guiltily dropping hints that they need me to fix their computers...
boo for making it past Slashdot "editorial" "filter".
Yep, just try and draw a line from the tip of the nose shadow thru the tip of the nose, and the tip of the tail shadow through the tip of the tail -- They don't intersect at the sun... that last pic: they go off at very bad angles like:
\------/ instead of \------\ or/------/ or even |------\ or/------|
You may get \------/ on overcast days with lots of ambient light, but not those hard shadows -- Clearly a fake.
I'll Pay for someone to do work: process my data for me, or to manipulate the data (write/fix code). However, in a world where data duplication is so cheap these words were copied over 20 times (more if you consider video ram, or have many router hops), you shouldn't expect people to pay for the data... (Supply = infinite, regardless of dev cost or demand, price = 0;)
Let's say you contract me to write a program for you for $2,000. I'm done with the program and I've sent you screenshots of it in action. What's that? You want a copy of the program? Oh, we didn't discuss that in your contract... You want me to copy the data for you across the Internet or on in the mail via Disk? Well, let's see... I'll have to charge you an extra $100 for that. Additionally, each time YOU copy the program, I want you to pay me another $100.
Oh? You don't agree with that? You say that the program is yours since you paid me to create it, eh? I already did the work, and it costs nothing, surely not $100, to duplicate the 1's and 0's...
-- OK, say we never met --
And, how about we say you just happen to work in an industry that has lots of common problems that have software solutions. Now, let's say I went off and wrote a program that provides solutions to many of these problems. Now, You can download the program from my website but first you must purchase a product registration key for $100 -- Each workstation or server you install it on will need a unique code, so you pay me for each copy. Oh, WTF?! This is somehow acceptable? Hypocrite much?
You see -- I like to get paid for actually doing work. Reproducing bits is not work, we all have teams of machines that do this hundreds of times a minute for us constantly.
So, The problem isn't that Linux users don't want to pay for software -- I'll gladly pay you to make an improvement, or to create a new bit of software, or to be on call for when I need support for the software... However, paying for each copy? No. We won't pay any more than it costs to duplicate it. Who do you think we are? Naive proprietary software users? I'm not paying you to do ABSOLUTELY ZERO WORK.
Artificial Scarcity is Considered Harmful. Stop doing it. Oh noes! How will you fund the massive software project without imposing artificial scarcity?
How about you tie your "sale price" to your actually costs of doing business? Instead of: "each copy costs $X", say, "to fund the development of that software we need $X"
Being honest sucks, eh? Can't be nearly as greedy, right? Guess what? I work and make an honest living too!
(please excuse any silliness or mistakes, I'm doped-up -- just had wisdom teeth out, but I'm not crazy)
You're making a lot of assumptions about the nature of the app. In my opinion it's incredibly hypocritical. I mean when I go to Amazon they don't immediately redirect me to an HTTPS site either.
Correct. This means that Amazon is succeptable to MITM attacks such as SSL-Strip.
Oh, is that an unsecured web page, why don't I rewrite the HTTPS login form (or the link to it) to point to my own site that happens to be very similar to amazon and even has the trusted green "SSL secure" bar -- but wait, I can inject JS onto that unsecured page that snags document keypress events and sends them to my remote server before you even hit submit!
Hint: EVERYTHING should be HTTPS. The "additional load" is hogwash, the only time that matters is for cached content.
The BIGGEST retardation on the WEB is the fact that we have strong encryption and cryptographic signature technology, and yet MIXED content is UNSAFE because (X)HTML standard doesn't declare facilities to specify fingerprints for the non-encrypted data that the encrypted page pulls in -- thus allowing for privacy of encrypted content, AND caching of plaintext content WITHOUT compromising integrity. <img src="bkgnd.png" sig="SHA-1/hex;22172a80d89e99d250db62bf71031a23cbac4801" salt="HMAC/Base64;U2VjdXJpdHkgaXMgZWFzeS4K"/> Now apply this to the.js,.class, flash,.mp3,.avi, etc, and you get the point.
Never send a standards body to do a cryptographer's job -- For the record, I was only 15 when I came up with this idea, and was ignored -- "Shush, kid! The men are designing TLS & HTML in separate rooms, and that's final!"
Once the connection is set up, there's not a big security hit, to run a symmetric stream cipher -- and if clients can re-use past PKI authed tokens that haven't expired yet; Thus, repeated hits aren't expensive either.
Enjoy your broken web, and shitty security -- I'll be off writing and using the anonymous distributed web in the darknets.
-- Later fools.
If the answer is NO: You can't use Windows to store movies, songs or other copyrighted works because you do not own your copy of windows, you are licensing it (leasing it) from MS, and contracting them to manage your computer's operation and files (remote updates = full control).
IMHO, You can't own the product of your work if you sell it. I sold my work on a program to a company, I don't get paid for each copy they make... o_O Now, that company used to sell the compilation and physical media to end users, but CD burners were expensive, and copies were expensive to make.
Besides, what the end users do with their copy is their business. Selling access to something that's in infinite supply to everyone is not a smart move (infinite supply = 0 cost regardless of demand) -- Selling support contracts; Actually DOING WORK, now, that might be feasible.
Actually making new music -- That's work. Replicating 1's and 0's? -- well, good luck keeping that from happening, these words got copied at least 20 times via various servers before you read them (sans license), maybe more if you count video memory or have lots of router hops, or put your computer to sleep... (Hibernate = OOPs, just pirated everything I was doing -- TCP: OOPs, just made 20 copies of that website.)
