Protesting? As in, standing around with a bunch of placards and signs? I thought that went out of fashion with the break-up of Sonny and Cher.
How...archaic.
Seriously, you want to make people sit up and take notice? Co-ordinate an "internet" black-out. Just change the routing tables on those pricy Cisco routers for a few days, particularly ones pointing to-and-from.gov domains. In fact, re-route it to the MPAA, RIAA and anyone else who has a stake in the DMCA.
That should get some media attention. To increase the likelyhood of media attention, just re-route all traffic from the NY Times, Washinton Post, CNN, ABC, and LMNOP Inc. That should make p = 1.0 of media exposure.
Week are geeks. Hear us roar. But expect some serious lagtime on that ping. And email? Talk to the hand....
Worried about being laid-off? It's happening to all propeller heads nowadays, so don't fret too much. There's plenty of company at the bottom.
Slightly offtopic from the main thread, but worth saying:
Odd. I frequently see it being referred to as the "n-word", which is rather perplexing in it's own right. And this is in prominent and respected newpapers. Yes, the word nigger does have a lot of negative history associated with it, and I can understand how upsetting it can be.
Which is why it is important to quote people completely. Something is just lost in the translation.
There is also the question why is the "n-word" only associated this priviledged status?
When someone calls a Jew a kyke, you don't see it being referred to as the "k-word"? Or when someone calls an Asian a slope, the "s-word"? Or a homosexual a faggot, the "f-word"?// Add recursive code here
I would rather that they use what was said and let the audience interpret it for themselves. Otherwise, in the Politcal Correct-only dictionary, we will have to correectly parse the "[a-z]-word" for what it really means. Talk about codification of language! But, that is only my opinion.
That is the sound of f Indian geeks leaving the country en masse for greener and more liberal countries.
And is it just me thinking that there is a certain sense of irony in prohibiting pornography in one of the most population-dense countries in the world? Methinks they have this male-female sexual congress thing down pat.
"Intent"? Last time I checked, the U.S. Constitution was pretty liberal in defining "the Press."
If some nutcase has a newspaper calling for the masses to rise up and burn their elected respresentatives (not a bad idea, when you stop and think about it), he's protected.
If he lists:
- Exxon as a source of gasoline
- MatchCo as a source of matches
- The U.S. Congress as a source of combustables
He's protected.
Now, if he goes out and says, "If you go and burn Politician(x), I'll personally pay you $10,000." now he's fscked.
Why, oh why, did the EFF have to get entangled in the kind of fight the MPAA will ultimately win?
Who cares if DeCSS is legal or not? For the purposes of this fight, it is about linking to illicit material. Worry about the DeCSS another day.
By getting dragged down into defending DeCSS, they are busy fighting the alligators (MPAA), and forgetting to drain the freaking swamp (Consitutionality of limiting the press in this regard.)
The argument should have been, "Look, by saying that we cannot link to something, that is like telling the New York Times that they cannot say that you can go to Amersdam to smoke pot. Do we limit that. No."
Really. That's what it is all about. DeCSS and the legal quagmire that surrounds it is another fight for another day. Now, someone, please go a bitch smack the lead counsel for 2600 and get them back on track.
Dear God, man, what are you doing this to yourself for? All the responsibility, workload, stress and for what?
Not lecturing, but friendly advice:
- You work to live, not live to work
- The most valuable asset in an organization has feet
- No one, no one, ever said on their deathbed, "I wish I spent more time at the office"
- Life is short, or more importantly, can be cut short unexpectedly (I watched my five year old sister die painfully from cancer. This coloured my perspective on many things thereafter.)
Do yourself a favor. Demand that they rehire some staff, or fire yourself. Regardless what all the fear mongers say, there is plenty of work out there to go around for talented individuals. I've quit jobs for reasons far below what you are going through. I've never regretted it. Not once. Never. Nada.
Really. Living a miserable life is not a badge of honour.
I am reminded of a very interesting quote, from a mountaineering book by Greg Child:
Situation: a mountain climber wants to scale a Himalayan peak. The weather conditions are deteriorating rapidly. He offers the sherpas more money to haul. They refuse. More money is offered. Their response:
"There is death up there, life down here, and you cannot eat money anywhere."
True story.
If they don't appreciate you, leave. If they don't appreciate the work that you do, leave...and the best time to do so is when the server/network is down.
