How is this a new tactic? Nintendo released a successful Famicom Disk System for the Famicom (NES in Japan) that expanded the Famicom by using cheaper media and cheaper games that could easily save without extra expense of a battery backup. Sega released like a million things to expand the Genesis (Mega Drive) including a CD add on, and the 32x. Nintendo used games with new CPUs and other chips to extend the life of the SNES beyond the 16 bit generation.
The difference is, its pretty easy to figure out what things do in the Program Files directory, the Windows directory is a bit more confusing, but a lot of it is still pretty easy to figure out. Good luck for an average computer user to figure out what/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\etc. is compared to Program Files and X program.
The native Operating System of the Dingoo A320 is C/OS-II[3], a low-cost priority-based pre-emptive real time multitasking operating system kernel for microprocessors, written mainly in the C programming language. It is mainly intended for use in embedded systems. All official software for the Dingoo A320 (including its emulators) run on C/OS-II.
Yeah, theres a Linux port for it, but by that logic a PS3 is an open device because you can run Linux on it (non-Slim versions at least). I have a GP2x which is a Korean handheld very similar to the Dingoo, its a great device but the build quality is -terrible- and on the Dingoo, I've heard its emulators aren't as good compared to a lot of other similar devices.
Ok, then tell me where are you going to get your CPU? Neither AMD nor Intel have Anti-DRM stances (http://www.infoworld.com/t/hardware/content-in-lockdown-199) and (http://www.pcworld.com/article/121027/intels_pentium_d_equipped_with_drm_capability.html) and even if these plans weren't 100% realized, the fact that the company would invest R&D resources into it assures you that they are not anti-DRM.
If you don't buy products from companies with DRM chances are you won't have a game console (Ok, you might have the Pandora if it ever ships or the GP2x Wiz, but all the Wiz is good for is playing emulators), good luck finding an MP3 player that doesn't have some built-in DRM (even if it is only that the company paid MS, Apple, or another company to play DRM-d tracks) unless its a cheap Chinese clone with questionable build quality. Etc.
The Achilles Heel of Blackberry is the Blackberry OS. They basically just keep adding cruft to it to make it more "modern" without actually modernizing the actual OS.
How will this benefit the general user though? There are many times that I get up but still want my laptop to be running for example, I can leave a music player on, hook up my laptop to a projector to play a movie, or a load of other things that this would prevent from happening.
That's what total war is. Every resource of the nation-state is poured into the war effort. Every resource of the nation-state becomes a valid target.
That is a stupid statement. By that logic we should nuke everyone because everyone is a "resource" that might be turned against us.
That's not the "logical conclusion". That's a straw man that you set up.
Lets see here, the Japanese bombed a -military- base at Pearl Harbor after thinking that they declared war on the US (yes, they got a communication error and it didn't get out in time...). And what you advocate is bombing of a civilian city, not with conventional explosives but with nuclear explosives which scientists knew full well would cause disease and death via radiation sickness. So yes, it is the logical conclusion of your argument.
Why is that relevant?
Because of the fact that it is stupid, and irresponsible to kill people who don't oppose you? If I go down a street shooting at any person who is a different race than you, chances are you would call me a racist and a murder, yet you advocate the exact same thing. Guess what? Most people don't choose their nationality. Many times, especially in the WWII era, it was impossible to change what nation you lived in due to visas, finances, immigration quotas, etc. People don't choose their race, gender, or handicaps they don't choose the nation they live in 99% of the time either.
You mean after we gave them months of warnings that they should evacuate their cities?
Oh yeah, by that logic the people in the twin towers should have known that a plane would crash into them Sept 11th because terrorist groups threatened the US. Look, if you have a family to provide for are you going to stay in the city where you can provide for them or move out to a rural area where poverty abounds?