Copyrights? When copies are in near infinite supply? (Are you a comedian, or an inept time traveler from the past?)
I've never used their service, but I do know that I refuse to support any business whose advertising is as dumb and pandering as theirs.
I take it you aren't a beer drinker.
Actually, I share the same opinion that GoDaddy is crap, and I have used their services on the behalf of others (esp. to transfer the domain away), and I do drink beer. Get a clue, you can enjoy a brew and still scoff at immature and sexist ad campaigns -- What? No nearly naked men? (targeted ads at their finest -- unprofessional meatheads who care more about sex appeal in ads than the services the sex is selling.)
Picture trying to hide the nearly lude imagery of the GoDaddy site from a client after having registered their domain name with that site -- or trying to explain why their MX record forwarding doesn't work properly even though you've assured them you're a professional and it's not your fault you chose the crappy GoDaddy registrar...
GoDaddy is in the business of marketing domains, search for something, it gets put up on the auction block, "back-order now", etc... Actually providing registrar services is an afterthought.
Enjoying a beer doesn't magically place you in the category of "good 'ol boy, womanizer", and pointing out sexism (or at least double standards) doesn't mark me as uptight... I don't really care -- It's not the image I choose to associate with, however.
Hell, I probably enjoy more beer than you do...I even brew my own beer, and trade my beer recipes and brews with others for free at the brewer's club. I've had my recipes improved by others and had better beer and friends because of it. "Free as in beer" means something strikingly similar to "free as in freedom" to a FLOSS dev / homebrewer -- The very existance of the term "homebrewed software" should be a dead giveaway to RMS that "Free as in Beer" is the wrong terminology to contrast "Free as in Freedom" -- it should be "Free as in Promotional".
Interdasting... Well, not really -- Ever heard of the US Military? Yeah, they write dates that way. They even use the metric system (SI units -- Hint: clicks = kilometers).
It's even more practical in speech: "What day is it?" "The 4th", more precise: "The 4th of July", enhance: " 4th of July, 2011 - 20:12 Zulu (UTC)"
However, I prefer MSU ordering (most significant unit), since that's how we write hours, minutes and seconds: 2011.04.06. Additionally, it sorts easier, even with names for months the month's days will at least be grouped together, as will each year, by even the most basic sort algo.
Yeah, I agree.....the people who feel strongest about drug legalization are mainly the ones who want to do drugs.
Well then, that's damn near everyone -- Almost everyone engages in recreational drug use on a fairly regular basis, from childhood at that! Caffeine is an addictive, habit forming drug. Alcohol is debilitating and life threatening as any other "hard drug" -- A several strong drinks and you won't even remember the previous day -- a few too many, you'll O.D. and hopefully be in a hospital...
Hardly anyone bats an eye when a pre-teen chugs a cola, or a 20-something has a beer on a warm summer day... Just look at those drug users; Using drugs so openly like that! -- They'll be running amok causing mischief now! Hide your kids, hide your wife (and hide your husband...).
Yes, sarcastic, however that's many how people view you if you're popping some speed or X, smoking a joint, or doing a line -- and to me they're all the same, just as bad as those people lined up inside Starbucks, McDonald's, or a pub (well actually, the latter may be worse).
Legalize recreational drug use -- Because prohibition helps gangsters and drug-lords you dolts.
This problem could have been solved by handing out pdfs, which they can print out over and over again.
You are aware that printer ink is one of the most expensive commodities on Earth, right?
However, You can do all those beneficial things WITHOUT INK or toner, if you just had a tablet PC... Make notes, "File -> Save As..."
As for printing...WHY? Just call up the document from the wireless server if it's not in your course data package on your device for some reason.
I had to buy all of my textbooks in Highshcool because of a car accident. The cost was over $500 -- That was one semester / one year, and get this -- now that I've long sense graduated: I can't refer to the books.
However, when I taught myself to code in 1992 (age 12) I saved the example code that I had entered and some references and guides I downloaded from Compuserve and other BBSs -- Oh, look, it's on my local NAS, and my S3 storage, and I can pull it right up on my desktop, my netbook, my thinkpad, or my OLPC, from anywhere in the world, at any time (provided Internet access is available, or I've had the forethought to download it to the internal storage).
You know, for a race that's actually got some amazing technology that we only dreamed of in the recent past, we sure are reluctant to use it...
The problem is with the term "intellectual property", it's not property. It's government granted and enforced monopolies on the exploitation of ideas. Calling it intellectual property is an instance of framing aka the art of choosing the words to bias the discussion, much like calling tax cuts "tax relief".
It is property because the law allows you to buy, sell, and transfer it.
Right; Just like, sex. In the US state of Nevada, and some other countries, the law allows you to buy and sell sex.
The term is "prostitution". Now, I don't know about you, but my sexual property rights are taxed heavily. Even if I choose not to exercise my ability to sell access to my amazing Johnson, I still have to list all the kinds of sex it can perform as taxable property when I file my taxes. Each time I get paid for sex I loose a little bit of my sexual property -- just like when you sell an idea!
Some clients have bought enough of my sex that they literally own most a majority say in the handling of it. ( You do have to be careful though -- Once, After I sold my sex, the client re-sold it on e-bay, and it was purchased by a 16 year old! I served 5 years for statutory rape! )
I once sold an idea that was so novel, it was in a totally invented on the spot language from a culture that existed only in my mind. A scarce resource like that -- the copyright traders, ie publishers, just had to have it, but they didn't count on the fact that no one but me knew what the strange symbols meant! Due to economics of scarcity, I'm now the richest man on InstainFrigth (that's Earth, but shhhh, don't tell anyone, it devalues my made up language).