Someone should instruct them about how the cliche of "putting all of one's eggs in one basket" applies to people as well.
Disclaimer: I understand the rationale behind why doctors/nurses/etc. work insane hours. Peoples lives are on the line. This is an acceptable sacrifice.
You can't read your email and its the end of the work day? Buh-low me. I'm going home to what is really important. My family.
#include std.disclaimer// I do not work at Bioware
However, that being said, I am a long-standing drinking buddy of the brother (hi Chesterfield!) of Dr. Greg Zeschuck. So, here's some hearsay.
In a nutshell, the gaming industry is very hard to break into for a couple of factors. One of the most important is that it is exceedingly hard to make a commercial quality game that will be successful.
There is an enormous amount of fine tuning that go into produce a FPS game. Even non-FPS games require significant effort. Civilization, while not being gee-whiz-bang for action, is still one of the most compelling and addictive games to this day. Reason? Insane amount of time spent on game play development.
Therefore, it pays to be very, very selective about who you hire. CS and other math-intensive fields are first round draft choices. It's not meant to demean trade school grads, but frankly, they don't have the math skills. It's nothing personal. The amount of effort that is required to produce a solid, customized business app is probably several orders of magnitude less than to produce a "good" quality game. Games require good AI, good graphics, lighting fast algorithms, etc. IT'S MATH INTENSIVE! Business apps? Just make sure it has built in email and the world is your oyster.
The second part is that it is a very glamorous industry. Just like the movie industry, there is a lot of cachet in saying, "I word for id/Valve/Bioware". While the rest of the IT/IS world toils in keeping things working for humanity, these folks develop the stuff we enjoy to relax with. Who gets the geek groupies? The game developers. Billy Joy is one heck of a programmer, but man, did you see the way those giblets explode when you hit someone with a rocket launcher? It's freaking brilliant!
So, just like wanna-be starlets, the casting couch is the first step to heartbreak in the gaming world. Just because you want in, doesn't mean they want you. Even if you do get it, a lot of shops pay nothing. You're there for the glory factor, not the paycheck. You want serious money (and you're not a game god), go and DBA Oracle. Just suffer in silence, ok?
Yup, the boys at MSFT really want to know what is being shipped.
Is this any different from any other company doing market research? Not at all. It's just a metric to use.
If they know that 5% of PCs are being shipped OS-free, that is a statistic that they do not need to concern themselves with. If 99.9% are being shipped OS-free, now they have something to be worried about.
It's more than a metric for market share. It is also an indication of how much software piracy is going on. This is useful information if your business is selling software to the hoi polloi.
But I bet knowing that even 5% slipped by without the Microsoft Tax being applied still gets their goat.
I always get a chuckle when this is suggested. It assumes that the U.S. government will idly sit on their collective hands because the information the want is in another country.
The Feds, at various points tried or have done the following:
1) Kidnap Manuel Noriega. Yup, being the President of Panama had little to do with his "forced extradition." In fact, if the U.S. wants you badly enough, they will kidnap you. They've done it before, they'll do it again. Osama Bin Laden, you listening?
2) Attempt to steal bank records from offshore banks. Yup. We really want to know who is hiding their undeclared assets offshore where we can't tax then. Who cares if we are breaking the laws of Antigua, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, what-have-you. We're talking tax evasion here!
3)Break into foreign computers to obtain evidence to aid in the arrest and prosecution of criminals. Wait a minute, wasn't this covered in: this?
Please, the U.S. is dead serious about enforcing their laws. Other countries laws, who gives a damn. We got the bomb!
What a great idea! I should go back to all of those places that have interviewed me in the past!
"I'm here to collect my unsigning bonus."
"What are you talking about? We only give signing bonuses to people we hire."
"Exactly. I looked at your business model and long-range profit expectations, and I want my unsigning bonus for thankfully not having to work here."
Thank you Intel. This is an idea that fits the New-New Economy perfectly.
Wow. A paper as a circumvention device? The DMCA is just stretching things too far.
It has be said before, but really now, what will it take for the DMCA to be overturned?
Cut to: Business Street - Day
"Citizen! You are under arrest!"
"For what?"
"You are in possesion of an illegal circumvention device!"
"What the fsck are you talking about?"
"You have a manual, paper, or other printed material describing how to circumvent, illegally, copyrighted or other intellectually protected material."
"You mean this!?"
