If they really want to get busy, they should line up every elected representative that voted in favor of the law(s) that allow for software patents, and kick THEIR asses. It is an ass-kicking that is well-deserved.
Once companies start suing the hell out of each other, wasting vaulable resources that could be better spent elsewhere, industry will be begging congress to recind the laws that allow for software patents.
But some basic web design skills are badly needed. White text on black is bad enough, but to make the text even darker by making it a pastel color is not a good idea. I'd like to read it, but I don't have the time or the will to slog trough content that is much more difficult to digest than necessary.
I believe the same thing was said about the cube when it was introduced. Granted the mini is quite a bit less in terms of both cost and size, but it comes without a keyboard, mouse, or monitor - all those are extra. Once you get done adding it all up, it doesn't appear quite as attractive.
But the problem is that the consumers are *not* shafting Microsoft when they pirate Microsoft software. Instead they are reinforcing users' dependency on it.
Users who pirate software accomplish nothing except to provide the rope that will eventually hang everyone who uses copyrighted material - legally or otherwise. I'd like to extend my appreciation for this fine effort.
Linux has it right. Apple will forever be relegated to a niche market, and if that works for them, that's fine. However, the prospect of Linux is much greater. In order for something to appeal to the masses, who have been spoon-fed one particular operating system, you have to learn to speak their language. Once you do that, you can gradually coax them into your camp, but I don't think you'll get many takers if you insist that they speak your language. People are generally lazy - they'll take the path of least resistance.
Most CEOs leave with huge wads of cash stuffed in their back pocket, whether or not they've done anything to deserve it (and in all honesty, few actually do deserve it). The article didn't say anything about Carly's golden parachute- my hope is that the board ripped a huge hole in it, and all the cash spilled out on the way down.
If sofware patents were available back in the day that both Microsoft and Apple were doing their thing (Apple, it's revolutionizing, and Microsoft, its copying), I dare say that neither would be around in its current form, if at all. All of the ideas we see today, in their various forms of implementation were based on something. The software patent fiasco is quite similar to the copyright fiasco - all of the fledgling companies that made it big without copyright extensions, the DMCA, or software patents, have now raised the barrier of entry to some rediculously high level. We all lose, of course.
I don't think this will do anything to increase the overall integrity of the system. The problem is the money - HUGE sums of money being spent on campaigns, much of it being accepted from various special interests in the business sector. They buy the candidates, and we get to vote for whomever that happens to be.
P2P doesn't work to solve the problem. It only antagonizes, and what's worse, it provides the with the rope that they have used to slowly hang us- in the form of ever-restrictive laws that govern copyright and fair use. If you disagree with the price increase, don't "share" the music. Do what you'd do with any other product - just leave it. Let the RIAA wallow in its own muck until someone finally has a lightbulb moment, and "gets it".
How much longer before the beloved DMCA will be expanded to include reading the data from, or deciphering the data on, these cards? All these companies have to do is perform some kind of mild encryption, which they can then claim is some kind of copy protection. They can claim copy protection is necessary to "protect" some kind of innocuous piece of "proprietary" information, and claim that to gain access to it would amount to a violation of trade secrets (or something similar). One more reason NOT to use plastic.
Re:Not only understandable and parseable..
on
Effective XML
·
· Score: 1
Being text, it is also not tied to a specific vendor or platform.
This only works until everyone realizes what's really going on. I remember being hassled for an ID at Best Buy to make a $30 purchase with my debit card. I told her I didn't have my ID with me because I had left it in another jacket. The cashier then informed me that I couldn't make the purchase without it. So, I took my debit card out of her hand, said "that's fine." and left. The really, really stupid thing about this whole mess is that it's NOT hard to get a fake ID, and I'd be willing to bet that they wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. It's all a psychological game.
High school and college aren't about "specializing". Their purpose is (at least) twofold:
- to turn you into an educated citizen
- to teach you how to learn, so that the educational process can (hopefully) continue long after you've left the structured environment of a school.
People who say, "I'll never use this after I'm out of school," worry me. They think life is all about narrowing whatever (little) knowledge they have to a very specific focus, making it nigh impossible to view anything from a more abstract perspective. In my opinion, it's not too much better than not getting an education at all.
