Will it be ready in time for me to view my spanky-new South Park - Bigger, Longer and Uncut DVD when I receive it sometime mid-novemberish?;)
Seeing how I've seen most SP episodes for the first time on my 'puter via RealPlayer, it'd be apropos to see the movie for the first time (at home, anyways) on the 'puter too... preferably under penguin power!
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Some sites will offload thier static content to another machine, or simply reference them in a different way from the primary page (ie: by IP address instead of domain name).
Good basic idea, but might break some stuff you were actually interested in seeing. =/
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
... to log back in to Slashdot every time I fire up a browser.;)
Hell, I leave my browser up for such extended lengths of time, I sometimes forget the passwords to password-protected webspaces. I just kinda forget that I'm in there 'cuz Netscape remembers 'em all. Then, when I occasionally boot into Gamedows'98 to play Jagged Alliance II and come back to get some work done, I gotta re-enter all those passwords which were... uh... what again? Where'd by clipboard go with those little notes? *scrounge scrounge shuffle*
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
By removing cookies from IMG SRC tags (or any of the other methods of obtaining a cookie via HTTP), the browser maker would be breaking a LOT of sites, not just the banner ad sites. Cookies are damned convenient, and sometimes the MOST convenient way of implementing them is through a nice, clean self-contained IMG... for example, if you're trying to implement a link exchange or some other similar system where knowing how many times your 'message' has been seen is important, IMG SRC is by far the cleanest way to implement it.
Paranoid direct-marketing reasons shouldn't be used as a reason to break perfectly acceptable behaviour in a browser (especially a behaviour that has generated a multi-billion dollar industry!)... yes, there are people collecting information about you in order to more efficiently sell you things. There's people collecting information about your power consumption, long distance usage and a host of other things too, not to mention the government going through your spending habits for whatever purposes they have (probably tax related;).
Having done my time in surveillance/counter-surveillance circles, I can honestly say that what most people consider as privacy is the most widely-hyped and catered-to fictional ideal of all time. Anyone can find out anything about anyone else, so long as they have the time, money and talent to do it. What most people consider as privacy would best be described as obscurity... lost in a sea of other dull, obscure people leading a life too dull to be of any concern to anyone (except perhaps ad banner people and spammers;).
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I've seen a lot of people complain that battery life would be severely curtailed if a mini-HD was added on. That's probably true, but there should be methods of limiting actual HD spintime... powering down when not in use (obviously), liberal caching, perhaps even a 'low power spin' mode for the drive itself, or maybe a little clip on the drive itself for a couple AAA's to provide some extra juice at the expensive of a slightly larger/heavier device.
It all sounds good to me. The palm is the closest thing I've seen that approaches viable 'wearable' technology (Yes, I know you don't wear it, but it's as portable as your wallet... about as close to actual wearing as you're gonna get without worrying about color-coordination. "Does this pilot match my tie? Hmmm... maybe the blue one...";)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
A cute little program, in the guise of a harmless chess voting mechanism, would scoop out the unique ID from Intel processors and send that (along with pertinent information about the programs you run, the sites you've most recently visited, and your views on the Intergalactic Treason Situation) to M$ Headquarters in Redmond.
A crack team of dolphins pour over the data (leftovers from the specially bred torpedo carriers of WW2) and make recommendations as to your suitability for future acquisition... Commencing after MS's current plans of controlling software entirely, is the inevitable next step of Embracing and Extending individual people, much as M$'s CEO has already undergone.
Your identity would then be subsumed into the growing colective of Micro$oft Lobbyists, used to provide the public appearance of legality and disinformation about the truth that M$ controls the entire US puppet-state government. (You'll notice that no media outlet actually specified which 'Bill' left a deposit on Ms. Lewinsky's dress...)
Don't make it easy for them! Play hopscotch, jai-alai or mazola twister instead! Throw a wrench into thier plans for domination, before they stick a wrench into you!
</ConspiracyTheory>
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
That was the one I was referring to, actually;). I'd seen B5 off and on and just kind of blew it off, although it registered in my mind as it was originally rendered using Amigas. One day I was surfing around, caught that scene, and laughed my ass off. Been watching it ever since.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
... how much of the illegal software has been used to subvert those 12 galaxies?
Which galaxies are they, anyways?