No further military threat? Ask the 12,500 dead Allied soldiers on Okinawa if the Japanese still posed a military threat. Ask the hundreds of thousands that were expected to die during Operation Downfall if they still posed a military threat. Then consider the alternative to invasion (continuing the economic blockade) and ask yourself how many millions of Japanese civilians would have starved to death.
No further military threat to the US or other allied powers. If we had used reason and accepted a surrender that benefited both countries, rather than an unrealistic "unconditional" surrender of Japan, perhaps they would have surrendered earlier and the 12,500 dead allied soldiers would have still been living.
The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan." Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Even high ranking officials in WWII agreed that the atomic bombings didn't help the war any.
Two things you have to consider though, what defines "the middle of nowhere"? Just outside my town of about 20,000 people, there are many houses that can't get cable, let alone high speed internet. Yeah, 3G internet has made it easier, but every major carrier in the US charges a ton for their service, has terrible latency, has caps and in general provides a crappy way to browse compared to a decent home internet connection.
Secondly, its not that ISPs have done everything on their own and the free market should take its course. We, the taxpayers have (without a direct vote mind you) given them -billions- of dollars to spend on expanding their services, their lines run through public and private ground not owned by the ISP themselves, I think when its -our- money that they spend, we should be able to tell them what to do with it. If they didn't take any of the money directly or indirectly and own the land that their lines pass through, sure, let them do what they want, but no major ISP has done that.
Would society be better if a government was established that let the people decide what they thought was acceptable? I think the answer would be yes. A free government should not criminalize common things that are not inherently dangerous to others. But, until the US switches to a more sane democratic system (such as Proportional Representation) I don't think we will see the change we need.
In about 500 years when they run out, sure, we will all be dead. But you fail to see that technology is always improving. While the parent is correct in saying that in 2009 renewable energy is not economically feasible, but by mixing together independently developed technology from other disciplines, in 30 more years it may be very feasible, all without wasting taxpayer money in a black hole of waste. The government has already put in as much funds as it needs because the seeds have already been planted. Commercial space travel and commercial space satellites will increase the demand for more efficient solar panels, this will lead to more privatized and focused research and in time lower cost and higher yield. Just look at computers, even though governments planted the seeds for development, it was the private sector that made them affordable, reliable and useful.
Sure, but can you poke blocked people? And even then how in the world is a "poke" considered communication? Sure, it might be communication in the letter of the law, but sure not in the spirit of it. If I feel so threatened about someone in the real world that I would bother to get a restraining order why wouldn't I block them on Facebook too?
If you don't have a DSi play the GBA Fire Emblem games, they are a lot better than the newer ones (especially Fire Emblem). And if you don't mind downloading some ROMs and patches the SNES games are pretty fun to play also.
I've played Nethack on my GP2x many times but can never get into any of the PC versions. I don't know why but the controls just seem... funky to me. I suppose it was because I was raised on console and not PC games but are there any PC versions of nethack with nice, easy controls that are intuitive and don't take years to learn?
I agree with Wesnoth. If you like Fire Emblem or Shining Force it is a must download. About my only complaint is that some teams are much better/worse than another when playing different teams.
And how do you expect the average person to lobby for it who doesn't have a few million to spare? Lets see here you can A) Write to your senators/representatives and the best you usually reply is a written message from a secretary assuring you that they will "represent you", most of the time you receive no reply and occasionally you get assurances that your congressman is going to vote -for- the bill you specifically told them you would like them to oppose! B) Try to vote for someone who is pro-reform however that is near impossible. Between the ignorance of the masses to copyright law, the pro-copyright bias of most non-internet media, the lack of proportional representation in the US and the fact that both parties are anti-reform means even if you vote for the right candidate chances are slim they will be elected.
Yeah, you can lobby for it all you want but chances are you aren't going to see any change. Myself I've called, wrote, and even personally asked copyright questions to my congressmen and every time I was either generically "assured" my opinion would be taken into consideration, openly defied, or waved aside.
