Not to be grammar nazi or anything, but doesn't a pun usually have more to do with double meanings? Seems to me you're just using the verb "suck" with the same meaning over and over again.
Perhaps if you're more clever next time you can soak up a few more mod points.
I might note that I think 3 and 4 would be ethical after a certain length of time, perhaps sixteen years? ten? five?, whatever copyright for entertainment software should be.
My idea for the "ideal" would be to have two clipboards: one explicit, and one implicit.
The explicit one would be identical to the Mac... META-X, META-C, META-V would cut, copy, and paste respectively, using the familiar "explicit" clipboard.
But I've become so accustomed to Unix environs that I can't stand having to actually push buttons to get stuff into my clipboard! It's so convenient to select, and then click, and voila!
So in addition to this "explicit" clipboard, I'd want an entirely separate clipboard that contained simply whatever had been selected last, and could be pasted by either CTRL-INS or a middle-mouse-click. Best of both worlds?
And as for the Netscape "feature" being simply a lousy kluge, I personally like it a lot better than having to paste in URLs up in the location bar. Even if it is a kluge, it's more useful than what it replaced, and I'd want it to stick around even if new clipboard features came about.
Ooh, better keep people from looking at my signature! If they see it, they might want to forge it elsewhere! There's nothing to keep them from doing that! Oh no!
Not trolling, just saying that a CPU monitor is all you need to notice that a program is loading. Have you ever used something like gkrellm? It's pretty nifty.
Basically, it doesn't have to be gkrellm, but something similar would work well enough. Remember the purpose of the hourglass/pop-up effect is to let the user know that the program has been launched so they don't sit there clicking endlessly on the icon. With a CPU graph, you can easily see the spike when an application is launched which generally stays maxed out until you get some GUI representation of the program.
This used to be one of my only gripes about Linux, was that I'd have to delete over the URL before I pasted it into the bar. Then I found exactly what Alex is talking about. It's amazing! I try to do it all the time in Windows now and absolutely hate that it won't work.
I noticed that some people were having problems with the concept, so the idea is this:
Mark the URL to put it into the X clipboard
Middle-click someplace inside the Netscape window. Heck, you don't even have to switch to Netscape! Just middle-click inside the window somewhere! It's freaking amazing!
Note that you don't middle-click near the address bar, but actually over any arbitrary part of the open Netscape-rendered page.
So instead of
Select URL
CTRL-C
Select the addressbar
CTRL-V <ENTER>
You now have
Select URL
Middle-Click
In my opinion, that is a beautiful thing. (And it works in Opera for Linux, too. Joy!)
I'm not quite sure what you mean by focus issues... the decent window managers have plenty of settings to make the focus work however you like it to. After tweaking it just how I like it, now I'm much more happy with the Linux desktop focusing than Windows.
As for the hourglass issue, I just use gkrellm for all my hourglass needs. Not only does it let me know when Mozilla is launching, it also lets me know when Netscape has hung! It's amazing.
And before you say that gkrellm is too complicated for newbie users, I have to ask, why is it more complicated than an hourglass? Why can't they understand it just as easily as they do an hourglass? Makes more sense to me, at least, and more sense to all the Windows newbies I've introduced the concept to.
PySol,
which comes standard with many Linux distributions, has a very nice version of Freecell (not to mention every other solitaire card game in the world).
The interesting one is the guy to the right. In the red channel the guy is scratching his face; in the other two his arms are down. Very apparent what's going on.
Why wasn't backwards compatibility built in to this? Is there some major technical reason why it would be impossible? Seems to me that a "cutting edge" "experimental technology" ought to at least be backwards compatible with all the old stuff.
In certain places in Muslim countries, generally where tourism is high, any female who is wearing less than traditional Muslim garb is constantly harassed, leered at, treated as a sex object, rubbed up against on the streets, touched against her will, etc.
Why is this? Partially because the a lot of the tourist folks who come to that country are looking for sex, and people pick up on that idea. But mostly I think it's because they're conditioned to think that very modest clothes on a female mean that she's self-respecting, and less-than modest clothes (by their standards) mean that she's a prostitute or looking for sex.
Conditioning is going on, but you're mistaking what the conditioning is. The conditioning is the level of skin you can expect to see on a woman before your respect for her decreases.
Best I can do is that the thing called "theft" is in a different place in the U.S. Code from the thing called "copyright infringement". Interesting to note that the latter isn't even considered criminal unless over a particularly large amount of money's worth of copied material. (U.S. Code Title 17 Section 506)
"...the fair
use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in
copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that
section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting,
teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."