Now, Don't tell me when you list your property you don't claim all of your ideas, passing thoughts, and your va-jay-jay!?
Why, those are 10 times more valuable than even a Big Johnson! You should talk to your accountant and maybe a sex or idea lawyer -- You could be liable for serious mental and sexual tax evasion; Even if you don't give a fuck!
I guess next you'll try to tell me that you are born with a head full of all the ideas you'll ever have, and a body full of all the fucks that you will ever give...
I've had the displeasure of setting up hosting for people who've purchased their domains from GoDaddy.
There's always some problem or another; Some basic task will just not work for no reason until you transfer the domain away from their greedy little paws.
Most recently it was the MX records of a local non-profit's site. The.com MX records would simply not correctly point to the hosting provider's MX records. Thankfully I quickly purchased the.org companion domain in the non-profit's name via their hosting provider, and we used the.org site's mailing instead (until the.com was transferred -- the hosting plan included 3 domain names). GoDaddy tech support said they were aware of the issue, had their techs working on the problem, and would notify me when it was fixed -- It didn't get "fixed" for 6 months.
I once searched and searched for a short catchy name to use for my software product that wasn't taken yet... I actually came up with a fitting name that didn't turn up any Google results or whois queries. I was already had the GoDaddy site open in a tab -- managing a client's domain -- so I quickly searched with GoDaddy to ensure the domain wasn't taken -- GoDaddy showed the domain was available, and at the lowest standard price too!
That night, at home, I couldn't register the domain via a different Registrar. I gave up after trying 3 other hosts, frustrated and upset. Two days later, I was at GoDaddy, and just impulsively entered the domain name I wanted -- It was shown as available?! However, the price had risen -- a 10 fold increase! I scratched my head, and a phone call interrupted me.
About an hour later I tried to register the domain from GoDaddy and it had already sold.
Apparently if you search for a domain on GoDaddy, they immediately reserve it. This prevents you from using another Registrar to purchase the domain, but it keeps others from snatching it away -- This benefit is utterly destroyed as they then advertise the domain you searched for as a "premium" domain to other shoppers and allow them to "back-order" it in the event that you don't complete your purchase before your "grace period" expires. Thereby ensuring that if you search for your domain on GoDaddy, you must purchase it via GoDaddy. (I've added their site to my hosts file blacklists at home).
Ultimately I tried contacting the registrant -- They turned out to be domain squatters who auctioned off domains via automated online auction sites, and wanted to sell it to me for even more money than they were auctioning it off at. I refused on principal; I would not fund such a practice.
As with other items that have a demand and (artificial) scarcity, a market was formed around the domain names. This is why new URIs are typically terrible...
I suppose I could register WhereHaveAllTheDomainNamesGoneDamnIt.com, but I think I'll just start spam searching crappy names like that to drive up their prices and cause some mischief instead.
It's too bad no one wants to use the solution to this problem.
Step 1. You register to vote. (Yes, we already do this...)
Step 2. You are given a unique set of voter's registration digits. (Yes, we already do this...)
Step 3. You vote, and enter some of your voter's registration digits. (Currently we enter all of them -- Dumb).
Step 4. Your ballot is cryptographically signed with the digits you did not disclose. (See, all digits get used; Just some are kept secret).
Step 5. You submit your ballot, the public digits of your voter's registration "number", and the digital fingerprint. (I assume some form of hashing is currently done, but the vendors/counters hold the keys, not the people -- Dumb!)
Step 6. Tally votes: Verify each ballot's signature is valid and that each registration number only votes once.
The only place your ID need be linked to your voter's registration number is in the registration database, all other election data can be public for the world to see while still retaining a secret ballot... Now, there's no way to trust a "voting machine", and no need for secrecy in the security protocol, so we can just use our own computers & FLOS voting client software if we choose not to use the machines provided at libraries or public schools.
The disuse of basic public key cryptographic systems by the world at large is dumbfounding.
Credit cards, voting ballots, bank accounts, social security numbers, state issued photo IDs & Licenses, etc... Herp; We don't need to use PKI except on wobsites -- Derp!
Nations loose technical capabilities because those capabilities depend upon the people behind them.
It's not really that big of a deal. We can just outsource those capability requiring positions to India or China.
Hint: Telemarketing, Tech Support, and now IT has never been stronger in the US. A friend of mine works in the Mortgage industry, her company is owned by an Indian company and much of the paper work is outsourced overseas. Just look how well the Mortgage industry is doing...
Manufacturing jobs only provide lower income positions -- It's not like we can't manufacture our own goods any more; It's not like we have a shortage of work or an abundance of unemployed folks. High Tech jobs are the same, just because we won't have a government funded manned space program doesn't mean our government won't be able to fund manned space programs...
That is... What I mean to say is that the Government can and does shut down domains; Sometimes without much research into the repercussions. They usually plaster up a big scary splash page "Child Pornography and/or Copyright violation is Illegal. Your IP is now logged. Criminals will be prosecuted within the full extent of the law." that ensures no visitors will be coming back if they see it.
Perhaps I'm concerned over nothing; Maybe there's a commercial advisory body that's knowledgeable about the web and oversees the take-downs to ensure no big guys accidentally get snared...