"Yes, now put the decss t-shirt down and stand away!"
Big Brother ain't got nothin' on Big Corporations.
Interesting. The FBI breaks into a remote computer and uses the evidence found on them to arrest them.
Nice trick, guys!
Now, all the defence attorneys need to do is say: "Our clients are the victims here. Their computers were compromised/trojaned without their knowledge. Look, the FBI showed how easy it is to do. What prevented criminals from having done it as well? NOTHING!"
Really, now. In this day and age of one-click trojans (ie: SubSeven), it is far too easy to compromise computers and use them as staging areas for further criminal activity. To make a criminal case watertight, you need:
Remember, the FBI has to prove they are guilty. Kinda hard to do without physical evidence or electronic evidence, don't you think? Reasonable doubt, y'know.
Microsoft, we understand that your revenues are hurting. We feel your pain.
Why do you continue to mutilate yourself? This Windows XP that you keep threating us with. Don't you realise that you're talking crazy? Please stop talking this way. You're scaring us.
Now, you start talking about directing consumers away from MP3's? I told you that hanging with those terrible RIAA and MPAA street gangs were no good for you! And I was right all along!
Look what happened to that Sony company! They were talking tough about their Betamax, being the biggest and the baddest. They got led down the wrong path, as everyone was using VHS instead. They really had to eat a lot of humble pie on that one.
Please, stop doing this! We're scared of what is going to happen to you! Plese, Microsoft, put the Codec down before it's too late!
It is interesting to note the Chinese demands for an apology. There are significant cultural differences in how Western cultures view an apology versus Eastern cultures. In fact, the difficulty involved in delivering formal apologies has created a niche business in China. It's a very, very serious matter to them.
Western cultures do not have a culturally ingrained meme of "face". Maintaining "face" is not something which is on the forefront of our minds in how we approach things.
Not so for the Chinese. The Chinese government is very concerned about not losing face in light of this accident. To do so would be a serious blow to national identity. Ergo, maintain face by demanding that the other nation lose it.
This is of paramount importance, in light of recent events. Bomb one embassy here, make plans to equip a "rogue province" there, and Chinese national face is tarnished. This gives the military brass to force the issue.
In a similar vein, the U.S. is not going to apologize for its actions. Why should they? The aircraft was in international airspace, did not cause the crash, and is operating under the will of the state.
I am surprised that Bush has held back from giving them the bird when confronted with their demands. His restraint frankly amazes me.
In as much as we would like to have "fail safe" applications, nothing is without risk. Randomness is a funny thing. When it occurs, and how it occurs, is non-predictable.
Assume that the software is 100% certified bug-free. Ok. What about the hardware running the software? Some lowly $0.01 peice of resistor decides to crap out. Software works fine, too bad the hardware needed to run it has gone tits up.
Entropy. Randomness. Human error (the biggest one).
All these things help keep our world from being a clockwork universe.
Really now, does anyone think that industry-friendly George W. Bush is going to let this come to fruition?
It'll grind its way through the court system for years, as Microsoft brings out its legal "rhino chasers" (really big guns). That and the Tolkein-esque "one shrink wrap to bind them, own them, and prevent them from doing anything" legal writ on every peice of MS software. That alone will help put any class action software lawsuit into a death spiral faster than a Chinese fighter jet playing chicken with US spy planes.
If it ever became a serious threat, expect the Republicans to draft legislation preventing class action lawsuits aimed specifically against software companies. With all that buggy code floating around, why, the legal system would be nothing more than one class action after another (who says law doesn't have built -in recursion subroutines?)
The only way Microsoft is ever going to be brough to their knees is through massive consumer dissatisfaction. People start buying their competitors products in lieu of Microsofts. That's the only way to deal with them. In their earnings reports.
Possible troll warning:
Ok. Life lessons for the morally *cough* right.
Please, please explain to make where you get the factual data that women are coerced into performing sexual acts in the adult industry?
This has been one of the long-standing arguments of the anti-pornography crusaders. Yes, crusaders. Very much like the Christian Crusaders. A lot of hoo-ha about some sacred chalice that ultimately was fruitless. Same thing here.
Admittedly, some of the people that get involved in the adult industry have come from rather disadvantaged backgrounds. Well, a number of them have not. Nina Hartley? Nurse. Do you think that she really needed to get involved against her will? Doubtful.