Note how it specifically lists that multiple classroom copies is not infringment? If you have any court cases that say otherwise, I would be much obliged, so I can quit spreading around this bogus information.
Until then, though, this is what stands in my mind.
The big benefit I see to this is that I prefer the window manager Enlightenment. I can run Gnome applications. I can run KDE applications.
So what's the big deal? Just pick whichever one you want to write code for (like the above poster). It's not as if Gnome users can't use KDE programs, or as if KDE users can't use Gnome programs.
Of course, I'm in favor of a standardized GUI protocol, but that's a whole 'nother story.
Compiled computer code is not speech. IMHO, it should not be given copyright.
Source code is speech. You can copyright it all you want. But if you want to copyright your software without giving them the expressive part of the work, *shrug*, I don't agree much with that.
How much un-dumbing down of the OS can you do? The first thing I always do when I install a Windows 98 system is to install TweakUI, turn off all the stupid protections that the file manager gives you (i.e. show hidden files and file extensions), and so forth.
Compared to that classic MacOS, I think that the Aqua (MacOS X) interface is a little too cutesy for my tastes, but just looking at the screenshots of Windows XP makes me want to gag. How customizable is that stuff? If I had to be stuck with that ugly blue taskbar and green start menu I think I would commit suicide.
So how customizable is this OS? Can I get rid of all their new cutesy things? And are there any amazing new features, or did they just make the icons bigger and (sort of) prettier? (The article doesn't seem to mention anything special other than 1) based on w2k and 2) lots and lots of Wizards. Great. Just what I want more of.)
The problem is, it would take quite a bit more than that to move this apathetic nation to revolution. We'll whine for a bit, but in the end, we'll settle back into our day-to-day shackles.
I'd be almost happy if there were some monstrosity committed to force us into open rebellion, but as time goes on and on, I fear more and more than even a monstrosity (more so than already committed, I mean) would still be ignored by the populace.
First off, it's not even a fan site. It's an entirely unrelated site that is all about science. I thought you couldn't enforce trademarks if they were in another realm of commerce?
Second, it's whyfiles.org. Not Y-Files.com. Not even whyfiles.com. Would anyone in his right mind think that this dilutes the X-Files trademark?
I don't know what Fox is smoking (apparently the cheap stuff), but I sincerely hope they don't manage to win this legal battle. That would be a sad day indeed.
First Carmody took the original anonymous version of the DeCSS C-code and gzip'ed it (a standard UNIX program for making files smaller). Suppose we call the resulting number k. By Dirichlet's theorem on primes in arithmetic progression, we know that for each fixed integer b relatively prime to k, there are infinitely many primes ak+b.
For technical reasons, if we choose a to be a power of 256 larger than b, the resulting number can still be unzipped to get the original file. This means there are infinitely many prime numbers which yield the same code. These include: k*256^2+2083 and k*256^211+99. At the time these were found they both were large enough to fit on the list of largest known primes (because of the method of proof).
Reminds me of that Nickelodeon commercial "back in the day"...
First, there were video games... Then, there was Virtual Reality But now, there's something even better... Actual Reality! Feel the weight of the ball--because you're actually holding it! Feel the wind through your hair--because you're actually outside!
Use Abiword instead. I tried downloading OpenOffice recently and found it rather bloated and crash-prone. The only feature I needed, really, was for it to underline mispelled words--which OpenOffice didn't, but Abiword, surprisingly, did.
I installed Abiword on a Windows machine, and it's considerably faster/easier than OpenOffice. Sure, it's not for all those office "power users", but if all you're doing is writing a paper for class, it'll do what you need it to. (And optional Vi key bindings, to boot!)
I've done a lot of research on copyright laws, and I've decided that if the Content Control Industries are going to throw around their propaganda ("The best strategy is to contact the publisher to find out if a license is available for your specific needs. The rule of thumb is to assume that 'fair use' does not apply." -- The SPA) then I can throw around my propaganda:
Unless it's for commercial gain or more than $1,000 in the period of 180 days, it's not criminal infringement. US Code Title 17: Sec. 506.
For criticism, or classroom use, or educational purposes, or research, it is fair use. If the copying does not effect the potential market, then it also is probably fair use. US Code Title 17: Sec. 107.
That's not exactly what the law states, but that's a lot closer than "fair use does not exist. Buy a license."