Mandatory Public key encryption all the way down to the Intel processor level.
Your data won't work on someone else's CPU, you'll have to exchange computers. Any "unsigned" media (eg: recorded by routing spk to line-in), would either not play, or require a content creator's license.
I seriously hope it doesn't come to that, but I wouldn't doubt it for a moment.
Time to 1) donate to open-source hardware projects and 2) Stop buying Intel or other processors that support such things (to say nothing of the remote kill switch) -- a vote with your wallet will be heard the loudest (oh who am I kidding, no one gives a damn, look at Apple -- MS will have an "app store" soon too).
I think if you're in "love" with the mechanical device you're humping, you likely have some serious social issues.
I think if you're required to hump something to be in love with it you are in need of mental therapy.
Clearly you are a heartless fool that has never had a relative or child or even a pet dog, cat, or chinchilla.
I can tell you that I've loved my pets more than some girlfriends I've had, and I've certainly loved my nieces and nephews more than a lover. Love comes in many forms, and humans love many non sentient things.
Are newborn babies unlovable because they're non-sentient? Are kittens or puppies? We've beginning to achieve complexity in AI neural networks that could be on par with that of a playful pet. Who are you to say that I'm a troubled individual for loving something with less intellect than I have? Clearly you have not thought your argument through -- Or you have been thinking purely with your sexual desires and confusing them with love (in which case I'll reiterate: seek therapy).
Sorry, I am NOT going to attempt to eradicate a virus at someone's house if they have no internet.
I've removed viruses at people's houses before.
Step 1: Boot the system from a known good state: Linux Live CD or USB ( I used the latter for persistence of virus signatures, and installed programs).
Step 2: Scan the files.
Step 3: Backup any essential non-infected data.
Step 4: Use MY computer with MY mobile Internet to download a BIOS image, then flash the infected machine's BIOS.
Step 5: Re-Install the OS. Use my computer's wireless Internet connection to obtain any drivers / applications needed for the newly installed system.
Step 6: Hand them the backup media and say, "Your data is on this disk, but I can not ensure it is safe to use this. If you insert this disk, you may re-infect your computer and I'll have to charge you to disinfect again -- none the less, here are your backed up files."
"You've been caught being a Spy, and disciplined, are you still a spy?" No, I promise... I'm not going to defect again...
(You Trust Them?)
If you "remove" viruses by removing files, etc., you need to turn in your geek badge. Oh, sure, some malware has known removal procedure -- How do you know that malware wasn't installed by a deeper rootkit? BIOS flash, reformat & re-install.
My G'Linux OS has been configured to require admin privileges to mount any new USB storage devices; I wonder if I could do this for other USB hardware ie mice, media players, etc. This should be the standard config with a "[_] Don't ask me again." option, IMO. Especially since this arbitrary code execution exploit has been demonstrated.
Already exists. Small USB drive enclosure bombs that use the power pins to ignite a small quantity of black powder / blasting cap & plastic explosive. Certain to at least maim an individual considering the proximity of their hand to the explosives. I've not seen any instance of this in any World Police countries, yet...
Dropping a few hundred of these in a city would spread a decent amount of terror. You'd only be able to do it once, the public would learn not to trust the USB drives they find.
Honestly, you couldn't pay me to plug ANYTHING into my computer that I didn't purchase from a store, and even then I'm wary of the device's packaging & specifically avoid repackaged items from stores like Fry's (even if they are discounted).
It's a shame, sometimes you can't even trust devices that come from the factory (USB Picture-frame trojans). My G'Linux OS has been configured to require admin privileges for any new USB devices. This should be the standard config with a "[_] Don't ask me again." option, IMO. Especially since this arbitrary code execution exploit has been demonstrated.
Slashdot Mirror
"Prior art" is about patents. Trademarks have more to do with "common use" and in this case, I believe that can be easily demonstrated.
You are aware that Apple was allowed to Trademark the term podcast even though it was in quite common use by podcasters all over the world.
The problem with both Patent and Trademark law is that "common use", "prior art", and "obviousness" are all insufficiently sourced, and there is no approved database for the PTO to use to discover these things (even though the web does exist, and would be a viable source, IMO).
I've commonly referred to my web applications as Web Apps, and used the terms" Java Applet" and "Java App" to distinguish browser targeted Java programs from non-browser applications; Additionally I've used the term "mobile apps" to refer to my J2ME programs (specifically for Nokia phones). Yet, Apple was allowed the trademark on "App Store"...
Despite any common sense or logical reasoning, whatever is currently in the Trademark or Patent database is what's primarily searched when they look for "prior art" or "common use". The USPTO can not really filter all the worlds use cases, or prior art through the minimal number of trademark or patent attorneys attending each case; Additionally those employed by the USPTO are verifiably incompetent; See above podcast trademark, and ridiculous or even duplicate patents (of which there are many examples available via any web search -- Swinging on a Swing Sideways).
Common Use sort of means: Commonly Used By Established Companies, or a "household name" -- Though BitCoin may not be a household name in the patent examiner's neighbourhood, I assure you it is in mine; I also assure you that there is no "Application for inclusion as a household to be questioned, and which also commonly uses the following names: ____".
Your argument is very flawed, and/or irrelevant. Allow me to illustrate:
It could have been easily demonstrated via any web search engine that the term "Podcast" was in common use as a "thing" not a brand and so it should not have been eligible for trademark any more than "App" would be. Yet both are Trademarked terms; the latter term as part of a name created by the addition of a sole word meaning general term for place of purchase -- "App Store".
