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User: wizbit

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Comments · 199

  1. Re:GPLv3, bleh on Microsoft Bans Open Source From the Windows Market · · Score: 3, Interesting

    it says, "any equivalents" as well. i might argue that GPLv2 and GPLv3 are not "equivalent" but IANAL and that interpretation clearly leads a lot of wiggle room for MS lawyers.

  2. Re:Business vs Open Source on Ex-Sun CEO Warns Oracle of Death By Open Source · · Score: 1

    never has been? i suppose the iMac was a disaster for them then?

    not now? perhaps they should stop making iMacs, powermacs, macbooks, macbook pros, and macbook airs.

    their growth markets are consumer electronics but this doesn't make them a consumer electronics company anymore than microsoft making the zune and xbox discounts their enormous software and services lineup.

  3. Re:Business vs Open Source on Ex-Sun CEO Warns Oracle of Death By Open Source · · Score: 2

    somebody should tell that to Apple, who still seems to be carving out a pretty decent living as a software/hardware company.

    selling lots of stuff on iTunes, yes, but making a mint on their hardware, as they always have.

  4. Re:Roku + media streaming on Google TV Details Revealed · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's called the Boxee Box. I know, I know, Google TV et al will eat its lunch eventually, but it basically does everything you claim to want. At $200, it's cheaper than upgrading my home media player (though I don't know about "one for every room").

  5. Re:You don't know what you are talking about, at a on Researchers Demo ASP.NET Crypto Attack · · Score: 3, Informative

    Per Scott Guthrie's blog, even if it's on, using anything other than a single default redirect still leaves the app vulnerable.

  6. Re:Pro-Tip on Palm Pre Is Out, Time For Discussion · · Score: 1

    Mandrake, have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?

  7. Re:Referencing to other article on Athletes' Brains Reveal Concussion Damage · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oblig Eddie Izzard:

    "But the Dutch speak four languages and smoke marijuana!"

    "Yes, but they're cheating! Everyone knows marijuana is a drug enhancement, that can help you on track in field, to come... last, in a team of... eight million other runners who are all dead."

  8. Re:Code? on A Robotic Bartender, and How To Build One · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you're looking for something to supplement your bar with the possibility of programming, there's always Bar Monkey...

  9. Re:Lots of free shipping today. on USPS Server Meltdown · · Score: 1

    Or, you know, it could be that it's the holidays and eating shipping charges is a major factor in converting sales for online retailers.

  10. Re:Stock market what? on Arctic Sea Ice Rallies a Bit · · Score: 1

    ugh who uses the NASDAQ as the barometer for the stock market?

    superior

    superior-er

  11. Re:I have to say... on IRiffs Takes MST3k Open Source · · Score: 1

    Doh! Quite right. *turns in geek card*

  12. Re:PAL versions available? on IRiffs Takes MST3k Open Source · · Score: 1

    Yes, they offer separate NTSC and PAL versions of their audio tracks.

  13. Re:I have to say... on IRiffs Takes MST3k Open Source · · Score: 2, Funny

    Gennaro: You're supposed to come here and defend me against these characters and the only one I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer!

    Aide: *leans in*

    Mike: Sir, you've just been sued for defamation by the American Bar Association.

  14. Re:Analysis, please on The Ridiculous LexisNexis Search that the Justice Department Used · · Score: 1

    Actually, it's worse than that, according to a "reference librarian," who says:

    "...they were going through 99% unrelated citations. There need to be a very nested set of parentheses to make the terms work. Starting with one after the w/7. Fired and sex are ORâ(TM)ed twice and need to be nested at least in the case of Fired and the ORâ(TM)d terms immeadiately following."

  15. Re:All that needs to be said on ABA Judges Get an Earful About RIAA Litigations · · Score: 2, Informative

    The music industry's cases are rarely frivolous

    Really? Here's a quote FTFA:
    "In November 2004, the RIAA was ordered "to file future cases of this nature against one defendant at a time." And yet in 2008 it continues the practice of deliberate misjoinder, seemingly disregarding the joint order from Austin, Texas. District of Maine Magistrate Judge Kravchuk was so troubled by the false statements the plaintiffs had made in order to justify joinder that she recommended to the district judge that he order plaintiffs to show cause why they should not be subject to Rule 11 sanctions."

    In other words, they use deplorable tactics (suing a John Doe in a state your ISP is located, but maybe hundreds/thousands miles from you) to discover from your ISP your IP address' account owner's identity, and dismiss the claim, later filing against you personally. Worse, they attempt to claim that their suits against dozens/hundreds of John Does are inseparably related (joinder). This is the definition of "frivolous" and even though they were strongly warned against it, they continue to do it over 4 years later.

    Rule 11 sanctions, btw, deal with pleadings made for an improper purpose or frivolous arguments.

    There's always a genuine case of copyright infringement that starts the case

    Sharing the files is the act of someone at the account holder's IP address. To claim somebody infringed on copyright, you generally need to prove a real, live defendant, you know, did so. You actually need to collect this evidence in a way that is admissible according to Daubert standards, but in fact the RIAA "investigators" are rarely deposed - and of course, on who actually was admitted that none of his evidence collection was done in accordance w/ Daubert.