As much as we'd all hate to see a continuance of spaced out legal chickanery in the US government, I must admit that I'd personally love to watch representatives of these 12 galaxies come down for a babylon 5-ish style court hearing. THAT would be worth switching over from X-files to watch;)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
... is a little project I'm currently working on. I typically go in for the Ambient section when I need to achieve my altered-consciousness codepig state, or the alternative section (chock-full-o'-NIN) for general online chicanery. Check it out here. You'll need something like xmms or other shoutcast/icecast capable mpeg playing type thingie.
... and yes Hemos, I will get you those book reviews. I've been busy.;)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I'd thought I'd seen it all when I heard that weather was being played on the stock market... now when I go to vegas, I'm going to see a big odds display with a wad of disasters and thier chances of happening.
Jimmy the Greek would have loved this.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
They don't say much in the article as to WHY they decided to play with this. The only reason why that I can think of is that they were going to do it in order to have either a larger impact on near-shore targets (more 'bang for your buck'... or maybe more 'drowning for your dime'?;) or as some sort of attempt to limit fallout.
I have a hard time seeing either working out well. Underwater nukes make a big ol' cloud of radioactive steam, and even the atol tests back in the 50s barely made a wave large enough to wiggle those battleships around... woe unto the coral or anything in a fragile underwater ecosystem. One o' these would put a serious crimp in the lifestyle of your typical lobster.
Hmmm... Maybe these were some of the guys who took Teller's idea to nuke-to-order a deep water harbour for Alaska completely to heart.;)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I've tried all manner of projectile weapons, but nothing against a living target. I fear for my survival should society collapse, 'cuz even with beautifully maintained WWI bolt action.30-06 I could barely hit a static target at 100 feet (but I COULD hit it, even with it being my first experience with a rifle with instruction amounting to "Don't get your chin to close, hold it against your shoulder" yadda yadda). I won't go into my bow experiences aside from saying that giving me a bow could be embarassing at best, dangerous at worst.;)
I fully expect that I could improve given time, dedication and suitable training for both bows and guns. Of the two, I'd say that the more USEFUL would be firearms training, given the proliferation and usefulness if used as a survival tool.
I suppose the big difference is in the capacity to kill people with the weapon at hand. It's easy to grind down the catch on a pawn-shop AK-47 and turn it into a full automatic weapon which can in turn be used to gun down an entire class within seconds, with a high probability of mortality or permanent injury. Taking a baseball bat into a class will net you maybe one or two victims before everyone else either runs or rushes you and takes the bat away, and those victims (unless you happened to connect with good shots to the head or spine) will likely recover from the blunt trauma delivered. The ability to mete out death on a massive scale is the key there.
A person commited to violence will be able to deliver it, sure... I think the point most people are making is that guns make it much much easier for them to deliver violence to a larger number of victims in a shorter time with more deadly result than a knife, bat, or bare hards... partially because of the speed at which they operate, partially because the shooter can be at a considerable distance (and therefore safe from being rushed by people without guns), and partially because of the relatively low skill level required to use them effectively.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Actually, there is a healthy community of bowhunters out there... so many so that magazines have sprung up to support 'em. Crossbows and composite longbows are both quite popular, and I can attest to the skill required in order to successfully hunt anything using them (skills you don't know how badly you lack until you try, I promise you;)
Perhaps that's the point right there... to kill someone with a sword, or a bow, or any of the more traditional weapons you needed skill in order to ensure your victory. Sure, luck and physical superiority helped, but skill, training and experience was usually the most important aspect. Firearms basically require no skill to kill or permanently injure at the range they're most often (ie: within meters)... children literally can, and have, picked up Daddy's saturday night special and blown away thier best buddy with no more training than watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
This is not to say that one can't become skilled in guns... obviously, the better trained you are with a rifle, the more effective you'll be at hitting your target at a distance. The non-skill I'm talking about here is shotgun usage at distances between your hand and the head of the poor grade 11 bastard across the hallway from you.
There's also a BIG difference between using a projectile weapon (gun, bow, or whatever) and going hand-to-hand with sword, knife or kudgel. It's not quite so easy to acheive that 'disconnection' from reality when you're looking into your victim's eyes while stabbing them/running them through.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
-shrug- Beats me. I just assumed that he pulled the name out of a hat (as many writers do) or used the name of some slightly-unusually-named friend or neighbor or, in his case, colleage to help fill in the persona of some fictional character (as many writers also do).