Slashdot Mirror
Ah, so that's why the lawyers are opposing it!
Dlugar
Apparently somebody chose "Insightful".
Moderators--sheesh!
Dlugar
Not to be grammar nazi or anything, but doesn't a pun usually have more to do with double meanings? Seems to me you're just using the verb "suck" with the same meaning over and over again.
Perhaps if you're more clever next time you can soak up a few more mod points.
Off-Topic
I might note that I think 3 and 4 would be ethical after a certain length of time, perhaps sixteen years? ten? five?, whatever copyright for entertainment software should be.
Dlugar
My idea for the "ideal" would be to have two clipboards: one explicit, and one implicit.
The explicit one would be identical to the Mac ... META-X, META-C, META-V would cut, copy, and paste respectively, using the familiar "explicit" clipboard.
But I've become so accustomed to Unix environs that I can't stand having to actually push buttons to get stuff into my clipboard! It's so convenient to select, and then click, and voila!
So in addition to this "explicit" clipboard, I'd want an entirely separate clipboard that contained simply whatever had been selected last, and could be pasted by either CTRL-INS or a middle-mouse-click. Best of both worlds?
And as for the Netscape "feature" being simply a lousy kluge, I personally like it a lot better than having to paste in URLs up in the location bar. Even if it is a kluge, it's more useful than what it replaced, and I'd want it to stick around even if new clipboard features came about.
Dlugar
Ooh, better keep people from looking at my signature! If they see it, they might want to forge it elsewhere! There's nothing to keep them from doing that! Oh no!
Not trolling, just saying that a CPU monitor is all you need to notice that a program is loading. Have you ever used something like gkrellm? It's pretty nifty.
Basically, it doesn't have to be gkrellm, but something similar would work well enough. Remember the purpose of the hourglass/pop-up effect is to let the user know that the program has been launched so they don't sit there clicking endlessly on the icon. With a CPU graph, you can easily see the spike when an application is launched which generally stays maxed out until you get some GUI representation of the program.
At least that's been my experience.
Dlugar
This used to be one of my only gripes about Linux, was that I'd have to delete over the URL before I pasted it into the bar. Then I found exactly what Alex is talking about. It's amazing! I try to do it all the time in Windows now and absolutely hate that it won't work.
I noticed that some people were having problems with the concept, so the idea is this:
Mark the URL to put it into the X clipboard
Middle-click someplace inside the Netscape window. Heck, you don't even have to switch to Netscape! Just middle-click inside the window somewhere! It's freaking amazing! Note that you don't middle-click near the address bar, but actually over any arbitrary part of the open Netscape-rendered page.
So instead of
- Select URL
- CTRL-C
- Select the addressbar
- CTRL-V <ENTER>
You now haveIn my opinion, that is a beautiful thing. (And it works in Opera for Linux, too. Joy!)
Dlugar
I'm not quite sure what you mean by focus issues ... the decent window managers have plenty of settings to make the focus work however you like it to. After tweaking it just how I like it, now I'm much more happy with the Linux desktop focusing than Windows.
As for the hourglass issue, I just use gkrellm for all my hourglass needs. Not only does it let me know when Mozilla is launching, it also lets me know when Netscape has hung! It's amazing.
And before you say that gkrellm is too complicated for newbie users, I have to ask, why is it more complicated than an hourglass? Why can't they understand it just as easily as they do an hourglass? Makes more sense to me, at least, and more sense to all the Windows newbies I've introduced the concept to.
Dlugar
PySol, which comes standard with many Linux distributions, has a very nice version of Freecell (not to mention every other solitaire card game in the world).
Dlugar
The interesting one is the guy to the right. In the red channel the guy is scratching his face; in the other two his arms are down. Very apparent what's going on.
Dlugar
Why wasn't backwards compatibility built in to this? Is there some major technical reason why it would be impossible? Seems to me that a "cutting edge" "experimental technology" ought to at least be backwards compatible with all the old stuff.
Sheesh!
Dlugar
Whoooaaah, there, slow down big buddy!
Have you ever actually been to the Middle East?
In certain places in Muslim countries, generally where tourism is high, any female who is wearing less than traditional Muslim garb is constantly harassed, leered at, treated as a sex object, rubbed up against on the streets, touched against her will, etc.
