A few years back, I noticed my DSL modem, router, network hub, etc. were around 5-6 inches wide. I figured if I could take the guts out and put the boards in custom enclosures, I could convert an old PC case to a mini rack mount, with a lot of the cables contained inside. Never came up with an enclosure solution I liked, though. Most of these devices are powered by wall warts that feed DC current, the challenge is picking devices that take 5 or 12V (there's a lot of stuff out there that wants 7 or 9V, although that can be done if you want to get creative).
I doubt Tivo would have much legal standing in Canada. AFAIK, they've never shipped a single unit up here, and I doubt they ever bothered to file a patent in Canada. Before I got an Expressvu PVR, I e-mailed Tivo to ask if they had any plans to start selling products in Canada and they basically asked "where?"
The courts in Canada have a pretty low tolerance level for frivolous lawsuits. The only thing they hate more than that is being told what to do by Americans. If Tivo has any plans of appearing before a Canadian judge to take on Bell Canada (one of the largest and most powerful companies in the country), they had better make sure they've got a rock solid case, or they're gonna get their asses handed to 'em.
That leaves the technical question. I'm not sure who actually provides the software and programming services, if Expressvu handles that themselves or if they pay Echostar to do it. If it's done by Echostar, it's possible that they might decide to stop doing so. Hopefully Expressvu will have a solution for that in short order, or they're going to have a lot of extremely unhappy customers on their hands. Since there's no Tivo here, shutting off Expressvu PVRs would affect half the PVRs in the country (and probably more than that, I don't know anyone who has the Rogers version).
Re:Regarding 101-things-to-do dept
on
Ubuntu Hacks
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· Score: 1
There is a nice study by Eysenck who found out that people working 57 hours per week are less productive than people working 48 hours per week. Not "productive per hour worked", but productive. Less work produced in 57 hours than in 48 hours.
Post a link to that, will ya? My boss needs to read it. Or perhaps I should say, I need my boss to read it.
Canada does, but they're close enough to the US that the distinction isn't important.
Why don't governments simply pass laws to encourage retailers and manufacturers to deal in a more straightforward way with consumers?
Because that's not how the free market economy works. Don't like rebates? Then don't buy products with rebates. If nobody goes along with it, they'll quit doing it on their own.
...the dumb animal names of the different releases: "Ubuntu? Oh, that must be that kid's computer thing based on the 'Lion King' movie, right?" They need to move beyond the mumpy meerkat and hirsute hyena names.
Because naming your releases after "Toy Story" is so much more professional than naming them after "The Lion King."
It was tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, smart ass, or whatever you want to call it. That's why I said "big smiley". And the next line started with "Seriously..."
As I understand it, it is also legal to write and publish books like The Anarchist's Cookbook, which describe, among other things, how to make bombs and blow up buildings. Planting a bomb is illegal, but describing how to do it is protected as freedom of speech.
Copying of copyrighted materials is illegal, but is it legal to academically describe how it is accomplished? Or to write instructions on how to do it? Doesn't seem like it.
The message I'm getting is that corporate profits are more important than a few people's lives.
Don't you know? The VCR is now an illegal device under the DMCA.
Not only that, it's also illegal to distribute VCR schematics. Or even a book about how VCRs work. And, if my understanding of the 2600 case is correct, the DMCA apparently also makes it illegal to tell someone where this information can be found.
I think I remember seeing a book about how VCRs and other electronic devices work at my local library. In the kid's section. Oops! I think I just broke the DMCA by directing you to the location for information to be used in copyright infringement! Oh no!
(Insert big smiley)
Seriously though, think how different things would be if something like the DMCA would have come along 25 years ago.
There's another thing I've been wondering along the same lines as the above assertion.
"Speech" traditionally includes not only verbal spoken communication, but also other forms of expression and written communication.
If code is not a form of expression, how can it be covered by copyright? Copyright, as I understand it, applies to new original written works. If other copyrighted materials are covered as free speech, what makes code different?
One thing I've personally enjoyed about Andromeda is that the writers seem to know a thing or two about science. For example, look at the episode with the teleporter. The big argument against Trek's transporters has always been the uncertainty principle. Usually everyone just shrugs and points out that mainstream TV audiences don't know anything about physics, so just let them be dumb and happy.
On Andromeda, when Harper proudly announces that he's constructing a teleporter, the first thing Beka says is "don't look now, but Dr. Heisenberg wants to have a word with you." No long explanation of the principle, they just figure we're intelligent enough to get it. Nice to be treated as an intelligent person by prime time television for a change.
They did take a bit of time to explain quantum entanglement, though. I had recently read the Slashdot story about it, and thought it was interesting to see that show up. The whole time travel thing got a bit weird, though.
Anyone know about quantum slipstream? I could have sworn I had heard the term before this show started. I want to say it's a real theory, but I'm not sure.