I'm not trying to single out Apple Inc; I'm sure there are other instances of companies that throw many ideas and terms at the PTO just to see what sticks...
Hey, Doc, it hurts when I do X.
Then don't do X!
Clearly, application of this logic is non obvious, to anyone skilled in the art of X non iterative.
Oh, that's right, I forgot -- The non-obviousness tests are not applied to patents because they don't exist...
I agree. My grandparents, my 80 year old (retired air-force mechanic) neighbour, my Aunt and Uncles all use Ubuntu and have never even used a CLI.
In my experience non-technical people have no more difficulty adapting to Ubuntu than they do upgrading from XP to Win7. Additionally, Gnome's drag n drop threshold is great for people with shaky hands, but I would suggest increasing the window border size for ease of resizing (1px resize regions?! Are you MAD?). It seems the biggest hurdle keeping average folks from using Linux is just lack of exposure.
Once I introduce them to the Application repository ("Oh, so it's a free App Store?", yes Grandma, to you it is...), and set updates to install automatically they're all set. Hell, it's so easy that my Grandpa "accidentally" upgraded to the latest LTS version.
I even install Linux instead of Win7 for my friends and family: "Try Linux out first; It's free, so why not? If you don't like we can always buy the Windows7 upgrade later." Even if someone goes with Windows, or OSX, there's no real reason not to have a Linux boot option just in case the other OS gets hosed -- This has saved me "urgent" weekend visits more times than I can count, and some folks choose to stick with Linux afterwards, heh.
Now my friends and relatives call me just to talk instead of also guiltily dropping hints that they need me to fix their computers...
Same with Ubuntu. Or really any distro that you wish to install in such a manner. I've a Slackware USB drive that I use in such a way...
boo for making it past Slashdot "editorial" "filter".
Yep, just try and draw a line from the tip of the nose shadow thru the tip of the nose, and the tip of the tail shadow through the tip of the tail -- They don't intersect at the sun... that last pic: they go off at very bad angles like: /------/ or even |------\ or /------|
\------/ instead of \------\ or
You may get \------/ on overcast days with lots of ambient light, but not those hard shadows -- Clearly a fake.
Or... Hats?
Data
Paid for
Choose one.
I'll Pay for someone to do work: process my data for me, or to manipulate the data (write/fix code). However, in a world where data duplication is so cheap these words were copied over 20 times (more if you consider video ram, or have many router hops), you shouldn't expect people to pay for the data... (Supply = infinite, regardless of dev cost or demand, price = 0;)
Let's say you contract me to write a program for you for $2,000. I'm done with the program and I've sent you screenshots of it in action. What's that? You want a copy of the program? Oh, we didn't discuss that in your contract... You want me to copy the data for you across the Internet or on in the mail via Disk? Well, let's see... I'll have to charge you an extra $100 for that. Additionally, each time YOU copy the program, I want you to pay me another $100.
Oh? You don't agree with that? You say that the program is yours since you paid me to create it, eh? I already did the work, and it costs nothing, surely not $100, to duplicate the 1's and 0's...
-- OK, say we never met --
And, how about we say you just happen to work in an industry that has lots of common problems that have software solutions. Now, let's say I went off and wrote a program that provides solutions to many of these problems. Now, You can download the program from my website but first you must purchase a product registration key for $100 -- Each workstation or server you install it on will need a unique code, so you pay me for each copy. Oh, WTF?! This is somehow acceptable? Hypocrite much?
You see -- I like to get paid for actually doing work. Reproducing bits is not work, we all have teams of machines that do this hundreds of times a minute for us constantly.
So, The problem isn't that Linux users don't want to pay for software -- I'll gladly pay you to make an improvement, or to create a new bit of software, or to be on call for when I need support for the software... However, paying for each copy? No. We won't pay any more than it costs to duplicate it. Who do you think we are? Naive proprietary software users? I'm not paying you to do ABSOLUTELY ZERO WORK.
Artificial Scarcity is Considered Harmful. Stop doing it.
Oh noes! How will you fund the massive software project without imposing artificial scarcity? How about you tie your "sale price" to your actually costs of doing business? Instead of: "each copy costs $X", say, "to fund the development of that software we need $X"
Being honest sucks, eh? Can't be nearly as greedy, right? Guess what? I work and make an honest living too!
(please excuse any silliness or mistakes, I'm doped-up -- just had wisdom teeth out, but I'm not crazy)
You're making a lot of assumptions about the nature of the app. In my opinion it's incredibly hypocritical. I mean when I go to Amazon they don't immediately redirect me to an HTTPS site either.
Correct. This means that Amazon is succeptable to MITM attacks such as SSL-Strip.
Oh, is that an unsecured web page, why don't I rewrite the HTTPS login form (or the link to it) to point to my own site that happens to be very similar to amazon and even has the trusted green "SSL secure" bar -- but wait, I can inject JS onto that unsecured page that snags document keypress events and sends them to my remote server before you even hit submit!
Hint: EVERYTHING should be HTTPS. The "additional load" is hogwash, the only time that matters is for cached content.
The BIGGEST retardation on the WEB is the fact that we have strong encryption and cryptographic signature technology, and yet MIXED content is UNSAFE because (X)HTML standard doesn't declare facilities to specify fingerprints for the non-encrypted data that the encrypted page pulls in -- thus allowing for privacy of encrypted content, AND caching of plaintext content WITHOUT compromising integrity. /> Now apply this to the .js, .class, flash, .mp3, .avi, etc, and you get the point.