But it is more important for the religiously inclined to worry about their eternal souls et al.
Yawn.
It's an easy way to make a buck, for certain, but if you do not want to be there, hey, the door is right there. Many come (no pun intended) and many leave. It's not a career for most.
I think that the majority of critics fail to realize some important points:
1) Just because you cannot fathom why someone would be willing to engage in paid sexual acting (ie: "happly gulping jizz") doesn't mean that there is a segment of the population that is.
2) Just because you may find something reprehensible doesn't mean others do not.
3) Violence and porn? One is not the result of the other. No study linking the two has ever withstood serious scrutiny.
4) "Degredation" of women? Okay. Chew on this for awhile: if you willingly choose to do something, how is it degrading? Some may feel degraded, others may not. Did you ever work at MacDonalds or some other shit job that you felt was degrading? But no one ever forced you to work there, did they. Right.
5) And please, please expain how homosexual and lesbian specific porn fits into this whole equation? It does exist. Now go and talk to some homosexual/lesbian adult film actors and see how they feel.
Just because you don't know any women that enjoy sex (in all it's forms) doesn't mean that I don't. So there.
Slashdot Mirror
Protesting? As in, standing around with a bunch of placards and signs? I thought that went out of fashion with the break-up of Sonny and Cher.
.gov domains. In fact, re-route it to the MPAA, RIAA and anyone else who has a stake in the DMCA.
How...archaic.
Seriously, you want to make people sit up and take notice? Co-ordinate an "internet" black-out. Just change the routing tables on those pricy Cisco routers for a few days, particularly ones pointing to-and-from
That should get some media attention. To increase the likelyhood of media attention, just re-route all traffic from the NY Times, Washinton Post, CNN, ABC, and LMNOP Inc. That should make p = 1.0 of media exposure.
Week are geeks. Hear us roar. But expect some serious lagtime on that ping. And email? Talk to the hand....
Worried about being laid-off? It's happening to all propeller heads nowadays, so don't fret too much. There's plenty of company at the bottom.
....can't it be the RIAA's and MPAA's webservers?
Sigh. Windows IIS: It's like walking around with a handfull of twenties and giving a loaded gun to any criminal you meet.
...That's the sound of a thousand RIAA excutives mass ejaculating into their pants in orgiastic delight.
Yup. A nice white t-shirt with the unofficial Freenet logo emblazed on it: concentric circles radiating out from the middle.
Synonyms: see bullseye.
It makes it so much easier for the MPAA / RIAA goons to target, er, identify you....
Add/Remove Software->Unistall Windows 9X/NT/2000
Select "Yes," and then 10 subsequent "Are you really, really sure that you want to uninstall Windows?" dialogue boxes
Presto! No more lower back pain.
Glad to have been of help.
Great, just what we needed.
/.'ed! It's not our fault!"
Some pissed off alien getting dropped from a Quake death-match and starting an interstellar war.
"But...but...Alpha Centauri got
"We told you to upgrade that node years ago. Die, Earthling!"
And, so goeth the Earth, not with a bang, but with a lag.
Slightly offtopic from the main thread, but worth saying:
// Add recursive code here
Odd. I frequently see it being referred to as the "n-word", which is rather perplexing in it's own right. And this is in prominent and respected newpapers. Yes, the word nigger does have a lot of negative history associated with it, and I can understand how upsetting it can be.
Which is why it is important to quote people completely. Something is just lost in the translation.
There is also the question why is the "n-word" only associated this priviledged status? When someone calls a Jew a kyke, you don't see it being referred to as the "k-word"? Or when someone calls an Asian a slope, the "s-word"? Or a homosexual a faggot, the "f-word"?
I would rather that they use what was said and let the audience interpret it for themselves. Otherwise, in the Politcal Correct-only dictionary, we will have to correectly parse the "[a-z]-word" for what it really means. Talk about codification of language! But, that is only my opinion.
That is the sound of f Indian geeks leaving the country en masse for greener and more liberal countries.
And is it just me thinking that there is a certain sense of irony in prohibiting pornography in one of the most population-dense countries in the world? Methinks they have this male-female sexual congress thing down pat.
"Intent"? Last time I checked, the U.S. Constitution was pretty liberal in defining "the Press."
If some nutcase has a newspaper calling for the masses to rise up and burn their elected respresentatives (not a bad idea, when you stop and think about it), he's protected.