I'd never heard of the name before personally, I expect I wouldn't be the only one.;) Still, now he's got an important character from a couple books and now a sattelite named after him... I wonder whats next?
"New for 2001, test-drive a new Chrysler Chandra!"
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
There's already consumer-grade cameras that have sensitivity in the IR spectrum for night vision. Check out any online 'spy store' and you'll see 'em all over. They cost a few bucks, but if you want surveilance that's able to see in the dark without drawing undue attention with coherent light floodlights, they're the way to go.
Even the CCD on my Sony handicam can see IR... just switch on the 'night shot' mode (which basically introduces a IR filter into the optics and kicks on a small IR spotlight on the front, IIRC) and away I go. It'd be nice to have similar sensitivity in the UV spectrum, for "cool toy" purposes if nothing else.;)
Thing is, UV light has a tendancy to make things floresce (glow), so useful applications for clandestine surveilance would probably be limited to available-light... ie: have no real advantage whatsoever.
(I'm not going mention that someone setting up spycams at 'make-out spots' really needs to find a new hobby or three...)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I can do that with my x-ray specs if I squint REAL HARD...
The device itself has a LONG way to go before being useful for a lot of applications that need more than a simple 'detection' of UV. The article says that the chip is an array of 1024 detectors (ie: a 32x32 array) which is hardly enough for any serious visualization usage. It is a good first step on the way to 'consumer grade' UV detectors which are good enough to be considered cameras.
Right now, it's just a small slab of detectors a few dozen on a side. While even at that size it could be very useful in certain applications (I've got my doubts about the weld examination if one only has a 32x32 pixel window to view with!) it won't be really widespread-useable until there's at least a 256x256 (or maybe 300x200, given digital's trend towards 3x2 ratios) pixel device. Then I expect you'll have spy shops all across the net selling UV-enhanced spy cameras.;)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I can guarantee that administrators wouldn't be talking to microsoft without M$ making VERY VERY VERY CLEAR that they'll give away thier wares at firesale prices in exchange for loyalty.
This is not a situation where Prof. Shmoe walks up to an M$ marketer in a park somewhere and saying "I want (virtually) free software so I can teach our poor, impressionable youth the Joi Du Bill!"... it's more akin to the marketer standing around with a megaphone shouting "I'VE GOT FREE SOFTWARE TO GIVE AWAY TO UNIVERSITY TYPE-PEOPLE! JUST STEP RIGHT UP AND ASK!"
Don't forget the debacle earlier on this year (late last year?) where M$ was giving a 'bounty' for teachers using thier products. Looks like that tactic backfired pretty bad and they're going for a more subtle get it in the back door approach.
Hmm... maybe M$ is learning something from Linux after all.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
INQUIRE. [tri.gif] The complaints of constrained consumers to buy the software Windows 98 with their new computer accumulate. The ministry for Finances could put fine at this monopoly of the firm of Bill Gates.
France attacks Microsoft
[870779.gif] DOMENICA STRAUSS-KAHN attacks Bill Gates! The Minister for the Economy and Finances has just ordered with his Fraud Squads to inquire into Microsoft, the firm of the American billionaire. As to the United States, where a lawsuit river opposes Microsoft to the American government, France thus will examine the situation of the multinational on its territory. The detractors of the firm of Bill Gates show it to have padlocked the market in order to oblige the consumers to buy its software. The customer does not have any more the choice , summarizes Vincent Balat, a researcher in data processing, which estimates that Windows 98, the product headlight of Microsoft, is even less effective than its competitor, Linux, a software however available free on Internet.
Constrained to buy the software in double
Vis-a-vis with these criticisms, the specialized services of Bercy must thus gather the procedures already initiated in certain departments in order to peel the various litigations. If this investigation shows abnormal situations or obstacles with the rules of the market, the consulting of competition will be received , explains one in Bercy. With the key, Microsoft would risk continuations and fines. One of the first to have addressed a file of complaint to the repression of the frauds is a professor of data processing of the higher Teacher training school of Paris, Roberto Di Cosmo. Impassioned of data processing, and author of a book to vitriol against Microsoft (1), Roberto Di Cosmo thinks that the multinational misuses its position of leader. When one buys a computer today, explains it, one buys the apparatus and also the software which goes with. And even if the latter represent approximately 20 % of the price, that is not never detailed , regrets it. On a computer bought 5 000 F, 1 000 F approximately would go to the manufacturers of programs. Among this software, Windows 98, the operating system of Microsoft, is essential to the operation of the apparatus. How the computers are sold already equipped with Windows, as soon as apparatus is changed, one thus buys again Windows! explain Roberto Di Cosmo. Since months, this data processing specialist in vain claims with his retailer the refunding of several software which it has from now on in double, since it did not sell his worn computers.