<img src="bkgnd.png" sig="SHA-1/hex;22172a80d89e99d250db62bf71031a23cbac4801" salt="HMAC/Base64;U2VjdXJpdHkgaXMgZWFzeS4K"
Never send a standards body to do a cryptographer's job -- For the record, I was only 15 when I came up with this idea, and was ignored -- "Shush, kid! The men are designing TLS & HTML in separate rooms, and that's final!"
Once the connection is set up, there's not a big security hit, to run a symmetric stream cipher -- and if clients can re-use past PKI authed tokens that haven't expired yet; Thus, repeated hits aren't expensive either.
Enjoy your broken web, and shitty security -- I'll be off writing and using the anonymous distributed web in the darknets.
-- Later fools.
If the answer is NO: You can't use Windows to store movies, songs or other copyrighted works because you do not own your copy of windows, you are licensing it (leasing it) from MS, and contracting them to manage your computer's operation and files (remote updates = full control).
IMHO, You can't own the product of your work if you sell it. I sold my work on a program to a company, I don't get paid for each copy they make... o_O Now, that company used to sell the compilation and physical media to end users, but CD burners were expensive, and copies were expensive to make.
Besides, what the end users do with their copy is their business. Selling access to something that's in infinite supply to everyone is not a smart move (infinite supply = 0 cost regardless of demand) -- Selling support contracts; Actually DOING WORK, now, that might be feasible.
Actually making new music -- That's work. Replicating 1's and 0's? -- well, good luck keeping that from happening, these words got copied at least 20 times via various servers before you read them (sans license), maybe more if you count video memory or have lots of router hops, or put your computer to sleep... (Hibernate = OOPs, just pirated everything I was doing -- TCP: OOPs, just made 20 copies of that website.)
Copyrights? When copies are in near infinite supply? (Are you a comedian, or an inept time traveler from the past?)
I've never used their service, but I do know that I refuse to support any business whose advertising is as dumb and pandering as theirs.
I take it you aren't a beer drinker.
Actually, I share the same opinion that GoDaddy is crap, and I have used their services on the behalf of others (esp. to transfer the domain away), and I do drink beer. Get a clue, you can enjoy a brew and still scoff at immature and sexist ad campaigns -- What? No nearly naked men? (targeted ads at their finest -- unprofessional meatheads who care more about sex appeal in ads than the services the sex is selling.)
Picture trying to hide the nearly lude imagery of the GoDaddy site from a client after having registered their domain name with that site -- or trying to explain why their MX record forwarding doesn't work properly even though you've assured them you're a professional and it's not your fault you chose the crappy GoDaddy registrar...
GoDaddy is in the business of marketing domains, search for something, it gets put up on the auction block, "back-order now", etc... Actually providing registrar services is an afterthought.
Enjoying a beer doesn't magically place you in the category of "good 'ol boy, womanizer", and pointing out sexism (or at least double standards) doesn't mark me as uptight... I don't really care -- It's not the image I choose to associate with, however.
Hell, I probably enjoy more beer than you do...I even brew my own beer, and trade my beer recipes and brews with others for free at the brewer's club. I've had my recipes improved by others and had better beer and friends because of it. "Free as in beer" means something strikingly similar to "free as in freedom" to a FLOSS dev / homebrewer -- The very existance of the term "homebrewed software" should be a dead giveaway to RMS that "Free as in Beer" is the wrong terminology to contrast "Free as in Freedom" -- it should be "Free as in Promotional".
Take that rambling beer talk as proof!
Interdasting... Well, not really -- Ever heard of the US Military? Yeah, they write dates that way. They even use the metric system (SI units -- Hint: clicks = kilometers).
It's even more practical in speech: "What day is it?" "The 4th", more precise: "The 4th of July", enhance: " 4th of July, 2011 - 20:12 Zulu (UTC)"
However, I prefer MSU ordering (most significant unit), since that's how we write hours, minutes and seconds: 2011.04.06. Additionally, it sorts easier, even with names for months the month's days will at least be grouped together, as will each year, by even the most basic sort algo.
Yeah, I agree.....the people who feel strongest about drug legalization are mainly the ones who want to do drugs.
Well then, that's damn near everyone -- Almost everyone engages in recreational drug use on a fairly regular basis, from childhood at that! Caffeine is an addictive, habit forming drug. Alcohol is debilitating and life threatening as any other "hard drug" -- A several strong drinks and you won't even remember the previous day -- a few too many, you'll O.D. and hopefully be in a hospital...
Hardly anyone bats an eye when a pre-teen chugs a cola, or a 20-something has a beer on a warm summer day...
Just look at those drug users; Using drugs so openly like that! -- They'll be running amok causing mischief now! Hide your kids, hide your wife (and hide your husband...).
Yes, sarcastic, however that's many how people view you if you're popping some speed or X, smoking a joint, or doing a line -- and to me they're all the same, just as bad as those people lined up inside Starbucks, McDonald's, or a pub (well actually, the latter may be worse).
Legalize recreational drug use -- Because prohibition helps gangsters and drug-lords you dolts.
This problem could have been solved by handing out pdfs, which they can print out over and over again.
You are aware that printer ink is one of the most expensive commodities on Earth, right?
However, You can do all those beneficial things WITHOUT INK or toner, if you just had a tablet PC... Make notes, "File -> Save As..."