You know though, most people don't ever check that. They think that over time Windows just "gets slow" because hardware "goes obsolete". So when that happens they think they have to buy a new computer.
You are only hurting the small artists. I have known many musicians that don't make shit touring bars and clubs..but can make a living from albums and sometimes t-shirt sales.
Either way though, they have to be heard somehow. The internet and especially P2P offer that opportunity to the independent artist. No one is going to pay money on songs they haven't heard, if someone playing in a bar is good enough they might buy their CD and tip them extra. But in that case their problem isn't piracy it is obscurity.
Is using GNU software in a commercial app (without giving out the source) theft? Richard Stallman and the thug lawyers at the FSF would thinks so.
Someone has no clue about GNU, RMS or the FSF. From (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Theft)
Copyright apologists often use words like "stolen" and "theft" to describe copyright infringement. At the same time, they ask us to treat the legal system as an authority on ethics: if copying is forbidden, it must be wrong.
So it is pertinent to mention that the legal system--at least in the US--rejects the idea that copyright infringement is "theft." Copyright apologists are making an appeal to authority...and misrepresenting what authority says.
The idea that laws decide what is right or wrong is mistaken in general. Laws are, at their best, an attempt to achieve justice; to say that laws define justice or ethical conduct is turning things upside down.
So no, at most they would consider it copyright infringement (remember, the GPL uses copyright law as its basis) and not theft as you stated.
The point of copyright was to prevent other people from profiting off of your work. You see back in the 1700s, there were only a few printing presses in existence and nearly all were owned by businesses. Copyright wasn't to deny the public free access to information but rather deny corporations the right to screw the artists. No one would have gotten mad about a hand-written version of a book or song. However today it is as if every single person has a printing press. Information and authorship can go out much, much faster than before. For example, most everyone knows who wrote Harry Potter and even a brief summary of the plot. If a movie came out with 3 student wizards going to Pig-Blister's Academy for the study of wizardry, most everyone would either say it was a parody or a clone of Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.
really slightly less than theft.
Oh yes, slightly less then theft. Even though you do realize that one download does not equal one lost sale or even come close to that, that most artists make their living based on tours and album sales really only serve to promote tours, and there are some artists who give away every piece of music (Johnathan Coulton and others) and still are -very- successful.
The problem is, we have 4 main crappy phone companies. You have AT&T with good coverage, good phones (though sadly no Android yet), medium price, but their networks are just so congested. You have Sprint with decent-ish coverage, great speed, decent enough phones, but pretty high prices. You have Verizon with good coverage, medium price, decent speed but they neuter their phones to being the point of unusable (want proof? compare a generic phone like the Motorola Razr between the 4 cell networks and you will find the Verizion one has most of their functions taken away and an awful hideous UI put in) and you have T-Mobile with open phones (lots of Android), decent prices, but their network just isn't as complete as the other 3 so coverage isn't the greatest and 3G is non-existent in non-urban areas. Myself I'd ditch AT&T and go for T-Mobile if they had decent service everywhere that I go but they don't.
Why do you include speeding with your other victimless crimes? It has a significant potential danger
Because in most cases its used as a "fundraiser" for cops in cities where there isn't enough real crime to keep them busy. There are many roads where its perfectly safe to go faster than the speed limit especially if there is light or no traffic. While I think that they should stop for speeding in excessive cases (20 miles or over the speed limit or when it isn't safe) the majority of speeding tickets are pointless.
so it's a crime for the same reason running a nightclub without a fire alarm system is a crime, or running a company without providing safety equipment for your workers, or driving a train drunk.
The difference is you are endangering more people in a nightclub than just yourself. Same with a company or a train. In the majority of needless speeding tickets either A) The road was empty (the most you are going to do is injure yourself and possibly an animal) B) Traffic was moving at a similar speed (so long as you weren't the leading car it isn't a huge deal) or C) It was only a few miles over the speed limit (30 in a 25 mph zone or something silly like that).