If he lists:
- Exxon as a source of gasoline
- MatchCo as a source of matches
- The U.S. Congress as a source of combustables
He's protected.
Now, if he goes out and says, "If you go and burn Politician(x), I'll personally pay you $10,000." now he's fscked.
Why, oh why, did the EFF have to get entangled in the kind of fight the MPAA will ultimately win?
Who cares if DeCSS is legal or not? For the purposes of this fight, it is about linking to illicit material. Worry about the DeCSS another day.
By getting dragged down into defending DeCSS, they are busy fighting the alligators (MPAA), and forgetting to drain the freaking swamp (Consitutionality of limiting the press in this regard.)
The argument should have been, "Look, by saying that we cannot link to something, that is like telling the New York Times that they cannot say that you can go to Amersdam to smoke pot. Do we limit that. No. "
Really. That's what it is all about. DeCSS and the legal quagmire that surrounds it is another fight for another day. Now, someone, please go a bitch smack the lead counsel for 2600 and get them back on track.
One part that I find amazing about the 2600 DeCSS linking fiasco is this: they are just telling people where to find something.
Imagine that someone asks you, "Where are all the hookers in this town."
"Downtown."
"Where?"
"On Main Street."
"Where can I score some crack?"
"The crack dealers."
"Where?"
"Any freaking street corner, buddy."
"Where can I get materials for a pipe bomb?"
"Home hardware and any gun store."
Etc.
So, why is, "Where can I find DeCSS?" any different? The MPAA and DMCA says so.
Go figure.
Opinionated experts on Napster?
On Slashdot?
None here. We're all out. Absolutely none. Not at all. We don't have any. Nope. Nosiree. Nada. Zero. Zilch.....
Not lecturing, but friendly advice:
- You work to live, not live to work
- The most valuable asset in an organization has feet
- No one, no one, ever said on their deathbed, "I wish I spent more time at the office"
- Life is short, or more importantly, can be cut short unexpectedly (I watched my five year old sister die painfully from cancer. This coloured my perspective on many things thereafter.)
Do yourself a favor. Demand that they rehire some staff, or fire yourself. Regardless what all the fear mongers say, there is plenty of work out there to go around for talented individuals. I've quit jobs for reasons far below what you are going through. I've never regretted it. Not once. Never. Nada.
Really. Living a miserable life is not a badge of honour.
I am reminded of a very interesting quote, from a mountaineering book by Greg Child:
True story.
If they don't appreciate you, leave. If they don't appreciate the work that you do, leave...and the best time to do so is when the server/network is down. Someone should instruct them about how the cliche of "putting all of one's eggs in one basket" applies to people as well.
Disclaimer: I understand the rationale behind why doctors/nurses/etc. work insane hours. Peoples lives are on the line. This is an acceptable sacrifice.
You can't read your email and its the end of the work day? Buh-low me. I'm going home to what is really important. My family.
#include std.disclaimer // I do not work at Bioware
However, that being said, I am a long-standing drinking buddy of the brother (hi Chesterfield!) of Dr. Greg Zeschuck. So, here's some hearsay.
In a nutshell, the gaming industry is very hard to break into for a couple of factors. One of the most important is that it is exceedingly hard to make a commercial quality game that will be successful.
There is an enormous amount of fine tuning that go into produce a FPS game. Even non-FPS games require significant effort. Civilization, while not being gee-whiz-bang for action, is still one of the most compelling and addictive games to this day. Reason? Insane amount of time spent on game play development.
Therefore, it pays to be very, very selective about who you hire. CS and other math-intensive fields are first round draft choices. It's not meant to demean trade school grads, but frankly, they don't have the math skills. It's nothing personal. The amount of effort that is required to produce a solid, customized business app is probably several orders of magnitude less than to produce a "good" quality game. Games require good AI, good graphics, lighting fast algorithms, etc. IT'S MATH INTENSIVE! Business apps? Just make sure it has built in email and the world is your oyster.
The second part is that it is a very glamorous industry. Just like the movie industry, there is a lot of cachet in saying, "I word for id/Valve/Bioware". While the rest of the IT/IS world toils in keeping things working for humanity, these folks develop the stuff we enjoy to relax with. Who gets the geek groupies? The game developers. Billy Joy is one heck of a programmer, but man, did you see the way those giblets explode when you hit someone with a rocket launcher? It's freaking brilliant!
