MS Marketing and sales personnel probably make presentations on XP Embedded every week. Surely MS can just fly a couple of their marketing people to help fill in the gaps where the demo falls short.
Because the laws already on the books were sufficient to cover any and all cases of copyright infringement, digital or otherwise, I would maintain that, by definition, there is (and can be) no such thing as a legitimate case of invoking the DMCA.
Your $10-15 per month covers not only the fees for the servers and bandwidth, but for monthly additions in the form of new items, new areas to explore, new monsters, etc.
Clan Lord does this one better: The $35 initial purchase price includes 3 months of play ($30 value), so the CD only costs $5. New items, areas, monsters, etc. are rolled out in biweekly updates. There are only two significant downsides: It runs only on a Mac or Mac emulator, and it is 2-d, not 3-d.
"That's the one thing that really bugs me more than anything else, how Mac users project this completely unfounded air of superiority."
What you don't understand is, there's nothing unfounded about it. It's not that Macs make people superior, it's that superior people choose Macs. If you can't see why Macs are superior, either you have never used one, or... oh, I don't know, some other reason.
As we know, one of the ironic side effects of inferiority is that self-diagnosis is difficult. By the time you elevate yourself to the level where you are properly able to recognize your own inferiority, you will have become superior. And when that happens, the Apple Store will be waiting for you.
"Interesting to see how the US Gov is using all this technology coming out of the gaming sector."
Sure, why not? The US Gov't (excuse me, taxpayers) paid for its development in the first place. Gaming hardware is descended from workstation hardware that was developed for defense contracts.
"Every day you see more and more proof that the left is gaining more and more ground in this country."
Wakey, wakey. I have a great big cup of coffee and a fresh danish for you. This is your happy day, if you think the "left" is bad. Because if you think the "left" is gaining ground in the US, it's time to take a big look around. The nasty, evil "left" has been in steady decline since the 1970s. The US, already considerably to the right of, for example, western Europe, is hurtling at breakneck speed toward becoming a solidly right-wing state with the passage of anti-civil-rights laws like the DMCA and the Patriot Act. The right is winning, big-time. So don't fret, put on your happy face!
I'd like to take issue with some of things you say (especially about so-called two-level structures), but I don't have time right now. So I'll make it simple:
When a graphics processor is 128-bit, it means you can work on 128 pixels at once, basically doing the same thing to each one in parallel. Or, alternatively, 16 pixels at once, operating on an 8-bit color channel, still doing essentially the same operation to each one at the same time, in parallel.
When a CPU is 64- or 128-bit, that means its computational units can crunch on integers 64 bits in size. Roughly speaking, a 32-bit processor can work on integers between 0 and a few billion (2^32 is around 10^9), and a 64-bit processor can work on integers between 0 and a billion billion (2^64 is around 10^18). Think of a pocket calculator with twice as many digits across the display, and you have the right idea. Same old calculator, bigger numbers.
Back in the day, we used to rename our binaries so that when we ran 'tf' (TinyFugue, a MUD client) or 'nethack' or 'slirp' (a user-mode PPP tunnel for dialup users), the sysadmin running 'top' would see 'emacs', 'gcc', and 'spice', etc.
Sure, OS X is impressive for a 1-year-old OS. But it isn't a year old. It would be more accurate to say that OS X is NeXTStep 5.0, the 5th major revision of a 13-year-old OS. I think OS X performs about as you'd expect for a major facelift of a tried-and-true system.
"What portion of California's recent energy crisis was due to tens of thousands of computers running unused?"
None of it. The so-called "energy crisis" was a 100% fabricaton of the greedy scumbags and profiteers that run the power companies. Do you think it's a mere coincidence that the "energy crisis" suddenly ended after the Gov. approved a 50% rate increase? Or that the power companies all simultaneously needed to take 30% of their plants offline for "maintenance" as soon as "deregulation" allowed them to start fiddling with supply and prices? Or that the wholesale and distribution companies were reporting record profits even as the retail companies were threatening bankruptcy, when they share a common parent corporation (left hand robs from the right)?
No, the "energy crisis" is a story of greed, not consumption.
Answering your question differently, studies estimate that something like 3% of all electricity consumed in the US is by office equipment. Of this amount, about a third could be saved if users were scrupulous about using equipment in the most energy-efficient manner possible.
"There are some really great kids out there who are ignored and rejected because they don't play a sport."
Great kids are ignored and rejected anyhow. I was ignored and rejected, despite being a team captain who earned 9 varsity letters. My point is, forget high school and concentrate on what comes after.