Slashdot Mirror
How is this a new tactic? Nintendo released a successful Famicom Disk System for the Famicom (NES in Japan) that expanded the Famicom by using cheaper media and cheaper games that could easily save without extra expense of a battery backup. Sega released like a million things to expand the Genesis (Mega Drive) including a CD add on, and the 32x. Nintendo used games with new CPUs and other chips to extend the life of the SNES beyond the 16 bit generation.
The difference is, its pretty easy to figure out what things do in the Program Files directory, the Windows directory is a bit more confusing, but a lot of it is still pretty easy to figure out. Good luck for an average computer user to figure out what /HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\etc. is compared to Program Files and X program.
The native Operating System of the Dingoo A320 is C/OS-II[3], a low-cost priority-based pre-emptive real time multitasking operating system kernel for microprocessors, written mainly in the C programming language. It is mainly intended for use in embedded systems. All official software for the Dingoo A320 (including its emulators) run on C/OS-II.
Yeah, theres a Linux port for it, but by that logic a PS3 is an open device because you can run Linux on it (non-Slim versions at least). I have a GP2x which is a Korean handheld very similar to the Dingoo, its a great device but the build quality is -terrible- and on the Dingoo, I've heard its emulators aren't as good compared to a lot of other similar devices.
For the last time, FOSS does not live or die based on interoperability with closed-source standards.
More or less it does though. If Firefox did not have Flash, do you think it would have gained the marketshare it has now?
Look at the .docx file format. How long did we have to wait go get competent FOSS text editors compatible with it?
Not that long considering that .docx was a proprietary format that was just a trojan horse to look "open".
Ok, then tell me where are you going to get your CPU? Neither AMD nor Intel have Anti-DRM stances (http://www.infoworld.com/t/hardware/content-in-lockdown-199) and (http://www.pcworld.com/article/121027/intels_pentium_d_equipped_with_drm_capability.html) and even if these plans weren't 100% realized, the fact that the company would invest R&D resources into it assures you that they are not anti-DRM.
If you don't buy products from companies with DRM chances are you won't have a game console (Ok, you might have the Pandora if it ever ships or the GP2x Wiz, but all the Wiz is good for is playing emulators), good luck finding an MP3 player that doesn't have some built-in DRM (even if it is only that the company paid MS, Apple, or another company to play DRM-d tracks) unless its a cheap Chinese clone with questionable build quality. Etc.
The Achilles Heel of Blackberry is the Blackberry OS. They basically just keep adding cruft to it to make it more "modern" without actually modernizing the actual OS.
How will this benefit the general user though? There are many times that I get up but still want my laptop to be running for example, I can leave a music player on, hook up my laptop to a projector to play a movie, or a load of other things that this would prevent from happening.
That's what total war is. Every resource of the nation-state is poured into the war effort. Every resource of the nation-state becomes a valid target.
That is a stupid statement. By that logic we should nuke everyone because everyone is a "resource" that might be turned against us.
That's not the "logical conclusion". That's a straw man that you set up.
Lets see here, the Japanese bombed a -military- base at Pearl Harbor after thinking that they declared war on the US (yes, they got a communication error and it didn't get out in time...). And what you advocate is bombing of a civilian city, not with conventional explosives but with nuclear explosives which scientists knew full well would cause disease and death via radiation sickness. So yes, it is the logical conclusion of your argument.
Why is that relevant?
Because of the fact that it is stupid, and irresponsible to kill people who don't oppose you? If I go down a street shooting at any person who is a different race than you, chances are you would call me a racist and a murder, yet you advocate the exact same thing. Guess what? Most people don't choose their nationality. Many times, especially in the WWII era, it was impossible to change what nation you lived in due to visas, finances, immigration quotas, etc. People don't choose their race, gender, or handicaps they don't choose the nation they live in 99% of the time either.
You mean after we gave them months of warnings that they should evacuate their cities?