Overall, the way I describe Andromeda to people is "good writing, crappy production". Too much T&A factor for my taste (like what TNT did to season 5 of B5), and I think the space sequences could use some improvement. Like the episode where another ship was destroyed 5 light minutes away, and the AI had to remind the captain that he couldn't do anything to help, since the images they were seeing were 5 minutes old. (Yes! Writers who know about the speed of light!) But I think the exterior animation showed them considerably closer than 5 light minutes apart. sigh...
Slashdot Mirror
FIFO means a queue, not a stack.
The difference between the two was probably one of the first things he learned.
A few years back, I noticed my DSL modem, router, network hub, etc. were around 5-6 inches wide. I figured if I could take the guts out and put the boards in custom enclosures, I could convert an old PC case to a mini rack mount, with a lot of the cables contained inside. Never came up with an enclosure solution I liked, though. Most of these devices are powered by wall warts that feed DC current, the challenge is picking devices that take 5 or 12V (there's a lot of stuff out there that wants 7 or 9V, although that can be done if you want to get creative).
I doubt Tivo would have much legal standing in Canada. AFAIK, they've never shipped a single unit up here, and I doubt they ever bothered to file a patent in Canada. Before I got an Expressvu PVR, I e-mailed Tivo to ask if they had any plans to start selling products in Canada and they basically asked "where?"
The courts in Canada have a pretty low tolerance level for frivolous lawsuits. The only thing they hate more than that is being told what to do by Americans. If Tivo has any plans of appearing before a Canadian judge to take on Bell Canada (one of the largest and most powerful companies in the country), they had better make sure they've got a rock solid case, or they're gonna get their asses handed to 'em.
That leaves the technical question. I'm not sure who actually provides the software and programming services, if Expressvu handles that themselves or if they pay Echostar to do it. If it's done by Echostar, it's possible that they might decide to stop doing so. Hopefully Expressvu will have a solution for that in short order, or they're going to have a lot of extremely unhappy customers on their hands. Since there's no Tivo here, shutting off Expressvu PVRs would affect half the PVRs in the country (and probably more than that, I don't know anyone who has the Rogers version).
Things to do:
1. Buy the book.
2. Try Hack #1.
etc.
see the most diverse group of white people in america (second only to denver i suppose)
Clearly you've never been to Provo.
It was tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, smart ass, or whatever you want to call it. That's why I said "big smiley". And the next line started with "Seriously..."
As I understand it, it is also legal to write and publish books like The Anarchist's Cookbook, which describe, among other things, how to make bombs and blow up buildings. Planting a bomb is illegal, but describing how to do it is protected as freedom of speech.
Copying of copyrighted materials is illegal, but is it legal to academically describe how it is accomplished? Or to write instructions on how to do it? Doesn't seem like it.
The message I'm getting is that corporate profits are more important than a few people's lives.
> Why didn't the VCR kill television or movies?
Don't you know? The VCR is now an illegal device under the DMCA.
Not only that, it's also illegal to distribute VCR schematics. Or even a book about how VCRs work. And, if my understanding of the 2600 case is correct, the DMCA apparently also makes it illegal to tell someone where this information can be found.
I think I remember seeing a book about how VCRs and other electronic devices work at my local library. In the kid's section. Oops! I think I just broke the DMCA by directing you to the location for information to be used in copyright infringement! Oh no!
(Insert big smiley)
Seriously though, think how different things would be if something like the DMCA would have come along 25 years ago.
> 4. Code is Speech.
There's another thing I've been wondering along the same lines as the above assertion.
"Speech" traditionally includes not only verbal spoken communication, but also other forms of expression and written communication.
If code is not a form of expression, how can it be covered by copyright? Copyright, as I understand it, applies to new original written works. If other copyrighted materials are covered as free speech, what makes code different?
One thing I've personally enjoyed about Andromeda is that the writers seem to know a thing or two about science. For example, look at the episode with the teleporter. The big argument against Trek's transporters has always been the uncertainty principle. Usually everyone just shrugs and points out that mainstream TV audiences don't know anything about physics, so just let them be dumb and happy.
On Andromeda, when Harper proudly announces that he's constructing a teleporter, the first thing Beka says is "don't look now, but Dr. Heisenberg wants to have a word with you." No long explanation of the principle, they just figure we're intelligent enough to get it. Nice to be treated as an intelligent person by prime time television for a change.
They did take a bit of time to explain quantum entanglement, though. I had recently read the Slashdot story about it, and thought it was interesting to see that show up. The whole time travel thing got a bit weird, though.
Anyone know about quantum slipstream? I could have sworn I had heard the term before this show started. I want to say it's a real theory, but I'm not sure.
Overall, the way I describe Andromeda to people is "good writing, crappy production". Too much T&A factor for my taste (like what TNT did to season 5 of B5), and I think the space sequences could use some improvement. Like the episode where another ship was destroyed 5 light minutes away, and the AI had to remind the captain that he couldn't do anything to help, since the images they were seeing were 5 minutes old. (Yes! Writers who know about the speed of light!) But I think the exterior animation showed them considerably closer than 5 light minutes apart. sigh...