So, just like wanna-be starlets, the casting couch is the first step to heartbreak in the gaming world. Just because you want in, doesn't mean they want you. Even if you do get it, a lot of shops pay nothing. You're there for the glory factor, not the paycheck. You want serious money (and you're not a game god), go and DBA Oracle. Just suffer in silence, ok?
Yup, the boys at MSFT really want to know what is being shipped.
Is this any different from any other company doing market research? Not at all. It's just a metric to use.
If they know that 5% of PCs are being shipped OS-free, that is a statistic that they do not need to concern themselves with. If 99.9% are being shipped OS-free, now they have something to be worried about.
It's more than a metric for market share. It is also an indication of how much software piracy is going on. This is useful information if your business is selling software to the hoi polloi.
But I bet knowing that even 5% slipped by without the Microsoft Tax being applied still gets their goat.
I always get a chuckle when this is suggested. It assumes that the U.S. government will idly sit on their collective hands because the information the want is in another country.
The Feds, at various points tried or have done the following:
1) Kidnap Manuel Noriega. Yup, being the President of Panama had little to do with his "forced extradition." In fact, if the U.S. wants you badly enough, they will kidnap you. They've done it before, they'll do it again. Osama Bin Laden, you listening?
2) Attempt to steal bank records from offshore banks. Yup. We really want to know who is hiding their undeclared assets offshore where we can't tax then. Who cares if we are breaking the laws of Antigua, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, what-have-you. We're talking tax evasion here!
3)Break into foreign computers to obtain evidence to aid in the arrest and prosecution of criminals. Wait a minute, wasn't this covered in: this?
Please, the U.S. is dead serious about enforcing their laws. Other countries laws, who gives a damn. We got the bomb!
Wow! An Un-Signing Bonus!
What a great idea! I should go back to all of those places that have interviewed me in the past!
"I'm here to collect my unsigning bonus."
"What are you talking about? We only give signing bonuses to people we hire."
"Exactly. I looked at your business model and long-range profit expectations, and I want my unsigning bonus for thankfully not having to work here."
Thank you Intel. This is an idea that fits the New-New Economy perfectly.
Wow. A paper as a circumvention device? The DMCA is just stretching things too far.
It has be said before, but really now, what will it take for the DMCA to be overturned?
Cut to: Business Street - Day
"Citizen! You are under arrest!"
"For what?"
"You are in possesion of an illegal circumvention device!"
"What the fsck are you talking about?"
"You have a manual, paper, or other printed material describing how to circumvent, illegally, copyrighted or other intellectually protected material."
"You mean this!?"
"Yes, now put the decss t-shirt down and stand away!"
Big Brother ain't got nothin' on Big Corporations.
Thank God I live in Canada
Why go high-tech? The cost involved is rather high:
1) Computer to run the whole works: $500
2) Decent web cam: $100
3) Dedicated UPS: $130
4) Dedicated DSL connection: $50/month
All easily defeated if the theif/vandal/what-have-you cuts the phone lines in advance.
Do what I do for home security:
1) One 120 lb. Rottweiler that doesn't get fed until dawn.
It's a surprisingly effective deterrent....
Interesting. The FBI breaks into a remote computer and uses the evidence found on them to arrest them.
Nice trick, guys!
Now, all the defence attorneys need to do is say: "Our clients are the victims here. Their computers were compromised/trojaned without their knowledge. Look, the FBI showed how easy it is to do. What prevented criminals from having done it as well? NOTHING!"
Really, now. In this day and age of one-click trojans (ie: SubSeven), it is far too easy to compromise computers and use them as staging areas for further criminal activity. To make a criminal case watertight, you need:
1) Wiretaps
2) Wiretaps
3) Wiretaps
4) Seizing the hardware invovled doesn't hurt, either.
Remember, the FBI has to prove they are guilty. Kinda hard to do without physical evidence or electronic evidence, don't you think? Reasonable doubt, y'know.
Food for thought....
Microsoft, we understand that your revenues are hurting. We feel your pain.
Why do you continue to mutilate yourself? This Windows XP that you keep threating us with. Don't you realise that you're talking crazy? Please stop talking this way. You're scaring us.
Now, you start talking about directing consumers away from MP3's? I told you that hanging with those terrible RIAA and MPAA street gangs were no good for you! And I was right all along!