Oh yeah, by that logic the people in the twin towers should have known that a plane would crash into them Sept 11th because terrorist groups threatened the US. Look, if you have a family to provide for are you going to stay in the city where you can provide for them or move out to a rural area where poverty abounds?
No further military threat? Ask the 12,500 dead Allied soldiers on Okinawa if the Japanese still posed a military threat. Ask the hundreds of thousands that were expected to die during Operation Downfall if they still posed a military threat. Then consider the alternative to invasion (continuing the economic blockade) and ask yourself how many millions of Japanese civilians would have starved to death.
No further military threat to the US or other allied powers. If we had used reason and accepted a surrender that benefited both countries, rather than an unrealistic "unconditional" surrender of Japan, perhaps they would have surrendered earlier and the 12,500 dead allied soldiers would have still been living.
The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan." Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Even high ranking officials in WWII agreed that the atomic bombings didn't help the war any.
Two things you have to consider though, what defines "the middle of nowhere"? Just outside my town of about 20,000 people, there are many houses that can't get cable, let alone high speed internet. Yeah, 3G internet has made it easier, but every major carrier in the US charges a ton for their service, has terrible latency, has caps and in general provides a crappy way to browse compared to a decent home internet connection.
Secondly, its not that ISPs have done everything on their own and the free market should take its course. We, the taxpayers have (without a direct vote mind you) given them -billions- of dollars to spend on expanding their services, their lines run through public and private ground not owned by the ISP themselves, I think when its -our- money that they spend, we should be able to tell them what to do with it. If they didn't take any of the money directly or indirectly and own the land that their lines pass through, sure, let them do what they want, but no major ISP has done that.
Would society be better if a government was established that let the people decide what they thought was acceptable? I think the answer would be yes. A free government should not criminalize common things that are not inherently dangerous to others. But, until the US switches to a more sane democratic system (such as Proportional Representation) I don't think we will see the change we need.
In about 500 years when they run out, sure, we will all be dead. But you fail to see that technology is always improving. While the parent is correct in saying that in 2009 renewable energy is not economically feasible, but by mixing together independently developed technology from other disciplines, in 30 more years it may be very feasible, all without wasting taxpayer money in a black hole of waste. The government has already put in as much funds as it needs because the seeds have already been planted. Commercial space travel and commercial space satellites will increase the demand for more efficient solar panels, this will lead to more privatized and focused research and in time lower cost and higher yield. Just look at computers, even though governments planted the seeds for development, it was the private sector that made them affordable, reliable and useful.
Sure, but can you poke blocked people? And even then how in the world is a "poke" considered communication? Sure, it might be communication in the letter of the law, but sure not in the spirit of it. If I feel so threatened about someone in the real world that I would bother to get a restraining order why wouldn't I block them on Facebook too?
Oh great, Macs now -cause- alzheimers too!
If you don't have a DSi play the GBA Fire Emblem games, they are a lot better than the newer ones (especially Fire Emblem). And if you don't mind downloading some ROMs and patches the SNES games are pretty fun to play also.
I've played Nethack on my GP2x many times but can never get into any of the PC versions. I don't know why but the controls just seem... funky to me. I suppose it was because I was raised on console and not PC games but are there any PC versions of nethack with nice, easy controls that are intuitive and don't take years to learn?
I agree with Wesnoth. If you like Fire Emblem or Shining Force it is a must download. About my only complaint is that some teams are much better/worse than another when playing different teams.
Slow news day today?
And how do you expect the average person to lobby for it who doesn't have a few million to spare? Lets see here you can A) Write to your senators/representatives and the best you usually reply is a written message from a secretary assuring you that they will "represent you", most of the time you receive no reply and occasionally you get assurances that your congressman is going to vote -for- the bill you specifically told them you would like them to oppose! B) Try to vote for someone who is pro-reform however that is near impossible. Between the ignorance of the masses to copyright law, the pro-copyright bias of most non-internet media, the lack of proportional representation in the US and the fact that both parties are anti-reform means even if you vote for the right candidate chances are slim they will be elected.