Re:It all boils down to one thing...Control
on
FUD-Based Encyclopedias
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Now that the control over what various ideas and concepts mean, has been, quite literally, handed over to the people at large, This is one more stone wall that will come tumbling down, as institutions like Encyclopedia Britannica no longer have an iron grip on the acquisition, distillation, and dissemination of information. People always put up a fight when an entrenched institution is supplanted with something newer, so it's no surprise that we're starting to see some resistance.
*This* is the reason we don't want monopolies abusing their power/position - they can impose whatever onerous conditions they like, and you just have to play along.
This is a complete myth. You can choose to play along, or you can do something else. The choice is still there, but that's what most consumers seem to forget. And with that, they sacrifice the most important, and most effective voice they have with respect to companies like Microsoft.
...is a way to protect the information associated with the transaction after it has been completed. That is, a way to keep corporate pimps from prostituting the information to anyone who will pay for it. I don't use credit cards, and until this - and the usurious interest rates - see some change for the better, I most likely never will.
Mr. Dvorak is forgetting one of the very key points that makes linux what it is...first and foremost, it's free. Why would anyone want to switch to MS-Linux just because it has the linux moniker? Give a break. That's like jumping out of the frying pan, into another frying pan. Both are being heated by MS-Fire, v2.01.
I also wonder - the root cause of identity theft is the absolute unwillingness of anyone in Congress to step up to the plate and enact legislation that will penalize the misuse of personal information (warehousing it qualifies). As a result, identity theft is almost a no-brainer.
What's their solution? Biometrics and national ID cards? Yeah, right. It's just one MORE avenue that thieves will have to rape innocent people. More information about more people, the security of which is only as strong as its weakest link. If anything, Congress ought to drop the investigation of Choicepoint (which I believe only a PR move anyway), and investigate itself to figure out the reason behind the endless governmental ineptitude when it comes to keeping small problems from snow-balling into major catastrophes.
I guess enough of the green stuff can make even the most horrid of stenches smell like a bed of roses.
Slashdot Mirror
If they really want to get busy, they should line up every elected representative that voted in favor of the law(s) that allow for software patents, and kick THEIR asses. It is an ass-kicking that is well-deserved.
Once companies start suing the hell out of each other, wasting vaulable resources that could be better spent elsewhere, industry will be begging congress to recind the laws that allow for software patents.
EU Commissioners have far too much power, far too little responsibility, and are too difficult to get rid of.
It looks as though the EU and the US government have far too much in common.
But some basic web design skills are badly needed. White text on black is bad enough, but to make the text even darker by making it a pastel color is not a good idea. I'd like to read it, but I don't have the time or the will to slog trough content that is much more difficult to digest than necessary.
I believe the same thing was said about the cube when it was introduced. Granted the mini is quite a bit less in terms of both cost and size, but it comes without a keyboard, mouse, or monitor - all those are extra. Once you get done adding it all up, it doesn't appear quite as attractive.
But the problem is that the consumers are *not* shafting Microsoft when they pirate Microsoft software. Instead they are reinforcing users' dependency on it.
Users who pirate software accomplish nothing except to provide the rope that will eventually hang everyone who uses copyrighted material - legally or otherwise. I'd like to extend my appreciation for this fine effort.
Linux has it right. Apple will forever be relegated to a niche market, and if that works for them, that's fine. However, the prospect of Linux is much greater. In order for something to appeal to the masses, who have been spoon-fed one particular operating system, you have to learn to speak their language. Once you do that, you can gradually coax them into your camp, but I don't think you'll get many takers if you insist that they speak your language. People are generally lazy - they'll take the path of least resistance.
Most CEOs leave with huge wads of cash stuffed in their back pocket, whether or not they've done anything to deserve it (and in all honesty, few actually do deserve it). The article didn't say anything about Carly's golden parachute- my hope is that the board ripped a huge hole in it, and all the cash spilled out on the way down.
If sofware patents were available back in the day that both Microsoft and Apple were doing their thing (Apple, it's revolutionizing, and Microsoft, its copying), I dare say that neither would be around in its current form, if at all. All of the ideas we see today, in their various forms of implementation were based on something. The software patent fiasco is quite similar to the copyright fiasco - all of the fledgling companies that made it big without copyright extensions, the DMCA, or software patents, have now raised the barrier of entry to some rediculously high level. We all lose, of course.