Promise of compensation
Indeed, this situation can appear abnormal , comments on Jerome Franck, a lawyer specialized in right of consumption. But to date, only one purchaser in France, a teacher of Montpellier (to read below), was refunded by his retailer. On this ground, the position of Microsoft seems to evolve/move. We are ready to refund , us indicated yesterday Vahé Torossian, director at Microsoft France of divisions manufacturer and general public and, for this reason, specialist in the questions of licence. We do not mislead anybody, moderates it. When you buy a new car, you do not ask your manufacturer to install the engine of your old there. Windows 98, it is similar, it is the engine of each computer. That known as, Vahé Torossian ensures that its firm is ready with possible refundings. If somebody does not wish to use Windows 98, it can bring back its computer to its retailer, who will fill a form then will compensate it , announces it. A good news for the opponents at Microsoft, even if the amount of these compensations remains still unknown. (1) the planetary Holdup, the hidden face of Microsoft , with the Calmann-Lévy Editions.
Laurent Valdiguié
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Slashdot Mirror
Seeing how I've seen most SP episodes for the first time on my 'puter via RealPlayer, it'd be apropos to see the movie for the first time (at home, anyways) on the 'puter too... preferably under penguin power!
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Good basic idea, but might break some stuff you were actually interested in seeing. =/
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Hell, I leave my browser up for such extended lengths of time, I sometimes forget the passwords to password-protected webspaces. I just kinda forget that I'm in there 'cuz Netscape remembers 'em all. Then, when I occasionally boot into Gamedows'98 to play Jagged Alliance II and come back to get some work done, I gotta re-enter all those passwords which were... uh... what again? Where'd by clipboard go with those little notes? *scrounge scrounge shuffle*
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Paranoid direct-marketing reasons shouldn't be used as a reason to break perfectly acceptable behaviour in a browser (especially a behaviour that has generated a multi-billion dollar industry!)... yes, there are people collecting information about you in order to more efficiently sell you things. There's people collecting information about your power consumption, long distance usage and a host of other things too, not to mention the government going through your spending habits for whatever purposes they have (probably tax related ;).
Having done my time in surveillance/counter-surveillance circles, I can honestly say that what most people consider as privacy is the most widely-hyped and catered-to fictional ideal of all time. Anyone can find out anything about anyone else, so long as they have the time, money and talent to do it. What most people consider as privacy would best be described as obscurity... lost in a sea of other dull, obscure people leading a life too dull to be of any concern to anyone (except perhaps ad banner people and spammers ;).
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
It all sounds good to me. The palm is the closest thing I've seen that approaches viable 'wearable' technology (Yes, I know you don't wear it, but it's as portable as your wallet... about as close to actual wearing as you're gonna get without worrying about color-coordination. "Does this pilot match my tie? Hmmm... maybe the blue one..." ;)
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
2. Have they increased thier dosage since then? ;)
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Where'd all the comments go?
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
A cute little program, in the guise of a harmless chess voting mechanism, would scoop out the unique ID from Intel processors and send that (along with pertinent information about the programs you run, the sites you've most recently visited, and your views on the Intergalactic Treason Situation) to M$ Headquarters in Redmond.
A crack team of dolphins pour over the data (leftovers from the specially bred torpedo carriers of WW2) and make recommendations as to your suitability for future acquisition... Commencing after MS's current plans of controlling software entirely, is the inevitable next step of Embracing and Extending individual people, much as M$'s CEO has already undergone.
Your identity would then be subsumed into the growing colective of Micro$oft Lobbyists, used to provide the public appearance of legality and disinformation about the truth that M$ controls the entire US puppet-state government. (You'll notice that no media outlet actually specified which 'Bill' left a deposit on Ms. Lewinsky's dress...)