"Our fatal flaw lies in not knowing how (or having the courage) to initiate in a social situation."
Been there. Done that.
There is one thing about the high school social atmosphere that I cannot stress enough:
Who gives a damn about the opinion of a bunch of teenagers?
If there is one thing I could do to change the way I lived my life in my HS years, I would go back in time with a clue-by-four and pound into my adolescent head the lesson that there is no goal less worthy of the effort than trying to win the admiration of, let's face it, a shallow bunch of children.
Now my high school years are long behind me. I'm way nerdier than I was then, and proud of it. And I'm happier, too. And I have more and better friends now than most of the "popular" kids did back in my high school.
Most teenagers are still learning how to be more intellectually and socially sophisticated than broccoli.
If you are in high school, be the best person you can be. Always try to do what you know is right. Be nice to everyone, even if they don't deserve it. And don't worry about the pretty monkeys. Either they will grow up, or they won't; either way, you only have to tolerate them for 4 years.
A company that holds a monpoly position in a highly profitable market segment decides to keep selling into that market, without in any way threatening their other monopoly markets.
Economists everywhere are in an uproar.
Also in the news, the version of the monopoly product in the market the company does not control will continue to lack desirable, nay, vital features found in the version that they sell into the market they do control.
Pundits agree that such a daring and novel business method should be protected by a patent.
According to the report I found at taxfoundation.org, corporations pay about 10% of the total Federal tax receipts. Guess who pays the other 90%. According to the same report, the effective tax rate on corporate profits is about 30%. That compares quite reasonably to the tax rate I pay on my income.
"The GPL guarantees the software stays public, but the public domain doesn't."
How so? Sure, a company can invest their own effort to modify and release it as a proprietary product. But the part that was originally released as Public Domain is still public, and itself is in no way diminished by what happens to the private fork of the code.
Someone can make a private fork, but they can never remove the public part from the Public Domain.
In the past, software written in government labs (e.g., LINPACK) was released into the Public Domain. Isn't using GPL actually granting taxpayers less access to the fruits of their labors than releasing the code into the Public Domain?
I bought a KDS 19" flatscreen Trinitron monitor for around $500 and have been more than satisfied with it. I don't recall the model, but it's probably been superceded by something newer anyway. I would definitely buy one of those again, if I were inclined to buy a CRT (which I probably am not). I'd also give serious consideration to the Sony and Mitsubishi.
In case you hadn't noticed, yes, I am a Trinitron snob. I won't buy a shadow mask monitor.:-)
I agree that the federal government is not obligated to give financial support to public libraries. It definitely should, as "the right thing to do", but is not obligated.
However.
Once the government undertakes to give financial support to an institution, it should do so without any strings attached. As long as the recipient uses the funds for their intended purpose, that should suffice.
You may argue that the intended purpose of the funds be to obey the law, and the law requires using Internet censorware. Well, that's a stupid law. That's what this whole imbroglio is about.
The law violates civil rights two ways. One, because perfect compliance is impossible. Two, because it is not within the purview of Congress to legislate moral standards. The Constitution does not grant Congress that power.
It's not that the government is required to pay for my free pr0n, it's that it should not waste our tax dollars in an impossible effort to block it, nor should it attempt to usurp the prerogatives of local government. Not even as a condition for receiving federal funds.
"There is no constitutional right to immediate, anonymous access to speech, for free, in a public library," Justice Department Attorney Rupa Bhattacharyya said...
As wiser/. readers than I have pointed out recently, something doesn't need to be in the Constitution to make it a right.The Constitution explicitly says that the Bill of Rights is an incomplete list, and that any and all rights and powers not explicitly enumerated in the Constitution are reserved for the jurisdiction of the States.
Note how it begins, "All legislative powers herein granted..." That means anything not explicitly mentioned is not granted to the federal government. Again, those wiser than myself also cite the 9th and 10th Amendments:
Article [IX.]
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
Article [X.]
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the
States respectively, or to the people.
Therefore, our Constitutional rights, by construction, include rights not named in the Constitution.:-)
Slashdot Mirror
http://web.mit.edu/museum/fun/smoots.html
MS Marketing and sales personnel probably make presentations on XP Embedded every week. Surely MS can just fly a couple of their marketing people to help fill in the gaps where the demo falls short.
Because the laws already on the books were sufficient to cover any and all cases of copyright infringement, digital or otherwise, I would maintain that, by definition, there is (and can be) no such thing as a legitimate case of invoking the DMCA.