Look what happened to that Sony company! They were talking tough about their Betamax, being the biggest and the baddest. They got led down the wrong path, as everyone was using VHS instead. They really had to eat a lot of humble pie on that one.
Please, stop doing this! We're scared of what is going to happen to you! Plese, Microsoft, put the Codec down before it's too late!
It is interesting to note the Chinese demands for an apology. There are significant cultural differences in how Western cultures view an apology versus Eastern cultures. In fact, the difficulty involved in delivering formal apologies has created a niche business in China. It's a very, very serious matter to them.
Western cultures do not have a culturally ingrained meme of "face". Maintaining "face" is not something which is on the forefront of our minds in how we approach things.
Not so for the Chinese. The Chinese government is very concerned about not losing face in light of this accident. To do so would be a serious blow to national identity. Ergo, maintain face by demanding that the other nation lose it.
This is of paramount importance, in light of recent events. Bomb one embassy here, make plans to equip a "rogue province" there, and Chinese national face is tarnished. This gives the military brass to force the issue.
In a similar vein, the U.S. is not going to apologize for its actions. Why should they? The aircraft was in international airspace, did not cause the crash, and is operating under the will of the state.
I am surprised that Bush has held back from giving them the bird when confronted with their demands. His restraint frankly amazes me.
....keyboard and chair
In as much as we would like to have "fail safe" applications, nothing is without risk. Randomness is a funny thing. When it occurs, and how it occurs, is non-predictable.
Assume that the software is 100% certified bug-free. Ok. What about the hardware running the software? Some lowly $0.01 peice of resistor decides to crap out. Software works fine, too bad the hardware needed to run it has gone tits up.
Entropy. Randomness. Human error (the biggest one).
All these things help keep our world from being a clockwork universe.
Isn't it fun?
Really now, does anyone think that industry-friendly George W. Bush is going to let this come to fruition?
It'll grind its way through the court system for years, as Microsoft brings out its legal "rhino chasers" (really big guns). That and the Tolkein-esque "one shrink wrap to bind them, own them, and prevent them from doing anything" legal writ on every peice of MS software. That alone will help put any class action software lawsuit into a death spiral faster than a Chinese fighter jet playing chicken with US spy planes.
If it ever became a serious threat, expect the Republicans to draft legislation preventing class action lawsuits aimed specifically against software companies. With all that buggy code floating around, why, the legal system would be nothing more than one class action after another (who says law doesn't have built -in recursion subroutines?)
The only way Microsoft is ever going to be brough to their knees is through massive consumer dissatisfaction. People start buying their competitors products in lieu of Microsofts. That's the only way to deal with them. In their earnings reports.
Possible troll warning:
Ok. Life lessons for the morally *cough* right.
Please, please explain to make where you get the factual data that women are coerced into performing sexual acts in the adult industry?
This has been one of the long-standing arguments of the anti-pornography crusaders. Yes, crusaders. Very much like the Christian Crusaders. A lot of hoo-ha about some sacred chalice that ultimately was fruitless. Same thing here.
Admittedly, some of the people that get involved in the adult industry have come from rather disadvantaged backgrounds. Well, a number of them have not. Nina Hartley? Nurse. Do you think that she really needed to get involved against her will? Doubtful.
But it is more important for the religiously inclined to worry about their eternal souls et al. Yawn.
It's an easy way to make a buck, for certain, but if you do not want to be there, hey, the door is right there. Many come (no pun intended) and many leave. It's not a career for most.
I think that the majority of critics fail to realize some important points:
1) Just because you cannot fathom why someone would be willing to engage in paid sexual acting (ie: "happly gulping jizz") doesn't mean that there is a segment of the population that is.
2) Just because you may find something reprehensible doesn't mean others do not.
3) Violence and porn? One is not the result of the other. No study linking the two has ever withstood serious scrutiny.
4) "Degredation" of women? Okay. Chew on this for awhile: if you willingly choose to do something, how is it degrading? Some may feel degraded, others may not. Did you ever work at MacDonalds or some other shit job that you felt was degrading? But no one ever forced you to work there, did they. Right.
5) And please, please expain how homosexual and lesbian specific porn fits into this whole equation? It does exist. Now go and talk to some homosexual/lesbian adult film actors and see how they feel.
Just because you don't know any women that enjoy sex (in all it's forms) doesn't mean that I don't. So there.