Don't make it easy for them! Play hopscotch, jai-alai or mazola twister instead! Throw a wrench into thier plans for domination, before they stick a wrench into you!
</ConspiracyTheory>
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
That was the one I was referring to, actually ;). I'd seen B5 off and on and just kind of blew it off, although it registered in my mind as it was originally rendered using Amigas. One day I was surfing around, caught that scene, and laughed my ass off. Been watching it ever since.
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Which galaxies are they, anyways?
As much as we'd all hate to see a continuance of spaced out legal chickanery in the US government, I must admit that I'd personally love to watch representatives of these 12 galaxies come down for a babylon 5-ish style court hearing. THAT would be worth switching over from X-files to watch ;)
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Be the code.
Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Jimmy the Greek would have loved this.
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I have a hard time seeing either working out well. Underwater nukes make a big ol' cloud of radioactive steam, and even the atol tests back in the 50s barely made a wave large enough to wiggle those battleships around... woe unto the coral or anything in a fragile underwater ecosystem. One o' these would put a serious crimp in the lifestyle of your typical lobster.
Hmmm... Maybe these were some of the guys who took Teller's idea to nuke-to-order a deep water harbour for Alaska completely to heart. ;)
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I fully expect that I could improve given time, dedication and suitable training for both bows and guns. Of the two, I'd say that the more USEFUL would be firearms training, given the proliferation and usefulness if used as a survival tool.
I suppose the big difference is in the capacity to kill people with the weapon at hand. It's easy to grind down the catch on a pawn-shop AK-47 and turn it into a full automatic weapon which can in turn be used to gun down an entire class within seconds, with a high probability of mortality or permanent injury. Taking a baseball bat into a class will net you maybe one or two victims before everyone else either runs or rushes you and takes the bat away, and those victims (unless you happened to connect with good shots to the head or spine) will likely recover from the blunt trauma delivered. The ability to mete out death on a massive scale is the key there.
A person commited to violence will be able to deliver it, sure... I think the point most people are making is that guns make it much much easier for them to deliver violence to a larger number of victims in a shorter time with more deadly result than a knife, bat, or bare hards... partially because of the speed at which they operate, partially because the shooter can be at a considerable distance (and therefore safe from being rushed by people without guns), and partially because of the relatively low skill level required to use them effectively.
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
The Ukrainians have been getting the short end of the stick over the last few centuries too, IMHO.
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Perhaps that's the point right there... to kill someone with a sword, or a bow, or any of the more traditional weapons you needed skill in order to ensure your victory. Sure, luck and physical superiority helped, but skill, training and experience was usually the most important aspect. Firearms basically require no skill to kill or permanently injure at the range they're most often (ie: within meters)... children literally can, and have, picked up Daddy's saturday night special and blown away thier best buddy with no more training than watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
This is not to say that one can't become skilled in guns... obviously, the better trained you are with a rifle, the more effective you'll be at hitting your target at a distance. The non-skill I'm talking about here is shotgun usage at distances between your hand and the head of the poor grade 11 bastard across the hallway from you.
There's also a BIG difference between using a projectile weapon (gun, bow, or whatever) and going hand-to-hand with sword, knife or kudgel. It's not quite so easy to acheive that 'disconnection' from reality when you're looking into your victim's eyes while stabbing them/running them through.
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I'd never heard of the name before personally, I expect I wouldn't be the only one. ;) Still, now he's got an important character from a couple books and now a sattelite named after him... I wonder whats next?
"New for 2001, test-drive a new Chrysler Chandra!"
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Am I the only person who thought Chandra was named after Dr. Chandra of 2001/2010 fame?
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Even the CCD on my Sony handicam can see IR... just switch on the 'night shot' mode (which basically introduces a IR filter into the optics and kicks on a small IR spotlight on the front, IIRC) and away I go. It'd be nice to have similar sensitivity in the UV spectrum, for "cool toy" purposes if nothing else. ;)
Thing is, UV light has a tendancy to make things floresce (glow), so useful applications for clandestine surveilance would probably be limited to available-light... ie: have no real advantage whatsoever.
(I'm not going mention that someone setting up spycams at 'make-out spots' really needs to find a new hobby or three...)