Yeah, you can lobby for it all you want but chances are you aren't going to see any change. Myself I've called, wrote, and even personally asked copyright questions to my congressmen and every time I was either generically "assured" my opinion would be taken into consideration, openly defied, or waved aside.
You know though, most people don't ever check that. They think that over time Windows just "gets slow" because hardware "goes obsolete". So when that happens they think they have to buy a new computer.
You are only hurting the small artists. I have known many musicians that don't make shit touring bars and clubs..but can make a living from albums and sometimes t-shirt sales.
Either way though, they have to be heard somehow. The internet and especially P2P offer that opportunity to the independent artist. No one is going to pay money on songs they haven't heard, if someone playing in a bar is good enough they might buy their CD and tip them extra. But in that case their problem isn't piracy it is obscurity.
Is using GNU software in a commercial app (without giving out the source) theft? Richard Stallman and the thug lawyers at the FSF would thinks so.
Someone has no clue about GNU, RMS or the FSF. From (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Theft)
Copyright apologists often use words like "stolen" and "theft" to describe copyright infringement. At the same time, they ask us to treat the legal system as an authority on ethics: if copying is forbidden, it must be wrong. So it is pertinent to mention that the legal system--at least in the US--rejects the idea that copyright infringement is "theft." Copyright apologists are making an appeal to authority...and misrepresenting what authority says. The idea that laws decide what is right or wrong is mistaken in general. Laws are, at their best, an attempt to achieve justice; to say that laws define justice or ethical conduct is turning things upside down.
So no, at most they would consider it copyright infringement (remember, the GPL uses copyright law as its basis) and not theft as you stated.
really slightly less than theft.
Oh yes, slightly less then theft. Even though you do realize that one download does not equal one lost sale or even come close to that, that most artists make their living based on tours and album sales really only serve to promote tours, and there are some artists who give away every piece of music (Johnathan Coulton and others) and still are -very- successful.
Australia is so messed up with technology and censorship it isn't even funny.
The problem is, we have 4 main crappy phone companies. You have AT&T with good coverage, good phones (though sadly no Android yet), medium price, but their networks are just so congested. You have Sprint with decent-ish coverage, great speed, decent enough phones, but pretty high prices. You have Verizon with good coverage, medium price, decent speed but they neuter their phones to being the point of unusable (want proof? compare a generic phone like the Motorola Razr between the 4 cell networks and you will find the Verizion one has most of their functions taken away and an awful hideous UI put in) and you have T-Mobile with open phones (lots of Android), decent prices, but their network just isn't as complete as the other 3 so coverage isn't the greatest and 3G is non-existent in non-urban areas. Myself I'd ditch AT&T and go for T-Mobile if they had decent service everywhere that I go but they don't.
When you get free money for reporting any "crime" people aren't going to be using morals especially if its someone they don't know.
Why do you include speeding with your other victimless crimes? It has a significant potential danger
Because in most cases its used as a "fundraiser" for cops in cities where there isn't enough real crime to keep them busy. There are many roads where its perfectly safe to go faster than the speed limit especially if there is light or no traffic. While I think that they should stop for speeding in excessive cases (20 miles or over the speed limit or when it isn't safe) the majority of speeding tickets are pointless.
so it's a crime for the same reason running a nightclub without a fire alarm system is a crime, or running a company without providing safety equipment for your workers, or driving a train drunk.
The difference is you are endangering more people in a nightclub than just yourself. Same with a company or a train. In the majority of needless speeding tickets either A) The road was empty (the most you are going to do is injure yourself and possibly an animal) B) Traffic was moving at a similar speed (so long as you weren't the leading car it isn't a huge deal) or C) It was only a few miles over the speed limit (30 in a 25 mph zone or something silly like that).