It IS about the money (for RIAA). All other factors are only a means to that end.
Your $10-15 per month covers not only the fees for the servers and bandwidth, but for monthly additions in the form of new items, new areas to explore, new monsters, etc.
Clan Lord does this one better: The $35 initial purchase price includes 3 months of play ($30 value), so the CD only costs $5. New items, areas, monsters, etc. are rolled out in biweekly updates. There are only two significant downsides: It runs only on a Mac or Mac emulator, and it is 2-d, not 3-d.
"That's the one thing that really bugs me more than anything else, how Mac users project this completely unfounded air of superiority."
What you don't understand is, there's nothing unfounded about it. It's not that Macs make people superior, it's that superior people choose Macs. If you can't see why Macs are superior, either you have never used one, or... oh, I don't know, some other reason.
As we know, one of the ironic side effects of inferiority is that self-diagnosis is difficult. By the time you elevate yourself to the level where you are properly able to recognize your own inferiority, you will have become superior. And when that happens, the Apple Store will be waiting for you.
:-)
"Interesting to see how the US Gov is using all this technology coming out of the gaming sector."
Sure, why not? The US Gov't (excuse me, taxpayers) paid for its development in the first place. Gaming hardware is descended from workstation hardware that was developed for defense contracts.
"Every day you see more and more proof that the left is gaining more and more ground in this country."
Wakey, wakey. I have a great big cup of coffee and a fresh danish for you. This is your happy day, if you think the "left" is bad. Because if you think the "left" is gaining ground in the US, it's time to take a big look around. The nasty, evil "left" has been in steady decline since the 1970s. The US, already considerably to the right of, for example, western Europe, is hurtling at breakneck speed toward becoming a solidly right-wing state with the passage of anti-civil-rights laws like the DMCA and the Patriot Act. The right is winning, big-time. So don't fret, put on your happy face!
I'd like to take issue with some of things you say (especially about so-called two-level structures), but I don't have time right now. So I'll make it simple:
proPagation
aaaargh!
I feel better now.
When a graphics processor is 128-bit, it means you can work on 128 pixels at once, basically doing the same thing to each one in parallel. Or, alternatively, 16 pixels at once, operating on an 8-bit color channel, still doing essentially the same operation to each one at the same time, in parallel.
When a CPU is 64- or 128-bit, that means its computational units can crunch on integers 64 bits in size. Roughly speaking, a 32-bit processor can work on integers between 0 and a few billion (2^32 is around 10^9), and a 64-bit processor can work on integers between 0 and a billion billion (2^64 is around 10^18). Think of a pocket calculator with twice as many digits across the display, and you have the right idea. Same old calculator, bigger numbers.
Yes, I'm at work right now, at 3:45 pm on a Saturday, and it's sunny and 75 degrees outside. No, I haven't gotten a hell of a lot done. :-P
Back in the day, we used to rename our binaries so that when we ran 'tf' (TinyFugue, a MUD client) or 'nethack' or 'slirp' (a user-mode PPP tunnel for dialup users), the sysadmin running 'top' would see 'emacs', 'gcc', and 'spice', etc.
Sure, OS X is impressive for a 1-year-old OS. But it isn't a year old. It would be more accurate to say that OS X is NeXTStep 5.0, the 5th major revision of a 13-year-old OS. I think OS X performs about as you'd expect for a major facelift of a tried-and-true system.
"What portion of California's recent energy crisis was due to tens of thousands of computers running unused?"
n ergy-studies.html
None of it. The so-called "energy crisis" was a 100% fabricaton of the greedy scumbags and profiteers that run the power companies. Do you think it's a mere coincidence that the "energy crisis" suddenly ended after the Gov. approved a 50% rate increase? Or that the power companies all simultaneously needed to take 30% of their plants offline for "maintenance" as soon as "deregulation" allowed them to start fiddling with supply and prices? Or that the wholesale and distribution companies were reporting record profits even as the retail companies were threatening bankruptcy, when they share a common parent corporation (left hand robs from the right)?
No, the "energy crisis" is a story of greed, not consumption.
Answering your question differently, studies estimate that something like 3% of all electricity consumed in the US is by office equipment. Of this amount, about a third could be saved if users were scrupulous about using equipment in the most energy-efficient manner possible.
Ref: http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/net-e
"There are some really great kids out there who are ignored and rejected because they don't play a sport."
