Yeah, that's pretty much my analysis as well. It's not the corporate censorship and the heavy-handed tactics the RIAA is using that have me in an uproar right now. I'm already boycotting them over that. I've even donated cash that I couldn't really afford to the EFF. What has planted a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach is that these scientists backed down when they were so clearly in the right because they realized that they wouldn't be able to get justice. They'd be taking it rectally either way they turned. And with that, I've heard the death knell for American civilization (if it can even be called that anymore).
I'm only cheered by the fact that Russia's example shows that the nukes might not fly when everything goes to shit.
Sadly, I believe that the First Amendment only applies to government restraint of speech. A corp can do anything it damn well pleases as long as it doesn't run afoul of pertinent regulations, none of which apply to corporate silencing of someone not employed by them. In fact, as far as the wording of the First Amendment goes, it only says that Congress can't make any laws that abridge individual speech. Which means that the rest of the government can do just about anything it wants to as well.
Fun stuff! I'd like my totalitarianism with a mega-sized order of fries and a 64-oz Coke(tm), please!
Wonderful. I know this is going to get buried under the heap of like sentiments, but I'm going to say it anyway.
Justice is dead.
So is science, art, and practically any other advancement that we can make as a civilization. When the sheer cost of litigation even when you know that the other side has their heads up their collective asses dissuades people from engaging in "Science and the useful arts", there's nothing more to be said. It's over folks. Enjoy the plunge.
Kids in schools today already live in a frigging police state as it is. Tell me please how cameras infringe any more on their rights than the system already does.
I gather that your thesis is that getting people used to being monitored in school leads down the slippery slope. (It's funny, I was taught in Logic class in college that "slippery slope" is actually a logical fallacy, but I see that argument used a lot around here.) But kids are already being trained by the system that anything other than unthinking obedience and conformity will be punished to the extreme, and that they'll get no help from the system against harassment. The damage is already done. Cameras can't possibly make it any worse! And at least the persecuted might actually get some benefit out of cameras than is otherwise afforded them. There is no freedom, dignity or privacy that can be taken out of the current education system. It just isn't there.
Destroy the system that dehumanizes people in the first place and replace it with something that respects human rights, and maybe we can talk about loss of liberties and privacy. But until you attack the problem at its root, don't whine to me about the potential consequences of these measures. We're already living with them.
I got one of those the other day... I told Outlook to delete anything from their marketing department off the server. I'm thinking about telling it to get rid of anything coming from msn.com as well... I'm getting a lot of junk with garbled "from" lines as well.
Ok, that was entertaining. So basically, the Firmware update rejects chips that claim to be able to run in CL3 mode with 8ns access times but can't because their controllers are programmed wrong? Interesting...p? --Fesh
"The 3rd party memory that now doesn't work under the latest firmware was memory that did not match the specs that the machines should have had in the first place. There is still plenty of 3rd party modules that did work. Those people that got bit by this were the ones who went for the el cheapo sticks."
Just out of curiosity, why is that acceptable? The "el cheapo" parts worked, did they not? Is the lower price of the parts an acceptable reason for making modifications that break a system that already works? (I'll bet that the 3rd party modules you refer to track the price that Apple charges pretty closely...) Is this any different than Microsoft's "embrace, extend, and extinguish" policy towards free software that we complain so bitterly about?
Heck, I'm unable to reboot my computer when a new version of directX comes out... Tried to install DX8 and ended up reinstalling Windows because Win98 wouldn't come back up after the install.
And your chances get worse by the second because the function that determines that approaches 100% as time increases. So yeah, your chances of dying are still 100 percent...
Maybe somebody thought it was funny that the acronym for a new NASA supercomputer is HAL? I didn't realize it was the real press release until I saw the responses.
If you factor in the fact that the Democrats had the Southern political scene locked up, then you'll realize where those Democratic votes came from. The only reason those reps were Democrats was because you couldn't run as a Republican in the South and expect to get elected. Remember, Lincoln was a Republican. It's only been recently that Southerners have gotten over that one...