As for printing...WHY? Just call up the document from the wireless server if it's not in your course data package on your device for some reason.
I had to buy all of my textbooks in Highshcool because of a car accident. The cost was over $500 -- That was one semester / one year, and get this -- now that I've long sense graduated: I can't refer to the books.
However, when I taught myself to code in 1992 (age 12) I saved the example code that I had entered and some references and guides I downloaded from Compuserve and other BBSs -- Oh, look, it's on my local NAS, and my S3 storage, and I can pull it right up on my desktop, my netbook, my thinkpad, or my OLPC, from anywhere in the world, at any time (provided Internet access is available, or I've had the forethought to download it to the internal storage).
You know, for a race that's actually got some amazing technology that we only dreamed of in the recent past, we sure are reluctant to use it...
It is property because the law allows you to buy, sell, and transfer it.
Right; Just like, sex. In the US state of Nevada, and some other countries, the law allows you to buy and sell sex.
The term is "prostitution". Now, I don't know about you, but my sexual property rights are taxed heavily. Even if I choose not to exercise my ability to sell access to my amazing Johnson, I still have to list all the kinds of sex it can perform as taxable property when I file my taxes. Each time I get paid for sex I loose a little bit of my sexual property -- just like when you sell an idea!
Some clients have bought enough of my sex that they literally own most a majority say in the handling of it. ( You do have to be careful though -- Once, After I sold my sex, the client re-sold it on e-bay, and it was purchased by a 16 year old! I served 5 years for statutory rape! )
I once sold an idea that was so novel, it was in a totally invented on the spot language from a culture that existed only in my mind. A scarce resource like that -- the copyright traders, ie publishers, just had to have it, but they didn't count on the fact that no one but me knew what the strange symbols meant! Due to economics of scarcity, I'm now the richest man on InstainFrigth (that's Earth, but shhhh, don't tell anyone, it devalues my made up language).
Now, Don't tell me when you list your property you don't claim all of your ideas, passing thoughts, and your va-jay-jay!?
Why, those are 10 times more valuable than even a Big Johnson! You should talk to your accountant and maybe a sex or idea lawyer -- You could be liable for serious mental and sexual tax evasion; Even if you don't give a fuck!
I guess next you'll try to tell me that you are born with a head full of all the ideas you'll ever have, and a body full of all the fucks that you will ever give...
I've had the displeasure of setting up hosting for people who've purchased their domains from GoDaddy.
There's always some problem or another; Some basic task will just not work for no reason until you transfer the domain away from their greedy little paws.
Most recently it was the MX records of a local non-profit's site. The .com MX records would simply not correctly point to the hosting provider's MX records. Thankfully I quickly purchased the .org companion domain in the non-profit's name via their hosting provider, and we used the .org site's mailing instead (until the .com was transferred -- the hosting plan included 3 domain names). GoDaddy tech support said they were aware of the issue, had their techs working on the problem, and would notify me when it was fixed -- It didn't get "fixed" for 6 months.
I once searched and searched for a short catchy name to use for my software product that wasn't taken yet... I actually came up with a fitting name that didn't turn up any Google results or whois queries. I was already had the GoDaddy site open in a tab -- managing a client's domain -- so I quickly searched with GoDaddy to ensure the domain wasn't taken -- GoDaddy showed the domain was available, and at the lowest standard price too!
That night, at home, I couldn't register the domain via a different Registrar. I gave up after trying 3 other hosts, frustrated and upset. Two days later, I was at GoDaddy, and just impulsively entered the domain name I wanted -- It was shown as available?! However, the price had risen -- a 10 fold increase! I scratched my head, and a phone call interrupted me.
About an hour later I tried to register the domain from GoDaddy and it had already sold.
Apparently if you search for a domain on GoDaddy, they immediately reserve it. This prevents you from using another Registrar to purchase the domain, but it keeps others from snatching it away -- This benefit is utterly destroyed as they then advertise the domain you searched for as a "premium" domain to other shoppers and allow them to "back-order" it in the event that you don't complete your purchase before your "grace period" expires. Thereby ensuring that if you search for your domain on GoDaddy, you must purchase it via GoDaddy. (I've added their site to my hosts file blacklists at home).
Ultimately I tried contacting the registrant -- They turned out to be domain squatters who auctioned off domains via automated online auction sites, and wanted to sell it to me for even more money than they were auctioning it off at. I refused on principal; I would not fund such a practice.
As with other items that have a demand and (artificial) scarcity, a market was formed around the domain names. This is why new URIs are typically terrible...
I suppose I could register WhereHaveAllTheDomainNamesGoneDamnIt.com, but I think I'll just start spam searching crappy names like that to drive up their prices and cause some mischief instead.
3DPD.
'nuff said.
It's too bad no one wants to use the solution to this problem.
Step 1. You register to vote. (Yes, we already do this...)
Step 2. You are given a unique set of voter's registration digits. (Yes, we already do this...)
Step 3. You vote, and enter some of your voter's registration digits. (Currently we enter all of them -- Dumb).
Step 4. Your ballot is cryptographically signed with the digits you did not disclose. (See, all digits get used; Just some are kept secret).
Step 5. You submit your ballot, the public digits of your voter's registration "number", and the digital fingerprint. (I assume some form of hashing is currently done, but the vendors/counters hold the keys, not the people -- Dumb!)
Step 6. Tally votes: Verify each ballot's signature is valid and that each registration number only votes once.