    The RIAA meanwhile doesn't care - they deluge the defendant with discovery motions until they are ordered to stop (if that happens). You can understand why the vast, vast majority of defendants have been ex parte settlements and that a small minority even have the means to defend themselves appropriately.

  16. Re:Article text on Virgin Galactic Shows the Finished WhiteKnight Two · · Score: 3, Informative

    Remember that commercial aviation in its infancy was also prohibitively expensive for the average consumer and many people initially bought tickets solely for the thrill of riding in an aircraft. These "thrill" flights would usually depart and land at the same airport, a thought that is somewhat puzzling to all of us who rely on its completely pedestrian, utilitarian use today. Cost, needless to say, bottomed out, especially after deregulation.

    That said, the commercial uses of present-day aviation are obvious. Space travel, especially LEO, strikes me as something that still needs a killer niche to succeed over the long-haul. And remember Concorde, which for many reasons (not the least of which was the rather high-profile crash, and which was even more susceptible to the post-9/11 drop-off in commercial aviation use) ultimately collapsed.

    Passenger aviation is notoriously boom-bust. Eastern Airlines, TWA, the list of companies with obviously sustainable business models that collapsed anyway is a mile long.

    Who knows what commercial application someone with a launch system like VG's could come up with? I hope we have another Boeing in the works, but I agree that as things currently stand, it's got a much greater chance of becoming another Concorde.

  17. Re:So what? on Honeywell & Airbus To Turn Algae Into Jet Fuel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are fewer flights today than there were 5 years ago. [citation needed]

    If anything, there are an order of magnitude *more* takeoffs and landings than 5 years ago thanks to the explosion in regional airline flights - the puddlejumpers that hold 50 passengers and fly from Detroit to St. Louis instead of NYC to LA.

    This has actually contributed to delayed/canceled flights, which have also skyrocketed, but that's more an infrastructure and logistics problem.

    Fewer people are flying on those planes, but this also lets the airline offer more flights, which passengers have requested again and again - more travel options.
  18. Re:Readers of Slashdot could be powerful. on Library of Congress's $3M Deal With Microsoft · · Score: 3, Informative

    Notice that one of the tags given by K. Dawson to this story is "googleisevil".

    Since when do the editors tag stories? I was under the impression they only filtered tags from users (and even then, only subscribers got to tag publicly).

  19. Re:Ah, justice on FCC To investigate Comcast Bittorrent Meddling · · Score: 1

    It doesn't "beg the question" and it wasn't the FCC. Read the damn summary:

    A coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars asked the agency

  20. Re:To be fair... on New England Patriots Obtain Online Ticket Reseller Names · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And I don't see any car dealerships selling Maybach jerseys. There's a bigger market than just tickets, and it's overwhelmingly driven by the middle class. Make it impossible for blue collar fans to attend a game and you drive down merchandising opportunities elsewhere. The NFL already has what's mostly become an exclusively white collar event - it's called the Super Bowl.

  21. Re:State Specific on New England Patriots Obtain Online Ticket Reseller Names · · Score: 1

    The Pats are specifically requiring fans to buy extra tickets through their ticket site, which goes out through TicketMaster, and enforces the face value of the ticket. I think that's as rational as the Pats could've been about the situation, don't you agree? If you're a Pats season ticket holder, do you really mean to tell me that you don't know a bunch of friends who'd gladly take the tickets off your hands without going through an online auction site?

  22. Re:To be fair... on New England Patriots Obtain Online Ticket Reseller Names · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Bingo. I'm an occasional user of StubHub when I need to grab a few extra tickets last-minute, but the gouging that goes on (think Hanna Montana) for highly desirable and rare events just turns the whole model on its head. This kind of exclusivity in the NFL is generally limited to the playoffs, but if you have a perennial champion like the Pats, or just a huge market like NYC, "average" fans get the shaft during the regular season as well.

  23. Re:Off-topic, but... on Is Showmypc.com an Open Source Pretender? · · Score: 1

    You're trolling, but the same could be said of Torvalds' voluminous e-mail flamewars, and nobody's ever accused him of "never [giving] anything back". Real work still gets accomplished. The fact that Spolsky takes the time to share his experience shouldn't be viewed as an indictment of his (or his company's) productivity.

  24. Re:SageTV on No More TV Listings For MythTV Users · · Score: 1

    Uh, I would take issue with "insanely easy" wrt intalling MythTV, there, Jobs. If you already have the best-supported hardware, of course it's easy. Most of us don't buy new PCs just to run Myth, at least not at first. Tweaking your Linux distro of choice to perform DVR duties with Myth is a chore, and while it could *possibly* be very easy, in practice it is a several-dozen-hours affair to get things Wife-approved, know what I mean?

  25. Re:www.schedulesdirect.org on No More TV Listings For MythTV Users · · Score: 1

    They are already at break-even point on the $5/mo plan. Since the Zap2It shutdown became official, they likely will have a very large influx of other subscribers looking to transition to the new schedule service. They're in effect hedging their bets that the price will come down to $20/yr due to the volume of additional signups in the next couple months. Being that they have a very large list of supported apps already, this is entirely likely.