Why is this? Partially because the a lot of the tourist folks who come to that country are looking for sex, and people pick up on that idea. But mostly I think it's because they're conditioned to think that very modest clothes on a female mean that she's self-respecting, and less-than modest clothes (by their standards) mean that she's a prostitute or looking for sex.
Conditioning is going on, but you're mistaking what the conditioning is. The conditioning is the level of skin you can expect to see on a woman before your respect for her decreases.
Dlugar
Best I can do is that the thing called "theft" is in a different place in the U.S. Code from the thing called "copyright infringement". Interesting to note that the latter isn't even considered criminal unless over a particularly large amount of money's worth of copied material. (U.S. Code Title 17 Section 506)
Dlugar
Note how it specifically lists that multiple classroom copies is not infringment? If you have any court cases that say otherwise, I would be much obliged, so I can quit spreading around this bogus information.
Until then, though, this is what stands in my mind.
Dlugar
The big benefit I see to this is that I prefer the window manager Enlightenment. I can run Gnome applications. I can run KDE applications.
So what's the big deal? Just pick whichever one you want to write code for (like the above poster). It's not as if Gnome users can't use KDE programs, or as if KDE users can't use Gnome programs.
Of course, I'm in favor of a standardized GUI protocol, but that's a whole 'nother story.
Dlugar
Compiled computer code is not speech. IMHO, it should not be given copyright.
Source code is speech. You can copyright it all you want. But if you want to copyright your software without giving them the expressive part of the work, *shrug*, I don't agree much with that.
Dlugar
How much un-dumbing down of the OS can you do? The first thing I always do when I install a Windows 98 system is to install TweakUI, turn off all the stupid protections that the file manager gives you (i.e. show hidden files and file extensions), and so forth.
Compared to that classic MacOS, I think that the Aqua (MacOS X) interface is a little too cutesy for my tastes, but just looking at the screenshots of Windows XP makes me want to gag. How customizable is that stuff? If I had to be stuck with that ugly blue taskbar and green start menu I think I would commit suicide.
So how customizable is this OS? Can I get rid of all their new cutesy things? And are there any amazing new features, or did they just make the icons bigger and (sort of) prettier? (The article doesn't seem to mention anything special other than 1) based on w2k and 2) lots and lots of Wizards. Great. Just what I want more of.)
Dlugar
The problem is, it would take quite a bit more than that to move this apathetic nation to revolution. We'll whine for a bit, but in the end, we'll settle back into our day-to-day shackles.
I'd be almost happy if there were some monstrosity committed to force us into open rebellion, but as time goes on and on, I fear more and more than even a monstrosity (more so than already committed, I mean) would still be ignored by the populace.
A sad day indeed.
Dlugar
First off, it's not even a fan site. It's an entirely unrelated site that is all about science. I thought you couldn't enforce trademarks if they were in another realm of commerce?
Second, it's whyfiles.org. Not Y-Files.com. Not even whyfiles.com. Would anyone in his right mind think that this dilutes the X-Files trademark?
I don't know what Fox is smoking (apparently the cheap stuff), but I sincerely hope they don't manage to win this legal battle. That would be a sad day indeed.
Dlugar
The formula he used to "find" this prime number can be found here:a l.html
http://www.utm.edu/research/primes/glossary/Illeg
Basically it says this:
Dlugar
Reminds me of that Nickelodeon commercial "back in the day"...
First, there were video games...Then, there was Virtual Reality
But now, there's something even better
Feel the weight of the ball--because you're actually holding it!
Feel the wind through your hair--because you're actually outside!
Hilarious commercial, anyway.
Dlugar
In honor of choice c), I think the poll should use JavaScript to automatically submit the form when an option is picked.
Dlugar
Use Abiword instead. I tried downloading OpenOffice recently and found it rather bloated and crash-prone. The only feature I needed, really, was for it to underline mispelled words--which OpenOffice didn't, but Abiword, surprisingly, did.
I installed Abiword on a Windows machine, and it's considerably faster/easier than OpenOffice. Sure, it's not for all those office "power users", but if all you're doing is writing a paper for class, it'll do what you need it to. (And optional Vi key bindings, to boot!)
Dlugar
I've done a lot of research on copyright laws, and I've decided that if the Content Control Industries are going to throw around their propaganda ("The best strategy is to contact the publisher to find out if a license is available for your specific needs. The rule of thumb is to assume that 'fair use' does not apply." -- The SPA ) then I can throw around my propaganda:
That's not exactly what the law states, but that's a lot closer than "fair use does not exist. Buy a license."
Dlugar