Great kids are ignored and rejected anyhow. I was ignored and rejected, despite being a team captain who earned 9 varsity letters. My point is, forget high school and concentrate on what comes after.
"Our fatal flaw lies in not knowing how (or having the courage) to initiate in a social situation."
Been there. Done that.
There is one thing about the high school social atmosphere that I cannot stress enough:
Who gives a damn about the opinion of a bunch of teenagers?
If there is one thing I could do to change the way I lived my life in my HS years, I would go back in time with a clue-by-four and pound into my adolescent head the lesson that there is no goal less worthy of the effort than trying to win the admiration of, let's face it, a shallow bunch of children.
Now my high school years are long behind me. I'm way nerdier than I was then, and proud of it. And I'm happier, too. And I have more and better friends now than most of the "popular" kids did back in my high school.
Most teenagers are still learning how to be more intellectually and socially sophisticated than broccoli.
If you are in high school, be the best person you can be. Always try to do what you know is right. Be nice to everyone, even if they don't deserve it. And don't worry about the pretty monkeys. Either they will grow up, or they won't; either way, you only have to tolerate them for 4 years.
Will wonders never cease.
A company that holds a monpoly position in a highly profitable market segment decides to keep selling into that market, without in any way threatening their other monopoly markets.
Economists everywhere are in an uproar.
Also in the news, the version of the monopoly product in the market the company does not control will continue to lack desirable, nay, vital features found in the version that they sell into the market they do control.
Pundits agree that such a daring and novel business method should be protected by a patent.
"I would think releasing it as a closed source product would be a step backwards."
Agreed. That isn't what I suggested, though.
"...corporations pay much more tax on average."
According to the report I found at taxfoundation.org, corporations pay about 10% of the total Federal tax receipts. Guess who pays the other 90%. According to the same report, the effective tax rate on corporate profits is about 30%. That compares quite reasonably to the tax rate I pay on my income.
"The GPL guarantees the software stays public, but the public domain doesn't."
How so? Sure, a company can invest their own effort to modify and release it as a proprietary product. But the part that was originally released as Public Domain is still public, and itself is in no way diminished by what happens to the private fork of the code.
Someone can make a private fork, but they can never remove the public part from the Public Domain.
In the past, software written in government labs (e.g., LINPACK) was released into the Public Domain. Isn't using GPL actually granting taxpayers less access to the fruits of their labors than releasing the code into the Public Domain?
I bought a KDS 19" flatscreen Trinitron monitor for around $500 and have been more than satisfied with it. I don't recall the model, but it's probably been superceded by something newer anyway. I would definitely buy one of those again, if I were inclined to buy a CRT (which I probably am not). I'd also give serious consideration to the Sony and Mitsubishi.
:-)
In case you hadn't noticed, yes, I am a Trinitron snob. I won't buy a shadow mask monitor.
I agree that the federal government is not obligated to give financial support to public libraries. It definitely should, as "the right thing to do", but is not obligated.
However.
Once the government undertakes to give financial support to an institution, it should do so without any strings attached. As long as the recipient uses the funds for their intended purpose, that should suffice.
You may argue that the intended purpose of the funds be to obey the law, and the law requires using Internet censorware. Well, that's a stupid law. That's what this whole imbroglio is about.
The law violates civil rights two ways. One, because perfect compliance is impossible. Two, because it is not within the purview of Congress to legislate moral standards. The Constitution does not grant Congress that power.
It's not that the government is required to pay for my free pr0n, it's that it should not waste our tax dollars in an impossible effort to block it, nor should it attempt to usurp the prerogatives of local government. Not even as a condition for receiving federal funds.
"There is no constitutional right to immediate, anonymous access to speech, for free, in a public library," Justice Department Attorney Rupa Bhattacharyya said...
As wiser /. readers than I have pointed out recently, something doesn't need to be in the Constitution to make it a right. The Constitution explicitly says that the Bill of Rights is an incomplete list, and that any and all rights and powers not explicitly enumerated in the Constitution are reserved for the jurisdiction of the States.
Note how it begins, "All legislative powers herein granted..." That means anything not explicitly mentioned is not granted to the federal government. Again, those wiser than myself also cite the 9th and 10th Amendments:
Article [IX.]
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article [X.]
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Therefore, our Constitutional rights, by construction, include rights not named in the Constitution. :-)
is that while WeHaveTheWayOut is down, the spoof site (http://www.wehavethewayin.com/) is still up. And even pretty responsive. :-)