I don't think this will do anything to increase the overall integrity of the system. The problem is the money - HUGE sums of money being spent on campaigns, much of it being accepted from various special interests in the business sector. They buy the candidates, and we get to vote for whomever that happens to be.
Why not? Think of all the jobs it will add to India's economy.
P2P doesn't work to solve the problem. It only antagonizes, and what's worse, it provides the with the rope that they have used to slowly hang us- in the form of ever-restrictive laws that govern copyright and fair use. If you disagree with the price increase, don't "share" the music. Do what you'd do with any other product - just leave it. Let the RIAA wallow in its own muck until someone finally has a lightbulb moment, and "gets it".
Inquiring minds want to know...
The economy is very efficient, and it runs an American-style government on only a 13% tax base.
Does it sport the same kind of corporate-owned political system?
How much longer before the beloved DMCA will be expanded to include reading the data from, or deciphering the data on, these cards? All these companies have to do is perform some kind of mild encryption, which they can then claim is some kind of copy protection. They can claim copy protection is necessary to "protect" some kind of innocuous piece of "proprietary" information, and claim that to gain access to it would amount to a violation of trade secrets (or something similar). One more reason NOT to use plastic.
Being text, it is also not tied to a specific vendor or platform.
For teenagers, I guess it's fine to use obnoxious ring tones
At least when they're in public - being a teenager does not preclude the notion of civility.
This only works until everyone realizes what's really going on. I remember being hassled for an ID at Best Buy to make a $30 purchase with my debit card. I told her I didn't have my ID with me because I had left it in another jacket. The cashier then informed me that I couldn't make the purchase without it. So, I took my debit card out of her hand, said "that's fine." and left. The really, really stupid thing about this whole mess is that it's NOT hard to get a fake ID, and I'd be willing to bet that they wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. It's all a psychological game.
High school and college aren't about "specializing". Their purpose is (at least) twofold:
- to turn you into an educated citizen
- to teach you how to learn, so that the educational process can (hopefully) continue long after you've left the structured environment of a school.
People who say, "I'll never use this after I'm out of school," worry me. They think life is all about narrowing whatever (little) knowledge they have to a very specific focus, making it nigh impossible to view anything from a more abstract perspective. In my opinion, it's not too much better than not getting an education at all.
I'm not sure I see the connection.
Now that the control over what various ideas and concepts mean, has been, quite literally, handed over to the people at large, This is one more stone wall that will come tumbling down, as institutions like Encyclopedia Britannica no longer have an iron grip on the acquisition, distillation, and dissemination of information. People always put up a fight when an entrenched institution is supplanted with something newer, so it's no surprise that we're starting to see some resistance.
*This* is the reason we don't want monopolies abusing their power/position - they can impose whatever onerous conditions they like, and you just have to play along.
This is a complete myth. You can choose to play along, or you can do something else. The choice is still there, but that's what most consumers seem to forget. And with that, they sacrifice the most important, and most effective voice they have with respect to companies like Microsoft.
Mr. Dvorak is forgetting one of the very key points that makes linux what it is...first and foremost, it's free. Why would anyone want to switch to MS-Linux just because it has the linux moniker? Give a break. That's like jumping out of the frying pan, into another frying pan. Both are being heated by MS-Fire, v2.01.
I also wonder - the root cause of identity theft is the absolute unwillingness of anyone in Congress to step up to the plate and enact legislation that will penalize the misuse of personal information (warehousing it qualifies). As a result, identity theft is almost a no-brainer.
What's their solution? Biometrics and national ID cards? Yeah, right. It's just one MORE avenue that thieves will have to rape innocent people. More information about more people, the security of which is only as strong as its weakest link. If anything, Congress ought to drop the investigation of Choicepoint (which I believe only a PR move anyway), and investigate itself to figure out the reason behind the endless governmental ineptitude when it comes to keeping small problems from snow-balling into major catastrophes.
I guess enough of the green stuff can make even the most horrid of stenches smell like a bed of roses.