The interesting bit is that if the system makes it easy enough for independant copyright owners to give permission, that makes it much easier to find new stuff! I'd say that can only be a bonus for Napster users, because they don't have to try to filter out all the RIAA-pushed garbage. Talk about the RIAA shooting itself in the foot by allowing Napster to promote independant content over their proprietary content...
Heh. I wondered when they'd get around to doing things like this... Even though the U.S. military has been doing it for years.
However, the arcade paradigm is too centered on the concept of forcing the player to pump tokens in every minute and a half to really produce interesting stuff. The market for simulations has been really hurt by this... I'd like to see more complicated, detailed sorts of games, but I understand that your average arcader isn't interested in flipping switches. I wonder what the market would be for specialized arcades that cater to the detail freak market over the lowest common denominator?
I think the situation is probably going to be than that. No equipment maker will want to get involved with the open standards process if companies like Rambus can ignore the rules like this. Thus, open standards will go out the window and every manufacturer will try to push its own proprietary standards. I don't think I need to explain why this is a bad thing, especially for something as basic as memory...
Very simply, if organizations like JEDEC can't put any sort of teeth into their IP agreements, there is no reason for the manufacturers to participate as the risk of being blindsided by undisclosed patents is too great. This sort of garbage won't be pulled in the future because the organizations will disintegrate due to lack of industry participation.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm only cheered by the fact that Russia's example shows that the nukes might not fly when everything goes to shit.
--Fesh
--Fesh
Fun stuff! I'd like my totalitarianism with a mega-sized order of fries and a 64-oz Coke(tm), please!
--Fesh
Justice is dead.
So is science, art, and practically any other advancement that we can make as a civilization. When the sheer cost of litigation even when you know that the other side has their heads up their collective asses dissuades people from engaging in "Science and the useful arts", there's nothing more to be said. It's over folks. Enjoy the plunge.
--Fesh
Kids in schools today already live in a frigging police state as it is. Tell me please how cameras infringe any more on their rights than the system already does.
I gather that your thesis is that getting people used to being monitored in school leads down the slippery slope. (It's funny, I was taught in Logic class in college that "slippery slope" is actually a logical fallacy, but I see that argument used a lot around here.) But kids are already being trained by the system that anything other than unthinking obedience and conformity will be punished to the extreme, and that they'll get no help from the system against harassment. The damage is already done. Cameras can't possibly make it any worse! And at least the persecuted might actually get some benefit out of cameras than is otherwise afforded them. There is no freedom, dignity or privacy that can be taken out of the current education system. It just isn't there.
Destroy the system that dehumanizes people in the first place and replace it with something that respects human rights, and maybe we can talk about loss of liberties and privacy. But until you attack the problem at its root, don't whine to me about the potential consequences of these measures. We're already living with them.
--Fesh
--Fesh
Ok, that was entertaining. So basically, the Firmware update rejects chips that claim to be able to run in CL3 mode with 8ns access times but can't because their controllers are programmed wrong? Interesting...p?
--Fesh
Just out of curiosity, why is that acceptable? The "el cheapo" parts worked, did they not? Is the lower price of the parts an acceptable reason for making modifications that break a system that already works? (I'll bet that the 3rd party modules you refer to track the price that Apple charges pretty closely...) Is this any different than Microsoft's "embrace, extend, and extinguish" policy towards free software that we complain so bitterly about?
Just had to get that rant off my chest...
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
Or how many insectivorous birds are also nocturnal? And bats won't be helped. After all, they're blind as... Um... Bats.
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
However, the arcade paradigm is too centered on the concept of forcing the player to pump tokens in every minute and a half to really produce interesting stuff. The market for simulations has been really hurt by this... I'd like to see more complicated, detailed sorts of games, but I understand that your average arcader isn't interested in flipping switches. I wonder what the market would be for specialized arcades that cater to the detail freak market over the lowest common denominator?
--Fesh
Wow. Totally off topic, but otherwise that kicked ass!
--Fesh
Very simply, if organizations like JEDEC can't put any sort of teeth into their IP agreements, there is no reason for the manufacturers to participate as the risk of being blindsided by undisclosed patents is too great. This sort of garbage won't be pulled in the future because the organizations will disintegrate due to lack of industry participation.
--Fesh
--Fesh