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
The device itself has a LONG way to go before being useful for a lot of applications that need more than a simple 'detection' of UV. The article says that the chip is an array of 1024 detectors (ie: a 32x32 array) which is hardly enough for any serious visualization usage. It is a good first step on the way to 'consumer grade' UV detectors which are good enough to be considered cameras.
Right now, it's just a small slab of detectors a few dozen on a side. While even at that size it could be very useful in certain applications (I've got my doubts about the weld examination if one only has a 32x32 pixel window to view with!) it won't be really widespread-useable until there's at least a 256x256 (or maybe 300x200, given digital's trend towards 3x2 ratios) pixel device. Then I expect you'll have spy shops all across the net selling UV-enhanced spy cameras. ;)
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
This is not a situation where Prof. Shmoe walks up to an M$ marketer in a park somewhere and saying "I want (virtually) free software so I can teach our poor, impressionable youth the Joi Du Bill!"... it's more akin to the marketer standing around with a megaphone shouting "I'VE GOT FREE SOFTWARE TO GIVE AWAY TO UNIVERSITY TYPE-PEOPLE! JUST STEP RIGHT UP AND ASK!"
Don't forget the debacle earlier on this year (late last year?) where M$ was giving a 'bounty' for teachers using thier products. Looks like that tactic backfired pretty bad and they're going for a more subtle get it in the back door approach.
Hmm... maybe M$ is learning something from Linux after all.
--
rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
France attacks Microsoft
[870779.gif] DOMENICA STRAUSS-KAHN attacks Bill Gates! The Minister for the Economy and Finances has just ordered with his Fraud Squads to inquire into Microsoft, the firm of the American billionaire. As to the United States, where a lawsuit river opposes Microsoft to the American government, France thus will examine the situation of the multinational on its territory. The detractors of the firm of Bill Gates show it to have padlocked the market in order to oblige the consumers to buy its software. The customer does not have any more the choice , summarizes Vincent Balat, a researcher in data processing, which estimates that Windows 98, the product headlight of Microsoft, is even less effective than its competitor, Linux, a software however available free on Internet.
Constrained to buy the software in double
Vis-a-vis with these criticisms, the specialized services of Bercy must thus gather the procedures already initiated in certain departments in order to peel the various litigations. If this investigation shows abnormal situations or obstacles with the rules of the market, the consulting of competition will be received , explains one in Bercy. With the key, Microsoft would risk continuations and fines. One of the first to have addressed a file of complaint to the repression of the frauds is a professor of data processing of the higher Teacher training school of Paris, Roberto Di Cosmo. Impassioned of data processing, and author of a book to vitriol against Microsoft (1), Roberto Di Cosmo thinks that the multinational misuses its position of leader. When one buys a computer today, explains it, one buys the apparatus and also the software which goes with. And even if the latter represent approximately 20 % of the price, that is not never detailed , regrets it. On a computer bought 5 000 F, 1 000 F approximately would go to the manufacturers of programs. Among this software, Windows 98, the operating system of Microsoft, is essential to the operation of the apparatus. How the computers are sold already equipped with Windows, as soon as apparatus is changed, one thus buys again Windows! explain Roberto Di Cosmo. Since months, this data processing specialist in vain claims with his retailer the refunding of several software which it has from now on in double, since it did not sell his worn computers.
Promise of compensation
Indeed, this situation can appear abnormal , comments on Jerome Franck, a lawyer specialized in right of consumption. But to date, only one purchaser in France, a teacher of Montpellier (to read below), was refunded by his retailer. On this ground, the position of Microsoft seems to evolve/move. We are ready to refund , us indicated yesterday Vahé Torossian, director at Microsoft France of divisions manufacturer and general public and, for this reason, specialist in the questions of licence. We do not mislead anybody, moderates it. When you buy a new car, you do not ask your manufacturer to install the engine of your old there. Windows 98, it is similar, it is the engine of each computer. That known as, Vahé Torossian ensures that its firm is ready with possible refundings. If somebody does not wish to use Windows 98, it can bring back its computer to its retailer, who will fill a form then will compensate it , announces it. A good news for the opponents at Microsoft, even if the amount of these compensations remains still unknown. (1) the planetary Holdup, the hidden face of Microsoft , with the Calmann-Lévy Editions.
Laurent Valdiguié
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
IIRC.
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I don't suppose iBCS could help you with this?
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