The only place your ID need be linked to your voter's registration number is in the registration database, all other election data can be public for the world to see while still retaining a secret ballot... Now, there's no way to trust a "voting machine", and no need for secrecy in the security protocol, so we can just use our own computers & FLOS voting client software if we choose not to use the machines provided at libraries or public schools.
The disuse of basic public key cryptographic systems by the world at large is dumbfounding.
Credit cards, voting ballots, bank accounts, social security numbers, state issued photo IDs & Licenses, etc...
Herp; We don't need to use PKI except on wobsites -- Derp!
Nations loose technical capabilities because those capabilities depend upon the people behind them.
It's not really that big of a deal. We can just outsource those capability requiring positions to India or China.
Hint: Telemarketing, Tech Support, and now IT has never been stronger in the US. A friend of mine works in the Mortgage industry, her company is owned by an Indian company and much of the paper work is outsourced overseas. Just look how well the Mortgage industry is doing...
Manufacturing jobs only provide lower income positions -- It's not like we can't manufacture our own goods any more; It's not like we have a shortage of work or an abundance of unemployed folks. High Tech jobs are the same, just because we won't have a government funded manned space program doesn't mean our government won't be able to fund manned space programs...
Only half of Facebook suffers setbacks?
Yes, well... That seems to be what mankind has claimed...
That is... What I mean to say is that the Government can and does shut down domains; Sometimes without much research into the repercussions. They usually plaster up a big scary splash page "Child Pornography and/or Copyright violation is Illegal. Your IP is now logged. Criminals will be prosecuted within the full extent of the law." that ensures no visitors will be coming back if they see it.
Perhaps I'm concerned over nothing; Maybe there's a commercial advisory body that's knowledgeable about the web and oversees the take-downs to ensure no big guys accidentally get snared...
Mandatory Public key encryption all the way down to the Intel processor level.
Your data won't work on someone else's CPU, you'll have to exchange computers. Any "unsigned" media (eg: recorded by routing spk to line-in), would either not play, or require a content creator's license.
I seriously hope it doesn't come to that, but I wouldn't doubt it for a moment.
Time to 1) donate to open-source hardware projects and 2) Stop buying Intel or other processors that support such things (to say nothing of the remote kill switch) -- a vote with your wallet will be heard the loudest (oh who am I kidding, no one gives a damn, look at Apple -- MS will have an "app store" soon too).
I think if you're in "love" with the mechanical device you're humping, you likely have some serious social issues.
I think if you're required to hump something to be in love with it you are in need of mental therapy.
Clearly you are a heartless fool that has never had a relative or child or even a pet dog, cat, or chinchilla.
I can tell you that I've loved my pets more than some girlfriends I've had, and I've certainly loved my nieces and nephews more than a lover. Love comes in many forms, and humans love many non sentient things.
Are newborn babies unlovable because they're non-sentient? Are kittens or puppies? We've beginning to achieve complexity in AI neural networks that could be on par with that of a playful pet. Who are you to say that I'm a troubled individual for loving something with less intellect than I have? Clearly you have not thought your argument through -- Or you have been thinking purely with your sexual desires and confusing them with love (in which case I'll reiterate: seek therapy).
Sorry, I am NOT going to attempt to eradicate a virus at someone's house if they have no internet.
I've removed viruses at people's houses before.
Step 1: Boot the system from a known good state: Linux Live CD or USB ( I used the latter for persistence of virus signatures, and installed programs).
Step 2: Scan the files.
Step 3: Backup any essential non-infected data.
Step 4: Use MY computer with MY mobile Internet to download a BIOS image, then flash the infected machine's BIOS.
Step 5: Re-Install the OS. Use my computer's wireless Internet connection to obtain any drivers / applications needed for the newly installed system.
Step 6: Hand them the backup media and say, "Your data is on this disk, but I can not ensure it is safe to use this. If you insert this disk, you may re-infect your computer and I'll have to charge you to disinfect again -- none the less, here are your backed up files."
"You've been caught being a Spy, and disciplined, are you still a spy?"
No, I promise... I'm not going to defect again...
(You Trust Them?)
If you "remove" viruses by removing files, etc., you need to turn in your geek badge. Oh, sure, some malware has known removal procedure -- How do you know that malware wasn't installed by a deeper rootkit? BIOS flash, reformat & re-install.
My G'Linux OS has been configured to require admin privileges to mount any new USB storage devices; I wonder if I could do this for other USB hardware ie mice, media players, etc. This should be the standard config with a "[_] Don't ask me again." option, IMO. Especially since this arbitrary code execution exploit has been demonstrated.
Already exists. Small USB drive enclosure bombs that use the power pins to ignite a small quantity of black powder / blasting cap & plastic explosive. Certain to at least maim an individual considering the proximity of their hand to the explosives. I've not seen any instance of this in any World Police countries, yet...
Dropping a few hundred of these in a city would spread a decent amount of terror. You'd only be able to do it once, the public would learn not to trust the USB drives they find.
Honestly, you couldn't pay me to plug ANYTHING into my computer that I didn't purchase from a store, and even then I'm wary of the device's packaging & specifically avoid repackaged items from stores like Fry's (even if they are discounted).
It's a shame, sometimes you can't even trust devices that come from the factory (USB Picture-frame trojans). My G'Linux OS has been configured to require admin privileges for any new USB devices. This should be the standard config with a "[_] Don't ask me again." option, IMO. Especially since this arbitrary code execution exploit has been demonstrated.